English Language Teacher Training Research Articles

Öğretmen eğitiminde yarım kalan şarkı: Türkiye’de Köy Enstitüleri deneyimi

There was a successful and valuable experience that was implemented in Turkey between 1940 and 1954. It was called the Village Institutes which were established in different parts of the country that greatly enlightened their environments. Unfortunately, because of a clash of political interests, the institutes were closed in 1954. The Village Institutes have been under scrutiny in terms of different courses and activities. However, there still seems to be a gap in the reviewed literature in terms of foreign language teaching in the Village Institutes and its reflections to today’s English language teacher training programmes. Although Turkey is not the same as the 1940s Turkey, this paper is an attempt to show that with their certain features, they still stand as a model to look up to and we should benefit from their outputs in teacher education practices in Turkey. They raised teachers who were aware of themselves, the surrounding environment and their own transformative power and were able to think critically. When we consider the limited practicum hours for pre-service teachers and high ratio of theoretical lessons in the curriculum at the faculties of education, it seems that we have a lot to learn from the Village Institutes experience.

The Adaptive Expertise of Expert ELT Textbook Writers

Although the ELT (English Language Teaching) materials development literature points to the influence of classroom experience on materials design, the literature is less specific about how such experience affects skilled textbook writing. Drawing primarily upon concurrent verbalization and pre- and post-concurrent verbalization interview data collected from two expert ELT textbook writers as they produced coursebook content, this study finds the participants tapped their English language teaching and teacher training experience – with experience operationalized here as knowledge and skills developed as a result of time and effort spent operating in a domain – during writing episodes when using problem-solving skills, navigating constraints, applying pedagogical reasoning skills, and engaging repertoire. The participants, in other words, were able to effect transfer from the neighbouring domains of English language teaching and teacher training to the expertise domain of ELT textbook writing, demonstrating adaptive expertise. This study demonstrates the usefulness of collecting data while participants are writing to discover how transfer effects and adaptive expertise are realized in real-time work and thus makes an important contribution to the research field of materials development. In addition, the results of this study may benefit teachers who look to textbooks for guidance as they develop pedagogic confidence.

Reflective practice in English language teacher training: From theory to practice

The main aim of the study presented in this article is examining what teacher-trainees could learn from the reflective practice task after their teaching performance in the English Teaching Practice Course. Participants of this study were teacher-trainees (or senior students majoring in English language teaching) in the first semester of academic year 2018-2019. Each trainee had his/her lesson recorded when s/he was conducting an English lesson in front of his/her peers. Then each watched the lesson and found some strengths and weaknesses in this lesson and submitted this task to the trainer. The findings from this reflective task indicated that trainees could recognize not only their errors in using classroom English but also four main weaknesses in their teaching skills. Moreover, the findings from the questionnaire after the course ended reveal that these trainees classified their errors into seven groups and suggested solutions to overcome such problems. Some limitations and recommendations for further study on reflection can be seen at the end of this article.

ORGANIZATION AND CONTENT CHARACTERISTICS OF INITIAL EDUCATION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The article deals with the key organization and content characteristics of initial education of the English language teachers, proper to the national educational systems in the European Union. The minimum level and general duration of initial education course that gives the right to work as a teacher in secondary educational institutions are presented. The comparative analysis of the total duration of the course of the English language teacher training in EU countries has been carried out. The main components of the content of the English language teachers’ professional education are stressed upon.The research is carried out on the assumption that the diversity, which is a characteristic feature of pedagogical education in the countries of the European Union due to the processes of historical and socio-political development of the region, in some way unifies and acquires the characteristics and features proper to the whole European educational dimension. The comprehensive consideration of this problem causes the aim of the article, which is to analyze the organization and content characteristics of initial education of the English language teachers in the European Union in terms of their systemic and interdependent nature.The analysis of organization and content of initial education of the English language teachers in the countries of the European Union has shown that various models of professional education of pedagogical staff have been created in order to improve the quality of teachers’ education, to acquire the necessary skills, prepare intending teachers to professional activity, ensuring their needs for continuous professional development, motivation for quality teaching activity at secondary educational institutions.

THE PARTICIPATORY APPROACH TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER TRAINING IN VIETNAM

In the past few years, English language teacher training in Vietnam has witnessed remarkable improvements, but more so in terms of quantity than in terms of quality. Adopting a case study research design, this article reports the feedback of 14 participants in a training workshop series using the participatory approach. The interview data suggests that the use of this approach brought about certain benefits in terms of practicality, application, interactions and learner autonomy, which conincide with major issues confronting English language teacher training in Vietnam. However, the participants also voiced certain concerns and suggested possible solutions, indicating that the use of the participatory approach should be combined with other teaching methods to maximize its effectiveness.

A Base Nacional Comum Curricular e a formação de professores de língua inglesa: desafios e possibilidades

This article analyzes the latest version of Brazil’s National Common Curricular Base (BNCC) (BRAZIL, 2017) regarding the training of English language teachers in Basic Education. The proposals presented on the BNCC version are analyzed in the light of theoretical approaches such as teacher knowledge, dialogical theory of language, English as a Lingua Franca and pedagogical practices with technologies in the English language. The results point to the English practices articulated with the different uses, with the support of orality, of the readings, of the writings, mediated by technologies, towards the integral formation of the students. The consequences are written practices based on articulated practices, to establish relationships with other cultures and curricular components, with contexts of effective use of the English language, in a critical formation of students of Basic Education.

Conceptual Aspects of Professional Training for English Language Teachers: The UK Experience

AbstractThe article deals with the problem of conceptual aspects of professional training for English language teachers in the UK. It is found that many curricula of British universities are based on the technology and procedure of exclusively professional training of future specialists, whereas general scientific and additional intellectual training is incorporated into extracurricular activities as proved by the ratio of study time allocated to different courses. Humanities and social sciences courses provide students with fundamental knowledge and the ability to navigate in the ever-growing volume of scientific knowledge, possibility and knowledge of social interaction. General professional and specialist courses cultivate professional mastery of future specialists and the ability to express, if necessary, professional mobility. It is clarified that English is a broad subject, which comprises three complementary elements studied either separately or combined. They are the following: English Literature (interpretation and analysis of literary texts and study of the history and theory of literature), English Language (the study of spoken, written and multimodal communication, their historical development and their distinctive levels of analysis: phonology, grammar and lexis) and creative writing (the practice of writing, the study of the literary and cultural contexts of writing and the exploration of the relationships that writing generates between writer, publisher, text and audience). It is concluded that professional training of English language teachers in the UK is based on conceptual aspects of such principles as neobehaviourism, liberalism, progressivism, social reconstructivism, cognitivism and humanism.

Training for English-Medium Instruction in French Higher Education: Keeping Pronunciation in Focus

English-Medium Instruction (EMI) is spreading in French higher education and this paper argues that appropriate support for teachers willing to teach their subject in English should focus on both language and content, and on the pedagogical specificities of combining the two. More specifically, I argue that the pronunciation component of any such training must go beyond improving a teacher’s intelligibility. Training in the specificities of spoken English – for both teachers and students, as interchangeable speakers and listeners – should aim to improve two things: attitudes toward variation of spoken language and awareness of the cognitive impact of foreign-accented speech (FAS) (speech which exhibits acoustic features from a speaker’s mother tongue(s)). In this paper, I start by describing pronunciation as a subject in English language teacher training in the English-speaking world and second language pronunciation as an international research field. This is followed by a brief description of EMI teacher training in France and the presentation of a few key findings of research into the social and cognitive impact of FAS. I then outline what is involved for both listeners and speakers, if we want to modify their attitudes to spoken language variation and to improve their cognitive comfort in processing FAS. Example training exercises are outlined, and in the conclusion a greater role is advocated for English language teachers within the internationalisation of French higher education.

Exploring Factors Which Affect Quality of the English Language Teacher Training Programme for Primary Schools in Zambézia

Several factors may affect the quality of the English language teaching and learning process and teacher training as well. This paper seeks to discuss eight factors which influence positive or negatively in the English language teacher training programme for primary schools in Zambezia province. Heyworth is the great scholar, who discusses issues around quality management in English language teaching as a foreign language. His views have inspired the researcher to think over issues, which can foster or undermine the quality of the English language teacher training programme for primary schools in Zambezia province. The researcher stresses that quality of the English language teacher depends mostly of the quality of the management process, through its positive elements and excellent performance of the teacher trainers, the existing teaching and learning materials, motivation by teacher trainees and teacher trainers, and positive attitudes which can be shown by strong professionalism. The qualitative approach was chosen for this study based on discussions and review of authors who have discussed about factors affecting teacher education with focus on English language teacher training. The current study concludes that training English language teachers in a context, where English is taught and learnt as a foreign language demands the disposition of knowledge, skills, competence, motivation, quality of school infrastructure, professionalism and teacher trainers competence which can impact positively in the English language teacher trainee, the future English language teacher.

Türkiye’de Cumhuriyet Döneminde İngilizce Öğretmeni Yetiştirme Sürecinin Tarihsel Gelişim Açıdan Değerlendirilmesi

When English language teacher training in Turkey is examined, it is seen that there is some accumulation of knowledge in this field. In order to grasp better today’s understanding and practices of English language teacher training, the need to examine it historically arises because when teacher training programs are designed, it is expected to learn a lesson from the past and to benefit from historical accumulation of knowledge in this field in making decisions about the future. The purpose of this study is to evaluate English language teacher training in the Republic Period in Turkey from the viewpoint of historical development. To this end, review of literature was conducted in the internet and in the library. Articles, books and dissertations which were found to be suitable for the purpose of the study were examined with descriptive analysis method. As a result of the study, it is seen that no systematic studies were conducted on English language teacher training although there was significant accumulation of knowledge in this field in the Republic Period. In order to meet the need for English language teachers, different resources were used in 1923-1950s. Teaching assistants are one of the practices of meeting the need for teachers in this period. Between the years 1950 and 1980s, in order to meet the increasing need for English language teachers, there were efforts to admit more students to English language teaching departments and to open new schools if there were few, but the need for English language teachers was not fully met with such practices. In the late 1980, the institutions training teachers were incorporated into universities and there was an effort to keep teacher training away from political influences. However, in this period no importance was given to the quality of teacher training.

Native-speakerism and ‘hidden curricula’ in ELT training

Issues surrounding native-speakerism in ELT have been investigated from a diverse range of research perspectives over the last decade. This study uses a duoethnographic approach in order to explore the concept of a 'hidden curriculum' that instils and perpetuates Western 'native speaker' norms and values in the formal and informal training of English language teachers. We found that, despite differences in our own individual training experiences, a form of 'hidden curriculum' was apparent that had a powerful effect on our initial beliefs and practices as teachers and continues to influence our day-to-day teaching.

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN THE UK: BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE OF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY

here appears to be an acute need for foreign language teachers to be trained on the principles of the New Ukrainian School. The innovative experience of the UK might be very helpful, since British universities are worldwide recognized for quality education and adhere to the principles of innovative, competency-based, profession-oriented training, humanism, democratism, learner autonomy and goal orientation. Therefore, the current research aims to describe professional training of foreign language teachers, in particular English language teachers, based on the example of Newcastle University (UK). While researching, such methods as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, prognostic method have been used. The conducted research proves that professional training of English language teachers at Newcastle University cultivates the personality of these specialists with the help of modern intellectually stimulating and goal-oriented methodologies. English language students are provided with many opportunities to reveal their potential, master the chosen course in depth and apply what they have learnt. The content of the training and teaching and assessment methods allow future English language teachers to acquire critical skills, data collection skills, presentation skills, communication skills and intercultural skills.

Language awareness and the education of non-native English teachers in South America: TLA concept review and implications

Reflecting upon language allows teachers, not only to have a greater insight on how English, the language they teach works in the “real world”, but also helps them design activities for their learners to discover language by themselves while, as stated by Bolitho (2003), promoting independent and critical thinking in their classrooms. This paper explores the implications and theoretical foundations of introducing Language Awareness activities as part of the curriculum in teacher education programs in South America. Because of its length, this paper does not intend to recommend a solution to the issue but analyses the theories that support the inclusion of TLA activities as part of the English Language teacher training and education curriculum. Besides, it forecasts the implications derived from such implementation and changes.

Assessment and Evaluation Techniques

Assessment and evaluation have always been important; they are linked to language teaching methodology, program outcomes, language teacher competencies, language standards and second language acquisition training. They can serve many different policies and can come in different forms. Assessment and evaluation have always been seen as the responsibility of the specialists, but they have rarely been included as a component in English language teacher (ELT) training. However, the ELT field has been experiencing a major shift in assessment and evaluation with effects on teachers, and learners around the world. It has also been influenced by a major questioning of traditional forms of testing and the underlying psychometric principles of measurement in ELT. Recent studies reveal that the reconceptualization of English language assessment and evaluation provides systematic information about student learning in relation to their performance and contributes to better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. In many ways ELT has lagged behind the rest of education in the exploration of new theories and assessment and evaluation tools, including self-assessment. This research gap was generated partly because of the lack of integration with mainstream educational theory and practice in many areas of ELT, and partly because of powerful positions of traditional English language tests. The attempt to bridge this gap has lead to the research carried out. The aim of this article is to elaborate different assessment techniques that may better address student learning needs, improve student learning and engage students in self-assessment, including the sequence of steps that could lead to self-assessment. The study shows that the techniques implemented to develop self-assessment enable students to perform well.

Zastosowanie bloga we wspieraniu refleksji studenckiej podczas praktyk pedagogicznych

The article concerns pre-service English language teacher training and discusses some results of an on-going action research project, the aim of which is to investigate a way of supporting student reflection while they do obligatory teaching practice in Polish state schools. The paper presents the design of the “Develop by Blogging” intervention, as well as its pilot implementation. Preliminary findings suggest that the intervention has the potential to create time and space for reflection on individual professional experience and can constitute a chance for enhancing reflection among pre-service teachers.

Professional Identity and Performance of English Language Teacher Trainers in Bangladesh: In Quest of the 'Self'

The English language teaching (ELT) sector in Bangladesh is expanding rapidly and has undergone huge reforms in the curriculum, textbooks and assessment format in recent years. This has called for developing a cadre of quality English teachers at secondary and higher secondary education sub-sectors through in-service teacher training. As a result, English language teacher training has emerged as a relatively new but an important profession in Bangladesh. However, the recruitment, employment and professional development of young ELT practitioners who serve as English language teacher trainers(ELTT) in government run ELT projects and teacher training institutions are characterised by inconsistency in professional structure, lack of policy formulation and disparities in job status. This paradoxical reality has spawned a rather complex setting for the young ELTTs as they struggle to negotiate and construct their professional identity. This research explores the nature and causes of Bangladeshi ELTTs identity formation and seeks to identify links between identity formation and professional performance of ELTTs who worked in two organisational settings in Bangladesh. It explores and reports how Bangladeshi ELTTs perceive their identity within and out of the professional community and how their professional identity affects their professional performance. Data were collected adopting a mixed method approach through questionnaires and in-depth interviews of selected teacher trainers from two major government training providers in Bangladesh. The findings reveal that identity of ELTTs purports complex, relational and multiples realities underpinned by recruitment process, professional status and job satisfaction. Although same or similar factors contribute to identity formation of ELTTs, there is inequality, hidden discriminations, identity gaps and crisis among trainers.

English Language Teachers’ Contribution to Intellectual Safety Requirements from Teachers and Supervisors’ Perspective in Riyadh

The present study aimed to identify the extent to which English language teachers enhance intellectual safety among high school students from the perspective of supervisors and teachers, and it also aimed to identify the extent of interest in training English language teachers to play their important roles in reinforcing the concept of intellectual safety among students. The sample, randomly selected, consisted of (126) female English language teachers and (25) female educational supervisors in Riyadh for the second semester of the academic year 2017/2018. A questionnaire was utilized and its reliability was verified and amounted to (0.95) based on Alpha Cronbach. The study showed that all participants agree to the contribution of English language teachers to enhance the concept of intellectual safety. There were no statistically significant differences due to the job of participants, and interest in training of English language teachers to play their role in enhancing the concept of intellectual safety.

Enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in Tanzania through improved English language teaching and educational management skills

In 2012, the British Council and the Government of Tanzania through the then Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, now Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, implemented a four-year project, known as Education Development and Quality Improvement Project for English Language Teacher Training in Tanzania (EQUIP T-ELT). The purpose of the project was to improve the quality of teaching and learning in teachers’ colleges, secondary and primary schools, with a specific focus on English as a language of instruction and communication. The project implementation ended in March 2016. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the impact of the project on both institutions and staff. A total of 207 participants were involved in the study, including college principals, 181 tutors, 12 district teacher trainers and 10 material developers. The study employed mixed methods research design, in which both qualitative and quantitative methods were used during the data collection, analysis and presentation. Specifically, the data were collected through survey questionnaires, interview schedules, focus group discussions and document desk reviews. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and ATLAS.ti. 6.2. The findings indicated that the provision of two complementary interventions, English language improvement and improvement in pedagogy and educational management skills, had a significant impact on the participants as they were able to use the knowledge and skills from the two interventions simultaneously in their day to day teaching and institutional management. Moreover, the findings revealed that there were vital professional changes at both institutional and individual levels which emanated from the interventions. The changes include improved human resource capacity, improved English language proficiency, and improved pedagogical and leadership skills. It was also found that the project enabled tutors to share knowledge and skills acquired from the two interventions with their colleagues, hence developing a sense of team work in teaching as well as in accomplishing college administrative activities. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, should encourage the tutors, who had their knowledge and skills improved through their involvement in the EQUIPT-ELT project, to share their knowledge and skills with their colleagues who were not involved in the project, in order to have an everlasting impact of the project.

Özel Öğretim Yöntemleri I Dersinin Öğtrencileri Özel Öğretim Yöntemleri Iı Dersine Hazırlamada Etkisi: Durum Çalışması

In this qualitative study, the effect of the program of Special Teaching Methods (STM) I course in preparing students to STM II course, which are both given in an English Language Teacher Training (ELTT) department at a university situated in western Turkey, was investigated using Patton’s (1978) Utility Focused Evaluation (U-FE). One department administrator, two course instructors, and forty-five students participated in this study. Four main data collection instruments were used; interview with ELTT administrator, interview with ELTT course instructors, student checklist, and documents. The major findings are that although the program is effective in preparing students with defining the characteristics of learner, teacher, and the context, student motivation, age, proficiency issues, teaching grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation teaching, and assessing student tests, the program seems ineffective in applying classroom management skills, assessing student writings, and developing grammar materials.

Ups and downs in English language teacher education in Hungary in the last half century

This paper will NOT address the catastrophic effects of the government-imposed structural changes to Hungarian teacher education since 1990, nor will it concern itself with the low quality of life our teachers face, or how English linguistic and cultural imperialism is resisted or enhanced by our teacher training programs. Instead, I will demonstrate how our Humboldtian/neohumanist tradition of teacher education dating back to 1872 has dominated English language teacher training even in the last fifty years, and will give a criticism of the snobbery in our academic life which deems educational linguists’ and language educators’ work “unacademic” and looked down upon. The traditional teacher education model was significantly challenged when, in addition to the double major[1] 5-year teacher education programs, 3-year single major programs were started in 1990, with considerable help from the World Bank, the British Council, USIS and Peace Corps. These new programs focused on language pedagogy and practical teacher education, and provided considerably increased teaching practice. Similarly to the Netherlands in the 1970s, this was “an uphill fight against tradition, vested interests and mental inertia” (van Essen, 1996, p. 21). The quality of the programs was internationally recognized and the Centers for English Teacher Training (CETTs) became a model for restructuring English teacher education in Central Europe. The 1990s saw the all-time peak of English teacher education in Hungary. After 1997 the CETTs were forcibly (re)merged with the traditional philology departments (aka Departments of English Studies), and a lot of their achievements were wasted. The quality of teacher education seems to be under serious threat again and the academic prestige of teacher educators continues to be minimal, despite the international fame of some Hungarian applied linguists and teacher educators, and the high-quality MA and PhD programs they direct. In conclusion, I will offer my ideas on what could be done in this situation, which is aggravated by chaotic educational language policy decisions from our governments and the curse of the age-old SCHOLARLY teacher vs. PRACTICE ORIENTED teacher controversy in our (English) teacher education.