Motivating factors in online language teacher education in southern Argentina

Online teacher education is of growing interest and so is the study of motivation as a key factor in technology-mediated learning environments. This study is based on a pre-service language teacher education programme in Patagonia, a southern Argentinian region with no face-to-face training offers, limited Internet access and a large number of unqualified teachers. Our goal is to broaden the understanding of online teacher education programmes at undergraduate level in contexts where most trainees are practicing teachers and where online education is the only possibility for holding a teaching qualification. We focused on the motivating factors that led 71 trainees to enrol and to remain in this online teacher training course. Through a mixed methods approach, the trainees completed an online survey (n = 71) and participated in a follow-up interview (n = 24). Results showed that obtaining a teaching degree, autonomy, and individual activities were key factors in initial and sustaining motivation. Participants' experiences challenged collaborative learning in an online environment

"Writing makes us professional" : second language writing in Argentinian teacher education

In Argentina, the context of this chapter, research on second language (L2) writing in initial English language teacher education (IELTE) has examined pre-service teachers’ writing through case studies, corpusbased analysis, quasi-experiments and mixed methods. The focus has been on linguistic development evidenced in writing through individual and collaborative tasks informed by genre analysis and grammar. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of studies on pre-service teachers’ perceptions on their motivation and identity in relation to L2 writing. Teacher educators and pre-service teachers may wonder about the impact of writing in IELTE and teaching as a profession. In this interest in impact, it is believed that motivation and identity exert a significant influence on pre-service teachers’ writing practices; thus, it is vital for teacher educators to understand the interplay between writing, motivation, identity and pre-service teachers’ investment in their professional identity. In this chapter, we first review studies on L2 writing in Argentinian IELTE. Secondly, we conceptualize identity, motivation, investment and the role of feedback in order to promote the inclusion of such key constructs among researchers in language teacher education in Argentina. Thirdly, we present our small-scale study carried out at an online IELTE program – the research methodology, findings and discussion in light of our research questions and theoretical background. Our study lends support to the need to include notions of motivation and identity in studies on L2 writing in IELTE programs in Argentina

Exploring perceptions of curriculum change in initial English language teacher education:A case in Argentina

With the implementation of a new national law of education in Argentina, the theoretical underpinnings, structure, and the knowledge base for initial teacher education has started to be transformed. In the province of Chubut, southern Argentina, 2014 was devoted to the delineation of new jurisdictional programmes (Banegas, 2014), and 2015 was the year of implementing such programmes. In this paper I examine the perceptions of a group of students at an initial English language teacher education (IELTE) programme who decided to transfer from their 2013 cohort to the 2015 cohort under the new programme. I also examine teacher educators’ perceptions of the new programme. Through both students and teacher educators’ views, I compare and contrast strengths, weaknesses and challenges of the changes introduced in IELTE in my contex

The long and winding road ...

The long and winding road is a metaphor for a journey, often used to describe life journeys and the challenges encountered. The metaphor was used for the title of my keynote to refer both to the journey towards the current position of virtual exchange in education policy \u2013 but also the long road ahead. This paper aims to explore the emergence of virtual exchange in educational policy and how it has been adopted by non-profit organisations, educational institutions, and policy makers to address geo- and socio-political tensions. Though still a relatively new field, in recent years there have been some important developments in terms of policy statements and public investments in virtual exchange. The paper starts by looking at the current state-of-the-art in terms of virtual exchange in education policy and initiatives in Europe. Then, using an approach based on \u2018episode studies\u2019 from the policy literature, the paper explores the main virtual exchange schemes and initiatives that have drawn the attention of European policy makers. The paper closes by looking at some of the lessons we have learnt from research on the practice of virtual exchange, and how this can inform us as we face the long road ahead of us. The focus of this paper is on the European context not because I assume it to be the most important or influential, but rather because it is the one I know best, since it is the context in which I have been workin

CLIL and comprehensive sexual education : a case of innovation from Argentina

Social issues are believed to enrich English language teaching with meaningful topics. In this article we describe and reflect on an innovative practice which combined content and language integrated learning with comprehensive sexual education at a state secondary school in Argentina. By law, comprehensive sexual education must be included across the Argentinian curriculum and English language learning cannot be the exception. Therefore, we designed and implemented a collaborative-driven innovation that allowed learners to learn English and comprehensive sexual education with a focus on authentic materials, purposes, and tasks. The innovation was developed over a month and it involved learners delivering presentations on comprehensive sexual education topics. Reflections on the effect of the innovation and possible future directions are included

The Faculty Notebook, December 2006

The Faculty Notebook is published periodically by the Office of the Provost at Gettysburg College to bring to the attention of the campus community accomplishments and activities of academic interest. Faculty are encouraged to submit materials for consideration for publication to the Associate Provost for Faculty Development. Copies of this publication are available at the Office of the Provost

Academic staff’s motivation and knowledge building in online pedagogical studies

Abstract. Pedagogical training has been found to increase the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. Pedagogical training, however, is often not mandatory for academic staff (university teachers, lecturers, and doctoral students), leaving academic staff to start teaching without any pedagogical training and without purposefully developing their teaching skills. Adopting the methods by which they were taught is not always effective for students’ learning. Thus, it is important to identify the reasons why academic staff pursue pedagogical training and continue to be motivated to seek professional development in the domain of teaching. With an increase of online learning possibilities, limited research has been done on online pedagogical training. It can be beneficial, however, to understand academic staff’s motivational experiences and learning quality in these online learning environments. This study investigated academic staff’s motivation, experience, and quality of learning interactions in an online pedagogical training course. Fifteen academic staff from five different universities in Finland successfully completed an online pedagogical training module called Creating and Utilizing Working Life Contacts. To obtain a holistic view of the participants’ experience, the data was collected from registration forms at the beginning of the course, video data was recorded during the web meetings, and open-ended feedback questionnaires were collected at the end of the online training. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. Numerical questionnaire answers were presented to reveal that the participants were overall satisfied with the course and their goals were achieved, contributing to their teaching practices and benefiting their students. The results of qualitative content analysis showed that professional development, building connections, interest in the topic, and learning from others were key factors in initial motivation. Factors in sustaining motivation were also analyzed and external support and learning from others were identified as some of the motivating factors. The analysis of the video data revealed high quality learning wherein the majority of the interactions were associated with knowledge building. Suggestions on how to develop online pedagogical training are discussed

Teacher professional development in language-driven CLIL:A case study

El desarrollo profesional para AICLE enfocado en la lengua: un estudio de casoO desenvolvimento profissional no CLIL com foco no idioma: Um estudo de casoTeacher Professional Development in Language-Driven CLIL: A Case StudyThe professional development of and language integrated learning (CLIL) continues to be a niche in the language education literature, particularly in Latin America. The aim of this study is to explore the effects of a continuing professional development course delivered in 2018 to support language-driven CLIL implementation in state secondary schools in Argentina. Built as a case study, the investigation draws on data from one teacher collected through multiple sources for triangulation purposes. Two research questions guided the study: 1) What beliefs does a teacher have of language-driven CLIL? and 2) What are the effects of a continuing professional development course on language-driven CLIL targeted at EFL secondary school teachers? Findings show that authenticity, rather than language-content integration, is a salient feature of language-driven CLIL in this teacher’s practice. Findings also reveal that CLIL success depends on learners’ English language proficiency. Drawing on its teacher’s beliefs of CLIL, the course had an impact on the teacher’s identity as a materials developer and autonomous and critical practitioner who could theorize by reflecting on her practices and the readings provided by the course tutor. To reference this article (APA) / Para citar este artículo (APA) / Para citar este artigo (APA)Banegas, D. L. (2019). Teacher professional development in language-driven CLIL: A case study. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 12(2), 242-264. https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2019.12.2.3Received: 05/02/2019Approved: 23/04/2019Published: 11/05/2020El desarrollo profesional para AICLE enfocado en la lengua: un estudio de casoO desenvolvimento profissional no CLIL com foco no idioma: Um estudo de casoEl desarrollo profesional en AICLE continúa siendo un nicho en la literatura sobre educación en lenguas en América Latina. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo explorar los efectos de un curso de formación docente continua brindado en 2018 para acompañar la implementación de AICLE con foco en la lengua en escuelas estatales secundarias en Argentina. Dos preguntas guiaron el estudio: 1) ¿Qué creencias sobre AICLE con foco en la lengua tienen los profesores de inglés?, y 2) ¿Cuáles son los efectos de un curso de formación docente continua sobre AICLE con foco en la lengua en un grupo de profesores de inglés para la escuela secundaria? Presentado como un estudio de caso, la investigación remite a datos de una docente recolectados a través de múltiples fuentes con fines de triangulación. Los resultados muestran que la autenticidad, más que la integración de lengua y contenido, es una característica destacada de AICLE. Los resultados también demuestran que el éxito de AICLE depende del nivel de competencia en inglés que posean los estudiantes. Con base en las percepciones de la docente como caso, el curso produjo un impacto positivo en la identidad de la docente como desarrolladora de materiales, y como docente crítica y autónoma capaz de teorizar sus prácticas a partir de la reflexión y la lectura de material.To reference this article (APA) / Para citar este artículo (APA) / Para citar este artigo (APA)Banegas, D. L. (2019). Teacher professional development in language-driven CLIL: A case study. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 12(2), 242-264. https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2019.12.2.3Received: 05/02/2019Approved: 23/04/2019Published: 11/05/202

Teachers’ Perceived Impact of an Online Professional Development Course on Content and Language Integration and Pedagogical Translanguaging

Research has already shown that designing instruction that simultaneously develops students’ content and language competences is fundamental especially, but not only, when students are educated in a second, foreign or additional language. Unfortunately, content teachers working in different types of bilingual education programmes hold varying beliefs about the role of language for and in learning and often struggle to successfully integrate language and content objectives. This is particularly the case of content teachers working in the Italian network of educational institutions in the world who struggle to support students to learn content through Italian as the language of instruction, but also tend to fail to recognize the importance of validating their linguistic and cultural background. In this context, the dearth of training is accompanied by a dearth of research on the effects of professional development courses. This paper aims to fill this gap by reporting on the effectiveness of a short online teacher professional development (OTPD) course aimed at supporting both primary and secondary subject teachers working in Italian international schools abroad to integrate content and language learning from a plurilingual and pluricultural perspective. Specifically, it explores teachers’ perceptions in relation to the design and implementation features of the course and to its effects on their beliefs, teaching practice, and professional identity

Sharing views of CLIL lesson planning in Language Teacher Education

Argentina seems to favour CLIL (content and language integrated learning) as a language-driven approach in secondary and higher education. In this paper, I investigate curriculum development and lesson planning based on trainees’ perceptions and lesson plans submitted to pass a module on Didactics as part of their formal initial English language teacher education. My aim is to compare what a group of trainees does in relation to the notion of CLIL as forward curriculum planning and the frameworks posited in the CLIL literature. My theoretical framework is guided by the concept of didactic transposition applied to CLIL and the literature on CLIL lessons plans drawing on teachers’ voices through their plans. In this paper I discuss how language-driven CLIL was envisaged by a group of 47 trainees enrolled in a teacher education course in southern Argentina. Data emerged from a survey and lesson plans aimed at secondary-school learners for whom English was usually taught two hours a week. Results show that language-driven CLIL follows forward design; it focuses more on content than on explicit knowledge of the language, and it is aimed at revising language with older learners