scholarly journals Exploring Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Assessment in Beninese Secondary Schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc Gnonlonfoun
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Training School ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perspectives ◽  
Free Set ◽  
Porto Novo

There are limited resources available as far as pre-service EFL teachers’ views regarding assessment are concerned. Therefore, this study is set out to explore Beninese pre-service EFL teachers’ perspectives on the issue. In this line, 120 pre-service teachers were randomly selected from the 18th promotion of the BAPES/CAPES programme at the Teacher Training School of Porto-Novo (Ecole Normale Supérieure de Porto-Novo). The semi-structured interviews conducted with groups of ten participants were recorded and transcribed using Voice Notes 3.56 (free) set on a TECNO-W3 android cellphone. The data collected demonstrated that there is a gap between assessment theories and practices. Therefore, there is a necessity for all actors involved to work in order to redress the value accorded to assessment and the inherent grades in the Beninese society.

scholarly journals Iranian EFL Teachers' Perceptions Toward Teacher Training Courses

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 63-76
Author(s):  
Atefeh Nikoobin
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Interview Session ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
The Status ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
Teachers Attitudes ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

The present study aimed to evaluate teacher training courses (TTCs) in several institutes in Isfahan, Iran, to explore the teachers' perspectives on the status and characteristics of this program. More specifically, this study sought language teachers' perceptions on the aspects (duration, intensity, instructors, practicum) and contents (topics covered in the program, teaching the skills, theory) of the TTC program they attended. For this purpose, 34 language teachers were required to fill out a questionnaire to explore participant teachers' attitudes toward the TTC program elements. Furthermore, the teachers were invited to an interview session in order to share their opinions about the overall usefulness of teacher training courses they had attended. The findings revealed that, overall, the teachers were satisfied with different elements of this program. From the teachers ' point of view, the most useful aspect and content of the program were "instructors" and "teaching the skills", respectively.

Enhancing EFL Teachers’ Pronunciation Pedagogy Through Professional Learning: A Vietnamese Case Study

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822095247
Author(s):  
Loc Tan Nguyen ◽  
Jonathan Newton
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teaching Skills ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The Impact

The role of teacher professional learning (TPL) in assisting teachers to teach pronunciation in English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts has received little attention. The study reported in this paper extends this line of research by investigating how six EFL teachers at a Vietnamese university transform and integrate the pronunciation pedagogical knowledge they received from a TPL workshop into teaching practice. It then examines the teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the workshop on their knowledge gains and pronunciation teaching skills. Data were collected from seven lesson plans designed by the teachers, video recordings of 24 subsequent classroom observations, and six individual semi-structured interviews. The study adopted a content-based approach to qualitative data analysis. The findings show that the teachers were all able to translate TPL into classroom practice of pronunciation teaching. The findings further show that workshops designed and implemented in accordance with research-based TPL principles can be effective for promoting teachers’ knowledge of pronunciation pedagogy and refining their pronunciation teaching skills. The study has implications for ESL/EFL teachers’ professional development in pronunciation teaching.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perspectives of the use of CLT in ELT Classrooms: A Case of Soran District of Northern Iraq

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Serwan Husein Taha SHERWANI ◽  
Mehmet KILIÇ
Keyword(s):  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Northern Iraq ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Teacher Factors ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teachers Attitudes ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

This mixed-method study aims at exploring Iraqi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ attitudes towards Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). The study was conducted in Soran town, in the northern part of Iraq. The participants of the study were 58 EFL teachers from secondary and high school classrooms. In the first phase, a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire was administered (Karavas-Doukas, 1996) to examine the participants’ attitudes towards CLT principles: “place/importance of grammar, group/pair work, quality and quantity of error correction, the role of the teacher in the classroom, the role and contribution of learners in the learning process.” The second phase of the study was qualitative and consisted of semi-structured interviews to examine the reasons behind the implementation of CLT in terms of the factors that hinder and encourage the implementation of CLT in the Iraqi setting. The results of the quantitative analysis revealed that the teachers held overall positive attitudes towards the use of CLT. The findings of the interview phase concluded that the main factors that cause the failure and success of the implementation of CLT in Iraq can be categorized under four headings: educational factors, teacher factors, student factors, and CLT factors. The results of the study suggest that the educational system and the teachers’ communicative competence are essential to promote the employment of CLT in Iraqi EFL classrooms.

scholarly journals Self-directed Teacher Professional Development in Saudi Arabia: EFL Teachers’ Perceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1359
Author(s):  
Hamad I. Alshaikhi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional

This study explores Saudi EFL teachers’ perspectives, attitudes and experiences with regards to their teacher professional development (TPD) with special emphasis on workplace learning and self-directed initiatives. Using semi-structured interviews and reflective essays, the study managed to highlight a thriving workplace learning context in which teachers are involved in many forms of self-directed learning, including experiences stemming from the dailiness of the everyday realities of their schools. Data showed that Saudi EFL teachers are committed professionals who are well aware of a variety of TPD resources and opportunities; some of them are institutionalised while the majority are self-directed by teachers themselves beyond any institutional requirement. The study revealed that many participants had high preferences for self-directed learning over institutional provisions for its embeddedness in their context, the nature of their specialisation, and for the changing nature of their profession. Networking, collaboration, reflection and collegiality are some of the main features of self-directed learning as reflected in teachers’ current practices.

scholarly journals EFL teachers’ perceptions and practices of their language assessment knowledge

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Farhady ◽  
Kobra Tavassoli
Keyword(s):  
Language Assessment ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Meaningful Relationship ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
High Level

AbstractResearch on language assessment knowledge (LAK) of teachers has focused on two major topics: identifying the LAK needs of teachers and developing appropriate LAK tests. Although the prior research findings significantly contributed to our understanding of the parameters of LAK, they were mostly quantitative and did not provide much information about EFL teachers’ perceptions and applications of their LAK in a direct and face-to-face situation. Therefore, this qualitative study was designed to shed light on some key issues related to teachers’ LAK using semi-structured interviews. The issues included EFL teachers’ perception of their LAK and their utilization of LAK in their teaching. The participants were 11 teachers with a high level of LAK and 10 teachers with a low level of LAK determined by their performance on a LAK test. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed. The findings did not reveal significant differences in the responses provided by the two groups of teachers. Further, to investigate the extent of teachers’ application of LAK in classroom contexts, some of the tests made by the participating teachers were collected and content analyzed. The results showed that teachers with high LAK wrote longer tests with more varied sections and tasks. Finally, no meaningful relationship was found between the teachers’ level of LAK and their students’ performance on classroom achievement tests. The findings imply that the language assessment field needs more research on multiple dimensions of LAK.

scholarly journals EFL Teachers’ and Learners’ Perceptions of Grammatical Difficulties

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maha Alhaysony ◽  
Eid Alhaisoni
Keyword(s):  
Rank Order ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The One

This paper investigates grammatical difficulty from the perspective of Saudi university students, of EFL as well as from the perspective of university teachers. It aims to find out which English grammar features are more difficult/less difficult than others. Furthermore, it attempts to determine the reasons and causes that account for such grammar difficulty. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the two research instruments used in this study. A total number of 103 students and 85 university teachers took part in the questionnaire, while only 20 teachers and 25 students responded in the interview. All the participants were from Aljouf University (males and females). The results showed that some English grammar features were more difficult and some were less difficult than others. The obtained difficulty order determined by EFL learners and the one obtained by the teachers’ perceptions were compared. Some similarities and differences were found to exist in the rank order of the features for the two groups. The findings of the study may be beneficial to syllabus designers, material developers, teachers and EFL learners. 

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perceptions on Code-Switching in EFL Classroom Discourse

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Alireza Bonyadi ◽  
Mehdi Kheyrollahi Kalvanagh ◽  
Minoo Bonyadi
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Linguistic Proficiency

Abstract Feasibility of maintaining an educational sustainable development (ESD) depends on exploring teachers’ concepts on their common practices in classroom settings. Speakers in multilingual contexts commonly switch their codes, languages, during their numerous social interactions. Nowadays, the phenomena, code switching, has expanded to cover any situation in which speakers switch from one accepted code into another. Through this perspective, various studies have been conducted to investigate different aspects of code-switching in EFL classrooms. The present study qualitatively investigated teachers’ perceptions on code-switching in their classrooms addressing two research questions, namely what types of code-switching EFL teachers were practicing in EFL classrooms and what were their perceptions on their code-switching. Four EFL teachers participated in the study. The analysis of the data collected through manual and electronic observations as well as structured interviews, indicated that intra-sentential and inter-sentential types of code-switching were practised throughout the classroom teaching processes. The main motives for resorting to code-switching were found to be EFL students’ lack of linguistic proficiency, keeping solidarity with the students and managing the classrooms.

An Exploratory Study of EFL Teachers’ Perceptions on Grammar Terminology Use in Kosova

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Sermin Turtulla
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Curriculum Change ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Communication Competence ◽  
Frequency Count ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Percentage Distribution ◽  
Efl Teachers

This exploratory study aims to find out perceptions of EFL teachers on grammar terminology use in Kosova in the light of recent national curriculum change in language teaching. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires administered to EFL teachers teaching in primary and lower secondary schools in Prizren. Data was analysed using frequency count and percentage distribution. Findings of the study revealed that teachers show superiority of communication competence over grammar competence in thought and the opposite in practice.

scholarly journals English as a foreign language—teachers’ perspectives on implementing online instruction in the Iranian EFL context

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Dashtestani
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Blended Instruction ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

This study set out to explore Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions on the implementation of online EFL instruction. A mixed-methods design, including semi-structured interviews and questionnaires, was employed for the specific purposes of this study. A total of 242 EFL teachers participated in the questionnaire phase of the study. In addition, 46 EFL teachers participated in the interview phase of the study. The teachers worked at a number of universities, schools and language-teaching institutions in Iran. Results suggest that although the Iranian EFL teachers adopted moderately positive attitudes towards the implementation of online instruction, the majority of them preferred blended instruction to online instruction. At the same time, the study revealed that the implementation of online EFL instruction in Iran is challenging due to a number of perceived impediments and obstacles. The most considerable perceived challenges to the implementation of online EFL instruction comprise lack of online facilities and resources, lack of interaction in online instruction, cultural resistances to online instruction and teachers’ limited knowledge of online instruction. The findings of this study provided crucial insights into teachers’ perspectives on a number of measures that can be adopted to facilitate the integration of online instruction in the EFL context of Iran. The findings would provide valuable insights for educational authorities and course designers to integrate online instruction into the EFL curriculum.Keywords: online instruction; blended instruction; teachers' attitudes; challenges; English as a foreign language(Published: 14 March 2014)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2014, 22: 20142 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v22.20142

scholarly journals Creative thinking skills in the Lebanese schools from secondary physics teachers’ perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-130
Author(s):  
Fouad Yehya
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Physics Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Professional Development For Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perspectives ◽  
Physics Curriculum

This paper examines the degree of enhancing creative thinking skills in the physics curriculum in Lebanese secondary schools from the physics teachers’ perspectives. It is realistic based study adopted the descriptive quantitative method to collect data by questioner from 141 Lebanese secondary physics teachers from different Lebanese districts. Furthermore, an open-ended interview with many physics teachers was used to triangulate the survey obtained data. Results of both descriptive and inferential statistics indicated that the degree of using creative thinking in the Lebanese secondary schools and curricula is low and insufficient. Moreover, the results showed no statistically significant differences in the level of physics teachers’ perceptions about the role of the Lebanese curriculum and secondary schools of enhancing creative thinking skills among physics teachers’ gender, qualification and years of experience. Physics teachers must improve their divergent methods of teaching. Furthermore, professional development for teachers and appropriate training for learners on different learning strategies and the integration of well-designed activities in the curricula are a must to improve learners’ creative thinking skills. Keywords: Creative thinking skills, Lebanese physics curriculum, Lebanese secondary schools

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