Teaching evaluation mechanisms are often a process of isolated reflection on teaching. In some cases, university lecturers also do not have support systems for their teaching development. Feelings of isolation and the absence of support systems, when taken together, hinder positive teaching-related changes in university instructors’ future classrooms. In this paper, the authors promote the idea of forming a critical friendship (CF) through the successful building of trust. This qualitative case study reports on a CF between an associate professor (as an observed lecturer) and a doctoral student (as a critical friend) at a state university in the USA. More specifically, the paper explores teaching lessons that both participants can gain from the CF. Data were garnered from video recordings of teaching practices from a course on methods for teaching English language learners, observation notes, and semi-structured interviews. This study reports on the CF’s success based on explicit principles around trust, reflection, peer observation, and interaction between the observed lecturer and the critical friend. Limitations of the current study and directions for further research are discussed.
{"title":"An Associate Professor and A Doctoral Student Learn From Each Other: Critical Friendship","authors":"Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali, Tom Salsbury","doi":"10.56040/msaa1914","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/msaa1914","url":null,"abstract":"Teaching evaluation mechanisms are often a process of isolated reflection on teaching. In some cases, university lecturers also do not have support systems for their teaching development. Feelings of isolation and the absence of support systems, when taken together, hinder positive teaching-related changes in university instructors’ future classrooms. In this paper, the authors promote the idea of forming a critical friendship (CF) through the successful building of trust. This qualitative case study reports on a CF between an associate professor (as an observed lecturer) and a doctoral student (as a critical friend) at a state university in the USA. More specifically, the paper explores teaching lessons that both participants can gain from the CF. Data were garnered from video recordings of teaching practices from a course on methods for teaching English language learners, observation notes, and semi-structured interviews. This study reports on the CF’s success based on explicit principles around trust, reflection, peer observation, and interaction between the observed lecturer and the critical friend. Limitations of the current study and directions for further research are discussed.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81906840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
With the linguistic globalization of English, code-switching has become a common phenomenon in communication. In the classroom, however, there are polarising perceptions regarding alternating between languages. At one end, several researchers believe that language learning should be clear of the interference of first language so as to expose students to as much target language input as possible, while those who favor code-switching contend that bilingual teaching is natural and more effective for teachers and students. The present study investigated the use of code-switching by a Thai university language lecturer in an English foundation course to see how code-switching was carried out in practice and what effects it had on English as a foreign language teaching and learning from the perspectives of the teacher and thirty-one students. Through classroom observations, a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, it was revealed that code-switching was perceived positively and used for two main purposes. First, to accommodate language learning by making the target language more comprehensible and, second, to lower students’ affective filter by establishing rapport and supportive learning environment. It thus appears that the alternate use of students’ first language and the target language can be beneficial in the language classrooms to help promote language acquisition and cordial classroom interaction.
{"title":"A study of the use of code-switching: Functions and perceptions in a Thai tertiary EFL classroom","authors":"Rungsima Jeanjaroonsri","doi":"10.56040/e-flt.191.643","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/e-flt.191.643","url":null,"abstract":"With the linguistic globalization of English, code-switching has become a common phenomenon in communication. In the classroom, however, there are polarising perceptions regarding alternating between languages. At one end, several researchers believe that language learning should be clear of the interference of first language so as to expose students to as much target language input as possible, while those who favor code-switching contend that bilingual teaching is natural and more effective for teachers and students. The present study investigated the use of code-switching by a Thai university language lecturer in an English foundation course to see how code-switching was carried out in practice and what effects it had on English as a foreign language teaching and learning from the perspectives of the teacher and thirty-one students. Through classroom observations, a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, it was revealed that code-switching was perceived positively and used for two main purposes. First, to accommodate language learning by making the target language more comprehensible and, second, to lower students’ affective filter by establishing rapport and supportive learning environment. It thus appears that the alternate use of students’ first language and the target language can be beneficial in the language classrooms to help promote language acquisition and cordial classroom interaction.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73980521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cette étude expérimentale se propose de diagnostiquer l’effet de la langue arabe sur la prononciation des étu-diants arabophones apprenant le français. Elle comporte les résultats de mesures acoustiques portant sur la durée acoustique des consonnes graphiquement doubles dans la prononciation de locutrices natives du fran-çais et d’étudiantes jordaniennes. L’étude inclut également des tests perceptifs effectués auprès d’auditeurs arabophones non apprenants. L’étude acoustique démontrent que les consonnes cibles prononcées par les apprenantes sont significativement plus longues que celles produites par les locutrices françaises. Les tests de perception soulignent que la plupart des mots cibles ont été réalisés avec des consonnes géminées par les ap-prenantes. Les apprenantes prononcent les consonnes, qui doivent habituellement se prononcer comme si elles étaient simples, de manière géminée. La recherche trouve sa conclusion dans des propositions pratiques ayant pour objet d’aider les apprenants à surmonter l’interférence de la gémination de l’arabe vers le français.
{"title":"L'interférence de la gémination dans la prononciation des étudiants arabophones apprenant le français [The interference of gemination in the pronunciation of Arabic-speaking students learning French]","authors":"Ahmad Nawafleh","doi":"10.56040/efbd1915","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/efbd1915","url":null,"abstract":"Cette étude expérimentale se propose de diagnostiquer l’effet de la langue arabe sur la prononciation des étu-diants arabophones apprenant le français. Elle comporte les résultats de mesures acoustiques portant sur la durée acoustique des consonnes graphiquement doubles dans la prononciation de locutrices natives du fran-çais et d’étudiantes jordaniennes. L’étude inclut également des tests perceptifs effectués auprès d’auditeurs arabophones non apprenants. L’étude acoustique démontrent que les consonnes cibles prononcées par les apprenantes sont significativement plus longues que celles produites par les locutrices françaises. Les tests de perception soulignent que la plupart des mots cibles ont été réalisés avec des consonnes géminées par les ap-prenantes. Les apprenantes prononcent les consonnes, qui doivent habituellement se prononcer comme si elles étaient simples, de manière géminée. La recherche trouve sa conclusion dans des propositions pratiques ayant pour objet d’aider les apprenants à surmonter l’interférence de la gémination de l’arabe vers le français.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88639464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This research aims to develop and evaluate a situation-based instructional model for an online course of Thai as a foreign language (TFL) and to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional model. There were two experiments (35 and 43 participants, respectively) to explore the impacts of I4PAT between non-Thai major and Thai major students. The experimental groups were taught with I4PAT model (introduction, phonemic training, present, practice, production, assessment, and technology) through an online Thai language instruction, whereas the control groups were taught with the paper-based Thai language instruction. For each experiment, we compare the effects of using I4PAT model through an online Thai language instruction and paper-based Thai language instruction. The results showed that 1) the efficiency of the I4PAT model was 93.84/99.70 for the first experiment and 94.07/97.95 for the second experiment which are higher than the criterion at 90/90, 2) learners’ achievement after taking the course of Thai language among first and second experiments was significantly improved, and 3) learners’ achievement after learning with I4PAT model through an online Thai language instruction among first and second experiments was significantly higher than learning with the paper-based Thai language instruction. The findings indicate the effectiveness of the I4PAT model for an online Thai language instruction. Moreover, the I4PAT model could be applied for the instruction of other languages, both in online and offline modes.
{"title":"Designing and developing a situation-based instructional model for an online Thai course for foreigners","authors":"Geerativudhipong Orrathip, Yi-Ming Gloria Kao, Phongpheng Vannapor, Suwanwongse Sirilak, Nopparatjamjomras Suchai, Soranasataporn Songsri","doi":"10.56040/okvs1913","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/okvs1913","url":null,"abstract":"This research aims to develop and evaluate a situation-based instructional model for an online course of Thai as a foreign language (TFL) and to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional model. There were two experiments (35 and 43 participants, respectively) to explore the impacts of I4PAT between non-Thai major and Thai major students. The experimental groups were taught with I4PAT model (introduction, phonemic training, present, practice, production, assessment, and technology) through an online Thai language instruction, whereas the control groups were taught with the paper-based Thai language instruction. For each experiment, we compare the effects of using I4PAT model through an online Thai language instruction and paper-based Thai language instruction. The results showed that 1) the efficiency of the I4PAT model was 93.84/99.70 for the first experiment and 94.07/97.95 for the second experiment which are higher than the criterion at 90/90, 2) learners’ achievement after taking the course of Thai language among first and second experiments was significantly improved, and 3) learners’ achievement after learning with I4PAT model through an online Thai language instruction among first and second experiments was significantly higher than learning with the paper-based Thai language instruction. The findings indicate the effectiveness of the I4PAT model for an online Thai language instruction. Moreover, the I4PAT model could be applied for the instruction of other languages, both in online and offline modes.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"171 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77493606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Although English language variation is an inevitable and a natural linguistic phenomenon, language attitudes research has suggested that varieties other than the mainstream native-speaker standards usually receive unfavorable social evaluations. This may reflect the existence of prejudices and discrimination against speakers of many Englishes. Global Englishes literature, however, offers a news pluralistic lens to examine English, providing key implications for language education. While practical proposals have recently been made for how this lens may be used in the context of English teaching, there is as yet only sporadic evidence of how English learners respond to efforts to transform attitudes. This study aimed to examine how a group of Thai learners of English responded to a 9-week global Englishes awareness raising program. Findings obtained through classroom observations, analysis of an online chatroom and interviews suggest that learners developed an increased awareness of the global role of English and experienced a critical reorientation of beliefs about English language variation, gaining enhanced tolerance. These findings point to the importance of teaching English beyond prescribed linguistic skills and helping English learners a pluralistic view of English through the analysis of critical issues related to the global spread of English.
{"title":"The impacts of awareness of global Englishes on learners’ attitudes toward language variation","authors":"Narathip Jindapitak, Adisa Teo, Kristof Savski","doi":"10.56040/jtse1912","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/jtse1912","url":null,"abstract":"Although English language variation is an inevitable and a natural linguistic phenomenon, language attitudes research has suggested that varieties other than the mainstream native-speaker standards usually receive unfavorable social evaluations. This may reflect the existence of prejudices and discrimination against speakers of many Englishes. Global Englishes literature, however, offers a news pluralistic lens to examine English, providing key implications for language education. While practical proposals have recently been made for how this lens may be used in the context of English teaching, there is as yet only sporadic evidence of how English learners respond to efforts to transform attitudes. This study aimed to examine how a group of Thai learners of English responded to a 9-week global Englishes awareness raising program. Findings obtained through classroom observations, analysis of an online chatroom and interviews suggest that learners developed an increased awareness of the global role of English and experienced a critical reorientation of beliefs about English language variation, gaining enhanced tolerance. These findings point to the importance of teaching English beyond prescribed linguistic skills and helping English learners a pluralistic view of English through the analysis of critical issues related to the global spread of English.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"100 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86652474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study reports on an investigation into students’ psychological changes during an eTandem program. The case study explored whether the use of eTandem: (1) reduced students’ Unwillingness To Speak English (UTSE), (2) reduced students’ Anxiety about Communicating with a Foreigner (ACF), and (3) allowed for an increase in the parameter known as Having Things to Communicate (HTC). In addition, a qualitative study was conducted to determine how participants felt and what they noticed through practicing eTandem. This research comprised a case study of two Japanese male undergraduate students at a national university in Japan and three Chinese students at Pennsylvania State University. Data were collected using a nine-item questionnaire on UTSE, a ten-item questionnaire on anxiety, and a six-item questionnaire on HTC. The questionnaires were administered to the two students before and after eight eTandem sessions. They recorded their experiences in reflection sheets. Results showed that UTSE and anxiety were greatly reduced. In addition, participants substantively improved their HTC on the post-questionnaire. These results suggest that repeated speaking practice via eTandem may help alleviate students’ UTSE and anxiety and may help enhance their HTC.
{"title":"Psychological changes following L2 e-tandem learning: A case study","authors":"Shoko Kobayashi","doi":"10.56040/skpc1821","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/skpc1821","url":null,"abstract":"This study reports on an investigation into students’ psychological changes during an eTandem program. The case study explored whether the use of eTandem: (1) reduced students’ Unwillingness To Speak English (UTSE), (2) reduced students’ Anxiety about Communicating with a Foreigner (ACF), and (3) allowed for an increase in the parameter known as Having Things to Communicate (HTC). In addition, a qualitative study was conducted to determine how participants felt and what they noticed through practicing eTandem. This research comprised a case study of two Japanese male undergraduate students at a national university in Japan and three Chinese students at Pennsylvania State University. Data were collected using a nine-item questionnaire on UTSE, a ten-item questionnaire on anxiety, and a six-item questionnaire on HTC. The questionnaires were administered to the two students before and after eight eTandem sessions. They recorded their experiences in reflection sheets. Results showed that UTSE and anxiety were greatly reduced. In addition, participants substantively improved their HTC on the post-questionnaire. These results suggest that repeated speaking practice via eTandem may help alleviate students’ UTSE and anxiety and may help enhance their HTC.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73036745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This cross-sectional study examines the impact of five learner-factor groups – intellectual, learning, social, environmental, and mental domains, on writing performance using confirmatory factor analysis and multiple-group structural equation modeling, and qualitative analysis of response scripts. Triangulated data was collected from the persuasive-writing task scores and the Likert-scale and interview-based questionnaire responses of 499 first-year Thai undergraduates from 11 faculties at a university in central Thailand. The results showed the global fits between the hypothesized model and the empirical data (Chi-Square = 330, df = 169, p-value < .001, CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.04). The intellectual appeared to be the most powerful factor affecting participant writing performance. The learning factors which impacted the writing performance of the Science and Technology group (β = -.24, t = -2.60) with the highest degree of significance was out-of-class activity (β = .81, t = 42.12, p ≤ .05). Intellectual factors were shown to affect female student writing performance (β = .62, t = 9.42) more so than males (β = .44, t = 6.14, p ≤ .05). Participants viewed instrumental motivation as affecting their writing performance (mean = 2.98, SD = .93, p = .04). Qualitative data from gender non-conforming participants’ responses also uncovered underlying factors: remote student-teacher relationships and unwillingness to communicate, impairing their English learning and writing performance. Insights gleaned from the responses of gender non-conforming participants have led to suggestions for further research regarding writing instruction.
本横断面研究采用验证性因素分析和多组结构方程模型，以及对反应脚本的定性分析，考察了五个学习者因素组(智力、学习、社会、环境和心理领域)对写作表现的影响。三角数据收集自泰国中部一所大学11个院系的499名泰国一年级本科生的说服力写作任务得分、李克特量表和访谈问卷。结果表明，假设模型与实证数据整体拟合良好(χ - square = 330, df = 169, p值< .001,CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.04)。知识分子似乎是影响参与者写作表现的最有力因素。影响科技组学生写作成绩的学习因素(β = -)。24, t = -2.60)，显著性程度最高的是课外活动(β = 0.81, t = 42.12, p≤0.05)。智力因素对女生写作成绩的影响(β = 0.62, t = 9.42)大于男生(β = 0.44, t = 6.14, p≤0.05)。参与者认为工具动机会影响他们的写作表现(均值= 2.98,SD = 0.93, p = 0.04)。来自性别不一致参与者的回答的定性数据也揭示了潜在的因素:远程师生关系和不愿意交流，损害了他们的英语学习和写作表现。从性别不一致参与者的反应中收集到的见解，为进一步研究写作指导提供了建议。
{"title":"Modeling the determinants of English writing performance: Directions to interdisciplinary writing instruction","authors":"Walaipun Puengpipattrakul","doi":"10.56040/wpmd1822","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/wpmd1822","url":null,"abstract":"This cross-sectional study examines the impact of five learner-factor groups – intellectual, learning, social, environmental, and mental domains, on writing performance using confirmatory factor analysis and multiple-group structural equation modeling, and qualitative analysis of response scripts. Triangulated data was collected from the persuasive-writing task scores and the Likert-scale and interview-based questionnaire responses of 499 first-year Thai undergraduates from 11 faculties at a university in central Thailand. The results showed the global fits between the hypothesized model and the empirical data (Chi-Square = 330, df = 169, p-value < .001, CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.04). The intellectual appeared to be the most powerful factor affecting participant writing performance. The learning factors which impacted the writing performance of the Science and Technology group (β = -.24, t = -2.60) with the highest degree of significance was out-of-class activity (β = .81, t = 42.12, p ≤ .05). Intellectual factors were shown to affect female student writing performance (β = .62, t = 9.42) more so than males (β = .44, t = 6.14, p ≤ .05). Participants viewed instrumental motivation as affecting their writing performance (mean = 2.98, SD = .93, p = .04). Qualitative data from gender non-conforming participants’ responses also uncovered underlying factors: remote student-teacher relationships and unwillingness to communicate, impairing their English learning and writing performance. Insights gleaned from the responses of gender non-conforming participants have led to suggestions for further research regarding writing instruction.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76576671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Without sufficient English-speaking skills, international students, including those from Indonesia, will face fundamental issues in their studies, especially in classroom discussions. A descriptive study was conducted to describe the issues faced by Indonesian students during classroom discussions in a mid-western US university. These issues were viewed from the perspective of internal factors such as linguistic knowledge, motivation, anxiety, and topic knowledge. Specifically, this study employed a convergent mixed-methods design. The 20 international students participating in this study were majoring in different disciplines and were selected using a purposive sampling technique. This study collected data using online questionnaires, consisting of 23 close-ended items, followed by semi-structured interviews with five willing participants. The quantitative data (online questionnaires) were put through a descriptive statistics analysis, while the qualitative data (semi-structured interviews) were studied using the content analysis technique. The findings showed that, in general, these Indonesian students had issues regarding correct grammar use and proper vocabulary choice during classroom discussions. They also experienced anxiety when participating in classroom discussions. Nevertheless, they did not have such issues in pronunciation, motivation, and topic knowledge. Based on the results mentioned above, possible implications for ESL/EFL are also discussed in this study.
{"title":"Speaking issues faced by Indonesian students during classroom discussions in the US","authors":"I. Kusuma","doi":"10.56040/siik1811","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/siik1811","url":null,"abstract":"Without sufficient English-speaking skills, international students, including those from Indonesia, will face fundamental issues in their studies, especially in classroom discussions. A descriptive study was conducted to describe the issues faced by Indonesian students during classroom discussions in a mid-western US university. These issues were viewed from the perspective of internal factors such as linguistic knowledge, motivation, anxiety, and topic knowledge. Specifically, this study employed a convergent mixed-methods design. The 20 international students participating in this study were majoring in different disciplines and were selected using a purposive sampling technique. This study collected data using online questionnaires, consisting of 23 close-ended items, followed by semi-structured interviews with five willing participants. The quantitative data (online questionnaires) were put through a descriptive statistics analysis, while the qualitative data (semi-structured interviews) were studied using the content analysis technique. The findings showed that, in general, these Indonesian students had issues regarding correct grammar use and proper vocabulary choice during classroom discussions. They also experienced anxiety when participating in classroom discussions. Nevertheless, they did not have such issues in pronunciation, motivation, and topic knowledge. Based on the results mentioned above, possible implications for ESL/EFL are also discussed in this study.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86179635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The emergence of English as a global lingua franca, coupled with the profound impact of globalisation and neoliberalism in language policy planning, has influenced the Vietnamese Government to embark on a national foreign language project, aiming to enhance the English capacity of school students. New English curricula and textbooks were developed, adhering to the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). This study is an attempt to explore teacher attitude and understanding of the new curriculum and its pedagogic underpinning. Data obtained from a teacher survey (n=347) and interviews (n=16) reveal doubts and negative attitude among teachers about the feasibility of the curriculum goal. The findings also indicate that teachers had an incomplete understanding of CLT, along with a range of local challenges to the successful enactment of the new communicative curriculum. Implications are proposed in light of these findings, including the need to adapt rather adopt CLT and the prioritisation of teacher professional development, among other structural changes.
{"title":"New curriculum, existing problems: Teacher perception of the English language curriculum renewal in Vietnam","authors":"T. Vu, Thi Hong Nhung Nguyen","doi":"10.56040/mcla1827","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/mcla1827","url":null,"abstract":"The emergence of English as a global lingua franca, coupled with the profound impact of globalisation and neoliberalism in language policy planning, has influenced the Vietnamese Government to embark on a national foreign language project, aiming to enhance the English capacity of school students. New English curricula and textbooks were developed, adhering to the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). This study is an attempt to explore teacher attitude and understanding of the new curriculum and its pedagogic underpinning. Data obtained from a teacher survey (n=347) and interviews (n=16) reveal doubts and negative attitude among teachers about the feasibility of the curriculum goal. The findings also indicate that teachers had an incomplete understanding of CLT, along with a range of local challenges to the successful enactment of the new communicative curriculum. Implications are proposed in light of these findings, including the need to adapt rather adopt CLT and the prioritisation of teacher professional development, among other structural changes.","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84692163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article reports on research conducted in Thailand to explore experienced EFL secondary school teachers’ understandings of learner autonomy (LA) and their classroom practice to promote autonomous language learning. Qualitative analysis of teacher interviews and class observation reveals that although the teachers showed good understandings of LA principles and supported LA development, they had difficulties putting their ideas into practice. This article examines the convergence and divergence between the teachers’ stated perceptions and their classroom practices. It also uncovers factors that can mediate teachers’ approaches to fostering LA. Future research directions and practical implications of the research are also discussed. 1 Introduction Learner autonomy (LA) is a concept that has garnered empirical and practical interest, particularly from researchers in the field of foreign language learning and teaching since the 1970’s (Palfreyman & Benson, 2018). Much effort has been put to promote LA development among language learners. Initially, LA was strongly associated with self-access learning, a mode of learning in which learners can decide for themselves what, when, where and how to learn. However, it was found that providing learners with self-access learning resources is not adequate to foster LA. In the 1980’s researchers started to conceptualize LA as learners’ capacity to take charge of their learning which can be developed through strategy instruction and metacognitive training (Benson, 2011). This shift in view emphasizes the important role of the teachers in helping their learners develop essential knowledge and strategic skills to learn autonomously. While there are many studies that look at LA development from learners’ perspectives, little research has empirically investigated how LA is operationalized and put to practice in classrooms by teachers. This study seeks to fill this research gap by exploring language teachers’ perceptions about LA, the extent to which they put their theoretical knowledge into action, and factors that may support or limit their innovative attempts to develop LA. Share
{"title":"Learner autonomy: Exploring teachers’ perceptions and classroom practices","authors":"Muthita Chinpakdee","doi":"10.56040/anig1926","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.56040/anig1926","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports on research conducted in Thailand to explore experienced EFL secondary school teachers’ understandings of learner autonomy (LA) and their classroom practice to promote autonomous language learning. Qualitative analysis of teacher interviews and class observation reveals that although the teachers showed good understandings of LA principles and supported LA development, they had difficulties putting their ideas into practice. This article examines the convergence and divergence between the teachers’ stated perceptions and their classroom practices. It also uncovers factors that can mediate teachers’ approaches to fostering LA. Future research directions and practical implications of the research are also discussed. 1 Introduction Learner autonomy (LA) is a concept that has garnered empirical and practical interest, particularly from researchers in the field of foreign language learning and teaching since the 1970’s (Palfreyman & Benson, 2018). Much effort has been put to promote LA development among language learners. Initially, LA was strongly associated with self-access learning, a mode of learning in which learners can decide for themselves what, when, where and how to learn. However, it was found that providing learners with self-access learning resources is not adequate to foster LA. In the 1980’s researchers started to conceptualize LA as learners’ capacity to take charge of their learning which can be developed through strategy instruction and metacognitive training (Benson, 2011). This shift in view emphasizes the important role of the teachers in helping their learners develop essential knowledge and strategic skills to learn autonomously. While there are many studies that look at LA development from learners’ perspectives, little research has empirically investigated how LA is operationalized and put to practice in classrooms by teachers. This study seeks to fill this research gap by exploring language teachers’ perceptions about LA, the extent to which they put their theoretical knowledge into action, and factors that may support or limit their innovative attempts to develop LA. Share","PeriodicalId":38893,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89047188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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