TESOL Teacher Research Articles

Teacher language awareness in supervisory feedback cycles

This study investigates pre- and post-observation feedback provided to TESOL teacher candidates who are preparing to work in content-based instruction/content and language integrated learning contexts, extending the conceptualization of teacher language awareness (TLA) to candidate supervision. It examines the extent to which TLA is manifested by supervisors and teacher candidates within supervision cycles, and explores how supervisors’ focus on language may influence the pedagogical decisions of the teacher candidates. The results suggest that supervisors with high TLA provide feedback to candidates’ lessons differently to supervisors with lower language awareness. These findings have implications for the role supervisors play in TEFL/TESOL practica.

It’s Not Who You Are! It’s How You Teach! Critical Competencies Associated with Effective Teaching

Recently a dichotomy has developed in the field of TESOL between native English speaker teachers (NESTs) and non-native English speaker teachers (NNESTs) with some in each camp promoting one over the other, but this only separates rather than unifies our profession. In this article I suggest that it is not in anybody’s interests to continue with this dichotomy if we are to be recognized as a profession within the wider academic community and that we should be debating critical competencies related to effective teaching instead, regardless of if one is a NEST or NNEST. In this paper, I point out that it is not who you are in terms of your ethnicity, culture or race as a TESOL teacher, but what you know in terms of your effectiveness as a teacher regardless of your background.

Toward facilitative mentoring and catalytic interventions

In TESOL teacher mentoring, giving advice can be conceptualized as a continuum, ranging from directive to facilitative feedback. The goal, over time, is to lead toward the facilitative end of the continuum and specifically to catalytic interventions that encourage self-reflection and autonomous learning. This study begins by examining research on the mentor’s advice-giving role. Next, the experiences of seven mentors participating in a mentor training programme illustrate how mentors view and fulfil their role. Data from the seven mentors’ coursework is examined to identify the approaches and techniques that emerge during this process as they attempt to move toward catalytic interventions.

Tradition and Habitus in Tesol Teacher Education

AbstractThis paper explores different perspectives in the education of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in light of recent developments in Sociocultural Learning Theory. It advocates for a view of learning as participation in socially mediated activities, which has the potential of helping the field overcome the pervasiveness of the habitus that characterizes it. This habitus can be understood as those collective, yet individualized and internalized structures that help us define, interpret, and judge our lived experience. The paper argues that two main traditions (one practical and one theoretical) have polarized the field and rendered it difficult to modify. However, the emergent adoption of a Sociocultural Perspective by many teacher educators can prove to be a plausible alternative to the status quo that may help resolve some of the conundrums the profession is experiencing.

Introduction: Pre-service TESOL Teachers Speak Out About edTPA

Introduction: Pre-service TESOL Teachers Speak Out About edTPA

Modeling Collaboration for ESL Teacher Candidates

This article reports on a semester-long project where a TESOL professor and English Education professor modeled collaborative teaching and explicitly taught collaboration skills to a coscheduled teaching methods class consisting of TESOL and Secondary English teacher candidates. Data were collected in the form of pre- and postsemester surveys. In addition to the quantitative survey data, reflections from the candidates were analyzed as were focus group discussions from both groups. The data suggest that explicit instruction and modeling have a positive effect on knowledge and beliefs of preservice teachers relating to professional collaboration.

Norms and varieties of English and TESOL teacher agency

The growing recognition of the plurality of English underling the World Englishes (WE) paradigm has problematised the conventional second language acquisition (SLA) views of errors. If English use in emerging English-speaking contexts is to be judged by local norms, as argued by WE scholars, applying exocentric norms in these contexts can be inappropriate. On the other hand, despite the significant growth of WE, varieties of new Englishes have yet to develop widely acceptable endocentric norms. These developments have raised a critical question: How can TESOL teachers distinguish between errors in the SLA sense and varietal features in the WE sense? Framed around language management theory (LMT) and teacher agency, this paper investigates how a group of global TESOL practitioners in an Australian university evaluated usages of English as a second language, what criteria they used and what implications their judgments and decision-making processes have for TESOL pedagogy and WE research.

Reflecting on ESL teacher expertise: A case study

Abstract Some teachers have been regarded as experts only because of their years of experience in a classroom, but the number of years of teaching experience does not necessarily translate into expertise. Within the field of TESOL teacher expertise is still a very under-researched topic. This paper attempts to contribute to the literature on ESL teacher expertise by examining the experiences of three experienced ESL teachers as they reflected on their work over a 2-year period in a teacher reflection group with the aid of a facilitator (this author) as part of their professional development. The findings identify and discuss five main characteristics of teacher expertise in order of frequency: Knowledge of Learners and Learning, Engage in Critical Reflection, Access Past Experiences, Informed Lesson Planning, and Active Student Involvement.

The challenges of planning language objectives in content-based ESL instruction

The purpose of this research was to investigate the major patterns in content-based instruction (CBI) lesson plans among practicum teachers at the final stage of an MA TESOL program. One hundred and seven lesson plans were coded according to a typology developed to evaluate clarity and identify areas of potential difficulty in the design of content and language objectives by TESOL teacher candidates for use in PreK–12 ESL classrooms. Participants in our study tended to have more difficulty in designing language objectives than content objectives. There was also a tendency to write language objectives that focused heavily on the four language skills and on vocabulary, and considerably less often on grammatical structures, functions, or language learning strategies.

My Autobiographical-Poetic Rendition: An Inquiry into Humanizing our Teacher Scholarship

In this paper, I highlight four distinct but interconnected areas of my life history that I refer to as autobiographic poetic waves. These waves are layered with the complex underpinning of racial, linguistic, gendered, classed, and professional identity politics that continue to not only liberate but also subjugate me at times. These autobiographic poetic waves highlight my experiences as a hyphenated Korean-American woman living in the midst of discourses that continue to privilege dominant ideologies that contradict my lived experiences, yet permeate through every fiber of my being as a member of the academic community. Hence, I focus on two questions: In what ways, do I perceive and understand my lived experiences as a Korean-American, second language writer, English teacher, teacher-scholar, and Mama PhD? And, how can my understanding of these lived experiences further influence the work I do as a teacher-educator? Learning from and moved by the work of Hanauer (2012a, 2012b, 2013), my autobiographical-poetic rendition is an epistemological and ontological revolution that involves understanding my life history as four distinct but interconnected waves: (1) Immigration and Emergence of Hyphenated Identities; (2) Legitimization of the Hyphenated Identities in Higher Education; (3) Epistemological and Ontological Revolution; (4) Perception of Mama PhDs. These waves are interspersed with an extended version of the poem, Untitled, I wrote in 1984. I focus on the loss, divide, privileges, disenfranchisement, and identity that have permeated my life history since my family’s immigration. I conclude with implications for the field of TESOL teacher education.

A Sober Reflection on Present TESOL in China – From a TESOL Teacher's Perspective

First of all, this paper explores the existing problems in present CET (college English teaching) in China. The problems it focuses on are: lack of necessarily proper guidance on learning; lack of practically helpful teaching books; lack of correct teaching orientation and lack of efficiency. After analyzing the factors leading to the existing problems in CET, it concentrates on the resolutions to the issues. It goes like this: establishing the necessity of comprehending the nature of the English language; calls for another practical teaching innovation; de-administration in school-level institutions.

The ownership of Aboriginal English in Australia

ABSTRACTA widely‐observed postcolonial phenomenon is the indigenization of English by communities into which it was formerly involuntarily introduced. When this takes place, the community which has appropriated English to serve its own purposes regards the language as their own. The question of the ownership of English has been extensively discussed by applied linguists against the background of globalization and the need for TESOL teachers to agree on what they can legitimately claim to teach. Aboriginal English is non‐standard and has a long history in Australia of marginalization. This paper argues, on the basis of Australian and international evidence, that claims of ownership of a dialect of English entail questions of identity, authenticity, group membership and language rights. In particular, it investigates the bidialectal tension affecting Aboriginal Australians, involving ambivalence to Standard English, potential misinterpretation of the unqualified term ‘English’ and the cross‐cultural use of schemas in interpreting speakers of the other dialect. The paper concludes by addressing the question of under what conditions, in view of the assertion of ownership of English by Aboriginal English speakers, education may successfully equip them to operate in a world which requires Standard English.

Developing Multiple-Choice Discourse Completion Tasks as Pedagogical Materials in L2 Pragmaticserials in L2 Pragmatics

<p>This study reports the development of pragmatics teaching materials in the format of multiple-choice<br />discourse completion tasks (MDCTs) by two groups of American in-service TESOL teachers in the<br />United States. One advantage of using MDCTs as pedagogical materials in L2 pragmatics instruction<br />is that they incorporate positive (i.e., the key) and negative (i.e., the distractors) evidence, both of<br />which have been demonstrated to facilitate language learning in SLA research. The other advantage is<br />that they prepare students for multiple-choice standardized tests, which are very common in<br />test-oriented educational systems like Taiwan, China, Japan and Korea. In this study, we asked one<br />group of teachers to design MDCTs based on social appropriateness. Four months later, we asked the<br />other group of teachers to rate and comment on the content and form of the learner speech act data.<br />Each teacher was then required to construct a multiple-choice pragmatics task with a balance between<br />social appropriateness and grammatical accuracy. We close our paper by discussing the pragmatics<br />tasks created by these teachers and suggesting construction principles as a guide to teaching, learning<br />and assessing L2 pragmatic competence.</p>

The Influence of TESOL Teacher Assessment Literacy on the Ethicality of English Language Assessment and the Position of Kurdish TESOL teachers

In this paper, I start by demonstrating the importance of language assessmentespecially of English language. Then, in the second section,I attempt toconceptualize language testing and assessment by providing various definitions. Also in this section, there isa literature review of the major mainstream tenets of language assessment addedwith my critical views about their working, ethicality, validity and reliability. While the thirdsection is on CLT and allocated, firstly, for critical tenets of language testing and assessment particularlyofEnglish language, secondly, language assessment literacy, thirdly, ethicality of language assessment and fourthly the role of language assessment literacy on the language assessment ethicality; they are elucidated in different subsections. Also throughout this section, I explain CLTand its workingin the field, in what aspects and to what extent itprovidesethicality, reliability and validity with giving my critical views within CALxand critical pedagogy framework. Section four is for explaininghow appropriate and practicable to introduce criticalEnglish language testing and assessment to my professional context as a TESOL teacher in some English departments at the universities of Kurdistan Region/Iraq,making clear to what extent it is feasible and what are the educational challenges and obstacles to it.For explicating those issues, I refer to my recent experience as a TESOL teacherin my professional context.

Integrating Clinical Experiences in a TESOL Teacher Education Program: Curriculum Mapping as Process

Across all certification areas, teacher education is being challenged to better integrate clinical experiences with coursework. This article describes the process of curriculum mapping and its impact on the organization of clinical experiences in a master's TESOL program over a 1‐year redesign process. Although curriculum mapping has been employed in higher education, this has not yet been extended as a means to integrate clinical or field experiences in teacher education. Document analysis shows how curriculum mapping provided a structure for faculty to engage in developing well‐defined, developmental clinical activities as well as a means to foster greater coherence both horizontally and vertically in the TESOL curriculum. An additional affordance of the curriculum mapping process was the collaboration that occurred between TESOL full time faculty and part time clinical supervisors, as well as between TESOL and other teacher education program areas.

Desire in Translation: White Masculinity and TESOL

This article reports on a study of Western male English language teachers and considers the ways in which their identities were shaped in relation to discourses of masculinity and heterosexuality. The article first argues that masculinity and heterosexuality have remained unmarked categories in research on TESOL teacher identities. It then draws on interview data with 11 White Australian men and considers the discourses of gender and sexuality in their accounts of English language teaching in Japanese commercial eikaiwa gakkô (English language conversation schools). The analysis suggests that although some enjoy the privileges that attach to being a White, Western male, they also struggle to negotiate the eikaiwa gakkô as a contact zone where the professional and personal, the educational and commercial, the pedagogical and the sexual coexist. In this ambiguous space, discourses of White male embodiment, and of sexualised desire between teacher and student, are perceived to be in conflict with discourses of an acceptable masculine professional identity, and may limit the professional and pedagogical aspirations of the male teachers. The article concludes that it is timely for conversations about gender and sexuality as aspects of professional identity to include accounts of masculinity and heterosexuality as integral to professional practice in TESOL.

Criteria Affecting Pre-service TESOL Teachers’ Attitudes towards Using CD-ROM Dictionaries

Undoubtedly, CD-ROM dictionaries assist in removing the fear of inadequacy in language usage and ameliorating the panic of being-on-the-spot especially with the rapid development of information technology. This research was conducted to find out whether there is a relationship between pre-service TESOL teachers’ attitudes towards using CD-ROM dictionaries and certain criteria (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, functions and multimedia content). The theoretical framework for the study was drawn from TAM model. A modified questionnaire was utilised with employing a mixed-method approach using two sampling techniques (Purposive and Random) to pre-service TESOL teachers. The finding exposed a positive significant correlation between attitudes towards using CD-ROM dictionaries and criteria. A further finding exhibited that the CD-ROM dictionaries do assist learning the four main language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and the subsidiary skills (grammar, punctuation and pronunciation).

Empowering TESOL Teachers in Provincial Uruguay: The Power of Blended Learning

Empowering TESOL Teachers in Provincial Uruguay: The Power of Blended Learning

Assessing pre-service English language teachers’ learning using e-portfolios: Benefits, challenges and competencies gained

Assessment in learning is always of interest to practitioners, academics and researchers, and is always evolving with new implications. Alternative forms of assessment such as e-portfolios have gained recognition in documenting students' learning, as it is synchronous with both product and process. Vast amount of literature narrates the relative advantages of e-portfolios across disciplines, institutions, and applications. In Malaysia, such alternative assessment practices are less explored so far in teacher education. In this study, 55 pre-service TESOL teachers from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) are required to create and maintain a personal e-portfolio. The aim of the study is to ascertain the future teachers' practices with e-portfolios in their learning and to determine if these practices lead to teaching competencies. In addition, the study also aims to identify the benefits and challenges of using an e-portfolio as a tool for learning and self-assessment. Findings indicate that participants are appreciative of e-portfolios, as their performance and achievements are traced over time. It is also found that e-portfolios function as a monitoring tool, which helps the teachers recognize their learning and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Challenges are also noted, which include validity and reliability, interrupted Internet connection, negative attitudes participants, time constraints, workload and ethical issues. In terms of teacher competencies, it is found that six competencies emerge from the teachers' practices of e-portfolios - (1) developing understanding of an effective teacher's role; (2) developing teaching approaches/activities; (3) improving linguistic abilities; (4) comprehending content knowledge; (5) gaining ICT skills and; (6) the realization of the need to change mindsets.

Perceptions towards Distributed Leadership in School Improvement

In spite of the sizable growth in the number of empirical studies tackledthe distributed form of leadership overthe past decade, the bulk of this research isa case study. Relatively few published studies have investigated theimpact of distributed leadership on school improvement; therefore, the current paper attempts to investigateTESOL teachers’perceptions towards distributed leadership and school improvement. The theoretical frameworkfor this study is grounded on the multifactor transformational/transactional leadership model (Bass, 1985, 1990;Bass & Avolio, 2000). Two TESOL teachers from two different schools, in Pulau Penang, were interviewedregarding this phenomenon, which is still in its infancy stage. The study encourages a distributed leadershipperspectivethat assists in building the academic capacity of schools as a means of improvement. Besides, itargues that the distributed perspective proposes an important theoretical lens through which leadershippracticeswithin a school can be reconfigured and reconceptualised.The findingsshow that there are two differentapplied forms of leadership in the two schools. On the one hand, the first interviewee reveals her approvingperceptions towards the distributed form of leadership as she praises the principal’s characteristics, whilst thesecond interviewee, on the other hand, expresses her disapproving perceptions towards the control form ofleadership through criticising the current principal’s characteristics. A further finding exposes that theprevailingdistributed form of leadership does contribute to the school improvement. On the contrary, the currentcontrol form of leadership in the other school produces school’s deterioration.