Cpd

Abstract : 1. What are we doing when we do grammar ? / 2. So what is grammar?/ 3. Where do the rules in book grammars come from ? / 4. So is grammar just about the links between words ? / 5.Language grammar always happens at the same time as lots of other things in your brain / 6. What should grammar teachers teach ? / 7. Do students learn useful language control from studying grammar books? / 8. Can teachers teach grammar? / 9. How can language teachers be most useful? / 10. Do grammar mistakes matter? / 11. Is accuracy more important than fluency?

This is the outline of a seminar on grammar teaching given as a teacher inservice for Chinese English teachers in Zhengzhou, Henan, China, on 13 May 2008. Thor May has been teaching language and linguistics since 1976.

These are notes on English stress, rhythm and intonation.

Part A is for students and Part B is for teachers.

The treatment here is “technical”, as by a linguist, but in very plain language. Even with poor formal English, L2 speakers who “sound right” will gain social acceptance, and this in turn will greatly accelerate their learning.

Firstly the concept of “the music of a language” is introduced. It is noted that languages are on a scale of “syllable timed” to “stress timed” (though this is not a simple matter). English is a stress-timed language. Both word stress and sentence stress are essential in English. However, proper word liaison and elision marks native speakers from non-native speakers. Some advice is given on how to practice privately and in a classroom. The importance of teacher talk as a model is noted.

Abstract
Nowadays authentic reading matter is extensively used in the teaching of English for academic purposes. However choosing and deploying such materials is not as straightforward as it might at first seem. In this paper, the pros and cons of authentic materials are assessed and difficulties in their deployment are discussed, together with suggestions for their successful utilisation.

Intertextuality in its broadest sense—the relationship between two texts—is a pervasive feature of academic writing, as manifested by features such as citations to earlier texts and the sets of features such as structure and organisation which are shared by texts in a given genre and/or academic discipline.

Many of the intertextual features of academic writing, such as the choice of reporting verb and verb form, have been thoroughly researched and described (e.g., Charles, 2006; Shaw, 1992). Much is also know about a specific, highly problematic form of intertextuality: plagiarism (e.g., Pecorari & Shaw, 2012). However, less attention has been given to the ways in which novice academic writers become aware of conventional intertextual practices, and less still to the transferability of this feature to writing in the workplace.

This paper will present the results of a corpus-based investigation of intertextuality in two domains: the leisure-time reading which lower-division undergraduates do, and a common workplace genre.  By triangulating the results from these two corpora with existing findings about the intertextual features of academic texts it will be possible to describe the extent to which these features overlap with, or diverge from, each other.  This will thus provide an indication of the features which can reasonably be expected to transfer from one domain to another, and which cannot, and should therefore be the subject of explicit instruction in the English for Specific Academic Purposes classroom.

References
Charles, M. (2006). The Construction of Stance in Reporting Clauses: A Cross-disciplinary Study of Theses. Applied Linguistics, 27, 492–518.
Pecorari, D. & Shaw, P. (2012). Types of student intertextuality and faculty attitudes. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21, 149–164.
Shaw, P. (1992). Reasons for the correlation of voice, tense and sentence function in reporting verbs. Applied Linguistics, 13, 302–319.

This paper aims to show how important it is for Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to be involved in the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of alumni. The authors provide a model to show the value added to the product by CPD. This paper proposes ways in which institutions can make the best of the relationship with the student at each level proposed in the model. The major findings were that HEIs should get involved in CPD for its Alumni and CPD provides increased value to products of HEIs. Implications were that HEIs have a role to play in the CPD of their Alumni. This is the first study to introduce the Value- Adding CPD Knowledge Cycle Model.

This thesis focuses on policy and practice around professional development of Further Education (FE)lecturers. It situates the lived experience of recently qualified Early Career Lecturers (ECLs), employed across a range of institutions within North-West England, in the 2010-2018 FE policy environment. Mismatches between Government policy priorities are shown to shape elements of ECL development and practice, presenting barriers to acquisition of secure professional identities. Longstanding, deep-seated, systemic and structural factors are also argued to contribute to these barriers. Policy and practice around professional development are viewed through a Bourdieusian theoretical framework. A Critical Discourse Analysis(CDA)of the Education and Training Foundation(ETF)Professional Standards and Guidance documents(as disseminated policy) is compared with CDA of ECL interview discourse. This discourse, observed practice, and material artefact data are analysed within themes of professional development, pedagogic practices, social practices, and identity formation. Elements of Vygotsky’s Social Activity Theory, and Material Cultural Studies/Theory(MCS/T)(from the field of Archaeology)are used as part of an explanatory framework, with insights from Le Grand’s metaphorical knights, pawns, and knaves illuminating ECL development. The thesis argues that failure to acquire a secure professional identity makes pre-existing identities, habitus, and capital important to ECLs’ ability to exercise agency in the field. However, neither precarious new identities, nor pre-existing attributes, protect from performative and managerialist pressures or conflicting policy priorities. Despite some subject areas being afforded higher cultural capital, through training bursaries and favourable terms of employment, retention of ECLs is fragile. This is particularly relevant to retaining Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM)specialists with authentic industry experience required by the current policy intentions for new T-levels qualifications. A homogeneity in pedagogic practice with creativity thwarted by bureaucratic pressures and an embattled fledgling professional identity is shown to be the current paradigm for ECLs.

This paper explores issues in relation to the contribution and importance of mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) in re-energising and motivating the information profession. Set within the context of developing our understanding of the concept of ‘professionalism’ for the contemporary information profession, the mandatory schemes offered by professional associations in the UK and New Zealand are compared and contrasted, and an assessment made of their pros and cons in this regard.

Abstract : This paper examines some of the ways in which foreign language education has been affected by corrupt practices and various other distortions of best teaching practice. Particular attention is paid to South Korea. The nature of corruption and its social origins are identified. Pressures affecting students, teachers and institutions are all seen to play a part. It is noted that mass education is a simulation which leaves space for fraud, whereas actual live language performance is its own test. Perhaps as a consequence, the gradual insertion of a new language code like English into a speech community might succeed over the long term even where immediate educational practices suggest failure.

The first cohort of a new MSc programme is due to complete the course in August 2014. During the three-year online course students conduct several pieces of action research in their classrooms. There is little research specifically related classroom practice in the pre-tertiary psychology classroom. The following describes the rationale and context of the MSc in the Teaching of Psychology and reports on three students’ final year research. The first considers the benefits of Psychology Applied Learning Scenarios (PALS) as applied to an A-level Psychology lesson. This is followed by research on the academic impact the flipped classroom can have on AS and A Level progress and the perceptions of this teaching technique learners have. Finally a plenary designed to develop critical thinking skills and meet the criteria for an ‘outstanding’ lesson is discussed. Conducting action research into one’s own teaching produces reflective, self-critical practitioners and these skills are also tra...

Examples of mobile phones being used with teachers to provide continuing professional development (CPD) in emerging economies at scale are largely absent from the research literature. We outline English in Action’s (EIA) model for providing 80,000 teachers with CPD to improve their communicative language teaching in Bangladesh over nine years. EIA’s CPD program is delivered face to face and supported through open distance learning (ODL). This innovative model of teacher CPD is supported through peer learning and self-study using a variety of print, audio and video resources. Drawing on the success of EIA’s pilot studies, where internal and external evaluation reported significant improvement in teachers’ and students’ English-language competence after one year, the current phase is using low-cost mobile phones, or the ‘trainer in your
pocket’ to deliver CPD to 12,500 teachers through 2015. We believe EIA’s teacher CDP model is best suited to assist the project in achieving one of its primary goals: to increase the English-language proficiency of 12 million students, allowing them to access greater social and economic opportunities in the future. We argue EIA’s use of mobile phones for the provision of teacher CPD – at scale – is timely and replicable in both developed and developing contexts.

This paper presents the findings of a process evaluation of a dialogic teaching intervention designed to help primary school teachers improve the quality of classroom talk and boost learning outcomes in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. It found teachers in the intervention schools made significantly greater use of discussion and dialogue compared to teachers in the control schools and student contributions were more extended and expansive in content and reasoning. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for policy and practice with regard to the provision of school-based professional development.