Pedagogical Translanguaging by EFL Teachers in English Classes in Vietnam

Using L1 (mother tongue) for the purposes of the target language teaching and learning has been the subject of ample debate throughout the years, generating considerable controversy among instructors and researchers. Although the principles of CLT (communicative language teaching) somehow “delimit” to a certain extent its use at EFL (English as a foreign language) classes, attitudes towards the implementation of L1 into foreign language classes may vary considerably. Thus, this article endeavours to plug this gap by examining the Slovak in-service EFL teachers’ (n = 140) perceptions of using L1 at English classes by acquiring and interpreting the data derived from the research method of a questionnaire, employing a 5-point likers scale items. The research outcomes indicate that although it is the tactful, sound, and judicious use of L1 that is favoured by the teachers, the mother tongue appears to take on a relatively high importance in the realms of EFL teaching and learning. Finally, pedagogical implications are discussed, and suggestions are provided regarding the use of L1 at L2 classes. It is vital that further exploration in this area takes place by performing future studies in this regard. Keywords: EFL teacher, in-service English language teacher, EFL learner, teaching English, L1, native language, mother tongue, L2, foreign language

This paper reports findings of a project on pedagogical translanguaging (PTL) among 128 fourth-grade students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in German primary schools. Over a period of six months, 20% of lesson time in EFL classes was devoted to multilingualism involving students’ minority languages. In a control group pre-post-test design, we evaluated the effects of PTL on English vocabulary, grammar, and metalinguistic awareness. The longitudinal results show significant gains for both majority-language and minority-language students across all competences. Yet, the PTL group did not outperform a comparison group that received regular, i.e. target-language-only EFL teaching. We critically discuss the scope and potentials of PTL in early FL teaching.

This study aims to investigate the perspectives of non-native English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers across mother tongue and gender, and their male and female adult students, regarding the use of Arabic in the EFL classrooms at the university level in Saudi Arabia. The study specifically seeks to investigate the perspectives of non-native Arab and non-Arab EFL teachers as they, working in the native Arab setting, often resort to Arabic (Al-Nofaie, 2010; Machaal, 2012). However, there are glaring research gaps about non-native EFL teachers’ and adult learners’ beliefs on the use of first language (L1) in the classroom. For this purpose, the study used quantitative research design, and administered two questionnaires, one for the teachers and the other for the students. Students’ questionnaire complemented that of the teachers. Forty teachers and sixty students were selected based on stratified random sampling. The findings of the study revealed that all camps of teachers, Arab, non-Arab, male, female, and students were in favour of judicious bilingual approach. The study finds statistically significant difference between the beliefs of Arab and non-Arab EFL teachers about the use of L1. The findings suggest that Arab EFL teachers’ use of Arabic is extensive, while non-Arab EFL teachers’ use of Arabic is well-timed. The study suggested practical implications for the improvement of English Language Teaching (ELT) in Saudi Arabia by recommending planned, occasional and judicious use of L1 while teaching EFL adult learners.

Although there have been various claims and counter-claims about the use of L1 in EFL learning, much still remains to be known about what is going on in English classrooms, particularly in primary schools. The current study attempted to shed light on L1 usage in EFL primary school classrooms. The purpose of this paper is to determine why, how, and the extent of L1 in EFL classroom. A descriptive qualitative research, which embraced in-depth interviews and classroom observations, was utilized in the study. The participants were three EFL teachers chosen through purposive sampling. Twelve English language classes were audio-recorded. The data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings reported that Afaan Oromoo was a helpful teaching-learning tool, particularly in clarifying grammatical items and explaining word meanings. The participants not only just welcomed students' L1 in English classes, but they also adopted it as the default language to be used without seeking to utilize any other strategy for English learning and teaching. Therefore, the study advised EFL teachers to develop principles for the judicious and deliberate use of L1 in English classes to improve students' English learning capacities.

While there has been much research into teachers’ professional quality in general education, scant attention has been paid to the professional quality of EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers, especially those working in adverse areas, for their sustainable career trajectories. Drawing on Wu’s framework of EFL teachers’ professional quality, this study adopted a mixed-method study design to investigate the professional quality of experienced EFL teachers in China’s rural areas. A questionnaire was administered online to 367 Chinese EFL teachers from 15 high schools in the northeast part of China. Follow-up interviews were then conducted with four volunteers. The results of the exploratory factor analysis produced a two-module structure of teachers’ professional quality, addressing teacher beliefs and English language pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for their sustainable career development. The teacher belief module addresses beliefs about language teacher learning and development as well as beliefs about foreign language teaching and learning. The English language PCK module includes two subscales: English teaching capacity and English knowledge and skills. Descriptive analysis showed that these participants had high levels of professional quality. Possible explanations for the interpretations of EFL teachers’ professional quality are provided from the qualitative data. Based on the above findings, the paper offers some implications for sustaining EFL teacher development in the future.

Throughout the past decade, evaluating teachers’ success has become a crucial issue due to the increased motivation on teacher accountability. In view of that the purpose of the present study is to determine EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ success in the Iranian institutional context based on students’ perspectives. More specifically, the present study surveyed any significant correlation between teachers’ practices of continuing professional development (CPD) strategies and teachers’ success. For this purpose, a CPD model was suggested and verified using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), to examine CPD factors contributing to EFL teachers’ success. A total of 316 English-major institutional teachers in Iran completed the CPD questionnaire. Besides, about 30% of their students, 828 students, are asked to fill in teachers’ success questionnaire, which intended to check students’ opinions on how successful they measured their teachers in teaching. Findings specified that practice of CPD strategies had a strong direct predicting power on EFL teachers’ success. It was illustrated that “updating” construct strongly affects both “collaborating” and “reflecting.” Moreover, “reflecting” moderately influence “collaborating” and “collaborating” intensely affects “decision making.” The results, specifically, highlight the fact that one to be a successful teacher in the field of EFL should be a good decision maker in the field too.

This study aims to investigate the perspectives of non-native English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers across mother tongue and gender, and their male and female adult students, regarding the use of Arabic in the EFL classrooms at the university level in Saudi Arabia. The study specifically seeks to investigate the perspectives of non-native Arab and non-Arab EFL teachers as they, working in the native Arab setting, often resort to Arabic (Al-Nofaie, 2010; Machaal, 2012). However, there are glaring research gaps about non-native EFL teachers’ and adult learners’ beliefs on the use of first language (L1) in the classroom. For this purpose, the study used quantitative research design, and administered two questionnaires, one for the teachers and the other for the students. Students’ questionnaire complemented that of the teachers. Forty teachers and sixty students were selected based on stratified random sampling. The findings of the study revealed that all camps of teachers, Arab, non-Arab, male, female, and students were in favor of judicious bilingual approach. The study finds statistically significant difference between the beliefs of Arab and non-Arab EFL teachers about the use of L1. The findings suggest that Arab EFL teachers’ use of Arabic is extensive, while non-Arab EFL teachers’ use of Arabic is well-timed. The study suggested practical implications for the improvement of English Language Teaching (ELT) in Saudi Arabia by recommending planned, occasional and judicious use of L1 while teaching EFL adult learners.

Instructors’ perceptions and use of first language in EFL classes in Afghanistan

Classroom interaction is a challenging yet crucial part of language teaching, where teachers play a critical role in successful learning. Teachers' awareness of interaction strategies, such as negotiation of meaning strategies, including when and how to implement them, significantly affects learning outcomes, and reflective practices like stimulated recall interviews (SRIs) can effectively develop their awareness. Thus, the research aims to find out the EFL teachers' negotiation of meaning strategy (NfM) use reflected in stimulated recall interviews (SRIs) and the effect of awareness-raising activity on the negotiation of meaning strategies on teacher's reflections. The research participants are two in-service EFL teachers working at a private university in Türkiye. This research uses a mixed-method explanatory sequential design in a quasi-experimental framework. Teachers completed two SRIs, and between the interviews, they participated in an awareness-raising activity where they were informed about NfM strategies. In the light of qualitative and quantitative analysis, it is revealed that after the awareness-raising activity, the number and the type of NfM strategies increased. Furthermore, it was found that teachers demonstrated initiation in starting reflections and took more deliberate actions in the strategy choices. It could be stressed that teachers' reflections, as in SRIs, serve as a valuable tool for professional development opportunities to think, reflect, and improve their teaching, helping learners' language learning. These findings suggest that such awareness-raising activities positively impact teachers' professional development, classroom interaction, and, ultimately, student learning experiences.

This article presents findings from what we believe to be the first large-scale study of its kind on the use of ICT (information and communications technology) in English language classes in China. Participants are 400 EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers from different types of schools in Beijing. The purpose of the study was to examine these EFL teachers’ computer use and factors affecting the use of computers as an aid to teaching. Questionnaires and follow-up focus group interviews were employed to address the following research questions: What is the current ICT environment in Chinese secondary schools? What are EFL teachers’ ICT skills and what training is provided? How are computers used at present in EFL classes? What factors influence EFL teachers to use computers in their teaching? Findings support the idea that most schools provide a satisfactory learning setting with computers and most teachers in the study had adequate technical computer skills. However, computer use is mainly limited to PowerPoint presentations of pictures, grammar and sentence structures. Positive factors affecting computer integration include the popularity of ICT as a support for learning, the desire to change current teaching methods and the benefits to both teachers and learners, while negative factors include a lack of time, inadequate professional support, poor training and the need for a more integrated approach to ICT integration. The implications are that ICT is recognized as necessary and of benefit to language learners, and that teachers need additional training in two areas: to help teachers attain a higher standard of computer knowledge and skills, and to help teachers to better understand CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) pedagogy and to integrate ICT into their teaching. We suggest that this kind of support could be provided through professional development activities that are specific to the EFL learning context.

The purpose of the present study is to explore cross-cultural differences among teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) on the basic language constructs and the impacts on their perceived teaching ability in English-reading instruction. Chinese EFL (n = 73) and Korean EFL (n = 39) teachers were administered the Reading Teacher Knowledge Survey for testing their implicit and explicit knowledge on phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, and morphological awareness; and their self-perceived teaching ability on teaching typical readers, struggling readers, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Results showed that both Chinese EFL and Korean EFL teachers' knowledge on the phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonics was implicit rather than explicit. However, the teachers' knowledge on morphological awareness showed cross-cultural difference: Chinese EFL teachers had greater explicit knowledge on morphological awareness than implicit knowledge, while their Korean EFL counterparts showed opposite pattern. Self-perceived teaching ability was also distinct cross-culturally, in that Chinese EFL teachers were only confident in teaching English vocabulary, whereas Korean EFL teachers had generally positive self-perception on teaching typical readers, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Importantly, both groups of EFL teachers' explicit knowledge on the basic language constructs explained additional variance for predicting their self-perception on teaching English reading, controlling for the effects of their years of teaching and implicit knowledge. Educational implications and future research ideas are discussed in relation to the cross-cultural differences of teacher knowledge and their perceived teaching ability.

According to several studies on English teaching and learning, English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers tend to avoid humor in their classrooms. However, many studies have shown that teachers’ sense of humor plays an essential role in EFL students’ learning process. Therefore, this study utilizing a mixed-method design was conducted to determine students’ perceptions of the impact of teachers’ humor (TH) on their learning. Data were collected through a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale comprising twenty-one items and semi-structured interviews. The study involved 158 university students in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Quantitative data from the questionnaire were analyzed by using SPSS 20.0, and data from the interviews were analyzed according to themes. The survey results revealed that the students showed positive attitudes toward the effects of TH in EFL classrooms, especially reducing boredom (M=4.59), strengthening teacher-student rapport (M=4.53), decreasing sleepiness (M=4.47), promoting students’ cheerfulness (M=4.47), increasing students’ consciousness (M=4.46), and solving conflicts in classrooms (M=4.42). Additionally, non-majored students were appreciated for TH more than their counterparts. Moreover, students’ perceptions positively correlated with their gender. The interviews also showed that cultural factors affected the effectiveness of TH in EFL classes. EFL teachers are encouraged to use TH in their classes in order to foster its benefits. However, careful consideration should be taken before using TH in teaching different students with different learning styles or characteristics.

In recent years, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been emphasised, specifically in English language teaching. Therefore, investigating English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions of ESD is a fundamental first step in developing effective EFL curricula and teaching policies. Consequently, this study delved into the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), examining its role in EFL teaching methodologies and identifying the challenges faced in integrating ESD within the Turkish educational context. In-depth interview data (IDI) was collected from 28 in-service Turkish EFL teachers. Utilising qualitative content analysis (QCA) with open, axial, and selective coding, we found out that Turkish EFL teachers’ perceptions of ESD are multifaceted and shaped by the interdisciplinary nature of EFL teaching, which is fed by Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The findings showed that EFL teachers: (1) conceptualised ESD as being related to learning for sustainable practices addressing social, economic and environmental dimensions, and linked ESD to a lifelong learning process that should be implemented at all education levels and supported by critical thinking and problem-solving skills; (2) thought English classes provide ideal venues to teach multiple topics including sustainability, thus reported it as a key responsibility for them to instil in their students, and (3) felt that ESD has yet to be sufficiently reflected in EFL curriculum due to some obstacles such as narrow focus on ESD, limited contact hours of English and lack of parental awareness of ESD. The findings mainly emphasised the significance of an extensive and holistic coverage of ESD at all education levels through engaging and hands-on in-class activities. Further practical suggestions are also provided regarding how EFL teaching policies may be developed to better integrate ESD.

The query on how to teach young learners to succeed in their English learning has been somehow under-explored. Just a few studies investigated the usefulness of the storytelling (ST) technique on English as a foreign language (EFL) young learners’ (YLs) in the Vietnamese context. Consequently, this study attempts to examine (1) EFL teachers’ perceptions of the contributions of ST, (2) YLs’ attitudes towards the effects of ST on their reading performance, and (3) the impacts of ST on YLs’ reading performance (RP). The study followed a mixed-methods design, using a questionnaire, interviews and reading tests to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. First, a survey was administered to 38 EFL teachers who have taught YLs for more than five years. The experimental study recruited 43 YLs who were divided into two groups, 21 YLs in two control groups and 22 others in two experimental ones. Six YLs in the experimental groups were invited to partake in the interviews, and 43 YLs took the reading pre-test and post-test. The results showed that the teacher participants positively perceived the potentials of ST. The YLs interviewees showed their positive attitudes towards the effects of ST on their RP. The test results indicated the significant impacts of the technique on the YLs’ RP. Pedagogical implications and suggestions were presented at the end of the paper.

In applied linguistics, teacher professional development and teacher autonomy have long been hot research topics. However, little attention has been paid to the issue of what attitudes teachers hold toward their professional development. Furthermore, it remains unknown whether teacher autonomy is influenced by the aforementioned attitudes. Under this circumstance, the current study attempts to explore what attitudes English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers hold toward their professional development and whether such attitudes influence teacher autonomy. For this purpose, we investigated 14 EFL teachers, using classroom observation, stimulated recall interview and semi-structured interview, respectively. The collected data were analyzed in light of the grounded theory, which gave rise to three main findings. First, the participants’ autonomy was positively correlated with their attitudes toward professional development. Second, most of the participants held a negative attitude toward their professional development. Third, the participants held conflicting opinions about the influence of in-service training on professional development. These findings indicate that EFL teachers’ professional identity is positively correlated with teacher autonomy. Moreover, the findings call for effective measures to improve EFL teachers’ attitudes toward their professional identity.