scholarly journals Initial Teacher Education of Primary English and CLIL Teachers: An Analysis of the Training Curricula in the Universities of the Madrid Autonomous Community (Spain)

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-150
Author(s):  
Alfonso López-Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
English Education ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Autonomous Community ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Great Heterogeneity ◽  
Significant Case

The Madrid Autonomous Community (Spain) offers a significant case of extensive bilingual (English) education provision in primary and secondary school, with over 50% of students following a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programme. However, there are doubts about the ability of the current pre-service teacher education provision to meet the demands of the rapid growth of bilingual education in the region. This study analyses the initial teacher education (ITE) of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and CLIL teachers in the Madrid community, by providing a systematic comparison of the 14 Primary Education teacher training degrees offered and, specifically, their EFL specialist itineraries. In particular, it assesses the balance between the development of linguistic and pedagogical competences, the linguistic requirements to enter the EFL track, and the inclusion of dedicated CLIL modules as part of the training curriculum. Results show that there is a great heterogeneity in the design of such programmes, especially regarding the value given to a language improvement component. Furthermore, it was found that the training in CLIL is insufficient, both in the core programmes and in the EFL itinerary. Beyond the Spanish context, the questions raised in this study can offer insight into the effective design of initial teacher education programmes for educational systems that have committed to mainstream bilingual education as a tool for enhancing foreign language competence.

The Implementation of CLIL and Attitudes Towards Trilingualism

2009 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 23-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lasagabaster
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Autonomous Community ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Inherent Feature ◽  
Official Languages

Abstract Linguistic and cultural diversity is becoming an inherent feature of most schools in Europe. This is specially so in contexts such as the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain, where the presence of two official languages (Basque and Spanish) is complemented by the early teaching of English, which sets out as early as the age of four in the majority of schools. Nevertheless, the low foreign language command of Spanish students in general and the Basque students in particular has led to the implementation of CLIL experiences, which have been mushrooming in the last decade. Some voices have been raised though against the ever increasing presence of English due to its probable negative impact on language attitudes, especially on attitudes towards Basque. Many efforts have been made to normalize the situation of Basque at school and some scholars consider that these achievements can be jeopardized if the minority language yields too much space to the two international languages (Spain and English). In this paper the effect of CLIL programmes on attitudes towards trilingualism is examined through a holistic questionnaire completed by 277 secondary students. The results obtained demonstrate that CLIL can help to boost positive attitudes towards trilingualism at school, a matter of the utmost importance due to the ever increasing number of multilingual educational systems in Europe.

scholarly journals Foreign language teacher education in Germany, Iran and Poland – a comparative study

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 121-137
Author(s):  
Przemysław E. Gębal ◽  
Monika J. Nawracka
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Academic Education ◽  
University Preparation ◽  
European Standards ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
The Way

This article discusses the issues of academic education of foreign language teachers in three different educational systems. It presents them in the context of education culture and school culture, showing their influence on the way of organization and realization of education processes. School and education in general, including university preparation for the teaching profession is a place of developing so-called social capital. Reflection on the way these processes operate plays a key role in the planning and implementation of effective educational activities, using the so-called good practices of each of the systems. In the comparative research, the teacher training programmes in Iran, Germany and Poland are subject to comparative analysis against the framework of European standards for teacher education.

scholarly journals Practice-Focused Research in Initial Teacher Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Abbiss ◽  
Eline Vanassche
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Theoretical Contribution

A review of the field of practice-focused research in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) reveals four broad genres of qualitative research: case studies of teacher education programs and developments; research into student teacher experience and learning; inquiry into teacher educators’ own learning, identity, and beliefs; and conceptual or theory-building research. This is an eclectic field that is defined by variation in methodologies rather than by a few clearly identifiable research approaches. What practice-focused research in ITE has in common, though, is a desire on the behalf of teacher educator researchers to understand the complexity of teacher education and contribute to shifts in practice, for the benefit of student teachers and, ultimately, for learners in schools and early childhood education. In this endeavor, teacher educator researchers are presented with a challenge to achieve a balance between goals of local relevance and making a theoretical contribution to the broader field. This is a persistent tension. Notwithstanding the capacity for practice-focused research to achieve a stronger balance and greater relevance beyond the local, key contributions of practice-focused research in ITE include: highlighting the importance of context, questioning what might be understood by “improvement” in teacher education and schooling, and pushing back against research power structures that undervalue practice-focused research. Drawing on a painting metaphor, each genre represents a collection of sketches of practice-focused research in ITE that together provide the viewer with an overview of the field. However, these genres are not mutually exclusive categories as any particular research study (or sketch) might be placed within one or more groupings; for example, inquiry into teacher educators’ own learning often also includes attention to student teachers’ experiences and case studies of teacher education initiatives inevitably draw on theory to frame the research and make sense of findings. Also, overviewing the field and identifying relevant research is not as simple as it might first appear, given challenges in identifying research undertaken by teacher educators, differences in the positioning of teacher educators within different educational systems, and privileging of American (US) views of teacher education in published research, which was counteracted in a small way in this review by explicitly including voices located outside this dominant setting. Examples of different types of qualitative research projects illustrate issues in teacher education that matter to teacher educator researchers globally and locally and how they have sought to use a variety of methodologies to understand them. The examples also show how teacher educators themselves define what is important in teacher education research, often through small-scale studies of context-specific teacher education problems and practices, and how there is value in “smaller story” research that supports understanding of both universals and particularities along with the grand narratives of teacher education.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPETENCE OF THE CITIZENS OF POLAND AND CZECH REPUBLIC WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT ALL-EUROPEAN LINGUISTIC

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 512-523
Author(s):  
Yevhen Gromov ◽  
Alla Kolomiiets ◽  
Natalia Lazarenko ◽  
Olesia Zhovnych ◽  
Liliia Biretska
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Level ◽  
Economic Nature

The comparative analysis of the foreign language competence among the citizens of Poland and Czech Republic has been accomplished. The received findings were compared with current observations of all-European linguistic tendencies. Having analysed various statistics the authors succeeded in assembling the social portrait of an average multilingual European. The authors have also considered the fact that over the past years the official percentage of multilingual citizens, both in Poland and the Czech Republic, has significantly decreased due to intensive emigration processes. In the authors’ opinion, this problem is mostly of the socio-economic nature and demonstrates rather not the weakness of educational systems, but the ability of educational institutions of both countries to prepare competitive specialists who are able (due to the high level of foreign language competence) to find decent job in the labour-market of the United Europe. It has also been stated that since the foreign language competence has become a professional and cultural prerequisite for creation of the unified globalized Europe, and multilingualism has become a part of the European identity, the future specialists’ foreign language training in Ukraine should be conducted precisely taking into account the prospects of European integration.

scholarly journals EFL Student Teachers’ Speaking Anxiety: the Case in One English Teacher Education Program

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-75
Author(s):  
Mukhlash Abrar ◽  
F Failasofah ◽  
Nunung Fajaryani ◽  
M Masbirorotni
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Education Program ◽  
English Education ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
Speaking Anxiety ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Second Year

ABSTRACT This present study examined student teachers’ Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety (FLSA) associated with gender and proficiency differences. The participants of the study were 72 second-year EFL student teachers at the English teacher education program of one public university in Jambi, Indonesia. A close-ended questionnaire developed from Syakur (1987) and Horwitz et al, (1986) was administered to the participants to explore their FLSA. The results indicated that EFL student teachers are highly anxious when speaking English. Furthermore, the findings revealed that there is no statistical difference between male and female student teachers on FLSA. On the contrary, proficiency does affect EFL learners’ anxiety wherein more proficient students seem to be less nervous to speak. ABSTRAK Penelitian ini membahas kecemasan berbicara bahasa asing (FLSA) siswa yang dihubungkan dengan perbedaan jenis kelamin dan kecakapan berbahasa Inggris. Jumlah peserta dalam penelitian ini sebanyak 72 mahasiswa tahun kedua pada program studi pendidikan bahasa Inggris di salah satu universitas negeri di Jambi. Kuesioner tertutup diberikan kepada peserta penelitian untuk mengetahui FLSA mereka. Hasil penelitian mengindikasikan bahwa siswa pembelajar bahasa asing (EFL) sangat cemas ketika berbicara bahasa Inggris. Selain itu, hasil juga menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada perbedaan statistik yang signifikan pada FLSA antara siswa laki-laki dan perempuan. Sebaliknya, tingkat kecakapan sangat mempengaruhi kecemasan siswa EFL dimana siswa yang mempunyai kecakapan dalam bahasa Inggris terlihat tidak terlalu cemas untuk berbicara. How to Cite: Abrar, M. Failasofah. Fajaryani, N. Masbirorotni. (2016). EFL Student Teachers’ Speaking Anxiety: the Case in One English Teacher Education Program. IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 3(1), 60-75. doi:10.15408/ijee.v3i1.3619 Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v3i1.3619

scholarly journals The Journey towards a Teacher’s Ecological Self: A Case Study of a Student Teacher

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rea Raus ◽  
Thomas Falkenberg
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Ecological Self

Abstract Transforming our educational systems to support sustainable development is a challenge that involves all levels of education – policy, curriculum and pedagogical practice. One critical dimension to look at is a teacher’s identity as it influences a teacher’s decision-making, behaviour and action. The ecological self is the concept that is used in the context of sustainability. This paper discusses the emerging ecological self of one student teacher during her initial teacher education programme. The concepts of the teacher’s self and the ecological self form a lens through which the story of this student teacher is examined. The paper focuses on one part of a broader, longitudinal study of student teachers and their understanding of pedagogy and connectedness with nature in the context of the need for reorienting teacher education towards sustainability. Sterling’s (2001) conceptual framework of ecological view on education is taken as a tool to analyse the collected data. The results indicate that deep connectedness to nature and empathy are framing the holistic view on learning, teaching and a teacher’s self.

scholarly journals Approaches to researching digital-pedagogical competence development in VE-based teacher education

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (SI) ◽  
pp. 5-35
Author(s):  
Mirjam Hauck ◽  
Andreas Müller-Hartmann ◽  
Bart Rienties ◽  
Jekaterina Rogaten
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Competence Development ◽  
University Education ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Policy Experimentation ◽  
Pedagogical Competence ◽  
The Impact

For the past two decades, Virtual Exchange (VE) has enjoyed increasing popularity in university education, including initial (language) teacher education programmes (O’Dowd, 2018). Collaborating online with colleagues and students from different cultural backgrounds and educational systems has allowed trainees to experience and reflect on issues related to technology and pedagogy in authentic linguistic and intercultural contexts. In 2017/2018, the Evaluating and Upscaling Telecollaborative Teacher Education (EVALUATE) project – an Erasmus+ funded European Policy Experimentation (EPE) – collected and analysed data from VEs across the curriculum involving over 1,000 participants at Initial Teacher Education (ITE) institutions in Europe and beyond.Here, we specifically focus on the impact of VE on their digital-pedagogical competence development. Following a mixed method design we used the Technological PedagogicalContent Knowledge (TPACK) work of Mishra and Koehler (2006) and Schmidt et al. (2009) in a pre-post-test manner. These were complemented by qualitative content analysis of prompted diary entries at key stages during the exchanges to collect further evidence of existing and emerging digital-pedagogical skills among the trainees. Based on one case study of a German-Polish EVALUATE exchange we will exemplify the aforementioned research methods and associated challenges. We will illustrate the urgent need for initial and in-service teacher education that combines technology and pedagogy and argue for VE as an ideal context to this effect. Finally, we will demonstrate how the chosen research approach has contributed to providing the kind of evidence required by education administrators and policy makers for a systematic integration of VE into teacher education programmes.

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