Teacher logs and interactive decision-making:a case study of contingencies in an EFL organizational culture and the implications for teacher development for part-time teachers

This is a case study of a program of native speaker part-time EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers in a junior college in Japan. It has grown out of a curiosity to ascertain how the teachers have formed and continue to maintain a coordinated program in what would seem to be a disadvantageous national context where as part-time foreign teachers they are expected to do little more than just teach a few classes of mainly oral English. This study investigates the organizational culture the teachers have formed for themselves within their staffroom, and looks at the implications of this for part-time teachers in such an environment. More specifically, the study highlights that central to the program is an interactive decision-making function engaged in by all the teachers which has not only created but also continually enables an identifiable staffroom culture. This organizational culture is contingent on college and staffroom conditions, program affordances such as shared class logs and curriculum sharing, and on the interactive decision-making itself. It is postulated that the contingencies formed in this created and continually creating shared world not only offer the teachers a proficient way to work in their severely time-constricted environment, but also provide them with fertile ground for the self-regulation of a thus created zone of covert staffroom ‘on-the-job’ teacher development.

The relationship between the use of Academic Text Talk and the comprehension of scientific academic language for diverse second graders

Changing demographics impact our schools as children come from more linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. The various social, cultural, and economic backgrounds of the students affect their early language learning experiences which expose them to the academic language needed to succeed in school. Teachers can help students acquire academic language by introducing words that are within their Zone of Proximal Development and increasing exposure to and use of academic language. This study investigated the effects of increasing structured activities for students to orally interact with informational text on their scientific academic language development and comprehension of expository text. ^ The Academic Text Talk activities, designed to scaffold verbalization of new words and ideas, included discussion, retelling, games, and sentence walls. This study also evaluated if there were differences in scientific language proficiency and comprehension between boys and girls, and between English language learners and native English speakers. ^ A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the relationship between increasing students' oral practice with academic language and their academic language proficiency. Second graders (n = 91) from an urban public school participated in two science units over an 8 week period and were pre and post tested using the Woodcock Muñoz Language Survey-Revised and vocabulary tests from the National Energy Education Project. Analysis of covariance was performed on the pre to post scores by treatment group to determine differences in academic language proficiency for students taught using Academic Text Talk compared to students taught using a text-centered method, using the initial Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading test as a covariate. Students taught using Academic Text Talk multimodal strategies showed significantly greater increases in their pre to posttest means on the Woodcock Muñoz Language Survey-Revised Oral Language Totals and National Energy Education Development Project Vocabulary tests than students taught using the text-centered method, ps < .05. Boys did not show significantly greater increases than girls, nor did English language learners show significantly greater increases than the native English speakers. ^ This study informs the field of reading research by evaluating the effectiveness of a multimodal combination of strategies emphasizing discourse to build academic language.^

The study of the English language from the perspective of literacies: manifestations of diversity in higher education

This article aims to reflect on language teaching in academic education in the Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science at the University of Mato Grosso (Unemat), Campus Colider held in the Practice of English Language Teaching. Search illustrate the approach of the educational reality with the use of technology through the English language, where their theoretical knowledge underlie actual practices in the construction of knowledge necessary for teacher education. The methodological procedures contemplated primarily a literature search, following the presentation of teaching experience of teaching English Language in Higher Education and its reflections that comprised a search field. The practices were entered into the Continuing Extension Project of Graduates and Graduates of the Computer Science Department of the University Campus Valley of Teles Pires (Colider), located in the northern region of Mato Grosso. The interdisciplinary approach encompassing the Practice Teaching and Extension Project was to develop activities that involve observation and reflection of the school reality, aiming at the performance in context, in this case the integration of educational games in the discipline of English Instrumental. The enrolled data indicated that the theoretical and practical knowledge, in view of literacies, new literacies, multiliteracies and critical literacies, enhances the quality of education. Finally, it is possible to signal that this practice, as a curriculum component of a degree course, offered analytical reflections on the educational space, using games as a tool for meaningful learning. This highlights the importance of the relationship between theory and practice in teacher training. Thus, Teaching Practices were a space of transformative praxis that sought to promote autonomy and preparation of critical-reflective teachers who are committed to their professional development.