Newly qualified L3 teachers: (Pedagogical) content knowledge and curricular intentions
Author(s):
Eva Thue Vold (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2015
Network:
10. Teacher Education Research
Format:
Poster

Session Information

10 SES 05.5 PS, General Poster Session

General Poster Session

Time:
2015-09-09
12:30-14:00
Room:
Poster Area
Chair:

Contribution

Aim and rationale

The aim of this study is to investigate how newly qualified foreign language (L3) teachers perceive the relevance of the content of their university language teacher education programs in relation to the academic demands they meet in their professional practice as L3 teachers in secondary schools. We know from previous research that there is often a mismatch between curricular intentions and pedagogical practices, and that teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge are contextual factors that may hamper the implementation of curricular intentions (Orafi & Borg 2009:251; Roussi 2012). For foreign language teachers, content knowledge includes communicative skills in the target language (Freeman, Orzulak & Morrisey, 2009).

The aim of teacher education is to enable students to work as professional teachers in everyday school life (see Evans, 2008). This means that teacher education programs must offer students the relevant content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge as well as knowledge about learning, about the school’s role in society etc. Although there is an extensive amount of research on teacher education in general, no study to our knowledge, has so far systematically investigated the relation between the content taught in language teacher education programs on the one hand and the challenges language teachers meet in the classroom on the other. The present study is conducted in a Norwegian setting – a country which recently has experienced a considerable growth in integrated teacher education programs. In these programs, there are, ideally, close connections between subject studies, pedagogical studies and practice. It is therefore time to explore how the content taught in higher education aligns with the requirements of school subject curricula.

More specifically, this study is to answer the following research questions:

-          To what extent do newly qualified language teachers feel that they have the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge they need in their daily work as professional language teachers?

-          What areas of subject matter do they consider the most challenging to teach and why?

-          Where and when have they acquired the relevant knowledge and skills?

The findings from this study will provide a basis for development and improvement of language teacher education programs. Research-based information on potential discrepancies between university studies and school curricula will make it easier to decide which issues need to be addressed in order to develop language teacher education programs that are fully in line with the needs of society, schools and students. The findings can inform policy and decision-making processes, for instance with regard to obligatory components and courses. As the Norwegian context for foreign language teaching and learning shares many features with that of other European countries, the findings should also be of relevance outside Norway.

Method

Methodology The study uses a mixed-methods approach comprising four stages: - Phase 1 (completed): a qualitative pre-pilot study consisting of semi-structured interviews with four newly qualified L3 teachers. These teachers teach Spanish, German and French respectively and have been in the profession for up to 3 years. The informants volunteered to be interviewed and were recruited through the Department of Teacher Education and School Research’s network of partner schools. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. The main purpose of this stage was to form a basis for the development of the survey questionnaire (see phase 2-3) - Phase 2 (completed): a pilot study of the larger quantitative survey. A questionnaire was distributed to a group of 15 L3 student teachers at the end of their teacher course at the University of Oslo. All these new teachers had had a school placement period of at least 12 weeks in which they had worked as L3 teachers. - Phase 3 (scheduled for May 2015): a quantitative survey where the final questionnaire will be distributed to 100 or more foreign language teachers from all over the country, with a teacher experience of up to 3 years. - Phase 4 (scheduled for autumn 2015): a follow-up qualitative study where selected respondents will be interviewed in-depth on some relevant aspects evoked in the survey. Only findings from phase 1 and 2 are presented in this abstract (see next section). However, the larger survey (to be completed Spring 2015) will explore on a broader basis to what extent a (potential) lack of training in everyday language use constitutes a problem in the teachers’ classroom practices (see findings below).

Expected Outcomes

Preliminary findings and conclusions The findings so far indicate that the informants generally feel well prepared for their teaching practice. They experience some challenges e.g. when it comes to individually adjusted teaching, but they feel that they have the content and pedagogical content knowledge that they need in their everyday teaching practice. However, nearly all of the informants have backgrounds with relatively long stays in the target language area. These strongly stress that their feeling of well-preparedness stems not only from their university studies and their teacher education, but also from their stays abroad. In particular, the informants emphasize the value of these stays for the development of their oral language skills and for their knowledge about everyday culture in the target language area. They state that these issues were far from adequately dealt with in their university studies. They feel that while the university studies provided them with a good mastery of an academic and mainly written language, the practice of everyday language use was virtually absent. In the same vein, they had learned about Culture (literature, history, geography…) but not culture (everyday traditions and codes of conduct) (Kramsch 2006). These preliminary findings point towards a certain discrepancy between the university foreign language studies on the one hand, and curricular intentions and language classroom realities on the other. It seems that whereas the school curriculum gradually, and through many reforms, has gone from a theoretical and written-based approach to a more practical and functional approach, the university studies have not developed to the same extent. This means that in order to fulfil the requirements of the school curriculum, where everyday language use and everyday culture are central issues, the foreign language student teachers need to supplement their education with other components, e.g. with stays in the target language area.

References

References Orafi, S.M.S. & S. Borg. 2009. Intentions and realities in implementing communicative curriculum reform. System 37 (2) 243-253. Evans, L. 2008. Professionalism, professionality and the development of education professionals. British Journal of Educational Studies, 56(1), 20-38. Freeman,D.; M. M.Orzulak, & G. Morrisey. 2009. Assessment in second language teacher education. In Burns, A. & J.C. Richards (eds.). The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education (p. 77-90). Cambridge University Press. Kramsch, C. 2006. Culture in Language Teaching. In Andersen, H. L. ; K. Lund & K. Risager (eds.). Culture in Language Learning. Århus: Aarhus universit Press. Roussi, M. 2012. L’insécurité linguistique des enseignants non natifs de langues étrangères. Actes du colloque FICEL, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – DILTEC.

Author Information

Eva Thue Vold (presenting / submitting)
University of Oslo
Department of Teacher Education and School Research (ILS)
Oslo

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