scholarly journals How MOOCs Can Develop Teacher Cognition: The Case of in-Service English Language Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 56-71
Author(s):  
Shahrzad Ardavani
Keyword(s):  
Critical Incident ◽  
Online Community ◽  
English Language ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Teacher Cognition ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
English Language Teachers

AbstractResearch reveals a rapid expansion of Open Educational Resources (OER) supporting global access to higher education for continued professional development (CPD) for in-service teachers. This offers interactive opportunities for participation and reflection to support the development of teacher cognition through a globally-oriented online community.This paper will indicate whether the OER MOOCs designed for CPD of in-service English language teachers (ELT) have a role in developing teacher cognition. It also examines the in-service teacher experience of MOOC participants and proposes that teacher cognition and evaluation of cognitive change remain central to understanding teachers’ experience of learning on MOOCs.Brookfield’s (1995) critical incident questionnaire (CIQ) captured the weekly experience of six in-service ELTs undertaking a CPD MOOC over four weeks. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were applied to CIQ data to examine changes in participant cognition. Teachers reflected on how MOOC developed their own knowledge, their learners’ knowledge, and to a lesser extent, their colleagues’ knowledge. The findings cast new light on the influence of MOOC which primarily shows that in terms of their own knowledge, teachers have a strong tendency to view MOOC participation as a pathway to their own development.

scholarly journals Teacher cognition of pronunciation teaching amongst English language teachers in Uruguay

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Couper
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teacher Cognition ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
English Language Teachers

This article reports on the concerns and issues which 28 experienced and well-qualified teachers expressed during individual semi-structured interviews with the researcher. It describes and discusses the participants’ views, pulling together themes representative of a wide range of perspectives on pronunciation teaching. Themes include: teacher anxiety about pronunciation and pronunciation teaching; external factors affecting pronunciation teaching such as curriculum and exam pressures, textbooks, and training received; approaches to teaching and error correction; activities and techniques; and issues related to literacy bias, listen-and-repeat, use of phonemic symbols and pronunciation goals and models. These findings, taken in conjunction with studies of teacher cognition in other contexts, serve to inform all those with an interest in English language teaching, whether they be researchers, teachers or teacher educators, curriculum designers or textbook writers.

scholarly journals WHAT TEACHERS THINK ABOUT ASSESSMENT AND HOW IT INFLUENCES THEIR CLASSROOM-BASED ASSESSMENT PRACTICES – THE RESULTS OF A GLOBAL SURVEY

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Sheehan
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teacher Cognition ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Analysis Process ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Attitudes

This paper considers teachers’ attitudes to assessment.  The attitudes were explored through Borg’s (2015) Language Teacher Cognition Framework.   A mixed-methods approach of questionnaire and interview was adopted.  The online survey was completed by English language teachers working in 57 different countries worldwide. The questionnaire was divided into 3 sections. The first section included questions which related to the participants’ experiences of assessment at school. The second section explored the participants’ assessment training experiences both in their initial teaching training and in any professional development sessions they had attended. The third and final section explored the participants’ assessment practices and their beliefs about assessment.  These three sections are based on the Language Teacher Cognition Framework. The interviews were conducted to explore the reasoning behind the responses given to the questionnaire.  The framework also informed the data analysis process.  Classroom experiences and professional development sessions were found to have the most influence on the teachers’ attitudes to assessment.  The participants were influenced by their experiences of assessment at school as they choose to avoid replicating the assessment practices which had been used when they were being assessed. 

Native-speakerism and ‘hidden curricula’ in ELT training

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Lowe ◽  
Luke Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Hidden Curriculum ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Individual Training

Issues surrounding native-speakerism in ELT have been investigated from a diverse range of research perspectives over the last decade. This study uses a duoethnographic approach in order to explore the concept of a 'hidden curriculum' that instils and perpetuates Western 'native speaker' norms and values in the formal and informal training of English language teachers. We found that, despite differences in our own individual training experiences, a form of 'hidden curriculum' was apparent that had a powerful effect on our initial beliefs and practices as teachers and continues to influence our day-to-day teaching.

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