5.2 Conclusion
5.2.4 Suggestions for Future Research
The study investigated English teachers‟ teaching cognition and practices in the remedial program. The results provide insights into factors influencing teachers‟
decision-making in their teaching practice.
First, since the study only collected data in the second semester of an academic year, the two teachers‟ cognition in the first semester were undetected during the data collection period. It is unknown how the two teachers‟ cognition had changed when more teaching experiences were accumulated. Longitudinal studies were suggested to be conducted to observe the possible cognitive changes of experienced and novice teachers and explore factors attributing to the changes.
Second, since this study recruit both English teachers with diverse teaching educational backgrounds; recruiting participants with similar professional training can gain more understanding about the interplay between the teacher cognition and
teacher professional training. Future research may find it significant to include
experienced and novice teachers who receiving similar professional teacher training in the remedial program.
Third, because this study only focused on the remedial program held by a private institution, future research may conduct remedial programs in private and public school systems to investigate how different remedial contexts may influence teacher cognition and practices.
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APPENDICES Appendix A
Consent Form for Teachers
Dear Teachers,
As you know, I am a graduate student majoring in TESOL in National Chung Tung University. As a graduate student and English teacher of aboriginal students, I have the opportunity to get more understanding of their situation. Thus, I have come up with a research question that I would like to know how English teachers relate to their students in their classroom practice such as the prior learning and teaching experiences, professional backgrounds, contextual factors and so forth. I, sincerely, invited you to take part in my study and I would like to describe this study to you in detail. I hope that you will be interested in working with me on this study.
There are three parts to my research: the classroom observations, the semi-structured interviews, and the document collections.
1. The classroom observation:
It will be proceeded once a week from March/ April to June in order to understand how the English teachers interact with their students and the classroom practice.
2. The interview:
It will be conducted about three times to obtain the English teachers‟ interpretations of their own classroom practices. If you agree, I would like to audio-tape the
interview so that I will be able to examine your comments later.
3. The document collection:
Documents including handouts, worksheets, and other teaching materials will be gathered as supplementary materials for analysis.
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In this study, you may be worried that something you write or say may be used against you or misunderstood. So, I will never use your own name and all the information I collect is for the academic purpose. I will protect your privacy. In addition, you can leave the study at any time if you feel uncomfortable. I believe that you will find this study interesting and enjoying. If you want to know the result, I will provide it for you at the end of the study. If you have any problems or questions, please contact me.
Contact information
Student: Shu-Hua Shih (石淑華) Email: rosakraft@pchome.com.tw Phone: 0910671898
Advisor: Ching-Fen Chang (張靜芬) Email: cfchang@mail.nctu.edu.tw
Sincerely,
SHU-HUA SHIH
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Participant‟s consent
I have read the information provided in this Informed Consent Form. In addition, I understand that I can leave the study at any time. I agree to take part in this study.
Your name___________________________
Your signature ________________________ Date _________________
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Appendix B
Interview Questions for Formal Interview 1
A. Biographical information 1. Name:
2. Gender:
3. Nationality:
4. Date of birth:
5. Place of birth:
6. Educational background:
7. Job:
B. Language background
1. What is your mother tongue (native language)?
2. Did you study any foreign languages?
3. When, how and where did you learn the foreign languages?
4. What do you recall about these lessons?
a. What kinds of methods were used?
b. Do you recall whether you enjoyed such lessons or not?
5. Did you feel that your own education as a student has had any influence on the way you teach today?
C. The profession and development as a teacher 1. How and why did you become an EFL teacher?
a. Do you have any teaching experiences before teaching in Chu Tung (竹東)?
b. If yes, what was the subject and to whom?
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c. Were these particularly positive or negative?
d. What kinds of teaching methods and materials did you use?
2. Can you talk about your formal teacher training experiences? (for TESOL one) 3. How long have you taught in Chu Tung?
4. Can you talk about the overall teaching experience in Chu Tung?
5. Did you feel that your previous teaching experiences have had any influence on the way you teach in Chu Tung?
6. What are your motivations / reasons of being an English teacher of aboriginal students?
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Appendix C
Interview Questions for Formal Interview 2
A. Teacher’s perspective on language itself
1. Do you consider it important to learn English? Why or why not?
2. What does language (English) mean to you?
3. Do you think it is important to speak English with native-like pronunciation?
4. In your opinion, what are the most important aspects of learning English?
(pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, interests)
B. Teacher’s perspective on language learning 1. What are the best ways to learn a language?
2. In your opinion, what are the most important aspects of learning English for your students? (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, interests)
3. How would you motivate your students‟ interests in learning English?
4. What kind of attitude students hold do you prefer?
5. How do you identity students‟ learning problems?
C. Teacher’s perspective on language teaching
1. Based on your knowledge or learning experience, what is good language teaching?
2. What are the most important aspects of teaching?
(language learning, classroom management, student‟s affective domain) 3. In your opinion, what are the most important aspects of teaching English?
(pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, interests) 4. How do you see your role in the classroom?
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5. How do you design your lesson plan before class?
6. How do you design your worksheet? Do you have any rationale when designing it?
7. How do you deal with students with different textbook versions in the class?
8. How do your deal with students with different language proficiency in your classroom?
9. What teaching methods do you implement in your classroom?
10. How would you improve your teaching techniques?
11. How do you assess student‟s learning?
12. What is your approach to classroom management?
D. Teacher’s perspective on the teaching context
1. How do you see the administrator‟s role in the classroom?
2. How do you interact with the administrator?
3. How do you interact with students‟ parents?
Do you think that students‟ background (identity, family, school) would influence your teaching instruction? Do you modify your teaching to meet students‟ needs?
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Appendix D
Interview Questions for Formal Interview 3
A. Reflections on teaching
1. What do you feel the most satisfying aspect of teaching EFL is, and what is the hardest part of the job?
2. What do you feel your strengths as an EFL teacher are, and your weaknesses?
3. Can you describe one particularly good experience you have had as an EFL teacher, and one particularly bad one? What is your idea of a “successful” lesson?
4. Do you have any preferences in terms of the types of students you like to teach?
What about the students? Do they generally have any preferences about the kind of work they like to do in their lessons?
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Appendix E
Interview Questions for Student Interview
A. Teacher instruction:
1. 老師教的你聽的懂嗎?
2. 你喜歡老師上課幫你準備的講義嗎? 為什麼?
3. 你喜歡這個老師的上課方式嗎?
4. 老師說話(上課講解)你聽的懂嗎?
5. 在你心目中，你覺得什麼樣子才是好的老師呢？
B. Classroom atmosphere 1. 你最喜歡這堂課的那個部份?
2. 你最不喜歡這堂課的那個部份?
3. 你最喜歡這個老師的哪個部分?
4. 你最不喜歡這個老師的哪個部分?
C. Learning outcome
1. 你對來這邊上課學英文的期望是什麼?
2. 你覺得這堂課對你的英文有什麼幫助呢? (學校功課的完成或考試) 3. 你想要從這堂課中學到什麼呢?
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Appendix F
Coding Categories and Examples for Themes
Themes Sub- categories
Examples Schooling Past learning
backgrounds
Ron - “In England, I had many opportunities to practice English and absorbed myself into that context. Natural environment for language learning was very important.”
(Formal Interview 1, May 3rd, 2010)
Olivia - “My English class in high school was full of grammar and vocabulary.”
(Formal Interview 2, June 3rd, 2010) Past teaching
experiences
Ron – “In my first class, I assumed that junior high school students at least had basic English abilities […..] Since then, I realized that they knew little about English [……] I found that aboriginal students would not sit down quietly in your classroom, not to mention paying attention to your class.”
(Formal Interview 2, June 7th, 2010)
Olivia – “In the elementary school, students would like to open their mouth and speak English loudly; however, in the junior high school, the teenagers were reluctant to repeat English words and sentences after me.”
(Formal Interview 1, April 15th, 2010) Professional
coursework
Professional coursework
Olivia – “I could not combine the theories and practices together. Although I learnt these before, it did not mean that you could apply theories into your teaching instructions.” (Formal Interview 3, June 24th, 2010)
Ron – “Before class, Ron discussed with the administrator about students‟ tuition and reference books for the next semester.”
(Field Notes, June 14th, 2010)
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Olivia –“Before teaching in the remedial program, the administrator, who was my supervisor during the program, and I had already built a relationship.
(Formal Interview 2, June 3rd, 2010) Interactions
with the administrator
Ron – “……If I had any problems about students‟
learning conditions, the administrator could provide me more information about the students.
It was helpful for me to solve students‟ problems.”
(Formal Interview 3, July 1st, 2010) Olivia – “ I benefited a lot from the
administrator‟s assistance. For example, she often shared students‟ learning conditions to me and gave me some suggestions to deal with students‟
problems in class. ”
(Formal Interview 2, June 3rd, 2010) Interactions
with colleagues
Ron – “I found that most teachers in the remedial program were not familiar with their work and students‟ problems. Sometimes teachers were like students‟ friends, and sometimes they were like teachers. Because of the confusing roles, students were too casual in class.” (Formal Interview 3, July 1st, 2010)
Olivia – “I benefited a lot from the sharing.
During the meeting, most teachers said that their class was very noisy and students could not pay attention to the teaching. Also, teachers shared some teaching methods which could draw students‟ attentions.”
(Informal Interview, May 19th, 2010) Teachers‟
personalities
Teachers‟
personalities
Ron – “Students all knew that I was so strict that they did not dare to speak and lose attention in my class.” (Formal Interview 2, June 7th, 2010) Olivia – “I was a kind and gentle person. I hardly lost my temper. Scolding students was not my style.” (Formal Interview 2, June 3rd, 2010)
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Appendix G
Ron’s Vocabulary Instruction
(When teaching the new word, free, he provides three meanings to students and asks them to translation Chinese sentences into English.)
Free
a. without restrictions or controls
b. if you are free, you have no work and nothing else that you must to do c. not costing any money
1. 我不能作我想作的 (I am not free to do what I want to do.) 2. 每個人都可以唱歌(有自由唱歌) (Everyone is free to sing.) 3. 你今晚有空一起吃晚餐嗎? (Are you free tonight for dinner?) 4. 六歲以下的小孩子可以免費觀賞這部電影
(Children under six can watch this movie for free.)
R: The meaning of free in your textbook is “without restrictions or controls.” But if one person is free, it means that you have the free time to do what you want to do.
How about “for free”? If something is for free, it does not mean that it is without restrictions. It means that people do not need to pay for it.
(Classroom Observation, April 26th, 2010)
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Appendix H
Ron’s Similar Grammatical Concepts
(When teaching negative patterns, Ron puts affirmative sentences, interrogative sentences, and negative sentences together.)
Verb Affirmative sentences Interrogative sentences Negative sentences BE (subject + BE verb +
other) He is a boy.
(BE verb + subject + other)
Is he a boy?
(subject + BE verb + not + other)
He is not a boy.
others (subject + verb + other)
(Auxiliary + subject + verb + other)
(Subject + auxiliary + verb + other) You read a book.
He reads a book.
Do you read a book?
Does he read a book?
You do not read a book.
He does not read a book.
(Classroom Observation, April 12, 2010)
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Appendix I
Olivia’s Sentence Structure Presentation
(The worksheet of the grammatical rule, too/either)
There are five words for “too”, _______/_______/_______/_______/
and _______.
(1) too/either
_______ is for too; _______ is for either
Both two can be used in the end of the sentence with a comma.
Ex: too (too in Chinese) He is a student,
and
I am (a student)
,
too.(Chinese translation) Susan collected stamps,
Her sister did/ collected stamps
,
too.My brother can dance,
My sister can
,
too. _____________________________________________________________
If the previous sentence uses be verb, the following sentence also uses be verb. If the previous sentence uses verb, the following use ____________________.
(Classroom Observation, April 21st, 2010)
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Appendix J
Olivia Used Chinese as medium
(Teaching the sentence structure, too…to…)
T: 第一個句型是主詞加 be 動詞，接著 too…to 的句型，後面接的是原形動 詞。現在請你把答案填進去。
(The first sentence structure is that “Subject + be verb + too +_______+ to + bare verb” Please fill in the adjective in the blank.)
T: 第二個句型和上一個一樣，也是主詞加 be 動詞，接著 too…to 的句型，
T: 第二個句型和上一個一樣，也是主詞加 be 動詞，接著 too…to 的句型，