Teacher beliefs about e-assessment for learning in English as a foreign language writing: an ecological perspective

Microteaching lesson study, that is a variation of lesson study applied by student teachers in microteaching course, provides the environment for EFL student teachers to collaborate, engage, and reflect on their ideas, beliefs, and teaching experiences. Such condition is a fertile ground that enables the student teachers' beliefs of language learning to change. Recent studies show that some education programs have changed the beliefs of student teachers. However, no studies have discussed the changes of beliefs of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers experienced in microteaching lesson study. This present study aims to investigate the effect of microteaching lesson study on EFL student teachers� beliefs. The data were collected using a questionnaire on Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) adapted from Horwitz administered before and after microteaching lesson study. The participants were the EFL student teachers enrolling in a microteaching lesson study class at Universitas Muria Kudus. The study reveals that the beliefs of EFL student teachers did not change significantly after they experienced microteaching lesson study. Time seems to be one of the most influential factors in hindering the changes of beliefs of the EFL student teachers. Therefore, this study suggests that EFL student teachers be given more time to practise teaching in the microteaching course.

During the past thirty years or so, teacher education research has made significant contributions to the exploration of teachers' beliefs, and the relationship between teachers' beliefs and practices, which has produced important findings for both pre-service and in-service teacher education. This article reviews the research on pre-service teachers' beliefs and practices in the filed of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), extrapolating the complex relationship between EFL teachers' beliefs and practices. It begins with a discussion about the definition of belief, followed by an overview of the research history on teacher beliefs in general. After discussing the basic components of EFL teachers' beliefs, this article summarizes the empirical studies on pre-service teachers' beliefs and practices since 1990s, which reveals the diversity of the studies on EFL pre-service teachers' beliefs. Finally, the article outlines three perspectives from which EFL pre-service teacher education can be informed.

Cooperative Learning (CL) in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context: investigating, learning outcomes, processes, and experiences

Research on the beliefs of pre-service and in-service English teachers at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels has provided useful knowledge to teacher education curriculum designers. However, the beliefs of pre-service pre-primary English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers have not been addressed. Thus, a case study was conducted in one pre-primary education program at a public university in the Macau Special Administrative Region of China. Data was collected by providing participants ( N = 63) a writing prompt aimed at gathering their beliefs about the teaching and learning of English in the pre-primary context. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze these written reflection reports of third-year pre-service pre-primary English teachers with the aim of uncovering their beliefs about teaching and learning EFL. Results showed the participants held beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, pedagogical knowledge, teaching, content, goals of language teaching, the role of teaching, subject, schooling, hearsay, self, learning to teach, and the teacher education program. Most participants mentioned their beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, and pedagogical knowledge, while very few participants wrote about self, learning to teach, or the teacher education program. While many of the beliefs held by the participants were found to be substantiated by early childhood education research, some unfounded beliefs were also uncovered. The results highlighted a need for curriculum designers to reconsider the education program’s ability to meet the needs of the pre-service teachers. Participants required additional training in English content knowledge, use as a medium of instruction, and pronunciation. The polarized view of teaching the mother tongue and EFL should be reconsidered in light of the current views on bilingualism and bilingual education.

The primary purpose of the present study is to ascertain high school students' perceptions of the efficacy of blended learning in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes based on the Education Informatics Network (EIN) which is used as a learning management system in Turkish K-12 schools. The sample of the study was composed of 122 EFL students studying at a state high school. The study was designed with a convergent research design, one of the mixed-methods research designs. Quantitative findings showed that students' general views on EIN-based blended learning were neutral, yet positive about face-to-face lessons. The obtained qualitative findings mostly converged with the quantitative data results, and they clarified that students had both positive and negative opinions about the impact of blended learning on the development of language skills, assessment, learner autonomy, and classroom atmosphere. Furthermore, interview findings indicated that students expected the EIN portal to be free of technical problems, easily accessible and to include more enjoyable and various activities for a better implementation of the EIN-based blended learning. Lastly, several suggestions for further research were put forward as well as some educational implications for teaching EFL in an EIN-based blended learning environment.

This study delves into the utilization of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in the context of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) among students enrolled at the College of Languages and Translation, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU). Within the academic context, the incorporation of Learning Management Systems (LMSs), such as Blackboard, represents a significant aspect of educational technology aimed at enhancing the integrated teaching and learning process. This study employs a mixed-methods, descriptive-explanatory design, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. It collected, analyzed, and systematized data from 310 students, who represented various levels of English proficiency, drawn from a total population of 598 students. The study provided valuable insights into the capabilities and advantages of using LMSs as teaching aids in EFL education. Additionally, it offered recommendations for optimizing the use of these pedagogical tools, based on current research and practical suggestions from the students. This research also highlights several avenues for future investigation in the field of EFL instruction and educational technology.

This study aims to determine the attitudes and beliefs of teachers regarding the use of L1 in EFL (English as a foreign language) and to describe the functions for which L1 was employed by the teachers. The participants of this study were 15 EFL teachers teaching at several schools in three provinces: Banten, West Java, and Jakarta (Indonesia). To collect data, the writer conducted Likert-scale survey and semi-structured interview to two teachers. The results showed that even though there were few of them were in doubt whether the use of L1 might negatively affect students’ English learning, their attitudes were positive toward the use of L1 in the English classroom. The results also indicated that the teachers employed L1 in the classrooms as a teaching tool and as part of classroom management to maximize the learning outcomes.

The continuing expansion of English as a means of international communication has led to negative effects on other languages and cultures. Among the concerns is the critique of the English language teaching industry regarding its hegemonic relationship with local languages especially in English language teaching and learning contexts and practices. As a consequence, a move from previous paradigms of English language teaching to creatively devise new practices that would address locally emerging communicative needs is advocated fostering the values of local cultural, linguistic and teaching and learning norms. Based on this understanding and aspiration, this study involved Vietnamese EFL teachers and investigated the contextual factors contributing to the development of a localized teaching methodology that uses compatible elements of communicative language teaching, the ‘traditional’ approach or a local fusion of both methods. The debate on professional aspects of English language teachers under the binary, native speaker and non-native speaker in a broader, cultural and political context of English learning and teaching, has impacted on the way teachers see themselves and the way teachers conceptualize their teaching practice in English as a foreign language contexts. Research on identity issues considering the politics of English and the pervasiveness of the discourse of native speaker authority in TESOL programs is of great significance in understanding influential factors contributing to language teacher professional identity. This study also explores the impact of TESOL programs on teacher professional identity in local teaching contexts in Vietnam involving teachers’ sense of their pedagogical, linguistic competence and professional roles as language teachers. Drawing on various theories of language teaching and learning, critical pedagogy, teachers’ professional identity from native and non-native perspectives, and teacher cognition and beliefs, this study explores the process of negotiating appropriate teaching practice by a group of Vietnamese MA TESOL teachers after their education in Australia. To understand the teachers’ professional identity and their teaching practice, a qualitative case study approach with the intensive use of in-depth interviews, reflective writing and observation was adopted to generate data. The findings suggest that the TESOL teachers’ self-positioning in Australia as learners and as English teachers in Vietnam contributed to their re-conceptualization of professional identity. Many teacher participants’ growth was not totally shaped by Western ideology and theory in teaching and learning but through the critical construction of knowledge which is both culture-driven and locality-driven. Their previous education background and teaching experience became the platform for them to negotiate their professional identity back home in Vietnam. However, compared to senior teachers with longer years of teaching experience, junior teachers were more deeply influenced by dominant Western-based discourses, which appeared to orient and govern their perceptions, hence influencing their pedagogical approaches in their local teaching contact. Indeed, the teachers’ changed identities were found to contribute much to their choices of pedagogical practices. On the ideological level, while the junior teachers were likely to favour the ‘communicative’ approach, those with longer years of service seemed to feel under less pressure to abandon locally adopted teaching practice or feel ‘backward’ in enacting their role as non-native English teachers. Despite this, some participants still succumbed to the dominant discourses in language teaching and learning. Based on the findings, a number of implications for the ELT field have been suggested, in particular for TESOL education programs and TESOL professionals.

Blended learning in English as a Second Language (ESL) has become a growing trend in sustaining education at higher learning institutions. The impact of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 on education has made the integration of technology vital in the teaching and learning dyad. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed even more emphasis on the incorporation of technology in ESL pedagogy. Nevertheless, the reviews on blended learning in ESL are inadequate despite its great significance in sustaining education. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) were adopted for reviewing current studies, and two core journal databases, namely Scopus and Web of Science, with two supporting databases (Science Direct and Mendeley) were utilized. A total of 32 articles were identified through a systematic search of “blended learning” OR “blended education” OR “blended courses” OR “integrated learning” AND “strategies” OR “techniques” OR “applications” OR “methods” AND “ESL” OR “English as a Second Language.” Four main themes emerged from this review, namely collaborative-based learning, learning management systems, social media applications, and technology-based learning. Finally, several recommendations were presented at the end of this research that should be the focus of future studies.

ABSTRACTThis study examines the under-explored phenomenon in Vietnamese tertiary settings of code-switching practised by EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers in classroom instruction, as well as their awareness of this practice. Among the foreign languages taught and learned in Vietnamese universities, English is the most popular. The research design involved data-driven analysis of 12 teachers’ code-switching behaviour in the EFL classroom from four different main sources of information: classroom observations, class recordings, interviews with the observed teachers, and field notes. The findings show that teachers practised code-switching very commonly in their English instruction, for both pedagogical and affective reasons. Code-switching, when done deliberately and selectively, can be a positive strategy to use in the EFL classroom, but not if done habitually and automatically. Since code-switching is a natural occurrence amongst bilingual speakers, teacher training programs may need to include code-switching as a deliberate teaching strategy. In addition, before any government policy or guidelines on code-switching are introduced, teachers need specific training on strategies for its effect use. The interviews with the Vietnamese university EFL teachers revealed key reasons for their code-switching in the EFL classroom, which are similar to those found in other studies. These are examined with a pedagogical and affective focus.

Literature at the secondary level has demonstrated a tight interconnectedness between one's beliefs about teaching and learning and one's instructional practices. Moreover, this research indicates that personal and contextual factors influence beliefs and that growth and changes in beliefs are most notable during the early years of one's teaching experience. Despite the substantial influence of teaching beliefs on educational decisions, very little research has been conducted at the post-secondary level in both characterizing and monitoring changes in beliefs over time of early-career faculty members. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating (1) the changes over two and half years in the beliefs of early-career chemistry professors in the United States, and (2) patterns between changes in beliefs and personal and contextual factors as defined in the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform Model. Nine faculty were interviewed using the modified Luft and Roehrig's Teaching Beliefs Interview protocol in Fall 2016/Spring 2017 and then again in Spring 2019. Combination of constant-comparative analysis and cluster analysis were utilized to characterize faculty beliefs after each data collection cycle. Faculty also completed four surveys over the course of this longitudinal study. These surveys were analyzed to identify personal and contextual factors that could relate to changes in faculty beliefs over time. Overall, the participants expressed more unique beliefs about teaching and learning during the second interview. Despite this increase, the substance and the message of the beliefs remained fairly similar to the beliefs expressed during the first interview, which suggests that beliefs do not change as an artifact of teaching experience. Four of the faculty demonstrated a desirable shift to student-centered thinking, while three did not change and two shifted toward teacher-centered. Analysis of the survey data revealed that access and use of chemical education research journal and researchers, repeated opportunities to teach the same course, and instructor's continued learning efforts with respect to teaching were more pronounced among faculty who shifted toward student-centered thinking.

Numerous studies were devoted to use of games in vocabulary learning in English as a foreign language (EFL) tertiary courses, which reported significant improvements of vocabulary learning when using computer games. This study used a mixed-design research method comparing the effectiveness in EFL vocabulary acquisition. Data was collected from randomly selected participants who were randomly assigned to the interactivity-prone computer game (Group 1), the less interactive-prone computer game (Group 2) and the pencil-and-paper (Group 3) assisted EFL vocabulary learning approaches. The first group learned EFL vocabulary through interactivity-prone computer game Hujiang Fun Vocabulary, the second group learned EFL vocabulary assisted with less interactive computer game Baicizhan, and the third group learned EFL vocabulary via the traditional pencil-and-paper approach. It was concluded that (1) The interactivity-prone computer game was more effective than the less interactivity-prone computer game in EFL vocabulary learning; (2) The computer game-assisted EFL vocabulary learning was significantly more effective than the traditional pencil-and-paper approach; (3) Males outperformed females in computer game-assisted EFL vocabulary learning. It was suggested that future research focuses on both design features of educational computer games and cross-disciplinary research into computer game assisted EFL vocabulary acquisition.

Language learners’ beliefs constitute an individual difference variable that profoundly influences language-learning behavior and significantly contributes to the process and ultimate success of language learning. This article identifies the beliefs Saudi learners hold about learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The analysis first addresses Saudi EFL learners’ perceptions of English, followed by a discussion of Saudi EFL learners’ experiences with learning English. The discussion also addresses these learners’ expectations about studying English and concludes by pinpointing the importance of understanding the distinct language-learning beliefs of Saudi EFL learners and highlighting all factors that could affect these beliefs. Moreover, this conceptual article offers measures and progressive ideas to consider that will help Saudi EFL teachers reinforce more productive and insightful language beliefs that have a facilitative effect on language learning and keep Saudi EFL learners from developing debilitative conceptions of language-learning beliefs. This work also highlights several research directions and pedagogical implications.

Many studies have examined literacy and related skills among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), but little attention has been given to the role of oral language within a cross-linguistic framework despite the fact that English is the most widely spoken additional language today. Oral narratives rely on lexical, morphosyntactic, and conceptual knowledge. An in-depth examination of this modality can shed light on specific associations between cognitive and linguistic L1 and EFL skills and suggest possible mediating variables that assist multilingual speakers in producing complete oral narratives in EFL. The present study examined L1 and EFL contributors to EFL oral narratives produced by native Arabic (n = 85) and Hebrew (n = 86) speaking sixth graders seeking to identify cross-linguistic influences. We assessed general cognitive skills, phonological memory (PM), lexical, morphosyntactic knowledge, and reading comprehension in L1 (Hebrew speakers), Modern Standard Arabic (MSA, L2), L3 Hebrew (for Arabic speakers) and EFL. The “Cookie Theft” task assessed EFL elicited narratives using modified narrative analysis scales to account for microstructure (lexical and morphosyntactic complexity) and macrostructure (understanding story elements), generating a Total Narrative score. Our results yielded different patterns of underlying psycholinguistic profiles, and cross and within language associations for each group. Strong interactions between L1, L2/L3, and EFL morphological awareness and reading comprehension suggested cross-linguistic transfer. Regression analysis identified the most influential skills supporting EFL narratives for each linguistic group: English reading comprehension (ERC) was essential for Hebrew speakers and English morphological awareness (EMA) for Arabic ones. These results suggested different allocations of cognitive and linguistic resources in EFL narratives. The results also allowed to identify a common mediating skill for both groups. Findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of the Interdependence Hypothesis, the Linguistic Proximity Model, as well as accounts of direct and indirect transfer, which illuminate the impact of typological distance, general language proficiency and components of linguistic knowledge on cross-linguistic transfer in EFL oral language production.

Reading skill is a text-oriented cognitive capability applied when interacting with the written text. It is an essential skill that affects language learning and even academic achievement. Despite research on language learning has focused and contributed to the expansion of English language reading research, EFL students and even teachers are often unaware of the reader-oriented strategies used in learning and teaching reading. Existence of this gap, however, does not justify the idea of having a sole model for reading across various genres and types of assignments as it seems unrealistic. Therefore, highlighting the key models in the area, this article critically reviews the previous studies conducted on reading strategies and reading comprehension skill and proposes a framework for exploring reading strategies in teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language. This review may have some theoretical implications for the learners, instructors and researchers in learning, teaching, and conducting research on reading strategies.