Salah Troudi

VALUES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

VALUES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING. Bill Johnston . Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2003. Pp. xiii + 171.

Hard Times: Arab TESOL Students' Experiences of Racialization and Othering in the United Kingdom

45.00 cloth,

Teachers’ feelings during curriculum change in the United Arab Emirates: opening Pandora’s box

24.50 paper. In a world marred by political instability, social inequality, and ethnic and cultural intolerance, Johnstons book comes as a strong reminder that teaching is not a neutral act. The theoretical framework behind the seven chapters of the book is the centrality of morality and values in English language teaching (ELT).

Critical content and cultural knowledge for teachers of english to speakers of other languages

■ This article reports the findings of a small-scale study into the significance of racialization to five male Muslim Saudi Arab learners in a TESOL graduate programme at a university in the United Kingdom. By racialization we mean the ways in which the idea of race might contribute to an experience of Othering (Kubota, 2001, 2004; Palfreyman, 2005) for these learners. A particular interest was how far and in what ways recent political events involving Arabs and Muslims, as well as an increasingly racialized discourse of Islamophobia in the UK media and wider society, had affected their experiences in this learning community. In recent years a considerable body of literature has stressed a need to acknowledge that TESOL classrooms are embedded in and thereby

The Discourse of Global English and its Representation in the Saudi Context: A Postmodernist Critical Perspective

This paper reports partial findings of a qualitative interpretive study of female secondary school English language teachers’ perceptions of curriculum change in the United Arab Emirates. The sample consisted of 16 female teachers in three secondary schools who had experience teaching the former and the current English language curricula. Data collection methods included repeated recorded face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews, member‐checking group interviews and document reviews. Interpretation of the data revealed that participants had contradictory affective reactions to curriculum change since they approved of some aspects of change but were disturbed by other aspects. Their feelings evolved with time to become more positive as they became more familiar with the new curriculum. A considerable number of the participants had low morale as they perceived their role in curriculum change as marginal, inferior and passive. Many teachers felt they did not have a voice due to issues of hierarchy and control. The study recommends giving a voice to teachers in curriculum change by involving them in curriculum development processes to eliminate negative psychological effects such as marginalisation and powerlessness.

Teacher Evaluation: What Counts as an Effective Teacher?

Abstract There is an ongoing debate in the area of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) about what should constitute the knowledge base of language teachers. This article offers an analysis of the major opposing views in the debate and suggests an alternative critical approach to language teacher knowledge. While recognising various types of teacher knowledge, the author focuses on two types: content and cultural knowledge. The author argues that content knowledge should be informed by critical pedagogy and that cultural knowledge needs to include more than mere factual information about ways of life in other countries. Cultural knowledge needs to be informed by a deep sense of commitment on the part of the TESOL teacher to understanding his/her students’ social and cultural contexts and how these shape their approach to learning and attitudes to English as a second or foreign language.

English Education Policy in Tunisia, Issues of Language Policy in Post-revolution Tunisia

Drawing on a postmodern critical inquiry, this chapter attempts to relate aspects of English language education to broader sociopolitical issues in Saudi Arabia. It examines the global spread of English and its role in shaping English language education policy and practice in public education and reports on findings obtained from a group of Saudi English language teaching (ELT) teachers and students. A qualitative approach has been adopted, in which two methods of data collection are used: documentary analysis and semistructured interviews.The study carries a moral and ethical dimension as it aims to empower the participants, both students and teachers, and to open up the practice of English language education to new possibilities. Through problematizing practices, the study seeks to prompt participants to rethink basic notions about the phenomenon of global English by “estranging” the familiar.

EFL Teacher Evaluation: A Theoretical Perspective

The issues of teacher evaluation and teacher professional development have always been at the centre of policymakers and administrators’ attention. As a multidimensional phenomenon, teacher evaluation research has closely been intertwined with other concepts and notions such as teacher effectiveness that tends to serve as an important element in teacher evaluation systems. However, whereas there is a wealth of research on effective teaching in mainstream education, research studies in EFL/ESL contexts and particularly in higher education are rather sparse. Drawing upon the findings of a recent exploratory study, this chapter reports on Iranian EFL lecturers’ perceptions of the qualities and characteristics of an effective second/foreign language (L2) teacher. The statistical and thematic analyses of the data led to the emergence of five major categories each of which included a number of subcategories. Building on the existing frameworks in the literature, a newly modified model of effective teaching based on teachers’ personal (behavioural), cognitive, and metacognitive qualities as well as pedagogical, and professional skills is proposed. The analysis of the subcategories provided some new insights into areas the main stakeholders need to address such as policymakers, administrators, and teachers.

TEACHING WORLD LANGUAGES FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: A SOURCEBOOK OF PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES , Terry A. Osborn

Since 1994, various policies and guidelines, pertaining to modifying the language policy in Tunisia have been disseminated. All of these policies highlighted the importance of English as a global language. Despite all these policies and guidelines, the English language is still experiencing problems within schools and society alike. These problems prevent the language from developing and functioning accurately in the country. The actual requirements of English language learning are still not integrated into the general considerations of the political agenda.

Mary and Her Teachers: A Grebo‐Speaking Child's Place in the Mainstream Classroom

In this chapter, we theoretically tackle the issue of evaluating English language teachers in educational institutions. In some parts of the world and out of all structural elements in institutes of education, teachers seem to receive the least amount of support and/or opportunities to assess their proficiency or to evaluate their teaching skills. Where teachers’ performance evaluation does receive sufficient attention, cases sometimes can be expected where educators might be unaware of the latest up-to-date information concerning the methods that are utilized or the purposes behind the evaluation systems in their context and any policies related to it. The objectives of this chapter are to review and contribute to the current debates on the purposes and methods of evaluating language teachers’ performance.