scholarly journals Exploring the Impact of Professional Development Intervention through Reflection

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Bahar Gun
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Training Program ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Development Intervention ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Three Phases

Rather than being an analytical research inquiry, this article presents assessment of a specific professional development intervention focusing mainly on the impact of a 3-month in-service teacher education program on 10 English language teachers in Turkey. The data comes from various sources, namely, surveys, interviews, classroom observations and reflective journal entries. The training program is described in three phases: pre-intervention, intervention and post-intervention. Based on the data collected during three phases, the training program can be claimed to have an obvious impact on not only the participant teachers’ mind-sets about teaching but also on their day-to-day classroom practices.

scholarly journals PRIMARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ ENGAGEMENT IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Thom Thom ◽  
Pham Thi Thanh Thuy
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Efl Teacher ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The Impact

Teachers’ professional development (PD) is viewed as the center of educational reforms in many countries, and this topic has been widely researched by scholars such as Avalos (2011), Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin (2011), Le (2002), and Whitehouse (2011). However, primary English language teachers (PELTers)’ PD has been under-researched in Vietnamese contexts. This paper outlines a project researching PELTers’ PD in a period of ongoing educational transformation, initiated by the National Foreign Languages Project. The authors highlight a ‘mixed methods’ research design with data collected from 68 surveys and five individual semi-structured interviews in a province in North Vietnam. Both the impact of language policy on Vietnamese PELTers' PD and their responses to top-down PD requirements and provision are under investigation. Some initial findings are (i) PELTers' rationales for PD; (ii) their engagement in PD forms and topics; (iii) benefits of PD; (iv)their PD need areas; and (v) factors affecting PD engagement. PELTers' suggestions for improving PD in their contexts are also discussed. This paper offers significant insights for EFL researchers, policy-makers, EFL teacher training institutions and other educators.

Teacher Tales About Professional Development in an Evolving Profession

2019 ◽  
pp. 179-216
Author(s):  
Amanada K. Wilson ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Impact

This chapter presents the results of an investigation which explores the impact on in-service teacher development resulting from an evolution in English language teaching in Mexico. Using a qualitative approach grounded in sociocultural theory, it presents the narrated stories of seven English language teachers whose experiences span a period of almost a quarter of a century at a public university in central Mexico. Their development as teachers is seen through the re-living, telling, and re-telling of their lived experiences viewed through a Vygotskian lens. A thematic re-storying system is used to analyze the data collected, revealing common themes beginning with the participants’ entry into the profession, their socialization into the community of teachers, and ultimately, their motivation to develop as teachers. This study is not meant to offer an exhaustive review of all teachers throughout the country, but through these narrated stories, both the how and the why of participants’ in-service teacher development tell a bigger story of a winding path from institutionally-promoted teacher training to self-motivated teacher development and a growing sense of professionalism.

scholarly journals ISSUES WITH EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF AN ESL TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN SABAH, MALAYSIA

2018 ◽  
pp. 51-76
Author(s):  
WENDY HIEW ◽  
JILL MURRAY
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Survey Interviews ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This study investigates English as Second Language teachers’ perceptions and the impact of the Professional Up-skilling of English Language Teachers programme, which was designed and conducted by the British Council Malaysia. A review of previous studies revealed a paucity of research focusing on large-scale, standardised teacher professional development programmes that involved English language teachers from both heterogeneous teaching levels (i.e. primary and secondary schools) and heterogeneous districts (i.e. urban and rural). The limited published studies available have been critical of this mode of professional development for a number of reasons, and the purpose of this study was to investigate these issues in the Malaysian context. A mixed methods explanatory sequential design was adopted, which utilised a questionnaire survey, interviews and focus group with the teachers and District English Language Officers. However, this article will focus on the qualitative findings. The findings reveal four major limitations of the programme: in the coursebook materials; negative emotional impact on the teachers, which compromised the potential benefits of the programme; selection of participants; and the amount of follow-up support. The findings have implication on programme designers and providers in designing future teacher professional development programmes. Keywords: Teacher professional development, English language teachers, standardised program, developing country, Malaysia.

scholarly journals Debates about Educational Issues: A Pedagogical Strategy to Explore Argumentative Skills in the EFL Classroom

HOW ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (27) ◽  
pp. 49-67
Author(s):  
Ángela Vanesa Duarte Infante ◽  
Sandra Milena Fonseca Velandia ◽  
Bertha Ramos Holguín
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Public University ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Pedagogical Intervention ◽  
Pedagogical Strategy ◽  
Educational Issues ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Impact

This article describes a pedagogical proposal, based on debates, to determine the type of arguments that pre-service English language teachers constructed at a public university in Tunja, Colombia. We implemented a series of debate workshops about educational issues. Thirteen modern languages pre-service teachers in their sixth semester participated in the debates. In each debate, we collected data through recordings, focus groups, and field notes to understand the impact of the pedagogical intervention. Findings suggest that the arguments pre-service teachers built were based on examples. In this sense, the arguments built were based on their personal experiences and their partners’ opinions. We argue for the need to implement more research proposals that will contribute to the understanding and awareness of what argumentation implies.

scholarly journals Professional development of English language teachers in Malang, Indonesia: Institutional and individual perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anik Nunuk Wulyani
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Ict Skills ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Individual

<p>Two important areas of professional development for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Indonesia identified in the 2003 Law on National Education System and 2005 Law on Teachers and Lecturers are disciplinary knowledge and ICT skills. The present thesis investigates institutional and individual aspects of EFL teacher professional development (TPD) in Indonesia in relation to the development of these two areas of expertise.  Three studies were carried out. The first study measured Indonesian EFL teachers’ target language (English) proficiency as a core component of their professional knowledge and how it is maintained and developed by the teachers. EFL teachers’ language proficiency in this study was operationalised as their lexical, reading and writing proficiency and measured using the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), IELTS-like reading comprehension test and IELTS-like academic writing test, respectively. The results showed that the teachers’ length of service correlated negatively with their knowledge of academic vocabulary, as well as reading and writing proficiency, indicating issues with the outcomes of the TPD in this area. To triangulate the test results, teacher perceptions data were also gathered using questionnaires and interviews. It was found that the EFL teachers tended to overestimate their own overall English language proficiency.  The second study used a longitudinal blogging activity with the EFL teachers as a form of personal professional development that targeted their English language and ICT skills while reflecting on topics related to their professional (teaching) activities. Qualitative analysis of the blog entries of three EFL teachers suggested that the individual teachers’ blogging, critical reading and reflective writing skills were very uneven. Interviews with nine teachers and 11 educational stakeholders were then conducted to understand their views on blogging as a form of professional development. The results revealed that the perceived obstacles and drawbacks outweighed the perceived benefits of blogging as a form of personal professional development.  The third study examined Indonesian national TPD policy documents, how these policies were translated into local professional development programmes in Malang district. It was found that the needs for EFL teachers to maintain their English proficiency and ICT skills were only partially addressed in TPD policy and implementation. In addition, the interviewed teachers and stakeholders perceived the definitions, goals, administration, evaluation, benefits, and challenges of TPD differently.  Taken as a whole, the present findings show that institutional implementation of TPD policies in Indonesia needs to better target individual EFL teachers’ English proficiency and ICT skills, and that opportunities for better professional development need to be sought at both personal and institutional levels. At the individual level, self-motivation to continue learning is crucial for English language teachers who want to keep up with change and innovation in English language teaching. At the institutional level, needs analyses and environmental analyses are essential in designing programs for maintaining and developing teacher professional competency.</p>

scholarly journals Use of Action Songs and Total Physical Response to Promote the Development of Listening Skills among Year 4, Low Enrolment-Tamil Vernacular Primary School Students in Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Uthaya Kumar, S. ◽  
Sandaran, S. C.
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
School Type ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
School Students ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Listening Skill ◽  
Physical Response ◽  
English Language Teachers

Total Physical Response (TPR) is built around the coordination of speech and actions. Action songs promote dance or acts while singing. In this study, we look at action songs as part of TPR to investigate its effectiveness in enhancing students’ listening skills to develop their mastery of the English Language. Seven Year 4 students from a Low Enrolment (SKM) Tamil Vernacular Primary school type (SJKT) were selected as the participants of a within-group experimental design. Upon completing a pre-test on listening skill, students were given six treatment lessons, whereby one hour per lesson was allocated. The treatment was conducted once a week, for every listening lesson. The data was collected while and after the pupils were taught through a series of lessons or interventions that incorporated songs and TPR to complete a variety of listening tasks. The finding shows that even though action songs and TPR are not commonly used among English Language teachers, teachers should implement the method especially for students from Low Enrolment Vernacular Primary School Type as the students in this study showed a significant increase in their post intervention scores of the listening test. The findings also discusses SJKT English Language teachers perceptions on the use of songs and TPR and suggests that there is still a lack of understanding among the teachers on the potential benefits of action songs and TPR for their particular students who have high levels of anxiety and inhibitions to learning English. 

Professional Development Landscapes

2017 ◽  
pp. 98-111
Author(s):  
Beril Yucel ◽  
Meral Güçeri
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Action Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Collaborative Action Research ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Collaborative Action ◽  
English Language Teachers

This chapter aims to present two action research case studies conducted in the English Language Schools of two universities in Turkey and discuss the long-term effects of this Professional Development activity on teachers' professional lives. In both of these studies, teachers were involved in collaborative action research. The first case study discusses a small scale collaborative Action Research project which targeted 16 English language teachers. Case Study Two, on the other hand, is a large scale project which explores 160 English language teachers' collaborative action research study. Detailed information about each case study is provided by highlighting the aims, institutional contexts, participant profiles, methodology used and findings. Teachers' perceptions about action research and the long-term impact of it on their professional growth are also discussed. Conclusion part highlights the factors that need to be taken into consideration while setting up collaborative action research projects in institutions. Finally, future research recommendations are made.

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