The diploma thesis focuses on teaching grammar in the context of in-company language courses. What needs to be taken into consideration are both the psychological aspects of adult learners and the sociological characteristics of a typical course participant, their position of a client which is connected to high expectations of the service provided - language tuition. The role of the teacher in an in-company course is much less authoritative than in a traditional course and teachers become rather partners or coaches for the learners. The pedagogical research conducted among 172 Czech in-company learners with the help of an electronic questionnaire shows that the main aim of in-company students is to be able to communicate efficiently in real-life situations from their private and working lives. It is the role of the teacher, or the coursebook author, to choose which grammar structures are necessary to succeed in the respective situations. Therefore, the most suitable method for teaching grammar in the context of in-company courses is the Engage, Study, Activate method combined with the eclectic method.

L'épilepsie du lobe temporal (ELT) est la forme la plus fréquente de l'épilepsie chez l'adulte. Elle se traduit par des crises spontanées et récurrentes, qui sont résistantes à tout traitement dans 90% des cas. Une agression initiale du cerveau (traumatisme crânien, méningite, convulsions fébriles etc.), est souvent à l'origine de la transformation d'un cerveau « sain » en cerveau épileptique. L'ensemble des processus responsables de cette transition s'appelle l'épileptogenèse. Pouvoir bloquer et/ou retarder l'épileptogenèse chez les patients à risque est une question de santé majeure. En plus des crises, l'ELT soulève d'autres questions. Elle est souvent associée à des déficits cognitifs, qui sont la conséquence de la réorganisation des circuits neuronaux. Ces déficits pourraient être traités de façon indépendante de l'épilepsie elle-même. Le projet de recherche de cette thèse s'inscrit dans ce cadre général. / Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) is the most common form of epilepsy in adults. It translates into spontaneous and recurrent seizures, which are resistant to any treatment in 90% of cases. An initial brain insult (head injury, meningitis, febrile seizures etc.), is often the cause of the transformation of a "healthy" brain into an epileptic one. The process responsible for this transition is called epileptogenesis. Blocking and/or delaying epileptogenesis in at-risk patients is a key issue for public health. In addition to the seizures, TLE raises other problems. It is often associated with cognitive deficits, which are the result of the reorganization of neuronal circuits. These deficits may be treated independently of epilepsy itself. The work presented here fits into this general framework.

In the 21st century, an interactive student-centred teaching and learning approach is a dominant approach in schools. As the interactive learning approach took dominance over the traditional teacher-centred teaching approach, reflective practice became a popular teaching and learning strategy in teacher education programmes globally. With the intention of improving the quality of education particularly educating practice-oriented teachers and students, many countries revised their teacher education programmes, with reflective practice taking centre stage. It initiated teachers’ creativity, critical thinking, teacher-student collaboration, and research in gathering data for changing classroom tradition. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how successfully teacher educators implemented reflective practice in educating reflective English Language Teacher (ELT) trainees in the Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching (PGDT) programme. Critical thinking, reflective practice, transformative learning, teacher’s efficacy and social constructivism theories underpinned this study. The participants were purposively selected from two types of institutes, the university and two secondary schools. Five ELT trainee teachers, three teacher educators were sampled from the university and two academic vice-principals were sampled from two secondary schools respectively. The research, framed in a qualitative case study, collected data using semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis. To critically analyse the differences and similarities among the data collected via different instruments from different participants, inter-case analysis was utilised. In analysing the teaching and learning practices, critical discourse analysis (CDA) contributed to answering the research questions which were informed by the main research question. CDA also enabled the researcher to examine the spoken and written words of the reports in detail according to the emerging themes, sub-themes and text content. The concept reflective practice in educating reflective trainee teachers is well endorsed in the curriculum. However, the practice at the university during the teaching of courses and during school-based practicum was compromised due to a number of factors linked to all stakeholders. However, in accordance with constructivist theory, the researcher was able to create new knowledge with the development of a proposed conceptual framework for reflective English Language Teacher (ELT) education in the PGDT programme. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Phil. (Education (Curriculum Studies))

Despite a growing body of research on trainee teachers’ learning during pre-service programs, intensive introductory TESL training courses are still designed to instruct a “standard” type of trainee teacher. This research study investigates the factors that mediate trainee teachers’ learning process as well as the interaction between these factors, which either facilitate and/or hinder trainee teachers’ success during an intensive introductory TESL training course. Using a qualitative holistic single-case study, informed by an interpretivist perspective, this study explores how three trainee teachers learned how to teach during a course in Southern Ontario, Canada. An integrated conceptual framework, formed by a sociocultural perspective of teacher learning, a holistic view of curriculum, and transformative pedagogy was employed and the findings include four major factors that mediated trainee teachers’ teacher learning process and three types of interaction that facilitated and/or hindered their success during the program.

Despite a growing body of research on trainee teachers’ learning during pre-service programs, intensive introductory TESL training courses are still designed to instruct a “standard” type of trainee teacher. This research study investigates the factors that mediate trainee teachers’ learning process as well as the interaction between these factors, which either facilitate and/or hinder trainee teachers’ success during an intensive introductory TESL training course. Using a qualitative holistic single-case study, informed by an interpretivist perspective, this study explores how three trainee teachers learned how to teach during a course in Southern Ontario, Canada. An integrated conceptual framework, formed by a sociocultural perspective of teacher learning, a holistic view of curriculum, and transformative pedagogy was employed and the findings include four major factors that mediated trainee teachers’ teacher learning process and three types of interaction that facilitated and/or hindered their success during the program.

This study explored the impact of the importation of expatriate English teachers on the morale of the Malaysian English teachers and attempted to identify the perceptions of Malaysian English teachers, expatriate native English-speaking teachers (NESTs), and expatriate nonnative English-speaking teachers (nonNESTs) regarding the practices that are prevalent in Malaysia in areas such as hiring, remuneration, and benefits. An initial questionnaire was completed by the participants to ensure that they fit the target demographic profiled. Then, a semi-structured interview was conducted as a follow-up to the participants' open-ended responses in the second part of the questionnaire. Completed questionnaires were gathered from ten participants, and two semi-structured interviews were conducted with an expatriate NEST and a Malaysian nonNEST respectively. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze responses to the seven-point Likert-scale statements. In addition, this study took a qualitative approach in analyzing the core themes of the responses in the semi-structured interview and the questionnaire. Examining individual survey items and interviews revealed that there is a large discrepancy in wages between NESTs and nonNESTs in Malaysia, and this contributes to the unhappiness and low morale of Malaysian English teachers. In addition, the presence of expatriate NESTs causes Malaysian nonNESTs to have low self-esteem as they compare themselves to their native counterparts. This study also revealed that participants felt that the importation of expatriate NESTs had no significant impact on improving the language proficiency of students. Owing to the perceived failure to deliver desired results, the majority of the participants agreed that hiring qualified and experienced English teachers (not on the basis of one's race or first language) is paramount in improving the language proficiency of Malaysian students. The analysis of the data collected resulted in recommendations for a more in-depth study of the impact of the importation of expatriate NESTs/nonNESTs to the morale of Malaysian nonNESTs and the improvement of the language proficiency of Malaysian students. Also, the contributing factors for the decline of the English proficiency of Malaysian students should be thoroughly evaluated so as to affect change.

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