scholarly journals Toward Equity-Based Pedagogy: Monolingual Teachers’ Transformative Thinking Process

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-406
Author(s):  
Bogum Yoon

Abstract The reality that English language learners (ell s) have not been receiving adequate support in the mainstream classroom calls for urgency to prepare teachers in teacher education programs. Grounded in the theoretical construct of praxis and linguistically and culturally relevant approach (lcra), the purpose of this article is to share the author’s experience on how she supported monolingual teachers to engage in equity-based pedagogy. This article will focus on the specific projects that the author’s graduate students (mostly white and monolingual teachers/teacher candidates) conducted as a way to better understand the diverse needs of ell s in the dominant English context. The projects include: reflecting on monolingual identities through being in ell s’ shoes, building professional capital through theories of language learning, discussing and critiquing texts on ell s with a critical lens, designing lessons that integrate ell s’ culture as well as conducting the fieldwork in local schools, and synthesizing learning through the options of multiple final projects including learning a new language (e.g., ell s’ primary language). These activities intended to promote monolingual teachers’ transformative thinking process through the process of praxis and lcra in teacher education programs.

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucilla Lopriore

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is a recent teaching approach widely adopted in numerous international contexts, especially in Europe where it was promoted as a way to promote language learning within the educational system. When implemented, CLIL predominantly involves subject content teachers using English to teach their subject. This has required the development of specific teacher education programs in Italy. This contribution illustrates how the teaching knowledge of both content and English language teachers is evolving as CLIL is implemented within Italian teacher education courses.


Author(s):  
Guofang Li ◽  
Yue Bian ◽  
José Manuel Martínez

This chapter examines nine TESOL minor preservice teachers' (PSTs') perspectives of their preparation to teach ELLs in the US, including their perceptions regarding learning in formal teacher education courses and their experiences outside the program. Findings revealed that their formal ELL learning in the program courses was limited in scope and depth due to the program's “just good teaching ideology” that treated teaching ELLs the same as other student groups, and its knowledge-transmission model that provided few opportunities to apply the knowledge acquired in the courses. The PSTs actively sought ELL learning opportunities outside the teacher education program. Despite these efforts, the PSTs felt unprepared to teach ELLs. The findings suggest that to fully prepare PSTs for ELLs, teacher education programs must shift ELL education from “a side note” to systematic and explicit integration in the core content and spaces of teacher development.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Badia Muntazer Hakim

Classroom anxiety is a recurrent phenomenon for language learners. There are various factors that cause language anxiety, the most common of which include learners’ excessive self-consciousness and self-awareness concerning their oral reproduction and performance and their peculiar, and quite often misplaced and mistaken, views and beliefs regarding different approaches. Other potential reasons for this problem could include the fear, and the consequent deterrence occasioned thereof, of encountering difficulties in language learning, specifically learners’ individual problems regarding the culture of the target language and the varying social statuses of speakers. The most important fear is, perhaps, the deterrent fear of causing damage to one’s self-identity. Therefore, while needing to paying special attention to language learners’ anxiety reactions, language teachers have a crucial role in helping their students achieve the expected performance goals in the target language. Another factor that could potentially lead to language anxiety is simply the poor command of the target language. This problem could be attributed to linguistic barriers and obstacles language learners encounter in learning and using the target language. In the current study, using a qualitative, semi-structured interview and the focus-group discussion technique, the researcher aims to investigate the factors that contribute to language anxiety among Arab language learners. It focuses on learners both within the classroom setting and without, i.e. in the social context, and recommends a number of approaches to manage and overcome this problem.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-295
Author(s):  
Elnaz Zariholhosseini ◽  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Mehdi Nasri

Purpose of the study: This article report’s findings from a study on the differences and similarities between experienced and novice English language learners with regards to their personal use of VLS. Methodology: Closed questionnaire and semi-structure interviews were applied to collect the data. The questionnaire was distributed among 60 (30 experienced learners and 30 novice learners). In addition, 20 learners (10 experienced learners and 10 novice learners) were asked to answer the questions in the interview. Therefore, descriptive statistics, U Mann Whitney test, and independent-sample t-test were run to compare and analyzed the data. Main Findings: The finding showed that there were significant differences between experienced and novice learners’ thoughts towards vocabulary learning strategies and experienced learners used vocabulary learning strategies while learning new words in English language learning. Applications of this study: If the learners are taught how to use each strategy correctly, their understanding of the language can naturally be improved. Moreover, VLS is beneficial throughout the process of vocabulary learning which makes learners more independent and allows teachers to focus on other things as well. Novelty/Originality of this study: To the best of researchers’ knowledge, no study has been done on investigating Iranian experienced and novice English language learners` perceptions towards most useful vocabulary learning strategies (VLS).


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca López ◽  
Martin Scanlan ◽  
Becky Gundrum

In this study, we examined the degree to which the requirements in each state’s teacher education programs reflect current theory and practice for teachers of ELLs in their coursework, and how these requirements in turn are related to 4th grade Hispanic ELL’s reading outcomes on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. We found that required coursework on English language development and assessment were positively related to Hispanic ELLs' reading outcomes. Moreover, states that require both specialist certification, and all teachers to have some level of training to meet the needs of ELLs, also tend to have higher levels of achievement than states that do not have these requirements.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Seyyed Hatam Tamimi Sa’d ◽  
Fereshte Rajabi

Vocabulary constitutes an essential part of every language-learning endeavour and deserves scholarly attention. The objective of the present study was three-fold: 1) exploring Iranian English language learners’Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs), 2) examining language learners’ perceptions of vocabulary learning, and 3) exploring Iranian English language teachers’ Vocabulary Teaching Strategies (VTSs). In total, 145  intermediate learners of English as a foreign language, consisting of 114 males and 31 females aged 15 to 27, participated in the study. The triangulated data were collected using three tools: questionnaires, interviews, and class observations. Sixty-seven learners (31 females and 36 males) filled out a 56-statement questionnaire, adopted and adapted from Takač (2008) and translated into Persian. The questionnaire comprised two parts, enquiring as to the learners’ VLSs and the teachers’ VTSs. The findings indicated that females and males differed significantly in their reported VLSs and their teachers’ use of various VTSs. Additionally, 78 learners were interviewed as to their perceptions of effective and ineffective VLSs as well as VTSs. The findings revealed that the most effective VLSs were reported to be: a) reciting, repeating and listening to words, b) using words, and c) memorising words while the most effective VTSs revolved around: a) explanation, b) repetition, and c) dictation. The observations also confirmed the findings obtained via the questionnaire and interviews. In general, the findings are indicative of the limited repertoire of vocabulary acquisition techniques employed by Iranian EFL learners, hence the need for strategy training in how to acquire vocabulary. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-279
Author(s):  
Durga Bhusal

Language Learning Strategies (LLSs) are specific actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques that the learners use them to improve their performance which is important for L2/FL learning and teaching. These strategies are as affecting factors on success or failure of the language learning process. Hence, this paper explores the English language learners’ learning strategies to develop their communicative competence within the theoretical stance of Oxford’s 1990 Language Learning Strategies (LLSs). The study is qualitative in nature where four participants were interviewed to understand their ontological perspectives and practices of different LLSs to enhance their communicative ability in English. The findings show the learners seemed to be usual strategy users. However, social, affective, and metacognitive strategies frequent strategies for developing their communicative competence. It further depicts learners are not always aware of the influence of consciously using language learning strategies for making their learning quicker and more effective. Thus, the teachers need to be the one who helps their students develop the awareness of language learning strategies and enable them to use a wider range of appropriate strategies for further success in their communicative competence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustapha Boughoulid

The increase in the needs of the English language learners (ELLs) and their endless demands in terms of achievement and proficiency in all the educational systems all over the world urged teachers and educators to call for new teaching strategies that sound more adequate and appropriate in the classroom. The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model emerged as one of the worldwide prominent teaching methods that guarantee the ELLs success, especially when it has to do with the understanding of the content and language learning meanwhile. With its diverse culture and prominent engagement in terms of education, Morocco represents a fertile field for the implementation of the SIOP Model that has proven in different contexts its adequacy in helping ELLs achieve proficiency. This study is about a quasi-experimental research that is implemented in an urban school known for its diversification in terms of mother tongue, socio-economic status, gender, and background. Given these different circumstances of the learners, the findings reported after the adoption of the SIOP Model as a teaching approach showed that it is a reliable and adequate teaching method in terms of content and language proficiency. The use of wh-questions as key indicators to measure the learners’ capacity of understanding and responding correctly throughout the experiment phase showed the superiority of the ELLs in the SIOP classes in contrast to the learners in the mainstream classes. This superiority is embodied, especially in terms of the high scores obtained in providing correct answers in a short duration of time. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0726/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>


Author(s):  
Melissa Christine Higgins

English language learners (ELLs) are often misdiagnosed as having a learning disability or speech and language impairment and as a result are placed into special education programs. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a framework that can reduce this misdiagnosis and help these learners achieve more over time. This chapter explains how some of this misdiagnosis occurs and how to use Response to Intervention with the ELL population to overcome this problem. It includes research-based interventions proven to work for this population, suggestions on how to implement an RTI model, and case studies of students who represent situations that often come up in the field. With successful implementation of an RTI program, it is hoped that all students will receive the targeted support that they need and deserve.


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