scholarly journals Practices of an English language classroom from a postmethod perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. e51966
Author(s):  
Fernanda Caiado da Costa Ferreira ◽  
Laryssa Paulino de Queiroz Sousa ◽  
Neuda Alves do Lago ◽  
Francisco José Quaresma de Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Empirical Material

What is language? What is the best approach to teach a language? These questions have guided numerous studies in the field of applied linguistics (Donato, 1994; Ellis, 1985; Figueiredo, 2018; Hall, 2003; Pennycook, 1989). However, by considering that the difficulties and necessities of the language learning process are always influenced by its context, we perceive the temporary answers offered as localized possibilities. Thus, this qualitative study has no intention of providing universal and totalizing answers to these inquiries. Nonetheless, the practices of an English language classroom are investigated in this research to provide empirical material for the discussion of these matters. The classes observed were grounded on premises of critical applied linguistics and critical language teacher education. In the interactions analyzed, the seven students who participated in the study problematized essays and literary texts written by subaltern bodies, such as Wong’s (1980) and hooks’s (1994), who represent marginalized US groups. The specific objectives of this research are: a) to observe and discuss the elements that stand out during the learners’ interactions; and b) to investigate the students’ perceptions of this experience. The study shows that, more than following a method, adopting an approach that focuses on interactions as a means of promoting both linguistic improvement and questioning of naturalized assumptions is an effective way to learn and teach a foreign/second language. Furthermore, the practices discussed are in accordance with the ideas expressed by Kumaravadivelu (1994, 2001, 2003a, 2003b, 2005, 2006, 2012), for whom the postmethod perspective, connected with critical perspectives, seeks to equip student teachers with knowledge, attitudes and autonomy necessary to adopt a reflective posture towards their practices.

scholarly journals English Language Teacher Education: Notes on The Past And Future

Linguaculture ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Cook
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Contemporary Context

Abstract The first part of this paper considers approaches to teacher education for EFL developed during the 1960s-1990s, drawing upon two sources: the taxonomy of three approaches proposed by Wallace (1991) and personal reminiscence. It discusses each of Wallace's approaches in turn: craft, 'applied science', and reflective practice.The second part considers whether these approaches are adequate models for teacher education now. I suggest that while they are still relevant, they are also too inward looking for contemporary needs.They need to be supplemented with a more outward looking approach, in which teachers are prepared to engage with four aspects of the contemporary context: new communication technologies, the new global linguistic landscape, the relationship between English and learners' own languages, and the rival political views of English language learning as promoting either a global neoliberal agenda or a global civil society.

scholarly journals Developing Module for Entrepreneurship Based Translation and Interpreting Skills Course in English Language Teacher Education

JET ADI BUANA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
Siyaswati Siyaswati ◽  
Dyah Rochmawati
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Student Evaluation ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Teacher Education Department

The present study describes the development of a course module on Entrepreneurship-Based Translation and Interpretation Skills for the students of English Language Teacher Education Department. The module was inspired by empirical research findings about the knowledge base of student teachers. It was created and refined during its three-year application will be reflected upon here, including feedback collected from student evaluation sheets. In the end, the participants responded positively to the course module. The students stated that the module was interesting, relevant and valuable for their later profession. They also emphasized that they now felt more competent in the area of Translation and Interpretation Skills and entrepreneurship.

scholarly journals Professional Feedback Loop: How Can Practising Teachers’ Reflection Inform English Language Teacher Education?

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-270
Author(s):  
Mona Evelyn Flognfeldt
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teacher Research ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Pedagogical Issues ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher

Denne artikkelen presenterer en studie av den type læring praktiserende engelsklærere i norsk grunnskole selv rapporterer etter et års videreutdanningsstudium i engelsk. Et pedagogisk utviklingsprosjekt på egen skole inngikk som en sentral del av studiet. Studien gir et innblikk i hvilke aspekter ved skolefaget engelsk som erfarne lærere definerer som hoved­utfordringer i undervisningen og utbyttet de har hatt av prosjektene sine. Artikkelen bygger på data fra den kritiske refleksjonen som lærerne gir uttrykk for mot slutten av prosjektene sine. På bakgrunn av kvalitativ innholdsanalyse av prosjektrapportene identifiseres vesentlige felles språkdidaktiske elementer i lærernes konseptualisering av sin egen rolle og egne prioriteringer overfor elevenes læring. Denne typen lærerforskning kan få viktige følger for opplæringen i studiefaget engelsk i lærerutdanningen. Relevante forestillinger blant praktiserende lærere kan kanaliseres tilbake til lærerutdanningen for på den måten å mediere studentenes profesjonsforberedelse og deres framtidige arbeid som engelsklærere. Sentrale språkdidaktiske tema blir trukket fram, som i sin tur kan fungere som analytiske begreper og verktøy for engelskstudentene i forberedelsen til de komplekse praktiske utfordringer i klasse­rommet. Kontakt med denne typen forskning på egen undervisning som erfarne lærere har gjennomført med fokus på det de opplever som engelskfaglige utfordringer, kan hjelpe lærerstudentene til å knytte sammen teori og praksis og bidra til å senke deres affektive filter når de starter som lærere. Denne artikkelen munner ut i en diskusjon om hvilke former denne tilbakemeldingen fra praksisfeltet kan ta.Nøkkelord: utdanning av engelsklærere, profesjonsutvikling, læreres forskning, læreres læring, språkdidaktikkAbstractThis article presents a study of the learning reported by practising teachers of English in Norwegian primary and lower secondary schools. The teacher reports were in connection with a year’s further-education course in English, which included a pedagogical development project at their own school. This study provides insights into what aspects of the subject the practising teachers defined as their main instructional challenges in the classroom and what their main learning outcomes were. The data for this article are critical reflections articulated by the teachers at the end of their projects. Based on qualitative content analysis, I identified salient language-pedagogical features and commonalities in the teachers’ conceptualisations of their role and priorities with respect to student learning. This kind of language teacher research can have important implications for the way English is taught in initial teacher education. Relevant teacher cognitions can be channelled back to student teachers to mediate their professional preparation in the teacher education programme and their future work as English teachers. The central language-pedagogical issues identified in their research can be used as analytical and reflective tools for student teachers in their preparation for the complex practicalities of the classroom. Exploring the research that practising teachers have conducted into challenges they identified can help students connect theory with practice as well as contribute to lowering the affective filter of novice teachers. This article ends with a discussion of possible forms that this professional feedback loop can take.Keywords: english language teacher education, professional development, teacher research and development, teacher learning, language pedagogy

scholarly journals “If you don’t improve, what’s the point?” Investigating the impact of a “flipped” online exchange in teacher education

ReCALL ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Dooly ◽  
Randall Sadler
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Future Teachers ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article presents a pedagogical design for teacher education that combines flipped materials, in-class instruction, and telecollaboration (also known as virtual exchange) for foreign language teacher education. The context of this study is a course on technology and language learning for future teachers in which the flipped classroom concept was applied to technology-infused collaborative teacher training between future ESL/EFL instructors located at two partner universities (one in the USA, one in Europe). The three main teaching approaches (flipped materials, in class, and telecollaborative, or “FIT”) were symbiotic in that each structure reinforced the other through reception, discussion, and reflection as a means to help the student teachers bridge the gap between theory and practice. We apply classroom ethnographic discourse analysis to data sources (face-to-face and online discussion groups, student e-portfolios) to look at uptake of ideas, conceptual understanding, and successful transfer of new knowledge, and thereby identify whether the design provides significant learning opportunities for the future teachers. Although most studies of telecollaboration in language teacher education look principally at output, this approach allows an in-depth look at the learning process as knowledge is developed collaboratively between the participants.

scholarly journals A critical, decolonial glance at language teacher education in Brazil: on being prepared to teach

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana R. Mastrella-de-Andrade ◽  
Rosane Rocha Pessoa
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Interpretive Study ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Education In Brazil ◽  
Empirical Material ◽  
Great Complexity

ABSTRACT The decolonial accounts made by a student teacher motivated us to problematize discourses about the “unpreparedness to teach languages at schools”, recurrent in the area of language teacher education in Brazil, and confront them with accounts of other student teachers and of applied linguistics, poststructuralist and decolonial scholars. In this interpretive study, discussions on the themes language, the subject and teaching, coming from the empirical material, led us to a perspective of teacher education as an “impossible but necessary project” (LOPES; BORGES, 2015) and to the need to educate language teachers “to talk” (SKLIAR, 2006), in view of the great complexity of teaching contexts.

Review of doctoral research in language education in Germany (2014–2018)

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-357
Author(s):  
Lena Heine ◽  
Nicole Marx ◽  
Birgit Schädlich ◽  
Eva Wilden
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Doctoral Dissertations ◽  
Purposive Sample

AbstractThis article reviews a purposive sample of 16 doctoral dissertations in second language (L2) education, completed between 2014 and 2018 and published in German, in Germany. Among the 103 relevant dissertations found from this period, a total of 12 thematic strands were identified, of which five were chosen as being particularly common and thus warranting a more in-depth review: (1) learning and teaching about culture in the language classroom, (2) literary texts in L2 education, (3) bilingual models of learning and teaching, (4) plurilingual teaching and learning, and (5) language teacher education and teacher training. We identify relevant topics and relate these to trends in research methodology (qualitative/quantitative/mixed-methods). We also discuss the depth and breadth of these dissertations and situate their scholarly contributions within German and international research on language education.

The enculturation of pre-service Emirati English language teachers

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-16
Author(s):  
Carmel Sandiford
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Content Type ◽  
English Language Teachers

Purpose – This article aims to report on a qualitative study that investigates the enculturation of a group of pre-service English language teachers over four years of a Bachelor of Education degree offered in a women ' s college in the United Arab Emirates. Design/methodology/approach – Bourdieu ' s “thinking tools” of field, habitus and capital provide the overarching theoretical framework and analytic tools to examine the processes of enculturation which impact on the student teachers as they participate in a program based on Western-oriented theories and practices. The study draws upon data gathered from focus group interviews with student teachers in the first and fourth years of the program to provide insights into their ways of thinking as future Emirati English language teachers. The article discusses the priorities that emerge as these student teachers validate, or otherwise, the theoretical principles and practices legitimated through the program. Findings – The findings suggest that influences bound by local, cultural and social forces contribute significantly to the student teachers ' perceived capacity to think and act as future Emirati English language teachers. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to one site but, given the findings, similar investigations into processes of enculturation and the appropriation or resistance of essential aspects of English language teacher training could be undertaken. Originality/value – There is limited research into English language teacher education programs in the Arab world. This research has potential applications for English language teacher education programs where there is intent to effect educational reform.

scholarly journals Developing Module for Entrepreneurship Based Translation and Interpreting Skills Course in English Language Teacher Education

JET ADI BUANA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
Siyaswati Siyaswati ◽  
Dyah Rochmawati
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Student Evaluation ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Teacher Education Department

The present study describes the development of a course module on Entrepreneurship-Based Translation and Interpretation Skills for the students of English Language Teacher Education Department. The module was inspired by empirical research findings about the knowledge base of student teachers. It was created and refined during its three-year application will be reflected upon here, including feedback collected from student evaluation sheets. In the end, the participants responded positively to the course module. The students stated that the module was interesting, relevant and valuable for their later profession. They also emphasized that they now felt more competent in the area of Translation and Interpretation Skills and entrepreneurship.

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