TESOL Course Research Articles

Autoethnography for language teacher education programs: Connecting identities, ideologies, and experiences to curricular design practices

AbstractAutoethnography, a qualitative research methodology that investigates aspects of individuals' identities, ideologies, and emotions, has recently gained traction in applied linguistics and second language (L2) scholarship. However, research is needed that investigates the use of autoethnography in preservice teacher education programs, along with exploring the connections between individuals' autoethnographies and actual pedagogical practices. The current study explores such issues by implementing a critical autoethnographic narrative assignment in a master's TESOL course for teacher candidates (TCs). Eight TCs completed two installments of a critical autoethnographic narrative, reflecting on their prior L2 learning and teaching/tutoring experiences. After completing various course assignments (e.g., textbook review, lesson plans), TCs then produced a final multimodal reflection, examining how their experiences influenced their pedagogies. TCs' narratives and reflections were thematically analyzed to examine 1) shared identities, ideologies, and challenges faced, and 2) explicit connections TCs made between their experiences and pedagogies. The findings of this study point to multiple shared ideologies and challenges among the TCs. Some preservice teachers were also able to link aspects of their identities and ideologies to specific curricular design practices. Implications are discussed for L2 teacher educators in terms of leveraging autoethnography for fostering reflective practices.

Setting the Stage for Transformative Learning in MA TESOL Classrooms at a Saudi University

This article explores the impact of transformative theory on the learning outcomes of seven Saudi female student-teachers enrolled in a Master’s TESOL course at a Saudi university. They were actively engaged in designing learning materials for learners with special needs. In this intervention, transformative theory principles were used. They involved dialogue, authentic assessment, and structured reflection. Following the intervention, data were collected using focus group discussions and document analysis. The data were analysed using Mezirow’s transformative theory components: experience, critical reflection, reflective discourse, and action. The findings reveal the experience supported the participants’ autonomy, providing them with opportunities to reflect on their teaching practices, and improved their knowledge construction skills. Based on the results, the author makes a case for greater use of transformative theory approaches in designing and implementing teacher education.

Exploring Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions and Practices on How to Use Netiquette Rules in Creating Professional Emails

In this current study, we explored Saudi undergraduate students’ perceptions toward netiquette rules in professional and formal emails through their communication with their professor in spring semester 2020. We investigated how learners formulated their formal emails in an academic domain or for their future careers whether they needed clarification, asked question, or shared issues. To apply this research, we chose critical discourse analysis as a theoretical framework to understand students’ perceptions and practices. This qualitative study applied open-ended questions survey, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis (students’ emails) with a thick description of their perceptions and practices. We had seven Saudi students from TESOL course. The data was analyzed through vivo coding that went through three different phases and wrote separate memos for every participant to reflect the intended meaning of the data. The results of the study revealed students’ understanding of netiquette rules in professional emails. However, students’ actual practices under stressful situations showed that they did not always follow the netiquette rules in emails with their professor.
 
 Received: 21 April 2022 / Accepted: 29 June 2022 / Published: 5 July 2022

Linguistically Inclusive TESOL Course Design and Its Effect on Pre-Service Teacher Education

Lack of linguistic awareness prevents teachers from catering to English learners. This study proposed a new linguistically inclusive course and compared pre-service teacher knowledge of the linguistic features of five frequently spoken languages in the course versus standard courses.

Engaging Opportunities: A Small Moments Reflexive Inquiry of Translanguaging in a Graduate TESOL Course

ABSTRACT This article draws upon a small moments writing strategy to support language teacher educator learning as a form of reflective practice. Three language teacher educators formed a community of practice to analyze audio recordings of a graduate level TESOL course focused on dynamic bilingualism and translanguaging to identify opportunities where a professor and his students might leverage and enact their own linguistic repertoires to enhance their meaning-making about translanguaging as theory and praxis. Findings reveal four types of engaging opportunities: to expand and continue the co-construction of knowledge about translanguaging; to create space for teachers and students to translanguage; to engage students in clarifying inaccuracies or misunderstandings about translanguaging; and to complicate prior understandings of and socialization into language and how it works. Implications are provided to support the language teacher education community in developing pedagogy that better supports students’ understandings of translanguaging as a theory of language and practice.

International Perspectives on CLIL. Hemmi, C., & Banegas, D. L. (Ed.) (2021). Palgrave, Cham, 300 pages, ISBN: 978-3-030-70094-2.

The content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is acknowledged as a dual-focused educational approach and practice for better access in both languages and content learning. In the last two decades, CLIL has been increasingly under close scrutiny, especially in Europe and Latin America (Pérez-Cañado, 2018; Banegas, Poole, & Corrales, 2020). However, it has been expanded globally and takes up a notable position in the field of ELT. Here comes the publication of this edited collection, signal of an increased need and interests in CLIL across the world.
 This book consists of four parts and fourteen chapters. Besides first part serves as introductory overview of CLIL’s theoretical development and last part as conclusional prospect of conduction of CLIL--both of which are presented by the editors of the book under review--this volume encompasses twelve papers falling under two headings: CLIL practice and CLIL professional development.
 The part of CLIL practice addresses a variety of cultural backgrounds and educational contexts where CLIL implementations are conducted. This part discusses assessment issue in CLIL Spanish history course and translanguaging in CLIL science class in Colombia, attesting to the authenticity (chapter 2) and engaging effect of CLIL. Shifting to a less explored contexts in Japan and Taiwan, there are 3 chapters in this part that investigate the possibilities of implementing CLIL in Asian EFL contexts. Chapter 4 investigates the students’ perception of being assessed in a CLIL programme in Japanese University, chapter 6 concentrates on the interaction between teacher and students that ficilitates both content and language learning in a CLIL classroom in Japan. Chaper 7 surveys students in a CLIL programme at a polytechnic university in Taiwan with CQS (Cultural Quotient Scale) and finds that CLIL approach effectively promotes learners’ cross-cultural understanding and CQ competence. This part empirically reveals the malleability and accessibility of CLIL in various cross-cultural educational settings.
 The part of CLIL professional development explores in what ways CLIL can be sustained across educational levels and types of education provision. Chapter 8 reflects CLIL models in Australian TESOL course, chapter 12 offers evidence that CLIL approach can also be utilized in coursebook for very young learners in tandem with second language learning in the context of schooling. This part also mentions language and content teachers’ needs for professional training that can provide instructions and strategies in both their pre- and in-service phases (chapter 9, 10, 11). Chapter 13 shows the significance of teachers’ awareness of possible hegemonic ideologies in CLIL class. It is crucial for people to realize that instead of being regarded as an elitist education/language learning approach (Van Mensel, Hiligsmann, Mettewie, & Galand, 2020), “CLIL can become the platform through which multilingual education is embraced as an option for anyone regardless of personal circumstances” (Hemmi & Banegas, 2021:306).
 Taken as a whole, this anthology helps language teachers to establish a comprehensive understanding of CLIL initiatives and contributes concrete pedagogical implications for language teaching researchers, as well as education policy makers, postgraduates, and language teacher educators all over the world.

Attending to the Interactional Histories Behind Multilingual Writers’ Texts: New Directions in TESOL Teacher Education

AbstractDespite research attention to varied and nuanced social processes through which linguistically minoritized multilingual students create texts, writing instruction and assessment in schools continue to be dominated by a focus on students’ written products. Even formative assessment– arguably one of teachers’ most powerful tools in designing responsive instruction – tends to focus on careful analysis of students’ writing rather than the processes through which texts are created, or the rich histories of participation in previous literacy events that students bring to any such event. In this contribution, we answer Rose's (2019) call for a bidirectional flow between teachers and researchers by describing a multi‐layered inquiry we undertook, studying our teacher education practices as we asked in‐service teachers to undertake their own inquiry into students' writing. We describe our experiences adapting a methodological protocol for the observational study of multilingual writers for purposes of teacher education. Specifically, we reflect on our work engaging a set of in‐service teachers taking a graduate‐level TESOL course in conducting “interactional histories” analyses (Kibler, 2019). Through examples of in‐service teachers’ observations and their suggestions for future writing instruction, and our own reflections on the affordances and constraints of our approach, we explore the roles that interactional histories inquiry can play in teacher education. In particular, we describe its potential to help teachers build nuanced understandings of linguistically minoritized multilingual students’ development of writing expertise and identities, and teachers’ complex roles in this process.

Taiwanese English Majors’ Acquisition of Technical Vocabulary in TESOL Profession

This study explored the effects of the instructional strategies on technical vocabulary among 36 English majors in a TESOL course in a teacher education program in a university in northern Taiwan. The analysis of document, questionnaire, and participants’ final writing projects revealed that participants regarded “the instructor’s explanations and use of technical vocabulary” as the most useful instructional strategies. The instruction on technical vocabulary influenced the participants’ vocabulary use, particularly in memory recall and their final writing projects. The most frequent technical vocabulary used in the final writing projects was related to participants’ research topic interest. Suggestions on effective instruction in technical vocabulary are provided.

It’s a win-win situation: implementing Appreciative Advising in a pre-service teacher training programme

ABSTRACTDrawing on a strengths-based mentoring model, this study explores the extent to which Appreciative Advising (AA) phases and features were manifested in a teacher trainer’s reflection on his implementation of AA in his feedback practice during an intensive one-month pre-service TESOL course. The data includes the trainer’s weekly reflective diary and transcripts of a semi-structured interview. Using a mixed-methods data analysis, the data were first analysed quantitatively for keywords using a corpus-based approach. Then, using thematic analysis, the data were examined qualitatively for AA phases and features. The quantitative findings show imbalances in the trainer’s implementation of AA. However, the qualitative findings indicate the trainer was positive about incorporating AA in his feedback practice. Acknowledging the potential difficulties, we argue that implementing AA into a pre-service teacher training course benefits both trainers and trainees to develop their strengths and build a resilient training program. This study contributes to the pre-service teacher training feedback practice by forgrounding the significance of cultivating a positive mindset that promotes trainers and trainees’ professional development over time for a win-win situation where AA approach is beneficial for both.

Teaching For Justice: Introducing Translanguaging in an Undergraduate TESOL Course

This study investigates how introducing translanguaging as a way to affirm language and culture impacted students’ understandings of learning and teaching in a TESOL certificate course offered at a university in the northeast of the United States. As researchers, teachers, and students committed to justice, we explored the impact of introducing translanguaging in a course that was originally designed as a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) course through collaborative, qualitative approaches of thematic analysis and macro- and micro-level analyses of power based on our unique individual experiences in the classroom. We found across our analysis that introducing translanguaging provided opportunities to shift assumptions and that, overall, students demonstrated critical sociocultural understandings of language that are foundational in teaching for justice. Ultimately, while we recognize the need for more explicit discussion about the purpose and pedagogy of translanguaging, the shifts towards teaching and embracing multilingual and multicultural realities through translanguaging which the study identified can contribute to the field of language education by demonstrating how teachers might open up possibilities in teaching for justice.

Metadiscourse and Identity Construction in Teaching Philosophy Statements: A Critical Case Study of Two MATESOL Students

Drawing on Hyland's (2005) metadiscourse framework, the researchers investigated how two English as a second or foreign language instructors constructed their identity in a teaching philosophy statement written for a master's in TESOL (MATESOL) course. Analyses revealed that both instructors employed almost all metadiscourse resources in the model to construct the identity of a competent graduate student and that of a knowledgeable and reflective teacher. In addition, their identity construction reinforced the writing conventions associated with the imagined community (Norton, 2013) of graduate student teachers while also affording them the opportunity to exercise some degree of teacher agency. Findings offer insights into how linguistic resources can be mobilized to construct a strong and unique teaching philosophy statement.

A Catalyst for Change: Service‐Learning for TESOL Graduate Students

This study explores ways in which TESOL graduate students were engaged in service‐learning at a public university in the midwestern United States. It describes the experiences of both domestic and international students with service‐learning that was incorporated into a hybrid graduate‐level TESOL course. Data were collected throughout the semester through weekly discussions on Blackboard, three reflective journals in which students wrote about their experiences on‐site, and in‐person discussions in the classroom, as well as through a focus group interview at the end of the semester. Findings reveal how service‐learning contributed to developing students’ intercultural awareness, civic responsibility, and teacher identity. Students also appreciated the opportunity to share their experience with the class and receive support from their peers. Overall, service‐learning gave students hands‐on experience that allowed them to translate theory into practice, thus making their learning authentic, creative, and meaningful. The findings raise important questions for TESOL educators and researchers to address as we reimagine and reconceptualize the curriculum for promoting diversity and social justice. The article concludes with suggestions for implementing service‐learning in a TESOL program.

Quality Matters: Content Literacy for English Language Learners

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) require students to read and comprehend complex content texts. They specify three dimensions of a text that simultaneously contribute to text complexity across the curriculum: qualitative dimensions, quantitative dimensions, and reader and task considerations. In literacy instruction, recognizing and analyzing the qualitative dimension of a content text is the most challenging for teachers (Frey, Fisher, & Lapp, 2012). This article describes a TESOL course project to target the qualitative analysis of complex texts assigned to in‐service content teachers pursuing a TESOL endorsement. Building on the definition of text complexity specified in the CCSS and drawing on the text analysis tools of systemic functional linguistics, the project requires the teachers to conduct a comparative qualitative analysis of two quantitatively comparable content texts to enhance their own understanding of text complexity in order to design effective teaching strategies to support content literacy development of English language learners. An analysis of two literary texts is presented to illustrate the breadth and depth of this project, with suggestions of teaching strategies.

Transformation and Stasis: Two Case Studies of Critical Teacher Education in TESOL

Considering the prominent position of critical work in TESOL and Applied Linguistics, there is a need for detailed investigations of apprentice practitioners' formative interactions with critical ideas in graduate programs and how these affect their willingness to cultivate their own critical pedagogical repertories. Adopting a case study design, this study examines 1) the factors that may have structured two novices' situated understandings of criticality as it was constructed in a graduate TESOL course and 2) how extensively they came to incorporate critical principles into their burgeoning pedagogical philosophies. Results indicate that divergent outcomes of critical teacher education were attributable to disparities in student habitus and opportunities for praxis development more so than experiences of enduring oppression. In order to counteract the marginalization of novices who struggle to adopt vocal and disputative critical personas, the study recommends the use of simulated teaching activities and written reflective tasks in various textual genres.

Integration of Task-Based Approaches in a TESOL Course

Under task-based language teaching (TBLT), language learners engage in purposeful, problem-oriented, and outcome-driven tasks that are comparable to real-world activities. This qualitative case study discusses the integration of a task-based approach into a TESOL course in a language teacher education program in Taiwan with regard to 39 participants’ attitude and learning in a northern city in Taiwan. The major data in this study included participants’ projects, class observations and class PowerPoint slides, and class evaluations. The study has the following findings. First, a total of 20 tasks were designed in order to help participants be familiar with TESOL issues. Second, participants held positive attitudes toward the integration of tasks into this TESOL course because they felt that they learned TESOL issues. They regarded Catherine as a role model in modeling the task-based approach into the class and she clearly explained how each task should be carried out and completed. Moreover, she scaffolded participants while they had problems. Finally, participants learned TESOL issues, different types of task, and research methods through completing the tasks, group discussion, classmates’ sharing, reading texts and references, and the instructor’s scaffolding.

Preparing Advocates: Service‐Learning in TESOL for Future Mainstream Educators

Service‐learning pedagogy can provide future educators a meaningful introduction to the field of TESOL and the English language learners (ELLs) it serves. This article briefly describes one approach to integrating service‐learning into an Introduction to TESOL course and presents research findings on TESOL students' learning outcomes, which included a better understanding of TESOL practices and a sense of advocacy for ELLs.

Presenting a united front: assessed reflective writing on a group experience

Assessed reflective writing is increasingly common in UK higher education. Students writing in this mode are typically required to narrate their experiences, evaluate their performance, investigate associated emotions, and comment on what has been learned. In this paper I focus on assessed reflective writing by students on an MA TESOL course who are required to write individual reflections on a process of working in a group to produce teaching materials. This task places particular demands on the writer. Like other students writing reflectively, they need to manage complex self presentation: to appear honest about relative successes and failures, to show evidence of appropriate reflection, and to indicate desirable learning. Because they are reflecting on a group experience, they also need to differentiate themselves from their work group in their account, and to reflect critically on others as well as on themselves. My focus in this paper is on the ways they manage these additional demands. I first examine the relative frequency with which writers refer to themselves and their work group, and then examine the content of self-referential and group-referential statements. Finally, I examine semantic patterns in the data and draw conclusions regarding possible reasons behind student writers’ choices about how to represent themselves and others.

Personal practical knowledge and identity in lesson planning conferences on a pre-service TESOL course

This article reports a study of the discourse of shared lesson planning sessions in the early stages of a pre-service TESOL certificate course. The study focuses on ‘lesson planning conferences’ (LPCs), in which a teacher educator and a group of student teachers worked on one student teacher’s lesson plan. It describes the discursive practices through which lesson plans emerged and through which student teachers constructed personal practical knowledge and identity as they negotiated the process of becoming members of the community of practice of English language teachers. The study revealed the LPCs to be a dynamic and recursive process in which problems of instruction emerged and solutions were suggested. While the teacher educators produced more meanings related to personal practical knowledge, the student teachers had a substantial share in the discursive resources with which meanings were exchanged. The analysis also shows how participants engaged with the practice of planning for teaching through such discursive acts as producing directives, proposing actions, evaluating, articulating teaching principles and imagining classroom events.The article argues that — in spite of some limitations — shared lesson planning is a promising strategy for the construction of novice language teachers’ personal practical knowledge and professional identities.

Authentic video and classroom observation

This paper suggests a creative solution to the problem of finding good-quality recordings of classroom events for an MA TESOL course on classroom observation. It begins with an anecdote from the author's own experience and then goes on to explain his rejection of home-made recordings and methodology demonstration series as sources of classroom data to be analyzed in class. As an alternative to these sources, it offers short excerpts from television programs and films where classroom scenes take place. Three instruments—Flanders' Interaction Analysis, Fanselow's FOCUS, and Frölich et al.'s COLT—are applied to three excerpts from television and film.