Competency Based Teacher Education For English As A Foreign Language

Providing a series of chapters, written by teacher educators in three continents, this edited volume explores the concepts, challenges, possibilities, and implementations of competency-based instruction for developing English competencies in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts. Recent trends in education have emphasized the need to develop competencies that connect learning with real-life performances. This need has brought about a massive increase in the number of studies and scholarly works devoted to research into competency-based education. However, for teachers and learners of EFL, it is challenging to develop competencies for using a language that does not seem to connect with their real-life scenarios. The chapters apply the concept of competency-based instruction in different EFL contexts and are structured around three themes: Theory: current thoughts on theories of competency-based education Research: empirical research on competency-based teacher education Practice: integrating competency-based instruction into teacher education This book offers examples of competency-based EFL teacher education through both research and practical applications. In addition to the innovation in competency approaches, the inclusion of language learning in virtual environments offers a valuable resource for scholars, educators, researchers, and all those concerned with current and future education.

The field of Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) is mainly concerned with the professional preparation of L2 teachers. In order to improve teaching in the multilingual and multicultural classroom of the 21st century, both pre- and in-service L2 teachers as well as L2 teacher educators must be prepared to meet the new challenges of education under the current circumstances, expanding their roles and responsibilities so as to face the new complex realities of language instruction. This volume explores a number of key dimensions of EFL teacher education. The sixteen chapters discuss a wide variety of issues related to second language pedagogy and SLTE. Topics discussed include the importance of SLA research; competency-based teacher education approach; classroom-based action research; SLTE models; the value and role of practicum experience abroad; the models of pronunciation teaching; multicultural awareness and competence; the influence of teachers’ cognitions, emotions and attitudes on their emerging and changing professional identities; the potential of classroom materials and technology; and CLIL and ESP teacher education. English as a foreign language teacher education: Current perspectives and challenges will be of interest to teachers-in-training, teachers, teacher educators and to those educational researchers interested in how L2 teaching is actually learned in professional preparation programmes. Juan de Dios Martínez Agudo is Associate Professor of EFL Teacher Education at the University of Extremadura, Spain. His current research interests include Second Language Acquisition and English Teaching Methodology. His most recent books are Oral Communication in the EFL Classroom (2008), Errors in the Second Language Classroom: Corrective Feedback (2010) and Teaching and Learning English through Bilingual Education (2012).

By bringing together research, theory, and best practices from a variety of contexts (ESL/EFL, foreign language, bilingual and immersion education), this book contributes to building meaningful professional dialogue among second-language teacher educators.

This book contains many suggestions for practical work and discussion, and includes an extended case-study.

This book fills a critical gap in a neglected area in current educational research: international teacher education. It focuses on the preparation of teachers of English as an additional language (EAL) in several world regions. The book consists of chapters by researchers in well-established teacher education programs in 11 countries: Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Greece, New Zealand, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and the United States of America. It takes a cross-national, comparative approach around four major focus areas: policy, research, curriculum and practice, offering critical implications that can help improve EAL teacher education programs in different parts of the world. Teacher education is an area that has great potential for international cross-pollination of ideas and actions, and this book represents an important first step along this road.

This book provides a comparative perspective on foreign language teacher training in France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The training process of state secondary school foreign language teachers is considered from two perspectives for each country. The current training routes through which necessary teaching qualifications are obtained are described with respect to national policy for foreign language learning, the nature of providers, and training programme organization and contents, with details of any practice. These descriptive dimensions are accompanied by an evaluation of the degree to which the training fits the purpose of teaching foreign languages in state secondary schools. The descriptive and evaluative approaches to FL teacher training provide a novel overview of the current successes and challenges in the field, giving an understanding of terrains not easily accessible to the general English-language readership. The book highlights elements of good practice found across nations, and contributes to shedding light on the enduring mystery of why certain nations seem to be managing multilingualism better than others. As such, it provides a reference for interdisciplinary discussions between applied linguists, education researchers and practitioners, and policymakers.

'Language Teacher Education' is an introduction to language teacher training and development for teachers and providers in pre-service and in-service programmes. The text outlines the main theories of human learning and applies them to teacher education. Based on a broadly social constructivist perspective, it suggests a framework for planning pre-service and in-service programmes, and is illustrated both with case studies from a range of training situations around the world and appendices containing teacher education materials. Language Teacher Education is intended to inform readers' practical decisions and to help them build their own theories of teacher learning.