scholarly journals Decolonizing English Language Teaching in Colombia: Epistemological Perspectives and Discursive Alternatives

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-181
Author(s):  
Yamith José Fandiño-Parra
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Global North ◽  
Cultural Dominance ◽  
Alternative Discourses ◽  
Epistemological Perspectives

In times of geocultural subalternization of knowledge and education, English language teaching (ELT) is torn between subalternizing policies and subjectivating practices. Within this context, ELT teacher educators face policies and discourses aimed at framing their teaching practices, professional lives, and research agendas. However, at the same time, they are expected to engage in practices and processes that allow for personal adaptation and social change. Amid this ambivalence, this reflection paper makes a call to decolonize ELT in Colombia. To this effect, this paper reviews some basic epistemological perspectives such as colonialism and decolonial studies. Then, it proposes the decolonization of ELT, along with a grammar of decoloniality based on discursive alternatives about power, knowledge, and being with the potential of bringing about a transformative teacher subjectivation. The main conclusion is that the Colombian ELT community needs to first deconstruct dominant structures and strategies that enact epistemic and cultural dominance of the global north, and then construct alternative discourses and practices that acknowledge and disseminate the singularities of its knowledge and culture.

The world of English language teaching: Creating equity or inequity?

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise E. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Social Practice ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Global Competition ◽  
Population Mobility ◽  
Political Values ◽  
The World

English language teaching takes place in a variety of different contexts around the globe, contexts that are affected by the megatrends of global competition, population mobility, and technological interconnectedness. These trends have resulted in increased demand for English as a tool for advancement individually and nationally. However, because language is a social practice, the introduction of English within existing linguistic, sociocultural, and political values and practices can create tensions. Learners investment in learning English depends on the extent to which they and their communities envisage any benefits from English or are positioned by societal forces. Additionally, local educational practices or quality may militate against the learning of English. English may therefore be rejected by communities or may maintain current societal inequities. Teachers, teacher educators, and teacher education programs need to be aware therefore that English teaching is not neutral, but a complex educational change.

scholarly journals Pedagogical knowledge in English language teaching: A lifelong-learning, complex-system perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babak Dadvand ◽  
Foad Behzadpoor
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Pedagogical Knowledge ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
System Perspective

Pedagogical knowledge has been the subject of theoretical and empirical studies. However, no research has so far integrated the existing scholarship with data to develop and validate a framework for pedagogical knowledge in English language teaching informed by lifelong-learning, complex-system perspectives. In the absence of such research, we used a mixed method research design through a systematic review of the literature, semi-structured interviews with experienced teachers (N=10) and teacher educators (N=10), as well as a survey of 336 practising teachers in Iran to: (1) develop a framework for pedagogical knowledge; and (2) validate this framework by designing a self-assessment questionnaire for pedagogical knowledge. Our analyses yielded a nine-component model that included: knowledge of subject matter; knowledge of teaching; knowledge of students; knowledge of classroom management; knowledge of educational context; knowledge of democracy, equity and diversity; knowledge of tests/exams; knowledge of learning; and knowledge of (professional) self. Within this nine-factor framework, each component of pedagogical knowledge consists of a number of subcomponents. The proposed framework highlights the multidimensionality and complexity of pedagogical knowledge, and the mutually constitutive relationships among different knowledge domains.

scholarly journals Methods and Techniques Used by English Teacher Educators in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-15
Author(s):  
Bhim Lal Bhandari
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Methods And Techniques ◽  
Play Group ◽  
Pair Work

This qualitative research study aims to explore the methods and techniques used by teacher educators in Nepalese English Language Teaching (ELT) contexts. Four teacher educators from two campuses of Rupandehi district of Nepal were selected purposively. Open-ended questions were used to collect information from the participants. The results of the study reveal that grammar-translation method (GTM), audio-lingual method and communicative language teaching (CLT) were three major methods like-wise, role play, group, and pair work techniques were found to be used frequently used in the ELT classrooms by teacher educators. The study reveals a positive perception of teachers towards the methods and techniques used by them. It also shows the necessity of the eclectic method with the idea that no method or technique is the best and worst in English language teaching.

scholarly journals Intercultural Competence in ELT Contexts: A Study of EFL Teachers’ Perceptions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelhak Bouslama ◽  
Fawzia Bouhass Benaissi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Cultural Mediators

Intercultural competence (IC) has been promoted by many educationalists as the most exalted type of competence in modern foreign language teaching (FLT). Among the difficulties to incorporate IC into FLT can be due to the fact that teachers may not have sufficient knowledge on the concept. To test this hypothesis, we attempt to answer the following question: how do Algerian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers perceive the concepts of culture and IC as well as the objectives of the intercultural approach (ICA) in English language teaching (ELT) contexts? The present study proceeds to analyze teachers’ knowledge, perceptions and understanding of the concepts of culture, IC and the ICA and seeks to identify any potential deficiencies that may hinder effective IC teaching. The main aim of the study is then to help teacher trainers establish training programs that address more efficiently targeted teachers’ needs with regard to IC teaching. This paper will hopefully assist in improving the implementation of IC into FLT classrooms. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with eight teachers and then analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that many EFL teachers displayed a lack of theoretical understanding concerning the ICA and its objectives, which may well impact negatively on their IC teaching practices. Teacher educators therefore need to focus more on updating EFL teachers’ on both the theoretical and practical levels that learners are today expected to grow as cultural mediators equipped with a set of skills rather than as native-like proficient language users.

scholarly journals Exploring English Language Teaching in an Ecuadorian Urban Secondary Institution

2017 ◽  
pp. 107-134
Author(s):  
Ximena Burgin ◽  
Mayra C Daniel
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Major Theme ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
English Language Teachers

 This article presents a case study focused on the pedagogy of nine English language teachers’ pedagogy in Ecuador. The significance of this study is its potential to inform practitioners, teacher educators, and policymakers in countries where teachers need to be prepared to teach in multilingual settings, such as Ecuador. Data analyses of nine observations of practicing teachers seems to suggest the curriculum used to prepare English teachers does not fully meet the educational needs of teachers or students. Observations of secondary level English teachers were conducted using the Classroom Observation Checklist (2010). This instrument is useful to analyze teachers’ delivery of content, lesson organization, classroom interactions, verbal and non-verbal communication in the classroom, and integration of media during instruction. One major theme emerged from data analyses; English language teaching appears to follow teaching as a foreign language paradigm. The validation of the results of this exploratory study through the participation of a larger sample size of classroom teachers would be important to provide a more robust conclusion regarding teaching diverse student populations. 

scholarly journals Exploring the Landscape of Researching the Teaching Practicum in the ELT Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-113
Author(s):  
Yolanda Samacá Bohórquez
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Doctoral Study ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
Instructional Processes ◽  
Global North ◽  
The Senses

This paper describes a review of the research developed on the English Language Teaching Practicum (ELTP) as part of a doctoral study on the senses of the ELTP through the experiences and interrelations of the English language teaching practicum community (ELTPC): preservice teachers (PTs), school and university mentors, (SMs-UMs [1]) in the Colombian context. In the first part, the paper situates the ELTP in Initial Language Teacher Education (ILET) and elaborates on the contributions Colombian English Language scholars have made in regard to the ELTP. This review portrays instructional processes, reflective approaches, beliefs, expectations and dichotomies, identity construction, and research as a central axis in ELTP core tendencies. The majority of the studies continue to invisibilize the three-voiced experiences of those subjects who live the ELTP. In the second part, the paper discusses pedagogical colonialism in English Language Teaching (ELT) extended to the ELTP as a static-limited conceptualization that normalizes ELTP. From a decolonial standpoint, I would affirm that understanding the senses of the ELTP through the experiences and interrelations of pre-service teachers, school, and university mentors might contribute to questioning the hegemonic views rooted in epistemic perspectives of the Global North that have dominated the ELT field and therefore the ELTP. Furthermore, we can comprehend the holistic formation processes that pre-service teachers go through with their SMs and UMs to envision different ways of being, doing, and thinking about the plurals and particularities of the ELTP. [1] These terms are used in this paper to address cooperating teachers and university advisors, which have been traditionally named in the literature.

POWER, PEDAGOGY, AND PRACTICE.Tricia Hedge and Norman Whitney (Eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Pp. xi + 398. £19.40 paper.

1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-501
Author(s):  
John Baugh
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Trainee Teachers ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Oxford University Press

This book is a compilation of informative chapters containing selected papers (1988–1995) that first appeared in the English Language Teaching Journal, edited by Hedge and Whitney. The chapters have been reorganized “to provide a useful resource for teachers, trainee teachers, teacher educators, students, and researchers” (p. 1).

English Students’ Attitudes towards English Language Teaching and Learning at IAIN Padangsidimpuan

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Royani ◽  
T. Silvana Sinar
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Role Models ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
English Students

This study investigated the English students’ attitudes of IAIN Padangsidimpuan towards both English language teaching in terms of (a) language-centered, (b) learner-centered, and (c) learning-centered method; and learning English in terms of scales (a) attitudes toward long-term English learning, (b) interest in culture and communication, (c) perception about studying in school context, (d) images associated with English, (e) English learning activities, (f) exposure to English outside school, (g) self-rated four English skills, (h) self-reported academic English grade, and (i) identification of English role models. The data were obtained by questionnaire and interview from 10 selected students in which 4 male and 6 female students in 7th semester and were analyzed by steps provided by Gay, L.R and Airasian (1996). The result showed:  first, English students’ attitudes towards English language teaching had been found highly onlearning-centered method, followed by learner-centered method in second range, and almost negative view in language-centered method.Second, English students’ attitudes towards English language learningwere positivein scales; long-term English learning, interest in communication, and images associated with English.  Third, role of students’ gender on English language learning were not found. Reasons for this statement are (i) status of English as international language and (ii) equalization of getting education for male and female. Keywords: attitude, language teaching, language learning, and gender

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