scholarly journals Assessing Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Relation to the Integration of Grammar and Reading in Foreign Language Teaching in Secondary Schools in Ethiopia

Afrika Focus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Gemechis T. Chali ◽  
Kimberley Mouvet ◽  
Miriam Taverniers
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

Studies have suggested that teachers’ beliefs have a significant influence in language teaching (e.g., Williams and Burden, 1997), i.e. that teachers’ beliefs will significantly influence their teaching practice. This study examines teachers’ beliefs and practices in relation to the integration of grammar and reading in foreign language teaching. A qualitative research design with Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and observation data gathering tools was employed. The study revealed that teachers hold positive beliefs on teaching grammar and reading in an integrated way, but their beliefs were not reflected in the classroom. The key finding of this paper was that teachers strongly believed in the usefulness of the integration of grammar and reading, but there were difficulties to reflect it in practice. This paper suggests that an alternative technique should be developed on discrete ways of teaching to allow teachers to practise their beliefs either on the existing text or through adapting the textbook. The findings of the study may have important implications for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers and practitioners.

scholarly journals Assessing Teacher's Beliefs and Practices in relation to the Integration of Grammar and Reading in Foreign Language Teaching in Secondary Schools in Ethiopia

Afrika Focus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemechis T. Chali ◽  
Kimberley Mouvet ◽  
Miriam Taverniers
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Teaching Grammar

Studies have suggested that teachers’ beliefs have a significant influence in language teaching (e.g., Williams and Burden, 1997), i.e. that teachers’ beliefs will significantly influence their teaching practice. This study examines teachers’ beliefs and practices in relation to the integration of grammar and reading in foreign language teaching. A qualitative research design with Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and observation data gathering tools was employed. The study revealed that teachers hold positive beliefs on teaching grammar and reading in an integrated way, but their beliefs were not reflected in the classroom. The key finding of this paper was that teachers strongly believed in the usefulness of the integration of grammar and reading, but there were difficulties to reflect it in practice. This paper suggests that an alternative technique should be developed on discrete ways of teaching to allow teachers to practise their beliefs either on the existing text or through adapting the textbook. The findings of the study may have important implications for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers and practitioners. KEY WORDS: TEACHERS’ BELIEFS, TEACHING GRAMMAR AND READING, PRACTICES, INTEGRATED TEACHING

scholarly journals Trained and Non-Trained Language Teachers on CLIL Methodology: Teachers’ Facts and Opinions about the CLIL Approach in the Primary Education Context in Spain

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gema Alcaraz-Mármol
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Methodological Basis ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency

Since the early 2000s, there seems to be a growing interest in bilingual education in Spain. The need for teachers with certain accreditation in foreign language proficiency has been growing in the last decade. Yet, the methodological basis to integrate content and language in the classroom does not seem to be a compulsory requirement. The participants of this study were surveyed about several aspects of their teaching practice. We compared the answers of those who have received specific methodological CLIL training and those who have not. Results show that methodological training beyond just foreign language teaching makes significant differences in terms of the teachers’ opinions on CLIL and practice of using bilingual practices in their classrooms, making use of a wider variety of activities and resources. Differences were found in the way they see their own teaching, their use of their L1, materials in the classroom, and the variety and type of activities they develop with their students.

MLA Foreign Language Proficiency Tests for Teachers and Advanced Students

PMLA ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 77 (4-Part2) ◽  
pp. 31-42
Author(s):  
Wilmarth H. Starr
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
American Association ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Modern Language Association ◽  
Language Program ◽  
Modern Language ◽  
South Central

I. Brief History of the Project: Since 1952, the Foreign Language Program of the Modern Language Association of America, responding to the national urgency with regard to foreign languages, has been engaged in a vigorous campaign aimed in large part at improving foreign-language teaching in our country.In 1955, as one of its activities, the Steering Committee of the Foreign Language Program formulated the “Qualifications for Secondary School Teachers of Modern Foreign Languages,” a statement which was subsequently endorsed for publication by the MLA Executive Council, by the Modern Language Committee of the Secondary Education Board, by the Committee on the Language Program of the American Council of Learned Societies, and by the executive boards or councils of the following national and regional organizations: National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations, American Association of Teachers of French, American Association of Teachers of German, American Association of Teachers of Italian, American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages, Central States Modern Language Teachers Association, Middle States Association of Modern Language Teachers, New England Modern Language Association, Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Northwest Conference on Foreign Language Teaching, Philological Association of the Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, South Atlantic Modern Language Association, and South-Central Modern Language Association.

scholarly journals Towards LSP (II) – Language Teaching for Future Interpreters: Graduate Profiles

10.29007/wzmn ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Adams ◽  
Laura Cruz-García
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Development Of Language

This paper presents some of the findings from research carried out among language teachers on translation and interpreting (T&I) degree courses in Spain, who responded to a questionnaire aiming to obtain a clearer idea of how foreign language teaching in this field of studies differed from approaches in other areas. The main purpose was to compile data based on actual practice, rather than theoretical notions. While the questions posed tended to be framed in such a way as to draw conclusions more for translation than for interpreting, a number of them were conducive to eliciting responses relating to aural and oral performance. Our paper will set forth the ensuing findings that can be applied to the development of language- and culture-based competences for subsequent interpreting courses and practices, as well as exploring possible further areas of study in the area of the teaching of both foreign languages and the mother tongue based on the specific language competences required in the different modalities of interpreting. We are, of course, immensely grateful to all those teachers who took the time and trouble to answer our questions.

scholarly journals Digital educational environment as a factor of foreign language competences development

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 232-248
Author(s):  
Marina V. Rybakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Teaching Experiment ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Foreign Languages

The modern era of digital economy lays new claims to the system of education and professional learning. Digitation of higher education reveals new prospects for using digital resources to ensure accessibility, continuity and quality of education. The purpose of our investigation is to assess the effectiveness of the use of digital educational resources by students studying foreign languages. Principal methods of our research are as follows: bibliographic method of studying regulatory documents and scientific and methodological literature; the analysis of foreign language competences, mastering of which is the aim of foreign language teaching in a University; the study and generalization of working experience using digital technologies in foreign language teaching; experiment involving 24 students from MIREA – Russian Technological University. As a result of the study frequency of thematic terms and notions use in scientific-teaching literature and Internet search requests was defined; the analysis of modern digital educational technologies forming students’ foreign language competences was made; foreign language competences analyzed in the experiment were described; an experiment involving the comparison of application efficiency in using traditional and digital techniques for forming foreign language competences was carried out. The experiment showed the following: absence of statistically important differences in the level of formed foreign language competences in control and experimental groups at the beginning of the experiment as t = -0.99, p = 0.43. At the end of the experiment p < 0,05: t = -5.19, p = 0,000014. It testifies that the compared groups significantly differ that proves the effect of web-quest technique in teaching foreign languages. Digital educational resources contribute to mastering a foreign language as a means of professional communication and increase the motivation of students to study this subject. Prospects for further research can be related to the development of new forms and methods of applying innovative digital technologies with the aim to put them into foreign language teaching practice at the higher education level.

Zur Bedeutung der Didaktik der nichtlinguistischen Disziplinen im FSU

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-53
Author(s):  
Petra Besedová ◽  
Karolína Soukupová ◽  
Kristýna Štočková
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching Learning

IMPORTANCE OF THE DIDACTICS OF NON-LINGUISTIC DISCIPLINES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING Learning does not mean anything but learning with all your senses and feelings. The young generation lives nowadays in a complex media world to which foreign language didactics also has to respond. Educators and teachers should use numerous materials that do not only develop language skills, but also conveycultural approaches. The teaching of non-linguistic disciplines plays a key role in foreign language teaching, and foreign language teaching is currently very modern in its cultural context. The paper attempts to outline the existence of the so-called didactics of non-linguistic disciplines in foreign language teaching in the Czech Republic. On the basis of a questionnaire survey among foreign language teachers, the extent to which foreign language teachers are confronted with the content of didactics of non-language subjects was examined. The authors were also interested whether there are differences between teachers of different foreign languages (English, German, Russian, French), and which preferences teachers of these foreign languages manifest when choosing their teaching material. We believe that the content of the didactics of non-linguistic disciplines is an essential part of foreign language teaching and can greatly enrich this field.

Language attention in content-based instruction

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Arias de la Cruz ◽  
Jesús Izquierdo
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching Content ◽  
Instructional Roles ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Communication Breakdowns

Subject-matter specialists teaching content via a foreign/second language in higher education often exhibit a meaning-based pedagogy, unsystematically attending to inaccurate language. This observational study examined whether two foreign-language-teaching-trained instructors teaching content in English in a Mexican undergraduate program would emulate these instructional patterns, or would attend to language favouring language-and-content-integrated pedagogy. In the study, over 400 instructional episodes, video-recorded during 18 hours of regular-classroom teaching, were analyzed using the COLT observation scheme (Spada & Fröhlich, 1995). Results showed that the foreign-language educators favoured content, erratically attending to inaccurate language during communication breakdowns. Language attention occurred reactively through word translations, lexical-gap scaffolding, and isolated explanations for non-target phonological forms. These instructional patterns may result from the language teachers’ newly assumed content-based instructional roles. To favour language attention during subject-matter teaching, language instructors need training and curricular support that helps them draw on their foreign language teaching experience as they deliver content.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices Regarding Assessment in English as a Foreign Language Classrooms in Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Ha ◽  
Nam Tran ◽  
Ngoc Tran
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Curriculum Innovation ◽  
High School English ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Intended Curriculum ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Language Classrooms

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has generated worldwide popularity as a curriculum innovation, and extensive research has investigated various aspects of the approach. However, little is known about the implementation of classroom assessment in TBLT curricula. This study investigated high school English as a foreign language teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding assessment in a curriculum innovation context in Vietnam. Data comprised in-depth interviews with six teachers, as well as testing documents. The findings revealed a strong impact of the high-stakes exams on teachers’ testing beliefs in that they focused explicitly on linguistic items in the assessed content and forms of assessment. These beliefs were accurately reflected in their testing practices. However, both the teachers’ beliefs and practices were contradictory to teaching principles and the expectations of the intended curriculum. These findings suggest that in-service teacher professional development programs are necessary for innovations like TBLT to have a real change in the classroom.

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