scholarly journals The emerging understandings and practices of task-based language teaching (TBLT) by Thai EFL student teachers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Paweena Jaruteerapan
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Lesson Planning ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
One Year ◽  
Three Phases

<p>Despite substantive empirical evidence for the efficacy of task-based language teaching and learning (TBLT), research shows that the classroom implementation of TBLT has often met with mixed success, especially in Asian EFL contexts (Adams & Newton, 2009; Butler, 2011, 2017; Thomas & Reinders, 2015). One of the reasons is teachers’ lack of understanding of TBLT (e.g., Carless, 2009) and it is this factor that the research focused on. Although TBLT is not widely known or practised in Thailand, its potential has been noted (McDonough & Chaikitmongkol, 2007), and so this is an important topic to address in this context.  The research consisted of a two-phase, exploratory, qualitative study into the introduction of a new module on task-based language teaching (TBLT) in the methodology course in the final year of a pre-service EFL teacher education programme in a Thai university. Data was collected from a class of 31 EFL student teachers (STs) in their final (fourth) year of study in the programme and three STs in a one-year teaching practicum at a secondary school.  Phase one investigated evidence of learning in the stated understandings of the STs and in their ability to design a task-based lesson at the conclusion of the TBLT module. Data consisted of pre-and post-course questionnaires, lesson plans designed by the STs, and focus-group interviews. The findings showed that after the 5-week TBLT module, two third of the class had developed a favourable disposition towards TBLT. At the conclusion of the module all the STs were able to plan a task-based lesson that broadly reflected principles of TBLT although there was evidence of limited understanding of task features and of difficulties with the task design process.  Phase two involved case studies of three of the STs as they undertook a one-year teaching practicum at a secondary school. During the practicum, lesson planning and classroom observation data (video/audio-recordings and observation notes) was collected in three phases: (1) prior to being given any additional lesson planning guidance; (2) during the process of collaborative lesson planning with the researcher; and (3) in subsequent independently planned and taught lessons. In addition, data collection included stimulated recall interviews, semi-structured interviews and group interviews with the teachers and with students from their classes. The data shows how the STs’ understandings and teaching practices developed across these three phases as well as the affordances and constraints that shaped their adoption of TBLT. Learners in the STs’ classes actively engaged in the task-based lessons and reported positive attitudes towards the lessons.  In conclusion, the study contributes to the field of TBLT research by providing insights into the processes by which TBLT can be introduced into pre-service teacher education in a context where it has previously not been widely disseminated or understood. Evidence presented in the study shows that the TBLT innovation was broadly successful in terms of its impact on the understandings and teaching practice by STs, at least as measured over the period of the STs main practicum experience.</p>

scholarly journals The emerging understandings and practices of task-based language teaching (TBLT) by Thai EFL student teachers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Paweena Jaruteerapan
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Lesson Planning ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
One Year ◽  
Three Phases

<p>Despite substantive empirical evidence for the efficacy of task-based language teaching and learning (TBLT), research shows that the classroom implementation of TBLT has often met with mixed success, especially in Asian EFL contexts (Adams & Newton, 2009; Butler, 2011, 2017; Thomas & Reinders, 2015). One of the reasons is teachers’ lack of understanding of TBLT (e.g., Carless, 2009) and it is this factor that the research focused on. Although TBLT is not widely known or practised in Thailand, its potential has been noted (McDonough & Chaikitmongkol, 2007), and so this is an important topic to address in this context.  The research consisted of a two-phase, exploratory, qualitative study into the introduction of a new module on task-based language teaching (TBLT) in the methodology course in the final year of a pre-service EFL teacher education programme in a Thai university. Data was collected from a class of 31 EFL student teachers (STs) in their final (fourth) year of study in the programme and three STs in a one-year teaching practicum at a secondary school.  Phase one investigated evidence of learning in the stated understandings of the STs and in their ability to design a task-based lesson at the conclusion of the TBLT module. Data consisted of pre-and post-course questionnaires, lesson plans designed by the STs, and focus-group interviews. The findings showed that after the 5-week TBLT module, two third of the class had developed a favourable disposition towards TBLT. At the conclusion of the module all the STs were able to plan a task-based lesson that broadly reflected principles of TBLT although there was evidence of limited understanding of task features and of difficulties with the task design process.  Phase two involved case studies of three of the STs as they undertook a one-year teaching practicum at a secondary school. During the practicum, lesson planning and classroom observation data (video/audio-recordings and observation notes) was collected in three phases: (1) prior to being given any additional lesson planning guidance; (2) during the process of collaborative lesson planning with the researcher; and (3) in subsequent independently planned and taught lessons. In addition, data collection included stimulated recall interviews, semi-structured interviews and group interviews with the teachers and with students from their classes. The data shows how the STs’ understandings and teaching practices developed across these three phases as well as the affordances and constraints that shaped their adoption of TBLT. Learners in the STs’ classes actively engaged in the task-based lessons and reported positive attitudes towards the lessons.  In conclusion, the study contributes to the field of TBLT research by providing insights into the processes by which TBLT can be introduced into pre-service teacher education in a context where it has previously not been widely disseminated or understood. Evidence presented in the study shows that the TBLT innovation was broadly successful in terms of its impact on the understandings and teaching practice by STs, at least as measured over the period of the STs main practicum experience.</p>

scholarly journals Identifying Student Teachers’ Inquiry-Related Questions in Biology Lessons

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Matti Hiltunen ◽  
Sirpa Kärkkäinen ◽  
Tuula Keinonen
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Secondary School Student ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Factual Knowledge ◽  
Primary School Student ◽  
Video And Audio ◽  
Higher Order Questioning

Prior research has shown that both teacher-led and recitation questions dominate in classrooms; teachers ask closed-ended questions more than open-ended questions. Even though classroom questioning has been studied in many previous studies there has been very limited research addressing the questioning of student teachers during inquiry-based biology lessons focusing on the inquiry stages: introduction, examination, and conclusion. In this study, a total of 21 lessons by 12 student teachers in primary and secondary schools were video- and audio-recorded. The recorded discussions were transcribed and the qualities of the questions were analyzed using content analysis, and the questions of student teachers were categorized into 10 different question categories. The findings revealed that primary school student teachers asked mainly for factual knowledge, concepts, and basic knowledge of species in all inquiry stages. Secondary school student teachers also asked mainly for concepts and basic knowledge of species. They also asked students to generate ideas and explain their answers, especially in the examination and conclusion stages. The present study indicates that student teachers’ questioning needs to be developed more towards higher-order questioning such as analyzing, synthetizing, and evaluating to scaffold students in inquiries and develop future teachers’ questioning skills in teacher education.

scholarly journals Novice Teachers' Thinking Development from Practicum to Early Career

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Trang Hoang
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Novice Teachers ◽  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Teaching Performance ◽  
Teaching Methodologies ◽  
Teaching Practicum

<p>Teacher education programmes have focused on training student teachers with knowledge of teaching methodologies and good teaching performance. What is going on inside student teachers’ minds in their processes of learning to teach is more difficult to observe and sometimes overshadowed by this primary focus. This study sets out to gain a deeper understanding of student teachers’ developing cognition while learning to teach.   The existing literature on teachers’ critical thinking, reflection, and cognition provides various frameworks each of which presents different levels or stages of teachers’ development in the respective domains. Each level or stage is characterised by certain concerns, beliefs, skills, discourse, or teaching behaviours. However, underlying processes of change – i.e. how teachers move from lower levels to higher levels of such development, what triggers such movement – and how such movement enhances their teaching effectiveness are under-researched. In addition, those existing frameworks describe major stages of teachers’ development during the whole of their professional journeys. Little research zooms in novice teachers’ thinking development.   This research takes an exploratory approach, without relying on any existing frameworks, to investigating and theorising the unseen thinking development processes of novice teachers during the important transition from teaching practicum to early career teaching. The research included three stages of inquiry in which one stage was developed from the previous stage and its results were constantly compared to those of the previous one. The first stage involved in-depth individual interviews with nine early career teachers. The second stage involved working closely with a cohort of five student teachers during four months of their teaching practicum in the same teacher training program. The third stage involved my following one of the cohort members into the first two years of his teaching through online communication about their experiences and thinking about language teaching in real-life contexts.   The close interaction with the novice teachers incrementally constructed a clearer picture of the complexity and dynamics of their thinking. The stories of the three groups revealed and confirmed a hierarchy of attention to core aspects of effective teaching. However, the movement across the hierarchy was not linear but fluctuating and causing dissonance between their cognition and practice. Moreover, the novice teachers’ thinking development also involved the development of generic thinking skills – from “either-or” thinking to “both-and” thinking, from single-perspective to multi-perspective thinking, and from a focus on the detail to 'big picture' thinking. Thinking development was found to go hand in hand with the development of teaching effectiveness, understanding of teaching methodologies, and awareness of professional identity.  This research proposes a tentative framework of novice teachers’ thinking development from teaching practicum to early career teaching. The framework presents both content and processes of their thinking changes, both internal and external factors influencing their thinking changes, and both teaching-domain-specific and general thinking skills. This framework suggests reconsidering the over-emphasis on surface teaching methodology and teaching performance in teacher education programs and calls for more attention to the thinking, emotions, and self-awareness which strongly influence novice teachers’ teaching performance and professional identity.</p>

scholarly journals Construction of EFL Student Teachers’ Beliefs about Method: Insights from Postmethod

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Zhengping Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Beliefs ◽  
Theoretical Base ◽  
Teaching Behaviors ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

Student Teachers’ beliefs and their teaching behaviors are interactive and closely related. Student teachers’ any adoption of teaching methods in micro-teaching or teaching practicum is largely hidden behind their beliefs. In this paper, starting with the origin and changes of methods in language teaching method era, the author explains certain terms such as method and postmethod, sorts out the theoretical base of this study which contains postmethod condition and postmethod pedagogy and proposes the idea that postmethod is the heritance, transcendence and development of method. Finally, the author discusses the ways to help student teachers construct their own proper teaching beliefs about method.

How ePortfolios Support Development in Early Teacher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 2130-2137
Author(s):  
Victor McNair ◽  
Kevin Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
One Year ◽  
Graduate Certificate

This chapter reports on a pilot study which examined how student teachers of a one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education course in Northern Ireland developed reflective ePortfolios and then used them to embed ICT in their first (Induction) year as qualified teachers. Two central themes emerged. First, the process of constructing the ePortfolio developed confidence among the beginning teachers which supported them when faced with the challenges of starting teaching. Second, the ePortfolio was used to ease the transition from Initial Teacher Education to Induction, but where there is a lack of critical reflection, barriers to professional development can emerge. These issues are discussed within the context of technology policy, teacher training, and emerging technology in Northern Ireland.

How ePortfolios Support Development in Early Teacher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 474-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor McNair ◽  
Kevin Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
One Year ◽  
Graduate Certificate

This chapter reports on a pilot study which examined how student teachers of a one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education course in Northern Ireland developed reflective ePortfolios and then used them to embed ICT in their first (Induction) year as qualified teachers. Two central themes emerged. First, the process of constructing the ePortfolio developed confidence among the beginning teachers which supported them when faced with the challenges of starting teaching. Second, the ePortfolio was used to ease the transition from Initial Teacher Education to Induction, but where there is a lack of critical reflection, barriers to professional development can emerge. These issues are discussed within the context of technology policy, teacher training, and emerging technology in Northern Ireland.

Regional origins of student teachers at the University and College in Bath

1980 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
K. Austwick ◽  
K. A. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Colleges Of Education ◽  
General Study ◽  
The Future ◽  
One Year ◽  
The University

Entry into teaching in the future is likely to be via three main routes-the B.Ed. degree, offered in many of the former Colleges of Education; a degree followed by a one-year postgraduate certificate in education; and a concurrent course. All three routes are available in Bath, in either the University or the College of Higher Education, and all are validated by the University. This paper seeks to trace the regional origins of the students who are recruited to these courses and to make some comparison with a more general study of the University's undergraduate intake in 1968 carried out by G. H. Hones (1973). Some similarities exist between the College intake of today and the University intake of 1968, but there are some interesting differences in recruitment to teacher education between the three routes.

scholarly journals Lærerstudenters kommentatorkompetanse om flerkultur og undervisning av flerspråklige elever drøftet i lys av kritisk multikulturalisme

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenche Elisabeth Thomassen
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Critical Multiculturalism ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
Field Practice ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Understanding Of Subject Matter

Grunnskolelærerutdanningen har som mål å utdanne studenter med både aktør- og kommentatorkompetanse. Kommentatorkompetanse innebærer evnen til kritisk refleksjon. Planer, forskrifter og retningslinjer for grunnskolelærer-utdanningene fastslår at studentene skal ha kunnskaper om flerkultur og undervisning av minoritetsspråklige elever. Slik kompetanse er fortsatt etterspurt, også blant nyutdannede lærere.I denne undersøkelsen er “kritisk multikulturalisme” brukt som teoretisk tilnærming for å analysere gruppeintervjuer med lærerstudenter. Drøftingen inkluderer også hvordan begreper fra denne teoretiske tilnærmingen fungerer for å forstå lærerstudentenes kommentatorkompetanse. Kritisk multikulturalisme er opptatt av å gi en analyse av undertrykking og institusjonalisering av ulike maktrelasjoner innen utdanning. Begreper som er særlig framtredende, er systemmakt, definisjonsmakt og avmakt. Empirien er en del av et større forskningsprosjekt ved UiS, som studerer praksis i grunnskolelærerutdanningen.Undersøkelsen viser at lærerstudentene viser oppmerksomhet og grad av kritisk kommentatorkompetanse når det gjelder systemnivå og pedagogiske praksiser, men ikke har nødvendigvis tilstrekkelig kunnskap om lover og regler for opplæringen. De savner mer oppmerksomhet på temaet innen lærerutdanningen, særlig konkret didaktikk. Funn i materialet indikerer at det ville være av betydning med en dypere forståelse og mer faglige begreper som grunnlag for refleksjon.Analysebegrepene fra kritisk multikulturalisme kan bidra til å sette studentenes utsagn inn i en større sammenheng og peke på potensielt diskriminerende diskurser, men fanger ikke alt studentene er opptatt av. Dette er et område som det ikke er mye forskning på i Norge, artikkelen er et bidrag til økt kunnskap om flerkultur i grunnskolelærerutdanningene.Nøkkelord: lærerstudenter, flerkultur, flerspråklige elever, kritisk multikulturalisme AbstractIncluded in the Norwegian government’s mandated Initial Teacher Education in Norway (ITE) curriculum and regulations is the aim that students should be able to both engage in teaching as a profession and to be able to reflect critically on their teaching practices. Moreover, students are expected to build knowledge about Norway as a multicultural country and to know how best to teach minority language pupils. There is still demand for these competencies, also amongst newly educated teachers.In this study, “Critical Multiculturalism” is used as a theoretical approach to analyze group interviews with student teachers. Critical Multiculturalism is concerned with analyzing suppression and institutionalization of different power relations in the education system. Central concepts are institutional power, systemic power, power of definition and not having power. Within the discussion, this approach will also be evaluated from a conceptual standpoint.The data is part of a larger research project at UiS, studying field practice in ITE. The study shows that student teachers pay attention to and critically reflect on multiculturalism and the education of minority language pupils within the framework of the school and pedagogic practice, but do not have sufficient knowledge about the rules and regulations which guide the ways the school at an institutional level organize these children’s learning opportunities. In addition, students report that they lack opportunities during their teacher education to focus on this topic, especially in didactics. Findings from the data indicate that in order for critical reflection to occur, students need to build a deeper understanding of subject matter concepts.Although concepts from “Critical Multiculturalism” may contribute to being able to place the students’ statements into a wider context, and to focus on potential discriminatory modes of discussion, they do not encapsulate some of the students’ concerns.There is not much research on this topic in Norway, and this article contributes to new knowledge about multiculture in teacher education.Keywords: Student teachers, multiculture, multilingual pupils, critical multiculturalism

scholarly journals Learning to Teach: A Case Study of Student Teachers’ Practicum and Policy Recommendations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urip Sulistiyo ◽  
Amirul Mukminin ◽  
Kemas Abdurrahman ◽  
Eddy Haryanto
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
Beginner Teachers

This qualitative case study was conducted to gather information on the implementation of teaching practicum in order to improve the quality of the program in an English teacher education program at a state-owned university, Jambi, Indonesia. Information was gathered from five recent teacher graduates, five beginner teachers, five school principals, and five teacher educators on their perceptions of English Foreign Language Teacher Education Program (EFLTEP) graduates as beginner teachers. This qualitative study employed a background survey, document analyses and interviews for data collection. Document analyses were used to examine the aims and content of the English teacher education program and official Indonesian English teacher education curriculum and policies. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the main data from graduates and collect information from the beginner teachers. Interviews with principals and teacher educators were used to obtain further data and evidence about the beginner teachers’ knowledge and preparedness to teach. We organized our analysis, findings, and discussion around the implementation of teaching practicum. The analyses of the documents and texts revealed that major themes related to (1) the standards for implementing the teaching practicum in the program, (2) quality of the teaching practicum, (3) duration of the teaching practicum, (4) the roles of mentor teachers and teacher educators, and (5) selecting school partners for the student teacher practicum. Particularly, the findings indicated that teaching practicum projects undertaken during the program provided suitable but limited experience for student teachers to translate their knowledge learnt at university into the real practice of teaching at school levels. For future improvement of the program, the role of supervising teachers and teacher educators in assisting student teachers during the teaching practicum project should be a priority. The organisation and management of school–university partnerships for schools taking part in the teaching practicum require attention to maximise benefits to student teachers.

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