scholarly journals Doing It by the Book: Training Student Teachers at the Faculty of Letters, the University of Porto (FLUP) to Evaluate English Language Teaching (ELT) Materials

e-TEALS ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nic Hurst
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
The University ◽  
The Bologna Process ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

Abstract Understanding what the use of a coursebook implies is at the heart of any consideration of how ELT instruction in Portugal operates and, as such, should also be central to any pre-service teacher education. Since the curricular reorganization prompted by the ‘Bologna Process’, the Faculty of Letters, the University of Porto (FLUP) has included within its ‘Masters in English and other Foreign Language Teaching’ course (Mestrado em Ensino de Inglês e de Alemão / Francês / Espanhol no 3.º ciclo do Ensino Básico e no Ensino Secundário) an optional, one semester subject called the “Production of Didactic Materials”. This talk will demonstrate and discuss how, in this case, training student teachers to develop a criteria based framework for evaluating FL teaching materials, and applying that same framework, can be considered a way of re-focusing the traditionally, largely theoretical, lecture-based training courses typical of the Portuguese paradigm.

Student Teachers' Evaluation of the Motivational Strategies Used in Foreign Language Teaching

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 1269-1286
Author(s):  
Sabahattin Deniz
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Motivational Strategies

How much importance is attached to motivational strategies in foreign language teaching by student teachers and the extent to which instructors use them in their courses was investigated. The study was performed with 179 student teachers attending the English Language Teaching Department of Mugla University, Turkey. The findings revealed that these student teachers thought motivational strategies were very important for learning a foreign language, and that their instructors use some of these strategies but did not use other strategies considered to be important by the student teachers. Interviews showed that students thought studying the cultural values of the target language facilitates fluent use of that language and assists retention.

scholarly journals A systematic analysis of a two-word concgram in Nepalese policy documents: A corpus-driven approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 33-51
Author(s):  
Madhu Neupane Bastola
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Education ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
The University

Corpus linguistics can inform language teaching in various aspects from syllabus designing to creating exercises based on the real use of language. However, its use in language teaching is still rare. In the context of Nepal, though corpus linguistics forms a part of the University Curriculum in English Education, the students are rarely offered a practical experience of corpus analysis. The same is the case with teacher training courses. This paper followed an analytical procedure for identifying phraseological variation within a two-word ‘concgram’ that is a set of co-occurring words. In this paper, a two-word concgram, make/effort, is analyzed to identify concgram configurations, the most frequently used form, and its meaning by using concordance lines. Lastly, the paper presents the implications of corpus analysis in English language teaching.

scholarly journals Arab English Language Teaching Candidates Climbing the IELTS Mountain: A Qualitatively Driven Hermeneutic Phenomenology Study

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Al-Issa ◽  
Ali Al-Bulushi ◽  
Rima Al-Zadjali
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Hermeneutic Phenomenology ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews

As a high-stakes international language proficiency benchmark, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) requires different and special Language Learning Strategies (LLS), which pose numerous challenges to its takers. Some Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) majoring in English Language Teaching (ELT), have therefore, failed to achieve an overall score of Band 6 on the IELTS as a language proficiency requirement and a condition mandated by the Ministry of Education for selecting English language teachers among. This qualitatively driven hermeneutic phenomenology study, hence, discusses this issue from an ideological perspective. The study triangulates data from semi-structured interviews made with six fourth-year ELT Student Teachers (STs) at SQU and the pertinent literature. The critical discussion revealed various ideologies about the powerful impact of the IELTS on the STs’ English language development. The findings have important implications for the practices of the teachers in the Omani ELT school system and elsewhere.

scholarly journals Effects of Digital Short Stories on the Development of Listening Skills: An Action Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 65-84
Author(s):  
Zeynep Çetin Köroğlu
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Listening Skills

Literary texts can be used to improve language learners' skills such as reading, writing, speaking and listening because these texts contain rich vocabulary, complex grammar structures, interesting plot and most importantly imagination of the author. However, using literature for language teaching purposes is a controversial issue among scholars. While some researchers think positively, others have negative views on the subject. Learners' needs and way of using literary texts are the main concerns of literature use in language pedagogy. In this context, the present research aimed to find out whether digital short stories can improve language learners' listening skills. The purpose of this study was to figure out student teachers' perceptions of digital short stories’ implementation into language classrooms. Specifically, the current research aimed to investigate whether digital short stories are useful to develop language learners' listening skills in English. The research is action research in design. The study used pre-test and post-test, a written structured interview to collect data and it included both quantitative and qualitative components. The interview consisted of six open-ended questions. Achievement tests and t-test were used to analyze quantitative data. On the other hand, content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The data were collected in 2016-2017 academic years, Bayburt University. Participants were prep class students of English language teaching department of Bayburt University. In the treatment process, digital short stories were used for eight weeks, which were written by various famous American authors and voice recorded by various American natives. Additionally, weekly worksheets and handouts were prepared by the researcher. Results showed that digital short stories provide satisfactory content, supports vocabulary learning, improves language learners’ listening skills, helps participants to gain familiarity with complex grammar structures and makes students more familiar with different cultures. Furthermore, participants are satisfied with digital short stories and they think these digital stories are useful to improve their listening skills.

scholarly journals Level teaching of the English language in schools of Kazakhstan: perception and understanding of the reform by teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 136-144
Author(s):  
A Litovkina ◽  
◽  
D Zhorabekova ◽  
A Issabekov ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
General Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
International Standards ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
School Level ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Quality Of Teaching

This article is devoted to the analysis of the current state of level teaching of the English language in schools in Kazakhstan. The introduction of the Common European Framework of References for Languages in the process of foreign language education in Kazakhstan entailed significant changes that made it possible to im-prove the quality of teaching English, bring it closer to international standards, and ensure its competitiveness at the global level. However, research has shown that in order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to take into account the awareness and opinion of teachers. This article is an exploratory study examining the application of CEFR in the English language teaching system in general education schools in Kazakhstan, with emphasis on the knowledge and opinions of teachers. The article also provides a brief overview of world experience in the practical application of the principles of CEFR in teaching English. This study used a survey for English teachers as the primary data collection method. The results of the study showed that there are difficulties at the school level that affect the final result of proficiency in English language teaching. Nevertheless, thanks to the adopted language policy, the country is undergoing a progressive development of foreign language ed-ucation and purposeful work is being carried out to ensure the quality of teaching English, which is reflected in almost all program documents for the development of education.

English Language Learning as Intercultural Experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Hamza R'boul ◽  
M Camino Bueno-Alastuey
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Education ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Intercultural Relations ◽  
Intercultural Experience ◽  
The University ◽  
Teaching In Higher Education

Teaching English in higher education entails additional factors and considerations that exemplify the complexity of accounting for the diverse population in modern higher education institutions. In particular, the increasing flow of international students and the employment demands of functioning in multicultural contexts render helping students to develop a critical understating of intercultural relations an important aspect of English language teaching. With the increasing adoption of English as a medium of instruction and its use as a lingua franca in intercultural communication, it is important to structure English education in a way that accounts for intercultural relations both in and outside the university. In addition to the postmodern conceptualizations of interculturality that emphasize the fluidity of culture, language and identity intercultural relations are characterized by power imbalances. That is why this chapter makes a case for the necessity of considering sociopolitical realities in intercultural English language teaching in higher education.

scholarly journals Creating pathways to developing a “Teacher Self” through metaphor analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-58
Author(s):  
Chin-Wen Chien
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Writing Analysis

This study analyzed eight Taiwanese English as a foreign language student teachers’ metaphors to explore their self and professional identity. This study has four major findings. First, metaphor writing was able to reveal important information about student teachers’ professional identities. Second, in terms of teaching demonstrations, metaphors written by those who taught and those who observed were different, being seen as variously as an “adventure” or a “carousel,” for instance, due to their different teaching and learning experiences. Third, their metaphors or metaphor discussions were not in-depth revelations of their understanding and knowledge of English language teaching. Fourth, these participants held positive attitudes toward metaphor writing, analysis, and discussion as “useful for reflection.”

scholarly journals An Interlanguage Study of Request Perspective: Evidence from German, Greek, Polish and Russian Learners of English

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-209
Author(s):  
Eva Ogiermann ◽  
Spyridoula Bella
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Strong Preference ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer ◽  
Language Groups

Abstract The present study examines request perspective, the least researched form of mitigation in requesting, while focusing on a type of request characterized by a strong preference for speaker perspective in English and for hearer perspective in most other languages researched to date. It examines requests produced by 900 speakers from nine different (inter)language groups: five groups of native speakers (English, German, Greek, Polish and Russian) and four groups of advanced learners of English as a foreign language (German, Greek, Polish and Russian L1s). While our learners used more conventionally indirect forms than did the native speakers of the respective L1s, showing awareness of this English pragmatic norm, they retained a preference for the hearer perspective. These results suggest reliance on pragmatic universals as an alternative explanation to pragmatic transfer, also illustrating the need to address less salient pragmatic features in English language teaching.

scholarly journals Teaching Speaking in the Nepalese Context: Problems and Ways of Overcoming them

1970 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bal Ram Adhikari
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Speaking Skill ◽  
Meaningful Interaction

Fluency-first approaches such as Communicative Language Teaching and Task-based Language Teaching aim at the development of communicative competence in students by engaging them in meaningful interaction. Ability to speak accurate, appropriate and effective English is vital for meaningful interaction that ensures students' communicative competence in English. Unfortunately, in the Nepalese context, especially in government-aided schools and constituent colleges of Tribhuvan University (TU), speaking skill lies on the periphery of English Language Teaching (ELT) owing to several factors. This article attempts to explore those factors that have been a hindrance in developing speaking skill in Nepalese students in general and the students from the above-mentioned institutions in particular. This article draws on the author's experience as a supervisor of student teachers from B.Ed. and M.Ed. programmes and his teaching experience at a constituent campus of TU. Moreover, the article presents some suggestions that can help English teachers to overcome the hindrances.Key words: Speaking skill; Interaction; Teacher-fronted teaching; Learner-centered activitiesJournal of NELTA Vol. 15 No. 1-2 December 2010Page: 1-9Uploaded date: 3 May, 2011DOI: 10.3126/nelta.v15i1-2.4602

scholarly journals Selected research in applied linguistics and English language teaching in Turkey: 2010–2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Aydınlı ◽  
Deniz Ortaçtepe
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Affective Factors

In this state-of-the-art review, we aim to build on Alptekin & Tatar's (2011) article covering research conducted in Turkey between 2005 and 2009, and survey published research in 31 Turkey-based journals between 2010 and 2016. As the second review paper on Turkey's English language teaching (ELT) agenda, our goal is twofold: first, to introduce the research of those researchers whose high-quality, Turkey-based work may not be known outside Turkish academia; and second, to point to recent scholarly developments that have occurred in Turkey and set these in the context of recent shifts in language teaching research worldwide. This paper presents approximately 140 articles that appeared in locally published peer-reviewed academic journals, and clearly demonstrates that Turkey as an English as a foreign language (EFL) context presents a vibrant research scene in language teaching. The reviewed works cover a wide spectrum of timely topics (e.g., computer-assisted language learning (CALL), the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL), language assessment, affective factors), and present findings that have much to contribute to current discussions in the field. Nevertheless, our review also reveals some concerning trends, including an almost exclusive emphasis on practical concerns over conceptual development; shortcomings in locating research within broader disciplinary debates; and few efforts to bring together and build on local research in a manner that might allow for original and creative influences on the broader discipline. It is therefore the further aim of this article to spark debates on these issues among Turkish scholars and contribute to the strengthening of the local disciplinary community.

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