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

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.

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-55
Author(s):  
Jorge Luis Espinoza Campos

Creating our own teaching philosophy statement is an innovative practice, and it should be a meaningful part for teachers since it states the learning experiences, goals, beliefs, level of professionalism and self development among many other elements. Some teachers usually write a teaching philosophy statement just to carry out a school assignment or to complete their résumé. However, in real life, teachers do not often implement all the nice ideas that are stated in their teaching philosophy statement. The goal of this paper is to make EFL teachers reflect on the importance of developing this practice in the foreign language teaching field to show their learning and growth throughout time.


Author(s):  
Olha Datskiv ◽  
Sofia Datskiv

An integral part of the formation of the New Ukrainian School is an inclusive component, which forms a new philosophy of society based on the understanding of diversity and equality for all. Involvement in education and constant support of children with special educational needs should take place at all stages of receiving complete secondary education, especially in primary school. The paper discusses the features of inclusive foreign language teaching in primary school. Based on the research analysis, pedagogical observation of the educational process in English lessons in inclusive classes, the conclusion is made that it is important for primary school English teachers to use clear and comprehensive instructions before doing exercises and tasks, introduce and maintain the learning routine (greeting, a permanent place for writing homework, questions at the beginning and at the end of the lesson, etc.), change the types of tasks frequently, adapt previously used exercises to the new learning conditions, use scaffolding strategies. The article presents a set of exercises and tasks to use in English lessons when studying the topic “My home” in an inclusive 3rd grade of a general secondary education institution, as well as checklists for self-and peer evaluation of the inclusiveness of the learning environment for English teachers. The exercises and tasks of the set were tested in the 3rd-B grade of Ternopil schools No. 16 and No. 7. The final assessment of the educational achievements of students in English in the second semester of the 2020 / 2021 academic year confirmed the effectiveness and appropriateness of using these exercises and tasks in the English lessons. Checklists for self-and peer evaluation of the inclusiveness of the learning environment were tested and approved by English teachers and recommended for use in the educational process by foreign languages teaching methodology groups.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Shiyong Jiang

<p>Foreign language teaching is a bilateral process in which both the teacher and students must play their roles effectively. However, lack of interaction is the problem many EFL teachers in China face. To make the teaching more effective, negotiation in the classroom becomes a must. This paper, based on the current situation of English teaching in China, probes into negotiation mechanism in EFL classroom and provides suggestions on how to apply negotiation mechanism in EFL classroom in China.</p>


Author(s):  
Dilek Tüfekçi Can

Whereas research on English as a Foreign Language Learning (EFLL) anxiety has been the focus of many researchers, English as a Foreign Language Teaching (EFLT) anxiety as a newly pop-up concept has gained lesser attention than EFLL. Moreover, the research on EFLL commonly focuses on the anxiety provoking factors. Yet again, there has been very limited research on how to overcome anxiety-provoking factors on both research areas. Accordingly, as this study was two of the three segments of a university-based project and the subject of anxiety-provoking factors was the issue of another study, the purpose of this study was firstly to explore how to overcome anxiety-provoking factors among pre-service EFL teachers while teaching English to young language learners at a real classroom setting as a part of teaching practicum. Secondly, this study also attempted to make a holistic classification rather than an atomistic one as it classified the findings of overcoming anxiety provoking factors into subtitles such as cognitive, affective, socio-cultural resolutions and some other official resolutions. In the study, 25 EFL pre-service teachers at Balikesir University were the sample group. The qualitative data was collected through background questionnaires, interviews and reflections. The study concluded that pre-service EFL teachers revealed their reflections on how to overcome anxiety-provoking factors as they experienced Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety (FLTA) whilst practicing teaching English to young language learners during teaching practicum courses. Some practical recommendations were given at the end of the study. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Patricia Gutierrez

<p>Foreign language teaching and learning is an issue of high relevance nowadays in Colombia. Unfortunately, language teaching has often been reduced to the mastery of language structures, disregarding the vast number of possibilities that language teaching provides to involve students in the discussion and analysis of issues that affect their everyday life. Shifting language teaching toward this goal, however, has to start in language teacher preparation programs. To gain a better understanding of the implication of this shift, this study explored the beliefs, attitudes, and reflections of three student-teachers, from a foreign language teaching program at a public university, towards the exploration of critical literacy theories, and the design and implementation of critical lessons. Data collected included audio-recordings of group discussions and individual interviews with the three participants, their reflections in different stages, lesson plans, and class observations of their lesson implementation. Results from this study suggest that exposing future EFL teachers to critical literacy approaches to language teaching can have different effects on their perspectives towards education and their teaching practice. Thus, their beliefs and attitudes towards Critical Literacy Theories can be continuously transformed as they face various situations in the exploration and implementation of these theories.</p><p>Key words: <em>pre-service EFL teachers, Critical Literacies, Language teacher preparation programs, Teaching practicum.</em></p>


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