Suchergebnisse

Chapter 1: Introduction to the book -- Chapter 2: Sociocultural perspective of language teacher cognition and education -- Chapter 3: Interaction and teacher cognition -- Chapter 4: Teacher cognition about teaching and learning -- Chapter 5: Teacher cognition about interactive decision-making -- Chapter 6: Teacher cognition about technology integration -- Chapter 7: The impact of teacher education on teacher cognition -- Chapter 8: Teacher identity and cognition -- Chapter 9: Teacher cognition and education

Learning about language teacher cognition (LTC) is useful for understanding how language teachers act in the classroom. Employing an ecological framework, this study aimed to explore the factors influencing language teachers' LTCs at different levels. To this end, qualitative data using semi-structured interviews and observation were collected from 62 (30 males and 32 females) Iranian EFL teachers. The results indicated that, at microsystem level, factors such as teaching equipment and facilities, teachers' mood and feelings, their job satisfaction, and language proficiency influenced LTC. At mesosystem level, LTC was influenced by teachers' prior learning experience, the collaboration and collegiality among teachers working in the language institute, teachers' self-efficacy, and critical incidents that happened when teaching or learning. Additionally, the results indicated that exosystem level factors including teacher appraisal criteria, the teaching program and curriculum, and teacher immunity affected LTC. Moreover, LTC was subject to the influence of the government's attitudes about ELT and religious beliefs about self and interaction, and friendliness with students at macrosystem level. More importantly, it was found that the factors influencing LTC were interrelated and interconnected and in several cases, LTC was a product of joint effect of several factors at various ecosystem levels. Finally, findings in this study suggest that language teaching programs provide recent educational technology in the classroom, foster collaboration and collegiality among teachers, and clarify teacher appraisal criteria for teachers in order to help create positive language teaching beliefs.

Learning about language teacher cognition (LTC) is useful for understanding how language teachers act in the classroom. Employing an ecological framework, this study aimed to explore the factors influencing language teachers' LTCs at different levels. To this end, qualitative data using semi-structured interviews and observation were collected from 62 (30 males and 32 females) Iranian EFL teachers. The results indicated that, at microsystem level, factors such as teaching equipment and facilities, teachers' mood and feelings, their job satisfaction, and language proficiency influenced LTC. At mesosystem level, LTC was influenced by teachers' prior learning experience, the collaboration and collegiality among teachers working in the language institute, teachers' self-efficacy, and critical incidents that happened when teaching or learning. Additionally, the results indicated that exosystem level factors including teacher appraisal criteria, the teaching program and curriculum, and teacher immunity affected LTC. Moreover, LTC was subject to the influence of the government's attitudes about ELT and religious beliefs about self and interaction, and friendliness with students at macrosystem level. More importantly, it was found that the factors influencing LTC were interrelated and interconnected and in several cases, LTC was a product of joint effect of several factors at various ecosystem levels. Finally, findings in this study suggest that language teaching programs provide recent educational technology in the classroom, foster collaboration and collegiality among teachers, and clarify teacher appraisal criteria for teachers in order to help create positive language teaching beliefs.

Although second language (L2) teacher cognition has been a sustained area of research in the field of L2 teacher education for the last three decades, designing an appropriate methodology to investigate teacher cognition is still a key challenge due to the unobservable nature of cognition. Teacher cognition is defined as "what teachers know, believe, and think" (Borg, 2003, p. 81). This article seeks to enable researchers who are interested in exploring L2 teacher cognition to design qualitative multiple case study research and to use constructivist grounded theory to data analysis to build theoretical models that capture L2 teachers' cognitions. I discuss the rationale for the proposed design and outline the processes of data collection, three stages of data analysis, and the processes of constructivist grounded theory conceptualization. I provide examples and draw on my own experience of investigating and mapping out some of the intricate connections between the cognitions and the classroom practices of twelve English as a foreign language (EFL) writing teachers, on the one hand, and consider how their cognitions and pedagogical practices interplay with the ecological contexts where they teach, on the other hand. I highlight the flexibility of the proposed design to enable researchers to build models that effectively capture language teacher cognition and explain their pedagogical practices. In doing so, this article also provides a valuable contribution to the discussion of the research methods which have been used to examine L2 teacher cognition.

Literacy is an important foundation skill which is central to success in any learning area. The existence of gender differences in literacy is therefore of major concern and has spurred a large amount of research. In spite of the extant literature regarding boys' language literacy underachievement, the topic has not yet become outdated. Gender gaps still persist with varying inconclusive beliefs and conclusions. This article tackles one of the many general causes of gender gap namely the school practices, with specific reference to teachers. The purpose of this study is to discover teachers' cognition regarding second language literacy performance of boys and girls. Nine English language teachers with varied career experiences from four primary schools in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia were interviewed. Four major themes have emerged regarding Malaysian teachers' constructions of gender gaps in L2 literacy, and from the findings, the researchers put forward the conception of L2 literacy gendered differences at the level of Malaysian primary schools through the lenses of English teachers which consists of four components: manifestation; admission; motives; and teacher sentiments. By understanding these components on how male and female students respond differently to activities performed in language classes, teachers can improve their engagement with learners from various backgrounds.

Examining EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers' beliefs and cognition has become an essential area of research as teachers are seen as active decision makers. This study addresses teachers' beliefs as specific to the strategies they employ when providing corrective feedback to students' writing. Drawing on Ellis's typology of written corrective feedback and Borg's teacher cognition theory, this survey study investigated university EFL lecturers' self-reported strategy use in the provision of feedback to students' written compositions. A total of 254 respondents completed this survey from universities in Thailand, China, and Vietnam. The findings showed that the teachers provided different types of strategies, namely, high-demand (e.g., students' response to feedback required), low-demand (e.g., correcting all errors), and no-demand feedback in relation to their students' proficiency levels. Their choices of high-demand feedback strategies seemed to be associated with their pre- and in-service professional training experiences as well as contextual factors including local cultural influence and limited resources; whereas their uses of no-demand and low-demand feedback strategies seemed to be associated with their prior language learning experiences and classroom teaching practice. This study also revealed an inconsistency between teachers' cognition about provision of feedback and their reported feedback strategy use. Pedagogical implications and directions for future research were also proposed.

Abstract
Trainees in teacher training programmes experience a variety of courses focusing on helping them to master the basic skills as future language teachers. The most important issue in the entire training is the appropriate balance between the input they receive from the trainer and the hands-on experience in which they learn through experience. One of the best hands-on activities during teacher training is indisputably teaching practice, i.e. real experience of trainees in the school context. Teaching practice offers to trainees first experience with teaching English lessons with holding responsibility for planning, carrying out the lessons as well as learning from this experience, maintaining a good rapport with students and many other aspects. Since trainees work in the external setting without the presence of their Methodology course trainers, it is often a custom to ask trainees to keep a portfolio with lesson plans or material they used during teaching as well as some reflections on the first teaching experience, so that the trainers could create a picture of how their trainees succeeded "out there". Such a portfolio serves as a useful tool not only for the trainee since the portfolio offers a record of how they managed to carry out specific duty at a specific time; portfolio of this type can provide the trainer with a plastic picture of how trainee managed to apply what they had learned in their Methodology courses. There are many elements which can be included in the teaching practice portfolio such as lesson plans, reflections, various case studies, textbook evaluations, sample teaching aids prepared by the trainee, etc. However, the biggest benefit that portfolio provides the trainee with is the reflection itself – thinking about how successfully something has been mastered and thinking about how things could be done better. EPOSTL (European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages) where trainees focus on self-evaluation of their own teaching skills is one of the tools that can help to focus the trainee on specific skill the teacher needs to master. This article tries to answer the question whether trainees are aware of the beneficial effects of such reflection, whether they perceive a tool like the EPOSTL as something that can help them to develop or they consider it rather a duty to be carried out as a part of training. Based on the experience with a group of trainees who used EPOSTL during their teaching practice this case study analyses possible strengths and weaknesses of including such a complex material as EPOSTL in pre-service teacher training.

A holistic project-based learning approach can be used to support the development of teamwork, critical thinking, communication and research skills in undergraduate engineers in international contexts where English is a lingua franca. However, in many contexts, this approach might remain an under-exploited option. Our qualitative case study focused on one community of practice within the communication department of an engineering university in the Middle East that appears to have embraced project-based learning. Drawing on cultural-historical activity theory, we concentrated on gaining a deeper understanding of how this community of practice has developed and been sustained. From a socially-situated language teacher cognition research perspective, we analyzed experiences, beliefs and practices of communication department faculty regarding project-based learning. Our rich, descriptive account may be of interest to academics interested in encouraging project-based learning elsewhere.

Teacher cognition and teacher action are two interrelated concepts of teaching and thus ought to be studied together in-depth to understand the nature of teaching and its effect on educational achievement. Examining the relationship between language teachers' cognitions and their actions has the potential to inform and guide current and future instructional practices in language teaching settings. From this point forth, this correlational study aims to answer in what way language teachers' language learning cognitions may predict their language teaching practices. The data were collected from 606 instructors teaching English in various higher education institutions in Turkey by means of a cross-sectional inventory and then analyzed primarily through canonical correlation analysis. During the data analysis process, multivariate normality; linearity (among variables and linear composites); homoscedasticity; and multicollinearity were also evaluated. The general results indicated that the participants having competence-oriented approaches and executive learner preferences would exhibit adherence to traditional (conservative) pedagogy, but divergence from communicative practices in instructional planning and error correction. Similarly, the participants disfavoring legislative learners would tend to diverge from communicative practices in instructional planning and error correction; on the contrary they would reflect a tendency towards traditional (conservative) pedagogy.

'Teacher' is among the most influential variables in educational achievements, and 'actions' of a teacher are powerful indicators of this influence. Since the actions are assumed to be the reflections of certain cognitions, 'teacher cognition becomes a significant variable to study in educational research. In this sense, this quantitative study aims to investigate EFL instructors' language learning cognitions regarding linguistic aptitude, priorities in language learning, and good language learners as well as to identify factors influencing those cognitions. The participants consisted of 606 EFL instructors teaching in 15 different higher education institutions in Ankara, Turkey. The data were collected through a cross-sectional inventory and analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive results indicated that the participants tended to adopt an interactionist perspective emphasizing the significance of the environment around individuals learning a language; a performance-oriented approach focusing on real-life functions of language skills and areas; and a slight orientation to legislative learners who can create their own rules and decide on their own priorities. The inferential analyses revealed that the participants' cognitions on certain aspects differed in relation to age, teaching experience, and academic background. The findings obtained from this study offer implications for teachers as well as other stakeholders in the contexts of both pre-service and in-service teacher education.

This study is a case study investigating two EFL teachers' beliefs and practices regarding teacher written corrective feedback (WCF) on their students' writing in a governmental senior high school in Indonesia, using questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and teachers' think-aloud protocols. The results show that both teachers' actual WCF practices used four types of WCF, which are direct corrective feedback, indirect CF, metalinguistic CF, and unfocused (comprehensive) CF, despite the way they deliver WCF is different. They provided WCF on all five aspects (grammar, vocabulary, content, mechanics, and organization), however, their WCF's distribution was unequal and they emphasized on different aspects. Several teachers' beliefs align/correspond with their actual practices, while the others result misalign. The teachers' beliefs on WCF differ from each other depending on several factors related to the teachers themselves (e.g. learning and teaching experiences), their workload, time constraints, and students' proficiency level which might contribute to the (mis)alignment of their beliefs and actual practices. Therefore, teachers' beliefs might not always be reflected on their actual practices. This study implies that the teachers need to take professional training related to WCF and they are suggested to cooperate with students to achieve the goals of teacher written corrective feedback.

It is essential for Course Lecturers and Course Tutors to be aware of their students' cognition. It is noteworthy in the context of teaching and learning. Teacher recognition is critical to improving classroom teaching and learning and has been the core mandate of every educational institution worldwide. And it has become critical that various approaches and shifts be learned and incorporated into the educational system. This study used a purely qualitative approach and a Single Case Design. It also determined the cognition level of topics facilitated by a Course Lecturer or Course Tutor and topics learned in groups by students. It was carried out to ascertain the cognition of some university students enrolled in a semester course. The Teacher Noticing framework was used for this. A diagnostic test was used in the study to assess the cognitive level of the topics covered in the fifteen (15) undergraduate participants' courses. The "ACS Model" conceptual framework was contextualized or framed to notice students' understanding and cognition in three levels: "A" for accuracy, "C" for creativity, and "S" for stumbling. Within the time frame, eight related topics were covered. About 85% of the topics were taught with the help of the lecturer, and 15% were taught by the students in groups. The course lecturer also reiterated the few topics covered in groups. The findings indicated that university students (N=8) performed better than non-university students (N=8), with a percentage increase of 75.54% for topics covered by the course lecturer compared to 24.46% for topics covered by group projects. When comparing the topics covered with the instructor acting as the facilitator, topics 2 and 4 have higher means and lower standard deviations (mean = 2.8000, SD =.56061, and mean = 2.0667, SD =.88372, respectively). It is advised that the course lecturer and mathematics instructors use diagnostic tests and quizzes to monitor students' understanding of the subjects covered. In order to support teacher professional development and student assessment, it is advised that Teacher Noticing be incorporated into classroom discussions.

Teachers' interpretations of the core aims of a school subject open or constrain what can be taught and learned in the subject in school. The global spread of English and its changing status in the world have impacted how English as a school subject is understood and what it is meant to achieve. This article explores teachers' understandings of the core aims of English as a school subject at the end of basic English education in Norway. Data consist of interviews with 12 teachers across six schools in a large school district. Qualitative analyses of the data identify four core aims: 1) acquiring content knowledge of English-speaking countries, 2), developing communicative language ability 3) developing linguistic knowledge of English and 4) developing the democratic citizen. While acquiring knowledge and learning to communicate in English are dominant in teacher understanding, linguistic knowledge of English and democratic participation are much less pronounced. These findings are discussed in light of future needs for English as a world language. Finally, suggestions are made for bridging the way English as a school subject is understood today and imagining an alternative for the future. ; Lærernes tolkning av de sentrale målene for et skolefag er avgjørende for hva som kan undervises og læres i faget i skolen. Utbredelsen av engelsk og språkets endrede status i verden påvirker hvordan faget forstås og hva som oppleves som hensikten med faget. Denne artikkelen utforsker læreres oppfatninger av de sentrale målene for engelskfaget i grunnskolen i Norge. Datamaterialet består av intervjuer med 12 lærere ved seks skoler i en stor kommune. Gjennom kvalitative analyser av intervjudata er fire sentrale mål identifisert: 1) Å tilegne seg kunnskap om engelsktalende land, 2) Å utvikle kommunikative ferdigheter, 3) Å utvikle engelsk språk- (lingvistisk-) kunnskap og 4) Å utvikle demokratiske medborgere. Mens kunnskapstilegnelse og utviklingen av kommunikative ferdigheter er dominerende i lærernes forståelse, er kunnskap om det engelske språksystemet og opplæring i demokratisk deltagelse mindre tydelig i materialet. Funnene blir diskutert med tanke på fremtidige behov for engelsk som verdensspråk. Til slutt presenteres et forslag for hvordan man kan bygge broer mellom forståelsen av engelsk som skolefag i dag og et mulig alternativ til dette i fremtiden. ; publishedVersion