scholarly journals Conducting Qualitative Longitudinal Research on Learning to Teach English Pronunciation: Challenges, Pitfalls…Coffee, and Bubbles!

Author(s):  
Michael Burri

Inquiries into the impact of second language teacher education on the development of teachers' practices, beliefs, and knowledge have increased substantially in the last few years. However, most studies tend to investigate the process of second language teacher learning over a relatively short period of time, and only limited literature addresses methodological considerations in longitudinal research, making the design of this type of study potentially challenging for researchers. The aim of this paper is to first describe an ongoing project which explores the process of teachers learning to teach English pronunciation over a period of six years. Following an overview of the study design, five major challenges that I have faced while conducting the research project are discussed: (1) design issues; (2) access to teacher-participants; (3) time-related issues; (4) data management; and (5) personal involvement. Included in the discussion are methodological insights I have gained while carrying out the research and several navigational strategies I have used to overcome the aforementioned challenges. The purpose of providing this personal account is to shed light on my own experiences with navigating methodological challenges as a means of empowering researchers in designing and carrying out longitudinal research.

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Wright

Second language teacher education (SLTE) has undergone considerable change over the past 25 years. The question of how language teaching is learnt and how programmes of professional preparation can contribute to this process now elicits quite different answers. A new agenda of theory and practice has emerged as SLTE has incorporated many of the ideas and practices of reflection (Schön 1983). At the same time, it has drawn increasingly on feeder fields of research and practice such as teacher cognition and professional cultures. These have augmented, and to some extent displaced, the original roots of SLTE in Applied Linguistics and Psychology, and a new knowledge base (Freeman & Johnson 1998) has been established, contributing to the formulation of theory about language teachers' learning-to-teach, and its practices. The focus of this review is on the extent to which the new agenda has influenced SLTE practices in recent years. It examines accounts of activities teacher educators and student teachers engage in during SLTE programmes in formal learning experiences. The paper identifies a thriving practitioner research culture in SLTE but argues that much more research is required to establish the true extent to which new conceptualisations of the process of learning-to-teach second languages guides SLTE practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-327
Author(s):  
Michael Burri ◽  
Amanda Baker ◽  
Honglin Chen

Abstract A substantial number of studies have been conducted in various second language teacher education settings. Yet, evidence about the effectiveness of teacher preparation continues to be debated and research findings about the efficacy of preparing language teachers are still somewhat inconclusive. As a further complication, even though pronunciation has regained some of its prominence in second language teaching, only minimal understanding exists about the preparation of pronunciation instructors in teacher education. The aim of this paper is to address this gap and to advance our understanding of teacher learning by first combining the findings from four research-based articles on learning to teach English pronunciation and then by introducing a new and innovative conceptual framework that reflects effective pronunciation teacher preparation in an Australian context.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamile Hamiloğlu

This article is a review on student teacher (ST) learning in second language teacher education (SLTE) and it aims to establish a context for ST learning for professional development in SLTE research and frame its contribution to the current research literature. To achieve this, it conducts an overview on concepts of interest, and it places in perspective some of the key previous findings relating to the research at hand. Broadly, it is to serve as a foundation for the debate over perspectives of second/foreign language (S/FL) student teachers’ (STs’) learning to teach through their professional development with reference to both coursework and practicum contexts.Keywords: student teacher learning, second language teacher education (SLTE), professional development


2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-157

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