Teacher Education And Training

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Kothari (2004) defines research design as "the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to research purpose with economy in procedure" (31). The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze different teaching methods used by the UWI, Cave Hill Campus and UIMP. Because of the nature of this assignment quantitative research will be conducted. John Creswell (2009) that "quantitative research is a means for testing objectives theories by exploring the relationship among variables" (4). He further states that "these variables, in turn, can be measured, typically on instruments, so that numbered data can be analyzed using statistical procedures" (4). In basic terms, quantitative research means any kind of research that produces findings by means of statistical measures.

According to Richard Kagan (2007), the main advantage of using quantitative research methods when collecting data is that "if designed and conducted properly is that the results are satisfactorily reliable"(56). Quantitative research can reliably determine whether one concept is a better alternative. However, Kagan states that there are drawbacks to this research, because "issues are only relevant if they are known prior to beginning of the survey (and, therefore, have been incorporated into the questionnaire)" (56).

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The Site of the Study

One part of the study was conducted in Spain at UIMP and the other part was conducted in Barbados at UWI, Cave Hill Campus. The university in Spain was chosen because I had the opportunity to enroll in their summer programme in 2012. The University of the West Indies was chosen because I have been a student here for the past six (6 years). It was important to select these two universities in order to show whether there is a need for immersion programmes or a change of teaching styles. Both universities have language specialists.

The participants of the study

Five teachers of UIMP were involved in the study in Spain and five teachers of the University of the West Indies were involved in the study in Barbados.

One of the criteria for the selection of these teachers was based on their initial training as second language teachers. Therefore information regarding teacher’s instructional practices was directly obtained from the person responsible for its execution. Another criterion for selection was proficiency level in Spain and in Barbados. All foreign language courses are taught by a teacher-specialist. A specialist is a term that refers to a teacher that has done professional teaching training.

Data collection instruments

Once the purpose of the study was determined, a closed -questionnaire was choosen as the method of data collection. Twenty-two questions were compiled to address teacher’s training, and their philosophical beliefs of teaching currently used at both universities. In addition they were asked to identify their classroom as either communicative or grammar oriented and to provide examples of activities illustrating their teaching style. In order to verify their understanding of different approaches they were ask about their frequent use of the target language while conducting classes and to describe their role as a teacher. Also, it sought to determine what type of teaching materials they use and why they thought their material was useful. The questionnaire allowed for a comparative analysis of the data across all 10 participants.

Procedures for the Study

The participants in Spain were interviewed as a group and their involvement in the study was explained. All participants were interviewed at UIMP. After the interviews were conducted, questionnaires were emailed to the participants. The participants in Barbados were each emailed a questionnaire. All participants were eager to share their expertise with me and some have asked to see the results of the study when it becomes available.

The questionnaires were sent out and time was allotted to all participants in case there were any queries or concerns about the questionnaire that needed clarifying. The majority of participants responded in a timely manner.

Limitations of the Study

Although, the major sources of information upon which I draw the conclusions in this study are the answers from the questionnaires, I am still aware of its limitation. When analyzing the results of this study, I had to take into consideration that four weeks in Spain was not enough time to observe the entire teacher’s teaching approaches or methods used in their classes. It would be better if it was done for a longer time. Another limitation is that some degree of bias may also arise when teachers are questioned about effective methodologies. Teachers may become defensive about the methodologies they particularly prefer. This perceptual bias can be controlled for by referring to published knowledge on more and less effective language-teaching methodologies. Also, there might be a problem of social desirability bias. The teachers may want to present themselves in the best possible light, and may provide socially desirable rather than honest answers to personal questions; this might be an area of major concern as it may affect the full accuracy of information collected.

The method used in this study to analyze and compare different teaching methods used by UIMP and UWI, Cave Hill Campus consisted of gathering information through questionnaires.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This Chapter provides an overview of pertinent research regarding methods and approaches used in UIMP and UWI, Cavehill Campus to effectively teach a second language. Definitions will be given in order to distinguish between an immersive context and a non-immersive content. In addition, such factors as teacher education and training, teaching methods and teaching materials will be analyzed as they are integral components in teaching a second language. This Chapter is organized to reflect the order of the questionnaires distributed.

Definitions of immersive and non-immersive (need to find a definition)

Teacher education and Training

According to Tedick (2005) she stated that " the world of second language teacher education is a complex one, encompassing a wide range of second language context, national and international contexts and instructional and institutional settings"(17). In basic terms, the work of a language teacher consists of a multitude of task and activities. Even though there are many programs available for language teacher training and numerous types of educational programs, there have been very few studies done regarding teachers’ concept of teaching second languages.

Teaching Strategies

Strategies are a new term for methods which is, in a way a reflection of a pedagogy which had moved away from fixed methods. it is important to view teaching procedures as flexible sets of concepts which can employ effective lesson in order to make the teaching of the language successful. Teaching strategies are often based on the relationship of theories of learning processes and teaching practices.

The main focus of this study is to analyze activities, techniques and procedures for teaching a second language. Therefore I will be looking at strategies that are associated with the before mentioned.

One of the ways of looking at strategies is described by Simpson (2011) who uses one of Stern’s strategies called the Intralingual-crosslingual. The intralingual-crosslingual strategy is based on the role of L1 (mother language and in L2 teaching.

The difference between the two techniques consists in the use of the first language as reference during the process of language acquisition. In the crosslingual strategy, L1 is present and actively used while in the intralingual approach it is completely absent. From numerous researches, it can be said that although majority of L2 teachers adopted this approach, they used some elements of referencing to the L1 keeping the focus on the intralingual strategy. Now it is evident that there is a need for L1 in the classroom. In an interview with Dr. Ian Craig for example, he indicated that " such activities as translation from L2 to the mother tongue involving class discussion develops a better understanding of the elements in the target language. From a theoretical perspectives, a L2 is built on the existing knowledge of L1 (mother tongue) which is constantly used by learners for referencing and clarifying any concepts not understood. If this is the case, both of the two approaches, intralingual and crosslingual can be very useful in facilitating the language process. Simpson (2011) suggests that in the beginning, the comparison between the L1 and L2 and the explanations of L2 and L1 can be very useful. For instance, using L1 to explain grammatical rules can facilitate the understanding of grammatical rules in L2. As the learner progresses, the time span between the L1 and L2 should decrease and more time spent on L2 should increase. The use of the crosslingual approach is one way of viewing second language teaching. This, however, does not mean that the intralingual approach is suitable for beginners in L2. Immersion classrooms are one of those examples where L2 is taught solely by using intralingual strategies.

Deciding which approach to use, depends on the objectives and content of a language course. Therefore, if the main goal of the course focuses on conversation skills, then the intralingual approach should be use. However, if the goal is to develop understanding skills then one should likely opt to use the crosslingual strategy.

Majority of language teachers have agreed that language teaching should be conducted using the intralingual approach. However, very few studies analyze the effects of one or the other language strategy acquisition. Stern (1983) stated that "a study was conducted in Canada on the teaching of French as a second language and it was proven that high proficiency in French depended on the frequency of the use of L2 by the teachers and students"(75). It is evident from this study, that use of the intralingual strategy can have spiking positive results when the focus is on proficiency level in the target language. This is also a clear indication that the intralingual strategy is more effective in the attainment of proficiency in the target language. At the present moment, teachers do not consider the crosslingual strategies as an option in teaching practices.

The teacher’s role and activities in the classroom are defined according to these two approaches previously discussed. However, teaching strategies are developed depending on the goals of the target language acquisition. Numerous factors contribute to the dynamics of the teaching and learning process and provide support for a successful language programme.

Cooperative learning is another intralingual strategy that is used often around the world. Gillies (1949) states that Cooperative learning "involves students working in small groups to accomplish shared goals" (1). This approach enhances interaction and promotes communication in the classroom. For example, students that were taught in the traditional way would be able to read and write effectively but were very poor in speaking to other students. In order to change this, teachers would have to be trained in order to promote interaction and communication. Gillies (1949) indicates that "students acquired good communication skills and were able to express themselves orally in the target language" (6). This example illustrates the importance of inralingual strategies in second language teaching.

Sucessful strategies in teaching L2 are increasing everyday as teachers find creative and innovative ways to make language teaching more effective.

Teaching Methods

In the language classroom, the teacher applies theories concerning the nature of language and language learning which lead to different teaching methods. Those methods, in turn, influence and change the roles of teachers in the classroom

Communicative Language Approach

In the communicative classroom, the emphasis is on conveying the message without concentrating too much on the mechanics of the language. Flowerdew &Miller (2005) states that the communicative language approach "is based on the premises that what we do in the classroom should have some real-life communicative value" (12). According to both authors there are many activities for the communicative approach to language teaching. However, according to many observations in the L2 teaching situations, most teachers who advocate the communicative approach are in fact doing very little in this area. The reason for such a phenomenon is that the teacher’s role in the communicative classroom is completely different from a traditional role and must be well thought-out and prepared.

For example, in an article Communicative Language Teaching: An Introduction And sample activities, "teachers must focus on gaining student’s trust by speaking less and listening more" . The self confidence and the motivation of the learner are essential for a successful communicative approach. In order to achieve that, the teacher must provide a non-threatening reassuring atmosphere where students could feel free to take risk in an attempt to express themselves in the target language. The teacher’s role is described in the same article as "being a facilitator and at times acting as a referee or a monitor".

In the communicative language teaching approach, the teacher needs to make sure that all students are involved in meaningful communicative activities, at the same time, the teacher needs to organize materials and must be prepared to assume the role of a facilitator.

The communicative approach to language teaching requires the teacher to have an appropriate knowledge of the subject and the target language. It is also important for the teacher to feel confident and to allow students to act spontaneously in order to create authentic language situations. Such an approach might be threatening to some teacher’s authority if they feel they do not have control of the classroom.

Traditional Methods

In contrast among other methods of language teaching, we recognized the following traditional methods and approaches. The Grammar Translation Method, Direct Method, Audiolingualism. Every method creates a specific role for the teacher and the learner. For example, one of the earliest teaching method for second language learning was the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) , according to Richards and Rogers (2005) " it is a way of studying a language that approaches first through detail analysis of it grammar rules follow by the application of this knowledge to task of translating sentences and texts into the target language"(5). Its main focus is on reading and writing. The role of the teacher is authoritative and the learners are the passive recipient. The advantage of this method is it is time efficient and its disadvantage is that it is an unnatural approach; it starts from writing instead of speaking.

With an increased in demand for oral proficiency in other foreign languages the GTM fell out of favour. It was replaced by a more natural approach called the Direct Method. According to Fasold and Connoriton (2001) the Direct Method approach holds the belief that " non-native languages , just like native languages could be learn without translation and detail grammar explanation" (455). Its main focus is thinking and communicating through the target language. The role of the teacher is partner with the students. In addition, the teacher’s role is very specific in terms with respect to what the teachers were ":not" supposed to do. Such as Never Translate.

In the Audiolingualism approach, which is a more recent one, the role of the teacher is very active, as it is considered to be a teacher-dominated method. The teacher models the target language, monitors and corrects the learner’s performance.

Many teachers develop their own personal interpretation of a method or approach, according to a specific situation and their own personality. Teachers create their own roles and often combine several methods.

Teachers role are also perceived different by individuals students. Every teacher roles have cultural dimension. For example, a Spanish ESL teacher s’ approach is quite different from a language teacher with a western education. In a Spanish situation, it is expected that the student will be able in due time reproduce the knowledge that was taught to him by his teacher. A language teacher with a western education focuses on individuality and encourages learning.

CHAPTER 5

RESULTS OF THE STUDY

This chapter sets out the results of the questionnaire, initially assessing the descriptive statistics to establish the findings.

The findings will be discussed under the headings of (1) Teacher’ Training (2), Teaching Practices (3) Teacher Roles and Teaching Materials, in the same order as of the questionnaire. Each section will be directly followed by a critical discussion of the findings as they relate to the existing literature

TEACHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The first question of this section was used to establish the type of education and training teachers received on their journey to becoming a teacher.

Teachers from both countries have received formal post-secondary education in their target language. All four Barbados-based teachers involved in this study received a degree in Spanish or Hispanic Studies which they obtained before pursuing teaching careers. One of these teachers also received overseas training as a second language teacher. Two were born in Colombia and speak Spanish as their mother tongue while one was born in the United Kingdom and another in Barbados; the two latter speak English as their Mother tongue.

Two teachers in Spain hold degrees in Spanish language and literature, while another two received an MA in Teaching Spanish, one has a teaching diploma and one received overseas training as a second-language teacher. All of these teachers were born in Spain and speak Spanish as their mother tongue.

All ten teachers from both countries are completely fluent in the target language, Spanish, and feel very confident and comfortable conversing with others and also teaching students. Three participants from Barbados have nineteen-twenty five years teaching experience; while one has one-two years teaching experience.

All participants that pursued educational training as a second language teacher were very similar in many ways even though that training was obtained in very different environments.

The second question of this section was used to established, the types of teaching methodology and approaches the respective teacher training received were based on.

The results showed that among Barbadian teachers, two received paper-based theoretical training and two received a combination. Out of the latter, one person highlighted that their training consisted of mostly paper-based strategies, but was not excessively theoretical, being more oriented towards a communicative approach to foreign languages teaching". Responses from participants in Spain yielded similar results about their training as second language teachers. Their results showed that one person received paper-based theoretical training, three participants received combination training and two received other forms which they highlighted as "Communication Methodology with some computer resources and Teaching in Competence. The Common European Framework"

Need a source Reference to published research on training. only partly determining teaching practices it was found that this type of training does not necessarily make a decisive impact on teaching practices; most second language teachers develop their own teaching approaches during the years of their teaching careers. It also has been observed that teachers who have participated in this study had already changed their approaches to teaching from how they were taught themselves, sometimes even before receiving teacher training. Their views of second language teaching are now based on modern views of language acquisition as a result of observations of traditional teachers and their personal experiences. In an interview conducted in Spain with Paula González, she shared her experience: "I remember my professor taught different teaching approaches to second-language teaching but it only made sense after I became a teacher. Now, I use a more fun approach than the ones he discussed in the class".

Some of the participants in this study that were trained using the traditional method, realized later in their teaching careers that it was not the best method to teach a foreign language. Indeed, numerous researchers have found that currently teachers are trying to integrate various communicative methods in language teaching. As a result of this, teachers of second language teaching are shifting from teacher-centered towards a more learner-centered atmosphere and methodology. This approach seems to have brought positive results in second language learning.

TEACHING PRACTICES

The following four questions (questions 4-7) were designed to establish the frequency of the use of target language in the classrooms and the importance of using it. Accordingly, question four sought to establish how often the target language is used in the classroom.

Interestingly, three of the four Barbados-based participants "often" used the target language in the classroom while one "always" uses the target language. By contrast five Spanish participants always use the target language while one often uses the target language.

Turning to question five, regarding how frequently they rely on English, three UWI lecturers "sometimes" use English in the classroom while one "often" relies on English in the classroom. By contrast, three Spanish participants "seldom" use English while three "never" rely on English-language instructions in the classroom.

Regarding question six, concerning which part of the course is conducted in English, three Barbadian participants responded by selecting "Grammar" and while one participant stated that all components should be taught in the target language. Two participants out of the three that selected grammar stated reasons such as: "I [also] sometimes use the English for complicated activities when Spanish would be likely to cause confusion"; in comparison, all Spanish participants agreed with the one Barbadian participant that none of the syllabus components should be taught in English.

In accordance with question seven, regarding the importance of using the target language in the classroom, the Barbadian participants stated that it is important and when asked why, explained by giving reasons such as:

In the great majority of language-teaching environments, the use of the target language for at least a substantial proportion of the instruction (the exact amount will vary) is necessary to maximize student exposure and practice opportunities and to encourage students to associate the class environment with the use of the target language to the greatest extent possible. Increased exposure and practice are self-evidently correlated with improvement in the language.

Other Barbadian lecturer stated that "F1 students have to be able to understand and communicate in the FL and the students will get acquainted with the grammatical terminology in Spanish and should be able to interact in the foreign language. One Barbadian lecture also indicated that "the more exposure to the language, there will be better users and listeners". In contrast the Spanish lectures gave indicated reason such as "it is much more effective", "students are learning a language (Spanish in this case) in an immersion context, the rest of the class comes from different countries (multicultural groups) and not everyone speaks English. Another reason for the importance of using the target language was indicated as" the language students want to learn the target language the more they are in contact with the language the better".

The amount of the target language used by the teacher during classroom time determines the level of comprehension of the language by students in the class. It has been observed by some researchers that the constant use of the target language during the lesson increases "efficiency, effectiveness and relevance" (Briggs, Gustafson, Tillman 1992) of good language teaching.

It is evident that all teachers from UIMP and UWI, Cavehill Campus shared the same belief about the importance of maximum exposure of the target language in classroom. Also it is evident from their comments that they also try to do their best in conducting classes in the target language and to only use L1 only in situations where the comprehension of concepts are difficult to understand. On a theoretical level, the teachers appeared to use the Audio-lingual Method, in this method the assumption is that the teacher is a model of the language and through the language transmission the learning will be achieved.

In further analyses of this study, it will be evident that the method mentioned above is but a few out of a wide range of approaches used by language teachers in their classrooms.

Note:

ICraig: "If I were teaching in the UIMP context – with a varied mother tongue class group and in a full immersion context, in this case in Spain – I would tend to give different answers to those based on my UWI experience. Speaking English in class would be a much less practical option, since some wouldn’t understand, and the full immersion context would likely lead me to assume that "Spanish-only" would be the rule for the classroom. In the UWI context, the overwhelmingly Anglophone environment and the common mother tongue shared with students means that I "resort" to English, sometimes admittedly out of a desire to simply get something done quickly or less labouriously. It does feel like a little laziness sometimes…".

Grammar versus Communication and the Language Syllabus

For the past years, the amount of time allocated for grammar exercises during the earlier stages of language acquisition was discussed by many researchers (name some). The importance given to this aspect of language learning automatically creates teaching approaches chosen by the teacher in the classroom. If the knowledge of grammar rules and their use in the target language is the prime goal of teaching, then the lesson will be structured around grammar drills and exercise. If on the contrary, the main goal is to express oneself in the target language, the activities will concentrate on communication. The debate of how language teaching should be taught is not new to modern linguist.During the time that the transition from structural grammar to communicative language teaching was reflect in research language teachers in many countries were developing and using effective techniques based on their beliefs and observations and personal experiences.

The following three questions (8) sought to establish if participant’s classes were communicative or grammar or a combination and immediately afterwards, in question (9a), they were asked to provide examples of their teaching strategy. In question 9(b) they were asked to choose from a list of activities indicating its frequency and its importance for learning. Before examining the responses from participants it is important to establish what constitutes grammatical and communicative approaches of language teaching. PUT IN source. The responses are show below

Question 8:

With reference to question (9a), participants were asked to provide some examples of the teaching strategy that was selected. One Barbadian lecturer made an interesting comment regarding communicative activities:

For language, I try to keep the primary focus on promoting student production as much as possible in the classroom: role-play, dialogue, games. Whilst I do use exercises – transformation of phrases, gap-filling – these are generally prepared beforehand individually by students and come from the course text, which is communicatively oriented (so that exercise questions are not decontextualized and the practical application of the grammar points is always inferable). Some of the less communicative things I do – grammar explanation in English, exercises in class – are a consequence of my observation of the relatively conservative assumptions on language learning with which students come from secondary school in the Eastern Caribbean. We have had complaints, for example, from students who feel that games are being used excessively in class, despite their proven efficacy as a pedagogical tool, because students feel activities should always feel "challenging" to be effective

Another Barbadian described her communicative activities she does with her student as using games or activities to review topics taught or to introduce new ones. Her grammar component is taught directly from the book followed by activities different from the book.

Teachers in UIMP responded to the question by identifying there classroom as communicative. Here are their examples

To learn a second language means that a student will be able to interact in a communicative act with a native speaker. In a communicative act there are many competences that work at the same time such as being able to understand the other speaker, being able to communicate a message in an understandable way, being able to decode cultural expression in order to avoid misunderstood and so on. So we have to say that learning a second language involves a load of competences that the student should be able to control and grammar is only one of them.

In my teaching strategy, I combine communication and grammar, here are some examples:

The students write dialogues in pairs, and then they do a role-play based on real situations using some grammatical content we have studied before.

I use a film or short film, the students only watch the beginning and they have to debate, write in groups and then presenting a possible ending to the rest of the class using some grammatical contents seen before, for example the future; or they have to invent another ending using the past tenses, or they have to use probability expressions to make suppositions

It is immediately apparent that all participants from both universities are favoring the communicative approach of teaching the language over the grammatically structured-one. However, the UWI participants comment on the sizes of the classes. They expressed that large classes can prevent effective practice of the target language during class time. In addition, the Barbadian lecturer’s syllabus focuses more on the grammatical concepts that must be acquired at the end of each level. PUT IN SOURCE

Turning to question (9b), another interesting observation can be made regarding the activities that all participants selected activities used in their classroom. Three Barbadians selected role play, dialogues and

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUsion

All participants received very similar education and training with reference to teaching a second language.

All participants believe that the more they use the target language, the better results in student’s acquisition. However, only the Barbadian participants expressed the attempt to explain concepts in the target language and then go to L1 should it be necessary to do so.

In the area of grammar, slight differences were observed due primarily to the role of grammar in the syllabus. Even though teachers from both Universities believe that we should not concentrate on grammar in the teaching of languages, the teachers in UWI are obligated to teach specific grammatical concepts related to their syllabus

With reference to teacher roles in the classroom, teacher roles in both countries depend on the teaching situations and context of the lesson.

Teaching materials play an integral role in teaching practices. UWI and UIMP lectures use their textbooks as a guide in language teaching. UIMP uses more modern materials such as videos, music videos among others. In contrary, UWI lectures use activities and excerises from the textbook.

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