scholarly journals Foreign Language Teachers’ Intercultural Competence as a New Aspect of Professional Development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merve Gazioğlu ◽  
Buket Tanyeri
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Private University ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Teacher Training Programs

This mixed-method study aims to offer an insight into foreign language teachers’ perceptions on the relationship between intercultural competence and professional development. It is also attempted to explore some methods for evaluating teachers’ intercultural competence through their professional development activities. The research participants are local and international instructors at a private university in Turkey. Data was collected via a web-based questionnaire adapted from Sercu (2006) and a semi-structured interview designed by the researchers. The general findings of the study indicate that learning about a) target culture, b) local culture, and c) international students’ culture contribute to foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence and it is considered as a part of their professional development. However, it is pointed out that pre-service and in-service teacher training programs in Turkey cannot provide sufficient facilities to develop teachers’ intercultural competence.  Key words: professional development, intercultural competence, foreign language teaching.  

scholarly journals EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Continuing Professional Development: A Case of Iranian High School Teachers

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goudarz Alibakhshi ◽  
Najibeh Dehvari
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Desarrollo Profesional ◽  
Phenomenological Research Design ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

<p><span>English, particularly regarding a foreign language teachers’ professional development, has been studied in depth. However, it is not known how Iranian English as a foreign language teachers perceive continuing professional development. This study explored the perceptions of Iranian English as a foreign language teachers of continuing professional development and identified their main professional development activities. For the study, a phenomenological research design was applied. Twenty English teachers were interviewed. The data were content analyzed in line with the Randor model. The results showed that the participants perceived continuing professional development to entail skills development, continuous learning, keeping up to date, learning for interest, and professional revitalization. Additionally, they developed professionally through work, formal education, and attending and presenting at continuing professional development events.</span></p><p><span>El desarrollo profesional de los docentes de inglés como lengua extranjera se ha estudiado ampliamente. Sin embargo, se desconoce cómo los profesores iraníes de inglés como lengua extranjera perciben el desarrollo profesional continuado. En este estudio se exploran dichas percepciones y se identifican las principales actividades que estos docentes llevan a cabo para desarrollarse profesionalmente. Con este fin, se diseñó una investigación fenomenológica aplicada a 20 profesores entrevistados. Los datos se analizaron de acuerdo con el modelo propuesto por Radnor. Los resultados mostraron que los docentes perciben el desarrollo profesional continuado como: mejora de habilidades, aprendizaje continuo, actualización, aprendizaje motivado por el interés y revitalización de la labor docente. Asimismo, los docentes crecen profesionalmente por medio del trabajo, la educación formal y la asistencia y presentación en eventos de desarrollo profesional continuado.</span></p>

scholarly journals WASHBACK TO LANGUAGE TEACHERS: A REVIEW OF MODELS AND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN AND BEYOND VIETNAM

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinh Minh Thu
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

Washback, i.e., test effects on teaching and learning, has been emerging as an attractive research topic in language training and assessment for over the past 20 years for its significant implications of test validation and fairness for both policy-makers and practitioners. Presently, it deserves more Vietnamese researchers' interest in the context of the enactment of the National Foreign Language Project 2020 (extended to 2025), which puts language assessment as a key innovation requirement. Washback operates either positively or negatively; i.e. promoting or inhibiting learning. Teachers are considered the precursor in the washback mechanism. There is only one washback model on the washback effects on teachers, which is proposed by Shih (2009). This paper aims to critically browse other washback models besides Shin’s (2009) to generate a washback framework on teachers' perceptions and practices. Previous empirical washback research on teachers in and beyond Vietnam is, then, investigated in alignment with the aspects illustrated in the framework to point out achievements and gaps in the field. A qualitative approach of document analysis of over forty studies of differing types, i.e. books, dissertations and articles, has been adopted to reach the research aim. The discussion is divided into two major parts, including the washback models pertaining to teachers to scaffold a model for teachers' perceptions and practices, and the results in empirical research in terms of the aspects mentioned in the model. Findings show that washback on teachers' perceptions ranges from perceptions of the test itself, students' language ability, teaching contents and methodology to teachers' professional development. Plus, washback on teachers' practices concerns their selections of teaching contents and methodology in class as well as their involvement in professional development. The element of professional development can be considered a new light in the reviewed washback model. This has a significant meaning by raising teachers' awareness of developing themselves professionally. The current paper expects to contribute to elaborating the scenario of washback research for interested researchers, practitioners and policymakers not only in but beyond the context of Vietnam.

scholarly journals Badania diagnostyczne w glottodydaktyce – zalety i trudności

Neofilolog ◽  
1970 ◽  
pp. 183-194
Author(s):  
Krystyna Mihułka
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Diagnostic Studies ◽  
Diagnostic Research

The purpose of the following article is to discuss the theoretical framework of diagnostic research used in glottodidactics as well as to analyze some selected diagnostic studies conducted by Polish and German researchers in the last decade into the development of high school and university students’ and foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence. In the last part of this article attention is paid to the presentation and discussion of the most frequent problems which researchers encounter while planning and carrying out diagnostic studies.

scholarly journals Interculturality in English Language Teaching – A Small Study with Portuguese Teachers

e-TEALS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-125
Author(s):  
Ana Ponce de Leão
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Teachers Perceptions

Abstract UNESCO and many other organisations worldwide have been working on approaches in education to develop tolerance, respect for cultural diversity, and intercultural dialogue. Particularly, the Council of Europe has laid out guiding principles in several documents to promote intercultural competence, following Byram’s and Zarate’s efforts in integrating this important component in language education. The commitment to developing the notion of intercultural competence has been so influential that many countries, e.g., Portugal, have established the intercultural domain as a goal in the foreign language curricula. However, this commitment has been questioned by researchers worldwide who consider that action is needed to effectively promote intercultural competence. The research coordinated by Sercu, for example, suggests that, although foreign language teachers are willing to comply with an intercultural dimension, their profile is more compatible with that of a traditional foreign language teacher, rather than with a foreign language teacher, who promotes intercultural communicative competence. In this study, I propose to examine teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about intercultural communicative competence in a cluster of schools in Portugal and compare these findings with Sercu’s study. Despite a twelve-year gap, the present study draws similar conclusions.

Foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence and legitimacy during an international teaching experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique Bournot-Trites ◽  
Sandra Zappa-Hollman ◽  
Valia Spiliotopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
International Mobility ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching Abroad ◽  
International Teaching

Abstract Given the increase in international mobility opportunities for educators, analyzing how the experience of studying and teaching abroad benefits teachers is of utmost importance in a globalized educational system. Using Deardorff’s (2009) model of intercultural competence (IC), this study explores how a group of recently graduated Canadian foreign language teachers benefitted from a four-month international teaching experience (ITE). The following questions guided this investigation: In which ways did the ITE contribute to the participants’ IC development? How did the ITE affect the participants’ professional identity and sense of legitimacy? Data were collected, triangulated, and interpreted using thematic content data analysis. This study provides illustrations of the participants’ IC development across all components on Deardorff’s IC model, showing that properly scaffolded ITEs afforded the participants opportunities to develop their IC. The findings also show that the ITE of living and teaching abroad positively impacted their professional identity and feeling of legitimacy.

scholarly journals EFFICIENCY OF PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF SIOP MODEL

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olha Demianenko ◽  
◽  
Rymma Maiboroda ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Teaching Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers

As the title implies, a scientific paper reveals the issue of an efficiency of professional activity of foreign language teachers in higher education institutions in the context of SIOP model. The problem of this study is that in spite of the stressed importance of teaching skills, student teachers lack many of the English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching skills which may have a negative impact on their teaching performance that in turn affects their teaching self-efficacy. The methods of applying SIOP model and the effect of using SIOP model on developing EFL student teachers’ teaching skills are studied. It is emphasized that among the multiple factors that affect students’ achievement is teacher effectiveness. Thus, the challenge remains to improve and promote the effectiveness of teachers in an effort to increase students’ academic achievement. The positive and negative aspects of the education shift towards SIOP model are identified, the principles of enhancing innovative educational process effectiveness are revealed. It is worth noting that any professional development of foreign language teachers in higher education institutions must address specific knowledge and attitudes that are relevant to teaching foreign language learners. Teachers need to understand basic constructs of the second language development, the nature of language proficiency, the role of the first language and culture in learning, and the demands that mainstream education places on culturally diverse students. There is growing evidence that professional development approaches that are guided by teacher input and that view teacher learning as continual and transformative makes higher education institutions a better place for students and staff. The results indicated that introduction of SIOP model has opened up a number of problems associated with the introduction of such training services. It is stressed that the factors of SIOP model can guide limited English proficient students and suggest some useful strategies for language teachers to handle the students’ difficulties in language comprehension. It should be stressed that the introduction of SIOP model in modern educational process opens up wide horizons and unlimited possibilities for the efficiency of professional activity of foreign language teachers in higher education institutions, which have yet to be studied and mastered by modern pedagogical science.

scholarly journals KSZTAŁTOWANIE POSTAWY OTWARTOŚCI INTERKULTUROWEJ NAUCZYCIELI JĘZYKÓW OBCYCH W ŚWIETLE ZALECEŃ UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ I NA PRZYKŁADZIE ASYSTENTURY COMENIUSA

Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 265-277
Author(s):  
Anna Grabowska
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
National Language ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Intercultural Awareness ◽  
Foreign Language Learners

Learning a foreign language is not only limited to the development of linguistic competences. Learning a language also means learning about the culture and life of another country, which very often may be a future destination for educational or professional purposes for foreign language learners. Teaching intercultural competences within foreign language education is a subject of academic research. Official documents of the European Union, which affect the national language education strategies, also confirm the importance developing intercultural competence. Experts agree that foreign language teachers play a crucial role in building intercultural awareness of their pupils. Thus, in order to act as intercultural mediators they should acquire intercultural skills and competences themselves. This article analyses the development of future foreign language teachers’ intercultural competences as a consequence of their participation in Comenius Assistantship, a component of the Lifelong Learning Programme.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document