scholarly journals Language education for non-native speaker language teachers

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 44-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Riordan
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Group I ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Training Programmes

For non-native speaker language teachers (NNSLT), that is, teachers who teach a language which is not their own first language, one very important skill is competence in the target language. However, the development and maintenance of language skills are often neglected in language teacher training for language teachers. It is assumed that the trainees have already reached the requisite level of competence prior to entry into teacher training programmes, or that the general language courses available to them are sufficient in addressing these language needs. In this paper I argue for the introduction of a new area of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) to deal with the language skills needed by this learner group. I examine the literature relating to language for non-native speaker language teachers and review research in the teaching of language to NNSLTs. I describe a language course designed specifically for the education of non-native speaker teachers of English at a German university. Questionnaires, surveys and pre- and post-testing methods were used to evaluate the course. The study’s results suggest that the LSP approach is both feasible and successful in improving student teachers’ language skills for the purposes of teaching.

scholarly journals “This is why students feel lost when they go into teaching practice”: English Language Teachers’ Views on their Initial Teacher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 371-387
Author(s):  
Sue Garton
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research

The last 20-25 years have seen a significant shift in the views about what teachers need to know to be able to teach. This shift has led to new developments in the theory of second language teacher education (SLTE) and a growth in research in this area. One area of research concerns the attitudes and expectations of those learning to become teachers. While most studies in this area focus on teacher education programmes in BANA countries, this article looks at data from student teachers studying in Russia and Uzbekistan. The study employed a quantitative and qualitative research design, using a researcher-designed on-line questionnaire. Through snowball sampling, data from 161 students and recent graduates in the two countries were collected, analysed, and compared to investigate the content of SLTE programmes. The study identified what the novice teachers felt were the strengths and weaknesses of their programme, and what changes they would like to see. Results showed that while the respondents were mainly satisfied with their methodology, and theoretical linguistics courses, they felt the need for more practice, both teaching and language practice. The data also revealed that, in Uzbekistan in particular, the idea of global English struggles to take hold as native-speaker models remain the norm. The implications of the study underline the need for SLTE to explicitly link theory to practice and to promote the idea of varieties of English, rather than focus on native-speaker norms.

scholarly journals Examining the Impact of Training and Nativeness on Teacher’s self-efficacy in teaching English

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 81-97
Author(s):  
Lina Lafta Jassim
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Foreign Teachers ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of training and 'nativeness' on teacher's self-efficacy in teaching English as a second language. A questionnaire was used and administered to 281 foreign teachers in Nasseria, Iraq. The teacher’s sense of efficacy scale (TSES) was employed to measure a teacher's self-efficacy. Using MANOVA, we tested the impact of teachers’ training and 'nativeness' on a teacher’s self-efficacy. The analysis showed that trained teachers have higher self-efficacy than untrained teachers and further that professional development enhances self-efficacy. The study established that being a native speaker does not necessarily influence a teacher's self-efficacy and goes to support the hypothesis that target language proficiency should not be associated with being a language teacher. Ultimately, policymakers and educational administrators should concentrate on the professional development of language teachers and disband the native/non-native dichotomy.

scholarly journals Examining the Impact of Training and Nativeness on Teacher’s self-efficacy in teaching English

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 87-104
Author(s):  
Lina Lafta Jassim
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Foreign Teachers ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of training and 'nativeness' on teacher's self-efficacy in teaching English as a second language. A questionnaire was used and administered to 281 foreign teachers in Nasseria, Iraq. The teacher’s sense of efficacy scale (TSES) was employed to measure a teacher's self-efficacy. Using MANOVA, we tested the impact of teachers’ training and 'nativeness' on a teacher’s self-efficacy. The analysis showed that trained teachers have higher self-efficacy than untrained teachers and further that professional development enhances self-efficacy. The study established that being a native speaker does not necessarily influence a teacher's self-efficacy and goes to support the hypothesis that target language proficiency should not be associated with being a language teacher. Ultimately, policymakers and educational administrators should concentrate on the professional development of language teachers and disband the native/non-native dichotomy.

Exploring identity construction of student teachers practicing ELF pedagogy in a microteaching course

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nugrahenny T. Zacharias
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Standard English

This paper reports on the results of a qualitative study that explored the experiences of a group of student-teachers (STs) in Indonesia as they undertook a microteaching course as part of their undergraduate teacher training program. Grounded in the notions of ‘teacher identity as the process of becoming’ (Britzman, 2003) and ‘identity in practice’ (Varghese et al., 2005), the present paper examines how participation in a microteaching course that oriented STs to ELF pedagogy affected the formation of teacher identities amongst one group of STs in Indonesia. Data were gathered from three post-mini lesson interviews with individual STs and STs’ mini lessons. The findings show a positive relationship between ELF pedagogy, STs’ perception of their teacher role and their identity construction. Many STs’ identity construction appears to be informed by their concerns of the hegemonic presence of English in the local community and their role primarily as a revival of Indonesian cultures. Although the majority of STs showed a general agreement towards the need to construct a teacher identity independent of native-speaker norms, a few STs continued to believe the importance of teachers to speak Standard English due to its marketability potential.

scholarly journals Implementation of plurilingual approach into the foreign language teaching

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Zuzana Straková
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
School Context ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
The European Union

Abstract Teaching foreign languages has adopted various approaches over the history. The last decades of dominance of the Communicative language teaching brought the tendency to insist on the target language use in the classroom in order to allow the immersion into the language. The European Union, however, started to support linguistic diversity more than two decades ago and it has left an imprint on the way foreign language teaching is approached today. Inclusion of plurilingualism in traditional school context requires the readiness of language teachers to use other languages as well as encourage learners to use their prior language experience. The present study presents the results of a questionnaire survey among student teachers measuring their attitudes and readiness to implement more than one additional language in their practice. The participants of the study (n = 118) are all future teachers of English language at both undergraduate and graduate level. The results of the survey indicate a generally positive attitude towards plurilingualism and at the same time ability of the students to rely on more than one language while teaching. The results, however, raise quite a few questions and imperatives for the content of teacher training programmes as well as for the organisation of language education in general.

scholarly journals An Examination of the Congruency between the University Teacher Training Contents and Secondary School Contents in Tanzania: The Case of Sokoine University of Agriculture

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Sotco Claudius Komba ◽  
Sarah Vincent Chiwamba
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
The University ◽  
University Teacher Training ◽  
Education Courses

<p>It is ideally expected that after student teachers have gone through comprehensive curricula contents, they should possess the necessary competences and skills to enable them deliver effectively as teachers. However, some student teachers in Tanzania have expressed their concerns that some of the contents found in the curricula for teacher training programmes do not link with the contents taught in secondary schools. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the congruency between the contents student teachers cover during their studies at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), one of the Tanzanian teacher training institutions, and contents taught in Tanzanian secondary schools. The study involved a randomly obtained sample of 181 third year students, pursuing various teacher education degree programmes. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design in which a set of questionnaire, which consisted of both open and closed-ended questions, was administered to the sampled respondents. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS in which frequencies and percentages of responses to the questions presented in the questionnaire were computed to answer research questions advanced for this study. The findings were as follows: First, the majority (66.9%) of student teachers felt that there was a congruency between the University contents and secondary school contents and about one third (33.1%) of student teachers felt that the congruency did not exist. Secondly, the majority (95%) of student teachers felt that the contents of education courses taught at the University were applicable in real school situations and the minority (5%) did not feel so. Third, the majority (91.7%) of student teachers felt that the teacher training programmes offered at SUA had enabled them to acquire sufficient classroom teaching skills and basic theories in education. Fourth, some challenges facing teacher training programmes offered at SUA, as reported by the respondents, included irrelevant contents in some university courses, inadequate infrastructures, and lack of opportunities for practice, to mention but a few. Based on these findings, it is recommended that whenever an opportunity to review the existing teacher training programmes comes, the exercise should be preceded with needs analysis to help determine if the existing programmes adequately address the needs of the teaching profession for which the student teachers are being prepared.</p>

Impact of Language-Oriented Extracurricular Activities on Academic Achievement in Language Preparation Schools

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunus YILDIZ
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Preparatory Schools ◽  
Special Approach

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) requires learners’ exposure to what educators call the language skills: reading, speaking, writing and listening. Language teachers’ aim is to make students acquire language skills to ensure achievement both in oral and written communication.  Language teachers at Preparatory Schools try to do their best to teach those students who did not reach the level of target language skills that would enable them to study in that language. According to observations, the researcher came to conclusion that those students have difficulty reaching the proficiency level needed for study in the language at their departments for the following year need a special approach, additional to their curriculum studies. The idea was instead of giving abundant homework to students to be completed, it is better to draw their attention to English language-oriented extracurricular activities (ECAs). Via these activities students will use the language beyond the classroom, have sufficient real-life-like practice, but, on the other hand, be devoid of the stress typical for both classroom and first contacts with people not speaking one’s native language. This, hopefully, will also let students increase students’ level of language skills. The experimental research, in which 34 students of Ishik University (Iraq, Erbil) were involved, the idea was confirmed.

Creating Multimodal Texts for Language Learning Purposes

2019 ◽  
pp. 191-213
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Gajek
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Situated Learning ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Video Clips ◽  
Repetitive Tasks

The idea of creating short educational video clips oriented on the language, culture, or communication is well grounded in language learning pedagogy. They support comprehension and language skills of the students, intercultural competence, and digital skill. They change repetitive tasks such as rehearsal or rote learning into attractive and motivating activities well embedded in situated learning procedures making learning more personal. The study aims at analysis of the content of over 280 video clips made by pre-service language teachers between 2008-2014. The clips are intended for a variety of educational purposes (e.g., introducing new language, illustrating usage, enhancing practice, documenting performance, and assessment). Students used subtitles, intertitles, and narrative revoicing a story. They produced various genres. The results show that student teachers are able to produce multimodal texts to enhance various stages of learning and teaching processes (presentation, practice, and assessment) while developing six out of eight lifelong learning competences.

scholarly journals Comprendre les représentations des enseignants de langues à travers des récits visuels

EL LE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Maria Melo Pfeifer
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Visual Methods ◽  
Before And After

Teachers’ representations are of paramount importance to understand their situated professional action. Following a discussion of the concept of “representation” and its importance in foreign language education, a revision of the use of visual narratives in this disciplinary field will be presented, focusing on: i) (prospective) foreign language teachers’ representations concerning the target language; ii) their representations regarding teaching and learning methods; iii) teachers’ professional development. Afterwards, an empirical study using visual methods in initial teacher education, before and after a school professional internship, will be presented and discussed, illustrating the professional development of prospective teachers of French.

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