scholarly journals Normativity in language teacher learning: ELF and the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Stefanie Riegler
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Formation Programs

Abstract As with any proposal for a change in pedagogy, the starting point for implementation is teacher education. Suggestions have been put forward for an approach to English language teaching (ELT) which takes into account the lingua franca function language can fulfill. Frameworks for how teachers might adopt a pedagogy of English as a lingua franca (ELF), however, are inconsistent with current policy guidelines for student teacher learning. This concerns most notably those directives provided in the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL), which is used in a growing number of teacher formation programs. This paper examines the ‘can-do’ statements which the EPOSTL proposes should represent the required methodological competences of language teachers. Using discourse analytic methods, the article explores what the EPOSTL portrays that prospective teachers need to know about language and how to teach it. It is argued that the language education policy represented by the EPOSTL is based on a conceptual perspective that can only impede the development of a genuinely reflective approach to the education of English language teachers and the implementation of an ELF pedagogy.

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

e-TEALS ◽  
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.

scholarly journals English Language Teaching within the New Educational Policy of Turkey: Views of Stakeholders

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esim Gursoy ◽  
Sule C. Korkmaz ◽  
Ebru A. Damar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Second Grade

Teaching English to young learners has gained speed in the past twenty years. Many countries in Europe are offering English at the primary level as advised by the EU. The efforts to lower the age for foreign language learning have echoed in countries in Asia as well. Turkey as one of these countries has changed its educational policy in 2012 and launched the new English Language Teaching Program for grades 2-8 in 2013. Along with many changes, the new system offers EFL in the second grade. The present study not only aims to investigate the views of prospective ELT teachers towards this change, but also to compare their views with those of trainers, and English teachers who were investigated in the earlier phases of the study. The results indicate that although all three groups of participants favor an earlier start in foreign language education, there are significant differences between groups in terms of the appropriate starting time and teaching methodologies used. Teachers were indecisive as they favored both the first and second tiers to introduce a foreign language. The results have implications for policy makers, teachers, teacher trainers, and prospective teachers.

Student teachers’ perceptions of critical thinking and its teaching

ELT Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48
Author(s):  
Rui Yuan ◽  
Paul Stapleton
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Education ◽  
Teachers Perceptions

Abstract Although the importance of critical thinking (CT) has been stressed in English language education, little attention has been paid to language teachers’ perceptions and experiences regarding CT during the pre-service stage of their careers. Drawing on data from a focus group and follow-up email interviews with pre-service language teachers, this study shows that the participants had a limited understanding of CT, and lacked preparation and support in their programmes regarding how to implement CT-oriented teaching practices. The findings also revealed a range of individual and contextual challenges faced by the participants when they tried to integrate CT into their language teaching. The study concludes with recommendations on how to cultivate a critical mindset among language teachers while developing CT-oriented pedagogies.

scholarly journals An Investigation of Learner Autonomy in Turkish EFL Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilek Cakici
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Study Data ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
General Aspects

This study investigated the teachers’ perceptions as to what extent learners should be involved in decision making processes concerning the general aspects of learner autonomy. The primary aim of the research was to find out learning autonomy perceptions of Turkish prospective teachers of English. It is also aimed to explore the effect of gender on the views held by prospective English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers. To this end, a total of 88 senior students (54 females, 34 males) in the Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) at Ondokuz Mayıs University participated in this study. Data were collected by the questionnaire “Learner Autonomy: the Teachers’ Views” developed by Camilleri (1997). The obtained data were analyzed and interpreted in the form of percentage level for related items. The results of this study indicated that EFL student teachers seem to be ready to take more responsibility and control for their own learning in certain aspects of learner autonomy, whilst in some other areas they still demand teacher’s support and guidance. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that overall males and females held similar views about learner autonomy in EFL context. However, a significant gender-based difference was reported in three items. 

scholarly journals Authenticity and awareness of English as a lingua franca in English language classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTONIO TAGLIALATELA
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The One ◽  
English Language Classrooms

Research on the incorporation of the emerging English as a lingua franca (ELF) paradigm into English language teaching has flourished in recent years, foregrounding the necessity of translanguaging practices. However, despite the growing awareness of ELF, teachers still struggle to determine whether and how to adhere to the emerging paradigm. In particular, the authenticity of ELF teaching methods in the English language classroom has not been sufficiently addressed, and therefore, needs to be revamped. The aim of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, it explores the aspect of teachers’ ELF awareness in English teaching practices as well as the importance of incorporating authentic ELF materials into the classroom to help learners become ELF-aware and, consequently, competent intercultural speakers. On the other hand, it helps English language teachers, specifically those who have no or marginal exposure to ELF to reflect on the subject they teach, challenging the dominant World Englishes paradigm.

scholarly journals Pedagogical Practicum and Student-Teachers Discursively Conceived in an ELT Undergraduate Program

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-198
Author(s):  
Edgar Lucero ◽  
Andrea Margarita Cortés-Ibañez
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Ethnography Of Communication ◽  
Undergraduate Program ◽  
Institutional Image ◽  
Linguistic Ethnography

The research study shows how pedagogical practicum is conceived, and how student-teachers are constructed as language teachers, within the discourses spoken in the initial meetings and institutional documents of pedagogical practicum in an English language teaching undergraduate program in Bogota, Colombia. The discourses were analyzed under the principles of ethnography of communication and linguistic ethnography. This study affords insights into a contributory conception of pedagogical practicum and into an institutional image and a teacher’s figure of student-teachers. Pedagogical practicum contains several academic, professional, and experiential aspects that configure this space with established (pre-) requisites, tasks, and roles for student-teachers; these aspects in turn start constructing these individuals with particular manners of must-be and must-do.

scholarly journals Rethinking and Reconfiguring English Language Education: Averting Linguistic Genocide in Cameroon

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Carlous Muluh Nkwetisama
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
English Language Education ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Local Languages

The over 285 indigenous languages of Cameroon may be crushed by the English language. To ensure a sustainable linguistic ecological balance whose peace is undoubtedly threatened by the global imperialistic terrors of English colonialism, an overhaul of ELT practitioners is needed. The English language is taught and learned in Cameroon against a conflictual linguistic platform of French (the other official language of questionable equal status as English), Pidgin English and over 285 indigenous languages. Of these local languages, just about 40 are currently being used (taught) in education at the different levels of education in the country. The aim of this paper was to examine the English language politics, practices and teaching. It thereafter evaluated English language teachers’ perception of the so called English Language Teaching Tenets. It also aimed at assessing the functional load of English and it ascertained the extent to which it was threatening the development of local languages as well as effective access to education in Cameroon. 

scholarly journals ‘A more inclusive mind towards the world’: English language teaching and study abroad in China from intercultural citizenship and English as a lingua franca perspectives

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 608-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan (Gabriel) Fang ◽  
Will Baker
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Language Education ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
The Status ◽  
World English

With the status of English as a global lingua franca (ELF), English is no longer the sole property of its Anglophone native English speakers (NES) problematizing the current dominance of Anglophone cultures and NES in the field of English language teaching (ELT). The notion of intercultural citizenship education offers a critical alternative model in language education. To investigate how ELF, intercultural approaches and the concept of intercultural citizenship might be integrated within the field of ELT, a study was conducted in a university located in southeast China. Due to the large number of ELT learners and high degree of student mobility in China these are issues of much relevance in this setting. The research collected qualitative data through face-to-face interviews, email interviews and focus groups with students on study abroad programmes who have both ELT and first-hand intercultural experiences. Many students spoke positively about aspects of intercultural citizenship, but classroom instruction offered only limited channels for students to experience and understand intercultural communication and citizenship. In contrast, most of their understanding and experiences were gained outside the classroom during study abroad. Furthermore, many students spoke about the importance of English in their development of intercultural connections and citizenship. We conclude that more in-depth and critical approaches to teaching language, culture and intercultural communication in ELT are needed which foster and cultivate students’ sense of intercultural citizenship.

scholarly journals Problems Related to the Teaching of English Pronunciation in Pre-service Institutions: A Study at the Wesley College of Education, Kumasi, Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Davida Aba Mensima Asante-Nimako
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Dark Cycle ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Teaching Learning

The purpose of the study was to find out the problems related to the teaching of English pronunciation in the pre-service training institutions. Wesley College of Education, Kumasi, Ghana, was used as a case study. Out of the problems, deductions were made to make recommendations. Three tutors of English and twenty students were purposively sampled for the study. Through the use of interviews, three key findings, realized from the research include the following: First, the mode of correcting students’ mispronunciation. The manner in which some tutors correct students’ mispronunciation was found to be very discouraging to the students; second, the less attention given to English ‘pronunciation’ as one of the aspects of English language teaching/learning was a concern; In any case, though pronunciation was not conspicuously part of the English course outline, it did not imply that there was no form of pronunciation teaching. Thus, during the teaching learning process pronunciation teaching go on directly or indirectly. In terms, of other subject areas other than English language, pronunciation teaching hardly happens. More importantly, another vital problem found was the poor foundation at the basic level of education. The student teachers should in-turn have a better grounding in English pronunciation to teach the pupils in the basic schools in Ghana. Unfortunately, the ill tradition of unintelligible pronunciation goes on, which the researcher terms it the ‘dark cycle’. The views of students and tutors were gathered through recording and transcription of interviews. The research generally reveals the need for language teachers and curriculum planners to factor in pronunciation as a vital aspect of building up students; especially, student- teachers who will complete soon and go and teach younger ones, ensuring the avoidance of ‘dark cycle’ as the researcher’s term, explained in the ‘key words’.

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

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.

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