The Emancipated Student: Rethinking Knowledge, Equality and Democracy

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 32-40
Author(s):  
Siavash Bakhtiar

Abstract This paper’s ambition is to act as a short memento for novice language teachers. It is based on a reflexive practice that stems from my personal work experience as secondary school language teacher. Drawing upon Jacques Rancière’s portrayal of the paradoxical relation between explanation and emancipation, and Gaston Bachelard’s notion of epistemological obstacle, the article aims at giving way to a reflexion on the challenges of teaching a foreign language to a group of students coming from a particular cultural linguistic background in a secondary school. According to this perspective, which breaks away from common sense, the difficulties to learn of new language should not be understood in terms of lack or impairment, but rather as the presence of an a priori significant knowledge. From this alternative way to engage with education research emerges a political argument that does not envision equality between teachers and learners, and their emancipation, as a postponed goal, but instead as a presupposition to any democratic teaching practice.

2021 ◽  
pp. 83-98
Author(s):  
Silvia Gilardoni

In this paper we examine the treatment of terminology in CLIL context (Content and language integrated learning), through the analysis of a corpus of subject textbooks in a foreign language and in Italian as a second language. After introducing the CLIL methodology and its application in the field of foreign language and Italian as a second language teaching as regards the Italian context, we consider the role of terminology in CLIL environment. Then we present the results of the analysis of the corpus, which consists of CLIL textbooks in English for the secondary school and of subject textbooks in Italian as a second language for non-native speakers of secondary school and adult migrants who need the qualification of Italian secondary school. The analysis of the treatment of terminology in the corpus allows to outline methodological suggestions to integrate the terminological approach into teaching practice in different CLIL contexts.


PMLA ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 70 (4-Part2) ◽  
pp. 46-49 ◽  

It is Vitally important that teachers of modern foreign languages be adequately prepared for a task which more and more Americans are declaring essential to the national welfare. Though a majority of the language teachers in our schools are well trained, many have been poorly or inadequately prepared, often through no fault of their own. The undersigned therefore present this statement of what they consider the minimal, good, and superior qualifications of a secondary school teacher of a modern foreign language.


HOW ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
Liana Mercedes Torres-Casierra

This article presents the preliminary results of an enquiry on the work experience of Colombian language teachers who have entered the workforce in foreign countries. The study aims at unveiling aspects of the personal and professional experience of those graduates that might be relevant for pre-service teachers in local degree programs ahead of their potential move abroad in a growing international mobility context. The study includes data from surveys and personal interviews carried out with a group of 26 participants whose narratives of experience invite one to consider the variables that may either facilitate or hinder one’s teaching practice in a foreign workplace and the intercultural communication issues that language teachers may need to deal with. A reflection is brought forward on the needs that teacher training programs at university level in Colombia should address to broaden the scope of their graduates’ likely move abroad.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Wiens ◽  
Elena Andrei ◽  
Annie Chou ◽  
April Smith ◽  
Billa Anassour

Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 195-211
Author(s):  
Monika Grabowska

The aim of this paper is to analyse how French teachers evaluate the didactic skills of students of the Institute of Romance Studies after their three-week teaching practice in a Polish middle or high school. We will be interested primarily in the descriptive evaluation written by the supervising school teachers, which affords an overview of the key competences of foreign language teachers in their own opinion (i.e. their personal theory of teaching) as well as of the terminology used to describe them and reflecting modern or more traditional conceptions of teaching. Our analysis will be carried out with reference to the competences highlighted in a self-evaluation tool, the European Portfolio for Students Teachers of Languages. Conclusions are drawn regarding not only the need to strengthen cooperation between the university and the school teachers to instil a reflective attitude, but also to strengthen the correlation between the tutors’ evaluation and the self-evaluation of thetrainees – not only to develop their autonomy, but also for formative assessment of both the student and the teacher.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-179
Author(s):  
Tetiana Kharchenko ◽  
Larysa Udovichenko ◽  
Maryna Zvereva

The paper proves that applying reflexive practices in the training process at the specialized seminar on the analysis of practices is a significant component of the competence approach implementation. It was found out that training students to analyze complicated in-class situations under the supervision of an experienced trainer who observes, sets the paths, supports and assists them in interpreting their own methods of teaching and professional behavior, is an efficient technique of training. Studying the case of the module course called Analysis of Teacher’s Practices, introduced at the Higher National Institute of Education, Nice Academy, France (INSPE) proved that the active participation in the practices analysis seminar helps teachers-to-be develop new specific skills and competences based on their own experience. The paper highlights the principles of the organization of the seminars of practice analysis: the principles of ethics; of sincere interpretation; of contrast. It was stated that themes of seminars should be chosen in accordance with the students’ pedagogical probations. The authors formulate the targets of the seminars on the analysis of practices: making the knowledge of the subjects (including foreign languages) they teach more profound; further integration of interdisciplinary knowledge; mastering and developing narrow and specific knowledge in the subject they teach, as well as transversal knowledge of how help children study efficiently; developing reflexive state of a competent teacher. The paper proved that all the methods of the analysis of practices are based on different activities of the teacher-to-be themselves: memories and comparison of different lesson parts of whole lessons; the analysis of the teaching practices with the help of the supervisor; the analysis of “strengths” of the teaching practice; comparison of practical targets and results; the analysis of video recordings of lessons; the analysis of experienced teachers’ work; modelling and simulation of in-class situations. The perspectives of further research are a detailed study of the content of the course modules and phases of carrying out seminars.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Toni Mäkipää ◽  
Raili Hildén

Our main aim in this study was to compare encouraging feedback practices in Finnish general upper secondary foreign language classes and examine how students perceive language teachers’ assessment practices. The participants were 160 students of English, 95 students of Swedish, and 27 students of French from six general upper secondary schools. The data comprised one open-ended question and one Likert scale question with nine items. Both qualitative and quantitate methods were used to analyze the data. The results showed that content was the most important feature in feedback that was perceived as encouraging by students. The results further indicated that students considered teacher assessment practices to be primarily summative, but differences were also found between schools. The evidence from this study suggests that students appreciate teacher feedback, but do not perceive it to be an intrinsic part of teacher assessment practices. The importance of formative assessment and feedback should be more heavily emphasized in foreign language teacher education.


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