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The problem this study addresses is the continuing ineffective teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) despite the popularity of in-service (INSET) programmes. As a means of situational analysis, ethnographic approaches were used to investigate the INSET participants in the four-year degree programme at the University of Botswana. Responses to one inventory containing second language teaching activities showed that the activities respondents know to characterize ESL classrooms do not facilitate much verbal teacher-pupil/pupil-pupil interaction. Responses to another inventory containing idealised course content showed evidence of needs the preparation programme was ignoring. This confirmed one of two study hypotheses that: there are specific second language teaching needs being ignored by preparation programmes for primary school language teachers. Document analysis verified the assumptions about what classroom English Language Teaching (ELT) was expected to achieve. However, lesson observation revealed that the products of the programme still taught and perceived English as a mental exercise, with the following results: the lessons were complicated, uninspiring, unenjoyable, restrictive, and ineffective. Questionnaire and interview results confirmed the second study hypothesis that: the confidence of non-native English-speaking teachers (non-NESTs) with regard to competence in English, which affects the effectiveness and efficiency of their teaching, is low. As a solution a model specifying the essential programme components for preparing ELT specialists in the primary school is proposed. The proposed model is however not prescriptive and the proposed content is neither exhaustive nor limiting, but only broadly suggestive of the content of each instructional component. It is hoped that the product of the proposed model will become not only a well-educated person in the arts but also a highly proficient and self-confident person in ELT. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Second/international language (L2) education contexts are increasingly recognized as fertile ground for the learning about “otherness”, teaching a new linguistic code and another way of seeing the world. This study contrasts how culture teaching beliefs and visions develop among new secondary school international language teachers in curriculum/methodology classes in two distinct teacher preparation programs. Using a comparative, multi-case study approach with a mixed methods design, this research uses complementary data sources including three repeated questionnaires, individual, focus group interviews and classroom observations to examine changes in culture teaching beliefs/visions. The research was informed by a sociocultural perspective in teacher education, a proposed model of teacher education impact and current thinking in culture and intercultural learning including Byram’s (1997) framework of intercultural communicative competence and post-modernist definitions of culture. Comparisons between the teacher educators involved show that culture teaching practices are strongly situated in historically embedded paradigms, contextual constraints of learning environments and framed by practitioners’ culture teaching beliefs. Findings indicate that teacher candidates’ culture teaching beliefs and visions evolve on individual pathways, depend on reflection, and are firmly rooted in previous beliefs about culture and L2 learning. Teacher education practices in these programs prompted both a facilitative and tempering effect on teacher candidate culture teaching beliefs and visions. Enthusiasm and curiosity about culture teaching increased and some teacher candidates saw culture teaching having perspective-changing benefits. Alternatively, many teacher candidates began to see increased complexity with culture teaching leading to insecurity about culture teaching knowledge and cultural credibility. Teacher candidates cited increased awareness of curricular and time constraints, concerns with stereotypes, the daunting breadth of culture and a lack of culture teaching models. Teachers with the most teaching and “living away” experience exhibited more culture teaching familiarity. Despite a brief appearance of some intercultural approaches, an instructivist approach working with the material dimension of the target culture dominated teachers’ culture teaching visions. Implications include rethinking the structure of L2 teacher preparation programs to provide more critical, ethnorelative reflection on culture, teacher identity, and to situate and operationalize culture teaching in teacher beliefs and experiences.

Second/international language (L2) education contexts are increasingly recognized as fertile ground for the learning about “otherness”, teaching a new linguistic code and another way of seeing the world. This study contrasts how culture teaching beliefs and visions develop among new secondary school international language teachers in curriculum/methodology classes in two distinct teacher preparation programs. Using a comparative, multi-case study approach with a mixed methods design, this research uses complementary data sources including three repeated questionnaires, individual, focus group interviews and classroom observations to examine changes in culture teaching beliefs/visions. The research was informed by a sociocultural perspective in teacher education, a proposed model of teacher education impact and current thinking in culture and intercultural learning including Byram’s (1997) framework of intercultural communicative competence and post-modernist definitions of culture. Comparisons between the teacher educators involved show that culture teaching practices are strongly situated in historically embedded paradigms, contextual constraints of learning environments and framed by practitioners’ culture teaching beliefs. Findings indicate that teacher candidates’ culture teaching beliefs and visions evolve on individual pathways, depend on reflection, and are firmly rooted in previous beliefs about culture and L2 learning. Teacher education practices in these programs prompted both a facilitative and tempering effect on teacher candidate culture teaching beliefs and visions. Enthusiasm and curiosity about culture teaching increased and some teacher candidates saw culture teaching having perspective-changing benefits. Alternatively, many teacher candidates began to see increased complexity with culture teaching leading to insecurity about culture teaching knowledge and cultural credibility. Teacher candidates cited increased awareness of curricular and time constraints, concerns with stereotypes, the daunting breadth of culture and a lack of culture teaching models. Teachers with the most teaching and “living away” experience exhibited more culture teaching familiarity. Despite a brief appearance of some intercultural approaches, an instructivist approach working with the material dimension of the target culture dominated teachers’ culture teaching visions. Implications include rethinking the structure of L2 teacher preparation programs to provide more critical, ethnorelative reflection on culture, teacher identity, and to situate and operationalize culture teaching in teacher beliefs and experiences.

The problem this study addresses is the continuing ineffective teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) despite the popularity of in-service (INSET) programmes. As a means of situational analysis, ethnographic approaches were used to investigate the INSET participants in the four-year degree programme at the University of Botswana. Responses to one inventory containing second language teaching activities showed that the activities respondents know to characterize ESL classrooms do not facilitate much verbal teacher-pupil/pupil-pupil interaction. Responses to another inventory containing idealised course content showed evidence of needs the preparation programme was ignoring. This confirmed one of two study hypotheses that: there are specific second language teaching needs being ignored by preparation programmes for primary school language teachers. Document analysis verified the assumptions about what classroom English Language Teaching (ELT) was expected to achieve. However, lesson observation revealed that the products of the programme still taught and perceived English as a mental exercise, with the following results: the lessons were complicated, uninspiring, unenjoyable, restrictive, and ineffective. Questionnaire and interview results confirmed the second study hypothesis that: the confidence of non-native English-speaking teachers (non-NESTs) with regard to competence in English, which affects the effectiveness and efficiency of their teaching, is low. As a solution a model specifying the essential programme components for preparing ELT specialists in the primary school is proposed. The proposed model is however not prescriptive and the proposed content is neither exhaustive nor limiting, but only broadly suggestive of the content of each instructional component. It is hoped that the product of the proposed model will become not only a well-educated person in the arts but also a highly proficient and self-confident person in ELT. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work is linked to the group that develops research on subjective aspects of foreign language teaching and learning process at the Instituto de Letras e Linguística of a Federal University. Its main objective is to investigate cognitions, conceptions and points of view about the role and relevance of research for in-service English language teachers and for professors / researchers working with language teachers` education. The term cognitions , according to Borg (2003) refers to non-observable aspects of the cognitive dimension: what the teachers know, believe and think. Thus, the development of the research starts from the following questions: (a) What are the cognitions of regular public school foreign language teachers` about research developed by professors working with language teachers` education? (b) What are the cognitions of professors working with language teachers` education, about research developed in/about the regular school context? To which extent do participants` cognitions converge / diverge? Q Methodology research approach, which makes use of PQMethod 2.11 software, was used. Focal group and semi-structured interviews were used, as secondary data gathering tools, for raising a wide range of participants` points o view and subsequent composition of a semi-structured Q sample of statements. These represent the participants` cognitions about the role and contributions of research on the process of teaching and learning foreign language. The subjects distributed statements along a continuum in a scale ranging from Totally agree (+5) to Totally disagree (-5), and the results of the Q Distribution were analysed with PQMethod 2.11 software. From further qualitative and interpretive analysis, the factors, or groups, that emerged from the fator analysis were defined, characterized and interpreted. These groups of participants share similar points of view about research on the teaching and learning process. The following aspects stand out among the emerging results: the relationship between theory and practice, Applied Linguistics contributions to foreign language teachers` Education, foreign language reflective practice, teachers and professors` cognitions about the relevance of research to practice; and the (re)construction of teacher knowledge in Applied Linguistics research. I believe that, through the development of awareness of roles and critical stance of practices, the results of this research may bring contributions to foreign language teachers at regular public schools as well as to professors working with language teachers` education. / Este trabalho está vinculado ao Grupo de Pesquisas sobre Aspectos subjetivos do processo de ensino e aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras, do Instituto de Letras e Linguística da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. O objetivo principal é investigar as cognições, concepções e pontos de vista sobre pesquisa, sobre o papel e relevância destas, para professores e formadores da área de ensino e aprendizagem de Língua Estrangeira (LE). É meu interesse investigar as cognições de professores-em-serviço e professores formadores sobres os estudos na área de ensino e aprendizagem de língua estrangeira. O termo cognição, na definição de Borg (2003) refere-se a aspectos da dimensão cognitiva não observável: o que os professores sabem, acreditam e pensam. Assim, o desenvolvimento da pesquisa se dá a partir dos seguintes questionamentos: (a) Quais são as cognições dos professores de LE de escolas regulares sobre pesquisas realizadas pelos professores formadores? (b) Quais são as cognições de professores formadores de LE em relação às pesquisas realizadas no/sobre contexto de escolas regulares? (c) Em que ponto as cognições dos participantes convergem/divergem? Como abordagem de pesquisa utilizei a Metodologia Q, que utiliza o programa PQMethod 2.11. Por meio do grupo focal e entrevistas semi-estruturadas, usados como instrumentos de coleta secundários, foi feito o levantamento de uma gama de pontos de vista dos participantes para a posterior composição de uma Amostra Q semi-estruturada de assertivas. Estas representam as cognições dos participantes sobre o papel e as contribuições das pesquisas sobre o processo de ensinar e aprender língua estrangeira. Os participantes distribuíram as assertivas ao longo de um contínuo em uma escala de concordo totalmente (+5) e discordo totalmente (-5) e os resultados obtidos pela distribuição Q foram analisados no pacote estatístico PQMethod 2.11. A partir da posterior análise qualitativa e interpretativista, os grupos que emergiram da análise fatorial foram definidos, caracterizados e interpretados. Após o levantamento dos resultados, surgiram fatores a serem analisados e interpretados, ou seja, grupos de participantes que compartilham do mesmo ponto de vista sobre as pesquisas do processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Dentre os aspectos emergentes desta pesquisa destacaram-se: a relação teoria e prática; contribuições da LA para a formação de professores; a prática reflexiva de LE; relação universidade-escola; cognições de professores sobre a relevância das pesquisas em LA para a prática e sobre os formadores e a (re)construção do saber docente na pesquisa em LA. Acredito que os resultados desta pesquisa podem trazer contribuições para professores e formadores, tendo em vista que a partir da conscientização e postura crítica perante suas práticas poderão, juntos compreender seus papeis e orientar suas ações. / Mestre em Linguística