A Review of Threshold Concepts Research in Language Teacher Education
Rosa Isela Sandoval-Cruz1, Yadira Navarro-Rangel2, Juan Manuel González-Calleros2
1 Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico / Universidad Politécnica de Bacalar, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 2 Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico
Abstract:
The goal of this paper is to introduce an emerging theoretical lens and strand of research in the field of language teacher education, that of threshold concepts (TCs). We do so by a) defining and explaining the construct of TCs itself, b) systematically reviewing the small body of literature that has explicitly used a TC lens to research language teacher education and c) discussing the implications of using this construct for research and practice. To find and select papers, we used a combination of inductive and deductive searches with Scopus, Google Scholar, and Research Gate. Papers not using TCs as an explicit theoretical lens were excluded. The review of the literature shows that 5 threshold concepts have been identified so far in language teacher education: interlanguage, effective teacher talk, real language use, fostering learner autonomy, and grammatical rank scale. All but one of the threshold concept studies in language teacher education have been conducted in the British Isles. The only non-British paper is by a Mexican author and was conducted and published in Mexico. Action research has been the preferred design. Other established methods for identifying threshold concepts have not been applied to language teacher education, which means that there is much potential for expanding and improving upon existing research. We suggest that threshold concepts hold potential to both investigate and enhance the disciplinary identity of language teachers.Keywords: threshold concepts, conceptual change, language teacher education, teacher cognition, teacher development
Download PDF“Belief-changing” Teacher Education: Mexican English Teachers’ Experiences
Nicholas Bremner
Bath Spa University, Bath, UK
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of teacher education that were more likely, or less likely, to influence teachers’ beliefs. The participants were five university English teachers in Mexico, and the study adopted a qualitative “life history” approach in order to elicit a wide range of experiences from each participant. The methods included a series of extended interviews and a timeline task. Five characteristics of teacher education that had an influence on teachers’ beliefs were identified: length of course, opportunities for real practice, opportunities for constructivist teacher learning, opportunities for immersion in new practices, and opportunities for contextually appropriate reflection. Conversely, teacher education courses that did not influence teachers’ beliefs were overly short in duration, focused on theory and transmission of knowledge, lacked modelling of desired approaches, and were disconnected from real contexts. The findings of the study may inform the planning of future teacher education courses that aims to have an impact on teachers’ beliefs as well as on their practices.Keywords: teacher education, beliefs, teaching practices, second language instruction, teaching methods
Download PDF Supplementary file: BiodataAnalyzing Post-Reading Comprehension Questions and Task Types in Four Corners
Sasan Baleghizadeh & Hamidreza Zakervafaei
Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract:
This study investigated the post-reading comprehension questions and task types in the Four Corners series based on Freeman’s (2014) taxonomy, which was developed, specifically, for the L2 reading context covering a wider range of question types compared with previous taxonomies. While literature abounds with studies investigating the cognitive level of EFL materials, there is a scarcity of research on reading comprehension questions and tasks based on the above-mentioned taxonomy. To fill the niche, the study followed a descriptive content analysis procedure. The post-reading comprehension questions in each level were categorized and counted by the researchers and a second rater. The Kappa coefficient was 0.91. The results showed Content type was the most dominant in levels one, two and three. However, in level four, Language type outnumbered the other types. As revealed by the results, Explicit, Personal, Implicit, and Lexical types were the most common reading comprehension questions in levels one, two, three and four respectively. The results of the Kruskal Wallis test for independent samples demonstrated that there is a significant difference in Explicit, Implicit, Lexical, Reorganization types across levels. It was also revealed that among all reading comprehension questions in the whole series, the Personal Response category enjoyed the highest percentage of occurrence while no reading comprehension questions targeted Form. The descriptive result of the study could provide a sound guiding framework for EFL/ESL teachers who would like to develop their own reading comprehension questions and tasks. It could also help materials users evaluate the reading section of one of the popular EFL books in Iran, as in other parts of the world.Keywords: post-reading, comprehension questions, Freeman, taxonomy, Four Corners
Download PDF Supplementary file: Appendix Supplementary file: BiodataThe Effect of a Short-Term Professional Development on K-12 Korean English Teachers’ Self-efficacy to Implement Communicative Language Teaching: A Mixed-Methods Study
Yong Jik Lee1, Robert Davis2
1 Far East University, Eum Seong, South Korea, 2 Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea
Abstract:
Since the early 2000s, much emphasis has been placed on adopting the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method in the Korean K-12 context, however, such efforts have been largely unsuccessful. In order to shed light on some of the reasons for such failures, this study examined the impact of short-term professional development (PD) on primary and secondary Korean English teachers’ self-efficacy to implement the CLT method. The data consisted of an end-of-the-course survey distributed among teachers (n=131), in-depth individual interviews with teachers (n=10), and researchers’ classroom observations. The findings suggested that PD could help teachers feel more confident and prepare them to implement CLT. In addition, PD seemed to enhance teachers’ motivation to adapt CLT into their future English classrooms. The findings of this study confirmed previous global research regarding two major difficulties regarding implementing CLT: 1) grammar-based national college entrance exams, and 2) large class sizes of mixed proficiency levels. In conclusion, several suggestions on how to increase the effectiveness of the CLT method successfully through PD in Korea are provided.Keywords: communicative language teaching, professional development, English language teaching, teacher self-efficacy, EFL context
Download PDFDimensiones ética y técnica en la literacidad de evaluación de lenguas [Ethical and Technical Dimensions of Language Assessment Literacy]
Hugo A. Andrade Mayer
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Toluca, Estado de México, México
Abstract:
La literacidad en evaluación de lengua es el conjunto de competencias que permiten a un individuo entender, evaluar y diseñar instrumentos de evaluación de lengua (Pill y Harding, 2013). Se compone de conocimiento sobre la lengua, de habilidades técnicas de diseño de instrumentos de evaluación y de principios éticos (Davies, 2008). A las últimas dos se les ha denominado dimensiones técnica y ética de la literacidad en evaluación, respectivamente. En el ámbito educativo, los profesores de segunda lengua son quienes generalmente están a cargo de diseñar y aplicar instrumentos de evaluación. Para este estudio, se entrevistó a dos profesoras de lengua inglesa en nivel superior para conocer acerca de su literacidad en evaluación de lengua. Con base en un análisis de su discurso fue posible identificar sus prácticas, así como la manera en que se estructuran las dimensiones técnica y ética y la relación entre sus componentes. Como resultado, ha sido posible tener un acercamiento más humanista al trabajo del profesor de lengua como evaluador. El estudio se llevó a cabo desde la perspectiva del pensamiento complejo (Morin, 1990), considerando que la evaluación es un sistema integrado de varios componentes que interactúan entre sí, creando a su vez un nuevo sistema complejo. El estudio aporta a la documentación de la práctica profesional del profesor de lengua en el papel de evaluador, así como a establecer una base de análisis para la toma de decisiones en varios ámbitos, como el desarrollo del profesor de lengua, la identificación de necesidades de literacidad y los procesos de evaluación de lengua.Keywords: Literacidad en evaluación de segunda lengua, ética, validez, confiabilidad, complejidad
Download PDF Supplementary file: Biodata Supplementary file: AppendixEcocomposition Integration into ESP Course For Bachelors at a Technical University
Yuliana Lavrysh, Iryna Lytovchenko, & Valentyna Lukianenko
National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine
Abstract:
Engineers are among those who are increasingly aware of the necessity to transform our society from being consumer-oriented to being preserver-oriented. To support the transformation, scholars and educators worldwide highlight the importance of sustainability and sustainable education within higher education. This research draws on ecocomposition pedagogy as a component of sustainable education. Ecocomposition integrates ecological literacy, language issues and writing skills development that allows integrating it into English for Specific Purposes course. Focusing on the integration and implementation of an ecocomposition course into ESP classes for engineers in Ukraine, this paper highlights the importance and significance of the course that is both experiential and that introduces diverse perspectives. We created the short course on ecocomposition and conducted quantitative and qualitative studies to verify the efficiency of eco-composition for foreign language learning. Key pedagogical strategies, practical suggestions, and students’ responses are discussed in the article. The results revealed that ecocomposition might serve as a productive tool to analyze text discourse, to enrich students’ vocabulary with field-related terminology, to familiarize with composition types and registers, to enhance writing skills and to provide a personal developmental move toward sustainable lifestyle. However, some barriers exist among teachers and students because this approach is complicated, innovative, and requires certain training and comprehension. The paper provides guidance on designing and integrating an ecocomposition course into ESP course for engineers.Keywords: ecocomposition, sustainability, English for Specific Purposes, writing skills, interdisciplinary approach
Download PDF Supplementary file: BiodataTeachers’ Perception of Benefits and Drawbacks of Different Instructional Approaches on Their Learning
Hanan Khaled, Kara Mac Donald, Tarek Elgendy, Onsy Shenouda, & Aziza Ghanim
Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA, USA
Abstract:
With the goal to effectively produce a cadre of trained and ready foreign language (FL) teachers, the academic debate is not only focused on what content knowledge and skills the teacher needs, but also on how to best deliver teacher training in order to acquire such knowledge and skills (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). Hence, it is particularly important to evaluate the design and facilitation of teacher professional development (PD) courses to maximize learning and transfer of training. This action research study investigated the instructional approaches offered in a PD course in a FL institute and teachers’ perceptions of benefits and drawbacks of each approach on their learning. A mixed method approach (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009; Tsushima, 2017) was followed to obtain a holistic understanding of the issue. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. This included tracking the time spent on different instructional approaches over two iterations of the course in two different Middle-Eastern (ME) language schools and using a survey with open-ended questions to collect teachers’ input about the instructional approaches. Four course facilitators and thirteen teachers participated in the study. Data analysis indicated that mentoring played a significant role in participants’ learning. The mentoring sessions embedded within the workshop instructional hours and the one-on-one ad hoc out of class mentoring sessions, constituting 73% of the total instructional hours, were perceived as being instrumental to the participants’ learning experiences. One implication for teacher trainers is that they need to be aware of what specific personal and professional qualities they bring to mentoring teachers or what skills they do not yet possess. Teacher training courses and on-going reflective practice need to include such opportunities.Keywords: acilitation of faculty development, instructional approaches , embedding mentoring in workshops, personal and professional qualities, reflective practice
Download PDF Supplementary file: Appendix B Supplementary file: Appendix A Supplementary file: BiodataThe Interlanguage in Learners of English as a Foreign Language: An Error Analysis Approach
Ruth Carolina Betancourt González & Elizabeth Alvarado Martínez
Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico
Abstract:
In order to investigate the internal factors present in the interlanguage of learners of English as a foreign language, a qualitative research study was implemented to analyze the written productions of college students. The main objective of this case study was to identify the type of errors the students made and suggest the cognitive reasons that might have influenced them. The data were collected from a content exam applied to fourteen fourth-year students, and the syntactic errors were analyzed following the Error Analysis Approach. To classify errors is a complex task since the number of variables that influence the written production is considerable, and many times there is not a single cause of errors. However, the learners’ errors do reflect the different learning strategies they apply, and it is possible to give an approximate description of this process, as it is shown in the results obtained in this study.Keywords: internal factors, errors in English, interlanguage, learning strategies, error analysis
Download PDF Supplementary file: BiodataCeibal en Inglés: ELT through Videoconferencing in Uruguay
Darío Luis Banegas1, Claudia Brovetto2
1 University of Strathclyde, UK, 2 Plan Ceibal, Uruguay
Abstract:
In 2013, Ceibal en Inglés, a project through which English is taught in state schools through videoconferencing in Uruguay, was included in an international journal as an example of an innovative practice (Banegas, 2013). The article discussed the project rationale and described how lessons were planned and delivered to primary school learners through peer teaching. The project involved a remote EFL teacher and a classroom teacher with little knowledge of English. As a follow-up to that article, the aim of this paper is to explore and evaluate how such an innovative practice has continued its trajectory not only in primary but also in secondary education. Drawing on the authors’ experience, the literature on the project itself, and language learning and technology, the article offers a summary of Ceibal en Inglés and figures about its expansion. It also includes a discussion of the effects of Ceibal en Inglés on English language learning, learner and teacher motivation, teacher professional development, and the interplay between technology-mediated learning and face-to-face learning. The paper finishes with remarks on project sustainability, benefits, and challenges.Keywords: videoconferencing, remote teacher, communicative language teaching, technology-enhanced language learning, professional development
Download PDF Supplementary file: BiodataDifferent Proficiency, Same Class: Tackling Language Instruction in Heterogeneous ESP Courses in Vocational Schools
Bartosz Brzoza
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
Abstract:
Teaching English as a foreign language in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) context requires certain particular skills from teachers. The usual group comprises students with different proficiency levels, learning experiences, and diverse course expectations. Thus, ESP teachers need to achieve broad goals because they need to both develop students’ general language proficiency and teach highly specialized technical vocabulary. This article provides accounts of students’ concerns and expectations from ESP courses as captured in a small-scale survey. This explanation is followed by practical guidelines for teachers in this particularly demanding educational area. Lastly, this article discusses didactic implications based on classroom observations in Poland.Keywords: heterogeneous proficiency, vocational education, teaching ESP
Download PDF Supplementary file: BiodataSpecial Report: Publishing Across the Affiliate Lines: TESOL Journals in Conversation (A Report from TESOL International in Atlanta)
Lubie G. Alatriste1, Scott Roy Douglas2, JoAnn Miller3, Mary Clark4, Margi Wald5
1 NYS TESOL, 2 BCTEAL, 3 MEXTESOL, 4 MATESOL, 5 CATESOL
Abstract:
In this special report, we present TESOL International Association affiliate journals in different states and provinces. The goal of the initial panel was to “demystify” the publishing process and thus encourage broader audiences to consider submitting to our journals and newsletters. Each journal editor thus describes the overarching principles of their specific journal and the mentoring process. Download PDFVol. 44 No. 1, 2020
Published: February, 2020
ISSN: 2395-9908
MEXTESOL A.C.
MEXTESOL Journal, vol, 44, núm. 1, 2020, es una publicación cuadrimestral editada por la Asociación Mexicana de Maestros de Inglés, MEXTESOL, A.C., Versalles 15, Int. 301, Col. Juárez, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06600 Mexico, D.F., Mexico, Tel. (55) 55 66 87 49, mextesoljournal@gmail.com. Editor responsable: Jo Ann Miller Jabbusch. Reserva de Derechos al uso Exclusivo No. 04-2015-092112295900-203, ISSN: 2395-9908, ambos otorgados por el Instituto Nacional de Derecho del Autor. Responsable de la última actualización de este número: Asociación Mexicana de Maestros de Inglés, MEXTESOL, A.C. JoAnn Miller, Versalles 15, Int. 301, Col. Juárez, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06600 Mexico, D.F., Mexico. Fecha de última modificación: 31/08/2015. Las opiniones expresadas por los autores no necesariamente reflejan la postura del editor de la publicación. Se autoriza la reproducción total o parcial de los textos aquí publicados siempre y cuando se cite la fuente completa y la dirección electrónica de la publicación.
MEXTESOL Journal, vol, 44, no. 1, 2020, is a quarterly publication edited by Asociación Mexicana de Maestros de Inglés, MEXTESOL, A.C., Versalles 15, Int. 301, Col. Juárez, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06600 Mexico, D.F., Mexico, Tel. (55) 55 66 87 49, mextesoljournal@gmail.com. Editor-in-Chief: Jo Ann MIller Jabbusch. Exclusive rights are reserved (No. 04-2015-092112295900-203, ISSN: 2395-9908), both given by the Instituto Nacional de Derecho del Autor. JoAnn Miller, Asociación Mexicana de Maestros de Inglés, MEXTESOL, A.C., Versalles 15, Int. 301, Col. Juárez, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06600 Mexico, D.F., Mexico is responsible for the most recent publication. Date of last modification: 31/08/2015. The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of the publication. Total or partial reproduction of the texts published here is authorized if and only if the complete reference is cited including the URL of the publication.
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