Learning english language with technology : case study of a primary school in Kota Belud, Sabah

Teaching English language in primary school using ICT technology is a great challenge for language teachers. The study investigates how 40 voluntary student teachers of a public university in Sabah use ICT and multisensory approach to teach English. The study employs The Learner Centric Ecology of Resources Framework (Luckin, 2008) as a guide to observe knowledge scaffolding of students learning. Focus group interviews to elicite qualitative data were done with some selected student teachers who participated in the voluntary teaching job at selected primary school in Kota Belud, Sabah. The results showed that the majority of the student teachers were motivated to teach English using multisensory approach because it helped them to connect English with outside world via visual aids (multimedia). The student teachers’ reflective journals also indicated that they were able to align the ICT materials with the proficiency level of the students, create interactive teaching and learning materials, using ICT to improve class control because the graphics and sounds attracted students’ attention. All the actions by the student teachers proved that they were frequently updating each other in teaching like how the Luckin’s framework suggested. If this method of learning is practiced by more schools, it would make language learning interesting

TEACHING PRACTICUM OF AN ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM IN VIETNAM: FROM EXPECTATIONS TO REALITY

Teaching practicum is very essential in the process of learning how to teach, so it should be paid great attention by not only teacher education program designers but also implementators. The paper reports a study on the efficiency of teaching practicum which has been conducted at Public University (pseudonym) in Vietnam. The research employed qualitative approach, and semi-structured interviews were used as the instrument for the data collection. Findings reveal that the implementation of the teaching practicum did not provide student teachers with sufficient chances to develop their teaching skill efficiently. Inappropriate method of implementing the teaching practicum, loose cooperation between the university and high schools, and insufficient support are major issues that caused the teaching practicum to be ineffective. Peer mentoring and a more suitable method of implementing the internship are recommended solutions to improve the effectiveness of the teaching practicum in the English Teacher Education Program at Public University in particular and other English teacher education programs in Vietnam in general.Keywords: Educational program, peer mentoring, teacher education, teaching practicum, teaching skills, VietnamCite as: Vo, T.K.A., Pang, V., & Kean Wah, L. (2018). Teaching practicum of an English teacher education program in Vietnam: From expectations to reality. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 3(2), 32-40. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol3iss2pp32-4

Using the technology acceptance model for exploring pre-service teachers’ perception towards online learning

E-learning has a positive impact on both teachers and students in terms of their willingness to learn and train, and their perceived attitudes towards an e-learning environment. The purpose of this paper is to examine the behaviour of pre-service teachers towards the use of e-learning in a social science subject via the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The dimensions explored were perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (EU) and their influences on satisfaction (SN) and intention to use (IN) an online modern LMS named Course Networking (thecn.com). Data was collected via a survey and analysed quantitatively to support the investigation. The study involved 69 pre-service teachers pursuing their Bachelor of Education programme in a public university in Sabah, East Malaysia. The results reveal that there is moderate level of acceptance in the observed PU (mean = 3.82), EU (mean = 3.52), SN (mean = 3.35) and IN (mean = 3.82). A further examination on the relationships between the dimensions show that PU influences the intention to use online courses strongly (r = .63). On the other hand, EU also has a strong influence on SN (r = .68). As predicted, the mean score for PU (3.82) is higher than EU (3.52). The study shows that the design, pedagogical and navigational aspects of a course are important to obtain good SN and IN scores from the users

The Impact of the Design Teams Approach on Preservice Teachers’ TPACK in the Vietnamese Context

This study aimed to examine the impact of the design teams approach on preservice teachers’ technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). Using a mixed-method design, the researcher implemented the investigation among 62 teacher candidates whose major was Primary English Teaching at a university of foreign language studies in Central Vietnam. All of the participants attended a course named “Technology in Education”, which was adapted based on Johnson’s design teams approach model (2014). The data were collected using pre- and post-TPACK Survey, a TPACK Rubric (TIAI) and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that this design teams approach had a significant impact on the participants’ TPACK, particularly its technology-related knowledge domains (TK, TPK, TCK, TPACK). The result was also confirmed by the teacher candidates’ positive responses about their perceptions towards this instructional approach

Teaching Practicum of An English Teacher Education Program in Vietnam : From Expectations to Reality

Teaching practicum is very essential in the process of learning how to teach, so it should be paid great attention by not only teacher education program designers but also implementators. The paper reports a study on the efficiency of teaching practicum which has been conducted at Public University (pseudonym) in Vietnam. The research employed qualitative approach, and semi-structured interviews were used as the instrument for the data collection. Findings reveal that the implementation of the teaching practicum did not provide student teachers with sufficient chances to develop their teaching skill efficiently. Inappropriate method of implementing the teaching practicum, loose cooperation between the university and high schools, and insufficient support are major issues that caused the teaching practicum to be ineffective. Peer mentoring and a more suitable method of implementing the internship are recommended solutions to improve the effectiveness of the teaching practicum in the English Teacher Education Program at Public University in particular and other English teacher education programs in Vietnam in general

Evaluating Vietnam’s Pre-service English Teacher Education Program for Technology Integration in Education

With the rapid development of technology in the world today, the application of technology in education, thus, becomes a matter of great importance. In the English Teacher Competency Framework (ETCF) provided by the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training, the ability to use technology in education is an essential aspect an English teacher program must include. As revealed from previous studies, English teachers’ ability to integrate technology in education is weak as they have not been provided adequate opportunities to learn and integrate technology in education in their pre-service teacher education programs. This paper reports on part of findings of a case study conducted in Vietnam. The research adopted a qualitative approach with the in-depth interview as the instrument. Research participants consisted of experienced lecturers involved in designing the program and student teachers. Findings revealed that the program was not effective in educating student teachers in the methods of using technology in teaching. The reasons for such inadequacy were lack of knowledge of technology integration in language teaching, poor facilities, and low ICT capacity. Integrating technology in the curriculum is suggested for developing student teachers’ ability to apply technology in education

Discourse Analysis as a Qualitative Approach to Study Information Sharing Practice in Malaysian Board Forums

There are numerous approaches to qualitative research, and discourse analysis is one of them. The study of naturally occurring language in any social context is discourse analysis, and it makes use of various qualitative methods to increase our understanding of human experience. The researchers build upon Herring’s (2004) work, which used discourse analysis approach to explore communication taking place in mediated environment using Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA) toolkit. In this article the researchers will discuss how to conduct a study using the discourse analysis approach in computer-mediated environment specially in discussion board forums by analyzing the naturally occurring asynchronous communication using Herring’s CMDA toolkit to reveal how language is used to perform the many actions needed to share and exchange information online