scholarly journals The pedagogy of languages for specific purposes: Developing key professional competences through a massive open online course for language teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-35
Author(s):  
Cédric Sarré ◽  
Poppy Skarli ◽  
Anna Turula
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Creative Solutions ◽  
Group Interviews

Although MOOCs dedicated to the teaching and learning of languages - Language MOOCs known as LMOOCs in the published literature - have gained popularity since 2008, this is not the case for language teacher education courses which are still rarely delivered in the form of MOOCs. Unsurprisingly, very little is therefore known about the effectiveness of such courses for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and initial language teacher education. To fill this gap, a study was carried out based on a MOOC addressing the needs of current and prospective teachers of languages for specific purposes, which was designed by the consortium of the Erasmus+-funded CATAPULT project in 2019, and which has been run three times since its launch. The present study aims to probe the reactions of participants on the MOOC in terms of its usefulness and how it matched their reasons for joining. It is based on post-course surveys administered to course participants (n=50) as well as on feedback provided by instructors and on focus-group interviews with Teaching Assistants (n=4), whose role was to support instructors in providing feedback and comments in the third iteration of the course. Data analysis shows that if course participants' overall satisfaction has grown steadily between season 1 and season 3 of the course, it is partly because their initial objectives have been revised along the way. We also show that, from a MOOC designer's perspective, a combination of the xMOOC and cMOOC models seems to be relevant for any language teacher education MOOC and that creative solutions exist to address the issue of sufficient instructor presence in such online courses, however open and massive they may be.

Spelling Pronunciation versus Relaxed Pronunciation in Foreign Language Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-46
Author(s):  
Mehmet DEMİREZEN
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Native Students ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Creation

Accurate pronunciation is an important part of learning any language, and especially when non-native students are trained to be English language teachers. Good pronunciation is more than just mastering individual sounds since it also requires understanding intonation, stress, pitch and junctures. In this respect, first things first, two functional issues come to the stage: Spelling pronunciation versus relaxed pronunciation. Spelling pronunciation depends on the use of a pronunciation that is based on spelling that includes common pronunciation of the silent vowel and consonant letters. The converse of spelling pronunciation is pronunciation spelling which produces the creation of a new spelling form on the basis of pronunciation. In this study, the contrastive positioning of spelling pronunciation versus pronunciation spelling in English words, phrases, clauses, and sentences will be analyzed to train the English teachers.

Applying a Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework in Ethiopian English Language Teacher Education

2014 ◽  
pp. 286-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berhanu Abera
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
English Language ◽  
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Knowledge Framework

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) has emerged as a useful frame for instructional technology-enhanced education. This chapter addresses the existing literature on technological pedagogical content knowledge framework and of teacher education in Ethiopia in general and English language teacher education in particular. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, interviews, classroom observations, and documents. The results revealed that the existing literature failed to demonstrate the application of TPACK in English language teacher education in the country. The technological pedagogical content knowledge of classroom English language teachers was also found to be low. Classroom teachers applied their pedagogical content knowledge while teaching English language through televised instruction like the conventional instruction. They were seldom observed applying their technological pedagogical content knowledge. Finally, based on the results and the conceptual framework of TPACK, implications for the Ethiopian secondary school teacher preparation programs are outlined and further studies are suggested.

Developing English Language Teachers' Professional Capacities through Digital and Media Literacies

2016 ◽  
pp. 414-437
Author(s):  
Lucas Moreira dos Anjos-Santos ◽  
Michele Salles El Kadri ◽  
Raquel Gamero ◽  
Telma Gimenez
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Instructional Material ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
State University ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

This chapter aims to demonstrate how a group of educators from a southern Brazilian state university designed and implemented formative workshops to sustain English language teachers' professional development through digital and media literacies. The chapter maps important changes that have happened in language teacher education in Brazil and the convergences these changes share with digital and media literacies coming from a sociocultural paradigm. It also presents and discusses the extent to which the instructional material the group of educators produced for the continuing education of English language teachers integrated 21st century skills and the standards from the TESOL technology framework. As a way to evaluate the instructional material, the chapter analyzes the representations and identities schoolteachers constructed when engaging with digital and media literacies through the instructional material. The chapter concludes by advocating more social, political and collaborative future research in language teacher education and digital and media literacies.

Core Practices for World Language Teaching in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2022 ◽  
pp. 24-40
Author(s):  
Francis John Troyan ◽  
Emre Başok ◽  
David R. Carr
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
The United States ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
World Language ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Core Practices ◽  
Based Instruction

This chapter presents the results of a nationwide questionnaire of world language teachers in the United States (n=135) that sought to examine how they perceived the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their ability to enact certain “core practices” for world language teaching. Quantitative analysis of Likert items and qualitative analysis of open-ended questions allowed for the examination of the teacher's perceptions of their practice related to three core practices that have been identified as essential to the work of contextualized, standards-based instruction. The findings contribute to an understanding of the realities of world language teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, the disruptions created by it, and the challenges faced in carrying out the work of world language teaching. Given these insights, suggestions are made for ways forward for the work in core practices in world language teacher education, as well as for pedagogies for practice-based world language teacher education.

LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION. Jon Roberts. London: Arnold, 1998. Pp. viii + 346. $70.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-601
Author(s):  
Manel Lacorte
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Classroom Context ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Dimensions Of Learning ◽  
Constructivist Perspective

This volume is a valuable contribution to the field of language teacher education (LTE) because of its innovative approach to language learning and teaching as well as its consistent organization. As noted in the introduction, the book is intended for language teachers “who will make, or have made, the step from teaching to training” (p. 1). To this end, the author relates the teachers' experience and understanding of the classroom context to a broadly social constructivist perspective, based on the relevance of the personal and social dimensions of learning to teach.

scholarly journals Teletandem and telepresence: Rethinking the cultural component in language teaching and language teacher education

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 781-800
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Biondo SALOMÃO
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Experiences ◽  
Cultural Component

ABSTRACT This articles discusses some of the results of a qualitative ethnographic research on foreign language teacher's conceptions of culture in an extension course for continuing education in the virtual collaborative learning context of "Teletandem Brazil: foreign languages for all", UNESP. The results have implications for the fields of language teaching and learning mediated by new technologies and teacher education. They suggest that telepresence in teletandem provided a means for dialogically undergoing the complexities of cultural experiences. Grounded in real world interaction, these experiences can lead to the change of the knowledge base of language teacher education for intercultural communication and the teaching and learning of culture. Culture can, then, be dissociated from the idea of a homogeneous, fixed and transparent body of knowledge.

scholarly journals Foreign language teacher education in psycho-pedagogical research

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-176
Author(s):  
Marianna Levrints
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

The unprecedented growth in the quantity, as well as quality of publications on language teacher education supported by the domain’s increasing experiential background opens up new avenues for enhancing the effectiveness of foreign language teacher education in Ukraine. Hence, the present paper aims at analyzing and singling out recurrent research themes, defining the mainstream approaches of the field of language teacher education, which constitute the emerging theoretical foundations of the field’s knowledge base. The review of the state-of-the-art publications has enabled the specification of the following research areas, pertinent to foreign language teacher education: language teacher cognition, the knowledge base of language teachers, language teacher identity, reflection, language teacher research and action research, language teacher professionalism, the role of teacher education, effectiveness of teaching, expertise, competence, teacher development and some others. The analysis of research suggests overall proliferation of the number of studies on the problem of language teacher education during the past 30˗40 years. Nevertheless, the comparison of the volume of studies highlighting general aspects of teacher education to those specifically related to foreign/second language teacher education reveals the quantitative advantage of the former. More efforts are needed at elaborating language teacher focused issues which stem from the nature of foreign language as a discipline, the socio-cultural role of language teachers and the role of foreign language in particular. Further limitations of the field-related research base, include: 1) a rather small proportion of empirical studies, necessary to provide informed answers for important questions of language teacher education; 2) the majority of available empirical studies are small-scale and contextually limited, which excludes the possibility of generalizations; 3) the field’s overall reliance on traditions, intuition and practical experience, with little regard for theoretical foundations; 4) paucity of research that present systematic complex generalizations of the field’s knowledge base;

scholarly journals Toward a Decolonizing Framework for Equity-Oriented English Language Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-347
Author(s):  
Kongji Qin
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Nonnative English Speakers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism

Abstract In this article I critically review the current literature on English language teaching (elt), (neo)colonialism, and empire to advance a decolonizing framework for equity-oriented English language teacher education (elte). This framework first argues that teachers should be supported to understand and confront linguistic imperialism of the English empire to promote plurilingual approaches to elt while developing students’ critical awareness of power. Second, it contends that instead of asking elt professionals to apply Western centered pedagogies that are often ill-suited to their local instructional realities, they should be supported to develop their own praxis. Third, it calls for disrupting epistemological racism to reclaim local knowledge. Lastly, it emphasizes the need to unsettle colonial ontology of white supremacy and native-speakerism that render teachers of color and nonnative English speakers (nnes) as perpetual Others. The article concludes with a call for action to prepare language teachers to disrupt racism, (neo)colonialism, and inequality through their praxis.

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