A Grounded Theory on the Comprehension Processing of Teachers as ESL Readers of Multimodal Still Visuals

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822094325
Author(s):  
Judy Cañero Bautista ◽  
Merry Ruth Morauda Gutierrez
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Visual Literacy ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Verbal Protocols ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Formally Trained

Contemporary society demands from individuals new and relevant literacies that go beyond the basics of reading and writing. Furthermore, texts now appear less confined to a single semiotic resource. The proliferation of different forms of communication like visuals, among others, encourages people to use literacy in multiple modalities. Nevertheless, not all individuals are capable of understanding and producing information in modalities other than the usual linguistic texts, and teachers are not exempt in this phenomenon. Ironically, school curricula burden teachers with the demand to develop visually literate learners even though most teachers themselves were not formally trained for visual literacy and visual grammar. Consequently, this study sought to identify and describe the processing strategies and the sources of information that teachers, as ESL readers, deliberately use when they make sense from multimodal still visuals. The think-aloud method, as an introspective procedure, was used to collect, analyze, and code 42 sets of verbal protocols from 14 teacher-respondents who read three different multimodal still visuals in three sectional rounds. Results reveal four integrated categories or themes of comprehension processes that teachers used when making sense of the visual stimuli. These are (a) anticipation or preparation; (b) sampling; (c) deepening; and (d) regulation. As regards to the sources of information they use in building meaning, a dismal number of verbal protocols manifest that the majority of the teachers do not use all the elements of the visual grammar and they lack the ability to integrate reader-based, text-based, and context-based sources of information in order to establish a closer match between their meaning and the intended meaning of the multimodal still visuals. Ultimately, the paper provides a theoretical model which can serve as basis for teacher development with regard to visual literacy in an ESL context and offers future directions in multimodal language learning and teaching.

Exploring Emotions in Language Teaching

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822092753
Author(s):  
Jack C. Richards
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Affective Dimensions

Emotions are an important part of the experiences of both language teachers and language learners, however their role has often been marginalized as a result of the focus on cognitive rather than affective dimensions of language learning within the discipline of Second Language Acquisition. The ‘affective turn’ in applied linguistics has refocussed on how teachers’ and learners’ emotions influence how they manage teaching and learning. This survey article explores the kinds of emotions teachers and learners experience, the causes of these emotions, and the impact they can have on teaching and learning. Theory and research is reviewed relating to emotions and the teacher, emotions and the language learner, and emotions in teacher development. Suggestions are given as to how teachers and learners can develop emotional competence, that is, the ability to understand and productively manage emotions in language learning and teaching.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN INDIA: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS.R. K. Agnihotri and A. L. Khanna (Eds.). New Delhi, India: Sage, 1995. Pp. 338. $42.00 cloth.

1997 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-410
Author(s):  
B. Kumaravadivelu
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Classroom Context ◽  
Learning And Teaching

This collected volume on English language teaching (ELT) in India contains 22 articles written by Indian teachers and researchers. The book has been divided into six sections. The first section—“Problematizing ELT in India”—offers a critical, historical perspective along with innovative ideas for making English language learning and teaching meaningful and purposive in modern India. The second section—“Nature of ELT Materials”—demonstrates how the ELT materials used in Indian classrooms are not embedded in local needs and indigenous contexts. The section emphasizes the importance of developing instructional materials that not only make use of the rich linguistic and cultural resources available in India but also promote effective communication skills among the learners. The third section—“Learner Profiles”—provides interesting insights into the needs, wants, and lacks of Indian learners of English. This section shows how the instruments of needs analysis developed in monocultural and monolingual settings are inadequate for assessing the needs and wants of learners in multilingual and multicultural India. The fourth section—“Classroom Issues”—focuses on certain central issues affecting teaching and learning in the classroom context, particularly the role of native language knowledge and skills that Indian learners bring with them. The fifth section—“Course Evaluation and Teacher Development”—suggests ideas for making teacher education responsive to the changing roles and responsibilities of language teachers. The sixth and final section—“Curriculum Change”—deals with the principles and procedures for curricular changes that are in tune with the evolving knowledge about learning and teaching and the increasing desire for learner control of the process of materials development and evaluation.

Using Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) materials in English as Second Language (ESL) classrooms: perspectives of teachers and students in United Arab Emirates

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramia DIRAR SHEHADEH MUSMAR
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Student Diversity ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching

Integrating scaffolding-learning technologies has been recognized for its potential to create intellectual and engaging classroom interactions. In the United Arab Emirates, having language teachers employ computers as a medium of new pedagogical instrument for teaching second languages generated the idea of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as a medium of an innovative pedagogical instrument for facilitating and scaffolding language learning, with an aspiration that it will lead to improved English language attainment and better assessment results. This study aims at investigating the perspectives of students and teachers on the advantageous and disadvantageous impacts of CALL on learning and teaching English as a second language in one public school in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The results show that CALL has a facilitating role in L2 classroom and that using CALL activities is advantageous in reducing English learning tension, boosting motivation, catering for student diversity, promoting self-directed language learning and scaffolding while learning English. The results additionally report that numerous aspects like time constraints, teachers’ unsatisfactory computer skills, insufficient computer facilities, and inflexible school courses undesirably affect the implementation of CALL in English classrooms. It is recommended that further studies should be undertaken to investigate the actual effect of CALL on students’ language proficiency. 

Didattica delle lingue in prospettiva interculturale: innovazione e potenzialità

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 189-198
Author(s):  
Manuela Derosas
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Vast Literature ◽  
The Creation

Since the early ’80s the adjective "intercultural" in language learning and teaching has seemed to acquire a remarkable importance, although its meaning is strongly debated. As a matter of fact, despite the existence of a vast literature on this topic, difficulties arise when applying it in the classroom. The aim of this work is to analyze the elements we consider to be the central pillars in this methodology, i.e. a renewed language-and culture relation, the Intercultural Communicative Competence, the intercultural speaker. These factors allow us to consider this as a new paradigm in language education; furthermore, they foster the creation of new potentialities and configure the classroom as a significant learning environment towards the discovery of Otherness.

Dialogic Teaching and Translanguaging in Deaf Education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Swanwick
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Deaf Education ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Diverse Learning ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Pedagogical Framework

This chapter proposes a pedagogical framework for deaf education that builds on a sociocultural perspective and the role of interaction in learning. Pedagogical principles are argued that recognize the dialogic nature of learning and teaching and the role of language as “the tool of all tools” in this process. Building on established work on classroom talk in deaf education, the issues of dialogue in deaf education are extended to consider deaf children’s current learning contexts and their diverse and plural use of sign and spoken languages. Within this broad language context, the languaging and translanguaging practices of learners and teachers are explained as central to a pedagogical framework that is responsive to the diverse learning needs of deaf children. Within this pedagogical framework practical teaching strategies are suggested that draw on successful approaches in the wider field of language learning and take into account the particular learning experience and contexts of deaf children.

scholarly journals Female English Teachers Perceptions and Experience of Continuing Professional Development in Qatar

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 160
Author(s):  
Saba Qadhi ◽  
Alan Floyd
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching

The Qatari government views English language learning as crucial to the country’s future success. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that English language teachers (ELTs) employed in Qatar may not necessarily have the appropriate training, qualifications, and experience to enable them to teach successfully. Despite growing research and interest in the continuing professional development (CPD) experiences and needs of ELTs in Western contexts, there remains a lack of research in Middle Eastern countries in general and in Qatar in particular. The aim of this study was to address this gap by exploring female ELTs’ perceptions and experiences of CPD in Qatar in order to develop new practical and theoretical insights into our understanding of this area. The study draws on data from life history interviews undertaken with 16 female ELTs with at least 3 years of teaching experience in Qatari schools. The study found that the participants had very different experiences of CPD based on their personal and professional characteristics. This suggests that for it to be perceived as a positive experience, the current model of professional development for ELTs may need revising. We propose a paradigm shift from a traditional “one size fits all” CPD model towards a more dynamic and interactive style of teacher development that facilitates both personal reflection and professional discourse among teachers. It is argued that such a shift would prove a considerable step forward for English language teaching in this country.

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