English Language Teacher Education Research Articles

Process genre approach to L2 academic writing: An intervention study

The paper presents the research study of academic writing of Czech university students in an English Language Teacher Education study program. The authors apply an interdisciplinary approach integrating the perspectives of linguistics and language pedagogy in the evaluation of the design of the Academic Writing course and its impact on the development of students’ academic writing skills. Adopting a process genre approach (Badger, White, 2000) to writing instruction as a key design principle, our study combines the genre analysis framework (Swales, 1990) and the intercultural rhetoric perspective (Connor, 2004) to design an innovated academic writing course for graduate students focusing on developing critical thinking skills and context-aware writing. The course, informed by an analysis of the academic writing needs of the students, aimed at familiarizing them with the rhetorical structure of academic texts with a focus on the genre of the Master’s thesis and at introducing them to the academic writing conventions in the area of soft sciences. Piloted in 2019, the course was implemented as a blended course, where the contact sessions were complemented by online support in VLE Moodle. Apart from analyses of written texts, classroom writing, and homework tasks, it also included discourse editing tasks and peerreviewing with peer-reviewer feedback and teacher feedback. We believe that our research findings will shed light on the potential of academic writing courses based on the process-genre approach to contribute to the enhancement of the quality of English academic texts by non-native academic writers, and specifically Czech graduate students.

Learning to write book reviews for publication: A collaborative action research study on student-teachers’ perceptions, motivation, and self-efficacy

The purpose of this collaborative action research-based study was to explore the effects of learning to write book reviews for publication on 57 student-teachers’ experience with academic writing in initial English language teacher education (IELTE) in Argentina. The initiative was embedded in four different modules at three institutions. Data were gathered from March to November 2018 through an online questionnaire and group interviews. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of the data collected show that writing book reviews for publication improved student-teachers’ motivation, sense of self-efficacy, and overall perception of academic writing given the authenticity of audience embedded in the writing tasks. The findings confirm that learning to write for publication, when based on genre pedagogy, helps student-teachers develop professionally through experiential learning and therefore teacher educators may need to consider embedding similar initiatives in IELTE. Unlike previous studies, peer collaboration did not have a positive effect on the student-teachers’ writing development. Pedagogical and research implications are included.

European Experience of the Use of Information and Communication Technologies In Initial Education of the English Language Teachers

The article deals with the analysis of the peculiarities of the use of information and communication technologies in the process of initial education of future English language teachers in the countries of the European Union. The topicality of the problem is based on the current trends in the development of education, in the particular extensive use of online technologies and tools in the process of English language learning and English language teacher education.The purpose of the article is to study the European experience of the use of information and communication technologies in the initial education of the English language teachers and single out the most important and topical of them in order to outline the possibilities of their use in the initial education of teachers of English in a broader context.The methodology of the research is realized with the use of such methods as analysis, synthesis, generalization, analogy and interpretation of empirical data and theoretical concepts; observation and study of practical experience of higher educational institutions in Poland and Portugal as well as an interview with teachers and students of the above-mentioned institutions.As a result, the importance of the development of information and technological competencies in future teachers of English is grounded, the role of information and communication technologies in initial teacher education is determined. Various information and communication technologies used in the educational process, in particular offline technologies and tools as well as online technologies and resources, are presented and analyzed. Attention is also given to the use of E-learning and the implementation of massive open online courses into the initial teacher education of the English language teachers.The conclusion about the variability of information and communication technologies is made.

Saudi EFL Teachers’ Identity Formation in Saudi Schools: A case Study

This study aims to explore the influence of contextual factors on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ professional identity formation in the context of Saudi Arabia. More specifically, it aims to examine how the participants’ educational background, life experiences and professional setting influence their professional identities as EFL teachers in Saudi secondary schools. This study involved three EFL teachers who are based in Riyadh. Employing a case study method, the data collection techniques of this qualitative study included in-depth interviews and observations. Drawing upon Wenger’s (1998) concept of communities of practice, the data analysis reveals several factors affecting the EFL Saudi teachers’ professional identity. This study found that the Saudi teachers’ educational background and life experiences act as formative elements which influence their EFL professional identity formation. Moreover, the participating teachers agree that practical experience and teaching community played a more significant role than their educational background in terms of shaping their teacher’s identity construction and their classroom practices. The results have many implications for Saudi Arabia's development of current teacher education programme. If teacher education curriculum is aimed at improving the professional identity building of EFL teachers, then the policymakers might need to review the curricula of English language teacher education and incorporate some improvements within the programme.

Scientific Mapping of English Language Teaching Research in the Philippines: A Bibliometric Review of Doctoral and Master’s Theses (2010–2018)

Very few studies have comprehensively mapped out the landscape of English language teaching (ELT) research, particularly those that are not accessible to wider international readership. Thus, this bibliometric study examines ELT doctoral and master’s theses in the Philippines. A total of 98 theses and dissertations completed between 2010 and 2018 were collected from various Philippine universities. Quantitative analysis was used to examine the characteristics and topical foci of the selected studies. Findings reveal that most of the theses and dissertations mainly focussed on only four ELT areas. The other 17 areas remain underexplored ( N = 11) or unexplored ( N = 6). Findings further suggest that there has been a lack of direction and slow expansion of ELT research areas in the country. This trend is primarily attributed to the absence of clear ELT research agenda. Implications for English language education, teacher education, and future direction for ELT research in the country are discussed.

Personal and Professional Readiness of In-service Teachers of English for Culturally Responsive Teaching

Purpose: The aim of this study was twofold. First, it investigated the extent to which in-service teachers of English were personally and professionally ready to carry out culturally responsive teaching (CRT). Second, it aimed to understand teachers’ perceptions of CRT. Research Method: This study was carried out in a sequential explanatory mixed methods design. Accordingly, first quantitative data were gathered in the first phase through administering CRT readiness scale. In the second phase, qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews to gain detailed insights about their perceptions. A total number of 415 in-service teachers of English participated in the quantitative phase of the study, and 12 teachers participated in the semi-structured interviews. Findings: Quantitative findings showed significant differences between teachers' personal and professional readiness, novice and experienced teachers, and graduates of ELT departments and graduates of ELL and ACL departments. Qualitative findings showed that experience alone was a distinguishable factor for CRT and also underlined the necessity for and the importance of culture-oriented courses in undergraduate English language teacher education. Implications for Research and Practice: Accordingly, enriching undergraduate English language teacher education programs with culture-oriented courses is a need. Such courses should cover both theoretical and practical sides of multicultural education and CRT. There is also a need to provide more opportunities for teacher candidates to execute teaching practices in real and culturally diverse classrooms. Furthermore, the need for studies focusing on field-specific competencies and real classroom settings are also underlined.

INSIDE AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM IN VIETNAM: STUDENTS’ MOTIVATIONS FOR TEACHING AND THEIR INTENTIONS TO TEACH

Recent years have witnessed a decrease in both the number and quality of students enrolling in English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) programs. Those ELTE graduates also tend to pursue careers other than teaching. Given the great demand for English language learning at the moment, such low motivation for teaching is undesirable. This study was thus conducted to investigate motivations for teaching of senior students at a language teacher education institution in Vietnam as well as the correlations between these motivating factors and their intentions to teach. Data was collected from 114 senior students using questionnaires, and analyzed using SPSS (version 20.0). Findings from the study suggested that (a) participants displayed a positive prospect of pursuing teaching career; (b) prior teaching and learning experience, making social contribution, and shaping future of children/adolescents were the most influential factors while fallback career, job transferability, and time for family were the least endorsed ones; (c) although teaching is perceived to be part of a respected profession that requires expert knowledge and emotional devotion, teachers are generally underpaid; (d) significant relations were observed between intrinsic career value, satisfaction with choice, social utility values, perceived ability, and prior teaching and learning experience and intentions to teach.

Professional awareness among English language teacher educators: individual and collaborative reflective practice

Studies involving reflective practice (RP) in Education generally focus on student or novice teachers. The research reported on here involved higher level language teacher educators, reflecting as individuals and as a community. The researcher investigates the role and limitations of cooperation in the refinement of professional awareness. The participants engaged in a non-longitudinal process of self-evaluation, supported by three data-led guidance activities, as external frames of reference, namely, self and peer observation, post observation peer-feedback and group socialization. Blocks of discourse, studied as sub-corpora were analyzed as independent units and also in reference to other existent corpora. The analysis combined quantitative and qualitative research methods, taking a predominantly qualitative approach involving descriptive, exploratory and explanatory analysis. The analytical methods combine conversation and discourse analysis supported by corpus linguistics. The results showed that the impact of collaborative modes of work on individual professional self-awareness depend heavily on the nature of the interactions, individual levels of experience, previous RP engagement and resistance to change. Moreover, the results highlight the need for RP research to be more frequently extended to all levels of teaching experience, as a way to maintain continual development at any stage of an individual’s professional career.

Teaching practicum: The impacts on classroom management skills of novice lecturers

This research investigates the perspectives of the novice lecturers in the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education (FELTE) regarding Teaching Practicum’s impacts on their classroom management skills. Using survey research, data was gathered through questionnaires distributed among the whole population of 29 participants, followed by semi-structured interviews to gain a deeper insight into participants’ experience. The study’s results showed that novice lecturers generally made considerable progress in classroom management skills, especially in attention-drawing and response encouragement, creation of a motivating environment as well as physical and emotional interactions with students. On the other hand, it was discovered that inadequate duration and inappropriate timing generally impeded novice lecturers’ gains during their Teaching Practicum. However, some challenges related to supervisor and school choice turned out to be significant factors from which participants could derive considerable benefits, which is opposed to previous research. At the end of the study, some recommendations were suggested for future research on this topic.

English Language Teacher Education: A Sociocultural Perspective on Preservice Teachers’ Learning in the Professional Experiences

English Language Teacher Education: A Sociocultural Perspective on Preservice Teachers’ Learning in the Professional Experiences

AN ACADEMIC WRITING NEEDS ANALYSIS OF CZECH UNIVERSITY GRADUATE STUDENTS

The present paper presents the results of a needs analysis conducted among Czech students involved in a Master’s degree programme English Language Teacher Education. The aim was to identify their academic writing needs on the basis of a needs analysis questionnaire and a linguistic analysis of their written discourse in order to find out whether there are divergences between their ‘wants’ and ‘lacks’ (Hutchinson & Waters 1987). The results indicate that the students’ previous tuition at Bachelor’s level focused primarily on lexico-grammatical features of academic style such as text organizing devices, academic vocabulary, grammatical structures and citation styles. However, other areas essential to writing a successful Master’s thesis, such as evaluation and interpretation of results, conveying personal viewpoints and communicating with the reader or acknowledging research limitations, were ascribed a somewhat lower importance by the students, suggesting the existence of a divergence between the students’ ‘wants’ and ‘lacks’. The findings concerning the students’ perception of the writing process also concur with the finding of the authors’ previous research (Dontcheva et al. 2020) into the Theme zone in Czech students’ Master’s theses, which has indicated that Czech Master’s students tend tooveruse textual Themes expressed by linkers and underuse interpersonal Themes realised by stance devices.

SIGNS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING AMONG STUDENTS OF PEDAGOGY AT VNU UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Innovations in training modes, pedagogical and learning methods so as to ensure outcome standards are essential and definitely benefit all stakeholders. They, however, may cause certain difficulties to students, which can put them at risk of psychological stress (PS). Students at the University of Languages and International Studies under Vietnam National University, Hanoi (ULIS-VNU) are no exception. The study aims to reveal the levels of PS manifestation in foreign language learning activities of students of pedagogy (i.e. those majoring in foreign language teacher education) at ULIS-VNU. The results show that the PS these students suffer from stands ​at average levels. Out of the four PS manifestations, cognitive and behavioural signs are greater than physiological and emotional ones. PS levels do not significantly vary among faculties. However, students of the Faculty of Chinese Language and Culture, the Faculty of Japanese Language and Culture, the Faculty of Russian Language and Culture exhibit slightly higher levels of PS than students of the Faculty of French Language and Culture, the Faculty of Korean Language and Culture, and the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education. The findings can help these faculties develop and deliver timely supportive measures for addressing their students’ PS.

Secondary English Language Teacher Educators: Voices from Bangladesh

Given the heightened attention regarding the professional development of teachers, teacher education is regarded as a critical field to be investigated and evaluated more profoundly. While trainee teachers have been the primary foci of teacher education scholarship, the perspectives and experiences of teacher educators (in this study context, teacher trainers also), have not been explored to the same extent, particularly in developing countries like Bangladesh. This study, using a qualitative case study research paradigm, attempts to fill the gap. As a part of a doctoral project, seven English language teacher educators and ten trained English language teachers working in the secondary English language education context in Bangladesh were interviewed. The findings revealed that the teacher educators were not fully prepared for their task, expressed critical concerns regarding their professional development as well as the bureaucratic milieu within which they work, and were uncertain about career prospects. The paper, thus, reflecting on the voices of teacher trainers, concludes with a set of recommendations for improving and sustaining the quality of teacher educators/ trainers in Bangladesh.

Teacher Development Over Time: Practical Activities for Language Teachers

Teacher Development Over Time: Practical Activities for Language Teachers addresses teacher learning over the span of the careers of both novice and experienced teachers in English Language Teaching (ELT). It is designed to a) help novice ELT teachers to see the ways in which their learning may open up careers and communities over a professional life span; and b) support experienced ELT teachers in understanding where they are in their careers and how they may respond creatively to the challenges in that particular career phase. Part 1 synthesises the views of major research on teaching as it is experienced over time by teachers and discusses the implications. Readers engage with these ideas via the activities in Part 2, which encourage them to reflect on their career paths and on possible themes for future work. Part 3 describes ways teachers can set the Part 2 activities within a busy professional life, and Part 4 helps teachers to engage in further explorations on their own or with others. By merging a strong line of research with very practical tools for understanding professional development, Teacher Development Over Time proves to be an indispensable resource for language teachers as well as teacher educators and mentors.

Realization of preemptive focus on form in the English-language teaching context

AbstractWhilereactive focus on form(FonF) has been addressed extensively in the literature,preemptive FonFhas not attracted the attention it deserves. To fill in part of this gap in the English-language teaching (ELT) context, the present study was conducted to examine the occurrence of preemptive focus on form episodes (FFEs) in the classes of two male and two female English-language teachers. Additionally, it aimed to explore the frequency of student-initiated and teacher-initiated FFEs as well as the uptake and no uptake moves in four classes. To address these issues, all cases of preemptive FFEs were identified in 6 h of instruction obtained from videotaping of four classes. Results confirmed that preemptive FonF does occur in the process of meaning-focused communication and that they are used by male and female teachers almost equally to deal with linguistic difficulties. The findings further showed that student-initiated and teacher-initiated FFEs occurred almost equally in four classes. As to the type of moves, no uptake move was recorded to occur more frequently in male teachers’ classes and to occur more frequently in student-initiated episodes in all classes. Results can raise the awareness of ELT teachers about the benefits of employing preemptive FonF in the context of meaning-focused communications.

Designing 21st Century Language Learning Scenario in Indonesia: A Perspective from Computer-Assisted Language Learning

The integration of international quality assurance standards into Indonesian higher education curricula, together with the enactment of the New Standard of Higher Education (NSHE), are creating new and significant pressures on the curriculum renewal as well as the reconstruction of course syllabus design in foreign language departments in Indonesian universities. Just like any other units (courses) in foreign language departments in Indonesia, Academic Writing course at English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) is impacted by the new government policies. Latest research suggest that both curriculum renewal and syllabus development project are integral part of the quality assurance system where it focuses on the transparency and accountability in curriculum design and delivery. The key elements of the course syllabus that are made transparent and accountable, for instance, gives hints at the shifting knowledge structures, the use of new technologies, the emphasis on the development of students’ skills, and the extended responsibility being placed on students for their own learning development. This paper reports how these key elements are inserted into a learner-centred pedagogy of academic writing at ELTE department in Indonesia in order to meet the requirements of the 21 st century learning that are individual, personalized, adaptive, modular, integrated, and non-sequential. The establishment of computer-assisted language learning environment combined with the new pedagogy of academic writing, in essence, opposes the existing traditional approaches to language learning and literacy pedagogy in Indonesia. The entire story presented in this paper is a significant excerpt from the preliminary phase of experiment of a PhD research project conducted in Indonesia. The insights presented in this paper should trigger a holistic reform in language teacher education in Indonesia.

An Assessment of the Practice and Its Determinant Factors of Active Learning Practices in EFL Classes: A Case Study on English Language Course in Derbre Markos College of Teacher Education

The study aimed to assess the practice and its determinant factors of active learning in EFL Learners of DebreMarkos college of Teacher Education. 80 prospective teachers and 18 English language teacher educators were participants of the study. The data was collected through questionnaire, interview and observation. Percentage, mean and qualitative analysis were used to analyze data. The findings of the study revealed that both Teacher educators and prospective teachers have favorable beliefs towards active learning. The different active learning strategies were sometimes practiced. That is, pair work, group work, discussion, lecture and question and answer were employed. The magnitude of practicing active learning in EFL classes of the respective college was low. Among factors that influence effective implementation of active learning: lack of facilities and materials, tendency towards lecture method, shortage of time, prospective teachers' and teacher educators' lack of interest to implement active learning, lack of trainings and the design of training modules were the major ones. Generally, to solve the problems encountered in the effective implementation of active learning: continuous and extensive orientations and training, in the form of workshops and seminars should be offered to teacher educators and prospective teachers; facilities like language laboratory and standard library equipped with recent materials should be established; Teachers should prepare and utilize instructional materials, training modules should be prepared in a way to facilitate active learning implementation. Keywords: Active Learning, Determinant Factors, EFL DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/10-9-04 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

Rethinking TESOL in Diverse Global Settings: The Language and the Teacher in a Time of Change

In this book, Marr and English raise and address many of the most significant questions that English language teaching professionals have been asking regarding the TESOL profession and TESOL teacher education for many years. The book invites readers, English language teachers and English language teacher educators alike to reflect on what constitutes the knowledge foundation for TESOL practice and English language teachers’ professional identities. It also encourages readers to re-examine the language that English language teachers teach, the ways in which they perceive themselves and are perceived by others, and how they can use these new understandings to deliver lessons with meaningful impact on language learners. Marr and English’s thoughtful engagement with these crucial questions makes the...

ELT Student Teacher Identity Construction: Exploring Teacher Roles and Domains of Expertise

In this study, we direct our focus to identity construction in an English language teaching (ELT) teacher education program. We explore the teacher roles in which student teachers are struggling to position themselves comfortably and the teacher expertise domains (subject matter, didactics, and pedagogy) that they are dedicating themselves to improving. To address our research focus, we have collected reflections and survey responses from 18 student teachers in an ELT education department. Our findings indicate that ELT student teachers find it difficult to position themselves as experts in and about the English language and that they feel a need to be equipped with expertise first and foremost in the subject matter, and then in didactics, followed by pedagogy. These results imply that in ELT teacher education, certain language ideologies are still prevalent and need to be dealt with by teacher educators for transformative outcomes in education.

Making the Shift From a Codeswitching to a Translanguaging Lens in English Language Teacher Education

There has been increasing ambiguity and debate about the meaning and applicability of the terms codeswitching and translanguaging in English language classrooms. To address this issue, this article first offers a historical overview of the literature on codeswitching and translanguaging. This overview serves as the basis for an updated framework that highlights necessary areas of shift in conceptualization from codeswitching to translanguaging, and dimensions of codeswitching research that can still be integrated into a translanguaging lens. This framework is illuminated through an autobiographical narrative inquiry analysis of a teacher educator and a student‐researcher at an English‐medium university in Kazakhstan, a country that is officially bilingual and developing policies and practices to promote trilingualism. The article reinforces the argument that teachers, teacher educators, and ESOL researchers need to shift from a separate (monoglossic) view of languaging practices to a holistic (heteroglossic) view. Research on teachers’ beliefs and language practices need to be reviewed critically to identify whether they take a monoglossic or heteroglossic view of language practices. The preponderance of spontaneous rather than strategic pedagogical use of translanguaging suggests that teachers and teacher educators in English‐language classrooms need to be explicitly taught ways to incorporate heteroglossic ideologies and intentional translanguaging pedagogies into their teaching practice.