scholarly journals Qualities of a Good English Language Teacher from the Perspectives of Textbook Authors in the Field of Language Teaching, Teachers, and Learners

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mohammaditabar ◽  
Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri ◽  
Mortaza Yamini ◽  
Ehsan Rassaei
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Physical Attributes

Researchers in the field of language teaching have long been fascinated by the qualities of good teachers. Such qualities have rarely been approached qualitatively from different angles in a single study. Thus, this research aimed to unearth the qualities in question by employing a qualitative multimethod approach. To this end, 23 randomly selected standard language teaching textbooks were analyzed by two coders using qualitative content analysis. The judiciously adopted codes from the analysis were employed to design and carry out semi-structured interviews with nine effective language teachers as well as ten good learners nominated via purposeful sampling. The data gleaned from the semi-interviews were once again analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The collective initial coding of the three datasets resulted in thirteen themes: knowledge of pedagogy, rapport, critical thinking, empathy, rhetoric, knowledge of subject matter, enthusiasm, respect, humor, consciousness, fairness, authenticity, and physical attributes. Conducting a second-level coding, we uncovered two broad themes, namely personality and professionalism with the former being significantly weightier collectively. The application of Chi-Square at this point showed that the associations between the three datasets were meaningful. The findings of the semi-structured interviews of participant teachers and students corroborated those of authors in the field of language teaching. Also, rapport and pedagogy were respectively viewed as the most salient attributes associated with good language teachers by the interviewed informants. The study holds clear implications for interested researchers, language teachers, and teacher educators.

scholarly journals Kuwaiti Instructors' Beliefs about English Language Teaching and Their Awareness of Global English

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Ahmad F. Alnwaiem ◽  
Abdullah M. Alazemi ◽  
Abdullah A. Alenezi
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Global English ◽  
English Language Teachers

The beliefs of EFL teachers are an essential term perceived in a number of educational fields. Especially in teacher education and behavioural research, this term is usually related to teachers' habits and practices in classes, considering their impact on each other. The aim of this study is to add to prior studies on the subject of teachers' beliefs and to concentrate on English language teachers (ELT). The objective is to merge the theory of instructors' beliefs with Global English (GE). The research question 'what are the Kuwaiti instructors' beliefs about ELT and their awareness of Global English?' formalizes these aims. To accomplish the research: To discover teachers' beliefs about ELT and their awareness of Global English. This research concentrates on English language teachers at the university level. The collection of data has been conducted over two months. For data collection and interpretation, this study adopted a qualitative research methodology. Surveys were chosen as the instrument for data collection. The study used qualitative content analysis in relation to the data analysis method. Moreover, the findings were evaluated based on a deductive and inductive approach to qualitative data analysis. Results indicated various kinds of teachers' beliefs about ELT. Including views about the English language, ELT in relation to the standards, ELT with regard to the GE context. English-language beliefs played a central role in shaping two other views, which were considered secondary beliefs. Except for the content of teachers' beliefs, the study's findings have shown two significant categories of influences: internal and external, that affect the development and application of teachers' beliefs in classrooms. In this study, the internal factor referred mainly to English-language teaching beliefs based on its ability to influence other cognitive constructs (i.e., different convictions, behaviours, sensitivity) and teaching practices. As far as external factors are concerned, the teachers' diverse experiences with individuals (e.g., parents and retired teachers) and administrative legislation (e.g., policy and curriculum) are the main factors. Finally, it was possible to conclude the findings of this analysis in the same manner as previous studies, which combined teacher cognition theory with the field of GE. In other words, teacher beliefs play a crucial part in the teacher's cognitive system as a decisive role in their teaching practice. This study proposes further research to reinforce the results of contemporary research in this area.

scholarly journals The Role of Counselling in English Language Teaching

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-55
Author(s):  
M. John Britto
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Remarkable Change ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
English Language Teachers

Counselling plays a significant role in bringing out a remarkable change in an individual’s personal and professional life. It has entered a number of domains including education. As human problems are mushrooming day by day in this hi-tech world, there is a dire need for finding solutions to those problems. It is counselling that comes to one’s aid to solve one’s problems that are psychological and personal. In English language teaching and learning too, there are multiple problems encountered by teachers and students as well. This paper discusses how counselling is indispensable to English Language Teaching (ELT) for finding solutions to problems faced by English language learners. Exploring the relevance of counselling to ELT, it also seeks to highlight the benefits of integrating it with ELT. It brings out the need for introspection of English language teachers to provide counselling to students. It enumerates various counselling skills, and presents an account of problem-solving method in ELT and eight approaches to counselling.

scholarly journals L2 Learners’ Problems in Speaking English of Rural Background Engineering Students in Ap

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 5942-5946
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Time To Learn

In Indian education system, learning English language is a second language (L2) which is unavoidable and undividable apart from their mother tongue (L1). An intellectual, physical and emotional contribution is necessary to learn a second language successfully and to communicate a linguistic message. Especially, the rural area of engineering students used L1 (Telugu) as a way of communication tool in some of the engineering colleges as they are facing many challenges while speaking English as a second language (L2). The present study would investigate the causes, problems and difficulties faced by the rural area students who came to study engineering courses in VIIT (A) College in Visakhapatnam, AP. The researcher has used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews for 40 students includeing 32 male and 8 female rural area students for data collection. The collected data analyzed statistically and graphically. In the data analysis, the results revealed the reasons for failure like due to less time to learn English in the classroom, inadequate encouragement from teachers, family and friends. It is also found that the Teaching of English language in bilingual method and late foundation of English medium studies in previous academics. This piece of writing also facilitates the researchers who aim to investigate similar problems in speaking skills for rural area engineering students. The study also presented some of the suggestions and recommendations to overcome the struggle for the language teachers and students.

Meaningfully Engaging EFL Students in the Digital School

2021 ◽  
pp. 92-118
Author(s):  
Stamatia Savvani
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
State Schools

Technology is an integral part of our daily and professional lives and is gradually and steadily being introduced into state schools. As for the Greek context, the Digital School project was initiated in 2010 in state schools; digital platforms and materials were made available to teachers and students for the teaching of English. This study follows a mixed-methods approach and employs questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to explore English language teachers' beliefs and practices regarding the use of technology in state schools. The research focuses on how teachers use technology to maximise student engagement. The findings show a tendency from educators to embrace technology despite certain shortcomings found regarding the resources available, content- and technology-wise. Drawing from interview findings and teachers' practices, this chapter proposes educational practices that could be employed to foster student engagement and meaningfully integrate technology in English language classes.

scholarly journals Digital language teaching after COVID-19: what can we learn from the crisis?

2021 ◽  
pp. 296-301
Author(s):  
Sina Werner ◽  
Can Küplüce
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
First Results

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting school closures have confronted the educational sector with numerous challenges. This study focuses on how teachers faced these challenges and examines what we can learn from the crisis for prospective digitally-enhanced English language teaching (ELT) and teacher education. It follows a qualitative research design and is based on semi-structured interviews with 20 foreign language teachers. The transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis to investigate teachers’ perspectives on their work during the pandemic and to describe needs concerning their professionalisation. First results suggest that Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) needs to be integrated better in teacher education to foster teachers’ competences for teaching languages online.

scholarly journals An Anthropocentric Approach to Evaluate English Language Teaching Course Books

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-29
Author(s):  
Ahmet Erdost Yastibas
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
The World ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Relationship

The new geological epoch Anthropocene poses a significant problem to people because it shows how human activities have started to change and shape the world negatively to a big extent. One way to deal with this problem is education, including English language teaching. In English language teaching, course books can be used to deal with the Anthropocene. When the literature was reviewed, it was seen that English language course books were evaluated according to English language teachers’ and students’ perspectives, but not with an Anthropocentric perspective. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate an English language course book used in Turkey with an Anthropocentric approach. It was designed as a qualitative study. The data collected were documented analyzed. Qualifications of the researcher and thick description were used for the trustworthiness of the research. The findings have indicated that the course book has units and parts of units related to nature. They have also shown that students can understand the relationship between people and nature by studying this course book. The results were discussed, and suggestions for further research were made.

scholarly journals Intercultural Competence in ELT Contexts: A Study of EFL Teachers’ Perceptions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelhak Bouslama ◽  
Fawzia Bouhass Benaissi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Cultural Mediators

Intercultural competence (IC) has been promoted by many educationalists as the most exalted type of competence in modern foreign language teaching (FLT). Among the difficulties to incorporate IC into FLT can be due to the fact that teachers may not have sufficient knowledge on the concept. To test this hypothesis, we attempt to answer the following question: how do Algerian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers perceive the concepts of culture and IC as well as the objectives of the intercultural approach (ICA) in English language teaching (ELT) contexts? The present study proceeds to analyze teachers’ knowledge, perceptions and understanding of the concepts of culture, IC and the ICA and seeks to identify any potential deficiencies that may hinder effective IC teaching. The main aim of the study is then to help teacher trainers establish training programs that address more efficiently targeted teachers’ needs with regard to IC teaching. This paper will hopefully assist in improving the implementation of IC into FLT classrooms. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with eight teachers and then analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that many EFL teachers displayed a lack of theoretical understanding concerning the ICA and its objectives, which may well impact negatively on their IC teaching practices. Teacher educators therefore need to focus more on updating EFL teachers’ on both the theoretical and practical levels that learners are today expected to grow as cultural mediators equipped with a set of skills rather than as native-like proficient language users.

Teachers’ Mindsets about L2 Learning: Exploring the Influences on Pedagogical Practices

RELC Journal ◽  
2022 ◽  
pp. 003368822110670
Author(s):  
Nourollah Zarrinabadi ◽  
Elnaz Afsharmehr
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Private Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
Learning And Teaching

This qualitative study aimed to examine Iranian language teachers’ mindsets about language learning and teaching, and the ways in which their mindsets influenced their educational practices. The participants of this study were 20 Iranian language teachers who taught general English courses at private language institutes in a city in central Iran. The data were collected through conducting semi-structured interviews with the participants. The qualitative content analysis was conducted, and the main themes and categories were extracted. The results revealed that teachers had categorical (fixed or growth) or mixed mindsets (both fixed and growth mindsets). Moreover, the results showed that teachers’ mindsets influenced teachers’ pedagogical strategies, homework assignment, and their praise type. The findings show that it is important to raise teachers’ awareness about their mindsets and the effects they might have on their teaching strategies and the feedback/praise they give to their students.

scholarly journals Implementing Poetry in the Language Class: A Poetry-Teaching Framework for Prospective English Language Teachers

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safiye İpek Kuru Gönen
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language Class

Poetry has often been neglected as a favorable tool for language teaching. What is more, its role to expand human experience and create language awareness has not been fully realized. As a reaction to often-underestimated value of including literature in the language class, this article proposes a poetry-teaching (POT) framework for language practitioners to bridge the gap between literature and language teaching methodology. Step-by-step procedure followed in the framework aimed at helping prospective teachers incorporate poetry into language teaching, while at the same time offering various materials and activities to be used in their future teaching practices. The proposed framework was presented to 21 student teachers at an English Language Teaching (ELT) department of a state university in Turkey to help them integrate the ideas of using poetry in a micro-teaching context. Prospective teachers acted both as learners and teachers while following the steps of the suggested framework, and reflected on this experience through reflective diaries and stimulated recalls of their teaching performances. They also took part in semi-structured interviews at the end of the study. Qualitative analyses revealed that poetry can have a place in language teaching by using a systematic and guided framework tailored to the features of a language classroom. With the help of the proposed framework, implementing poetry in the language class helped to promote motivation, creativity and self-expression along with multi-skill development and interaction among learners. However, incorporating poetry into the language class was challenging in terms of time and effort required and difficulties in material selection and design. This study suggests that poetry can become part of language teacher education. In this regard, this article proposes implications for teachers and teacher educators for the implementation of poetry in language teaching practice.

scholarly journals Exploring English Language Teaching in an Ecuadorian Urban Secondary Institution

2017 ◽  
pp. 107-134
Author(s):  
Ximena Burgin ◽  
Mayra C Daniel
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Major Theme ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
English Language Teachers

 This article presents a case study focused on the pedagogy of nine English language teachers’ pedagogy in Ecuador. The significance of this study is its potential to inform practitioners, teacher educators, and policymakers in countries where teachers need to be prepared to teach in multilingual settings, such as Ecuador. Data analyses of nine observations of practicing teachers seems to suggest the curriculum used to prepare English teachers does not fully meet the educational needs of teachers or students. Observations of secondary level English teachers were conducted using the Classroom Observation Checklist (2010). This instrument is useful to analyze teachers’ delivery of content, lesson organization, classroom interactions, verbal and non-verbal communication in the classroom, and integration of media during instruction. One major theme emerged from data analyses; English language teaching appears to follow teaching as a foreign language paradigm. The validation of the results of this exploratory study through the participation of a larger sample size of classroom teachers would be important to provide a more robust conclusion regarding teaching diverse student populations. 

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