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.

scholarly journals Patterns of Regularity, Stability and Interdependence in Research Related to Communities in ELT

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. p195
Author(s):  
Julia Posada-Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Senses ◽  
Unitary Concept

This paper presents a review of studies on communities in ELT in English-speaking countries and Latin America, including Colombia. The purpose of the article is to show that it is necessary to understand the senses Language Preservice Teachers make of the concept of communities and the ways they relate to each other and their teachers. Also, there is a unitary concept of community in the policies related to English Language Teacher Education in Colombia, a naturalization of the concept of community and patterns of regularity, stability and interdependence in research related to communities in English Language Teaching that make invisible how the English Language Preservice Teachers make sense of the concept of community in their affiliations or no affiliations with particular groups. Understanding the senses the English Language Preservice Teachers make about communities might bring to the fore other ways of knowing that can contribute to the improvement of the design of teacher education programmes.

In the Path of Creating a Relational “How” in Research

2022 ◽  
pp. 120-141
Author(s):  
Yeraldine Aldana
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Short Description ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Practical Realization ◽  
Doctoral Study

Some researchers consider the qualitative research approach is a finished enterprise; however, this is not the case. This chapter discusses some methodological decisions through a proposal that plurisignifies qualitative research as an otherwise intuitive approach. This derives from a doctoral study about peace construction (PC) in applied linguistics (AL) to English language teaching (ELT). Firstly, a problematization around qualitative research develops to question taken-for-granted methodological beliefs, concepts, and practices, which represent the instrumentalization of research. Secondly, a proposal to re-humanize these problematized aspects is presented through a discussion of its relationalities and a short description of a practical realization of it. Conclusions wrap up the main contributions of this chapter and comment on their possible implications.

scholarly journals Becoming mentors: a narrative exercise to unveil struggles guiding an english language teaching practicum

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 312-324
Author(s):  
Pilar Méndez-Rivera ◽  
Francisco Pérez-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Collaborative Reflection ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
Narrative Study ◽  
English Language Teachers

This paper analyses the memories of two English language teachers recollected about their struggles to break through as practicum mentors in two public universities. This small- scale narrative study emerged from the constant and collaborative reflection upon their long years of experience advising primary and secondary schools’ mentees, and upon the different situations mentors had to experience while performing their job. Findings revealed that despite having worked in two allegedly different settings, both mentors faced similar issues regarding their vision of education, their view on language and their own identity as teachers, which affected their guidance. They also found that the feedback they provided their mentees perpetuated or contradicted dominant visions where inclusion and diversity were neutralized.

scholarly journals LITERACIES AND DIGITAL GAMING: NEGOTIATING MEANINGS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 153-168
Author(s):  
Vanderlei J. Zacchi
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
English Language ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Digital Gaming

Digital epistemologies in the area of literacies and language teaching are becoming increasingly important, due to the radical transformations that our society is undergoing as a result of the advent of the new technologies of communication and of processes linked to globalization. It is a quite relevant and pressing issue, since children and the youth are coming to school in possession of a great deal of knowledge about and competence with digital tools and discourses. On the other hand, there are still a great number of students that lack digital literacy and face difficulties in reading from the screen. Taking into account the fact that the research on digital games and language teaching in Brazil is very incipient, the aim of this project is to examine ways that literacies and digital games can be combined to improve English language teaching in Sergipe and Brazil. Connecting all these topics may bring innovative results with potential to be applied to English language teaching and teacher education and solidify the research in this area.

scholarly journals Three Attitudes of a Reflective Teacher

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Sitti Nurfaidah
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Reflective Teaching ◽  
Reflective Teachers ◽  
Reflective Teacher

Reflective teaching practice in second/foreign language teaching education has been the focus of empirical studies attention since early 1990s. Despite the importance of the implementation of reflective teaching practice in the classrooms, there is still limited research on English language teaching in Indonesian context relative to the attitude of reflective teachers as revealed in their reflection. This study examined three attitudes of reflective teachers as proposed by Dewey, i.e. open-mindedness, wholeheartedness, and responsibility. They are considered as part of the keys in identifying the reflectivity state of the teacher. Data from two EFL preservice teachers’ reflection through reflective teaching journals and interview were analyzed using thematic analysis technique to identify emerging themes and to extract narratives of experience. The findings reveal that both of the preservice teachers reflected the three attitudes in their reflection indicating their development in preparing themselves into more professional teacher. This study’s implication on language teacher education program is also discussed. Keywords: reflection, reflective teacher, open-mindedness, wholeheartedness, responsibility

Arguing for a knowledge-base in language teacher education, then (1998) and now (2018)

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teacher Language ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Professional Confidence

This article examines how the concept of a knowledge-base in language teacher education has changed since the 1998 proposal. Arguing that a knowledge-base evolves in two ways: through changes in the field of knowledge, and through changes driven by the work that knowledge supports, I describe two problems: ‘translating’ theory into practice and the ‘positionality’ of those defining what counts as knowledge. The 1998 proposal outlined a work-driven framework in response to the former without fully acknowledging the latter: who is doing English language teaching, with whom, and to what ends. Revising the knowledge-base now depends on taking that positionality into account. With this in mind, I suggest three concepts – of teacher language use (English-for-Teaching), participation and agency, and professional confidence as a measure of outcome – as work-driven alternatives to our present thinking.

scholarly journals Global Englishes and language teaching: A review of pedagogical research

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath Rose ◽  
Jim McKinley ◽  
Nicola Galloway
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Global Language ◽  
Pedagogical Research

Abstract The rise of English as a global language has led scholars to call for a paradigm shift in the field of English language teaching (ELT) to match the new sociolinguistic landscape of the twenty-first century. In recent years a considerable amount of classroom-based research and language teacher education (LTE) research has emerged to investigate these proposals in practice. This paper outlines key proposals for change in language teaching from the related fields of World Englishes (WE), English as a lingua franca (ELF), English as an international language (EIL), and Global Englishes, and critically reviews the growing body of pedagogical research conducted within these domains. Adopting the methodology of a systematic review, 58 empirical articles published between 2010 and 2020 were shortlisted, of which 38 were given an in-depth critical review and contextualized within a wider body of literature. Synthesis of classroom research suggests a current lack of longitudinal designs, an underuse of direct measures to explore the effects of classroom interventions, and under-representation of contexts outside of university language classrooms. Synthesis of teacher education research suggests future studies need to adopt more robust methodological designs which measure the effects of Global Englishes content on teacher beliefs and pedagogical practices both before and throughout the programme, and after teachers return to the classroom.

scholarly journals PREPARATION PROGRAM FOR ENHANCING COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING ABILITY

2019 ◽  
pp. 318-332
Author(s):  
Saifon Songsiengchai ◽  
Punwalai Kewara ◽  
Denchai Prabjandee
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Preparation Program ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
The Real ◽  
Teaching Ability

English language teaching in Thailand has shifted the paradigm to implement the Communicative Language Teaching approach and focus on who is expected to understand and be able to create activities for them. Although the English teaching practicum provides an internship for all pre-service teachers, it is found that they lack sophisticated professional knowledge and skills. Pre-service teachers have anxiety about “how” and “what” to teach, the communicative language teaching activity for supporting students' communication. The Faculty of Education is aimed to train pre-service teachers before teaching in the real context. Preparation programs can prepare pre-service teachers to develop their knowledge and skills of teaching and learn how to competently apply these in the teaching practicum by teacher training. The purpose of this study is to investigate how to enhance pre-service teachers’ communicative language teaching ability through a designed three-day preparation program for teaching practicum. This qualitative research employed self-reflection to collect the data. Twelve pre-service teachers were selected to participate through purposive sampling. The data were analyzed by using content analysis as the coding technique for grounded theory. The results from the training session phases showed seven topics: confidence, speaking ability awareness, CLT classroom activities, awareness on learners’ language abilities, error tolerance, accuracy and fluency, and grammar discovery. In conclusion, the designated three-day program enhanced pre-service teachers' CLT regarding their knowledge and awareness of how to apply CLT to their future teaching practicum rather than gaining tangibly improved CLT performance. However, future study, such as on monitoring the pre-service teachers' teaching at the real professional context, i.e., during teaching practicum, is highly suggested to seek empirical evidence of their CLT ability.

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.

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