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International Journal of Language Academy
The ‘3rd Çukurova International ELT Teacher Conference’ themed around “Reshaping Teaching and Learning English for the 21st Century” was held from 20 to 21 April 2017 in Çukurova University in Adana. About 150 academics and practitioners from all over the world participated in the conference’s deliberations and shared their research and teaching experiences. The conference was aimed at increasing collaboration between English language teachers and practitioners to improve the quality of teaching and learning English in Turkey. This issue of the IJLA comprises selected papers presented at the conference and is dedicated to pedagogical best practices in English language teaching (ELT) and in teaching in the English language. All the articles have a common aim, the enhancement of the learning and teaching of English, in order to provide learners with better opportunities for their futures.
The articles dealing with the teaching of English as a foreign language cover a wide variety of topics ranging from the positive effects of increased reading, student learning strategies, the role of the teacher to learner motivation. The first article in this thematic group found that increased reading in English had positive effects on students’ comprehension, but no significant effects on reading fluency. Other articles aimed at informing ELT best practices dealt with learner strategies and how English teachers need to provide overt guidance and training in learning strategies to students, in order for them to feel less anxious in their productive use of English. The theme of learner motivation was also researched from the aspect of the integrative – instrumental perspective, which showed that where English is used as the medium of instruction, differences in the intensity of instrumental motivation can be found between different academic disciplines. Motivation was also an important aspect of what form of student assessment teachers use in the ELT classroom.
Other studies related to the teaching of English reflect some of the current issues in ELT today; namely, the importance of teaching English for the globalised world we now live in and the importance of role of the teacher in presenting not only language, but also culture. The pedagogical need to teach English for a globalised world was reflected in the article which discussed the need to enhance learners’ pragmatic competence, as well as their grammatical and communicative competence. Linked to bringing ELT practices into the modern world was an article which focused on the benefits of ‘mobile assisted language learning’ (MALL), in which students are guided how best to use their mobile phones to improve their language skills.
The focus on training non-native teachers of English was covered in a number of articles and underpinning most of these was the importance of ‘teachers’ beliefs’. Teachers’ beliefs are a major influencing factor in many areas of education (see Windschitl and Sahl 2002 and Borg, 2003). One study showed how student feedback is beneficial in helping teachers to constantly review and revise their beliefs and thereby their teaching practices. Another study compared experienced with novice teachers and demonstrated that there was a difference in their perceptions of self-efficacy when it came to class management and that this will have an impact on their students’ achievement levels.
The importance of the qualities and skills of the teacher in the language classroom was further developed linking yet another highly topical issue in ELT today, ‘the role, benefits, drawbacks etc. of non-native teachers of English’. This issue is of extreme importance today in the era of globalisation and the emergence of ‘Englishes’, and the debate surrounding what kind of English learners need to have today. Two studies into Turkish, trainee teachers of English looked at the English language proficiency of the trainees, focusing on (1) metalinguistic knowledge and metacognitive awareness as well as (2) reading skills, and investigated the impact these two areas had on the trainees’ anxiety levels in using English in their chosen professional fields.
Today the English language is increasingly becoming the language of instruction. Governments and institutions are realising that non-English speaking citizens are disadvantaged in today’s globalised world and a number of articles address this theme. One study examines the English vocabulary size of trainee teachers of English and asks if this could be a way of predicting academic success, while another article addresses the shift from learning/teaching English as a foreign language to the new role of English as a lingua franca and/or the language of instruction. This last article sets out clearly the problems that such a shift is bringing to countries who may lie in the ‘extending circle’ (see Kachru 1992) discussing not only the pedagogical consequences, but also the cultural and political implications of such a change.
The growth of English as a medium of instruction in all levels of education and in a wide range of disciplines in the world today is causing seismic shifts in the way English is learnt and taught. The place of English in the world, its loss of native ownership (see Widdowson 1994), the existence of Englishes, all point to a need to re-address issues of English language learning and teaching in order to keep up with this new order. The contributions in this volume provide timely answers to the key issues such a change is bringing.
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