Teacher´s beliefs and conceptions of teaching English are an important area for the professional development path of primary teachers. Giving primary teachers opportunities to grow professionally and support their learning belongs to the wide variety of practices that can be implemented to foster early education today. To do that, the Colombian government has implemented different initiatives; however, through the exploration of literature, primary public-school teachers need more professional development opportunities to fulfill the objectives stated by the Ministry of National Education. This is why, the present study aims to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of elementary rural teachers involved in the incorporation of English in their teaching practices. A total of ten teachers were selected to be involved during a semester that lasts the implementation of the project. Through qualitative research under the exploratory paradigm, we identified frustration, motivation, and lack of expertise as the main perceptions that interfere the teaching practices of the selected population. Findings suggest that professional development strategies should be incorporated as an eventual strategy to foster the teaching practices in the classroom.
{"title":"Elementary Teacher’s Conceptions towards the Incorporation of English in Their Teaching Practices","authors":"Marian Lissett Olaya-Mesa, Willian Alexander Mora","doi":"10.19183/how.30.2.671","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/how.30.2.671","url":null,"abstract":"Teacher´s beliefs and conceptions of teaching English are an important area for the professional development path of primary teachers. Giving primary teachers opportunities to grow professionally and support their learning belongs to the wide variety of practices that can be implemented to foster early education today. To do that, the Colombian government has implemented different initiatives; however, through the exploration of literature, primary public-school teachers need more professional development opportunities to fulfill the objectives stated by the Ministry of National Education. This is why, the present study aims to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of elementary rural teachers involved in the incorporation of English in their teaching practices. A total of ten teachers were selected to be involved during a semester that lasts the implementation of the project. Through qualitative research under the exploratory paradigm, we identified frustration, motivation, and lack of expertise as the main perceptions that interfere the teaching practices of the selected population. Findings suggest that professional development strategies should be incorporated as an eventual strategy to foster the teaching practices in the classroom.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42601874","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}
Pub Date : 2023-09-05DOI: 10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.737
Angela Patricia Velásquez-Hoyos, Lizeth Andrea Martínez-Burgos
This paper reports the results of a narrative inquiry study on exchange programs, intercultural awareness, and professional development in eight former participants of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant -FLTA- program. This study used written narratives to collect data from eight participants of the FLTA scholarship program who belonged to the cohort 2017-2018. The results of this study showed that after being a FLTA, participants improved their English language skills; they became more aware of their teaching practices by implementing and adapting different teaching methodologies, they experienced cross-cultural interaction, and understood better cultural differences which really fostered their personal and professional development as English language teachers in their home countries.
{"title":"Participants’ Narratives of the Fulbright FLTA Program on their Intercultural and Professional Experience","authors":"Angela Patricia Velásquez-Hoyos, Lizeth Andrea Martínez-Burgos","doi":"10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.737","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.737","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reports the results of a narrative inquiry study on exchange programs, intercultural awareness, and professional development in eight former participants of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant -FLTA- program. This study used written narratives to collect data from eight participants of the FLTA scholarship program who belonged to the cohort 2017-2018. The results of this study showed that after being a FLTA, participants improved their English language skills; they became more aware of their teaching practices by implementing and adapting different teaching methodologies, they experienced cross-cultural interaction, and understood better cultural differences which really fostered their personal and professional development as English language teachers in their home countries.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135254692","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}
Pub Date : 2023-09-05DOI: 10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.744
Karen Tatiana Camargo-Ruiz, Daniel Aponte-Moniquirá
Gender studies have become relevant for English language teaching and initial teacher education. This study uses a narrative inquiry approach to inspect two language teachers’ life stories in an initial teacher education program. We document how their femininities and identities are embodied through their language pedagogy since it is a praxis that allows resistance and resurgence against paradigms that limit their identities. Findings reveal that femininities provide a broader spectrum of individual gender realities and constructions. Teachers’ femininities are embodied in teachers’ practices. This is why some traits of these embodiments can be related to hegemonic aspects of gender, without this necessarily meaning that there is no resistance in the pedagogical field. On the contrary, it shows the capacity to redefine these attitudes that, from the pedagogical perspective, resist the hegemony of teacher gender identity.
{"title":"Embodied Femininities in Language Pedagogy. A Study of Two Language Teachers’ Experiences","authors":"Karen Tatiana Camargo-Ruiz, Daniel Aponte-Moniquirá","doi":"10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.744","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.744","url":null,"abstract":"Gender studies have become relevant for English language teaching and initial teacher education. This study uses a narrative inquiry approach to inspect two language teachers’ life stories in an initial teacher education program. We document how their femininities and identities are embodied through their language pedagogy since it is a praxis that allows resistance and resurgence against paradigms that limit their identities. Findings reveal that femininities provide a broader spectrum of individual gender realities and constructions. Teachers’ femininities are embodied in teachers’ practices. This is why some traits of these embodiments can be related to hegemonic aspects of gender, without this necessarily meaning that there is no resistance in the pedagogical field. On the contrary, it shows the capacity to redefine these attitudes that, from the pedagogical perspective, resist the hegemony of teacher gender identity.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45264729","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}
Pub Date : 2023-09-05DOI: 10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.750
Frank Giraldo, Daniela Escalante-Villa, Daniela Isaza-Palacio
Language assessment literacy has gained recent attention in the field of language testing, particularly on teachers’ profile. However, the literature on LAL is limited regarding teachers’ perceptions of language assessment courses. In this paper, we used a case study method to characterize the perceptions of eighteen English language teachers into three components of an online assessment course: contents, activities, and impact on their professional development. For data collection, we used a questionnaire and a focus group interview. Findings indicate that the teachers perceived course contents as organized, relevant, and useful; they also considered test analysis and collaborative tasks as valuable. Regarding professional development, the teachers explained that test-analysis tasks made them aware of their mistakes in assessment. Finally, the teachers suggested that the course raised their awareness of what language assessment is and does. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for LAL courses elsewhere.
{"title":"English Teachers' Perceptions of a Language Assessment Literacy Course","authors":"Frank Giraldo, Daniela Escalante-Villa, Daniela Isaza-Palacio","doi":"10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.750","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/10.19183/how.30.2.750","url":null,"abstract":"Language assessment literacy has gained recent attention in the field of language testing, particularly on teachers’ profile. However, the literature on LAL is limited regarding teachers’ perceptions of language assessment courses. In this paper, we used a case study method to characterize the perceptions of eighteen English language teachers into three components of an online assessment course: contents, activities, and impact on their professional development. For data collection, we used a questionnaire and a focus group interview. Findings indicate that the teachers perceived course contents as organized, relevant, and useful; they also considered test analysis and collaborative tasks as valuable. Regarding professional development, the teachers explained that test-analysis tasks made them aware of their mistakes in assessment. Finally, the teachers suggested that the course raised their awareness of what language assessment is and does. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for LAL courses elsewhere.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48171963","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}
Marta Isabel Barrientos-Moncada, Natalia Andrea Carvajal-Castaño, Hernán Santiago Aristizabal-Cardona
EFL teachers’ professional development in Colombia has been characterized by top-down policies that neglect the regions in terms of contextualized professional development programs and resources. This article is an effort to make EFL teachers’ needs in the Eastern region of Antioquia, Colombia, visible for academic institutions and local authorities to propose coherent professional development programs. This report is based on a section of the findings of a larger study called “Diagnosis of the needs about plurilingualism in the regions of Antioquia”. Findings show that EFL teachers in the Eastern region claim for ongoing and contextualized professional development programs, differentiated for primary and secondary-school teachers, and focused on instructional material design and adaptation according to the resources available in the local communities. Conclusions from this study outline implications for educational institutions to support teachers in pursuing their professional development within their contexts, methodological limitations for researchers, and possibilities for further research for stakeholders in the territory.
{"title":"EFL Teacher Professional Development Needs: Voices from the Periphery","authors":"Marta Isabel Barrientos-Moncada, Natalia Andrea Carvajal-Castaño, Hernán Santiago Aristizabal-Cardona","doi":"10.19183/how.30.2.762","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/how.30.2.762","url":null,"abstract":"EFL teachers’ professional development in Colombia has been characterized by top-down policies that neglect the regions in terms of contextualized professional development programs and resources. This article is an effort to make EFL teachers’ needs in the Eastern region of Antioquia, Colombia, visible for academic institutions and local authorities to propose coherent professional development programs. This report is based on a section of the findings of a larger study called “Diagnosis of the needs about plurilingualism in the regions of Antioquia”. Findings show that EFL teachers in the Eastern region claim for ongoing and contextualized professional development programs, differentiated for primary and secondary-school teachers, and focused on instructional material design and adaptation according to the resources available in the local communities. Conclusions from this study outline implications for educational institutions to support teachers in pursuing their professional development within their contexts, methodological limitations for researchers, and possibilities for further research for stakeholders in the territory.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135254693","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}
{"title":"Editorial","authors":"Edgar Lucero-Babativa","doi":"10.19183/how.30.2.800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/how.30.2.800","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45022009","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}
Emotions are ubiquitous and permeate all aspects of human life, including language learning. However, little attention has been paid to emotions in the ELT curriculum, let alone in the design and implementation of conversations clubs. In this article, we share the qualitative results of a mixed-method study on students’ emotions while participating in a conversation club at a public university in Colombia. Findings show an ample range of students’ emotions, factors commonly associated with these emotions such as academic load and personal life, and the connections of emotions with students’ language learning processes. This study identifies how emotions can facilitate or interfere with language learning, highlights the importance of emotions in the development of oral skills in the context of conversation clubs, and contributes to the understanding of the language learner from a holistic perspective in the field of Applied Linguistics.
{"title":"Portraying Students’ Emotions in English Conversation Clubs at a Colombian University","authors":"Anthony Ceron, Norbella Miranda","doi":"10.19183/how.30.2.722","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/how.30.2.722","url":null,"abstract":"Emotions are ubiquitous and permeate all aspects of human life, including language learning. However, little attention has been paid to emotions in the ELT curriculum, let alone in the design and implementation of conversations clubs. In this article, we share the qualitative results of a mixed-method study on students’ emotions while participating in a conversation club at a public university in Colombia. Findings show an ample range of students’ emotions, factors commonly associated with these emotions such as academic load and personal life, and the connections of emotions with students’ language learning processes. This study identifies how emotions can facilitate or interfere with language learning, highlights the importance of emotions in the development of oral skills in the context of conversation clubs, and contributes to the understanding of the language learner from a holistic perspective in the field of Applied Linguistics.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46209600","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}
Karen Tatiana Camargo-Ruiz, Daniel Aponte-Moniquirá
Gender studies have become relevant for English language teaching and initial teacher education. This study uses a narrative inquiry approach to inspect two language teachers’ life stories in an initial teacher education program. We document how their femininities and identities are embodied through their language pedagogy since it is a praxis that allows resistance and resurgence against paradigms that limit their identities. Findings reveal that femininities provide a broader spectrum of individual gender realities and constructions. Teachers’ femininities are embodied in teachers’ practices. This is why some traits of these embodiments can be related to hegemonic aspects of gender, without this necessarily meaning that there is no resistance in the pedagogical field. On the contrary, it shows the capacity to redefine these attitudes that, from the pedagogical perspective, resist the hegemony of teacher gender identity.
{"title":"Embodied Femininities in Language Pedagogy. A Study of Two Language Teachers’ Experiences","authors":"Karen Tatiana Camargo-Ruiz, Daniel Aponte-Moniquirá","doi":"10.19183/how.30.2.744","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/how.30.2.744","url":null,"abstract":"Gender studies have become relevant for English language teaching and initial teacher education. This study uses a narrative inquiry approach to inspect two language teachers’ life stories in an initial teacher education program. We document how their femininities and identities are embodied through their language pedagogy since it is a praxis that allows resistance and resurgence against paradigms that limit their identities. Findings reveal that femininities provide a broader spectrum of individual gender realities and constructions. Teachers’ femininities are embodied in teachers’ practices. This is why some traits of these embodiments can be related to hegemonic aspects of gender, without this necessarily meaning that there is no resistance in the pedagogical field. On the contrary, it shows the capacity to redefine these attitudes that, from the pedagogical perspective, resist the hegemony of teacher gender identity.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135319684","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}
At the end of high school in Chile, it is expected that students achieve a B1 English language proficiency level. In the present article, we measure the level of readability of the texts used in the new EFL Chilean textbook and compare it with the readability level of the texts used in the Cambridge B1 preliminary exam to check its appropriacy. The results reveal that, even though the classic readability indices show a similar level of difficulty in the texts, the index RDL2, which is specific for second language learning, shows that there is a statistically significant difference. This finding indicates that the texts in the Chilean EFL textbook are more difficult to read than the ones students are supposed to read. Implications at a local and international level are then shared.
{"title":"The Issue of Readability in the Chilean EFL Textbook","authors":"Benjamin Carcamo","doi":"10.19183/how.30.2.739","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/how.30.2.739","url":null,"abstract":"At the end of high school in Chile, it is expected that students achieve a B1 English language proficiency level. In the present article, we measure the level of readability of the texts used in the new EFL Chilean textbook and compare it with the readability level of the texts used in the Cambridge B1 preliminary exam to check its appropriacy. The results reveal that, even though the classic readability indices show a similar level of difficulty in the texts, the index RDL2, which is specific for second language learning, shows that there is a statistically significant difference. This finding indicates that the texts in the Chilean EFL textbook are more difficult to read than the ones students are supposed to read. Implications at a local and international level are then shared.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48032486","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}
Angela Patricia Velásquez-Hoyos, Lizeth Andrea Martínez-Burgos
This paper reports the results of a narrative inquiry study on exchange programs, intercultural awareness, and professional development in eight former participants of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant -FLTA- program. This study used written narratives to collect data from eight participants of the FLTA scholarship program who belonged to the cohort 2017-2018. The results of this study showed that after being a FLTA, participants improved their English language skills; they became more aware of their teaching practices by implementing and adapting different teaching methodologies, they experienced cross-cultural interaction, and understood better cultural differences which really fostered their personal and professional development as English language teachers in their home countries.
{"title":"Participants’ Narratives of the Fulbright FLTA Program on their Intercultural and Professional Experience","authors":"Angela Patricia Velásquez-Hoyos, Lizeth Andrea Martínez-Burgos","doi":"10.19183/how.30.2.737","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.19183/how.30.2.737","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reports the results of a narrative inquiry study on exchange programs, intercultural awareness, and professional development in eight former participants of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant -FLTA- program. This study used written narratives to collect data from eight participants of the FLTA scholarship program who belonged to the cohort 2017-2018. The results of this study showed that after being a FLTA, participants improved their English language skills; they became more aware of their teaching practices by implementing and adapting different teaching methodologies, they experienced cross-cultural interaction, and understood better cultural differences which really fostered their personal and professional development as English language teachers in their home countries.","PeriodicalId":43460,"journal":{"name":"How-A Colombian Journal for Teachers of English","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2023-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45532443","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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