scholarly journals Sociocultural competence under the scope of 5th and 6th grade EFL Primary school teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (29) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Canga Alonso ◽  
María Alonso Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
La Rioja

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educational curriculum in La Rioja (Decreto Nº24, 2014) fosters the introduction of sociocultural and linguistic competence in EFL teaching. This research focuses on the study of 5th and 6th grade Primary School Education EFL teachers’ views on the inclusion of the sociocultural competence in their teaching practice. The study is based on an online questionnaire sent to fifteen teachers from public funded schools in La Rioja. The study revealed that, according to EFL teachers’ views, students and teachers showed a positive attitude towards the foreign language and culture. However, teachers noticed a lack of cultural knowledge on their students. Teachers tried to bring culture closer, considering that language and culture are closely linked. The results also purported that teachers adopted a communicative approach in their daily practice, and they preferred to teach cultural topics related to festivities and customs. Further research could be conducted in different grades of primary or secondary education in the same region to provide a complete picture of teachers’ perceptions. Students’ views would be also worth exploring.

scholarly journals Double responsibility of foreign language teachers: Primary student-teachers’ perceptions of linguistic and cultural content

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-159
Author(s):  
Gabriel Sanchez-Sanchez ◽  
Marek Krawiec ◽  
Francisco Javier Ibañez-Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
European Universities ◽  
Cultural Content

Scholars all over the world have been arguing for foreign language instruction which combines linguistic and cultural content. Eliminating the cultural side results in a deficient process. This study explored prospective teachers’ perceptions of both constituents, since they will ultimately be responsible for their implementation in the foreign language classroom. To this end, 137 students from three European universities were chosen and asked to fill out an online questionnaire with Likert scale items. Data was collected and interpreted using the free statistics software package R (R Core Team, 2019). The findings confirmed that the relevance of linguistic / cultural issues was unanimously acknowledged (98,5%), speaking was appointed as the most desired target skill (97,1%), interpersonal relations (88,3%) as the most important aspect of socio-cultural knowledge, and lessons with native speakers (94,2%) as the most relevant classroom resource

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 Towards Understanding EFL Teachers’ Conceptions of Research: Findings From Argentina

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
Darío Luis Banegas
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Research Findings

This paper investigates the conceptions of research held by English as a foreign language teachers in Argentina. Quantitative data from 622 participants from an online questionnaire were followed by qualitative data from online interviews with 40 of those participants. Results show that the teachers conceptualised research through conventional notions closer to a quantitative paradigm. They felt research was not part of their job, and a lack of time was the main reason for not engaging in/with research. Teacher development, agency, empowerment, and autonomy could be sought by engaging teachers with forms of research which are meaningful to them, such as action research.

scholarly journals English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teacher's Perceptions and Use of Mobile Devices and Applications

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-202
Author(s):  
Elias Bensalem
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Efl Teachers

This paper reports on a study of how a group of tertiary level EFL teachers perceived and used mobile devices in their teaching and personal learning. One hundred and fifty teachers (66 female, 84 male) from public universities in Saudi Arabia completed an online questionnaire. Results showed that the majority of participants used mobile devices and applications in their teaching and learning. Survey data showed that the vast majority of teachers had positively perceived and frequently used mobile technologies in their teaching and personal learning. In addition, there was a correlation between teachers’ use of mobile technologies in their teaching and their use in learning. There was also a correlation between how teachers perceived the value of mobile technologies in learning, and how they use them in their teaching.

scholarly journals Grammar in primary school EFL textbook activities: a corpus-driven study of their teaching nature and related cognitive implications

2017 ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
Joaquín Gris Roca
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Implicit Knowledge ◽  
Lower Number ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
School Teaching ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Explicit Teaching

One of the fundamental goals of Foreign Language Teaching might be the attainment of implicit knowledge, which underlies oral and written fluency. Textbook activities reflect different explicit and implicit teaching loads following the type of knowledge they are targeted at (explicit, implicit or both). EFL teachers’ implementation of activities can thus help or become a hindrance for the development of implicit knowledge. This study aimed to explore the explicit and implicit teaching nature of 100 activities taken from 10 EFL textbooks used in Spanish primary school teaching. The ultimate goal was to examine whether activities are designed taking into account young learners’ idiosyncratic way of learning. Findings revealed that most primary school EFL textbook activities tend to contain a lower number of activities mostly focused on explicit teaching.

Learning Chinese

2018 ◽  
pp. 44-69
Author(s):  
Kaishan Kong
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
American Students

Both ACTFL standards and the world-readiness standards for learning languages include five aspects in foreign language education, among which are connections and comparisons. While many instructors consider these two aspects as means of effective instruction, in this chapter, connections and comparisons are studied as learning strategies that four American students adopted to apply in their study abroad contexts in China. Despite the different focus of their study abroad programs, this chapter discusses a variety of examples where the participants made connections and comparisons to enhance their language and culture learning. Findings reveal that connections and comparisons were not only fostering language learning but also developing cultural knowledge. Results provide implications to foreign language educators related to teaching and preparing students for study abroad experience.

Prospective EFL Teachers' Perceptions of Using CALL in the Classroom

2018 ◽  
pp. 1405-1418
Author(s):  
Anil Rakicioglu-Soylemez ◽  
Sedat Akayoglu
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Teacher Education

The study focuses on prospective English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' perspectives on the use of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) resources in teaching English as a foreign language context. In addition to examining prospective teachers' perceptions, the similarities and differences in their perceptions and factors affecting their beliefs about using CALL resources will be addressed. The study aimed to identify the prospective EFL teachers' perceptions of their existing skills to integrate CALL into their future professional practices. The perceived factors that will facilitate and inhibit their future teaching practices by using CALL resources and their expectations from the teacher education program in terms of providing the necessary training to use CALL resources in their teaching practices were examined. The perceived benefits and challenges of using CALL in EFL teaching contexts will be addressed from the participants' perspectives. Finally, the study provides implications for further research in addition to recommendations for EFL teacher education programs.

scholarly journals A Contrastive Study of English and Igala Segmental Phonemes: Implications for ESL Teachers and Learners

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Abraham Sunday Unubi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Contrastive Study ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
State College ◽  
Efl Teachers

This paper investigated a contrastive study of English and Igala segmental phonemes: implications for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and learners. A contrastive analysis is a linguistic tool used in comparing two unrelated languages, and the main objective of it is to bring out the differences in the two languages compared with a view to emphasising on the effects which such differences have on both EFL teachers and learners. This research appealed only to the secondary sources of data, which included the orthographies of both languages under study. The Igala orthography was obtained from the department of Igala Language and Culture, Kogi State College of Education Ankpa, in addition to other material in Igala. The consonant and vowel phonemes of the two languages were placed contiguously in a tabular form and given appropriate heading to be able to observe their level of differences and similarities easily. Then words in which these phonemes occur in the Igala language were supplied and the phonemes indicated. Some of the findings of this research revealed the following: (i) that the consonant phonemes such as /ð/, /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /v/ and /z/, and the vowel phonemes /ǝ/ and /ʌ/, which are present in English are however absent in Igala, just as  /kp/, /gb/, /ny/, /kw/, /gw/ and /nw/ that are present in Igala are absent in English; (ii) English has twelve pure vowels (monophthongs) and eight diphthongs, while Igala has fourteen monophthongs and eleven diphthongs; (iii) that these differences have posed certain teaching and learning difficulties to both EFL teachers and learners who are native speakers of the Igala language; and (iv) that while English has twenty-four consonant phonemes, Igala has twenty-three.

scholarly journals Exploring the Status and Teachers’ Perceptions of Technology Integration in EFL Classrooms at Chadli Bendjedid University, Algeria

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Ladaci Naima
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Education Technology ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Integration Of Technology ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
The Status ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Number Of Classes

In the realm of language education, technology has reshaped the state of the teaching/learning framework in different ways and there is no surprise how a number of classes around the world have now turned from chalk and board classes to technology-based ones. However, whether teachers adopt or reject technology in their teaching depends primarily on the way they perceive it. Consequently, the current paper intends to capture the various perceptions of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers from the department of English at Chadli Bendjedid University, El Tarf (Algeria) towards the use and the integration of technology in their teaching practices. It also aspires to answer the question: to what extent is technology used in their teaching? In order to collect data for this study; a questionnaire was administered to ten teachers from the above-cited department. Although the findings revealed that all the participants have a positive attitude towards technology; they all face different barriers that impede them from integrating it.

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