Reflective Writing For Language Teachers

Reflective Writing for Language Teachers explores the impact of regular writing as a reflective tool for teachers of English as a second language, other language teachers, and classroom English or language arts teachers.

Offering a unique, data-led, evidence-based approach to reflective practice in English language teaching, this book brings together theory, research and practice in an accessible way to demonstrate what reflective practice looks like and how it is undertaken in a range of contexts. Readers learn how to do and to research reflective practice in their own settings. Through the use of data, dialogue and appropriate tools, the authors show how reflective practice can be used as an ongoing teaching tool that supports professional self-development.

This Element examines the concept of reflective practice in language teaching. It includes a brief description of what reflective practice is and how it is operationalized by two of its main protagonists, John Dewey and Donald Schön, as well as some of the limitations of their conceptions. This is used as an introduction to how the author further developed their conceptions when operationalizing reflective practice for language teachers through a five-stage framework for reflecting on practice for language teachers. The author then presents an in-depth case study of the reflections of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher working in Costa Rica as he moved through the five stages of the framework for reflecting on practice. The author then goes on to outline and discuss how reflective practice may be moved forward and calls attention to the importance of emotions in the process of reflection for language teachers.

George Hillocks, Jr. starts with the basic assumption that writing is at the heart of education, and provides a metatheory to respond to this question: "What is involved in the effective teaching of writing at the secondary and college freshmen levels?" The author outlines a variety of theories, explains the bridges between them, and provides a coherent theoretical basis for thinking about the teaching of writing. This concern with theory and research is offset by his attention to the practical matters of the classroom; teachers are shown how to plan activities and sequences of activities that are appropriate for students who are within Vygotsky's "zone of proximal development".

The concept of reflective practice has proliferated over the last few decades in many professions such as medicine, law, business and education. Within the field of education reflective practice has become a very popular concept within teacher education and development programs and perhaps its main appeal according to Loughran (2000: 33) is that it 'rings true for most people as something useful' to practice. Indeed as McLaughlin (1999:9) has remarked, 'Who would want to champion the unreflective practitioner?' The general consensus is that teachers who are encouraged to engage in reflective practice can gain new insight of their practice. There have been similar developments in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) where the allure of reflective practice seems to have also been embraced as an important educational paradigm that should be supported in teacher education and development programs. This book is the first in a new series consisting of several practical oriented books that introduce cutting-edge research and practical applications of that research related to reflective practice in language education. Written by the series editor, it acts an introduction to the series and outlines and discusses the concept of reflective practice in general, the various models and approaches to reflective practice and gives guidance on cultivating reflective practice.

The need for ongoing teacher development has been a recurring theme in the field of TESOL in recent years. Not everything a language teacher needs to know can be provided at the pre-service level, and the knowledge base of teaching is constantly changing. Based on cutting-edge research illustrated through case studies, this book outlines strategies for professional development through reflective practice in the language classroom. Accessible and comprehensive, the book presupposes no prior knowledge of linguistics or language teaching, and each chapter includes reflective discussion questions to help the reader apply the strategies and procedures discussed. This book will be invaluable to postgraduate students of TESOL and applied linguistics, and in-service language teachers.

Reflective Practice in ESL Teacher Development Groups discusses the concept of reflective practice in ESL teachers using data from a 3-year collaborative partnership in which three ESL teachers in Canada explored their professional development through reflective practice.

Reflective Language Teaching: Practical Applications for TESOL Teachers is an extensively revised and updated second edition of the popular and accessible text Reflective Language Teaching: From Research to Practice originally published in 2008. This fully up-to-date second edition includes: - an expanded preface - updated case studies and new cases throughout that deal with new developments in language teaching and reflective practice - fully updated citations - three brand new chapters, on online reflective practice and teaching young learners, and a new final chapter on developing a 'culture of reflection' As in the first edition, this book outlines strategies for professional development through reflective practice in the language classroom. Accessible and comprehensive, the book presupposes no prior knowledge of linguistics or language teaching, and each chapter includes reflective discussion questions to help the reader apply the strategies and procedures discussed.