INTERVIEW WITH DEVON WOODS / Entrevista com Devon Woods

On May 27th, 2021, we met virtually with Devon Woods. We asked him about his studies on beliefs and the relationship between beliefs and emotions and identity. We approached the decision-making process and its relationship to BAK (Beliefs, Assumptions and Knowledge). We also, discussed its relevance to English teaching communities, particularly here in Brazil. Devon Woods has always demonstrated to be amazed by the unseen and often unnoticed processes of interpretation that are involved in both personal and pedagogical types of communication. In the 1970s, he engaged in studies of learners’ and teachers’ cognition – their beliefs, interpretations and actions – and the interactions between them in language classrooms. As a product of his 1992 doctoral dissertation, we find his remarkable book “Teacher Cognition in Language Teaching” (1996), several articles, and the focus of the work of a number of graduate students published in the Carleton Papers in Applied Language Studies. The results of this conversation are what we present here in the form of an interview.

Investigating the pedagogical practices of EFL writing teachers in Palestinian universities: A cognitive-ecological perspective

<p>Teacher cognition studies are rare in the Palestinian context, as is also true in other contexts where English is taught as a foreign language. This study draws on theories of second language writing and teacher cognition to investigate the interplay between EFL writing teachers’ cognitions and their pedagogical practices. It employs a qualitative design involving multiple case studies to explore how the pedagogical practices of twelve EFL writing teachers working in Palestinian universities are shaped by their cognitions and contextual factors. Data were collected across the nine-month academic year through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, stimulated-recall interviews, and review of documents. A multiple case study research design was used, and constructivist grounded theory informed data analysis. Data were transcribed, coded, and analysed through the development of 12 case reports which were reconstructed into three clusters of cases. The cross-cluster analysis generated a cognitive-ecological model to explain teachers’ choices favouring different pedagogical approaches to teaching EFL writing. Results reveal that teachers’ cognitions about the nature of EFL writing, about teaching and learning writing and about themselves as EFL writing professionals influence their pedagogical practices. The findings also accentuate the role of ecological contexts as a mediating force influencing the interaction between cognitions and practices. These ecological contexts include classroom social and physical contexts, institutional context, broader educational context, and global community discourse. Classroom social and physical contexts were identified and perceived as the most significant barriers to teaching writing, while gaining access to the global community discourse was viewed as the greatest facilitator for adopting recommended practices. Teachers’ cognitions about professional self also determine the weight assigned to the different ecological contexts, thus determining reactions to perceived ecological challenges. This may explain why teachers working in the same context under the same conditions teach differently. Some implications of these findings include the importance of encouraging EFL writing teachers to reflect on pedagogical cognitions and practices relevant to their working contexts as well as the need for introducing recommended models of teaching EFL writing in tertiary institutions. Other theoretical and professional contributions are addressed, and potential for further research is highlighted.</p>

Investigating the pedagogical practices of EFL writing teachers in Palestinian universities: A cognitive-ecological perspective

<p>Teacher cognition studies are rare in the Palestinian context, as is also true in other contexts where English is taught as a foreign language. This study draws on theories of second language writing and teacher cognition to investigate the interplay between EFL writing teachers’ cognitions and their pedagogical practices. It employs a qualitative design involving multiple case studies to explore how the pedagogical practices of twelve EFL writing teachers working in Palestinian universities are shaped by their cognitions and contextual factors. Data were collected across the nine-month academic year through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, stimulated-recall interviews, and review of documents. A multiple case study research design was used, and constructivist grounded theory informed data analysis. Data were transcribed, coded, and analysed through the development of 12 case reports which were reconstructed into three clusters of cases. The cross-cluster analysis generated a cognitive-ecological model to explain teachers’ choices favouring different pedagogical approaches to teaching EFL writing. Results reveal that teachers’ cognitions about the nature of EFL writing, about teaching and learning writing and about themselves as EFL writing professionals influence their pedagogical practices. The findings also accentuate the role of ecological contexts as a mediating force influencing the interaction between cognitions and practices. These ecological contexts include classroom social and physical contexts, institutional context, broader educational context, and global community discourse. Classroom social and physical contexts were identified and perceived as the most significant barriers to teaching writing, while gaining access to the global community discourse was viewed as the greatest facilitator for adopting recommended practices. Teachers’ cognitions about professional self also determine the weight assigned to the different ecological contexts, thus determining reactions to perceived ecological challenges. This may explain why teachers working in the same context under the same conditions teach differently. Some implications of these findings include the importance of encouraging EFL writing teachers to reflect on pedagogical cognitions and practices relevant to their working contexts as well as the need for introducing recommended models of teaching EFL writing in tertiary institutions. Other theoretical and professional contributions are addressed, and potential for further research is highlighted.</p>

A Thorough Review of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in TOBACCO framework

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has been given a lot of attention in the academic field in recent years, in particular in studies of teacher cognition and teacher knowledge. It was first put forward by Shulman as part of the knowledge base required of teachers for teaching, and has provided a crucial way of thinking for many scholars when conducting deeper study into the relationship between teachers and teaching. Therefore, more empirical studies in various contexts have been encouraged to understand teachers’ PCK and to offer suggestions for teacher education. Shulman also argued that PCK is the special mixture of content and pedagogy that represents teachers’ personal understanding of the profession, and that teachers’ teaching competence enables them to transform content knowledge into specific teaching methods for students from various backgrounds at different levels; however, he did not explain how this transformation happens. Thus, based on this research gap, the current review brought together the following key fields: teacher cognition, teacher knowledge including PCK, and teacher education and development. It argues that teachers’ pedagogical knowledge intersects content knowledge from five different perspectives: teachers’ views on knowledge base, language, learning, teaching, and reflection (TOBACCO framework) and proffers suggestions for English-language teacher education and development in China.

The Practice of Online Differentiated Instruction and Its Impact on Motivation and Academic Performance in the Wake of Covid-19

Differentiated instruction has been implemented in classrooms where students who come from various backgrounds require appropriate lessons that are tailored to their varied learning preferences. As the spread of coronavirus 19 (Covid-19) is becoming more rampant, online learning has been lifted up as the main platform of teaching and learning, forcing the need to shift from the conventional face-to-face classroom to online, or virtual, mode of knowledge transfer. Having such global phenomenon affecting education, how does it affect the implementation of differentiated instruction that has been practised regularly by teachers before the wake of Covid-19? Previous studies have shown how it is done in the normal classroom setting, and that the practice of differentiated instruction contributes to students’ motivation as well as academic performance. However, there is a need to explore how do teachers go about with online differentiated instruction and how does it affect the students, since online learning poses various threads to both teachers and students; and thus, one might argue the effectiveness of not only the teaching approach but also the overall teaching and learning outcomes. Borg’s framework of teacher cognition, which has been extensively used in exploring how teachers teach, can be utilized to document the practice of online differentiated instruction. This study aimed to explore the practice of online differentiated instruction by teachers and examined its impact on students’ motivation and academic performance during the Covid-19 outbreak. The participants of this study consists of 247 gifted students from a public school in Malaysia. To meet these aims, this study employed a mixed method research design, utilizing the framework of teacher cognition to explore the teachers’ practice of online differentiated through interviews; and, utilizing a survey design using a questionnaire to determine the impact of online differentiated instruction towards students’ motivation and academic performance. The findings revealed that although online differentiated instruction is feasible, however, appropriate combination of differentiation constructs need to be applied in order to achieve higher motivation and better academic performance among the students.

Educazione linguistica inclusiva e Language Teacher Cognition Proposta di uno strumento di indagine e alcuni dati da un’indagine in Lombardia

Italy has always been a multilingual country. Over the past fifty years, globalisation has brought a new multilingualism to schools. During approximately the same time span, many scholars and linguists have outlined a vision of language education as a global process, which has gradually found its way into Italian Ministry of Education documents. The implementation of language education, however, is ultimately entrusted to teachers and is therefore conditioned by their ‘language teacher cognition’. This contribution, based on data derived from a larger survey conducted in Lombardy, focuses on teachers’ attitudes to and opinions about pluringual and pluri/intercultural activities.

UN ESTUDIO SOBRE LA COGNICIÓN DE PROFESORAS DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS EN ARGENTINA

RESUMEN En este artículo discutimos cómo el campo de investigación denominado Cognición Docente (en inglés Teacher Cognition Studies) puede contribuir a nuestra comprensión del papel del docente de lenguas en el aula y al mismo tiempo ayudar a calificar la capacitación docente, brindando herramientas de reflexión. Presentamos algunos resultados extraídos de un estudio de caso basado en un seminario de un día de duración en el que un grupo de profesoras argentinas de lenguas extranjeras, tanto en servicio como en formación, tuvieron la oportunidad de entrar en contacto con esta área de estudio y reflexionar y discutir sobre sus conocimientos, creencias y sentimientos a partir de una serie de ejercicios tanto individuales como grupales. Nuestro análisis da cuenta de las opiniones y reflexiones que surgieron en las respuestas a los ejercicios y en las discusiones grupales que se generaron durante el día, ya que estas reflejan los aspectos de la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras que resultan más cruciales para las profesoras en cuestión. Además, presentamos en cierto detalle la estructura del seminario, ya que nuestra intención es proponer los beneficios de incluir un enfoque en la cognición docente en los cursos de capacitación y perfeccionamiento para docentes de lenguas.