Gary Barkhuizen

Evaluating rater responses to an online training program for L2 writing assessment

The use of online rater self-training is growing in popularity and has obvious practical benefits, facilitating access to training materials and rating samples and allowing raters to reorient themselves to the rating scale and self monitor their behaviour at their own convenience. However there has thus far been little research into rater attitudes to training via this modality and its effectiveness in enhancing levels of inter- and intra-rater agreement. The current study explores these issues in relation to an analytically-scored academic writing task designed to diagnose undergraduates’ English learning needs. 8 ESL raters scored a number of pre-rated benchmark writing samples online and received immediate feedback in the form of a discrepancy score indicating the gap between their own rating of the various categories of the rating scale and the official ratings assigned to the benchmark writing samples. A batch of writing samples was rated twice (before and after participating in the online training) by each rater and Multifaceted Rasch analyses were used to compare levels of rater agreement and rater bias (on each analytic rating category). Raters’ views regarding the effectiveness of the training were also canvassed. While findings revealed limited overall gains in reliability, there was considerable individual variation in receptiveness to the training input. The paper concludes with suggestions for refining the online training program and for further research into factors influencing rater responsiveness.

Second language identity in narratives of study abroad

1. Introduction: Narrative, Second Language Identity and Study Abroad PART I: SECOND LANGUAGE IDENTITY AND STUDY ABROAD 2. Second Language Identity 3. Study Abroad PART II: DIMENSIONS OF SECOND LANGUAGE IDENTITY 4. Identity-Related Second Language Competence 5. Linguistic Self-Concept 6. Second Language-Mediated Personal Competence PART III: PROGRAMMES AND PEOPLE 7. Programmes 8. People 9. Improving the Effectiveness of Study Abroad Programmes 10. Conclusion: Second Language Identity and Study Abroad Revisited

‘Nowadays, teachers are relatively obedient’: Understanding primary school English teachers’ conceptions of and drives for research in China:

Research engagement has been widely considered crucial in transforming teachers into ‘expert knowers about their students and classrooms’ (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999, p. 16). This article reports on a mixed-method study of the research engagement of a group of primary school teachers in China’s Guangdong province, focusing particularly on their conceptions of teacher research and the contextual factors driving them to do research. The study revealed that the majority of these teachers opted for the type of research involving experimental use of particular teaching methods or approaches in their classrooms with the intention of improving their teaching and their students’ learning. While sharing research findings through publication is an integral part of academic research, these teachers did not place much emphasis on writing for publication, although they reported alternative forms of research dissemination. The study also revealed that research has been promoted through a top-down performance review process for schools and teachers, which has research activity and outcomes structured into it. This mechanism may be effective in promoting research activity among schools and teachers, but it is far less effective in actually supporting teachers’ research efforts. We conclude that further research on primary school English teachers’ research experiences is needed in order to provide relevant and useful knowledge to teacher educators and policymakers on the Chinese mainland, making research a sustainable path to professional excellence for teachers.

Narrative inquiry in language teaching and learning research

Part I: Narrative Inquiry. Chapter 1: Narrative Inquiry. Part II: Collecting narrative data. Chapter 2: Narrative interviews. Chapter 3: Written narratives. Chapter 4: Multimedia narratives. Part III: Analyzing and presenting narrative data. Chapter 5: Data analysis in Narrative Inquiry. Chapter 6: Writing up narrative studies.

Immigrant Parents' Perceptions of Their Children's Language Practices: Afrikaans Speakers Living in New Zealand.

This paper reports on a study which investigated the language-related experiences of Afrikaans-speaking South African immigrants living in New Zealand. In-depth narrative interviews with 14 parents of children aged 18 and under were conducted in various geographical locations across New Zealand. The focus was on their perceptions of their children’s changing language practices. The primary aim of the study is not so much to account for the children’s linguistic changes, as it is to present their parents’ awareness of those changes and their emotional responses to what they observe. The data were the stories generated during the interviews. A content analysis of these shows that the parents in this study are deeply aware of the linguistic changes taking place in their children. They are also aware of what is going on linguistically within their own families and homes. Children, as members of these domains, are shifting to English and most, especially the younger ones, are experiencing Afrikaans loss (attrition), notwithstanding the strategies employed by parents to decelerate the process. Parents’ emotional responses to this situation are often conflicting, but they generally feel that any gains outweigh the losses.

Language-in-education policy: students' perceptions of the status and role of Xhosa and English

Abstract The promotion of multilingualism and the advancement of African languages in South Africas education system are the two main threads running through language-in-education policy proposals and statements. This policy is manifest in decisions about which languages to include in the school curriculum and which languages to use as languages of learning and teaching (LOLT). This article reports on a study which examined these issues, paying particular attention to the relative role and status of Xhosa and English, from the perspective of high school students studying Xhosa as a first language and English as a second language. The findings show that the students have a preference for English as the LOLT and for life after school but the position of Xhosa as LOLT and school subject is less clear. Implications for teachers and language-in-education planners are considered and it is suggested that research of a more qualitative nature further explore these issues.

English in the prison services: a case of breaking the law?

In this paper we report on an investigation into the use of English in a prison in the Eastern Cape Province, run by the Department of Correctional Services (CS) five years after the declaration of an official multilingual policy. The investigation consisted of a range of interviews and observations in this institution, aimed at establishing the extent to which the national language policy is actually being implemented on the ground. Findings suggest that the use of English predominates in the high, official domains, that there is a marked avoidance of Afrikaans, and that Xhosa, the main language of the Eastern Cape Province, increasingly occupies the lower, unofficial domains. Tensions between policy and practice are discussed, and it is argued that the CS has shown that pragmatism is a much stronger force than ideology. While the roles of Xhosa and Afrikaans appear to be in the process of reversing in the Grahamstown prison, English has emerged as stronger there than it has ever been before. And because it will continue to be a necessary prerequisite for the mobility and promotion of staff in the country as a whole, and the lingua franca for an increasingly mobile criminal population (which means the prisons are likely to become increasingly linguistically diverse, rather than settling into regional patterns), everyone will have to have some proficiency in English, which, ironically, will promote and strengthen it even more.

‘It is two-way traffic’: teachers' tensions in the implementation of the Kenyan language-in-education policy

This article reports on an ethnographic study which investigated the implementation of the Kenyan language-in-education policy in a school in rural Western Kenya. The study reveals the complexity of policy implementation in a multilingual and multiethnic context where language shift and civil unrest are occurring, and where there is pressure to move learners to Kiswahili and English despite the policys support for mother tongue (MT) education in the early grades. In such a setting teachers are caught in the middle of conflicting aspirations and are left having to balance their ideals for language teaching with the complex reality of their teaching context. In order to manage the tensions which arise in this situation, teachers employ classroom practices such as code-switching and choral teaching, and endeavour to move learners as quickly as possible from the MT, in this case Sabaot, to the languages of wider communication. Included in the article is a conceptual framework which illustrates the most significant areas of tension for Sabaot teachers. This framework could serve as a guide for other groups to identify potential tensions in the fact-finding stage of language planning.

Research engagement and educational decentralisation: problematising primary school English teachers’ research experiences in China

Teachers are encouraged to enhance professional competence through reflective practice and they are also asked to undertake research to generate evidence for their professional practices. This paper reports on an inquiry into a group of primary school English language teachers’ research engagement in the province of Guangdong on the Chinese mainland. The inquiry explored the effect of educational reforms on the participants’ research engagement through the use of an open‐ended questionnaire and group interviews. The inquiry revealed that research engagement had become an important part of the teachers’ professional lives. Emerging findings from the inquiry also problematised their research engagement as it was found to have been undermined by a competitive promotion mechanism, the teachers’ conceptualisations of research and challenges in the knowledge dissemination process. The paper ends with reflections on how to make teacher research “educational” for teachers and serve as an effective way for professional development.

Editorial: Researching language teacher education

the field of teacher education is a relatively underexplored one in both second and foreign language teaching. The literature on teacher education in language teaching is slight compared with the literature on issues such as methods and techniques for classroom teaching. Few of the articles published in the last twenty years [i.e. the 1970s and 1980s] are data-based, and most consist of anecdotal wish lists of what is best for the teacher.