This article investigates the experiences of two Mexican English teachers who took part in an int... more This article investigates the experiences of two Mexican English teachers who took part in an international second language (SL) teacher professional development program working for one semester as Spanish language monitors in schools and at a university in Canada. Using a narrative approach, we interpret their experiences of the following: curricular structure of such professional development programs including experiences at work; professional homestay; English language immersion and continuing acquisition; living in Canada and encountering everyday Canadian culture; and professional and personal learning. We inquire how teaching a first language in the SL environment contributes to the development of SL teachers. The article also reviews the five recommendations of a preceding study (Plews, Breckenridge, & Cambre, 2010): professional recognition, individual and institutional goal-setting, personalized language and culture learning outcomes, the role of professional homestay and i...
Research on implementing task-based language-teaching (TBLT) shows that adapting TBLT in ways tha... more Research on implementing task-based language-teaching (TBLT) shows that adapting TBLT in ways that are inconsistent with its principles is common among nonnative-speaker English-as-a-foreign-language teachers. Our study of Canadian native-speaker English-as-a-second language teachers reveals how they also adapt TBLT in ways that are incongruent with its theoretical underpinnings, turning it into Presentation-Practice-Production. We thus question speaker identity as an indicator of a teacher’s propensity to adapt TBLT and call for professional development on the effective practice of TBLT for all English-language teachers regardless of their speaker identities.
We explore second language (L2) students’ awareness of teaching and learning approaches used in s... more We explore second language (L2) students’ awareness of teaching and learning approaches used in study abroad (SA). Specifically, we introduced drama-pedagogical and task-based approaches for teaching Canadian undergraduate students L2 German in an intensive short-term SA programme in Germany. We analyse student awareness and perception of these approaches as lived experience in semi-structured curriculum research interviews with 68 participants in a qualitative study conducted in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Results show that students reflect on personally relevant learning processes and linguistic, intercultural, and psychological/developmental learning effects in association with the different approaches used. Our data provide evidence of student awareness of teaching approaches and of a clear commitment to learning when those approaches are also understood and seen to be personally effective.
In the Introduction to this edited collection, Plews and Misfeldt make the case for putting great... more In the Introduction to this edited collection, Plews and Misfeldt make the case for putting greater attention on second language study abroad (SA) programming, pedagogy, and participant engagement in SA research. They propose a necessary shift towards both focussed theorisations, investigations, and assessments of programming and the engagement of participation as well as accounting for the educational structures and teaching approaches, activities, and materials that support students’ learning on SA. They demonstrate that academic research and scholarship have thus far paid insufficient attention to these topics and argue that it is incumbent on SA researchers to be more broadly curious about the educational circumstances that lead to SA learning rather than reporting outcomes without attending to practitioner and teacher action.
Esta investigacao interpreta as experiencias de participantes de um programa de desenvolvimento p... more Esta investigacao interpreta as experiencias de participantes de um programa de desenvolvimento profissional internacional de professoras mexicanas de ingles, como monitoras de lingua espanhola no Canada. Devido ao carater de laissez-faire de tal programa e que as professoras mexicanas de ingles deviam ensinar espanhol e nao ingles, buscamos compreender o desenvolvimento das participantes enquanto elas viveram essas experiencias e identificar fatores curriculares relevantes na elaboracao do programa. Nossa trama narrativa, das experiencias das duas participantes, ecoa os contos "A Princesa e a ervilha" e "Cinderela": o primeiro conto relata a busca pelo reconhecimento do merito autentico; o segundo e sobre o surgimento da habilidade e confianca inerentes. Fatores que influenciam no sucesso do programa incluem imersao cultural, horarios de trabalho, interacoes com professores locais, moradia familiar profissional, participacao ativa nas aulas, tempo para reflexao,...
This article investigates the experiences of two Mexican English teachers who took part in an int... more This article investigates the experiences of two Mexican English teachers who took part in an international second language (SL) teacher professional development program working for one semester as Spanish language monitors in schools and at a university in Canada. Using a narrative approach, we interpret their experiences of the following: curricular structure of such professional development programs including experiences at work; professional homestay; English language immersion and continuing acquisition; living in Canada and encountering everyday Canadian culture; and professional and personal learning. We inquire how teaching a first language in the SL environment contributes to the development of SL teachers. The article also reviews the five recommendations of a preceding study (Plews, Breckenridge, & Cambre, 2010): professional recognition, individual and institutional goal-setting, personalized language and culture learning outcomes, the role of professional homestay and i...
Research on implementing task-based language-teaching (TBLT) shows that adapting TBLT in ways tha... more Research on implementing task-based language-teaching (TBLT) shows that adapting TBLT in ways that are inconsistent with its principles is common among nonnative-speaker English-as-a-foreign-language teachers. Our study of Canadian native-speaker English-as-a-second language teachers reveals how they also adapt TBLT in ways that are incongruent with its theoretical underpinnings, turning it into Presentation-Practice-Production. We thus question speaker identity as an indicator of a teacher’s propensity to adapt TBLT and call for professional development on the effective practice of TBLT for all English-language teachers regardless of their speaker identities.
We explore second language (L2) students’ awareness of teaching and learning approaches used in s... more We explore second language (L2) students’ awareness of teaching and learning approaches used in study abroad (SA). Specifically, we introduced drama-pedagogical and task-based approaches for teaching Canadian undergraduate students L2 German in an intensive short-term SA programme in Germany. We analyse student awareness and perception of these approaches as lived experience in semi-structured curriculum research interviews with 68 participants in a qualitative study conducted in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Results show that students reflect on personally relevant learning processes and linguistic, intercultural, and psychological/developmental learning effects in association with the different approaches used. Our data provide evidence of student awareness of teaching approaches and of a clear commitment to learning when those approaches are also understood and seen to be personally effective.
In the Introduction to this edited collection, Plews and Misfeldt make the case for putting great... more In the Introduction to this edited collection, Plews and Misfeldt make the case for putting greater attention on second language study abroad (SA) programming, pedagogy, and participant engagement in SA research. They propose a necessary shift towards both focussed theorisations, investigations, and assessments of programming and the engagement of participation as well as accounting for the educational structures and teaching approaches, activities, and materials that support students’ learning on SA. They demonstrate that academic research and scholarship have thus far paid insufficient attention to these topics and argue that it is incumbent on SA researchers to be more broadly curious about the educational circumstances that lead to SA learning rather than reporting outcomes without attending to practitioner and teacher action.
Esta investigacao interpreta as experiencias de participantes de um programa de desenvolvimento p... more Esta investigacao interpreta as experiencias de participantes de um programa de desenvolvimento profissional internacional de professoras mexicanas de ingles, como monitoras de lingua espanhola no Canada. Devido ao carater de laissez-faire de tal programa e que as professoras mexicanas de ingles deviam ensinar espanhol e nao ingles, buscamos compreender o desenvolvimento das participantes enquanto elas viveram essas experiencias e identificar fatores curriculares relevantes na elaboracao do programa. Nossa trama narrativa, das experiencias das duas participantes, ecoa os contos "A Princesa e a ervilha" e "Cinderela": o primeiro conto relata a busca pelo reconhecimento do merito autentico; o segundo e sobre o surgimento da habilidade e confianca inerentes. Fatores que influenciam no sucesso do programa incluem imersao cultural, horarios de trabalho, interacoes com professores locais, moradia familiar profissional, participacao ativa nas aulas, tempo para reflexao,...
Translation and Translating in German Studies is a collection of essays in honour of Professor Ra... more Translation and Translating in German Studies is a collection of essays in honour of Professor Raleigh Whitinger, a well-loved scholar of German literature, an inspiring teacher, and an exceptional editor and translator. Its twenty chapters, written by Canadian and international experts, explore new perspectives on translation and German studies as they inform processes of identity formation, gendered representations, visual and textual mediations, and teaching and learning practices. Translation (as a product) and translating (as a process) function both as analytical categories and as objects of analysis in literature, lm, dance, architecture, history, second-language education, and study-abroad experiences. The volume arches from theory and genres more traditionally associated with translation (i.e., literature, philosophy) to new media (dance, lm) and experiential education, and identii es pressing issues and themes that are increasingly discussed and examined in the context of translation.
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Papers by John L Plews