scholarly journals Patterns of Teacher Trainee Grammar Talk in Second Language Classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-94
Author(s):  
Tina Abdullah ◽  
Fauziah Ismail ◽  
Zubaidah Awang ◽  
Azian Abd. Aziz@Ahmad

Literature in Language Teacher Education (LTE) has highlighted that teaching of grammar should be included as a foundational framework for all language teaching. This indicates that teacher trainees need to be trained with a firm foundation for grammar teaching in language classrooms.  Thus, an investigation on how teacher trainees taught grammar and the pattern of their grammar instruction can provide insights to teacher trainees and teacher educators on grammar teaching methodology practised in language classrooms. By understanding how teacher trainees present grammar in their classrooms and what patterns emerged from their grammar instruction can lead to ongoing process of searching for better grammar teaching in language classrooms. This article shares the findings on an investigation conducted on how and what was practised by teacher trainees in their grammar instruction. Two prevalent patterns were discovered.  Transmission technique which is teacher fronted and interaction technique which is teacher-student-teacher fronted were commonly practised by the trainees. However, the teacher-fronted technique dominates the interaction technique. This signals that teacher educators need to promote more interactive techniques in the LTE programme so that trainees are trained to teach grammar by utilising more interactive techniques such as questioning (to use more convergent and divergent questions instead of literal questions) and giving corrective feedback (to elicit and recast instead of repeating) which promote two-way grammar teaching.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Garshol

The relevance of explicit grammar instruction in foreign language classrooms has been discussed widely in the past, but there is no consensus regarding what is the best approach or how much time should be spent on explicit grammar teaching. This paper presents the results of three studies which focus on students’ knowledge of explicit grammar, their understanding of metalinguistic terminology, and their ability to correct agreement errors in their texts as a response to formative assessment. In the first study, the effect of different types of formative feedback on the improvement in agreement marking accuracy was tested. As there were no statistically significant differences found, two follow-up case studies were conducted to test the possible causes of the observed lack of effect. The first of the case studies tested the effect of formative assessment in a process writing task, but there was only limited effect found. The second case study focused on testing explicit grammar knowledge and understanding of metalinguistic terminology in an inverted classroom setting. The results suggested that the understanding of metalinguistic terminology was rather low, and the knowledge of explicit grammar was varying. The students found the task difficult. The Norwegian English language curriculum gives the teachers freedom to choose their methods and only sets requirements for the results of the students. These three studies show that there is a need for a discussion of the relevance, methods, and extent of explicit grammar teaching and the use of metalinguistic terminology in formative assessment in English language classrooms in Norway.


Neofilolog ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 79-100
Author(s):  
Mirosław Pawlak

While there is a consensus that teaching grammar is now indispensable in most educational contexts, there still exist numerous controversies as to how this should most beneficially be done. They concern, among others, such issues as the choice of instructional options to be used in order to introduce and practice grammar structures or to provide corrective feedback on errors made in the use of such structures (cf. Loewen, 2020; Nassaji, 2017; Pawlak, 2014, 2020a). On a more general level, a question arises as to the optimal way of organizing the material to be taught, with consequences for the overall approach to grammar instruction. One influential alternative to a structural syllabus, in which case grammar structures are carefully preselected and sequenced, is task-based language teaching, which can be conceptualized and implemented in various ways (cf. Ellis, 2017, 2018). The paper discusses the role of grammar in the task-based approach, also taking into account techniques and procedures that can be employed for this purpose. An overview of existing empirical evidence will be presented and an attempt will be made to highlight the way in which communicative tasks can be used to assist grammar teaching in the Polish educational context.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-134
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ahmad ◽  
Aleem Shakir ◽  
Ali Raza Siddique

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the amount and type of teacher-talk, frequently asked questions and feedback provided by the teacher on learners’ performance in a language classroom. For this purpose, a lecture was recorded from a secondary level English language classroom of a public sector school and interpreted in the light of teacher-student interaction and classroom management model by David Nunan. Results revealed that the maximum amount of time (i.e. 80.1%) was consumed by the teacher which was appropriate. However, certain deviations from classroom management principles were also observed regarding frequently asked questions (i.e. 50% of the total questions were elicitation questions) and the feedback (it was ‘romantic’ in nature). Moreover, wait-time was sufficient but it was of no use to the learners. The study concluded that classroom practices did not conform to the principles therefore, it proposed to ask questions and provide feedback appropriately.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110409
Author(s):  
Chi-Duc Nguyen

This study proposed a three-step writing conference in which foreign/second language (L2) students, under the guidance of their writing instructor, first fastened their attentional focus on a form-related error, analysed a collection of standard L2 samples to deduce the underlying knowledge, and then planned for their error correction as well as future learning of this knowledge. The ultimate goal of this formative assessment practice was to scaffold student engagement with written corrective feedback (WCF). Using a between-group experiment design, the present study compared the effects on the success rate of error correction and L2 uptake of the above writing conference ( n = 14) against those brought about by a typical Teacher–Student ( n = 12) and a typical Student–Student one ( n = 12). Research participants were 38 intermediate learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) recruited from three intact classes at a language-learning center in Vietnam. The suggested writing conference was indeed found to yield better error correction and L2 uptake than the other counterparts. A closer look at the students’ mental engagement with WCF revealed that such engagement was moderately correlated with their L2 uptake. These findings altogether suggest that student engagement with WCF should not be taken for granted or, in other words, this engagement should be contingently supported by the writing instructor in order to foster learning from WCF.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bayan Alghanmi ◽  
Nadia Shukri

<p>Teacher cognition (Borg, 2015) of grammar instruction is a relatively new phenomenon that has yet to be explored in the Saudi context. While many studies have focused on the teaching of grammar in general (Ellis, 2006; Corzo, 2013; Braine, 2014), further research needs to be done - particularly when it comes to understanding teachers’ beliefs of grammar and grammar instruction as well as their practices in the classroom. This case study investigates the relationship between teachers’ beliefs of grammar and grammar instruction and their instructional practices. In the first stage, a sample of 30 teaching faculty members at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Jeddah (UJ), in Saudi Arabia completed a survey discussing their beliefs related to grammar instruction. In the second stage, ten of these teachers were observed in classroom in order to explore the relationship between their beliefs and practices. In the third and final stage, open-ended questions were distributed to the teachers after the observations to better understand the factors that influence their beliefs. The findings reveal that teachers’ beliefs are indeed reflected in their classroom practices. Students’ proficiency level, attitudes toward the language, needs, learning styles, classroom environment, and teacher development are six factors that influence the transformation of teachers’ beliefs regarding grammar and grammar instruction into practices. These findings will help broaden the discussion on how to improve the quality of grammar teaching, particularly in the Saudi EFL classroom.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 183
Author(s):  
Roya Keshavarz ◽  
Amin Marzban

<p>The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect two types of corrective feedback (i.e., recast and metalinguistic) in order to find out which one is more effective on EFL learners’ speaking improvement and also to see if gender could play a role in the relative impact of the two types of corrective feedback on learners’ speaking ability. To this end, 65 EFL learners of intermediate level in one of language institutes in Shiraz, Iran were selected and divided into three groups including two experimental groups and one control. The instruments used to collect the data included IELTS test as the pre and post tests and Oxford Placement Test (OPT) in order to obtain the homogeneity in participants’ English proficiency. The collected data were codified and entered into SPSS Software (Version 22) and were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and Tukey test. The results indicated that although applying these two types of corrective feedback could have made improvement in EFL learners’ speaking ability, there was not observed any significant difference between impacts of recast and metalinguistic on EFL learners’ production. The test results also indicated that there was not any significant difference regarding gender within the three groups. This homogeneity further shows that in this study, the gender variable did not have any effect on the role of corrective feedback and it can be concluded that the observed difference between metalinguistic group, recast group, and control group is just the result of the provided corrective feedback type which has acted as the intervening variable and the moderator variable such as gender did not prove to have any effect in the outcome of this study. The findings can contribute to syllabus design and teaching methodology areas.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Delia Baskerville

<p>Truancy is a longstanding, unresolved educational issue in countries where there are compulsory attendance policies. Taking time out from class without permission is illegal and negatively influences future functioning for students who truant in regards to employment, family and community. Truancy represents a long-term cost to society in expenditure on health, well-being and incarceration.  Previous research has focused on key demographic variables related to truancy, causal factors, and a variety of viewpoints. However, there has been a paucity of evidence about truancy from student perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this research was twofold; (1) to investigate how secondary school students who truant constructed meaning about their experiences, and (2) to develop a substantive theory that identified how participants constructed the processes involved in truanting. This thesis used a grounded theory approach, concurrently gathering and analysing data generated through interviews with 13 young people from three schools and an activity centre.  Students in the study referred to truanting as wagging. In respect of this, the study presents a process theory of wagging which identifies four stages: Wagging-in-class; leaving; awakening, and reincluding. The study contributes to truancy scholarship in several ways, which include the experiences and challenges occurring in class and in their personal lives that contribute to youth truanting; how youth reposition themselves when they truant; the nature of their interactions and the group they truant with; what causes them to realise there is no future value in truanting; the conditions that support them to reintegrate in class after truanting; and why they are able to return and attend school regularly after truanting.  Further findings indicate that teacher intentional behaviours and student willingness to change are necessary to support the further development of inclusive practices in schools required to address truancy. The recommendations made for school leaders, teachers, counsellors, teacher educators and policy makers include four suggestions: (1) building teacher-student rapport, links with whānau, and school connectedness; (2) more proactive, sustained and consistent monitoring of student attendance; (3) reviewing school systems to foster inclusiveness and student attendance; and (4) providing a strong focus on inclusiveness within teacher education and professional development programmes. Future research and development opportunities are also identified, for example, the design of an ethnodrama to disseminate the results of this study and to heighten awareness of the dangers of wagging to students and the community. The intention is also to research the audience reactions and responses to the ethnodrama. This thesis also draws attention to the need for further studies to replicate the design features of the present study in other contexts so as to confirm, modify, extend or challenge the process theory of wagging that has emerged from this research.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. p64
Author(s):  
Salwa H. Al Darwish

Self- evaluation is a central “tool” to express how we know what we do when we teach, and as we make decisions on our own while we teach, self- evaluation has the power to help us link knowledge and theoretical information and to use each area of expertise more professionally. This paper will discuss primary school English Language teacher trainee’s self- evaluation which will be carried out between the instructor (researcher/ mentor) and the student teacher trainees. This study aims to explore the benefits of the process of self-evaluation during the student trainees while teaching English as a foreign language in public elementary schools in the form of the practice classes (Practicum Course). Another purpose of this research will be to find out more about students’ perceptions, problems and difficulties of teaching the target language (English) to young learners in order to find the instrument that will help the teacher trainees to better prepare, monitor and evaluate their own teaching through the self-evaluation and peer evaluation. The chosen instrument for this research will be observation for each individual by the instructor (mentor) and the teacher trainees, followed by a questionnaire distributed among the teacher trainees. The sample will consist of 30 female teacher trainees. Each participant is assigned four classmates to be observed and evaluated; followed by the mentor observation and evaluation for each teacher trainee. The results were not similar between the teacher trainees and the mentor.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-24
Author(s):  
A Srinivasacharlu

Present generation learners are growing up with digitalization. Educators are increasingly understanding and adapting new methods of teaching laced with digitalization. YouTube, an important off shoot of digitalization, is leading the charge as the most multipurpose medium for content transactions in the classroom and outside the classroom. It not only provides digital entertainment but also provides a great environment for learning. YouTube has multiple  advantages for teacher educators and teacher trainees. Teacher educators and teacher trainees search YouTube for any information or clarification on a topic. Using YouTube in the classroom can bring efficiency in teaching and learning. Considering its endless services, there is no surprise that Youtube has been ranked the highest as a preferred learning tool. The teacher educators and teacher trainees can follow the prescribed procedures for creating and uploading effective videos on YouTube. Teacher educators can use YouTube in their class with all precautions and well planning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
MALEKA DONALDSON

In this portrait, Maleka Donaldson vividly illustrates how two teachers in real-world, public school settings convey their expectations for kindergarten student performance and set the tone for learning from mistakes and feedback. Research in psychology and education has established the benefits of corrective feedback on learning but has not closely examined how practicing teachers respond to mistakes made by young children during day-to-day instruction. Donaldson draws on extended observations of teacher-student interactions to juxtapose the two contexts and reveal divergent techniques that the participating teachers use to frame mistakes and correct answers during instruction. She compares these variations and considers how each teacher's pedagogical tools could be integrated into a mistake-response toolkit that could fundamentally reshape learning from mistakes for kindergarteners.


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