ELT Teachers Research Articles

Communicating research findings to ELT practitioners in Sri Lanka

Abstract Whether or not ELT practitioners have access to research findings, their understanding of them and the perceived relevance to their own contexts are important debates in the language education field. This paper discusses an initiative that attempted to disseminate research findings relating to teaching/learning grammar to a group of ELT teachers in Sri Lanka. Participant feedback analysis highlights that research findings do not reach teachers in an effective manner, and they need exemplar-based training to understand them. Although research findings may be relevant to their contexts, teachers may still not be able to adapt them because of time constraints and lack of expertise. Therefore, more effort should be taken to disseminate research findings through initiatives such as incorporating them into teacher training programmes and providing examples showing how to apply those findings in practice.

Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices in Using ICT for ELT at the Secondary Level

Information and Communication Technology is a daily used material across the globe nowadays which has been recognized to be included in Education field. The study aims at teachers’ perceptions and practices in using ICTs. This study employed a quantitative research design for Data collection among 40 ELT teachers from 9 different rural/municipalities in Sindhuli. The experiences of using different ICT gadgets and digital tools in the ELT were collected using a questionnaire. The findings of the study are that the students seemed eager to learn from the ICT gadgets and digital tools while integrating it into the teaching pedagogies. I report that the ELT teachers have positive experience on using the ICTs. The study further says that 62% teachers are positive towards ICTs usage in the ELT classroom. This study helps the concerned authorities to think about the use of ICT gadgets and digital tools in the ELT classroom. The study recommends that there is a need of a series of training on how to integrate ICTs into the teaching pedagogies.

Perspectives of ELT Teachers in Enhancing Writing Skills through Immediate Feedback

Immediate feedback is crucial for enhancing students’ writing skills as it provides timely guidance, allowing them to identify and rectify errors promptly, thereby fostering continuous improvement and proficiency in writing. This paper investigates the perspectives of secondary level English teachers on immediate feedback and the techniques they use while giving immediate feedback. The study was conducted on sixty English language teachers who have been teaching English at secondary level institutional schools of Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan city of Banke district. The researcher used simple random sampling method to select the sample. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed descriptively and interpreted using simple statistical tools. The majority of teachers (i.e. 86.66%) viewed that immediate feedback plays the role of scaffolding in their writing, while only a minority of teachers (i.e. 13.33%) viewed it negatively. The study revealed that almost all the teachers showed a positive reaction towards the role of immediate feedback to enhance writing proficiency. It was also found that most of the teachers used correction codes to correct student’s mistakes and errors. Thus, the English language teachers are recommended to use immediate feedback as a scaffolding tool to enhance writing students’ proficiency of secondary level students.

Teacher identity ambiguity and where to find it? A narrative inquiry of ELT teachers in rural areas

Commitment and efficiency of teachers are supposed to closely link with the perception of their own identity, which determine their working motivation and job satisfaction. The past few years have seen many teachers, particularly those in less developing regions, leaving their profession due to low pay regardless of affluent nations, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, or developing countries like Vietnam. In fact, the problem could only be addressed when the root cause is revealed. Using the narrative inquiry approach with semi-structured interviews and researchers’ voice on eight English teachers, this study positions and examines the identity of rural language teachers in various intertwined interactions at personal and societal discourses. Research results unveiled the dominance of external factors in shaping and shifting teacher identity, including students, policies, school leadership and socio-cultural systems. Also, personal identity was more likely to be suppressed while professional identity was vaguely expressed. A comprehensive understanding of teacher identity would give policymakers and teacher educators some justification to revisit current policies and teacher training programs by taking into account individual identities, experiences, and concerns of rural teachers.

Peer observation in ELT at higher education: the implementation in synchronous online teaching

PurposeOur paper examines how ELT lecturers perceive the feasibility of implementing Peer Observation (PO) in synchronous online settings, drawing on their prior experiences with offline PO. We also aim to identify potential areas for synchronous online PO.Design/methodology/approachWe employed semi-structured interviews with eight lecturers as participants. Data analysis included identifying keywords, transcribing and labeling responses, and sorting and categorizing the themes.FindingsFirstly, our findings indicate that lecturers reported several benefits from conducting offline PO, such as identifying teaching weaknesses, learning new techniques of teaching, gaining motivation, and receiving peer feedback. Participants also agreed that synchronous online PO is feasible and may offer greater benefits, especially with the shift to online teaching. Finally, the interview data highlighted potential areas for observation in synchronous online settings, including both pedagogical and technological aspects.Research limitations/implicationsFirstly, our study did not explore the potential and focus areas of synchronous online PO based on lecturers' actual experiences. Instead, we derived these potential and focuses from their experiences with offline PO. Secondly, the potential observation areas have not been validated.Practical implicationsThis study aims to contribute to the existing literature by exploring the potential of synchronous online PO and identifying key aspects for observation. Furthermore, in terms of practical implications, our findings may serve as a basis for developing validated guidelines for synchronous online PO, involving more practitioners. Additionally, lecturers and higher education institutions can consider implementing synchronous online PO to enhance teaching quality.Originality/valuePrevious literature has discussed ELT teachers' perceptions of offline PO, but limited research exists on its implementation in synchronous online contexts. Additionally, identifying potential areas for observation in synchronous online PO remains a concern.

ELT teachers’ curriculum implementation approaches in teaching freshman English at Ethiopian public universities’ context

ELT teachers’ curriculum implementation approaches in teaching freshman English at Ethiopian public universities’ context

The Integration of Soft Skills in Language Learning Classroom: The Perspective of Thai ELT Teachers at A University of Technology

Upon graduating, students are expected to have acquired soft skills to meet potential employers’ expectations. Since employers today are competing for qualified graduates possessing relevant training and workplace competencies, ELT teachers should guide their learners towards obtaining both a comprehensive understanding of theoretical concepts and a range of interpersonal abilities. This study examined whether Thai teachers incorporate these soft skills in the classroom, which soft skill elements are prioritized and taught, and how the teachers implemented these elements in their EFL classrooms. Twenty ELT teachers from Rajamangala University of Technology in Thailand participated in an online survey and semi-structured interviews. Data was collected using a 4-point Likert-scale questionnaire, which revealed that the teachers reported that they integrated soft skills into the classroom, primarily in the domains of learning skills, literacy skills, and life skills. The three soft skills reported to be most utilized were communication skills, technology literacy, and collaboration and teamwork, which are all essential for improving English language proficiency. The findings suggest that ELT teachers identify and facilitate the acquisition of weaker supplementary skills, such as leadership, to equip students with the necessary skills to succeed.

Challenges Regarding Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching At Higher Secondary Level In Pakistan: ELT Teachers’ Perspectives

This qualitative phenomenological study aims to explore English language teachers’ perceptions about uses of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and its implementation challenges at higher secondary level. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews from 5 ELT teachers from Sindh, Pakistan. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. According to the findings, teachers perceived CLT as a student-centered interactive approach to develop speaking fluency and communicative competence. Teachers’ perceived CLT implementation challenges were lack of teachers’ professional training and difficulty in time management; students’ low English language proficiency and lack of motivation; exam-oriented education, over-crowded classes, inappropriate seating arrangement in classes, improper timetable, lack of materials and resources, classroom confined language practices; and lack of adequate tools to assess and evaluate students’ communicative competence. These findings can provide useful insights regarding CLT’s prospects to ELT teachers, academic administrators, and educational leaders, and also a way forward to effective CLT implementation at higher secondary level.

Bridging Worlds, Blazing Bridges: Understanding the Enticing Saga of ELF in ELT and Its Complicated Nexus

To unpack the complexities that ELF undergoes within the current methodology of ELT, this study bears down to reveal the challenges of incorporating the two practices presented by the increasing stigma attached to the “correct” use of language. Through a thorough analysis of theories and previous studies, the books and articles that span the years 2020 to 2023 (previous studies) are chosen to explore and comprehend the theories to dismantle the common preconception that influences the integration of ELF into ELT, as well as the principles of ELF that educators should follow along with the framework supporting ELT. It explores how the resilience of current EFL in ELT practices is towards Western English norms and the consequent consequences for both teachers and students. As a result, due to the tendency that is firmly ingrained in the norms of Western English, which has an impact on learning resources and evaluation methods, a shift in the paradigm of ELT practices is needed to accommodate students’ different learning styles, cultural backgrounds, and linguistics origins to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to learn. At the end of this review paper, suggestions for further research and the implications for policymakers of ELT and EFL English teachers regarding the issues have been made.

Implementations Of Eco-Literacy in English Language Teaching for Smart Society Era: A Critical Review

Language and environment are related to one another. Languages affect how people perceive the world, how they behave, and how they interact with their local political, social, and ecological settings (Meighan, 2023). According to the new ideas, eco-literate students prepared to be an effective member of a sustainable society. ELT scholars and teachers must create, assess, and put into practice pedagogical techniques that promote ecological sustainability. However, no previous study has investigated implementations of Eco literacy in ELT in any systematic way. This review aimed to describe a general overview of implementations and opportunities of eco-literacy in ELT to help students facing Smart Society. Specific research studies were located using the predetermined criteria in Google Scholar databases, where the study was conducted. The outcomes include the following implementations, Eco-literacy benefits students in a smart society, requiring skill development and innovation, promoting creativity, encourages critical thinking about environmental issues and language use, fostering a shared understanding of alternative, attracting educators and curriculum developers interested in incorporating it into teaching materials.

Designing digital storytelling books for TPACK development of Indonesian pre-service ELT teachers

In today's educational system, the need for teachers to acquire technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) has already become a mainstream transformation. Therefore, it is necessary to find a suitable strategy and approach to develop pre-service ELT teachers’ TPACK, in which one of them is actively engaging them in the design of technology-enhanced learning. This study sought to investigate Indonesian pre-service ELT teachers’ TPACK level development after designing digital storytelling book. Narrative inquiry was adopted in this research. The data were obtained from the pre- service ELT teachers’ reflective notes and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study show that all participants are in the TPACK level of “accepting”. In the level of accepting, pre-service teachers form a favorable attitude toward teaching and learning English with digital storytelling. The implication derived from this study is that it is necessary to carefully design a project in teacher education program that can improve the pre-service teachers' TPACK level.

ELT Teachers’ and Learners’ Perceptions of Online Core Language Courses during Pandemic

In 2020, the global sanitary crisis of COVID-19 prompted us to search for strategies to keep communicating in all areas of society. The education domain had to adapt and quickly made a significant shift towards digital interactions to facilitate instructional delivery for teaching and learning. This qualitative case study aimed at exploring the perceptions and most challenging facts associated with an Online education model applied to core courses in an ELT program at a Colombian university. Data from surveys interviews and focus groups applied to 115 learners and 20 teachers suggested that despite the benefits regarding authentic materials for language learners, constraints related to learners connectivity, teachers-students interaction, social presence, motivation, evaluation, and the delivery of feedback were the most challenging situations. The overview portrayed in this study will facilitate comprehension of the learning and teaching issues presented during Covid 19 pandemic and will raise awareness of new perspectives for further online instruction.

A Content Analysis of Speaking Materials in English Textbook “My Next Words” used by Fifth Grade Elementary School

The aim of this study is to find out the quality of the materials in the English textbook for the fifth grade of primary school. The analysis of speaking sections from the elementary school English textbook is the main goal of this study. It was a descriptive research study that used quantitative data from textbook assessment scores that were gathered using a textbook evaluation sheet. The sheet's framework was created using theories by Bao (2013) about the constituting aspects of a good textbook and learning resource selection. The research revealed that the textbook's speaking material was sufficient. This indicates that the textbook's speaking materials fall short of the requirements outlined in the framework. Based on the research findings, the researcher proposed that the textbook's speaking materials should be enhanced. As a result, the textbook's content should be taken into consideration by both ELT teachers and textbook authors in light of Dat Bao's framework for the improvement of the materials

An investigation into the online language teaching and assessment practices during COVID-19

Due to a growing number of casualties, company and school closures, and a lack of social connections, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of unanticipated challenges. As a result, to cope with these challenges online education served as a great way for bridging the distances through digital tools. With the purpose of an effective and quality online learning, all stakeholders involving active implementers of educational programs, namely teachers and students in addition to administrators should be aware of its benefits and drawbacks. To this end, the current study attempts to uncover the perspectives of ELT instructors about online language teaching and assessment through a qualitative research design. The results showed that online language assessment and teaching was considered as inevitable by all participants, thus making it necessary to employ efficient methods for designing and administering online assessment, and interpreting the scores. On the contrary, a long list of challenges and problems were noted by the respondents including academic misconduct, difficulty of proctoring, open to manipulation, validity and reliability concerns. The study ends with practical implications for teacher training programs and further research ideas.

Online Education in Palestine: ELT Teachers doing ERT (again)

Online Education in Palestine: ELT Teachers doing ERT (again)

Lesson Study: Does it work for personal development of pre-service ELT teachers?

This study is intended to document Lesson Study experience of six preservice English language teachers studying at a state university in Turkey and investigates its impact on their personal development as prospective language teachers. The large volume of data collected through unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews, learning journals, classroom observation records and focus group interview during seven-month period was subjected to thematic and categorical analysis using qualitative analysis software. The results revealed that Lesson Study intervention contributed to the personal development of the participating preservice teachers significantly in variety of aspects especially in making critical teaching judgements and ensuring adaptable teaching in the classroom. The results further indicated that Lesson Study also led to the development in creative teaching, establishment of rapport with students, self-awareness, and self-confidence of the participants.

Investigating Teaching Practices of English Language Teachers at English Department of Quest Nawabshah

Most of the time, students who apply to language-learning courses do not succeed because of a variety of factors including ineffective teaching, a lack of motivation, a lack of practice sessions, and subpar training modules so, the teachers' methods of instruction are more crucial to develop the English language of the students. This study investigates English language teachers practices, challenges faced by ELT teachers and strategies they apply in the English language classroom at the Department of English QUEST Nawabshah. The data collected from students at English department of QUEST Nawabshah. The researchers selected a qualitative method to collect data where a questionnaire was used, Questionnaire (open-ended) which includes ten questions. Based on the findings, the study highlighted that English teachers face many obstacles, but the most common are students who are disappointed in the rough attitude of some teachers, so other teachers motivate them to appreciate their efforts, provide opportunities, teachers answer the questions from students to interact with students. The study concluded that teachers need to be trained at the University level to maintain social justice in the classroom for the learners effective learning outcomes.

ELT teachers’ agency for wellbeing

Abstract Wellbeing is crucial for teachers, not only for themselves but also for ensuring that they teach to the best of their abilities. Thus, identifying ways of empowering teachers to take action to boost or maintain their wellbeing is vital. In this article, an ecological lens is adopted to understand what determines language teachers’ agency for wellbeing. A thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 30 EFL teachers based in Austria revealed four key themes which help to explain how teachers exercise their agency for wellbeing. These are: triggers, reflection, affordances, and action. The results show that critical incidents in their personal and professional domains act as triggers drawing teachers’ attention towards their wellbeing and starting a process of deeper reflection. However, a prerequisite for taking action following this reflection appears to be a perceived sense of control about their ability to change things in their personal and professional lives.

Exploring Translanguaging Practices in Indonesian Education

The aim of this paper is to elucidate a comprehensive perspective on translanguaging practices in Indonesian education by reviewing empirical literature published in scientific journals. There have been debates on how different languages should be treated in a language learning class especially in EFL classroom context, where students have limited access to target language use and exposure outside the classroom. This study involved 5 ELT teachers and 10 secondary students by collecting data through observations, interviews, and questionnaire. Teachers and students have the benefit of translanguaging practices in EFL classrooms, yet it should be taken into account that L1 should be adopted judiciously. They translanguage using English, Indonesian, and local languages. They have voiced their agreement to the implementation of translanguaging as pedagogy since it positively impacts EFL teaching and learning. However, few teachers have contrasting views about this voice. Future research should focus on investigating translanguaging through experimental research design or pedagogical intervention in EFL classrooms whose students are coming from multiple linguistic backgrounds. The implications of the practice of translanguaging at Indonesian Education are effective and optimal to help students as a new strategy in learning English as foreign language because it can be used to motivate and analyze students' problems in mastering English as a foreign language.

Towards English language learners’ wellbeing: Contributing factors and stressors

Abstract Understanding and enhancing wellbeing are at the heart of positive psychology. Both ELT teachers and researchers have recently been urged to prioritize wellbeing in their teaching and research. However, far too little attention has been paid to wellbeing among ELT learners, especially from their own perspective. Accordingly, this study aimed at developing an understanding of ELT learners’ perceptions of their stressors in class and recommendations to improve their wellbeing. Out of eighty survey participants, we selected nine participants with the highest and nine participants with the lowest scores on a wellbeing measure. Then, we conducted oral survey interviews with each of these participants, and the data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings indicated four main stressors for ELT learners: lack of preparation, assessment, speaking English, and lack of understanding. Participants also made several recommendations to teachers, the university, and for themselves which they believe would help enhance their wellbeing.