SHEFFIELD PIM 2014. PODCASTS
Simon Borg
Practitioner research for professional and organizational growth
The idea that language teachers should be researchers in their own classrooms is not new - Nunan, for example was writing about action research in 1990 and Allwright & Bailey’s book on classroom research appeared in 1991. Yet while, intuitively, practitioner research is an attractive notion, uptake among language teaching professionals was (MA dissertations apart) for many years limited. Recently, though, there is growing evidence internationally that teacher research (i.e. practitioner research done by teachers) is being more widely promoted as a feasible and valuable activity that has benefits for teachers, students and organizations. Increased engagement in teacher research by language teaching professionals is also evident. In this talk I will discuss key features of teacher research and examine some reasons for the current interest in it. I will also dwell on the role that the kind of professionally-oriented inquiry that teacher research constitutes might play within EAP departments in Higher Education contexts where research with a more ‘academic’ purpose is typically more highly valued.
Simon Borg has been involved in ELT for over 25 years working as a teacher, teacher educator, lecturer, examiner, researcher and consultant in a range of international contexts. After 15 years at the University of Leeds, where he was a Professor of TESOL, Simon now works full-time as an ELT consultant. He specialises in teacher education and development, teacher research, and research methods training. His most recent books are Teacher research in language teaching (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and Teacher research in Pakistan: Enhancing the teaching and learning of English (British Council, 2014).
e-mail: s.borg@education.leeds.ac.uk
website: simon-borg.co.uk/
blog: simon-borg.co.uk/blog/
Twitter: twitter.com/Simon_Borg
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Edward de Chazal
Teaching and learning EAP: developing roles, defining competences, sharing practices
This workshop aims to step back and take a macro view of the roles of EAP teachers and students today. It is in many ways logical to consider the two major groups – teachers and students – together and with reference to each other. As participants in the academy, we have many roles in common.
Using a 12-point framework expressing these roles, this workshop explores what they mean for EAP teachers and students. The first two roles focus on EAP teachers as practitioners informed by current developments in the field, and EAP students as resources of knowledge and experience. Subsequent roles cover texts, language, and critical thinking. Academic texts can be seen as sources of knowledge and argument, while academic language becomes the agent of meaning. In the role of critical thinker as reflector and challenger, everyone in the EAP classroom can learn to evaluate how written and spoken information is presented. Further roles apply to the academic reader / writer / speaker / listener, as well as EAP materials, assessments, and technologies.
Using a single academic text as a point of reference and analysis, this presentation provides a practical road-map for EAP teachers based on the 12 roles for today’s EAP practitioner. This material is based on the new teacher’s methodology book English for Academic Purposes published by OUP in the Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers series.
By illustrating the roles of both EAP teachers and students, the workshop emphasizes commonalities and opportunities for mutual exchange. For example, in order to teach presentation skills, it is desirable and beneficial for the EAP teacher to be able to prepare and deliver a good presentation; the teacher’s deeper understanding of this process of giving a presentation can lead to more principled and effective teaching and learning.
Edward de Chazal has coordinated general, vocational, and specific EAP programmes in several countries. His publications include the Oxford EAP series and the OUP English for Academic Purposes methodology title.
Edward@emdechazalconsulting.co.uk
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Dustin Hosseini
From print to digital, from static to dynamic: enabling EAP tutors with the knowledge and training to integrate collaborative, interactive activities online.
Pre-sessional programmes in the UK can often be intensive learning and teaching environments where tutors can feel overwhelmed by the significant amount of print and static materials they receive and must process.
The BALEAP (2008) Competency Framework for Teachers of English for Academic Purposes (CFTEAP) indicates that EAP practitioners should have:
• the knowledge and understanding of electronic media and modes [of assessment](p4);
• the knowledge and understanding of new technologies that can support independent learning (p7);
• and the ability to implement IT into the delivery [of teaching] (p8)
However, the CFTEAP does not appear to directly address the competencies specific to ICT and digital literacies that EAP practitioners require to actively and successfully achieve the aforementioned points. EAP practitioners must receive appropriate knowledge and training in order to take full advantage of technologies integrated into the learning and teaching process. Failure to implement and support knowledge exchanges and relevant training can lead to a static ‘electronic document repository’ and ‘poor pedagogical development’ when integrating e-learning activities on VLEs (Badge, Cann and Scott 2005).One solution to this issue is to digitise and dynamise learning and teaching materials by using virtual learning environments (VLEs) to integrate technology into learning and teaching. This will ultimately help EAP practitioners save time and monitor student participation while actively engaging learners (Jisc infoNet 2012). Therefore, this presentation aims to outline concisely what knowledge and training EAP tutors and programme directors should obtain in order to effectively integrate technology into the classroom.
Dustin is a senior EAP tutor with remit for learning technology at Coventry University. He advocates integrating technology to facilitate and streamline learning/teaching and to develop student and tutor digital literacies.
Dustin.Hosseini@coventry.ac.uk
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Gary Riley-Jones
The importance of ideology in an understanding of criticality in teacher education and practical implications.
It is a ‘commonplace assertion’ for universities to encourage criticality among their students (Barnett, 1992: 193) and that criticality is a ‘defining concept of the Western University’ (Barnett, 1997: 2). It is also a commonplace assertion that such attempts are largely unsuccessful (e.g., McBride et al., 2002), both within Higher Education (HE) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) (e.g., Miller, 2011 and Moore and Morton, 2005).
My presentation will first explore what is meant by the term ‘criticality’ within the Western university and, from this, argue that any understanding of criticality should ‘create epistemological and ontological disturbance in the minds and in the being of students’ (Barnett, 2000: 154) [original emphasis] and at the same time engage with the ideological.
An engagement with the ideological is essential as historically, as Benesch (1993) notes, EAP has adopted an ‘ideology of pragmatism’ which, according to Pennycook (1997: 257), has been historically tied to an adherence to ‘discourses of neutrality’ which is reflected in the commonly held assumption within EAP that ‘critical thinking’ should be ideologically neutral.
I will argue that although there is a place for critical thinking, space must also be made for understandings of criticality that engage with the ideological which, as Pennycook (1997: 263) states, will lift EAP out of its commonly perceived ‘service’ role and reposition EAP as ‘not… mere adjuncts to the knowledge curricula but rather as sites of change and resistance’ (ibid.: 263).But how is this to be achieved? Benesch (1993: 42) argues that it is through cross-curricular collaboration and the possibility for ‘linked’ courses. In my presentation, I will take this argument further and argue that an ideologically-engaged criticality can best be fostered through Content-Based Language Teaching (CBLT) which I will demonstrate with reference to a module I teach at Goldsmiths.
Gary is an EdD student at the Institute of Education where his thesis is concerned with the concept of criticality and the potential for self-transformation. He coordinates the Pre-Sessional at Goldsmiths.
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