EFL Teacher Education Research Articles

Phenomenological Research into Chinese EFL Teachers’ Challenges

Exploring the professional difficulties EFL teachers face and discussing their classroom implications will undoubtedly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of EFL education. The primary objective of the study is to shed light on the difficulties faced by Chinese EFL teachers and how these issues may affect both ELT practice and academic inquiry in different education contexts. The participants were seven EFL teachers from different primary, secondary, and high schools in China. A phenomenological approach was adopted to explore the difficulties through multiple, in-depth interviews. Using the Constant Comparison Method, the researchers independently conducted content analysis of the qualitative data. The findings revealed 16 different themes, such as lack of pedagogical content knowledge, to difficulty in managing students’ motivation and engagement, and centralized examination-driven educational system. The findings from the first-hand data were discussed in relation to implications in a way that will contribute to the field of EFL teacher training, policymakers, education leaders, and consequently, EFL teachers and learners.

UNDERSTANDING IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF INDONESIAN EFL TEACHER EDUCATORS FROM A THREE-DIMENSIONAL NARRATIVE

Research into language teacher identity construction has proliferated in recent years. However, studies examining identity construction from an integral perspective of EFL teacher educators’ past, present, and future narratives seem sparse. To fill this lacuna, the present study was designed to explore five Indonesian EFL teacher educators’ identity construction from their past, present, and future narratives. This study’s data were generated through multiple life-historical interviews with the five participants. The thematic analysis showcased that language teacher identity is constructed as a continuum from the teachers’ past experiences as EFL learners, present experiences as lecturers and doctoral students, and future narratives as imagined teacher educators. The findings also revealed that the participating teachers constructed their language teacher identity through complex and context-dependent experiences in their past, present, and future narratives. Based on the study’s findings, we offer a novel approach to studying language teacher identity construction employing teachers’ three-dimensional narratives. This approach enables teachers to understand themselves and their relationships with social environments through the interconnectivity of their past, present, and future narratives.

Using Artificial Intelligence in EFL Teacher Education Programs

Using Artificial Intelligence in EFL Teacher Education Programs

ChatGPT in foreign language education - friend or foe? A quantitative study on pre-service teachers’ beliefs

Artificial intelligence becomes increasingly prominent in digital language teaching and learning and it will gain even more significance in the future of EFL education (cf. Schmidt & Strasser 2022). Therefore, it is key to explore how those who will shape this future perceive the newest development: pre-service EFL teachers. As Zheng puts it: “EFL pre-service teacher beliefs are the focus of change in the process of education” (2009), consequently their perceptions and beliefs regarding this evolving area of teaching and learning are of utmost importance. Focussing on the latest developments in ChatGPT, this paper aims to give a first insight into the potential and limitations of this AI platform from the perspectives of pre-service teachers in Germany. Therefore, this research project explores the following research questions: o RQ1: Do student teachers consider ChatGPT relevant for their future teaching practice? o RQ2: In which areas of language education do they see potential changes due to ChatGPT? In what ways? o RQ3: Are there any differences in the perception of ChatGPT between tech-savvy and non-tech-savvy student teachers? The research instrument is a combination of the "technology commitment" scale (Neyer et al. 2016) and items developed specifically for this research project. For RQ3, the analysis refers to existing preliminary work that was able to establish a relationship between technology commitment and the probability of technology application (cf. Knetzek & Christensen 2016). Based on the results of the survey, this paper then aims to offer new perspectives for EFL teacher education and outline concrete reflection activities that further pre-service teachers’ critical engagement with AI in language education.

Analyzing teacher educators’ perspectives on professional pedagogical responsibility in initial EFL teacher education

Analyzing teacher educators’ perspectives on professional pedagogical responsibility in initial EFL teacher education

“Just a pocket knife, not a machete”: Large language models in TEFL teacher education & digital text sovereignty

This paper approaches AI in TEFL teacher education from a perspective of digital text sovereignty (digitale Textsouveränität). Digital sovereignty (digitale Souveränität) is a concept that goes beyond media literacy and data literacy as a set of skills, to include personal competences in a more Humboldtian vision of education. Digital text sovereignty focusses on all those aspects of digital sovereignty that apply to the reception and production of texts, from the ability to produce and consume digital texts to the development of a critically-reflexive attitude to these texts (Frederking, 2022; Frederking & Krommer, 2022), making it especially useful in contexts of TEFL teacher education. This paper is based on an empirical study conducted within the EFL teacher education department of a German metropolitan university during the 2023 summer term. It analyses 21 student essays written after an interactive 90-minute training session on ChatGPT conducted in three intact TEFL teacher education seminars. Qualitative content analysis is used to identify domains of digital text sovereignty discussed in these essays, and to identify key themes related to four aspects of digital text sovereignty: Mediality, Source Code, Intentionality, and Veracity. The findings might be of interest for researchers and teachers educators interested in (a) modelling digital text sovereignty as it applies to AI, and (b) developing teacher education material and programs that target digital text sovereignty in an AI context, or that aim to support (future) teachers in developing an AI-informed pedagogy.

“Teaching Unplugged”: An Approach For Designing An EFL Teacher Education at Disadvantaged Schools

Inspired by the approach of “Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching” developed by Luke Meddings and Scott Thornbury, this theoretical research introduces and offers a conceptual design of teacher training intended to be relevant to novice Indonesian EFL teachers, especially those working at schools located in the most remote and disadvantaged areas of Indonesia. The training is designed based on the theoretical framework of the approach and critical reviews of several related empirical studies. This article, therefore, focuses on exploring the applications of the approach by examining some other research including the most recent ones about the approach, and investigating its relevance to the context of English education at the most disadvantaged schools in Indonesia. The practical stages and syllabus are also presented in the article so that both teachers as participants and teacher educators can easily follow and understand how the materials can be implemented in their teaching contexts. Considering the theoretical-based materials and well-planned activities that the training offers, novice EFL teachers, after completing the program, are expected to be able to improve their both language and pedagogical skills that are needed in their school contexts and in line with the recent curriculum, the Merdeka curriculum.

Nurturing multiculturalism in Iranian EFL teacher education: an in-depth scrutiny of experts’ and teachers’ perceptions

Given that Iran is the host of a variety of cultures characterized with diverse languages, viewpoints, and customs, the empty place of multiculturalism in its ELT system is deeply felt. The present study sought to tackle multiculturalism in EFL teacher education in the context of Iran by exploring Iranian EFL experts’ and teachers’ perceptions. The participants of this study consisted of the two groups. The first group included 15 male and female multicultural education experts. The second group of the participants included of 60 (30 males and 30 females) Iranian EFL teachers. To collect the required data, a demographic information scale, two semi-structured interviews and an audio-reflective journal were used. Data analysis was done via qualitative thematic analysis by MAXQDA. As revealed by the results, several themes were extracted as the components of the multicultural EFL teacher education, as uncovered by the experts’ views some of which include Eliminating Race-Related Inequalities, Eliminating Gender-Related Inequalities, and Eliminating Social Class-Related Inequalities. Moreover, the Necessary Communicative Skills, Positive Thinking, Difference Acceptance, and Multicultural Content, Various Evaluation Methods were found as some of the extracted EFL teachers’ perceptions of multicultural EFL teacher education. The findings have some implications for different groups of stakeholders including EFL teachers, teacher educators and teacher education material developers who can take useful insights from the findings in teaching EFL, educating student-teachers and developing future curricula, respectively.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence-Powered Large Language Models in English as a Foreign Language EFL Teacher Education Programs

Integrating Artificial Intelligence-Powered Large Language Models in English as a Foreign Language EFL Teacher Education Programs

Teacher Educatorsʼ Perceptions of Flipped Classroom in Teacher Education: Insights from EFL Teacher Educators in Norway

Teacher Educatorsʼ Perceptions of Flipped Classroom in Teacher Education: Insights from EFL Teacher Educators in Norway

Preservice Teachers’ Experiences with E-service Learning for Middle School Students in South Korea

Electronic service (e-service) learning has considerable potential to promote engagement and interactions between people by liberating spatial constraints. Due to the pandemic situation, ordinary face-to-face service learning was impossible, but there was an urgent need to support adolescent English learners in communities. In accordance with the community needs, this phenomenological study explored Korean EFL preservice teachers’ experiences and perceptions of e-service learning, focusing on the collaborative nature of learning. Based on this, we collected data from multiple sources (i.e., interviews, reflective reports, and artifacts) from 23 Korean preservice teachers majoring in English language education and conducted interviews with six teachers. The qualitative analysis of these data reveals that the Korean EFL preservice teachers seem to see four essential benefits and strengths of e-service learning: (1) the construction of their teacher identity, (2) the development of teaching-related skills, (3) the fulfillment of EFL learner needs, and (4) a social impact. They also addressed several challenges of e-service learning. Findings provide EFL teacher educators and researchers with valuable insights into e-service learning as part of teacher education.

The use of Video Enhanced Observation in video-mediated post-observation conversations on pre-service EFL teachers’ online practicum teaching

Post-observation conversations are common practices in EFL teacher education contexts, which provide pre-service teachers with professional development opportunities through reflections on their practicum teaching. When performed in a data-led and evidence-based way, these conversations can constitute a truly reflective environment in and through which pre-service teachers can see their own interactional management of language learning processes. This study presents a case that comes from the online practicum teaching of EFL teachers in video-mediated classrooms. We deal with how a teacher trainer, during the video-mediated post-observation meeting, utilizes a digital observation and video tagging tool (i.e., Video Enhanced Observation) on the shared screen and topicalizes the pedagogical and technological aspects of the pre-service teacher's online practicum teaching with reference to the pre-practicum meetings, mentor teacher's role during the process, and the overall pedagogical outcomes of the process in situ. Using multimodal Conversation Analysis as the research methodology, we examine the reflective conversations between a teacher trainer and a pre-service teacher based on the screen-recorded video-mediated practicum teaching in online upper secondary EFL classrooms. The findings bring new insights into EFL learning, teaching, and teacher education in video-mediated fully online settings and describe the affordances and constraints of the digital tool.

Voices from National University of Bangladesh: Students’ perception of the value of linguistics and ELT courses in providing pre-service EFL teacher education

The purpose of this study was to provide an insight into student-cum-supposed teachers’ perceptions about the value of linguistics and ELT courses (LELTC) in imparting pre-service teacher education (PTE) for the undergraduate English students of National University (NU) affiliated colleges in Bangladesh. This is based on the postulation that students’ perception has a critical function in executing the goals and objectives of particular course(s). Through a self-explorative semi-structured questionnaire this study piloted a survey on one hundred five English students studying in their final year of Honours at three higher education colleges purposively selected from a divisional metropolitan city of Bangladesh. Findings revealed varied perceptions in students regarding value of the LELTC. Three separate perceptions of the students participating in the survey could be noticed regarding the value issue: positive, negative and ambivalent. Positive perceptions were perceptible among one-third of students; yet again almost the same quantity of students exhibited negative perceptions. Furthermore, the ambivalent perceptions exposed by a large number of students might designate their lack of awareness and their irresolution about the importance of the said courses in developing student-cum-prospective teachers’ teaching expertise. Lastly, this study offered a few recommendations for exterminating the prevailing wrong perceptions of students about the significance of the discussed courses in cultivating students’ teaching expertise. Thus, this study will deepen our understanding of students’ internal thought processes regarding the value of the LELTC as a part of a typical pre-service teacher education programme, and thus help us remove the challenges of misconceptions about the necessity of the courses from student psyche which can ultimately contribute to the effectiveness of the said courses in the NU context.

Tracing the Dynamics of Teacher Assessment Identity (TAI) Through Web-Based Audio Diaries

Teacher assessment identity (TAI) as a vital element of teacher professionalism has recently flourished in educational assessment. However, unpacking its developmental trajectories has been left uncharted. Against this gap, this study scrutinized the dynamism of TAI under the influence of audio diaries. In so doing, 22 novice and experienced Iranian EFL teachers uploaded their audio-diaries on a website for two months. They did so once a week and ultimately 176 audio diaries were gleaned. Moreover, to explore the participants’ perceptions of TAI considering audio diary, a semi-structured interview was held with ten teachers. The results of content and thematic analysis revealed that both novice and experienced EFL teachers’ assessment identities were improved by audio diaries. Initially, the participants concentrated on the theoretical principles of assessment, while at the end they shifted toward social aspects of assessment and professionalism. Furthermore, the results of interviews indicated that audio diaries are promising tools to capture TAI as they allow the participants to do self-reflection, deep thinking, iterative analysis of ideas, and keep a record of their assessment perceptions and practices for future use. The study has implications for EFL teachers and teacher educators by enhancing their knowledge and understanding of TAI and its dynamism.

Research on the Assessment Approaches to Pronunciation Training for Pre-Service EFL Teachers

For EFL teacher education, it’s important to polish pre-service teachers’ pronunciation and their pronunciation teaching skills. Currently, the pronunciation training for pre-service EFL teachers in China only focuses on pronunciation improvement and lacks the element of teacher education so that its efficacy still needs improvement. This paper points out the rationale of applying the Learning-Oriented Assessment (LOA) to the pronunciation training for pre-service EFL teachers. Then the author discusses the evaluation approaches integrating assessment of learning, assessment as learning and assessment for learning after reformulating the goals of the pronunciation training for pre-service EFL teachers. Finally, the author analyzes the effectiveness of the evaluation approaches for improving pre-service English teachers’ pronunciation as well as their pronunciation teaching skills.

Developing and Validating a Scale for Assessing Iranian EFL Teacher Educators’ Perspectives towards Effective Teaching

Developing and Validating a Scale for Assessing Iranian EFL Teacher Educators’ Perspectives towards Effective Teaching

Assessing the Nexus of EFL Learners’ Academic Self-concept and Their Formal English Vocabulary Knowledge

Vocabulary is unquestionably the cornerstone of language learning. No matter the learners' first language, foreign language, age, or level of ability and skill. Yet, it is scarcely founded studies regarding formal English vocabulary knowledge. This investigation expected to explore the correlation between undergraduate EFL learners’ academic self-concept and their formal English vocabulary knowledge. The quantitative research method has been applied. The participants completed a written vocabulary test in English and filled in an academic self-concept questionnaire. The data were analyzed using simple correlation regression and qualitative analysis from data obtained from the interview. The results show that the undergraduate English as a Foreign Language learners’ academic self-concept has a positive correlation with the learners’ formal English vocabulary knowledge. Based on interview results confirm that illustrates the power of contextual language learning. Vocabulary learning was influenced by the amount of exposure, word self-regulation, general intellectual ability, motivation, and creativity factors that support the learners’ vocabulary knowledge achievement. The results suggested that teacher educators should pay more attention to the enhancement of the power of EFL learners’ academic self-concept to help the acceleration of teaching and learning English as a foreign language. For strengthening the academic self-concepts of EFL students as well as some essential considerations to be made before beginning the development of learners' English vocabulary knowledge are discussed. Last but not least, some pedagogical implications are proposed for EFL teacher educators.

Does humour used in EFL classrooms in Islamic higher education reflect Islamic values?

ABSTRACT This study examined the use of humour in EFL classrooms in Islamic higher education in Indonesia. It intends to find out whether Indonesian EFL teacher educators used humour as pedagogy and how they used it. Using a narrative inquiry method, it involved 25 EFL students undertaking English Writing courses working in groups of two or three members to write descriptive texts on the humorous moments in their classroom process. Nine of them were purposively selected for analysis using humour theories and removed the rest because of not humorous moments. It revealed that the teacher educators used various kinds of humour in EFL classrooms, such as humorous comments, lecturers’ humorous life stories, puns, and teasing students. However, most were unrelated to the course materials they taught and did not reflect Islamic values. In conclusion, this study has provided insights into humour used in the Indonesian Islamic higher education, which is crucial for academics to pay attention to using humour, such as not harming students.

Linguistic landscapes tasks in Global Englishes teacher education

Abstract This cross-sectional study attempts to investigate the impacts of linguistic landscape (LL) tasks on EFL teacher candidates’ understanding of English in local and global contexts. To this end, three cohorts of student teachers carried out LL fieldwork, uploaded images of English signage to an LL application, Lingscape, and submitted a mini research paper on the use of Englishes. They also wrote a reflective journal featuring a discussion of their experiences. Qualitative content analysis was utilized to interpret the data for the purpose of illustrating major themes emerging from the data. The findings highlighted a heightened awareness among student teachers towards locating and reflecting on Englishes in everyday contexts, an improved understanding of English as a lingua franca and Global Englishes, and their intentions to adopt Global-Englishes-oriented language teaching practices in the future. The study concludes by discussing the implications of this approach, and calls for a wider inclusion of LL-centred tasks in EFL teacher education curricula.

EFFECTS OF PEER TEACHING ON GRAMMAR LEARNING: DOES IT ENHANCE LEARNER AUTONOMY?

Peer teaching has been widely applied in university settings to assist language learners. However, concerns have been raised about the potential impact on learner autonomy as this teaching method involves a more able learner tutoring a lower-level one. Despite this, little attention has been given to examining this issue. For this reason, this qualitative study investigates whether peer teaching can help foster tertiary EFL students' autonomy in isolated grammar learning, which may serve as more intensive training to improve metalinguistic knowledge and grammar competence within restricted time frames. Based on reports from 29 survey participants and 11 interviewees, the study finds that peer teaching can promote learning autonomy, with students engaging in various activities to enhance their learning during tutoring and/or the peer teaching program. Participants reported improvements in learning motivation, subject understanding, problem-solving skills, and monitoring and evaluating skills. However, some students, especially those with lower abilities, appeared to be more reliant on peer tutors in constructing their knowledge, providing self-study materials, and frequency of grammar self-study. This study provides crucial qualitative findings that shed light on the effects of peer teaching on learner autonomy, particularly for EFL teacher education students' grammar learning.