Education Commons^™

Collaboration And Reconciliation In English Language Teaching? Personal Reflections On Critical Incidents, Michael Lessard-Clouston

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

Collaboration is largely assumed in English language teaching, while reconciliation is often a goal in this discipline. This article briefly introduces frameworks to help us think about collaboration and to understand reconciliation. Next it discusses three critical incidents in EFL teaching and ESL teacher education from personal experience in China, Indonesia, and the United States. Using the literature and frameworks outlined, the article reflects on cultural and other challenges, notes helps and hindrances to collaboration, and possible ways such issues were or might have been reconciled in the three incidents.

Learning Efl Online Through Blogger And Flipgrid In Higher Education: A Collaborative Project In Times Of Pandemic, Montserrat Iglesias

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

A methodological online approach for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in a higher education context is presented in this paper. The pedagogical experience is described and examined following a mixed-methods approach based on bibliometric analysis, content analysis, and categorization. The participants were a group of undergraduate students (n=17) at CETT Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy, from the University of Barcelona (Spain), who had to switch to virtual learning due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. They were required to work on a collaborative project arranged in four stages using a …

What’S Wrong With My Pronunciation? Pronunciation Difficulties Experienced And Strategies Employed By Pre-Service Foreign Language Teachers In Turkey, Vasfiye Geckin

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Foreign language teachers are expected to have mastery of the phonological system of the target language. Since they are often (mis)judged on the basis of their pronunciation, the perceived pronunciation difficulties and strategies of teacher candidates deserve an in-depth exploration prior to practicum. With the aims of identifying (i) the pronunciation problems preservice teachers experience, (ii) the strategies they use to overcome these difficulties and (iii) whether having an extra year of language studies before starting undergraduate courses contributes to their perceived beliefs about pronunciation skills, data from forty-two teacher candidates will be reported. The participants responded to a questionnaire …

Constructing Professional Identities: Native English-Speaking Teachers In South Korea, Natalie-Jane Howard

The Qualitative Report

Responding to globalisation, a ubiquitous obsession with English has pervaded South Korea and led to the employment of tens of thousands of expatriate English teachers. However, native-speaking English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers may be subject to marginalisation and acculturation difficulties as they navigate overseas employment contexts. Moreover, scholars question the legitimacy of their careers and challenge the bias for their native-speaker expertise. Against this contentious backdrop, this study explores how the experiences and beliefs of native-speaking EFL teachers both promote and hinder their professional identity constructions. Adopting a qualitative, interpretivist approach, interviews are mobilised to document the participants’ …

Teaching English To North Korean Refugees At Banseok School In South Korea: An Interview With Amanda Decesaro, Alzo David-West, Amanda Decesaro

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

This interview addresses teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young-adult North Korean refugees at Banseok School (Pansŏk Hakkyo) in Seoul. A Christian institution supported by Sarang Church (Sarang ŭi Kyohoe), the school offers education, mentorship, and volunteer services in preparation for university admission in South Korea and for the anticipated reunification of the two Koreas. Amanda DeCesaro discusses her volunteer conversation class and methods, student learning needs and social hierarchies, emotions in the language classroom, attitudes toward English, interactions with other learners, and how educators should knowledgeably and compassionately engage North Korean refugee students. The interview was conducted …

Is English A Force For Good Or Bad?, Kitty B. Purgason

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

A survey of university students in China and Kuwait asked for their opinions about the effects of English on various aspects of their life and world: personal character and morals, material well-being, spiritual or religious development, family ties, local social change, international peace or conflict, and international interpersonal harmony. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Both the literature review and specific comments by some respondents suggest positive effects of English that can be encouraged and negative ones that may be countered through language policy, curriculum and materials, or classroom teachers. I also offer suggestions for future research and classroom teachers.

Faith And Pedagogy: Five Voices From Japan, Paul Wicking

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

Despite a recent increase in research into the relationship between faith and practice in ELT, the ways in which actual Christian teachers make meaning of their faith through pedagogy remains largely unexplored. There is little empirical data about the ways in which witnessing and evangelism are (or are not) conducted through English classes. The present study is an analysis of interview data collected from five evangelical Christian teachers living and working in Japan. The participants vary considerably in age and teaching context, yet all share a strong religious faith and a desire to express it through their profession. Each participant …

Towards Student Involvement In Essay Assessment, Aynur Yürekli, Evrim Üstünlüoğlu

Essays in Education

In language teaching, assessment is one of the most formidable challenges for both the students and the teachers. Especially, when the assessment of productive skills which are subjective by their nature are concerned, the "challenge" could very well turn into a "nightmare" for both parties. In order to avoid this undesired possibility, the attitude of the grader and the students towards the evaluation rubric is as vital as the rubric itself.

This study describes the standardization process of the writing rubric for the assessment of essays, which is accepted both by the graders and the learners who are subject to …