The origin and impact of an ESL teacher’s beliefs on curriculum design

Shieh, Jin‐Jy; Reynolds, Barry Lee

doi:10.1080/02188791.2020.1832043

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The present study revealed five major themes, derived from 15 subthemes, regarding the pre-service pre-primary teachers' beliefs about teaching EFL to young learners in Macau. Generally, many previously documented beliefs themes were identified (Calderhead, 1996 ; Borg, 2003 , 2006 ; Zheng, 2009 ; Shieh and Reynolds, 2020 ). Importantly, the findings also showed several beliefs subthemes that were not previously documented in the literature by pre-service pre-primary teachers such as epistemological beliefs informed by educational literature, beliefs about generalizability/transferability of research findings, and beliefs about research engagement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-service Teachers Learning to Teach English as a Foreign Language to Preschool Learners in Macau: A Longitudinal Study

Reynolds

Liu

Ha³

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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Language teacher beliefs have received increasing research attention for the past few decades. However, little is known about the beliefs of pre-service teachers in the pre-primary English as a foreign language (EFL) education context. This qualitative case study extends this line of inquiry by investigating the trajectory of student teachers' beliefs about teaching English to pre-primary learners in Macau within a teacher education course. The participants included 60 pre-service teachers taking an English Language Activities course in their third year of a 4-year Bachelor of pre-primary education program. The data comprised written reflections collected at three points in time during the 16-week course: at the beginning of the course, mid-way through the course, and at the end of the course. The findings showed five broad themes, constituted from 15 subthemes, regarding (1) learners and learning, (2) teaching, (3) subject, (4) self, and (5) learning to teach. The major themes have been documented in the literature, but several subthemes were identified for the first time in the context of pre-primary EFL teacher education. More importantly, the findings revealed that some of the subthemes were newly shaped and several subthemes were reshaped as a consequence of taking the course. The findings were interpreted in relation to the content of the course, the experiential learning opportunities, the pre-service teachers' prior experiences of language learning and teaching, and the local language teaching and learning context. Implications for pre-service teacher education programs are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-service Teachers Learning to Teach English as a Foreign Language to Preschool Learners in Macau: A Longitudinal Study

Reynolds

Liu

Ha³

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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“…Recent studies have explored the relationship between curriculum development and language teacher professional identity. For example, Shieh and Reynolds's (2020) case study showed that while teachers may perceived themselves as agentive professionals, they may recognise that their personal experiences as postgraduate students can enhance their understanding of curriculum development. In a similar study, Zhu and Shu (2017) examined how a teacher's engagement with curriculum development was boosted through the mediation of teacher cognition and situated practices.…”

Section: Curriculum and Language Teacher Professional Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Four spheres of student-teachers’ professional identity formation through learning about curriculum development

Banegas

2022

Journal of Education for Teaching

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Teachers' professional identity is multifaceted and fluctuating, and while it is formally developed during initial teacher preparation, it is influenced by experiences before and beyond teaching programmes. The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which a module on language curriculum development may influence the professional identity formation of international and UK student-teachers enrolled in a master's programme in teaching English to speakers of other languages at a UK university. The study was carried out with 30 student-teachers in 2021, and data were collected from an ecological perspective as data sets came from the regular module delivery. Findings show that the student-teachers articulated four spheres of professional identity. Located in the past, the language learner identity helped them reflect on good practices. Their present studentteacher identity was characterised by their acknowledgement of language education as a research-informed area. Drawing on these two spheres, they displayed two future spheres of professional identity: teacher identity and curriculum developer identity. The latter demonstrates that the module not only enabled the participants to imagine a new career path but also helped them reflect on their anticipatory agency and self-efficacy.

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“…Currently, the pre-primary education program the pre-service teachers were enrolled in only contains a single 1.5 credit hour course that teaches about English language education. As teacher educators and teacher education training have the most influence on teachers' beliefs (Shieh & Reynolds, 2021), early childhood education programs in the Macau SAR and similar areas may need to consider increasing the number of credit hours devoted to language education.…”

Section: Beliefs About Learning To Teachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impact of English language teachers’ previous L2 learning experiences on their beliefs and classroom practice has been investigated in a large body of research, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s (Borg, 2006). Language teachers’ beliefs about language learning can shape their instructional practices and influence learners’ experiences (Altan, 2012; Johnson, 1994; Mardali et al, 2019; Shieh & Reynolds, 2021). These beliefs often come from teachers’ experiences as language learners, as well as their educational background (Pusparini et al, 2021).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Pre-service Pre-primary EFL Teacher Beliefs about Teaching English to Very Young Learners: A Macau Case Study

et al. 2021

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Research on the beliefs of pre-service and in-service English teachers at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels has provided useful knowledge to teacher education curriculum designers. However, the beliefs of pre-service pre-primary English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers have not been addressed. Thus, a case study was conducted in one pre-primary education program at a public university in the Macau Special Administrative Region of China. Data was collected by providing participants ( N = 63) a writing prompt aimed at gathering their beliefs about the teaching and learning of English in the pre-primary context. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze these written reflection reports of third-year pre-service pre-primary English teachers with the aim of uncovering their beliefs about teaching and learning EFL. Results showed the participants held beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, pedagogical knowledge, teaching, content, goals of language teaching, the role of teaching, subject, schooling, hearsay, self, learning to teach, and the teacher education program. Most participants mentioned their beliefs about classroom practice, EFL learners and learning, and pedagogical knowledge, while very few participants wrote about self, learning to teach, or the teacher education program. While many of the beliefs held by the participants were found to be substantiated by early childhood education research, some unfounded beliefs were also uncovered. The results highlighted a need for curriculum designers to reconsider the education program’s ability to meet the needs of the pre-service teachers. Participants required additional training in English content knowledge, use as a medium of instruction, and pronunciation. The polarized view of teaching the mother tongue and EFL should be reconsidered in light of the current views on bilingualism and bilingual education.

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The origin and impact of an ESL teacher’s beliefs on curriculum design

Cited by 12 publications

References 31 publications

Pre-service Teachers Learning to Teach English as a Foreign Language to Preschool Learners in Macau: A Longitudinal Study

Pre-service Teachers Learning to Teach English as a Foreign Language to Preschool Learners in Macau: A Longitudinal Study

Four spheres of student-teachers’ professional identity formation through learning about curriculum development

Exploring Pre-service Pre-primary EFL Teacher Beliefs about Teaching English to Very Young Learners: A Macau Case Study

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