Foreign Teaching Research Articles

Writing International Histories from Ordinary Places: Postcolonial Classrooms, Teachers, and Foreign Policy in Ghana, 1957–83

This article examines the effects of foreign teachers on Ghanaian education during the 1960s and 1970s. It calls attention to the ways that foreign policy articulates with the lives of ordinary people in former colonies, an approach I call ‘writing international histories from ordinary places.’ At the intersection of globalized archival collections and local sources and scholarship, ‘ordinary places’ offer us new vantage points from which to approach the extraverted histories of the postcolonial world.

Integration challenges, immigrant characteristics and career satisfaction for immigrants in the field of accounting and finance: An empirical evidence from Canada

Although immigrants are subject to structural and cultural vulnerability, little attention has been devoted to understanding the integration challenges they face in building a career in accounting and finance. This study investigates those challenges and addresses how such challenges and immigrant characteristics influence career satisfaction. The study draws on the life course perspective to survey Canadian immigrants. It finds that the integration challenges are multidimensional, comprising workplace discrimination, non-recognitionof foreign education and experience, and ethnic differences, where the devaluation of prior education and experience is the worst challenge for new Canadian immigrants. Further, workplace discrimination and devalued education and experience negatively influence career satisfaction. However, ethnic differences exert no significant effect on career satisfaction. Evidently, this study is the first to measure dimensions of immigrant integration challenges and how they relate to career satisfaction. The identified challenges and suggestions may be of benefit to enterprises, government institutions, and professional bodies that aim to improve inclusion, equity, and career outcomes.

Research on the Difference in Talent Cultivation Between Chinese and Foreign Educational Systems

After a long time of exam-oriented education, China's educational system has great limitations in cultivating various types of talents. However, society needs compound elites to develop. Due to different national conditions and economic development, diverse structures were employed in different countries. This paper aims to explore what are the differences, why the differences exist, and how diverse educational systems affect students. The interview was adopted as a research method for this paper. Five respondents from all over the world were found to finish the research and to make the comparison more referential. The outcome demonstrated that the educational systems have a crucial influence on many aspects, including their attitude toward life, personality, and career choice. The impacts of all those aspects led their lives in completely different directions. Through the result, it is apparent that if a country wants to drive social development and progress, it needs to modify its educational system constantly and reasonably.

Muhadhoroh and English Public Speaking Skills: Benefits, Challenges, and Strategies

In the modern era, Islamic boarding school education has changed forms of adaptation to the times. One of them is the existence of the term Modern Islamic Boarding School where the education system combines national and international curricula and adapts to the needs of the students. Extracurricular activities are one of the activities that exist in modern Islamic boarding schools. This activity is known as Muhadhoroh. This study explores Muhadhoroh and English-speaking skills related to the benefits, challenges, and strategies for these activities. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method. The research data were obtained from interviews, observations, and documentation while the participants in this study were three English teachers who teach at Amanatul Ummah Islamic boarding school both Indonesian and foreign teachers. The research data were analyzed in four stages, namely data collection, data display, data reduction, and conclusion. The results of this study indicate that Muhadhoroh could provide opportunities for students to develop talents in the field of English public speaking skills because students had the opportunity to perform various kinds of English performances in public. Related to challenges, this activity has challenges including preparation, time management, and facilities. Even so, several strategies could be taken to overcome these challenges, including arranging preparation and performance schedules, utilizing free time and shifting school schedules into preparation and performance schedules, as well as adding facilities by renting equipment to other parties during activities. This study is limited in location and the number of participants who are only in one Islamic boarding school and the type of research instrument. It is recommended for further research to be able to conduct similar research by adding variations of participants and Islamic boarding schools as well as adding variations of research instruments

Motivation from Technology Innovation in Teaching Foreign Languages: A Case Study in Vietnam

Motivation from Technology Innovation in Teaching Foreign Languages: A Case Study in Vietnam

Modern Realities of Foreign Educational Migration

The study analyzed educational migration in Russia. Migration is considered from the standpoint of an integrated indicator that reflects complex socio-economic processes in society. The factors of territorial mobility of the population are listed. Under their influence, the directions, dynamics, intensity and consequences of migration for donor and recipient countries change. The place and role of educational migration in the modern world are shown. The study examined the structure and dynamics of the number of foreign students studying in the universities of the Russian Federation. The directions of tough competitive struggle of national educational models in the international market of educational services and rating indicators for evaluating the activities of universities are analyzed. It is noted that the West conducts unfair competition in relation to Russian universities and the entire education system, which manifests itself in sanctions pressure, the exclusion of Russia from the Bologna process, the refusal to nostrify educational documents, etc. It is emphasized that external educational migration to a certain extent can be considered as a form of brain drain. The largest recipient countries of foreign students are indicated, which include the USA, Great Britain, China, Canada, Australia, and France.

STUDENTS’ RESPONSE TOWARDS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FOREIGN INSTRUCTOR PROGRAMME IN HELPING WITH STUDENT’S SPEAKING SKILL

The purpose of this study is to describe students’ response on how effective it is in hiring professional native English speakers in helping new learners to master their speaking skill. Foreign instructors can not only help in improving the speaking skill of the beginners, but they can also help to modify the optimal learning environment that can familiarise the beginners in the learning activities they are doing. Foreign professionals who are proposed to educate beginners must master teaching skill and be good at using 21st century technology. In this research paper, the experimental method is used to study this experiment. The main purpose is to find out if hiring native English speakers is very effective in helping beginners to master their speaking skills. The results found show that hiring a professional native English speaker is very effective in helping beginners in mastering speaking skills because in addition to the knowledge gained, speaking with a native English speaker directly helps beginners in speaking English.

The Dual-Challenge of Teaching Online in a Foreign Land: Understanding Western Foreign Teachers’ Professional Identity and Confidence Development via a Transformative Learning Lens

The Dual-Challenge of Teaching Online in a Foreign Land: Understanding Western Foreign Teachers’ Professional Identity and Confidence Development via a Transformative Learning Lens

INNOVATIVE METHODS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

INNOVATIVE METHODS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Examination of Problem Solving and Problem Posing Skills of Foreign Teacher Candidates in Mathematics: The Sample of Siirt University

Matematik öğretimi, öğrencilere alıştırmalardan açık uçlu problemlere ve keşif durumlarına kadar geniş bir yelpazedeki problemleri ve problem durumlarını keşfetme fırsatı verir. Problem çözme, basitçe, onu çözmeye çalışırken bir problemle başa çıkma sürecinin tamamını ifade eder. Problem kurma, yeni problemlerin ve matematiksel soruların üretilmesi, belirli bir problemi çözme sürecinde çözüm için daha erişilebilir kılmak için problemlerin yeniden formüle edilmesidir. Çalışmanın amacı, alternatif değerlendirme yaklaşımına dayalı Polya (1997) tarafından belirtilen dört aşamadan oluşan (problemi anlama, çözüm için plan hazırlama, planı uygulama, değerlendirme) ve bu kategorilere ek olarak problem kurma kategorisinin yer aldığı Baki (2008) tarafından geliştirilen aşamalı puanlama ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Aşamalı puanlama ölçeği ile yabancı uyruklu öğretmen adaylarının problem çözme süreçlerini ve problem kurma becerilerini incelemektir. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yaklaşımı benimsenmiştir. Araştırmanın katılımcılarını Siirt Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Matematik Eğitimi Anabilim Dalında öğrenim gören 8 yabancı uyruklu öğretmen adayı oluşturmaktadır. Katılımcıların belirlenmesinde amaçlı örnekleme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Veri toplama aracı olarak araştırmacılar tarafından MEB ders kitaplarından yararlanılarak hazırlanan üç problem kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada katılımcıların problem çözme ve problem kurma davranışları ayrı ayrı incelendiği için Baki (2008) tarafından geliştirilen aşamalı puanlama ölçeği tercih edilmiştir. Elde edilen verilerin analizinde betimsel analiz tekniği kullanılmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda katılımcıların en yüksek performansı problemi anlama kategorisinde, en düşük performansı ise değerlendirme ve problem kurma kategorisinde gösterdikleri tespit edilmiştir. Problemi anlama, plan hazırlama ve planı uygulama kategorilerinde yabancı uyruklu öğretmen adaylarının orta düzeyin üstünde başarılı olduğu tespit edilmişken, değerlendirme ve problem kurma kategorilerinde başarısız oldukları sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

The Literacy Approach to Teaching Foreign Languages

Foreign language teachers and researchers who specialize in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) sometimes lack a specific operational pedagogy capable of integrating both language instruction and content education. The book under review introduces a literacy approach that may assist these people in participating in this education. A synopsis of the literacy approach can assist readers of this review in efficiently gaining a comprehensive understanding of the approach. Generally, the literacy approach is divided into two phases, which are respectively dedicated to developing two broad categories of skills: reception and production. The reception phase comprises three steps viz. understanding and enjoying, observing, and analyzing; the production phase comprises two steps viz. guided production and free production. To implement a literacy approach for teaching, the teachers will need to follow a backward design rationale (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005) and considers first the expected students’ output for a social task, then evidence to prove that they have met that expectation, and finally activities and contents to scaffold their learning. A detailed explanation of how the approach works is provided below: 1) During the understanding and enjoying, instructors use pre-tasks to identify students’ potential barriers to understanding a text as well as to engage the students in the text; 2) During the observation, the students are asked to examine a text from both a textual and linguistic standpoint and to discuss how the text draws them into it; 3) During the analysis, instructors assist students in discovering the language qualities that distinguish the text as a skilled communication product; 4) During the guided production, the instructors guide the students in producing a text that is on par with the text they first enjoyed; 5) During the independent production, instructors continue to support students by guiding them to create drafts, edit drafts, and share drafts with peers, as well as guiding them to evaluate each other’s work and training them to be critical readers.

The leaky pipeline of hearing care: primary to secondary care evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)

Objective The proportions of older adults’ transitions through acknowledging their hearing loss to getting access to treatment are unknown. This was examined using data from a nationally representative cohort in England. Design Patient and healthcare factors associated with referrals were examined cross-sectionally, through primary to secondary care. Non-report predictors identified using multiple logistic regression models. Study sample 8529 adults with hearing data in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Wave 7. Results Nearly 40% of those with acknowledged hearing loss did not tell a doctor or nurse (n = 857/2249). Women (OR 2.68, 95% CI 2.14–2.98), retirees (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.17–1.44), those with foreign education (OR 2.74, 95% CI 2.47–3.04), lower education (OR 2.86, 95% CI 2.58–3.18), smokers (OR 4.39, 95% CI 3.95–4.87), and heavy drinkers (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.58–1.85) were more likely to not report hearing loss. Of those who acknowledged and reported hearing difficulties, willingness to try hearing aid(s) was high (78.9%). Conclusions Unacknowledged, or acknowledged but not reported hearing loss by individuals, and non-referrals by primary healthcare professionals, are barriers to accessing hearing healthcare. Future research should report hearing aid use as the proportion of individuals who acknowledge their hearing loss, to avoid an overestimation of the non-use of hearing aids within study samples.

“Techno-R” technology in improving the quality of foreign language learning

The article describes the “Techno-R” pedagogical technology, which is being developed at the Department of Theory and Practice of Teaching Foreign Languages at the Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication of Kazan Federal University. We characterize this technology in terms of goal-setting – improving students’ communicative competence; in terms of philosophical principles – the humanistic approach, recognizing the value of man as a person who has the right to develop and demonstrate their abilities; in terms of the organizational form of training – group and individual classes; in terms of diagnostic procedures for identifying the level of proficiency in a foreign language communicative competence and ways of achieving the goal. The article analyzes the theoretical foundation of the research, based on the theory of knowledge transfer by P. Galperin, the theory of transfer and the theory of cognitive-practical activity methods, created by the researchers of the Kazan didactic school. The article discloses the content and procedural aspects of the “Techno-R” technology and its place among other modern technologies. Of particular interest is the stage of the indicative basis of speech actions adjusting the skills, included in the structure of language competence, and speech skills in productive and receptive types of speech. This stage is the key to success in adjusting the level of students’ communicative competence. The article presents an overview of the experimental material on improving the quality of education based on teaching French at school and university using the method of mathematical statistics Student’s T-test. The “Techno-R” technology is included in the field of the humanistic paradigm of the society development, it helps people in acquiring the ability to speak a foreign language.

A Comparison of Chinese and Foreign Teaching Methods in Teaching English as a Second Foreign Language

The English teaching method in China has always been test-oriented. With the development of the times, the popularity and importance of English applications have increased rapidly. Traditional English education in China is no longer sufficient to provide adequate support for language development. Many education professionals have recognized and started to apply Western English teaching methods. However, due to the unbalanced supply and demand of English teaching, most people are not aware of the difference between English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL). In the actual classroom, the application of western teaching methods is also mostly formalism. On the one hand, it is because of the recoil effect of the exam, and on the other hand, it is because the Western teaching method cannot fit the domestic teaching background. It is not only necessary to adapt the integration of teaching methods but also to change the form and content of the examination.

THAI AND NON-THAI INSTRUCTORS’ PERSPECTIVES ON PEER FEEDBACK ACTIVITIES IN ENGLISH ORAL PRESENTATIONS

The purposes of this research were 1) to investigate Thai and non-Thai teachers’ perspectives on peer feedback activities in English oral presentations; 2) to compare the perspectives on peer feedback activities of Thai and non-Thai teachers, and 3) to explore possible reasons affecting the Thai and non-Thai teachers’ perspectives on peer feedback activities in their real classroom practices. The study was conducted with 5 Thai and 5 foreign instructors. Questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were employed in the data analysis. The results revealed that 1) in general both Thai and non-Thai instructors moderately agreed that peer feedback was beneficial for students, 2) the perspectives of Thai and non-Thai teachers in most items were not significantly different, and 3) there were six possible reasons why Thai and non-Thai teachers have different perspectives on some issues towards the use of peer feedback activities.

Challenges and opportunities for expatriate faculty teaching graduation seminar classes in Japanese universities

This paper considers the issues facing expatriate instructors teaching English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) graduation seminars (commonly known as the “zemi” in Japan) in Japanese universities and aims to establish better conditions to build Communities of Practice. Since the term “graduation seminar” is widely used globally, and might lead to preconceptions from readers, zemi is the term that will be used in this paper as a common example of Japanese English. This class is one that typically involves aspects of academic mentoring, pastoral care and socialization that differentiate it from regular classes. Lacking any personal experience of the zemi, teachers educated overseas are likely to have different expectations of the system than their domestic colleagues and students, creating a significant challenge in how they design and implement programmes. To investigate these issues, 14 semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with expatriate teachers of EMI zemis. Common themes described by informants included difficulties in creating a cohesive syllabus with limited support, challenges posed by thesis supervision, and mixed feelings towards mentoring and pastoral care. The data also revealed unique opportunities afforded to foreign instructors of these classes, which were unlikely to be available if they had not been entrusted with teaching a zemi. This paper seeks to fill a gap in the literature and provide insights into how foreign instructors experience the zemi. The knowledge gained can be employed to help develop Communities of Practice for such teachers. It is also hoped it will be of significance to those interested in comparative education, faculty asked to teach within educational systems of which they do not have personal experience, and anyone who works with Japanese learners, either in Japan or as international students.

Образование как инструмент «мягкой силы» КНР в Монголии

The experience of Mongolia over the past twenty years shows that the degree of popularity of certain foreign languages and foreign education is closely connected with the level of the country's relations with other countries, primarily in the economic sphere. The article examines the place and role of school and university education in relations between Mongolia and China. The author analyzes the process of popularization of the Chinese language in Mongolia and education in China among Mongolian citizens. The policy of soft power of the PRC, which uses education as an important tool of its international influence, is considered as a general context.

Satisfaction, professional development, and professionalism of overseas South African teachers: The application of social cognitive career theory

For almost 2 decades South Korea has been 1 of the popular destinations for English teaching. Due to the development of globalisation, a great number of qualified and experienced South African teachers decided to invest their career development and personal goals in 1 of the schools in South Korea. However, due to the social and cultural differences, many teachers decided to leave their position within the first few years of their contract. The frequent departure of teachers may negatively influence the students’ achievement and the reputation of the school. The purpose of this study was to understand why South African teachers decided to stay in the same school for more than 10 successive years in South Korea. With the application of the phenomenological analysis, 37 participants were invited. Based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory, the results indicate that both the workplace and the social environment were positive for both career and personal development and growth. Government departments, policymakers, school leaders, non-profit organisational leaders, human resource planners, and researchers should regard the findings from this study as support to reform and improve their current regulations and plans for teachers’ professional development and teachers’ recruitment, particularly regarding school teachers’ recruitment and foreign teachers’ plans.

Intercultural communication between Chinese college students and foreign teachers through the English corner at an elite language university in Shanghai

This paper uses an ethnographic approach and draws critical pedagogical and sociolinguistic insights from Pierre Bourdieu to explore Chinese college students’ participation in an English Corner program at an elite language university in Shanghai. Accordingly, this paper promotes scholarly conversations about intercultural communication between Chinese college students and foreign teachers from English-speaking countries. By underpinning the concepts of intercultural capital, this paper analyzes these themes: (a) linguistic habitus and capital in the stratified field of elite language education; (b) articulating English proficiency; (c) bridging cultural distance and improving intercultural competence; and (d) personal growth and professional development. This paper critically interprets Chinese college students’ benefits and mutual relationships with foreign faculty from English-Speaking Countries; how they cultivated intercultural capital in the field of elite education beyond linguistic capital, how they strove to maintain their accumulated capital to secure better career prospects, and what the roles of international faculty should be.

Milton in China

Milton in China