Mentoring as a Supportive Way for Novice Teachers in Foreign Language Teacher Development: A Case Study in an Ethnic College in China

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 318
Author(s):  
Ru Li
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Novice Teachers ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
One Year

Mentoring has been explored from various perspectives under different theoretical frameworks. The situation-based mentoring brings a lot of possibilities and sustainabilities to the student teachers. Given the overview on the literature of mentoring, it can be found that the research about mentoring mainly is concerned with English-speaking countries such as US and UK and populates in general teacher education. The research in subject-specific field receives scant attention, such as in Foreign Language Teacher Development (hereafter, FLTD). Finding few reports from China, especially about the novices in ethnical colleges, the empirical study running through one year from in an ethnic college shows that mentoring is a supportive way in FLTD for supporting novices. Under the framework of sociocultural theory, we found that, in addition to improving of teaching skills, mentoring can (1) lessen novices’ stress and ‘reality shock’ in teaching and strengthen the sense of belongings; (2) facilitate novice teachers’ reflection ability and (3) foster novice teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching.

Cultural and Contextual Affordances in Language MOOCs

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
Carolin Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Private University ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Elective Course ◽  
In The Beginning

This case study explores cultural and contextual affordances in language massive open online courses (LMOOCs), especially the extent to which an LMOOC effectively promotes optimal language learning. Participants included 15 language student teachers of English as a second or foreign language in a spring technology elective course at a private university on the East Coast. Student teachers enrolled in language MOOCs and tracked and evaluated their learning process and progress through weekly logs and surveys. Data was collected from weekly reflection logs and pre- and post-surveys. Results indicate that the cultural affordances were more salient in the advanced Spanish MOOC and the Hindi MOOC, while in the beginning-level LMOOCs, contextual factors were lacking overall.

Language teacher identity

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayriye Kayi-Aydar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Pedagogical Choices ◽  
Language Teacher Identity

The topic of language teacher identity receives strong attention in current scholarly literature. Understanding the complexities of identities that second/foreign language teachers construct is crucial because the ways teachers perceive themselves as professionals impact teacher development (e.g., Kanno & Stuart, 2011*), interactions with peers and colleagues (e.g., Kayi-Aydar, 2015*), pedagogical choices or classroom practices (e.g., Duff & Uchida, 1997*), and access to power and ownership of language (De Costa & Norton, 2017*; Varghese et al., 2016*), ultimately undergirding or undermining second/foreign language teaching (Varghese et al., 2016*).

scholarly journals Vocational High School Teachers' Beliefs on Teaching Speaking Skills in English as a Foreign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-346
Author(s):  
Khairunnisa Khairunnisa ◽  
Dadang Sudana ◽  
Rojab Siti Rodliyah
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Vocational High School ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
English Speaking

Before improving and developing the best method for teaching speaking in vocational schools, teachers' beliefs and beliefs should be unpacked to know how far the understanding of them. This article presents a case study that examined vocational school teachers' beliefs and practices to do teach as a foreign language, especially speaking comprehension. Based on the case study, four teachers were asked to fill the questionnaire to get the information about their beliefs; forty students were confirming the practices of those beliefs in the classroom through questionnaires. Findings unfolded English teachers' views related to their roles, the students' positions, the effective English speaking teaching, the language used in the classroom, and the goals of teaching speaking. Based on the students' statement, the convergence of educators' beliefs to practices arrived at half of the teachers. The study results give teachers implications for constructing valid thoughts and provides an overview for stakeholders to decide an efficient teaching strategy.

scholarly journals Reflexiones sobre la idea de comunicatividad para la clase de español como lengua extranjera en Noruega

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-125
Author(s):  
Xavier Llovet Vilá
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Language Teacher

This article is to be conceived as a reflection on communicative oriented foreign language teaching in Norwegian compulsory education. More specifically, the objective is to succinctly examine some key aspects in the implementation of a communicative approach in the Spanish as a foreign language classroom. Based on existing research on foreign language teaching in Norway, it can be affirmed that despite the communicative paradigm initiated half a century ago, the implementation of communicative oriented practices in lower secondary school is limited. This is due, among many other factors, to the strong impact that language teacher schooling beliefs exert on teaching practices over the theoretical principles upon which the curricular reform is based (Kunnskapsløftet-K06). Thus, the success of the recent curricular renovation (Fagfornyelsen-K20) lies in part on how language teacher development programs, both pre-service and in-service, convey the communicative oriented teaching principles to engage teachers in a critical reflexive process of cognition articulation. This reflection examines these principles and suggests an eventual approach for teacher development programs to facilitate the challenge that students face when establishing connections between theory and practice and the articulation of their cognitions. Keywords: teacher cognition, Spanish as a foreign language, curriculum reform, teacher development, communicative language teaching. RESUMEN Este artículo se concibe como una reflexión acerca de la idea central de comunicatividad en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras en la educación reglada noruega. Más concretamente, el objetivo es examinar sucintamente los aspectos clave en la implementación de un enfoque comunicativo en la clase de español como lengua extranjera (ELE). Desde la conjunta investigación en didáctica de lenguas extranjeras en Noruega, se constata que cinco décadas después del inicio del paradigma comunicativo, la enseñanza de lenguas en la escuela secundaria noruega muestra una limitada orientación comunicativa. Uno de los factores que explican este fenómeno es la fuerte influencia que ejercen las creencias de los profesores originadas en su periodo de escolarización por encima de los principios teóricos sobre los que se sustenta la reforma educativa vigente (Kunnskapsløftet-K06). El éxito de la nueva renovación educativa (Fagfornyelsen-K20) radica parcialmente en cómo los programas de desarrollo docente, tanto de manera inicial como continua, vehiculan los principios de la enseñanza comunicativa para que los profesores participen en procesos de reflexión crítica en la articulación de sus creencias. Esta reflexión examina estos principios y sugiere un eventual acercamiento en los programas de formación que facilite el reto al que se enfrentan los estudiantes de relacionar conceptos teóricos con su implementación práctica y la articulación de sus creencias.

scholarly journals ZNACZENIE PRAKTYK W ROZWIJANIU KOMPETENCJI NAUCZYCIELSKIEJ – PERSPEKTYWA PRAKTYKANTA I MENTORA

Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 209-220
Author(s):  
Teresa Siek-Piskozub ◽  
Aleksandra Jankowska
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teacher Competence ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Teaching Process ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Important Stage ◽  
School Based ◽  
Teaching Competence

Teaching practice is an important stage in prospective foreign language teacher development. It is an opportunity for reflection on the teaching process as well as for (self) evaluation of one’s teaching competence. Trainees approaching their practicum should be prepared by their educa-tional institutions for the challenges they may face in a real school con-text. In the article we report on two studies undertaken to obtain an in-sight into the practicum from the trainee perspective and from the school-based mentor perspective in the hope of identifying areas which require improvement. Descriptions of the design of the two studies and the analyses of their results are preceded by a discussion of the im-portance of reflection on foreign language teacher competence and the place of practicum in the development of competence.

Symbols, Symbolism and Significance in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi: Specific Content Knowledge for Teacher Development

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Visvaganthie Moodley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Literary Genres ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive

Symbols and symbolisms across literary genres are powerful rhetoric devices used to enhance not only writers’ style, but to convey richness in meaning that transcends narrative descriptions. However, as its interpretations are context-bound, it causes anxieties for the under-proficient language teacher who, firstmost, requires deep specific content knowledge to drive instruction and enhance cognition amongst learners. Using qualitative descriptive case study, this paper aims to provide specific content knowledge by examining the literary use of symbols, symbolisms and significance in Yann Martel’s ‘Life of Pi’, which has been prescribed as a set book for Grade 12 school-exiting learners in South Africa, for the year 2017 onwards. The paper will – by analysing arbitrary, cultural and personal symbolisms and significances, mostly through psychoanalytical lens – unravel covert meanings and messages in cultural, religious and environmental contexts whilst simultaneously showing how these are pivotal to understanding major themes in the novel.  

Cross-Institutional Blended Learning in Teacher Education

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 30-49
Author(s):  
Carolin Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Internet ◽  
American Student ◽  
Model Learning ◽  
Exploratory Case Study ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

This paper presents findings from an exploratory case study, with the purpose of illustrating how student teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) in the United States and student teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Germany evaluated a blended learning course that focused on jointly creating Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) units via the Internet. This project enabled participants to share perspectives about teaching contexts and practices in other countries and learn about TBLT through model learning (Willis, 2001). Consequently, student teachers not only became more proficient users of technology, but also grew from the unique opportunity of collaborating with their future colleagues abroad. The author presents the German and American student teachers’ perspectives with regard to what both groups gained by participating in this project. Finally, the author makes suggestions for language teacher training.

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