QUESTIONS: Who are those students? What are their ages and English levels? Do they have opportunities to practice English outside of the classroom?

Let me tell you a bit about my teaching context. I currently teach English or French to undergraduate students in the Law and Politics science school in UNMSM and Didactics of EFL to teacher-students in the education school at UNE-EGyV in Lima, Peru.

The number of students is varied, between 15 and 45 per class. All of them are adults, and their age range is 18 to 35. About their English level, Elementary for EFL/FLE courses, and they do not have opportunities to apply their language learning out of class. However, pre-service English teachers may improve their communication skills in English during class and teaching practice. The level of English is a bit low, A1 / A2/ B1, for prospective teachers.

Most support to my teaching job is giving teacher-students different ways of comprehending and interpreting new insights introduced in class. I also give EFL/FLE students language support and communication skills to get engaged in their tasks or perform tasks.

There are many challenges foreign language teachers face every lesson; one is to teach a compulsory course that students have to pass and get credits, but they do not like it. Nevertheless, contextualizing and adapting "materials and activities that meet [these] students at their current level of knowledge and ability (World Learning, 2018)" making their learning experiences more meaningful and valuable, I notice unpredictable learning outcomes.

Workshop: USING CASE STUDIES IN ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION

Given by; Victor Hugo Rojas B. at the 5th International Workshop on Foreign Languages, Communication and Culture (WEFLA 2006) in Holguín, Cuba.

ABSTRACT

Many EFL teachers believe that teaching is an intuitive art that can only be learned through practice, and thus that theories are of no concern to the practicing teacher. Stubbs (1986) argues that all teaching is based on theories, whether these theories are personally created or are derived from general principles. This workshop arose from applying case studies in presenting ELT principles and theories in teacher education programs coming across appropriate ways that show their relevance to practice. Therefore, this presentation will demonstrate how to enable pre/in-service EFL teachers to apply general theoretical principles to a wide range of practical situations, encouraging critical reflection, and developing problem-solving and decision-making skills.

SUMMARY

Recently ELT teacher education programs in Peru have focused on the importance of providing pre-and in-service EFL teachers with opportunities to develop skills as critical reflection, decision-making, problem-solving, and analysis of teaching practice. This workshop arose from applying case studies in presenting ELT principles and theories in teacher education programs coming across appropriate ways that show their relevance to practice. Dudley-Evans & St. John (1998) state the case study approach is "to present students with some aspect of a real-life scenario, through which they can apply and integrate knowledge, skills, theory, and any experience." Teacher educators may lack the resources and time to have their trainees observe practicing teachers implementing the theories the trainees are currently studying. The case study approach is a way to simulate this process and to allow the teacher educator to assess how trainees are applying theoretical knowledge. 

As language educators, our task is to search for effective teaching theoretical content in our ELT teacher education courses. This presentation demonstrates and describes case studies in the Didactics of EFL course in the ELT teacher education program. To understand how this approach can be integrated into language teacher education programs, the presenter has included descriptions of the context, participants, classroom procedures, lesson plan, and students' responses to their experiences. Likewise, teacher educators will be urged to experiment with this approach in their own classrooms to obtain trainees' successful responses.

 

At the workshop, attendees will be given appropriate guidance as they reflect upon the situation and attempt to analyze them, and encouraged to collaborate with their peers and the presenter as they discuss the alternatives and/or the development of their own approaches to the situations. Furthermore, trainees will be asked to assume responsibility for developing their own solutions to the problems and challenges presented in the cases, based on the information provided, group discussion, and prior knowledge and experience. Thus, the entire workshop leads participants to develop their own problem-solving abilities while preparing them to think about their own teaching and classroom realities. 

References and further reading:

Dudley-Evans, T., St John, M. J., & Saint John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for specific purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge university press.

Kleinfeld, J. (1990). The Case Method in Teacher Education: Alaskan Models. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/yx8fnd8y

Stubbs, M. (1986) Educational Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell.

Todd, R. W. (n.d.). Applying theory to practice. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/yy8xt7nw

Celebrating our Eight Year Anniversary!

PETsNet was launched in 2011 with high expectations, hopes, and prospects to support and empower English and educators' teachers in creating an academic and social network. 

From the first, PETsNet is currently engaged in Language Teacher Education, Teacher Training, Professional Development, Personal Learning Network, ICT in Education, and aims to inspire, innovate, empower, & transform English teachers' professional development nationwide and worldwide. 

Year-on-year, hundreds of English teachers have visited and/or joined PETsNet Ning network, where we meet colleagues from all over Peru and different parts of the world willingly. All or part of their professional experiences and contributions are freely published on PETsNet Ning platform. One thing, for sure, it is our firm belief that working together for the common good is our task. 

This Eighth Anniversary points the way to the fulfillment of the mission of this challenging project. Today, the number of PETsNeters increases, including novice and experienced English teachers from different schools, language centers, institutes, universities, etc. 

All in all, as always, we are immensely grateful to RELO Andes, the US Embassy, Fulbright Peru for all the solidarity and support, and all users and friends of PETsNet.

P.S. Please leave your greeting messages here.

Controversial narrative

This has been an endless polemical debate, the importance of which is evident in the mandatory participation of the Ministry of Education (#MINEDU) of Peru.

"Non-native grassroots SS teachers of EFL do not need to be reminded of the problems they have, or might eventually develop, with their English proficiency and fluency. They know what they are; they suffer acutely because of them. These teachers need help with resolving their language problems and they need that help before they are asked to implement innovations which require certain proficiency levels." (Rainey, 2017, p. 128)

Rigor in the World Language Classroom - An Interview with Robert Harrell

"If we keep telling them what the conclusion is, then... we are not allowing them to really create that mental representation of the language that is necessary for true acquisition of the language." (Harrell, 2016)

Language teachers struggling with coordinators about engagement and rigor in their classrooms should read this interview:

Rigor in the World Language Classroom - An Interview with Robert Harrell 

A Principal's Reflections: Competencies vs. Skills

"Competencies include a dynamic combination of abilities, attitudes, and behaviours, as well as the knowledge that is fundamental to the use of a skill aligned to a learning outcome."

Further reading at:

A Principal's Reflections: Competencies vs. Skills: The 21st Century skills discussion and debate have waged on even prior to the onset of this century.  The ensuing conversations have provide...

A World of Englishes: English: no longer an official EU language?

"...these Englishes we are talking about here are not 'British English', or even 'American English'. The Englishes spoken around the world may be based on one or other variety, but they have developed their own vocabulary and grammar." (J. Setter, 2016)

A World of Englishes: English: no longer an official EU language?: In the fallout from Brexit, it has been suggested that English could stop being an official language of the EU . Is this likely to happen?...

A World of Englishes: You say "lee-doh", I say "lye-doh" ...

"Lido is an Italian word which we have borrowed into English, as with so many other words which help us to express a multi-word concept ("out-door swimming pool", in this case) with one word. English is fine about borrowing in other words as long as there is a gap to fill." (J. Setter, 2017)

A World of Englishes: You say "lee-doh", I say "lye-doh" ...: When I was a child, it was quite a fun thing on a summer's day to visit Margate Lido. My dad had an early morning newspaper stand outsid...

Blogging for #IATEFLOnline Glasgow 2017

I have just been added to the list of Registered Bloggers for IATEFL Online Glasgow 2017. I am so excited to report this Annual IATEFL Conference for you all, colleagues from Peru and abroad.

The 51st IATEFL Annual Conference just get started, and the online coverage is already streaming. It is a great opportunity for teacher audiences worldwide to share ideas with colleagues before, during, and after the conference.

 

Just click on the badge below and be part of the conference.

Leoxicon: Trendy terms, tantalizing techniques and talented ...

Must-read post by Leo Selivan.

Leoxicon: Trendy terms, tantalizing techniques and talented ...: A report from the 24th TESOL Macedonia-Thrace convention, which took place in Thessaloniki on 11-12 February Earlier this month I had ...

Profesores extranjeros impartirán clases de inglés a soldados heridos en combate

Similar to the Peruvian Ministry of Education's proposal.

Davies (1995) stated about native teachers that "the native speaker is a fine myth: we need it as a model, a goal, almost an inspiration. But it is useless as a measure" (p. 157).

"Good English pronunciation does not mean using a British or American accent; if a teacher is Peruvian, a Peruvian accent is perfectly acceptable as long as the words are being pronounced correctly" (BusyTeacher.org)

Khai, T. (2017). Non-native teachers in second language teaching. Academia.edu. Retrieved 18 February 2017, from https://www.academia.edu/1919970/Non-native_teachers_in_second_language_teaching

Profesores extranjeros impartirán clases de inglés a soldados heridos en combate | 20141215

Peru commits to bilingualism with a new focus on English

Since this article was published (29/01/16), does the Ministry of Education (#MINEDU) truly remain committed to achieving national bilingualism by 2021? It is "vox populi" that the MINEDU has signed agreements with the UK and US government to train Peruvian teachers abroad and run ELT training schools in Peru. However, English teachers express continuing concern, why would they be trained in any foreign college or university to live and work for low salaries in Peru? As a result, on the whole, most of them still rely on traditional learning modes.

Here you are the article:

Peru commits to bilingualism with a new focus on English: Driven in part by its considerable mineral wealth, the Peruvian economy has seen strong growth in recent years, helping spur outbound student mobility as well as the country’s profile as an emerging sending market. We last reported on Peru in 2014 with a special focus on the University Act enacted that year. Today’s post takesContinue reading...

TESOL Summit 2017 Recorded Sessions

Did you miss the #TESOLsummit? Do not worry! All the recorded sessions from Summit 2017 on the Future of the TESOL Profession have now been posted. 

Just tune into this page Summit 2017

Interviews

Recorded interviews from the Summit on the Future of the TESOL Profession, Athens, Greece, 9-10 February 2017

Fortunately, I attended the Live stream for the TESOL 2017 Summit, asking questions and exchanging ideas in the Live-chat box with colleagues worldwide. I have witnessed at first hand the benefits of such fruitful discussion.

Congrats Dudley Reynolds and steering committee!

Just tune into this page Interviews

The Innovator’s Mindset (Chapter List) – The Innovator's Mindset MOOC.

"Change can be hard and sometimes seemingly insurmountable, but, if we believe that change is an opportunity to do something amazing, it shapes our thinking to not only survive, but thrive in our world today. As Superintendent John Carver would say, we are at a “printing press” time in history, and educators need to get into a mindset that we ask questions to move forward, and embrace these changes in front of us." (Couros, 2016)

Reflective question to be answered: "Why do you believe that schools needs to change, and what are the opportunities that lay in front of us?"

 #IMMOOC

The Innovator’s Mindset (Chapter List) – The Innovator's Mindset MOOC