Reflective.docx

1、ReflectiveReflectiveTeachinginEFL:IntegratingTheoryandPractice 作者：Santiago文章来源：其他网站点击数： 1451更新时间：2006-8-13 Introduction There is a tendency-at least within Spanish Universities-to separate linguistic theory from methodology in language teaching. Our understanding is that linguistic theoretical input

2、 should not systematically be taught independently of pedagogical considerations. Instead, it may be very beneficial to integrate linguistic theory within the practical methodological framework in which language teachers become involved in their professional careers. This is specially the case in ap

3、plied linguistics where both discourse and genre analysis (Swales, 1990; Fairclough, 1992; Bhatia, 1993) represent an important tool for linguists in their efforts to comprehend the variation of language across different types of texts.Our aim is to overcome some of the problems based on the existin

4、g gap between theoretical input and pedagogical teacher training. We agree with Lewis when he states:Many non-natives have spent many years studying the language but their theoretical studies-philology, phonetics, linguistics and the like-are frequently not related to pedagogy and the classroom. Ext

5、ensive theoretical knowledge which precedes classroom experience often remains too abstract for teachers to see its relevance? (1993, p. 189)In order to overcome this gap, we are devising a graduate program for English Language Teachers at Universitat Jaume I, Castell (Spain), placing a special emph

6、asis on making these prospective EFL/ESL language teachers aware of the relevance of applied linguistics research tools in the development of syllabuses and course design. This awareness is raised by means of a thorough reflective process on language teaching and its implications. The relevance of t

7、his reflective approach has been attested by a series of studies (Bartlett, 1990; Korthagen, 1993; Hatton & Smith, 1995; James, 1996; Farrell, 1999). -1-The sample courses in this graduate program, as presented in this paper, are based on previous investigations in the area of genre and discourse an

8、alysis in Business English, EAP/ESP and ESL by our linguistics research group financed by Bancaixa, a Spanish private banking institution which mainly operates on the Mediterranean coast (Posteguillo, 1996; Fortanet, Palmer & Posteguillo, 1997).Universitat Jaume IUniversitat Jaume I is a new educati

9、onal institution founded in 1991. The University is divided in three main schools and one institute: the School of Social Sciences, the School of Law and Economics, the School of Experimental Sciences, and the Tile Industry Institute.There are 19 degrees offered at Universitat Jaume I. The School of

10、 Social Sciences offers courses on Psychology, Humanities, Translation and Interpretation, and English Philology, as well as four different degrees on Primary Education Teaching. The School of Law and Economics offers Law Studies, Business Studies, Business Administration and Management, Public Mana

11、gement and Labour Relations. Finally, the School of Experimental Sciences comprises the degrees in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Technical Engineering in Computer Science Management, Computer Science Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Technical Engineering in Industrial Design. The Tile Ind

12、ustry Institute remains as a research-oriented institution in coordination with the School of Experimental Sciences and most tile-related companies in the Castell area.A significant and unique feature in all the degrees above-mentioned is that English is a compulsory subject. This is not only becaau

13、se English is an international language for research in most academic disciplines, but also because of the particular need of English language skills within the Castell industrial community. In fact, 90% of the Spanish tile-related industry is concentrated in a fairly small area (of about 300,000 in

14、habitants). This is a export-oriented industry for which English language is an essential tool. Additionally, this is a very important tourist area on the Spanish Mediterranean Coast. Previous research (Palmer & Posteguillo, 1996) indicates that among 59 companies interviewed, 54 confirmed that they

15、 used English language daily. Additionally, data showed that English was the foreign language most frequently used among these companies (with 58.6% of the total usage of foreign languages), followed by French (24.5%), Italian (10.2%), and German (6.3%).The orange industry, furniture firms, and even

16、 some oil companies (viz. British Petroleum) complete an export-based society. When our University was founded, it was agreed that all students should acquire at least an intermediate level of English proficiency and, in some degrees (e.g., business, computer science, and teaching, among others) an

17、advanced proficiency level in English. This social demand that our University agreed to satisfy transmitted a growing interest and need for English language teachers to other co-lateral teaching institutions. Those co-lateral institutions were primary and secondary public schools, private schools an

18、d other teaching centres, such as the Official School of Languages, private language academies, the Chamber of Commerce, and several other centres. -2-This situation, in turn, made us take heed when designing the curriculum of our own English Philology degree, which represents the main teacher-train

19、ing centre. The four-year English Philology curriculum was in fact revised, and several new courses included, all of which focused specifically on developing language teacher skills.However, after a few years with some of our students involved in their teaching professions, and some even attending g

20、raduate courses within our own university, we noticed that our objective of integrating the language teaching courses in a previously linguistic and literature-oriented degree had not been fully satisfactory. There was a gap between linguistic theory and language teacher education, and it was our ai

21、m to find a solution.The gap between linguistic theory and language teacher education This gap is clearly detected at the undergraduate level at most Spanish universities. For instance, if we revise the English Studies curriculum offered at our University, a substantial gap appears between our lingu

22、istic theory courses on the one hand, and courses on language teaching skills on the other. In other words, theoretical linguistic input is systematically taught separately from practical methodology in language teaching. Accordingly, undergraduate students finish their English studies with the idea

23、 that language teaching and linguistics have nothing in common. The curriculum for any four-year English degree at a Spanish university usually provides three main types of courses: those dealing with literature written in English, studies on linguistics, or language teaching classes. At Universitat

24、 Jaume I at Castell this situation is reproduced with all courses falling into these three main categories. Thus, we find the first group of courses focusing on English literature studies, with two subcategories: courses on literature itself, and courses on literary criticism. Those belonging to the

25、 first subcategory are: English Literature I, II, III and IV, Introduction to American Literature, American Literature I and II and, finally, Other Literatures in English Language I and II. In relation to literary criticism, students may take Stylistics in English Literature I and II.Theoretical Lin

26、guistics, the second main category of courses offered in an English degree at Spanish universities, is represented by a large variety of subjects: Introduction to Linguistics, English Lexicology, Theoretical Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Applied Linguistics, Dialectology, Sociolinguistics, Comput

27、ational Linguistics, Diachronic Linguistics, and Theory of Speech Acts. Courses in Language Teacher Education are represented by the following subjects: Teaching English for Specific Purposes I and II, Methodology I and II, and Teaching Skills for the Language Classroom. -3- Besides the gap between

28、theoretical linguistics courses and those focused on language teaching skills, there is also a quite unbalanced situation regarding the academic load that each of these types of courses occupy in the curriculum: there are ten courses on linguistics, and only five devoted to language teaching; litera

29、ture does not suffer from this discrimination, with eleven specific courses being taught. Integration of source disciplines to language teacher training: a reflective processAs indicated above, our aim is the integration of theoretical linguistics courses with those in methodology and language teach

30、er training. We believe that the way to achieve this integration is through the key concept of reflection. Bartlett (1990, p. 204) states:Improvement of teaching may be achieved through reflection. Reflection is more than thinking and focuses on the day-to-day classroom teaching of the individual te

31、acher as well as the institutional structures in which teacher and students work.In Bartletts opinion, this process of reflection should be aimed at becoming a critically reflective teacher. In order to do this, teachers have to transcend the methodological stage and become immersed in the wider con

32、text of actual teaching. He distinguishes between how to questions and what/why questions. How to questions would be those directly related to the methodological concerns of teaching, whereas what/why questions extend the reflective process to include issues such as the following:What counts as know

33、ledge in second language teaching ? 蒥How is what counts as knowledge transmitted ? 蒥What kind of multicultural society or cultural system uses this knowledge legitimately ? 蒥 What is the nature of knowledge that guides my teaching of content ? (Bartlett, 1990, p. 206)Bartlett does suggest that teachers shou