IATEFL Conference Selections 2018

Conference Selections sponsored by Pilgrims

International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

IATEFL 2018 Brighton Conference Selections

Edited by Tania Pattison i

IATEFL 2018 Brighton Conference Selections

IATEFL 2018 Brighton Conference Selections 52nd International Conference Brighton 10–13 April 2018

Edited by Tania Pattison

Editorial Committee: Jennifer MacDonald, Amos Paran, Daniel Xerri

Published by IATEFL 2–3 The Foundry Seager Road Faversham Kent ME13 7FD UK Copyright for whole volume © IATEFL 2019 Copyright for individual reports/papers remains vested in the contributors, to whom applications for rights to reproduce should be made.

The views expressed in this book are of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of IATEFL except where explicitly stated as such.

First published 2019 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Education Tania Pattison (Ed.) IATEFL 2018 Brighton Conference Selections ISBN PRINTED: 978-1-912588-18-3

DIGITAL: 978-1-912588-17-6

For a complete list of IATEFL publications including Conference Selections from previous years, please write to the above address, or visit the IATEFL website at www.iatefl.org.

Cover photographs © 2018, Syke A. K. Copy-edited by Simon Murison-Bowie, Oxford.

Designed and typeset by Keith Rigley, Charlbury.

Printed in Britain by Hobbs the Printers Ltd., Totton, Hampshire.

Contents Editor’s introduction 10 1 Optimising learning

1.1 Plenary: What is SLA research good for, anyway? Lourdes Ortega 12 1.2 Use your brain! Exploiting evidence-based teaching strategies in ELT Patricia Harries and Carol Lethaby 21 1.3 Panicking, relaxing or learning? Exploring the Growth Zone model Tilly Harrison 23 1.4 Am I motivating enough? Julie Waddington 25 1.5 Advanced-level EFL students’ engagement in autonomous learning Fumiko Murase 28 1.6 Older English learners: when motivation alone is not enough Heloisa Duarte 30 1.7 Creating a personalised course programme William Rixon and Joanna Wakeling 32 1.8 Language learning disabilities in higher education: a multidisciplinary approach Joao Carlos Koch Junior 33

2 The big picture: models, methods and materials

2.1 Language is for expression before it is for communication Adrian Underhill, Piers Messum and Roslyn Young 36 2.2 Linguistic prejudice: understanding and applying concepts in the language classroom Isabelita Solano Mendes Peixoto and Aline Milagres Dyna 38 2.3 A usage-based model for speakers of Global Englishes Nathan Thomas 40 2.4 Forum on English as a lingua franca (ELF) Rudi Camerer, Gemma Williams, Analia Duarte and Judith Mader 42 2.5 Own-language use in the language classroom: why, when and how?

Graham Hall 46 2.6 Whatever happened to the third P? Paul Emmerson 48 2.7 Integrating life skills into English language programmes Ben Knight 50 2.8 Plenary: Sausage and the law : how textbooks get made Dorothy Zemach 51

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3 Lessons from the classroom

3.1 F is for fake: how students deal critically with post-truth Julietta Schoenmann and Linda Ruas 59 3.2 Dictogloss redux: rethinking a learning masterpiece in a technological age William Kerr 61 3.3 Multimodal EAP research projects: developing pragmatic competence and research skills Caroline Webb 63 3.4 L2 student perceptions of their academic lecture comprehension Jayn Kilbon 65 3.5 Tracking undergraduate Omani writers’ online writing revisions Zulaikha Al-Saadi 66 3.6 Improving lexical difficulty in academic writing using Text Inspector Alexander M. Lewko 68 3.7 EMI and facilitating vocabulary growth of proficient L2 users Piet Murre 70 3.8 Discourse layering: practical activities to teach lexical chunks Laura Laubacher 72

4 Working for global change

4.1 Plenary: Knowledge is power: access to education for marginalised women Brita Fernandez Schmidt 76 4.2 Exploring ELT as emancipatory practice Steve Brown 83 4.3 The role of ELT in promoting social justice Arifa Rahman 84 4.4 Making English work for the world’s most marginalised people Chris Sowton 86 4.5 Positive psychology in ELT for refugees Aleks Palanac 88 4.6 Sharing lives, sharing languages: peer education for language acquisition Emily Bryson 90 4.7 Remote theatre for children in challenging circumstances Rida Thabet and Nick Bilbrough 92 4.8 Peace education in the EFL classroom Eduardo Amos 93 4.9 Using stories and creative writing to teach global citizenship in the English class Cornée Ferreira 95

5 Culture in the classroom

5.1 Teaching ‘British culture’ after the Brexit vote Ian Lebeau 98 5.2 Bridging cultural divides through synchronous and asynchronous online teaching Sanaa Abdel Hady Makhlouf 100 5.3 Exploring cultural identities through technology Helene Appel and Maria Bahrenscheer Jensen 102 5.4 Classroom diversity: a teacher’s platform for conflict resolution Tarun Kumari Kharbamon 103

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5.5 Using literature featuring non-standard English in ELT: some reasons why Helen Ford 105 5.6 A multiliteracies approach to teaching Shakespeare: an excursion to London Conny Loder 107 5.7 Shakespeare in the multilingual classroom Lisa Peter and Annette Deschner 109 5.8 Incorporating diversity in materials and/or the classroom Ana Carolina Costa Lopes 110

6 Working with young learners

6.1 Using metaphor to elicit young children’s views on learning English Gail Ellis and Nayr Ibrahim 113 6.2 Generating a gender-free Growth Mindset in young learner EFL classrooms Sophie Handy 115 6.3 Inclusive activities for super-active young learners Božica Šaric-Cvjetković 117 6.4 Motivational video lessons for SEN students Julia Koifman 119 6.5 Picture books: meaningful language teaching and learning Susanne Jacobsen and Bente Melgaard 120 6.6 Picture books: a tool in primary teacher education in the Netherlands Tatia Gruenbaum 122 6.7 English use and identity shift among immigrant students in Iceland Samúel Lefever 124 6.8 Towards purposeful education: best practices in science CLIL classrooms Jonathan Kilpelä and Raul Albuquerque Paraná 126 6.9 CLIL: the same doubts unresolved and more Anthony Bruton 128 6.10 Changing the mindset: sustainable reform in Venezuelan state education Wendy Arnold and Mark Gregson 130

7 English for work

7.1 A survey of workplace English: some implications for classroom teaching Hans Platzer and Désirée Verdonk 133 7.2 Exploring EFL postgraduate students’ learning needs on English-medium business programmes Awad Alhassan 135 7.3 The Disney strategy in the business English context Marjorie Rosenberg 137 7.4 Ease, equality and speaking in ‘Rounds’ positively shapes group dynamics Michelle Hunter 139 7.5 Bridging the gap: creating a non-specific Life Sciences ESP course Caroline Hyde-Simon 141 7.6 Motivating students of Visual Computing: designing a mobile app Birte W. Horn 142 7.7 Adapting the CEFR to the needs of ESP Cosima Wittmann 144

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8 Teaching with technology

8.1 We need pedagogy, not just cool tools Sophia Mavridi 147 8.2 English for the underserved: closing the digital divide Michael Carrier 149 8.3 The Hornby Scholars panel presentation: Can new technology sustainably improve quality in state language education?

Convenor: Martin Lamb with the A. S. Hornby Scholars at IATEFL 2018 151 8.4 The Facebook effect: the use of social media in e-learning platforms Christina Nicole Giannikas 154 8.5 Writing about the world in a digital world Benthe Fogh Jensen 156 8.6 Mobile apps and pronunciation training: a self-directed learning approach Tran Le Nghi Tran 159 8.7 Going live: teaching online via videoconferencing Nicky Hockly 161 8.8 Enabling learners to take centre stage in an online classroom Bindi Clements 162

9 Issues in assessment

9.1 Plenary: Living to tell the tale: a history of language testing Barry O’Sullivan 165 9.2 Cognitive validity in contemporary language assessment: implementing the sociocognitive framework Tom Garside 174 9.3 Developing illustrative speaking performances Kathrin Eberharter and Carol Spöttl 176 9.4 Impact of teachers’ classroom language assessment literacy on students’ performance Santosh Mahapatra 178 9.5 Forum on the CEFR Tim Goodier and Evangelia Xirofotou 180

10 From reflection to research: CPD for teachers

10.1 Teacher development over time Tessa Woodward, Kathleen Graves and Donald Freeman 184 10.2 Practicing core reflection: bringing out the best in EFL teachers Niki Christodoulou 186 10.3 Language advisors’ self-perception: exploring a new role through narratives Maria Giovanna Tassinari 188 10.4 Teacher agency: empowering teachers through self-directed observations Ana García-Stone 190 10.5 Creating a functional structured mentoring programme: a case study Noha Khafagi 191 10.6 CPD through whiteboard sharing for novice teachers Daniel Baines 194 10.7 Developing teachers’ conceptions of research Daniel Xerri 195 10.8 Research in language teaching: asking the right questions Nicola Perry 197

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10.9 Measure and treasure: assessing teachers’ needs and evaluating CPD initiatives Rubens Heredia 198

11 Issues in ELT management

11.1 A non-NEST by any other name Sebastian Lesniewski 201 11.2 ‘Native’ and ‘non-native’ English teachers: contrasting opinions Ross Thorburn 203 11.3 Improving the mental health of English language teachers Phil Longwell 205 11.4 The long and winding road of pedagogical management: Project-Based Learning Louise Emma Potter 207 11.5 Sustainable professional development: a leadership perspective Maria Muniz and Magdalena De Stefani 209 11.6 Leadership for sustainable teachers’ development and improved pupils’ learning Dalia Elhawary 211 11.7 Professional development for English language teachers: a competency-based approach Christine Irvine-Niakaris and Jenny Zimianitou 213 11.8 Dilemmas and solutions in a standards-based teacher appraisal system Isabela Villas Boas 215

12 Moving into teacher training

12.1 ‘No-one told me that!’ Top tips for new trainers Beth Davies and Nicholas Northall 218 12.2 Accommodating the changing needs of multilingual initial teacher training groups Karin Krummenacher 220 12.3 I can see clearly now: rethinking teacher training observation tasks Alastair Douglas 222 12.4 Ensuring development during CELTA lesson feedback Olga Connolly 224 12.5 Empowerment and challenges of CLIL as perceived by pre-service teachers Anita Lämmerer 226 12.6 No drama? Two theatrical strategies for initial teacher training David Jay 228 12.7 Professional development for teacher trainers: a neglected area?

Teti Dragas 230 12.8 Curriculum change in language teacher education: what does it take?

Loreto Aliaga-Salas 232 12.9 Recharging methodological batteries: a Peruvian project aimed at teacher trainers Maria Esther Linares and Ralph Grayson 233 Index of authors 237 Index of topics 239

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Editor’s introduction With its seaside location, colourful local culture and stunning nearby scenery, Brighton is always a popular conference destination. It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that with over 3,000 delegates, the 52nd Annual International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition was the largest yet. For our 2018 Conference, IATEFL returned to the Brighton Centre, with additional sessions held in the Hilton Brighton Metropole Hotel. Delegates were treated to four days (five, if we include the preconference events) of talks, workshops, plenary sessions, posters and SIG events. As always, a busy exhibition allowed delegates to browse through new materials and to explore new options for their classes.

For many of us, IATEFL conferences are a key event in our calendars; there is no comparable way to connect with fellow teachers, researchers, administrators, materials writers and other professionals from around the globe, and to learn so much about our profession in just a few days. Whether delegates attended the numerous events on offer in person, or whether they participated remotely through Brighton Online, again generously sponsored by the British Council, the conference was an event not to be missed.

A glance at the contents of this issue of Conference Selections gives some insight into the variety of sessions on offer. To give just a few examples, Heloisa Duarte [1.6] discussed the needs of older learners; Ian Lebeau [5.1] wondered how, in the postBrexit era, we can talk about ‘British culture’; Marjorie Rosenberg [7.3] explored the use of the ‘Disney strategy’ in teaching business English; and Bindi Clements [8.8] gave valuable tips for teaching online. These are just a few of the fascinating papers included in this volume. Big questions were asked, too. Anthony Bruton [6.9] questioned the value of CLIL, while Graham Hall [2.5] asked whether the L1 should be used in the classroom, presenting arguments on both sides.

Also included in this volume are reports of four very different, but equally excellent, plenary sessions. Lourdes Ortega [1.1] asked, ‘What is SLA research good for, anyway?’ and answered that question with insights from research into motivation, error correction and learner age. Dorothy Zemach [2.8] opened the eyes of many delegates with her frank explanation of how textbooks are produced. Brita Fernandez Schmidt’s powerful talk [4.1] on the resilience of women in war-torn countries was unforgettable. And Barry O’Sullivan [9.1] provided a comprehensive and entertaining look at the history of language testing.

Perhaps most striking to me, however, as Editor of Conference Selections, was the number of papers that looked at the role of the teacher as agent of social justice.

Steve Brown [4.2], for example, explored ELT as ‘emancipatory practice’, while Arifa Rahman [4.3] looked at the role of ELT in promoting social justice and Chris Sowton [4.4] discussed the teaching of English for the world’s most marginalised people. Delegates who attended Rida Thabet and Nick Bilbrough’s talk [4.7] will

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remember their live-streaming of a drama production by schoolchildren in Gaza. The dedication of these teachers and others is awe-inspiring, and their papers are valuable contributions to this volume.

When not in sessions, delegates enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones in the Networking Garden, sponsored by the British Council. They were also able to view the work of Artist in Residence Emma Louise Pratt, browse the Jobs Market or simply enjoy a walk along the sea front. Evening events included the ever-popular Pecha Kucha and IATEFL International Quiz; other evening offerings included a Brighton Trivia night, a ‘Meet the SIGs’ networking event, and events featuring storytelling, music and comedy.

IATEFL is always keen to sponsor opportunities for teachers in various parts of the world; some of the fundraising initiatives at the Brighton conference included a lucky dip, a raffle, and the opportunity to purchase a stick of iconic Brighton rock.

All funds raised support IATEFL Projects in various parts of the world.

It is always a privilege to read all the papers that are submitted to Conference Selections, and this year I received a record number of submissions. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to send a report of their session. Conference Selections is a refereed publication, and the editorial committee members painstakingly read every paper received ‘blind’ (i.e. with the author’s identifying details removed). I could not do my job without the invaluable input of my editorial team: Jennifer MacDonald, Amos Paran and Daniel Xerri. This year’s decision-making was particularly difficult, and I would like to encourage those writers not published here to pursue other opportunities to have their voices heard, perhaps in a SIG publication. As always, Conference Selections is copy-edited by Simon Murison-Bowie and typeset by Keith Rigley; I thank them for their contributions to the publication. Next year, Deborah Bullock will join our team as incoming Editor; Deborah will work closely with me for the 2019 issue and will take over as Editor in 2020. Welcome to the team, Deborah!

For 2019, the IATEFL conference returns to the north of England. We will be in Liverpool from 2 to 5 April, with pre-conference events on 1 April. I look forward to seeing many of you there!

Tania Pattison Editor, IATEFL Conference Selections cseditor@iatefl.org

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Optimising learning

How do students learn? This opening chapter brings together eight papers that play a role in answering that question. In her report of her plenary talk, Lourdes Ortega explores the relationship between research and teaching, showing instances in which research findings inform teaching practice (notably research into motivation) and where they ‘shake our world’ (research into age and learning). Research is also the topic of Patricia Harries and Carol Lethaby’s paper: they show which classroom techniques have been found to lead to successful learning and discuss ways to exploit the use of these techniques. Tilly Harrison then looks at the Growth Zone model and shows how students need to be in the right state of mind (neither too comfortable nor too anxious) for learning to take place. In the next paper, Julie Waddington draws upon Dörnyei’s process-oriented approach and her own research to discuss the development and maintenance of motivation among learners. The next papers address the needs of specific groups of learners. Fumiko Murase explores the concept of learner autonomy among advanced-level EFL learners at a Japanese university, while Heloisa Duarte looks at three sample older learners and invites discussion on what strategies might be helpful for them. William Rixon and Joanna Wakeling then show how entire courses can be personalised to meet the specific needs of individual learners.

Finally, Joao Carlos Koch Junior draws our attention to the needs of students with learning disabilities in higher education and shows how one university is addressing these needs.

1.1 Plenary: What is SLA research good for, anyway?

Lourdes Ortega Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., USA Introduction

It is well known that the relationship between language teachers and second language acquisition (SLA) researchers is a difficult one. Some scholars have noted that teachers often have little to no use for SLA research, find research reports difficult to access and understand and seldom enjoy research, much less think of adapting it for or adopting it in their teaching practice (e.g. Borg 2010; Clarke 1994; Medgyes 2017). While this tension exists, other language teachers express a thirst for SLA research and wish they knew of studies that can illuminate key conundrums in their own teaching (e.g.

Allwright 2005; Edwards and Burns 2015; Erlam 2008). Researchers also hold diverse opinions about the research−teaching link. Some may appear to be annoyingly insistent that they can provide assistance to teachers (as described by Medgyes 2017). But

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others adhere to the famous ‘Apply with Caution’ dictum that SLA founder Evelyn Hatch put forth in 1978 (e.g. Ellis 2010; Han 2007).

Despite the ambivalent feelings on both sides, research continues to be important in the field of English language teaching. For example, the TESOL International Association has distilled five priorities for the continued thriving of the profession in the future, and one of the five is to ‘expand capacity for inclusive and comprehensive research’ (TESOL 2018). Moreover, the field is fortunate to have many well-respected scholars who have devoted their research careers to studying language teaching and teachers, and who have put forth a number of valuable proposals for addressing the felt teaching−research tensions.

An important way to ameliorate the teaching−research tension, it has been proposed, is to support teachers and academics so they can research together. Ways to do so include exploratory practice, which has had impressive success in having not just researchers and teachers but teachers and their students research together classroom puzzles with life relevance (Hanks 2017a, 2017b; see also Allwright and Hanks 2009).

Another innovative proposal is to make teacher associations a hub for grassroots, collective research based on members’ expressed teaching needs, as documented in detail by Smith and Kuchah (2016) for CAMELTA, the Cameroon English Language and Literature Teachers Association. Researchers who want to be more responsive to teachers have also agreed that reporting their findings in an accessible style would be a great improvement. An exciting recent initiative that seeks to make this a reality is OASIS (https://oasis-database.org/), an online repository which makes SLA research findings accessible to teachers and other interested users by posting well-crafted study summaries online, electronically researchable by topic, and free of charge.

In this paper I want to address the felt tension between teaching and research in a different way. My stance on the issue comes from my lived experiences as a downto-earth SLA researcher who works closely with language teachers and who is also a former teacher of several languages (Ortega 2005, 2012a, 2012b). The lesson I want to bring home in this paper is that no research can have constant value, and this is true of SLA research about language teaching and learning as much as it is of any kind of human and scientific knowledge. I will build my point by discussing select findings in three areas of SLA research: motivation, error correction and age.

SLA research at its best: the case of motivation

SLA research has its best value for language teachers when it sharpens what teachers already know and do best. The case of research into motivation to learn a foreign language offers an excellent illustration. The research is extensive and many of the key voices on the topic come from the United Kingdom, for example Zoltán Dörnyei, who has led the way for several decades now and has created the powerful explanations of the ideal L2 self and dynamic motivation; Ema Ushioda, who has unveiled the importance of thinking about motivation qualitatively and from the perspective of person-in-context; Martin Lamb, who has been indefatigable in illuminating the complex connections between globalisation and motivation to learn English; and Maggie Kubanyiova, who has investigated teachers’ motivational vision and ideal selves. Here I concentrate on the set of findings that have to do with the role of teachers in boosting student motivation.

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In a nutshell, we have unequivocal empirical evidence that teachers know motivation is central to their students’ success, and that they are able to act upon this knowledge skilfully and artfully in their daily practice. One of the earliest studies to show this was by Guilloteaux and Dörnyei (2008), conducted in a tough environment for English teaching: secondary schools in Korea, where English is compulsory and causes great anxiety in students and their families, a collective feeling described by many as English fever or yeongeo yeolpung. Guilloteaux and Dörnyei observed 27 teachers and recorded the things they did in class in order to motivate their 1,300 EFL secondary school students. They then were able to show that students truly responded to certain teacher behaviours. The biggest motivation boosters were when teachers made connections with students’ interests through creativity and fantasy; personalised opportunities to express experiences, feelings and opinions; gave feedback free from irritation or personal criticism; and included class activities and projects with a tangible product, such as a poster or a brochure. What is more, another study by Moskovsky et al.

(2013) conducted in 14 secondary school and college EFL classrooms in Saudi Arabia shows that it is possible for teachers to train themselves to deliberately remember and use motivational strategies, and that this will in turn boost their students’ motivation.

Finally, we have all experienced some inspiring teachers in our past, teachers whom we remember fondly even many years later. Lamb and Wedell (2015) decided to ask students in Guangzhou (China) and Jakarta (Indonesia) to nominate some inspiring English teachers, and the researchers then visited some of the nominated teachers and observed them teach a typical lesson. They concluded that four attributes were shared by these inspirational teachers: a charismatic personality, high professionalism, good relations with their students and a love for teaching English that their students could clearly see. These inspiring teachers had a big impact on their students’ motivation to study English. They had changed their students’ thoughts and feelings about English, which also resulted in students’ striving to learn English better by engaging in all kinds of personal efforts.

Clearly, motivation to learn a language is an area of SLA research that has much to offer to teachers and can guide their daily teaching. Nurturing student motivation is hard work: it demands deliberation, effort, resilience and time from teachers. But it is all worthwhile, and we can be sure of it because we have the research that shows it.

When SLA research must be critically put aside by teachers: the case of error correction

But just as research into motivation has produced knowledge of direct relevance to language teachers, in other cases SLA research exists that falls short of relevance for teaching. Sometimes this is so, even though the questions asked are ones that teachers would also like answers for. The case of research into error correction offers a good illustration.

Correcting language errors is often viewed by teachers as central to their job and as something their students expect. But many teachers I know also express concerns that error correction may demotivate their students (particularly if it is done during speaking), and most lament that it takes too much of their time (particularly when it involves marking errors in students’ writing). Moreover, the contemporary ethos of language teaching, which assumes the main goal of learning a language is to develop

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Plenary: What is SLA research good for, anyway?

communicative competence, is at odds with the idea that teachers should respond to their students’ errors by merely correcting them. And what place does linguistic accuracy have in CLIL, TBLT, EAP and ESP curricula, where the goal is to use the new language in order to learn content well, do things with words successfully, do well on academic assignments or carry out a job with confidence in English? These are all legitimate questions surrounding the appropriate role of error correction in language teaching. At a minimum, teachers ought to know from research that it is all worthwhile, because what gets corrected gets learned better. Does error correction work, according to the extant research?

Unfortunately, despite the enormous amount of research that has been and continues to be devoted to error correction, SLA researchers cannot claim to be in a position to offer any firm answers to teachers yet. Until the 2010s there were many research arguments for pessimism or at least scepticism. Truscott (1996, 1999, 2007) was one of the loudest voices insisting that the empirical and theoretical evidence suggested correcting errors had no real impact on students’ language, and others found that in general students missed and/or misinterpreted an alarming number of corrections (e.g. Mackey et al. 2000). In the last ten years or so, with more rigorous studies and methodologies, the balance has been more on the side of tempered optimism (Nassaji and Kartchava 2017). For example, researchers have been able to show that when teachers concentrate on correcting certain errors in students’ writing, the students will then be able to make fewer similar errors in future writing assignments, and that some errors can be corrected more successfully than others. But the devil is in the detail, and the details of how exactly to respond to students’ errors—when to do so and when to let it pass, what precisely to focus on when correcting, and most importantly, what reasons may there be, philosophical and practical, to correct or not correct depending on curricular philosophies and learning purposes—remain elusive to research. Why should this be so?

Having contributed to this research about 20 years ago (Long et al. 1998), and speaking from a research-informed but research-realistic perspective, it seems to me SLA researchers have not been able thus far to take into account the complexity of teachers’ corrective practices. Qualitative research evidence has begun to hint at this by calling attention to the interpersonal dynamics involved (e.g. Hyland and Hyland 2006). For example, consider Eva, a college student who was born in China, moved to Australia at age 16 and then relocated to the United States at 19 (Cohen and Robbins 1976). She seemed convinced that her grammar was beyond repair when she told the researchers: ‘I have never start anything from ABCD. Everything is always skip, skip, skip since I’ve been going so many places … I wasn’t taught the way a person is supposed to be taught. I wasn’t taught in the right way, so that is why some of the grammars were never drill into me.’ No matter how well-intentioned or how well done, correcting errors may be ineffective for Eva or other students who, like her, may feel linguistic insecurity and a low sense of agency regarding their ability to learn grammar. Of course, a good teacher will be aware of Eva’s low self-concept when it comes to accuracy, and this will inform decisions on the fly about whether, how, when, what and why to correct when Eva speaks or writes. As Mitchell (2000) has noted, good teachers are always guided ‘by their knowledge of individual pupils, and their moment to moment “reading” of pupils’ developing understanding and skill, as

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well as their current level of interest and task involvement’ (297−298). Yet most of the research on error correction does not factor any of this complexity in. Only errors and discrete linguistic responses are tallied and sheer external cause−effect relations are sought. This ignores context, and the fact that the effectiveness of error correction practices surely arises in part from the learning goals that are valued and pursued by teachers and students in their particular context, and by the personal relations that they establish and cultivate. SLA researchers to date have missed this point.

This is not to say that some teachers may not find value in reading some of the research about error correction. For example, Rankin and Becker (2006) conducted a case study of Florian, a German-as-a-foreign-language teaching assistant in a college in the United States. They found that Florian began using the research he had read as a way to explore things he was already doing in the classroom, but in a more systematic way. For example, he began trying out a progressively more explicit cline of strategies: ‘first, a grimace, then a slightly more explicit gesture, and then a verbally explicit indication of the error’ (365). For Florian, then, reading SLA studies of error correction ‘prompted a deeper level of analysis regarding [his own] feedback behaviors’ (365).

But it is this rich journey of professional self-discovery, and not any set of implications from decontextualised research, that supported Florian and will support other teachers in feeling more confident of their own professional expertise when correcting their students’ errors. Just as Alexandrian Greek poet Konstantinos Kavafis pointed out in his famous poem ‘Ithaca’, written in 1911, Odysseus’s greatest gift wasn’t that he finally reached his home island, but the long and adventurous journey looking for his way back home, and all what was learned through that journey.

Having realistic expectations of research, not losing faith

I have just argued, for the specific case of error correction, that the research is inconclusive, probably because to date researchers have missed the point by approaching the problem in a decontextualised fashion. Is this a reason to lose faith in research, academic knowledge and the field of SLA? Not quite. Our expectations for what research can offer to teachers must be realistic.

For one, human knowledge, and with it research, proceeds in very small increments. Thousands of studies conducted using very different methods may be needed before knowledge about a question becomes clear and can be accepted. Take the case of smoking as an example. Does smoking kill? We know that the answer is ‘yes’.

This knowledge is deemed so certain that the warning is printed on every packet of cigarettes in most of the world. But a 40-year research battle was needed for this to happen. Scores of studies since 1920 kept turning up conflicting evidence in favour of and against the hypothesis that smoking is associated with cancer, and it was not until a breakthrough by Hammond and Horn (1958) that scientific consensus rose to the level of universally accepted truth, culminating in the Report on Smoking and Health by the Surgeon General of the United States in 1964 (Terry et al. 1964) and the banning of cigarette advertising on television in the United Kingdom in 1965.

Moreover, the nature of knowledge about human phenomena is such that we know there are general truths that may not be true for all individual cases. We live with the certainty that smoking kills. But we also know that not all smokers will necessarily die from smoking, and indeed, quite a few people continue to smoke, willing to gamble

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Plenary: What is SLA research good for, anyway?

on what they know is a sure health risk. This is because human knowledge is probabilistic. Predicting the weather is a good example. Meteorology is a highly sophisticated and well-developed science. But it is a probabilistic science, which means weather forecasts will not always get it right. Yet we use them to decide what to wear every morning and whether to carry an umbrella to work. And if our favourite weather channel ended up getting it entirely wrong today, we do not contemplate giving up on trying to track weather patterns altogether. We accept the imperfect, probabilistic nature of (highly sophisticated) human knowledge about the weather and use it to shape daily life decisions.

Human knowledge is often paradoxical as well, and yet we come to integrate the paradoxes seamlessly into our lives. Prescription drugs are an excellent example: How do we know that a given prescription is worth taking, when the litany of side effects listed by the voice-over in every TV commercial can range from the milder (such as dizziness, headaches or diarrhoea) to the truly horrendous (such as suicidal tendencies or hallucinations, vomiting or anorexia, tremor or palpitations)? We are fully aware of the side effects because research demonstrates that they can and do occur; yet we are also willing to accept, also because of our trust of research, that the desired therapeutic effect of the drug outweighs the concern for side effects.

However, as imperfect as human knowledge is, there are also cases when research is the only way to see differently. Think of the shape of the earth: Is the earth flat or round? We know the correct answer is ‘round’. We know this because we are taught so in school, based on undeniable research evidence. However, for hundreds of years it was thought that the planet earth was flat. And indeed, my visual perception of the earth makes me experience the earth as flat, for example, when peeking out from an aeroplane window or when looking at the horizon. (I am reminded of this strong perceptual illusion every time I look at the immensity of the horizontal line of any ocean.) It is only my trust in human science that disabuses me of my gut phenomenological experience of flatness.

In the field of SLA, age illustrates well the rare case when research makes us see differently.

Sometimes research shakes our world: the case of age

Is earlier better when learning a language? The research has by now accumulated on this question, and to the surprise of many teachers (and students and parents), the answer is a resounding ‘no’. This answer applies equally across all contexts investigated thus far, which can be broadly grouped into two. One type of context involves naturalistic immersion, when one language is spoken by the society at large, and the other language is spoken in the home, and the child is in an input-rich learning situation for both languages. Here, if we look at starting ages that range from birth to age four, five or even seven, it has been found that actually later is better in terms of the speed of learning (e.g. Blom and Bosma 2016), and that ultimately starting earlier or later within this age range does not result in any difference; instead, it is the quality of language that children experience that makes the difference (e.g. Unsworth 2016).

Another type of context for age research involves EFL settings. This type of context is characterised by a drip-feed learning situation, since children experience English and begin developing their bilingualism with very limited access to the new language,

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often one to three hours per week and only within the classroom, often from a single speaker of the new language, the teacher. Let me discuss here in particular the EFL findings, since much is at stake for the ELT profession all around the world for this type of learning context.

The research is loud and clear: starting the study of EFL at a younger age does not confer any language advantage. For EFL schoolchildren, later is faster initially (as it is for children in naturalistic, input-rich learning conditions), and in addition, the results are no better or worse after some years of study. Moreover, there are no English proficiency differences when the earlier and later starters are compared at the end of secondary school. This conclusion, which was reached for the first time in longitudinal research conducted in Spain by Muñoz (2006, 2014) for children who began EFL at age eight versus eleven, has now been replicated consistently in other contexts, such as Switzerland for ages eight versus thirteen (Pfenninger and Singleton 2016) and Germany for children who started at age six or seven versus eight or nine (Jaekel et al. 2017).

Starting EFL as early as possible has become an increasingly common mantra in EFL national curricula, and EFL for very young children is demanded by many parents. Many private language schools nowadays also base their offerings on the idea that children should begin English as early as possible in order to ensure the best outcomes as adults. Thus, the finding that earlier is not better shakes our professional beliefs.

Indeed, it can feel like discovering for the first time that the earth is not flat but round.

Should we lose faith in professional knowledge? How can we make sense of the finding?

Discovering that earlier is not better in EFL education simply means that lowering the starting age won’t produce better outcomes by the end of secondary school, because other factors trump starting age. Based on the research that exists (Muñoz and Spada 2019), we know four other factors are better predictors of EFL success than age. These are: (1) the intensity of instruction and sheer numbers of hours devoted to English daily and weekly; (2) teachers’ qualifications, including particularly their proficiency in English; (3) the difficulty of curricular coordination from preschool all the way to the end of secondary school; and (4) the motivational ebbs and flows that may make interest in learning English quite variable and fragile over childhood and adolescence.

In the context of learning English during the years of compulsory education, therefore, the most likely effective reforms would be: (1) to increase the number of weekly hours devoted to English; (2) to ensure that the teachers have a good working English proficiency (ideally at B2/Advanced Mid or higher, according to Unsworth et al. 2015); (3) to plan for curricular continuity so as to offer a stimulating and age-appropriate EFL curriculum all the way to secondary school graduation; and (4) to make student motivation and love for English sustainable throughout all years of compulsory schooling.

If these elements were in place and in addition children began English earlier, then we may see increased benefits. But if the only area of investment into EFL education is in adding more years of drip-feed instruction for the youngest of our learners, then the research has already given us the answer: We will reap no substantial benefit.

Conclusion

Using the examples of motivation, error correction, and age as illustrations, I hope to have shown that SLA research should not be elevated to the status of ultimate guide

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Plenary: What is SLA research good for, anyway?

for teachers, but that the value it can sometimes have for teachers should also not be underestimated.

As Andon and Leung (2014) put it, ‘Teaching is complex, and teaching a language is particularly complex, and there are no straightforward formulae or recipes that will be effective in every context’ (70). Research is also complex. It is frustrating when researchers constantly hedge that ‘it depends’ and ‘more research is needed’. But we should not forget that human knowledge can be slow-paced, potentially generally true while individually not always applicable, imperfect and probabilistic, and even paradoxical.

Given the complexities of teaching and of research, it should then come as no surprise that much SLA research has potential but not constant relevance for language teaching. SLA research at its best should be able to offer knowledge that makes the lives of language teachers better. But more often than not, SLA research will need a large amount of contextualisation and critical professional judgement by teachers before it can be of use in actual local classroom contexts. And sometimes our best intuitions about teaching can lead us astray, and it is only research that can help us question them and transform them. It is teachers who must make the judgement call, however. When they deem some research irrelevant to what they know to be true or needed of their praxis, they have the professional right, and the obligation to their students, to put aside the research, or, if they so wish, to criticise it and counter it with their own classroom inquiry. But all of us, researchers and teachers alike, must learn to recognise that all human knowledge is partial and variably useful over place and time, and that at times research is the only lens that can help us see differently. lourdes.ortega@georgetown.edu

References

Allwright, D. 2005. ‘Developing principles for practitioner research: the case of exploratory practice’. Modern Language Journal 89/3: 353−366.

Allwright, D. and J. Hanks. 2009. The Developing Language Learner: An Introduction to Exploratory Practice. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Andon, N. and C. Leung. 2014. ‘The role of approaches and methods in second language teacher education’ in S. Ben Said and L. J. Zhang (eds.). Language Teachers and Teaching: Global Perspectives, Local Initiatives. London: Routledge.

Blom, E. and E. Bosma. 2016. ‘The sooner the better? An investigation into the role of age of onset and its relation with transfer and exposure in bilingual Frisian–Dutch children’. Journal of Child Language 43: 581−607.

Borg, S. 2010. ‘Language teacher research engagement’. Language Teaching 43: 391−429.

Clarke, M. 1994. ‘The dysfunctions of the theory/practice discourse’. TESOL Quarterly 28: 9−26.

Cohen, A. D. and M. Robbins. 1976. ‘Toward assessing interlanguage performance: the relationship between selected errors, learners’ characteristics, and learners’ explanation’. Language Learning 26: 45−66.

Edwards, E. and A. Burns. 2015. ‘Language teacher action research: Achieving sustainability’.

ELT Journal 70: 6−15.

Ellis, R. 2010. ‘Second language acquisition, teacher education and language pedagogy’. Language Teaching 43: 182−201.

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Chapter 1: Optimising learning Erlam, R. 2008. ‘What do you researchers know about language teaching? Bridging the gap between SLA research and language pedagogy’. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 2: 253−267.

Guilloteaux, M. J. and Z. Dörnyei. 2008. ‘Motivating language learners: A classroom-oriented investigation of the effects of motivational strategies on student motivation’. TESOL Quarterly 42: 55−77.

Hammond, E. C. and D. Horn. 1958. ‘Smoking and death rates—report on forty-four months of follow-up of 187,783 men: I. Total mortality’. Journal of the American Medical Association 166: 1159−1172.

Han, Z.-H. 2007. ‘Pedagogical implications: Genuine or pretentious’. TESOL Quarterly 41: 387−393.

Hanks, J. 2017a. Exploratory Practice in Language Teaching: Puzzling about Principles and Practices. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hanks, J. 2017b. ‘Integrating research and pedagogy: An Exploratory Practice approach’. System 68: 38−49.

Hatch, E. 1978. ‘Apply with caution’. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 2: 123−143.

Hyland, K. and F. Hyland (eds.). 2006. ‘Interpersonal aspects of response: Constructing and interpreting teacher written feedback’ in K. Hyland and F. Hyland (eds.). Feedback in Second Language Writing: Contexts and Issues. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jaekel, N., M. Schurig, M. Florian and M. Ritter. 2017 . ‘From early starters to late finishers?

A longitudinal study of early foreign language learning in school’. Language Learning 67: 631−664.

Lamb, M. and M. Wedell. 2015. ‘Cultural contrasts and commonalities in inspiring language teaching’. Language Teaching Research 19: 207−224.

Long, M. H., S. Inagaki and L. Ortega. 1998. ‘The role of implicit negative feedback in SLA: Models and recasts in Japanese and Spanish’. Modern Language Journal 82: 357−371.

Mackey, A., S. M. Gass and K. McDonough. 2000. ‘How do learners perceive interactional feedback?’ Studies in Second Language Acquisition 22: 471−497.

Medgyes, P. 2017. ‘The (ir)relevance of academic research for the language teacher’. ELT Journal 71: 491−498.

Mitchell, R. 2000. ‘Applied linguistics and evidence-based classroom practice: The case of foreign language grammar pedagogy’. Applied Linguistics 21: 281−303.

Moskovsky, C., F. Alrabai, S. Paolini, and S. Ratcheva. 2013. ‘The effects of teachers’ motivational strategies on learners’ motivation: A controlled investigation of second language acquisition’. Language Learning 63: 34−62.

Muñoz, C. 2006. Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Muñoz, C. 2014. ‘Starting age and other influential factors: Insights from learner interviews’.

Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 4: 465−484.

Muñoz, C. and N. Spada. 2019. ‘Foreign language learning from early childhood to young adulthood’ in A. De Houwer and L. Ortega (eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingualism.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nassaji, H. and E. Kartchava (eds.). 2017. Corrective Feedback in Second Language Teaching and Learning. London: Routledge.

OASIS [Open Accessible Summaries in Language Studies]. https://oasis-database.org/.

Ortega, L. 2005. ‘For what and for whom is our research? The ethical as transformative lens in instructed SLA’. Modern Language Journal 89: 427−443.

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Use your brain! Exploiting evidence-based teaching strategies in ELT Ortega, L. 2012a. ‘Epistemological diversity and moral ends of research in instructed SLA’.

Language Teaching Research 16: 206−226.

Ortega, L. 2012b. ‘Language acquisition research for language teaching: Choosing between application and relevance’ in B. Hinger, E. M. Unterrainer, and D. Newby (eds.). Sprachen lernen: Kompetenzen entwickeln? Performanzen (über)prüfen. Wien: Präsens Verlag.

Pfenninger, S. E. and D. Singleton. 2016. ‘Affect trumps age: A person-in-context relational view of age and motivation in SLA’. Second Language Research 32: 311−345.

Rankin, J. and F. Becker. 2006. ‘Does reading the research make a difference? A case study of teacher growth in FL German’. Modern Language Journal 90: 353−372.

Smith, R. and K. Kuchah. 2016. ‘Researching teacher associations’. ELT Journal 70: 212−221.

Terry, L. et al. 1964. Smoking and Health: Report of the advisory committee to the Surgeon General of the United States. U-23 Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Public Health Service Publication No. 1103.

TESOL. 2018. Action Agenda for the Future of the TESOL Profession. http://www.tesol.org/ docs/default-source/advocacy/action-agenda-final-web.pdf?sfvrsn=2.

Truscott, J. 1996. ‘Review article: The case against grammar correction in L2 writing classes’.

Language Learning 46: 327−369.

Truscott, J. 1999. ‘What’s wrong with oral grammar correction’. Canadian Modern Language Review 55: 437−456.

Truscott, J. 2007. ‘The effect of error correction on learners’ ability to write accurately’. Journal of Second Language Writing 16: 255−272.

Unsworth, S. 2016. ‘Early child L2 acquisition: Age or input effects? Neither, or both?’ Journal of Child Language 43: 608−634.

Unsworth, S., L. Persson, T. Prins and K. de Bot. 2015. ‘An investigation of factors affecting early foreign language learning in the Netherlands’. Applied Linguistics 36: 527−548.

1.2 Use your brain! Exploiting evidence-based teaching strategies in ELT Patricia Harries Freelance, Vancouver, Canada and Carol Lethaby The New

School, New York, USA Overview

How can research findings into effective teaching and learning strategies be applied to English language teaching? We began our workshop by listing commonly used learning techniques in mainstream education, asking participants to say (a) which ones they used as teachers, and (b) how effective they considered them. We then revealed which were rated as low utility in a comprehensive meta-analysis by Dunlosky et al.

(2013). This was followed by a description of the techniques with a strong evidence base, considered to be of moderate or high utility in Dunlosky’s paper, among others (see also Roediger and Pyc 2012). Participants were asked to discuss how these learning techniques or strategies are, or could be, applied to the ELT context and they then compared their ideas with those of the presenters. Examples from published ELT materials were shown to illustrate how some of the strategies are currently being employed.

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Ineffective strategies?

According to Dunlosky et al. (2013), the following popular study techniques are of low utility: highlighting and underlining content as you read; writing a summary of a to-be-learned text; visualising what you are reading in order to learn it; using mnemonic devices such as the keyword technique to learn vocabulary; and re-reading a text to learn its contents.

So which strategies are effective?

Using prior knowledge We chose to discuss the widely acknowledged importance of using prior or background knowledge first. Though not mentioned in Dunlosky’s review, there is a clear link between drawing upon and building a learners’ prior knowledge and the effective learning strategies listed below. Brain imaging shows brain activation when new knowledge is being connected with prior knowledge, and neuroscientists and educators are beginning to consider how to tap into a student’s prior knowledge better before presenting new information (van Kesteren et al. 2014).

Elaborative interrogation This technique requires learners to explain things to themselves as they learn, for example, saying why a particular fact is true. The technique is thought to enhance learning by helping to integrate new and existing knowledge. Although this is seen as promising and rated as moderately useful, Dunlosky’s team states that more research is still required.

Self-explanation This is another questioning strategy; however, in this case, students use questions to monitor and explain features of their own learning to themselves. Self-explanation is a metacognitive technique that needs further research and is therefore also rated as moderately useful.

Practice testing Practice testing or retrieval is labelled highly useful in Dunlosky’s paper and refers to low- or no-stakes testing and self-testing. Practising retrieving information through frequent testing is thought to lead to more durable learning.

Distributed practice This describes the spreading out of practice over a period of time rather than cramming or massing practice. There is large volume of research, including into the learning of vocabulary, which shows distributed practice leading to long-term retention. It is regarded as a highly useful strategy.

Interleaved practice Interleaved practice involves the mixing up of difference practice activities in a single session and has been found to be effective in problem solving and categorisation. It has been rated as moderately useful as more research is needed.

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Panicking, relaxing or learning? Exploring the Growth Zone model

How can these strategies be applied to ELT?

Participants and the presenters offered the following ideas in the final part of the workshop.

The use of prior knowledge was immediately seen to be relevant in the setting of pretasks in receptive skills development, in the use of a spiral curriculum, and in exploiting L1 and L2 previous knowledge in the learning of vocabulary. Questions about grammatical rules and structures incorporate elaborative interrogation, and asking learners how they found their answers in language and skills tasks encourages self-explanation.

Quizzes and mini-tests are common in much published material and in what we do in the classroom, and they show how practice testing is used for continuous and formative assessment and to enhance the long-term retention of language. By spacing the practice of language items and structures using increasingly greater time intervals and mixing up language practice and skills development, distributed and interleaved practice can help integrate elements, build automaticity and aid memorisation.

Conclusions

Evidence-based strategies exist and language teachers need to be aware of them. Language teachers and learners already use many of these and it is beneficial to know that research supports this. There is, however, a danger in a whole-scale adoption of findings from research on content-based subject areas often done in inauthentic teaching situations. It is imperative to consider what is applicable to our context and how best to apply it. clethaby@clethaby.com patti.harries@gmail.com

References

Dunlosky, J., K. A. Rawson, E. J. Marsh, M. J. Nathan and D. T. Willingham. 2013. ‘Improving students learning with effective learning techniques promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology’. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14/1: 4−58.

Roediger, H. L. and M. A. Pyc. 2012. ‘Inexpensive techniques to improve education: applying cognitive psychology to enhance educational practice’. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1/4: 242−248. van Kesteren, M. T. R., M. Rijpkema, D. J. Ruiter, R. G. M. Morris and G. Fernandez. 2014.

‘Building on prior knowledge: schema-dependent encoding processes relate to academic performance’. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 26/10: 2250−2261.

1.3 Panicking, relaxing or learning? Exploring the Growth Zone model Tilly Harrison University of Warwick, Coventry, UK Introduction

I was very encouraged on the day of my workshop because prior to my session I had seen at least two presentations talking about Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset (Dweck

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2017) and this concept very much supports the points I wanted to make. The Growth Zone model is a simple yet powerful visual aid about learning. I first came across it in the context of a workshop for alleviating maths anxiety at the University of Warwick, and I immediately saw many applications of its principles. In particular, I felt that it could help teachers who have students with language learning anxiety (Tsui 1996) to understand how to support them, which is why I wanted to present this as a workshop at IATEFL. Coloured circles

I began the workshop by asking those arriving to take one of each of three colours of paper: green, orange and red. Each paper had a circle on it and a label. The green paper had a small circle labelled ‘Comfort Zone’, the orange a slightly larger one labelled ‘Growth Zone’ and the red had the largest, labelled ‘Anxiety Zone’. These were to be used later in the workshop. I supported my points with a Prezi presentation which can be found at http://prezi.com/qnu3u6mhvc2o/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy.

My opening story was about my own struggle with swimming, based on an incident in my childhood which causes me to panic when my head is under water. I asked if anyone else had a similar experience of irrational panic, and the participants mentioned various triggers such as spiders or height. I explained that my fear of drowning has been greatly helped by attending classes with a skilled and sympathetic teacher, proof that fears can be mastered.

Guided narrative

The next part of the workshop was intended to bring out the participants’ own emotional interpretations of the three stages of the Growth Zone model—see Figure 1.3.1.

I asked everyone to imagine a particular scene (being on a warm beach, enjoying a cool drink) and then to write down how it would make them feel on the green piece of paper. Adjectives such as ‘relaxed’, ‘happy’ and ‘lazy’ were mentioned. I extended the story to imagining that a friend was trying to persuade them to go swimming in the sea. On the orange paper people wrote words like ‘annoyed’, ‘excited’ and ‘nervous’. I

Figure 1.3.1: The Growth Zone model

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Am I motivating enough?

finally asked them to imagine that their friend suddenly pushed them into deep water from a pier. People volunteered words like ‘terrified’, ‘angry’ and ‘betrayed’ and wrote these on the red paper.

I explained how these adjectives and ‘zones’ relate to different stages of learning. In the Comfort Zone we are not learning because we already know all there is to know.

We tend to stagnate and even become bored, but it is a place of enjoyment and safety.

The Growth Zone is where learning takes place—it is where we take a risk and try something we have not done before. It is possibly an uncomfortable place, but it can also be exciting. We should feel empowered and challenged to never give up. The Anxiety Zone is also where learning is not taking place. When we are close to panic our brains shut down and we cannot think. Here I referenced Daniel Siegel’s ‘Hand Model of the Brain’ (2012). Learners in this state give up and lose all confidence.

Application of the model

As teachers we should be aware of when our students might be experiencing panic (i.e. when they are in the Anxiety Zone) and give them strategies to overcome. Equally we should try to challenge those who are in their Comfort Zone and are not learning because the work is too familiar or easy. In the workshop we brainstormed ways to keep our learners in the Growth Zone. We suggested reducing face-threatening situations and allowing collaboration and peer support as much as possible. Giving students autonomy and control over the content or pace of their learning is another possible strategy to make the classroom atmosphere conducive to growth and learning.

I concluded the workshop by encouraging participants to aim for the Growth Zone for their learners and also in their own lives as teachers. After the conference one participant emailed that he had been pushing himself out of his Comfort Zone by going digital. Although he had been having doubts, the workshop inspired him to keep pushing. For me that was a very welcome confirmation of the usefulness of this model. tilly.harrison@warwick.ac.uk

References

Dweck, C. 2017. Mindset Updated Edition: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential.

London: Robinson.

Siegel, D. 2012. Dr Daniel Siegel Presenting a Hand Model of the Brain. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=gm9CIJ74Oxw. Tsui, A. B. M. 1996. ‘Reticence and anxiety in second language learning’ in K. Bailey and D. Nunan (eds.). Voices from the Language Classroom: Qualitative Research in Second Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

1.4 Am I motivating enough?

Julie Waddington University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain Introduction

The aim of this workshop was to reflect together on what we mean when we talk about motivation and how our understandings of this concept affect our classroom 25

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practice. In order to structure the session, I drew on Zoltán Dörnyei’s process-oriented approach to motivation (2001) as well as a recent study focusing on teacher understanding and implementation of motivational strategies published in ELT Journal (Waddington 2017). However, although grounded in theory, my intention was to stimulate reflection and discussion on real classroom practice and to make the session relevant for each of the teachers attending the session.

At the beginning of the workshop delegates were asked to organise themselves into small working groups (four to five) before embarking on a series of tasks. As expected at an IATEFL conference, this produced a rich mix of heterogeneous groupings with teachers from different countries, backgrounds, ages, genders and contexts.

Task 1: How do we promote motivation?

To start with, delegates were asked to introduce themselves to each other, explaining the context in which they teach, before discussing the different ways in which they try to promote motivation in their English classes. After spending a short time on this, they were asked to summarise their findings and to write down a list of the different motivational strategies reported. At this point, I gave a brief explanation of Dörnyei’s process-oriented approach to motivation, emphasising the fundamental idea that different motivational strategies are needed to respond to the complexities of the learning process and the different stages involved. Dörnyei presents a checklist of different strategies organised into four different component parts, as shown in Figure 1.4.1.

Figure 1.4.1: Dörnyei’s process-oriented approach to motivation (2001: 29)

Task 2: Which parts of the process are we working on?

After providing a brief introduction to the process-oriented approach, I gave the delegates the next task, with a handout asking them to identify which parts of the process they were already working on in their teaching practice. One side of the handout included a summarised version of Dörnyei’s model, with some examples of specific strategies for each stage of the process; the other side had four empty boxes labelled with the different components parts. Working together, they had to decide which part of the process the strategies they had listed belonged to and write them in the corresponding boxes. I then presented the results of a study carried out with 26 experienced primary school teachers in Catalonia (Waddington 2017).

As Figure 1.4.2 shows, the results of the study reveal a predominance of strategies aimed at maintaining and protecting motivation. There is also a reasonable presence

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Am I motivating enough?

Figure 1.4.2: Results of study presented in Waddington (2017)

of strategies aimed at creating the basic motivational conditions, although the results are biased by the responses of one particular teacher whose specific working context had led her to prioritise issues of well-being. What was most striking was that no strategies were reported corresponding to the final stage of the process: encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation.

Task 3: Distribution of strategies

In the final task, each group calculated the results of their own mini survey, calculating the percentage distribution of the different strategies reported. After checking their results and drawing a draft pie chart, they transferred this onto large flipchart papers which were then held up for all to see. Looking at each group’s results in turn, the first observation made was that the results differed considerably from the study referred to above. The second observation made was that the results also differed considerably from one group to another. Both observations highlighted the need to carry out further studies in this area to provide more insight into teachers’ understandings and implementation of motivational strategies.

Conclusion: Am I motivating enough?

To conclude, I referred back to the title of the workshop and asked how they had interpreted this before attending. While some had interpreted ‘motivating’ as an adjective (a quality describing the teacher), others had thought more of the transitive aspect of the verb. Whichever way we look at it, the problem with both interpretations (and in fact with the question itself!) is that they tend to lay the burden of the doing/ motivating solely with the teacher. By the end of the session we agreed that developing motivational approaches which attend to the different stages of the learning process— including strategies aimed at encouraging students to motivate themselves and each other—can benefit both learners and teachers. julie.waddington@udg.edu

References

Dörnyei, Z. 2001. Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Waddington, J. 2017. ‘Teacher understanding and implementation of motivational strategies in ELT’. ELT Journal 72/2: 162−174.

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1.5 Advanced-level EFL students’ engagement in autonomous learning Fumiko Murase Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan

Advanced-level EFL students can be seen as successful learners, who have achieved a high level of English proficiency as a result of studying the language for many years.

However, this may not necessarily mean that they are autonomous learners. This study reports on an autonomous learning programme for advanced-level EFL students at a university in Japan, investigating the students’ learning process and the development of their autonomy.

The study

In order to investigate how autonomous the advanced-level students in this study were, the study explored what would happen when they were encouraged to learn English autonomously. What and how they learned was monitored, as were any possible changes in their autonomy as a result of a short-term autonomous learning experience.

The autonomous learning programme (ALP) The programme was introduced in a 15-week compulsory English course, where 23 second-year students from the Faculty of Agriculture at a national university in Japan were encouraged to engage in out-of-class English learning of their own choice. The students who participated in the ALP were taking a course for advanced-level students and had an average proficiency level of CEFR B2. Students were first asked to reflect on their English learning experiences and analyse their English learning strengths/weaknesses and needs using the Self-Reflection sheet; they were then asked to fill out the Learning Contract form describing their own goals and study plans for their out-of-class learning. Once they started their learning, they were asked to keep records of their learning content and process on the weekly learning report and bring it to the class every week to share it with other students. At the end of the programme, all students gave a poster presentation on their autonomous learning experiences.

To examine changes in the students’ autonomy, a questionnaire survey, Measuring Instrument for Language Learner Autonomy (MILLA), was administered before and after the ALP. The MILLA, consisting of 87 items on a five-point Likert scale, was designed to measure learner autonomy from its four dimensions: technical, psychological, socio-cultural and political-philosophical (see Murase 2010, 2015).

According to the survey conducted before the ALP, only six students were learning English outside the class (except for assignments or preparation for English courses they were taking at the university), while 15 students were not learning English because they ‘didn’t have time’, ‘had other important things to do’, ‘didn’t like English’ or ‘didn’t think English is important’. Thus, for the majority of the students, the ALP offered a new opportunity to learn English outside the class.

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Advanced-level EFL students’ engagement in autonomous learning

Findings

Changes in students’ autonomy To investigate changes in the students’ autonomy, the data collected using the MILLA survey conducted before the ALP (pre-test) and after the ALP (post-test) were compared. As shown in Table 1.5.1, the results of statistical analysis indicated that, overall, there was a significant difference between the pre-test and the post-test with a higher score in the post-test, which means that the students showed a higher level of autonomy after the ALP. When looking at the four different dimensions of autonomy (Murase 2015), there was a significant difference between the two tests on the technical, political-philosophical, and socio-cultural dimensions (i.e. all except the psychological dimension), all with higher scores in the post-test, showing a higher level of autonomy.

Table 1.5.1: Results of the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test to Compare the Scores of Two Tests (N=16) Students’ voices According to students’ post-ALP reflection in their posters, it seemed some students had difficulties with their out-of-class learning: • ‘Even though I knew that my way of studying English was not very good, I couldn’t flexibly revise my original study plans’; and • ‘Having been busy with the school festival preparation, club activities, and my parttime job, I couldn’t preserve enough time to study English’.

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However, there were also students who had relatively positive learning experiences: • ‘I’ve made a habit of using English every week’; • ‘It was good that I was able to work on my weaknesses at my own pace’; and • ‘Now I know what I need to do to maintain my English ability’.

Implications

Although even some advanced-level students had difficulties, it seemed to be partly due to the relatively short length of the programme: they would have been able to deal with their problems if they had more time to engage in the autonomous learning. As the MILLA results showed that students achieved a higher level of autonomy after the 15-week ALP experiences, the programme seemed to have a positive impact on the development of the students’ autonomy. fumikomurase@gmail.com

References

Murase, F. 2010. Developing a New Instrument for Measuring Learner Autonomy. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Murase, F. 2015. ‘Measuring learner autonomy: problems and possibilities’ in C. J. Everhard and L. Murphy (eds.). Assessment and Autonomy in Language Learning. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

1.6 Older English learners: when motivation alone is not enough Heloisa Duarte Freelance, São Paulo, Brazil Introduction

Older learners of English usually start learning the language as fulfilment of a personal desire, at a period in their lives when they have the time and the means to do so.

However, economic crisis and social issues have recently led older citizens to look for English courses with the aim of finding new jobs (or keeping their current ones), moving away from their home countries or even being able to communicate with new members of their families.

In the above-mentioned scenarios, motivation, intrinsic or extrinsic, plays an important part in learning. Nevertheless, for some of these learners, motivation alone is no guarantee of good performance; the assumption that they are too old to learn a new language, or the memories of unsuccessful previous experiences when trying to learn English, among other factors, may make learners feel disheartened and demotivated.

Helping older learners

According to Dörnyei and Ushioda (2001), demotivation does not mean that the learner has no motivation; instead, it means there is a strong negative component that is acting on the learner and that it should be investigated. In the case of older learners of English, it is crucial that teachers analyse their learners’ goals and challenges in order to be able to help them overcome obstacles and be able to learn the language.

In the workshop, participants were presented with three older learner personas, 30

Older English learners: when motivation alone is not enough

each with different learning aims and challenges. In groups, participants were invited to analyse these learners’ needs and wants, and suggest ways through which to help them achieve their goals.

Learner 1 The first analysed learner was an elderly man trying to learn English by himself in order to communicate with his British daughter-in-law and granddaughter. He used memorisation techniques such as leaving notes around his house with words in English, and listening to and repeating sentences in English with the help of audio-lingual material. Participants suggested that, although the learner was highly motivated, he was only able to produce memorised chunks of language. Their main suggestions to help this learner were as follows: • Having real and meaningful interactions in English in order to be able to use the language more naturally with the new members of his family.

• Being in a classroom with other learners who shared similar challenges or goals, which could provide him with the opportunity to share his doubts with his colleagues, as well as practise with them.

Learner 2 The second learner analysed was a 69-year-old science teacher who needed to learn English in order to find a job. His challenges included a mild hearing loss, problems memorising new vocabulary and fear of making mistakes and being corrected in front of his peers. Participants suggested that some ways through which the learner could be stimulated were as follows: • One-to-one lessons in which he could gain confidence and be able to learn from his mistakes in a more private way, before interacting with other learners.

• The use of memorisation techniques which could improve his vocabulary and help him gain confidence in his ability to speak English.

Learner 3 The third learner was a retired lawyer who had always wanted to learn English but had had a bad experience with a former English teacher and suffered from severe anxiety when producing the language. Many participants said that they had already met students with similar challenges and put forward the suggestion that the best way to deal with this learner’s anxiety would be to find out as much as possible about her life and use her experiences in the lessons so that she could realise her potential and use it in her favour. It was also suggested that her teacher should use classroom materials that are related to the learner’s experiences so as to make her feel comfortable about the topics and more willing to use the language.

Conclusion

By the end of the workshop, through the analysis of the three personas, participants were able to select five factors they considered to be the most important when teaching older learners of English: • adjusting classroom and lessons to learners needs; • encouraging learners and boosting their self-confidence;

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• choosing materials with motivating and interesting topics; • suggesting and encouraging the use of memorisation techniques; and • finding out as much as possible about learners and valuing their experiences. heloisahcd@hotmail.com

Reference

Dörnyei, Z. and E. Ushioda 2011. Teaching and Researching Motivation (second edition).

Harlow: Pearson.

1.7 Creating a personalised course programme William Rixon and Joanna Wakeling Regent Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Our school has been trialling a method that personalises every lesson, every week and every course for long- and short-term students. This article discusses the practical application of a course programme for group classes which is entirely personalised to suit the needs of every student. The process is comprised of two main stages: coaching sessions and weekly planning sessions.

Coaching sessions

Every week, we hold a coaching session with every student for 15 minutes. There are three main areas of a coaching session: life goals, course goals and skills.

1 To establish why students need English for the future, we ask about their life goals.

This could be anything from ‘start a university course’ to ‘develop my career’ to ‘travel the world’. This helps us to identify their potential requirements for the course and put their goals into context.

2 Next, we establish what their expectations are by eliciting their course goals. For example, some students need a certain IELTS level, while others are required to communicate in business on a daily basis. This is where their personalised programme starts to take shape, and we use this information to define the skills they need to meet their objective.

3 Then we focus on skills. These are divided into three life skills and three language skills. We work with the student, referring to the life and course goals, to identify three specific skills they require to meet their objectives, for example, have short phone calls, understand the gist of a text quickly or book a hotel room online.

Most importantly, these skills are always transferable to the real world. Finally, we concentrate on language skills. By this point, the coach will have had at least 10−15 minutes to analyse the student’s production. During the course of the session, this is filled in with three specific areas of linguistic development for that learner.

Weekly planning sessions

Although the coaching session alone is invaluable within a more structured set syllabus, we use this to totally define the content of the course. At Regent, we have a maximum of 12 students per class with 25 hours of lessons per week. Every Monday morning for around 20 minutes, the students share their latest coaching form with the class to plan the week. They then decide jointly with the teacher the areas they will

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Language learning disabilities in higher education: a multidisciplinary approach

cover during the week by combining and merging the skills. The teacher is then able to create a lesson-by-lesson learning plan of the week, with clear, real-life outcomes.

Here are three skills from three different students’ coaching forms: • I can use everyday collocations in speaking.

• I can use strategies when I don’t know a word.

• I can talk about current affairs.

These were combined into a single lesson outcome to help those students. The outcome is: • We can follow a news bulletin by predicting language and developing collocation knowledge.

This caters not only directly to those students but indirectly to others. The lesson will be filled with a wealth of content and practice for the whole class.

Response

A common question is about how we assess progress. We use a variety of formative and summative assessments. We have weekly and monthly progress tests, the monthly test being adapted from the Cambridge exams. This provides transparency for longterm students. At the end of a course, students have the opportunity to watch a firstday video and a last-day video of their spoken production to show them tangible evidence of progress. In addition, ongoing coaching sessions place a large emphasis on progression.

We have also been asked whether there is any evidence that our method of creating a personalised course programme is successful. Based on entry and exit tests, the average weekly progress of a student in 2016 was 0.95 per cent. In 2017, the year we implemented this method, it rose to 1.64 per cent. We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from students and teachers alike.

Our presentation aimed to show others how it is possible to personalise a course programme as well as the lesson content. None of this is fixed. We hope that elements of what we’re developing can be integrated into your current structure to provide your learners with a course that suits them. joannawakeling1@gmail.com williamarixon@hotmail.com

1.8 Language learning disabilities in higher education: a multidisciplinary approach Joao Carlos Koch Junior Sapporo Gakuin University, Japan Background

Before this study took place, we team-taught a group of special-needs students as part of a barrier-free programme at Sapporo Gakuin University, a private university in Hokkaido, Japan. It consisted of a 90-minute English communication class to a group of six special-needs students, and the lesson design combined two perspectives:

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Chapter 1: Optimising learning

English teaching and occupational therapy (Koch and Takashima 2016). The present study is primarily based on the authors’ initial experience with this interdisciplinary approach.

Rationale

According to Schneider and Crombie (2003), virtually all foreign language classes today have a variety of language learners with different levels of linguistic abilities.

Teachers should aim for the ‘least restrictive environment’ (Schneider and Crombie 2003: 1), also referred to as ‘inclusive learning’. This also encompasses learners with special needs, including those with language-related learning disabilities (LDs, also known as learning difficulties/differences).

Although LDs have been increasingly researched and better understood in recent years, there are few studies that research LDs in adult learners of English, and in particular the impact of foreign-language requirements upon students with LDs in higher education. This study describes our first step towards identifying and understanding the needs of adult learners of English with an LD, aiming to use this knowledge to make our classes more inclusive.

Why occupational therapy?

One of the core principles of occupational therapy is to enable people with mental, physical or social disabilities to carry out meaningful activities confidently and independently. This perspective guided us towards the adoption of the social model of disabilities, which defines impairment as a result of limitations in our environment and/or society.

Method

In order to gain a better understanding of LDs, we conducted a review of the literature on LDs in foreign language learning situations, with emphasis on adult learners with LDs. We divided our findings into two main categories: theoretical background (such as facts, definitions and status of LD across different contexts) and known practical knowledge about teaching adults with LDs in foreign language learning environments (such as strategies, techniques and learning accommodations).

What is known

Phonology and orthography have been identified as the most immediate impacted areas in LD learners. Other areas that are problematic are syntax, semantics and shortterm memory. Studies have found that between 2 per cent and 15 per cent of first-year university students have an LD in their L1. Nevertheless, guidelines for diagnosing LDs in foreign language learners are not available.

Many studies have demonstrated that early intervention can prevent failure. However, there is a consensus that environments and instruction are generally limited.

Teachers and schools often do not know what to do, which is partly due to the lack of communication between educators and health professionals. With little knowledge, LD students can easily be labelled as lazy, demotivated, or inept; some studies have found that LD students can develop affective problems because of the lack of opportunities and support as a result of their learning differences not being considered. In

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Language learning disabilities in higher education: a multidisciplinary approach

addition, because of LDs’ apparent lack of (visible) severity, students may not get the support they need.

What to do, and how

It is recommended that teachers regularly cover the English sound system in their classes. In addition, cognitive (such as reading aloud) and metacognitive (such as summarising, reflecting) strategies help students to improve linguistic abilities. A number of studies have also found that employing multi-sensory techniques—hear it, see it, say it, write it, act it out—have a beneficial effect on LD learners (Schneider and Crombie 2003).

Teachers should watch their in-class behaviour, such as idioms and face/gestures (some students have trouble processing these signals). Visual aids, clear instructions and explanations, and frequent reviewing and concept checking are all helpful techniques, and one study suggested asking students to identify their own linguistic strengths and weaknesses (Ortiz and Artiles 2002).

Testing accommodations (such as giving students extra time, or making readers/ note takers available) are often recommended. Other forms of support, perhaps with expert consultation, may also be considered. Additionally, studies highlight the importance of actively building a positive relationship between students, their peers, teachers, and schools.

Final thoughts

It is difficult to identify accurately LD students in EFL/ESL classes. Nevertheless, these steps can benefit all learners (not only those with an LD). In sum, we believe this theoretical and practical knowledge is an important first step to include all learners in our classes and potentially enable LD learners to succeed. *Risa Takashima (Hokkaido University), an occupational therapist, co-authored this study. juniorkoch@gmail.com

References

Koch, J. C. J. and R. Takashima. 2016. ‘The power of an educator: occupational therapist team’. The Language Teacher 40/3. http://www.jalt-publications.org/node/4990/articles/ 5168-power-educator-occupational-therapist-team.

Ortiz, A. A. and A. J. Artiles. 2002. English Language Learners with Special Education Needs: Identification, Assessment, and Instruction. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.

Schneider, E. and M. Crombie. 2003. Dyslexia and Foreign Language Learning. Milton Park: David Fulton Publishers.

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2

The big picture: models, methods and materials

This chapter brings together eight papers in which the authors take a stance on approaches and materials used in the classroom. The papers in this chapter address some big questions. Adrian Underhill, Piers Messum and Roslyn Young explore the notion that language exists primarily for expression and put forward their vision of what an expression-based methodology would look like. Isabelita Solano Mendes Peixoto and Aline Milagres Dyna then address the prejudices that are often held about certain varieties of English and appeal for more tolerance of variation. Nathan Thomas then suggests a usage-based model to replace Kachru’s concentric circle model of language use. The speakers in the Forum on English as a lingua franca (ELF), namely Rudi Camerer, Gemma Williams, Analia Duarte and Judith Mader, then review a number of issues related to ELF, particularly its use in the Business English classroom. Graham Hall’s paper looks at the question of whether students should be permitted—and indeed encouraged—to use their L1 in class, while Paul Emmerson draws our attention to the PPP approach, asking what happened to the third P. The last two papers address materials designed for classroom use. Ben Knight looks at the integration of 21st-century life skills into ELT programming and materials; and finally, in her report of her plenary talk, Dorothy Zemach presents insights into how materials are made from the perspective of an ELT author.

2.1 Language is for expression before it is for communication Adrian Underhill Freelance, Hastings, UK, Piers Messum Freelance, Brighton, UK and Roslyn Young Freelance, Besançon, France

This claim was made by Caleb Gattegno (e.g. Gattegno 1981), inventor of the Silent Way. We explored how teaching methodology might develop if expression, rather than communication, were adopted to underwrite the purpose of language learning.

We considered this question with respect to three problematic areas: control of content, syllabus and mistakes.

Our starting points were that: • (self-)expression and communication often co-occur but can be found separately; • when they co-occur, expression is the precursor; • we have become used to seeing communication and leaving expression unrecognised; and • distinguishing the two has implications for language teaching.

To separate the concepts, we asked participants to work in pairs to carry out the following tasks: (1) engage in a parallel soliloquy, where two people talk past one

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Language is for expression before it is for communication

another—each expressing themselves but not actually communicating with the other; (2) be the train times announcer at Brighton station—communicating without self-expression; and (3) make conversation, as at a dinner party when we have nothing to say to our neighbours but we have to generate talk—being obliged to speak without feeling motivated to do so.

Before we say anything, a notion must have come into being within us. This inner movement can then be expressed in inner speech, private speech or public speech.

During or after an act of public speech, communication may (or may not) take place.

We constantly monitor our words to check that they adequately express the meaning we intend. We do not monitor our utterances for their communicative success with anything like the same assiduousness.

What would a methodology based on self-expression be like?

There are already expression-based methods: Community Language Learning, dramabased approaches, Silent Way, some uses of poetry and literature, and even a good conversation class. But in language teaching in general, communication takes centre stage. We turned to the three problematic areas to see what some implications of an alternative perspective would be.

Control of the content Since expression must start with an inner movement, it can only be such inner movements, experienced by the students, which determine what is said in class. This does not necessarily happen with the display communication that can characterise a so-called communicative class. In an expression-based approach, the teacher deals with whatever appears, taking a ‘quality control’ role in which she corrects and helps to enhance that self expression. One implementaton of student-led content can be a ‘class conversation’, a disciplined and productive activity which should be distinguished from a ‘conversation class’. If expression is the basis of the class: • participants respond to each other as people rather than as students; • they are engaged, because the class is working on the adequacy of their own expression; and • they feel respected (and this is particularly important for adolescents who are sensitive to any restrictions on their freedom).

The syllabus Will the syllabus be covered if a detailed programme is not set in advance? Yes, although the order in which it is covered will emerge as students speak. Students recognise their own boundaries. In a class conversation they make use of the things they know, and they explore and experiment with what they almost know. They do not venture into what for them is the ‘deep unknown’. Their choices will dovetail with any well-constructed syllabus.

Mistakes As students talk, errors and inadequacies appear in what they are saying. Speaking of expression-based classes, Gattegno said that, ‘mistakes are a gift’ rather than a nuisance. They open up teachable moments, when teaching is at its most effective because

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

the student is occupied by his visceral need to express himself. Correcting mistakes does not mean simply getting the right words in the right order. Correction must involve students working on their inner criteria, on whatever gave rise to the mistake.

Conclusion

We suggest that there is an answer to the riddle described by Stevick (1990): how is it that two methods based on contradictory assumptions can both give good results? We find the answer below the level of the method (where Stevick also thought it would be found): teaching works best when it works on students’ powers of self-expression, which by definition has personal meaning for them. We believe that this insight could offer a more secure foundation for our methodology. We will explore these ideas in future seminars; please contact us for details. adrian@aunderhill.co.uk p.messum@gmail.com roslynyoung@gmail.com

Reference

Gattegno, C. 1981. ‘The computer and the mind’. Educational Solutions Newsletter 11/1: 10−11.

Stevick, E. W. 1974. ‘The riddle of the “right method”’. English Teaching Forum XII/4: 1−5.

Reprinted 2017 in IATEFL Voices 254: 19.

2.2 Linguistic prejudice: understanding and applying concepts in the language classroom Isabelita Solano Mendes Peixoto Instituto Federal de Brasília, Brazil and Aline Milagres Dyna Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasília, Brazil Introduction

As a language teacher, you might have found yourself in a discussion on whether certain accents or sentence constructions have positive or negative values, based only on social beliefs and personal preferences. Linguistic variation is part of cultural identity, a representation of the way various social groups interact, and the language we speak is a result of location, social class, family, gender and education. Linguistic prejudice comes from the judgement of the listeners, who base their perceptions on stereotypes and take as reference the dialect used by the prestigious social group or the one that is socially approved (Macaulay 2006).

Thus, for a teacher, linguistic prejudice can become a constant thorn if students make assumptions about one’s background, working competence and socioeconomic status, solely on the basis of the language used.

Myths

Language-based discrimination can be grounded in myths that are purely social and not linguistic. Bagno (2013) has listed eight myths that relate to Brazilian Portuguese, four of which we have adapted as follows:

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Understanding and applying concepts in the language classroom

1 In order to speak well, one should know grammar. Grammar, as an artificial guidebook created to document patterns of language, is slow in recording changes, and yet has somehow been transformed into a tool for control and social exclusion.

Also, languages that do not have a written system still have competent speakers who can communicate without clearly established rules.

2 Knowing the standard language is the way to move up the social ladder. People seek to improve their professional opportunities and increase upward mobility by avoiding social judgements on the language variety that they use. This does imply that those who know the language well, such as language teachers, would be at the top of the social pyramid, as this is not the case. Perhaps, rather than stressing the standard variety, language classrooms should work on providing understanding and acceptance of the many variations of a language while making learners aware of language usages.

3 We should speak like this because this is how the language is written. First came the oral language, and much later a written system to record the patterns of this language.

So, knowing a written system demands continuous training and memorisation of fixed rules within a formal education setting. Also, the written system is artificial, static, might involve irregular letter−sound correspondence and does not account for subtleties of prosody and regional diversity.

4 British English is the proper variety. Certain varieties of a language are better than others, but who decides? That British English is more pleasant is simply a matter of opinion and relates little to the logic or communicative expressivity of the language.

Language learners might embrace some variety due to standards in textbooks or the media, without actually considering the many dialects (prestigious or not).

Consequences

One of the consequences of linguistic prejudice in the language classroom is dealing with students’ acceptance of teachers whose varieties are either non-standard or not native-like. Such teachers are seen as unable to provide a quality class despite their educational background or pedagogical skills. Another relates to the myth that one should master grammar in order to properly function in the language. It should be argued that rote memorisation of grammatical structures can help learners with accuracy when producing the language, but it has little effect on their actual fluency and conversational skills, especially if they lack opportunities to work on pronunciation patterns, vocabulary or even culture. Finally, some schools might stress the teaching of certain sounds or sentence constructions to make students and parents aware that certain varieties of a language or word choices can be detrimental to future employability or academic prospects. This is done instead of emphasising that using the many dialects, including the standard variety, within a language does not imply language deficiency.

Conclusion

The first step, we believe, is to acknowledge there is linguistic prejudice in the language classroom and, as teachers, we can identify and point it out when it becomes part of the conversation. The second is to decide to monitor our own work in order to avoid prejudice in our classes, by accepting different varieties, making students

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

aware that such differences are part of each country’s history and culture, and finally to think that ‘there is no reason to believe that any single form will be suitable for all situations, which is why so many different forms can exist within a speech community. Such diversity is to be welcomed and enjoyed rather than condemned or eradicated’ (Macaulay 2006: 396). isa.peixoto@hotmail.com linedyna@gmail.com

References

Bagno, M. 2013. Preconceito Linguístico: o que é, como se faz. São Paulo: Edições Loyola.

Macaulay, R. K. S. 2006. ‘Regional dialects and social class’ in V. Clark, P. Eschholz, A. Rosa and B. Simon (eds.). Language: Introductory Reading. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

2.3 A usage-based model for speakers of Global Englishes Nathan Thomas University of Oxford, UK Introduction

Building off of Silvana Richardson’s 2016 plenary and Péter Medgyes and Alessia Cogo’s 2017 debate at the two previous IATEFL annual conferences, this presentation took a critical look at the current state of English as a global language for teachers, researchers and general users. Following a review of previous models for classifying users of English, an alternative framework that describes speakers based on usage rather than geographical location was introduced. The suggested model breaks free from traditional ideologies that prior classifications provided and aligns with a poststructuralist/constructivist view of identity and ownership. This view recognises the diverse, complex and dynamic nature of transcultural identity construction as influenced by language usage. An explanation of the proposed model and recommendations for further study were discussed in the presentation and are summarised below.

Previous models

It has been notoriously difficult for researchers to create a model that accurately describes the spread of English and the ways in which it is being used worldwide (see Galloway and Rose 2015 for a review). Despite substantial criticism, Kachru’s (1992) concentric circle model, which represents users as belonging to an inner, outer or expanding circle dependent on whether their variety of English is learned in native, second or foreign language contexts, is still the most commonly referenced. One issue with this and other models is that the terms relegate many language users to connotatively undesirable positions that are unchangeable since one cannot change where one was born. Moreover, this sort of categorisation does not represent the rapidly growing population of transnational individuals who have complex language identities and usage patterns that do not align with such structuralist/essentialist groupings. As speakers identify with and use English and other languages at various

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A usage-based model for speakers of Global Englishes

levels of investment, traditional models no longer provide an adequate description of the complex associations between speakers, usage, identity and ownership.

A usage-based model

With trans/multilingual users in mind, a colleague and I decided that a more appropriate form of classification would focus on the concept of being a user of a language (see Cook 1992). This removes the geographically oriented models of the past with their overtones of hierarchy, colonialism and linguistic imperialism. In our current model, individuals self-identify as being either primary, additional or periphery users of a language based on their actual usage rather than birthplace, ethnicity, order of acquisition or level of proficiency. Some users may identify only as additional users of languages and may feel as though they have no primary language. Users may also fluctuate in their identification over time. A description of each is shown below.

• Primary users use the language daily or almost daily as part of their normal means of communication for everyday formal and informal interactions, education, and/or business. A primary language is also a language a user identifies with strongly.

• Additional users may use the language daily in education, work, or in business transactions, for example; however, this may not be the language of choice for everyday interactions such as with family, friends or in their local community. Conversely, additional users may use the language for everyday interactions but not for education or business; in either regard, the language is not the primary language used by the individual but is still part of that user’s identity.

• Periphery users use the language for specific purposes only such as education, international business or travel; periphery users neither need nor use the language for everyday interactions, nor do they identify as members of this speech community.

Discussion

One participant in this session questioned whether this model was simply a renaming of previous terms. Others had trouble placing themselves within our proposed descriptors. These are relevant concerns, although feedback in general was that such a model is necessary in this day and age. This is not the final conceptualisation of our model but rather a view of its current, embryotic state. By presenting at IATEFL, we have been given ideas for improvement and look forward to more innovation in this area with a focus on trans/mutilingual users. Norms are changing. In order to reflect this change, perspectives, opinions, and pedagogy must leave the domain of the inner circle and recognise all users equally. As people move around the world and identify with various communities of practice, usage must become the main focus of classification, whether it be with this model or another. *Although he was unable to present, I would like to acknowledge Christopher Osment’s initial contributions to this project. nathan.thomas@education.ox.ac.uk

References

Cook, V. J. 2002. Portraits of the L2 User. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Galloway, N. and H. Rose. 2015. Introducing Global Englishes. Abingdon: Routledge.

Kachru, B. B. (ed.). 1992. The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures (second edition). Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press.

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

2.4 Forum on English as a lingua franca (ELF) Rudi Camerer elc-European language Competence, Frankfurt and Saarbrücken, Germany, Gemma Williams University of Brighton, UK, Analia Duarte Universidad de Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Judith Mader Frankfurt

School of Finance & Management, Germany This forum addressed three areas of English a lingua franca (ELF): a paradigm for the use of ELF in intercultural contexts; the importance of ELF for the teaching of business English with possible tensions for teachers, concluding with a case study from business English training; and the exploration of non-verbal features and their importance for ELF and intercultural communicative competence.

Language−culture−identity: a paradigm for teaching English as a lingua franca

Rudi Camerer and Judith Mader: There are three reasons why reviewing our teaching practices is urgent. One is that the language taught does not seem to correspond to the language used in real life. Several studies have borne this out. Another reason is that although EFL teachers acknowledge the existence of ELF, they do not transfer this to their teaching. Finally language is often taught as a means of ‘getting things done’. However, it is widely accepted in communication theory that language is more than this and that communication firstly negotiates the identities, roles and relationships of those involved. The exchange of information, for instance to get things done, is secondary. If we accept the above, then it seems fair to maintain that trust-building should be the first and foremost aim of FLT. This view, possibly regarded as idiosyncratic, is supported by an important document: the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages 2001 (CEFR). The CEFR has been translated into 40 languages and has been adopted by governments in their FL-education policies. Despite this remarkable success, however, many do not realise that • the CEFR is in essence an intercultural document; and • there are 54 descriptor scales but only four refer to accuracy. The others are of communication skills affecting identity-building, role-definition and relationship-building.

Since 2001, there has been criticism of the CEFR, some justified: inconsistent scales, no levels below A1, descriptors missing at high levels (C1 and C2) and reference in some descriptors to ‘native-speakers’ as the norm. Nevertheless, for many, the advantages of the CEFR make up for the shortcomings. In the 2014 revision project, the criticism has been taken seriously by the Council of Europe. A large number of experts have been involved in drawing up the CEFR-Companion Volume with New Descriptors (CEFR-CV 2017). This represents an important step forward in describing ‘Texts as Social Action’. The traditional skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing, focusing on individual language users, have been replaced by reception, production, interaction and mediation. These imply two or more language users, thus taking context into account. Context is essential for meaning-making to take place and one highly influential context is culture. The CEFR-CV will be highly significant for the design of methods and curricula for the teaching of EFL and ELF. 42

Forum on English as a lingua franca (ELF)

Among other innovations, pronunciation skills are no longer described in relation to a ‘native speaker’ norm and plurilingual and pluricultural skills are defined. The most interesting innovation, however, concerns mediation, i.e. communicating about communication, a crucial skill in intercultural encounters. Skilful mediation allows users to deal with culture-based differences without harming relationships with others. Intercultural experts maintain that skilful mediation can ensure more effective intercultural communication in intercultural situations. The descriptor scales for mediation in the CEFR-CV provide examples taken from practice and show how these skills can be taught (and tested). The innovations in the CEFR-CV will serve as a paradigm not only for FLT but crucially for the teaching of English as a lingua franca.

Integrating ELF awareness into business English teaching and beyond

Gemma Williams: With English now functioning as the primary language of international business, ELF is arguably the most appropriate paradigm to inform business English (BE) pedagogy. This presentation explored aspects of ELF that are most relevant to classroom practice, and detailed a small-scale case study investigating BE teacher awareness and application of these concepts.

Key ELF features • Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC): as covered in the first part of this forum.

• Intelligibility: of far greater importance to the flow of ELF communication than accurate adherence to native speaker (NS) norms. A teaching approach that reflects this, then, seems the most appropriate.

• Accommodation: the underlying, driving process of business ELF talk. The highly consensual and co-operative nature of business ELF talk generally exhibits an attitude of receptivity that is expressed in the willingness to make extra efforts to both understand and to be understood. Speakers frequently converge towards a central form across all areas including phonology, lexis and syntax.

In terms of teaching, what we can draw from this is the fact that what may, at first glance, appear to be errors or mispronunciations, could perhaps be interpreted as highly sophisticated, interculturally competent ELF usage. Sensitive teacher discernment, then, is crucial.

Case study research A literature review indicted that teachers often possess limited awareness of the ELF or ICC and demonstrate a conflict between their beliefs surrounding the relevance of these concepts to teaching and their willingness or ability to apply them. However, all such previous research had been undertaken with General English teachers. Given the importance of ELF and ICC in BE, I was curious to discover whether BE teachers possessed greater awareness.

A mixed-methods case-study, employing questionnaires adapted from Martin Dewey’s (2012) investigation into teacher awareness of ELF and ICC, interviews and classroom observations was undertaken in the BE department of a language school in the UK. Twelve teachers participated in the first stage (ten NSs) and two were selected for interviews and observations.

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

Part 1 of the questionnaire tested awareness of the key concepts. For ELF, all teachers gave clear and insightful descriptions. For accommodation strategies, answers were less confident and consistent among participants. Of those teachers making accurate guesses, all saw it as the speaker’s responsibility to adapt their language. While this is a valid aspect of accommodation, the crucial receptive role and bilateral flow was unacknowledged. ICC was uniformly described favourably and as an integral part of their responsibilities.

Participants were then asked to rate eight sentences, drawn from an ELF corpus, according to their correctness, acceptability, intelligibility and importance to correct in class. Most notable was the breadth of participant reactions: teachers responded idiosyncratically (see Figure 2.4.1), with intelligibility (rated positively) the only consistent term across sentences and participants.

Figure 2.4.1: Reactions to sentences from an ELF corpus

Despite this, and the median rating of all utterances as ‘somewhat’ acceptable or ‘neutral’, the overall evaluation for ‘correctness’ was negative with six sentences rated highly for requiring classroom correction. This tension was also apparent in the classroom observations.

Gesturing and voice expression to enhance the speaking skill

Analia Duarte: Being asked to make a learner improve his English in no time because his career path was at stake made me, as a business English (BE) trainer, focus on all the expressive possibilities available in this learner’s voice and body. In doing so, not only did he become his own personal living laboratory but he also deployed in the L2 all the potential he already had in the L1. Three years later, he is a finance controller in Argentina, the UK and India!

Initially, we decided that fluency was at the top of the list. In this case, this multi-faceted concept meant sounding less choppy and having better flow and an effortless combination of words into utterances. Most importantly, we agreed to go

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Forum on English as a lingua franca (ELF)

beyond language and work on the body because we all live in three primary domains which are in permanent interaction: language, emotions and body. Since the learner was expected to lead a multicultural team in the future in ELF, exploring what it means to lead with cultural intelligence became central because functioning effectively in intercultural contexts is not merely knowing a list of cultural do’s and don’ts but rather adapting to different cultural contexts and being able to navigate them.

Interestingly, there are also three components of cultural intelligence: the cognitive, the emotional/motivational and the physical, traditionally neglected in ELT although the whole body must be trained when communicating in a foreign language as it needs to adopt new patterns of behaviour, which ties in with bonding and interpersonal communication. In business, results equal relationships. That is why BE trainers should also work on the relational dimension of spoken business communication in ELF. To that end, spontaneous gestures, i.e. those which are ‘phonologically, semantically and pragmatically synchronic with speech and an external manifestation of a speaker’s on-line thinking-for-speaking’ (Stam and McCafferty 2008: 6) become our allies. They contribute to the production of continued speech and the creation of potential contexts of acquisition because they 1 are co-expressive with speech, an integrated system; 2 help organise information for speaking; 3 lighten the cognitive load and free up cognitive resources to be used elsewhere; 4 serve developmental purposes; 5 are a bridge from individual cognition to the social other; and 6 expand possibilities (two dimensions, time and space vs. speaking, unidimensional).

In brief, gesturing is a free, readily available resource we can bring into our L2 classes. Once teachers start systematically raising learners’ awareness, the gains are multiple. In this process of making the invisible visible through exercises that focus on facial expression, eye contact, proximity, melody, voice projection, posture— and even breathing—learners build on their interlanguage development, become more fluent and also capitalise on their identity, their self-concept, their self-efficacy and their self-esteem; both the cognitive and affective dimensions are brought into the picture. Gesturing is a very powerful tool to place learners in the ELF driver’s seat. r.camerer@elc-consult.com djezmalouiz@gmail.com analiaduarteleaps@gmail.com j.mader@fs.de

References

Council of Europe 2017. Common European Framework of Reference – Companion Volume. https://rm.coe.int/cefr-companion-volume-with-new-descriptors-2018/1680787989.

Dewey, M. 2012 ‘Towards a post-normative approach: Learning the pedagogy of ELF’. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 1/1: 141–170.

Stam, G. and S. McCafferty. 2008 ‘Gesture studies and second language acquisition: a review’ in S. McCafferty and G. Stam (eds.). Gesture, Second Language Acquisition and Classroom Research. New York: Routledge.

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

2.5 Own-language use in the language classroom: why, when and how?

Graham Hall Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Introduction

The use of the learners’ own language(s) in the classroom was, for much of the 20th century, overlooked or deliberately devalued in the theoretical debates surrounding ELT (though not in practice, as use of the learners’ own language continued unacknowledged and unexamined in many classrooms around the world). Recently, however, ‘English-only’ approaches to teaching and learning have been challenged in a number of ways.

Defining our terms

Before moving on, however, we need to clarify terms. While ‘first language’, ‘L1’, ‘native language’ and ‘mother tongue’ are common synonyms for ‘own language’, each is problematic, blurring criteria surrounding birth, identity and expertise (Rampton 1990), while ignoring the fact that it is increasingly difficult to refer to learners’ languages as simply their L1 and L2 in an evidently multilingual world. Thus, while further possibilities exist (for example, ‘home’ or ‘shared’ language), the term ‘own language’ is increasingly common, and refers to ‘the language which the students already know, and through which (if allowed) they can approach the new language’ (G. Cook 2010: xxi-xxii).

The case against own-language use

Arguments for English-only teaching and against own-language use range from beliefs about second language learning (for example, ELT classrooms should replicate ‘mother-tongue’ learning, and offer ‘naturalistic’, ‘immersive’ environments) to the ideological and commercial underpinnings of ELT (for example, print runs of monolingual textbooks can be marketed globally; English-only teaching is ‘convenient’ for many native-speaker teachers). Yet the need for English language input, interaction, output (i.e. practice) in the classroom is evident. Thus, the case for own-language use is not that we should return to grammar-translation or classes where own-language use dominates and the use of English is minimised; rather it is to explore the ways in which the principled use of the learners’ own languages use might support English learning.

Arguments for own-language use

Arguments in support of own-language use include the notion of multicompetence—‘the knowledge of more than one language in the same mind’ (V. Cook 2008: 231). Here, own-language knowledge operates as a reference system which learners naturally draw on as they learn the new language. In practical terms, learners might attend to the similarities and differences between their own language and English.

Thus, concepts from SLA theory, such as ‘noticing’ and ‘focus on form’, are all potentially supportive of own-language use. Translation activities in which learners cannot

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Own-language use in the language classroom: why, when and how?

avoid difficult lexical or grammatical items can result in ‘pushed output’; research into ‘learning strategies’ also notes a role for translation. Meanwhile, code-switching and the use of bilingual dictionaries is regularly focused upon in vocabulary acquisition research.

Meanwhile, humanistic and democratic perspectives on education remind us that recognising prior knowledge, which includes the learners’ own languages, helps teachers recognise ‘the whole person’, while constructivist accounts of learning suggest that new knowledge is based on existing understandings and beliefs. Meanwhile, sociocultural theory suggests that language—in this case, the learners’ own language—is a cognitive tool through which learning can be scaffolded. It can be used by learners, for example, to explain and prepare tasks prior to using English, to maintain collaboration and peer and group relationships within the classroom, and to attend to and explain new grammar and vocabulary.

Pedagogic functions of own-language use

Reports of the ways in which teachers might deploy learners’ own languages in the classroom focus on three main areas. ‘Medium-oriented’ functions aim to teach the new language itself (such as explaining grammar or vocabulary, or explaining when meanings are not clear); ‘framework’ functions involve classroom management and organisation (such as giving instructions, setting homework and maintaining discipline); and ‘social’ functions focus on, for example, rapport building and establishing equitable classroom relations. Meanwhile, learners’ use of their own languages seems to focus on medium-oriented activities such as using bilingual dictionaries, comparing English grammar to that of their own language, watching TV/video with subtitles, engaging in spoken and written translation activities, and preparing for tasks and activities in their own languages before switching to English. Many learners also seem to use their own language for affective reasons in order to build peer relationships, reduce anxiety and so forth.

Concluding thoughts

How much own language occurs in a class will vary according to context; learners’ age and level, class size and whether the teaching institution is private/state sector are likely to be important. Consequently, there is a clear need for more research and further sharing of best practice in order that ELT practitioners can make informed choices about when and how to use the learners’ own language in the classroom. g.hall@northumbria.ac.uk

References

Cook, G. 2010. Translation in English Language Teaching: An Argument for Reassessment.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cook, V. 2008. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching (fourth edition). London: Hodder Education.

Rampton, B. 1990. ‘Displacing the ‘native speaker’: expertise, affiliation and inheritance’. ELT Journal 44/2: 97−101.

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

2.6 Whatever happened to the third P? Paul Emmerson The English Language Centre, Brighton, UK Background

I did my initial teacher training at IH Lisbon in 1991 and we were taught two ‘safe’ lesson shapes for beginner teachers: 1 Presentation – controlled practice – less-controlled practice (‘PPP’) 2 Warmer – fluency activity (task/discussion/role play) – language feedback Since then, I have often heard people confusing less-controlled practice (the third P) with tasks. They are quite different. The third P requires the target language in a loose, personalised context—there are no answers in the book like the second P, but the student is still focusing on form. In a task there is no predefined target language and the student is focusing on meaning.

Is the third P being forgotten?

In my talk I showed slides from many contemporary business English coursebooks to see how the PPP + Task model was being implemented. We saw that sometimes it was implemented well, but often not. In many cases the third P was simply missing from a coursebook sequence: the book passed from presentation and controlled practice straight to a task or fluency exercise.

I’m sure that this is mirrored in classroom practice. Take yourself as an example.

How often do you do short, focused, lively, heads-up personalised practice of the target language with no answers in the back of the book? I think the third P is often ignored.

Modern approaches

These days we don’t believe language acquisition happens over a 45-minute PPP lesson. We have a more sophisticated and subtle view. Structured input is still important, but: • it takes much longer than 45 minutes to acquire language, and one time round a rigid PPP sequence will not be enough (it takes time to build channels from working memory to long term memory); • you need lots of intervening passive ‘noticing’ of the language (ditto re. building memory channels); and • there has to be a communicative need for the language (to pull it back out of longterm memory into working memory).

In thinking about all this I have found Michael Swan’s model for ‘a balanced programme’ very useful. Table 2.6.1 is taken from his article ‘Two out of three ain’t enough’ (find it by scrolling down at https://mikeswan.net/articles). The terms ‘extensive’, ‘intensive’ and ‘analysed’ are his own.

To my way of thinking, this looks a lot like Table 2.6.2.

I totally agree with Swan’s article, where he argues that all these elements are necessary for a successful course. He gives examples of unbalanced programmes that give too much or too little weight to various elements.

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Whatever happened to the third P?

Extensive

Input

Books, magazines, texts, Spoken or written etc. texts studied in detail

Intensive

Analysed Learning rules

Looking at examples and Speech (of other people) Material learnt by heart lists

Output Free speaking

Free writing

Controlled speaking or Doing exercises writing, reusing learnt material

Table 2.6.1: A balanced programme (from Swan 2007)

Extensive

Intensive

Analysed

Input

Noticing (incidental)

Noticing (directed)

Presentation

2nd P

Output Tasks

3rd P

2nd P

Table 2.6.2: An interpretation of Swan’s model, based on the conventional PPP + Skills Practice model

Why is the third P being marginalised?

I identify three reasons why the third P has too little weight in modern ELT: 1 Teachers are good at presentation and controlled practice. It’s ‘teaching’. And taskbased approaches have increased the visibility of meaningful speaking activities.

But the third P has no champion.

2 The third P combines both form (the target language) and meaning (personalised examples and context). This is more complex cognitively. It feels messy in class as students struggle to get out the language and make up their own examples at the same time. It doesn’t go as well as the second P (answers in the back) or a task (fun and lively).

3 In a coursebook it’s difficult to implement, both creatively and in terms of space.

So what?

I think all this matters because one element in language acquisition is going missing.

Students will have a tougher job producing language in free speech if their practice has only been heads-down written exercises.

And it has implications for blended learning. The web-based side of the blend is appropriate for presentation and controlled practice, and the classroom side of the blend is appropriate for tasks and discussions. But the classroom would also be an excellent place for third P activities. They would add real value to the students’ learning experience with a live teacher.

A full version of this article with lots of concrete examples and suggested third P activities can be found at http://www.paulemmerson.com/slideshows/. paulemmerson@btinternet.com

Reference

Swan, M. 2007. ‘Two out of three ain’t enough—the essential ingredients of a language course’ in B. Beaven (ed.). IATEFL 2006 Harrogate Conference Selections. Canterbury: IATEFL.

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

2.7 Integrating life skills into English language programmes Ben Knight Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK Introduction

As English teachers, we know our classes are about more than just the language—the grammar, vocabulary, language skills. We’re also developing our students’ ability to express themselves effectively, to think critically, and to collaborate successfully. But as this becomes a major part of 21st-century educational requirements, can we be sure that we’re doing this as well as we could be?

Models and approaches to life skills

At Cambridge, we have been researching different approaches to life skills, to work out how we could integrate these skills into English language courses better. We looked at a wide range of models, from the Partnership for 21st-Century Skills, to the OECD, WHO and UNICEF, and the ACT College and Career Readiness Standards.

All of these provide excellent insights into life skills, but we decided that we needed a framework that covered the full range of skills and competencies that are relevant to education, that showed how these develop across the learning journey, from pre-primary to adulthood, and that provided a level of detail that helps teachers and students to understand what exactly they should be focusing on at each stage of education.

The Cambridge Framework for Life competencies

We set out to create a model or framework which had those features. We examined research into skills required by employers, changes in skills needed at work and college and academic research into different areas of competency. The framework is organised around eight main areas of competency: creativity and innovation, critical thinking, digital literacy, learning to learn, communication, collaboration, emotional development and social responsibilities.

Each of these eight areas contains a number of ‘competencies’. So, for example, collaboration includes competencies such as ‘taking turns in shared activities’ and ‘managing the sharing of tasks in a project’. We then analyse each competency into its Component Skills. For example, ‘managing the sharing of tasks in a project’ consists of Component Skills such as identifying tasks and sub-tasks that can be shared, ensuring the allocation of tasks is fair and offering to help when others need it.

Life skills and the learning journey

The framework looks at the learning journey in five broad stages: pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher education and learning at work. For each of those stages, we have developed Can Do Statements which describe what a student completing that level might be expected to be able to do in relation to that competency, in terms of observable behaviours. For example, in the area of critical thinking, there is a competency ‘evaluating texts, ideas and arguments’, and for primary school students, some of the Can Do Statements for this are: • Says whether something is true or not, and gives a reason • Explains why they believe or not what a character says in a story

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Plenary: Sausage and the law: how textbooks get made

• Identifies inconsistencies in stories • Identifies missing key events from short narrative summaries More information on the Cambridge Framework for Life competencies can be found at http://languageresearch.cambridge.org/cflc.

Integration with English language programmes

Any course based on communicative language learning will already include elements of developing life skills. The focus on communication, on working in pairs or groups, on thinking critically or working imaginatively with texts and tasks all go beyond pure language learning. However, the approach is usually unsystematic in how it plans the development of life skills. We have found that the Framework has helped us integrate life skills in a more systematic way: we look at the Component Skills for a particular competency and create a planned progression through those component skills. We also use the Can Do Statements to think more carefully about the design of tasks, making sure that we have helping students to focus on a specific skill in an explicit way. For example, one aspect of collaboration is being able to give constructive feedback to others in the group. We have designed lessons where we begin by highlighting the language used to express feedback in a constructive, positive way, then provide scaffolded activities for the students to make use of that language.

We have also been developing ‘assessment checklists’, based on the Can Do Statements, that teachers can use to evaluate how well their students are progressing on abstract-sounding skills such as ‘creativity’.

The Framework is freely available for teachers and schools to use when trying to think more systematically about integrating life skills into their English language programmes. bknight@cambridge.org

References

National Research Council. 2012. Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.

Suto, I. 2013. ‘21st century skills: ancient, ubiquitous, enigmatic?’. Research Matters: A Cambridge Assessment Publication 15: 2–8.

Trilling, B. and C. Fadel. 2009. 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in our Times. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

2.8 Plenary: Sausage and the law: how textbooks get made Dorothy Zemach Independent writer and editor, Eugene, Ore., USA

Those who like sausage and the law, the saying goes, should never watch either being made. The same could be said of textbooks. But if published materials influence your life at all, it’s time to pull the curtain aside.

One series, two stories

I’d like to open with an illustrative story of the creation of a textbook series, one of mine, and of its subsequent revision.

My publisher wanted a business series, as well as a lower level of my writing series.

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To that end, they paid for me and my editor to spend a week in Japan, observing classes and talking to teachers. The issue the publisher wanted to address with this business series was university students’ lack of interest and motivation. In addition to being inherently motivating, it was hoped, the new series could teach business skills for new employees along with English language.

I knew what I wanted to do: include a student-created portfolio project. Each student in the course would create, from their imagination, a company and an employee who worked there. In each unit, they’d add more detail—the company business plan, the physical layout, the mission statement, even the logo. The worker would get a physical description and a personality, a work schedule and hopes and dreams. I felt confident this approach would work because I’d used this project in my classes at Sumitomo Electric Industries, and had shared my materials with other instructors who had also reported success.

My editor was dubious. A project? Student-created materials? No other book had such a feature. Maybe we could put it in the teacher’s guide, he suggested, or perhaps online … No, no, I said, it must be in the book. Essentially, it is the book.

For one week, we watched teachers using traditional business English textbooks and discussed why they weren’t setting students on fire. Because, I said, with no work experience, students have no connection to what they’re reading. Who cares why Coca-Cola updated their logo, or about the description of a fictional company in a textbook? Let students create their own world, and they’ll come alive.

We met in Osaka with Andrew Vaughan, who ran English programmes at Sumikin-Intercom. He got what I was saying right away—and became my co-author.

Book 1, targeting pre-work students, got the portfolio project. For Book 2, we wanted something different, and also a format that would be relevant to recent hires. So we structured the book around the story of a new hire at a multinational company. There were 12 units, so we named each unit after a month, and took the new hire from January to December on her first year on the job. In Unit 1, she went through introductions; in Unit 2, she learned more about the company and its products; in Unit 6, she took a business trip; in Unit 7, she wrote follow-up emails about the business trip; and so on until Unit 12, December, when she went through a performance review.

I think those were some of the best books I’ve written, and one reason for that is the way they were created—with author and editor working as a team to develop and create excellent materials. A team, but not a team with identical roles. The authors got to author, and the editors edited. For this division of labour, the authors got a 10 per cent royalty on the ‘net to publisher’ the book earned, and the publisher got 90 per cent of the profits, as was normal at the time.

It seemed a sensible system, and—as I challenged an ‘old hand’ editor who attended the Q&A after my IATEFL plenary—it was a system that worked. Authors made enough money to keep on writing, and publishers produced high quality materials that worked for teachers and learners. Some truly excellent books came out of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

But then came the shift.

The publisher contacted us a few years later about those business books, to see if we’d be interested in creating an international edition; this meant, it was initially

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Plenary: Sausage and the law: how textbooks get made

explained, changing the language from American to British English, changing some of the contexts from SE Asia to Europe, and changing the supplemental exam practice at the back from TOEIC to BEC. It seemed like an easy way to reach new markets, so we said sure.

‘Oh, and we’ll be reducing your royalty rate to 8 per cent.’

‘Wait. What? Why would you do that?’

Because they needed to create a student website, and they needed our money to pay for it. We asked why the website couldn’t be paid out of their 90 per cent (of the profits!) instead of our 10 per cent, but were told that times were tough for publishers, money was tight, there was just no other way. We offered to write all of the web content for free, and keep our original royalty rate. No. So we turned the offer down. We’d rather not have an international edition than be badly treated over one. A matter of money, sure, but also principle. To which the editor replied that if we refused, they would hire freelancers to rewrite the sections, pay the freelancers out of our royalties, and still give us 8 per cent. We were horrified, but trapped (I had a lawyer look over my contract), and so we gave in. At least we’d still have our beloved material, right?

Wrong. Gone was the respect for author input. We were informed that in addition to the few minor changes initially proposed, they’d also be removing the portfolio project from Book 1, and stripping the story line out of Book 2. We pressed for reasons but got nonsense. ‘Europeans don’t like stories’ was all we got about the Book 2 decision. We argued that the book would make significantly less sense now—in Unit 6, someone would go on a business trip, and in Unit 7, someone completely new would send follow-up emails about a different business trip with no background, and so on. But we lost every argument.

I wouldn’t call the international edition downright bad, but I’m not sure I’d call it good either. It’s certainly no longer unique or special. The website, by the way, was never completed. In fact, it was never started.

This is one illustration, but almost every author I know has a pack of stories like this up their sleeve.

The shift, the thrift and the shaft

Why the shift, though? What happened? Because there was a shift—from authors having control over their own content and getting a minimum 10 per cent royalty (which was expected to rise with experience to 12 per cent or even 15 per cent) to the current landscape, where teams of editors control the books from concept to production, and just supply authors—uh, ‘content creators’—with briefs that tell them what to do. And pay 6 per cent royalties, or 2.5 per cent, or 0 per cent (giving instead a flat fee that works out to a fraction of what royalties would have paid). A research trip for the author and editor to the target markets wouldn’t happen today.

Publishers blamed ‘digital’. They saw ebooks and digital media and learning management systems and platforms on the horizon, and they panicked. They assumed—wrongly, in my opinion—that these new technologies would somehow wreck publishing or their place in it, and they would have to proactively reorganise.

And certainly profits were already down. Proof that digital was disruptive!

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

Pearson went first. In 2013, Pearson authors were sent a letter that explained that ‘[o]ur aim is to move beyond publishing and build a new integrated, agile and outcome-driven function, which as of today we are calling “Product Development”’ (Neale, correspondence, July 2013). What that meant, it turned out, was that they were proposing to cease development of new print products in favour of digital-only (a move they have since wisely walked back) and drop author royalties entirely in favour of fees—and lower fees than what royalties would have come to.

Other publishers followed suit less dramatically, but began chipping away—letting go mid-career editors and sales and marketing staff with a background in ELT or teaching and replacing them with new hires with ‘business’ experience (often finance). One excellent marketing professional who worked with one of my courses was let go and saw her position advertised a month later, with no mention of desired qualifications in language or books or education; instead they wanted someone with ‘FMCG experience’. Fast-Moving Consumer Goods. Like soap.

When I first started writing textbooks in 2001, and in my previous decade of teaching, it seemed that almost everyone in the publishing landscape had a teaching background. Certainly editors did, but even sales and marketing people usually had a year or two of teaching experience or had studied English themselves. This is no longer the case.

But books are not soap. Authors, at least good authors, are not interchangeable.

They used to be hired because they could produce something unique. Editors trusted authors to produce excellent materials, and so a variety of authors produced a variety of books. Ironically, although there now seem to be more ELT books than ever before, they also look more alike. Everything is a series; every unit must have the same number of pages. One good idea becomes, at least for a while, the only good idea.

(Must every unit in every book be based on a TED talk? Must every reading include ten words from the Academic Word List?) We’ve lost the quirky standalones that used to be perfect for some classrooms, and are instead trying to force all students to learn off the same page.

But I don’t think ‘impending digital’ was actually responsible for this situation, at least not initially. In my opinion, what really happened is that publishers started eating their young.

An explosion of ancillaries

In the 1980s and 1990s, what sold was student books. If there even were teacher’s guides, those were more like fleshed out answer keys, and sales reps could give them out as a freebie if a school could guarantee enough sales of student books.

To compete with one another, though, publishers began producing better and better teacher’s guides—now with extensive notes, photocopiable worksheets, midterm tests, final exams. Then came student workbooks. Student support websites. Teacher support websites. CD-ROMs. Testing packages with unit tests and placement tests.

And many or all of these were given out free, as long as an institution adopted the student book.

They certainly weren’t free to create, however. Since the only piece that was actually being sold was the student book, publishers raised student book prices, and looked for ways to cut costs—like cutting author royalties.

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Plenary: Sausage and the law: how textbooks get made

But student book prices can only go up so high before students stop buying them, and teachers stop asking them to. Instead, students use old editions or share books or pirate copies online or use materials created by the teacher. Then publisher profits fall, and they panic anew, and raise student book prices and reduce author payments even further.

Publisher-led, market-driven … author-free?

The dual driving forces of panic over digital disruption and pressure to give away more and more expensive ancillaries and raise student book prices have brought us to the current climate of the ‘publisher-led project’—one in which author teams are assembled by publishers, given instructions on what to write, paid a fee (and often not one they could live on), and sent on their way.

One result of this is that some experienced authors are walking away. They leave big publishers for smaller ones, they quit ELT authoring altogether for other careers, or they turn to self-publishing, where royalties are higher and authors retain 100 per cent control over their content.

That leaves publishers with less experienced authors, who must therefore be more tightly controlled with stricter briefs and templates. And at some point, ‘authoring’ a textbook becomes more like data entry than writing.

Because a book that sells in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America is cheaper to produce than one book for the Middle East, another one for Asia, still another one for Latin America, and so on, publishers are also developing fewer regional books and regional versions, and instead directing writers on their publisher-led projects to write books that are ‘safe’ for the whole world. Thus we are handed briefs that forbid subjects such as dating and love, parties, space and science fiction, art and movies, alcohol and tobacco, LGBTQ issues, and animals like dogs and pigs. Even individual words get banned. ‘Birthday’, ‘Christchurch’, ‘Christmas’, ‘cross’ (as a verb), ‘evolution’ (in the metaphorical sense), ‘flash mob’, ‘government’, ‘hamburger’, ‘Israel’, ‘smartphone’ and ‘Taiwan’ are just some examples either I or author friends have had to fight to include—and we didn’t usually win the fight.

No teacher wants to work out of a book their students find offensive or upsetting.

But why can’t students in Europe learn how to order a drink? Or students in Latin America talk about Christmas? It might not be all right in Saudi Arabia to discuss homosexuality, but it is in Canada.

I don’t think most of the materials being published today are bad, to be clear. But I do think they’re not as good as they could be. Teachers are missing the innovative, excellent content that experienced authors aren’t there to write anymore or inexperienced editorial or marketing departments strip out because it doesn’t fit the detailed instructions of the 48-page brief. Design as a field is booming; textbooks look great.

But I don’t think they’re as good inside as they used to be. And that’s a shame.

It’s not all bad news. While royalties were plunging or disappearing in our little non-fiction niche, over in fiction authors were growing tired of receiving only 25 per cent royalties (more than double ours!), and career authors have been increasingly moving to self-publishing, where royalty rates go up to 70 per cent—of cover price.

If I sell an ebook on Amazon, Apple, or a similar platform, I make around US$2 for a book that retails for US$3. On a traditionally published book, I make around $2

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for a book that retails for $50. And that’s if the net to publisher amount is figured generously; on some books, I make more like 0.25. The argument used to be that while traditional publishers paid less per copy, they sold more copies overall, but that is becoming less true all the time, as customers become more used to buying directly online and become more price-sensitive.

Some smaller ELT publishers still offer 10 per cent royalties on new projects as a matter of course, including Express Publishing, Perceptia Press, Pro Lingua and University of Michigan Press. Micropresses such as Wayzgoose Press (disclaimer: that’s my own) and Alphabet Publishing offer royalties around 40−50 per cent.

The changes in ELT publishing are fairly recent, which gives me hope that they might be reversible, or at least redirected. It would be nice to change direction before the industry really hit rock bottom. (To publishers who patiently explain to me how the new landscape works now, I like to ask: ‘And is it working? Are your profits up or down? Are you hiring or laying off? Bringing more books to conferences or fewer?’)

So what can we do about it?

Here are some steps that publishers could take, in my eyes, to get back on track: 1 Pay authors fairly. It’s hard for me to see how this could mean anything other than royalties; one point of spreading author reimbursement out over several years was because the publisher couldn’t afford to invest it all at the outset. That makes it a bit hard to believe that a flat fee is now an easier option for the publisher but still equally attractive to the author. However, if a fee could be calculated that accurately reflected, say, five years of royalties, I wouldn’t be opposed. Even so, a royalty keeps an author invested in the book. If I have a stake in its success, I will write newsletter articles and catalogue copy, give webinars, talk at conferences, train sales staff, and so on. A book I’ve written for a fee? It’s out of my head when the final invoice is paid.

Royalties should begin at a minimum at 10 per cent; but really, as technology lightens the workload, they should rise. Remember—you’ve still got 90 per cent of the profits to invest and sustain yourself. If your publishing house will collapse without your taking over another 2 per cent from me, then you have serious problems, and lowering the quality of your output is not going to solve those. Just ask the ELT division of McGraw-Hill.

Don’t even think of lowering royalties on subsequent editions, once the bulk of the work has been done and your expenses have been recouped. What a slap in the face to authors. And are all the recent legal battles over these moves not costing you? University of Michigan Press doubled my royalty on a second edition, a move that makes a lot more sense.

2 Trust your authors. An editor is a vital part of the story, but authors are supposed to bring not only the creativity but the pedagogical and linguistic expertise. If you can’t trust your authors to do that, then don’t hire them in the first place, and look for someone you can trust. That doesn’t mean an author’s judgment should never be questioned, but when in doubt, it should be questioned, not overridden by a brief half directed by the marketing department.

3 Lower student book prices. Look—if technology is not saving you money, you’re doing it wrong. If the market cannot support the true cost of your fabulous Learning Management System, then don’t build that Learning Management System.

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Plenary: Sausage and the law: how textbooks get made

Build something else, find another way, or wait a few years for the cost to come down. Fabulous new tech is exciting, but it’s supposed to be a tool to help people.

It’s certainly not necessary to learn English; look how many people learned English 70 years ago who didn’t even have a cassette recorder or a language lab. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been told that my royalties must be decreased to pay for the website/LMS/digital whatever, and then a few years later, that tech was abandoned because—surprise—the consumer didn’t really want it after all. What they wanted was content that would work on platforms they already had.

4 Charge for the ancillaries. The day of the complimentary teacher’s book has passed (unless you want to reduce it to an answer key again). If you are paying staff and authors to produce quality materials, then those should be sold. I know it’s hard when your competitor is giving away a free woozit with every adoption. But a race to the bottom is one we all lose.

5 End the stranglehold of distributors on retail prices (at least in some markets).

Right now we have a system in some countries where a book that retails on a site like Amazon sells at $32; the publisher sells it to the distributor at $26; and then the distributor sells it to the consumer at $100. I probably cannot tell you the title of the book in question, for legal reasons, but I can assure you this example is not made up. Then we all complain that sales are down. Now why would that be?

Not everyone reading this is a publisher (perhaps, sadly, no one is), but I have advice for teachers and programme administrators as well. The health of the textbook industry affects you directly. Do you want excellent materials? Publishers really do want to provide you with excellent materials. Of course they do. It would be daft not to. But they are experiencing a temporary confusion over what excellent materials really are and how they are created, and you can help.

1 Be critical consumers. A textbook is something you could wind up using in every class; it has to do more than just look good. Go through examination copies slowly, and imagine yourself teaching the units, down to individual pages and exercises. Is the practice extensive enough? Does the content suit your students? Are any topics missing? Can you understand the underlying pedagogy, and do you agree with it?

2 If you’re not pleased with current offerings, then speak up. A publisher’s favourite phrase is ‘market-driven’, and you and your students are the market. Publishers want to sell people books they want. Salespeople, whether they’re local reps or the head office staff that you see at conferences, will listen to you. Really—they will.

If enough requests come in for the same thing, that news will be passed on to the editorial department. Talk about prices, too! Let them know at what point your students will buy a book (versus downloading a pirated .pdf or sharing a book with a friend or using an old edition).

Email publishers; mention them on Twitter; post on their Facebook pages. One request won’t change an industry, but enough voices will. Let them know too what you like, and why.

A word of caution, though—your requests need to be principled ones. Before you say that you want each reading to have ten Academic Word List words (because when I pushed back on that with a publisher, their defence was always, ‘That’s what the market wants’), ask yourself why. Sometimes it’s going to mean doing a little research. But if the result were even better books, wouldn’t it be worth it?

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Chapter 2: The big picture: models, methods and materials

3 Pay for your stuff. You can’t expect free websites and testing packages and teacher resource packets without the student book price soaring. If everything is priced reasonably, then students and programmes can invest in those materials they truly want. And no sharing of those pirated pdfs. You’re paid for the work you do; authors need to be paid for the work they do. A host of organisations and sites, from the British Council to http://americanenglish.state.gov to Project Gutenberg and MOOC courses, offer free materials for both learners and teachers. But if you wouldn’t steal a car or a dress or a phone, then don’t steal a book. (If you would steal those things, then you need more help than I can offer you.)

4 Programme coordinators and administrators in particular: Do not be dazzled by fancy tech or glowing language in catalogues. How do your teachers like to teach?

How do your learners like to learn? What materials would best support your teachers? Talk to them, and listen to them. I find it hard to believe any programme could truly thrive if teachers did not feel happy with the materials they had to use.

However, in the end, I don’t see a group of publishers over here, a group of teachers over there, some administrators beyond, and some authors clustered down here. There’s no ‘us and them’. There’s only us. We all share the same goals. We all want excellent materials that support teachers in their teaching and learners in their learning. And the best way to foster that is create a system that is fair to all the players. http://www.dorothyzemach.com/contact/

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Lessons from the classroom

The papers in this chapter present examples of lessons, activities or classroom-based research. In all cases, there are lessons to be learned. Julietta Schoenmann and Linda Ruas start the chapter by addressing the issue of fake news; they present classroom activities designed to help students to consume news critically. William Kerr then demonstrates how an old favourite technique, dictogloss, still has a place in the modern classroom. The next three papers take us into the EAP classroom. Caroline Webb outlines an activity designed to encourage EAP students to develop both pragmatic competence and research skills; Jayn Kilbon discusses ways to enhance the comprehension of academic lectures; and Zulaikha Al-Saadi reports on research into the ways in which Omani students revise their written work. The chapter ends with three papers that address topics related to vocabulary development. Alexander M. Lewko shows the connection between the use of the tool Text Inspector and vocabulary development; Piet Murre presents research into vocabulary acquisition among high-level EMI students; and Laura Laubacher argues in favour of a discourse layering approach to vocabulary learning.

3.1 F is for fake: how students deal critically with post-truth Julietta Schoenmann and Linda Ruas Global Issues SIG Joint Coordinators,

UK Students get their news in different ways: online, from paper-based sources or by word of mouth. Some may not be interested in consuming news at all, while others may rely on friends or family to keep up to date with local, national and international events.

For those who engage regularly with what is going on around them, we believe there is an increasing need to apply critical thinking skills to what they read and hear, simply because social media, sophisticated software and a huge number of websites make it harder to distinguish fact from opinion.

What makes the use of social media in particular a different way for our students to obtain news? Here are four areas that are of significance: • anti-journalism journalism; • sharing news as performance; • making a good impression; and • communication as ritual.

These four areas demonstrate that the act or process of engagement in sending and receiving news content via Facebook, Twitter or other forms of social media is as important as the content being shared. Given that technical solutions (for example, 59

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flagging disputed content or blocking certain sites) have met with limited success, it seems more helpful to equip students with strategies and tools that enable them to more consciously process news stories and detect bias whenever they encounter it. In so doing this will help develop their critical literacy, news literacy, digital literacy and numerical literacy.

So how can we enable our students to do this? We need to encourage our students to read widely and subject themselves to different opinions that can act as counter measures to one particular view. We can advise them to check the source of the story and whether the website is reliable. Tell them to read the whole article rather than just the headline since fake news often relies on shocking headlines to get readers’ attention. If they can, ask them to do some brief research on whether other reputable media outlets are running the story in order to corroborate what they read or hear.

Suggest that they also check the date on an article as old news stories are sometimes circulated, which gives the impression they are current; this can be misleading.

In terms of practical classroom activities, there are several enjoyable but critically rewarding things you can do.

• Firstly, familiarise students with what fake news is. Do a few jigsaw reading tasks, such as cutting up a few simple introductions to programmes. Here is an example using an extract from the BBC programme Newsround (https://bbc.in/2m1OxiO) where you can get students to re-tell and discuss the content and to agree on definitions.

• Bring in examples of fake news and real news to class to see if students can tell the difference. Explore why people choose to believe what they do and investigate what students can do to check what is fake. For example, present a headline of the day, then ask students to discuss what the story is about and whether they think it is fake news or not.

• Try a quiz. Gather statements about national or international events, some of which are true and some are fake. Ask students to guess which ones are fake.

• Listen to reports about fake news to find reasons why people share fake news and ways of spotting it (https://bbc.in/2H1aAFt).

Figure 3.1.1: Poster to help students recognise fake news

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Dictogloss redux: rethinking a learning masterpiece in a technological age

• Encourage students to negotiate meaning by translating posters in their own language (about how to spot fake news) in order to create a poster together in English to display in their institution to other students. This IFLA website link has pdf versions of translations of the poster in Figure 3.1.1 in around 40 languages.

• Raise awareness of how photos and infographics can be manipulated using published materials (https://eewiki.newint.org/index.php?title=QUIZZES).

Analysing fake news stories can help to move some students from LOTS to HOTS (lower- to higher-order thinking skills). It can also shock them into realising how important it is to talk to friends and family about the news they read and hear. In addition, it may help teenage groups by safeguarding some of the more vulnerable students from being manipulated.

This type of teaching—responding to and discussing authentic news which is far too recent and relevant to appear in any published coursebook—really helps learners deal with the language they see around them while enhancing their critical thinking skills. gisig@iatefl.org

3.2 Dictogloss redux: rethinking a learning masterpiece in a technological age William Kerr Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey Introduction

Ruth Wajnryb’s Grammar Dictation (1990) introduced into the ELT classroom a language-teaching technique that has truly endured the test of time. Lauded by applied linguistics researchers and practitioners alike, dictogloss (as the procedure has become more popularly known) stands out as one of the most effective communicative and collaborative techniques in any teacher’s repertoire. In fact, one might argue there are few, if any, comparable techniques that offer so invaluable an opportunity for classroom collaboration, communicative activity and use of all four language skills simultaneously. And all this with a focus on grammar!

Preparation and aims

Texts used in the dictogloss procedure should be authentic/near-authentic, often adopted from media sources. Productive grammar knowledge is being used in the re/ creation of text with the aim of developing grammatical competence. Good preparation and skilful manipulation of groups and texts will benefit motivation, reducing any affective filter, and will ensure a smoother contribution to the learner’s moving from interlanguage to more advanced mastery of target language structures.

The stages of the dictogloss

• Preparation: the learner is told about the topic; new vocabulary is introduced; working groups are formed.

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• Dictation: the text is heard at normal spoken speed. The aim of the first listening is to get a general feeling of the text, while that of the second is for jotting notes; readings should be as identical as possible.

• Reconstruction: learners pool notes in groups and work on a group version; minor errors can be pointed out, but the teacher’s role is to monitor, not provide input.

• Analysis/Correction: various methods of analysis are possible; students should have the opportunity to examine all versions and discuss various language patterns. The original text should be seen only after the analysis stage is complete.

The value of dictogloss

Wajnryb notes that dictogloss is a ‘working compromise’, and clarifies that: It is a compromise between what the learners think they want (grammar) and what the teachers want to give them (communicative practice in a task-based, learnercentred context). It gives learners what they think they want, and what in fact they may need, but it does so in a manner that most teachers find palatable, that does not violate more traditional preferred learning styles, that is consistent with contemporary thinking in applied linguistics, and that accommodates recent trends in language teaching (1990: 14).

Certainly the values of this technique are numerous and this very multiplicity of positive factors makes dictogloss a unique learning tool. The language learning is active and collaborative; memory and creativity play a role in solving what is, in effect, an information gap; grammar is used in a context; and this utilisation of text is a main feature of Wajnryb’s technique.

Back to the future

Three decades have elapsed since the appearance of Grammar Dictation. How then does Wajnryb’s work relate to this technologically-driven world? Despite the plethora of advanced ‘smart technology’ in today’s classrooms, learners are generally quite content with dictogloss in its original format. In fact, studies seem to indicate clearly that in-class smart phone use as a tool in language teaching and learning is not as favourably ‘demanded’ by learners as some might believe. The procedure can be enhanced by use of applications such as Padlet or Google Classroom/Docs, facilitating, for example, the dissemination of the spoken text to individual participants, or the finished group work instantaneously electronically displayed for whole-group correction and consideration. The variations, it would appear, are as limitless as the technological skills of the teacher (or students) might allow.

Invaluable recent work by numerous teacher-researchers (e.g. Prince 2013; Stewart et al. 2014) demonstrates persuasively that the overall value of the dictogloss technique has far-reaching positive effects on the language learning process without any input from modern technology. The technique’s multifarious variations are made clearer by experimental classroom work in developing a listening comprehension course (Prince 2013). In adopting various dictogloss adaptations in their classroom research, Stewart et al. (2014: 12) note the flexibility the dictogloss offers ‘to account for the needs, interests, and learning preferences of each learner. But more than that, the dictogloss activities allow English learners to be active and reflective during the learning process.’

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Multimodal EAP research projects

In his foreword to Wajnryb’s work, Alan Maley notes that ‘Grammar Dictation offers teachers and learners a powerful and effective tool for learning’ (Wajnryb 1990: 3). Indeed, some thirty years on, it still does. wdk.ist@gmail.com

References

Prince, P. 2013. ‘Listening, remembering, writing: exploring the dictogloss task’. Language Teaching Research 17/4: 486−500.

Stewart, B., L. Rodriguez Silva and J. Torres Gonzalez. 2014. ‘Integrating language skills through a dictogloss procedure’. English Teaching Forum 2014/2: 12−19 & 35.

Wajnryb, R. 1990. Grammar Dictation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

3.3 Multimodal EAP research projects: developing pragmatic competence and research skills Caroline Webb Broward College, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., USA

In my presentation, I introduced a research project that I have used in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) speaking course. In this project, students design a hypothetical situation in which they formulate a request to their professor, for example, asking for an extension or a make-up exam. They present this situation to students on their university campus and carry out a survey on what they would say to the professor in this situation. The students then analyse the natural speech they have gathered and present their findings to the class in a formal presentation. The entire project is scaffolded and all of the skills needed to complete the project are taught in class.

The purpose of the project is to promote language learning and to introduce students to the research process. Furthermore, the research project focuses on pragmatic competence, a critical component of communicative competence, which is often an afterthought in EAP curricula. Hence, in this assignment, students must analyse pragmatic elements, such as speech acts, levels of directness and indirectness and hedging, as well as elements of natural speech, for example, discourse markers and false starts.

Finally, students will familiarise themselves with visual aid software, such as Prezi and PowerPoint. The research project suits high B1 and B2−C1 proficiency levels and works well as a final course project. Below, I have written the assignment instructions as I give them to students. Feel free to adapt or change the instructions to best suit your students and your teaching context.

Assignment overview

Your group will formulate an academic situation in which you request something from a professor (like an extension or a make-up exam). Your group will conduct a survey of 15 native or native-like English speakers (choose students or professors) and ask them what they would say to the professor in this situation. You should write down their responses and/or get permission to record audio/video. You will analyse the language in the interviews and report on the research process and research findings in a presentation.

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Part 1 You and your group must create a situation and submit it on Google Docs. I will provide you with feedback, and you should update the situation. For example, you might write a situation like the following one: You went to Mexico for spring break and had an amazing time. You were having so much fun that you totally forgot about your chemistry midterm project. You go to your professor’s office and ask for an extension. You’re really worried about asking.

What would you say to your professor?

Part 2 You and your group should collect the data. You can interview people individually, in pairs, or as a group. You should write down their responses and/or get permission to record audio/video.

Part 3 You should listen and transcribe the data onto the Google Doc. Get together with your group and try to find similarities and patterns in the data.

Part 4 In class, you will informally present on the similarities and patterns you have found in the data. I will also provide you with feedback you can use in your final analysis.

Part 5 You and your group will present your research and research findings. You should use a visual aid, such as Keynote, PowerPoint or Prezi. You might include the following points: • Research question: The situation you researched and why you chose it • Data collection: How you found participants/where you surveyed people/any challenges in getting people to talk to you • The demographics of the participants (e.g. average age, gender, major, nationality); you may want to use a graph or chart here • Results and analysis: What were some of the responses you received? (Give a few examples—these could be typed and/or include the audio/video); any responses should be verbatim and placed inside quotation marks • Were there any patterns or commonalities among the requests? What elements of natural speech did you find?

• What rhetorical strategies (e.g. rational or emotional appeals) did the speakers use?

• Did any of the requests surprise you? If so, why?

• Did you learn any new words or expressions?

• Conclusion: Did anything interesting happen in the research process? What did you learn during this project?

• Other relevant points? cwebb1@broward.edu

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L2 student perceptions of their academic lecture comprehension

3.4 L2 student perceptions of their academic lecture comprehension Jayn Kilbon University of Leicester, UK

This presentation discussed some of the main findings from a longitudinal doctoral study, which is investigating the factors which L2 students think affect their understanding of academic lectures.

Context

The data was collected at a British university and the presentation reported on the opinions of seven student participants. These students entered the university with an IELTS score of 5.5, attended a ten-week pre-sessional EAP course which raised their language level to the equivalent of IELTS 6.5, and then completed a master’s-level course in the university’s School of Management.

Student opinions about lectures

Each student was interviewed six times between July 2015 and April 2016, and all of the students had clearly identifiable opinions about the factors which affected their lecture comprehension. However, within the presentation it was only possible to discuss three areas: listening, listening and reading, and listening and writing.

Listening One of the main issues which the students raised was the impact of their background knowledge on their lecture comprehension. All of the students thought that if they had studied the topic before, they understood more of the information in a lecture.

Several students also thought that theoretical input was more difficult to understand than practical information which they could relate to the ‘real’ world. Students described comprehension problems which occurred either because they could not process new information quickly enough, or because they could understand all of the individual words but could not move beyond a simple, literal meaning of the concepts being discussed.

One way for students to obtain some background knowledge before a lecture was to do the allocated reading which most lecturers set. Students generally thought that this helped with lecture comprehension; however, a recurring theme throughout the interviews was that students found reading academic articles challenging and very time-consuming.

Closely linked to the problems which students had understanding the subject content in lectures were issues connected with vocabulary. If students heard new vocabulary in a lecture, it was usually difficult for them to check meaning unless they saw the words written on a PowerPoint slide. However while looking up new vocabulary, the students usually stopped listening to the lecturer, and some students reported that they spent time in lectures reading about new concepts on an electronic device, in their L1, rather than listening to the lecturer discuss the concept. A second vocabulary problem which students frequently discussed was that there were some words that they had learnt but could not recognise when heard. This was either because they did not know how the word was pronounced or because they had learnt an incorrect pronunciation.

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Listening and reading All of the students thought that trying to read information on PowerPoint slides at the same time as listening was confusing and often impossible. The students usually spent more time reading than listening, particularly if the slides contained a lot of text, as all students felt that their reading skills were better than their listening skills.

Listening and writing The students regularly said that they could not take notes and listen to a lecture at the same time, and said that while writing notes they missed sections of lectures. As their academic course progressed, students generally took fewer notes and focused only on making notes about points that particularly interested them. This enabled them to spend more time listening to the lecturer.

Reflections on the pre-sessional course

The students were also asked how the pre-sessional EAP course could have been improved to help develop their lecture comprehension skills. The students generally suggested that the pre-sessional course should have listening texts with more content, more realistic pre-lecture reading tasks and more subject-specific material.

In the presentation, I also suggested some ways that EAP courses might help students prepare for their academic lecture experiences. Firstly, pre-sessional courses should help students develop their lower-level listening processes and should also develop students’ higher-level meaning and discourse construction processes. Example activities for developing both higher and lower-level listening processes can be found in Field (2008). Students may also benefit from the development of institution-specific pre-lecture preparation skills. For example, if students routinely receive copies of PowerPoint slides before a lecture, they could be encouraged to use these to review vocabulary or concepts pre-lecture. Pre-sessional classes could also help students develop skills to process both spoken input from the lecturer and written information on PowerPoint slides simultaneously. Finally, L2 students are likely to better understand their academic lectures if they start to develop their subject-specific vocabulary while attending a pre-sessional course. jaynkilbon@yahoo.co.uk

Reference

Field, J. 2008. Listening in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

3.5  Tracking undergraduate Omani writers’ online writing revisions Zulaikha Al-Saadi University of Southampton, UK Introduction

Revision has been recognised as an essential process in most writing process models (e.g. Chenoweth and Hayes 2001). Revision can be carried out at different levels during writing; for example, content revisions are made in order to alter the information, 66

Tracking undergraduate Omani writers’ online writing revisions

while language revisions are carried out on aspects such as spelling, grammar, linguistic expression and punctuation (Stevenson et al. 2006). In foreign language (FL) writing, one might expect that FL writers’ limited proficiency would lead them to concentrate on lower-level linguistic processing, thereby reducing the amount of attention given to higher-level processing. However, previous research has tended mostly to compare the amount and type of revision across languages L1 and FL. Research that has considered the influence of factors such as gender and FL proficiency on the revision process is scarce. Furthermore, it has been assumed that carrying out more content revision results in better text quality (Bereiter and Scardamalia 1987); however, this hypothesis has rarely been tested. In order to fill these gaps in the research, this study explored whether the language of writing (L1 vs. FL), FL linguistic knowledge and gender influence the amount, location (immediate, distance or end) and type (content or language) of revisions carried out by undergraduate Omani students and if these explain variations in text quality.

Participants

Participants in the study were 77 undergraduate Omani students (43 male and 34 female) studying at Rustaq College of Education in Oman and majoring in ELT; their ages ranged from 20 to 23 years. All had Arabic as their first language (L1), and English (FL) is the medium of instruction at the college.

Design and procedure

The correlational design used in this study was a mixed one, with one withinsubject variable and the remainder between-subject variables. The within-subject factor was language of writing (L1 vs. FL). The between-subject factors were FL proficiency and gender. This design allowed comparisons to be made between the results across language of writing, gender and FL proficiency levels. It also helped to measure the effects of independent variables on the dependent variables.

The participants were asked to produce two argumentative texts, one in their L1 and one in their FL. The language of writing and writing topics were counterbalanced. The participants’ FL proficiency was assessed using the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). A keystroke logging program was used to record, observe and analyse the participants’ revision processes. The quality of their written texts was assessed by two independent assessors.

Main findings

The results showed that the vast majority of revisions in both languages were immediate and focused on language rather than content. In general, the study demonstrated that writers conducted more revisions when writing in their FL as opposed to their L1. Females appeared in general to be more motivated than males to revise in both languages, and this had a direct effect on the amount of revision carried out by males and females. Given their greater tendency to revise, females’ revisions were more dependent on their English language proficiency. The less proficient they were in English, the more they needed to revise. By contrast, males’ revisions did not depend on their English language proficiency. On the other hand, the results show that greater English language proficiency was associated with more content revision and

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less language revision. The study provided clear evidence that participants benefited more from the revision carried out after producing the first draft of the text.

Conclusions

Overall, the study revealed that ELT Omani undergraduate writers were mainly driven by their FL proficiency when writing in their FL. Their concerns with FL linguistic issues were evident from their reluctance to revise their text more globally (making revisions at the content level) and their preference for a linear approach to the writing process. However, this might also indicate that these writers generally had poor writing strategies, taking into account that this tendency was evident in both languages.

Furthermore, the study informed us that the number of revisions carried out depends not only on language proficiency but also on the individuals’ motivation and efforts to carry out revisions.

Implications

Developing writers’ FL proficiency is important to enable them to cope with their revision process demands successfully. Moreover, the study provided some evidence that postponing revising the text after an initial draft has been produced is significant in producing good-quality texts. Therefore, encouraging FL writers to take some time to read and revise their writing before submitting it will be a useful way to improve their text. zulaikha_alsaadi.rus@cas.edu.om

References

Bereiter, C. and M. Scardamalia. 1987. The Psychology of Written Composition. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

Chenoweth, N and J. Hayes. 2001. ‘Fluency in writing: generating text in L1 and L2’. Written Communication 18/1: 80–98.

Stevenson, M., R. Schoonen and K. de Glopper. 2006. ‘Revising in two languages: a multidimensional comparison of online writing revisions in L1 and FL’. Journal of Second Language Writing 15/3: 201–233.

3.6 Improving lexical difficulty in academic writing using Text Inspector Alexander M. Lewko The American University in Cairo, Egypt Introduction

Improving lexical awareness is among the skills that instructors of academic English writing help students with. The tool Text Inspector (https://www.textinspector.com), which measures the difficulty levels of texts, might prove useful for students to further develop this awareness. However, because this website is not explicitly designed for classroom use, the instructor must be creative in using it effectively.

Regarding terminology, I started with the idea of ‘lexical difficulty’, which can have different meanings in literature, including a combination of lexical density,

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Improving lexical difficulty in academic writing using Text Inspector

morphological complexity and function word density (Campfield 2017). However, colleagues later suggested terminology such as ‘lexical diversity’, which measures different words being used in a text (Gebril and Plakans 2016). In the end, my aim in using this tool was not only to assist students in using vocabulary appropriate to the topic as well as the genre of academic writing itself, but also to allow students to improve their range of vocabulary as appropriate for their coursework.

The students involved in these activities were postgraduate students in an upperlevel writing class referred to as a Writing Module. Students enrolled in this module are required to pass this course to continue in their MA programmes, but they may take a number of content courses at the same time. The class met two times a week for two hours each session.

First-time struggles

As with the use of any new tool in a class, the first attempt may not work well. In this case, students were asked to upload a recent paragraph assignment and record data rendered on the website, including basic statistics such as type/token ratios, average sentence length, and readability scores. They sent the data to the instructor, who then averaged the numbers in order to allow students to compare their own data to that of the class and then to discuss implications. However, it was clear that that students were not engaged in this discussion. The lesson here was obvious: if the students are to be engaged in the use of this website, the activities must be more hands-on and less focused on data.

An example of success through the Academic Word List

Fortunately, there were later successes in the use of Text Inspector. For example, students used the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP) functionality which marks words according to how their use corresponds to the CEFR. This activity demonstrated how students with more successful uses of vocabulary generally had a more diverse spread of words which included words at all CEFR levels. Students were also able to connect vocabulary at the B level and upwards to that of vocabulary from sources used, thereby reinforcing the importance of reading for learning new vocabulary.

One particularly successful activity utilised the Academic Word List (AWL) functionality built into the website. In this activity, students were first told about the AWL. The instructor then divided the students into pairs and gave each pair a unique paragraph from a recent writing assignment. The students uploaded the paragraphs into Text Inspector and clicked the AWL link. The data rendered included a bar graph of the percentage each AWL list represented in the text—see Figure 3.6.1. Underneath this graph, lists of the words used from each AWL list were available to view.

The class then wrote the AWL words identified in Text Inspector on a Padlet page (https://www.padlet.com) that was shared with all students to allow all pair work to be seen. Students then wrote sentences using AWL words written on the Padlet page, followed by a paragraph writing activity using words found from all pairs. In the end, this activity allowed students to see words on the AWL as well as to use them in new writing. They also noted how AWL words used came from sources used for the writing assignment, thus again enforcing the idea that reading helps with vocabulary acquisition.

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Figure 3.6.1: AWL-tagged words by frequency list in one student’s paragraph

Conclusion

A tool such as Text Inspector can help students in class if the instructor uses it appropriately. The data rendered on the site is helpful, but only if the data informs more hands-on activities that allow the students to gain awareness of vocabulary. Perhaps the most useful aspect of the tool was that in identifying particular words, students could see that they came from sources. Therefore, this relatively new tool enforces a very old idea: more reading can lead to better writing. lewkoa@aucegypt.edu

References

Campfield, D. E. 2017. ‘Lexical difficulty: using elicited imitation to study child L2’. Testing Language 34/2: 197−221.

Gebril, A. and L. Plakans. 2016. ‘Source-based tasks in academic writing assessment: lexical diversity, textual borrowing and proficiency’. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 24: 78−88.

3.7 EMI and facilitating vocabulary growth of proficient L2 users Piet Murre Driestar University, Gouda, Netherlands Introduction

Using English (as a) medium of instruction (EMI) has gained currency in the Netherlands over the last two decades. While in EFL conditions the initial L2 level of

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pupils in primary and secondary education generally is low, EMI in higher education reaches students at more advanced levels. At these levels Nation (2001) suggests that further development of a student’s vocabulary can hardly be promoted efficiently by the explicit teaching of words. Sight vocabularies may vary widely and by definition it concerns infrequent words. Pellicer-Sánchez and Schmitt, however, draw attention to words in the so-called mid-frequency range, which ‘is necessary for learners to know, but which often receives little attention’ (2010: 31).

Dutch student teachers of English in the final year of their bachelor’s-level teacher qualifications are generally C2-level speakers. In the case of using EMI for general teacher education modules (i.e. focusing on non-linguistic subject matter) specific vocabulary may be intrinsic to the courses. It is therefore conceivable that even these advanced students benefit from explicit noticing or teaching lexis. As ‘there is little research into the impact of EMI on how much English students learn, and how much content they absorb’ (Galloway 2017), an exploratory study may shed some light.

Procedure

Students were taught four modules with two lessons each in five consecutive months.

The 17 students (10 female, 7 male, aged 20−50) received 24 hours of spoken input and interaction in English while focusing mainly on the course content proper. The module books themselves were in Dutch (their L1) as these were used for other groups as well. Students were asked to put unknown words they came across while listening and interacting into their personal dictionaries. Sometimes I (as their teacher) wrote down words on the whiteboard or used other ways of making them notice words.

They handed in their list at the end of each lesson. After the third lesson I gave them the cumulative list at the start of the new lesson, in order to make their learning more effective and efficient. After the final (eighth) lesson students received a cumulative list and ticked a box to indicate whether they knew each word receptively, productively or not at all. All words were analysed according to their frequency band (1K−10K, www. lextutor.ca) and whether they were content-specific.

Results

The 17 students collectively wrote down 129 words: 24 content words and 105 general words. This does not seem to be much vocabulary for 24 hours of spoken input.

It probably reflects my impression that students often did not write down words that seemed to be unknown to them and that I had to draw attention to specific items.

The majority of the 129 words (81) were mentioned by only one or two students; 19 words were mentioned by three to seven students, and 24 words were written down by eight to thirteen students.

The self-reported knowledge after the final lesson is 74 words known receptively and 51 productively, on average. Judging from the 24 words written down by at least ten students, learning was limited as most students still do not know most items either productively or receptively after the lesson series.

Remarkably, 83 words out of the 129 words (65 per cent) come from the 3K−9K (i.e. mid-)frequency range, and 46 words could not be found in the Lextutor frequency table (for example, ‘insipid’, ‘leeway’ and some content words).

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Conclusions and implications

The frequency range of words unknown to at least some of the students is wide and contains many words in the mid-frequencies (Pellicer-Sánchez and Schmitt 2010).

Apparently, even for C2-level speakers these frequency bands might be worth paying attention to. Deliberate and incidental noticing of words from spoken input seems to be difficult, which makes sense as we normally listen for understanding and not for every single word. In this exploratory study noticing depended to a considerable extent on external clues provided by the teacher or fellow students. There is therefore an urgent need for an effective and efficient means to help students notice unknown words in spoken discourse. Furthermore, in order to be effective in terms of learning and acquisition more should be done besides mere noticing, which supports vocabulary learning principles as repetition and the intensity and quality of the encounters.

Finally, the small number of content words found in this study makes it possible to teach these explicitly to subsequent cohorts which will follow the same courses. p.m.murre@driestar-educatief.nl

References

Galloway, N. 2017. ‘How effective is English as a medium of instruction (EMI)?’. https:// www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-effective-english-medium-instruction-emi.

Nation, I. S. P. 2001. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pellicer-Sánchez A. and N. Schmitt. 2010. ‘Incidental vocabulary acquisition from an authentic novel: do ‘Things Fall Apart’?’. Reading in a Foreign Language 22/1: 31–55.

3.8 Discourse layering: practical activities to teach lexical chunks Laura Laubacher Embassy English, London UK

I have noticed that my learners often understand new lexical phrases encountered in class, but when it comes to freer speaking tasks, they don’t use these but tend to fall back on expressions they already know. So how can we get students to acquire new vocabulary and actually use these chunks spontaneously in speaking?

Focusing on chunks rather than single words helps to promote acquisition and fluency (see Dellar and Walkley 2016; Lewis 1993), but despite taking a more lexical approach in my own teaching, my students still weren’t using these chunks spontaneously. That is, until my colleague Phil Hynd introduced me to his idea of discourse layering.

What is discourse layering?

Discourse layering is a way to break down the discourse of a conversation to allow students to acquire the lexical chunks necessary to participate meaningfully in a desired context. It involves introducing functional exponents, or semi-fixed lexical phrases, in a specific context and layering in seemingly-unrelated lexical input with these phrases.

Then new functional chunks and lexical input are introduced while at the same time repeating the previous chunks. Layers of discourse are slowly built up before repeating and transferring the target language to new contexts. Put more simply, discourse

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Discourse layering: practical activities to teach lexical chunks

layering is a way of framing lessons to give students the opportunity to learn and practice lexical chunks directly through speaking.

An example of a discourse layering lesson

Figure 3.8.1 contains an outline of one of the lessons I shared, one I’ve done with my intermediate learners. It can last 90 minutes or a whole week of 90-minute lessons. It incorporates the ‘talking stick’ game where in order to get the stick and start speaking about one of their topics, students must use lexical chunks. The ‘winner’ is the person holding the stick at the end, but really it is the one who uses the most phrases.

Stage Language Interaction 1 Students secretly write Individual down 4 topics they want to talk about 2 Introduce and drill ‘start speaking’ phrases Whole class functional chunks (see Figure 3.8.2) 3 Play talking stick ‘start speaking’ phrases Groups of game, repeat if about 4 needed, reveal topics and decide a winner 4 Introduce a layer of e.g. students give Pairs language input opinions about their 4 Whole class separate from the topics using game comparative

expressions

5 Repeat the game ‘start speaking’ phrases Groups of 4 incorporating + language input from functional chunks stage 4 and language input 6 Introduce and drill ‘ask to explain opinion’ Whole class new functional chunks and/or ‘agree/disagree’

phrases 7 Repeat the game after ‘start speaking’ phrases Groups of 4 each new set of + language input from functional chunks are stage 4 + stage 6 introduced, recycling functional chunks + all lexical chunks and any added stages lexis adding new language input as desired

8 Repeat the discourse all new lexis Groups of 4 in new groups with new topics

Figure 3.8.1: Discourse layering lesson plan

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Possible timing 2−3 minutes 5−10 minutes Set a time limit appropriate for your learners (e.g. 5 minutes) Determined by your students’ needs, may be quite long or even a separate lesson 5−10 minutes

5−10 minutes Determined by your students’ needs. You may choose to add many layers of functional chunks and language input.

Determined by your students’ needs, new topics may be quite long or even a separate lesson

Chapter 3: Lessons from the classroom

Functional chunks

Start speaking Well, come to mention it ...

Ahh, that reminds me ...

Speaking of which ...

Oh, before I forget ...

Ask to explain your opinion Why do you say that?

What makes you say that?

How come?

In what way?

Agree and disagree My thoughts exactly I totally agree/disagree Fair enough I know what you mean (but ...)

Language input by far the best the best ... I’ve ever ... much better than nowhere near as (good) as significantly more Figure 3.8.2: Useful phrases

Techniques to integrate into lessons

Discourse layering can be adapted to a variety of language points and to fit any teacher’s own style and specific learners’ needs, but there are four things I found useful to integrate.

1 Drilling My students remembered phrases better when they were drilled. I introduced phrases orally and helped with pronunciation (connected speech, rhythm, intonation, difficult phonemes), but most helpful was mumble drilling where students say the expressions quietly to themselves to remember them. Hynd says this is important because if you verbalise something you are committing yourself to it, a technique he picked up from sales.

2 Diverse language input Varying the input in stages works because it incorporates learning theories like spaced repetition and interleaving (Carey 2014). In much the same way as sportspeople who vary their practice are better able to remember and discern when to appropriately use different techniques, my learners were able to remember the lexical chunks and use them in new contexts.

3 Memory testing If students can’t remember new expressions in class, how will they access them spontaneously later? For this reason, I ask students to recall previous functional chunks before the speaking activity game and mumble drill ones they forgot but want to use.

4 Noticing the gap between understanding and production Students need to perceive a need for new language and one way is to highlight the difference between what they think they know and what they actually use. This can be done through having students first record themselves on their phones and listen back to notice what they used or, more likely, didn’t use. Or in groups, one student is a listener ticking the expressions they hear their classmates use. Students then need a

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chance to consciously use the expressions, as in the talking stick game. Another similar game involves writing functional chunks on cards and discarding the cards when they use the chunks in conversation.

Final thoughts

At first I had to really think about staging and target lexis when planning discourse layering into my lessons, but after teaching this way and keeping a reflection journal this past year, I found that it has shifted my way of thinking to see both the bigger picture of how seemingly unrelated language points can be integrated and also how individual expressions can be extended and recycled. My students said they enjoyed these lessons because they got a lot of speaking practice and learned really useful expressions. They could remember and use these expressions even months later. eltlaura@yahoo.com

References

Carey, B. 2014. How We Learn: The Surprising Truth about When, Where and Why It Happens.

London: Macmillan.

Dellar, H. and A. Walkley. 2016. Teaching Lexically: Principles and Practice. Peaslake: Delta Publishing.

Lewis, M. 1993. The Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching Publications.

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4

Working for global change

The writers of the papers in this chapter have something important in common: they are devoted to improving the lives of their students, whether these are refugees and asylum seekers in the UK or learners in areas of conflict and poverty. The first paper in this chapter is Brita Fernandez Schmidt’s report of the inspirational talk she gave on the topic of education for women in war-torn countries around the world. In this paper, the author outlines the important work being done by Women for Women International. Next, Steve Brown and Arifa Rahman explore the role and potential of ELT as emancipatory practice and in promoting social justice respectively. Chris Sowton discusses approaches to teaching and materials development for marginalised communities, while Aleks Palanac provides practical tips for working with refugees and asylum seekers. Turning to specific projects, Emily Bryson then reports on the use of peer education in a programme designed primarily to meet the needs of adult refugees from Syria; Rida Thabet and Nick Bilbrough show the value of using drama in schools for refugee children in Gaza; and Eduardo Amos describes a materials development project designed to promote peace and harmony among Brazilian schoolchildren. Finally, Cornée Ferreira turns our attention to teacher training and outlines ways in which experienced and inexperienced teachers can encourage their students to become ‘global citizens’.

4.1 Plenary: Knowledge is power: access to education for marginalised women Brita Fernandez Schmidt Executive Director, Women for Women International,

UK When you get—give When you learn—teach Maya Angelou I believe that we are all teachers, that we all have a responsibility to share what we know.

Both my parents are teachers, and my mother taught English as a foreign language.

I have always been inspired by her impact and how students, even years later, would remember her and meet up with her—even now when she is 75 years old.

It shows me so directly the power teachers have for making a real impact on people’s lives, an impact that is lasting. I read a fantastic poem:

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Plenary: Knowledge is power: access to education for marginalised women Teacher What do you do?

I’m a teacher.

What do you teach?

People.

What do you teach them?

English.

You mean grammar, verbs, nouns, pronunciation, conjugation, articles and particles, negatives and interrogatives …?

That too.

What do you mean, ‘that too’?

Well, I also try to teach them how to think, and feel—show them inspiration, aspiration, cooperation, participation, consolation, innovation, … help them think about globalization, exploitation, confrontation, incarceration, discrimination, degradation, subjugation, … how inequality brings poverty, how intolerance brings violence, how need is denied by greed, how -isms become prisons, how thinking and feeling can bring about healing.

Well I don’t know about that.

Maybe you should stick to language, forget about anguish.

You can’t change the world.

But if I did that, I’d be a cheater, not a teacher.

Alan Maley (2017)

So as English teachers, you have the opportunity to teach about many subjects. I want to share with you the experience of Women for Women International and our work with women in countries affected by conflict, what we do, how it relates to the global Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) agenda and why it matters to help the most marginalised women.

Women for Women International: why is our work important?

Ninety per cent of all casualties in war are now civilians, and 75 per cent of those are women and children; a century ago 90 per cent of casualties were suffered by the military. In addition, 80 per cent of victims of hand-held weapons in war are women. It is no wonder that Former UN Peacekeeping Commander Major General Patrick Cammaert has said, ‘It is now more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in modern conflict.’

There is an increase of up to 40 per cent of female-headed households during and after conflict. Worldwide, 80 per cent of refugees are women and children. During the Rwanda genocide half a million women were raped in 100 days, in Bosnia 20−50,000 women were raped, and in Congo 1,000 women are raped every day.

Since 2000, women have made up only 4 per cent of signatories in the peace processes. Even when civil society organisations are given space at negotiations, women and women’s rights organisations are consistently excluded, such as in the recent Syria talks.

Women are increasingly in the line of fire, whether it is Syrian women in Lebanon,

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Iraq or Jordan who have had to flee. There are now over 5 million refugees. Over 13.5 million people are affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria. In northern Iraq alone, there are 250,000 refugees, and the number is increasing every day; of those, 80 per cent are women and children. Of course, we all know that war and conflict disproportionately affect women and children.

In South Sudan, thousands of people have had to flee their homes, with the result that there are over 1 million refugees in neighbouring Uganda alone; again, the vast majority are women. Here, over 60 per cent of the population are women, and 85 per cent are illiterate. Peace is not secured and the international community is needed more than ever to help the youngest country to recover from over 40 years of violent conflict. In Nigeria, the situation in the north of the country has been described as ‘dramatic’ by a senior UN official as the country struggles to contain increasing levels of violence. The UN estimates that 2.3 million people, the majority women and children, have fled their homes. Meanwhile, hundreds of children and girls have been killed, injured or abducted from their homes and schools. Afghanistan, too, continues to face challenges.

Poverty and violence/conflict intersect and women are the most vulnerable and most affected, which is why 70 per cent of the poorest are women and the majority are in fragile and conflict-affected countries. This is also the reason why the international community has identified a strong focus on those countries and the Global Goals link to the ‘leave no one behind’ agenda and include two goals that specifically focus on gender equality and peace, justice and strong institutions (Goal 5 and Goal 16).

A holistic approach

At Women for Women International (WfWI), our agenda is set by the most marginalised and ultra-poor women in countries affected by conflict. We believe that any global agenda needs to have their needs right at the centre to ensure that we do not leave anyone behind. We know that those women are in danger of being forgotten, their voices are not heard and their needs are not met. And yet, their resilience and direct contribution to creating more peaceful societies is inspiring.

WfWI has developed a highly effective programme which moves women out of poverty and isolation to self-sufficiency and empowerment with support, resources and knowledge. We believe that stronger women build stronger nations and that women united can change everything. We are now working in eight countries: Afghanistan, South Sudan, Rwanda, Nigeria, Congo, Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo, and we have served over 472,000 women.

Our vision is for a world in which all women—including the most marginalised women affected by conflict—lead lives of dignity and reach their full potential. Our holistic, rights-based programme equips women with skills and resources to achieve four key outcomes: to earn and save money; to regain their confidence; to be healthy and well; and to actively participate in their communities.

WfWI’s yearlong investment in individual women includes the following: • building knowledge in areas such as the value of women’s work, basic health education and rights information; • skill development in numeracy, business skills and a chosen vocational skill;

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• resource provision through a monthly cash transfer and referrals to health and legal services; and • connections to other women by training them in a safe space, in groups of 25, where they can form a tight support group that helps to break the isolation caused by war and insecurity.

WfWI collects extensive data. This shows, for example, that: • the daily earnings for women we serve goes from $0.34 to over a dollar in the first year; • the practice of family planning goes from 30 per cent to 87 per cent; and • sharing knowledge of rights goes from 10 per cent of women to 89 per cent of those we serve by the end of a year.

The training is delivered by local staff in the respective countries. Some trainers are graduates from the WfWI programme itself. This is inspiring to the women enrolled in the programme as trainers serve as role models for the participants. Trainers use methods for teaching that are adequate for largely illiterate participants. The coursebooks are pictorial and the trainers use a lot of repetition since participants are not able to take notes.

Fostering resilience

The women we work with overwhelmingly bear the brunt of both conflict and poverty. We have witnessed how conflict drives women further into poverty and isolation, exposes them to various forms of gender-based violence and worsens discriminatory social attitudes. Both directly and indirectly, conflict erodes women’s health and wellbeing, denies access to educational opportunities for themselves and their children and fosters extreme poverty.

Yet the women we work with are not passive victims. They are resilient and, with support, become agents of change in their homes and communities. Globally, we need to acknowledge this resilience and understand it to effectively support it. When we speak about resilience, we mean women striving for change, for better lives, for more peaceful societies in the face of challenges posed by poverty, conflict, and patriarchal structures and behaviours. The women we work with are resilient to both economic shocks and constant discrimination.

We know that with the right support even the most marginalised women will run for leadership positions, will educate other women on their rights, will organise community actions and will stop the violence being committed against them. The 2016 global averages (baseline/enrolment vs. endline/graduation at 12 months after enrolment, n/a excluded) show that occupation of leadership positions rises from 8.7 per cent to 12.2 per cent; educating other women on their rights goes from 6.7 per cent to 20 per cent; organising community actions increases from 40.8 per cent to 61.4 per cent; and stopping violence being committed against them rises from 18.4 to 54.5 per cent.

Hosai Bayani lives in Afghanistan, a country where 87 per cent of women have reported facing verbal, physical or sexual violence. One day about a decade ago, Hosai’s husband announced he was leaving with no explanation and no divorce; he simply abandoned her. For the sake of her two children, she moved in with her

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Chapter 4: Working for global change in-laws and was forced to depend on them until she joined our programme, where she cultivated her innate passion and skill for helping survivors of violence. After graduation, she got a job as a trainer with Women for Women International. She gained the respect of her in-laws and the community. With this respect, she ran for local government office and won.

Key lessons for the future

In the 25 years since our founding, our theory of change and assumptions that were groundbreaking when we developed them have been backed by our evidence and are now widely accepted. These include the following: Women bring returns Investing in women is investing in families and communities: strong women build strong nations. Our data consistently shows us this and this has been backed by the World Bank, UN Women and countless NGOs. Cash is efficient and effective Giving women cash for them to make their own choices about relative investments is a very effective development and humanitarian intervention, as are savings and lending groups. Women graduating from the WfWI programme triple their income.

We must engage men to support women’s rights WfWI first piloted a men’s engagement programme in Nigeria in 2002. Since then, we have worked with more than 15,000 men across six countries to support women’s rights. We place a particular focus on training leaders in communities (including religious, traditional, military and civil society leaders) so that they can use their influence to help protect and promote women’s rights and gender equality. The results have been transformative.

Localisation is key Top-down development solutions fail. WfWI, while headquartered in the US with a global approach, has always employed local staff wherever we work and has always adapted our programme to what is required locally. We believe global actions on issues such as food security and inequality need to go hand in hand with local interventions—one woman at a time. The solution to global problems such as increase in conflict, and the linked increase in terrorism and the migration crisis, requires a local as well as a global response.

A holistic approach is most effective Economic interventions and social interventions are most effective when they are combined. Building women’s economic resilience is dependent on their health and ability to influence decisions, particularly financial decisions. Women’s social empowerment is supported through economic empowerment and independence. A woman given economic skills and resources, with no self-confidence or efficacy and without networks of support, is unlikely to have the ability to leverage those resources or the resilience to withstand shocks. A woman supported to understand her rights, without the ability to maintain her livelihoods or invest in her or her family’s education or health, cannot be resilient or successful.

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Plenary: Knowledge is power: access to education for marginalised women Rifkatu lives in northern Nigeria, a conflict-ridden region, but the peace she most urgently needed when WfWI met her was in her own home. Rifkatu’s unemployed husband beat her and threatened to sell her so he could get more goats for his farm.

As is the case with many women in poverty, it was she who was expected to provide for the family when her husband couldn’t. When she was unable to feed her six children, her husband continually abused her. This was when a neighbour stepped in and told Rifkatu to join the WfWI programme. She learned about poultry, bought two chickens, and sold their eggs. From her profits, she could invest in the farm and bring much-needed income to the family. With her newfound confidence and status, Rifkatu convinced her husband to join our Men’s Engagement programme where he learned about respecting his wife. Rifkatu reported: ‘He now sees me as a person just like himself and not some goat or property he purchased with money.’ With the ability to earn and save money—the economic side—plus the confidence to stand up for herself, the power dynamic in her relationship changed. Rifkatu was able to create peace in her home, ending the abuse and poverty in her family and contributing to a more stable and prosperous Nigeria.

Priorities: call to action

As a global community, we have the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as our framework. Our recommendations are therefore framed in the context of the existing commitments we have already made.

Deliver the SDGs Whatever their limitations, the SDGs are a powerful step forward for the world’s most disadvantaged women, with their stand-alone goal on gender equality. WfWI will in 2020—alongside many other organisations—use our data and our connections with the most marginalised women to track and report on progress five years in. Let us as citizens continue to show we care about the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged people—women survivors of conflict. We must hold governments to account for these goals we collectively worked for several years to set and agree upon.

Identify and listen to the most marginalised We are committed to listening to and learning from the women we work with. We do this through a combination of monitoring, evaluation and learning, as well as by building women’s capacity through our programmes. The success of the Goals is dependent on listening to those left furthest behind and supporting them to drive forward the changes that they want to see. The voices of those most marginalised must therefore be front and centre to both the implementation and review of the Global Goals, for example through meaningful consultation.

Identify and invest in the most vulnerable It is women who bear the brunt of increased conflict, natural disasters and economic shocks because it is women who mostly have to find ways to support their children and families when there is nothing. Investing in those left furthest behind should be an immediate priority as they require greater and longer-term support to catch up with the average (i.e. someone living on USD $0.70 a day will require more support to reach USD $1.25 a day than someone living on USD $1.20 a day). There are many

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ways to invest, whether it individuals doing something like sponsoring a woman through WfWI’s proven programme, or businesses investing additional resources in reaching and training the most marginalised women for employment. When governments step back, we must step forward.

Provide comprehensive and long-term support The Goals present a comprehensive framework which recognises the complex needs faced by the most marginalised people. The women we work with are faced with the legacy of conflict that poses multiple and intersecting challenges. Comprehensive support that works across sectors (economic, social, etc.) is essential to addressing these needs, and long-term investment is essential for supporting behavioural changes and women’s empowerment.

Increase funding for women’s empowerment We welcome the recognition in the Goals that improving women’s representation and participation is crucial for the progress of all Goals, from the household to international decision-making platforms. Increasing women’s participation requires a monumental increase of funding for women’s empowerment, particularly to support change to break down the barriers that women face in accessing economic and political opportunities, services (such as health and education).

Include data that reflect the challenges of the most vulnerable The revisions we make to our monitoring and evaluation instruments are with an effort to more accurately measure progress in what matters for the women we work with and we are adapting our processes to include more indicators and other, more qualitative, feedback mechanisms. The emphasis on vulnerable, marginalised groups and inequality within the Goals provides an opportunity to rethink the data that is collected and to look for information that is more relevant to those left furthest behind. More qualitative indicators on women’s empowerment, and indicators that capture women’s exclusion, such as lack of access to social networks, are examples of data that should be collected in the future.

Conclusion

To get involved and support the work of Women for Women International, please visit the website www.womenforwomen.org and consider sponsoring one woman to enrol in our programme for one year. bschmidt@womenforwomen.org

Reference

Maley, A. 2017. ‘Teacher’ in A. Maley and N. Peachey (eds.). Integrating Global Issues in the Creative English Language Classroom: With Reference to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. London: British Council.

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Exploring ELT as emancipatory practice

4.2 Exploring ELT as emancipatory practice Steve Brown West College Scotland, Clydebank, Scotland, UK Introduction

This talk presented English Language Teaching (ELT) as a profession that promotes and protects a neoliberal model of globalisation, before exploring alternative approaches that seek to address power imbalances and find ways of emancipating learners of English by involving them in the active transformation of society.

ELT in its global context

Recent research has identified ELT as playing a role in facilitating ‘corporate-driven globalisation’ (Copley 2018: 44), and the profession is ‘not merely reflecting a neoliberal zeitgeist, but is strategically positioned within it’ (ibid: 59). Neoliberal ideology promotes commodification, to the extent that individuals are not only consumers, but also themselves become commodities within the labour market. As such, responsibility is placed on individuals to constantly develop and improve their ‘worth’ to employers.

Many ELT materials promote neoliberal values while avoiding the problematisation of injustice or inequality, and relentlessly present language learning as ‘fun’, despite the fact that, for many people, learning English is a requirement for social and economic prosperity—hardly a laughing matter.

Furthermore, the neoliberal constructs that shape corporate globalisation have introduced a process of ‘McDonaldisation’ in ELT (Littlejohn 2012). This involves taking a ‘one size fits all’ approach, as is evident in the prevalence of global coursebooks, internationally recognised English language and TESOL qualifications, highly prescriptive teaching methodologies, and a general assumption that the same teaching approaches and techniques are equally effective in any context.

It is unsurprising that ELT has become so influenced by the dominant, neoliberal model of globalisation, when we consider that much of the power in ELT lies with global publishing companies, international examining/accreditation bodies, privatelyowned schools and English-medium educational institutions.

The purpose of ELT

The next stage in this talk was to explore the purpose of ELT. Any approach to education that deliberately avoids useful content for learners is one that promotes their disempowerment. Alternatively, ELT could be used as a form of indoctrination, providing learners only with the knowledge and skills that hegemonic forces wish them to acquire and promoting the values of the dominant ideology. Another approach is to use ELT as a form of empowerment, where learners develop language and skills that allow them to function more successfully within the existing structures of society. A fourth possibility is that ELT is used as a vehicle for emancipation, developing learners’ capacities to participate actively in the positive transformation of society.

These four possible educational goals were placed on a continuum, along with features of content, approach and methodology that are congruent with each goal. By using this continuum it is possible to identify examples of how hegemonic forces have a tendency to push ELT towards a disempowering or indoctrinatory model. Most

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ELT professionals, meanwhile, value and seek to adopt an empowering approach to ELT, ostensibly to facilitate the success of their learners. However, a crucial problem with an empowering approach is that it does not seek to transform existing structures; current power imbalances and injustices are allowed to continue. Empowering learners does not address the fact that people are placed in vulnerable positions in the first place. English language teachers may believe that by empowering their learners they are engaging in radical or progressive action, but in fact they are simply allowing learners to comply more effectively with the demands placed on them by current structures.

Emancipation: an alternative goal

The talk then focused on emancipation as an educational goal, and offered some suggestions for recalibrating ELT so that it plays a more emancipatory role. In evaluating teaching practice, the focus should not be on the teacher’s ability to achieve self-prescribed aims, but should instead evaluate the impact that the lesson has on the wider world, and whether it addresses issues of social justice. Current organisational and methodological models could be replaced by re-prioritising educational value over profit and efficiency. The false assumption that education can be apolitical and devoid of ideology needs to be exposed as such, and institutions should instead acknowledge the fact that ELT is, in many ways, a political act. Rather than uncritically accepting current, corporate-friendly norms, institutions could focus more on the use of locally contextualised materials, course outcomes and CPD. Teachers themselves should consider more critically the impact of their teaching on learners: whether they are simply allowing the status quo to prevail, or whether their praxis can seek to address power imbalances and give learners the skills to actually make the world a better place. stevebrown70@yahoo.co.uk

References

Copley, K. 2018. ‘Neoliberalism and ELT coursebook content’. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies 15/1: 43−62.

Littlejohn, A. 2012. ‘Language teaching materials and the (very) big picture’. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 9/1: 283−297.

4.3 The role of ELT in promoting social justice Arifa Rahman Freelance, Dhaka, Bangladesh Introduction

This presentation argued for ELT educators to play a significant role in promoting social justice in language learning. The proposal was based on the rising interest in including intercultural understanding, empathy and reconciliation in ELT. Today’s world is fraught with conflict caused by political divisiveness, unjust economic agendas and social injustices. Besides, structural factors like poverty, powerlessness, illiteracy and ill health perpetuate human misery, resulting in global/regional/local

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inequities like deprivation, marginalisation and even outright exclusion. It is clear that this state of affairs cannot continue.

What role can ELT play?

The English language teaching/learning literature in international contexts shows some potential for English to handle disputes, improve human security systems and open opportunities for peaceful co-existence. English has been used for reconciliation in regions like Sri Lanka, the Democratic Republic of Congo and among refugees in Europe.

I referred to Capstick and Delaney’s (2016) report on English as a language of resilience for the 65 million people forcibly displaced due to internal and/or external conflict. The report states that an additional language is necessary for supporting flexibility among refugees and host communities alike. This multi-country study indicates that for thousands of displaced Syrian refugees, an additional language like English gains importance since both home language and additional languages are essential for survival. Supportive interventions, particularly in additional languages, provide a safe inclusive space to address the effects of loss, displacement and trauma, and to re-energise learning. An additional/specialised language appears to be a source of protection, while the lack of one could be viewed as a mark of vulnerability. Indeed bilingual or multilingual ability could create the foundation of a shared identity.

Opportunities in ELT to encourage understanding and social change

Here, I took my cue from Edge’s (2006) initiative for (Re)Locating TESOL, which is the title of his book in which he emphasised two major issues: context and a respect for difference. I chose these two features as the theoretical principles for my paper, extending the borders of respect to an environment where due recognition and acceptance is given to specificities of context, differences and to the other. ELT practitioners needed to understand their responsibility in fostering tolerance and inclusiveness within the community of learners.

Strategies for encouraging social responsibility in the English class

I suggest that this can be done in two ways: 1 First, local ELT contexts and appropriately designed local materials could be used to encourage awareness of justice among learners and teachers. I illustrated the first with a locally designed secondary school English coursebook. It had topic-based lessons related to, among other things, social awareness, social development, gender, disability and human rights. Importantly, local contexts were used in short simple texts with pictures and speech bubbles to highlight social injustices and human rights violations. No comments were included in the texts but the language activities (group work in class) provided plenty of opportunities to reflect on the content so as to enable learners to rationalise and talk on the injustices apparently being inflicted on the weaker members of the community.

2 The second point, teacher development, is more ambitious and requires getting teachers to apply the universal principles of social justice to their own classroom practices. There is a critical need for teachers to realise their potential to nurture positive emotions and attitudes in learners. Friedrich (2007) identified three areas

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for linguistic education and social justice in EFL/ESL classrooms: linguistic and cross-cultural awareness, humanising vocabulary and peace linguistic education of teachers. She added another competency, that of peace and social well-being promotion, to the four traditional communicative competences (grammatical, discourse, strategic, and sociolinguistic) to describe a new linguistic peace model of communicative competence needed in today’s world.

Audience participation

Attendees were interested in the cross-cultural differences in gender discrimination and human rights breaches illustrated in my lessons. Some even forgot the context of the English classroom and suggested students should use their first language to make the lessons more effective. I reminded them that this was an English language class and my aim was to make the lesson meaningful by using realistic content and involving learners in activities that raised awareness and encouraged them to talk, thus promoting language practice. Someone also asked for advice on how to deal with cultural differences and conflict situations among her multilingual students. My answer was to promote tolerance and respect for difference through varied activities in and out of class.

Conclusion

Challenges include teachers’ resistance to attitudinal changes and their disinterest in moulding learners through speech and behaviour, thus not nurturing positivity in learners. Current ELT classrooms require teachers, materials, tasks and methodology to act in synergy in order to promote harmony by fostering respect for difference and inclusiveness within the community. arifa73@yahoo.com

References

Capstick, T. and M. Delaney. 2016. Report: Language for Resilience: The Role of Language in Enhancing the Resilience of Syrian Refugees and Host Communities. London: British Council.

Edge, J. (ed.). 2006. (Re)Locating TESOL in an Age of Empire. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Friedrich, P. 2007. Language, Negotiation and Peace: The Use of English in Conflict Resolution.

New York: Continuum.

4.4 Making English work for the world’s most marginalised people Chris Sowton Freelance, Bath, UK

How can the increasing global divide between the linguistic ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ be arrested? As this gap has grown, cultural, political and economic cleavages in society have deepened, especially in marginalised, low-resource communities. Languages— and English in particular—can help to shrink these gaps, for example, by providing both economic opportunities and safe spaces to cope with loss and trauma. However, to achieve this, we cannot continue with ‘business as normal’.

As clearly demonstrated by the Language for Resilience agenda (Capstick and Delaney 2016), language and language teaching are of prime importance in marginalised—especially post-conflict—communities. Languages can play an important role in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (‘to ensure inclusive and quality

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education for all and promote lifelong learning’) even though languages are mentioned nowhere in the SDG goals or indicators. The fact that language has been sidelined in the global debate about human development is not a reason to ignore it, but for the ELT community to respond strongly and positively.

One mechanism for doing this, which has emerged out of time spent working voluntarily with Syrian refugees in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, is to consider what kind of English marginalised communities want and need, what the best mechanisms are for delivering English in such circumstances and what additional learning outcomes might be achievable. The framework which has emerged from this work is the SPINACH approach, which posits that English language learning and materials development should be supportive, process-focused, integrated, notional-functional, all-inclusive, co-constructed and heuristic. Specifically, it argues that the ELT community, teachers, students and other educational stakeholders should work together to enable young people to develop communicative competency in the English which is most appropriate to their context; that English should be used as a platform to develop other skills and knowledges, and as a mechanism to address, in a light-touch way, challenges of emotional, social and psychological illiteracy; and that teachers should be upskilled to deliver a coherent, cohesive curriculum which can achieve this, in such a way that they can also protect themselves.

The dividends of such an approach would be not only that the English language would be taught more effectively, but also that ‘value added’ would be provided in three particular areas: (a) content knowledge, wherein a ‘CLIL lite’ approach enables students to learn about issues of relevance and interest to their lives; (b) life skills, which are developed both implicitly (e.g. teamwork, leadership) and explicitly (e.g. modelling how to borrow pencils); and (c) emotional literacy, where the safe space of the classroom and a neutral language can help students express their feelings.

What you do

What you say

Notes

37. Preparing the In pairs, you will now 37. activity speak/write about ‘My

Family’. Use the model

on the board.

•Divide class into pairs – one •student is Student 1, the other •Student 2. Quickly check they •know who is who. S1 completes •2 gaps, S2 completes 2 gaps.

38. Distributing 37. information 37.

• Distribute one picture per pair.

• Emphasise they should keep it • hidden.

• Encourage the students to be • inventive and creative.

• If they can, they should write. If • not, they can speak.

Each pair has a picture of one of my family members.

Keep it secret! You must say/write some information about them.

39. Giving a You have 4 minutes.

37. time limit

• Monitor and help groups • finding it difficult.

Table 4.4.1: Teachers’ script

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Furthermore, this approach posits that learning materials can and should be a tool for CPD. Teachers in such communities are often very inexperienced and have few opportunities for upskilling themselves. The materials themselves can provide some support to teachers on the job through the use of a lesson script, which not only explains what teachers should be doing, but how and more importantly why they should be doing it. While experienced teachers may have the confidence to go ‘off script’, inexperienced teachers can benefit from this scaffolded support. An example of one such script is shown in Table 4.4.1.

In conclusion, as individuals and as a community we need to engage more with principals, parents and policymakers about what we are doing and why; we need to be more accepting of L1 in the classroom and see translanguaging as an asset, not a problem; we need to allow students and teachers alike to have agency in the learning process; and we need to be teaching a form of English which can be of most use and value to those in marginalised situations. c.sowton@bath.ac.uk

References

Capstick, T. and M. Delaney. 2016. Report: Language for Resilience: The Role of Language in Enhancing the Resilience of Syrian Refugees and Host Communities. London: British Council.

4.5 Positive psychology in ELT for refugees Aleks Palanac University of Leicester (ELTU), UK Introduction

Learning an L2 can be an immensely rewarding experience; indeed, many language learners refer to it in terms of broadening their horizons and opening their minds to new possibilities. However, such growth is not always pain free; in fact, language learning is, for many, a ‘profoundly unsettling psychological proposition’ (Guiora 1983, in Oxford 2016: 15), prompting shifts in one’s self-concept (Yeung and Wong 2004, in Oxford 2016). For many refugees and asylum seekers (RASs), who might already be facing a radical reframing of their identity through disruptions to their physical, psychological, social and economic situations, the barriers to L2 learning, and the challenges posed to their identity, are often greater still. However, there are a number of key ways in which tutors can adapt classroom practice for RAS students by combining insights from trauma psychology, positive psychology and ELT pedagogy.

Clear ground rules

Making expectations clear from the beginning about matters such as course structure, attendance and homework is very useful, as regular routines and procedures can help trauma survivors feel safe and grounded. However, it is also important to be flexible and keep channels of communication open with RAS students, so that if they cannot meet some of the course requirements tutors can respond to this on a case-by-case basis, making reasonable adjustments if required. For example, tutors may tell a student suffering from severe anxiety or PTSD that they have permission to leave the

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room to take ‘time out’ whenever they need to. This gives students an escape valve and helps them regain a measure of control over their classroom experience.

The present moment

Techniques which ground students ‘in the now’ can help trauma survivors focus on their learning. For example, framing a lesson with activities which involve physical movement at the beginning and end of class can create a safe space which is distinctly different from the world outside the classroom. Another way in which students can be grounded in the present is through creating ‘flow’, which is a state of consciousness experienced when an individual is highly engaged in an enjoyable task which is challenging but not unachievable, which has clear goals and which enables them to focus all of their attention on it (Csikszentmihalyi 1990). This relates to the pedagogical concepts of scaffolding and mastery learning.

Dignity, control and self-efficacy

One way to do this is not to ‘out’ them as refugees to non-refugee students; allow them to decide if and to whom they disclose this information. It is also wise not to put RAS students on the spot to personalise information on a given topic if they do not wish to. This flies in the face of the current trend in ELT, which advocates the benefits of personalisation to effective language learning. While it is, in theory, possible for any topic might to be a trauma trigger to a RAS student, topics such as family, their home country, their past life and travel to the UK should be broached carefully, with students being presented with options as to how to talk about these (e.g. talking about a fictional family instead of their own in the first instance until trust is built in the learning environment).

Meaningful learning

While not forcing RAS students to personalise topics, a course should still give students plentiful opportunities to be ‘authentic’, in that they feel safe to express themselves and feel that the course is enabling them to get closer to achieving their life goals.

Positive moments

One way to achieve positive moments is through incorporating opportunities for creativity and play into a learning programme. This relates to Ellen Langer’s (1997) theory of Mindful Learning, through which she observes that games and play encourage individuals to vary the targets of their attention, actively draw distinctions and notice interesting and relevant features, which has been found to lead to better retention and understanding. This can be linked to the concept of noticing commonly drawn upon in the ELT literature.

Conclusion

As has been shown, insights from trauma psychology, positive psychology and ELT pedagogy can be combined to create learning programmes which strive to better meet the needs of RAS students. In some cases, these areas complement each other; in other cases, one overrides another (as in the case of forced personalisation of topics). The

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main themes which emerge are safety, learner choice and control, positivity, and tutor flexibility and empathy. These can improve the learning environment not only for RAS students but for all students. ap417@le.ac.uk

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. 1990. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper-Collins.

Langer, E. 1997. The Power of Mindful Learning. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.

Oxford, R.L. 2016. ‘Toward a psychology of well-being for language learners: the “EMPATHICS” vision’ in P. D. Macintyre, T. Gregersen and S. Mercer (eds.). Positive Psychology in SLA. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

4.6 Sharing lives, sharing languages: peer education for language acquisition Emily Bryson Scottish Refugee Council and City of Glasgow College, Glasgow,

Scotland, UK The Sharing Lives, Sharing Languages Peer Education project is an innovative approach which creates opportunities for ESOL learners to practise their English outside the ESOL classroom. Many practitioners remark that isolated students tend to plateau, while those who are working, volunteering or simply getting involved in the local community learn English quickly.

Sharing Lives, Sharing Languages was designed as a complement to ESOL provision for refugees resettling in Scotland under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons’ Resettlement Scheme. The pilot project was funded by the Scottish government and the advisory board included COSLA, Education Scotland, the University of Glasgow and Queen Margaret University. I was seconded from City of Glasgow College to the Scottish Refugee Council to manage the project.

Peer education is an activity-based method of learning in which two equals share information and knowledge with each other. Unlike situations in which a teacher imparts knowledge to a student, peer educators facilitate activities which support peers to share their ideas in a group setting. It is based on the idea that peers respond better to advice from their equals than from their superiors. In this case, peer educators were native or non-native English speakers who know the local area well and want to help newcomers to settle.

Our peer educators came from a range of backgrounds and included, for example, an RE teacher, an Arabic-speaking nursery worker and a Kurdish asylum seeker. Our peers were non-native English speakers (mostly Syrian VPR refugees) who wanted to meet local people and increase their social connections. Peers and peer educators shared their lives and their languages with each other.

Firstly, four organisations were identified to participate in the pilot. These were Aberdeenshire WEA, Dundee International Women’s Centre, Midlothian Council and Renfrew YMCA. These were chosen because they provided a range of rural and

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urban communities and a range of ESOL and community development backgrounds.

The Scottish Refugee Council delivered training to a peer education coordinator from each organisation, who then recruited peer educators. The coordinators then trained their peer educators in the aims of the project, peer education, supporting refugees, communicating with non-native English speakers and facilitation skills.

The peer education sessions focused on what peers knew about the local area and how they wanted to participate in the local community. Group activities facilitated discussions on peers’ hobbies and interests as well as sharing their local knowledge, sharing their cultures and sharing their languages.

At the end of the programme, peer educators and peers carried out a collective action. These involved groups doing something to engage with the local community. These had to involve everyone, be peer-led and establish social connections and opportunities for language acquisition. The WEA in Aberdeenshire had two ESOL tutors as their coordinators. The women in that area were quite isolated, so the group was female only. They linked up with a local women’s group and started a women’s cooking class, which has since grown into a monthly or fortnightly social event and is now run by volunteers as the funding has ended. They visit cafes, community centres and places of interest in the local area together. Dundee International Women’s Centre had two groups, one mixed and one women-only. The coordinator was an ESOL tutor. Their collective actions involved joining up with local walking groups and visiting a community garden. One year on, some peers attend courses run at the centre.

The Midlothian Council project was coordinated by one ESOL tutor and focused on mothers and children. Sessions took place at a local school with peer education sessions in one room while the children played in another. Their collective action was a trip to the beach. Renfrew YMCA was the only organisation involved where the coordinators were not ESOL trained. Their focus was on youth, and they started a community garden. The peers and peer educators still go to the garden, which is now run by the local council.

As this was a pilot project, evaluation was integrated throughout. Lavinia Hirsu of Glasgow University was the external evaluator, and she developed a range of imaginative data collection and evaluation tools that could be used as peer education activities.

The outcomes for the project were positive, with all involved increasing their social connections, local knowledge, cultural knowledge and language confidence.

If you would like to run a similar project, the Scottish Refugee Council are currently working on a free Peer Education Toolkit, which they hope to publish soon. You can receive updates on this by following my blog (www.emilybrysonELT. wordpress.com) or the Scottish Refugee Council. emilybryson@outlook.com

Reference

Hirsu, L. and E. Bryson. 2017. Sharing Lives, Sharing Languages: A Pilot Peer Education Project for New Scots’ Social and Language Integration. Scottish Refugee Council. http:// www.scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/assets/0001/4110/Sharing_Lives_Sharing__Languages_ REPORT.pdf.

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4.7 Remote theatre for children in challenging circumstances Rida Thabet UNRWA Gaza and Nick Bilbrough The Hands Up Project, UK The context

With more than two million people living in a narrow coastal plain of only 365 km², the Gaza Strip is ranked as one of the most densely populated areas on Earth. It’s also a vulnerable and highly unstable area which is subject to repeated conflict. About 1200 English language teachers teach about 300,000 students studying in about 300 United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools. UNRWA schools in Gaza have large classes that accommodate more than 40 students per class. Some students live in very crowded housing, and their basic needs are not fully addressed due to problems such as poverty and unemployment. Students at UNRWA schools are Palestinian refugees and many of them have experienced trauma. Their parents may also be emotionally affected in a way that makes it hard for them to provide the support their children need. In such circumstances, some students are left behind because they have special educational, psychosocial or physical needs that the current system fails to respond to.

Drama as a powerful educational tool

Drama is an art, an outlet for self-expression, and a very powerful way of learning.

It provides an excellent platform for exploring different aspects of language, putting it into context and making it come to life. It engages and challenges students and keeps them actively involved. Drama activities develop listening and speaking skills, linking language with facial expression and employing voice dynamics to ensure more meaningful articulation. Improvisation gives students opportunities to develop their communicative skills in original and authentic situations. Drama provides psychosocial support for the many students who need it. By playing different characters, students can express their true feelings and personality without fear of being judged.

This contributes to their overall wellbeing.

Many of these activities come together in the creation and performance of a play, something that is happening increasingly in UNRWA schools in recent years. Scriptwriting is an excellent way to develop writing skills as it involves different stages of planning, brainstorming and editing to achieve the best possible end result for stage performance. When working with their scripts, students use rehearsal techniques that encourage them to think in the language they are going to perform in. All this helps associate the meaning of language to the spoken forms. Memorising the script and practising their delivery with a mirror develops pronunciation and the speaking accuracy of the students.

In the latter part of 2017, the Hands Up Project launched a playmaking competition for Palestinian children attending UNRWA or Ministry of Education schools.

The task was to create an original five-minute play with a maximum of five actors.

Students were asked to submit the script and a video of them performing the play to a panel of 25 judges. We received 88 entries from all over Palestine, and the overall winners from New Khan Younis, Prep UNRWA school, Gaza were invited to spend a week performing their play at various locations in the UK.

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However there were many other excellent plays produced by Palestinian children, particularly in Gaza. Due to restrictions on movement it is extremely difficult for these children to find audiences outside Gaza to perform their work to. For this reason we have introduced the idea of remote theatre.

What is remote theatre?

In remote theatre children perform their plays not to an audience which occupies the same physical space as them, but rather remotely to another location in the world through simple video-conferencing tools. So far, through the Hands Up Project’s connections worldwide, plays have been performed in this way from Gaza to classes at schools in Brazil, Finland, Russia, Spain and the UK, and to Hands Up project volunteers worldwide. They have also been performed live at conferences in Chile and the UK. Our talk at IATEFL Brighton culminated in an excellent remote performance of Unity Play, created by students at Nuseirat Prep. A Girls UNRWA School, Gaza. The video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REkXK-d5Esw. Remote theatre is its own genre of theatre, requiring special features in order to be effective in contexts where the Internet is often very weak. These may include the actors • being very close to the webcam; • speaking clearly and slowly to aid comprehension by the audience; • making eye contact wherever possible by looking straight into the camera, which can enable a stronger connection to the audience; • physicalising language wherever possible; and • having very clear entrances and exits, so that remote theatre resembles puppetry.

If you would like to arrange a remote theatre performance from Gaza to your school, please get in touch. info@handsupproject.org r.thabet2@unrwa.org

4.8 Peace education in the EFL classroom Eduardo Amos Richmond Publishing, Bragança Paulista, Brazil Introduction

This presentation shared the process that gave rise to the development of a peace education (PE) programme for Brazilian middle school students embedded in a fouryear ELT programme.

As a textbook writer for over 35 years, I have had the opportunity to travel around Brazil visiting schools, talking to teachers and meeting with students. All this has given me a clear picture of the environment within schools. It was very disturbing to find out that the Brazilian middle school environment was deeply marked by all sorts of violence such as bullying, intolerance, indiscipline and incivility, which hampered the students’ learning and affected their academic performance.

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At the same time, I realised that there was a wide gap between what was going on in the classroom and the schoolyard and what was being presented in EFL textbooks.

In other words, students were fighting in the back of the room, while textbooks were still asking where the book was. It seemed that something was missing.

Theoretical background

Concepts such as ‘negative peace’ and ‘positive peace’ were key in the development of our ELT/Peace Education programme. Those terms were coined by Johann Galtung (1975), who is considered to be the father of modern peace studies. Negative peace refers to the absence of war or violence. It is negative because something undesirable has come to a halt; for example, a war has ended, violence has stopped or oppression has ceased. Positive peace, on the other hand, has to do with positive attitudes and actions towards the restoration of relationships, the creation of social systems that serve the needs of the whole population and the constructive resolution of conflicts.

Therefore, conflicts are welcome in the context of positive peace.

The idea of conflict transformation as proposed by Lederach (1995) greatly helped the development of activities that aim at bringing together individual differences and diversity of points of view in the classroom. And we must always bear in mind that in the Brazilian context, peace education has to do with learning to live together.

The place of peace education

For the purpose of this programme, peace education is considered a content area, a strategy and a cross-cutting theme. It is a content area when aspects of PE such as identity awareness, conflict resolution, tolerance, empathy and co-operation are at the centre of language-teaching activities. The very first unit of the programme, entitled ‘Identity’, focuses on raising awareness about one’s identity. At the same time, it aims at developing tolerance and empathy when differences in the students’ backgrounds are shared with the group. This unit teaches the verb ‘to be’ in the present tense, but the ultimate goal is developing understanding and learning to live together. The grammar is taught because it is needed to help students deal with the other goals of the unit.

Table 4.8.1: Themes covered in the programme

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Peace education is also a strategy when we make use of tools and approaches that are based on the building principles of peace. Cawagas (2007) states, ‘Realizing that all knowledge is never free of values, educating for a culture of peace needs to be explicit about its preferred values such as compassion, justice, equity, gender- fairness, caring for life, sharing, reconciliation, in all integrity, hope and non-violence’ (302).

Therefore, PE involves teaching for these values in every educational intervention.

According to Cawagas, ‘a dialogical approach cultivates a more horizontal teacher-learner relationship in which both dialogically educate and learn from each other’ (303). Dialogue is a key component of peace education pedagogy.

Finally, PE is a cross-cutting theme because every single unit of the programme focuses on a specific aspect of peace building. Besides the main cross-cutting theme, the programme has theme axles connecting some units along the way and expanding specific concepts. Table 4.8.1 shows two theme axles covered in the programme.

Conclusions

Since we understand that PE cannot be dealt with as a separate school subject, bringing PE pedagogy into the EFL classroom has been beneficial to the students both academically and in developing their emotional competences. Programmes like this can contribute to UNESCO’s Sustainable Goal 16 and help transform the school environment into a more inclusive, respectful place. ej.amos@hotmail.com

References

Cawagas, V. 2007. ‘Pedagogical principles in educating for a culture of peace’ in S. H. Toh and V. Cawagas (eds.). Cultivating Wisdom, Harvesting Peace. Brisbane: Griffith University.

Galtung, J. 1975. ‘Peace: research, education, action’ in Volume 1, Essays in Peace Research.

Copenhagen: Christian Ejlers.

Lederach, J. P. 1995. Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation across Cultures. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.

4.9 Using stories and creative writing to teach global citizenship in the English class Cornée Ferreira Driestar University for Teacher Education, Gouda, Netherlands Teaching in the global village

The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, but it is also threatened by poverty, inequality and the violation of human rights. English teachers are looking for ways to guide learners in becoming ‘global citizens’, helping them to assume active roles in facing and resolving global challenges, guiding them to become proactive contributors to a more peaceful, tolerant and secure world (UNESCO 2014). A recent study investigated the willingness and ability to implement global citizen education (GCED) among three groups of English teachers in the Netherlands. The first dataset comprised reflective journals by 20 trainees, 18 inexperienced teachers and 19 experienced EFL teachers of learners aged 12 to 15. The second dataset comprised two lesson plans from each teacher.

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Reflective journals

The journal data shows that teachers from all three groups are willing to include GCED in their language lessons. As one teacher wrote: Learners who do not know other cultures and other behaviours tend to judge quickly when they encounter something or someone ‘strange’. So we have to teach them that other cultures are as valuable as ours.

Teachers also reported difficulties like time constraints and a mismatch between learners’ concerns and their language levels: Interesting materials are too difficult for my learners. Materials of a suitable language level are boring.

Lesson plans

The teachers included lesson aims and teaching materials about global citizenship in the lesson plans, corroborating the findings from the reflective journals that they are willing to work towards GCED aims.

Analysis of the learning aims shows that all the lesson aims on GCED in this study were in the cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy (see Figure 4.9.1) and mainly the lowest levels: remembering and understanding facts and concepts. No learning aims in the affective domain were included in any of the lesson plans, and the teachers did not include any activities to monitor learners’ progress in terms of global citizenship.

Affective learning objectives

Three interventions were then suggested to improve GCED. The first was to include affective learning objectives in the lesson plans. If learners are to become proactive contributors to a more peaceful, tolerant and secure world, they need knowledge (cognitive domain), but their attitudes (affective domain) towards these ‘others’ are even more important. Affective aims can function as guidelines for teachers and learners as they work towards specific measurable objectives, making it possible to measure learners’ progress in this regard.

Figure 4.9.1: Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives (cf. Kratwohl et al. 1964)

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Picture books

The second intervention included the use of English language picture books. Identifying with characters and reading children’s literature have helped many children confront and deal with difficult personal issues such as divorce, abuse and death.

Picture books like The Island by Armin Greder (about a refugee), The Silence Seeker

by Ben Morley and Azzi in Between by Sarah Garland (both about asylum seekers), and Me and You by Anthony Browne (portraying social inequality) can help learners to confront and deal with global issues such as poverty, inequality and social injustice.

Creative writing

The third intervention was to include creative writing. Not only does (creative) writing aid language development at all levels, it is ‘a personal activity involving feeling’ (Maley 2013: 162) and therefore allows for monitoring learning progress in the affective domain. Creative writing does not need to be difficult. Maley’s (2013) ‘Hello, goodbye’ poems, for example, can be written by learners of different levels. These poems have only two lines of two words each, e.g.: Hello paper, Goodbye trees.

Teachers were encouraged to let their learners write short poems about global issues such as modern slavery and the plastic soup.

Conclusion

In general, the teachers in this study wanted to guide the learners in their classes to become ‘global citizens’. The trainees, inexperienced teachers and those with more experience wanted to address global issues, but teachers from all groups of participants experienced difficulties in addressing these issues in the English class, possibly because pre-service teacher education focuses on language acquisition and does not provide guidance about GCED. All three groups reported to have benefited from the three interventions. Bloom’s taxonomy for affective aims with verbs helped them to formulate smarter learning aims in terms of global citizenship. Ideas for picture books provided rich and imaginative content for language teaching with a focus on GCED. The creative writing promoted language learning and provided opportunities to express feelings, making it possible to monitor learners’ development of global citizenship, such as their awareness of global issues, engagement, and values. corneeferreiraELT@gmail.com

References

Krathwohl, D. R., B. S. Bloom and B. B. Masia. 1964. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook II: Affective Domain. New York: David McKay Co. Maley, A. 2013. ‘Creative writing for second language students’ in J. Bland and C. Lütge (eds.).

Children’s Literature in Second Language Education. London: Bloomsbury.

UNESCO 2014. Teaching and Learning, Achieving Quality Education for All. EFA Global Monitoring Report. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/ efareport/.

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Culture in the classroom

The concept of culture is notoriously difficult to define, but the writers of these papers do an excellent job of addressing the topic of culture in the classroom. Ian Lebeau opens the chapter with a highly topical paper on what it means to teach ‘British culture’ in light of the disunity revealed by the Brexit vote. This is followed by two papers designed to enhance students’ awareness of cultural identity. Sanaa Abdel Hady Makhlouf describes a collaborative initiative carried out between postsecondary institutions in Egypt and the USA, with the goal of allowing students to learn about the other group’s culture; and Helene Appel and Maria Bahrenscheer Jensen show how narrative in the form of digital storytelling enables students to address issues related to culture. Tarun Kumari Kharbamon then discusses her approach to classroom conflict in culturally diverse India. The next few papers address the use of literature in the classroom. First, Helen Ford reports on her use of literature in non-standard varieties of English in the ESL class. Then, two papers, the first by Conny Loder and the second by Lisa Peter and Annette Deschner, present approaches to the teaching of Shakespeare in EFL and multilingual contexts. Finally, for teachers interested in incorporating cultural diversity into their classrooms, Ana Carolina Costa Lopes offers some excellent suggestions!

5.1 Teaching ‘British culture’ after the Brexit vote Ian Lebeau Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford and Cambridge, UK and QA

Higher Education, London, UK Introduction

Most published materials dealing with ‘British culture’ have traditionally tended to focus on topics such as the monarchy, government, the law, education, work and leisure, family life and food, and have been dealt with in a largely neutral, descriptive manner. In this talk, it was argued that the Brexit vote demanded that we look at new ways of teaching ‘British culture’, acknowledging the divisions in UK society, and critically evaluating British characteristics, beliefs and behaviours.

The absence of a unified ‘British culture’

The EU referendum of June 2016 revealed a Disunited Kingdom: England and Wales elected to leave, while Scotland and Northern Ireland chose to remain. The young voted very differently from their elders. Other divisions in the UK have since been extensively discussed. Economic inequality has been recognised as a key driver

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of Brexit, with the UK the second most unequal society in the EU. Additionally, Goodhart (2017) describes two different ‘tribes’ in Britain: the socially conservative ‘Somewheres’ and the internationalist ‘Anywheres’. These ‘binary times’ raise the question of whether one can speak of ‘British culture’, or ‘Britain’, at all. There seem to be so many Britains, so many cultures.

A way forward

In spite of this, the referendum has presented an opportunity to think afresh about ‘British culture’ and to seek out new content and new approaches. One suggestion, made in this talk, is to take a less descriptive approach and engage more in the higher-order skill of evaluation, exploring both positive and negative aspects of ‘British culture’. This runs the risk of greater subjectivity, but in a more complex and dangerous world, it is likely that we need to interpret facts for our students and help them do the same.

Some elements of a ‘British culture’ syllabus

Negatives • British exceptionalism was identified as a key negative. According to politician Jacob Rees-Mogg, to be born British is ‘to win first prize in the lottery of life’ (Fletcher 2018). Recently, however, we have started to appreciate that this attitude is, very specifically, English.

• Xenophobia is no longer restricted to a tiny minority of British people. We rightly celebrate our history as a safe haven for those fleeing persecution, but we now struggle to admit even small numbers of child refugees. There was also a serious amount of ‘othering’ of foreigners during the referendum period.

• The idea of the British as a nation of rational, pragmatic, reserved people is, it was claimed, well out of date. Our stiff upper lip is now only skin-deep, and unchecked emotion can break out at any moment; this was seen in 1997 following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and again during the referendum campaign.

• Although 2018 is the centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK, and women have obviously made substantial progress in that time, it was argued that they are still second-class citizens. Only 32 per cent of British Members of Parliament are female and pay differences between men and women doing the same job can be very large.

Positives • The British passion for volunteering was discussed. It is estimated that 14 million people volunteer at least once a month, picking up litter in local parks, for example, or running for charity. Monbiot (2018: 3) states: ‘Volunteering gives people what work once promised: meaning, purpose, place, community. This is where hope lies.’

• The National Health Service (NHS), it was suggested, is central to the lives of virtually all British people, inspiring pride and loyalty and representing an ideal of fairness. Some of our students may need to use the NHS while in the UK, but all students of ‘British culture’ should understand it.

• Britain is an outstandingly creative country in fields such as literature and film, theatre, music, fashion, art and architecture, design and technology. Cultural exports are worth more than the automotive, gas, aerospace and life science industries

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combined, offering, it was noted in passing, an excellent focus for students of business English.

• Finally, it was proposed that we should make more of the great physical beauty of the UK. A Rough Guide readers’ poll in autumn 2017 voted Scotland the world’s most beautiful country. It was felt particularly appropriate, in Brighton, to mention the UK’s astounding coasts.

Conclusion

The EU referendum has opened up an opportunity to think deeply about Britain at a critical moment in its history and, in terms of teaching ‘British culture’, to embrace a more evaluative approach and explore new topics. ianlebeau@aol.com

References

Fletcher, M. 2018. ‘The polite extremist: Jacob Rees-Mogg’s seemingly unstoppable rise’.

New Statesman, 20 February. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/02/politeextremist-jacob-rees-mogg-s-seemingly-unstoppable-rise.

Goodhart, D. 2017. The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics.

London: Hurst.

Monbiot, G. 2018. ‘Wake up! As robots take our jobs, we can’t live just to work’. The Guardian: Opinion, 7 February.

5.2 Bridging cultural divides through synchronous and asynchronous online teaching Sanaa Abdel Hady Makhlouf The American University in Cairo, Egypt Introduction

This talk reported on a collaborative online international learning (COIL) module embedded in a freshman writing course at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and a freshman psychology course at Tompkins Cortland Community College (TCCC) in New York. Both instructors collaborated online then met face to face in order to develop their new module, its learning outcomes, assessment framework, tools and tasks for a seven-week interactive and collaborative cross-cultural learning experience. The module aimed to enhance intercultural competence by fostering a meaningful sense of community across both cultures. Pre-, mid- and post-COIL reflection questions were administered. The presenter shared the tasks and tools used throughout this module and reflected on the successes and challenges faced by teachers and students as learners engaged in both synchronous (taking place at the same time) and asynchronous (taking place at different times) collaboration, taking into account the six-hour time difference between the two countries.

Collaboration

With instruction by administrators from the State University of New York (SUNY) who launched the COIL programme in 2006, teachers who registered for the course

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engaged in two months of intensive training. This led to the forming of partnerships between pairs of teachers and the designing of their international online module embedded within their local course. In order to make the collaboration more meaningful, a workshop took place at the University of Technology in Lebanon where all partners met for one week to collaborate and design their module. Following the workshop the module was implemented.

Designing the module

The module had two learning outcomes. The first was for students to exchange their positive and negative experiences about their educational path, and the second was to share and reflect on the stereotypes Arabs and Americans might have of each other.

The weeks were divided as follows: • Week 1: Introduction to the tools and tasks and administering a pre-COIL survey online. Teachers prepared an introductory Zoom video to share with the other class.

• Week 2: Sharing positive and negative educational experiences and posting them on a Blackboard discussion forum for feedback and comments.

• Week 3: Participating in the first synchronous task via a scheduled Zoom video meeting.

• Week 4: Reflecting asynchronously on the past three weeks by completing a midCOIL survey.

• Week 5: Discussing Arab/American stereotypes embedded in the media.

• Week 6: Responding to the prompt about how Arabs and Americans view each other with respect to stereotypes. Posting responses on the Blackboard forum for feedback.

• Week 7: On Blackboard group discussion forum, sharing ideas about how prejudice could be reduced between Arabs and Americans.

The module ended by having students reflect on their COIL experience through a Zoom meeting, then completing an online post-COIL survey.

Tools used for online collaboration were Google Docs, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, Zoom and Blackboard Learning System. The COIL module counted for 10 per cent of students’ final grade in their local course.

Challenges and rewards

Although students felt that the module increased their workload, they eventually bonded together and enjoyed the learning experience gained from this collaboration.

Most of the Egyptian students were more familiar with American culture because of their socioeconomic backgrounds that allowed them to travel to the USA and Europe. In contrast, the American students, who were from a different socioeconomic background, were less exposed to Arab culture and had never communicated with Egyptians. The collaboration helped change their perception of each other, and they developed a sense of tolerance and acceptance of others as well as an awareness of the impact of the media on how we perceive others. In the community college, students’ ages ranged from 18 to 54, unlike the freshman students at AUC who were all 18.

This age difference caused some miscommunication that was resolved through the input of both teachers.

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Conclusion

Students indicated that they not only enjoyed and benefited from the collaboration but had developed a better understanding of the others as well as gained more awareness of their similarities that seemed more than their differences. Students hoped to participate in another COIL module with more Zoom meetings since they benefitted from them more than from any of the other selected tools. Therefore, both instructors decided to resume the collaboration for another semester, but with a new group of students, new challenges and hopefully more rewards from the online collaboration. sanaaam@aucegypt.edu

5.3 Exploring cultural identities through technology Helene Appel and Maria Bahrenscheer Jensen University College

Copenhagen, Denmark Working with Danish teacher training students at University College Copenhagen, we constructed a project to demonstrate how EFL teachers can explore identity construction and cultural diversity in the classroom. The overall aim for the course was to show how EFL teachers can work with intersected topics such as subjectivity and cultural identities. Additionally, we examined how digital storytelling (DS) embraced different learning styles, and boosted students’ 21st-century skills in working collaboratively to enhance global and cultural awareness. Examples of the DS tasks we made are ‘My cultural identity’ and ‘My favourite place’, where the students had to include pictures, sound, voiceover and multiple clips, and tell the story from a first-person narrator’s perspective. This workshop aimed to show how digital storytelling can promote intercultural competences and to let the audience reflect on the task ‘My favourite place’ by trying out two specific steps in constructing a digital story.

In line with one framework based on a cultural studies approach, we suggest that teachers can work with topics that intersect, such as religion, beliefs, values, discourse, gender and lifestyles. Furthermore, this allows for working with different kinds of cultural identities in class, as we understand culture to be a fluid and dynamic phenomenon, which changes depending on the context (Risager 2018). We looked at identity and culture in a non-essentialist way in the construction of ‘selves’, where diversity and encounters took centre stage. We applied DS to open up for working with this framework in the EFL classroom by designing tasks that forced the learners to reflect on the intersections of cultural identity, subjectivity and critical awareness.

In line with Lambert’s (2010) definition, we defined DS as short, personal narratives in a digital form that consist of multimedia components such as text, images and sound. In order to create a digital story, Lambert suggests seven important steps; the audience tried out Step 1: owning your insights, and Step 3: finding the moment.

Each audience member reflected individually on the topic ‘My favourite place’ by brainstorming in depth on Step 1, which helps us realise what makes this story our personal story in particular. We reflect on the subject matter by asking questions, such as ‘Why this story?’, ‘Why now?’ and ‘Who is it for and to?’ Then, Step 3 helps

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us clarify the most important insights and emotions of the story. Some moments are loaded with more meaning and are more memorable than others. We reflected on the subject matter by asking questions, such as ‘Can you describe the place in detail?’ and ‘What was the feeling/sense that made you aware of the place?’ We consider these steps essential if you want to construct compelling and inspiring digital stories for others, and they serve as a stepping stone in structuring the learners’ working process.

We believe that DS has the potential to give learners the unique possibility of personal interpretation (Rossiter and Garcia 2010). These stories also embrace different learning styles, such as playing with visuals, sounds, symbols, and the written and spoken mode. Moreover, DS enhances motivation, interest and hidden talents, and stimulates feelings and communication skills. Finally, DS can be instrumental in developing 21st-century skills, such as creativity and imagination, collaboration and teamwork, critical thinking, global and cultural awareness, and communication skills in general.

In conclusion, we examined the complexities in humanity by asking the question ‘Who am I?’ We believe that the narrative itself is the key to developing intercultural understanding. The acceptance of fully knowing that we all contain more than ‘a single story’ is effective when working with cultural identities in the EFL classroom. helb@phmetropol.dk

References

Lambert, J. 2010. Digital Storytelling Cookbook. Berkeley, Calif.: Center for Digital Storytelling.

Risager, K. 2018. Representations of the World in Language Textbooks, Languages for Intercultural Communication and Education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Rossiter, M. and P. Garcia. 2010. ‘Digital storytelling: a new player on the narrative field’. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 126: 37−48.

5.4 Classroom diversity: a teacher’s platform for conflict resolution Tarun Kumari Kharbamon The English and Foreign Languages University,

Shillong Campus, India Introduction

I teach in a context which is highly diverse. Though as a nation we exist as a homogeneous entity, we differ from each other in features, language, culture, religions, beliefs and traditions. This diversity is reflected in the classroom as well. Classrooms in Shillong are culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse. The students have their own distinct cultures, beliefs, values, food habits and religions and are from different tribes and castes. The classroom can, if we are not wary and alert, be the genesis of ethnic, religious and identity conflicts.

While this diversity has rich potential for cultural exchange, it can present an educational and professional challenge for the teacher, who has to be very immediate in his/her response in order to maintain a conducive learning environment. College and

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university classrooms are contexts of unpleasant conflicts which, though subtle, have made the classroom context both embarrassing and threatening.

A few years ago the problem was manageable. Students were disciplined and teachers were held in high esteem. At present, however, the situation has changed. Values are forgotten and intolerance has subtly crept into our classrooms. The students’ world, which was earlier positive and harmonious, is gradually becoming difficult and challenging. The ‘emo culture’ of the students, as I prefer to call it, has made the students aware of their rights and their deprivations, making them vent their frustrations and anxieties, leading to unpleasant controversies and dialogues.

The teacher and classroom diversity

As educational administrators, teachers and pedagogues, we cannot remain detached.

We have to acknowledge and shoulder the responsibility since we are the ‘transformative intellectuals’ who connect and translate pedagogical theory and practice to wider social issues and embody in our teaching a vision of a better and more humane life.

But before we can do that, we need to reflect critically on the values that we ourselves uphold. We might go to extensive lengths to rationalise, justify and emphasise the necessity of imparting value education to our students, but the question is, what values do we ourselves conform to? Are we candles in the dark? Are we the ‘salt’ that disinfects and preserves? Or are we just cogs in the machine of materialism and commercialisation, and do we seek to impose our own values?

I strongly feel that, as teachers, we should comprehend our own values systems if we are to serve as springboards towards the development of values in our own classroom contexts and disseminate values to others. A knowledge of the many differences that exist in the classroom and a self-knowledge of how one usually responds to these differences can make one aware of hidden prejudices and stereotypes which are barriers to tolerance and understanding. Seen from this perspective, classroom diversity can be a resource. We can exploit the diverse context to develop in both the students and among our own colleagues the so much needed intercultural and inter-social competence.

As an experienced teacher and teacher trainer, what I have tried is to do in my own humble efforts is to help restore the values of respect and tolerance through group dynamics, problem-solving activities and group tasks. I also use self-authored supplementary textbooks, where I have tried to incorporate lessons drawn from different parts of the country with the goal of exposing the readers to something beyond their own context.

At the start of every classroom I spend a few minutes arranging how the students or the teacher trainees sit. I make it a point that each group has members from different linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds. These are indeed very small steps, but I do believe that these classroom sessions have made a difference. The participants have learnt through the sessions not only to tolerate but also to appreciate the Other’s culture, and they have expressed their readiness to know more about the Other’s traditional customs and beliefs.

To conclude, classroom diversity, if well exploited in the hands of an innovative teacher, can be a resource to resolve conflicts and encourage mutual understanding and respect for the ‘Other’ while also promoting strong learning and teaching communities. The teacher will be not only a professional, but a responsible individual with 104

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specific visions of community and moral accountability preparing the students both for their economic and cross cultural citizenship. tkkharbamon@gmail.com

5.5 Using literature featuring non-standard English in ELT: some reasons why Helen Ford South Thames College, London, UK Introduction

Is it possible to use literature featuring non-standard English varieties with L2 learners? In this talk I outlined the method, materials and findings from my research with L2 learners in London.

Rationale

A common approach to reading involves learners answering a series of comprehension questions which have a measurable correct answer. In this research I adopted a different approach to reading skills development. Regarding method, I wanted to move beyond ‘answerable’ questions to ones which encouraged the co-construction of meaning. Regarding material, I wanted to use literary texts, in particular stories and poems from outside the traditional literary canon, which celebrate the diversity of English today.

So why use non-standard Englishes? When L2 learners are already struggling with comprehension, the addition of dialect varieties seems counterintuitive. However, using them may encourage co-construction of meaning—when the meaning of a word or phrase is not immediately obvious, learners, who might otherwise look up the word in their dictionaries, have to use context clues and discussion to reach a possible meaning. Secondly, as the English language is increasingly diverse, the opportunity to study English varieties addresses this reality and opens students’ eyes to the world of culture represented in literature. Finally, on a personal level I wanted to share my family’s language heritage (Caribbean English), so my selection of texts used mainly Caribbean varieties. I included West African and Scottish varieties for comparison and contrast, but the choice is personal. Authors included Sam Selvon, John Agard, Valerie Bloom and Chinua Achebe.

Research evidence

While the use of literature in ELT is very well documented, using literatures with varieties of English is under-represented in the research. Studies that exist (see Talib 1992, among others) focus on reading familiar local varieties of English; for example, learners in Singapore or Malaysia read texts in their dialect of English. This lack of use is outlined

by Vandrick (1996), who acknowledges potential reasons why L2 learners would not want to read texts in non-standard language, citing confusion, and more critically, their feeling that it is a waste of time as this variety will not be tested. This is compounded in grammar books, as Wales describes: ‘Foreign learners of English may be forgiven for

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thinking that dialect speech and non-English standards do not exist, or are ‘abnormal’ since there is so little mention of them in contemporary grammars’ (1996: 19).

Methodology

With each text I established the context—my texts were linked thematically to language and power. While reading, rather than using pre-set comprehension questions, learners used a form of reader response. They annotated their text indicating what they enjoyed, found confusing, funny or interesting, and so on. Annotations were compared, and it was during this comparison and debate stage that the richness of discussion around meaning took place. Finally, as a group we explored themes and potential meanings of unfamiliar language. In some cases I used question prompts to direct the discussion.

Evaluation

Learners completed a questionnaire, and a small number were interviewed. Some learners fundamentally prefer poems to stories, or vice versa, so genre had an influence on enjoyment and engagement. Learners recognised that these texts created opportunities for critical thinking: The whole process of processing information and searching for an answer is more important to me than actually finding ‘the answer’ I could understand difficult phrases thanks to the context. That’s definitely a good thing to learn

Students reported some language knowledge gain: It was quite useful because I have a wide range of different vocabulary and accents now

Learners also developed an increased awareness of English varieties and their associated cultures: English is not only spoken in countries like Ireland, Canada, etc. but also in unknown countries English is more than just the standard Oxford/Cambridge English we learn

However, as Vandrick suggests, the feedback was not all positive, and this must be acknowledged: I’m interested in learning Standard English—doing the CAE with this knowledge I didn’t like the language because it wasn’t proper

Overall, and more positively: It was something different from the normal language class

In the Q&A at the conference, we discussed text selection; the choice of language variety is up to the teacher and students according to relevance and interest. Finding related audio can bring the language alive if learners are in a non-English speaking environment.

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Conclusion

The inclusion of literature in varieties of English has multiple benefits for L2 students for developing reading skills and more, including critical thinking, linguistic awareness and cultural knowledge gain. helen.ford@south-thames.ac.uk

References

Talib, I. S. 1992. ‘Why not teach non-native English literature?’. ELT Journal 46/1: 51−55.

Vandrick, S. 1996. ‘Issues in using multicultural literature in college ESL writing classes’. Journal of Second Language Writing 5/3: 253−269.

Wales, K. 1996. Personal Pronouns in Present-day English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

5.6 A multiliteracies approach to teaching Shakespeare: an excursion to London Conny Loder Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

In my paper I suggest a holistic teaching approach to Shakespeare in the EFL classroom that not only engages various modes of meaning making, but also takes students of Shakespeare out of the classroom, into the pit of the groundlings and onto the sites of playhouses from Shakespeare’s time.

My approach to Shakespeare builds on the New London Group and their multi-modal method to teaching language and literature, the multiliteracies approach (New London Group 1996). Contrary to the concept that Shakespeare, his time and his plays should be taught with didactisised texts and in a classroom environment, I suggest we engage learners of EFL with Shakespeare through additional literacies: literary, performative, digital and spatial literacy.

Literary and performance literacy

After learners have thoroughly engaged with the text in class, their performative and visual literacy is trained. The classroom serves as a first encounter to Shakespeare’s performances, which enables learners to understand the aesthetics of transformations of text to stage and film. This also enables learners to critically evaluate their experience of the theatre performances they will be seeing in London.

Approaching the plays from the perspective of an actor or director, learners engage in workshops tailored specifically to an active approach to the plays. Several theatre companies offer workshops accompanying their productions such as the Globe Theatre, Iris Theatre and fringe theatre companies (such as Brockley Jack and the Rose Playhouse). By engaging in workshops with the same companies with which learners will experience productions, learners enhance not only their textual analysis of the play, but also their understanding of how the text ‘directs’ the production.

A critical reflection of the production takes place through talkbacks with cast and directors of the same companies that offer the workshops. These talkbacks show that students have learned to critically assess productions and that they can engage in an informed discussion about the plays and their metamorphosis on stage.

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Digital literacy

The World Wide Web offers various resources to explore Shakespeare’s plays online and interactively; one of the best is the Globe. It offers not only plentiful resources for teachers (analysis of the plays, of previous Globe productions, close-reading suggestions), but also a wide range of interactive tasks for learners. One such example allows learners to direct their own scene from a selection of plays. The Globe website offers a collection of clips based on previous productions that learners can merge to create a whole scene. This is more than just stringing lines together: learners need to decide how the actors should deliver the lines (i.e. mood, pace, intonation). The merged scenes can be downloaded to be compared with those of other learners. This digital ‘excursion’ allows learners to design a scene and explore various presentation styles of text and various movements and blocking according to theatre pedagogue Rudolf Laban.

Spatial literacy

Although learners can explore Shakespeare’s time and his playhouses to some extent in the classroom—especially with the Globe site in mind—a full exploration truly requires a treasure hunt through today’s London. There, learners locate the sites of playhouses in a similar fashion as today’s treasure hunters do with geocaches.

The cache—the playhouse—is located with information that the learners draw from documents which emerge directly from Shakespeare’s lifetime. Other locations include the Rose Playhouse, the Curtain, the Playhouse Called the Theatre and the Blackfriars Playhouse. We deliberately avoid the Globe Playhouse, since its status as a tourist attraction will only deter learners’ from engaging with spatial literacy.

The playhouses of interest need first be located with original documents, retrieved from the National Archives, Kew or the Archives at Dulwich College, such as the King’s Bench Document. Learners decipher and collect important pieces of information to situate their playhouse in a specific area. With this information from the documents, often court cases or leases pertaining to playhouse buildings themselves or buildings nearby, learners locate their cache on Early Modern Maps (with the help of street names and dimensions). Although no London map from Shakespeare’s own time, showing the playhouses, is extant, maps of London shortly prior to or after Shakespeare serve the purpose: maps by Peter Chassereau, Braun and Hogenberg and the Agas Map are crucial, all of which can be found online (British History Online).

The next step is to transfer the pinpointed area to a modern map, and learners eventually locate their cache in today’s London.

Ultimately, this holistic approach to teaching Shakespeare in EFL ensures sustainable learning: learners truly own Shakespeare. cornelia.e.loder@gmail.com

References

British History Online. http:// www.british-history.ac.uk.

Records of the Court of King’s Bench and Other Courts. 1600−1699. National Archives. KB 27/1362/1.

The New London Group. 1996. ‘A pedagogy of multiliteracies: designing social futures’. Harvard Educational Review 66/1: 1−31.

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5.7 Shakespeare in the multilingual classroom Lisa Peter The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, UK and Annette Deschner

Karlsruhe University of Education, Germany Multilingual classrooms are a reality for many teachers around the globe, but all too often, multilingualism is perceived as a hindrance rather than an asset for the students.

However, including the students’ home languages in the classroom can significantly raise self-esteem and support inclusion (Gogolin 2001). The CultureShake project, undertaken by Karlsruhe University of Education together with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Primorska University and secondary schools in Germany and Sweden, aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice. We used Shakespeare’s reputation as shared cultural heritage as a medium to develop teaching methods and activities that incorporate plurilingualism and multilingualism in their makeup.

Language portraits

To make students aware that they are plurilingual speakers we asked them at the beginning of the project to create a language portrait. This is an exercise to make students more aware of their inner plurilingualism: we may not be fully aware of all the languages we speak because our home language may not be an ‘official’ one, i.e. the state or institutional language. This language portrait by Krumm and Jenkins was further explored by Brigitta Busch (2012). To begin with, the students reflect on their inner plurilingualism: they draw the shape of their body and then add their languages to any part of the body, choosing a colour for every language. They then write texts about these languages, for example, about when they use them, i.e. in a specific situation or context, or with certain people. Finally, the students share their language portrait with other students in the group. To our surprise one refugee student from Afghanistan put down Hazaragi as one of her languages, which hadn’t been captured by any previous cognitive language grids—this only came to light through her journey to her inner plurilingualism.

Geocaches

CultureShake tries to open up a new approach for school exchanges. Instead of focusing on national culture and language, Shakespeare served as the content for the exchange. Guided city tours with national landmarks are often part of an exchange programme but as CultureShake does not want to foster national stereotypes, our students explored the towns they visited with the help of geocaches, where favourite places of the students supply the coordinates of the geocaches. For the workshop week in Stratford, where the students met to work at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, we created the geocache as a tour through Shakespeare’s life. To find their coordinates the students had to answer questions referring to our focus texts A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest. Multilingual tasks were built in so that all the home languages were appreciated. The teacher handbooks and all the worksheets for the Singen, Stratford and Gothenburg geocaches are available online at www.cultureshake.eu.

Theatre workshops

Since Shakespeare is the topic the students had been working on together, we naturally also employed some drama techniques. The Tempest being one of our focus texts,

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we used the theme of displacement to interrogate the characters in the play. After an initial introduction to the story lines, the students were given cards that summarised the characters’ backstory in terms of how they ended up on Prospero’s island and how they feel at the beginning of the play. The students then hot-seated those characters and interrogated them about their understanding of home and what it means to them.

Another exercise that more directly made use of the students’ home languages focused on voice and dramatic dialogue. We worked with the opening sequence of Hamlet and after the students had understood the situation and the vocabulary, we concentrated on the delivery of the lines. In a final step the students were asked to quickly translate their lines into their home languages and to deliver them, even if nobody else in their group shared their home language. The students very quickly moved on from focusing on what they said to how they were saying it: they were able to use their multilingualism to support the understanding of the meaning of the text and thereby to work on the range of emotions possible for the Shakespeare character they were playing at that moment.

We have hopefully been able to showcase how multilingualism can be included in working on a certain topic like Shakespeare as well as in cultural exchanges that want to go deeper than a tourist visit. These are just a few of the methods and activities the CultureShake project is developing; the project website (www.cultureshake.eu) holds more inspiration. lisa.peter@shakespeare.org.uk annette.deschner@ph-karlsruhe.de

References

Busch, B. 2012. ‘The linguistic repertoire revisited’. Applied Linguistics 33/5: 503–523.

Gogolin, I., U. Neumann and L. Reuter. 2005. Schulbildung für Kinder von Minderheiten in Deutschland 1989−1999. Schulrecht, Schulorganisation, Curriculare Fragen, Sprachliche Bildung. Münster/New York: Waxmann-Verlag.

5.8 Incorporating diversity in materials and/or the classroom Ana Carolina Costa Lopes StandFor, São Paulo/SP, Brazil What is diversity?

Merriam-Webster defines ‘diversity’ as the condition of having or being composed of differing elements. One can also think of diversity as the range of human differences that includes the primary or internal dimension such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability and sexual orientation; and the secondary or external dimension such as thought styles, religion, nationality, socio-economic status, belief systems, military experience and education (Boston College Office for Institutional Diversity, 2018).

Definitions of diversity—no matter how concise or complex—will always involve the word ‘different’ or ‘difference’. In educational contexts, however, such a word is often regarded as problematic. Schools have long sought to erase differences as if they

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were a synonym for inequality. Examples include the adoption of standard curricula, assessments, assignments, classroom layout, even uniforms. However, it is important to highlight that the opposite of equality is not difference. In fact, acknowledging the right to difference is the first step towards building more egalitarian societies. The way to achieve that is through critical intercultural education, which understands difference as an inherent part of democratic societies. As Candau (2016) defines it, it systematically promotes dialogue between different subjects and aims to build more egalitarian relationships between different groups.

Why is it important in the classroom?

Primarily, the Declaration of Human Rights (1948) upholds intercultural education as it stipulates that education ‘shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace’. Moreover, research conducted in Brazilian schools (Mazzon 2009, cited in Candau 2012) has shown that discrimination and prejudice negatively affect results. In sum, this is not only key for building more democratic societies, but it is also a learner-centered pedagogy that can empower learners.

Best practices for teachers and writers

1 Use images to promote more inclusion and diversity. Adopt more inclusive stock websites such as representationmatters.me, nappy.com, Iwaria, tonl.co, diversityphotos.com and blendimages.com. For editors and writers, it is also a good idea to be mindful of illustration briefings. Ask for the inclusion of more diverse characters instead of leaving it to the illustrator’s repertoire.

2 Hire a sensitivity reader. More common in fiction, a sensitivity reader will not read your coursebook or lesson plan for methodology consistency or language accuracy, but they will read it for inclusiveness, hidden biases and stereotypes. More importantly than having a background in ELT, this person will be engaged in social rights movements and groups.

3 Use authentic materials, but widen your sources. Look for texts from other countries, other communities, other social groups. Use Advanced Search features to search for texts in English from different countries so you can avoid the traditional sources. Expanding your repertoire is one of the best ways to incorporate more diversity into your practice.

4 Bring students’ voices into the class. Allow for students’ choice of reading materials, assignments and topics, and create moments where students can speak from their experience. By doing so, you are not only increasing diversity (as there are multiple voices present in the class) but also getting to know where and how you can push students’ boundaries, introducing them to different realities and perspectives.

5 Actively promote contact with different students through collaborative work. The key here is to spend some time grouping students varyingly, not just by grades or affinity (often allowing students to pick the same pairs, i.e. their friends or people similar to them that they enjoy working with). Whenever possible, expand that collaboration to beyond the classroom, engaging in school−community projects or school−school interaction. Through programmes such as Schools Online, ePals and

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CyberFair, students can collaborate with peers from all over the world, thus getting to know different cultures and perspectives.

6 Don’t ban the L1 from the classroom. It should not be a free-for-all, but instead allow moments for it, when it is important that students can express themselves without being limited to their current linguistic level. These moments can happen, for instance, in pre-reading activities (when the focus can be exploring students’ previous knowledge on the topic), post-reading reflection (when they can related to their own experiences and realities) or other moments deemed appropriate.

The list above is not intended to be exhaustive and there are many other ways to promote diversity in the classroom and in/through materials. This article’s objectives, however, were to enumerate some initial ideas and to inspire further dialogue about incorporating diversity in the English language classroom. acc.lopes@hotmail.com

References

Candau, V. M. F. 2012. ‘Diferenças culturais, interculturalidade e educação em direitos humanos’. Educação & Sociedade 33/118: 235−250.

Candau, V. M. F. 2016. ‘Cotidiano escolar e práticas interculturais’. Cadernos de Pesquisa, 46/161: 802−820.

Office for Institutional Diversity, Boston College. 2018. Diversity and Inclusion Statement. http://www.bc.edu/offices/diversity/statement-on-diversity-and-inclusion3.html.

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The ten papers in this chapter demonstrate the creativity and dedication that teachers of children and teens around the world bring to their work. Gail Ellis and Nayr Ibrahim start us off with a report on their work with metaphor among French-speaking children. Sophie Handy then discusses Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset philosophy in relation to gender in the YL classroom. The next two papers address the needs of students with special educational needs (SEN): Božica Šaric-Cvjetković demonstrates ways to allow all students to contribute in class, while Julia Koifman explores the use of video in SEN classrooms. Picture books are the subject of two papers: Susanne Jacobsen and Bente Melgaard, and Tatia Gruenbaum present insights from Denmark and the Netherlands respectively. The next paper takes us to Iceland, where Samúel Lefever explores the use of English vs. Icelandic among immigrant students. Next, we have two papers that address the topic of CLIL: Jonathan Kilpelä and Raul Albuquerque Paraná present best practices for building knowledge of both English and science; Anthony Bruton then contributes to the ongoing debate about the usefulness of CLIL. Finally, in a paper on language reform, Wendy Arnold and Mark Gregson bring us up to date on what is happening within English language education in Venezuela.

6.1 Using metaphor to elicit young children’s views on learning English Gail Ellis and Nayr Ibrahim British Council, Paris, France

This talk presented research based on a zigzag book-making activity, My Learning English Senses Book, as shown in Figure 6.1.1 (Ellis and Ibrahim 2015: 92/114). The objective was to: • enable children to express their views on learning English through use of metaphor; and • give teachers the opportunity to elicit children’s views on their English language learning experiences.

Figure 6.1.1: My Learning English Senses Book

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Context and participants

The study took place in December 2017 and included 47 four and five year olds who attended out-of-school English classes in Paris; they included: • children who spoke both English and French fluently: the Bilingual Section (BLS + age).

• children who were beginners in English: the English as a Foreign Language Section (EFLS + age).

Theoretical background

The study is embedded in a children’s rights perspective which values children’s voices.

The Mosaic Approach (Clark 2017) informed our methodology, which is a way of listening that acknowledges children and adults as co-constructors of meaning. Metaphors can be described as conceptual representations of deeper thoughts. However, according to Winner (1982), ‘The metaphors that younger children use are based on physical links, rather than conceptual and psychological ones’ and emerge during pretend or symbolic play, when children describe objects as other objects and then use them as such. Most early childhood metaphors, therefore, are noun−noun substitutions.

Data collection

We used the following structure to collect data (Jin et al. 2014: 289): • We identified a target domain, which is an abstract topic and which we linked to the senses: ‘Learning English tastes/feels like … etc.’.

• The children drew a source domain, which is a commonly understood concrete image: ‘Learning English tastes like a lollipop.’

• The children give an entailment to explain the reason for and underlying meaning of their metaphor: ‘Learning English tastes like a lollipop because it is sweet and I like it’ (BLS5). The children explained their entailments orally.

Data analysis

When analysing the data we identified occurring themes for each sense based on the domains. Some themes such as living things, people, food and objects were common across most senses. Other domains were specific to a sense, such as the sense of touch to which we added sensations as it included feelings, and physical and imaginative sensations: ‘Learning English feels like the heart because feelings are in your heart’ (BLS5). Food was the most common theme across all senses and was mainly linked to objects the children could see in their classroom. We also analysed the data by themes, by age and by section to identify the number of source domains produced.

When analysing the data at a second level, we noticed how children’s source domains were linked to the ‘here and now’ of their own personal, concrete experiences of using and learning English. Their experiences included associations linked to people, places or routines in their lives. These fell into two main categories: • Outside the school: ‘Learning English feels like bubbles because it’s soft and I have mousse in my bath at home with my nanny and we speak English’ (BLS5). The child is using both languages to express her experience (mousse de bain = bubble bath).

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• Inside the school: ‘Learning English sounds like a snake because a snake slithers.’ The child is referring to the /s/ sound from the Jolly Phonics programme used with BLS5.

Discussion

The five year olds and the children in the BLS produced more domains than the four year olds and more than the children in the EFLS. This may be because the children in the BLS functioned in both languages on a daily basis and therefore had more vocabulary and references in both languages. As a result, they exhibited more creativity, greater flexibility and more spontaneity when expressing their views about learning English. For example, one BLS5 child drew the sweet Fishermen’s Friends: ‘Learning English tastes like Fishermen’s Friends because it’s an English sweet but they sell them in Auchan’ (a French supermarket). Most children were able to produce concrete noun−noun metaphors and explain their choices. Some were also able to go beyond to make noun−verb/action metaphors by linking their drawings to their direct learning experiences: ‘Learning English looks like children playing because we can see them in the playground’ (EFLS5).

This research reveals that when eliciting pre-primary children’s experiences of English learning, activities need to be related to the ‘here and now’. The children connected the activity to their concrete experiences of learning and living with English and responded according to their cognitive capacity. It enabled them to make explicit the many associations that the English language has for them in their young lives with people, places and routines. gail.ellis@britishcouncil.fr nayr.ibrahim@britishcouncil.fr

References

Clark, A. 2017. Listening to Young Children: A Guide to Understanding and Using the Mosaic Approach (expanded third edition). London: National Children’s Bureau Ellis, G. and N. Ibrahim. 2015. Teaching Children How to Learn. Peaslake: Delta Publishing Jin, L., X. Liang, C. Jiang, J. Zhang, Y. Yuan and Q. Xie. 2014. ‘Studying the motivations of Chinese young EFL learners through metaphor analysis’. ELT Journal 68/3: 286−298.

Winner, E. 1982. ‘The child is father to the metaphor’ in H. Gardner (ed.). Art, Mind, and Brain: A Cognitive Approach to Creativity. New York: Basic Books.

6.2 Generating a gender-free Growth Mindset in young learner EFL classrooms Sophie Handy British Council, Paris, France Introduction

As a natural extension of the Assessment for Learning (AfL) approach we exercise at the British Council Paris, we have incorporated Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset philosophy. This holds that students’ academic achievement is affected by the opinion they have of their ability or intelligence. My current interest lies in whether students’ mindsets are affected by gender: whether boys and girls view feedback differently,

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whether girls are more likely to suffer initial setbacks than boys and how teachers can support all our students in developing a more motivational mindset.

The presentation

Dylan Wiliam, author of Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment, notes that when he asked a student what the teacher’s feedback ‘you need to be more systematic in your work’ meant to him, he replied, ‘I don’t know. If I knew how to be more systematic, I would have been more systematic the first time’ (1990: 23). This kind of feedback is accurate—it is describing what needs to happen—but it is not helpful because the learner does not know how to use the feedback to improve.

It is rather like telling an unsuccessful comedian to be funnier—accurate, but not particularly helpful advice!

Speaking of comedians, Eddie Izzard says he realised belief is a key ingredient in trying to do things that are difficult: ‘I had to believe that I could be a good street performer before I could become one. And then I had to believe that I could be a good stand-up and a good actor and that I could run marathons’ (2017: 8).

Furthermore, Eduardo Briceño, co-founder and CEO of Mindset Works, believes that ‘most parents, teachers and schools encourage students to perform as well as they can’ (2017), but it turns out that when students see school as a place to show off what they already know rather than focus on what they don’t, it gets in the way of their learning. Briceño (2017) takes the Cirque du Soleil as an example: ‘On stage, they exhibit beautiful acrobatic feats, often performed flawlessly. However, what we see is but a brief slice of their day in which they focus on the skills they have already mastered and try to minimise mistakes—their performance zone.’ What we don’t see is the sheer hard work, effort and practice that go into the show. Parents also perceive school as a performance zone when all homework and in-class work is evaluated for correctness with a grade.

In any domain, it is time spent in the learning zone that leads to significant improvement, which is why we need to look at the process and praise effort. As Carol Dweck says, ‘Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control. They see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure’ (2012: 18).

I gave the students a questionnaire to complete on their first day of a two-week summer intensive class (60 hours over 10 days) in July last year. It was delivered to four classes at varying levels of ability and age in their first language, French. Each answer provided was based on a sliding scale of ‘mindsetness’. Coupled with this was a series of observations, interviews and focus groups. I was thus able to identify whether the feedback practices were encouraging boys and girls to seek challenges and exert their full effort when they encountered difficulty. I therefore learnt that yes, there is a difference between boys and girls in their approach to their studies. The girls said: Sometimes the teacher is more lenient with the boys when they misbehave. I feel I can’t muck around as much. Boys get away with murder! They don’t seem to care what the teacher says. They continue being silly. It’s annoying for us because we want to get on/learn.

The boys said:

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Inclusive activities for super-active young learners Girls always complain. Girls are always listened to and respected. They put their hands up all the time! I feel I can’t respond. Teachers always pick girls to answer questions they know they’ll have the right answer. Yeah, they never waste time with me! We don’t get away with half as much as you do. Girls get better grades. They have neater handwriting! They write more! Lots more!

Conclusion

So how can we as teachers support all our students in developing a more motivational mindset? Ensure our classrooms are a learning zone, not a performance zone. Provide success criteria for tasks, or better still, elicit the students’ criteria. Allow students to make several drafts. Provide individual oral feedback rather than grades. Create a collaborative classroom atmosphere where students peer assess in a respectful environment. Provide girls with more wait time. Make questioning more random. Provide examples of female scientists, authors, artists, and so on. Ignore shout-outs. And finally, ask girls higher-order questions too. sophie.handy@britishcouncil.fr

References

Briceño, E. 2017. ‘Learning and performance: how to help students get in the zone’. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2017/jun/23/learning-peformancezone-teachers-schools-students.

Dweck, C. 2012. Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential. New York: Random House.

Izzard, E. 2017. Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens. New York: Random House.

Wiliam, D. 1990. Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment.

London: GL Assessment Limited.

6.3 Inclusive activities for super-active young learners Božica Šaric-Cvjetković Primary school Triva Vitasović Lebarnik, Laćarak, Serbia Background

Inclusion was officially introduced in Serbian state schools in 2011 but nothing much has been done since. Only students with visible physical disabilities are officially diagnosed and included in the Special Education Programme. Only in rare cases do teachers have the support of a personal assistant, and this assistant is assigned only to physically help the student and is not involved in the teaching process.

Context

It is often the case in state schools that the students’ abilities range from those whose level of English is way above the expected to those who struggle with reading and writing in their own mother tongue. It is usually suggested that students with learning difficulties be given different, easier tasks to do, which often makes them feel excluded. Group work and project work has been the best solution so far, but my experience has shown that fast learners often take over and slower learners just sit back and let others do the work. In some cases students divide tasks among

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themselves and the activities are done individually even though they sit in groups.

Also, letting young learners choose the team or group members themselves creates a difficult situation where the slowest and the weakest students are usually left out.

So, how do we make sure that all the students are actively participating and, most importantly, learning? I’ve been doing small-scale projects with my students a lot, trying to find a balance between the types of activities, group formation and assigning roles within the groups in order to include all students in the learning process.

Project through stages and involvement of students with SEN

This mini-project was done with a class of 26 second-grade students. Most of the students had average or above-average abilities. Two students had characteristics of ADHD and three were very slow learners who were struggling to keep up with the rest of the class in all the subjects, not only English. None of them were officially diagnosed with learning difficulties and they had no official support. The topic of the module was ‘Places in town’, while and the grammar unit was regular plural forms of nouns and the use of ‘there is/there are’.

In some stages of the project, students were divided into two teams; some activities were done individually and in some stages they were divided into four groups. In that case, the high achievers and the students with learning difficulties were distributed evenly and each student had his or her role in the group.

In the first two stages of the project (vocabulary introduction and practice) students played ‘Match the words to the pictures’ and ‘The fly swatter’ games. Slower learners were not excluded from the exercise, but they were called upon to do the activities towards the end of the game when the words had already been called out several times; they were also assigned easier words like ‘park’, ‘supermarket’ or ‘pet shop’, which are pronounced the same in Serbian so there is less chance of mistakes being made.

During the third stage students were assigned to make a town poster. While the more skilful were assigned cutting and labelling, the weaker students did the colouring and gluing. In the following stage the students were introduced with a grammar unit which was practiced in pairs through a matching activity: ‘There is a + singular noun’ or ‘There are + plural noun’. To help weaker students, the cards were in different colours: ‘There is’ and singular nouns were pink and ‘There are’, numbers and plural nouns were printed on blue pieces of paper. This helped students to form sentences more easily.

The final stage of the project was a running dictation, used for vocabulary and grammar practice. While the stronger students were ‘writers’ or ‘checkers’, the students with learning difficulties were the ‘runners’. They were in charge of going to the poster, counting the objects and going back to report to the group. This is a task they were able to do, and in that way they contributed to the group work.

Conclusion

This project showed that a variety of activities and careful assigning of roles are crucial for involving all students in the learning process. The students with learning difficulties, whether it was hyperactivity or a cognitive deficit, had their roles at each stage of the project, which made them feel they were equally involved in all the activities.

Even though their roles did not include using grammar, reading or writing, they contributed to the final product. bozicasaric@gmail.com

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6.4 Motivational video lessons for SEN students Julia Koifman Beit Ekshtein High School, Rupin, Israel LTSIG Diana Eastment Scholarship winner Introduction

Learning with the help of videos engages two senses: sight and hearing, which en­hances general understanding of the material and enlarges students’ passive and active vocabulary. It is very important for children with special educational needs (SEN).

Sometimes it is the only way to keep them in class and to prevent them from leaving ‘boring’ lessons and getting into trouble, especially those who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). It also has a great educational effect on dyslexic students who struggle while using traditional textbooks and misunderstand the tasks.

Creativity in SEN classes

As Einstein once said, ‘Creativity is intelligence having fun’ (Brann 2017). So it should be an important aspect of teaching and learning. Video activities make lessons very different from traditional ones with textbooks and notebooks. Using creativity in the SEN classroom is important because it increases motivation, empowers learners and helps them to develop a sense of excitement and self-esteem. The latter is ‘one of the most valuable qualities that we can help our students to develop, so that they make better choices in education and are more confident in learning’ (Smith 2018: 128).

Making their own videos with digital cameras and smartphones is not only a great way for students to create innovative products using technology but also a powerful tool to increase their motivation, creativity and autonomy. Many SEN students are good with technology and may be interested in preparing their own materials and sharing them with their classmates. In this way, they will get an opportunity to express themselves.

Teenagers with SEN need a highly structured and phonics-based programme, which entails a simultaneous use of the senses of hearing and listening. It is highly recommended because it significantly improves their general comprehension and fosters creative thinking (Kaldonek-Crnjakovic 2017).

Teaching with modern devices

With the help of videos ‘learning becomes student-centred, offering the possibility of a new relationship between teachers and learners’ (Fazinic 2016: 142). Mobile learning refers to the use of personal iPods and mobile phones in education, both inside and outside the classroom.

The Israeli Association for Children with SEN highly recommends using apps and YouTube as tools for video materials. Research shows that good computer software and personal mobile devices enhance learning, even in the least motivated students.

Thus, for dyslexic students, video lessons are very helpful because they improve their general understanding, and ADHD students become more focused. If you work with ASD children, who easily take offence, lose their temper or get upset, make sure that your instructions are absolutely clear and only give one instruction at a time. If they have special interests, let them prepare presentations about them.

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While televisions and computers are usually for frontal work, personal devices are for individual work. Thus, after watching the class material, students can do some exercises on their mobile phones. When teachers design tasks for mobile devices, they need to keep in mind some considerations. For instance, they can encourage their students to write creatively and express themselves visually. An effective way to do such tasks is digital storytelling, which requires the use of free photo-editing tools.

Such mobile device−based tasks must be staged from simple to more complex. As a rule, teachers follow a syllabus, so the video tasks need to relate to the topic or content area and/or language focus. An important consideration is to remember that the focus of each task needs to be on language practice and language production, and the technology needs to be secondary. Mobile devices need to support language aims, not replace them. Finally, it is worth remembering that mobile devices can bridge work in and out of class by encouraging situated learning (Fazinic 2016).

Conclusion

With the help of computers, televisions and personal mobile devices it has become possible not only to conduct successful video lessons in SEN classes but also to get your students involved in making their own video materials as well. Making videos with digital cameras and editing software is both a great way to create innovative products using technology and a powerful tool to enhance language learning. Teenaged students with any LD are engaged in collaborative projects where learning becomes the result of their creative power, involvement and participation in a positive and motivating environment. f3djd@yahoo.ca

References

Brann, A. 2017. ‘Creativity. Is your intelligence having fun?’. http://www.synapticpotential. com/neuroscience-in-action/creativity/.

Fazinic, V. 2016. ‘Filmmaking in the classroom’ in T. Pattison (ed.). IATEFL 2015 Manchester Conference Selections. Faversham: IATEFL. Kaldonek-Crnjakovic, A. 2017. ‘Multisensory, structured, metacognitive method in teaching English as a foreign language to dyslexic learners’. IATEFL IP&SEN SIG Newsletter 1: 17.

Smith, A. M. 2018. ‘Creating an inclusive classroom: raising awareness of dyslexia and neurodiversity’ in T. Pattison (ed.). IATEFL 2017 Glasgow Conference Selections. Faversham: IATEFL.

6.5 Picture books: meaningful language teaching and learning Susanne Jacobsen and Bente Melgaard Copenhagen University College,

Denmark The workshop intended to show how the use of literature forms a meaningful basis for young beginners in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language. Through scaffolding activities, we demonstrated ways to use authentic picture books. The workshop was inspired by a Danish resource book for teachers, Let’s Get Started (Jacobsen, Olsen and Søgaard 2017). The book combines a functional approach to language teaching with narratives in authentic picture books.

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When teaching beginners the language teacher faces a number of challenges: the students cannot read yet, and they are still novices when it comes to writing in their mother tongue. Additionally, creating innovative, supportive and meaningful lessons is difficult as most materials for beginners focus on single words such as numbers, colours and animals. In our workshop we proposed the use of picture books as an alternative.

Why picture books?

Picture books offer learners authentic language in an entertaining and motivating way.

Learners are exposed to rich, varied and connected language rather than single words.

Furthermore, the ‘format’ of reading a story is familiar to most learners, which means that the teacher does not have to provide long explanations. As most picture books contain predictable patterns, the learners’ memory is supported while building up vocabulary. Finally, lots of picture books lend themselves to the teaching of culture, a crucial element in language teaching, including when it comes to young learners.

Picture–text interaction

For young beginners, picture books provide a whole, completed story, which can be read in a relatively short time, mainly because the pictures compensate for the long textual descriptions. Pictures and text can be interrelated in various ways, all of which can support the language learning. They can be symmetrical, i.e. pictures and text telling the same, or they can be enhancing, which means that picture and text are together more than the sum of the two. Moreover, they can be counter-pointing, i.e. picture and text tell diverging stories and finally, they can be complementary, meaning that pictures and text fill each other’s gaps (Birketveit and Williams 2013). Interesting interplay between text and pictures potentially makes high-quality stories.

Scaffolding

When taking on authentic stories containing difficult language in the EFL classroom, it is essential for the teacher to scaffold the lesson. This can happen in a number of different ways, but first and foremost, the learners must know what to expect when encountering the story. If learners are expected to write something, the teacher should spend time preparing the learners for the task, rather than repairing their work afterwards. As learners should be positioned as successful language users in the classroom, it is imperative that the teacher never asks a question that previous teaching has not provided the answer to. Another fundamental scaffolding principle is that classroom activities are carried out to discover patterns in the text because patterns are predictable—and therefore teachable. Repetition of the story is a good idea, and at the same time, it is a good idea to vary the reading or vary the corresponding tasks.

One approach to scaffolding is the Reading to Learn method (Rose and Martin 2012). Here, young learners are carefully taken through the text with accompanying tasks. At the workshop, the audience were exposed to one such task: as the Australian story Big Rain Coming was read aloud, they were expected to underline the recurring and significant word ‘rain’ in order to recognise the spelling of the word, thus consolidating their ability to combine the graphic and phonetic representations of the word (sight word). This task was followed by another activity, ‘sentence making’, where the audience was asked to cut out sentence constituents while the story was being read aloud. The final activity demonstrated a ‘sentence generator’, where elements from

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the narrative of the picture book can be physically manipulated to recreate the actual story or to generate new stories. All these activities support learners’ development to become literate and emergent writers.

In conclusion, we believe that using high-quality literature in the EFL classroom calls for development of new pedagogies, which can carefully scaffold learners’ way through the reading. Although this could seem like an onerous task for the teacher, there is so much to gain, as working with authentic picture books is motivating, enriching and educational. suja@phmetropol.dk beme@phmetropol.dk

References

Birketveit, A. and G. Williams. 2013. Literature for the English Classroom. Bergen, Norway: Fakbokforlaget.

Jacobsen, S, M. Olsen and K. Søgaard. 2018. Let’s Get Started – Engelsk med Billedbøger i Indskolingen, Lærerens Ressourcebog. Frederiksberg, Denmark: Samfundslitteratur.

Rose, D. and J. Martin. 2012. Learning to Write, Reading to Learn. Sheffield: Equinox Picture books.

6.6 Picture books: a tool in primary teacher education in the Netherlands Tatia Gruenbaum Avans University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands and

University College London Institute of Education, UK Introduction

During my talk I presented a newly designed picture book−based syllabus which was taught to second-year primary student teachers at Avans University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The syllabus challenges the existing approach, which separates teaching English proficiency from English Language Teaching (ELT) skills for primary student teachers. The course and its syllabus aim to facilitate the development of language and language teaching in a creative, practical and innovative way.

Furthermore, it confronts the idea that picture books might be considered a teaching tool destined only for the young rather than a learning-to-teach tool for a group of 22 primary student teachers.

Context

In the Netherlands, primary teacher education is provided by universities of applied sciences in the form of a four-year course which frequently includes teaching placements in Year 1. Student teachers can access primary teacher education with the Dutch equivalents of GCSEs, A-Levels or Vocational Teaching Assistant qualifications. With regard to English proficiency, student teachers are expected to enrol with a minimum of CEFR B1 and progress to B2 upon graduation.

Like other European countries, the Netherlands is experiencing the global rise in teaching English in primary education. The growing number of schools now offering English at an ever earlier age highlights the need for primary teacher education to

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keep pace with the changing provision of EFL in Dutch primary schools. Although teaching English in the final two years of primary education has been compulsory since 1986, current weaknesses such as the EFL proficiency and ELT skills of many primary teachers provide compelling arguments for teacher education institutions to assess current provisions within their programmes in order to ensure that English is delivered effectively to young learners.

Syllabus

The picture book−based syllabus consisted of 11 90-minute lessons which were taught over a span of seven months. The project stretched over this long period as student teachers alternate between university and placement schools. Six key principles guided the development and the teaching of the syllabus: 1 The lesson themes should derive from key teaching and proficiency skills established for teaching EFL by means of picture books.

2 The syllabus should focus on teaching future language teachers rather than language learners.

3 The syllabus should achieve a balance of theory and practice thus facilitating the link between learning and actual practice in a creative and innovative way.

4 The lessons should be designed and taught in a way that models an interactive, student-centred EFL classroom.

5 All lesson materials and teaching should be in English.

6 The syllabus should create confidence and enthusiasm for teaching EFL with picture books.

Figure 6.6.1 offers a content overview of the 11-week picture book−based syllabus, including teaching placements, which provided a unique opportunity to observe student teachers teaching a picture book−based EFL lesson.

Figure 6.6.1: An 11-week picture book−based syllabus

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Insights

Throughout this course, I observed 11 student teachers complete picture book−based EFL lessons at their placement schools. In most cases, student teachers were teaching their first ever English lesson and they expressed the anxiety they had felt while planning and teaching their lesson(s). However, student teachers agreed that they had enjoyed the experience of teaching EFL with a picture book and were proud of their own and their class’ accomplishments. According to student teachers, participating in the course and developing and teaching a picture book−based EFL lesson had given them a ‘bigger picture’ of what teaching English to young learners involved.

They felt that they now had an opinion on how they wanted to teach English with and without picture books. Student teachers also commented that their view on picture books had changed. Whereas in the past most student teachers considered a picture book in Dutch or English something to ‘read and move on from’, they now saw it as a teaching tool where images and activities supported language learning of all four skills. They also saw it as a teaching tool which could link to other subjects, skills and values.

At the start of the course, participating student teachers completed an online proficiency test to assess their English language skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking).

Contrary to primary teacher education enrolment requirements, numerous student teachers showed CEFR A-Level results. Although student teachers re-took the online proficiency test at the end of this course and some positive developments can be seen, it is too early to draw conclusions as the data is yet to be analysed. ta.gruenbaum@avans.nl

6.7 English use and identity shift among immigrant students in Iceland Samúel Lefever University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland Introduction

My presentation looked at how language knowledge, in particular English, impacts the lives of immigrant students in Iceland. The presence and role of English in Iceland has changed dramatically in recent years. There has been a process of Englishisation, a term used by Phillipson and Skutnabb-Kangas (1999) which emphasises the spread of English throughout various spheres: mass media, entertainment, education, tourism and the business world. Increasingly, many people feel that English is becoming a threat to the local language.

To investigate this phenomena, a study was carried out among upper-secondary immigrant students. In-depth interviews were taken with 44 students to explore their English use in and outside school and to investigate the place of language in the self-identity of young immigrants. At the time of the interviews the students had lived in Iceland for periods of time ranging from one to fourteen years.

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Findings

Although a third language for many of them, English was the language they frequently used at school, work and in social contexts. In some cases, students actually leapfrogged the official language, Icelandic, using it only infrequently in comparison with English. Many of the participants had begun to learn English at school before moving to Iceland but it wasn’t until after moving that they began to use it in their daily lives, as can be seen in this example: When we moved to Iceland … I knew that my bridge from Bisaya [a dialect] to Icelandic was English … I knew that I had to know it very well and be fluent.

Some of the students said that their English was better than their Icelandic even though they had lived in Iceland for a long time. Frequently they were encouraged by teachers to use English at school. Initially, this helped them in their school learning, but on the other hand, it often inhibited their learning of Icelandic. The following excerpt is from a student who chose not to learn Icelandic and relied on English for most of his communication needs: I learnt English successfully, because of determination, will, being eager, some good English teachers and some helpful teachers from other classes. I failed at learning Icelandic, because of these teachers being too helpful instead of pushing me from the start so maybe my results would be better. In other words, I failed in Icelandic due to success in English.

The immigrant students often talked about the inter-relationship between language and identity. Here is an example of how knowing another language helped this student hide his origin, which he sometimes found useful. When we asked him ‘How do you respond to the question “Where are you from”’, this is what he said: People from Poland are not [held in] good opinion here. Sometimes at work I don’t say that I’m from Poland and if I know that somebody is from Poland I [don’t talk] to them in Polish. So sometimes people don’t know and … they think that I’m from another country. ... Sometimes it is useful.

A final example from a young immigrant from Spain shows how ‘trying on new attitudes and behaviors’ has led him to ‘new experiences, new perspectives and new identifications’ (Slimbach 2005: 224): In Spain, I was completely a different person. I came here to Iceland, started working and learned to speak English, I learned a little Icelandic, I changed my way to think about life and I changed my way to relation with people. So I said to myself if I could learn some English and learn some Icelandic, why not go and learn more at school?

If I have the chance to do it why not? In the future I know it will help me.

Conclusions

The findings of this qualitative study indicate that multilingualism is an integral part of these immigrant students’ lives and their self-identities. Knowing a number of languages increases their self-esteem and benefits them in a variety of ways, from building self-confidence to giving them a new outlook on life. Students talked about how their

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identity shifts between languages, and in some cases they use their languages to ‘mask’ their identity. They reject the notion of ‘national identity’ and prefer to be seen as individuals rather than being judged according to origin or heritage language. In this way they are becoming ‘transcultural’ and, in the words of Slimbach, ‘allowing for a chameleon sense of self without losing one’s cultural center’ (2005: 211). samuel@hi.is

References

Phillipson, R. and T. Skutnabb-Kangas. 1999. ‘Englishisation: one dimension of globalisation’.

AILA Review 13: 17−36.

Slimbach, R. 2005. ‘The transcultural journey’. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad 11: 205−230.

6.8 Towards purposeful education: best practices in science CLIL classrooms Jonathan Kilpelä and Raul Albuquerque Paraná University of Jyväskylä,

Finland Introduction

At first glance, the paths of science education and language education may seem unrelated. Nonetheless, current educational approaches in both fields have much in common and offer insights into the other, as well as into Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) education. In a CLIL environment, where there is a dual focus on content and language learning, structuring scientific content while promoting linguistic development may be a challenge, especially when learners’ linguistic level is lower than their cognitive ability. In light of that, our workshop focused on research-based practical approaches for sequencing learning events and structuring discourse in a science CLIL context as a means to successfully support language and science learning. In this workshop, participants used the CLIL matrix (Coyle 2007)

Figure 6.8.1: CLIL matrix. Adapted from Coyle (2007) by Kilpelä and Albuquerque Paraná (2018).

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and the communicative approaches framework (Mortimer and Scott 2003) as a basis for planning a sample CLIL science lesson. These two frameworks can serve complementary roles when planning instruction, providing guidance for the sequencing of tasks and the use of different language practices in various phases of instruction.

CLIL matrix

The CLIL matrix (Figure 6.8.1) shows how to balance and scaffold linguistic and cognitive demands over the course of a lesson, week or unit. Three main points can be understood from the matrix. First, cognitive demand is increased prior to linguistic demand. Additionally, linguistic competence is scaffolded by starting with less linguistically demanding tasks. Finally, activities that have high linguistic demand but only require lower-order cognitive skills are avoided. Considering the above, components of CLIL instruction can be intentionally sequenced to support both the cognitive and linguistic development of learners.

Communicative approaches

From their research in secondary science classrooms, Mortimer and Scott (2003) developed a framework of communicative approaches for science learning (Figure 6.8.2), which characterises classroom discourse based on two dimensions. The first dimension assesses whether talk is interactive or non-interactive (multiple speakers vs. one speaker), and the second dimension assesses whether discourse is dialogic or authoritative (multiple viewpoints are considered vs. one point of view is the authority). Each communicative approach fulfils a specific purpose in the meaning-making process. The use of a dialogic approach grounds new learning on students’ own experiences and prior knowledge and creates an opportunity for them to engage in genuine scientific practices, such as theorising and defending arguments. Alternatively, authoritative approaches can be used to focus on the scientific point of view.

As shown in Figure 6.8.2, the language practices used by different stakeholders also vary widely dependent upon what type of communicative approach is present.

Figure 6.8.2: Communicative approaches framework. Adapted from Mortimer and Scott (2003) and Lehesvuori et al. (2013) by J. Kilpelä and R. Albuquerque Paranå (2018)

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When an authoritative approach is used, learners’ language production is very limited—although this may be a great opportunity for developing receptive skills. On the contrary, dialogic and interactive discourse gives students the opportunity to develop both productive and receptive language skills by using a variety of linguistic functions and strategies such as turn taking, giving opinions or reacting to other viewpoints.

Utilising both theories in planning

Interestingly, when coupled, the CLIL matrix and the communicative approaches framework give us great insight into how instruction can be structured. Teachers can start a learning sequence by helping learners make sense of new content-related concepts. At that stage, learners can be encouraged to draw from their repertoire of scientific knowledge and use language they already have. In order to facilitate this process, teachers can begin by using an A+I communicative approach to prime discussion about a topic. They then move towards open dialogic discussion, followed by an authoritative shift towards the scientific view of the target concept (sample progression: A+I → D+I → D+NI → A+NI) (Lehesvuori et al. 2013). By doing so, teachers challenge learners cognitively while empowering them and promoting rich language environments, thus creating prime conditions for content-specific language learning and overall linguistic development to happen.

Conclusion

An understanding of the CLIL matrix and the communicative approaches framework as complementary theories sheds light into how to facilitate learning successfully in a CLIL classroom. While being able to sequence learning events is of utmost important in scaffolding language and content learning, our practice shows that the intentional use of a variety of communicative approaches in a CLIL context is also essential if we are to support content learning and promote rich language development. raul.albuquerque.p@gmail.com jonathan.m.kilpela@student.jyu.fi

References

Coyle, D. 2007. ‘Content and language integrated learning: towards a connected research agenda for CLIL pedagogies’. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 10/5: 543−562.

Mortimer, E. and P. Scott. 2003. Meaning Making in Secondary Science Classrooms. Berkshire: Open University Press.

Lehesvuori, S., J. Viiri, H. Rasku-Puttonen, J. Moate and J. Helaakoski. 2013. ‘Visualizing communication structures in science classrooms: tracing cumulativity in teacher-led whole class discussions’. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 50/8: 912−939.

6.9 CLIL: the same doubts unresolved and more Anthony Bruton University of Seville, Spain, retired

The curricular decision to implement CLIL in state primary and secondary schools is a central issue because it affects all the students. This is obviously true if CLIL is

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compulsory for all, but also if there is selection formally or voluntarily, the latter case typically defended as egalitarian although it actually implicitly excludes (Broca 2016).

For the less able, CLIL programmes may be lose-lose scenarios, either by exclusion, almost inevitable for the less privileged, or, if compulsory, by the FL medium being an additional burden (Bruton 2013; 2015). Even so, CLIL is becoming increasingly widespread, which may surprise some since it remains ill-defined on the one hand and its apparent benefits are unproven on the other.

The lack of a clear definition is not purely academic, since one definition might differentiate one set of rationales and practices from those of another. For example, initially CLIL classes were considered to be sufficient in themselves for FL development, 2-for-1, with the input, interaction and output hypotheses being cited as additional justifications for the improved quality of the FL received for potential language development to replace ‘traditional’ FL classes. More recently (see Bruton 2015), the latest assumption is that FL classes are absolutely necessary, for support and extra exposure, in what are termed CLIL programmes. However, it is unclear how the (traditional?) FL classes and the CLIL classes relate to each other: do the CLIL classes add to the FL classes, or do the FL classes support the CLIL classes? Obviously, if the FL classes remain, there is no time-saving, and some research concludes that to cope with the content, even more FL classes are needed!

Apart from these issues, unfortunately, there is no assurance that the FL used in the CLIL programmes is of an improved quality for acquisition. In fact, the higher the level of the content, the higher the level of the FL, with increasing demands made on both students and, not insignificantly, teachers, whether it is the FL teachers or the content teachers instructing the CLIL classes. And if the CLIL classes are more demanding, where some use the term ‘challenging’, there may be serious tensions for the students, some of whose capacities may be impaired by their FL ability and others boosted by it. Furthermore, there is no reason for the CLIL classes to be more communicative, nor the content to be more relevant or motivating—in fact, the opposite is perfectly feasible and is often the case (see Bruton 2013; 2015). Typically the content classes chosen for CLIL are arbitrary, usually depending on each school’s teacher resources at a particular point in time. The subjects are not generally chosen for their suitability for FL development or for their possible future application, since not all the students would pursue the same academic, or even non-academic, paths anyway.

Which makes it all the more surprising there is a strand of CLIL theory and research into the development of CLIL genres.

And when it comes to investigating CLIL, the research that attempts to demonstrate the benefits of CLIL generally fails because it is plagued by flawed designs accompanied by questionable interpretations with recurrently favourable bias (Bruton 2013; 2015). On the basis of over 40 CLIL research articles consulted and not cited previously by this author, the outcomes on content, FL, and motivational development remain very discouraging. Given the advantages that CLIL groups always enjoy, there were no cases where they showed a higher rate of FL development and many cases where the CLIL outcomes were below the expected. On content, there were no cases of CLIL performing better than the non-CLIL, and typically worse, even when there had been selection. As for motivation, generally it decreases as students progress, and again CLIL students do not show any significant advantages.

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So, not only does CLIL remain conveniently ill-defined, but there is no clear indication of if and how it can actually work successfully, either in state classroom or at programme levels. Secondly, so-called CLIL does not seem to produce any clearly tangible benefits and for the less able it is probably lose-lose. One of the main reasons for free education being available to all children, and for making it compulsory for parents to send them to school, was to give them the equality of opportunity. Unfortunately education in many countries, instead of being a leveller is precisely the opposite, and in many cases CLIL is contributing to this. ab@us.es

References

Broca, A. 2016. ‘CLIL and non-CLIL: Differences from the outset’. ELT Journal 70: 320−331.

Bruton, A. 2013. ‘CLIL: some of the reasons why … and why not’. System 41: 587−597.

Bruton, A. 2015. ‘CLIL: Detail matters in the whole picture. More than a reply to J. Hüttner and U. Smit’. System 53: 119−128.

6.10 Changing the mindset: sustainable reform in Venezuelan state education Wendy Arnold Freelance, South Nutfield, UK and Mark Gregson British

Council, Caracas, Venezuela Introduction

Education reform is a lengthy process and means ‘changing the entire context within which people work …’ (Fullan 2005: 16). A major education reform is occurring in Venezuelan state run schools. A mismatch between policy and reality necessitated capacity building for teaching all subjects, including English. In-country research at primary, secondary and teacher training levels identified the gaps, and the visionary national Micromision Simon Rodriguez (MMSR) programme provided the means.

Research

Officially English is supposed to be taught from primary Grade 4 in Venezuela (Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Educacion MPPE 2007), but the reality is that the English curriculum starts at secondary school (Alvarez et al. 2015). Substantial research was carried out at primary, secondary and teacher training provider level. The baseline study in 2015 found that the principal challenge was the lack of consistency across the country in the implementation of the MPPE’s 2007 new national curriculum. The key issue is that there is a lack of • trained language teachers; • knowledge of methodology for language teaching; • appropriate materials; • understanding of which curriculum to use; • understanding of how to assess language; and • confidence in university degrees and preparation for teaching.

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These key issues arose from inconsistencies in teacher training programmes at universities and the number of hours of English being taught nationally.

Innovation

The innovative Micromision Simon Rodrigues (MMSR) programme drew on a wider circle of professionals to build capacity in teachers of English through a new National Training Programme (PNF) by inviting teachers in remote places in the country, as well as inviting professionals in both education and other disciplines to re-train as English teachers. There was ‘no shortage of interest in professionals wanting to be trained to teach English’ (Salas 2017: 289).

Teacher training

The MMSR programme has teacher-training programmes, which prepare teachers of English with appropriate methodology, as well as developing their English linguistic skills and creativity by making teaching resources from recyclable materials. The MMSR programme for teachers of English was developed from the British Council’s CEFR A0/A1 English for Teachers framework, integrating both language and methodology, as well as the cultural needs of Venezuela, in all modules. Reflective skills and micro-teaching are core to the training, which can be delivered extensively or intensively.

Classroom materials

Locally contextualised textbooks have been written by national Venezuelan writers both for secondary learners in the Coleccion Bicentenario series, and primary learners. These are free to all learners, as is training to all teachers on how to deliver the materials. The primary materials include a teacher’s guide with detailed lesson plans in Spanish with scripted English to ensure high-quality delivery. Other features of the primary materials include the use of colour and the presence of a controlled text in lexical sets using a spiral curriculum.

Transferable innovations

Specific innovations in the teaching of English and lessons that can be learnt for other contexts include the concept of sustainability and ownership of the materials. Due to a lack of suitably qualified teachers of English at primary level, capacity was built by training generalist primary teachers, as well as professionals in other disciplines.

National English language teaching professionals were trained: • to design a primary English language and methodology teacher training programme, which included making teaching resources from recycled materials; • to design classroom materials with teacher lesson plans with steps in the national language but scripted in English for delivery of the target language; and • to deliver teacher training extensively over two years at weekends so that teachers were not removed from the classroom.

Future short- and medium-term plans

Monitoring and evaluation of the innovations are critical for the future success of this programme. Modification of both the teacher training and classroom materials will be

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needed. It is also important to record the progress of innovations by publishing and presenting at conferences to show transparency and accountability in both the process and the results. Finally, in order for these ‘new’ English teachers to embed the methodology needed for teaching language they will need support as they will be changing their values and beliefs about how to teach. To this end a mentoring programme will start in 2018, followed by plans to assess trainers, teachers and their learners. And critically, training also needs to be developed for the senior management teams in primary schools so they understand and support this transition phase of methodology.

A change indeed is blowing through the education system in Venezuela! wendy@elt-consultants.com mark.gregson@britishcouncil.org.ve

References

Alvarez, L. C., W. Arnold, C. Bradshaw and M. Gregson. 2015. ‘Capacity building and empowerment: a primary teacher-training project in Venezuela’ in C. N. Giannikas, L. McLaughlin, G. Fanning and N. Deutsch (eds.). Children Learning English: From Research to Practice. Reading: Garnet Education and IATEFL. Fullan, M. 2005. Leadership and Sustainability: System Thinkers in Action. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

Salas, J. G. 2017. ‘Impacto del aumento del numero de horas para la ensenansa de lenguas extranjeras (ingles) en la educacion media’ in M. Gregson and R. Lopez de Amico (eds.). Se Respira Cambio: Transformando la Ensenanza del Ingles en el Sistema Educativo Venezolano.

London: British Council. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/se-respira-cambio.

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English for work

This chapter presents papers on aspects of English language teaching for professional purposes. First, Hans Platzer and Désirée Verdonk report on their research into how English is used in the workplace, with implications for materials development and classroom instruction. Business English is the topic of the next three papers. Awad Alhassan discusses the language needs of students on an EMI business programme; Marjorie Rosenberg explains how Walt Disney’s creative strategy can be used in business English classes; and Michelle Hunter outlines her research on the impact of group dynamics with students of International Business. Next, Caroline HydeSimon’s paper describes the development of a course in English for Life Sciences, while Birte W. Horn shows how project-based learning was successful in motivating students of Visual Computing and Design. Finally, Cosima Wittmann shows how the CEFR can be adapted to suit the needs of ESP students.

7.1 A survey of workplace English: some implications for classroom teaching Hans Platzer and Désirée Verdonk University of Applied Sciences Wiener

Neustadt, Austria Introduction

The fact that needs analysis is central to English for Specific Purposes has ensured that individual functions in the workplace (such as meetings, negotiations, etc.) have been fairly well described. However, most studies focus either on individual functions or describe their relationship on the basis of mainly qualitative data (e.g. Evans 2012; Warren 2014). By contrast, this study aims to provide quantitative evidence for the clustering of specific functions in the workplace and to discuss how this evidence might influence didactic practice.

Method

For this purpose a questionnaire survey was conducted among 716 in-service students at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Austria. These students were in regular employment while also taking classes. Over two thirds (68.9 per cent) reported using English in the workplace. These respondents further identified the individual language functions they used. The resulting responses were subjected to a hierarchical cluster analysis.

Results and discussion

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• Cluster A: Reading/writing emails (87.1/84.5 per cent) and telephoning (78.0 per cent).

• Cluster B: Reading/writing technical descriptions (38.6/20.0 per cent).

• Cluster C: Reading/writing minutes (30.3/20.6 per cent) and reports (43.0/27.8 per cent).

• Cluster D: Negotiating (21.0 per cent); meetings (38.5 per cent); reading/writing memos (22.0/14.0 per cent); giving/following presentations (17.9/20.8 per cent); and socialising (35.5 per cent).

Due to their salience, clusters A and D are discussed below.

Cluster A: emailing and telephoning Three issues stand out in regard to emailing and telephoning. First, our data—as well as previous studies (Evans 2012)—suggest that both functions are closely connected and that authentic teaching materials should therefore require learners to transfer information from the spoken to the written medium and vice versa. However, few business coursebooks provide such integrated tasks. Secondly, it has been found that emailing involves extended chains of messages (Evans 2012). This means that writers need to be comfortable with such extended correspondence as the number of messages correlates positively with the economic gain associated with the respective business transaction (Geiger and Parlamis 2014). The ease with which writers conduct extended correspondence is, therefore, not a trivial matter, but contributes to the corporate bottom line. Consequently, authentic teaching materials should include such extended email chains: few published materials feature this sort of input, though. Finally, our data indicate that the majority of respondents (67.2 per cent) correspond with clients. Such external contacts require the use of politeness strategies, mitigating language and appropriate register (Evans 2012). In fact, many companies have adopted netiquette guidelines taking account of this fact. We suggest that such netiquette guidelines might represent ideal teaching materials, not least because of their authentic nature.

Cluster D: meetings The final cluster comprises functions related to meetings in a wider sense. Again our analysis confirms that a number of diverse tasks are closely connected in workplace practice. This reflects findings by Warren (2014), whose respondents not only stress the relevance of performing in meetings themselves (such as negotiating and presenting) but also highlight the importance of pre-meeting preparation (presentation slides, memos) and post-meeting documentation (memos). Combining these spoken and written functions through integrated task design would clearly mirror workplace practice and generate highly authentic materials. Secondly, the two single most frequent functions in this cluster are meetings proper (38.5 per cent) and socialising (35.5 per cent). The prevalence of socialising is relevant as Warren’s (2014) respondents report feeling particularly insecure in meetings when it comes to socialising (i.e. interactional language), while they are fairly confident as long as the focus remains on message content (i.e. transactional language). From a didactic point of view, this indicates that general conversational skills are desired if learners are to perform effectively in terms of interactional functions, such as creating rapport with their opposite number. Finally,

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the figures indicate that only a small number of respondents give presentations (17.9 per cent). This is at odds with the ubiquity of presentation tasks in coursebooks and the time spent teaching them in the classroom. Given these results, it may be useful to prioritise other language skills over giving presentations.

Conclusion

Based on the analysis above, we conclude the following: • A variety of language tasks are closely connected in workplace practice, and this should be reflected in task design in order to create authentic teaching materials.

• In terms of emailing, tasks should enhance learners’ ability to deal with extended email chains while at the same time following corporate netiquette guidelines.

• With regard to meeting scenarios, a greater focus on interactional language will allow learners to boost relationship building with business associates. hans.platzer@fhwn.ac.at desiree.verdonk@fhwn.ac.at

References

Evans, S. 2012. ‘Designing email tasks for the Business English classroom: implications from a study of Hong Kong’s key industries’. English for Specific Purposes 31: 202−212.

Geiger, I. and J. Parlamis. 2014. ‘Is there more to email negotiation than email? The role of email affinity’. Computers in Human Behaviour 32: 67−78.

Warren, M. 2014. ‘Preparation is everything: meetings in professional contexts in Hong Kong’.

English for Specific Purposes 36: 12−26.

7.2 Exploring EFL postgraduate students’ learning needs on English-medium business programmes Awad Alhassan Dhofar University, Salalah, Sultanate of Oman Introduction

English-medium instruction (EMI) has exponentially been used in higher education worldwide. Recently, EMI has been increasingly used in higher education institutions in the region of the Middle East and North Africa (see e.g. Macaro et al.

2018; Dearden 2015). As a result, a growing number of EMI programmes of study have been offered in various disciplines of knowledge including business. However, students require preparation to cope effectively with these English-medium programmes.

Previous EAP studies (e.g. Cooper and Bikowski 2007) have predominantly focused on business classroom written genres and ignored students’ overall learning needs on EMI business programmes. The study reported in my presentation attempted to fill this gap by moving beyond written genres and investigating business students’ learning needs on an English-medium MBA programme in Sudan from the perspectives of both teachers and students. The main objective of the study was to inform the design, development, delivery and evaluation of both EMI business education and EAP.

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Context

The MBA is a two-year, four-semester programme at a management studies school in a large and established public university in Sudan. It is a multi-course programme, covering four main areas of business studies: finance, management, accounting and economics. Students are EFL Arabic L1 speakers and English is used as the main language of instruction on the programme.

Data collection and analysis

Two main research questions were addressed: (1) What learning needs and language skills do MBA teachers, MBA students and ESP teachers think are important and necessary for effective study on the MBA? and (2) How similar or different are the participants’ views with regard to these needs and skills? To address these research questions, the study adopted a qualitative ethnographically oriented methodology with semi-structured interviewing being the main method of data collection. Data was collected onsite over two successive years. A total of 31 participants (MBA teachers, students and one ESP teacher) took part in the investigation. The interview data was transcribed, thoroughly coded and analysed inductively to generate themes and categories to capture participants’ insider perspectives on the issues under investigation.

Findings

MBA subject teachers emphasised the importance of learning discipline-specific terminology as a requirement for business students to cope with the English-medium MBA. In the same vein, students agreed with teachers in that it was essential to learn and understand business terminology to help them cope with the MBA, believing that learning discipline-specific terminology would save them the time spent on translation (English to Arabic). Moreover, students also emphasised the need for communication skills (speaking and listening) to help them interact with teachers to reinforce their understanding of the lectures and subject content. This need for communication skills was rightly summed up by one of the student participants as follows: ‘If you can’t speak in English you wouldn’t be able to ask questions in classes and thus you would miss out on the subject.’

While both teachers and students agreed on the importance of learning discipline-specific terminology, teachers seemed to stress this more than students did.

Students took the opposite view, believing that developing listening, speaking and the ability to deliver oral presentations was more vital in both academic and workplace settings. In contrast, the ESP teacher emphasised students’ immediate needs, placing writing and reading skills before speaking skills. In line with the ESP teacher’s and in contrast with the subject teachers’ views, students highlighted the need for writing skills, particularly, the need for learning and developing coherence, paraphrasing and summary skills which are evidently needed when writing from sources.

Conclusions and recommendations

Based on these findings, a number of recommendations can be made to better inform the design, delivery and evaluation of both EMI business education and EAP in the context of the study and beyond. MBA teachers, through cooperation with the EAP teachers, could play a role in supporting students by, for instance, modifying the

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structure and delivery of their subject content classes to make them more accessible to students. Moreover, EAP teachers should try and work closely with the MBA teachers to ensure EAP courses are oriented towards the MBA content subjects. EAP teachers alone cannot work miracles. They need support from the subject teachers and the MBA administration. Given the reported needs for communication skills for both the immediate academic and future business workplace settings, a business communication course could be introduced and it could be assessed and made part of the MBA content curriculum. awad_alhassan@hotmail.com

References

Cooper, A. and D. Bikowski. 2007. ‘Writing at the graduate level: What tasks do professors actually require?’ Journal of English for Academic Purposes 6/3: 206−221.

Dearden, J. 2015. English as a Medium of Instruction: A Growing Global Phenomenon. London: The British Council. https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/e484_emi_-_ cover_option_3_final_web.pdf.

Macaro, E., C. Samnatha., P. Jack. and A. Jiangshang. 2018. ‘A systematic review of English medium instruction in higher education’. Language Teaching 51/1: 36−76.

7.3 The Disney strategy in the business English context Marjorie Rosenberg University of Graz, Austria Introduction

It has been suggested that Walt Disney’s success can be partially attributed to his skilfulness at considering potential projects from different perspectives. This concept has since become the basis of a creativity strategy which can be used in business English classes when teaching the subject of meetings. During the workshop participants were able to try out the strategy and experience for themselves how it would work in the classroom as well as in realistic situations.

Background

Walt Disney had the rare ability to combine creativity with financial success, demonstrated by the brand’s continued popularity around the globe. The creative strategy he used combined a vision with realistic and critical elements ensuring a better chance of success during the stages of implementation.

This strategy was analysed by Robert Dilts, who said ‘One of the major elements of Disney’s unique genius was his ability to explore something from a number of perceptual positions. … Each one of these personae represents a whole thinking strategy all on its own—strategies that more often tend to conflict with each other rather than support each other’ (Dilts 1990: 1−2).

The three personae Dilts refers to are the dreamer, the realist and the critic. The dreamer often comes up with an idea using ‘blue sky thinking’ and is not constrained by practical considerations. Problems are not taken into account and dreamers believe everything is possible. They tend to use language such as ‘My vision is …’ and ‘I

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imagine …’. The realist, on the other hand, is action-oriented and hands-on. Realists work step-by-step and question the available resources needed to make the dream happen. They ask ‘Wh-’ questions such as ‘When, where, who and how?’ The third persona, the critic, takes a step back and considers what could go wrong. Critics think logically and look for possible problems. Typical questions are ‘What would happen if …’ and ‘What could go wrong?’

Disney’s staff often said that they never knew which of the three personae would be present at meetings. Would it be the dreamer for whom everything was possible, the realist who looked at resources available, or the critic who imagined what could go wrong? What brought these elements together for Disney was his skill at taking on different positions and modifying his ideas until all three parts were united.

Putting the concept into practice

Dilts originally used the Disney strategy to help individuals work through ideas by looking at them from three perspectives facilitated by an observer. This has been further developed as a tool to teach learners about business meetings through a role play enabling them to take on one of the personae and express their views using the information they are given.

The workshop began with a general explanation of the strategy and a discussion of how differently the three types view the world. After this brief introduction, the attendees were put into groups and given role cards for the dreamer, the realist and the critic and asked to read them. Two or three people had the same role within the groups and a small group was asked to be the observers who were given a general explanation of the strategy. The groups were then given a situation card and tasked with coming up with a solution to the problem presented. Time was allotted for the meetings to take place and the groups finished off by asking for feedback from the observers.

Conclusion

The final step was a debriefing which included questions such as: • How did it go?

• Did you play a role that was different from your usual one?

• Who in the group changed their point of view?

• Was everyone satisfied in the end?

• What did the observers notice?

This led to a discussion on using the activity in class. Some said their groups needed a facilitator as people did not change their original points of view. We discussed building this into the activity and making it clear to learners that they need to make concessions when those concessions make sense to them.

Reflection

The workshop concluded with a general discussion of the three roles and how people felt they normally reacted in meetings and discussions. The consensus was that the activity was helpful in raising awareness for students in order to better understand people reactions and the points of view they express on different topics. Most felt that

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the activity could be used to give learners experience in the dynamics of meetings and perhaps make it easier for them to begin to deal with other people’s perceptions while discussing important or sensitive issues. marjorie.rosenberg@tele2.at

References

Dilts, R. B. 1990. Walt Disney: The Dreamer, the Realist and the Critic. Ben Lomond, Calif.: Dynamic Learning Publications.

Elmansy, R. n.d. Disney’s Creative Strategy: The Dreamer, The Realist and The Critic. Designorate. http://www.designorate.com/disneys-creative-strategy/.

Rosenberg, M. 2018. Communicative Business English Activities. Newbury: Express Publishing.

7.4 Ease, equality and speaking in ‘Rounds’ positively shapes group dynamics Michelle Hunter Freelance, Stuttgart, Germany

The purpose of my talk was to share findings from practitioner research I conducted last year with a small group of undergraduate International Business students in Germany. The focus was on how group dynamics can impact the distribution of speaking time in class. Based on evidence from the research findings, applying certain coaching-related behaviours and practices had a positive effect on my group of students (Hunter 2017). The use of ‘Rounds’ ensured an easeful and equally shared speaking practice.

Who makes up the group?

Participating in learning groups should be common to most people living in developed countries. Based on this assumption, I invited the audience to remember the last time they had been a participant in a group of learners. By remembering as a learner, I wanted my fellow teachers to think from another perspective, of the different roles individuals take on when in a group. Remembering what it is like to be ‘on the other side’ helps raise empathy and understanding of what might be going on in a group.

We listed some of the classic roles: eager beaver, strong silent type, the class joker, the chatterbox. When individuals meld, a common mood develops and a certain ‘team spirit’—a Gruppengeist—evolves. On asking the audience to consider such a Gruppengeist, I sensed a degree of resistance. Was I about to experience the turning of the Gruppengeist against me?

Getting the Gruppengeist onside and achieving a learning goal

With higher-level students of business English, creating opportunities to practise speaking fluency is key. However, there is a danger that groups fall into entrenched habits of who contributes in class and who sits back passively. According to the findings from my research, three teacher behaviours play a vital part in managing individuals, as well as group dynamics: keeping calm, leading by example, and listening and waiting. This I kept in mind during the talk while endeavouring to maintain rapport

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with the group. A question came from the audience which afforded me an opportunity to demonstrate calm listening, while picking up on an important point: group size.

Although this was not a focus of the talk, small groups came up as a significant factor in my research. My 18 study participants were divided into two groups. Thus, it was an ideal situation to instigate ‘Rounds’, one of the practical, coaching techniques which was the second focus of the talk.

Speaking in Rounds

‘Rounds’—sitting in a circle, away from desks and distractions—begin with a positive question, and are formed to give everyone a voice. Each person speaks freely, knowing they will not be interrupted, while simultaneously being aware that time is precious and everyone needs to get their time to talk. In my study, as each group constituted eight to nine students at any one time, we were able to avoid lengthy ‘Rounds’ and any boredom from waiting for a turn to speak. In work situations, ‘Rounds’ are used at the start and end of meetings to good effect, as stated by an interviewee in another study into the effectiveness of being given time to think: ‘The concept of having rounds and giving people time to talk, allows people to listen more and I think then people think better, particularly with multiple perspectives’ (Havers 2008).

What the students said about the group dynamic and learning

According to students who participated in my research study, there was a genuine appreciation of how calm the lessons were. From their responses, it was clear that they had taken on board some of the coaching principles I was aiming to instil in the group: attention, equality, ease and appreciation. A number of individuals mentioned how well the speaking opportunities had been shared among the group. One student specifically commented on ‘Rounds’: it ‘made people talk more’ and that ‘they said different things than they would have said when we had reacted’.

In conclusion

Ideally, I would have created a circle and held a ‘Round’ for the gathered participants to think about the question ‘How do you leverage positive group dynamics in pursuit of increased speaking fluency goals?’ Instead, I shared my own specific experiences in answer to the question: by modelling calm behaviour, listening and waiting. In wrapping up the talk, quotes from individual students attested to a positive impact of the coaching-based teaching approach in terms of creating an environment conducive to free speaking for all. keeptraining.michelle@gmail.com

References

Havers, E. 2008. A Study of Whether, and How, Meetings Held in a Thinking Environment® Impact Organisational Life. Précis of a Masters Research Thesis. http://www.timetothink.com/ thinking-environment/research-and-case-studies/.

Hunter, M. 2017. Creating a Thinking Environment for English Language Learners. A Model for Staff Development Training. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Centre for Work Related Studies, University of Chester, UK.

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7.5 Bridging the gap: creating a non-specific Life Sciences ESP course Caroline Hyde-Simon Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland Introduction

The phrase ‘non-specific … ESP course’ may seem to be a contradiction in terms.

However, at the School of Life Sciences and Facility Management (LSFM) at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), where undergraduates in four discipline areas (Facility Management, Biotechnology/Chemistry, Environmental Engineering, Food Technology) have English as an obligatory part of their bachelor’s degree courses, and where there is a forthcoming curriculum reform, a move towards a more interdisciplinary mode of study is becoming increasingly the norm. For this reason, the goal of the English department is now to integrate English much more closely with the discipline-specific modules, that is, to build a bridge between the two.

Much English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) research tends to focus on pre-master’s level students in the UK HE context. The course designed here, however, is different in that it concerns BSc students in Swiss HE. One the one hand, this exemplifies the progressively interdisciplinary nature of Swiss HE, where EAP is an inherent part of academic study at a more general level, supporting and furthering other academic modules in a needs-based, skills-centred way. On the other hand, this new course emphasises the importance of ESP in a non-English-speaking context, with a demand to develop communicative competence within specific disciplines in a needs-based, learner-centred way in BSc courses which are (at present) taught mainly in German. Therefore, as an integral part of a bachelor’s programme, EAP is a platform upon which ESP can grow and develop.

Course design

Against this background, the main goal during course design was to produce one ESAP course which would be relevant for the four LSFM discipline areas. There were four main methodological considerations. The first of these was the focus, which needed to be both skills- and learner-centred so that we could demonstrate ‘a commitment to the goal of providing language instruction that address[ed] students’ own specific purposes’ (Belcher 2009: 2). Secondly, the roles of both the teacher and the student had to be assessed, the former being ‘both … primary knower and … exemplary user of the target language and its specialist subset’ (Gorska-Poręcka 2013: 28−29), and the latter the expert: ‘the most valuable resource is the learners themselves … possess[ing] expert knowledge in the … fields’ (Medrea and Rus 2012: 1168). Thirdly, the emphasis needed to be more on practical outcomes (using PPP and task-based learning).

Finally, the goals and objectives of course design were to develop and improve language competence deployable in academic and professional environments (B2 level).

The syllabus strands were developed with these considerations in mind. Academic skills are central to any ESAP course as an academic platform for other elements.

Thus, an Academic Core Skills (ACS) component formed the basis of the course. This was identical across each discipline and the input was delivered at the beginning of the 141

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course. The next strand comprised an ESP General (ESP GEN) component, which was again identical for all disciplines, providing the opportunity to further practice the ACS input. The final strand, ‘ESP’, comprised a different set of topics according to discipline area (i.e. learner-centred). The ESP part also gave the opportunity to practice the ACS input from a more discipline-specific perspective.

There are three main benefits to such a course design. Firstly, it is possible to change the ACS input from year to year, or even according to the needs of individual classes.

Furthermore, the ESP GEN input allows a non-discipline specific teacher to become an expert at a deeper level (and gain some level of understanding) in topics which are related to students’ fields of study. Finally, the ESP input motivates learners, allowing them to see the benefit of the initial ACS input upon which the ESP input builds (motivation is sometimes lacking with purely EAP input).

Conclusion

The goal of this non-specific ESP course was to achieve a tighter integration of English within the Life Sciences. This has been achieved in three ways: 1 The ESP GEN and ESP components are dependent upon the ACS, resembling an inverted hierarchy of needs.

2 The skill levels are mutually beneficial.

3 The overall goal of developing and improving language competence deployable in academic and professional situations is achievable since both ESP and EAP are needed as course components.

As a result, EAP, ESP GEN and ESP are working together to create a ‘specific, non-specific’ Life Sciences English course covering a hierarchy of ESP needs. In short, the gap has been bridged. hyde@zhaw.ch

References

Belcher, D. 2009. ‘What ESP is and can be: an introduction’ in D. Belcher (ed.). English for Specific Purposes in Theory and Practice. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Gorska-Poręcka, B. 2013. ‘The role of teacher knowledge in ESP course design’. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric 34/1: 27−42.

Medrea, N. and R. Rus. 2012. ‘Challenges in teaching ESP: teaching resources and students’ needs’. Procedia Economics and Finance 3: 1165–1169.

7.6 Motivating students of Visual Computing: designing a mobile app Birte W. Horn Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Having taught English as a Foreign Language for over ten years at different universities of applied sciences in Germany, one of the most challenging problems that my colleagues and I encounter on a regular basis is the perceived lack of motivation in students. This is particularly pronounced in seminars dealing with ‘Technical English’ for students in engineering fields or computer sciences. When using textbooks

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for technical English, I have often received feedback from students that the topics discussed do not feel relevant to them. As a result, the students are bored and I am frustrated. Accordingly, the problem is threefold: 1 Students are not motivated because they are interested in science, not languages.

2 I only have cursory knowledge of the topics relevant to my students’ degree courses.

3 Proficiency in one class often ranges between A2 and C1, i.e. students are either afraid of English or they are overconfident.

To meet these challenges, one promising approach seemed to use textbooks only as a secondary source and introduce project-based learning to the classroom.

Learner profile

The project presented here was carried out in the mandatory seminar ‘Technical English’ for students of Visual Computing and Design (B.Sc.) at the Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany. The degree programme comprises approximately 70 per cent programming and 30 per cent design subjects. Students were in their first or second year of studies.

The task

To motivate my students, I gave them a task which would cater to their technical interests but would challenge them to work and communicate in English: design a mobile app! Students organised themselves into groups of three to five and collaborated in these groups throughout the semester. The project consisted of two steps to make the task less intimidating, and also to provide a structure with regular submissions and feedback: • Step 1: Develop a storyboard with seven frames, describing a problematic situation.

Add information concerning camera angles, movements, music, etc. The storyboards were presented at mid-term and were peer reviewed.

• Step 2: Develop four wireframes of a mobile app, solving the problem described in the storyboard. The wireframes were presented at the end of term and were also peer reviewed.

Topical and language input

Throughout the course of the seminar, we worked on topics that were both relevant for the degree programme and the students’ project. Every topic had its own special language focus. For example, when talking about storyboards, we discussed how to tell a captivating story. Here, the language focus was on sentence structure, word variety and phrases, as well as grammar. Subsequently, when the class examined the effects of camera angles and movements, the language focus shifted to describing cause and effect. Other language spotlights included written reports and summaries (for design documentation), stating opinions (for considering ‘What is good design?’), or sequence and comparisons (for typical design processes). Of course, there were also many technical terms that the students learned. Thus, students acquired vocabulary for their specific field of study and at the same time improved their general English proficiency.

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Student response

Most of the students were exceptionally engaged when working on their storyboards and the wireframes for the app, and their motivation was distinctly higher than in previous semesters without the project. Students appreciated the opportunity to be creative and present their ideas. In a subsequent feedback survey, a large number of students commented that they felt the project involved topics which they recognised as relevant. Additionally, most of the students improved their teamwork skills significantly; this became especially apparent in groups consisting of members with varying English language proficiency. In such cases, the stronger students actively supported and helped weaker members to successfully manage presentations and written reports. Once students were working on their projects, using English seemed to become secondary to the task. Students who were initially very reluctant to speak English quickly lost inhibitions and became more comfortable communicating professionally in the language.

Conclusion

This particular project-based approach in teaching ‘Technical English’ has proven to be very successful. Both the students and the teacher enjoyed the creative process and the variety of results. Most importantly, however, the students were able to retain language used during the project better than in previous classes. This became evident in their final exams and in subsequent conversations with the students.

As one result of this positive experience, I have started to include a variety of project-based tasks in many of my classes. Students tend to be more motivated and engaged, and teaching becomes more interesting and enjoyable. birte.horn@hshl.de

7.7 Adapting the CEFR to the needs of ESP Cosima Wittmann telc gGmbH, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Introduction

The focus of my paper is on the usefulness of the CEFR for ESP classes. Can CEFR scales and descriptors be adapted to the needs and benefit of both learners and teachers? Examples for the tourist industry illustrate how ESP teachers can adapt them to their own field.

Understanding the CEFR

Although the CEFR has become ubiquitous in curricular planning and assessment, teachers often still waver at the thought of adapting descriptors to suit their purposes.

The CEFR is a descriptive tool providing a basis for reflection and communication about language acquisition; as an open, dynamic and non-dogmatic system it is also highly flexible (Council of Europe 2001). In fact, teachers are explicitly ‘invited to select the CEFR levels and illustrative descriptors that they consider to be appropriate for their learners’ needs, to adapt the formulation of the latter, in order to better suit the specific context concerned’ (Council of Europe 2017: 42).

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Using the CEFR in class

Language learning is directed at enabling learners to function successfully in real-life situations. The CEFR is a toolkit; its scales and descriptors can be translated into specific skills and tasks because they describe new and important competences for learners at each level. They motivate and monitor, keep teachers and learners focussed on what they already have achieved or still want to achieve. Learners should be encouraged to become proficient in the scales that are most useful to them thus helping them to develop individual, needs-oriented differentiated profiles in line with their real-life work situation.

Adapting the CEFR to the needs of ESP

Although the descriptors in the Companion Volume include more references to the occupational domain than the original CEFR, they are generally not explicit enough for ESP. Important points to consider before setting out to adapt descriptors are: • Choose relevant scales and descriptors.

• Find key words that don’t fit your field.

• Consider communicative language strategy—completing tasks successfully often requires more than one.

• Modify descriptors in different ways.

Example 1 Key words from descriptors for various Listening scales are as follows: • clear standard speech; • speak slowly and clearly; • speakers don’t modify their speech in any way; and • a minimum of background noise.

Imagine someone with language skills at level B1 working at reception in a hotel.

Just how much clear standard speech are they going to hear? Of course they can ask guests to speak slowly and clearly, but many will be ESL speakers and might not be able to modify their accents appropriately. Receptionists are also expected to cope with bad lines including break up and background noise. In this case, it is probably sufficient to point out to learners that at level B1 they are not expected to be able to understand non-standard speech and to give them additional practice.

Example 2 What kind of correspondence will someone working in tourism have to deal with?

Obviously mostly formal, some personal and even postings if they have to handle booking sites. Correspondence requires two skills (reading and writing) and two communicative strategies (receptive and interactive). Looking at the B1 descriptors for Reading Correspondence, it quickly becomes apparent that one concerning correspondence with a pen friend can be deleted as irrelevant, one can be left untouched as it already deals with the occupational domain in a sufficient manner, and one can be amended with an example (in italics): • Can understand straightforward personal letters, emails or postings giving a relatively detailed account of events and experiences (such as positive or negative comments on hotel booking websites).

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The descriptor for A2 can be modified as follows: • Can understand a simple personal letter, email or post in which the person writing is talking or asking about familiar subjects (such as hotel or restaurant facilities).

B1 descriptors for Correspondence focus on initiating correspondence, but someone working in the hospitality sector will be more likely to answer correspondence that comes in. This is particularly pertinent for the ‘complaint’ descriptor, which could be modified in the following way: replace ‘make’ and ‘request’ with ‘deal with’ and ‘suggest’.

• Can write basic formal emails/letters, for example to make deal with a complaint and request suggest an action.

Conclusion

I have tried to raise awareness that the CEFR is not set in stone; its scales and descriptors are useful tools that can and should be adapted to the needs of the learners in the ESP classroom. The trickiest bit is not how to adapt it, but choosing the correct scale to adapt! c.wittmann@telc.net

References

Council of Europe, 2001. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2001.

Council of Europe, 2018. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Companion Volume with New Descriptors. https://rm.coe.int/ cefr-companion-volume-with-new-descriptors-2018/1680787989.

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Teaching with technology

This chapter contains a number of papers on the use of technology in ELT that have wide-reaching implications. First, Sophia Mavridi opens the chapter with a reminder that ‘cool tools’ are not enough—teachers need the pedagogy to accompany them.

Then, Michael Carrier draws attention to the fact that half of the world’s population does not have access to educational technology; he shows what is being done to remedy this situation. In a similar vein, the A. S. Hornby Scholars’ presentation, facilitated

by Martin Lamb, outlines initiatives around the world to enable access to technology for language teaching—with both positive and negative results. Turning to specific applications of online technology, Christina Nicole Giannikas explores the use of Facebook in higher education; Benthe Fogh Jensen outlines a pedagogy for writing using digital media; and Tran Le Nghi Tran presents research into the use of mobile apps for pronunciation practice among teachers. The final two papers in this chapter deal specifically with online learning. Nicky Hockly gives an overview of points to be considered when teaching online, while Bindi Clements provides suggestions for allowing learners to be front and centre in the online classroom.

8.1 We need pedagogy, not just cool tools Sophia Mavridi De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

While technology is now widely regarded as an all-important resource in education, choosing pedagogically sound tools from among the plethora of latest technologies can present most educators with overwhelming challenges. This paper provides a digital language learning framework along with practical suggestions to encourage and help language teachers evaluate learning technologies and make informed decisions about whether—or not—to integrate them into their classroom.

Pedagogical criteria for digital language learning

What should digital language learning aim for, why is this important and what tools can facilitate this? The criteria that should inform our pedagogical decisions are skills development, knowledge construction, collaboration and interaction, creation and personalisation, and digital responsibility and ethics.

Skills development How will the tool help your students to develop their language skills? This sounds like an obvious question because language teachers’ primary aim is language development.

However, in many cases it gets overlooked and instead, cool characteristics that have nothing to do with skills development may draw teachers’ attention.

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Knowledge construction Will the tool help your students to construct knowledge and apply it to more complex contexts beyond the initial experience? This is the basic principle of cognitive constructivism, according to which knowledge is not transmitted but constructed while learners are engaged in meaningful activity (Jonassen 1991). Constructing knowledge involves meaningful activities as well as meaningful questions, but in the era of open access we need to change the questions we ask. For example, asking questions that can be answered on Google has now become a rather narrow form of enquiry that involves little critical thinking. Therefore, instead of asking questions that can be answered at the click of a button (and that students may probably just copy and paste) teachers should present the problem, invite students to come up with their own original questions and then research, evaluate and synthesise information in order to answer them.

Collaboration and interaction Learning is a social process, so our students should be encouraged to learn both independently and through interaction with their peers. This is the fundamental principle of socio-cultural theories that talk about the social origin of mental functioning (Warschauer 2005). By using social media, blogs, curation tools and shared drives we can encourage participatory cultures and knowledge communities where people are not passive consumers of information but also create, curate and share it. This is a very active process and a great way to use technology for learning.

Creation and personalisation Does the tool allow your students to create something and personalise the learning experience while practising the target language? Be it a video, a presentation, a voice recording or a digital story, good technologies can afford some degree of flexibility and creativity. For example, when it comes to presentations, not everyone enjoys having an audience and giving a speech. So why not let students decide how they wish to present? They may create a video, or add a voice over to their slides, share them on the class VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) and invite their classmates to comment.

The idea here is that presenting asynchronously may be more beneficial and stress free for some students so why not give them the option to have a say over their learning?

Digital responsibility and ethics As well as increasing learning opportunities, technology can also present very real and serious risks, such as privacy infringement, digital plagiarism, cyber-bullying and distractions, to mention only a few. A new challenge for educators is, therefore, how to increase students’ learning opportunities without promoting potential risks associated with technology use. Just because students are competent users of technology, this doesn’t mean that they can use it responsibly and ethically. They need the skills to make informed decisions about the way they navigate digital spaces and teachers should be an active part of this. Their training should involve: • respecting copyright laws and avoiding plagiarism; • interacting effectively, respecting people’s opinions and being able to handle cyberbullying or trolling;

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• managing their digital footprint and understanding that whatever they do online, positive or negative, is part of a permanent record that they can never delete or take back; and • managing digital distractions—not by banning the devices, but by systematically teaching procedures (Mavridi 2017).

It is hoped that this framework will challenge the existing paradigms in technology education that merely invest in technology equipment but take its pedagogical use for granted. We should embrace technology because it can open the door to many language learning opportunities, but we do need pedagogy, not just cool tools. sophia.mavridi@dmu.ac.uk

References

Jonassen, D. H. 1991. ‘Objectivism vs. constructivism: do we need a new philosophical paradigm?’. Educational Technology: Research and Development 39/3: 5−14.

Mavridi, S. 2017. ‘Digital welfare and esafety’. The Digital Teacher. Cambridge English Language Assessment. https://thedigitalteacher.com/blog/digital-welfare-and-esafety-for-learners.

Warschauer, M. 2005. ‘Sociocultural perspectives on CALL’ in J. L. Egbert and G. M. Petrie (eds.). CALL Research Perspectives. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.

8.2 English for the underserved: closing the digital divide Michael Carrier Highdale Consulting Ltd., London, UK Who are the underserved?

There is a digital divide in language education in developing economies. The poorest learners in the world do not have access to the technologies that are available to students in richer economies, and thus lack the same access to knowledge and learning opportunities. This is something that educators need to address, to reduce inequality and improve equity of learning access, for ELT and education in general.

UNESCO claims ‘the global spread of ICT has increased inequality, and the poorest and most marginalised have therefore failed sufficiently to benefit’ (2017).

Access is increasing—an estimated 4.7 billion people have a mobile phone, and about half the world’s population, 3.8 billion, have some access to the Internet and thereby access to ELT and education resources. But this leaves around 3−4 billion people with no Internet connection and a similar number without reliable access to electricity.

This half of the global population represents the ‘underserved’ who have less access to learning in general and English language education in particular.

Issues and solutions

ELT students and teachers need access to the following: reliable electric power, Internet connectivity, devices that can deliver content, and a wide range of appropriate learning materials and content.

Power The South African charity Lifeline Energy builds a solar-powered radio and MP3 player, the LifePlayer, to allow teachers to bring language learning audio content into rural, 149

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isolated villages without reliable electricity. It records radio broadcasts for later sharing and can be updated with new content via a cheap memory card in the front panel.

The British Council installed its ELT listening material, podcasts and teacher training material in audio format onto memory cards for this LifePlayer and sent units to low-resource contexts in Kenya, Mozambique and Ethiopia. This project has allowed over 60,000 students and teachers to gain access to language education materials that would otherwise be too difficult to deliver via traditional publishing or broadcasting.

Connectivity To solve the problem of lack of connectivity in remote and rural areas, we need to look at advances in long-distance wireless connectivity. For example, Intel has a new type of WiFi called WiMax, which can send WiFi signals up to five miles along line of sight from antenna to antenna, like a TV broadcast. This is not expensive to install, and it is cheaper than laying cables, but it brings transformational access in connectivity and learning opportunity.

Portable servers To deliver content to learners, we need a browser to display reading texts, play audio and video files and deliver exercises. A ‘live’ Internet connection is not needed for this—we can use a portable server (Internet-in-a-Box 2017). A ‘portable offline server’ is a small box about the size of an A5 notebook, which produces its own WiFi hotspot (without being connected to the Internet) and allows students with inexpensive phones or tablets to access learning material stored on the hard drive inside the small box. All they need is a browser to ‘read’ the content.

It runs off its own rechargeable battery power, long enough for a school day, and it creates its own WiFi hotspot. While the device is in a school with a live Internet connection, material can be downloaded from the Web onto the server. Teachers can also upload and organise any type of content stored locally in their school, or created locally, for access by the whole class. As the server is portable and self-contained, it can be moved from room to room in a school or used outdoors in a more remote location where there is no electricity and no Internet connectivity. One example of this is the Rachel project (WorldPossible 2017), run by the charity WorldPossible, which is bringing connectivity to the 60 per cent of the world’s poorest population that remains offline, using these servers.

Offline content The server is not much use without good learning content, which needs to be free— local budgets do not provide for ELT textbooks. There are numerous ELT-specific websites with free materials that can be downloaded on to a portable server, such as the British Council’s LearnEnglish site. And the Rachel project offers off-line versions of Wikipedia, TED talks, 400 books from the Gutenberg and African story book projects.

Conclusion

It seems only fair that those of us in richer countries should look for alternative technologies like these, to help those in less privileged communities bridge the digital divide and gain access to educational opportunities. michael@mcarrier.co.uk

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References Internet-in-a-Box. 2017. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/internet-in-a-box.

UNESCO. 2017. UNESCO Chair in ICT4D. https://ict4d.org.uk/tag/marginalisation/ WorldPossible. 2017. ‘Meet the little device that is changing the world, one school at a time’. https://worldpossible.org/rachel/.

8.3 The Hornby Scholars panel presentation: Can new technology sustainably improve quality in state language education?

Convenor: Martin Lamb University of Leeds, UK with the A. S. Hornby Scholars at IATEFL 2018: Milena Altamirano Argentina; Nilufar Begibaeva Uzbekistan; Cynthia Chindipha Zimbabwe; Nusrat Gulzar Bangladesh; Clifford Mashiri Zimbabwe; Cecilia Nobre Brazil; Joy Onyenaechi Nigeria Introduction

For English language educators in developing countries, the digital revolution presents many of the same challenges and opportunities as for their counterparts in high-income contexts. The Internet provides huge affordances for learners, yet it has also dramatically changed the way that they will use the language in the future, introducing new kinds of texts and new modes of interaction (Hafner et al. 2015). It offers teachers new tools for their trade, but in turn demands new skills. It promises to make language education more democratic, yet also threatens to widen the divide between the digital ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. It can make education processes more efficient and manageable, yet for practitioners often makes them more complicated and frustrating (ibid.). As Selwyn puts it, ‘technological change is a complex process … Any digital “solution” in education is almost always accompanied by a number of unintended consequences, secondary effects and longer-term shifts’ (2016: 23).

Our presentation looks at technological innovations in six developing country contexts. Some of the innovations are very large scale, some small. Some are well underway, others still in the proposal stage. All, however, are intended to address specific educational problems; these will be recognisable to many others working in similar global contexts. In offering partial solutions, they also touch on some of the paradoxes and ‘unintended consequences’ which Selwyn alludes to above, and which should be recognisable to innovators everywhere.

‘Connecting equality’ in Argentina

As the Internet expanded massively in the first decade of the 21st century, the Argentinian government became concerned about unequal access; it threatened to exacerbate social and economic divides in society. In 2010 the government created a programme called ‘Connecting Equality’ by which one laptop was given to every child and teacher in all state secondary schools, and to every student and lecturer at state-run teacher training institutions. Over 5 million machines were distributed. The laptops came with basic software and various educational resources available through either a students’ or

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teachers’ portal. At the same time, the necessary infrastructure was provided: an Internet connection at every school, and guidance on establishing a local committee to run the programme. The programme was intended to help learners develop the creative and critical thinking skills seen as fundamental for responsible citizens and productive workers in the 21st-century economy, while also inspiring new teaching practices (for example, individual projects, pair/group work and more learner autonomy).

But the challenges for teachers were recognised too late. By the time a teacher-training website was established, teachers were struggling to utilise the new technology.

Research found that the equipment was not well exploited in class, and that it was mainly used for social rather than for educational purposes. In addition, many schools had problems with their Internet connection, machines were damaged or stolen, and too little technical support was available. In 2016, responsibility for the programme was transferred to the provinces, most of which did not have enough funds to continue investing in it.

‘Language on wheels’ in rural Zimbabwe

The ‘digital divide’ is even greater in most African countries than it is in South America. In rural Zimbabwe, many schools lack even an electrical supply, let alone an Internet connection. One enterprising former teacher has responded to this problem in an innovative fashion. Philanthropist Itai Shumba has built a mobile computer unit on a trailer which can be trucked around schools. It holds ten second-hand computers, powered by solar panels, mounted back-to-back on a roofed structure made from scrap metal and wood, with flaps at the side that can be opened to allow five pupils to sit on a long bench facing a terminal; one printer is also provided. The computers have electronic versions of textbooks, combining text, graphics, animation, video and sound, and are also connected to the Internet through a ‘portable cloud’. For many of the children, this is their first experience of using computers, and so represents a valuable opportunity to develop some basic IT skills. The unit has been trialled in South Africa, and the plan is to bring it over the border into Zimbabwe in the near future. Five rural schools will benefit in the first instance, each one having a total of three weeks’ access per semester. If it works, the simple cheap design and renewable energy source means that it could potentially be reproduced on a much larger scale throughout rural areas.

The mobile computer lab is one promising solution to the lack of IT resources in rural Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, teachers in rural areas are taking things into their own hands, literally. As everywhere, there has been an exponential growth in the use of smartphones and tablets; second-hand devices have become affordable for teachers in smaller towns and villages, just as national network providers are extending 3G Internet connectivity into those regions and offering cheap data bundles. Enterprising teachers have, therefore, found themselves an enormously expanded pool of learning resources for their pupils and for themselves. As a member of the main teachers’ union, Hornby scholar Cliff Mashiri has witnessed this spontaneous, organic exploitation of mobile technologies among colleagues and argues that it deserves the urgent attention of researchers.

Interactive e-content in Bangladeshi primary schools

In Bangladesh, the government has embraced digital technology as a response to frequent negative evaluations of language teaching methodology in primary schools,

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which were producing pupils with minimal oral skills and low motivation for continuing study. With the help of Save the Children, an initial trial has provided laptops, tablets and projectors to 1500 state primary schools in diverse regions, pre-loaded with software that provides colourful, interactive, multimedia learning content to supplement the national textbook, along with detailed guidance for teachers in how to exploit the material. A typical task sequence sees pupils watch an animated story, read and repeat dialogue from the story, and then role-play their own improvised dialogues based on the models they’ve heard. Though still awaiting formal evaluation, observers have described classrooms transformed into happy, lively places, with children eager to try out their oral English with the teacher; as one Save the Children materials writer told scholar Nusrat Gulzar, ‘We are glad to have received positive feedback from primary level teachers on how their classroom environment changed due to the use of English e-content.’

A Teletandem project in a Brazilian university

A perennial problem in many global contexts has been a lack of opportunities to use English outside the classroom. A Brazilian university (Universidade Estadual Paulista, or UNESP) has addressed this problem through the use of Teletandem, whereby their own students are paired up with learners of Portuguese overseas and conduct onehour virtual conversations on a weekly basis, using computers and headphones in the ‘language laboratory’. The students are given advice on how to optimise the sessions.

For example, the partners agree to split the hour into 30 minutes for each language; they prepare topics in advance to talk about; they—at least initially—avoid controversial topics; partners correct each other’s language, though sensitively; and they set each other written homework tasks and then read and give feedback on them. The project is now in its 12th year and involves institutions in five different countries. Though not all pairings work, Teletandem is surely one of the simplest and most sustainable of digital technologies for language learning.

Video resources for oral proficiency teaching in Nigeria

Speaking is widely recognised in state school systems as the L2 skill which is hardest to teach, for a variety of reasons: pupils may get little practice outside class, it may not be formally assessed, and teachers may lack confidence in their own speaking ability or knowledge of communicative methods. A loop-input technique using videos in language teacher education (ViLTE) has been proposed as one way of addressing this problem. Trainers would use their smartphones to video record themselves acting out short semi-scripted dialogues in English, based around a situation or language function. They would then design activities for the teachers to analyse the dialogues, copy them, and then eventually perform improvised versions of them which they could also record. Apart from being a lot of fun, the sessions model a process that they could use, with level-appropriate proficiency goals, with their learners.

MOOCs for university teacher CPD in Uzbekistan

It may not always be necessary for resource-stretched institutions in low/middle income countries to produce their own educational materials. The Uzbekistan Scientific-Practical Innovation Centre (UzSPIC) trains in-service English teachers from 71

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higher educational institutions (http://edu.uz/uz/otm/index). According to Ministry guidelines, continuing professional development (CPD) is compulsory with every three-year contract renewal. CPD courses run for two months and are meant to have at least 244 hours of instruction, which puts considerable strain on UzSPIC trainers.

Meanwhile, there are already a great number of training resources available online, in the form of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) produced by much more generously resourced institutions in the west. Why not use them? One regular demand from Uzbek CPD participants is for access to a range of global Englishes—MOOCs can provide this. The best MOOCs are designed so that users can interpret content in a way that makes it relevant for their home context. What is more, research suggests that the dropout rate on MOOCs is ‘only’ about 50 per cent in developing countries, compared to 90 per cent in developed countries.

Conclusion

These technological innovations are not models of success. Arguably, only one has sustainably improved the quality of language education (Teletandem), while it appears that another (primary e-content) might do so. One has already failed, while the other three are barely beyond the design stage. What they do all attest to, however, is the creativity and determination of language educators in these contexts. Digital technology is not a solution in itself, but it puts many new tools into the hands of practitioners at various levels of the education system, from learners up to Ministry officials. Whether these tools are used effectively depends on how far their handlers observe the timeless principles of educational good practice. As Golonka et al. say, ‘Using technology in delivering a lesson or instructional unit will not make bad pedagogy good. Nor does a lack of technological tools or applications prevent effective teaching’ (2014: 93). m.v.lamb@education.leeds.ac.uk

References

Golonka, E. M., A. R. Bowles, V. M. Frank, D. L. Richardson and S. Freynik, S. 2014. ‘Technologies for foreign language learning: a review of technology types and their effectiveness’.

Computer Assisted Language Learning 27: 70−105.

Hafner, C. A., A. Chik and R. Jones. 2015. ‘Digital literacies and language learning’. Language Learning and Technology 19/3: 1−7.

Selwyn, N. 2016. Is Technology Good for Education? Cambridge: Polity Press.

8.4 The Facebook effect: the use of social media in e-learning platforms Christina Nicole Giannikas Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus Introduction

A significant development in higher education has been the implementation of e-learning programmes. A number of universities are currently providing courses of quality and flexibility to meet the academic needs of university students (O’Neill, Singh and O’Donoghue 2004). This paper concentrates on the socio-constructive perspective and how social media can complement e-learning platforms.

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The connection of e-learning and social media

Among the many social network systems (SNS) that can be found online, Facebook is the social site many e-learning educators have opted to use in order to prompt a socio-constructive learning environment in an otherwise isolating context, as distance learning can often be. There is currently a growing body of evidence (see Cheung and Lee 2010) suggesting that Web 2.0 and SNS have the perspective of increasing interaction and engagement given that young people spend a significant amount of time on Facebook. Additionally, e-learning platforms can be enriched, and learning may become more effective if Facebook is integrated in distance learning, not only to act as the ‘social glue’, but also to enhance academic features of the university experience.

Research methodology

The present small-scale study focuses on 15 students of an online MA in Computer Assisted Language Learning. Of the respondents, ten were female and three were male, with eight being 31–40, five being 20–30 and two being 51–60. The participants were all foreign language teachers and were doing the MA for CPD purposes.

Data collection was achieved through an online survey, where students were asked questions related to their general use of Facebook, their use of it during their course, the use of their Learning Management System (in this case, Moodle) and relevance of the online tools (whether LMS or SNS). The coding involved the manual allocation of categories to each response, as well as the use of the analysis conducted on Google forms.

The pedagogical effect

Facebook groups were used for two modules: ‘Second Language Acquisition’ and ‘Research Methods and Design’. Figure 8.4.1 provides a description of how Facebook was applied: Data indicated that all participants used Facebook to communicate with others, and nine used it to post news or articles related to their work/studies. Students tended to rely on their knowledge and familiarity of Facebook, using it as a safety net after

Figure 8.4.1: The use of Facebook in the MA modules

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facing technical difficulties with Moodle. Students also found that they could not be as interactive on the discussion forum compared to the Facebook groups. Nonetheless, five of the respondents viewed it as informal and showed a preference for Moodle.

The students were also asked about Messenger and how they use it in an academic context. All respondents agreed that communication via Messenger between students and instructors is easier and immediate. Coincidently, students viewed the use of email as formal, whereas Messenger is informal and instructors seemed more approachable. Nonetheless, the particular use of Messenger encourages students to become accustomed to a spoon-fed approach, where for every question they would be tempted to contact the instructor. This may affect student autonomy, which is highly encouraged in e-learning programs.

The data indicates the main pedagogical features that make Facebook appealing in an e-learning context are: (1) it is convenient; (2) it enhances a sense of community; and (3) it complements Moodle. Due to the topic-based and peer-initiated nature of the conversations on Facebook groups, a systematic articulation of issues occurred that allowed even the less confident students to contribute.

Concluding notes

While Facebook may not assist in students’ learning per se, it supports the provision of productive and motivational pedagogy. One of the main components is the interactive and friendly nature, compared to other platforms. Students relate Facebook to an online meeting point with friends, making their groups less intimidating and more approachable. There is evidence suggesting technology can support these interactions, and Facebook is an outlet by which this can be conveyed. Continued integration of Facebook into courses may see further benefits through enhanced student-to-student and student-to-instructor communication, which may translate to greater learning outcomes. christinagian@hotmail.com

References

Cheung, C. M. K. and M. K. O. Lee. 2010. ‘A theoretical model of intentional social action in online social networks’. Decision Support System 49: 24−30.

O’Neill, K., G. Singh, G. and J. O’Donoghue. 2004. ‘Implementing elearning programmes for higher education: a review of the literature’. Journal of Informational Technology Education 3: 313−323.

8.5 Writing about the world in a digital world Benthe Fogh Jensen University College South Denmark, Haderslev, Denmark Writing pedagogy in a digital age

Producing or designing a text in any digital media, is shaped by technological changes and new media for communication. Understanding and using digital media appropriately and efficiently is referred to as ‘digital literacy’ (Hansen 2018) and is something

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we must also include in the language learning classroom. In 2016, I carried out a project in two EFL classes in a Danish lower secondary school, the purpose being to explore the challenges and opportunities of working with a digital writing project and to propose elements of a digital writing pedagogy. We decided on the topic, ‘Being Young’, and the writing medium, blogs.

Rhetorical competences in a digital age

Understanding communication and the rhetorical competences required in a digital world, we might look at the classical discipline of rhetoric, the art of public speaking from ancient Greece. The Roman rhetorician, Cicero (106−43 BC) developed a pentagon for the well-planned speech (Figure 8.5.1). Cicero realised the importance for a speaker (or sender) of adapting the language of the speech or text to the circumstances or context for the communication, being able to capture the audience and to express the message or topic in a convincing way. When all five elements of the pentagon play together in an optimal way, we have the opportune moment or text, called Kairos.

This is also the name of Zeus’s son, born with wings on his feet and back, one of his characteristics being his long fringe. This, combined with his swiftness, meant you had to catch him by his fringe, or the right moment would be lost. Digital communication is fast and covers vast distances; making the audience receive a message within seconds is a challenge for students. Cicero’s pentagon and catching Kairos is a good illustration of important elements when suggesting a digital writing pedagogy.

Figure 8.5.1: Cicero’s pentagon

Proposals for a digital writing pedagogy

Based on experiences from the project described above, Cicero’s pentagon will be used as the framework for suggesting elements of a writing pedagogy, developing students’ rhetorical competences when communicating via the digital media. Analysis and deconstruction of model texts from authentic blogs were used in our work with the five elements of the pentagon.

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We begin with circumstances or context. In our project, the chosen medium being blogs, a Web 2.0 medium, affordances represented the opportunities for formulating thoughts on a given subject and creating a dialogic forum, commenting on each other’s blog posts. In any online medium, safety issues are important; consequently, we need to teach the proper use of personal settings in addition to the challenges of faceless communication (Bundsgaard 2016), highlighting the consequences of having no body or face to alleviate a message, thereby making us less empathetic towards the receiver.

Secondly, we must consider choice of topic for a digital writing project, emphasising the overall purpose of a writing project (academic reflection or ‘free writing space’); the different social purposes (such as informing or entertaining); and the choice of relevant genres (such as information report or narrative). When working with model texts in different genres, students will develop genre awareness (Humphrey et al. 2015).

As the speaker is the next element in the pentagon, teaching awareness of students’ multiple digital identities (related to presence on different social media) and deliberate choice of identity or role of sender in a given communicative situation is important.

Writing about bullying and adding a snapchat-like photo do not correlate well.

Next, we have the question of audience, featuring elements like the importance of the communication relation the students have/or want to have with an audience (formal/informal, expert/novice) and learning to empathise with an audience and the way a message might be received.

With the final element being language, we will make use of Halliday’s theories about language, consisting of the three meta-functions: field (expressing and connecting ideas); mode (creating coherent and cohesive texts); and tenor (language for interacting). Focusing on communication made it relevant to look at specifically elements from tenor in our work with model texts: • speech functions and how using statements, questions, commands or offers influences the way we interact with others; • modality as a way of locating an opinion between ‘yes/no’, opening up or closing down for other perspectives; and • turning volume of language up/down when expressing attitudes, by using intensifiers (really hard), graded synonyms (irritated, angry, furious) and repetition (‘We cried and cried’) (Humphrey et al. 2015).

And now, go catch Kairos. bfje@ucsyd.dk

References

Bundsgaard, J. 2016. Sprog og Kommunikation. Frederiksberg: Samfundslitteratur.

Hansen, J. J. (ed.). 2018. Digital Skrivedidaktik. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.

Humphrey, S., L. Droga and S. Feez. 2015. Grammar and Meaning. Marrickville, Australia: PETAA.

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8.6  Mobile apps and pronunciation training: a self-directed learning approach Tran Le Nghi Tran University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Introduction

In 2015, only 32 per cent of Vietnamese TESOL teachers met stringent English proficiency requirements set by the government. Oral skills, especially pronunciation, were a particularly problematic area. Mobile learning (ML) can be a feasible solution for teachers in the context of a developing country, as it is time saving and cost effective.

Previous research suggests that Vietnamese TESOL teachers had suitable conditions for ML (Murphy et al. 2014); however it was unknown whether they could selfdirect their learning and practice of pronunciation. This research project aimed to identify the factors determining the effectiveness of the self-directed practice of pronunciation and the principles for ML as a way to deliver professional development activities.

Methodology

This project adopts design-based research (Wang and Hannafin 2005) and involves two cycles of an online pronunciation course for TESOL teachers from provincial universities outside major cities in Vietnam. Data were collected using a pre- and post-test, questionnaire, interviews, meeting recordings, app learning analytics and weekly learning reports. Table 8.6.1 shows the differences between the two course cycles.

Table 8.6.1: The online pronunciation course cycles

For self-directed pronunciation training, the participants watched a short pronunciation teaching video each day and used mobile apps such as ELSA Speak to practice their pronunciation. They were asked to spend up to 30 minutes per day, five days a week using the apps. Data analysis revealed a range of individual and technologyrelated factors which determine ML effectiveness.

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Factors determining the effectiveness of self-directed pronunciation practice

For individual factors, participants mentioned both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation as reasons for them to start and keep practising pronunciation. Regardless of different levels of commitment and effort, most participants had improved scores for their personal pronunciation problems, but there was little difference in their overall pronunciation accuracy. Interestingly, before the course, most participants stated they had little confidence in pronunciation, but later believed that their pronunciation was correct and blamed the apps for not recognising their speech. Some believed iOS devices outperformed Android ones in automatic speech recognition, and technological competence played a role in providing a smooth learning process.

A significant level of participants’ dependence on the instructor was also observed, which indicated that they were not so ready for self-directed learning.

For technology-related factors, it was found that suitable and compatible devices had a direct impact on learning feasibility. For mobile technologies, the participants often required them to be user-friendly, easy to install and have at least an acceptable performance. The combination of various apps with different strengths allowed them to make up their shortcomings. Many considered themselves to be low-tech, and found it crucial to have timely support when they encountered technical problems.

Finally, the cost of devices and technologies is also an important factor to consider in the context of a developing country.

Fundamental principles for mobile learning in PD provision

For human-related principles, first of all, flexibility, commitment and personalised learning experience are important elements for mobile learning efficiency. The busy participants only had a small amount of time each day for learning, so the most urgent individual learning needs were prioritised, and some practiced their pronunciation in the bathroom or kitchen, after their children went to bed or late at night. Secondly, teachers’ instructions and support in problem solving are essential for teachers in the context of Vietnam since apps can only provide pre-planned feedback on pronunciation mistakes with no detailed explanation of the issue and how to fix it.

Regarding technology-related principles, it is crucial to have technologies that can work both online and offline, as well as a stable Internet connection to ensure a smooth learning experience. Also, the chosen technologies must be compatible with many devices and available on as many platforms as possible. In this study, the participants had different devices, needs and preferences, and the possibility to use various tools and technologies allows for flexibility and personalised learning.

Conclusion

Mobile learning is a feasible and effective way to provide PD pronunciation training in the given context, but self-directed learning needs to be encouraged. Among the critical success factors for mobile learning as a scalable model, flexibility and instructors’ support are the most important. n.tranle@uq.net.au

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References Murphy, A., W. Midgley and H. Farley. 2014. ‘Mobile learning trends among students in Vietnam’. Paper presented at the 13th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning, mLearn 2014, Istanbul, Turkey, 3−5 November 2014.

Wang, F. and M. J. Hannafin. 2005. ‘Design-based research and technology-enhanced learning environments’. Educational Technology Research and Development 53/4: 5−23.

8.7 Going live: teaching online via videoconferencing Nicky Hockly The Consultants-E, Barcelona, Spain

Increasing numbers of English language teachers are turning to live online teaching via videoconferencing. Offering real-time language classes with tools like Skype, Zoom, Adobe Connect or similar can enable teachers to work independently from home in their own time. However, the live online medium does pose particular challenges, even for experienced language teachers. In my talk I explored what makes effective live online teaching.

Context

Live online teachers work in a range of contexts. They may be freelance language teachers finding their own clients, or they may work for an online language school.

They may work for their own institution as part of a blended or fully online course, or they may provide online tutorials as support for face-to-face language classes. The online teacher’s context will affect what decisions he/she can make about what videoconferencing tools to use, and whether additional asynchronous learning content needs to be delivered via a virtual learning environment or other tool. A live online teacher may be able to work from home, or he/she may be required to come into a teaching centre or school to deliver live online classes, especially if their home Internet connection is unreliable. Live online classes can be offered to students globally, so when classes are offered can be a major consideration for online teachers working across multiple time zones. And finally, context may determine whether a live online teacher bases his/her classes on coursebook content, on pre-developed prescribed lesson content (often the case with online language schools), or his/her own content developed from a needs analysis with learners.

Videoconferencing platforms

Developments in hardware and software over the past decade have made videoconferencing increasingly accessible to a wide audience. Current free videoconferencing platforms include the ubiquitous Skype (with a paid-for ‘Skype for Business’ version), Google Hangouts Meet, Facebook Live Messenger, ezTalks, appear.in and TokBox Video Chat, among others. Paid-for videoconferencing platforms include Adobe Connect, Blackboard Collaborate/Ultra, Zoom, GoToMeeting and WebEx, although many of these also have free or trial versions. Paid-for videoconferencing platforms tend to have more features than free platforms, provide a recording feature, provide technical support, and are generally more robust; essentially, you get what you

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pay for when it comes to videoconferencing. Nevertheless, it can be difficult to choose a videoconferencing platform. Typical videoconferencing features include a chat box, screen sharing and PowerPoint slide sharing, polls/quizzes, notes, plug ins, and breakout rooms—this last feature is especially useful for carrying out pair and small group work during live classes. For a helpful overview of platforms, watch the ‘5-minute guide to videoconferencing platforms’ by Gavin Dudeney of The Consultants-E (TCE) at https://youtu.be/-1t0Fi2vZ38. You can also watch a short extract from a live class delivered by TCE online tutor Carol Rainbow with upper-intermediate English language students, in which she and the students utilise a range of videoconferencing features, at https://youtu.be/KvTa4tGoH8k.

Considerations

Bandwidth is a major consideration when offering live online classes. Your Internet connection needs to be robust and reliable enough to handle videoconferencing.

Remember that your platform choice will reflect your professionalism. For example, if you choose to deliver live online classes via a free tool like Facebook Live Messenger, you will simply not be projecting the same professional image as when you choose a more robust platform like Zoom or Adobe Connect. For those wishing to work as freelance live online language teachers, considerations include establishing a compelling online presence and brand (for example with a mobile-friendly website and savvy use of social media), effectively marketing yourself so to attract new online students/ clients, and dealing with online payments.

You also need to have the basic technical skills to be able to help learners on the spot with issues like audio and video. And you need to be able to design compelling live lessons that interest and engage learners—and get them using the language—whether you are teaching individuals or groups. Avoiding going into lecture mode; ensuring plenty of pair and group work (for example in breakout rooms), as well as including a variety of tasks and media, and using a range of videoconferencing features can go some way towards helping design interesting live lessons. You can also use the recordings of classes for remedial work, as well as sharing these with the students themselves, so that they can assess their own (and possibly their peers’) language abilities.

However, the most important consideration is that live online teaching needs to be underpinned by sound pedagogical principles and practice if it is to effectively support your students’ language learning. nicky.hockly@theconsultants-e.com

8.8 Enabling learners to take centre stage in an online classroom Bindi Clements Wall Street English, Barcelona, Spain

Online language classes using videoconferencing provide opportunities for communication practice outside a physical classroom (Vurdien 2018). However, students report having fewer opportunities for speaking practice than in face-to-face classes, and the design and use of videoconferencing technology can result in some specific pedagogical challenges (Pandavar 2018). This presentation drew from experience of

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both creating materials for use in an online classroom and from observations when training online teachers, and identified two common features of synchronous language lessons held via videoconferencing which can negatively impact student engagement.

Practical tips for promoting interaction between learners in an online (or ‘virtual’) classroom which improve student engagement and increase speaking practice time were provided.

Challenges to student engagement in the online classroom

The first challenge to learner engagement is the widespread use of PowerPoint (or similar software) to provide the class content in the videoconferencing platform.

Some teachers follow the presentation from start to finish, with insufficient regard for whether students need or are interested in all the content. When the content and pace of a class is not determined by learner need, students are likely to feel that the class has less relevance to them. Engagement levels fall, and learners are more easily distracted.

This problem is exacerbated because teachers receive far less direct feedback from their learners in an online classroom than in a face-to-face setting. Even if learners have their camera on (which is not always possible due to the bandwidth needed to run videoconferencing software), it can be difficult for the teacher to assess whether silent learners have not understood, are bored or have technical issues. When faced with silent learners, teachers tend to talk more to fill in the silence, thereby increasing teacher talking time.

The second challenge is related to the nature of the technology of videoconferencing. In a physical classroom many people can talk at once, and pair and group work can be used to maximise the time students have to practice speaking. Multi-channel communication is the norm. But in an online classroom (unless breakout rooms are available; see below), only one person can talk at any one time. The standard pattern of communication is often the teacher asking a question to Student A, Student A responding to the teacher, the teacher asking a question to Student B, and so on, with very little interaction between the students. This mono-channel communication significantly reduces the amount of time learners in an online classroom have to speak, and again results in a more teacher-centred class.

How to maximise student interaction

Key to ensuring students are centre stage is an online class are following the needs and interests of students, and planning ahead of time to maximise student interaction (and minimise teacher talking time).

1 Set polls and quiz questions and use the class responses as a starting point for discussion, or to check understanding of a language point. Use student responses to adapt the direction of the class to the needs of students.

2 Use the chat function to ask students to share opinions and experiences, reinforce instructions, privately provide students with text for an information gap activity, or backchannel with struggling students.

3 Ask students to write or highlight on the board to brainstorm ideas, elicit vocabulary, find mistakes in a text, and so on.

4 Use the record function and ask students to listen back for use of key language and pronunciation.

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5 Remember that learners are a valuable resource and come to class with their own ideas, opinions and experiences. Include activities that allow students to share their opinions and to explore online resources.

6 Plan interaction patterns ahead of the class for each activity, for example, using questions via the private chat function to prompt learners.

7 Use breakout rooms when available for pair or group work to maximise student talking time.

8 Consider ‘leaving’ the class and let students feel they have more ‘space’. Sometimes learners talk more freely when teachers turn their camera off during discussion activities.

As Panavar (2018) asks, ‘What learning can be accomplished by [videoconferencing] at present that cannot be better accomplished without it?’ Online classes using videoconferencing certainly provide great opportunities for language learning and cross-cultural communication by bringing together cultural mixes of students (and teachers) not possible in many monolingual environments (Jung 2013). However, unless educators plan carefully and use the tools available to augment and transform language learning, online classes can become teacher-focused, leaving learners feeling that an online experience is second-best to language learning in a physical classroom. bindi.clements@wallstreetenglish.com

References

Jung. M. 2013. ‘Videoconferencing improves student language learning in the EFL classroom’.

TESOL Journal 4/4: 743−751.

Pandavar, A. 2018. ‘VC technology: master or servant of education?’ in L. Stepanek and K. Sedlackova (eds.). Videoconferencing in Language Education. Brno: Masaryk University Language Centre.

Vurdien, R. 2018. ‘Motivating students to develop oral skills via interaction on videoconferencing’ in T. Pattison (ed.). IATEFL 2017 Glasgow Conference Selections. Faversham: IATEFL.

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Issues in assessment

This chapter contains five papers on the topic of assessment in ELT. The chapter starts with a report of Barry O’Sullivan’s plenary talk, in which he outlines the history of language testing. Tom Garside then discusses the importance of prioritising the sociocognitive needs of learners in language testing. Kathrin Eberharter and Carol Spöttl show how illustrative performances, or benchmarks, can support teacher and institutions in promoting good assessment practices, while Santosh Mahapatra explores the connection between teachers’ assessment literacy and their students’ performance.

Finally, in their Forum report, Tim Goodier and Evangelia Xirofotou discuss aspects of the CEFR.

9.1 Plenary: Living to tell the tale: a history of language testing Barry O’Sullivan British Council, London, UK Introduction

The history of language testing is long and, as far as I’m concerned, fascinating. From its earliest form, as part of the Chinese imperial examination system, to the modern industry, the story of language testing, particularly over the past century, is important as it highlights what I have always thought of as the Atlantic divide: the very different approaches to educational testing that emerged in the USA and the UK in the early years of the 20th century and which have come to dominate our world ever since.

The story of language testing has been told before, both by myself (O’Sullivan 2012) and Bernard Spolsky (2017). On this occasion, I hope to offer a (slightly) lighter and I hope entertaining interpretation of that story. But before starting, I must apologise to the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez for stealing my title from his wonderful memoir—and a much more interesting read than my efforts!

Beginnings

My story begins over two millennia ago in about 200 BC. This was during the reign of Emperor GaoZu Han, the first Chinese Emperor and instigator of the first meritocracy in selecting bureaucrats. At that time, character and connections were considered to be the important attributes of a good bureaucrat, so a formal system of recommendation was introduced in order to populate the newly formed imperial bureaucracy. About 800 years later, in the later years of the Sui Dynasty (581–618), the Emperor Wen introduced the Kējŭ, or Imperial Examination. This system of formal competitive tests was to evolve over the following centuries into a fully standardised

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examination structure that had at its core the element of language. The structure included numerous innovations such as: • designated testing centres (which could accommodate up to 11,000 candidates at any one time; • candidate identification cards (where physical characteristics were recorded and then checked on entry to the test centre); and • certificates (though only for the top candidates in any one ‘Emperor’s test’, the highest level).

The system of exams started at the candidate’s local area and finished, for the lucky and seriously intelligent few, at the feet of the Emperor himself (well, there was one Empress). The idea was to filter out the people who could be reasonably expected to perform a role at the many levels of society, from those who went on to set up their own preparatory schools, to those who were to become local, regional or imperial bureaucrats. The pressure was enormous. Passing at any level meant prosperity and prestige for not just the individual, but also for the family. Results were announced publicly, and for the very top achieving candidates, a certificate, written by the Emperor himself, was presented.

So, having invented the system of standardised examinations, the ever-resourceful Chinese invented ways to undermine it. Some were fairly basic, such as employing imitators; others were ingenious, time-consuming and downright artistic, such as wearing an undergarment on which a person or family has written the contents of the five Confucian texts (upon which some levels of the examination were directly based) with what are now thought to have been rat hairs! By the late 19th century the system was in serious decline, and the Qing dynasty with it. The formal education system had by now been abandoned and the Imperial examination system left to fend for itself.

As all this was happening in China, the word was spreading. The Jesuits had travelled to China in the 16th century, and among the various ideas they brought back to Europe was that of competitive examinations. Within a century they had introduced the idea to their over 700 schools across Europe. This quickly spread to the military, first in Prussia and later in France, where the need for talented and intelligent officers had already been recognised. However, competitive testing was pretty slow to make a significant impact in the UK, and the reputation of the country’s leading universities (Oxford and Cambridge) had hit an all-time low.

Coming to the west

In a series of lectures to the Royal Statistical Society, Sir Edwin Chadwick (1858, 1859, 1863) set out the case for competitive examinations in the British civil service.

Education reform in the UK had seen the introduction of the first public examinations for schools in 1858, and now the scene was set for a broadening of what was seen by Chadwick (and others) as the positive benefits across the education and administrative systems of competition.

At around the same time, Charles Darwin published his seminal work, On the Origin of Species (1859), which was to have a significant impact on his cousin, Sir Francis Galton. Spurred on by his cousin’s treatise, Galton set about a career in which he researched a whole variety of topics that focused on differences in the population, from

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mental and physical characteristics to facial features and fingerprints. Along the way, he invented the science of psychometrics, which focused on psychological measurement.

Not so far away, at the University of Leipzig, Professor Wilhelm Wundt was also working to develop a new form of scholarship. In 1874 he published a book entitled Grundzüge der Physiologischen Psychologie (Principles of Physiological Psychology), establishing psychology as an area of academic research. Wundt’s contribution to psychology extended to the world of assessment through two of his students, one American and one British. James McKeen Cattell, the American, completed his PhD under Wundt at Leipzig in 1886 (title: Psychometric Investigations) and a year later opened the world’s first psychometric laboratory at the University of Cambridge in the UK. From there he moved back to the USA, taking up a position at the University of Pennsylvania, before finally moving to Columbia University in New York in 1891.

He stayed there as Professor of Psychology until his objections to the draft saw him lose his position in 1918. He later won a legal battle with the university and used his settlement to set up The Psychological Corporation, a very successful test publishing company and now part of Pearson Assessment.

Standardising testing (13 centuries after the Chinese)

At Columbia, Cattell was to influence the emerging field of educational measurement through his connection with people like Edward Lee Thorndike, Milo Hillegas and Frederick J. Kelly at Columbia. Thorndike devised the first standardised scale for handwriting in 1904; he did this by collecting samples of handwriting from some of his many former students who were now teaching. He then asked a large number of these people to rank and/or compare a number of samples. Finally, he used the resulting data to place all samples on a quality scale. To use the scale a teacher set out the set of samples in order of quality, then walk along the line with an example of her pupil’s handwriting and stop where it most closely matched a sample.

A few years later, Hillegas (1912) used the same approach to create a scale for English composition. These innovations marked the beginning of the standardisation movement which saw the introduction of the world’s first standardised test battery in 2014, the Courtis Standard Tests, in which adaptations of scales were used. The standardised test results were then compiled into graphical representations of class and/or school performance. This marked the first time a systematic quantification of test results was presented for interpretation in this way. To this movement we can add three additional innovations which were to have a significant impact on the whole US approach to educational testing.

1 The move towards standardisation was driven to a great extent by the huge populations to be tested in the by now well-established education system in the USA. Around this same time, Karl Pearson (a protégé of Galton’s) described his correlation coefficient (1896), while William Sealy Gosset, a student of Pearson’s and the chief brewer for Guinness brewery in Dublin, published his Student’s T-test (1908); as an employee of Guinness he was unable to publish under his own name so used the name ‘Student’ instead.

2 In 1913, the decision by the Association of Modern Language Teachers of Maryland to move away from the testing of speaking and writing (based on a report by a specially appointed committee) when combined with the standardisation movement

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described above, marked the beginning of the testing industry that came to dominate US education in the years since then.

3 In his Kansas Test of Silent Reading (1916), Frederick J. Kelly introduced the concept of the multiple-choice item. Kelly was an interesting person, who had written his PhD thesis (under Thorndike at Columbia) on teachers’ marks, where he demonstrated the weaknesses of the scales built by Thorndike and Hillegas. He later went on to become the President of Idaho University and is said to have rejected his most famous contribution to the world of educational testing (the MCQ) declaring that ‘These tests are too crude to be used and should be abandoned’.

The combination of the theoretical underpinning construct definition (structuralism), the new item type (the MCQ) and the increasingly complex statistical procedures (correlation, t-test and others) set the scene for the rapid industrialisation of the educational testing industry in the USA. An Atlantic divide

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, UCLES (who now operate as Cambridge Assessment English) introduced the world’s first formal English proficiency test, the Cambridge Proficiency Examination (CPE). The purpose of the test was to establish evidence of the English proficiency of students wishing to study in the UK. Weir (2003) presents an interesting history of the CPE, with a strong focus on its links to work of the great UK language education theorist Henry Sweet. Sweet had published his highly influential Rationally Progressive Method in 1899 and his ideas around the importance of language production were, according to Weir, to have a long-lasting impact on the Cambridge, and UK, approach to language testing.

The British Council entered the world of English language testing in 1941, with the signing of a formal agreement with UCLES to provide expertise to support their tests, the British Council providing the link to teaching and learning practice that UCLES depended on. Among the innovations they suggested over the years were the use of gramophone recordings to standardise the testing of speaking (1942); a high-level proficiency test (above CPE) called the Diploma (1945); the recommendation for interviewing students in pairs (1951); and the world’s first (admittedly basic) formal rating scale (1953/4). The combination of the British Council and Cambridge was to act as a significant driver of UK English language testing for 50 years (see Weir and O’Sullivan 2017).

The so-called old approach taken by the British, which focused on observable language performance judged by language experts and linked to contemporary language learning theory and practice, still drives English language testing in the UK (with few exceptions) to this day. Meanwhile, the modern approach developed in the USA, described by Carroll (1954: 2) as representing ‘a revolt from the subjectivity, unreliability, lack of comprehensiveness, and general cumbersomeness of the old-style examinations’, was to dominate educational testing (including English language) in the USA for over a century. The theories were very different and the tests that emerged from these theories were equally different. The Atlantic divide was born.

Out of this divide grew the TOEFL in 1964. Published by the Educational Testing Service in the USA, the test reflected the mood of the time. Based on a strictly

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structuralist, multiple-choice approach, it was heralded for its reliability. This concept was actually a technical innovation devised in 1937 by Kuder and Richardson and later refined and named alpha by Lee Cronbach in 1951 (hence the name ‘Cronbach’s alpha’). It referred to the internal consistency of a test, the hypothesis being that a test is focused on a single ability or trait; demonstrating this required candidates to correctly answer a series of questions related to the trait; a perfectly reliable test (reliability = 1.0) would be where all candidates either demonstrated the ability (perfect score) or demonstrated no trace of the ability (zero score). Therefore, the perfect test falls precisely in a space between two groups, one clearly above the level of the test, and the other clearly below the level of the test. So, the perfect test tells us almost nothing about the groups—they are way up there somewhere or they’re way down there somewhere. But they’re not here! Not terribly useful …

Meanwhile, UCLES introduced other tests, including the First Certificate in English (FCE) in the mid-1940s. This followed the by-now-familiar UCLES pattern and went on to become very popular with learners as it was seen to provide a pathway through the learning process towards mastery. In the following decades, other tests were added to what UCLES referred to as their Main Suite. However, before that was to happen, there was a significant development in UK teaching which was to have a major impact on the way language was tested. This was the communicative language teaching method. The communicative approach had a major impact on the British Council as teachers across the organisation joined international colleagues in moving away from the more traditional grammar translation approach.

In the mid-1970s, Brendan Carroll, a British Council language testing expert, proposed to the British Council/UCLES Joint Committee that they work to develop a totally new type of test. This was built on the early work of John Munby (also of the British Council) and the recent innovations in communicative language testing and the teaching of language for academic purposes (Munby 1978). The idea was accepted by the Joint Committee and the UCLES team tasked with developing the test. However, when they presented their test design to the British Council, it was rejected as not meeting Carroll’s expectations. A group of the British Council’s own testing experts were brought together by Carroll in 1978 to design and build the English Language Testing Service (ELTS) which was launched in 1980; see Weir and O’Sullivan (2017) for a detailed account of the test and its development. The test was revolutionary in concept and design, with a strong communicative focus, including integrated reading into writing tasks, and six domain-specific papers (medicine, science, physical sciences, social studies, technology and general academic).

The ELTS became the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in 1990, when the test was updated in response to a critical validation report by Criper and Davies (1989). In addition, the partnership added IDP, the institution responsible for Australian Higher Education recruitment, prompting the addition of the international element. The new test, shorn of three of its domain-specific papers, continued to grow slowly through the early years of the 1990s and was further revised

by UCLES in 1995. By now it had no domain-specific papers and no integrated tasks.

It had become exactly what Carroll had not wanted, a general proficiency test (though an extremely good one) with little or no academic domain specificity. While there is no doubt that the original design and development team at the British Council would

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have wrung their hands at such a move, the test was phenomenally successful and by the early years of the new century, it had overtaken TOEFL in terms of worldwide recognition and sales.

By this time, the world of English language testing was undoubtedly dominated by these two tests and the different philosophies upon which they had been built.

However, the world of English language testing itself was beginning to change. The professionalisation of the area was highlighted by the number of overseas students studying language teaching and testing at universities in the UK and the USA. As these people brought their newly acquired expertise back home, they were to form the basis of a new generation of test developers. The growth in influence of the language standards and frameworks such as the Canadian Language Benchmarks and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) since the turn of the century, and the understanding of the need to localise these standards for use in particular learning systems, saw a gradual move away from the local use of large-scale international tests—first to locally produced high-quality tests and then to localised global tests (led by the British Council’s Aptis testing service).

Technology

As I prepared for this plenary, I was involved with a number of British Council-led initiatives on intelligence and language testing and teaching. As an organisation, we were far from the only group looking at this interesting if challenging area and already the possibilities seem endless. English language testing today is very much dependent on technology, so the addition of AI suggests that this dependency will only increase.

Some of the uses of technology are shown in Table 9.1.1.

Final thoughts

The issues that are most important and interesting in language testing (for me) include the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and test localisation. So, I’ll wind up this paper with a brief overview on my thinking on where these might be leading us.

AI has been around for some time, and we regularly read stories about how we will all lose our jobs because of it. Like a lot of other people, I’m pretty sceptical about that as the human element in many jobs, especially in language teaching and testing, is complex and intricate. In China, companies such as iFLYTEK and Luilishuo are leading the way in terms of the automatic scoring of candidates’ speaking tests using AI and machine learning. The former company is due to provide the scoring engine for major tests in China such as the Gaokao from the near future. The use of AI in this way allows ministries of education the opportunity to introduce a more communication-focused curriculum than their resources typically allow. It also allows for learning and testing opportunities to be made available for English and other languages. However, there are some serious moral and ethical issues that must be faced up to. One issue that I see is the danger of removing the teacher and the classroom from the testing system I have argued for many years that assessment must form part of any successful learning system. The approach to curriculum design, to the delivery of the system (including all things related to classroom materials, classroom and learner management, the physical design and layout of schools and classrooms, teacher selection,

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Item authoring

Item banking

Test development platform

Test delivery platform

Data collection

Data management

Data analysis

Test scoring

Report construction and delivery Archive

Building evidence of actual language use to drive construct definition and understanding.

Typically in the form of templates with built-in limits (e.g. word limits, vocabulary lists, grammatical form lists etc.); will typically also include quality control features (editing, trialling, etc.).

As items are deemed to have successfully passed through the trialling and quality assurance systems they are uploaded into the item bank. Here they are given a difficulty estimate (based on the trial results) and are tagged for content, focus and a range of other relevant variables such as target L1 group.

These days, all major tests will include the previous two elements in a single platform, often forming part of a single platform which includes all elements included in this table.

With more and more tests delivered digitally, test developers rely even more on integrated platforms to ensure the secure delivery of tests to all candidates.

In digital platforms all data are routinely collected automatically. The structure of these data can be pre-determined to ensure that it can be efficiently analysed to prepare test results and to do things like identifying pockets of similarity in responses (indicating possibly cheating) or patterns of response (that may indicate that a group is being biased towards or against).

Without technology, data management would be extremely difficult. In the early days of UK-style tests the numbers were very small and didn’t really begin to grow substantially until the 1950s. In the USA, the situation was different, with over 13 million Courtis tests sold in their first decade alone. Not a surprise then that it was in the USA that the earliest machines for recording and structuring test data were built.

Computer programs such as Facets, SPSS, Winsteps, Iteman and a host of others make analysing data very much easier than it might be by hand. Computer speeds also allow us to analyse data in seconds as opposed to days only 30 years ago.

The earliest machines were designed to read data cards, punched with holes to indicate test item responses. A more modern version of these are the ‘bubble sheets’ or optical mark reader (OMR) forms which have been in use for many years. Many tests are now delivered online so the answer key is built into the program, automatising the scoring process. In tests of writing, developers have scanned students work into a database and then sent the work out to raters to award scores for some years now (this is called on-screen marking), while we have seen examples of the automatic scoring of writing and speaking emerging over the past two decades decade (with mixed success).

Student report forms and/or certificates are normally put together in a database and bulk printed and prepared for posting, or printed to PDF or other format and emailed direct to schools, employers or individuals.

All major test developers retain archives of their tests and of test data) which must be kept for a set period of time, depending on the laws of the country or region (which are generally quite strict and clear, particularly with the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation in 2018).

Table 9.1.1: The use of technology in testing

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teacher education, etc.) and all assessment (formative and summative) must be based on a unified philosophy of language and learning—see Figure 9.1.1. By taking the teacher out of the assessment of language entirely we are significantly weakening their ability to support their learners. By replacing them with an AI system (particularly a black box system which reports a test score and nothing more, and for which even the developers have no idea of how the system estimates that score) we are falling back into the age of the mysterious expert test developer who simply knows best. Teachers should know how test systems work and they should ideally form part of that system.

The resultant transparency will mean that tests are no longer there to be feared (and revered at the same time) but are seen to form part of a coherent system.

Figure 9.1.1: Learning system elements

The other significant issue to be recognised and dealt with is the ethics around making judgements about people which can impact on their future careers and lives with limited understanding of how those judgements are arrived at. We do know that AI systems are typically trained using language samples gathered from across a particular population. The problem is, we don’t often think about the appropriateness of the population we are collecting the data from in the first place. Should they be native speakers of English? Should they be proficient speakers of English taken from the target population (for example, for a test in Thailand for 15 year olds, should we only use samples from 15-year-old Thai pupils?).

As for localisation of tests, we can identify two basic types: • Tests that have been designed for a specific population and decision, which take local considerations (test takers, education systems, stakeholder expectations etc.) into consideration at all stages of the design, development, administration and evaluation stages. These are local tests.

• Tests that are built either with a specific population and decision in mind or tests that have no particular population in mind, which are later systematically altered to meet the needs of a particular population or decision. These are localised tests.

The need for local or localised tests comes from the recognition that the test taker should be central to the whole design and development process. This recognition forms the basis of the socio-cognitive approach to test development and validation (Weir 2005; O’Sullivan 2011, 2014, 2016). Essentially, the argument is that the test taker must be considered when defining the construct (the aspect of language to be tested), the test tasks, and the scoring and reporting system. An example of this might be the fact that my test would need to look quite different if the age of the test taking population changes dramatically, say from 18 year olds to 13 year olds. Tests should be as closely fitted to the test taking population as possible.

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Of course, the ultimate in localisation will result in individualised or personalised tests. This is where the test is focused on me as a learner, considering my interests (in terms of themes and topics), my previous learning experience, and where possible aspects of my personality). With our current testing systems this is not remotely possible, but with the aid of technology, this is clearly the future. Maybe there won’t be any tests as we now know them!

Making predictions about the future is a bit of a fool’s game. However, education policy makers, curriculum developers, teachers, materials writers, and testers we can help to predict what the future might hold for our learners. How might we do that?

I’ll finish with a quote from Peter Drucker, a famous Austrian-born management consultant and educator, who once suggested that ‘the best way to predict the future is to create it’. Working together, we can do just that. barry.o’sullivan@britishcouncil.org

References

Carroll, J. B. 1954. Notes on the Measurement of Achievement in Foreign Languages. Unpublished Manuscript.

Chadwick, E. 1858. ‘On the economic, social, educational, and political influences of competitive examinations, as tests of qualifications for admission to the junior appointments in the public service’. Journal of the Statistical Society of London 21/1: 18−51.

Chadwick, E. 1859. ‘On the progress of the principle of competitive examination for admission into the public service, with statistics of actual results and an investigation of some of the objections raised’. Journal of the Statistical Society of London 22/1: 44−75.

Chadwick, E. 1863. ‘On the subject matters and methods of competitive examinations for the public service’. Journal of the Statistical Society of London 26/1: 72−77.

Courtis, S. A. 1914. ‘Standard tests in English’. The Elementary School Teacher 14/8: 374−392.

Criper, C. and A. Davies. 1988. ELTS Validation Report. London: The British Council; Cambridge: University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.

Hillegas, M. B. 1912. A Scale for the Measurement of Quality in English Composition by Young People. New York: Teachers College.

Kelly, F. J. 1916. ‘The Kansas Silent Reading Tests’. The Journal of Educational Psychology 7/2: 63−80.

Kuder, G. F. and M. W. Richardson. 1937. ‘The theory of the estimation of test reliability’.

Psychometrika 2/3: 151–160.

Morris, N. 1961. ‘An historian’s view of examinations’ in S. Wiseman (ed.). Examinations and English Education. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Munby, J. 1978. Communicative Syllabus Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

O’Sullivan, B. 2011. ‘Language testing’ in J. Simpson (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Routledge.

O’Sullivan, B. 2012. ‘A history of testing’ in C. Coombe, P. Davidson, B. O’Sullivan and C. Stoynoff (eds.). The Cambridge Guide to Language Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

O’Sullivan, B. 2014. Stakeholders and Consequence in Test Development and Validation. Plenary Address at the Language Testing Forum, University of Southampton, November.

O’Sullivan, B. 2016. ‘Validity: what is it and who is it for?’ in Y. Leung (ed.). Epoch Making in English Teaching and Learning: Evolution, Innovation, and Revolution. Taipei: Crane Publishing Company Ltd.

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Spolsky, B. 2017. ‘History of language testing’ in E. Shohamy, I. Or and S. May (eds.). Language Testing and Assessment. Encyclopedia of Language and Education (third edition). Berlin: Springer.

Student. 1908. ‘The probable error of a mean’. Biometrika 6/1: 1–25.

Sweet, H. 1899. The Practical Study of Languages: A Guide for Teachers and Learners. London: Dent. (Republished by Oxford University Press in 1964, edited by R. Mackin.)

Thorndike. E. L. 1911. ‘A scale for measuring the merit of English writing’. Science 33: 935−938.

Weir, C. J. 2003. ‘A survey of the history of the Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) in the 20th century’ in . In C. Weir and M. Milanovic (eds.). Continuity and Innovation: Revising the Cambridge Proficiency in English Examination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Weir, C. J. 2005. Language Testing and Validation: An Evidence-Based Approach. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Weir, C. J. and B. O’Sullivan. 2017. Assessing English on the Global Stage: The British Council and English Language Testing 1941−2017. Sheffield: Equinox.

Wundt, W. 1874. Grundzüge der Physiologischen Psychologie. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelman. Published in 1911 as Principles of Physiological Psychology. E. B. Titchener (trans.). London: Swan Sonnenschien.

9.2 Cognitive validity in contemporary language assessment: implementing the sociocognitive framework Tom Garside Trinity College London, UK

The social, cognitive and evaluative dimensions of language use defined by Weir (1990) and Weir and O’Sullivan (2011) can inform assessment practices as we move towards a more holistic view of language testing. Prioritising test-takers and their sociocognitive needs over the restrictions of the test construct and considering the consequential outcomes of assessment can enable a more progressive view of what place language assessment holds in the life of prospective university entrants.

By putting the test-taker, their interests, needs and motivations at the centre of assessment settings, greater cognitive validity is made possible. Consider a theoretical driving simulator, providing an experience indistinguishable from that of driving a real car, with high-res screens and movement to enhance the feeling of driving.

Despite this attempt at realism, throughout the simulated assessment process a large part of the learner’s mind would be aware that there was no real risk to anyone on the road; it would lack the authentic impact of driving a real car, interacting with other road-users. As a result, someone who entirely learnt to drive and took their final test in this simulator would still feel very nervous about going out on the road in a real car under normal driving conditions.

This is just how many overseas university entrants feel after taking tests such as IELTS and TOEFL, which assess language ability in very restricted, construct-oriented ways. Cognitive, linguistic and social processes brought about in these exams are largely inauthentic; a test-taker in these settings rarely behaves, thinks, acts or produces spontaneous, contextualised language as they would in real social or academic settings

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such as a college seminars or research meetings. It is therefore a common phenomenon for high-scoring IELTS or TOEFL test-takers to arrive at university feeling personally, socially and academically insecure, leading to lower academic performance.

There are two reasons for this: firstly, as with the driving simulator, cognitive validity in traditional assessments is low and the setting is sociocognitively somewhat artificial (test-takers know that they are answering questions chosen by the test designers, talking about topics chosen by the examiners and fulfilling criteria for a passing grade that they have been drilled to perform). Secondly, despite taking great care to focus on specific linguistic knowledge, skills and metacognitive activity at very closely defined levels of ability, traditional assessments tend to lack consideration of consequential outcomes: the language requirements, social challenges and cognitive load presented by the real-world academic situations in which test-takers will find themselves.

A more progressive approach to language testing should take both of these factors into account. Contemporary examples of test constructs designed for sociocognitive aspects of language use are found in the Trinity College London GESE and ISE exam suites. These include authentic, higher-order aspects of language which are traditionally difficult to assess, but which relate strongly to skills for success in the English-language university setting such as taking initiative in interaction, flexibility and spontaneity in language use, inference, and social appropriacy. These competencies are measured in assessment contexts that are more sociocognitively aligned to the test-takers’ consequential settings.

In the integrated speaking and listening components of these exams, for example, test-takers do not answer examiner-led topic-based questions, but prepare notes on a topic of their own choice, perhaps supported with a visual aid or prop which they can use to elaborate their talk. The interlocutor has no idea what the test-taker will talk about, so their responses are more spontaneous and genuine (leading in turn to more genuine responses from the candidate) than in some spoken assessments. Examiner prompts in other sections of the test are indirect (for example, ‘Is it hot in here?’ or ‘My friend is coming to lunch tomorrow, but I don’t know what to make him …’), prompting a wide range of possible social/functional responses, again facilitating more flexibility and ownership of interaction by test-takers and more closely mirroring the types of language use required in real social/academic settings.

In summary, Weir’s three sociocognitive dimensions of language use are as relevant today as they ever were, and continue to inform language assessments in terms not just of language range and accuracy, but of communicative competences (Bachman and Palmer 2010) and authentic performance. A candidate-driven construct can ensure cognitive validity for the test-taker as they can control what language they use and how they use it, just as they will in their life beyond the test.

References

tom.garside@languagepointtraining.com

Bachman, L. F. and A. S. Palmer. 2010. Language Assessment in Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Weir, C. J. 1990. Communicative Language Testing. New York: Prentice Hall.

Weir C. J. and B. O’Sullivan. 2011. ‘Test development and validation’ in B. O’Sullivan (ed.).

Advances in Language and Linguistics. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

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9.3  Developing illustrative speaking performances Kathrin Eberharter and Carol SpÜttl Language Testing Research Group,

University of Innsbruck, Austria What are illustrative performances?

Testing boards often publish video-recorded performances to illustrate the different levels in an assessment scale; such performances are often referred to as illustrative performances or benchmarks. A benchmark is a standard against which similar things can be judged or measured. In assessment these are frequently used in the productive skills of speaking and writing. Benchmarks are the result of a benchmarking workshop where an expert panel rates several performances and decides on a level, band or score for each performance. Sometimes benchmarks are also accompanied by written justifications to illustrate the link between the descriptors in the rating scale and salient features of the performance.

Why are benchmarks useful?

There are several advantages to having a set of benchmarks, although some depend on the purpose of the test. First, providing benchmarks is evidence of good practice as outlined in the literature on test development and in the various codes of practice (see link to the EALTA guidelines in the references below; ALTE and ILTA have also published guidelines). It is also a requirement for CEFR-linked examinations in the Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the CEFR (Council of Europe 2009).

These situations more often apply to international, national or high-stakes examinations. However, benchmarks have an important role to play at individual institution level or in classroom-based testing. They undoubtedly promote transparency and fairness. They make ratings across different classes or cohorts more consistent, which in turn stabilises the standards for any examination over a longer time period. Benchmarks become invaluable when new staff join the team or whenever a team of teachers organise a hothousing session before administering a test. We would argue that even just holding a benchmarking workshop contributes to an improved common understanding of the assessment criteria across staff members.

How can you develop your own benchmarks?

Figure 9.3.1 depicts three major steps in developing benchmarks. In the following sections we will describe each step in more detail.

Figure 9.3.1: Steps in developing benchmarks

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Preparations before the workshop

First, you will need examination performances. Obtain written permission from students or their parents well in advance of recording. There are many legal issues surrounding the filming of minors, and we recommend that you consult the nearest responsible legal department for advice. Be clear about the purpose of the recording and only film volunteers. Should you plan to publish performances on a website, use pseudonyms and only publish pass performances. You might also have to seek additional permission from the student for online publication.

For the workshop itself, you will need the following documents: the tasks used for the performances, rater numbers, the rating scale, rating slips (Council of Europe 2009) where teachers can make notes and record decisions. If your test is CEFR-linked, prepare at least one familiarisation task (see also Council of Europe 2009).

During the workshop

Distribute the rater numbers, rating scales and rating slips. Show the first performance and make sure that each rater works and rates on their own. Participants should take notes during the performance to justify their rating and allow them to participate in the discussion. Collect the slips and enter the results in a digital spreadsheet (such as Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets; see Figure 9.3.2) that you can then show to the group. Discuss the first-round ratings at length and give raters the opportunity to revise their first decisions on a rating slip. The main aim of the discussion is for everyone to share how they applied the descriptors from the scale and explain why they have taken certain rating decisions. Collect slips again, enter any changes and present the second-round ratings before deciding on a final benchmark.

Figure 9.3.2: Spreadsheet of rating decisions of seven raters (R1−R7) on four different criteria (TA, OL, LSR, LSA).

The aim of a benchmarking session is that participants reach a common understanding of how the scale can be applied. We know from research and experience that raters don’t usually reach exact agreement. So, instead of trying to force agreement on the participants by pressuring them to agree at all costs, focus the discussion on reaching general consensus and refrain from coercing participants into superficial agreement. If consensus is limited, try to at least agree on pass or fail.

After the workshop

If you do not wish to produce justifications, there is not much to do after the benchmarking workshop. If you want to write justifications, use the notes from the rating slips and the rating scale as a starting point.

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If you are interested in how we published our B2 benchmarks, go to https://www. uibk.ac.at/fakultaeten/soe/ltrgi/projects/speaking-performances/index.html.en. kathrin.eberharter@uibk.ac.at

Reference Council of Europe. 2009. Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Strasbourg: Language Policy Division. https:// rm.coe.int/1680667a2d.

EALTA. Guidelines of Good Practice. https://www.uibk.ac.at/srp/Englisch/PDFs/EALTA%20 Guidelines.pdf.

9.4 Impact of teachers’ classroom language assessment literacy on students’ performance Santosh Mahapatra BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus, India Trinity College London Language Examinations Scholarship winner Background

Classroom language assessment literacy (CLAL) refers to the skills and knowledge required to carry out classroom assessments effectively. Classroom assessment (CA) is ‘learner-centred, teacher-directed, mutually-beneficial, formative, context-specific, ongoing’ (Angelo and Cross 1993: 4) in nature. Prepared by teachers, CA is integrated into classroom teaching and involves the use of assessment methods like portfolios, checklists, interviews, self- and peer-assessments, and so on. This presentation aimed to explore the relationship between teachers’ CLAL and their students’ performance, which is still an under-explored area.

Context

English teachers working at Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) secondary schools in India are required to carry out classroom assessments as part of the Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) policy prescribed by the government.

However, due to lack of training in language assessment, the CLAL of most ESL teachers is inadequate (Mahapatra 2015) and it adversely affects their CA practices.

Data collection

This longitudinal multiple-case study, which lasted for about 18 months, involved three teachers and a class of students taught by each one from an urban Englishmedium high school in Hyderabad, India. The study was carried out in three phases.

In the first phase of the study, the teachers’ CLAL was assessed with the help of an oral test which tested the teachers’ knowledge about CA and skills in designing CA tasks and through observation of five writing classes of each teacher. The assessment tasks were assessed against a set of criteria proposed by Mahapatra (2015). Then the CLAL level of each teacher was determined using a set of rubrics which comprised descriptors for ‘Expert’, ‘Effective’, ‘Acceptable’, ‘Inadequate’ and ‘Poor’ levels. For example, ‘Expert’ was defined as follows:

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Impact of teachers’ classroom language assessment literacy on students’ performance Exhibits an excellent understanding of the principles of assessment and other basic concepts related to assessment, designs appropriate assessment criteria and tasks, chooses and utilises various methods of assessment effectively whenever required, offers effective feedback to students on their writing, evaluates and improves used assessments …

Then their students’ writing portfolios, which comprised writing samples collected from students at regular intervals (once every 30 days), were assessed against a set of rubrics adapted from Mahapatra (2018). The focus was on three aspects: Task achievement and organisation (Category I); Sentence formation and vocabulary (Category II); and Mechanics (Category III) which dealt with capitalisation, punctuation and spelling. Four level descriptors were created to map students’ progress in writing.

While ‘Visible’ (represented by ‘A’) indicated clear signs of progress, ‘Some’ (represented by ‘B’) represented minor progress, and ‘Minimal’ (represented by ‘C’) referred to absence of any observable change.

In the second phase, the teachers participated in a 60-hour CLAL-enhancement programme which took four months and included components such as language proficiency, classroom assessment, objectives of assessment, assessment criteria, classroom assessment methods, basic principles of assessment, designing tasks for various language skills and sub-skills, vocabulary and grammar, and so on.

In the last phase of the study, all the steps followed in the first phase were repeated.

Analysis of data

First, improvement, if any, in the teachers’ CLAL level and their students’ writing was traced for each teacher through a comparison between the performance in the first and last phase of the study. Then change in each teacher’s CLAL was placed against the improvement in his/her students’ writing—see Figure 9.4.1.

First teacher’s change in

Students’ progress (n = 65) Category I: 45A + 20B

CLAL

Poor

Category II: 7A + 40B +18C Category III: 18A + 39B + 8C

Acceptable Figure 9.4.1: First teacher’s CLAL vis-à-vis his students’ progress in writing

Finally, a cross-case analysis was carried out in which the change in all three teachers’ CLAL and their students’ writing are compared.

Teacher

Improvement in CLAL

Improvement in Students’ Writing

1

Poor – Acceptable

70A + 99B + 26C (N=65)

2

Poor – Effective

97A + 99B + 14C (N=70)

3

Inadequate – Effective

75A + 52B + 17C (N=48)

Figure 9.4.2: Cross-case comparison of teachers’ CLAL vis-à-vis their students’ progress in writing

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Findings and conclusion

The teachers showed significant improvement in theory and task design but very little change in attitude towards CA, and better integration of CA to teaching. In the case of students, the highest improvement was observed in ‘task achievement and organisation, and the lowest was found in ‘sentence formation and vocabulary’. The correlation between improvement in teachers’ CLAL and improvement in students’ writing performance was positive in all three cases. This implies that training in assessment can make teaching less examination-driven, and adequate CLAL of teachers is key to the effective use of assessment-for-learning and better student learning. More studies need to be carried out on the impact of factors like school management and teachers’ workload and self-motivation on the development of teachers’ CLAL. santosheflu@gmail.com

References

Angelo, T. A. and K. P. Cross. 1993. Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (second edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Mahaptra, S. K. 2015. Exploring the Relationship between Classroom Language Assessment Literacy and Practices using a Short-term Teacher Education Course. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India.

Mahapatra, S. K. 2018. ‘Using CEFR-based bilingual rubrics to improve the writing ability of ESL learners: A multiple case study’ in B. Tomlinson and A. Keedwell (eds.). Explorations: Teaching and Learning English in India Issue 10: Using Inclusive Practices and Multilingual Approaches (2). London: British Council.

9.5 Forum on the CEFR Tim Goodier Eurocentres, London, UK and Evangelia Xirofotou Aristotle

University, Thessaloniki, Greece The CEFR Companion Volume with new descriptors

Introduction This year the Council of Europe published the finalised CEFR Companion Volume with New Descriptors, an official extension of the Common European Framework to Reference for Languages (‘CEFR’ or ‘CEFRL’). This is the product of a three-year international authoring and validation project, coordinated by the Eurocentres Foundation as NGO consultant. The text is free to download from www.coe.int and represents a huge step forward in collating, enriching and extending the CEFR illustrative descriptors, providing an expanded focus on communicative competences relevant for the 21st century.

What’s new in the CEFR Companion Volume?

The CEFR Companion Volume employs the same research methodology as the original CEFR project to validate additional ‘can do’ illustrative descriptors for the reference levels A1−C2. The new descriptors provide the following:

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1 a more nuanced description of the reference levels including a ‘pre-A1’ level, ‘plus’ levels for A2, B1 and B2, and more descriptors for the ‘C’ levels; 2 scales for areas not illustrated in the original text, including ‘mediation’, online interaction, response to literature, plurilingual and pluricultural competences; and 3 selected revisions to the original descriptors to better reflect a plurilingual model of language competence, including the removal of any references to ‘native speakers’, and the replacement of the existing phonology scale with two new scales that emphasise intelligibility rather than a native speaker ideal.

Also included is a 20-page text on key aspects of the CEFR for learning and teaching, which is a relatively accessible and practical introduction to the exploitation of the CEFR for course design and classroom practice.

The significance of the CEFR illustrative descriptors The international applicability of the CEFR levels A1 to C2 is rooted in its ‘action-oriented’ approach to communication regardless of the language(s) used. This promotes a positive recognition of plurilingual and pluricultural competences, as the personal repertoire of languages and cultural experiences employed by the individual to achieve their communicative aims in an environment of linguistic and cultural diversity.

Hence the CEFR emphasises unique profiling of ability (as demonstrated in the European Language Portfolio) rather than categorisation of learners according to overall language level norms. Users of the CEFR are thus invited to exploit and adapt the illustrative descriptors selectively according to context and learner needs.

The descriptors derive their stability and relevance from large scale statistical validation involving ratings by thousands of language professionals. This has become a key factor in the CEFR’s enduring popularity for benchmarking of assessment, to the extent that its intended use for learning and teaching is sometimes overlooked. As learning aims and outcomes the descriptors correspond very well with meaning-centred task-based and communicative approaches, providing concrete and positively formulated descriptions of performances at all levels. However, by necessity it is up to us as users to relate CEFR descriptors to learning activities that include a focus on target language practice of relevant lexis, grammar and phonology.

Towards a richer description of 21st-century communication skills The CEFR has always differed from the traditional ‘four skills’ model of listening, speaking, writing and reading, instead organising communication and strategies according to: • ‘reception’ (e.g. listening, reading, observing); • ‘production’ (e.g. spoken and written monologue); • ‘interaction’ (e.g. spoken, written exchange, face to face, remotely and online); and • ‘mediation’ (e.g. mediating communication, texts or concepts).

It is this last category of ‘mediation’ that was missing from the original illustrative descriptors, and has now been developed considerably with 19 new descriptor scales in this area alone. The concept of mediation in the CEFR takes in a range of communicative tasks and strategies relating to collaborative team work, integrated skills, relaying and synthesising text and meanings, and fostering better understanding among others. Thus mediation competences, along with the new scales for online interaction, 181

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plurilingual and pluricultural competences, are highly relevant to the cluster of ‘soft’ communication skills characterised as ‘21st-century skills’ in mainstream education, with the advantage of being concretely described at each CEFR level.

International piloting of the new descriptors indicates they can provide a very clear focus for teachers/educators to design relevant integrated skills tasks, and for learners to evaluate their own performances formatively. This captures a clear paradigm shift emerging in language education, emphasising the role of the language learner as social actor, actively facilitating better understanding in multiple ways.

The experimental research presented in the second half of this CEFR forum indicates how a clear focus on mediation competences in the language classroom can promote more successful outcomes in task-based communicative assessment, and better equip learners for contemporary education pathways.

Using mediation strategies from an L1 to an L2 text

Introduction The CEFR emphasises linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic communicative competences, explaining that these competences are activated and developed through the language activities of mediation. According to the CEFR (2001: 14), mediation is a process in which the language user acts ‘as an intermediary between interlocutors who are unable to understand each other directly—normally (but not exclusively) speakers of different languages’.

Translator and mediator: similarities and differences Similarities

Both need to be bidirectional between source and target language, act as a bridge between cultures and remain impartial and neutral in any situation. Both the translator and mediator should be unprejudiced with regard to gender, religion, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

Differences

The key difference between a translator and a cultural mediator is that a translator passively conveys messages from one language to another and is not responsible for the information contained in the communication exchange, but intercultural mediators ‘may intervene if they decide that the contents of a communication may not benefit the participating cultures’ (Wang 2017: 95).

The Greek context and the importance of mediation In 21st-century European societies and beyond, mediation has an important role to play in the formation of plurilingual and pluricultural competence because it involves interaction in, understanding of, sensitivity to and respect for other linguistic and cultural communities, not only through learning and using foreign languages but also through the individual’s ability to interpret and mediate between different cultures and linguistic systems.

The importance of mediation has become very clear in the context of people’s mobility within the European Union, and the refugee crisis has exacerbated the situation. Regarding immigration, the social context in Greece particularly has changed

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dramatically. Greece has become a host country to large numbers of economic immigrants and refugees, which has brought about an increase in everyday intercultural interaction between Greeks and people from other countries. This is one of the factors which has led to the inclusion of specific linguistic mediation tasks in the Greek KPG exam. This exam focuses on the development of intercultural linguistic and also socio-linguistic skills by enabling multicultural people to act as intercultural mediators (Stathopoulou 2013).

Research methodology and results Taking the KPG written mediation task as the starting point of my research, I set out to assess the effect of written mediation strategy instruction on the production of a written text in the target language, English.

The study involved the use of two groups: one experimental and one control group of Greek learners of English. Both groups of language learners were enrolled in exam preparation courses at B2 (upper-intermediate) level offered by private English language institutes in Greece. The experimental group received instruction and practice in reading, writing and mediation strategies. The intervention consisted of nine lessons delivered over a period of four months and was conducted in conjunction with the regular EFL course. The control group did not receive the treatment but followed the regular exam preparation course. The experimental group were given instruction in skills such as brainstorming, skimming, topic sentence identification, summarising, paraphrasing and vocabulary expansion, to name a few.

The results showed statistically significant differences in favour of the experimental group in both discourse and linguistic strategies. My conclusion is that the teaching of mediation strategies should become part of the language learning curriculum.

The value of mediation By including mediation as one of the new competences required in language development, the CEFR has recognised its importance in foreign language learning. Together with an increased need for communicating in multilingual contexts and across multiple cultures, instruction in mediation strategies, both written and oral, will enhance cultural knowledge, offer an authentic communication experience and allow for significant linguistic development in practical and meaningful ways. tgoodier@eurocentres.com exirofotou@hotmail.com

References

Council of Europe. 2001. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Council of Europe. 2018. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR), Companion Volume with New Descriptors. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. https://rm.coe.int/cefr-companion-volume-with-new-descriptors-2018/ 1680787989.

Stathopoulou, M. 2013. Task Dependent Interlinguistic Mediation Performance as Translanguaging Practice: The Use to KPG Data for an Empirically Based Study. PhD thesis. Faculty of English Language and Literature. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Wang, C. 2017. ‘Interpreters = cultural mediators?’. TranslatoLogica: A Journal of Translation, Language, and Literature. 1: 93−114.

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From reflection to research: CPD for teachers

A good teacher never stops learning, whether that means reflecting on his or her own practice, undergoing observations and mentoring, or carrying out research.

The opening paper in this chapter is by Tessa Woodward, Kathleen Graves and Donald Freeman; they present a number of activities in which teachers can reflect on their own professional development. Niki Christodoulou then argues in favour of a holistic approach to teacher professionalism, one in which teacher identity and emotions take precedence over knowledge. Next, Maria Giovanna Tassinari shows how reflection among those working as language learning advisors (LLAs) helps to define the nature of the profession. Moving to observation and mentoring, Ana Garcia-Stone reports on a project in which she and another teacher observed each other, with valuable insights for both; Noha Khafagi then reports on a mentoring case study with a difference. Daniel Baines manages a school where teachers find CPD difficult; his solution was an online whiteboard-sharing scheme, with benefits for teachers at all levels of experience. The next two papers address teacher research: Daniel Xerri outlines the value of research for teachers, while Nicola Perry discusses the formulation of suitable research questions. Our final paper is by Rubens Heredia, who reports on an investigation into the relative merits of specific CPD initiatives, with far-reaching implications.

10.1 Teacher development over time Tessa Woodward Freelance, Elmstone, UK, Kathleen Graves University of Michigan, USA and Donald Freeman University of Michigan, USA Introduction

We three presenters have been teachers and teacher trainers, educators and mentors for many decades. When we came together for a writing project, it therefore made sense to us to take as our topic the trajectory of teacher development over the arc of a professional career. We chose three trajectorist researchers, each a proponent of teacher learning over time and concerned with harvesting data from teachers rather than about teachers. With a brief mention of a recently published eponymous book, we went on to offer practical activities for participants to try out. Each activity linked to some aspect of the research on how teachers develop over time. After each activity we invited discussion.

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Teacher development over time

The practical activities

We organised our activities bank into three main groups under the headings: ‘Where have I come from as a teacher?’, ‘Where am I now?’ and ‘Where would I like to go next as a teacher?’

Activity 1 Our first activity under the heading ‘Where have I come from as a teacher?’ was called ‘Material Changes’. We showed a list of materials used in teaching including Banda machines, puppets and felt boards, through board games and pictures, to interactive white boards and tablets. We invited participants to look at the list choosing one item that they used regularly when they started teaching, one they use regularly now, one they had never seen and one they knew that others used but which they didn’t.

Follow-up questions asked participants to consider which aids they missed, which they would like to try and whether they were achieving similar aims in different ways with different materials. Older participants commented that there were some materials that they really missed, such as overhead projectors. This activity links to research about how reframing something we take for granted can help us consider our practice in new ways.

Activity 2 Our second activity served the theme ‘Where am I now as a teacher?’ For this, participants needed a pen and paper and were invited to write five or six sentences starting with the phrase, ‘In my setting, a good teacher is considered to …’ They were to complete the sentences with verbs such as ‘be’, ‘do’, ‘know’ and ‘have’. Once time for this had been allowed, people were asked to write some thoughts starting with the words ‘The reasons for this are …’ and, finally, to write on the theme ‘The way I feel about this is …’ This activity highlights the importance of a teachers’ relationship to their context by inviting them to consider whether they are happy with the way a ‘good’ teacher is defined in their setting. There was discussion at this stage, especially among those who were stuck in situations where their own definitions of ‘good’ teaching differed from institutional norms.

Activity 3 Our last activity furnished a catalyst for thinking about the question ‘Where would I like to go next as a teacher?’ A photo of an eddy in a river was displayed to the group.

Participants were invited to consider the picture as a metaphor for their work situation. Some suggestions were given, while people looked at the image, as to the sorts of imaginative work that could be done. What did the current in the river represent, for example? Perhaps the flow of students through your classes? Perhaps the coming and going of teachers through the staffroom over time? Could the river banks represent the parameters of your work setting? The curriculum? The fixed seating in your classroom? And what about the eddy? What holding pattern does it represent for you?

What routine, what habit, what pattern are you in? What if a bank metaphorically collapsed or a tree fell in? What change would that represent? Would you be glad?

How would you manage?

Some participants felt that the fast current represented, for them, the speed of technological change in their world. Some felt happy about the eddy, for they were strong

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swimmers and knew they could get out of the water any time they liked. Others felt they were being dragged down as if in a whirlpool.

Using a picture as a metaphor can make aspects of our work situation clearer to us and can point to changes we want to make in future.

Conclusion

It was suggested that time spent on activities such as these can change a possibly routinised, difficult and lonely job into a fulfilling profession.

Reference Woodward, T, K. Graves and D. Freeman. 2018. Teacher Development over Time. New York: Routledge.

10.2 Practicing core reflection: bringing out the best in EFL teachers Niki Christodoulou University of Nicosia, Cyprus Introduction

Despite the challenges of today’s knowledge society and the need for a reflective approach to teacher learning, the emphasis in most educational landscapes is still on developing explicit teacher competencies. As a result, teacher development workshops often focus on what teachers need to know (competencies) rather than on who they are as individuals (identity) or how they feel about themselves and their practice (emotions). A careful review of the literature in ELT practice shows that teacher personality is a missing variable in almost all discussions of reflection. Despite the need ‘to reflect on inner levels and the recent surge of interest in the themes of teacher “identity” and “self ”, the latter remains an unexplored territory, receiving far less attention in the literature on teaching and teacher education than the outer levels’ (Korthagen 2008: 93). As an antidote to the existing competency-based educational landscape, Korthagen proposes a reconceptualised and holistic version of teacher education in his onion model of change which promotes core reflection as the basis for teacher professionalism. This paper briefly describes core reflection, the onion model of teacher development and a workshop in which EFL teachers from around the world had the opportunity to reflect and excavate their core qualities.

Core reflection

Core reflection is a deeper type of reflection which focuses on the inner potential (core qualities) of a person. Core qualities are personality characteristics such as creativity, flexibility, care, decisiveness, trust and courage. One important assumption fundamental to core reflection is that although positive qualities are always present in a teacher, they are often unconscious. Another important assumption basic to core reflection is the deliberate choice to focus on a teacher’s attributes and positive emotions. Limiting

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thoughts, negative emotions or external obstacles often present in a teacher’s context are absent from the core reflection process as they block the natural flow of positive energy. In short, core reflection focuses on a teacher’s character strengths and not on what is considered imperfect or problematic. At the heart of the core reflection process, lies Korthagen’s onion model of teacher professional development.

The onion model

The onion model of change is composed of three inner and three outer co-centric circles which represent the six layers of a teacher’s professional functioning (Figure 10.2.1).

Figure 10.2.1: Core reflection from the inner levels (adapted from Korthagen 2008)

The idea behind the model is that teacher professional development is a bottom-up approach which starts with teachers reflecting on their own experiences and concerns, thus placing teacher mission, identity and beliefs (inner layers) in the centre of reflective teacher development. Although reflection on teacher competencies, behaviour and environment (outer layers) is part of the onion process of change, reflection on the qualities already embedded in a teacher’s personality should take place first. The arrow and its direction added by the author (Christodoulou 2016) underline the importance of beginning the core reflection process from the inner levels of a teacher’s professional functioning.

The workshop

The aim of my workshop was the conscious application of core reflection as a tool for excavating was is best in EFL teachers. First, the ten participants who attended the workshop familiarised themselves with the main principles behind core reflection and with Korthagen’s onion model. Then, they were guided to place special focus solely on the identity and mission levels of the onion model since reflecting on these two inner levels provides great insights to a teacher’s core qualities and personality. Using the stream of consciousness approach, participants were prompted to reflect on their positive qualities and strengths by writing in their journals for ten minutes. Finally,

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they shared their journal reflections (thoughts and emotions) in pairs and in a large group reflective discussion.

Preliminary findings of consciously applying core reflection in a workshop showed that EFL teachers enjoyed the process of excavating their positive core qualities. They reported discovering that they possessed patience, perseverance, creativity, humour and whole-heartedness—qualities that were hidden but always present in them. Identifying their core qualities and character strengths and discussing them with other EFL teachers was a new and cathartic experience as their previous habitual patterns of thought had focused on what was wrong rather than on appreciating what is best in them.

Conclusion

Core reflection and the onion model of teacher development is an empowering tool at the hands of EFL teachers who aim to discover their identity and mission by focusing on appreciating their character strengths and valuable core qualities. dr.niki.christodoulou@gmail.com

References

Christodoulou, N. 2016. Reflective Development through the Care Model: Empowering Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Korthagen, F. and A. Vasalos 2008. ‘“Quality from Within” as the Key to Professional Development’.

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, March 2008, New York.

10.3 Language advisors’ self-perception: exploring a new role through narratives Maria Giovanna Tassinari Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Language learning advising (LLA) was introduced in the 1970s as a support for learners involved in self-directed and/or autonomous language learning. In LLA settings, an advisor helps a learner to organise and reflect on their learning process, either in individual face-to-face sessions or via virtual communication. In the last three decades, language advisors have been increasingly represented in self-access centres, language centres, schools and private companies.

Although principles and practices of LLA have been explored in depth (Mynard and Carson 2012), less research exists on how language advisors perceive themselves, what challenges they face, and what their needs are in terms of recognition, or professional development. Working as a language advisor myself, I decided to investigate these topics, with the aims of shedding light on the complex reality of LLA, identifying a core understanding of LLA, investigating the advisors’ own perceptions, and giving visibility to this role within the language learning and teaching landscape.

To this purpose, I choose narrative inquiry, which makes use of stories to find out how individuals make sense of their experience and is ‘the only methodology that provides access to language teaching and learning as lived experiences’ (Barkhuizen et al. 2014: 12). For the pilot study, 20 narratives were collected ‘to get into the field and in touch with the first cases and insights’ (Flick 2009: 433). The participants were asked to send 188

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by email a statement about their personal history as a language advisor, their understanding, and the mutual relationship between their advising and teaching practice.

The participants, 14 women and six men aged between 23 and 63, came from Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, the UK and New Zealand. They had all majored in English as a Foreign Language (EFL), with some of them holding a PhD degree. Their years of experience in advising ranged from 3½ to 25.

Common understanding of LLA

The narratives show that, in spite of differences, there is a common understanding of LLA as ‘a person-centered approach’ (advisor no. 17), the main features being active listening, non-directive dialogue, support for reflection, decision-making and autonomy. These aspects are summarised by the following statement: I see my role as that of a language and cultural mediator, whereby this mediation is between what is to be learnt, the people involved in the process, their histories, beliefs, their external and internal triggers, the learning culture they have acquired/experienced and the final aim for the learning they have chosen to take. (advisor no. 9).

Although most participants are also language teachers, being language advisors is for them a more rewarding role, since it allows a deeper and more personal interaction with learners and helps to gain better insight into each individual’s learner biography.

Two narratives

To deepen the analysis, two narratives were contrasted, which reported on different experiences. Advisor no. 5 and advisor no. 8, respectively 35 and 62 years old, had been advising for six and 22 years. Although they both had a background in EFL and worked in higher education, their understanding of LLA differed. Advisor no.

5 saw her function as ‘cater[ing]to the various needs’ of students as ‘unique individuals’; switching roles and acting ‘like a chameleon’; and being in turn a ‘bookstore staff member’ (giving information); an ‘escort runner’ (helping students to keep their pace); a ‘coach’; and a ‘cheerleader’ (cheering up learners to boost their motivation).

On the other hand, advisor no. 8 focused on ‘giving students true ownership of their learning’ and on ‘[c]ounselling, and caring for […] to support troubled university students to find their learner voices’ and develop autonomy.

Thus, while advisor no. 8 explicitly related LLA to learner autonomy as one of its pedagogical aims, advisor no. 5 did not; in addition, working as an advisor made it possible for advisor no. 8 to enter a ‘safe space’ with the students, in contrast to the language classroom, which may not always be safe, especially for ‘troubled students’.

Thus, advisor no. 8 saw her role as complementary to the teacher role, while advisor no. 5 saw herself more as a service provider. This different understanding of LLA may be due to the different background and training for advising: Neuro-Linguistic Programming courses, communication and self-coaching workshops for advisor no.

5, and a focus on pedagogy for autonomy, hands-on training, peer-mentoring and research on advising for advisor no. 8.

The rich data collected in the pilot study and the feedback of the participants, enthusiasts of being given the opportunity to reflect on themselves as language advisors, show that further research in this field is needed. giovanna.tassinari@fu-berlin.de

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References Barkhuizen, G., P. Benson and A. Chick. 2014. Narrative Inquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research. London: Routledge.

Flick, U. 2009. An Introduction to Qualitative Research. Los Angeles, Calif.: Sage Publications.

Mynard, J. and L. Carson (eds.). 2012. Advising in Language Learning: Dialogue, Tools and Context. Harlow: Pearson Education.

10.4 Teacher agency: empowering teachers through self-directed observations Ana García-Stone British Council, Madrid Teaching Centre, Spain Teacher agency

The basic notion of agency is the capacity to act, but as Biesta et al. (2015) point out, your belief system is also a dimension of agency in that you need to believe that you can act, influence the future and bring about change. The project described below was the result of having the agency to act to provide self-directed CPD through a peer observation project with a colleague.

The project

The idea came from two sources: a casual conversation at IATEFL with Tessa Woodward, who suggested I work with a younger colleague, and my interest in trying alternative types of peer observations. So I invited a colleague to undertake the project with me as she was a recent addition to the teaching centre where I have been working for over 20 years. We agreed on an approach that would allow us to grow and learn as ‘there is no professional development without exposure, and exposing weaknesses is tricky unless there is complete trust. […] Some sense of mutuality or reciprocity is also important for me’ (Curtis in Bailey et al. 2001: 5). This was a fundamental aspect of our conversations, which were private dialogues in a safe space. We tried out three types of observations over an academic year, one a term. On average, we spent around an hour discussing the observations and an hour afterwards evaluating them.

The first observation (O1) was unseen; we met to discuss our lesson plans, we taught those lessons on our own, and we met afterwards to discuss how the lessons had gone. My partner wanted to solve planning issues she was having teaching an age group that was new to her (four year olds), and I wanted to try out Task-Based Learning in its ‘strong’ form. I rediscovered the pleasure of planning and found myself become increasingly involved in the process until the original lesson grew into three consecutive lessons. My partner found she was able to develop a framework for teaching this age group, which allowed her to plan more easily for the rest of the year.

The second observation (O2) was as follows: I planned for my class, my partner taught my class, I sat in and we discussed it afterwards, and vice-versa. My partner found my plan easy to follow but found the transitions difficult as they were not included, so clearly these are routinised but not articulated. As my partner’s plan was organised via flip charts, I felt I did not have the space to write vocabulary on the board; this raised questions about vocabulary at the C2 level and how I dealt with it.

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In the third observation (O3), we recorded each other teaching for 45 minutes, we watched those videos separately, and met to discuss any issues that we chose from the videos. We found this observation the least fruitful as we both felt it needed to be more structured.

Evaluation

Each type of observation offered different perspectives on our teaching. We found O1 valuable in that in one case it solved a lesson planning issue and in the other, it allowed for experimentation. We both thrived on the fact that we were only trying to please ourselves and were not planning or teaching for an actual observer.

O2 allowed us both to see our planning from an outside perspective although the learning came from the experience of teaching the other’s plan. In my case I questioned my assumptions on how much vocabulary is necessary for C2 learners and what they need to record, so in fact I decided to run some CPD in my teaching centre to explore this further. The act of teaching rather than thinking about teaching allowed me to uncover a teaching belief.

O3 as stated above was the least useful as we realised we needed to specify an aspect of our teaching that was visible, such as teacher−student interaction patterns.

Conclusion

Peer collaboration is a valuable source of CPD if done in a spirit of mutual support; as Edge states, ‘I need someone to work with, but I don’t need someone who wants to change me [...] I need someone who will help me see myself clearly’ (1992: 4).

These types of self-directed observations were empowering, giving us a sense of agency and control over our environment so that we were able to make the adjustments we wanted in our context and we were answerable only to ourselves. ana.garcia-stone@britishcouncil.org

References

Bailey, K., A. Curtis and D. Nunan. 2001. Pursuing Professional Development: The Self as Source.

Boston, Mass.: Heinle Cengage Learning.

Biesta, G., M. Priestly and S. Robinson. 2015. ‘The role of beliefs in teacher agency’. Teachers and Teaching 21/6: 624−640.

Edge, J. 1992. Cooperative Development: Professional Self-development Through Cooperation with Colleagues. Harlow: Longman.

10.5 Creating a functional structured mentoring programme: a case study Noha Khafagi The American University in Cairo, Egypt Introduction

The vast majority of research on mentoring has mainly targeted the benefits gained by the mentee, who usually is a novice teacher (Tomlinson 1995). Very little research has focused on mentoring as a vehicle for advancing the profession. I demonstrated

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that the relationship between the mentor and the mentee is symbiotic and that their integrated roles improve the teaching/learning context. Functional structured mentoring is a dynamic approach that makes use of both the mentor and mentee’s competencies, knowledge, skills, and resources and results in the success of this dynamic interaction.

The context

I reported on a mentoring case study conducted in the Department of English Language Instruction (ELI) at The American University in Cairo over the course of one semester. The mentee, a teaching fellow, was assigned to one 60-minute class, four days a week. He attended and shadowed the class teacher for one hour three days a week, and taught the fourth class.

Table 10.5.1 illustrates the difference between a standard/traditional mentoring programme and the functional programme which I designed.

Standard/Traditional Mentoring

Functional Structured Mentoring

1. Programme already established 1. Programme dynamic and flexible (initiation done by programme (meetings agreed by both mentor directors) and mentee) 2. Focus on organisational 2. Focus on programme development procedures rather than reflective (content, goals, outcomes and conversation reflection) 3. Mentorship logistics (timeline, 3. Mentorship logistics agreed by periodic meetings) imposed by the both parties, leading to relationship programme building 4. Formal observations 4. Both formal and informal observations 5. Work record sheet (log)

5. Mentor−mentee self-reflection

6. Informing mentee of progress 6. Communication guidelines (based through observation tools on reciprocity) 7. More concerned about ‘what’ to do 7. More concerned about ‘how’ to do it 8. Teaching resources provided by the 8. Resources and support contributed programme by both mentor and mentee

9. Measuring success together through reflective conversations and reflective tools Table 10.5.1: Differences between traditional and functional structured mentoring

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The case study

The mentor modified the mentorship programme to allow for more interaction between the mentor and mentee to achieve the goals of the functional structured approach mentioned above. The mentor met with the mentee every day, before or after class, for constructive, non-judgmental feedback. These meetings have proven to be the most candid and realistic ways of understanding the dynamics of mentoring and allowed the mentee to instantly identify what he did well, and what needed to change or be modified. In a traditional mentorship, this valuable stage is often lost when the mentee is asked to fill in the reflective logs days after the teaching and shadowing take place.

Data collection

Data collected during the 56-hour coaching, as well an end of semester questionnaire designed to elicit more information on the reciprocal mentorship, provided remarkable implications for administrators. The data proved that mentoring, if carried out properly, is a strong comprehensive professional development opportunity that is more effective than the traditional organisational programme.

Findings

Responses to the informal daily meetings and end of semester questionnaire were very revealing. All 17 open-ended questions enquired about the complementary roles the mentee and mentor played. The mentee attested to the dynamic interaction by saying: ‘We met routinely before class for about 15−20 minutes each session and sometimes after as well to discuss the direction of the class.’ The mentee commended the efforts of the mentor in organising the syllabus, lesson plans and schedule for the semester ahead of time; he also appreciated the instant feedback. The mentee reported that the tone and manner in which they progressed through the semester were mostly informal. In terms of specific areas, the mentor learnt how the mentee integrated technology in the classroom. Another noteworthy aspect was that the mentor could see from start to finish the arc of the class through the mentee’s weekly teachings and daily reflections. He agreed that the optimal form of mentorship in an academic setting was one that was carried outside the class as well; the mentee acknowledged that outside experiences shaped in-class practices.

Conclusion

Functional mentoring creates a win-win situation. The approachability of the mentor, the frequency of meetings and informal encounters led to a better mentorship relationship and more effective mentee’s experiences and learning outcomes. The structured functional mentoring validated the mentor’s experience and developed the mentee’s skills and competencies. nohakhaf@aucegypt.edu

Reference

Tomlinson, P. 2001. Understanding Mentoring: Reflective Strategies for School-based Teacher Preparation. Buckingham: Open University Press.

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10.6 CPD through whiteboard sharing for novice teachers Daniel Baines Oxford TEFL Prague, Czech Republic

In private language schools in the Czech Republic and surrounding areas, teachers are increasingly underpaid, overworked and forced to work on a freelance basis. The result of this is that rather than being able to spend time on professional development, teachers are instead required to work as much as possible to make a living.

The challenge for academic management in this context is to provide development opportunities for newer teachers that do not jeopardise the teachers’ earning potential and do not make unrealistic demands on their time. Being a director of studies for a small language school, I tried a number of different forms of CPD with varying levels of success: • Workshops: these were well received, but it was impossible to find a time that suited everyone.

• Peer observation: difficult to organise as teachers typically work at the same time and would have to give up work.

• Lesson planning surgeries: conflicting schedules caused problems.

• Management observations: popular, but sometimes it can be a week until feedback is given due to schedule conflicts.

As a solution I set up a Facebook group where teachers could share pictures of their boards and discuss the lessons. The idea was to provide a form of unseen peer observation and to make it accessible at any time, meaning that no teachers were excluded due to time restriction. Participation would be possible from home or while travelling between lessons. Initially it began with me posting a task that required teachers to photograph their board and then discuss each others’ in the comment threads. This evolved into me posting pictures of my board and leaving some methodology related discussion questions below and culminated in sharing boards found using #ELTwhiteboard on Twitter and encouraging teachers to discuss and then share images they had found.

The project was not as successful as I had expected it to be, with only a few teachers participating on a regular basis and very few actually posting pictures of their whiteboards. There was some discussion of the boards posted by me, but again, nothing like I had imagined initially. After surveying the teachers who took part, a few things became clear. Despite not actively participating in the group, all the teachers I spoke to found it useful to be a part of the group. They saw the posts that I made, read them and took ideas and inspiration from them and also found it extremely eye-opening to be able to look into someone else’s classroom and see what they do.

Conclusions

As a CPD tool, it isn’t perfect, but it meets a lot of the requirements for busy teachers.

It is free, practically focused and, importantly, fully on demand. It can be accessed from anywhere at any time and teachers are free to contribute as much or as little as they like. However, to be set up and run well, there are a number of points that need to be considered.

• A lack of active participation does not mean that the project isn’t working as a development tool. Many teachers will not be able (or willing) to post for a number of

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reasons (insecurity, forgetting to photograph their board or feeling they don’t have anything to contribute), but will still take something away.

• It will need a leader. Somebody will need to take responsibility for the group, at least in the early stages. A lack of participation is not a problem in terms of learning, but it is a problem if nobody posts anything. Over time it may become more autonomous.

It’s possible to have a bank of whiteboards and tasks to post at regular intervals to make administration easier.

• Some posts generate more discussion than others. Tasks related to language work well, as do posts that demonstrate specific activities. If tasks are too long or complicated, teachers can find them a little intimidating and do not know how to begin answering. When teachers are encouraged to find examples of whiteboards online, they seem more willing to share and discuss them.

• Facebook is an effective platform for this type of project. Group posts allow nested comments meaning that teachers can post images below the parent post and each post then can have its own comment thread. It is also widely used and easy to access on mobile. dos@oxfordhouse.cz

10.7 Developing teachers’ conceptions of research Daniel Xerri University of Malta, Msida, Malta What is research?

Despite being most often associated with academia, research is a valuable enterprise for classroom practitioners. It is both a means by which they can grow as professionals and improve learning and teaching. However, teachers are bound to feel alienated from research if they conceive of it as an activity that exclusively belongs to the academic domain. This alienation is inimical to language education given that teachers are at the chalkface. Their knowledge of the subject, context and learners most probably makes them ideally placed to develop insider insights into what happens in the black box of the classroom and the reasons for these events. The impact of these insights risks being blunted by a narrow understanding of research foisted upon teachers by the academic community that studies the classroom from an outside perspective.

Limited conceptions of research might lead some teachers to think of it as something necessarily involving a hypothesis, statistics or in-depth analysis. However, in essence, research is the process of asking a question about something you are interested in or puzzled by, and then finding an answer to that question. This view is shared

by Christine Coombe, who says that ‘research is basically finding out something that I either have an interest in and I didn’t know about before, or just learning something new about my students’ (as cited in Xerri 2017a: 36). What this implies is that research is a democratic and inclusive activity that belongs to all those teachers who are curious about language education and the events in their classrooms. However, if teachers wish to engage with and in research, they might require support with their conceptualisation of research.

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Teacher research engagement

There are two dimensions to teacher research engagement. The first one involves teachers reading published research or listening to research talks at a conference. The other aspect involves teachers doing research in their own classrooms. Both forms of research engagement are beneficial to teachers and can have an impact on learning and teaching. Both of them entail a level of research literacy that enables teachers to harness research as effectively as possible. On the one hand, it is important for teachers to be able to critically engage with the research produced by other professionals and to explore whether it resonates with their own context and learners’ needs. On the other hand, teachers need to possess the technical competence to find answers to the questions they might have about their teaching and learners. Related to this, and perhaps even more important, is the idea that teachers need to have broad conceptions of research that allow them to see themselves as professionals who are capable and eligible to do research.

Inclusive conceptions of research have the potential to boost teachers’ confidence as teacher-researchers and lead them to think of research as an intrinsic part of their professional identity. In fact, Kathleen Graves laments the fact that most often ‘Teacher and researcher are not seen as part of the same identity … Teachers may see research as separate from them … Understanding that research is a possible part of your identity as a teacher is important’ (as cited in Xerri 2018: 38). Once research is thought of as something forming part of their professional identity, teachers are much more likely to exploit the benefits of research engagement.

Facilitating research engagement

The need to broaden teachers’ way of thinking about research and their relationship with research is deemed to be so crucial that Dudley Reynolds considers it to be one of the main challenges to teacher research engagement. He maintains that ‘the main obstacle is simply the understanding of what research is. It’s an understanding that can disempower the teacher; it makes them feel deficient and dependent on the outside expert. So, the first step is really to begin to change that understanding of what research is and how it fits into practice’ (as cited in Xerri 2017b: 12). This idea implies that supporting teachers should go beyond merely equipping them with the knowledge and skills to read and do research. The most fundamental form of support consists of empowering them to see themselves as professionals who already engage in practices that run parallel to research as an activity. By developing their beliefs about research and themselves as research engaged professionals, teachers are encouraged to explore the questions they have about teaching and learning. In essence, teachers come to feel that they can and have a right to answer their questions. daniel.xerri@um.edu.mt

References

Xerri, D. 2017a. ‘ “Breaking boulders into pebbles”: Christine Coombe on teacher research’. ETAS Journal​ 35/1: 36–39.

Xerri, D. 2017b. ‘ “Teachers want to know answers to questions”: Dudley Reynolds on teacher research’. ETAS Journal 34/3: 12–13.

Xerri, D. 2018. ‘ “Generating knowledge for themselves”: Kathleen Graves on teacher research’.

ETAS Journal 35/3: 38–39.

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10.8 Research in language teaching: asking the right questions Nicola Perry Freelance, Baoding, China

A successful research project depends on a clear question that defines what the project is about. This notion was the basis of the workshop that closed the ReSIG showcase day at the 2018 conference. ReSIG promotes and supports both teacher researchers and MA students. This issue is a recurring theme for both of these groups. However, there are a number of tried and tested methods which will lead to a good result.

Teachers spend a lot of time asking questions in their classrooms: questions to elicit, questions to check, questions to test. So, why is it so difficult to write a research question? Academic research is sometimes considered daunting. Classroom teachers may feel it is too difficult, too time consuming or not relevant to what they do day to day. However, it is becoming widely accepted now that good classroom-based or action research can help teachers improve their practice and enhance their professional development.

The most common approach is to start with a broad topic and later, narrow the focus. An early work on action research suggests the approach shown in Figure 10.8.1.

Purpose Topic Focus Product Mode Timing Resources

Why are you engaging in this action research?

What area are you going to investigate?

What is the precise question you are going to ask yourself?

What is the likely outcome of this research, as you intend it?

How are you going to conduct the research?

How long have you got to do the research?

What resources can you call upon to help you complete the research?

Figure 10.8.1: An approach to action research (adapted from Wallace 1998: 21)

Although this guidance seems clear, many novice researchers struggle with aspects of action research, particularly in ensuring the focus matches the product and more especially, devising the precise question. In response to this, a number of researchers have been seeking ways to make this simpler and more accessible. Paula Rebolledo and Richard Smith, for example, have developed a methodology around the concept of exploratory action research. This is a staged approach and is likened to peeling an onion: ‘Before we start peeling an onion, what we see is the outer layer—what is evident to our eyes. After that, layer after layer is uncovered …’ (Smith and Rebolledo 2018: 32). The method suggests having a mentor or peer to ask questions as a way of peeling back the layers to explore the topic.

This session was a workshop so it was important that participants had the chance to work on some questions to practice this idea. Questions we considered were as follows: Can I use learning journals to assess writing?

Participants were asked work in groups to analyse component parts of the question to get inside what the project might be about. For example, if the project is about

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learning journals, questions might be: What kind of journal? How often would they write it? Where and when would they write it? For how long? With what purpose? If the project is about assessment, questions would be different: Formative or summative? Several assessments over a period for one journal or one assessment after an end date? By asking these exploratory questions, the teacher will eventually get a clearer idea of their purpose and focus to move forward with the project.

Why do my students have problems with listening skills?

The analysis revolved around which listening skills and what kinds of problems. In exploring these aspects, the teacher may begin to notice patterns: specific problems with certain listening sub-skills. This helps to narrow the focus and give the teacher ideas about what techniques to try in order to help students solve those problems.

These results can be used by the teacher to improve their classroom practice and, maybe shared with peers or at a conference.

In the session, there were an equal number of teacher practitioners and those doing academic research for MAs or PhDs. In this summary, I have focused on teachers because I am a teacher and that’s what I’m interested in. However, we all agreed on the day that the problems and how to solve them are the same for all of us. The stakes may feel higher in some cases and projects (and the writing up of results) may be bigger with academic research but we all face the same challenges when starting out. nicolaperry57@hotmail.com

Reference

Smith R. and P. Rebolledo. 2018. A Handbook for Exploratory Action Research. London: British Council.

Wallace M. J. 1998. Action Research for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

10.9 Measure and treasure: assessing teachers’ needs and evaluating CPD initiatives Rubens Heredia Cultura Inglesa, São Paulo, Brazil Introduction

Continuing professional development (CPD) has become a popular topic of discussion in ELT contexts, but in many cases decisions are still largely based on subjective impressions. This presentation aimed at helping teachers and educational leaders make more informed decisions when assessing teachers’ needs and evaluating CPD initiatives. Information was gathered from a survey with 184 respondents carried out in 2017, as well as analysis of results in key performance indicators (KPIs) obtained from 400 teachers in a large Brazilian language centre between 2013 and 2017.

The decision-making process

Participants in the study were 184 professionals (64 per cent full-time teachers; 14 per cent self-employed teachers; 10 per cent part-time teachers; 10 per cent academic

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coordinators or directors of studies; and 2 per cent academic managers). They were asked to share their perceptions of the effectiveness of different CPD initiatives. Faceto-face courses longer than 20 hours (90 per cent) and attendance at professional conferences (89 per cent) were considered the most effective, followed by coaching and mentoring (88 per cent), peer observation (86 per cent) and self-study (85 per cent). Online courses (63 per cent) were considered the least effective.

This demonstrates a general perception within the group that extended CPD initiatives mediated by a more capable peer are more useful developmental tools. This finds resonance in the research carried out by Richardson and Díaz Maggioli (2018), according to whom effective CPD initiatives are impactful, needs-based, sustained and peer-collaborative, in-practice, reflective and evaluated.

Frameworks for CPD

In order to help teachers and managers devise a professional development plan, I recommended the adoption of two tools and frameworks: the European Profiling Grid (EPG) and Donald Freeman’s KASA Framework.

The European Profiling Grid is a framework that comprises six development phases in a teacher’s professional journey. Its descriptors encompass four main areas: qualifications and experience; core competencies; enabling skills; and professionalism.

This grid is thoroughly described by Rossner (2017) and is readily available online (http://egrid.epg-project.eu/en/egrid) and includes tools for self-assessment as well as assessment by supervisors.

The KASA Framework lists four areas for professional development: knowledge, awareness, skills and attitude. It is based on Donald Freeman’s seminal 1989 article and may serve as guidance for professional to map their own strengths and areas in need of development, thus enabling them to make more conscious CPD decisions (http://bit.ly/KASAframework).

Impact of CPD initiatives

In the last part of the presentation, I shared my finding on the impact of different initiatives used in the CPD of around 400 teachers in a large LTO in Brazil. The measure for impact came from analysis of two of the teachers’ key performance indicators, namely learner satisfaction and retention. Individual teacher qualifications and results were compared to the institutional average in groups of adult students and teenage groups (14 to 18 years old).

Regarding teacher qualifications, results varied according to the age group. In relation to adult student satisfaction, measured through institutional survey, 79 per cent of teachers who had achieved CEFR level C2 had results above the institutional average; 67 per cent of professionals who held the CELTA also achieved higher results with that group; and 59 per cent of ICELT holders were awarded above-average results.

Among teenage groups, the qualifications held by teachers who had achieved the most positive results were BA in Languages (79 per cent) and the CELTA (76 per cent).

In terms of student retention, results prior to involvement in initiatives used as part of the teaching staff CPD were compared to results after each teacher participated in them. Two initiatives were analysed: (1) a mentoring programme comprised of weekly meetings with an experienced teacher and four cycles of lesson observation and

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feedback; and (2) the CELTA, recommended as in-service for teachers who did not have a formal initial qualification, a situation fairly common in developing countries.

Both initiatives resulted in improvement in performance by teachers in all performance indicators. Of the teachers involved in the mentoring programme, 64 per cent improved their adult learner satisfaction, while teenage learner satisfaction improved in 62 per cent of the cases and retention was higher for 61 per cent of the teachers.

Results obtained by teachers taking the CELTA were slightly higher: improvement in adult satisfaction was achieved by 67 per cent of teachers, whereas 76 per cent of teachers obtained higher results with teenage students and 62 per cent of professionals improved retention rates.

Conclusion

Despite the existence of numerous tools teachers and managers can use to systematise and plan career development, a lot of decisions regarding CPD are taken in an ad hoc manner. Teacher preferences point towards a favouring of collaborative and extended initiatives, and those seem to have an impact on teacher performance. The creation of customised plans and strategic choice of CPD initiative may contribute to more impactful professional development.

References

rubens.heredia@culturainglesasp.com.br

Freeman, D. 1989. ‘Teacher training, development and decision making: a model of teaching and related strategies for language teacher education’. TESOL Quarterly 23/1: 27–45.

Richardson, S. and G. Díaz Maggioli. 2018. Effective Professional Development: Principles and Best Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rossner, R. 2017. Language Teaching Competences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Issues in ELT management

Fair hiring practices, the mental health of teachers, management of curricular change, helping teachers to develop professionally and teacher assessment—these are the topics addressed in this chapter, which will be of particular interest to those in managerial and leadership roles. Hiring practices is our first topic: Sebastian Lesniewski furthers the discussion in ELT about NESTs vs. non-NESTs, while Ross Thorburn presents empirical research on preferred attributes of teachers in a Chinese school. Next, Phil Longwell reports on research into mental health among teachers, with implications for managers. Moving into curriculum, Louise Emma Potter describes the role of leaders in helping one school make the transition to a new approach to teaching and learning. Maria Muniz and Magdalena De Stefani then discuss leadership strategies that can enhance the professional development of teachers, while Dalia Elhawary reports on a leadership project designed to empower senior teachers to lead professional development in their schools. The final two papers deal with assessment of teacher competency. Christine Irvine-Niakaris and Jenny Zimianitou outline the development of a classroom observation checklist, useful at any stage of a teacher’s development. Finally, Isabela Villas Boas provides a comprehensive overview of teacher appraisal, with particular reference to one school in Brazil, but with broader implications.

11.1 A non-NEST by any other name Sebastian Lesniewski Freelance, Cambridge, UK

The strengths of non-native English-speaking teachers (non-NESTs) have been recognised and appreciated in ELT thanks to the numerous consciousness-raising initiatives that have been undertaken since Péter Medgyes’ 1994 book. It has been pointed out that the advantages non-NESTs have over native teachers include high language awareness, the ability to empathise with learners, and the potential to be realistic role models for their students. Therefore, it is no longer unusual for L2 teachers to work alongside their native speaker colleagues, including in ESL contexts.

However, some of the recent NEST/non-NEST initiatives (like the work of TEFL Equity Advocates or Silvana Richardson’s IATEFL 2016 plenary talk) seem to have focused mainly on challenging the use of the terms ‘native speaker’ and ‘non-native speaker’, and on flagging up the fact that job advertisements specifying preference for L1 teachers violate employment laws. As a non-NEST with 16 years’ teaching experience, and having worked in the UK for the last 11 years, I decided to contribute to this debate. I suggested that while the terms ‘native speaker’ and ‘non-native

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speaker’ do label language teachers in an over-simplified manner and create a false and self-perpetuating dichotomy, simply replacing these terms with more constructive ones in professional ELT discourse (including job advertisements) is not enough to effectively solve the problem.

The terms ‘native speaker’ and ‘non-native speaker’ are by no means satisfactory.

Firstly, they are overly broad and superficial: the term ‘non-native speaker’ applies to a B2-level user of English, as much as it does to a PhD-qualified linguist. Secondly, in a world where it is common for people to re-locate, marry speakers of other languages and raise children in multilingual settings, it may be hard to decide who can be categorised as a ‘native speaker’ of a language. Thirdly, it has been suggested that the prefix ‘non-’ contributes to perceiving non-native teachers as ‘have-nots’ (Richardson 2017: 79).

On the other hand, it is not unusual for terms to be imprecise, which is why academic texts tend to begin by outlining key definitions. Thus, the fact that the terms ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ speaker only broadly categorise language users does not necessarily mean that they ought to be given up, also bearing in mind that alternative terms that have been proposed have not caught on. Furthermore, the prefix ‘non-’ does not need to be seen as marking inferiority, but rather as a technical device distinguishing mutually exclusive categories. After all, the terms ‘non-smoker’, ‘non-conformist’, ‘non-defining relative clause’ or ‘non-governmental organisation’ do not evoke negative connotations.

The problem of unequal access to employment opportunities for non-native language teachers is not likely to be solved simply by changing terminology. As long as the concept of a ‘native speaker’ being an ideal language model remains so deeply entrenched in people’s consciousness, other terms that could replace it (such as a ‘native-level’, ‘native-like’ or ‘fluent and idiomatic’ speaker) are likely to be mere euphemisms. Therefore, rather than trying to invent a new label, we might want to claim back the term ‘non-native language teacher’, so that it becomes associated with high competence in providing language training.

Raising awareness about the value of the non-native teacher needs to involve open discussion of the native and non-native teachers’ areas of strength, rather than pretending that there are no differences between the two (not very precisely defined) groups. The real reasons for which non-native teachers might be regarded as less desired are their less reliable language intuition, and the quality of language input that they can offer. A language-aware native speaker intuitively knows what sounds natural and what does not (in terms of word choice, collocations, and the use of prepositions and articles), even though they may not be able to explain why. As a result, the language input coming from a native speaker is likely to differ from one that comes from a non-native teacher. This is reflected in Eric Nicaise’s 160,000-word corpus of teacher talk, which shows that native teachers use a wider range of tenses and modal auxiliaries, and a higher number of phrasal verbs and subordinating conjunctions, while non-native teachers use more metalanguage (Nicaise 2017).

Open discussion of the native and non-native teachers’ areas of strength, and not shying away from acknowledging that in certain areas some NESTs might have advantage over some non-NESTs (and vice versa), can help non-native teachers realise their

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own value and understand how much they have to offer to their students. It can also result in better understanding of how native and non-native teachers can complement each other. lesniewskis@gmail.com

References

Medgyes, P. 1994. The Non-native Teacher. Houndsmills: Macmillan.

Nicaise, E. 2018. ‘A corpus study of teacher talk in the EFL class’ in T. Pattison (ed.). IATEFL 2017 Glasgow Conference Selections. Faversham: IATEFL. Richardson, S. 2017. ‘The native factor: the haves and the have-nots ... and why we still need to talk about this in 2016’ in T. Pattison (ed.). IATEFL 2016 Birmingham Conference Selections. Faversham: IATEFL.

11.2 ‘Native’ and ‘non-native’ English teachers: contrasting opinions Ross Thorburn TEFL Training Institute, China

Discrimination against non-native English-speaking teachers (non-NESTs) is commonplace: non-NESTs tend to get paid lower salaries, are given fewer promotion opportunities and get passed over for jobs. A 2007 investigation found that almost three quarters of higher education institutions in the UK made hiring decisions based on perceived native/non-native speaker distinctions (Clark and Paran 2007). What is the rationale behind these discriminatory hiring practices?

The common assumption is that students demand native English-speaking teachers, or NESTs (Holliday 2008), student demands influence hiring decisions and hiring decisions embody discrimination. Do these assumptions hold up to scrutiny?

Research

To test these assumptions about students’ demands, I surveyed and received responses from 323 sales and service staff; 151 adult students; 97 parents of young learner students; and 552 teachers. Of the teachers, 273 self-identified as non-NESTs and 279 self-identified as NESTs; 247 of them were Chinese. All respondents worked or studied at the same private language school in China.

The sales and service staff surveyed were responsible for communicating with adult students outside class, keeping parents informed of students’ progress and most importantly, selling language courses. All teachers performed the same job duties, albeit with teachers from ‘native’ English countries receiving higher salaries than those from China.

Respondents were asked to identify the importance of different qualities in teachers. The characteristics were as follows: ability to speak the students’ first language (L1); appearance; being a native speaker; nationality; personality; relationships with students; attitude; and qualifications. The preferences of parents and students were combined to make the results easier to interpret, as were the responses from sales and service staff.

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Results

Sales and service staff showed stronger preferences for native English teachers than parents and students. Sales and service staff considered the ability to speak students’ L1 to be less important than parents and students; they considered being a native speaker to be more important than parents and students; they considered nationality to be more important than parents and students (Table 11.2.1); and they were more commonly prepared to pay more money to study with a native English teacher than parents and students (Figure 11.2.1).

Teachers Parents & Students Sales & Service 1. Most Attitude Attitude Personalities important 2.

Relationships Personalities Attitude

with students 3.

Personalities Qualifications Being native

speakers 4.

Qualifications Being native Qualifications

speakers 5.

Being native Relationships Nationality

speakers with students 6.

Appearance L1 ability Relationships

with students 7.

L1 ability Nationality Appearance 8. Least Nationality Appearance L1 ability important Table 11.2.1: Attitudes towards characteristics of teachers. Attributes related to the native/ non-native English teacher dichotomy are highlighted in italics.

Figure 11.2.1: Agreement with the statement ‘I would pay more to learn/for my child to learn from a native English teacher.’

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Discussion and implications

These results imply that parents and students, in general, place less value on having native English teachers than do sales and service staff. They also demonstrate that the preferences of sales and service staff may play a bigger role in influencing students’ opinions and staffing decisions than previously thought. It should not surprise us that sales staff are unconcerned with ending discriminatory hiring practices in the TEFL industry, but it should surprise us that they may be unaware of the unique benefits and insights a non-NEST can offer students. These benefits include being imitable models of successful English learners, the ability to anticipate language difficulties, empathy with students’ problems and the use of the students’ L1 to teach learning strategies (Medgyes 1992).

Participants in this talk suggested teachers host workshops and webinars to raise the awareness of this issue with sales and service staff. Those unable to organise events on larger scales can simply speak to non-teaching staff in their schools to raise awareness this issue, highlight the role sales and service staff could play in solving it and emphasise the ‘selling points’ of ‘non-native English teachers’ described above.

Sales and service staff are regularly excluded from our professional discourse.

Including them in this conversation about eradicating discrimination seems especially apt. ross.thorburn@yahoo.com

References

Clark E. and A. Paran. 2007. ‘The employability of non-native-speaker teachers of EFL: a UK survey’. System 35/4: 407−430.

Holliday, A. 2008. ‘Standards of English and politics of inclusion’. Language Teaching 41/1: 119−130.

Medgyes, P. 1992. ‘Native or non-native: who’s worth more?’ ELT Journal 46/4: 340−349.

11.3 Improving the mental health of English language teachers Phil Longwell INTO UEA and Freelance, UK Introduction

A lot has been discussed about student wellbeing and even teacher wellbeing in ELT, but not so much that is specifically about the mental health of English language teachers. My original research, carried out in December 2017, was based on data from 501 informants, who were mainly language teaching professionals from around the globe. I noted a general lack of research into this specific topic, although a substantial collection on language teacher psychology (Mercer and Kostoulas 2018) had just been published at the time of this talk. What follows is a brief summary of the findings.

Diagnosed or undiagnosed conditions

I looked at both diagnosed and undiagnosed conditions. Although many respondents disclosed one, such as ‘generalised anxiety disorder’ or ‘ADHD’, which had been given to them by a medical professional, many more wrote about symptoms they

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experienced, without any kind of actual diagnosis. ‘Stress’ or ‘insomnia’, for example, are commonplace.

In the workplace

Two connected questions from the survey related to the workplace. The first asked if respondents had suffered from a mental health issue which affected attendance or performance at work; the second asked whether support had been given. A number of respondents said that they felt very supported, giving examples. However, a much larger number said they were not. Many did not fully explain what was wrong or how they were suffering for fear of reprisals. ‘Support’ can often be quite unsympathetic.

Being perceived as unreliable can have a negative effect.

Disclosing a condition upfront

A key question was whether prospective employees would you feel comfortable disclosing a mental health condition upfront or in an interview. Of the respondents, 284 said ‘no’ before giving their reasons; 125 said ‘not’, ‘not really’, ‘never’ or some variation; and 73 said ‘yes’ and gave reasons. The most common response was that there was a concern or worry that they would not get the job or it would affect their chances: 37 informants used the word ‘stigma’ in their reply, while others referred to the perception of disclosure. It is a taboo in some cultures. Many felt there would not be the required support or understanding.

Factors which cause stress

Many of the factors reported included personal attributes and perceptions, such as homesickness, perfectionism and ‘impostor syndrome’. Many informants expressed a combination of internal and external factors, but examples of the latter include ‘workload’, ‘unmotivated students’, ‘job insecurity, ‘poor pay’, ‘unrealistic expectations and ‘harassment’ or ‘bullying’. The issue of the ‘perception’ of stress was also highlighted (Eyre 2017).

Recognising symptoms

Of the managers surveyed, 35 said they were ‘very confident’ in their ability to recognise symptoms. Managerial experience and personal experience of poor mental health both had a bearing on the degree to which managers expressed this. The majority had little or no confidence. Staff often try to hide their symptoms and don’t disclose anything. A further question went on to enquire whether informants had ever received training in how to support teachers’ mental health. The overall response was that they had not had anything officially, but some managers drew on their own knowledge and personal experiences.

Individuals managing symptoms

Two related questions dealt with tactics, coping mechanisms and ways to improve one’s own mental health. Coping mechanisms are generally ways of getting through a situation and are not necessarily a healthy option. Both are about management of the symptoms experienced. Mindfulness and meditation featured highly here, along with physical activity.

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Institutions

Another key question focused on what employers and institutions within ELT could do to support employees. Awareness and training featured highly here. Overall, a lack of knowledge and training in this area was highlighted by many. Specific working conditions within the industry and circumstances that are unique to language teaching were raised. Counselling featured in many answers. A few institutions already provide this, more commonly available for students, but it requires trained staff. A lack of training currently exists in the sector.

Conclusion

To improve their mental health, ELT professionals need support in the workplace.

The survey did not deal with the question of whether teachers go into language teaching with existing conditions, which are then exacerbated by the conditions they face.

It is unwise to draw any conclusions that the profession causes poor mental health.

Nonetheless, some working conditions do compound issues.

While sympathy can be given to the fact that institutions need a reliable workforce, the constant striving to be competitive and the business demands of many workplaces can lead to teachers being undervalued, mere commodities in the process. We are people, not disposable ‘human resources’. One respondent stated that ‘Until teachers are treated as people and not commodities then the whole mental health issue in EFL is not going to change.’ philiplongwell@gmail.com

References

Eyre, C. 2017. The Elephant in the Staffroom: How to Reduce Stress and Improve Teacher Wellbeing. Abingdon: Routledge.

Longwell, P. 2018. ‘The mental health of English language teachers: research findings’. https:// teacherphili.wordpress.com/2018/04/10/the-mental-health-of-english-language-teachers.

Mercer, S. and A. Kostoulas. 2018. Language Teacher Psychology. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

11.4 The long and winding road of pedagogical management: Project-Based Learning Louise Emma Potter Teach-in Education, São Paulo, Brazil Introduction

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is not an easy path to follow, especially when teaching a foreign language in a mainstream school in Brazil. According to Thomas (2000: 2), PBL involves ‘complex tasks, based on challenging questions or problems’. The question is, in fact, what will guide, or ‘drive’ students to find solutions to a real-life issue. In this approach, the students are the true protagonists of the process and are actively involved ‘in design, problem-solving, decision making, or investigative activities’. During the workshop, I guided teachers through how we introduced PBL in our school; we had to not only restructure our teacher training course but also make students aware that they were agents of their own learning.

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Context

In 2012, we were hired to restructure the English programme at the school Divina Providência situated in Jundiaí, state of São Paulo, Brazil. Upon arrival, we realised that the language teachers lacked an identity with the school’s philosophy, they worked independently and they had no solid model of language teaching. We knew that to change was going to be a tough journey; however, not to change would have been fatal.

Having that in mind, we began our path to implement PBL in the language classroom.

Implementation: steps

Teamwork Our first step was to build an effective team. Teachers had to embrace the changes so we implemented two-hour weekly meetings. However, a few steps back had to be taken before actually beginning to talk about PBL. The starting point was having teachers and students understand the concept of collaborative work. Not only did the students need to understand the concept but we also had to show the teachers that it was their job to teach students how to work in groups. New classroom practices were introduced, such as learning stations, think–pair–share, and handing out different roles to students within a group task. During these training sessions other concepts and techniques were introduced: using graphic organisers in the classroom (KWL charts, Venn diagrams, mind maps); webquests; understanding HOTS and LOTS (higher/lower-order thinking skills); analysing Bloom’s taxonomy; and understanding the consequences and importance of questioning inside the classroom. Differentiated instruction, rubrics and assessment also began to be understood and applied by the teachers. We finally introduced the concept of driving questions and had teachers work on at least two projects a year in the format of PBL. Giving teachers a voice Apart from reinforcing the hours for teacher training and having the language teachers comprehend that teaching a language goes beyond the lexis and structure, we also implemented a ‘teachers teach teachers’ day. Once a month each teacher was given the opportunity to take the stage and present any topic they wished to debate with other teachers. By doing this, we as coordinators were also able to observe other issues teachers were concerned about related to the classroom. When working within a team, we also realise that each and every member of the team has different skills and abilities. Taking advantage of these skills and bringing out the best in everyone is a very important aspect when working in a team.

Time management A great concern we have when working with PBL in the language classroom is time.

Knowing we are working with time constraints, it is crucial to manage our time in the classroom and establish clear goals and set procedures in the classroom. Although working with PBL is about having students lead the process, teachers do have to be extremely organised in order to guide and monitor the students’ work. There are steps, deadlines, planning, assessments, self-assessments, moments of teacher input and teacher centredness and many other issues that need to be carefully planned and timed.

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Establishing a culture of classroom/peer observation As PBL is a new concept not only for the students but also for the teachers and coordinators, peer and classroom observation are extremely important practices we implemented in order to monitor the process and exchange ideas among the colleagues.

Clear goals Clear goals for management, for the team, for each teacher and for the year are crucial.

However, flexibility is also a must.

Conclusion

We still have a long way to go before we can actually say we have implemented PBL as a whole in the language classroom. But we have come a long way. Teachers have realised they need to go beyond the coursebook, and students are much more motivated to learn the language by taking agency over their own learning. You can read more about PBL in the language classroom by downloading our ebook from Amazon: Project-Based Learning Applied to the Language Classroom. louise@teach-in.com.br

Reference

Thomas, J. W. 2000. A Review of Research on Project-Based Learning. http://www.bie.org/ research/study/review_of_project_based_learning_2000.

11.5 Sustainable professional development: a leadership perspective Maria Muniz Ivy Thomas Memorial School, Montevideo, Uruguay and Magdalena De Stefani Universidad ORT Uruguay

As part of a forum on Continuous Professional Development presenting the voices of teacher educators from different parts of the world (Bulgaria, England, Uruguay), this talk focused on issues of how to make CPD sustainable by applying leadership strategies.

The talk began with the discussion of some conceptual aspects framing our perspective, with regard to the role of leadership strategies in promoting effective teacher learning. We presented the idea that, just like learners, teachers need to be enabled to acquire both cognitive (higher-order thinking) skills, and ‘soft’ skills, such as empathy and flexibility, which will determine the effectiveness of team work. It is thus that, as leaders and teacher educators, we must ensure the provision of both types of skills in a sustainable way.

We also focused on the importance of regarding CPD, not as particular instances of training, but as a continuous process occurring during the professional lives of teachers who are part of a professional learning community. A professional learning community, in the context of this talk, is understood as a group of educators who engage in team work with colleagues as part of their day-to-day teaching and learning processes. We believe that, as leaders, our role is to foster collaboration and cooperation as part of professional learning, thus the importance of this community

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learning spirit in our institutions. Within a professional learning community, leaders must ensure there will be opportunities for those involved to be both ‘leaders’ and ‘followers’. This implies adopting a distributed leadership style, and trusting teachers enough to allow them to take the lead at certain times.

But what do we mean by ‘sustainable’ CPD? Sustainability was defined in our talk as the creation of an effective way of learning collaboratively that will become part of the institutional culture. It is a long-lasting venture and cannot be restricted to particular initiatives. Successful, sustainable CPD will have certain characteristics.

First of all, for professional development to be sustainable it needs to be relevant to the needs of teachers. We must, therefore, allow teachers to voice their needs, interests and preferences. It must also have an awareness-raising function, in that it has to foster reflexivity among teachers and lead to their learning more about themselves as professionals, and as members of this particular professional learning community. Equally essential for the sustainability of professional learning within institutions is that it has a tangible impact. Teachers will need to see the effects on them and their learners, and ultimately on the effectiveness of the institution, in order to remain engaged in their collective professional learning process. Finally, we need to ensure a balance between top-down and bottom-up teacher learning initiatives.

That is, some learning processes, dynamics or topics will be proposed by the leaders or management, in order to provide a certain sense of direction. However, it is equally necessary that teachers themselves feel empowered and trusted to make their own suggestions.

But how do we help to create this sustainability? We attempted to provide a series of concrete strategies in the form of a model, in the hope that it could be applicable in a variety of educational contexts around the world.

Our model focuses on three particular leadership strategies. First of all, we start with the idea of a distributed leadership style that involves facilitating rather than directing teacher learning, promoting collaboration and always aiming to empower teachers.

Professional trust involves an in-depth knowledge of the staff, shared accountability, and a certain amount of ‘responsible freedom’, understood as not over-supervising teachers simply to be authoritative. Last but definitely not least, the affective aspects of the professional learning community are essential for the sustainability of institutional learning processes. Being aware of the importance of caring about the personal and professional lives of teachers, creating a cohesive professional network, and offering positive reinforcement whenever possible are only examples of how important affect is in the learning process.

To conclude, we reflected on the challenges and opportunities facing all the above mentioned suggestions from a leadership standpoint. We drew on our research experience to emphasise that despite the potential drawbacks, this leadership model of CPD has, in our educational context, resulted in an increase in teacher motivation, commitment and sense of self-efficacy. mamuniz@gmail.com magdalenadestefani@gmail.com

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11.6 Leadership for sustainable teachers’ development and improved pupils’ learning Dalia Elhawary Faculty of Education, Alexandria University, Egypt Trinity College London Teacher Trainer Scholarship winner Introduction

Leading teacher learning and development is defined as having the greatest impact on students’ outcomes (Robinson 2011), whereas, teachers’ capacity for collaboration and self-direction is underpinned as a crucial factor for sustainable and successful teacher professional development (King 2014). This research report describes how an innovative leadership project was designed and implemented to empower senior teachers to become middle leaders who could develop within themselves and their teachers the skills of self-direction and collaboration, who could lead their own and their teachers’ professional development and who could improve pupils’ experience of learning English.

Context and background

This project was inspired by a study I conducted with colleagues in 2016 which investigated the views of 394 pupils in Egyptian primary schools on how to improve their learning of English. We concluded that in order to improve pupils’ experience of learning English, teachers needed systematic learning opportunities inside the school, time and space to talk and reflect together, and support to experiment with new ideas, and take the lead on their professional development (Hargreaves et al. 2016).

I worked with another colleague on training seven primary English language senior teachers in six schools in Alexandria, Egypt, on how to use coaching as a leadership style and how to set up teacher learning communities. By doing so, we introduced cultures and practices different from those prevailing in Egyptian schools, which are characterised by the dominance of the commanding leadership style and the one-shot, out-of-school training model for teacher professional development.

Data collection

The study used qualitative, exploratory and inductive design. We collected data through interviews and classroom observations. We interviewed the seven middle leaders, twelve teachers and 62 pupils in their classes.

Implementation

We trained seven primary English language senior teachers to become middle leaders.

Each middle leader set up a teacher learning community (TLC) in his/her school.

Middle leaders used coaching conversations to help teachers identify what they needed to change in their lessons to improve pupils’ learning. Following this, they supported teachers in the development of action plans based on the use of fun and innovative short ten-minute activities to bring improvements to their lessons. The choice of short activities was important as teachers had limited time and had to cover a long and demanding pre-set syllabus.

The middle leaders set up a model of peer observation for learning; this was important in that it provided constructive, reflective and challenging feedback to teachers

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on their action plans. Each teacher chose how, when and by whom to be observed.

This was a new practice for teachers, who were only familiar with ‘observation for inspection’ conducted by supervisors.

The middle leaders planned and conducted regular monthly TLC meetings for teachers to share experiences, get support, reflect on their action plans and get new input for learning by sharing readings and resources. We, the trainers and researchers, attended these monthly meetings to support the middle leaders and their teachers in implementing change and overcoming challenges.

Impact on teachers’ development and pupils’ learning

Teachers were able to challenge and change their pre-set conceptions about their practices and pupils’ abilities and as a result they could better support pupils’ learning, especially for those who were struggling. For example, one teacher decided to use group work to involve disengaged pupils whom he had previously ignored and considered ‘lazy’ and ‘bad’. This teacher had never used group work before in class. He was able to discover and then support one pupil with autism in his class. His struggling pupils were able to learn and achieve better in English because of the chance to talk with each other in the classroom in English.

Pupils reported that they started to like English because they were working in groups. Working together helped them find more and better ideas than what each student on his/her own could come up with. They also recognised that the support they were getting from peers made learning English easier for them.

Conclusions

Teachers felt empowered to support pupils’ learning and development and this made them feel motivated and confident. Teachers were able to make decisions about how best to improve their own and their pupils’ learning and development. Both teachers and pupils could see the value of collaboration among themselves, regardless of differences in experiences or attainment.

Except for the challenge of providing teachers with time and space, the model we used is one that is flexible and can work in challenging contexts where teachers have limited time and resources and are used to traditional teacher-centred approaches.

Acknowledgement

I worked on this training and research project with Dr Eleanore Hargreaves from IOE in London. The Middle Leaders Project was funded by Education Development Trust. delhawary@alexu.edu.eg

References

Hargreaves E., M. Mahgoub and D. Elhawary. 2016. An Investigation into Improved Primary School English Language Learning in the Traditional Classroom (An Egyptian Case Study).

London: British Council.

King, F. 2014. ‘Evaluating the impact of teacher professional development: an evidence-based framework.’ Professional Development in Education 40/1: 89−111.

Robinson, V. 2011. Student-Centered Leadership. Hoboken, N.J.: Jossey-Bass.

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11.7 Professional development for English language teachers: a competency-based approach Christine Irvine-Niakaris Hellenic American University, Athens, Greece and Jenny Zimianitou Hellenic American University, Athens, Greece

Our presentation demonstrated how an organic classroom observation checklist, based on national and international teaching standards and with input from teachers, can be used to promote competency-based teacher development and self-reflective practices throughout teachers’ careers. The presentation focused on two key issues: how the checklist was developed and how it is used for formative assessment of English language teachers in Greece at different levels of professional development.

Context

We aimed to develop a classroom observation checklist which would be flexible enough to serve two different teaching contexts: a practicum for teacher education at graduate level at our university and in-service education for teachers at a parallel institution which offers English language programmes (ELP) to learners of English as a foreign language. Based on previous experience of using classroom observation checklists, our priorities in developing a new one included a view of the teacher’s knowledge base which focused on language competence and pedagogy; specific examples of how teacher competencies are demonstrated in the classroom; and space for describing new ways these competencies are demonstrated as observed in actual classroom practice.

Development of the checklist

We consulted several sources for descriptions of competencies and found the Cambridge English Teaching Framework (2014) and TESOL International Standards (2010) to be the most useful as a starting point for the development of own checklist.

Both sources addressed the importance of language competence and pedagogy and reflected current issues in the field of teaching, such as assessment, professional development and values. Our checklist was divided into seven sections and descriptions were created for each one: • Knowledge about language • Methodology • Awareness and flexibility • Lesson planning • Classroom management • Attitude • Reflection Design of the checklist

We were greatly influenced by the design of an observation checklist created by Marshall and Young (2009). The layout facilitated ease of use in a classroom observation setting, with general categories of competencies on the left side, and specific descriptions of competencies related to the category on the right side. The significant feature of the layout was a space for ‘Other’ on the right side. This space was created for new

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realisations of competencies related to the general category of the competency which occurred in actual classroom observations.

Figure 11.7.1 shows the instructions for the checklist, followed by a table which shows the design of the first section: The observer places a check next to classroom behaviour he/she observes. If the competency was not demonstrated consistently or if there is room for improvement, the observer places a question mark and makes a reference in the section provided for ‘Observer’s Comments’.

Figure 11.7.1: Section I. Knowledge about language

Use of the checklist

We have presented the checklist in workshops for teachers in Greece and each time teachers have made suggestions for competencies to be added to the list; one such suggestion is the effective use of the L1 in the classroom. So far, we have used the checklist for classroom observations for the practicum in our graduate programme and observed new demonstrations of competencies which we have also added, particularly

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in the section for classroom management. The checklist has also proven to be useful for pre-and post-lesson discussions during the practicum. It provided opportunities for teachers and the observer to reflect on specific competencies which needed development and the creation of new realisations of competencies as they occurred in the lesson. The contributions to the checklist suggested by teachers allowed them to become more invested in the assessment process and professional development.

However, teachers’ reflections on this process will need to be explored further for evidence of positive or negative views from their perspective.

Limitation of space prevents us from including all the sections of the checklist.

It is therefore available for download for those wishing to explore its organic nature further and use it for professional development or classroom research. To download the checklist, please visit http://hauniv.edu/images/News/Checklist_of_teacher_competencies.pdf.

References Marshall, B. and S. Young. 2009. Observing and Providing Feedback to Teachers of Adults Learning English. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics. https://files.eric.ed.gov/ fulltext/ED505392.pdf .

TESOL International Association. n.d. The TESOL Guidelines for Developing EFL Professional Teaching Standards. Alexandria, Va.: TESOL. https://www.tesol.org/docs/default-source/ papers-and-briefs/tesol-guidelines-for-developing-efl-professional-teaching-standards. pdf?sfvrsn=6.

UCLES. 2014. Cambridge English Teaching Framework. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/ images/165722-teaching-framework-summary-.pdf.

11.8 Dilemmas and solutions in a standards-based teacher appraisal system Isabela Villas Boas Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasília, Brazil Introduction

Teacher appraisal is a controversial issue in education. Quirke (2015) enumerates the characteristics of an effective teacher appraisal system: fairness and transparency; teacher-centredness; focus on enhancing teaching; focus on prevention; summative and formative; consistent, valid and reliable; and based on multiple data sources. A major dilemma involving teacher appraisal is whether it should focus on measurement or development. In a survey of teachers, Marzano (2012) concludes that most believe the system should focus on both measurement and development. Systems that focus on development should be comprehensive and specific, include a developmental scale and acknowledge and reward growth.

My presentation reported how a non-profit English-language-teaching institute in Brasília, Brazil, adopted these concepts to develop its teacher appraisal system and discussed the dilemmas faced and the solutions found. With over 250 teachers and 15,000 students, it is a context in which standardisation of procedures and quality control are of the utmost importance, as is the focus on teacher development.

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Steps in the creation of the appraisal system

The first step was to create performance standards for teachers, based on the guidelines provided by TESOL International Association (2010). They address nine domains: Planning; Instructing; Interpersonal Dynamics; Assessing; Learning; Language, Culture and Digital Literacy; Investment in Professional Development; Professional Attitude and Commitment; and Attention to Rules and Procedures. Each standard has a general description and performance indicators; for example, the description for planning is: Teachers plan instruction to promote learning and to meet learners’ goals and needs, being able of modifying and adjusting instruction plans in relation to learner engagement, achievement, age, and proficiency level.

The next step was to develop an observation protocol based on each standard and focusing on the observable indicators. For planning, the observation criteria are shown in Figure 11.8.1.

1. The lesson was logically sequenced.

2. The activities were suitable for the age, level, and needs of the group.

3. The activities were directly related to the aims and objectives of the lesson.

4. The class contained a variety of activities for different reception modes.

5. Practice in different language skills was provided.

6. The teacher designed student-centred activities.

Figure 11.8.1: Observation criteria

Observation data for the yearly appraisal is collected by means of at least three observations a year. The observation system follows a formative format, with pre- and post-observation meetings.

Only after the development of the standards and of the observation protocol was the appraisal form developed. It contains the nine standards and performance descriptors indicating levels of achievement: exceeds the standard, meets the standard fully, meets the standard most of the time, meets the standard partially, and does not meet the standard.

Finally, a self-evaluation instrument was designed to collect data beyond classroom observations, such as teacher participation in professional development activities, school events, academic meetings, and so on. Teachers also reflect on their performance based on the standards and their indicators. Data for the appraisal is collected from the observations, the self-evaluation, and other school records of attendance, participation in meetings, special occurrences, among others.

Dilemmas and solutions

In the development of the system, many dilemmas had to be considered: • How can we ensure that all evaluators follow the same criteria? There are around 20 evaluators in the institution. To assure consistency in the observation and appraisal

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process, we hold constant calibration meetings. There are also written guidelines for filling out the appraisal form, and there is a final checking of consistency in the appraisals.

• How can we differentiate between teachers with various levels of expertise? The number of observations varies according to teachers’ experience and expertise. Senior teachers with consistently good appraisals can substitute an observation for another professional development activity, such as mentoring a novice teacher, writing for the school blog, or developing a special project, among others.

• How can we encourage innovation and risk-taking? We have introduced what we call an Experimental Observation. The teachers request this type of observation when they want to try out something innovative. In this case, a descriptive form is used.

Given the context, comprised mostly of children and teenagers, is it fair to use student performance data and satisfaction surveys as input for the evaluation? In a semester-based system, it is difficult to attribute student performance to the current teacher. Also, in the Brazilian culture, in which students are not used to evaluating teachers, satisfaction surveys may not be totally reliable. Thus, we do not use this data systematically in the appraisal system, but we do monitor both indicators and, when we see a trend along various semesters, then the information is considered. isabela.villasboas@thomas.org.br

References

Marzano, R. J. 2012. ‘Teacher evaluation: what’s fair? What’s effective?’. Educational Leadership 70/3: 14–19.

Quirke, P. 2015. ‘A system for teacher evaluation’ in A. Howard and H. Donaghue (eds.).

Teacher Evaluation in Second Language Education. New York: Bloomsbury.

TESOL International Association. 2010. TESOL P–12 Professional Teaching Standards (second edition). Alexandria, Va.: TESOL.

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Moving into teacher training

The final chapter in this volume addresses teacher training. First, Beth Davies and Nicholas Northall suggest ways of supporting new trainers; then, Karin Krummenacher argues in favour of differentiation in month-long initial teacher training courses. The next two papers present research into teacher training: Alastair Douglas discusses the use of observation tasks for new trainees and suggests new approaches to observation, and Olga Connolly reports on her research into feedback on CELTA courses. Next, Anita Lämmerer discusses the needs of teachers training to teach in CLIL environments, and David Jay draws from the performing arts to present techniques for training. Next, Teti Dragas draws our attention to the professional development needs of teacher trainers, suggesting that more work in this area is needed. The chapter ends with two papers from South America. Loreto Aliaga-Salas reports on changes to initial teacher education in Chile, while Maria Esther Linares and Ralph Grayson share lessons learned about contextualised trainer development programmes, specifically in Peru.

12.1 ‘No-one told me that!’ Top tips for new trainers Beth Davies and Nicholas Northall University of Sheffield, UK Introduction

Making the transition from teacher to teacher trainer can be an exciting yet also challenging process. Although there are several courses available to help experienced teachers make this step, there appears to be a dearth of support aimed at newly qualified trainers. It is our belief that many early-career trainers find themselves essentially thrown in at the deep end with a lack of resources to help them in their new role.

Therefore, in this workshop, we wanted to address the needs of newly qualified or inexperienced trainers by sharing advice and offering ideas.

Terminology

Throughout the workshop we used the term ‘teacher trainer’, but this could be replaced with ‘teacher educator’ or ‘teacher developer’. We considered trainers in a variety of contexts, not just those working on pre-service qualifications such as CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL, but also in-house teacher developers, those educating experienced teachers and those who perhaps mentor or line manage. For brevity, we use the terms ‘trainer’ and ‘teacher’ to refer to those delivering and those receiving teacher education courses respectively.

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The workshop

In our workshop, we looked at four areas of teacher training which we feel most new trainers would be involved in.

Input sessions Most trainers involved in teacher education will have to deliver input sessions or workshops which are a platform for discussing ideas for best teaching practice. For the initial task in our workshop, we asked delegates to rank elements of a good input session, justifying their choices. We concluded that a good teacher training input session should essentially model good teaching practice with a variety of real teaching techniques, activity types and procedures present. Like a good lesson, thorough planning is essential, as is giving the teachers an exit ticket (that is, something to take away).

Finally, delegates decided that less is more in that we should not try to overwhelm our participants with too much information.

Support with lesson planning If the teacher training programme includes a practicum, part of the trainer’s role may be to offer help and advice with lesson planning. Delegates were asked to discuss questions about helping teachers to plan lessons. We found that the amount of support offered to a teacher really depends on their experience, as pre-service teachers will obviously need much more support than more experienced teachers. However, even with new teachers, we decided that planning a teacher’s lesson is counter-productive.

Furthermore, we felt that all teachers should be encouraged to think of the lesson from the learners’ point of view.

Observation and feedback As a major part of working as a trainer involves observing lessons and offering feedback on these lessons, we asked delegates to play a board game discussing their ideas about these aspects. We concluded that being a good observer would involve the trainer remaining focused throughout the lesson observation and focusing on clearly agreed aspects of the lesson. Post-teaching, the trainer needs to provide clear feedback to the teacher giving them realistic action points for future lessons. On courses such as CELTA, where feedback is mainly evaluative, the trainer should also attempt to be developmental in their approach.

Dealing with trainees Pastoral care is an aspect of teacher training which is often overlooked. As many teacher training courses can be very intensive, emotional and stressful experiences for all involved, good communication skills are essential. During the workshop, delegates were given a number of scenarios in which a trainer might find themselves (such as a teacher bursting into tears following an unsuccessful lesson) and were asked to discuss what they would do. Delegates were also asked to role-play situations in pairs in which one participant played the role of a disgruntled teacher, while the other offered support as a trainer. We summarised that there are several qualities essential for a teacher trainer with the first being good people skills. A trainer needs to be sensitive, approachable, supportive and firm but fair. Trainers have to show empathy with the

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people they are training; they also need to ensure that expectations of what can be achieved are managed.

Summary

Overall, there are many elements of being a new teacher trainer which are similar to being a new teacher: new teacher trainers need to be prepared for a lot of hard work; they need to be familiar with the course they are working on; and they should try to gain as much varied experience as they can. Most importantly though, new trainers need to enjoy the job! e.davies@sheffield.ac.uk n.northall@sheffield.ac.uk

12.2 Accommodating the changing needs of multilingual initial teacher training groups Karin Krummenacher Freelance, Derby, UK

This talk highlighted the changing needs of trainees on initial teacher training courses (ITTCs), like the CELTA and CertTESOL. It pitched ideas on how to adapt the fourweek model to an increasingly diverse clientele to remain relevant and professional in the 21st century. Based on suggestions on how to introduce differentiation on ITTCs I proposed that needs analyses and trainees’ personal aims need to be considered more and that differentiation in teacher training should become standard.

Issues with ITTCs

I began by emphasising that I advocate ITTCs but simultaneously fully acknowledge alleged shortcomings, such as a lack of professionalism, nativespeakerism and general lack of suitability. Suggestions for improvement have not caught on because they contravene the model itself. Alternative approaches, such as offering longer courses, is not of economic interest for centres delivering up to 12 courses a year and may not appeal to the clientele either.

CELTA and CertTESOL have an annual candidature of at least 13,000 but do not disclose much information on candidates, other than their linguistic background. The talk looked at a group of trainees and found not only of a mixture of linguistic abilities, nationalities and beliefs but also career changers, future diploma candidates, backpackers, experienced teachers and people overcoming their fear of public speaking. There was also a variety of educational backgrounds from high school to PhD graduates and local teachers with MAs in pedagogy. All these individuals were offered the same readymade timetable. While some ambitious teacher trainers do adapt their timetables to fit their trainees’ needs, they are unfortunately a minority. A quick, uncomplicated way for centres with many trainees to offer differentiated courses is needed.

Tweaking the four-week model

The idea I pitched relies on a thorough needs analysis of trainees’ abilities and goals.

Results of a diagnostic test fed into Excel deliver 18 different timetables based on

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trainees’ abilities. For example, candidates answering questions on verb tenses incorrectly will be assigned sessions on verb tenses, whereas candidates answering these questions right will not attend these sessions. Each trainee will receive an individual schedule based on their needs. In addition, each teaching practice tutor agrees on personal aims with their trainees and discusses achievement twice per course to ensure teaching practice is geared towards individual needs. The diagnostic test may be repeated as summative assessment and the results and personal aim achievement then establish the starting point for continuing professional development. Candidates are made aware of their needs in terms of development and see that ITTCs are not meant to be a means to an end but a starting point. Additionally, the centre may offer courses beyond initial teacher training.

While I was unfortunately unable to trial the schedule, planning made evident that introducing differentiation means adopting new forms of input delivery. For most centres it will not be feasible to deliver all input face to face when implementing more differentiated sessions. The talk encouraged trainers’ creativity and consideration of ideas such as specific pre-course tasks based on needs analysis, peer-teaching, action research, online learning, flipped inputs, Q and A sessions with tutors as well as boot camps (very intensive sessions on, for example, grammar). Different ways of delivery were discussed based on group size, availability of tutors and space. Answering a question from the audience, it was explained that all trainees will still have the same number of input sessions, just different ones at different times. This allows multilingual teachers to acquire input on L1 usage in the classroom while monolingual teachers learn a foreign language to empathise with their students.

Figure 12.2.1 shows part of a possible timetable.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday B: Teaching Practice/Feedback/Lesson Planning T1 B: How to Teach Writing B: Peer teaching slot Unknown foreign language T1 T2: Using L1 in the T2: English for Grammar Bootcamp Classroom Language Teachers T2: T1: Grammar English for Language Bootcamp Teachers T1: Monolingual trainee with low language awareness T2: Multilingual trainee with high language awareness B: Attended by both Figure 12.2.1: Part of a possible timetable

The need for more encouragement of centres to use the flexibility of the CELTA syllabus through Cambridge and replacement of the unknown foreign language assignment on the CertTESOL was highlighted

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Conclusions

Successful differentiation may result in increased professionalism and trainee awareness of personal professional development, allowing them to enter the profession as more reflective beginner practitioners. Eventually, the audience discussed how the ideas presented may apply to or be implemented in their specific context, acknowledging that this talk intended to inspire differentiation in some form, rather than presenting another ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. karin.krummenacher@gmail.com

12.3 I can see clearly now: rethinking teacher training observation tasks Alastair Douglas Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK

Observation of both experienced teachers and peers is a common requirement of teacher training courses. It provides data allowing you to examine the central concepts of your teaching, including opportunities for critical reflection on how you teach (Richards 1998). Wajnryb (1992) suggests that observation releases us from the concerns about the process of teaching and affords us the freedom to look at lessons from different perspectives.

To aid observation, written observation tasks are often used. These help narrow the scope of the observation, provide a means of collecting data and help train trainees to see the things tutors want them to notice. Having used observation tasks for some time, various problems have become apparent to me: • Not all trainees complete them, possibly only the stronger ones. Thus those who stand to gain the most from observation are not participating.

• The observation task given before the lesson might not be relevant when the lesson starts, with other aspects being more significant.

• Trainees often find it hard to relate what they see to their own teaching.

• The task can appear to be more judgemental than developmental.

The talk focused on an experiment to modify the design of the tasks to make them more effective in developing teachers. New tasks were trialled with a group of trainees taking a nine-month CELTA as part of their BA English Language and English Language Teaching. The tasks were also used with Delta Module 2 candidates on a six-week course. The modifications were aimed principally at the final two issues above, in the hope that by making the tasks more relevant, the other issues would also be addressed.

Task on giving instructions

In this example (see Figure 12.3.1.), the prompt questions and second column are quite conventional; however, the additional two columns ask the trainees to consider alternatives and evaluate them. This is a significant departure as it asks trainees to think about what is happening and why it is happening, and to compare it with what they might do.

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Figure 12.3.1: Task on giving instructions

Task on language clarification

Write down two different ways the teacher clarified the meaning of lexis. Think of an alternative way for each situation. What are the pros and cons of each?

• Item 1: • Item 2: Here, too, the trainees are asked to think of alternatives and their advantages and disadvantages. This moves away from an evaluative approach and encourages the trainees to consider options. Two further examples of tasks were presented in the talk, focusing on using visual aids and emerging language.

The design principle behind these tasks is that the trainees are being asked to engage critically with what is happening by thinking of alternatives. They are asked to take what they have seen and work with it. To make these tasks effective, the focus needs to be very narrow, for example, by only looking are one set of instructions in example one above, or two lexical items in example two. Ideas are evaluated and developed.

The tasks outlined above engaged the trainees more; however, the issue of selecting the task in advance and it not being of direct relevance to the lesson persisted.

Chatroom

A suggestion that came from Marie Therese Swabey’s presentation at the CETA 2017 conference was using chatrooms such as Slack or Flock during teaching practice as a way of directing the trainees’ observation. This was the next area for experimentation.

Using Slack in the classroom enables the tutor to provide instant observation tasks, such as ‘What do you think of the instructions?’, ‘Can you think of some alternative concept questions?’ and ‘Why do you think the students are struggling here?’ The questions are prompts to highlight aspects of the lesson that you want the trainees to notice. You are able to communicate directly with them, and they can communicate with each other.

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After using both the new tasks and a chatroom with one cohort, I asked them to comment on each. While some commented that their attention occasionally drifted and that they tasks were not always relevant to the lesson, most found the new observation tasks useful as they were precise and they could make the link to their own teaching. Using Slack received an even more positive response, with the trainees saying it kept their attention, it was adaptable to the lesson and they felt less pressure to write something formal.

Alastair.douglas@anglia.ac.uk

References

Richards, J. 1998 Beyond Training. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wajnryb, R. 1992 Classroom Observation Tasks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

12.4 Ensuring development during CELTA lesson feedback Olga Connolly BKC-International House Moscow, Russia Introduction

My talk was a report of a two-year study, which was the basis of my master’s dissertation investigating the correlation between CELTA tutors’ beliefs about their developmental role in post-lesson feedback and the realisation of these beliefs in practice. To carry out the research I analysed the recorded feedback sessions using a set of criteria devised as a result of a literature review. They reflected the trainers’ influence on the four educational constituents that contribute to development: attitude, awareness, knowledge and skills (Freeman 1989). My research showed that feedback addressed all of them and was largely developmental.

Developing attitude

Post-lesson feedback is one of the most significant parts of any training course, because it is an opportunity for tutors to trigger changes in teachers’ awareness through their contribution to feedback discussion. These contributions or interventions were divided by Heron into six categories of intervention (2001). They can be authoritative (prescriptive, informative, confronting) or facilitative (cathartic, catalytic and supportive). Two of them are clearly evaluative: confronting and supportive as the former encompasses critical evaluation, and the latter shows praise. The others can be both evaluative and developmental.

My research revealed that developmental discussion took considerably more time than delivering evaluative comments, which shows that tutors prioritised it. Interestingly, evaluation and development were closely interlinked regardless of the individual style of the trainer. In fact, neither critical nor praising comments stood on their own, but were followed by discussion about rationales and consequences. This not only appeals to cognition but also increases motivation. However, deficit-based exploration prevailed over strengths-based exploration: while issues were usually discussed very thoroughly, there was less attention paid to analyses of good practices. This is

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disappointing, as the recognition of success is one of our natural expectations, and the wise trainer should take advantage of this.

Developing awareness

Using their intervention tutors can influence teachers’ self-awareness in the teaching process and their role in it. Self-awareness, however, is impossible without constant reflection, which is developed through discussions of the reasons for behaviour, suggested strategies, techniques or alternatives, and exploring alternatives. Without understanding the reasons one cannot appreciate the value of actions, and without discussing alternatives one cannot deal with problems. These were the two most common ways of raising trainees’ awareness used by the tutors during feedback, which is a positive feature.

Trainer talk plays a crucial role in developing awareness. Exploring reasons and discussing alternatives were scaffolded by the tutors. This appeared in various forms from simple prescriptions to more cognitively engaging speculative questions (Engin 2013). Tutors used a variety of scaffolding techniques. However, the most productive ones were those that scaffolded a discovery with further exploration of rationales and alternatives. Such a model serves teachers’ self-development on the course and beyond.

Developing knowledge

Focusing on individual learners as a starting point for developing teachers’ strategic competence is a great bottom-up strategy. Surprisingly little emphasis was placed on teachers’ influence on the learning process in contrast to the attention paid to teachers’ actions. In some feedback sessions students were only mentioned as doers, while in others the focus was totally on teachers’ actions without a deep exploration of individual students’ features, reaction to tasks, and so forth. Tutors should probably make more explicit links between those in order to push trainees in thinking about connecting teacher’s actions with learners’ outcomes.

Developing skills and strategies

To evaluate the development of skills and strategies, I analysed tutor interventions as recipe-based (discrete-item, self-focused teaching) and strategy-based (dealing with most common classroom situations and making conscious decisions with a stronger focus on the learner).

Strategy-based comments were widely used. Recipe-based comments were quite common too, but they were often followed by a rationale or a strategic suggestion applicable to a number of similar situations. I called the result of strategy-based discussions ‘thinking between the lines’ as they allow each trainee to make their own inferences without imposing the ‘right’ answer.

Conclusion

The research confirmed that trainers’ feedback is largely developmental. It also proved that evaluation during feedback serves developmental purposes as it reinforces developmental effects. The quality of training impacts both teachers’ professionalism and the well-being of their future students. Therefore, through discovering ways to encourage positive changes in trainees will benefit both future teachers and students.

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Apart from my personal professional development, I hope that this research will be of value for other teacher trainers and educational managers. oconnolly@bkc.ru

References

Engin, M. 2013. ‘Questioning to scaffold: an exploration of questions in pre-service teacher training feedback sessions’. European Journal of Teacher Education 36/1: 39−54.

Freeman, D. 1989. ‘Observing teachers: three approaches to in service training and development’. TESOL Quarterly 23/1: 27−45.

Heron, J. 2001. Helping the Client: A Creative Practical Guide. London: Sage.

12.5 Empowerment and challenges of CLIL as perceived by pre-service teachers Anita Lämmerer University of Graz, Austria

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an increasingly popular teaching approach. Yet, little attention so far has been given to the training of the teachers working with it. Preparing educators to teach the dual-focused nature of CLIL should be prioritised (Banegas 2012). This talk reported on a study which aims to better understand the development of pre-service teachers within a CLIL training course.

Research context

In Austria, all teachers are trained in two subjects. In this study, they all specialised in teaching English as a Foreign Language (B2 CEFR level tested in entrance exams) and another subject in humanities, natural sciences or physical education. They were all in the final stages of their master’s studies. The course aimed to develop the teachers’ ‘three separate but intertwined abilities in order to operate within this new approach: target language ability, content knowledge and CLIL methodology’ (Hillyard 2011: 5).

Establishing a CLIL teaching internship

To add an authentic practical component, a university−school partnership was included. Mentors in school and pre-service teachers were matched through a list of topics based on the national curriculum. The pre-service teachers could then select a topic and meet the class they would teach, parallel to their CLIL training at university. The participants volunteered and appeared highly motivated by this practical component as seen in the post-teaching interviews as well as their reflections during the four months leading to this. Knowing that their materials would actually be used appeared to affect the way the participants adapted CLIL theory for their needs and added extra motivation.

A multiple case study

Using a case-study approach, the development of the 30 pre‑service teachers (21 female, 9 male) within the four months of the university-based teacher-training

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course and its practical component was examined. In the university course, which is based on the European Framework of CLIL Teacher Education, participants were introduced to CLIL methodology, the 4Cs, Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), Bloom’s taxonomy and task-based learning, before developing an eight-session CLIL module for secondary schools. The participants’ progress in understanding CLIL and designing CLIL activities was captured via an autobiography and four reflection tasks. They were also given the option to do a short internship parallel to their CLIL training course, in which they observed two lessons (one English lesson and one lesson of their content subject, often held in their mother tongue) and taught two CLIL lessons.

Post-teaching interviews were conducted with five of the participants (three female, two male) who taught their lessons in school.

Experiencing empowerment and challenges

What motivated the pre-service teachers most throughout the training is the opportunity to combine their two subjects and the subsequent sense of purpose that CLIL gave them. While most participants enjoyed the creativity in designing CLIL materials and reported liking the autonomy provided by CLIL, one participant stated that she was ‘not the creative type’ and hated designing materials. It also became evident that some topics are more suitable for CLIL than others. The CLIL topics seemed to provide an additional challenge for some, while they greatly inspired others like Diana who said, ‘I feel confident and motivated about what I have planned as I am enthusiastic about the topic.’ In addition to the general challenges involved in teaching a foreign language, such as finding the appropriate language level and lesson planning, the pre-service teachers mainly struggled with the dual responsibility of combining language and content. Despite the explicit focus on CLIL material design, a wish for more appropriate ready-to-use CLIL materials was frequently expressed. Further struggles included legal regulations concerning assessment specific to the Austrian context and the fact that preparing CLIL lessons was perceived as more time consuming than preparing general lessons.

Conclusion

The findings suggest a need for CLIL methodology training focusing especially on how to fulfil the dual responsibility of combining language and content. It also illustrates the usefulness of a CLIL teacher internship within a pre-service teacher education programme. anita.laemmerer@uni-graz.at

References

Banegas, D. L. 2012. ‘CLIL teacher development: challenges and experiences’. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning 5/1: 46–56.

Hillyard, S. 2011. ‘First steps in CLIL: training the teachers’. laclil 4/2: 1–12.

Marsh, D., P. Mehisto, D. Wolff and M. J. Frigols Martin. 2012. European Framework for CLIL Teacher Education. Graz: European Centre for Modern Languages.

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12.6  No drama? Two theatrical strategies for initial teacher training David Jay Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK Introduction

The use of theatrical strategies for language teaching, including role play, improvisation and voice work, is well documented in the literature (Belliveau and Kim 2013).

However, the specific application of performing arts strategies to teacher training has received less widespread attention. This presentation outlined and evaluated the implementation of two theatrical strategies to support trainee teachers on intensive CELTA courses at Anglia Ruskin University.

Training challenges

The initial phase of the intensive CELTA course presents specific challenges for trainees and their trainers. During the first week of teaching practice, many trainees struggle with classroom logistics, e.g. matching their teacher position and voice level to the appropriate lesson phase. Some trainees may also have difficulty with ELT terminology such as nominating, i.e. using the names of individual students to elicit answers from the whole class (Roberts 2017). For trainers, the challenge is to give precise feedback which trainees can grasp and implement within the time constraints of an intensive course. The following strategies were developed to address these challenges.

Strategy 1: a numbered shorthand for teacher position

Perhaps surprisingly, this strategy is taken from classical dance. Those who have attended elementary dance classes will be familiar with set positions, numbered first, second, third, and so on. This long-established shorthand allows dance teachers to describe body position precisely, and is also used to record choreography in written form. Transferring this principle (but not the dance steps themselves!) to the language classroom, a simple numbered shorthand was devised for teaching practice, in order to describe three key teacher positions and corresponding voice levels, as shown in Table 12.6.1.

Trainees were encouraged to use this shorthand when preparing their lessons in the first week; some included it in their lesson plans to help them match the most Short- Classroom hand Position Body

Voice level

Purpose

1 Front Standing High, projected Giving instructions

Presenting language

Giving feedback on the board 2

Front

Sitting

3

Near students

Lowered to Lower eye level

Medium, natural Sharing informal feedback Monitoring pair or group work

Table 12.6.1: A numbered shorthand for teacher position

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appropriate position and voice to specific lesson phases. The trainer was also able to refer to it when talking through lesson ideas with trainees in preparation time, and in teaching practice feedback.

The strategy was evaluated through a short questionnaire circulated to trainees from recent courses. A total of 12 responses were collected; this was admittedly a small sample, but it was sufficient to provide quantitative data for analysis, supported by optional free-text comments for qualitative evaluation. When asked to rate the helpfulness of the numbered shorthand, trainees responded positively overall: 88.9 per cent of trainees on courses where this strategy was used rated it as either ‘very helpful’ or ‘quite helpful’. The free-text comments revealed that trainees with prior classroom experience were less likely to make a note of teacher position ‘as this generally happened naturally’. It is therefore suggested that the strategy is more useful for trainees who do not have prior experience.

Strategy 2: an emphasis on trainee-centred rehearsal

To help trainees grasp the practical meaning of terms like nominating, the trainer had previously relied either on verbal explanations or short demonstrations. To supplement this, an emphasis was now placed on trainee-centred rehearsal, with the trainer ‘directing’ and trainees taking the role of ‘teacher’ and ‘learners’, as recommended by Thornbury and Watkins (2007). Rehearsals of this type were also incorporated into input sessions and teaching practice feedback workshops.

In the evaluative questionnaire mentioned above, trainees were asked whether trainee-centred rehearsal, trainer demonstration or trainer explanation was their preferred way to learn about classroom techniques in the early stages of the course.

Their responses showed mixed preferences. Although rehearsal was preferred by some trainees (33.3 per cent), there was a tendency to favour trainer demonstration (50 per cent), while some preferred verbal explanations (16.7 per cent). Perhaps the overall response to this strategy is best summed up by one trainee’s comment that ‘all three are essential’.

Conclusion

The findings of this small-scale research project suggest that strategies from the performing arts are beneficial for trainee teachers as they start out in the classroom. A numbered shorthand for teacher position and voice may be helpful, particularly for those who have no prior classroom experience. Trainers need to be ready to deploy a range of strategies, including verbal explanation, demonstration, and trainee-centred rehearsal, in order to respond flexibly to the needs and preferences of their trainees. david.jay@anglia.ac.uk

References

Belliveau, G. and W. Kim. 2013. ‘Drama in L2 learning: a research synthesis’. Scenario 7/2: 7– 27.

Roberts, R. 2017. The CELTA Teaching Compendium. http://the-round.com/resource/ the-celta-compendium/ Thornbury, S. and P. Watkins. 2007. The CELTA Course Trainer’s Manual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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12.7 Professional development for teacher trainers: a neglected area?

Teti Dragas Durham University, UK

This presentation focused on an important but often neglected area: the training and professional development of teacher trainers and educators. The talk reported on the results of an online questionnaire and six follow-up interviews that sought to explore this question through an analysis of trainers working and learning experiences, drawing on data from over 50 teacher trainers/educators working within ELT in a variety of contexts around the world. It was hoped that this would open up discussion on these practices, facilitating change in the area.

Background: why call teacher training a ‘neglected’ area?

Professional development for language teachers often focuses on two key types of teacher: the pre-service teacher who needs ‘training’ to learn to teach and the in-service teacher who needs further ‘development’. However, as Rod Bolitho (2013: 12) reminds us, while the practicum in pre-service training and developmental observation for serving teachers are acknowledged as crucial planks in maintaining and improving standards of teaching … the trainer’s or educator’s role as an observer, supervisor or assessor remains largely underexplored, susceptible to subjectivity in its practices and cloaked in silence and handed-down traditions rather than opened up in public debate.

Beyond the questions—‘How did they get to be a trainer?’ and ‘Who “trained” them?’—lie the more important questions: Who is responsible for their own professional development as ‘teacher trainers’? How do we/they ensure that their ‘training and development’ practices are in check?

The impetus for this exploration began from my own experiences as one of these ‘breeds of teacher’ whose practices, according to Bolitho, ‘were cloaked in silence’.

Having worked in the field for over 20 years (ten years focused on teacher training and development), I often wondered to what extent my own practices sat within the wider practices of trainers and educators in the field. So I began to ask: To what extent was my experience common? Did it matter how I learnt? How do I know that I know enough? How can I evaluate my practice? In short, was Bolitho right? This led to the development of an online questionnaire and follow-up interviews which sought to capture some of the ‘answers’ to the above questions in order to gain insight into both how professionals working in the training and development have acquired their knowledge and practices, and into how they understand these.

Analysing trainers’ learning experiences

My own entry into teacher education was in 2006, when I was trained to be a CELTA trainer, through the trainer-in-training programme administered by Cambridge ESOL. Although I received ‘formal’ training, it was quite prescriptive: it focused on ‘teaching’ pre-service teachers according to the CELTA syllabus; it was relatively brief

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(one month) from shadowing to practice. While this experience was certainly valuable, it was not enough. According to the survey, 40 per cent of respondents had also entered the field through this route (CELTA or Trinity Cert), followed equally by 35 per cent of respondents who had been ‘trained in-house’ within a school or institution. Interestingly, over 25 per cent of respondents had received no training whatsoever, and had simply ‘just started doing it’. This shows that trainer learning, is in fact situated primarily in practice. In fact, unsurprisingly perhaps, the survey revealed this to be true for trainers who labelled ‘experience’ as the most influential factor in their own learning and development. Further analysis of influences revealed five key influences from most to least influential: (1) working with/talking to other trainers/ colleagues/peers; (2) experience teaching different kinds of teachers; (3) reflection in/ on action—self-evaluation and reflection and experimentation; (4) observation of others’ practice/mentoring; and (5) reading/study.

In teacher interviews, context revealed itself to be vitally important in terms of situating that experience and its influence. Not only did context determine learning experience for teacher trainers and educators but, it was their teacher-learners—‘the people in the room’ (Interviewee 1)—that shaped their practice and influenced their thinking and their approach to teacher education. All gave specific examples (critical incidents) that moved them to question their own beliefs and practices—‘in response to resistance’ (Interviewee 6)—and which, in turn, changed how they practised teacher education. Another important finding was that although ‘knowledge’ was deemed to be the most important quality for professionals working within teacher education, other important qualities were situated in humanistic methodologies: openness, empathy, patience, understanding and supportiveness.

Conclusions

The study raises a number of interesting questions about entry into teacher training which we need to further explore as a profession. While researchers such as Stephen Bax (1997) have long since talked about context-sensitive language education, and the post-method era has waxed lyrical about the importance of bottom-up practices for ELT, there is more work to be done in exploring what this means for ELTE and for professionals working in the field more broadly.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank all respondents to the online survey who participated in this research and without whom it would not have been possible. areti.dragas@durham.ac.uk

References

Bax, S. 1997. ‘Roles for a teacher educator in context-sensitive teacher education’. ELT Journal 51/3: 232−241.

Bolitho, R. 2013. ‘Dilemmas in observing, supervising and assessing ceachers’, in PowellDavis, P. (ed.). Assessing and Evaluating English Language Teacher Education. New Delhi: British Council.

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12.8 Curriculum change in language teacher education: what does it take?

Loreto Aliaga-Salas University of Leeds, UK and RICELT Chile Becoming a teacher of English in Chile

There are over 90 language teacher education programmes in Chile, offered by over 30 universities. Most universities do not require candidates to know or be proficient in English. Thus, within four to five years, universities aim to develop pre-service teachers’ English proficiency (a C1 level is expected upon graduation), along with teaching about the language and how to teach it.

An innovation in language teacher education

My presentation reported on a language teacher education programme in Chile, from the perspective of teacher educators and student teachers living through change. The innovation, called the Integrated Curriculum, is a five-year programme which aims at the integration of content knowledge and language teaching, inspired by CALLA, CLIL, task-based learning and critical pedagogy. The integration is based on the need for teacher educators from all the curricular strands (Integrated English Language, practicum, education and methodology) to function together, drawing upon and supporting each other. This research looks at the Integrated English strand, since it comprises 60 per cent of the teaching hours and the largest number of teacher educators of the programme. As the backbone of the Integrated Curriculum, the Integrated English Language strand aims at developing language proficiency, knowledge about the language, knowledge about other subjects, and critical thinking. From the perspective of four language teacher educators, and 27 student teachers, I discuss curricular innovation and its implications for teacher education.

What does curriculum change mean for those who implement and receive it?

Teacher educators, as the implementers of the curriculum, are responsible for translating innovation into the language classroom with student teachers. The strand integration challenges their preparedness to teach the curriculum: they question their own knowledge to teach various subjects and topics, with little support from the institution.

Looking at their own practices, teacher educators wonder about the implications of teaching future teachers of English: teacher educators’ lack of connection with the school context where their student teachers will work becomes evident. The focus is not only on teaching future teachers of English, it is on teaching teachers who will mainly work in the school system. This means that teacher educators’ practices need to account for what the schools are expecting them to know and do, while bearing in mind the core principles of the Integrated Curriculum.

From the perspective of student teachers, as the receivers of the innovation, they mainly focus on the teaching of English rather than on adopting a multi-disciplinary perspective whereby they question the way they learn through an integrated approach and the discussion of various topics. They believe in a traditional language teaching approach. For example, they would like to study grammar and phonetics to

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strengthen their English foundations, particularly those with lower proficiency levels at the beginning of their teacher training.

So what?

The Integrated Curriculum is a daring programme in a context that remains vastly unchanged, with deeply rooted beliefs and a focus on ‘language, language acquisition, and linguistic disciplines’ (Barahona 2015: 29). The Integrated Curriculum aims at teaching teachers of English to become agents of change through contextually relevant and informed practices. As shown by RICELT (2017), there is an increasing number of publications based on the Chilean ELT context, which can now be used as resources to inform Chilean language teacher education.

Seven years after implementation, the reflections of teacher educators and student teachers suggest that curriculum change is a slow process which requires extensive planning and support. Teacher educators, as the implementers, require a sustainable support system, for example, using exploratory talk or dialogic reflection (Mann and Walsh 2017) to review their teaching and learning practices. They must be able to adapt both content and teaching strategies to the emerging needs of student teachers.

Likewise, student teachers also struggle to adapt to this change. They come from the school system, and they go back to it, after graduation, as teachers. In this transition, student teachers find themselves trying to change their beliefs and adjust to their new ‘self ’, as well as balancing university and school demands.

Promoting curriculum change, such as the Integrated Curriculum, is brave and requires extensive support for the implementers to respond to the newness and the school system demands. Most importantly, teacher educators’ work, hopefully, will be reflected in their student teachers’ practices. It is in the school language classroom, where these critical and innovative language teachers work to make an impact on their students’ lives, that change starts. loreto.aliaga.salas@gmail.com

References

Barahona, M. 2015. English Language Teacher Education in Chile: A Cultural Historical Activity Theory Perspective. Abingdon: Routledge.

Mann, S. and S. Walsh. 2017. Reflective Practice in English Language Teaching: Research-Based Principles and Practices. New York: Taylor & Francis.

RICELT. 2017. Research on ELT in Chile: Bibliography. http://www.ricelt.cl/2018/01/publications-on-chilean-elt-context.html

12.9 Recharging methodological batteries: a Peruvian project aimed at teacher trainers Maria Esther Linares and Ralph Grayson British Council, Peru Introduction

According to the Ministry of Education in Peru, there are about 12,800 public secondary English teachers in the country, but a further 6,000 are needed to supply the

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public system in full at that level. This demand for teachers is expected to be met by the public pedagogical institutes which employ around 160 trainers for their Initial Teacher Training programmes.

In 2016, the British Council in Peru was commissioned to design a trainer development programme for 50 of the 160 existing trainers from the pedagogical institutes.

The Initial Teacher Training department of the Ministry had very specific requirements for this programme, which included: • a placement test to ensure that participants were at least at CEFR B2 level; • a 120-hour blended programme (online plus video conferencing); • content around four specific areas: curriculum, planning; evaluation of and for learning; skills development; and management of resources, media and educational material; and • an exit English test which could provide participants with a certificate.

According to the requirements, the programme would update trainers on pedagogical skills, but it would also be an opportunity for them to improve their level of English by participating in live interaction online. It would also need to cater for trainers who were spread across the country, which explains the requirement for a blended programme.

The response to the challenge

As the project management team designed the programme, one main question emerged: How did authorities ensure that the content requested fit the trainers’ needs?

The answers led us to discuss how differently things may (or may not) be if we asked trainers to self-assess their pedagogical skills. As the programme commenced, a self-assessment tool was used; this disclosed that two of the pieces of content pre-determined by the Ministry were, in fact, areas that the trainers considered their strengths.

The programme ran for 120 hours, 72 of which were devoted to self-study and focused on the four content areas mentioned above. The rest of the hours were devoted to live online webinars, self-reflection tasks and practical tasks that invited participants to put the pedagogical content into their particular contexts.

Besides the obvious mismatch between programme content and participants’ needs, other challenges emerged: • A very slow progression rate meant that the participants were not accessing the material at the expected speed or with the programmed frequency.

• Many of the participants declared that they had two or three jobs and could not cope with the amount of material provided.

• Some participants needed to travel long distances to reach a point where their Internet connection was strong enough to access the learning management system.

Contrary to what the project team was advised, local telephone and online support was included, which helped to identify participants’ problems, provide pastoral support and systematise information to make decisions about adapting programme contents and tasks.

To further monitor and assess the programme, a videoed class observation task was implemented. This consisted of a short video submitted by participants in which they demonstrated the strategies explored in the programme. The observations

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demonstrated trainers’ confidence in most commonly used strategies, but weaknesses in the use of more complex ones. These class observations were the backbone of a set of recommendations for the Ministry to take forward in future iterations of programmes of this nature.

The programme ended with 44 per cent of the participants fully certified and 43 per cent partially certified. This distinction was made on the basis of the extent of achievement in the programme. The satisfaction score of the programme reached 87.5 per cent, and 92 per cent of the participants acknowledged that they had valued the learning experience.

Conclusions

Through the work carried out in this project, the team provided the Ministry of Education with clear guidelines about future programme design which should ideally explore potential participants’ contexts, needs and profiles and which should refrain, as much as possible, from making assumptions about what participants need or do not need in the content to be delivered. This programme also demonstrated that delivery methods and overall design must fit the context and be achievable, therefore considering participants’ realities and expectations (e.g. programme content, length, and dedication). Finally, the team demonstrated that, in challenging contexts, they themselves cannot be rigid in their delivery; they must be flexible to respond to local needs, customise any original dictated programme model and know the tools that can help them make things happen. ralph.grayson@britishcouncil.org melinares_2000@yahoo.es

References

Borg, S. 2015. Continuous Professional Development. London: British Council.

Day, C. 1999. Developing Teachers: The Challenges of Lifelong Learning. London: Falmer Press,

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Index of authors Al-Saadi, Zulaikha 3.5 Alhassan, Awad 7.2 Aliaga-Salas, Loreto 12.8 Amos, Eduardo 4.8 Appel, Helene 5.3 Arnold, Wendy 6.10 Bahrenscheer Jensen, Maria 5.3 Baines, Daniel 10.6 Bilbrough, Nick 4.7 Brown, Steve 4.2 Bruton, Anthony 6.9 Bryson, Emily 4.6 Camerer, Rudi 2.4 Carrier, Michael 8.2 Christodoulou, Niki 10.2 Clements, Bindi 8.8 Connolly, Olga 12.4 Costa Lopes, Ana Carolina 5.8 Davies, Beth 12.1 De Stefani, Magdalena 11.5 Deschner, Annette 5.7 Douglas, Alastair 12.3 Dragas, Teti 12.7 Duarte, Analia 2.4 Duarte, Heloisa 1.6 Eberharter, Kathrin 9.3 Elhawary, Dalia 11.6 Ellis, Gail 6.1 Emmerson, Paul 2.6 Fernandez Schmidt, Brita 4.1 Ferreira, Cornée 4.9 Fogh Jensen, Benthe 8.5 Ford, Helen 5.5 Freeman, Donald 10.1 García-Stone, Ana 10.4 Garside, Tom 9.2 Giannikas, Christina Nicole 8.4 Goodier, Tim 9.5 Graves, Kathleen 10.1 Grayson, Ralph 12.9 Gregson, Mark 6.10 Gruenbaum, Tatia 6.6

Hall, Graham 2.5 Handy, Sophie 6.2 Harries, Patricia 1.2 Harrison, Tilly 1.3 Heredia, Rubens 10.9 Hockly, Nicky 8.7 Horn, Birte W. 7.6 Hunter, Michelle 7.4 Hyde-Simon, Caroline 7.5 Ibrahim, Nayr 6.1 Irvine-Niakaris, Christine 11.7 Jacobsen, Susanne 6.5 Jay, David 12.6 Kerr, William 3.2 Khafegi, Noha 10.5 Kharbamon, Tarun Kumari 5.4 Kilbon, Jayn 3.4 Kilpelä, Jonathan 6.8 Knight, Ben 2.7 Koch Junior, Joao Carlos 1.8 Koifman, Julia 6.4 Krummenacher, Karin 12.2 Lamb, Martin 8.3 Lämmerer, Anita 12.5 Laubacher, Laura 3.8 Lebeau, Ian 5.1 Lefever, Samúel 6.7 Lesniewski, Sebastian 11.1 Lethaby, Carol 1.2 Lewko, Alexander M. 3.6 Linares, Maria Esther 12.9 Loder, Conny 5.6 Longwell, Phil 11.3 Mader, Judith 2.4 Mahapatra, Santosh 9.4 Makhlouf, Sanaa Abdel Hady 5.2 Mavridi, Sophia 8.1 Melgaard, Bente 6.5 Mendes Peixoto, Isabelita Solano 2.2 Messum, Piers 2.1 Milagres Dyna, Aline 2.2 Muniz, Maria 11.5 Murase, Fumiko 1.5 Murre, Piet 3.7

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Northall, Nicholas 12.1 O’Sullivan, Barry 9.1 Ortega, Lourdes 1.1 Palanac, Aleks 4.5 Paraná, Raul Albuquerque 6.8 Perry, Nicola 10.8 Peter, Lisa 5.7 Platzer, Hans 7.1 Potter, Louise Emma 11.4 Rahman, Arifa 4.3 Rixon, William 1.7 Rosenberg, Marjorie 7.3 Ruas, Linda 3.1 Šaric-Cvjetković, Božica 6.3 Schoenmann, Julietta 3.1 Sowton, Chris 4.4 Spöttl, Carol 9.3 Tassinari, Maria Giovanna 10.3 Thabet, Rida 4.7 Thomas, Nathan 2.3 Thorburn, Ross 11.2 Tran, Tran Le Nghi 8.6 Underhill, Adrian 2.1 Verdonk, Désirée 7.1 Villas Boas, Isabela 11.8 Waddington, Julie 1.4 Wakeling, Joanna 1.7 Webb, Caroline 3.3 Williams, Gemma 2.4 Wittmann, Cosima 7.7 Woodward, Tessa 10.1 Xerri, Daniel 10.7 Xirofotou, Evangelia 9.5 Young, Roslyn 2.1 Zemach, Dorothy 2.8 Zimianitou, Jenny 11.7

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Index of topics Age and learning: Ortega, 1.1; Duarte, 1.6

Drama: Thabet and Bilbrough, 4.7; of Shakespeare: Loder, 5.6; Peter and Deschner, 5.7; in teacher training: Jay, 12.6

Assessment and testing: O’Sullivan, 9.1; Garside, 9.2; Eberharter and Spöttl, 9.3; Mahapatra, 9.4; Goodier and Xirofotou, 9.5

ELT, goal and purpose of: Underhill, Messum and Young, 2.1; Brown, 4.2; Rahman, 4.3

Autonomous learning: Murase, 1.5 Business/workplace English: Camerer, Williams, Duarte and Mader, 2.4; Zemach, 2.8; Platzer and Verdonk, 7.1; Alhassan, 7.2; Rosenberg, 7.3; Hunter, 7.4

English and globalisation: Thomas, 2.3; Brown, 4.2; Rahman, 4.3; Ferreira, 4.9 English as a lingua franca: Camerer, Williams, Duarte and Mader, 2.4

CELTA: Heredia, 10.9; Krummenacher, 12.2; Douglas, 12.3; Connolly, 12.4

English as a medium of instruction (EMI): Al-Saadi, 3.5; Murre, 3.7; Alhassan, 7.2

Coaching: Rixon and Wakeling, 1.7

English for Specific/Academic Purposes: Webb, 2.3; Kilbon, 3.4; Al-Saadi, 3.5; Lewko, 3.6; Hyde-Simon, 7.5; Horn, 7.6; Wittman, 7.7

Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR): Camerer, Williams, Duarte and Mader, 2.4; Wittman, 7.7; Eberharter and Spöttl, 9.3; Goodier and Xirofotou, 9.5 Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): Sowton, 4.4; Kilpelä and Paraná, 6.8; Bruton, 6.9; training for: Lämmerer, 12.5

Error correction: Ortega, 1.1 Gestures: Camerer, Williams, Duarte and Mader, 2.4 Growth Mindset model: Harrison, 1.3; Handy, 6.2

Continuing professional development (CPD): for teachers: Woodward, Graves and Freeman, 10.1; Christodoulou, 10.2; Tassinari, 10.3; García-Stone, 10.4; Khafagi, 10.5; Baines, 10.6; Xerri, 10.7; Perry, 10.8; Heredia, 10.9; Muniz and De Stefani, 11.5; Elhawary, 11.6; Irvine-Niakaris and Zimianitou, 11.7; for trainers: Dragas, 12.7; Linares and Grayson, 12.9

IELTS: O’Sullivan, 9.1; Garside, 9.2

Critical thinking: Schoenmann and Ruas, 3.1; Appel and Bahrenscheer Jensen, 5.3

Literature, storytelling and Ferreira, 4.9; Ford, 5.5; through picture books: Jacobsen and Melgaard, 6.5; Gruenbaum, 6.6

Cultural identity: Mendes Peixoto and Milagres, 2.2; Thomas, 2.3; Camerer, Williams, Duarte and Mader, 2.4; Palanac, 4.5; Lebeau, 5.1; Makhlouf, 5.2; Appel and Bahrenscheer Jensen, 5.3; Kharbamon, 5.4; Costa Lopes, 5.8; Lefever, 6.7 Curriculum reform: Arnold and Gregson, 6.10; in teacher education: Aliaga-Salas, 12.8 Dictogloss: Kerr, 3.2

L1, classroom use of: Hall, 2.5 Language advisors: Tassinari, 10.3 Learner differences: In university students: Koch Junior, 1.8; in children: Šaric-Cvjetković, 6.3; Koifman, 6.4

Management in ELT: Lesniewski, 11.1; Thorburn, 11.2; Longwell, 11.3; Potter, 11.4; Muniz and De Stefani, 11.5; Elhawary, 11.6; Irvine-Niakaris and Zimianitou, 11.7; Villas Boas, 11.8 Materials writing/publishing: Knight, 2.7; Zemach, 2.8; Brown, 4.2; Amos, 4.8; Costa Lopes, 5.8

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Index of topics Mental health: Longwell, 11.3

Strategies in teaching and learning: Harries and Lethaby, 1.2; Waddington, 1.4; Duarte, 1.6; Underhill, Messum and Young, 2.1; Schoenmann and Ruas, 3.1; Kerr, 3.2; Webb, 3.3; Hunter, 7.4; Potter, 11.4

Mentoring: Khafagi, 10.5 Migrants and refugees: Fernandez Schmidt, 4.1; Rahman, 4.3; Sowton, 4.4; Palanac, 4.5; Bryson, 4.6; Thabet and Bilbrough, 4.7

Teacher training: Douglas, 12.3; Connolly, 12.4; Lämmerer, 12.5; Jay, 12.6; Dragas, 12.7; Aliaga-Salas, 12.8; Linares and Grayson, 12.9; new trainers: Davies and Northall, 12.1; differentiation in: Krummenacher, 12.2

Motivation: Ortega, 1.1; Waddington, 1.4; Duarte, 1.6; Horn, 7.6 NESTs vs. non-NESTs: Lesniewski, 11.1; Thorburn, 11.2

Teaching online: Hockly, 8.7; Clements, 8.8

Observation and feedback: of teachers: García-Stone, 10.4; Irvine-Niakaris and Zimianitou, 11.7; Villas Boas, 11.8; of trainees: Douglas, 12.3; Connolly, 12.4

Technology: teaching with: Makhlouf, 5.2; Appel and Bahrenscheer Jensen, 5.3; Mavridi, 8.1; Carrier, 8.2; Lamb, 8.3; Giannikas, 8.4; Fogh Jensen, 8.5; Tran, 8.6; Hockly, 8.7; Clements, 8.8; in testing: O’Sullivan, 9.1

PPP: Emmerson, 2.6 Peace and conflict: Amos, 4.8; Fernandez Schmidt, 4.1; Kharbamon, 5.4

TOEFL: O’Sullivan, 9.1; Garside, 9.2

Personalisation: Rixon and Wakeling, 1.7; Palanac, 4.5; Mavridi, 8.1; of teacher training programmes: Krummenacher, 12.2

Transitional world: Fernandez Schmidt, 4.1; Rahman, 4.3; Sowton, 4.4; Carrier, 8.2; Lamb, 8.3

Prejudice/discrimination: Mendes Peixoto and Milagres, 2.2

Vocabulary, development of: Lewko, 3.6; Murre, 3.7; Laubacher, 3.8

Pronunciation, development of: Tran, 8.6

Women, education and: Fernandez Schmidt, 4.1

Project-based learning (PBL): Potter, 11.4

Writing skills, teaching of: Al-Saadi, 3.5; Lewko, 3.6; Ferreira, 4.9; Fogh Jensen, 8.5

Reflection/self-perception in teachers: Christodoulou, 10.2; Tassinari, 10.3

Young learners, teaching of: Ellis and Ibrahim, 6.1; Handy, 6.2; Šaric-Cvjetković, 6.3; Koifman, 6.4; Jacobsen and Melgaard, 6.5; Gruenbaum, 6.6; Lefever, 6.7; Kilpelä and Paraná, 6.8; Bruton, 6.9; Arnold and Gregson, 6.10

Research in ELT: Ortega, 1.1; Xerri, 10.7; Perry, 10.8 Social media in ELT: Giannikas, 8.4; in teacher development: Baines, 10.6

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