28.78, Review: Applied Ling; Lang Acquisition: Freeman (2016)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-28-78. Wed Jan 04 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.78, Review: Applied Ling; Lang Acquisition: Freeman (2016)

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Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2017 18:04:49
From: Laura Dubcovsky [lauradubcovsky at gmail.com]
Subject: Educating Second Language Teachers

 
Discuss this message:
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-2247.html

AUTHOR: Donald  Freeman
TITLE: Educating Second Language Teachers
SERIES TITLE: Oxford Applied Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press
YEAR: 2016

REVIEWER: Laura Dubcovsky, University of California, Davis

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

“Educating Second Language Teachers” by Donald Freeman presents core ideas and
practices rooted in second language research and effective teaching. The
author treats theoretical and practical dimensions, weaving together a
historical perspective on second language teacher education with personal
narratives on classroom experiences. The book is divided into four sections.
The first part addresses prescriptive and descriptive positions, pinpoints
their opposite characteristics, and includes them within a broader framework
of language as a social process. Freeman explains that, “The challenge [of the
teaching profession] is to re-center our work on a descriptive understanding
of what language teachers know and do and how they learn these things…” (pp.
6-7). In Chapter Two the author poses “what- where- how” questions to guide
the discussion of language use in second language education. He defines the
culture of the classroom, explains how to integrate planning, teaching,
assessing and materials, and shows ways of learning to teach language, both
during formal preparation and continuing professional development (Table 1.1
p. 7).  

In the second part Freeman examines various teaching methodologies, as well as
some implications of becoming a (second) language teacher. In Chapter 3 he
differentiates three types of teachers’ background knowledge, and situates the
path of becoming teachers on a rough continuum, ranging from “born
experience,” to “know-how made over time,” to “formally prepared” positions
(Figure ii.1 p. 41). The author also mentions well-known programs, such as
Japan English Teaching (JET) and the English Program in Korea (EPIK) that
exemplify the different backgrounds’ expectations. Next Freeman deconstructs
the complicated notion of second language transmission, which involves
disciplinary content as well as means of instruction.  The author highlights
the hybrid nature of second language education, which enables language
teachers to set up curriculum , interact and circulate within disciplines,
such as history, psychology and sociology. Moreover the hybrid condition
facilitates teachers’ development of linguistic and professional strands,
which assure the double socialization that builds on language teachers’
peculiar identity.  Finally Freeman introduces two capital educational
theories. In Chapter 5 he points out key concepts of the situated learning
theory, such as learning in place, engaging teachers in the classroom
language, and adapting content in the social environment. The author focuses
on attributes of the collective learning, including problem solving, multiple
roles, collaborative work skills, and confronting misconceptions (Table 5.2 p.
91).  In Chapter 6 Freeman follows two main educational ideas embedded in the
sociocultural theory: how to make meaning, and what travels or can be
transferred when teaching languages. He applies the activity system’s
components - tools, subjects, goals, rules and norms, community and division
of labor - to typical classroom situations, such as students’ raising hands
and a peer teaching science lesson. Regardless of the native or formal
background, the implicit or explicit type of preparation, and the educational
theory, it is apparent that learning to teach languages constitutes a
non-ending and interconnected process that takes place in social situations. 

The third part involves mental activities that affect the field of second
language teaching. Chapters 7 and 8 focus on the “thinking” process and trace
the historical path, showing methodological changes along generations.
Therefore Freeman describes relevant methods that respond to behavioral
approaches - Grammar Translation, Audio-lingual and Direct Method-, as well as
meaning-based perspectives, such as Community Language Learning, Natural
approach, Suggestopedia and Silent Ways. He expands on the combination of
several Communicative Methods and the current search for Heuristic
Methodologies, which are more oriented toward teachers’ action research and
reflective uses of language (Table 7.5 p. 145).  Then the author analyzes
seminal works based on decision-making (Shavelson 1973, Woods 1996) and
thought processes (Clark and Peterson 1986, Borg 2003) and claims that, “The
process-product paradigm waned in favor of the qualitative-hermeneutic
paradigm”... and that… “… conceptions of thinking moved away from cognitivist
views of information processing to favor situated cognition...and ultimately
socio -cultural theorizations...” (Chapter 8 p.161). 

The following two chapters address the mental process of “knowing.” In Chapter
9 Freeman lays out distinctive foci and strategies that characterize different
types of knowledge. While in the sixties major emphasis was given to
disciplinary knowledge in an attempt to understand the “what” or content,
during the 70s the focus was pedagogical knowledge, interested in the “how” or
ways of teaching. Likewise, in the 80s and 90s people move to a situated
knowledge, integrating the “who” and “where” into the educational scene, while
today heuristic knowledge is motivated by reasoning and looking for “why”
questions (Tables 9.1 and 9.3 pp. 163 and 183, respectively).  The author
provides a model of knowledge-for-teaching languages that is rooted in
Shulman’s familiar notion of pedagogical content knowledge (1987). As shown in
Figure 9.3 (p. 180) the model presents language uses within the classroom and
in the professional world. 

In Chapter 10 Freeman incorporates the concept of “geography of knowledge”
(Finnegan 2013) to synthesize the interplay of material and immaterial forces
that co-exist in the teaching experience. As the author explains, the
geography is made up of concrete places, actions, and people as well as
abstract ideas, beliefs, and attitudes. He follows different institutions and
settings, such as TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages),
IATEFL (International Association of Teaching English as Foreign Language) and
ELT (English Language Teaching) to show that in spite of the different
“metaphorical maps” they mostly share the same “learn-then-apply” procedure
and similar structural features of pathways, providers and purposes (Table
10.1 p. 189). Chapter 11 emphasizes the mental process of “reflection,” which
leads to a deeper and more enduring understanding of the classroom
problematic.  Freeman encourages a reflective posture that activates teachers’
heuristic knowledge, drawing from personal experiences, institutional context,
norms and appreciation (Figure 11.1 p. 218). Above all he states that teaching
preparation programs should stimulate candidates’ ability to question their
own practice and connect theories with their teaching experiences. 

In the last part Freeman presents a design theory, following sociocultural
principles. In Chapter 12 he describes key elements of the theory, including
tools and opportunities, social facts, local and professional languages, and
communities (Figure 12.1 p. 230), while in Chapter 13 he analyzes language and
change, adding the articulation between social facts and professional
identity, as teachers become recognized and recognizable members of their
language community (Figure 13.1 p. 240).  In closing, the author states that
the descriptive position of his design theory, “ought to provide a reasoned
basis on which to evaluate, to reform, and to innovate in educating second
language (as well as other) teachers” (p. 252).  The book offers three
appendices that illustrate how Freeman’s design theory is applicable to
language teacher education activities (Appendix A), language teacher education
programs (Appendix B), and assessments (Appendix C).

EVALUATION

“Educating Second Language Teachers” is strongly supported by Freeman’s vast
experience in language teaching education. The author addresses a broad
audience of experienced and novice language teachers, supervisors and
trainers. Moreover he attempts to reach public and private areas, as he
examines teachers’ visible actions within educational practice  as well as the
mental processes that enable them to reflect on their teaching experience. The
book is well organized in four distinctive parts, each of them divided in
similarly structured chapters, starting with a short statement that encloses
the main ideas and closing with a final paragraph that revisits the initial
argument.  The author expresses an open intention of using clear signposts to
make the book accessible to readers. To this end, he also interpolates tables
and figures that facilitate his explanations, as well as vivid examples taken
from his personal educational career, other studies, and efficient language
programs.  

In addition Freeman follows several themes that make the book coherent and
cohesive.  Among them, he emphasizes the premise that teaching languages is
similar to and different than teaching other content areas, as he already
expresses in the subtitle, “The same things done differently,” and clarifies
this continuously throughout the chapters. Other important themes focus on
language teachers’ need for professional and disciplinary socialization,
problem-solving attitudes, and the crucial mastery of language both as an
object of study and medium of instruction. Although Freeman demonstrates his
robust knowledge of language teaching throughoutthe book, sometimes he falls
into broad explanations of more general and comprehensible educational
principles, leaving less space for specific language preparation topics,
theories and strategies. 

Above all, “Educating Second Language Teachers” contributes to the field of
language education by relating (second) language methodologies to historical
movements and key generational shifts. Freeman not only revises old notions,
but he also provides a new design theory and poses central challenges in
teaching languages, which will benefit all readers. While novice teachers will
gain a complete and up-dated picture, experienced professionals will feel
stimulated by the dynamic perspective on linguistic matters.  Undoubtedly the
book offers a solid foundation that will bolster the language preparation of
new generations of language teachers. 

REFERENCES

Borg, S. 2003. Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on
what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching 36(2).
81-109.

Clark, C. and P. Peterson. 1986. Teacher's thought processes. Handbook of
research on teaching. M. C. Wittrock. New York: Macmillan. 255-299.

Finnegan, D. 2013. Geography of knowledge: Oxford Bibliographies.

Shavelson, R. 1973. What is the basic teaching skill? Journal of Teacher
Education 24. 144-151.

Shulman, L. 1987. Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform.
Harvard Educational  Review 57(1). 1-22.

Woods, D. 1996. Teacher cognition and language teaching. New York: Cambridge
University Press.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Laura Dubcovsky was a lecturer and supervisor in the Teacher Education Program
from The School of Education at the University of California, Davis. She has a
Master’s in Education and a PhD in Spanish linguistics with special emphasis
on second language acquisition. Her areas of interest combine the fields of
language and bilingual education. She is dedicated to the preparation of
prospective bilingual Spanish/English teachers, especially on the use of
Spanish for educational purposes. She collaborates as a reviewer with the
Linguistic list serve and bilingual associations, as interpreter in
parent/teachers conferences and at the school district, and as translator for
outreach programs in museums and school sites, building home/school
connections . She has taught a course that addresses Communicative and
Academic Spanish needed in a bilingual classroom for more than ten years. She
also published the article, Functions of the verb decir (''to say'') in the
incipient academic Spanish writing of bilingual children. Functions of
Language, 15(2), 257-280 (2008) and the chapter, “ Desde California. Acerca de
la narración en ámbitos bilingües” In ¿Cómo aprendemos y cómo enseñamos la
narración oral? (2015). Rosario, Homo Sapiens:127- 133.





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