Simon Borg

Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do

This paper reviews a selection of research from the field of foreign and second language teaching into what is referred to here as teacher cognition ‐ what teachers think, know, and believe and the relationships of these mental constructs to what teachers do in the language teaching classroom. Within a framework suggested by more general mainstream educational research on teacher cognition, language teacher cognition is here discussed with reference to three main themes: (1) cognition and prior language learning experience, (2) cognition and teacher education, and (3) cognition and classroom practice. In addition, the findings of studies into two specific curricular areas in language teaching which have been examined by teacher cognition − grammar teaching and literacy ‐ are discussed. This review indicates that, while the study of teacher cognition has established itself on the research agenda in the field of language teaching and provided valuable insight into the mental lives of language teachers, ac learsense of unity is lacking in the work and there are several major issues in language teaching which have yet to be explored from the perspective of teacher cognition.

The distinctive characteristics of foreign language teachers

This paper aims to extend our understanding of what it means to be a language teacher by examining ways in which language teachers are seen to be different to teachers of other subjects. Language teachers’ distinctiveness was defined by over 200 practising and prospective language teachers from a range of contexts, and the analysis also included the opinions of specialists in mathematics, history, science and chemistry on the extent to which characteristics claimed to be distinctive of language teachers applied to these other subjects. The findings of the study suggest that language teachers are seen to be distinctive in terms of the nature of the subject, the content of teaching, the teaching methodology, teacher-learner relationships, and contrasts between native and non-native speakers. The study also raises methodological and conceptual issues of relevance to further research into this area. Key amongst these are the need to define language teachers’ distinctive characteristics with reference to specific contexts rather than globally, the importance of comparisons between insider views on such distinctiveness and those from outside language teaching, and the value of comparative studies of actual classroom practices of language teaching and other subjects.

Language teacher research engagement

The aim of this review is to provide a critical analysis of language teacher research engagement. The term ‘research engagement’ here covers both engagement in teacher research (i.e. by doing it) as well as engagement with research (i.e. by reading and using it). Research engagement is commonly recommended to language teachers as a potentially productive form of professional development and a source of improved professional practice; empirical accounts of teachers’ practices and experiences in doing teacher research and reading research, and of the benefits that accrue to them from such activities are, however, limited and diffuse. This review examines the available evidence on research engagement in language teaching and discusses this in relation to the educational literature more broadly. The analysis presented here highlights both the benefits and the challenges that are associated with teacher research engagement, and sheds light on why teacher research remains largely a minority activity in the field of language teaching. It also illustrates the complex relationship between research knowledge and what teachers do, and considers the implications of this relationship for the contribution that reading research can make to teachers’ professional activities. The paper concludes by outlining a number of conditions which facilitate teachers’ attempts to engage both in and with research. An awareness of these conditions is fundamental to the success of initiatives which aim to promote language teacher research engagement.

STUDYING TEACHER COGNITION IN SECOND LANGUAGE GRAMMAR TEACHING

Abstract Although formal instruction in second language (L2) teaching has been extensively researched in the last 20 years, this work tells us little about the actual processes of grammar teaching as these are perceived by teachers. At the same time, educational research has shown that much can be learned about the nature of instruction through the study of teacher cognition—the store of beliefs, knowledge, assumptions, theories, and attitudes about all aspects of their work which teachers hold and which have a powerful impact on teachers’ classroom practices. Studies of teacher cognition have also begun to appear in the field of L2 teaching in recent years, yet formal instruction, inexplicably, has received little attention. This paper makes a case for research on teacher cognition in grammar teaching. Such research, which focuses on understanding how teachers approach formal instruction, and why, can tell us much about the nature of grammar teaching as teachers perceive it, information which can be put to effective use in teacher education and development programmes.

The research journal: a tool for promoting and understanding researcher development:

Forms of reflective writing such as diaries and journals are widely acknowledged as important tools in promoting both the development and the understanding of teachers. However, little attention has been awarded to the role these forms of writing can play in the development and understanding of researchers. In this paper I draw on my own experience of keeping a research journal during a study of language teaching to illustrate the significant contribution journal writing can make to deepening researchers’ understanding of all facets of the research processes. I also argue that such journals can provide other researchers with illuminating insight into the research process. Given these benefits to both writers and readers of research journals, I claim that the issue of reflective writing by researchers in language teaching merits much more discussion that it has been awarded to date.

‘We teach plastic lessons to please them’: The influence of supervision on the practice of English language student teachers in Kenya

This article analyses the process of supervision by teacher educators and its influence on English language student teachers during a practicum in Kenya. The student teachers were enrolled in a four-year Bachelor of Education course for teaching English at secondary school level. Drawing on the perspectives of teacher educators, co-operating teachers and student teachers, this analysis suggests that supervision was brief and un-coordinated and that the feedback student teachers received was mainly evaluative, directive and focused on general, rather than subject-specific pedagogy. Student teachers’ concerns during the practicum were related largely to pleasing their supervisors and obtaining a pass mark, and this limited the extent to which student teachers developed the pedagogical reasoning that is considered to be the main goal of teaching practice by both the Kenya government and current literature in the field of language teacher education (LTE). This study has implications for the conduct of teaching practice on pre-service language teacher education courses in Kenya and more generally.

Task-based learning and teaching in China: Secondary school teachers’ beliefs and practices

While much has been written about task-based language teaching (TBLT), research examining teachers’ understandings of what TBLT means remains limited. This article explores the understandings of TBLT of three Chinese secondary school teachers of English and the implementation of TBLT in their lessons. Narrative accounts were constructed for each teacher using observational data from two lessons and two semi-structured interviews. These accounts illustrate how each teacher implemented the curriculum as well as the cognitive and contextual factors that shaped their decisions with specific reference to the use of tasks. One key finding is that TBLT was defined in a narrow manner and was strongly associated with communicative activities, especially oral work involving pair and group work. The study also shows that the two more experienced teachers introduced a stronger formal element of grammar into their lessons than recommended by the curriculum; and while all three teachers highlighted the challenges for them in using tasks (e.g. due to large classes), the youngest of the three displayed most commitment to the principles in the curriculum. The qualitative accounts we present here are empirically instructive in the way they extend our understandings of how teachers respond to innovative curricula and specifically to TBLT; these accounts also have concrete practical value: they are a source of material that can be used in teacher education contexts to encourage teachers to reflect on their own beliefs and practices in relation to TBLT.

Language awareness as methodology: Implications for teachers and teacher training

Abstract This paper focuses on language awareness (LA) as a methodology in foreign language teaching and analyses its implications for teachers and teacher training. An outline of the characteristics of LA as methodology, derived from the work of Wright & Bolitho (1993), is first given, and the demands which this methodology makes on language teachers is then discussed. It is shown that LA as methodology presumes not only linguistic awareness on the part of teachers, but also an understanding of the learning and teaching processes this methodology promotes. The implications of these demands for LA‐oriented teacher training are then addressed in terms of appropriate training content and training methodology. It is argued that training content needs to be educationally, rather than linguistically, oriented, and that a reflexive training methodology is an effective means of developing in teachers the kinds of awareness LA as methodology presumes. A sample activity is provided to illustrate this approach to L...

Teacher Cognition in Language Teaching

Although it is of course possible to consider language teacher cognition without the focus of attention being on expertise, it is the case that the study of cognition represents an important part of language teacher expertise research. This chapter concentrates on cognition. It is an extract from a review article written by Simon Borg, entitled Teacher cognition in language teaching: a review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. It appeared in Language Teaching (Vol. 36, 81–109), and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the author and the publisher, Cambridge University Press. The original article is a lengthy and comprehensive survey of work done in the field of language teacher cognition. The section appearing here deals with one central field: cognition and classroom practice, and it includes a particularly relevant sub-section dealing with cognition and experience. The section is prefaced by a discussion taken from an earlier part of Borg’s article in which he represents a conceptualisation of teaching indicating the role cognition plays within it. This is shown in his Figure 9.1. In the extract which follows, square brackets — [ ] — enclose small changes in the original wording made by the editor to render the extracted text coherent. When portions of the original text have been omitted, this is signalled thus: […].

Development in the practical knowledge of language teachers: a comparative study of three teachers designing and using communicative tasks on an in-service BA TESOL programme in the Middle East

Current thinking in language teacher education emphasises the importance of the development of teachers’ practical knowledge. However, while several studies have focused on describing practical knowledge in different contexts, there has been less research conducted into the manner in which practical knowledge develops in the context of in-service teacher education and into the factors that influence such development. These issues are addressed in this paper, which explores how three teachers of English on an in-service BA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages programme in the Middle East grew in practical knowledge, specifically with regard to the design and use of communicative tasks. Using qualitative data, the article charts their development over 3 years, examining changes in their ideas and practices. Implications for in-service language teacher education are discussed.