27.2053, Review: Applied Ling; General Ling: Farrell (2015)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-27-2053. Wed May 04 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.2053, Review: Applied Ling; General Ling: Farrell (2015)

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Date: Wed, 04 May 2016 14:29:48
From: Ana Lucia Fonseca [analucia.sbf at gmail.com]
Subject: International Perspectives on English Language Teacher Education

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-3122.html

AUTHOR: Thomas S. C. Farrell
TITLE: International Perspectives on English Language Teacher Education
SUBTITLE: Innovations from the Field
SERIES TITLE: International Perspectives on English Language Teaching
PUBLISHER: Palgrave Macmillan
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Ana Lucia Simoes Borges Fonseca, Universidade Federal de Sergipe

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

International Perspectives on English Language Teacher Education: Innovations
from the Field, is the latest edition to the International Perspectives on
English Language Teaching series. It was edited by Thomas S. C. Farrell and
first published in 2015, by Palgrave Macmillan. It consists of twelve chapters
preceded by the Contents, a List of Figures and Tables, the Series Editors’
Preface, which outlines the objectives and the structure of the book, and a
Note on Contributors. It is not only one more book for those interested in
innovating and redirecting their practices concerning second language teacher
education. Each one of the twelve chapters of the book is thought-provoking
and takes the approach of impelling the readers to action; this is the reason
this book differs from others dealing with similar themes. By providing the
readers with descriptive and interpretative analysis of an innovation in
language teacher education that arose due to emerging needs or contextual
changes, Farrell succeeds in exposing the challenges faced by teachers in
different parts of the world and the way they deal with such challenges
creatively. The concrete examples in the book, which highlight the strong
points and weaknesses of the ‘innovations’ (Mann & Edge, 2013) adopted in a
variety of contexts, encourage teacher educators to have their own experiences
in improving novice language teacher education. The book is certain to keep
‘resonating across contexts’, as Farrell puts it, because preparing novice
teachers (but not only novices!) to embark on their careers and face the
challenges by innovating and experimenting is an endless process.

The first chapter, ‘Second Language Teacher Education: A Reality Check’, by
Thomas S. C. Farrell, makes us reflect on whose needs teacher educators should
devote their attention to while preparing second language teachers: their own
or the teacher learner’s needs? How to narrow the gap that makes it difficult
for novice teachers to teach in their first years is still a burning issue,
which second language teacher education programs seem not to have been able to
resolve yet. The difficulty in monitoring novice teachers’ development and
bridging the disjuncture between theory in second language teacher education
programs and practice in real classrooms points to a long and challenging way
to go.

The second chapter, ‘Constructivist Language Teacher Education: an Example
from Turkey’, by Simon Phipps, describes the case of an innovative in-service
language teacher education program in Turkey. Employing a reflective and an
inquiry-based approach in the aforementioned case study, the author shows that
both approaches integrate theory and practice successfully, in order to
achieve the desirable balance between academic study and professional
development. Contrary to what some might think, the experience suggests that
academic rigor is not sacrificed when a reflective/constructivist approach is
integrated into the process of preparing teachers.   

The third chapter, entitled ‘Encouraging Critical Reflection in a Teacher
Education Course: a Canadian Case Study’, by Thomas S. C. Farrell, outlines
and discusses the results of graduate students’ reflections on the importance
and impact of sociolinguistics. It is shown that the students’ knowledge of
sociolinguistics applied to second language teaching enables them to
understand that teaching/learning a language is not something mechanical that
can be extracted from the surrounding society. Such understanding is certain
to lead the students to write reflective assignments as a means of creating an
awareness of self as future teachers and encourages them to keep practicing
critical reflection.

The fourth chapter is entitled ‘Teaching Everything to No One and Nothing to
Everyone: Addressing the Content in Content Based Instruction’, by Margo
DelliCarpini and Orlando B. Alonso. The authors report on the effects of a
TESOL teacher education program restructuring that implemented coursework
specifically designed to prepare pre-service teachers to engage in Content
Based Instruction (CBI) tied to the academic curriculum through Two-way CBI
and teacher collaboration. It also focuses on the needs of growing populations
of English language learner students (ELLs) in US schools, considering there
is still a lot to be analyzed when it comes to having mainstream teachers
prepared (or not) to develop both content and language for ELLs.  

The fifth chapter, entitled ‘Dissonance and Balance: the Four Strands
Framework and Pre-Service Teacher Education’, by John Macalister and Jill
Musgrave, evaluates course effectiveness and emphasizes the importance of such
practice, since the latest studies have not been encouraging about the
effectiveness of teacher education courses, particularly in what concerns
changing teachers’ beliefs. Thus, the innovation implemented in a New Zealand
University Graduate Certificate in TESOL, the Four Strands Framework, which
consists of equal strands of meaning-focused input, language-focused input,
meaning-focused output and fluency development, draws on second language
acquisition research to provide key principles that can be applied to any
teaching and/or learning situation.

The sixth chapter, ‘Materials Design in Language Teacher Education: An Example
from Southeast Asia’, by Jack C. Richards, focuses on the importance of
reaching a creative approach to materials design no matter what the specific
skill area intended to be worked at is. Inducing language teachers to write
course materials for use in countries that are members of Southeast Asian
Ministers of Education Organization (SAMEO), this case study ends up revealing
that developing classroom materials requires from the teachers different and
complex kinds of knowledge and that such an activity is a ‘valuable component
of their professional development’, as the author puts it.

The seventh chapter, ‘Translanguaging Principles in L2 Reading Instruction:
Implications for ESL Pre-Service Teacher Programme’, by Leketi Makalela,
argues in favor of considering language learners’ existing linguistic and
cultural experiences instead of adopting a monoglossic approach. The program
described in the study reveals that using translanguaging techniques towards
the development of a cohort of ESL for elementary schools in South Africa has
positive effects on  the teaching of reading.

The eighth chapter, ‘Creative Enactments of Language Teacher Education Policy:
A Singapore Case Study’, by Lubna Alsagoff, discusses the necessity of
thinking about English in new ways, considering its rapid global spread and
the fact that this situation changed its profile and the profile of its users.
Therefore, knowing that the number of L2 speakers outnumber the number of L1
speakers implies that representing the increasing heterogeneity of English has
become increasingly difficult. The Singapore case study points to the
complexity of English language teacher education in multicultural contexts and
to the importance of having teacher education programs responding positively
to the policies of their nations.

The ninth chapter, ‘Changing Practice and Enabling Development: The Impact of
Technology on Teaching and Language Teacher Education in UAE Federal
Institutions’, by Helen Donaghue, investigates changes that happened in the
foundation program in tertiary institutions in the United Arab Emirates.
Aiming to equip Arabic speaking Emirati students with the academic skills they
need for undergraduate studies, with emphasis on improving their English
language proficiency, while implementing iPads in the tertiary foundation
programs, shows that the use of technology in English language teaching and
learning reflects a global trend and reveals some of the challenges that
teacher educators are to face.

The tenth chapter, ‘Using Screen Capture Software to Improve the Value of
Feedback on Academic Assignments in Teacher Education’, by Steve Mann, focuses
on the provision of feedback on academic writing tasks and assignments. It
describes the audiofeedback provided through screen capture software (Jing) in
a UK teacher education context and highlights the importance of using visual
focus and auditory commentaries while providing feedback to students, who
receive it well because it offers more advantages than written feedback. 

The eleventh chapter, ‘Developing Novice EFL Teachers’ Pedagogical Knowledge
through Lesson Study Activities’, by Hao Xu, indicates that when novice
teachers participate in lesson study activities, three stages of  learning
exist; these demonstrate different characteristics of pedagogical knowledge
development by pointing to the necessity of utilizing lesson study activities
differently in different stages. This experience in a Chinese context reveals
that a combination of two formats of lesson study activities, that is,
school-based and non-school based formats, may be an effective solution
regarding in-service language teacher education.
 
The twelfth chapter, ‘Reflective Practice as Innovation in SLTE, by Thomas S.
C. Farrell, summarizes what the book is about: what teachers need to learn and
 to know in their preparation programs in order to succeed in their first year
of teaching, which is still an unresolved matter. Dealing with innovations is,
therefore, an important issue because it impels teacher educators to reflect
about their practices, and reflection must be at the heart of any
research/case study that is being carried out. After all, it is as Bailey and
Springer (2013:108) suggest, “reflective teaching exemplifies innovation
because… it is perceived as new… which is intended to bring about
improvement”. 

EVALUATION

International Perspectives on English Language Teacher Education: Innovations
from the Field is an invaluable source for postgraduate and graduate courses
in foreign and second language teaching as well as for researchers in the
field of language teaching and learning. Its empirical studies are of the
uttermost importance for those willing to study the experiences described and
adapt them to their needs and realities, to better their practices in the
classroom and to understand that most teaching programs still do not prepare
teachers for the unpredictable challenges to come in their careers,
particularly in their first years of teaching. 

Despite fitting with other literature on the topics discussed, this book goes
beyond the existing literature because it impels those interested in second
language teacher education to take action; it clearly demonstrates that if one
is motivated and interested in innovating, no matter what the context is,
important and excellent results can be achieved. 

The volume coheres and all the authors achieve their goals with the
description of the case studies presented in the book. The fact that the
authors themselves comment on the shortcomings of the case study they carried
out, instead of just pointing out some of its merits, is something that
deserves the appreciation of readers, as the authors ensure that the contents
are genuine and the ideas can be practiced.  

Equipping those interested in improving second/foreign teacher education with
local responses that can be applied to global problems everywhere, at any
time, is one of the major strengths of this book. The empirical investigations
into teacher educators and teaching programs, novice teachers’ development,
reflective practices, and teacher cognition teacher development, amongst
others, are also relevant.

Each chapter in the book provides an effective overview of the issues being
investigated and each one of the case studies is described in detail.
Disciplinary resources, such as sociolinguistics and its intertwined topics,
widens teacher educators’ and novice teachers’ understanding of the necessity
of being familiar with different areas of knowledge if we are to expect
significant changes in our teaching/learning practices. 

Another strength of the book is the fact that the studies presented use a
variety of research methodologies, which can be adapted to various situations.

As to the book’s shortcomings, I believe the authors themselves make
references to its drawbacks:  small sample sizes of participants in some case
studies, short duration of the programs devoted to innovation, and lack of
time for metacognitive reflections from the part of the ones engaged in the
actions, amongst others which do not impair its quality. One suggestion I have
to make is that a glossary be included at the end of the book, to clarify the
terms that are specialized or newly-introduced. 

In brief, the book is an invaluable source of empirical studies for
researchers, teachers, and graduate students interested in improving their
teaching and learning practices. Those in search of studies that will inform
them about recent literature in second language teacher education and about
empirical investigations that can be used as models for future studies are
going to find some of the answers they are looking for in this book.
Undoubtedly, this is a book that provides ‘food for thought’. 

REFERENCES

Bailey, K., & Springer, S. (2013). Reflective Teaching as Innovation. In K.
Hyland & L. Wong (eds), Innovation and Change in English Language Teaching
Education. New York: Routledge, 106-122.

Mann, S. & Edge, J. (2013). Innovations in Pre-Service Education and Training
for English Language Teachers. London: The British Council.

Richards, Jack C. (2013). Curriculum Strategies in Language Teaching: Forward,
Central and Backward Design. RELC Journal 44, 1, 1-33.

Wright, T. (2010). Second Language Teacher Education: Review of Recent
Research on Practice. Language Teaching 43, 3, 259-296.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Ana Lúcia Simões Borges Fonseca is currently working as a professor at the
Department of Foreign Languages, at the Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil.
Her main areas of interest are language policy, language planning, public
policies, academic mobility, internationalization and teacher formation.





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