Earticle

As demand for ongoing teacher professional development grows, interest in peer coaching through teacher observations has been on the rise. One hindrance to the successful implementation of peer coaching has been teachers’ general lack of ability to analyze their peers’ lessons and provide useful feedback. We implemented an online peer-coaching program for five Korean primary school English teachers, aiming to better understand the nature of the teachers’ abilities to observe, analyze, and exchange feedback in order to enhance their self-reflection and mutual learning. We found that, in peer coaching, teachers need to (a) engage in internal dialogues using their own knowledge and experience to interpret their peers’ behaviors and intentions (which we refer to as intradialogues) and then (b) verbalize their intradialogues, in the process dynamically modifying and negotiating the content with others (referred to as interdialogues). A qualitative examination of both types of dialogues over a 4- month period revealed the abilities necessary for effective peer coaching. Such abilities, which we call dialogic competence, comprise attitudinal elements and actional elements.

Following the postmethod pedagogy, the spotlight has turned to language teachers, and how their beliefs, experiences, and knowledge have been valued, because it is the teacher who knows both her learners and her classroom contexts best, and can also fulfill the postmethod promises. However, how can the field of language teaching cultivate language teachers who can have their own contextualized praxis? As such, the present study aims at taking deeper steps into the critical teacher education territory. The present researchers firmly believe that critical language teacher education is increasingly important to the success of individual language teachers. Therefore, as a possible contribution to the field of TESOL, this study may provide some insights into the preparation of much-needed critical language teachers by providing them with various types of opportunities informed by a Freirean critical pedagogy perspective.

As task-based language teaching (TBLT) has grown in popularity in many Asian EFL countries, it has sometimes been the target of criticism from locally situated researchers and teachers, who question its appropriateness for such contexts (Burrows, 2008), often in contrast to more traditional methods, such as the “presentation, practice, production” (PPP) approach (Sato 2009). Partially in response to this criticism, the Task Based Language Learning Special Interest Group (TBLSIG) of the Japanese Association for Language Teachers was formed in 2010 in order to contribute to research into the implementation of TBLT in Japanese and Asian EFL classrooms. As the majority of TBLSIG members are teachers, presently interested in using TBLT in classrooms, they provide an ideal source of insight into how the approach can be implemented effectively in Japan, and by extension, in other similar EFL countries in Asia. This study investigated these teachers’ beliefs about TBLT in Japanese classrooms through an online survey. The aim of the study was to add to existing research on teacher beliefs by not only investigating teachers’ understanding of the principles of TBLT, but also by enquiring into what special considerations practicing teachers have made when implementing TBLT in Japanese classrooms.

This study aims to examine a metacognitive instruction model conducted in the English as Foreign Language (EFL) classroom and to examine the impact of metacognitive instruction (MI) on students’ metacognition, self-efficacy, interaction strategies, and oral communication (OC) by using structural equation modeling (SEM). To examine these impacts, t-tests, a higher-order confirmatory factor analysis, latent variable path analyses, and multi-group comparison analyses were conducted. The participants in this study were Japanese sophomores. They attended an OC course where MI was conducted for three months. They were guided to develop their metacognitive knowledge and self-regulatory strategies regarding OC. The participants’ pre- and post-questionnaire answers and their pre- and post-OC test grades were analyzed using SEM. Results indicated that after the intervention the path from strategy use to OC scores was significant. Moreover, two causal relationships were also strengthened: (a) between metacognition and strategy use and (b) between metacognition and self-efficacy. Furthermore, between the pre-group and the post-group, a significantly different path was found: metacognition → self-efficacy. Taken together, these findings suggest that activated metacognition can lead to more effective learning.

This quasi-longitudinal study explored changes in motivation and attitudes of Korean high school English learners from 2002 to 2010. A total of 1,471 students completed the same questionnaire in 2002 (364 students), 2006 (673), and 2010 (434). Nine motivational factors were observed over the years: instrumental, extrinsic, intrinsic, cultural-exchange, heuristic, international posture, selfdevelopment, competitive, and amusement motivation. Among the factors, competitive motivation was increasingly influential in the students’ EFL learning, and demonstrated a significant, positive correlation in 2006 and 2010. On the other hand, despite the globalization of English, the role of international posture became less dominant for Korean high school students. The overall explanatory power of motivational/attitudinal factors for proficiency gradually decreased over the years. Based on the findings, it is suggested that English teachers help EFL learners reflect on their personal meanings of learning English instead of excessively focusing on competition with peers.