Prospective English language teachers’ perceptions towards a new paradigm in foreign language education: Flipped classroom model

This qualitative descriptive case study reports the features in autonomy dynamics of three Colombian English language teachers in public schools in the District in Bogota Colombia. Three semi-structured interviews and reflective journals were used for data collection. The research question that guided this study was: What perceptions about autonomy do the three Colombian English language teachers have? The general purpose of this investigation was to identify the main features in teachers’ perceptions related to Autonomy. The specific objective was to identify the strategies that promoted autonomy in Teachers of English as a Foreign Language -TEFL- in different public schools in Bogota, Colombia. The study is, therefore, particularly significant as it can play a role in encouraging Colombian English as a Foreign Language -EFL- teachers to relate the factors needed to get a high quality in Education dynamics. Data indicated that the process heightened the teachers’ awareness of ‘self’ and practice. Autonomy also activated both the teachers’ ability to critically reflect on their context as well as focus on positive aspects of their practice through the willingness to improve their academic abilities and research production. Taken together, the findings serve as baseline data to further professional development in language assessment.

Download Full-text

Interculturality in English Language Teaching – A Small Study with Portuguese Teachers

e-TEALS ◽

10.2478/eteals-2018-0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 107-125

Author(s):

Ana Ponce de Leão

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Intercultural Competence ◽

English Language ◽

Communicative Competence ◽

Language Education ◽

Language Teachers ◽

English Language Teaching ◽

Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽

Language Teacher ◽

Teachers Perceptions

Abstract UNESCO and many other organisations worldwide have been working on approaches in education to develop tolerance, respect for cultural diversity, and intercultural dialogue. Particularly, the Council of Europe has laid out guiding principles in several documents to promote intercultural competence, following Byram’s and Zarate’s efforts in integrating this important component in language education. The commitment to developing the notion of intercultural competence has been so influential that many countries, e.g., Portugal, have established the intercultural domain as a goal in the foreign language curricula. However, this commitment has been questioned by researchers worldwide who consider that action is needed to effectively promote intercultural competence. The research coordinated by Sercu, for example, suggests that, although foreign language teachers are willing to comply with an intercultural dimension, their profile is more compatible with that of a traditional foreign language teacher, rather than with a foreign language teacher, who promotes intercultural communicative competence. In this study, I propose to examine teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about intercultural communicative competence in a cluster of schools in Portugal and compare these findings with Sercu’s study. Despite a twelve-year gap, the present study draws similar conclusions.

Download Full-text

Intercultural Competence in the Eyes of State School English Language Teachers in Turkey

Journal of language and Education ◽

10.17323/jle.2020.10327 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 56-75

Author(s):

Nur Gedik Bal ◽

Perihan Savas

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Intercultural Competence ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Teachers Perceptions ◽

Efl Teachers ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Foreign Language Classrooms

Equipping students with intercultural competence (hereafter IC) is a critical aim of English foreign language classrooms nowadays, and EFL teachers have emerged as essential players for accomplishing this. These teachers should essentially be competent in their intercultural skills so that they can pass these on to their students in order to foster interculturally competent language learners. However, teachers' perceptions regarding IC remain uncertain, particularly in the Turkish context. Thus, before asking teachers to apply methods and strategies so that they can enhance students’ IC in the classroom, it is vital that we investigate what they understand about IC. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to reveal middle and high school teachers’ understanding of the IC phenomenon and their description of the characteristics of an interculturally competent foreign language learner and teacher. In addition, teachers’ perceptions regarding their own and their learners’ IC were also explored in this study. The participants were 30 middle and high school English language teachers teaching at state schools in Turkey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data. MAXQDA was exploited in order to analyse the data, primarily to code, categorize, and systematize the findings. The results indicated that the teachers considered IC to be the ability to communicate with people from various cultures effectively, having knowledge about one’s own, target, and other cultures, and developing positive attitudes toward other cultures and societies. They also emphasized the inseparability of language and culture and the importance of English as an international language. The teachers also indicated why they viewed themselves and their learners as interculturally competent or incompetent, which could provide insight into where to start intercultural learning and teaching in foreign language classrooms and how to train EFL teachers about different dimensions of IC.

Download Full-text

Teaching English to Young Learners in Mexico: Teachers’ Perceptions About Their Teaching Contexts

PROFILE Issues in Teachers Professional Development ◽

10.15446/profile.v22n1.82105 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 125-139

Author(s):

Tania Millán Librado ◽

Nora M. Basurto Santos

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Foreign Language ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Teachers Perceptions ◽

Negative Perceptions ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

The Government ◽

Urgent Action

This paper discusses the perceptions that six English language teachers, from public schools in the south region of the state of Veracruz in Mexico, have about their particular teaching contexts. A qualitative approach was adopted, and main data collection was through semi-structured interviews. The results show that all teachers have mostly negative perceptions about their teaching conditions. It was concluded that urgent action is needed on the part of the government to improve the English as a foreign language scenario, especially now when the introduction of English as a foreign language has been proposed at even earlier ages in all levels of education in the country.

Download Full-text

Transforming English Language Education in Saudi Arabia: Why Does Technology Matter?

International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET) ◽

10.3991/ijet.v15i06.12655 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (06) ◽

pp. 108

Author(s):

Saleh Al-Shehri

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

English Education ◽

Language Education ◽

Teaching Experience ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Teachers Perceptions ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Vision 2030 ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Almost All

Several studies have discussed the potential of reforming the Saudi educational system in line with Vision 2030 announced in 2016. While some studies highlighted factors that can make transformation successful, reviewed studies proposed future plans on how educational reform can take place, i.e., studies that investigated the Vision’s educational opportunities are mostly proposals, meaning that no experimental research has yet been conducted on the actual learning practice, particularly with English education and the incorporation of technology into learning. Thus, the current longitudinal study is an attempt to investigate English language teachers’ perceptions of and attitudes about the Vision and whether they have experienced any remarkable educational changes in their own behavior and teaching practices. The study was conducted with 15 female in-service English language teachers. Data was collected in two phases to reveal any change in teachers perceptions over time. The study concluded that almost all participants held positive attitudes toward Vision 2030. However, there was not a correlation between teachers' perceptions and actual teaching experience in terms of pedagogical and technological perceptions and the Vision's implications.

Download Full-text

Ideal Classroom Setting for English Language Teaching Through the Views of English Language Teachers (A Sample from Turkey)

English Language Teaching ◽

10.5539/elt.v13n3p31 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 31

Author(s):

Canan Demir Yıldız

Keyword(s):

High Schools ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Classroom Environment ◽

English Language ◽

Language Education ◽

Language Teachers ◽

English Language Teaching ◽

Classroom Setting ◽

English Language Teachers

English is the most common foreign language given as a class in Turkey. Although English language education has been given for many years, it is seen that there is not a desired result yet. There are many factors that affect this situation such as language, program, method, language education policies, teacher, and student. One of the factors affecting language education is the pysical classroom setting. Within this context, it is searched for ideal classroom setting in language education at high schools. 22 English language teachers from 9 different high schools participated in the study. Views of teachers were reported to Word and analyzed through content analysis. In the context of the current research, it is stated that there are some technological problems, the areas where foreign language materials are exhibited in the classroom environment are limited, and the classrooms do not allow different seating arrangements. According to English language teachers, it was stated that there should be technological equipment and hardware in an ideal language learning setting, there should be sufficient areas for displaying visual materials, furniture should be flexible and classroom population should be at an ideal level.

Download Full-text

Measuring Digital Competence and ICT Literacy: An Exploratory Study of In-Service English Language Teachers in the Context of Saudi Arabia

International Education Studies ◽

10.5539/ies.v10n12p38 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 38 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ahmed Abdulteeef M. Al Khateeb

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Foreign Language ◽

English Language ◽

Research Question ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Future Research ◽

Ict Literacy ◽

Digital Competence ◽

Diverse Range ◽

English Language Teachers

The purpose of this research is to measure in-service English language teachers' digital competence, particularly for the enhancement of teaching English as a second/foreign language in schools in Saudi Arabia. Information and communication technology (ICT) knowledge is currently considered as a vital skill for foreign language teachers in addition to their linguistic competence. Recently, there has been a focus on digital competence, since it can be regarded as a gateway for enriching knowledge, economies, societies and individuals. There is also a massive need for teachers to assess their own digital competence according to non-conventional norms (i.e., having the ability to share content and manage information). In light of this rationale, this paper investigates the following research question: to what extent are English language teachers in Saudi Arabia digitally competent and in what aspects? This study used a standardized questionnaire that was constructed using a validated comprehensive framework. This instrument was designed to assess the professional capability of English language teachers in terms of their willingness and readiness to use ICTs along with their current digital competence used throughout their teaching and educational practices. The research included a diverse range of participants who come from various backgrounds, genders and experiences. The study was concluded with a presentation of useful recommendations and key research questions for future research.

Download Full-text

Teachers’ perceptions and the implementation of the adapted communicative approach in Libya

Linguistics and Culture Review ◽

10.21744/lingcure.v6ns2.2103 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Author(s):

Abdurahman Milad ◽

Dwi Rukmini ◽

Dwi Anggani ◽

Rudi Hartono

Keyword(s):

High Schools ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Target Language ◽

Teachers Perceptions ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Communicative Approach ◽

Gender Based ◽

The City ◽

Meaningful Communication

This study instigates the teachers’ perceptions towards the implementation of the adapted communicative approach to teach English language in Libyan high schools in the city of Khoms. The participants were six teachers of different gender-based high schools. The study followed a pure qualitative method to collect and analyze the date, and the data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire. The findings reveal that the majority of English language teachers in Libyan high schools in Khoms city have positively perceived the implementation of the communicative approach (CA) to teach English language in their high schools’ contexts. They agreed to the majority of the questionnaire’s items such as: the CA emphasizes the communication in the target language and emphasizes that the learners need meaningful communication. All the participants said that they modify the principles of the communicative approach to meet the students’ needs and goals and most of them have agreed that the allocated time is not enough to complete the lesson in the classroom. This study draws out the pedagogical implication that the implementation of the adapted CA to teach English language in high schools in Libya can be quite adaptable, especially when the teachers have to fulfil the students’ needs.

Download Full-text

Pronunciation Errors of Letter “G” in English Language Made by Saudi Undergraduate Students

English Language and Literature Studies ◽

10.5539/ells.v6n4p104 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 104 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Huda Alqunayeer

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

English Language ◽

Female Students ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Test Results ◽

Loan Words ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Academic Year

The primary goal of the present study is to identify the problematic areas in the pronunciation of the letter “g” in English written words made by Saudi female learners of English as a foreign language, and the reasons for the weakness associated with mispronunciation of English written words which contain this letter. The population of the study was the female students (90 students) and their English language teachers (12 teachers) at the Qassim University during the academic year (2014-2015). There were two types of instruments used in this study. The first was a pronunciation test for the student participants in order to investigate the problematic areas of pronouncing “g” in different environments in different words; and the second a questionnaire for the teacher participants to provide comprehensive data about the causes of these errors of pronouncing “g” committed by EFL female students at Qassim University. Ninety female students were included for the pronunciation test and 12 teachers were asked to answer the questionnaire. Simple percentage was used for analyzing the data of recording words (pronunciation test). Results of the students’ recording words revealed that the participants mispronounced “g” before nasals (68%). According to the results of the teachers’ responses to the questionnaire suggested many factors that can cause difficulties for students in terms of pronouncing “g” in English written words. According to them, these difficulties are concerned with reading difficulties, nonstandard spellings, letters that follow “g” (many of them may become combinations), loan words, orthography (no correspondence between the English alphabets and their sounds). The researcher offers recommendations that might help teachers and students to overcome and reduce these mispronunciations of this letter in English written words.

Download Full-text