English Language Teacher Preparation in Asia: Policy, Research and Practice 9781138095366, 9781315105680

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English Language Teacher Preparation in Asia

Bringing together a comprehensive range of extended research-based chapters, English Language Teacher Preparation in Asia provides comprehensive insight into policy, research, and practical aspects of teacher preparation for English teachers at pre-service level across multiple contexts in Asia. Written by local and international scholars specialising in TESOL Teacher education, and acknowledging the increasingly complex demands made on teachers of English in view of globalisation, the book explores the multiple factors which are key to effective professional learning. Chapters consider how pre-service teachers are best prepared for the diverse contexts in which English is learnt and taught in settings throughout Asia and draw on in-depth research studies to provide rich, fully contextualised coverage of aspects of teacher preparation including curriculum design, programme development, policy, professional learning communities, assessment education, and teaching practicum. A timely contribution to the field of teacher preparation, this text will be an invaluable resource for teacher educators, pre-service teachers and academics involved in the preparation of English teachers in Asia. Subhan Zein, PhD, has trained teachers in Australia and Indonesia. He teaches at the University of Queensland, Australia. Richmond Stroupe is Chair of the Graduate Program in International Language Education:TESOL Program in the Graduate School of Letters, and a Professor in the World Language Center, at Soka University, Japan.

Routledge Critical Studies in Asian Education Series Editors: S. Gopinathan, Wing On Lee and Jason Eng Thye Tan

English Education at the Tertiary Level in Asia From Policy to Practice Edited by Eun Sung Park and Bernard Spolsky English-Medium Instruction in Chinese Universities Perspectives, Discourse and Evaluation Edited by Jing Zhao and L. Quentin Dixon Rethinking Madrasah Education in a Globalised World Edited by Mukhlis Abu Bakar Policies and politics in Malaysian education Education reforms, nationalism and neoliberalism Edited by Cynthia Joseph The Sustainability of Higher Education in an Era of Post-Massification Edited by Deane E. Neubauer, Ka Ho Mok and Jin Jiang Emigration, Employability and Higher Education in the Philippines Yasmin Y. Ortiga Literature Education in the Asia-Pacific Policies, Practices and Perspectives in Global Times Edited by Chin Ee Loh, Suzanne Choo and Chatherine Beavis English Tertiary Education in Vietnam Edited by James Albright English Language Teacher Preparation in Asia Policy, Research and Practice Edited by Subhan Zein and Richmond Stroupe For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge-Critical-Studies-in-Asian-Education/book-series/RCSAE

English Language Teacher Preparation in Asia Policy, Research and Practice Edited by Subhan Zein and Richmond Stroupe

First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 selection and editorial matter, Subhan Zein and Richmond Stroupe individual chapters, the contributors The right of Subhan Zein and Richmond Stroupe to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-09536-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-10568-0 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Contents

ContentsContents

List of contributorsviii   1 Preparing Asian English teachers in the global world

1

SUBHAN ZEIN

PART I

Setting the Scene17   2 Current trends and future directions in pre-service teacher training programmes for English Language in ASEAN Plus Three: a synthesis of recent research

19

NG CHIEW HONG AND CHEUNG YIN LING

PART II

Innovations in teacher preparation45   3 Translanguaging in the EYL classroom as a metadiscursive practice: preparing prospective teachers

47

SUBHAN ZEIN

  4 Advancing achievement through value-added measures: a study on English teacher preparation in Brunei

63

MAYYER LING AND RINNI HAJI AMRAN

  5 Professional development through practicum: a case study on Malaysian pre-service ESL teachers’ professional identity construction JULIANA OTHMAN AND FATIHA SENOM

81

vi  Contents

  6 ‘Native-Speakerism . . . I Think We Need to Change Our Perception’: sociocultural perspectives on Cambodian pre-service teacher education

98

SOVANNARITH LIM AND ANNE BURNS

PART III

Teacher preparation, development and evaluation115   7 English teacher preparation in Brunei Darussalam: an overview of the Master of Teaching programme from multiple perspectives

117

ISHAMINA ATHIRAH GARDINER, SARAH BOYE, SALLIMAH M. SALLEH, NORASHIKIN YUSOF

  8 Meeting the needs of an international student population: the response of a Japanese graduate program

138

RICHMOND STROUPE AND MIYOKO TAKATAMA

  9 Assessment education of pre-service English teachers in the Philippines: prospects and challenges

157

AIREEN BARRIOS-ARNUCO, RACHELLE BALLESTEROS-LINTAO, STERLING MIRANDA-PLATA AND MARILU RAÑOSA-MADRUNIO

10 Meeting the needs of primary school pre-service teachers in the undergraduate school English programme in South Korea

178

HOO DONG KANG

11 English teacher professional development and the role of professional learning communities to enhance teacher practice and student outcomes in China

201

SALLY M. THOMAS, LEI ZHANG AND DINI JIANG

PART IV

Teacher preparation and policy223 12 Teaching renovation and efficiency: education policy as an affordance for Task-Based Language Teaching in pre-service teacher education in Vietnam KHANH-LINH TRAN-DANG AND MARIANNE TURNER

225

Contents vii

13 English language teacher preparation in Myanmar: challenges and recommendations for Myanmar and the ASEAN region

244

MARY SHEPARD WONG, JENNIFER MILLER AND BROOKE TREADWELL

14 The “Practising Adaptive Expert”: professionalism as constructed in Vietnam English language teacher policy

261

MAI TRANG VU

Conclusion

279

15 Maintaining balance: how can ASEAN Plus Three best preserve diversity and prepare for the globalized world in the 21st century?

281

RICHMOND STROUPE AND GABRIEL DÍAZ MAGGIOLI

Index298

Contributors

ContributorsContributors

Rinni Haji Amran is Lecturer in English Literature at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She graduated with a PhD in English from the University of Exeter. Her research interests include ecocriticism, Bruneian fiction and English language teaching in Brunei. Ishamina Athirah Gardiner is Adjunct Lecturer at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She has conducted research on misunderstandings and the intelligibility of Brunei English speech in international communication. Rachelle Ballesteros-Lintao provides language teaching and learning instruction and research mentoring to teachers pursuing their graduate studies and pre-service teachers alike. She currently serves as Clarity’s Country Representative in the Philippines. Aireen Barrios-Arnuco is Associate Professor in the Department of English and Applied Linguistics, De La Salle University Manila. She obtained her PhD in Applied Linguistics from the same university, and she has taught graduate courses on second language acquisition, bilingualism and syntax, in addition to various undergraduate courses. Sarah Boye is Lecturer in English and Communication Skills at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Before this she was Lecturer in Language Teacher Education and TEFL/TESOL at the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität in Munich, Germany. Anne Burns is Professor of TESOL in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales, Australia. She was also recently Visiting Professor at Soka University, Japan. She has published and researched extensively in the areas of language teacher cognition, the teaching of speaking, teacher education and action research. Ng Chiew Hong is Lecturer and Practicum Leader at English Language and Literature Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. She specialises in English language pedagogies and teacher cognition. She has published in Journal of Reading and Literacy, International Journal of Bilingual and Multilingual Teachers of English, and The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL.

Contributors ix

Dini Jiang is a doctoral student at the School of Education, University of Bristol, UK. His broad research interests include educational leadership and policy, school effectiveness and school improvement, and teacher development. His PhD research focuses on professional learning communities in China and is funded by the China Scholarship Council. Hoo Dong Kang is currently Professor in the English Education Department at Chinju National University of Education in Korea and served as Executive Director of the Asia TEFL Executive Council from its foundation in 2002 until 2015. He served as President of the Pan-Korea English Teachers Association in the past. His academic interests are primarily focused upon teaching methodology, material and curriculum development, and teacher education. He has been involved in a variety of national projects in Korea. Khan-Linh Tran-Dang is Senior Teacher Educator at Khanh Hoa University, Vietnam, and currently a PhD student at Monash University, Australia. With 19 years’ experience in teaching, researching and undertaking managerial responsibilities in pre-service teacher education, she has gained intensive insights into Vietnam EFL reforms. Sovannarith Lim is Teacher-Trainer at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He holds a PhD in Education from the University of New South Wales, Australia. His research focuses on language learning motivation, teacher cognition and teacher education, especially from the perspectives of cultural-historical Activity Theory. Cheung Yin Ling is Assistant Professor and MA in Applied Linguistics Programme Leader at the English Language and Literature Academic Group, National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She co-edited Advances and Current Trends in Language Teacher Identity Research (Routledge, 2015) and has published in journals such as System, The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher and RELC Journal. Mayyer Ling is Assistant Lecturer at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She was Research Assistant at the Ministry of Education for a year after graduating from Essex University. She is actively seeking transdisciplinary research opportunities, especially in public relation research and investigations in pedagogy. Gabriel Diaz Maggioli is a teacher who applies the lessons learnt in the classroom to his roles as researcher, writer, teacher educator and educational consultant. Grounding his theory-in-praxis mostly on a sociocultural perspective, he explores connections among knowledge, learning, teaching and social mediation both in real and virtual settings. Sterling Miranda-Plata is Chairperson of the Department of English and Applied Linguistics, De La Salle University Manila. She is a member of the International Language Testing Association and a board member of the Philippine Association for Language Teaching.

x  Contributors

Jennifer Miller has been working as English Language Fellow at Mandalay University in Myanmar since 2015. She holds an MA ESL from Hamline University and MA and MFA degrees from the University of Iowa. Her research interests include gender and development and academic confidence at the tertiary level. Juliana Othman is Associate Professor and Head of Department Language and Literacy Education, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. She has been involved in language education at various levels for the past 20 years. Her research interests are primarily associated with second language teaching and learning, teacher development and pre-service teacher education. Marilu Ranosa-Madrunio is currently Dean of the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School. She was President of the Linguistic Society of the Philippines (LSP) from 2010 to 2012 and currently serves as a member of its Board of Advisers. Sallimah M. Salleh is Senior Lecturer at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Her research interests include teachers’ technology enriched/enhanced instruction and technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK), teachers’ context beliefs and attitudes towards technology integration, and qualitative research methods. Fatiha Senom is Fellow at the Department of Language and Literacy Education, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. She received her PhD in Education (TESL) in 2016 and B.Ed (TESL) in 2009 from the same university. Her research interests include teacher education and professional development, teaching methods, and sociolinguistics. Richmond Stroupe is the current Chair of the International Language Education: TESOL Graduate Program at Soka University in Tokyo, Japan. He has worked with university and professional language learners from Asia since 1989, and his academic interests include curriculum development, teacher training and professional development, and enhancing learners’ critical thinking skills. Miyoko Takatama is a graduate student in the International Language Education: TESOL Program at Soka University. Her current research interest is using visual images, especially artworks, for effective language teaching and learning. She is also interested in the process of how students from diverse backgrounds develop a learning community. Sally M. Thomas is Professor of Education at the School of Education, University of Bristol, UK. For 25+ years she has published widely on the topic of educational quality, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Her key research interests include methods to evaluate educational, school and teacher effectiveness and improvement, professional learning communities, and education in Asia, Africa and South America.

Contributors xi

Brooke Treadwell is Teacher Education Consultant with UNESCO Myanmar. She has over 13 years’ experience working on education initiatives serving the people of Myanmar – both in Myanmar and on the Thai-Myanmar border. She holds an MS in International and Comparative Education and a PhD in Education Policy. Marianne Turner is Senior Lecturer in TESOL and Bilingual Education at Monash University. She has a range of research interests, including the leveraging of students’ linguistic repertoires as a resource for their learning and contextual influences on the implementation of language pedagogies. Mai Trang Vu received her PhD (2017) from the Department of Language Studies and School of Education, Umeå University, Sweden on the topic of university English language teacher professionalism. She has an MA in ELT from The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. Before her PhD, she worked as Lecturer, Teacher-Trainer and Academic Manager at Vietnam National University, ULIS. She also participated in a number of projects by the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training. Her current research interests include teacher professionalism, teacher development, and higher education management policy and practice. Mary Shepard Wong is Professor and Director of TESOL at Azusa Pacific University, United States. She has taught for three decades. She is a two-time Fulbright scholar (Hong Kong 2012, Myanmar 2016), and the PI of two Hong Kong government-sponsored grants. She has books, chapters and articles on professional development, teacher identity, and collaboration. Norashikin Yusof is Lecturer of English Language and Literacy Education at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. A major part of her role at the university involves teacher preparation under the Master of Teaching programme. Subhan Zein received his PhD from the Australian National University. He has trained teachers in Australia and Indonesia and currently teaches at the University of Queensland. His publications have appeared in Professional Development in Education, Journal of Education for Teaching, Applied Linguistics Review, Asian Englishes, among others. He is the editor (with Sue Garton) of Early Language Learning and Teacher Education: International Research and Practice (Multilingual Matters). Lei Zhang is a statistician and postdoctoral researcher at the School of Education, University of Bristol, UK. She has developed innovative statistical approaches to evaluate school and teacher effectiveness and more broadly her methodological interests include the application of multilevel and other latent variables models to analyse large-scale data with complex structures in social science.

1 Preparing Asian English teachers in the global world

Subhan ZeinPreparing Asian English teachers

Subhan Zein

Estimates of its number of speakers worldwide may be debatable, but the status of English as the international language par excellence is not. English is now used for international and intra-national communication as a lingua franca among people with different national, cultural, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The language has transformed itself into a new globalised power closely tied to some of the most liberal economies driving globalisation – its influences have crossed the linguistic sphere and even permeated the cultural, political, ideological, economic and religious ones (see Crystal, 2003; Graddol, 1997, 2006; Jenkins, 2007). In Asia in particular, the powerful influence of English is more evident than ever. It brings together the continuing dominance of English in what Kachru (1986) refers to as the Outer Circle countries (i.e. countries where English is not conventionally the native tongue but has an institutional role to play), such as Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and the Philippines. In these countries, English has an official status, often used as the main language of commerce and business and/or bureaucracy. At the same time, the spread of English has accelerated in the Expanding Circle (i.e. countries where English is learnt as a foreign language), such as China, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and many others. In such countries, English is not an official language, but it plays an increasingly significant role in areas including education, technology, travel and tourism, and popular culture. Although Kachru’s concentric circles are considered to be inapplicable in today’s postmodern globalisation era for reasons such as increased human mobility (see Clyne and Sharifian, 2008) and the shift of role and status between countries within Expanding and Outer Circles (see Jenkins, 2009), they remain useful for distinguishing the basic status and role of English in the highly diverse Asian countries. The basic status and role of English certainly differ among the 48 Asian countries, but their fluidity that allows for Expanding Circle countries to be more like Outer Circles ones (Jenkins, 2009) is only there to suggest the increasing importance of English in Asia amidst the fast-paced, changing and global world. Indeed, Asia has the largest number of English users in the world, ascribing various roles to the language.These include English as official language (Bigalke

2  Subhan Zein

and Sharbawi, 2013; Stroupe and Kimura, 2015), lingua franca (Kirkpatrick, 2016; Sung, 2016), medium of instruction (Hamid, Nguyen, and Baldauf, 2013) and school subject (Spolsky and Moon, 2012; Spolsky and Sung, 2015). Take the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in Asia as an example. Asian multilinguals now can discuss topics that are relevant to them within the Asian cultural contexts (Kirkpatrick, 2016), and the fact that English is being used among the ‘non-native speakers’ of the language, as traditionally defined, has seen the emergence of different aspects of identity that are shaped by linguistic and sociocultural norms of various ELF contexts (Sung, 2016). Furthermore, the undisputed status and role of English in Asia have resulted in the language being officialised as the working language of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states consisting of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam (Bigalke and Sharbawi, 2013; Stroupe and Kimura, 2015). By the same token, English maintains its market value amounting to billions of dollars in the Plus Three Forum countries – China, Japan and South Korea – while simultaneously creating massive educational changes there (Hu and McKay, 2012). Scrutinising English in the highly diverse Asia with the numerous roles ascribed to the language only means the highly complex and multilayered nature of English language education in the continent (Cheng, 2012). For this reason, in recent years scholars have studied the unprecedented spread of English in Asia in relation to various domains such as the teaching of English in primary schools (e.g. Spolsky and Moon, 2012), in secondary schools (Spolsky and Sung, 2015) and as a medium of instruction (e.g. Hamid et al., 2013). However, little is known about the preparation of English teachers at preservice level. The issue of teacher preparation receives considerably less attention in publications on English language teaching in Asia (e.g. Spolsky and Sung, 2015; Stroupe and Kimura, 2011, 2013) as well as the ASEAN region (Bigalke and Sharbawi, 2013; Stroupe and Kimura, 2015), as opposed to pedagogical areas such as corrective feedback, for example. Thus, how Asian countries are coping with the urgent need of preparing English teachers at pre-service level of education remains unclear. Enhancing the discussion around teacher preparation for English teachers in Asian countries is not only significant but also timely in order to further elucidate an enhanced practice of teacher education. This volume represents an opportunity to delve more deeply into the theoretical, practical and policy aspects of teacher preparation for English teachers at pre-service level in Asia. Being part of Routledge Critical Studies in Asian Education Series, this volume brings together the expertise of local and international scholars specialising in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) teacher education in Asia.The importation of native English speakers in some Asian countries notwithstanding (Hu and Mckay, 2012), the focus of the volume is on the teacher education of local Asians who are traditionally defined as non-native speakers of English, rather than the native speakers of English. One is for the reason that the Asian population who use English as a second (or additional) language as well

Preparing Asian English teachers 3

as lingua franca far exceed those who use it as a native language; and second is that the approach is more appropriate to the linguistic ecology of the Asian context (see Kirkpatrick, 2010, 2011; Kobayashi, 2017). Furthermore, such an approach is necessary given the presence of many influential and internationally well-established publications on teaching methods and language teacher education, which are often premised on contexts of practice in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms in countries where English is used as a native language (e.g. the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia) (e.g. Harmer, 2010; Burns and Richards, 2009; Richards and Farrell, 2005; Richards and Renandya, 2002). While commendable in their breadth, the contexts of those publications are not necessarily based on the classroom realities of the majority of global English users in Asia nowadays. There is a need for a book on teacher preparation to cater for the diverse Asian contexts where English is generally learnt and practised not in largely monolingual contexts but in multilingual contexts. This gives rise for this volume. It aims to produce a dialogue that tackles how English develops more complex relationships within the Asian multilingual communities while preparing teachers to teach effectively. Such an endeavour is essential in order to better support teachers as well as inform policy decisions in Asian countries and beyond to improve the English proficiency of their citizens to successfully participate in the global world where the use of English has become a normative imperative. I have thus far identified the motivations underpinning the present volume. In the rest of the chapter, I will identify key themes that hold the collection of chapters in the volume together as well as how the volume is structured.

English teacher preparation in the global world What sets the context of this volume in the first place is the role of globalisation in teacher preparation for English teachers in Asia. In the global world today, education rules experience extension across borders through political membership or associative bodies of trade. Loomis, Rodriguez, and Tillman (2008) argue that [i]n virtually all market sectors of education, including teacher education, these rules are facilitating immense international, cross-border trade in higher education and give strong indication that the distribution of information can be found increasingly toward standardisation and the promotion of institutional expansion. (pp. 235–236) This is most evident in ASEAN Plus Three countries where regional relationships among its members (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam) have been fuelled by common needs in terms of education, politics and economy. Many of the chapters in this volume are grounded

4  Subhan Zein

in the context of globalisation that underpins the establishment of ASEAN Plus Three, as shown in Chapter 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 11, Chapter 12 and Chapter 14. For example, Chapter 2 notes the prevalence of globalisation as a precursor for the changing landscape in teacher preparation in ASEAN Plus Three. Though not explicitly mentioning ASEAN Plus Three, Chapters 8 and 10 also identify globalisation as a significant factor in tackling the demands and needs of prospective teachers – the former focusing on international student population and the latter on primary school English teachers. Furthermore, the policy-driven initiatives on English teacher preparation occurring in Chapters 4, 12 and 14 are more than economic imperative – they also demonstrate the profoundly entrenched impact of globalisation on teacher preparation of English teachers across Asia. The impact can further be seen in the emergence of the practice-oriented, theory-oriented and reflection-oriented programmes (Kitchen and Petrarca, 2016) that dominate the discourse of teacher preparation in this volume. Indeed, the alignment between practice and theory, the emphasis on reflection and the focus on depth rather than breadth of curriculum that characterise quality teacher education (see Kitchen and Petrarca, 2016; Korthagen, 2016) form the construct of the pedagogy of teacher education in this volume. Clinical experiences where prospective teachers observe learning situations and witness how effective teacher educators and teachers assist them in the process of student learning are at the core of Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 11 and Chapter 12. Various chapters highlight the practical orientation in relation to the need to prepare prospective teachers to be contextually literate in assessment (Chapter 9), an interdisciplinary approach that supports value-added measure in teacher preparation (Chapter 4) and the construction of identity as teachers undertake teaching practicum (Chapter 5). Chapter 11, on the other hand, shows how such a process is made manifest through professional learning communities that integrate the professional learning of prospective teachers and in-service teachers. Second, problem-based learning that stems from the everyday reality of teacher professional learning forms the core tenet of teacher preparation to resolve the theory-practice divide through critical reflection. In Chapter 3 this appears through the inclusion of translanguaging as a metadiscursive practice that responds to the multilingual nature of Asian classrooms. Similarly, Chapter 6 calls for a reflection on the everyday reality of communications in the ASEAN context, arguing that teachers’ awareness of ELF requires a shift of teacher preparation and language policy from a monolingual ideology to one that embraces the emerging ELF conception accordingly. Thus, producing reflective teachers through the provision of a variety of learning experiences that stimulate introspection, collaboration, awareness-raising and learning from experiences that assist them in English language pedagogy is a common strand of these chapters. Their scope highlights the various development, evaluations and innovations occurring in English teacher preparation in Asia presented in this volume.

Preparing Asian English teachers 5

Furthermore, how teacher preparation acclimatises to the rapid needs of the global world is also reflected in the volume through the strong relationship between English teacher preparation and policy. Chapter 13 argues that educational policy change is imperative for improvement in English teacher preparation in Myanmar in terms of examination, promotion, workload and compensation systems. Other chapters, on the other hand, are concerned with how teacher agency and autonomy develop amidst policy changes. The two chapters representing Vietnam in this volume demonstrate this. Chapter 12 shows the agentive role of teachers and teacher educators in shaping language policy on Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), while Chapter 14 argues for more developmental dimensions that promote teacher autonomy and professional growth. Overall, the chapters in this volume demonstrate that the work of preservice teacher preparation in the global world is beyond the transmission of teaching strategies, or things that can be used in the classroom. This is pertinent to current research on teacher education. As Loughran, Keast and Cooper (2016) argue, [t]here is a crucial need to develop more robust understandings of what it means for a beginning teacher to be classroom ready, and promoting deeper thinking about teaching clearly can foster such development. That development can be evidenced in teachers’ willingness to reframe, reconsider, contextualise and problematise their practice rather than seek to mimic or replicate the practices of those they observed through their experiences in teacher education. (p. 416) The chapters in this book serve as an additional enquiry into the work of quality teachers, foregrounded in the notion that learning to teach does not rest on techno-rational skills or proceed in a linear, predictable fashion. Rather, we know that learning to teach is complex, contextually specific, autobiographically grounded, and informed by sociopolitical realities. This is why quality teaching often looks different in different settings. (Goodwin, 2010, p. 30) Goodwin’s point on quality teaching being different in diverse settings is apt to the diverse environments of teacher preparation being represented in this volume. The volume covers a wide array of geographical contexts within the ASEAN Plus Three member states (Chapter 2), including individual countries such as Brunei Darussalam (Chapter 4 and Chapter 7), Cambodia (Chapter 6), China (Chapter 11), Indonesia (Chapter 3), Japan (Chapter 8), Malaysia (Chapter 5), Myanmar (Chapter 13), the Philippines (Chapter 9), South Korea (Chapter 10) and Vietnam (Chapter 12 and Chapter 14). The rich coverage of

6  Subhan Zein

the volume means it includes various aspects of teacher preparation such as teacher preparation curriculum (Chapter 10), programme development (Chapter 7 and Chapter 8), teacher preparation and policy (Chapter 12, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14), professional learning community (Chapter 11), and teaching practicum and identity development (Chapter 6). Emerging themes in teacher preparation such as assessment literacy (Chapter 9), translanguaging (Chapter 3) and value-added measures (Chapter 4) are also the focal points of this present volume. This format of presentation blends the country-specific and thematicbased orientations that appear in those earlier publications on language teacher education (e.g. Burns and Richards, 2009; Farrell, 2015). Thus, it is our commitment in this volume to offer contents that are diverse, highly contextual and culturally fitting to the Asian context, making it relevant to English language teachers aspiring to enhance their professionalism as well as teacher educators and academics within the broader TESOL field. Finally, our stance in presenting this volume is one that views the inseparable relationships between policy, research and practice, hence the sub-title of the volume. We believe in the high value of empirical research to inform practice and policy on the preparation of local English teachers in multilingual Asia in the global world. The breadth of the volume reflects this paradigm, meaning each of the chapters in this book is underpinned by a rigorous process of research in terms of sampling and data collection to inform practice and policy in TESOL teacher preparation in Asia. Some authors in this volume conducted documentation analysis, be it recent studies on English teacher preparation in Asia (Chapter 2), syllabi and lesson plan portfolios (Chapter 9), or policy documents (Chapter 14). The use of surveys and interviews is common throughout the volume, with Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 11 and Chapter 13 employing either. Chapter 11 is the only one that uses surveys, while Chapters 4, 5 and 13 use interviews only, whether face-to-face or in combination with online interviews. Some authors collected data through both surveys and interviews, including those writing Chapter 7, Chapter 8 and Chapter 10; on the other hand, the authors of Chapter 6 collected data through interviews in conjunction with analysis of documentation. A more rigid process of triangulation can be seen in Chapter 12, where the authors gathered data through a combination of research instruments: interviews, observations and focus groups. Set apart from these chapters, the author of Chapter 3 collected data through multivocal ethnography, allowing for the analysis of teachers’ classroom transcripts by teachers and teacher educators. The variety of research methods in this volume indicates the eagerness of the authors to capture the demanding and challenging process of teacher learning. This is parallel to their overarching aim to conceive teacher preparation as beyond the process of training to deliver while capturing the complexity of teacher learning. This is a major strand of the volume, as its individual chapters unravel the process of preparing Asian English teachers for the global demands.

Preparing Asian English teachers 7

The structure of the volume The volume is divided into four parts: 1) setting the scene; 2) innovations in teacher preparation; 3) teacher preparation, development and evaluation; and 4) teacher preparation and policy. Part I of the volume provides an overview of teacher preparation of English teachers in Asia to set the scene of the volume. This task is fulfilled by Chapter 2, written by Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling. Chapter 2 examines the current trends of teacher preparation for English teachers in the ASEAN Plus Three member states using a qualitative meta-synthesis study covering a time span from 2002 to 2017. The study reported in the chapter generates substantial findings that unravel how globalisation and national language policies impact pre-service education in the countries under survey. The authors argue that policy on English language teacher preparation in ASEAN Plus Three is contingent upon the countries’ individual stance on the status of English within the linguistic landscape of the countries as well as its purpose as a lingua franca within the context of globalisation and internationalisation.The authors further note how teacher preparation in ASEAN Plus Three faces mounting challenges in bridging the theory-practice divide while delivering programmes that cater for teacher identity, beliefs, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).They also signpost future directions for research, especially in the teacher education of primary school English teachers, the employment of reflection and quality mentoring, the professional identity development of local nonnative Asian English teachers and the integration of ICT with English language classrooms. Part II of the volume is about innovations in teacher preparation. The four chapters in this part (Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6) highlight various innovations that are needed in English teacher preparation in the Asian context to face the complexity of teacher learning in the global world. These are the inclusion of translanguaging as a metadiscurisve practice in teacher preparation (Chapter 3), the use of value-added measure (VAM) as part of standardisation and monitoring of teacher performance (Chapter 4), the effective employment of practicum for teacher professional identity development (Chapter 5), and the increase of prospective teachers’ awareness of ELF in teacher preparation (Chapter 6). Chapter 3 begins Part II of the volume. It is written by Subhan Zein. Set in the multilingual classroom situation in Indonesia, Chapter 3 reports on a study that examined the practice of translanguaging of English for Young Learners (EYL) teachers. For the purpose of the study, the author conducted a multivocal ethnography through analytic discussions of video clips of teachers’ practice by five teachers doing their practicum and two teacher educators. The findings demonstrate that translanguaging is more than mechanical processes of cultivation and production of multilingual resources; it is a metadiscursive practice whereby teachers exercise their multilingual repertoire in a discourse

8  Subhan Zein

that is both scaffolded and systematic. In Chapter 3 the author argues for programme innovation aimed at developing translanguaging skills of pre-service EYL teachers using the multivocal ethnography approach employed in the study. This is important for two reasons. One is that the multilingual nature of English language classrooms in many contexts across Asia requires a pedagogical approach that can utilise teachers’ linguistic repertoire rather than a pedagogy that merely succumbs to the monolingual ideology. This is how teachers could scaffold instruction in ways that foster learning in multilingual classrooms. Second, the absence of translanguaging in current publications on teachers’ interactional competence as well as teacher education programmes makes its inclusion highly necessary. This is relevant to the increased awareness of multilingualism and language varieties typifying English language classrooms in Asia. Chapter 4 is written by Mayyer Ling and Rinni Haji Amran, focusing on the outcomes of value-added measures (VAM) in Brunei Teachers’ Standards (BTS) that are being implemented in the country. Motivated by the goal to develop teaching efficacy as part of Brunei’s aspiration for quality education, the authors employed a qualitative approach to the study, collecting data through semistructured interviews. In Chapter 4 the authors identify avenues where implementation of VAM is made feasible to improve the outcomes generated from the BTS through the use of the third generation of Activity Theory. The authors demonstrate how tensions between bureaucratic responsibilities and limited institutional support resulted in the superficial performance of teachers; that is, for the sake of achieving high scores in the BTS. The authors call for a review of the BTS system and for the implementation of VAM in order to address the concerns raised by the teachers in their study. In particular, the authors highlight the need for teacher preparation to address the hampering multidirectional expectations that confront prospective teachers. They encourage other countries in the ASEAN context to consider VAM in order to accomplish high proficiency in the English language while sustaining the linguistic diversity within the region. The authors of Chapter 5 are Juliana Othman and Fatiha Senom. In Chapter 5 the authors focus on teacher professional learning of Malaysian English teachers through practicum. The authors employed a case study to collect data using in-depth interviews. The findings of their study show that longer exposure is needed for prospective teachers during practicum, highlighting how the delay of prospective teachers undertaking practicum until the fourth year contributes largely to their unreadiness for the teaching profession. The findings further demonstrate that teacher educators and cooperating teachers have influential role on the development of prospective teachers’ identity. This includes areas such as disciplinary identity, student-related identity, procedural competence identity and context-related identity. By the same token, prospective teachers’ disposition and identity in the areas of language and selfknowledge and awareness could also develop. In order for these to yield the most optimum results, closer collaboration between universities and schools is necessary, allowing prospective teachers to acclimatise to the school routines,

Preparing Asian English teachers 9

promote readiness to teach, and facilitate abilities to connect theory and practice. This brings the authors to call for a regional standards of English language teaching competency that culminates in identity development, involving the SEAMEO (South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization) and AUN (ASEAN University Network) as a benchmark for teacher preparation programmes across the ASEAN region. Chapter 6 focuses on the emerging concepts of ELF and EIL (English as an International Language) as relevant to the ASEAN Plus Three, written by Sovannarith Lim and Anne Burns. The authors problematise the current nationwide teacher education practice in Cambodia that reflects the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and ESL (English as a Second Language) distinctions, proposing instead the adoption of the emerging conception of ELF and EIL based on a sociocultural perspective on second language teacher education. The authors collected data through interviews with three participants who undertook a practicum at a Phnom Penh-based university. The findings of the study are indicative of the conceptual incongruity among the participants as they demonstrated ambivalent conceptions of English and teaching. The findings also show the pervasiveness of the monolingual ideology that places emphasis on ‘native-speakerism’, as stated in policy documents. The authors argue that this monolingual ideology is not supportive of the preparation of Cambodian prospective English teachers, and further, of the participation of the Cambodians in the ASEAN Plus Three communications. The authors call for a reconceptualisation of the current practice of English language teaching (ELT) in Cambodia in order to resolve the paradigm ambivalence among ELT practitioners, teacher educators and policymakers. They further allude to the implementation of the ELF approach in Cambodia and within the ASEAN Plus Three region, highlighting how succumbing to the monolingual ideology is highly irrelevant to the practice of teacher preparation that is socioculturally appropriate. Part III of the volume is on teacher preparation, development and evaluation. The five chapters in this part (Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10 and Chapter 11) focus on the development of teacher preparation of English teachers and ways of evaluating teacher preparation programmes for improvement. These include an overview and evaluation of a teacher preparation programme (Chapter 7); the evaluation of a teacher preparation programme in response to internationalisation of education (Chapter 8); the connections between theory, practice and modelling of assessment literacy (Chapter 9); the development of curricula for teacher preparation of primary English teachers (Chapter 10); and the relevance of professional learning communities to teacher preparation (Chapter 11). Chapter 7 focuses on the overview and evaluation of a Master of Teaching (MTeach) English programme developed at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). The chapter is written by Ishamina Athirah Gardiner, Sarah Boye, Sallimah M. Salleh and Norashikin Yusof. The authors scrutinise the newly developed Master of Teaching programme at UBD, collecting data through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires involving course facilitators,

10  Subhan Zein

English clinical specialists and prospective teachers. The findings of their study suggest a divergence of opinions from the participants involved in the study, particularly in the areas of structure, course contents and length of the teacher preparation programme. The study further generates implications in terms of methodology and practice. First, the multiparticipatory approach embraced in the study continues the emerging trend in teacher education that draws data from a number of different participants to yield a more comprehensive perspective of the issue under study. Second, the MTeach programme could expect a bigger role in the ASEAN Teacher Education Network to facilitate teacher education brokering; for example, through discussions on the content and structure of the programme as well as recruitment of teacher candidates from the ASEAN region into the programme. Developing curriculum recommendations to meet the needs of an international student population at a graduate programme in a university in Japan is the focus of Chapter 8, written by Richmond Stroupe and Miyoko Takatama. Against the backdrop of the unprecedented increase of the international student population, the authors report on a study into the evaluation of a pre-service Masters in TESOL programme in addressing the needs of a multicultural student population. For the purpose of their study, the authors collected data through survey instruments and interviews involving different stakeholders, including administrative representatives, current students, alumni and faculty members. The findings of the study show an increase in terms of trust and satisfaction for the various changes that had been undertaken in the programme, while noting the complexity of the needs of international students. The study demonstrates successful delivery of academic contents in the process of teacher learning on areas such as World Englishes and language varieties. However, the authors argue that developing familiarity among the international students with the host culture remains a daunting task to successful integration into the programme. The authors assert that preparing international students with academic contents in the process of teacher learning needs to be in alignment with developing their ability to function effectively in the host culture, a culture that is ‘foreign’ to them. The authors’ chapter paves the way for the development of language teacher preparation programmes that are multicultural in nature and cater for the diverse linguistic, cultural and social needs of the local Asian students as well as a large body of international students. Chapter 9 is written by four researchers from the Philippines:Aireen BarriosArnuco, Rachelle Ballesteros-Lintao, Sterling Miranda-Plata and Marilu Rañosa-Madrunio. The chapter is motivated by the importance of assessment literacy in the Philippine educational system because of the implementation of a new curriculum in 2013 and the critical role of teacher assessment as the sole source of grading in K to 12 Philippine education. For the purpose of their study, the authors conducted qualitative content analysis of the syllabi related to assessment education in three teacher education institutions (De La Salle University-Manila, Philippine Normal University and University of Santo Tomas) and content analysis of practicum portfolios.The findings of their

Preparing Asian English teachers 11

study demonstrate incongruence between assessment education in the universities under study and the assessment literacy demands prescribed by the Department of Education.While showing that this is attributed to the differing level of autonomy between the universities, the authors call for greater connections between theory, practice and modelling in assessment literacy. The authors argue for greater exposure to assessment literacy be given to prospective teachers and call for several recommendations.These include greater alignment between course outcomes and assessment standards and the development of summative tools for assessment literacy. Moving on to Chapter 10, we learn about curriculum development of teacher preparation for primary school English teachers from Hoo Dong Kang. The author collected data through survey instruments and interviews with tertiary-level stakeholders including pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, administrative representatives and faculty members. The findings of his study reveal that policymakers’ perspectives are highly influential in the decisionmaking regarding curriculum framework and development for teacher preparation. The study further suggests the importance of teaching methods over English language proficiency and knowledge about the language.The study also recommends the inclusion of courses including Teaching Methodology in Primary English Education, Classroom English, Teaching Listening and Speaking, and Teaching Reading and Writing in Primary English Education, highlighting the urgent need for more practical orientation in the preparation of primary English teachers. The inclusion of these courses, according to the author, is necessary for the development of a teacher preparation programme that best focuses on the needs of prospective teachers rather than reflecting the interest of educational administrators or policymakers. Reviewing evidence on the preparation of English language teachers in mainland China based on the nature and extent of teachers’ professional development and learning in China as well as the existence and relevance of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Chinese schools is the focus of Chapter 11. The authors are Sally M. Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang. In Chapter 11, the authors present new findings from a UK Department for International Development (UKAID)–funded project ‘Improving Teacher Development and Educational Quality in China’ (ITDEQC), generating data from survey responses of 2,647 English teachers, including newly qualified teachers, from more than 100 schools in three regions in mainland China. The authors maintain the potential of PLCs in playing a substantial role in the support and facilitation of teacher education for those who are novice and located in rural areas.They encourage the Chinese government and others in the ASEAN Plus Three Forum to develop an all-inclusive teacher development system that connects teacher preparation at pre-service level with teacher development at in-service level. If this is done in terms of curriculum integration, the authors argue, it could allow for improved mentoring and more reflective professional enquiry opportunities. This would enable smoother transition for prospective teachers upon completion of their studies as they enter the workforce.

12  Subhan Zein

Part IV focuses on teacher preparation and policy. The three chapters in this part are Chapter 12, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14. These chapters highlight the inseparable relationship between teacher preparation and educational policy in areas such as teaching renovation and efficiency (Chapter 12), greater involvement of teachers in supporting policy changes (Chapter 13) and teaching professionalism through policy analysis (Chapter 14). Chapter 12 is written by Khanh-Linh Tran-Dang and Marianne Turner. The chapter is motivated by the increasing focus on teachers’ implementation of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in relation to education policy in Vietnam, but the focus has mainly been on in-service school teachers’ implementation of TBLT, rather than on pre-service teacher education. The authors collected data through (1) individual interviews, (2) demonstration classes and (3) focus group discussions. Their study demonstrates that there was minimal collaboration between teacher educators and policymakers responsible for ELT reforms in Vietnam. The study also shows that teacher educators’ understandings of TBLT are highly influential in that they tend to implement policy in a manner that suits their interpretations of local contexts, and not merely based on what policymakers envisage.The authors argue that teacher educators should be viewed as focal stakeholders in the ELT educational policy community rather than passive implementers of top-down language policies. The authors call for more deliberation in making teacher educators more active in working with the in-service education sector to inform policymaking and mediate practices. Mary Shepard Wong, Jennifer Miller and Brooke Treadwell are the authors of Chapter 13. In their chapter, the authors examine language teacher preparation in Myanmar in relation to the recent educational policy changes in the country, reporting on a study involving 17 participants in Mandalay and Yangon. Their study reveals findings related to the challenges in the preparation of local Myanmarese English teachers. These include: (1) the examination system that plays an influential role in determining the trajectory of prospective teachers’ career; (2) the promotion system that drains competent teachers from teaching in primary school; (3) low salary that forces teachers to work extra hours to supply income; (4) the scarcity of appropriate teaching materials; (5) the prevalence of teacher-centred learning that emphasises translations and memorisation; (6) poor quality of teaching professionals; (7) limited teaching hours for adequate mentoring and accountability; (8) unequal educational opportunities and resources among students in rural areas. The authors argue that tackling these challenges is not merely part of changing policy and reforming educational system that are tasked to the government and NGOs. The authors call for active participation of teachers to be part of the change, stressing the need for greater collaboration with ASEAN Plus Three education providers that can broker educational change through study exchanges, collaborative research and conferences. Chapter 14 is written by Mai Trang Vu. In Chapter 14 the author uses policy analysis to examine the Vietnam English Teacher Competencies Framework

Preparing Asian English teachers 13

(ETCF) that was endorsed in 2014. The author examines the values and perceptions that underpin the conception of professionalism as stipulated in the ETCF policy document. Her analysis indicates the emergence of five domains of knowledge and skills prioritised in the ETCF: English proficiency, knowledge of teaching, knowledge of learners, reflective teaching, and contextual knowledge. The analysis of the study reveals how the policy presents the functionality of teacher effectiveness, characterised by concretised competencies and performance indicators. The study further views ECTF as a deliberate, systematic effort to develop more discretionary specialisation among teachers while pronouncing developmental dimensions and social responsibility; but whether the policy remains merely a management tool remains an open-ended issue.The author argues that if ECTF policy is to be used as an effective tool for both professional development and quality assurance, developmental dimensions which enhance teacher autonomy and professional growth in the discourse of professionalism within teacher preparation and policy are necessary. To conclude the volume, Richmond Stroupe and Gabriel Diaz Maggioli write Chapter 15. In the chapter, the authors summarise the volume, outlining the major themes that join the volume together. They focus on the role of teacher education in the ASEAN Plus Three in the preservation of linguistic diversity while preparing teachers for the globalised world. I shall end this introductory chapter with a final word. This volume recognises the limitations imposed by the current practices of traditional English teacher preparation across Asia, and for this reason all contributors endeavour to find ways to break down the barriers to generate more practical elements, deeper theory, richer reflection and integration of teacher preparation components. This explains why the chapters in this volume highlight teacher preparation of English teachers as a transformative process that goes beyond preparing teachers’ language proficiency or classroom strategies. Internationalisation of education (Chapter 8), educational policy (Chapter 12 and Chapter 14) and emerging concepts such as translanguaging that capture the everyday reality of multilingualism in Asia (Chapter 3) constitute inherent components within the large construct of teacher preparation. However, they remain underexplored. This volume tackles this issue. This is made possible due to our shared sentiment that teacher preparation ought to offer appropriate and coherent learning opportunities to assist prospective teachers in their knowledge progression, and in doing so engage them in an integrated core experience that weaves together fundamental knowledge and skills in teaching for the global world (Berry, Depaepe and van Driel, 2016; Goodwin, 2010; Korthagen, 2016; Townsend, 2011). As Loughran et al. (2016) argues, ‘[t]he work of teacher education is not about training, it should be an educative process that develops thoughtful, informed and highly able professionals’ (p. 416), where prospective teachers are ‘given genuine opportunities to better apprehend the complex nature of teaching and begin to develop a vision for their future professional learning’ (p. 416). In doing so, we never aim to be prescriptive – the spirit embraced in this volume is parallel to Goodwin’s (2010) contention on the probability of

14  Subhan Zein

numerous routes to teaching quality, allowing us to think without boundaries and specialties and to examine quality teaching as enacted in a wide variety of contexts in Asia. Thus, the assertion being put forth in this volume is to focus English teacher preparation on the expansion of the range of teacher capabilities that extend beyond the delivery of curriculum – it is about enabling prospective English teachers to face an unknown and increasingly globalised future. I welcome this rare opportunity to invite the reader to embark on an exciting journey with the authors of this volume to do so. It is my hope that this volume will help inform the policy, research and practice of teacher preparation of English teachers in Asia and beyond in this 21st century, which coincidentally (or deliberately?), has been dubbed the Asian Century. Brisbane, 5 February 2018 Subhan Zein

References Berry, A., Depaepe, F., and van Driel, J. (2016). Pedagogical content knowledge in teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 347–386). Singapore :Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_9 Bigalke, T. W., and Sharbawi, S. (Eds.). (2013). English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region. Bandar Seri Begawan: Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Burns, A., and Richards, J. C. (Eds.). (2009). The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cheng, L. (2012).The power of English and the power of Asia: English as lingua franca and in bilingual and multilingual education. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 327–330. doi:10.1080/01434632.2012.661432 Clyne, M., and Sharifian, F. (2008). English as an international language: Challenges and possibilities. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 31(3), 1–16. Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Farrell,T. S. C. (Eds.). (2015). International perspectives on English language teacher education: Innovations from the field. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Goodwin, A. L. (2010). Globalization and the preparation of quality teachers: Rethinking knowledge domains for teaching. Teaching Education, 21(1), 19–32. doi:10.1080/ 10476210903466901 Graddol, D. (1997). The future of English. London: British Council. Graddol, D. (2006). English next. London: British Council. Hamid, M. O., Nguyen, H.T. M., and Baldauf Jr., R. B. (2013). Medium of instruction in Asia: Context, processes and outcomes. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 1–15. doi:10. 1080/14664208.2013.792130 Harmer, J. (2010). The practice of English language teaching (8th ed.). London: Longman. Hu, G.W., and McKay, S. (2012). English language education in East Asia: Some recent developments. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 345–362. doi:10.1080 /01434632.2012.661434 Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a lingua franca: Attitudes and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jenkins, J. (2009). World Englishes: A resource book for students (2nd ed.). London and New York, NY: Routledge.

Preparing Asian English teachers 15 Kachru, B. B. (1986). The alchemy of English: The spread, functions and models of non-native Englishes. Oxford: Pergamon. Kirkpatrick, A. (2010). English as a lingua franca in ASEAN: A multilingual model. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Kirkpatrick, A. (2011). English as an Asian Lingua Franca and the multilingual model of ELT. Language Teaching, 44(2), 212–224. doi:10.1017/S0261444810000145 Kirkpatrick, A. (2016). English as a lingua franca and its educational impact in Asia. In G. Leitner, A. Hashim, and H-G. Wolf (Eds.), Communicating with Asia:The future of English as a global language (pp. 282–295). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/ CBO9781107477186.019 Kitchen, J., and Petrarca, D. (2016). Approaches to teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 137–186). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_4 Kobayashi,Y. (2017). ASEAN English teachers as a model for international English learners: Modified teaching principles. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 682–696. doi:10.1111/ijal.12173 Korthagen, F. A. D. (2016). The pedagogy of teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 311–346). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_8 Loomis, S., Rodriguez, J., and Tillman, R. (2008). Developing into similarity: Global teacher education in the twenty-first century. European Journal of Teacher Education, 31(3), 233–245. doi:10.1080/02619760802208288 Loughran, J., Keast, S., and Cooper, R. (2016). Pedagogical reasoning in teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 387–421). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_10 Richards, J. C., and Farrell, T. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C., and Renandya,W. A. (Eds.). (2002). Methology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Spolsky, B., and Moon, Y-I. (Eds.). (2012). Primary school English language education in Asia: From policy to practice. New York, NY: Routledge. Spolsky, B., and Sung, K. (Eds.). (2015). Secondary school English education in Asia: From policy to practice. New York, NY: Routledge. Stroupe, R., and Kimura, K. (Eds.). (2011). English language teaching practice in Asia. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: IELTS. Stroupe, R., and Kimura, K. (Eds.). (2013). Research and practice in English language teaching in Asia. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: IDP Education (Cambodia) Ltd & CamTESOL. Stroupe, R., and Kimura, K. (Eds.). (2015). ASEAN Integration and the role of English language teaching. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: IELTS. Sung, C. C. M. (2016). English as a lingua franca in the Asian context: Perspectives on identity in a multilingual world. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 26(2), 175–192. doi:10.1075/japc.26.2.01sun Townsend, T. (2011). Thinking and acting both locally and globally: New issues for teacher education. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 37(2), 121– 137. doi:10.1080/02607476.2011.558263

Part I

Setting the Scene

2 Current trends and future directions in pre-service teacher training programmes for English Language in ASEAN Plus Three Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin LingCurrent trends and future directions

A synthesis of recent research Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling Introduction The main objective of this chapter is to assess current trends and future directions in pre-service English Language (EL) teacher training programmes for ASEAN Plus Three. Though there has been research in pre-service English Language teacher education, there has been no qualitative meta-synthesis study that addresses current trends and future directions specifically. To address this important gap, first we provide the background through a literature review of the areas identified in the research questions as well as the methodology of meta-synthesis. We then describe the method adopted for this meta-synthesis study and how we have derived the findings to the four claims pertaining to preservice EL teacher education in ASEAN Plus Three: (1) Globalization and internationalism impact pre-service EL teacher training programmes. (2) Research in pre-service EL teachers focuses on theory-practice links (through practicum, microteaching and reflection), teacher identity and beliefs, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). (3) National English Language policy impacts pre-service EL teacher training programmes and teacher education. (4) English Language teaching approaches adopted for pre-service teacher training are country specific, ranging from traditional rote learning to communicative learning. The findings for the claims for the period 2002 to 2017 will form the basis for discussing emerging trends in pre-service training in terms of the development of more effective pre-service teacher training and future directions in research for pre-service education in areas such as teaching practicum, policy on teacher preparation and classroom research. Background to the study

Before embarking on looking at the ASEAN Plus Three context, we will review literature on the key areas in the research questions from a generic perspective

20  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling

as part of existing research on pre-service EL training so as to situate our findings and discussion in a broader context. English is used for intranational and international communication (Honna, 2005; McKay, 2002) as the working language of the ASEAN Economic Community, as well as China, Japan and South Korea. In the globalized world, there is a “pressing need for a common language of communication, which would make it possible to overcome interlingual and intercultural barriers standing in the way of integrating nations into a common economic and cultural area” (Smokotin, Alekseyenko and Petrova, 2014, p. 509) and English meets that need as a global language (Crystal, 1997). English as the language for globalization and internationalisation is taught as foreign language or second language in the ASEAN Plus Three context, which has impact for pre-service teacher training as this study will reveal. Globalization and internationalism has impact on national English policy affecting EL pre-service teacher training programmes. For example, countries such as Korea, Japan and China are now giving English language teaching and learning much greater priority in their foreign language policy (Tsui, 2004). National policy also determines the age children learn English; according to Ho’s (2002) overview of “English Language Teaching in East Asia Today”, in ESL countries (Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore), children start to learn English early in school, in the primary grades or even in the pre-school year. National policy will likely influence the national curriculum, which “functions as the basic guideline and principle on what and how to teach or learn, and what and how to test, for example, by specifying learning contents, achievement standards, and teaching methods and testing” (Choi and Lee, 2008, p. 8) so that EL teaching approaches adopted for pre-service teacher training are country specific, ranging from traditional rote learning to communicative learning. The chapter looks at research in pre-service EL teachers’ theory-practice links in terms of practicum, microteaching and reflection in addition to issues regarding teacher identity and beliefs as well as ICT. In the literature, practicum is seen as a key period for achieving reflective practice and addressing the theory-practice gap (see Allen and Wright, 2014; Stenberg, Rajala and Hilppo, 2016). Microteaching enables prospective teachers to convert theory into practice in the actual teaching environment or bridge the gap between theory and practice (Benton-Kupper, 2001; Capel, 1997), while reflection is seen as enhancing theory-practice links through practicum or microteaching (see Farrell, 2006, 2007; Ng, 2016). Research into pre-service education has also looked at the emerging professional identity of pre-service teachers and the role of emotions in the professional identities of non-native English-speaking teachers (Cheung, Ben Said, and Park, 2015) or teachers’ own voices, learning about becoming a teacher, and theories and expectations about teaching as a profession (Flores, 2014). In terms of ICT, to meet the demands of the 21st-century classroom, pre-service teachers need exposure to and experience with diverse technologies during their teacher preparation programmes, especially for English

Current trends and future directions 21

teachers dealing with multiple literacies and collaborative learning (see Hogue, Nellen, Patterson and Schulze, 2004; Kim and Kamil, 2004). Meta-synthesis1 is adopted for the study.According to Sandelowski, Docherty and Emden (1997), meta-synthesis has implications for both knowledge development and research utilization, as the findings are “situated in a larger interpretive context . . . [and presented for] a variety of potential users, including theorists, researchers, practitioners and policy makers” (p. 365). The aim of meta-synthesis is to integrate, compare and analyze in a constructivist way many previously unrelated studies, allowing interpretive themes to emerge from the synthesis [where] the results from the literature were synthesized, in order to identify key themes . . . and understand these emerging themes in relationship to each other. (Togia and Korobili, 2014, p. 222) In the present study, meta-synthesis provides a broader understanding of complexity of pre-service teacher training through allowing links and patterns to emerge, identifying areas requiring more research, and revealing practices across different countries and different institutions to enable discovery of commonalities and differences. This brief literature review has highlighted research conducted in the areas identified by the research questions in various contexts but not all studies are related to the ASEAN Plus Three context, which our chapter will address.

Method To guide our selection and interpretations of research publications, we formulated a central research question: What are the commonalities or differences in pre-service teacher training programmes for English Language in ASEAN Plus Three? As meta-synthesis research looks for evidence from previous empirical studies, we followed conventional procedures for research synthesis specified by Cooper, Hedges, and Valentine (2009), and Norris and Ortega (2006). A preliminary search of international peer-reviewed articles led us to decide on a research synthesis that is more of a systematic content analysis. This approach is adopted because training of pre-service EL teachers in ASEAN Plus Three involves diverse educational contexts and populations, different purposes, research designs and reporting of varying quality. To identify research published between 2002 and 2017, we conducted systematic searches of the computer data bases (such as Taylor and Francis, Elsevier, ProQuest and Wiley) in the National Institute of Education (Singapore) library for journals such as Asia Pacific Education Review, The Journal of Asia TEFL, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Professional Development in Education, Asian EFL Journal and RELC Journal. Five categories

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of keywords were used for the searches: (1) ‘Pre-service’ and ‘training*’ or ‘teachers*’; (2) ‘English language’ or ‘ESL’, ‘EFL*’; (3) ‘Brunei’ or ‘Cambodia’ or ‘Indonesia’ or ‘Laos’ or ‘Malaysia’ or ‘Myanmar’ or ‘Singapore’ or ‘Thailand’ or ‘The Philippines’ or ‘Vietnam’ or ‘China’ or ‘Taiwan’ or ‘Hong Kong’ or ‘South Korea’ or ‘Japan’; and (4) ‘ASEAN*’. We excluded studies that did not involve empirical research (e.g., simple self-attestations about teaching practices) and examined the reference sections to identify relevant book chapters, unpublished theses or conference presentations. Upon closer scrutiny of actual content of the articles generated through keyword search, publications on English Language education or in-service training pertaining to pre-service EL training issues were also included since research focusing specifically on pre-service could not be found for certain countries (see Appendix A for a breakdown of individual ASEAN Plus Three country representation and Appendix B for a list of journals). We read each of the more than selected 60 publications to do content analysis, generate themes, and identify claims related to pre-service training for English language in relation to commonalities and differences. As a qualitative study, the findings of our study were derived based on the researchers’ reflexivity to support judgements about claims while discrepancies were resolved through discussions. The results of these analyses are presented as four general claims in the findings section.

Findings Claim 1. Globalization and internationalism impact pre-service EL teacher training programmes

With English as a language of modernisation and international communication (Kirkpatrick, 2012), issues of globalization and internationalism have impacted pre-service training for English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Globalization involves “the flow of technology, economy, knowledge, people, values, [and] ideas . . . across borders” (Knight, 1997, p. 6), while to O’Neill and Chapman (2015), internationalization of education encompasses curriculum (e.g., multicultural or intercultural education), mobility-related activities, and transnational or cross-border delivery of education (e.g., student exchange programmes). In O’Neill and Chapman’s (2015) view, internationalization of education is “a proactive response to globalization, with schools internationalising rapidly, especially through greater use of new communications technologies” (p. 4). For instance, the National Institute of Education in Singapore includes international practicum exchange programmes with universities from the United States, Europe, New Zealand and Asia where student teachers go for a five-week stint to observe English language lessons conducted in native, ESL and EFL settings (National Institute of Education, 2018). In the climate of globalization and internationalism, educators and researchers have investigated the level of proficiency and competence of pre-service teachers teaching EL.According to Hu (2005), China’s MOE issued a curriculum directive

Current trends and future directions 23

requiring primary schools to start offering English classes beginning in 2001. However, a major problem is that many English teachers simply do not have the proficiency or confidence to teach in English (Shen, 2009). For Malaysia, it was only during the 1990s that the “deterioration in the standards of English is seen as a major obstacle to the aspiration that Malaysia be declared a developed nation by 2020” (Nunan, 2003, p. 602). For Vietnam, Dang, Nguyen, and Le (2013) showed that global influences on teaching practices were mediated by social and community pressure, trends due to the internationalization of education, and the availability of teaching resources for 20 Vietnamese preservice teachers. Le (2014) talks about how Vietnam’s effective participation in the global economy means “the country needs to have competent English language teachers” (p. 217) and to the improve English proficiency level, teacher training programmes are beginning to use the English Teacher Competencies Framework (ETCF). Dudzik and Nguyen (2015) highlight how two universities have revised their five bachelor teacher education programmes to be in line with the ETCF. However, in the study by Vu and Burns (2014), several of the 16 interview participants teaching first-year pre-service students experienced difficulties in using English themselves. In investigating the challenges Indonesian EFL pre-service teachers face during microteaching, Koesoemo and Shore (2015) discovered that they had little confidence in their English language knowledge and competence. Ellis, Chong, and Choy (2013) did a study on Singaporean student teachers’ written proficiency levels in EL. The results showed that pre-service teachers needed to strengthen their writing skills in order to become more effective teachers at schools. Globalization and internationalism have led educators and researchers to explore teaching English as an international language (EIL). The 144 Cambodian pre-service teachers of Moore and Bounchon’s (2010) study perceived English as important for facilitating international communication. It is because the status of English in Cambodia has evolved in a remarkably short time from that of a ‘foreign language’ not spoken within Cambodia to both an ‘international language’ that is spoken in Cambodia (by people of different nationalities) and a ‘second language’ spoken between and among Cambodians themselves. Suzuki’s (2011) three Japanese pre-service teachers believed that teaching only American/British English for international communication was best for their future students. Zacharias (2014) explores integrating EIL pedagogy into existing pre-service teacher education curriculum by looking at ten Indonesian bilingual English student teachers during microteaching and teaching practice. The study points to the limited understanding of EIL pedagogic models as native English speakers (NES)/standard English was the desirable pedagogical model. In summary, with globalization and internationalism, educators and researchers have been concerned about the issue of whether English teachers have the requisite level of proficiency and competence to teach in English and have explored the possibility of teaching English as an international language in preservice programmes.

24  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling Claim 2. Research in pre-service EL teachers focuses on theory-practice links (through practicum, microteaching and reflection), teacher identity and beliefs, and ICT

Educators and researchers have examined theory and practice links in pre-service teacher EL education programmes through assessing teaching programmes and incorporating practicum, microteaching, and reflection. In terms of pre-service teaching programmes, educators and researchers have expressed concern about the lack of links between theory-based training programmes and actual teaching practice. In China, Lou (2003) reported that a four-year primary EFL preservice teacher training programme did not adequately integrate theory and practice and the participants questioned the value of formal training in contributing to their teaching practice. One hundred and fifty-four Taiwanese trainees in Chu’s (2006) study gained some valuable teaching skills, though they highlighted that the programmes lacked effective integration across courses. Most of the six Korean in-service secondary school teachers interviewed by Yook and Lee (2016) “were dissatisfied with the largely theory-oriented pre-service teacher education programmes that they attended” (p. 522). In terms of studies on practicum, educators and researchers have looked at these diverse issues related to practicum: mentoring issues with Vietnamese researchers being the most concerned, pre-service teachers’ practical concerns, and the match between theories and actual practices or the expected and actual levels of competence. In ASEAN countries, the 21 junior and senior preservice teachers in the Philippines in Ulla’s (2016) study reported challenges in practicum as classroom management, teaching confidence and lack of teaching resources. Researchers from Vietnam seemed especially concerned about mentoring, as several studies dealing with the issue have emerged. Anh Le (2007) interviewed participants and looked at 23 post-classroom observation discussions between 15 EFL student teachers and 23 school-based cooperating teachers in Vietnam to reveal that the school cooperating teachers tended to impose their own ideas about how to plan and deliver a lesson on the student teachers. More than 50% of Hudson, Nguyen, and Hudson’s (2009) 106 Vietnamese preservice teachers felt that they had not received mentoring for developing their teaching of English writing. Nguyen’s (2013) study of 65Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers doing a six-week school-based practicum in secondary schools showed that the experimental peer-mentored group had more psychosocial support from their peers than those in the non-peer-mentored control group. Looking at interviews and post-classroom observation discussions between 15 EFL student teachers and 23 school supervisors in Vietnam, Lee (2007) found school supervisors doing much more talking and how criticisms predominated which demoralized student teachers. Le (2014) looked at the diaries of five Vietnamese EFL student teachers during a six-week practicum to reveal their strong inclinations towards the cooperating teachers’ models of teaching rather than attempting to adapt the theories they had learnt and reflect critically on the process. To Le, the present pre-service teacher education programme in

Current trends and future directions 25

Vietnam fails to prepare the student teachers adequately to make a transition to the real classroom or provide student teachers with observational skills and skills of reflective practice to make the practicum a useful professional learning experience. Nguyen (2015) investigated the effectiveness of EFL teaching practicum of 18 teacher educators and 141 EFL trainee teachers at three Vietnamese universities in terms of training programme, practicum arrangements and mentoring practices. Nguyen’s (2015) view is that university courses must link with practices in school and the gap between the experienced teachers and the novice bridged by emphasising a shift in role of the practicum mentors. For the Plus Three countries (i.e., China, Japan and South Korea), researchers also look at the match between theories and actual practices or the expected and actual levels of competence. Tsang (2004) showed that, during classroom teaching, Hong Kong student teachers did not always refer to personal practical knowledge (PPK), though they could discuss lesson improvement during post-lesson conferences. She termed this a “delayed access to personal practical knowledge” due to competition between circumstances of the classroom, thoughts on teaching, coursework at university and the PPK. Liaw (2009) demonstrated that a one-year extended practicum enabled Taiwanese student teachers to improve in teacher efficacy; there was close collaboration among student teachers, cooperating teachers and teacher educators so that group discussions about teaching experiences “enhanced their personal teacher efficacy” (p. 179). However, Lee’s (2011) Korean secondary pre-service teachers experienced difficulties connecting coursework to four-week teaching practices because the programmes “touched on these concepts only in the surface, theoretical, and abstract levels” (p. 15). Researchers have also started looking at the issue of whether microteaching enhances theory-practice links and ways to enhance such links. For ASEAN countries, from questionnaire responses of 13 Malaysian lecturers teaching Linking Theory to Practice (LTP), Ghanaguru, Nair and Yong (2013) advocated incorporating a microteaching template to encompass learning objectives, lesson stages and activities. Koesoemo and Shore (2015) investigated 86 pre-service EFL Indonesian teachers to highlight these as microteaching issues: English language capacity, knowledge of teaching, access of resources and managing English language use in the classroom. Ng (2016) looked at how 23 pre-service teachers’ reflective practices in the context of their microteaching revealed their acquisition of pedagogical knowledge. Ng (2017) also explored four groups of pre-service teachers’ teaching of critical literacy in microteaching to highlight how they translated critical literacy into teaching practice. Researchers have been studying how theory-practice links can be developed through reflective practice such as through reflective journaling. In looking at Hong Kong EFL pre-service teachers, Lee (2007) advocates using dialogue (via email) and response journals as tools for reflection. Brooke’s (2012) three case studies of 3rd-year Hong Kong ESOL trainees on their first intensive block practice suggest that an online environment can support and develop reflective practice at a deep level if there is an online model to scaffold reflections and

26  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling

asynchronous Socratic dialogue to prompt further reflection. Astika’s (2014) 40 Indonesian pre-service English teachers reflected more on the personal and contextual domains of teaching in three-month practicums. Farrell’s (2008) study with 18 Singaporean EL trainee teachers reported on at least two critical incidents during their practicum using reflective journals. Analysis of the 33 trainees’ lessons in weekly journals by Kim and Yi (2010 in Moodie and Nam, 2016) showed that student teachers’ “self-observation of critical incidents in their own classroom helped them to generate powerful insights about teaching” (p. 373). Through reflective journals, Farrell (2006) examined three Singaporean pre-service English teachers before, during and after a six-week practice teaching experience regarding the use of metaphors. Results showed that a three-part typology of metaphors – social order, cultural transmission and learner-centred growth – could be generated. Research on pre-service teacher identity/teacher beliefs has become increasingly important (Cheung et al., 2015) with the studies focusing on ASEAN Plus Three countries emerging only after 2008. Lim (2011) utilized a concept mapping method to examine 90 Korean EFL student teachers’ autobiographical reflections on their professional identity formation. Ghanaguru and Rao (2013) asked 10 Malaysian English language pre-service teachers to record the most memorable experience during their school days to derive conceptions and ideas related to beliefs about how to establish classroom climate, establishing identity and teacher personality. Zacharias (2012) investigated 30 Indonesian pre-service teachers’ written response journals to discover that many negotiated their identities based on a core identity derived from their assumed first language (L1) culture and how encounters with native speakers would trigger a sense of linguistic inferiority as they deemed their non-native status (NNS) status as a drawback. In looking at 13 Indonesian English pre-service teachers’ practicums, Kuswandono (2014) advocates using more reflective dialogues to increase motivation and to shape pre-service teachers’ identity and professionalism. Astuti (2016) identifies challenges that EFL novice teachers in Indonesia may face in developing the professional identity of a practitioner of the cooperative learning (CLT) approach as: (1) the unavailability of community of cooperative learning practitioners, (2) hegemony versus identity development, (3) agency in the midst of tensions, and (4) institutional identity versus professional identity. Lim (2016) examined Cambodian pre-service teachers’ cognitions to derive their self-acknowledged identities as speakers whose pronunciation was not native-like. They had a positive attitude towards ASEAN English (with its varieties) as a lingua franca. In Plus Three countries, the response journals and interviews of all 13 female Hong Kong English teacher participants of Lee (2008) revealed that they had become more reflective through journal writing while developing their teacher professional identities. Trent’s (2012) six pre-service Hong Kong EL teachers had to confront, question and reject various identity positions, including ‘student teacher’, ‘full-time teacher’, and ‘teacher researcher’ in

Current trends and future directions 27

identity conflicts as they engaged in a research project across institutional and educational boundaries. Xu’s (2012) four participants’ imagined cue-based or exemplar-based professional identities transformed into rule-based or schemabased practiced identities due to the institutional pressures of school rules and regulations. He and Lin (2013) discuss an ethnographic case study of the teaching practice experience of a student teacher, Lynn, in mainland China to reveal tensions between the school and university activity systems on Lynn’s professional identity formation. Despite conflicting cultural and ideological beliefs and practices, Lynn’s identity transformation seemed to be affected by her telos of teacher identity/goals of her teaching self. These studies from ASEAN Plus Three countries have examined different aspects of teacher identity in terms of professional identity formation and identities in relation to language teaching beliefs and approaches such as whether one is a practitioner of cooperation learning or one’s status as NNS. There are many studies about ICT for pre-service teachers in general but few focusing on EL and ICT. One such study was by Sudsuang (2005), who conducted a survey on the use of the Internet to reveal that Thai pre-service EFL teachers were generally positive about the use of the Internet for teaching and learning. Fook, Sidhu, Kamar and Aziz (2011) investigated 70 Malaysian pre-service Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) teachers to reveal their positive attitudes, their moderate level of competency and how they were adequately prepared to integrate ICT in the classroom despite the lack of facilities and technical malfunction in schools. Shin (2015) conducted two studies for 60 Korean trainees to raise awareness of critical, ethical, and safe use of information and communication technologies through evaluating and discussing the selection of instructional materials and lesson activities. In Singapore, Hanington, Pillai and Kwah (2013) describes a blended digital storytelling course to promote pre-service teachers’ own language proficiency and development of awareness of teaching techniques for classroom use. The 46 Malaysian pre-service EL teachers in Tam and Nooreen’s (2017) study were confident users of ICT, though there was no clear relation between their actual and perceived confidence in using ICT to teach. This section has looked at diverse areas that have been researched upon in the ASEAN Plus Three context. Educators and researchers are concerned about the lack of links between pre-service training programmes and actual teaching practice. In studying practicum specifically, these were the areas of focus: mentoring issues with Vietnamese researchers expressing the most concern, preservice teachers’ practical concerns, and the match between theories and actual practices or the expected and actual levels of competence. Researchers have also started looking at enhancing theory-practice links through microteaching and reflective practices (mainly through reflective journaling). Teacher identity formation has been studied in relation to development of professionalism, preservice teachers’ NNS status as well as language teaching beliefs and approaches. Lastly, there is scant research in focusing on EL and ICT.

28  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling Claim 3. National English language policy impacts pre-service EL training programmes and teacher education

There has been little research into how national language policies impact preservice EL programmes in ASEAN Plus Three, though national policies dictate importance accorded to the teaching of English language from primary to tertiary levels. Despite “considerable country-by-country variation, the age at which English is a compulsory subject in most of the countries has shifted down in recent years, a shift that is predicated on the importance of English as a global language” (Shen, 2009, p. 118). According to Choi and Lee (2008), national policies have mandated that English be taught at these levels: primary – Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Korea (recommended, but mostly not), Taiwan (required, but not in remote areas); junior secondary – Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Korea (recommended, but mostly not), Indonesia (varies with schools), Hong Kong (30%); senior secondary – Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Korea (recommended, but mostly not), Indonesia, Hong Kong (varies with schools); tertiary – Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Korea (varies with schools/courses), Taiwan (mixed), Indonesia, Hong Kong, China (mostly), Thailand (mostly). For Indonesia, English is taught as an extracurricular subject at primary level under the new Curriculum 2013 outside school hours and English is not part of schools’ final year exam (Sahiruddin, 2013). In Laos, English as the first foreign language is introduced from Primary 3, despite a lack of suitably qualified and proficient English teachers (Phommanimith, 2008). In Japan, since 2002, English is a compulsory subject in the first year of junior high. Students receive three 50-minute lessons a week in each of the three years of junior high (Shen, 2009). The Taiwanese Ministry of Education (MOE) introduced a new English-in-education policy in 2001 involving English teaching and learning in elementary schools, an English language exit requirement for college students to obtain the certificate of proficiency in English, and English as a medium of instruction (EMI) for courses in higher education (Chen and Tsai, 2012). Thailand’s Ministry of Education has required schools to provide at least one hour of English instruction beginning in Grade 1 since the early 2000s, a reflection of the growing trend among Asian countries to start English learning at young ages (Baldauf, Kaplan, Kamwangamaly and Bryant, 2011; Butler, 2015; Kaplan, Baldauf and Kamwangamalu, 2011; Nunan, 2003) and part of growing interest in teacher education for EYL teachers due to the global rise of English (Copland, Garton, and Burns, 2014). Teacher preparation for EYL teachers and its practices in Asia have been widely discussed. Choi and Lee (2008) have highlighted how the lack of government support for English language education is a national policy problem in Taiwan and Japan, especially for primary English education. Kim’s (2010 in Moodie and Nam, 2016)2 137 Korean pre-service primary teachers reported higher anxiety for oral production in a classroom. Jung and Choi (2011 in Moodie and Nam, 2016) found that about half of the 50% of the 868 Korean pre-service teachers who had the chance to teach English during the practicum

Current trends and future directions 29

felt their own lack of proficiency inhibited their teaching of English and that they were inadequately prepared for teaching English in primary schools. Le and Do (2012) have suggested that for primary teacher training programmes in Vietnam, priority be given to improving pronunciation and fluency in classroom English. Zein (2015) investigated the perceptions of 16 English teachers and nine teacher educators on educational policy measures for the improvement of pre-service education to offer suggestions to better prepare elementary English teachers professionally. Zein (2015, 2016a) argues for more research on pre-service teacher preparation programme to cater for the needs of elementary English teachers in the global world, while asserting for more attention to be paid to contextual factors that could impede teacher professional development (Zein, 2016b). ASEAN Plus Three countries have varying bilingual or multilingual national policies that promote or sideline English language teaching. According to the Ministry of Education in Singapore (2012), “(preschool) children will learn in two languages; English as the first language and Chinese, Malay or Tamil as a Mother Tongue language”. In the Philippines, an official Bilingual Education Policy (BEP) has been in place since 1974 stating that English should be the medium of instruction for mathematics and science from Primary 1, while Filipino should be used in the teaching of other subjects (Tupas, 2009). Tupas suggested that the bilingual policy has not diminished the role of English in education and society as the symbolic power of English has remained strong. However, the Philippine Department of Education announced a radical change of policy in 2009 when it issued the order Institutionalizing Mother Tonguebased Multilingual Education (http://mothertongue-based.blogspot.com), which recognizes the importance of using the learner’s mother tongue as the medium of instruction in the early years of primary schooling (Kirkpatrick, 2012). For Malaysia, in 2003, there was an abrupt shift from Bahasa Malaysia to English for mathematics and science which was reversed in 2012 with the introduction of the policy “To Uphold Bahasa Malaysia and to Strengthen the English Language” (Phan Le Ha, Kho and Chng, 2013). The shifting status and role of English in multicultural and multi-linguistic Malaysia also affect EL teacher preparation (O’Neill and Chapman, 2015). Therefore Singh and Choo (2012) advocate a long-term plan to improve the quality of EL teaching and learning through quality pre-service EL teacher training. It is worthy of note that national policy has mandated English is used as the medium of instruction (EMI) in non-language classes (e.g., mathematics or science) and across school levels in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore (Choi and Lee, 2008). The study by Vizconde (2006) described the attitudes of science and mathematics student teachers towards English as the medium of instruction together with Filipino. Vizconde (2006) conducted interviews with 16 student teachers from two institutions in the Philippines and found the majority of them preferred the alternate use of both Filipino and English inside their classrooms, which contradicted the policy of English as the only medium of instruction for science and mathematics teachers.

30  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling

In short, ASEAN Plus Three countries have initiated national policies regarding the teaching of English language from primary to tertiary levels with the observable trend of children starting to learn English as a compulsory subject at a younger age. This has led researchers to raise concerns about pre-service teacher education of EYL teachers. Given the varying bilingual or multilingual national policies, English language teaching could be promoted or sidelined in these countries, while English as the medium of instruction varies from country to country. Claim 4. EL teaching approaches adopted for pre-service training are country specific, ranging from traditional rote learning to communicative learning

According to Nunan (2003), the “rhetoric in Malaysia is that of the communicative movement” (p. 602) and the “prevailing rhetoric in Vietnam appears to be ‘communicative’ ” (p. 604). Cooperative learning, part of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach adopted by English instruction in Indonesia beginning in the 1980s, is a mandated teaching method both in the 2006 and 2013 Indonesian curriculum (Astuti, 2016). Shen (2009) too holds the view that Task-Based Language Teaching (methodological realization of CLT) is the central pillar of government rhetoric for Japan, Korea, Chinese Taiwan and China’s Mainland. Japan’s national policy Guidelines in 2003 stated as its objective: the development of “practical communication abilities”; “fostering a positive attitude toward communication through foreign languages” (MEXT, 2003, p. 7); and lessons with native speakers to develop students’ communication abilities and deepen their international understanding (MEXT, 2003). Korea’s MOE has also attempted to change teaching methods (e.g., the recommendation of CLT, Teaching English in English [TEE], Task-Based Teaching, Whole Language Approach) (Yook, 2010). However, there appears to be “a large gap between the rhetoric and the reality” (Nunan, 2003, p. 604) with varying levels of success in attempts to embrace the CLT approach. In Ho’s (2002) view, partly because of the lack of training for teachers of English, “traditional practices such as text-centred grammar translation seem to die hard” (p. 19). For instance, though CLT is advocated, Zulfikar (2009) reported the prevalence of teacher-centred instruction and rote learning in Indonesian classrooms and Marcellino (2008) highlighted ineffective classroom interactions in most EFL classrooms in Indonesia. According to Baker (2016), EL teaching in Thailand “consists largely of outdated grammar translation instructional methods that give little attention to authentic communication or oral language skills” (p. 24). In the ELT policies of Japan, Korea, Taiwan and mainland China, it would seem that rhetoric rather than reality is the order of the day. Poor English skills on the part of teachers as well as inadequate teacher

Current trends and future directions 31

preparation make it very difficult, if not impossible, for many teachers to implement CLT in their classrooms. (Shen, 2009, p. 119) In terms of EL teaching methodology for pre-service training for ASEAN countries, in evaluating an in-service English Language Teacher Training Project (ELTTP) in Vietnam, according to Watson (2003), “Teacher training (pre-service, BA upgrade and MA) will be increasingly based on communicative approaches as the new modules become firmly embedded in professional training programmes” (p. 15). De Segovia and Hardison (2009) offered this suggestion for inclusion of CLT in Thai classrooms: “Pre-service training for teachers should include English proficiency improvement, coursework on materials development and assessment, and importantly, observations of CLT classes” (p. 161). However, when Hayden and Martin (2013) interviewed students, teachers and educational managers during site visits to educational institutional institutions in Myanmar from 2011 to 2013, they identified these key concerns in their report: rote learning being the main mode of transmission, predominance of the teacher-centred approach and teaching to the examination, though a student-centred approach is being encouraged.These same issues were also found in Brunei Darussalam (Mundia, 2010). The report could be indicative of the nature of pre-service teacher training for many ASEAN countries – teacher-centred and rote learning for English as EFL. Koesoemo and Shore’s (2015) Indonesian study revealed that most pre-service teachers could list key language teaching methods such as suggestopedia, inquiry-based teaching and Communicative Language Teaching, but in terms of teaching practice, the majority teach according to textbooks and student worksheets, and students rarely use the target language for peer interaction. As for the Plus Three countries, to encourage his pre-service teachers to move beyond reliance on textbooks and traditional teaching and learning methods, Cheng (2013) has introduced principles of materials design to develop critical awareness and build a sense of agency. Jones and Fong (2007) interviewed 30 pre-service and 27 in-service Macau secondary EFL teachers and found the experiences the participants had as EFL learners played a significant role in the formation of their pedagogical beliefs, which tended to be teacher centred, textbook based, grammar oriented and examination driven despite exposure to different teaching theories and methods (e.g., CLT) in their teacher education programmes. Many of them believed in the effectiveness of CLT but did not practice it in their teaching due to external constraints (e.g., large class size, lack of time for preparation). Choi (2008) interviewed 20 Korean EFL pre-service teachers to find their belief in grammar-based, teacher-centred, and textoriented teaching and learning led them to negative perceptions of the “procommunication policies” issued by the Korean MOE. Ahn (2009) investigated four pre-service Korean EFL teachers’ four-week practicum experiences to find them enacting recommendations based on their experiences as EFL/ESL

32  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling

learners, their ‘everyday concepts’ about EFL teaching, the mentors’ perceptions of and attitudes towards CLT, and institutional constraints such as pupils’ lack of classroom participation and a washback effect of grammar-focused, readingbased tests. Ahn (2011) also described how one pre-service teacher, Bohee, had limited success with encouraging participation through communicative activities during practicum, have students use only English and complete her lesson plans. Lee (2011) did a content analysis of more than 100 pre-service Korean secondary school syllabi to find that “communicative competence and communicative functions are discussed significantly; . . . while activity-, process-, task-based learning is dealt with at the surface level” (pp. 13–16). This section has shown how in EL teaching methodology for pre-service training for ASEAN Plus Three countries, the desire to move from teachercentred instruction and rote learning to communicative approaches has been largely rhetorical due to factors such as teachers’ poor language skills or external constraints (e.g., the large class size, lack of time for preparation).

Implications: current trends and future directions in pre-service teacher training programmes Current trends and future directions in research and teaching practice for preservice education in ASEAN Plus Three and how they could be related to the development of more effective pre-service teacher training in ASEAN Plus Three countries, including those with limited technological resources, can be looked at in terms of policy on pre-service teacher preparation and curriculum development. Internationalization and globalization in ASEAN Plus Three has given rise to increasing interest in teaching English, which has an impact on policies for teacher preparation, the development of pre-service curriculum and classroom research in future. The findings have affirmed that pre-service teacher training has to take account of how “the language policies of ASEAN countries Plus Three require people to learn their respective national language and English” (Kirkpatrick, 2012, p. 331) and how in “multilingual and multi-ethnic countries, the formulation of a language policy is a political balancing act in which the interests of the various ethnic, social and political groups should be catered for” (Tsui, 2004, p. 6). This implies that in researching and/or teaching, in future, researchers and educators have to understand how pre-service training methods can differ according to whether English has been accorded status as ESL or EFL by policymakers of ASEAN Plus Three and to contextualise the teaching or findings in terms of the language policies of the various countries. The review has highlighted how policymakers, educators and researchers have to address concerns about the English proficiency level of the pre-service teachers for a number of ASEAN Plus Three countries because quite a number are non-native English speakers lacking confidence in using English to teach. In terms of policy implications, there is the need for policymakers/administrators to put in place measures to increase the proficiency level of teachers in

Current trends and future directions 33

EFL and ESL settings, with educators and researchers looking into enhancing proficiency levels through pre-service training. In terms of curriculum development in pre-service education, the findings have shown increasing focus in these areas regarding EL teaching: teacher education especially in teaching English to young learners; theory-practice linkage during teaching practice; teacher beliefs and identity development and use of ICT. Looking at these diverse areas, one key area meriting more attention is teaching English to young learners. All of the ASEAN Plus Three countries have policies mandating the age English is introduced in schools and, given the lowering of age requirements, this has implications in terms of the need for policymakers to offer more support, as Choi and Lee (2008) talk about how the lack of government support for English language education is observed as national policy problems in Taiwan especially for primary English education. The review also points to the increasing necessity for educators to provide pre-service training specifically for teaching young learners English in terms of English for Young Learners (Baldauf et al., 2011; Butler, 2015; Kaplan et al., 2011) and how to tailor pre-service EL teacher training for primary school and to young learners (Zein, 2015, 2016a). In relation to pre-service curriculum to enhance theory-practice links, future research focusing on teaching methodology for English can look at how to resolve this issue: though policy rhetoric has advocated the teaching of CLT, researchers have demonstrated that the reality of the classroom remains teacher centred, textbook based, grammar oriented and examination driven (Jones and Fong, 2007).Teacher educators and researchers can continue to address theorypractice links through examining issues related to practicum and the incorporation of microteaching and reflective practice into pre-service training curricula. For the area of reflection, besides reflective journaling, educators and researchers can look at Farrell’s (2017) recent study regarding a five-level framework for reflective teaching: Philosophy, Principles,Theory-of-Practice, Practice, Beyond Practice. In terms of practicum, quality of mentoring is a rich area for future research, as demonstrated by emerging studies from Vietnam. Though teacher identity formation has been examined in terms of professional status, language teaching beliefs and approaches, and NNS status, educators and researchers can continue to study teachers’ identity in terms of teachers’ own voices, learning about becoming a teacher, or theories and expectations about teaching as a profession (see Flores, 2014). Lastly, scant research on the incorporation of ICT for English language learning makes it a rich area for future research.

Conclusion The findings of the chapter have revealed that policy on teacher preparation for the English Language is strongly dependent upon individual countries’ stands on the status of the English Language in the milieu of bilingualism and/or multilingualism and the need for English as the lingua franca for intranational

34  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling

and international communication with the prevalence of globalization and internationalism. It is encouraging to see how educators and researchers have sought ways to connect theory and practice in pre-service teacher education programmes through programme revamp, microteaching and practicum, specifically the use of reflection and quality mentoring and increasing interest in the professional identity development of these non-native EL teachers. In terms of directions for future research, this chapter has shown how these areas regarding EL pre-service teaching are increasingly important in the ASEAN Plus Three context: teacher education especially in teaching English to young learners; theory-practice linkage during teaching practice, as well as teacher beliefs and identity development. Lastly, even though pre-service teacher education has heeded the call for integrating ICT, research specifically on English teaching is still rather limited, so the use of ICT is another potential research area.

Appendices

Appendix A A breakdown of individual ASEAN Plus Three country representation

Country

EL pre-service training

Brunei Cambodia

Mundia (2010) Lim (2016); Moore and Bounchon (2010) Astika (2014); Astuti (2016); Koesoemo and Shore (2015); Kuswandono (2014); Zacharias (2012); Zein (2015, 2016a) A, 2016bDeng et al. (2007) (removed) Fook et al. (2011); Ghanaguru et al.(2013); Ghanaguru and Rao (2013); Tam and Nooreen (2017)

Indonesia

Laos Malaysia

Myanmar Singapore Thailand The Philippines Vietnam

China, Taiwan, Hong Kong

Japan South Korea

Asia

Ellis et al. (2013); Farrell (2006); Farrell (2008); Hanington et al. (2013); Ng (2016); Ng (2017) Sudsuang (2005) Ulla (2016);Vizconde (2006) Anh Le (2007); Dang et al. (2013); Dudzik and Nguyen (2015); Lee (2007); Le (2014); Nguyen (2013); Nguyen (2015) Brooke (2012); Cheng (2013); Chu (2006); He and Lin (2013); Jones and Fong (2007); Lee (2007); Lee (2008); Liaw (2009); Lou (2003); Trent (2012); Tsang (2004); Xu (2012) Suzuki (2011) Ahn (2009); Ahn (2011); Choi (2008); Jung and Choi (2011 in Moodie and Nam, 2016); Kim and Yi (2010 in Moodie and Nam, 2016); Lee (2011); Lim (2011); Shin (2015)

EL teacher training issues but relevant/reference to pre-service

Marcellino (2008); Zein (2016b); Zulfikar (2009) Phommanimith (2008) O’Neill and Chapman (2015); Phan Le Ha et al. (2013); Singh and Choo (2012) Hayden and Martin (2013)

Baker (2016); de Segovia and Hardison (2009) Le and Do (2012);Vu and Burns (2014); Watson (2003) Chen and Tsai (2012); Jones and Fong (2007)

Yook (2010);Yook and Lee (2016)

Choi and Lee (2008); Kaplan et al (2011); Kirkpatrick (2012); Nunan (2003); Shen (2009)

Appendix B A list of journals from which the sources were taken

Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education Asian Journal of English Language Teaching Australian Journal of Teacher Education Canadian Social Science Changing English Current Issues in Language Planning Education Research and Perspectives Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching EFL Journal ELT Journal English Teaching International Education Studies International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature International Journal of Educational Research International Journal of English Language Education Journal of Applied Linguistics Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities Journal of International and Comparative Education Journal of the Korea English Education Society Language Learning & Technology Language Teaching Language Teaching Research Linguistics Journal Open Journal of Modern Linguistics Professional Development in Education RELC Journal Teacher Development Teacher Education Quarterly Teaching and Teacher Education TEFLIN Journal TESL Canada Journal TESOL Journal TESOL Quarterly

Current trends and future directions 39

The English Teacher The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL The International Journal of Diversity in Education The Journal of Asia TEFL The Language Learning Journal Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education World Englishes

Notes 1 Meta-synthesis research differs from a literature review. The former has implications for both knowledge development and research utilization. The latter is a review of the research literature relevant to a study, or a review of theoretical perspectives that inform a research project. 2 Articles in Korean cited in Moodie and Nam (2016).

References Ahn, K. (2009). Learning to teach in the context of English language curricular reform in South Korea (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania. Ahn, K. (2011). Learning to teach under curricular reform: The practicum experience in South Korea. In K. E. Johnson and P. R. Golombek (Eds.), Research on second language teacher education: A sociocultural perspective on professional development (pp. 239–253). New York, NY: Routledge. Allen, J. A., and Wright, S. E. (2014). Integrating theory and practice in the pre-service teacher education practicum. Teachers and Training:Theory and Practice, 20(2), 136–151. doi: 10.1080/13540602.2013.848568 Anh Le, P. T. (2007). School supervisors’ feedback to student teachers: Inside out. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4, 195–216. Astika, G. (2014). Reflective teaching as alternative assessment in teacher education: A case study of pre-service teachers. TEFLIN Journal, 25(1), 16–32. doi:10.15639/teflinjournal. v25i1/16–32 Astuti, P. (2016). Practitioner of cooperative learning as part of novice teachers’ professional identity. TEFLIN Journal, 27(2), 132–152. doi:10.15639/teflinjournal.v27i2/132-152 Baker, L. L. (2016). Re-conceptualizing EFL professional development: Enhancing communicative language pedagogy for Thai teachers. TEFLIN Journal, 27(1), 23–45. doi:10.15639/ teflinjournal.v27i1/23-45 Baldauf, R. B., Kaplan, R. B., Kamwangamaly, K., and Bryant, P. (2011). Success or failure of primary second/foreign language programs in Asia:What do the data tell us? Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 309–323. doi:10.1080/14664208.2011.609715 Benton-Kupper, J. (2001). The microteaching experience: Student perspectives. Education, 121(4), 830–835. Brooke, M. (2012). Enhancing pre-service teacher training: The construction and application of a model for developing teacher reflective practice online. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 2(4), 180–188. doi:10.4236/ojml.2012.24023 Butler,Y. G. (2015). English language education among young learners in East Asia: A review of current research (2004–2014). Language Teaching, 48(3), 303–342. doi:10.1017/S0261 444815000105

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Current trends and future directions 41 Fook, C.Y., Sidhu, G. K., Kamar, N. M. S., and Aziz, N. A. (2011). Pre-service teachers’ training in information communication and technology for the ESL classrooms in Malaysia. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 11(3), 97–108. Ghanaguru, S., Nair, P., and Yong, C. (2013). Teacher trainers’ beliefs in microteaching and lesson planning in a teacher training Institution. The English Teacher, 42(2), 216–228. Ghanaguru, S., and Rao, R. (2013). Pre-service ELT teacher beliefs: Implications for teacher education. The English Teacher, 42(1), 37–51.Hanington, L. M., Pillai, A. D., and Kwah, P. F. (2013). Digital storytelling: Integrating language and content in the training of pre-service teachers. Asian EFL Journal Special Edition: CLIL in Asian Contexts: Emerging Trends, 15(4), 230–246. Hayden, M., and Martin, R. (2013). Recovery of the education system in Myanmar. Journal of International and Comparative Education, 2(2), 47–57. He, P., and Lin, A. M. Y. (2013). Tensions in school – university partnership and EFL preservice teacher identity formation: A case in mainland China. The Language Learning Journal, 41(2), 205–218. doi:10.1080/09571736.2013.790134 Ho, W. K. (2002). English language teaching in East Asia today: An overview. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 22(2), 1–22. doi:10.1080/0218879020220203 Hogue, D., Nellen, T., Patterson, N. G., and Schulze, P. (2004). CyberEnglish. English Journal, 94(2), 70–75. Honna, N. (2005). English as a multicultural language in Asia and intercultural literacy. Intercultural Communication Studies, 14(2), 73–89. Hu, G. (2005). English language education in China: Policies, progress and problems. Language Policy, 4, 5–24. doi:10.1007/s10993-004-6561-7 Hudson, P., Nguyen, H. T. M., and Hudson, S. (2009). Mentoring EFL preservice teachers in EFL writing. TESL Canada Journal, 27(1), 85–102. Jones, J. F., and Fong, P. M. (2007). The impact of teachers’ beliefs and educational experiences on EFL classroom practices in secondary schools. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 17, 27–47. Kaplan, R. B., Baldauf Jr, R. B., and Kamwangamalu, N. (2011). Why educational language plans sometimes fail? Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 105–124. doi:10.1080/14 664208.2011.591716 Kim, H. S., and Kamil, M. L. (2004). Adolescents, computer technology, and literacy. In T. L. Jetton and J. A. Dole (Eds.), Adolescent literacy research and practice (pp. 351–368). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Kirkpatrick, A. (2012). English in ASEAN: Implications for regional multilingualism. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 331–344. doi:10.1080/01434632.201 2.661433 Knight, J. (1997). Internationalisation of higher education: A conceptual framework. In J. Knight and H. de Wit (Eds.), Internationalisation of higher education in Asia Pacific countries (pp. 5–19). Amsterdam: European Association for International Education. Koesoemo, R., and Shore, S. (2015). Becoming an EFL teacher: Microteaching as a contribution to preservice teacher education in Indonesia. The International Journal of Diversity in Education, 14, 7–17. Kuswandono, P. (2014).Voices of pre-service English teachers: Reflecting motivations during practicum learning. TEFLIN Journal, 25(2), 185–202. Le, C.V., and Do, C. T. M. (2012). Teacher preparation for primary school English education: A case of Vietnam. In B. Spolsky and Y-I. Moon (Eds.), Primary school English-language education in Asia: From policy to practice (pp. 106–128). New York, NY: Routledge.

42  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling Le,V. C. (2014). Great expectations: The TESOL practicum as a professional learning experience. TESOL Journal, 5(2), 199–224. doi:10.1002/tesj.103 Lee, I. (2007). Preparing pre-service English teachers for reflective practice. ELT Journal, 61(4), 321–329. doi:10.1093/elt/ccm022 Lee, I. (2008). Fostering preservice reflection through response journals. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(1), 117–139. Lee, M. W. (2011). The influence of the current national curriculum on pre-service English teacher education in Korea. Journal of the Korea English Education Society, 10, 1–23. Liaw, E. C. (2009). Teacher efficacy of pre-service teachers in Taiwan: The influence of classroom teaching and group discussions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 176–180. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2008.08.005 Lim, H-Y. (2011). Concept maps of Korean EFL student teachers’ autobiographical reflections on their professional identity formation. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 969–981. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2011.05.001 Lim, S. (2016). Learning to teach intelligible pronunciation for ASEAN English as a Lingua Franca: A sociocultural investigation of Cambodian pre-service teacher cognition and practice. RELC Journal, 47(3), 1–16. doi:10.1177/0033688216631176 Lou, W. H. (2003). A study of one EFL pre-service program in Taiwan (Unpublished Ph.D thesis). University of Toronto, Canada. Marcellino, M. (2008). English language teaching in Indonesia: A continuous challenge in education and cultural diversity. TEFLIN Journal, 19(1), 57–69. McKay, S. L. (2002). Teaching English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). (2003). Action plan. Retrieved from www.mext.go.jp/english/topics/03072801.htm Ministry of Education Singapore. (2012). Pre school education. Retrieved from www.moe.gov. sg/education/preschool Moodie, I., and Nam, H-J. (2016). English language teaching research in South Korea: A review of recent studies (2009–2014). Language Teaching, 49(1), 63–98. doi:10.1017/ S026144481500035X Moore, S. H., and Bounchon, S. (2010). English in Cambodia: Changes and challenges. World Englishes, 29(1), 114–126. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.2009.01628 Mundia, L. (2010). Implementation of SPN21 curriculum in Brunei Darussalam: A review of selected implications on school assessment reforms. International Education Studies, 3(2), 119–128. doi:10.5539/ies.v3n2p119 National Institute of Education (2018). NIE global exchange programme. Retrieved from https://www.nie.edu.sg/teacher-education/practicum/nie-global-exchange-programme Ng, C. H. (2016). Exploratory study of pre-service teachers’ reflective practices in microteaching. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 1, 5–25. Ng, C. H. (2017). Pre-service teachers teaching critical literacy through microteaching: Possibilities and constraints. Changing English, 24(1), 81–90. doi:10.1080/13586 84X.2016.1273759 Nguyen, H. P. C. (2015). EFL teaching practicums in Vietnam: The vexed partnership between universities and schools. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 12(2), 169– 182.Nguyen, H. T. (2013). Peer mentoring: A way forward for supporting preservice EFL teachers psychosocially during the practicum. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(7), 31–44. doi:10.14221/ajte.2013v38n7.3Norris, J. M., and Ortega, L. (2006). Synthesizing research on language learning and teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Current trends and future directions 43 Nunan, D. (2003).The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 589–613. doi:10.2307/3588214 O’Neill, M., and Chapman, A. (2015). Globalisation, internationalisation and English language: Studies of education in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. Education Research and Perspectives, 42, 1–24. Phan, H. L., Kho, J., and Chng, B. (2013). Nation building, English as an international language, medium of instruction, and language debate: Malaysia and possible ways forward. Journal of International Education and Comparative Education, 2, 58–71. doi:10.14425/00.50.27 Phommanimith, K. (2008). Country report on basic education curriculum in Lao PDR.Vientiane: Department of General Education, Ministry of Education. Sahiruddin. (2013). The implementation of the 2013 curriculum and the issues of English language teaching and learning in Indonesia. Paper presented at the Asian Conference on Language Learning. Osaka University, Japan. Sandelowski, M., Docherty, S., and Emden, C. (1997). Qualitative Metasynthesis: Issues and Techniques. Research in Nursing & Health, 20, 365–371. Shen, Q. (2009). Globalization of English and English language policies in East Asia: A comparative perspective. Canadian Social Science, 5(3), 11–120. Shin, S-K. (2015).Teaching critical, ethical and safe use of ICT in pre-service teacher education. Language Learning & Technology, 19(1), 181–197. Singh, M. K. M., and Choo, C. S. (2012). Manufacturing industry employers’ perception of graduates’ English language skills proficiency. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 1, 114–124. Smokotin,V. M., Alekseyenko, A. S., and Petrova, G. I. (2014). The phenomenon of linguistic globalization: English as the global lingua franca (EGLF). Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 154, 509–513. Stenberg, K., Rajala, A., and Hilppo, J. (2016). Fostering theory-practice reflection in teaching practicums. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 44(5), 470–485. doi:10.1080/1359 866X.2015.1136406 Sudsuang, Y. (2005). The development of a teacher training model in using the internet for teaching English as a foreign language (Unpublished Ph.D Thesis). Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand. Suzuki, A. (2011). Introducing diversity of English into ELT: Student teachers’ responses. ELT Journal, 65(2), 145–153. doi:10.1093/elt/ccq024 Tam, S.Y., and Nooreen, B. N. (2017).The use of ICT among pre-service English language teachers. International Journal of English Language Education, 5(1), 100–112. doi:10.5296/ ijele.v5i1.10779 Togia, A., and Korobili, S. (2014). Attitudes towards open access: A meta-synthesis of the empirical literature. Information Services & Use, 34, 221–231. doi:10.3233/ISU-140742 Trent, J. (2012). Research engagement as identity construction: Hong Kong preservice teachers’ experiences of a compulsory research project. Teacher Development, 16(2), 145–160. doi :10.1080/13664530.2012.688677 Tsang, W. K. (2004). Teachers’ personal practical knowledge and interactive decisions. Language Teaching Research, 8(2), 163–198. doi:10.1191/1362168804lr139oa Tsui, A. B. M. (2004). Language policies in Asian countries: Issues and tensions. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 1, 1–25. Tupas, T. R. F. (2009). Language as a problem of development: Ideological debates and comprehensive education in the Philippines. AILA Review, 22(1), 23–39. doi:10.1075/ aila.22.03tup

44  Ng Chiew Hong and Cheung Yin Ling Ulla, M. B. (2016). Pre-service teacher training programs in the Philippines: The studentteachers practicum teaching experience. EFL Journal, 1(3), 235–250. doi:10.21462/eflj. v1i3.23 Vizconde, C. J. (2006). Attitudes of student teachers towards the use of English as language of instruction for Science and Mathematics in the Philippines. Linguistics Journal, 1(3), 7–33. Vu, N. T. T., and Burns, A. (2014). English as a medium of instruction: Challenges for Vietnamese tertiary lecturers. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 11(3), 1–31. Watson, N. (2003). English Language Teacher Training Project (ELTTP) Vietnam. CfBT Education Trust. Xu, H. (2012). Imagined community falling apart: A case study on the transformation of professional identities of novice ESOL teachers in China. TESOL Quarterly, 46(3), 568–578. doi:10.1002/tesq.42 Yook, C. M. (2010). Korean teachers’ beliefs about English Language education and their impacts upon the Ministry of Education-Initiated reforms (Ph.D Dissertation). Georgia State University. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/alesl_diss/14 Yook, C. M., and Lee, Y. (2016). Korean EFL teachers’ perceptions of the impact of EFL teacher education upon their classroom teaching practices. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 44(5), 522–536. doi:10.1080/1359866X.2016.1144171 Zacharias, N. T. (2012). EFL students’ understanding of their multilingual English identities. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 9(2), 233–244. Zacharias, N. T. (2014). Integrating EIL pedagogy in a pre-service teacher education program. TEFLIN Journal, 25(2), 217–232. doi:10.15639/teflinjournal.v25i2/217–232 Zein, S. (2015). Preparing elementary English teachers: Innovations at pre-service level. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(6), 104–120. doi:10.14221/ajte.2015v40n6.6 Zein, S. (2016a). Pre-service education for primary school English teachers in Indonesia: Policy implications. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(1), 119–134. doi:10.1080/194152 57.2015.1005243 Zein, S. (2016b). Factors affecting the professional development of elementary English teachers. Professional Development in Education, 42(3), 423–440. doi:10.1080/19415257.2015.1 005243 Zulfikar,T. (2009).The making of Indonesian education: An overview on empowering Indonesian teachers. Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities, 2, 13–39.

Part II

Innovations in teacher preparation

3 Translanguaging in the EYL classroom as a metadiscursive practice

Subhan ZeinTranslanguaging in the EYL classroom

Preparing prospective teachers Subhan Zein Introduction Classroom discourse analysis, according to Rymes (2016), is a study that examines different components of classroom talk and any context within and beyond the classroom affecting what is being said and how it is construed.Young learners learning English and their teachers construct their realities in the classroom context using language, including symbolic behaviour, in the construction of meanings. The roles of language as well as the social conditions in which the language is used are crucial in shaping and defining the classroom realities. One of the most prevalent social conditions of language classrooms is multilingualism. Indeed multilingualism has become the norm for most people globally, as they shift between two or more languages as a matter of course in their daily lives (Canagarajah, 2013). This holds true in the context of English for Young Learners (EYL) worldwide where the use of English in the classroom alongside another language such as Korean (Heo, 2016), Indonesian (Zein, 2013), Japanese (Butler, 2005) and Spanish (Escudero, Cruz and Loyo, 2012) is an everyday reality. However, our understanding of EYL teachers’ classroom discourse is still limited to their speech modification (Zein, In Press), the use of first language (L1) among English native-speaking teachers (Copland and Yonetsugi, 2016) and samples of L1 use by local teachers (Zein, 2016a, 2016b). We do not know how different language resources are used as part of teachers’ classroom discourse. We also still know too little as to how language resources are valued as contributing to meaning-making in language learning in the multilingual classroom in a process best known as translanguaging. Translanguaging, a process referring to a language communicative function of receiving input in one language and producing output in another language, allowing bilingual learners to use their home language and develop positive experiences at school (Baker, 2011; García, 2009), is indeed underexplored in the multilingual EYL classroom. It is highly necessary to understand translanguaging in the context of multilingual EYL classrooms worldwide, especially because the use of English only is very much likely to create discomfort (Macaro and Lee, 2013) and demotivation (Djigunovic, 2012) rather than creating the opposite effects. This motivation is fitting to the Asian context, especially the ASEAN Plus Three Forum

48  Subhan Zein

that is actually the most linguistically diverse region in the world. There are approximately 2500 world languages found in the ten East and South East Asian countries that are member states of the ASEAN Plus Three (Ethnologue, 2017a, 2017b). Using Indonesia, the second-most linguistically diverse country in the world and home to 707 living languages (Ethnologue, 2017c), as the research context, this chapter examines the practice of translanguaging among EYL teachers. The chapter draws recommendations to help the preparation of EYL teachers in Asia to tackle the increasing demands resulting from the everyday reality that multilingualism is.

Translanguaging in the EYL classroom The ideology of monolingualism is fully entrenched in education contexts around the world in spite of the multilingual realities of language classrooms. These multilingual realities reflect the increasingly vague boundaries between nation states, ethnicities and languages in this 21st century, resulting in some sort of linguistic and identity complexities. Current research has frequently questioned the validity of language frontiers in classroom interactions, suggesting that translanguaging can be a practical strategy to advance multilingual pedagogy of linguistically diverse students (García, 2009, 2011; Hornberger and Link, 2012; Makalela, 2015; Wei, 2011). Makalela (2014) stated that most studies on translanguaging have critiqued notions such as additive bilingualism and stable diglossia primarily due to their divisional orientation and treatment of the process acquiring a language as linear and sequential when this is not necessarily the case. Recent studies on translanguaging argued for a plural vision of languages, maintaining that languages are embedded into one another and integrated to reflect the communicative practices of bilingual or multilingual speakers (Baker, 2011; García, 2009, 2011; Hornberger and Link, 2012; Makalela, 2015; Wei, 2011). Parallel to this line of reasoning, García (2009) contended for the need to shift from monolingual practices in order to keep abreast with the 21st century and circumvent educational tensions. She stated, Too often bilingual students who translanguage suffer linguistic shame because they have been burdened with monoglossic ideologies that value only monolingualism. . . . And too often bilingual teachers hide their natural translanguaging practices from administrators and others because they have been taught to believe that only monolingual ways of speaking are “good” and “valuable”.Yet, they know that to teach effectively in bilingual classrooms, they must translanguage. (p. 303) As a practical teaching strategy, translanguaging can be traced back to the work of Cen Williams, who studied Welsh-English bilingual secondary school learners’ language practices in Wales (Baker, 2011; Wei, 2011). According to

Translanguaging in the EYL classroom 49

Baker (2011), translanguaging was implemented in Wales as a reaction to historic separation of Welsh and English languages that engendered unbalanced bilingual outcomes. The practice of translanguaging, nonetheless, must not be confused with code-switching. The latter is an instance of translanguaging, but it is ideologically different from the former. According to García (2009, 2011), the process of translanguaging incorporates purposeful and systematic discursive modes such as comparative hypothesis-testing, translation, code-switching and navigating the in-between spaces as well as note-taking, sighing, and discussing to make sense of learning. This demonstrates that translanguaging is operationally more complex than code-switching. Hearer-centred (that is, what the hearer thinks is going on in the speech) is the ideological underpinning of code-switching. Code-switching is also monolingual in orientation because it recognises languages as separate forms of structures that are either mixed or switched at the point of speech, hence mixing or switching. On the other hand, translanguaging does not recognise boundaries in that it entails a large speech repertoire that overlaps between administratively assigned languages that the speakers of those languages use flexibly as part of their everyday way of meaning-making. This means translanguaging is a speaker-oriented process, focusing on what speakers do with the languages. It also includes recursive processes of going between and beyond languages using the aforementioned meaning-making discursive modes. García (2009, p. 45) further stated that translanguaging encompasses all discursive resources that can be best explained as “more like an all terrain vehicle whose wheels extend and contract, flex and stretch, making possible, over highly uneven ground, movement forward that is bumpy and irregular but also sustained and effective”. The process of translanguaging may look incoherent and vague from the hearer’s point of view, as the all-terrain vehicle may be to an observer. However, the outcomes are effective for the speakers to make sense of the world and of who they are in the same way that the all-terrain vehicle effectively completes its complex task. This is a broadened view that permits the creation of an integrated pedagogy that affirms and enhances all semiotic modes that multilingual students bring with them to schools. Thus, students could develop dual literacy skills in both receptive and productive modes as well as to internalise information in two languages where their deeper understanding of the content and both languages are mutually fostered. By the same token, gravitations towards translanguaging in classrooms will free teachers from monoglossic burdens and empower them to use multilingual resources. Several cutting-edge empirical studies into the effects of translanguaging pedagogy on empowering learners have appeared in different educational contexts (e.g. Canagarajah, 2011; Creese and Blackledge, 2010; Makalela, 2014, and Wei, 2011). For example, Canagarajah (2011) showed translanguaging practice improved the academic skills of a Saudi Arabian graduate student who used French and Arabic while writing in English and employed postwriting strategies such as recontextualisation, textualisation, focus on voice,

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and interaction between the student and the teacher. Another study by Wei (2011) demonstrates that translanguaging offers an ongoing social space that is created for language practices where multilingual Chinese youths in Britain are continuously involved in the process of making strategic choices about the language systems they use. Creese and Blackledge (2010) revealed the overall academic achievement of students learning in four cities in the United Kingdom, as the practice of translanguaging establishes their identity and develops their understanding of simultaneous literacies and languages. Further, the study corroborates the notion that languages do not fit into clearly bounded entities and that all languages are ‘needed’ for meaning to be conveyed and negotiated. In line with this increasing interest, it is important to understand translanguaging as a fluid and complex movement of linguistic codes from one language to another that appears as a metadiscursive process to scaffold instruction and make sense of language and learning (García, 2011). This is relevant to the emergence of interpretive and discourse analytic research into multilingual classroom interaction. Teachers and students use their language resources for signalling the transition between small talk before a lesson and the beginning of a lesson, specifying a particular addressee, differentiating ‘doing a lesson’ from ‘talking about a lesson’, distinguishing talk about text from the talk of the text, and differentiating talk used for classroom management and that used to explain the lesson (Martin-Jones, 2015). Examining translanguaging in the discursive context of foreign language education is even more important. Turnbull (2016) has recently called for reframing foreign language education as bilingual education and encouraging the use of naturally occurring bilingual languaging strategies. This is a strategy to embrace the emergent bilingual perspective of foreign language learners, where foreign language classrooms become distinctive linguistic microclimates and speech communities. To do so, there is a need for teachers to examine the speech events or the interactional demands of social studies classrooms for second language learners to envision how they can support their learners (Hornberger and Link, 2012). In the context of EYL teacher preparation, examining the speech events of translanguaging practice has a teacher education dimension because, on their way to improve their professional practice, teachers need to gain a thorough understanding of their classroom context by concentrating on the complex relationships between teacher language, classroom interaction and learning. Helping teachers to understand interactional process and studying their own use of language and its effects on learning potentially enhances microscopic understanding of classroom processes (Walsh, 2011, 2013). Creating opportunities for teachers to examine translanguaging practice is a conscientious effort to make the applications of discourse analysis tangible and bring them to the mainstream of research in education (Adger and Wright, 2015), as well as to further support teachers, as they construct realistic models of classroom communication in the EYL classroom (Walsh, 2011, 2013).

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Research methods The participants of this study comprised two groups.The first group of participants consisted of two teacher educators. One of the teacher educators worked at a university where the prospective teachers in this study came from, while the other worked at a government-based training agency. The former had a doctorate degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), while the latter in applied linguistics. Both had more than twenty years of teaching and training experience behind them. The second group of teachers were prospective teachers who were enrolled in a cohort in the B.Ed in English language education at a university in Indonesia. Out of ten prospective teachers invited to participate in this study, five volunteered. They were briefed of the nature of the study, and consented to join in. These teachers were doing a six-month teaching practicum, teaching a wide range of primary school classes from Grades 1 to 6. Their students studied English for approximately ninety minutes per week. The students came from multilingual backgrounds, the majority of which spoke Indonesian and Javanese, and a few who spoke Sundanese. To maintain confidentiality, the teacher educators, teachers and students were referred to in this study by pseudonyms. Multivocal ethnography was employed to collect data in this study (Tobin, Wu, and Davidson, 1989). According to Tobin et al. (1989), a multivocal ethnography allows for the exhibition of a series of videotaped or observed activities. Researchers using this methodology could analyse the perspective of ‘insiders’ who conduct the activities. They could then compare and contrast the insiders’ perspective with the perspective of ‘outsiders’ who are from different ‘cultures’ in which the observed activities take place. Taking inspiration from Tobin et al. (1989), the present study videotaped teachers’ lessons. This allowed for the observation of natural discourses occurring in the classroom, as it has been used for recording and analysing interaction in educational contexts including the Early Years settings (Flewitt, 2006) and the English classroom (Kress et al., 2005). Out of the videotaped lessons (450 minutes), five clips were selected. The clips were chosen in consultation with the teachers and the teacher educators. All participants selected the clips as they represented instances of translanguaging. In some cases, there were similar translanguaging discourses occurring in different classrooms, taught by different teachers. The decision was then made in consultation with the teachers and teacher educators who opined as to which clips would be selected in the video. Afterwards, the five clips were merged into an approximately twentyfive-minute video. The video was added with transcriptions as a means of linguistic clarification (Cowan, 2014); in the transcriptions, [] indicates overlapping utterances, () means gestures and italicised words mean they occurred in the students’ L1. Next, the transcribed video was shown to the teachers. The interactions and communication exchanges between teachers and young learners that were

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documented in the video were analysed by the teachers. They had to report the results of their examination to the teacher educators. After that, the teachers and teacher educators discussed the translanguaging discourses shown in the video. Watching the video and reading the transcripts allowed the teachers and teacher educators to clarify the details of the setting and subtleties of facial expressions and gestures that were made during the interactions beyond the written linguistic modes (Flewitt, 2006). This form of video analysis combines the ethnomethodology and microethnographic approaches to discourse analysis in multilingual classroom in a multimodality manner (Kress, 2010; Martin-Jones, 2015). It generated analytical and rhetorical interpretations of teacher-children communications, facilitating specific insights into patterns within and between modes as they occurred in an orchestra of interaction. On the one hand, the group discussions permitted teachers to analyse deep motives and general concerns about certain translanguaging discourses in their classes. On the other hand, the discussions also brought forward systematic analysis and thorough exploration of scaffolding needed by the teacher educators to help teachers to reflect on and improve practice (Engin, 2015). With the multi-party participatory nature of the study being a main feature, the co-constructed views emerging from the interactions between teachers and teacher educators allowed for the development of an emic perspective that is “more conducive to gaining a true understanding of interactional processes in the L2 classroom than the imposed perspective of the researcher” (Walsh, 2013, p. 13). Using such an analytical approach proved useful to increase the validity of data interpretation, as seen in previous studies (e.g. Butler, 2005; Zein, In Press). Multivocal ethnography that was employed as a research method in this study yielded data through the activities documented, the transcriptions, and the comments developing in the discussions between the teachers and teacher educators. The teachers and teacher educators discussed a wide range of topics, and these topics were classified into two categories. The first category was monolingual versus translanguaging pedagogy and the second multimodal, participatory translanguaging. These categories are discussed in the following section.

Findings and discussion Monolingual versus translanguaging pedagogy

In the first two clips there were Mr. Deni and Ms. Lisa, who used English all the time in their respective lesson in Grades 1 and 2.They explained the lesson, asked questions and gave commands in English. During the discussion session Mr. Deni and Ms. Lisa stated that they implemented an English-only policy in the classroom for various reasons. One is that they realised how damaging it is for language development if in their early exposure to the language learners receive mixed input from their teacher. Mr. Deni argued, “The students come

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here to learn English, so we have to use English all the time with the students, it’s best for their language acquisition.” Mr. Deni’s stance appears to be in line with Ellis and Shintani’s (2013) position that from a psycholinguistic perspective teachers should “maximise the use of L2 inside the classroom . . . especially in a foreign language setting” (p. 24) such as Indonesia. Ms. Lisa added that the educational culture of the school where she was assigned for practicum dictates the use of English only. She stated that the practice of mixing English and Indonesian was shunned as parents and school authorities looked down upon teachers who mix the languages. Further analysis of the clips of Mr. Deni and Ms. Lisa’s lessons shows how their classes were full of teachers’ frequent instruction repetitions. At times when the students demonstrated confusion, they wrote the words on the board and asked the students to look up the meaning. When one student discovered the meaning, they asked the student to share what he or she knew to others, and they continued the activities. This occurred several times. One of the teachers, Mr. Mono, stated that the frequent repetitions and students’ confusion demonstrate the inefficacy of the lesson. He said that it would have been useful if Mr. Deni and Ms. Lisa translated their sentences into Indonesian or Javanese. He agreed that teachers should speak English as much as they could, given the limited exposure that the students had outside the classroom. But when it is necessary, they should be flexible, or judicious in their use of learners’ L1. When Mr. Mono’s clip was shown, it was evident that he used English in most of his classroom speeches, the majority of which were short sentences, but there were occasions where he translated his words into Indonesian. His second grade learners seemed to be enjoying what he did and there appeared to be no issue with comprehension. Mr. Sam agreed with Mr. Mono. He stated, I don’t think we should shy away from using learners’ L1. I know in my case, my students don’t like it if I talk English all the time. So . . . so I use English, and I use L1 in any case where it is necessary, not just translating my instruction. Sometimes I ask the students to find words for me, sometimes I ask them to summarise a story in English in Indonesian. The point is students’ understanding. What is the point of teaching if students don’t understand? Mr. Sam’s clip demonstrated his philosophy of teaching.Though he attempted to deliver the instruction in English, there were instances where he used Indonesian, asking students meaning of words, and encouraging them to exhibit their understanding in their L1. This stance was supported by Ms. Rosa, who stated, I think teaching English at primary level is very unique, because we can use English, we can use Indonesian, and we can use other languages too. I know that . . . that some of my students speak Javanese, and I speak Javanese too, so I think it is necessary for me to help them in a language that

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they understand. And what’s more, I think, how much we use the L1 and how, would depend on the level of the learners. “What do you mean?” asked Mr. Joko. “I mean, it’s depend [sic] on the grades of the students. If we teach students in grade 1, we have to use L1, maybe all the time. In . . . in various ways. But when we teach grade 5 or grade 6 students, maybe, we use more English.” Mr. Karnadi, the other teacher educator, thanked Ms. Rosa and Mr. Sam. He then showed Ms. Rosa’s clip. The transcription is as follows: S7: Ms. Rosa: S7 to S8: Ms. Rosa: S7: Ms. Rosa: S8: Ms. Rosa: S7: Ms. Rosa: S7: Ms. Rosa: S7: Ms. Rosa: S7: Ms. Rosa: S1: Ms. Rosa: Ss: Ms. Rosa: Ss: Ms. Rosa: Ss: Ms. Rosa: S9: Ms. Rosa: S10: Ms. Rosa: S10:

Miss, “kota besar” big city ya, Miss? Yes. Tuh kan . . . ? OK. If big city is “kota besar”, contohnya seperti Jakarta, Surabaya . . . what about Jember? Small city, Miss. Good! (smiling). Kalau “Saya tinggal di kota kecil”? What’s in English? Small city, Miss. Yes, small city. Maksud saya “Saya tinggal di kota kecil”? . . . . small city? I living small city, Miss. Not ‘living’, but ‘live’. Remember Verb – 1? Oh, yes, Miss. So . . . I . . . live . . . small city. [gesturing with finger] apa yang kurang? Di? Di? Oh, oh, “in”, Miss. Correct. So, the sentence . . . ? I . . . live . . . in small city. “I live in big city” [writes on the board]. Now students, look at here. “I live in small city”. What is missing? Opo sing langka? Apa yang tidak ada? “a”, Miss! Yes, very good! [added “a”]. So, say it together, everyone. I live in a big city. I live in a big city. I live in a big city. Artinya? The meaning? Saya tinggal di kota kecil. Very good! [smiling] In Javanese . . . Sekar? Kulo . . . kulo uripe nang kota cilik, Miss? Yes. Correct! In English again, Koko? (erasing the sentence) I . . . I live. . . I live in. . . Oh. I live in a big . . . big city.

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The transcript shows that Ms. Rosa used English in her instruction; however, she did not shy away from using the learners’ L1s. In some cases she used Indonesian (e.g. artinya?), and in others Javanese (e.g. opo sing langka?). In practical terms, as Ms. Rosa spoke the same L1s with her students, knowing the children’s L1s means she could draw on their vocabulary knowledge to support their English learning. She drew on comparisons between what they already knew as a point of reference and the point she would like to make until the children could make inferences by themselves (e.g. small city). By the end of the clip, she used the learners’ L1 (in this case Javanese) to check comprehension (e.g. kulo uripe nang kota cilik), and she could revert the process until one of the learners could state, ‘Oh. I live in a big . . . big city’. The discussion between the teachers and teacher educators led to a point where Ms. Karnadi explained that Ms. Rosa developed a translanguaging practice. She created a multilingual dialogue with the learners to negotiate meaning, transmit information and scaffold instruction. Her versatility of teaching suggests that she was able to redirect the discourse from the use of L1s (Indonesian and Javanese) to the L2 (English), enabling the learners to understand the discourse in the L2, and then returning to check the comprehension in the L1s until they could produce the L2. What Ms. Rosa demonstrated was that she maximised the use of L2 inside the classroom in the foreign language setting that she was working in; however, her main concern was on meeting the children’s social and learning needs. She scaffolded her instruction using a variety of languages in order to create meaning and check comprehension; and in doing so, she saw the use of L1s as a socially and pedagogically appropriate tool (García, 2009, 2011). The translanguaging model was based on language practices that break traditional linguistic codes in favour of fluid, mobile and multiple discursive resources. These discursive resources allowed for the creation of the classroom to become an open space to utilise more than one language in the same lesson to maximise learning and teaching outcomes. Overall, what the discussion between the teachers and the teacher educators demonstrates is that there was a pedagogical philosophy conflict regarding the use of L1s. On the one hand, there were prospective teachers who believed in the near exclusivity of the use of the L2 in the classroom, as it has been promoted on various grounds. These include fears of L1 interference and a purportedly concomitant diminution of L2 use, the belief that adult L2 learning should retrace the path of L1 child acquisition, the goal being to increase exposure to the L2 and an idealised vision of L2 native speakers as inherently monolingual. Another fundamental objection to L1 use in foreign language classes stands on the idea that it will reduce the amount of L2 available to the learners for input (Levine, 2011). These views were supported by parents and educational stakeholders. On the other hand, there were also prospective teachers who were critical to the full use of the L2, arguing that L1 is necessary for instruction. Not only that Mr. Mono and Ms. Rosa used L1, they also scaffolded instruction in different L1s in ways that create meaning for their learners.

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Both teachers consider multilingual languaging as a meaning-making process and regard it as a normative pedagogical behaviour rather than a marginalised departure from monolingual paradigms (Makalela, 2015). Multimodal, participatory translanguaging

The next part of Ms. Rosa’s clip shows her displaying a short video to the learners.The video compares Jakarta and Jember, one representing a big city and the other a small one with features characterising both cities. After that, she divided the learners into groups. She distributed to each group a series of pictures such as houses, buildings, roads, people, trees, etc. with English words labelled on them. Learners were asked to categorise the pictures to match ones that fit the big city (Jakarta) and small city (Jember). In navigating their way throughout the categorisation of pictures, the learners code-switched between English, Indonesian and Javanese. There were times when conversations between learners occurred primarily in Indonesian, and others in Javanese and Sundanese, as much as there were instances where learners had to look up meanings of English words in their Indonesian dictionary. In doing so, the learners asked and responded to questions, clarified meaning, took notes, translated, and explained things to one another. These translanguaging conveyances of information worked back and forth from one learner to another without hindering them from completing their task. While the learners were doing their work, Ms. Rosa came to see them, and offered assistance where necessary. Exchanges of conversations between her and her learners like in the previous part of the clip occurred as she developed her instruction as a transactional negotiation of meaning occurring in English, Indonesian and Javanese. After they completed their task, Ms. Rosa asked some learners to explain their categorisation of pictures into big cities and small cities. They were allowed to draw pictures on the board, too. The script of this class event is as follows: S1: S2: Ss: S1:

Di Jakarta, kota besar, big city, ada banyak . . . (drawing on the board) Ada banyak . . . ini nih. Gedung tinggi. Gedung bertingkat. Pencakar langit! (laughter) Yes, thank you. Pencakar langit. (showing his drawing, and then the picture from Ms. Rosa) Ya, gedung yang tinggi-tinggi begini . . . namanya . . . pencakar langit. Kalau dalam bahasa Inggris namanya . . . apa tadi namanya? Sky . . . sky-scrapers. Skyscrapers, ya, Miss? (asking Ms. Rosa) Ms. Rosa: Yes. Correct (smiles). Skyscrapers. S1: Yes, skyscrapers. Many skyscrapers in Jakarta, big city. S3: In big city. Kota besar. Kalau kota kecil? S1: No. No skyscrapers. Some buildings, but no skyscrapers. (showing photos of houses). Many houses. Like this. In small cities, many houses.

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S4: Ms. Rosa: S4: Ss: Ms. Rosa:

Akeh umahe. . . Yes, Widodo? Nang kota cilik, akeh umahe, Miss! (laughter) Ya, benar. Akeh umahe (giggles). Many houses. There are many houses in a small city, but not skyscrapers. Ada banyak rumah di kota kecil, tapi tidak ada gedung pencakaar. . . Ss: . . . langit. Ms. Rosa: . . . pencakar langit. Mr. Deni and Ms. Lisa who in the beginning opposed the idea of using learners’ L1s found Ms. Rosa’s lesson very interesting. Ms. Lisa stated: I did not realise that using learners’ L1 could be very engaging like that. It seems very enjoyable for the students. It looks fun, and the students seem to be learning a lot. Mr. Deni in particular found translanguaging a valuable meaning-making process beyond the common linguistic phenomena that he could have imagined such as code-switching. He stated, It looks like code-switching. But it’s not just code-switching. There is collaboration, there is translation, there is mixing languages, there is taking notes, there is clarification of ideas. Many things! Everyone is contributing. The point is for them to learn English, but they use their L1s as a resource, and they are collaborating in doing so. And I think the comparison between Jakarta and Jember using L1s and L2 was really good. It’s very appropriate, contextually appropriate.Very real, because the students would have heard these cities but might not have visited them, so it’s really good. Mr. Mono agreed with Ms. Lisa and Mr. Deni. He highlighted the fact that Ms. Rosa’s student was able to understand, give explanation, draw and clarify ideas building on the concept of ‘skyscrapers’ suggests that Ms. Rosa was able to utilise the young learners’ L1s as a means of harnessing their linguistic resource to foster learning. She could develop translanguaging as metadiscursive practice that instilled creativity and criticality among her learners (Poza, 2016). In employing the translanguaging model, Ms. Rosa’s versatility means that she included all discursive resources that were available (e.g. pictures, drawing on the board, video, labels) in a recursive mode. This practice made it possible for Ms. Rosa to have an integrated pedagogy that affirms all semiotic modes that multilingual students bring with them to schools and to enhance learners’ proficiency. This was a multimodal approach to metadiscursive translanguaging. The metadiscursive practice occurred because she could relate her learners to the classroom tasks wherein learners were seen as bearers of knowledge and their communicative repertories (primarily the multimodal forms such

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as drawing on the board, labelling and using pictures) are valued resources for meaning-making. Ms. Rosa supported students’ translanguaging by herself relying on flexible bilingual practices, by designing assignments that invited students to consult text and media across languages and modalities. Doing so allowed her to value and leverage learners’ prior knowledge and familiar languaging practices in ways that allow them greater access to their linguistic repertoire, while she could scaffold her instruction in ways that benefitted her learners (García, 2009, 2011; Makalela, 2015; Poza, 2016). Furthermore, Ms. Rosa was able to structure learning as a collaborative endeavour through dialogic processes of translanguaging. This highlights the significance of teaching practices that allow for translanguaging interactions between her learners. The learners created spaces of collaboration whereby language boundaries are not policed, occurring in a context where they are encouraged to optimise their multilingual repertoire. As they engaged in various conversational exchanges within their group, the learners examined their own and others’ language through a communicative competence lens that helps acclimatise them into the target forms.The same thing applied when they worked as a class.The interactive nature of the activities, either in group discussion or the whole class activity, provided learners with opportunities to take linguistic risks without fearing to be humiliated or marginalised. Their confident, collaborative and learning-focused interactions afforded them with freedom to approach assignments with focus on conceptual underpinnings rather than rigid linguistic separations. Thus, learners were given the opportunities to interact in meaningful ways with the target language practices while adding to their own multilingual repertoire (Poza, 2016).

Implications for teacher preparation The findings of the study demonstrate initial contrasting views between prospective teachers who supported monolingual pedagogy and those in favour of translanguaging pedagogy. However, those supporting monolingual pedagogy, that is, Mr. Deni and Ms. Lisa, eventually saw the benefits of translanguaging. They could see how Ms. Rosa’s teaching break traditional linguistic codes, as she attempted to develop fluid, mobile and multiple discursive resources in the multilingual classroom that she taught. Hence, they found the translanguaging model implemented by Ms. Rosa exemplary. This indicates a transition from the monolingual pedagogy where the use of L1 should be avoided at all cost to translanguaging pedagogy where L1s are valued and deliberately utilised. This transitional issue is of particular relevance in Indonesia and in many other EYL contexts around the world. First, what occurred in this study might not be a representation of the pedagogical context of Indonesia, especially because monolingual pedagogy in the use of a dominant Western-imported methodology such as Communicative Language Teaching is still prevalent (Ariatna, 2016). In other contexts such as South Korea, Teaching of English Through English (TETE) has been largely

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sanctioned as a top-down policy (Heo, 2016). It appears that successful pedagogy has been closely associated with the entire use of L2 in the classroom. Findings in this study demonstrate that translanguaging helps local Indonesian teachers to create meaning and check comprehension, while in another study in Japan (Copland and Yonetsugi, 2016), using learners’ L1 is useful for language practice, pronunciation and increasing opportunities to learn. Furthermore, at a time when the use of the English-only policy has been widely criticised for reasons such as placing excessive burden on the teachers and its oblivion to the local contexts (e.g. Heo, 2016; Macaro and Lee, 2013), it is time to reconsider the place of learners’ L1s. It is certainly important to nurture the communicative practices through the L2, but it does not mean underutilisation of the learners’ L1(s). This study has shown that metadiscursive practice could occur through translanguaging; and its usefulness to foster learning only means that translanguaging in the EYL classroom, especially among lower grade learners, deserves wider recognition. The findings bring implications for the preparation of EYL teachers. First of all, it is important to ensure the inclusion of translanguaging in teacher education. Since current publications on teachers’ classroom discourse did not consider teachers’ skill in employing different language resources through translanguaging to be necessary in the development of teachers’ interactional competence (see, for example, Walsh, 2011, 2013), I argue for its acknowledgement as teachers’ metadiscursive practice. Translanguaging should be understood as more than mechanical processes of cultivation and production of multilingual resources; rather it is a metadiscursive practice whereby the teacher exercises their multilingual repertoire in a scaffolded discourse that fosters learning. In the teaching of EYL where L2 linguistic resources are limited, translanguaging can help teachers to scaffold learning in the multilingual classroom (Creese and Blackledge, 2010; García, 2009, 2011). Thus, the inclusion of translanguaging in the third strand of teacher education that deals specifically with the development of teachers’ interactional competence (Walsh, 2011, 2013) is of paramount importance. Serious efforts to promote translanguaging as a socioculturally appropriate and pedagogically effective practice are vital, while teachers attempt to meet the pedagogical expectations and assessments that demand the production of standardised forms of the L2 (Canagarajah, 2011). Exposing the learners to the L2 extensively while encouraging for metadiscursive translanguaging practices are necessary in order for learners to be able to assemble the elements of their linguistic repertoire before being able to produce the standardised forms of the L2 (García, 2014).Thus, I argue for programme innovation aimed at developing translanguaging skills of pre-service EYL teachers using the multivocal ethnography approach employed in the study. This is important because the multilingual nature of English language classrooms in many contexts across Asia requires a pedagogical approach that can utilise teachers’ linguistic repertoire rather than a pedagogy that merely succumbs to the monolingual ideology. This is how teachers could scaffold instruction in ways that foster learning in multilingual classrooms.

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Second, it is vital to support prospective teachers through the process of developing translanguaging as a discursive pedagogy. It is within the realm of teacher educators’ work to develop plans and activities that encourage prospective teachers to critically reflect upon their languaging practice before eventually developing skills in translanguaging as a suitable pedagogical approach. Translanguaging as a metadiscursive practice is not innate; rather, it is developed through astute recognition of interactional discourse and critical skills to observe, analyse and develop languaging discourse that meets the needs of the learners. To help prospective teachers develop their translanguaging skills, teacher educators could employ the multivocal ethnography used as a basis in this study. As Engin (2015) suggested, teacher educators could elicit multiple perspectives through analysis of video clips and group discussions, and later scaffold their instruction in ways that encourage prospective teachers to develop their reflective skills. Implementing translanguaging with such an approach is relevant to the increased awareness of multilingualism and language varieties typifying English language classrooms in Asia in general and ASEAN Plus Three countries in particular. This could be one of the proposed areas of interest for the ASEAN University Network in their promotion of activities on teacher preparation among universities and institutions of higher learning in the ASEAN Plus Three Forum.

References Adger, C. T., and Wright, L. J. (2015). Discourse in educational settings. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen, and H. E. Hamilton (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis (2nd ed., pp. 858– 879). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publisher. Ariatna. (2016). The need for maintaining CLT in Indonesia. TESOL Journal, 7(4), 800–822. doi:10.1002/tesj.246 Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4th ed.). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Butler,Y. G. (2005). Comparative perspectives towards communicative activities among elementary school teachers in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Language Teaching Research, 9(4), 423–446. Canagarajah, S. (2011). Codemeshing in academic writing: Identifying teachable strategies of translanguaging. The Modern Language Journal, 95, 401–417. Canagarajah, S. (2013). Literacy as a translingual practice: Between communities and classrooms. London: Routledge. Copland, F., and Yonetsugi, E. (2016). Teaching English to young learners: Supporting the case for the bilingual native English speaker teacher. Classroom Discourse, 7(3), 221–238. doi :10.1080/19463014.2016.1192050 Cowan, K. (2014). Multimodal transcription of video: Examining interaction in early years classrooms. Classroom Discourse, 5(1), 6–21. doi:10.1080/19463014.2013.859846 Creese, A., and Blackledge, A. (2010).Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching. The Modern Language Journal, 94(1), 103–115. Djigunovic, J. M. (2012). Attitudes and motivation in early foreign language learning. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 2(3), 55–74.

Translanguaging in the EYL classroom 61 Ellis, R., and Shintani, N. (2013). Exploring language pedagogy through second language acquisition research. London: Routledge. Engin, M. (2015). Trainer talk in post-observation feedback sessions: An exploration of scaffolding. Classroom Discourse, 6(1), 57–72. doi:10.1080/19463014.2014.919867 Escudero, M. D. P., Cruz, M. d R. R., and Loyo, G. M. (2012). The English in public elementary schools program of a Mexican state: A critical, exploratory study. Current Issues in Language Planning, 13(4), 267–283. doi:10.1080/14664208.2012.722599 Ethnologue. (2017a). Languages of the Southeastern Asia. Retrieved from www.ethnologue. com/world-region/south-eastern-asia-2 Ethnologue. (2017b). Languages of the Eastern Asia. Retrieved from www.ethnologue.com/ world-region/eastern-asia-2 Ethnologue. (2017c). Indonesia. Retrieved from www.ethnologue.com/show_country. asp?name=idFlewitt, R. (2006). Using video to investigate preschool classroom interaction: Education research assumptions and methodological practices. Visual Communication, 5(1), 25–50. García, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. García, O. (2011). From language garden to sustainable languaging: Bilingual education in a global world. Perspectives, 34(1), 5–9. García, O. (2014). Multilingualism and language education. In C. Leung and B. V. Street (Eds.), The Routledge companion to English studies (pp. 84–99). New York, NY: Routledge. Heo, J. (2016). Power, balance, and identity: An insight into intercultural team teaching. In F. Copland, S. Garton, and S. Mann (Eds.), LETs and NESTs: Voices, views and vignettes. London: The British Council. Hornberger, N., and Link, H. (2012).Translanguaging and transnational literacies in multilingual classrooms: A biliteracy lens. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15, 261–278. Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality. Abingdon and New York, NY: Routledge. Kress, G., C. Jewitt, K. Jones, J. Bourne, A. Franks, and J. Hardcastle. (2005). English in urban classrooms. London: Routledge. Levine, G. S. (2011). Code choice in the language classroom. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. Macaro, E., and Lee, J. H. (2013).Teacher language background, code-switching and Englishonly instructions: Does age make a difference to learners’ attitudes? TESOL Quarterly, 47(4), 717–742. Makalela, L. (2014). Teaching indigenous African languages to speakers of other African languages: The effects of translanguaging for multilingual development. In C. van der Walt and L. Hibbert (Eds.), Multilingual teaching and learning in higher education in South Africa (pp. 88–104). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Makalela, L. (2015). Breaking African language boundaries: Student teachers’ reflections on translanguaging practices. Language Matters, 46(2), 275–292. doi:10.1080/10228195.2014 .986664 Martin-Jones, M. (2015). Multilingual classroom discourse as a window on wider social, political and ideological processes: Critical ethnographic resources. In N. Markee (Ed.), The handbook of classroom discourse and interaction (1st ed., (pp. 446–461). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publisher. Poza, L. E. (2016). The language of ciencia: Translanguaging and learning in a bilingual science classroom. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21, 1–19. doi:10.1080/13670050.2015.1125849

62  Subhan Zein Rymes, B. (2016). Classroom discourse analysis: A tool for critical reflection. New York, NY: Routledge. Tobin, J. J., Wu, D. Y. H., and Davidson, D. H. (1989). Preschool in three cultures: Japan, China, and the United States. New Haven, CT:Yale University Press. Turnbull, B. (2016). Reframing foreign language learning as bilingual education: Epistemological changes towards the emergent bilingual. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. doi:10.1080/13670050.2016.1238866 Walsh, S. (2011). Exploring classroom discourse: Language in action. New York, NY: Routledge. Walsh, S. (2013). Classroom discourse and teacher professional development. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Wei, L. (2011). Moment analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 1222–1235. Zein, M. S. (2013). Language teacher education for primary school English teachers in Indonesia: Policy recommendations (Unpublished Ph.D thesis). The Australian National University, Canberra. Zein, M. S. (2016a). Government-based training agencies and the professional development of Indonesian English for Young Learners teachers: Perspectives from complexity theory. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 42(2), 205–223. doi:10. 1080/02607476.2016.1143145 Zein, M. S. (2016b). Pre-service education for primary school English teachers in Indonesia: Policy implications. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(S1), 119–134. doi:10.1080/02188 791.2014.961899 Zein, M. S. (2017). Professional development needs of primary EFL teachers: Perspectives of teachers and teacher educators. Professional Development in Education, 43(2), 293–313. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2016.1156013 Zein, M. S. (In Press). Imagining one’s self as a child and speech modification: Implications for teacher education In M. S. Zein and S. Garton (Eds.), Early language learning and teacher education: International research and practice. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

4 Advancing achievement through value-added measures Mayyer Ling and Rinni Haji AmranAchievement through value-added measures

A study on English teacher preparation in Brunei Mayyer Ling and Rinni Haji Amran Introduction In 2009, the education system in Brunei Darussalam underwent a major overhaul, leading to the establishment of the current Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad Ke-21 (National Education System for the 21st Century, or more commonly referred to as SPN21). SPN21 is a shift from the teachercentred to student-centred system, aiming to sufficiently prepare students for the changing demands of the 21st century (Ministry of Education, 2016a). This shift is also a direct response to the call made by the ASEAN Council of Teachers (ACT) in 2011 to improve the quality of education, which acts as a catalyst for ASEAN member states’ journey towards the realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community (Junaidi, 2011). In keeping with these developments, major changes have been made to not only the curriculum and student assessments but also to the teaching standards, which have been officially titled the Brunei Teachers’ Standards (BTS). Introduced and implemented in 2014, this framework includes a new appraisal system for teachers’ performance, formally referred to as the Teacher Performance Appraisal (TPA). This chapter will start with a brief discussion of TPA and the importance of value-added measures (VAM) in gauging the outcomes of students’ achievement accurately. This will be followed with a background on Activity Theory, which is employed as a lens to section the contextual evidence for the necessity of VAM in English lessons in Brunei. The descriptive statistics will be used as points of departure for qualitative analyses, where Activity Theory is employed. Finally, the conclusion will include implications of the current study specifically for teacher trainees in Brunei, and further recommendations in the inclusion of VAM in teacher preparation, teacher standard setting and student achievement gauge. For this chapter, the term ‘teachers’ will be used to refer to teachers currently in service and ‘teacher trainees’ will be used to refer to prospective teachers undergoing or about to undergo training.

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Teacher standards in Brunei Darussalam The BTS-TPA framework aims to sustain the training and professional development of teachers in Brunei after attaining formal certifications for teaching. Such framework is essential, as formal training alone is not a reliable indicator of effective teaching (Goldhaber, 2002; Jepsen, 2005; Harris and Sass, 2011). More definitive measures include what Harris and Sass (2014, p. 199) termed ‘human capital measures’ and ‘non-cognitive personality traits’. In the BTSTPA framework, these measures are termed ‘teacher competency’ and ‘teacher performance’ respectively, and thus it makes certain that these attributes are continuously developed and monitored for successful teaching (Chapman and Adams, 2002, cited in Junaidi, 2011). In terms of teacher competency, evaluation criteria include teachers’ ability to engage with students, to craft welldesigned content and methods, to cater to students’ individual needs, to use assessments effectively, to adopt and adapt to professional practices, and to conduct oneself in high personal and professional standards. In the case of teacher performance, evaluations are carried out based on three broad categories, which are students’ achievements based on the formative and summative assessments, student’s learning and the teaching efficiency, both based on lesson observations by evaluators. Biases in the evaluative procedures are combatted by having representatives from the Department of Schools Inspectorate or members of the School Management Team (SMT) to conduct evaluations in schools. Teachers can be recognised for their outstanding performances and those who need assistance can be identified and receive the necessary help.

The importance of VAM in performative technologies The BTS-TPA is a framework that is commonly referred to as a performative technology in literature (Tang, 2011; Ball, 2015; Englund and Frostenson, 2017). The performance evaluation process simplifies the complex context in which teachers perform (Helgøy and Homme, 2007), and aligns the expectations of the document along with the goal of the education system. However, the BTSTPA does not give any indication of how much of a student’s academic growth, or lack thereof, is due to the quality of the teacher. Therefore, an additional measure needs to be put in place alongside the BTS-TPA to ensure that the shortcoming of the framework is addressed. The current evaluative framework, similar to many others in the education system (Harris, 2011), hinges on the notion that a teacher is not efficient if his/ her students do not achieve high test scores, VAM considers test scores only as a measure of efficiency after taking into consideration the student’s context as it reflects students’ learning (Loeb, 2013). In other words, in the context where VAM is applied, a teacher who is able to increase the test results of a particular group of students having low proficiency in English from an F to a D grade is evaluated as being more efficient than a teacher who is able to

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maintain the test results of high proficiency in English students at a B grade. In short,VAM captures the practical realities that teachers face every day. This is especially important in the context of English teaching in Brunei because the proficiency of English varies greatly within the population (Wood, Henry, Malai Ayla and Clynes, 2011); the point of distinction being the type of school that the students attend. Those who enroll in private or the best government schools tend to have very high proficiency, while those from less recognised or rural schools often have rudimentary skills at best. Clearly, it is problematic should teachers be only prepared to perceive a certain level of achievement as successful teaching, such as attaining A-C credit in O Level English examinations, without considering the contextual opportunities and struggles faced by students.

Activity Theory as framework Activity Theory was coined by Engeström (2001), inspired by Vygotsky’s work that captures the contextual information of who and what are involved in a particular system (see Figure 4.1). There are six nodes identified as being present in any activity. The most important element is the (1) Object, which refers to the party that is the most affected by the resultant performance of the activity system. In BTS-TPA, the Object is the student. Other elements include the (2) Subject, or the performer of the activity in question (i.e. the teacher), and the (3) Mediating Tool that enables the performance of activities (i.e. students’ competence level, resources available to students). Another element, (4) Rules, governs the activity (i.e. BTS-TPA framework, curriculum restrictions, SPN21 expectations). Whereas (5) Community refers to the society that surrounds the Subject (i.e. the school administration, the Ministry of Education, parents), and (6) Division of Labour is the hierarchical division of responsibilities among relevant stakeholders (i.e. colleagues, internal and external evaluators).

Figure 4.1 Third-generation Activity Theory Source: Adapted from Engeström (2001), demonstrating the interaction between two activity systems.

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All the six nodes in the Activity Theory are interconnected. This, according to Engeström, Engeström, Engestrom and Kärkkäinen (1995), allows an observation of a particular system through multiple perspectives. This is significant as researchers can meticulously consider important aspects in a context and, hence, arrive at a wholesome picture for the particular activity of interest. This information can be catalogued for proposed VAM sites, especially targeting parts of the teaching and learning activity that are most impactful to the overall outcome. This adoption is beneficial for the revision of the BTS-TPA framework that is highly constrained by time, prior to the start of the next cycle. The Activity Theory allows decision-makers to prioritise their amendments in the framework based on the input by local teachers as to where VAM is needed, and how much effect it has on the outcome of the system. Should the target node in the activity system be identified as being the biggest barrier for the desired outcome of the BTS-TPA, it could perhaps be the first item on the agenda to be addressed by decision-makers. This ensures that the process of enhancing the framework will yield the best outcome for the next cycle.

Methodology Participants

A set of criteria were established in order to limit the number of teachers who are eligible to take part in the study: 1 Teacher is a citizen or a permanent resident of Negara Brunei Darussalam. 2 Teacher has started his/her career before 2014 (the implementation of BTS-TPA framework). 3 Teacher has taught or is teaching Cambridge GCE O Level English, Cambridge IGCSE English or both. A summary of the demographic of participating teachers for semistructured interviews (Table 4.1). All teachers are assigned mixed-ability classes. Criterion (2) is particularly important as teachers who have taught more than two years have experienced pre-and post-BTS-TPA evaluation frameworks.

Table 4.1 Demographic of teachers who responded to questionnaires Items

Yes

No

Attained English language teaching qualification Attends professional development courses Taught for more than 2 years

34 36 47

16 14  3

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There are 32 public secondary schools divided into six clusters in Brunei Darussalam, with 27 655 students and 3280 teachers (Ministry of Education, 2016b). Participating teachers in the current study are from schools located in clusters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 from the Brunei-Muara, Tutong and Belait Districts. No participants from cluster 6 responded to the call for participation, and the Temburong district schools were purposefully excluded from the study due to logistical reasons. Data collection: semi-structured interviews

The interviews were administered both face-to-face and in online questionand-answer format, and took 30–60 minutes to complete. There are seven questions, including (1) and (2) on student performance, (3) effort to maintain and improve students’ achievement, (4) overall impression of BTS-TPA on teaching and professional development, (5) the relevance and practicality of the framework, (6) impact of own academic background on teaching and professional development, and (7) impact of professional development courses on teaching and professional development. Teachers who would like to add information that they believe is relevant to the research were encouraged to elaborate their thoughts, even if they were not directly relevant to the questions asked. Data analysis: semi-structured interviews

The semi-structured interviews were recorded according to the preference of the teacher, either in audio or pen-and-paper format. Content analysis (Hsieh and Shannon, 2005) was conducted on the 30- to 60-minute interview data with the use of Activity Theory as the framework for analysis. The data from teachers are classified into one of the six nodes in the framework, which are (1) Object, (2) Subject, (3) Mediating Tools, (4) Rules, (5) Community and (6) Division of Labour. Due to the nature of VAM being a context-based approach to the identification of factors contributing to or hindering from learning English, quotes from teachers in the different nodes will be discussed in a compartmentalised manner in the discussion section, although they are all intertwined. This is because the nature of context can be complex, and the framework simplifies the complexity to a certain extent and helps structure the discussion.

Results and discussion Activity Theory as a lens for analysis of quantitative results

In the current activity system under study, the Object refers to students from English language lessons. All the respondents claim that they teach in mixed-ability classes. Although the Object is the same, the Objective remains

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different in accordance with the ability of the students, as demonstrated in these extracts: [For high achieving students, I] push the[m] to ‘give more’. Teachers see the capability of students. Show A-grade writing from previous student and compare that with [their writing], in order to motivate them as they are seen as capable. Teacher 002 They are not used to English and they are afraid that their English and Malay are mixed. Teacher, is that right? I’m afraid that my English is not good. That is why I ask them why they don’t want to speak in English. They are afraid that their tenses are not right, that they [code-]mix. I want them to at least try. Teacher 011 As can be derived from Teacher 002 and Teacher 011’s remarks, the Objective of the activity system is to either improve the English proficiency level of the lower-ability students, or obtain the highest possible grade in their paper-andpen examination results for higher-ability students. This generates a conducive environment for students’ learning, as students are not subjected to pressures that are beyond their capability. Should this be the case, however, it could also be too demotivating for the students. Despite the positive outlook embedded in this observation, the reports of these teachers present a worrying trend as teachers are seen to not adhere to the performative technology holistically – only the section where teachers cater to the individual needs, as was recommended by Clipa (2015). This is not necessarily a bad practice, but since DarlingHammond (2002) found that student achievement is strongly correlated with the quality of teachers’ performance, and that the BTS-TPA is the performative technology devised to ensure that the quality of teachers are at par with the expectations of education in the 21st century (Schleicher, 2012), the achievements of the students may be short-lived. This is because teachers may be able to improve the achievements of students as enough attention is directed to their specific needs, but equipping the students with 21st-century skills to prepare them for the future is probably not high on the agenda. Subject of activity in current study

The Subject refers to local English teachers in government schools. All the teachers satisfy the criteria for the study wherein all teachers are either citizens or permanent residents of Brunei who started their careers before the implementation of the BTS-TPA in 2014.They have therefore experienced both pre- and post-BTS-TPA evaluative frameworks. They have also taught or are teaching Cambridge GCE O Level English, Cambridge IGCSE English or both.

Achievement through value-added measures 69 Mediating tools for English language teaching

All the respondents claim that they teach in mixed-ability classes thus leading to automatic adaptation of their lessons so that they cater to all the ability levels of the students. In every lesson there will always be some questions that are more difficult to challenge those who are of higher ability. . . . At the moment I am trying to make them work in group, the more able can hopefully help the less able. Teacher 005 Teacher 005 uses two types of Mediating Tools in the English lesson: exercises with multi-level difficulty and encouraging group work.These seem to be tools that are working for the students as well as the teachers. There are, of course, limitations such as time constraints in ensuring that all the questions, both easy and difficult ones, can be responded to in time, as understandably lowerproficiency students do lack the ability to understand as quickly as their peers who have higher proficiency in the English language. Lower-ability students also seem to encounter many issues in learning English. I usually have extra work for them, but you need to focus one at a time. . . . For some of them, even the spelling they don’t know. . . . We also have listening part [in the examination]. They are not used to the native speaker’s [speech]. . . . Because at home they always hear Brunei Malay, and Tutong. . . . And they also don’t have computer at home. So I bring them to the computer lab[oratory]. Teacher 011 A range of issues are identified by Teacher 011 for lower-ability students, from the inability to focus on multiple skill-sets taught in English lessons, recognise alphabets and spellings, complete comprehension questions or understand accents in their listening task. The latter is perhaps due to the lack of resources to expose students to the varying accents of English such as internet access or simply a computer.To address this issue,Teacher 011 has taken the initiative to increase students’ attention for learning by giving spelling exercises to those who struggle with the skill, and using the resources in the school to make up for what the students lack. The extract also demonstrates that these issues can partly be attributed to the influence of the first language used at home, the lack of resources to learn and the lack of motivation to try. These observations serve to highlight the inherent struggles of students and the tools that teachers use to mediate their learning. Feryok (2012) acknowledges the presence of some teachers who see students as having academic potential, but the lack of familial support and economic viability often constrain their budding growth.

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Students who cannot afford to even buy the basic necessities to learn English may not have the means to gain access to ICT, and thus develop their ICT skills. Their lack of familial support would also obstruct their ability to complete large volumes of work at home. Teachers may mean well, thinking perhaps more practice will help students learn quicker; however, this thinking is not necessarily practical. Community of affected stakeholders

This lack of motivation was also seen to be caused by the Community surrounding the students, which includes their home environment – whether or not it is conducive for learning and practicing the English language, as demonstrated in this extract: To me, once they reach home, that’s it. They don’t look at their book. Reviewing back is back to square one. Teacher 008 You can see a difference with students who live in rural areas – they lack exposure to English at home, which really slows down their learning [of the language]. It’s really important to consider their socio-economic background as well when we ask why they perform poorly. Teacher 015 Teacher 008’s claim that students do not attempt to review their English lessons at home was due to the lack of support from the students’ home environment where parents or siblings do not speak English. This is corroborated by Teacher 015, who notes that students from rural areas, which are known to be less familiar with English, perform worse than students who are exposed to more English usage in their home environments. Lack of exposure to English at home perhaps results in students recalling facts verbatim in the classroom, indicating memorisation rather than understanding – once the questions are altered, they are unable to provide sufficient answers. Students within unsupportive Communities will only be learning English in the classroom. This is the reality that teachers face on a daily basis, and they use a range of initiatives to mediate the learning of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with low familial support, or both. Even when students do not get the support they need at home, schools present a safe place for them to learn, supporting the idea that teachers still act as agents of change (Feryok, 2012) who are sensitive to, and aware of, the students’ needs due to their direct interactions and familiarity with the context in which the students are learning English. In addition to bearing the responsibility for many students’ learning and being confined within the four-walled classroom, teachers also feel that their

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focus on the students’ learning can sometimes be lost due to the immense volume of responsibilities they are expected to bear: We do have the PLC (Professional Learning Community) . . . SBC (SubjectBased Committee) . . . on top of that we have approximately 15 hours of teaching per week. . . . There are also school-based initiative[s]. Teacher 001 At times [I get] demotivated by the [excessive] amount of time spent on [professional development courses, even though] they help to facilitate suitable lessons in the classroom according to my students’ needs. Teacher 013 Teachers should be encouraged to have professional development training (OECD, 2015). However, there exists tensions between teachers’ responsibilities and accountability for students’ achievement (Solbrekke and Englund, 2011). While teachers appreciate the professional development opportunities, they often feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of responsibilities in the classroom, in the subject-community, from the department, the school and the Ministry of Education as a whole. These multi-layered expectations may hamper the efforts of teachers who would wish to do more for low-achieving students, or even in focusing on their development as a professional. Their responsibilities, in both teaching and training, have become little more than a routine where teachers simply adhere to their beliefs in what should be done in order to better students’ learning outcomes (by attending to individual needs, recognising socio-economic constraints, providing tools for learning). After all, the primary concern of almost all stakeholders in an Asian education setting is still the examination results of the students (Wong, 2003 cited in Pham and Renshaw, 2013), which is based on the pen-and-paper examinations. In fact, one of the characteristics that is expected of teachers is their ability to always strive towards producing results for the students (Jeffrey and Troman, 2011). Thus, despite teachers’ commitment to professional development efforts (Joyce and Calhoun, 2010), such as discussing recent developments in education, experimenting with various pedagogical tools, and incorporating innovative tools specifically for low-achieving students, the BTS-TPA fails to recognise these efforts, as they are not embedded in the measure of teacher competency in the framework. Rules in the English teaching system

There are multiple Rules that govern the outcome in English lessons for the participants; (1) the BTS-TPA framework for teacher evaluations, (2) curriculum restrictions for paper-and-pen examination results of obtaining grades A-C in GCE and IGCSE English examination, and (3) SPN21 expectations of

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honing 21st-century skills in students, as predicted by Schleicher (2012), among other aims. These Rules are currently perceived to be opposing one another, as noted by these teachers: Learning is a process, and to base the appraisal on a lesson is not fair. . . . In English, students need to build skills . . . [and] are [the appraisers] knowledgeable enough to appraise such hard work from teachers? [Or of] the learning curve that the students are undergoing? Teacher 003 Teacher 003 perceived the shortcomings of the BTS-TPA as being a system that is too inflexible to gauge teachers’ competencies in skill-based subjects such as English Language, where many lessons are devoted to practices and not necessarily production of written work that can be assessed by the evaluator. An English Language teacher who has devoted a month towards preparing students in writing a full composition may have a quiet, non-interactive classroom when the appraiser observes the class. This will result in teachers being given low TPA grades because elements expected in the BTS-TPA were not observed. Teacher 003 is also concerned about having given enough preparation for the students for the impending IGCSE and GCE O level examination, especially for Year 11. Students are, as claimed by the teacher, ready at this stage to carry out more writing exercises and less skill-building practices (i.e. fewer interactions with teachers and peers). This also leads to teachers being given low TPA grades. Should teachers supply more skill-building lessons and not write lessons in the fear of receiving low scores for a seemingly mundane lesson, teachers will risk having unprepared students for their examination. Granted, honing 21st-century skills in students will inherently allow a teacher to obtain higher appraisal grades, but the risk of students being unprepared for their examination – which remains to be the ultimate measure of a teacher (Wong, 2003 cited in Pham and Renshaw, 2013; Jeffrey and Troman, 2011) – remains high. In addition, the continual concrete measure of students’ achievement being based on pen-and-paper-based examination compromises the aim of the holistic learning of SPN21 where students are to develop 21st-century skills which primarily revolve around creativity, proactivity and problem-solving ability.The existing examination structure simply does not capture such skills, and is very much part of the previous system of education, the dwibahasa. This gives rise to the tension between the old framework for measuring students’ achievement and new framework of expecting students to undergo holistic learning (Helgøy and Homme, 2007). To put the tensions into perspective, teachers specifically in public schools in Brunei are pulled in three different directions: (1) the BTS-TPA framework for teacher evaluations, (2) curriculum restrictions for paper-and-pen examination results of obtaining grades A-C in GCE and IGCSE English examination, and (3) SPN21 expectations of honing 21st-century skills in students. It is demonstrated in the discussion of Object and Subject earlier that teachers are focused on

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individual competency achievement of the students more so than they are on the various expectations of the BTS-TPA, and the sharpening of 21st-century skills. The Mediating Tool discussion sheds light on why teachers are taking the role of agents of change in the school system, and the Community discussion explains why teachers think that their efforts may be in vain. Division of labour for the English teaching system

The Division of Labour for teachers in schools is not restricted to mere lesson delivery. Teachers conduct formal and informal meetings among themselves to discuss issues faced in their lessons and share resources, and this has been very beneficial according to many of the respondents in the study. These are all positive efforts recognised as pursuing professional development (Joyce and Calhoun, 2010). There are a lot of clashes going on like myself being the HOD, I’m observing 5 people including my assistant, it’s really complicated for me to slot in during my free time. When I’m free they are free, and when I’m not free they have class. Teacher 004 Teacher 004 is a School Management Team (SMT) member, and prior to being the head of department (HOD), she was also appraised by her thenHOD. In both cases, she claims that finding the time to observe a lesson that works for both the evaluator and the teacher is a constant struggle. However, internal evaluators are still preferred as opposed to external, who may have a limited grasp of the teaching and learning environment in the school. Clipa (2015) also noted that teachers prefer evaluators who are from the same school as they believe that their SMT members would know them better. This could also perhaps be due to the lack of adequate feedback received from external evaluators: All of us teachers are aiming to help kids achieve better results all the time. But to constantly being evaluated in such a concrete way is not necessarily good. And to put one lesson into all these little boxes is just, to me, doesn’t make much sense. Teacher 005 Teacher 005 acknowledges that the BTS-TPA system does have its merits as a platform for self-reflection and lesson guide, and this echoes Timperley and colleagues’ (2007) observation. However, the lack of post-evaluation feedback renders the document useless, becoming ‘just a paper’, which reflects the thoughts of Stronge and Tucker (2003). Teachers expect feedbacks from the evaluators as they recognise the advantages of having an observer in his/her lessons. They already are aware of the factors that dampen the students’ effort and

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ability to learn. They also constantly address the Mediating Tools that are lacking due to socio-economic and familial restraints. They experience the tensions between the Rules in the English Teaching System, and the problematic Division of Labour where teachers are expected to adhere to conflicting expectations and carry out multiple roles assigned by the department, school and the ministry. All these contradictions leave limited room for efforts to come to fruition. The frustrations of the teachers reflected in both extracts from Teacher 004 and Teacher 005 can be traced to the underlying notion that authorities believe the implementation of such ‘paper assessment’ is the effective solution towards better quality teaching. It is assumed that somehow contradictions that exist in the education system will resolve themselves when a top-down solution is implemented. This finding can be compared to that found by Zein (2016), where the impositions by the central authority seem to automatically be assumed as the solution to problems faced in the system. Teachers and their needs, voices, and concerns were often ignored in the process, even though they are the ones who are the front-liners for the education system and are familiar with the realities of teaching and learning. As was already previously discussed in the other nodes of the Activity Theory, many contextual factors – all familiar to teachers – are in constant interplay and they all contribute to, or compromise, the students’ potential abilities to learn. Capturing BTS-TPA in Activity Theory framework and proposal for VAM

An activity system captures the complexity that goes into performing an activity. The representation of the respondent-teachers’ activity is in Figure 4.2, along with the contradictions marked by unchecked boxes: The Subject, Object (and Objective) and partially Mediating Tool, and Division of Labour are in working order for this activity as represented by the checked boxes.Teachers are clear on their goals and recognise their students’ needs in the

Figure 4.2 Representation of one activity system in the BTS-TPA procedure from the perspective of secondary English language teachers

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English lesson as unique to every individual (Clipa, 2015).Teachers are not subjecting low-achieving students to daunting expectations that may break their spirit in learning, and not allowing high-achieving students to be complacent in their learning. This is seen as very motivating for students, and is high on the list of priority of teachers who participated in the study. Despite the fact that teachers feel burdened by the excessive amount of conflicting responsibilities, they accept the extra responsibility that results in professional development (Joyce and Calhoun, 2010), which includes sharing ideas and concerns with their colleagues in order to better their lesson preparation, delivery and reflection. They believe that internal evaluators are fair because they are aware of the environment in which the teacher is teaching – despite the fact that internal evaluators struggle to find the time to conduct evaluations, reflecting the findings by Clipa (2015). However, the unchecked boxes in Figure 4.2 show that many elements, including partial Mediating Tool (resources available to students), all the Rules, Community and partially Division of Labour and not in working order.The Rules that teachers have to abide by are setting them up for failure – either in an evaluative sense for the BTS-TPA, or in the student-examination-achievement sense for the curriculum expectations, or in the sense of equipping students with holistic development skills expected in SPN21. As for the Community, tensions between responsibilities assigned by the school administration, the Ministry of Education and the lack of support from the society/parents of the students also compromise the teacher’s ability to wholeheartedly devote their attention in honing skills that they know the students need in order to achieve the clear objective in the English lessons. The Division of Labour faces tension when external evaluators are conducting the evaluation. As previously mentioned, this may lead to teachers performing superficially, just for the sake of obtaining a high score in the BTS-TPA performative technology. These contradictions should not be taken negatively (Foot, 2001). Instead, policymakers should take the opportunity to review the system through the lens of Activity Theory to address concerns raised by teachers and apply VAM in order to prepare for future appraisal cycles. In fact, this thought is reciprocated by Ng (2009), who strongly believes in incorporating teachers’ voices in policymaking in the Asia-Pacific region, undoubtedly because teachers are the front-liners of the education system whose knowledge and experience are raw and untainted by bureaucratic endeavours – they only want what is best for their students. These teachers are specifically calling for the recognition of tensions that exist in the system that are hindering students’ learning and teachers’ teaching. VAM is particularly useful to be applied in the areas where tensions are high (i.e. the unchecked boxes) so as to make the BTS-TPA more useful to teachers and sensitive to students’ individual needs. Solbrekke and Englund (2011) also agreed with these observations and went so far as to claim that the emerging attitude towards such a performative technology is a result of the tension between (1) an administrator’s or teacher’s professional responsibility,

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(2) their accountability towards students’ achievement and (3) outcome of the evaluation process. Garcia and Menken (2010) also recognise the influences of context in education policies because the classroom itself is ‘a complex dynamic system’ (p. 255), making specific mentions of all the elements previously discussed in the Activity Theory analysis. The BTS-TPA could be made better after the incorporation of the VAM, which recognises contextual importance and the fact that the expectations surrounding teachers should be incremental. Since teachers are aware of the varying competence levels of the students in their mixed-ability classes, teachers should first focus on the basic needs of the students in having conducive and safe learning environments by acknowledging their familial and socio-economic needs through the provision of resources. Teachers can then proceed to preparing students for the paper-and-pen examination, where students are expected to obtain grades A-C in GCE and IGCSE English examination. This is achievable due to the fact that students with varying competency standards, socio-economic needs and familial backgrounds are addressed in different manners that are most suited to their needs. Only then should teachers focus their attention on preparing students for lifelong learning by adhering to the SPN21 expectations of honing 21st-century skills. Lifelong learning, according to Clipa (2015), will only be beneficial and attainable when context is taken into consideration. Activity Theory was used in this study to compartmentalise the important elements in the dynamic education system, and VAM will help to quantify the context. Thus, in every step of the way when VAM is applied, the evaluators of the teachers recognise the struggles of students, the unique contexts for learning and teaching, and acknowledge the additional efforts of teachers.

Conclusion It was found that teachers largely find that the elements found in BTS-TPA were relevant to the students’ learning and teachers’ teaching, and the teachers are aware of the different needs of the students and recognise the need for a change in the curriculum. This view could be influenced by the fact that performative technologies almost always prevail over time. It goes without saying that when these evaluation frameworks are endorsed by a more powerful structure that controls the school system, resistance will abate and a new breed of teachers will soon emerge. These teachers, who are exposed to the new performative technology, will inherently align themselves with the new measure of performativity (Anderson and Cohen, 2015) despite the previous experience, or even preference, of former evaluative frameworks. It is also worthwhile to note that the holistic nature of the BTS-TPA framework as an assessment tool for teachers could potentially be useful for the overall improvement of the education quality given the fact that the listed attributes for which teachers are judged have been proven in previous literatures to be generally constructive to the learning and teaching environment (Harris and Sass, 2014).

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However, teachers may have reservations in some of the elements in the BTS-TPA, specifically in reference to the lack of contextual recognition of the students. The one-size-fits-all paradigm adopted by the BTS-TPA is simply a tool to streamline the profession of teaching English for administrative purposes, not necessarily beneficial for the students, as their struggles are not recognised. In truth, some evaluated teachers simply put up a fabricated front in order to obtain respectable outcomes in their appraisal form (Ball, 2003). After the evaluation, teachers may revert to their customary manner of teaching, interacting and assessing students. For example, English teachers who know that they can be penalised for code-mixing in lessons may choose to only use one code during the observation, but codemix in all their unobserved classes – not because teachers do not have high levels of competency in the English language, but because students’ individual needs call for such practice.This signifies that teachers know what front to put on display in accordance with the criteria presented, and that these performative technologies are the solid point of reference to reach ultimate teacher status. The implication of the current study is threefold. First, the study shows that being English teachers takes more than workable pedagogies. In fact, what is more useful is the recognition of the students’ individual needs in order to accurately account for students’ learning of English. The disparity between students’ achievement in the English language, especially due to familial support and economic viability, is well recognised by the teachers.Without the recognition of context, students often find themselves demotivated to learn a language that is both foreign and perceived to be useless, as they are able to communicate nonetheless with their first language. Students would inevitably fall behind the national standard of English competency, and this would compromise their ability to compete fairly – both academically and professionally in the future. Current training focuses on the elements gauged in the BTS-TPA; as is evident in the current study, this is just not enough to help students stay motivated to improve their competency in the English language. Teachers need to reach out and get to know the students’ needs in order to cater to them, and not merely subject them to unnecessary pressure of achieving respectable grades in the English language using seemingly workable pedagogical practices. The English language itself is a skill-based subject, and the recognition of context would enable teachers to steer students in the right direction, provide them with the necessary help they need, and thus keep them motivated throughout their learning. Second, the study also shows that teachers themselves are struggling to fulfil expectations subjected to various authorities and parties, including parents and students themselves. Without teacher trainings that address these impeding multi-directional expectations, new teachers would definitely experience burnout early in their careers. This is especially true for English language teachers; as the majority of the government schools in the sultanate are English medium, the successful learning of mathematics, history, geography and other subjects that students are expected to learn heavily depends on their English language

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competency. Should the students remain unable to improve their English language proficiency, this will result in lower-than-average examination scores. Recognising that struggling students are often those from unsupportive familial backgrounds with low socio-economic status, such under-achievement will surely compromise their future endeavours and lower their chances in breaking the cycle of poverty and struggle. Therefore, teacher preparation should include an inter-disciplinary approach to the teaching of English as, after all, high proficiency in the language will positively influence the achievements in other subjects as well, which fulfils the expectations of the authorities in the education system. This will allow teachers to increase the relevance, and thus impact, of the teaching of English to the students. This fulfils the expectations of parents and students with regard to the learning of English. The third implication is particularly important due to geographical association. As a member of ASEAN, where the working language is English, high proficiency in the English language is regarded as a tool to improve human capital movements across borders in the region. Contextual recognition is also relevant, albeit in a much bigger scale than in the school context identified in the study, as we are after all the most diverse region in the world. Discrepancies in terms of social, economic and academic profiles are to be expected. However, the importance of the English language does not waver, as ASEAN continues to be a competitive force in the international arena. In order to sustain such competitiveness and simultaneously maintain the unique diversity in the region, the teaching and learning of the English language in the region should consider VAM in order to reap the benefit of having both high competency in the working language of English and to sustain the high diversity in the region. Brunei Darussalam has always played an active role in ASEAN, leveraging on the position of the sultanate being in the upper bracket in the region for language-learning settings, particularly for the English language (Noor Azam Haji-Othman, 2013). A range of initiatives have been carried out by Brunei for ASEAN, such as the Initiative for ASEAN Integration in 2000, the BruneiUS English Language Enrichment Project of ASEAN in 2012 and the English Teaching Apprenticeship Programme in 2014. To sustain this contribution, further the effort for human resource capacity-building initiatives and maintain cultural diversity in the region, there is a dire need for a culturally responsive framework that allows for the balance between progress and pride. The former with the promotion of English proficiency in the region as the official language of ASEAN, and the latter with the maintenance of display of cultural adherence, environmental sensitivity and mother-tongue practices. It does not always have to be a trade-off, and Brunei can certainly take the lead towards balanced practice by implementing VAM in the teaching standard, especially for English language learning, from which other member states of ASEAN can follow suit. Although the number of teachers who took part in this study is small and the findings of this study cannot be generalised to the rest of the teaching population in Brunei, or in ASEAN, it is enough to shed light on the adaptations that need to be performed in the preparatory training of teachers. Future studies may address this limitation by increasing the number of participants to ensure

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that their input is representative of the teaching workforce. It is also recommended that further research be undertaken to study the positions of other stakeholders in the BTS-TPA activity system.

References Anderson, G., and Cohen, M. (2015). Redesigning the identities of teachers and leaders: A framework for studying new professionalism and educator resistance. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 23(85), 1–29. doi: 10.14507/epaa.v23.2086 Ball, S. J. (2003).The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 215–228. doi:10.1080/0268093022000043065 Ball, S. J. (2015). Education, governance and the tyranny of numbers. Journal of Education Policy, 30(3), 299–301. doi: 10.1080/02680939.2015.1013271Chapman, D., and Adams, D. (2002). The quality of education: Dimensions and strategies (Vol. 5). Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, Hong Kong University. Clipa, O. (2015). Roles and strategies of teacher evaluation: Teachers’ perceptions. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 180, 916–923. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.02.243 Darling-Hammond, L. (2002). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 8(1), 1–44. doi:10.14507/epaa.v8n1. 2000 Engeström,Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work:Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 133–156. doi:10.1080/13639080020028747 Engeström,Y., Engeström, M., and Kärkkäinen, M. (1995). Polycontextuality and boundary crossing in expert cognition: Learning and problem solving in complex work activities. Learning and Instruction, 5(4), 319–336. doi:10.1016/0959-4752(95)00021-6 Englund, H., and Frostenson, M. (2017). Managing performance evaluation uncertainties in schools:When teachers become struggling performers. European Education Research Journal, 16(6), 885–906. doi:10.1177/1474904117693243 Feryok, A. (2012). Activity theory and language teacher agency. The Modern Language Journal, 96(1), 95–107. doi:10.1111/j.1540–4781.2012.01279 Foot, K. A. (2001). Cultural historical activity theory as practical theory: Illuminating the development of a conflict monitoring network. Communication Theory, 11(1), 56–83. doi:10.1111/j.1468–2885.2001.tb00233.x Garcia, O., and Menken, K. (2010). Stirring the onion: Educators and the dynamics of language education policies (looking ahead). In K. Menken and O. Garcı´a (Eds.), Negotiating language policies in schools: Educators as policymakers (pp. 249–261). New York, NY: Routledge. Goldhaber, D. (2002). The mystery of good teaching: Surveying the evidence on student achievement and teacher characteristics. Education Next, 2(1), 50–55. Retrieved from http://educationnext.org/the-mystery-of-good-teaching/ Harris, D. N. (2011). Value-added measures in education. MA: Harvard Education Press. Harris, D. N., and Sass, T. R. (2011). Teacher training, teacher quality and student achievement. Journal of Public Economics, 95, 798–812. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.11.009 Harris, D. N., and Sass, T. R. (2014). Skills, productivity and the evaluation of teacher performance. Economics of Education Review, 40, 183–204. doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.03.002 Helgøy, I., and Homme, A. (2007). Towards a new professionalism in school? A comparative study of teacher autonomy in Norway and Sweden. European Educational Research Journal, 6(3), 232–249. doi:10.2304/eerj.2007.6.3.232 Hsieh, H. F., and Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. doi:10.1177/1049732305276687

80  Mayyer Ling and Rinni Haji Amran Jeffrey, B., and Troman, G. (2011).The construction of performative identities. European Educational Research Journal, 10(4), 484–501. doi:10.2304/eerj.2011.10.4.484 Jepsen, C. (2005). Teacher characteristics and student achievement: Evidence from teacher surveys. Journal of Urban Economics, 57(2), 302–319. doi:10.1016/j.jue.2004.11.001 Joyce, B., and Calhoun, E. (2010). Models of professional development: A celebration of educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Loeb, S. (2013). How can value-added measures be used for teacher improvement? Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Retrieved from www.carnegieknowledgenet work.org/briefs/teacher_improvement/ Ministry of Education. (2016a, November 16). The national education system for the 21st century SPN21. Retrieved from www.moe.gov.bn/education-system/spn21 Ministry of Education. (2016b, November 24). FAQ-Frequently Asked Questions on BTS and TPA. Retrieved from www.moe.gov.bn/PublishingImages/newfaq/FAQ_BTS-TPA.pdf Ng, C. H. (2009). Exploring the linkage between reforms and learning in the Asia-Pacific region: An activity theory perspective. In C. Ng and P. D. Renshaw (Eds.), Reforming learning: Education in the Asia-Pacific region: Issues, concerns and prospects (pp. 3–22). Dordrecht,The Netherlands: Springer. Noor Azam Haji-Othman. (2013, November). Brunei’s contribution to ASEAN Integration. Keynote speech delivered at the Forum on ASEAN Integration, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei. OECD. (2015). Embedding professional development in school for teacher success. Working paper. Teaching in focus, 10. Paris: OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/5js4rv7s7snt-en Pham, T. T., and Renshaw, P. (2013). How to enable Asian teachers to empower students to adopt student-centred learning. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(11), 65–85. doi:10.14221/ajte.2013v38n11.4 Rahman, J. A. (2011). Enhancing quality education towards the realisation of ASEAN community 2015. Royal University of Phnom Penh Hun Sen Library Digital Collection. Retrieved from http://119.82.251.165:8080/xmlui/handle//123456789/341 Schleicher, A. (Ed.). (2012). Preparing teachers and developing school leaders for the 21st Century: Lessons from around the world. Paris: OECD Publishing. Solbrekke, T. D., and Englund, T. (2011). Bringing professional responsibility back in. Studies in Higher Education, 36(7), 847–861. doi:10.1080/03075079.2010.482205 Stronge, J. H., and Tucker, P. D. (2003). Handbook on teacher evaluation: Assessing and improving performance. Larchmont: Eye on Education. Tang, S.Y. F. (2011). Teachers’ professional identity, educational change and neo-liberal pressures on education in Hong Kong. Teacher Development, 15(3), 363–380. doi:10.1080/13 664530.2011.608518 Timperley, H.,Wilson, A., Barrar, H., and Fung, I. (2007). Teacher professional learning and development: Best evidence synthesis iteration. Wellington: Ministry of Education. Wong, N. Y. (2003). Kaoshi: Huarandiquhuizhibuqu de mengyan. Hong Kong Economic Journal, 27 March.Wood, A., Henry, A., Malai Ayla Hj Abd., and Clynes, A. (2011). English in Brunei: “She speaks excellent English” – “No he doesn’t”. In L. J. Zhang, R. Rubdy, and L. Alsagoff (Eds.), Asian Englishes: Changing perspectives in a globalized world (pp. 52–66). Singapore: Pearson. Zein, M. S. (2016). Government-based training agencies and the professional development of Indonesian English for Young Learners teachers: Perspectives from complexity theory. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 42(2), 205–223. doi:10. 1080/02607476.2016.1143145

5 Professional development through practicum Juliana Othman and Fatiha SenomProfessional development through practicum

A case study on Malaysian pre-service ESL teachers’ professional identity construction Juliana Othman and Fatiha Senom Introduction As a member of ASEAN community, Malaysia has strong commitment to improve both professional and English language skills of its citizens for the new challenge of the ASEAN Integration. This is in line with the needs of ASEAN Integration 2015, which emphasized the importance of English as an international medium of communication. The provision of high-quality English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher education is vital for Malaysia to produce highly competent teachers for the Malaysian school system as well as to strengthen human resources in meeting the demands of globalization. Among the many initiatives taken is the enhancement of ESL teacher education, which focuses on developing pre-service teachers’ teaching practices during practicum. Studies have shown that teaching practicum plays a fundamental role in any teacher preparation programme (Gebhard, 2009; Farrell, 2012, 2013; Ogilvie and Dunn, 2010). The practicum has long been recognized as an important part of ESL language teachers’ preparation, as it offers school-based experiences that can help pre-service teachers to make transitions from their academic programmes to the realities of teaching in a school. Research on teacher education has looked at different aspects of pre-service teachers’ learning to teach; however, little has been documented concerning how their practicum experiences had an influence on their professional identity formation with respect to knowledge, procedural awareness, and skills, dispositions and teacher identity. There is a relatively small body of literature (Afrianto, 2015; Atkinson et al., 2008; Canh, 2014; Farrell, 2012; Gan and Lee, 2016; Trent, 2013) that is concerned with the impact of practicum on pre-service teachers’ professional identity formation in non-Western settings, including the ASEAN context such as Malaysia. According to Kamhi-Stein (2009) most of the research that discusses the identity development of non-native ESL teachers during teacher preparation and development programmes are conducted in the Inner Circle countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), where English is the dominant language.

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Understanding how pre-service teachers construct their professional identity is important, as unsuccessful identity formation can cause teachers to leave the teaching profession if their identity conflicts remain unresolved (Trent, 2013). Studies (Anspal, Eisenschmidt, and Löfström, 2012; Trent, 2012; Kiely and Askham, 2012) have shown that the professional identity of pre-service teachers that initially develop during their teacher education programme is fragile and susceptible to challenges when they enter their first years of teaching. A strong teacher identity is crucial for a pre-service teacher to develop personally and professionally. Hence, this study attempts to address this gap in research by exploring the non-native pre-service ESL teacher’s professional identity formation during teaching practicum in a Malaysian setting. Drawing on Furnished Imagination by Kiely and Askham (2012), this chapter starts by laying out the theoretical dimensions of this study. Next, we review literature on the ESL teacher preparation and professional development in Malaysia.Then we present data collection and analysis, and finally discuss the findings of the study.

Furnished Imagination Kiely and Askham (2012, p. 509) suggest that the understanding of ESL teachers’ professional development can best be understood through the construct of Furnished Imagination, which is “an understanding of key elements of the knowledge bases, procedural competence in planning for and managing lessons, a disposition characterised by enthusiasm and readiness, and teacher identity: a sense of belonging in the world of TESOL”. Furnished imagination operates as a way to understand the impact of TESOL teacher learning during an early training context on their readiness for work. Kiely and Askham (2012) stressed that although it is unlikely for initial teacher development programmes to transform novice pre-service teachers into TESOL experts, it facilitates them to progress into a ‘state of readiness’ to start their teaching career and to continually engage in lifelong learning along the way. The term imagination in Kiely and Ashkam’s recent construct represents a constructivist interpretation about knowledge. In this context, learning takes place through social interaction between pre-service ESL teachers with their colleagues, mentor, students and supervisors during teaching practicum to become a member of TESOL community. During this process, pre-service ESL teachers bring together the input that they gained during interactions with their self-image and their belief in their potential in forming their identity as a member of TESOL community. Hence, in the furnished imagination construct, “identity is future oriented, drawing on the capacity to imagine a transformed self and to see it as part of the narrative of personal history” (Kiely and Askham, 2012, p. 498). It is important to note that identity formation does not merely rely on preservice ESL teachers’ sense of self-belief; instead it includes teacher learning. To define learning, Kiely and Askham adopted Wenger’s (1998) characteristics of

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learning that include meaning, practice and community.Thus, the evidence on preservice ESL teacher learning can be elicited through meaning – when the preservice teachers inform about their improvement in capacity; practice – when the pre-service teachers explain and demonstrate the mutual practice within the TESOL community; and community – when the pre-service teachers identify themselves as one of the members of the TESOL community through significant initiatives taken to develop their competency. Furnished imagination is a combination of knowledge, procedural awareness, and skills, dispositions and identity that pre-service teachers take from an initial teacher development as a readiness for work in TESOL. Therefore, the impact on ESL teacher professional development during an early training context on their readiness for work is deciphered through the expansion of their knowledge base, competency pertaining to teaching and learning procedures, motivated disposition and TESOL teacher identity. The fusion of knowledge, procedural awareness, and skills, dispositions and identity serves as a way of understanding how teachers construct their professional knowledge, as a way of tracking their professional practice and as a way of capturing their professional identity formation. However, while the furnished imagination construct provides insight into the pre-service teacher’s knowledge, procedural awareness, and skills, dispositions and identity, it lacks specific identity dimensions for further analysis.This limitation is addressed through the use of Pennington and Richards’ (2016) reconceptualized notion of teacher identity, particularly on the competences required for language teaching and how language teachers incorporate their own attributes and experience in constructing their professional identity. Based on the reconceptualization, two areas of professional identity construction are identified: Foundational Competences of Language Teacher Identity and Advanced Competences of Language Teacher Identity. Foundational Competences of Language Teacher Identity includes language-related identity, which relates to teachers’ language background and language proficiency; disciplinary identity, which is defined by teachers’ disciplinary knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge; context-related identity, which is influenced by contextual factors; self-knowledge and awareness, which refer to teachers’ capacity in identifying their strengths and weaknesses; and student-related identity, which is greatly influenced by teachers’ knowledge and awareness about students. Pennington and Richards (2016) argue that teachers construct the Advanced Competences of Language Teacher Identity throughout their teaching experience and when they continuously engage in lifelong learning and professional development activities. This area of professional identity includes: practiced and responsive teaching skills, which refers to teachers’ capacity to transfer their knowledge into practice; theorizing from practice, which is identified by teachers’ ability to theorize and situate their practice within the body of knowledge; and membership in communities of practice and profession, which is when teachers recognize themselves as important parts of the TESOL community.

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The researchers assert that these three dimensions of language teacher identity are central in defining the expertise in the professional identity of ESL teachers. Hence, in this study, elements in Kiely and Askham’s (2012) furnished imagination construct: knowledge, procedural awareness, and skills, dispositions and identity, are used as lenses to examine both Pennington and Richards’ (2016) Foundational Competences of Language Teacher Identity and Advanced Competences of Language Teacher Identity in capturing their professional identity construction throughout their practicum experience. The furnished imagination construct and Pennington and Richard’s (2016) notion of teacher identity provide complementary explanations for the pre-service teachers’ professional identity formation.

ESL teacher preparation and professional development in Malaysia In Malaysia, English is taught as a subject in the national school curriculum. The 1996 Education Act has accorded English as a second language status. In secondary schools, English is taught 200 minutes per week. Teacher education in Malaysia is typically a pre-service programme which involves a four-year university programme leading to a Bachelor of Education (B.ED) degree. An English language teacher studying for a degree such as B.ED TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) essentially adopts a traditional teacher training model with a compulsory component of teaching practicum for duration of twelve weeks. Teaching practicum has long been an important part of pre-service teacher development and one of the most fundamental learning experiences for student teachers (Crookes, 2003; Farrell, 2008; Johnson, 1996). It allows preservice teachers to make connection between current theoretical knowledge and school practices. As Gebhard (2009) points out that the aims of the teaching practicum are to provide pre-service teachers with practical classroom experience; learn from observing experienced teachers and reflect on their own teaching. From a Malaysian context, a number of studies have been conducted on different aspects of pre-service teachers’ professional development. Recent studies on teaching practicum have highlighted challenges faced by preservice teachers and what impact it may have on different aspects of teacher education. Othman (2008) study examines pre-service teachers’ concerns during their practicum and reported that their greatest concerns include acceptance by pupils, classroom discipline and mastery of pedagogical skills. In another study, Goh and Matthews (2011) found that among the problems which the pre-service teachers faced was related to personal adjustment, classroom teaching and classroom management. Other research (Khalid, 2014;Yunus, Hashim, Ishak, and Mahamod, 2010) examined the relationships of mentors and pre-service teachers and establishment of partnerships with

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schools through mentoring. In another study, Kabilan (2007) investigates the impact of reflective practice among pre-service teachers in a teaching methodology course. He found that reflection heightened their awareness of pedagogical concepts and facilitated pre-service teachers’ readiness in learning to teach. As there are relatively only few studies in Malaysia examine the influence of teaching practicum on pre-service ESL teachers’ professional identity construction, it is then essential to examine this process. In addition, we believe that it is important to examine how the pre-service teachers draw on their content and procedural knowledge during practicum and what influence it has on their professional identities. The findings of this study could contribute to the body of knowledge in second language teacher education by filling the gaps in the existing literature through a comprehensive understanding on the impact of practicum on preservice ESL teachers’ professional identity formation not only in Malaysia but also in the ASEAN region. This understanding is relevant as it provides a practical contribution to the English language teaching by serving as a guideline that informs future preparation programmes for English teachers in the ASEAN community.

The study The participants

To explore the impact of teaching practicum on Malaysian pre-service ESL teachers’ professional development, four pre-service ESL teachers who were in their third year in the B.Ed TESL programme were selected as participants of the study based on convenience sampling. These participants had just completed their 12-week teaching practicum in secondary schools located in an urban area in the state of Selangor. During the teaching practicum, each of them was assigned a university supervisor and a mentor teacher who was teaching English in their school placement. The summary of demographic information of the selected participants based on the oral information given to the researcher is illustrated in Table 5.1. All names of individuals in this study are pseudonyms. Table 5.1 Participants’ demographic information Name

Age Gender

Khai Yun 23 Cathy Asiah Ee Wen

23 23 23

Students

Female Form 2 and Form 4 (high proficiency) Female Form 2 (intermediate proficiency) Female Form 2 (mixed-ability) Female Form 2 (low proficiency)

Supervisor

Mentor

Dr. Shariza

Ms. Magesh

Dr. Hazlina Ms. Fatimah Dr. Hazlina Ms. Shanthiny Dr. Jeon Ms. Emilie

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Data collection and analysis This study used multiple case study (Yin, 2009) approach within a qualitative interpretive research design. Case study was chosen as it offers a deeper understanding into the phenomenon being studied, teacher identity, as it exposes real-life situations (Stake, 2000).The main data collection technique involved is a series of in-depth interviews for individual participant at different times as a means of data triangulation (Merriam, 1998). An interview protocol was developed based on the existing literature (Farrell, 2008, 2012; Kiely and Askham, 2012).The participants were encouraged to describe and evaluate their own practicum experiences thoroughly and freely from their own perspectives. All the interviews were conducted face-to-face and audiotaped for transcription purposes. The interviews were transcribed immediately and the researchers reviewed each transcription with written notes from the interview while listening to the corresponding tape. The data collection was completed until data saturation was achieved in order to enhance the trustworthiness of the study. To synthesize the data, the researchers identified some major patterns or themes that are linked together and collectively described the pre-service ESL teachers’ practicum experience. These patterns and themes were categorized according to Kiely and Askham’s Furnished Imagination (2012) where close examination were given on how pre-service teachers incorporate their knowledge, procedural awareness, and skills, dispositions and identities that they gained from their practicum experience to construct their professional identity. Then, within categories, patterns were compared and contrasted. This was followed by patterns across categories based on Pennington and Richards’ (2016) Foundational Competences of Language Teacher Identity and Advanced Competences of Language Teacher Identity. Finally, the researchers tried to situate the findings with respect to prior research on teacher learning and professional development that have been discussed in the broader literature on pre-service ESL teacher education.

Findings and discussion Pre-service teachers’ professional identity formation is reflected through the data presented in this study. The construct of furnished imagination is depicted through the pre-service teachers’ knowledge, procedural competence and disposition. Through the accounts of the pre-service teachers’ experiences, their construction of the ESL teachers’ identity can be understood. Pre-service ESL teachers’ knowledge

This section presents the findings on the impact of practicum on pre-service ESL teachers’ professional identity construction captured through the examination on pre-service ESL teachers’ knowledge. The construct of pre-service

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teachers’ knowledge in this study is examined through their disciplinary identity and student-related identity. Disciplinary identity

In this study, the teaching practicum serves as a platform for the pre-service ESL teachers to construct their disciplinary identity. Richards and Crookes (1988) argued that apart from providing pre-service teachers real classroom teaching experience, practicum also allowed them to gain skills in developing materials for their lesson, which in turn contribute to their pedagogical content knowledge. This knowledge is a required component for ESL teachers’ disciplinary identity as it underpins language-teaching expertise (Pennington and Richards, 2016). One of the fundamental components of pedagogical skills that a teacher should possess is the ability to plan an effective lesson.Teachers need to identify learning outcomes and select the appropriate teaching approach for a given context. In constructing their disciplinary identity, the pre-service teachers highlighted the importance of lesson planning. For instance, in order to establish legitimacy as a language teacher, one of the pre-service teachers displayed her disciplinary identity through creating interesting and fun language activities. For example, Cathy remarked: I am a language teacher . . . and I must make sure that my students love learning English through fun activities. I want to show my supervisor that I do have interesting stuff to do with my students, like games and completely student-centered method. Comments from another participant suggested that she is very concerned with enhancing her pedagogical knowledge on lesson planning. According to Asiah, even though her lesson plan “looks interesting”, some of the games were not aligned with the learning objectives. She was advised by her mentor not to exclude the teacher’s input on the topic. From the feedback given by her mentor, Asiah realized that “learning has to take place. The students still have to learn something, not just playing games”. In this study, the enrichment of pedagogical knowledge during practicum facilitates pre-service ESL teachers in constructing a more stable and secure disciplinary identity as ESL professionals. Student-related identity

This type of identity evolved as pre-service teachers’ performance is linked to their awareness of the students’ characteristics. Borg (2006) asserts that one of the characteristics of skilled teacher behaviour in teacher development is the focus on their learners. Knowledge and awareness about students assist the teachers in making any pedagogical decision on the best way to teach their L2

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students within complex socially, culturally and historically situated contexts (Borg, 2003; Freeman, 2002; Johnson and Golombek, 2003;Woods, 1996; Johnson, 2006). In addition, knowledge and awareness of the students are regarded as central elements of teaching competence in teachers’ professional identity construction (Pennington and Richards, 2016). In this study, the pre-service ESL teachers demonstrate their student-related identity by expressing concerns about their students as well as their relationship with their students. This perspective was shared by a pre-service teacher, who said: As a teacher, it is my responsibility to motivate my students to learn English. So I try to consider their needs and make sure all of them are involved in every activity. Through practicum experience, the pre-service teachers could relate better with their students as they discovered that the adolescent students could be easily influenced by their teachers. They believed that being a good role model and an ‘influencer’ to their students could facilitate the learning process as the students would ‘listen’ to them. One of the pre-service teachers commented: Through teaching practicum I found that a teacher can do more than just teaching. A teacher should be a role model to her students and has a big responsibility to educate them. Because what you say can influence your students a lot. The way you speak and the way you think, the way you behave, can really affect them. (Cathy) Cathy’s comment illustrates that she took on the professional identity as a teacher. She elaborates by giving an example of one of the students who was labelled as ‘rebellious’ by the school principal and other teachers. She was warned by the school principal and other teachers about the difficulty she was about to face with the student at the beginning of her teaching practicum. However, much to her surprise, not only did she manage to ‘handle’ the student throughout her teaching practicum, she also managed to establish a good relationship with the student even after her teaching practicum. According to Cathy, perhaps it was because the student simply liked her and could relate to her. Moreover, through her practicum experience, Cathy realized that it is important for a teacher to “think twice” before making any remark to students as “even one word can change a student a lot.” She believed that her adolescent students were very concerned about others’ perceptions about them. Hence, she felt that teachers should always provide the students with constructive feedback without diminishing her students’ self-esteem. In this context, the teaching practicum had given the opportunity for the pre-service teachers to strengthen their student-related identity as they integrate

Professional development through practicum 89

into an actual teaching community where they had an increased understanding of their students. Pre-service ESL teachers’ procedural awareness and skills

The analysis of the pre-service teachers’ procedural competence identity, ability to theorize from practice, and their context-related identity is presented as dimensions of their procedural awareness and skills. Procedural competence identity

The impact of practicum experience on pre-service ESL teachers’ professional identity can also be traced through demonstrated procedural awareness and skills. Gan’s (2013) study reported that classroom management appears to be the biggest concern among the pre-service ESL teachers during teaching practicum. Likewise, the pre-service ESL teachers in this study attached great importance to good classroom management. They realized that, apart from teaching, they also need to maintain class control. For Khai Yun, her teaching practicum experience enabled her to enhance her procedural competence identity, particularly through her classroom control strategy. Khai Yun asserted that although she was confident with her subject knowledge, she needed help with classroom management since she did not have any teaching experience. During one of her classroom observations, her supervisor, Dr. Shariza, provided a suggestion on how to ensure her students’ engagement on her lesson. When I teach I always stand in front.Then Dr. Shariza told me that I could actually stand behind the students. So when they don’t know where I am, they don’t dare to talk. So yeah, I find it effective. Similarly, the practicum experience had given Ee Wen the opportunity to improve her classroom management strategy. Before her teaching practicum in an all-boy school, Ee Wen believed that “good classroom management equals to silence”. This misconception was deduced based on her schooling experience as well as her experience in simulated-teaching course in her teacher education programme, where noisy classrooms were often associated with teacher’s poor classroom management skills.Thus, at the beginning of her teaching practicum, she would avoid any lesson that would give her students the opportunity to ‘make noise’. She did not want her mentor, her supervisor or other teachers in the school to think that she was incapable of controlling her students if the students were ‘noisy and talkative’ during her lessons. However, her perception about effective classroom management changed during the practicum. Her first classroom observation conducted by both her supervisor and mentor was seen as ‘too quiet’. Ee Wen asserted that it was her school experience as a student that made her believe that a teacher must

90  Juliana Othman and Fatiha Senom

ensure her students are quiet all the time. With the guidance by her supervisor and mentor, Ee Wen now has a new definition of what effective classroom management is. According to her, “it is not about the class being silent; it is about things that teachers do so that learning could take place”. Thus, based on this realization, Ee Wen started to focus more on students’ learning rather than getting students to ‘behave’ all the time. In this context, the pre-service teachers’ procedural competence identity was enhanced through interaction with students in real classroom situations and constructive feedback from their supervisors and mentors. Theorizing from practice

According to Pennington and Richards (2016), teaching practicum experiences contribute to pre-service ESL teachers’ professional identity construction by allowing them to theorize from practice. Pre-service teachers’ teaching engagement in actual classrooms provide opportunities for linking theoretical input and practical teaching which mutually complement each other. During teaching practicum, pre-service teachers develop their reflective skills through reflection on their own practice. By engaging in reflective practice, pre-service ESL teachers were able to develop their individual philosophies of teaching by theorizing their practice during practicum experience, which in turn promoted their professional identity. In the case of Asiah, the teaching practicum provided the room for her to immerse into her own thought about her teaching effectiveness as well as her role as an ESL teacher. This is because Asiah’s mentor, Ms. Shanthiny, encouraged her to be analytical about her teaching by asking her to reflect on her experience after each English lesson. During the discussion, her mentor assisted her to reflect on her strengths and weaknesses in carrying out the lesson. In addition, her mentor informed her about her opinions on her lesson as well as gave her suggestions on improving her teaching. Asiah asserts that this reflective practice enabled her to make well-informed teaching decisions and adjust her practice so as to improve the quality of her teaching. In addition, Ms. Shanthiny helped Asiah to trace her improvement throughout her teaching practicum, which Asiah considered to be “motivating” and “enlightening”. She explains: After each lesson we would do the reflection. That’s the best thing because I would know where I did wrong in this lesson plan so that I can avoid this mistake in future. It’s really helpful for me to improve myself. And when I reflect, it is so good to know that I have improved a lot! Asiah’s comments illustrate that her practicum enhanced her knowledge and instructional practices. As Burton (2009) argues, teachers’ reflective practice empowers lifelong professional development, allowing them to be critical about their teaching and improve their teaching decisions.

Professional development through practicum 91 Context-related identity

The findings of this study suggest that the context of practicum plays an important role in shaping pre-service ESL teachers’ professional identity. Richards (2012) argued that different contexts for teaching create different potentials for teachers to learn as well as provide different kinds of challenges and possibilities for teachers’ practice. In this study, Ee Wen’s practicum experience provides her teaching context with what Pennington and Richards (2016, p. 14) has defined as favouring conditions, where both her supervisor and mentor were very supportive in facilitating her learning. Mentors and supervisors are regarded as the main source of support because they are the most influential people for the pre-service teachers during teaching practice (Farrell, 2008). Ee Wen highlighted the important role of feedback given by supervisor and mentor during teaching practicum. For her, the feedback given by her mentor and supervisor were “really, really important” for her and served as a “validation” for her potential as an ESL teacher. Although sometimes she made mistakes during her lesson observation, both her supervisor and mentor corrected her in a constructive manner, thus allowing her to accept and learn from her mistakes. Her mentor scaffolded her learning to teach and promote her apprenticeship into the teaching profession (Lave and Wenger, 1991). On the other hand, practicum experience for some of her friends provided them with disfavouring conditions where inadequate support was given by their mentors and supervisors. Juxtaposing her own practicum experience with some of her course mates’ practicum experience, Ee Wen explained how her friends’ motivation were diminished by daunting remarks given by their practicum mentors and supervisors: Some of my course mates have fierce mentors and supervisors and they scold them in the staff room. I don’t think that kind of feedback is helpful for them. They told me they don’t want to teach in future because they think they are not good enough. These contextual factors seemed to have a strong impact on the development of pre-service ESL teachers’ professional identity. As a result, while Ee Wen was able to stay motivated throughout her teaching practicum, some of her friends’ motivation diminished after daunting remarks given by their supervisors and mentors.

Pre-service ESL teachers’ disposition and identity This section draws together language-related identity, self-knowledge and awareness as dimensions of teachers’ dispositions and identity. Kiely and Askham (2012) posit that disposition is “characterised by enthusiasm and readiness” and teacher identity as “a sense of belonging in the world of TESOL” (p. 12).

92  Juliana Othman and Fatiha Senom Language-related identity

Atkinson et al. (2008) argue that the most commonly expressed problem during the practicum among pre-service ESL teachers’ is anxiety over their limited English skills. In the same vein, Pennington and Richards (2016) assert that non-native ESL teachers’ identity is highly influenced by their language background and language proficiency. It is crucial for non-native ESL teachers to have a level of communicative competence at a certain threshold level in order for them to teach effectively (Richards, 2012, p. 47). In this study, the pre-service teachers highlighted the importance of language proficiency of ESL teachers. This excerpt indicated that Ee Wen had a language-related identity for good English teachers: A teacher should be knowledgeable in her subject matter. I must have a good command of the language as an English teacher. For Ee Wen, one of the pre-service teachers, the practicum experience validates her language capacity to be an ESL teacher. Coming from a Mandarinspeaking family background with little opportunity to use English in her daily life, Ee Wen admitted that she only started to communicate in English when she enrolled in the B.ED TESL programme. She felt that her English proficiency is lower compared to her friends in the B.ED TESL programme. This caused her to have low self-confidence at the beginning of her teaching practicum. However, the positive feedback given by her supervisor and mentor on her teaching and learning activities enabled her to gain confidence on her capability and to promote a more positive language-related identity without disregarding the importance of having a good command of English as a crucial part of professional identity of ESL teachers. Self-knowledge and awareness

This study found that practicum experience contributes to pre-service ESL professional identity formation as it provides the opportunity for them to raise their self-knowledge and awareness. Self-knowledge and awareness is an important element in language teachers’ competence, as they allow teachers to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses as well as ways to capitalize on their strengths to maximize their teaching (Pennington and Richards, 2016). In this study, Khai Yun and Cathy have started to develop their commitment to ESL teaching which are reflected through their love for teaching as well as their intention to pursue teaching careers upon graduation. Khai Yun’s practicum experience enabled her to experience changes in her identity as a pre-service ESL teacher. Khai Yun considered teaching practicum as a “tryout” for her to realize her potential to be an ESL teacher. According to Khai Yun, based on their 12-week practicum, many of her friends would like to venture into teaching profession while some of them decided not to pursue a teaching career due to an unpleasant practicum experience. For Khai Yun, the programme assisted

Professional development through practicum 93

her in developing her interest to venture into a career as an ESL teacher. Khai Yun admitted that now she finds the teaching profession interesting and enjoys having good relationships with her students. She explained: I would want to do teaching after this. I think maybe because my practicum experience is so good. I think I could challenge myself more. My mentor gave me hundred percent support and freedom for me to develop my lesson plans. My mentor kept on saying, “this is a learning process. It doesn’t matter if this lesson goes wrong. It will create teachable moments for you.” For Cathy, the most important change that she experienced during her teaching practicum with regard to her professional identity formation was the enhancement of her self-confidence on her capacity as an ESL teacher. Cathy admitted that there were times she felt like giving up her studies, as she did not think that she could be an effective teacher. However, her perception about her capability transformed throughout her teaching practicum experience. This is because she realized that although she may not be a perfect ESL teacher, her students appreciate her and her effort in teaching them. The good relationship between Cathy and her students motivated her and made her feel that teaching is a rewarding career. In addition, her students’ positive feedback towards her teaching enabled her to regain her self-esteem. She believes it is important for teachers to have affective qualities as she explained; When my students react positively to my teaching, I start to feel more confident. It motivates me to be supportive and encourage my students to have positive attitude towards English language. I try to engage them in a productive learning environmentAs shown in this excerpt, Cathy displays her confidence as a teacher as she overcomes her anxiety about her competence as an ESL teacher. Poulou (2007) posits that pre-service teachers overcome anxiety about teaching during their teaching practice gradually. Their responses to various learning-to-teach situations during practicum strengthen their emerging teacher identity. Hence, pre-service teaching practicum experience has an important impact on their future careers (Rozelle and Wilson, 2012; Gan, 2013), as it helps them to identify their capacity to reaffirm that they have chosen the right career (Atkinson et al., 2008). Additionally, Bieler (2013) argues that having a strong sense of identity allows pre-service teachers to be autonomous and resilient, which results in teacher retention. In this case, Khai Yun and Cathy have started to develop their commitment to ESL teaching, which is reflected through their love for teaching as well as their intention to pursue teaching careers upon graduation.

Conclusion and implications for teacher education It is widely acknowledged that teaching practicum played an influential role in the pre-service teachers’ professional identity construction processes. As the

94  Juliana Othman and Fatiha Senom

pre-service teachers embark upon their practicum, they brought with them images of what a teacher should be, expectations of what they should do during their school placement and theoretical knowledge gained from their teacher education programme. However, this imagination may be reinforced or restructured as they interact with members of the school community and try to make sense of the reality of the school experience. The results of this present study have demonstrated this, and they are consistent with earlier studies (Gebhard, 2009; Farrell, 2012; Gan and Lee, 2016; Trent, 2013) that teaching practicum could influence and shape the construction of pre-service teachers’ professional identities in various dimensions. The school-based experience promotes the pre-service teachers’ “state of readiness” (Kiely and Askham, 2012, p. 14) to embrace the teaching profession. Although the results should be interpreted cautiously as they are based on case studies of pre-service teachers within a single educational setting, they have the potential to inform teacher preparation. In particular, the findings of the present study have several implications for improving existing teacher education programmes in Malaysia. First, more exposure is needed for the pre-service teachers to have school experience throughout their four-year programme. As practicum in Malaysia is normally assigned in the final year of the teacher education programme for 12 weeks, this lateness may delay the pre-service teachers’ state of readiness for the teaching profession. An extended period for teaching practicum and closer collaboration with schools where pre-service teachers volunteer as teachers’ assistants could provide them with greater familiarity with school routines. This is needed to promote their readiness to teach in actual classroom settings and develop their professional identities throughout the programme. Additionally, this would also facilitate the pre-service teachers’ abilities to link the theory of teaching and realities of classroom instruction more effectively. Second, teacher-training institutions should work closely with participating schools in selecting experienced teachers as mentors. The school experiences would also provide pre-service teachers with opportunities to observe and learn from experienced practitioners in real classrooms. This ‘apprenticeship of observation’ (Lortie, 1975) experience could create strong professional teacher identity among the pre-service teachers. Lastly, if teacher education programme aims to develop pre-service teachers’ professional identity construction, then we may need to review the design of the curricula so as to implement some changes within the programme. Programmes can address the notion of teacher identity explicitly through methods or professional courses. Teacher education programmes could include components on classroom management, self-management, and coping strategies so as to develop pre-service teachers’ skills in managing personal and classroom concerns effectively. This will help to build their confidence and help establish a sound professional teacher identity. As part of the ASEAN Integration plans, the demand for well-trained English teachers will increase significantly in order to improve English language

Professional development through practicum 95

proficiency in the region. Thus, the English language teacher education programme needs to train competent pre-service teachers. These implications could also be applicable to other ASEAN countries which share similar concerns. However, since there is a diverse teacher education programmes across ASEAN teacher training institutions, it is a challenge to establish universally acceptable teacher identities. Thus, a regional English language teacher competency standard could be developed by South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and ASEAN University Network (AUN) as a benchmark for teacher education programmes in the ASEAN region where teacher professional identity is at its core. Finally, further research should be extended to include cross-cultural comparison with a cohort of pre-service teachers in other ASEAN contexts so that the implications of the findings can help inform practice of teacher education not just locally but internationally.

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Professional development through practicum 97 Richards, J. C., and Crookes, G. (1988). The practicum in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 22, 9–27. doi:10.2307/3587059 Rozelle, J., and Wilson, S. (2012). Opening the black box of field experiences: How cooperating teachers’ beliefs and practices shape student teachers’ beliefs and practices. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(8), 1196–1205. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2012.07.008 Stake, R. (2000). Case studies. In N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 435–451). Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications. Trent, J. (2012). Becoming a teacher: The identity construction experiences of beginning English language teachers in Hong Kong. The Australian Educational Researcher, 39(3), 363– 383. doi:10.1007/s13384-012-0067-7 Trent, J. (2013). From learner to teacher: Practice, language and identity in a teaching practicum. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 41(3), 426–440. doi:10.1080/13598 66X.2013.838621 Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Woods, D. (1996). Teacher cognition in language teaching: Beliefs, decision-making, and classroom practice. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Yunus, M. M., Hashim, H., Ishak, N. M., and Mahamod, Z. (2010). Understanding TESL pre-service teachers’ teaching experiences and challenges via post-practicum reflection forms. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 722–728. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.224

6 ‘Native-Speakerism . . . I Think We Need to Change Our Perception’ Sovannarith Lim and Anne BurnsSociocultural perspectives on Cambodian

Sociocultural perspectives on Cambodian pre-service teacher education Sovannarith Lim and Anne Burns Introduction The spread of English across the globe has been unrelenting. As English consolidates its status as a global language (Crystal, 2003; Graddol, 2006), in Cambodia, the popularity of English as a language for wider communication continues to show no sign of abating. In fact, in contemporary Cambodia, English can be seen to function as a pragmatic, linguistic means to socio-economic development and prosperity, both in intra- and international contexts (S. Clayton, 2008; T. Clayton, 2006; Lim, 2012; Tweed and Som, 2015). As also pointed out by Saroeun (2015, p. 29), the demand for English in Cambodia should not be “underestimated”, for English is a medium through which students, academics, professionals and business people can reach their goals. Moreover, the needs for English for individual and state prosperity are also recognised and spelled out by the Cambodian government itself. For instance, as expressed by a Cambodian education minister in the forward to a manual for Cambodian English language teacher trainers, “English has been viewed by the Royal Government of Cambodia as an indispensable tool for development and by individuals as the language of opportunity for career development” (MOEYS, 2010, p. i). This role of English continues to hold true at the present time, especially as seen against the contexts of international and global cooperation. That is, as an official language for communication in major multi-lateral and international organisations such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund – in which Cambodia increasingly plays a significant role – English has been viewed as having the potential to provide Cambodians with distinct advantages through which to participate in these international arenas. Clayton (2006, p. 231), for example, quotes a secretary of state from the Ministry of Commerce in an interview in 2000 as follows: we need to know English so that we can defend our interests. You know, ASEAN is not a kissy-kissy brotherhood. The countries are fiercely

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competitive, and a strong knowledge of English will help us to protect Cambodian interests. In particular, we need to look out for Cambodian interests in trade within ASEAN. In addition, in the light of the increasingly strong cooperation among ASEAN and its development partners such as China, Korea and Japan, collectively known as APT countries (ASEAN, 2017), the need for Cambodians to execute English effectively and meaningfully for their ‘interests’ in the region, as well as globally, is thus stronger than ever (see also Stroupe and Kimura, 2015b). It follows, in this regard, that the demand for high English proficiency among Cambodians has also propelled the field of English teacher education in this context. Tith (2015), for example, reported that there were “3846 graduates” with a bachelor’s degree qualification in TEFL from (just) one higher education institution (HEI) between 1992 and 2013 and that “by the late 2000s more than a dozen other tertiary institutions have also produced graduates holding the bachelor degree of education in TEFL” (p. 18). As future teachers of English, these graduates will undoubtedly shape what and how many Cambodian students across the country learn English at various levels, and subsequently how English itself will be used in this context. However, despite the significant contribution the teachers can make to the teaching, learning and using of English, little research on their preparation programmes in this context has ever been conducted. In other words, as the sociolinguistic, socio-political and demographic nature of English has for the past few decades changed dramatically (Kirkpatrick and Sussex, 2012; Marlina and Giri, 2014; Matsuda, 2017), one could logically question the degree of relevance and applicability of the current practice of pre-service teacher education in Cambodia, as well as the APT region, where English is generally conceived of either as a foreign or second language. Likewise, while the policymakers have made it explicit that English is essential for Cambodia’s development, how language policies are related to the practice of pre-service teacher education in the country remains unarticulated. Inspired by this observation, the present chapter investigates the practice of Cambodian pre-service teacher education against the backdrop of the APT context. To this end, we examine the changing conceptions of English and the implication they may have for such a practice and its language policies. That is, by evaluating the degree of relevance of traditional assumptions about the status of English and English proficiency (reviewed further later in the chapter) in Cambodia – where English is officially referred to as a ‘foreign’ language (MOEYS, 2004) – we consider how such changes concern the preparation of those who will teach the language.

Changing perspectives on English Graddol (2006) outlines two traditional views of English, English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL), and considers a more contemporary view of English as a lingua franca (ELF). In discussing the teaching

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and learning of English in ESL and EFL settings, he points out that “EFL tends to highlight the importance of learning about the culture and society of native speakers”, and an ESL curriculum is designed “to cultivate not just language skills but also a taste for British – and more generally western – culture and values” (Graddol, 2006, pp. 82–84). In effect, the practice of ELT of these two traditions has been shaped by norms of native-speakerism (Burns, 2013; Holliday, 2006), heavily influenced by SLA ideologies (Jenkins, 2006; Jenkins and Leung, 2014).The typology of ESL and EFL parallels Kachru’s (1992) concept of World Englishes that maps the geographical locations of English as it spreads across the globe. For example, within this model, English is an ENL in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States; it is an ESL in India, Nigeria, Singapore and the Philippines; and an EFL in Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Such an operating framework, akin to the concept of ‘language ideologies’ (McGroarty, 2010), has had a strong influence on how English has been viewed by researchers, school managers, policymakers, teachers, learners and learners’ parents. Other perspectives on English include ELF and English as an international language (EIL), both of which are closely linked to the concept of World Englishes (Marlina, 2014; cf., Pennycook, 2012). In the present chapter, we view EIL as a paradigm within which ELF is located, and for the ASEAN context of our chapter, we will refer to ELF as the operating perspective on English, whose primary focus is on “the role English is playing” in Asia (Kirkpatrick and Sussex, 2012, p. 2). Consequently: Unlike traditional EFL [or ESL], ELF focuses also on pragmatic strategies required in intercultural communication. The target model of English, within the ELF framework, is not a native speaker but a fluent bilingual speaker, who retains a national identity in terms of accent, and who also has the special skills required to negotiate understanding with another nonnative speaker. (Graddol, 2006, p. 87) In other words, in the present context of ASEAN, EFL or ESL concept may no longer be relevant in both intercultural communication and English teaching/learning because it tends to promote the ENL target, which may not be practical in the current sociolinguistic landscape of English in ASEAN countries such as Cambodia (Kirkpatrick, 2010). However, while ELT approaches may need changing in the light of this evolving perspective on English (Stroupe and Kimura, 2015a), the ELT stakeholders may remain attached to such conventional conceptions of EFL and ESL. For example, as Jenkins (2006, p. 139) points out, non-ELF researchers, such as those who have been oriented to the notion of EFL/ESL, tend not to accept ELF as a legitimate concept in relation to teaching and learning English because they “have difficulty in conceiving of any form of correctness that is not commensurate with NS norms”. This orientation is likely to apply also to pre-service and in-service teachers who may, for example, see the use of the students’ first language or mother tongue (L1)

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in the classroom as undesirable, who promote early English learning because they believe that it allows the students to obtain native-like competence/performance, including accent and pronunciation, or who hold negative attitudes towards ‘non-native’ English varieties hindering one’s own agency. Viewed in this way, the EFL/ESL conceptions may be counterproductive to the preparation of English teachers for global contexts. Therefore, with English used as a lingua franca for ASEAN (Kirkpatrick, 2010), as far as pre-service teacher education in Cambodia is concerned, there may be a lack of compatibility between pre-service teachers’ pre-conceptions of EFL/ESL (cf., Moore and Bounchan, 2010) and its teaching and the realities of its emerging role as a lingua franca in their context. This problem of incongruity likely stems from the changes mentioned earlier in the current sociocultural development of ELT in the APT region. As a consequence, there is now increasing interest among researchers, curriculum developers, teacher education programme managers, and teachers to investigate and take stock of their existing practice. In the Cambodian context some authors have argued for an ELF perspective to be included in preservice teacher education, particularly in the teaching of pronunciation (Lim, 2016). Similarly, in other APT countries, researchers continually call for the adoption of an ELF or EIL approach to English teacher education and/or ELT more generally; for example Doan (2014) in Vietnam, Hoven (2014) in Korea and Ali (2014) in Malaysia. Such a proliferation of proposals for the adoption of ELF or EIL views of English indicates a general consensus for change (McKay, 2012) in the practice of ELT in this region. It also accords with broader arguments for a move away from EFL/ESL largely informed by native-speakerism (Graddol, 2006), even in Inner Circle countries such as Australia (e.g., Sharifian, 2014) and the United Kingdom (e.g., Leung, 2013) – in the global context of English. As a result, this chapter aims to join this movement towards an ELF perspective on English and on pre-service teacher preparation. In particular, it sets out to illuminate the current practice of Cambodian pre-service teacher education at the tertiary level from a sociocultural theoretical perspective, described next.

Sociocultural perspectives on second language teacher education (SLTE) Sociocultural perspectives on SLTE (Johnson, 2009) emphasise the dialectic relationship between teachers’ cognitions and practice, and how such relationship shapes and is shaped by their working contexts. From such a perspective, the various views of English (i.e., EFL, ESL or ELF) are the result of changing social, cultural and historical contexts of the ELT enterprise (see also Farrell, 2015; Freeman, 2016). In this regard, in studying Cambodian pre-service teachers’ conceptions of English and how they are shaped by the context of their experiences and views of their work – which, in turn, reflects how they learn to teach the language – the present study is epistemologically oriented to a sociocultural theoretical perspective that emphasises the role of historical, cultural and social contexts in shaping teachers’ cognitions and practice. A central idea

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of such a perspective on teacher learning is the notion of mediation. Building on Vygotskian theories of human cognitive development, mediation is realised through the use of conceptual, symbolic, cultural and/or psychological tools (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1991). Some examples of these tools are systems of signs or semiotics (such as language itself) and social interactions; for example how teachers appropriate certain teaching philosophies stemming from EFL, ESL or ELF embraced by their wider community of practice or embedded in textbooks they use. For the latter case, that is, mediation also occurs via the use of physical tools (such as teacher use of textbooks in teaching), whereby tool implementers (such as teachers) appropriate the concepts embedded in those tools. In other words, both psychological and physical tools are ‘mediators’ of sociocultural development (Kozulin, 2003; Wertsch, 1991, 2007). In many parts of the world, English has traditionally been viewed as either British English or American English (Crystal, 2003), and thus the ELT community has conformed to the ENL framework that permeates the teaching and learning of English virtually everywhere. In this sense, this framework is essentially located in what can be referred to, from a sociocultural perspective (Engeström, 2015), as a culturally advanced system. It is a system comprising abstract ideologies and assumptions, such as what constitutes appropriate teaching methodologies and approaches, and certain tangible objects such as textbooks, through which teachers’ conceptions about English are mediated and, subsequently, enacted in their practice. In this respect, the practice of pre-service teacher education can be viewed as ‘dialogic mediation’ (Johnson, 2009); it is a process whereby opportunities can be recreated “for the individuals [e.g., the pre-service teacher] to master new psychological tools [e.g., viewing English from an ELF/EIL perspective] . . . [and to] participate in activities that provide them with direct experiences in the use of new psychological tools” (Johnson, 2009, p. 62). This means therefore preservice teachers’ conceptions about English dialogically mediate their learning to teach the language. The study reported in the next section, in this effect, explores how two preservice teachers conceptualised English and English teaching and how such conceptions indicated the way they learned to teach the language. It also examined how certain perspectives on English were adopted in policy documents such as teacher training manuals and, together with the teachers’ conceptions of English, how such perspectives reflected the practice of pre-service teacher education in the Cambodian tertiary context.

The study The context of the study

The study’s context was a Phnom Penh’s HEI, which offered many undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in various disciplinary majors, but

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relevant to the present chapter was the four-year Bachelor of Education in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (BEd-TEFL). The curriculum of the BEd-TEFL programme comprised two stages. The first stage,Years 1–3, aimed at enhancing the students’ English skills, focusing on the four macro strands (reading, writing, speaking and listening), vocabulary and grammar. The programme’s contents were largely determined by textbook series thought to capture the ‘core’ aspects of the English language; at the time of this study, the textbooks were the New Headway Series and the Progressive Skills in English Series, used in the main course relevant to the present investigation. As the first author has argued elsewhere (Lim and Keuk, 2018), these internationally imported textbooks are heavily laden with the linguistic and cultural norms/ values of the ‘native speaker’ (see also Leung, 2013). That is, even in a teacher education programme, Cambodian pre-service teachers (as can probably be said for many elsewhere) continue to learn to appropriate English conventions that conform to ENL linguistic and cultural norms. As will be seen in the findings section, this expectation is also spelled out in a ‘manual’ for English language teacher trainers published by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MOEYS). As the pre-service teachers moved on to the final year, they were immersed in theoretical, educational, linguistic and methodological concepts. At this stage, the teachers also underwent a six-week practicum, conducted among first-year non-English major college students, a performance that was assessed and graded by a supervisor from the university and a mentor at the host organisation where the practicum took place. In this process, the teachers would normally receive feedback and comments from these more experienced colleagues on all aspects of their teaching practice, ranging from how to plan lessons and instructional activities, to how to manage the classroom, to how to best handle certain language points. The participants

The selection of the participants was done through their respective trainers who had been asked to recommend up to three pre-service teachers based on the pre-service teachers’ outstanding performance in their programme. Once referred, the pre-service teachers were contacted and their consent sought for to participate in the study.The pre-service teachers are referred to here by their pseudonyms described in Table 6.1. All in their early twenties at the time, these pre-service teachers were in their final year of a four-year programme preparing them to teach English as a curriculum subject for Years 10–12 in Cambodian schools. Socio-economically, they all came from quite affluent families which had afforded them private English classes since they were young. At the time of the study, none of them had had any formal teaching experience. Thus, the practicum they were to engage in was their first.

104  Sovannarith Lim and Anne Burns Table 6.1 Pre-service teachers’ biographical data Pseudonym

Gender

Age

Place of birth

Motivation for learning English

Sok

Male

Early 20s

Phnom Penh

Bopha

Female

Early 20s

Phnom Penh

– Influence from significant others (friends and family members) – Self-determination – Influence from significant others (family members)

The data and data analysis

The data are drawn from interviews and documentation. In-depth interviews were conducted on two separate occasions: one before (Interview01) and another after the practicum (Interview02). The purpose of Interview01 was to elicit the pre-service teachers’ historical accounts of their English learning, their conceptions of the language, and future projection of their practicum experience. Interview02, conducted after the practicum, provided the teachers with a platform for them to narrate and reflect on their practicum experiences as well as the teacher education programme itself. Between their native language, Khmer and English, these teachers chose to use English during their individual interviews, the average length of which was approximately 45 minutes. In analysing the data, we adopted an exploratory-interpretative paradigm, a long acknowledged introspective approach in the field of applied linguistics (Grotjahn, 1987; Nunan, 1992), to discover (co-)constructed themes and patterns as they emerged in the interview data and documents, which reflected the pre-service teachers’ own views about their professional experience and the sociocultural context in which such experience was realised. The analysis was also interpretative in that we sought to understand the emic view of the phenomena in question (i.e., the teachers’ conceptions about English and teaching English).The analysis was grounded in the data and began early in data collection, the initial process of which was ‘coding’ (Strauss, 1987). Following explicit procedures set out in Saldaña (2009, p. 15), what was coded were “slices of social life recorded in the data – participant activities, perceptions and the tangible documents and artifacts produced by them. [Our] own reflective data in the form of analytic memos . . . are also substantive material for coding”. Coded data were as short as a phrase and as long as a paragraph that, within the contexts of their use, carried a complete meaningful data unit and reflected the participants’ thoughts, ideas, beliefs, other cognitive attributes and – in the case of documentation – certain expressions of (socio)linguistic and sociocultural ideologies and norms. For example, the overt use of such acronyms as EFL and ESL in MOEYS (policy) documents (e.g., MOEYS, 2010) provides an indication that the policy of ELT in the country remains within the realm and confinement of native-speaker norms. These analytic sequences were framed

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within an overarching conceptual and theoretical framework of sociocultural perspectives (Cross, 2010; Johnson, 2009;Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1991). As far as issues of subjectivity and reflexivity are concerned, we positioned ourselves as post-structuralists or social constructionists who do not see subjectivity as a major issue, as something that can or should be eliminated. Rather [we] see it as an inevitable engagement with the world in which meanings and realities are [co-]constructed (not just discovered) and in which the researcher is very much present. (Duff, 2008, p. 56) This position aligns well with the theoretical orientation we adopt here – sociocultural theory emphasising the dialectical relations between ‘knowledge’ and context – to study the pre-service teachers’ conceptions of English as well as ELT in general. As for the issue of researcher reflexivity, we viewed interviews as a social practice, rather than a mere research instrument, through which our teachers created, reconstructed and/or co-constructed their life experience and “accounts of phenomena” (Talmy, 2010, p. 139). Consequently, through interviews, we gained the pre-service teachers’ co-constructed meanings about English and ELT within the context of their work.

Findings and discussion The analysis of the interviews and the policy documents revealed two interrelated overarching themes: ‘conceptual incongruity’, indicating the pre-service teachers’ own ambivalent conceptions of English and English teaching, and laden ‘native-speakerism ideologies’ embedded in such conceptions and the policy documents themselves. We report and discuss these findings in turn. Conceptual incongruity

As the pre-service teachers described their own thoughts about the English language and how it should be taught and learned, there were noticeable ambivalences in their cognitions. Sok, for instance, held mixed beliefs in terms of how English should be taught and learned in his context. At times, If I try to translate the meaning [of words] in Khmer, it presents no challenge for the students. So they need to be exposed to uh real English environments. Even though they don’t understand, we need to do our best to keep up using English all the time in class. (Sok-Interview01) This particular view echoes a longstanding SLA principle, articulated in particular in the Natural Approach (Krashen, 1981), where students’ maximal exposure to the target language (L2) is sought and the use of first language (L1) is to be

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avoided in the process of language learning. Sok’s philosophy of maximising L2 input and minimising L1 usage in teaching English appeared so entrenched that achieving this goal meant for him to “fulfil my duty. I want them to expose to real English”. It was also reflected in his decision to prefer monolingual dictionaries to bilingual ones, and “to control my tendency to translate the words” – a decision also observed to be upheld during his practicum.That is, Sok appeared to have embraced the principles of the Natural Approach in his own teaching. When asked during a Recall-Interview conducted after a teaching observation why he did not use Khmer to help explain a language point, despite an obvious difficulty his students were having in understanding his English explanation, Sok said that: “even though they find it hard, they need to try to understand that. It’s like how we acquire our mother tongue” (Sok’s Recall-Interviews). The ‘English-only’ instruction in ELT classroom has long been questioned (e.g., Auerbach, 1993), and the value of using L1 in instruction has gradually been recognised, especially as a form of situated pedagogic knowledge (e.g., Copland and Neokleous, 2011; Nation, 2003). The analysis also indicates that Sok was inclined to frame his conception about “real English” from an ENL perspective. He said, “Sometimes, I learn to speak fast. I need to adopt the native speaker’s style, tone and intonation so that my students can follow me better”. When discussing the disadvantages of being a ‘non-native speaker teacher’, his perception about a ‘real English environment’ was also illuminated. So for non-native speaker teachers, maybe, they can understand their students better [than the native speaker teacher], yes. But for disadvantages, maybe, it’s about communication and about the real . . . to expose them to the real environment because the non-native speakers, [no matter] how good they are, they may not sound like the native speakers. (Sok’s Interview01) Clearly, for Sok, real English is English used by a native speaker. However, during the interview, he also appeared to appreciate teaching English for communicative purposes, criticising the teaching of the language for tests or “accuracy”. In his words: for me, for my class, I uh focus more on communication. . . . What [the students] learn needs to be put into communication. But if, let’s say, the school focuses on accuracy, maybe they need to learn how to do the test or they do not focus on communication. (Sok’s Interview01) His notion about ‘communication’ was linked to his view of the role of “intelligibility”. That is, he added, “Personally I accept any variety as long as we can understand . . . although I don’t adopt the British accent or I don’t adopt the American accent, it doesn’t matter” (Sok’s Interview01) (see also Lim, 2016).

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While Sok seemed to have grasped an essence of ELF principles in terms of concepts of intelligibility, his ideologies or frame of reference remained rooted in an ENL framework. From his Interview02 after the practicum, Sok continued to characterise his own use of English with his students as “not natural because I am not a native speaker”. He also claimed that “I always try to make it as natural as possible”. When asked what he meant by ‘natural’, he responded that “I don’t use this language in the daily life so it may sound unnatural to the native speakers” (Sok’s Interview02). Consequently, in Sok’s mind, English communication in his context was largely expected to occur between a Cambodian and a ‘native speaker’, and English conventions in such a context were to accord with the norms of the latter. Ambivalences such as these were also found in Bopha’s accounts of her own conceptions of English. For Bopha, even the idea of using L1 and translation in teaching English seemed devastating. When she narrated her views at the start of her practicum, what she found surprising from her course was the possibility of using L1 in teaching. In her words: “When I heard that sometimes we need to use our L1, I was like ‘oh is it ok’?” On the other hand, in explaining why ‘native speaker teachers’ were generally preferred to teach English, she believed that they were perceived as “awesome, [as having] awesome pronunciation”, but she recognised that: the idea of teaching English is not to get the perfect English, but in order to help the students to have the comprehension, to be able to communicate and use the language in different contexts. It is not about having the accent of the native speakers. It is not about knowing everything about the language. (Bopha’s Interview01) Despite this insight, Bopha explained that she found it uncomfortable for her to teach vocabulary because it “requires spontaneity and flexibility and the ability to pronounce the words [correctly]. . . . I’m just not confident enough to teach it”. Moreover, with further probing, she revealed her inclination about what type of English she wanted her students to learn. Towards the end of her Interview01, when asked about whether she would introduce English varieties other than those of the ‘native speaker’, she said, “I think that I would decide to choose only a particular variety. . . . I would teach only American English to my students” (Bopha’s Interview01), although she acknowledged that there were other English varieties that the students might have to know for communication purposes. During her practicum, teaching pronunciation was found to be featured in most of her lessons. On reflection, Bopha recalled the preparation she needed to do to teach this language aspect. She said, “I have to make sure I have to be clear about the part of speech as well as the pronunciation because in the class I would be their role model” (Bopha’s Interview02). A key theme emerging in Bopha’s data was how she perceived ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ pronunciation of

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certain words.To her, word stress was important, and she believed that “because [students] do not have the chance to hear the native speaker pronounce the words often”, they would not know how to pronounce them correctly. It was her conviction that “right” or “correct” pronunciation conformed to a ‘native speaker’ norm, so she believed that the students should “imitate or adopt” such pronunciation so that “they could achieve the right one”. Failure on her part to correct pronunciation, she contended, would constitute a “tendency . . . to pronounce it incorrect again” (Bopha’s Interview02). Bopha’s reference to this tendency resembles the prominent (but more recently contested, e.g., LarsenFreeman, 2006) principle in SLA of ‘fossilisation’ and ‘interlanguage’ (Selinker, 1972), suggesting that Cambodian pre-service teachers such as Bopha may be socioculturally acquainted with these concepts in their training. While Sok and Bopha both exhibited ambivalent conceptions of English, their ELT pedagogical orientations tend to have been rooted in the principles closely associated with ENL frameworks. Such tendency may have been a result of the teachers’ sociocultural experiences, such as through schooling and training (e.g., Lortie, 1975). In other words, through extensive previous exposure to a learning context where English has widely been received as a ‘foreign’ language (Neau, 2003) whose mastery is reflected in the approximation of the native-speaker norm (Jenkins and Leung, 2014) for prospective communication with ‘the West’ (Thong, 1985, p. 113), the pre-service teachers can be said to have effectively observed and internalised this concept of EFL and its pedagogical implications and carried them over into their own teaching practice. Laden native-speakerism ideologies

The analysis of the policy documents also revealed laden native-speakerism ideologies in the present context of pre-service teacher education. The prevalence of an entrenched ideology of native speakerism was particularly evident in the MOEYS’s (2010) manual for English language teacher trainers. This authoritative document explicitly stated that teachers were expected to operate their teaching within a CLT approach that used “English textbooks [that] have correct, natural, recent and standard English”. The manual also dictated that the “cultural information included in English textbooks should be correct and recent. It should not be biased and should reflect background cultures of English . . . providing insights into Western culture[s]” (MOEYS, 2010, pp. 31–58). Policy documents such as this one signify a particular perspective on policies of pre-service teacher education. Its statements, such as those presented here, reflect Brown’s (2012) observation on ELT curriculum development that the traditional assumptions are based on native-speaker norms. The analysis also indicates a strong preference for English learning at an early age, thus reflecting the general trend of the Cambodian ELT itself (e.g., Tweed and Som, 2015), and the adoption of CLT based on Western concepts (e.g., Ramanathan and Morgan, 2009) could also be identified. For instance, linguistic evidence found in this document highlights the promotion of a ‘native-speaker’ target

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on the learners’ part, such as promoting “imitation and repetition [that] will help [learners] to practice producing native-like utterances at the sound level” (MOEYS, 2010, p. 94). In effect, the current teacher training approach characterises the practice of ELT in Cambodia as adopting an EFL model (Graddol, 2006). However, it may render the practice of pre-service teacher education, as well as the ELT practice more generally, less practical and irrelevant in the light of the current sociolinguistic and socio-political landscape of English in ASEAN, where English is increasingly recognised as ELF (ASEAN, 2008; Deterding, 2013; Kirkpatrick, 2010, 2013; Stroupe and Kimura, 2015a). With the increasing mobility of peoples from the APT countries, the sociocultural situations of English and its demographics in the region has essentially been shaped. Thus, characterising English as a lingua franca or an international language for this context is not merely an issue of nomenclature. Rather, it is pragmatic and sociolinguistic in nature, and deserves acknowledgement from concerned stakeholders in the field.

Conclusion This chapter has argued that the current practice of pre-service teacher education in Cambodia remains heavily influenced by native-speakerism ideologies, resulting in the pre-service teachers’ professed views about English. It was observed that such views can be detrimental to their process of learning to teach rather than enhancing their (future) practice in their national and regional contexts.The policymakers themselves, as reflected in their documents, also embrace an ENL framework in that the pre-service teacher education curriculum design heavily promotes native-like competence/performance on the part of the learner. This practice, we argue, is counterproductive in preparing Cambodian pre-service teachers, and by extension learners in general, for ASEAN and APT English communication. The analysis of the Cambodian teachers’ perspectives and policy documents suggests a number of implications for pre-service teacher education in Cambodia and similar contexts.That is, the continued adoption of ENL frameworks in the practice of Cambodian pre-service teacher education would effectively constrain the opportunities for pre-service teachers to acquire new concepts in teaching for their contemporary contexts. Therefore, given this situation and against the background of the broader contexts of ASEAN and APT, we argue that the current practice of pre-service teacher education in Cambodia needs problematizing, requiring a radical change in the teachers’ conceptions (Sifakis, 2014; Sifakis and Bayyurt, 2015) and policy interventions (Lo Bianco, 2014). First, the need for change in conceptualisations of English and ELT in contemporary Cambodia is essential, at least, to resolve the ambivalent views among pre-service teachers and policymakers and to improve their practice. This change can start with raising their awareness and challenging their preconceptions about English, but more importantly, as Sifakis (2014, pp. 326–327) argues, it requires a “more rigorous transformative orientation to ELF teacher

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education” allowing pre-service teachers “to confront and change their own established viewpoints about a particular issue” such as ELF concepts and principles. It should be noted that despite the ambivalent views the pre-service teachers in this study held about English and English teaching, there was essentially a lack of such a critical examination of their ideologies in the light of ELF perspectives on teaching the language in their regional context. This situation has resulted, as reflected in this study, in pre-service teachers undermining their own agency and failing to empower themselves in areas they legitimately can. Second, drawing on the present findings interventions at the policy level are also needed. It is clear from the analysis that the policymakers responsible for the practice of pre-service teacher education in Cambodia continue to uphold the ENL ideologies to an excessive extent viewed as counterproductive in the current sociolinguistic environment of English education in the country and beyond. This apparently problematic conceptualisation of English and its teaching has direct relevance to the language policy and planning (LPP) and language pedagogy in this context where ELF is gaining momentum. As Lo Bianco (2014, p. 200) points out, “possibly LPP and ELF come together most around pedagogy, and other kinds of application [of ELF research], but also conceptualisation”. That is, attitudinal change needs to also take place from the policy level, especially in a centralised educational system such as that in Cambodia, in determining the type of English Cambodian pre-service teachers should teach and learners should learn. In this respect, teacher education programme developers, policymakers, teacher educators and pre-service teachers themselves would benefit from becoming acquainted with the emergent concept of ELF in their context and the implications it entails in their practice. For pragmatic reasons, in the words of Sok, “native-speakerism . . . I think we need to change our perception”, and by embracing such a conceptual change, this and other concerned stakeholders in the field of English teacher education in this context essentially take what Kumaravadivelu (2012, p. 9) refers to as “an epistemic break from its dependency on Western-oriented or, more specifically, Center-based (aka Inner Circle-based) knowledge systems”. The pre-service teachers and policymakers in particular should be well informed that for ELF communication in contexts such as ASEAN and APT, students do not need to possess native-like performance. In other words, being successful bilingual/multilingual users of English is a more achievable and desirable target in ELT for the contemporary Cambodian context (e.g., Kirkpatrick, 2010). Simply put, Cambodia does not need to emulate an English variety of native speakers (for example, of the United States or the United Kingdom) to effectively communicate with and participate in ASEAN and APT speech events (see also Deterding, 2013). Therefore, at present an ELF perspective is more relevant for the preparation of pre-service teachers in Cambodia than the widely received EFL, and – as a top-down approach – policymakers, curriculum developers, material designers, and teacher educators should seriously consider this change if a practical and meaningful pre-service education programme is to be the goal.

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Acknowledgements The present study draws its data, in part, on the first author’s PhD thesis. The authors would also like to thank the editors for their insightful comments on an earlier draft of this chapter, but we are responsible for all flaws.

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Sociocultural perspectives on Cambodian 113 (Eds.), Situating moral and cultural values in the ELT materials: The Southeast Asian context (pp. 87–110). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-63677-1_6 Lo Bianco, J. (2014). Dialogue between ELF and the field of language policy and planning. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 3, 197–213. doi:10.1515/jelf-2014-0008 Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. London: University of Chicago Press. Marlina, R. (2014).The pedagogy of English as an international language (EIL): More reflections and dialogues. In R. Marlina and R. A. Giri (Eds.), The pedagogy of English as an international language: Perspectives from scholars, teachers, and students (pp. 1–19). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-06127-6_1 Marlina, R., and Giri, R. A. (Eds.). (2014). The pedagogy of English as an international language. Perspectives from scholars, teachers, and students. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. Matsuda, A. (Ed.). (2017). Preparing teachers to teach English as an international language. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. McGroarty, M. E. (2010). Language and ideologies. In N. H. Hornberger and S. L. McKay (Eds.), Sociolinguistics and language education (pp. 3–39). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. McKay, S. L. (2012). English as an international language: A time for change. In L. Alsagoff, S. L. McKay, G. Hu, and W. A. Renandya (Eds.), Principles and practices for teaching English as an international language (pp. 337–346). New York, NY: Routledge. MOEYS. (2004). Policy for curriculum development 2005–2009. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Ministry of Educatiion,Youth and Sport. MOEYS. (2010). A manual for English language teacher trainers. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Ministry of Eduction,Youth and Sport. Moore, S. H., and Bounchan, S. (2010). English in Cambodia: Changes and challenges. World Englishes, 29, 114–126. doi:10.1111/j.1467–1971X.2009.01628.x Nation, P. (2003). The role of the first language in foreign language learning. Asian EFL Journal, 5(2), 1–8. Neau, V. (2003). The teaching of foreign languages in Cambodia: A historical perspective. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 16, 253–268. doi:1080/07908310308666673 Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Pennycook, A. (2012). Lingua francas as language ideologies. In A. Kirkpatrick and R. Sussex (Eds.), English as an international language in Asia: Implications for language education (pp. 137– 154). New York, NY: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4578-0_9 Ramanathan,V., and Morgan, B. (2009). Global warning? West-based TESOL, class-blindness and the challenge for critical pedagogies. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), English as an international language: Perspectives and pedagogical issues (pp. 153–168). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Saldaña, J. (2009). The Coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: Sage Publications. Saroeun, M. (2015). Education and policy on English language in Cambodia. In T.W. Bigalke and S. Sharbawi (Eds.), English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region (pp. 22–31). Brunei Darussalam: Universiti Brunei Darusasalam. Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 10(3), 209–231. doi:10.1515/iral.1972.10.1–4.209 Sharifian, F. (2014). Teaching English as an international language in multicultural contexts: Focus on Australia. In R. Marlina and R. A. Giri (Eds.), The pedagogy of English as an international language. Perspectives from scholars, teachers, and students (pp. 35–46). New York, NY: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-06127-6_3 Sifakis, N. C. (2014). ELF awareness as an opportunity for change: A transformative perspective for ESOL teacher education. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 3, 317–335. doi:10.1515/jelf-2014–0019

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Part III

Teacher preparation, development and evaluation

7 English teacher preparation in Brunei Darussalam Ishamina Athirah Gardiner et al.English teacher preparation

An overview of the Master of Teaching programme from multiple perspectives Ishamina Athirah Gardiner, Sarah Boye, Sallimah M. Salleh, Norashikin Yusof Introduction Brunei Darussalam is currently working towards realising the goals of the country’s long-term development plan, Vision 2035 (‘Wawasan 2035’) that mapped an agenda for economic and social development. One of its primary targets is to achieve high standards of education for the benefit of the country’s progression through the twenty-first century. This has led to substantial shifts in the education system over the last decade, particularly concerning the use and learning of English in schools. This includes policy changes for the bilingual education system introduced in 1985 with the aim to enhance the status of English as the medium of instruction. Kirkpatrick (2010, p. 35) reports that the bilingual education policy in Brunei is probably the most successful of all the ASEAN member states. In addition, Brunei’s growing success in English language education and the increasing improvements in English competency led to its successful role as chairman of ASEAN in 2012 (Sammons, Davis, Bakkum, Hessel, and Walter, 2014, p. 13). It is no surprise then that Brunei, utilising this bilingual environment for effective language learning, can provide a significant contribution in English language education to ASEAN and the globalised world (Noor Azam and Salbrina, 2015). English has been the working language of ASEAN since 2009 and, as such, enjoys a uniquely privileged position among member states (Kirkpatrick, 2012, p. 124). Increasing the English proficiency among ASEAN nations’ populations is considered a priority for ASEAN Integration and necessary for successful business, trade, tourism and educational exchange between ASEAN nations (Stroupe and Kimura, 2015, p. 4). Furthermore, the need for government representatives to be able to communicate effectively in order to ensure smooth discussions and negotiations is growing as ASEAN Integration intensifies. Increasing English proficiency for public sector workers is therefore a necessity, especially in ASEAN nations where English is not the medium of instruction in their education systems. However, it is not solely whether English is used as a medium of instruction or not which determines the English

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proficiency levels among graduates; there are also ASEAN-wide issues such as the lack of qualified local English teachers, the focus of learning and teaching on grammar rather than on communication skills in international contexts, and the insistence of adhering to native-speaker pronunciation which is realistically unattainable for many non-native speakers of English in ASEAN countries (Tien and Cuong, 2015). Nevertheless, a distinction should be drawn between ASEAN nations where English is used as a second language and has an effective bilingual population (Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines), and the remaining nations where English has a foreign language status. Brunei’s recent contribution of English language education to citizens of ASEAN member states is documented in Noor Azam and Salbrina (2015). With the broad aim to assist newer member states in integrating into ASEAN in the area of regional development of human resource, there is a focus in Brunei on providing English language training to other member countries. Working together with the government of Brunei, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) currently provides English language training for ASEAN citizens through various programmes conducted at the university, such as the ‘English language for diplomats from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand’ (CLMVIT). Other projects involve collaborations with the US government under the ‘Brunei-US English Language Enrichment Project’ (ELEP) for ASEAN, and the recently established FPT-UBD Global Centre in Da Nang, Vietnam. Thus, the initiative and collaboration with other countries for the betterment of ASEAN in the form of providing English language education in projects such as these are indicative of Brunei’s commitment to ASEAN Integration. As these programmes and initiatives continue to be successful, the focus however is turning towards English teacher education as another aspect of Vision 2035 is addressed. This is the effort to increase the use of locally trained English teachers in the school system and so reduce reliance on foreign, native English-speaking teachers in local schools which have been provided largely through the CfBT (Centre for British Teachers) Trust since 1984. Therefore, the challenges of providing initial teacher education (ITE) for local English teachers to sustain the expanding English language requirements in Bruneian schools, as well as offset the reduction in expatriate English teachers, cannot be underestimated. This chapter seeks to describe the ITE which is offered for English teachers in Brunei at the national university, UBD; describe how it is designed to address the specific needs in Brunei; and finally offer insight into its effectiveness through a small empirical enquiry. It sets out to offer an overview of English teacher preparation in Brunei to add to that body of work and to increase understanding and reflection in Brunei, the Southeast Asian region and around the world.The chapter first describes several issues raised in recent literature on teacher education, followed by a brief overview of recent changes made in the education policy of Brunei, including the current status of ITE policy at UBD which has seen substantial changes over the last decade. Next, it presents a case

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study of the Master of Teaching programme (MTeach), by initially providing an overview of the programme and then particularly focusing on English teacher professional development and preparation for pre-service English teachers at secondary level.

Literature review Recent literature on teacher education highlight issues such as the quality of teacher preparation programmes (Hollins, 2011), teacher performance standards (Darling-Hammond, 2010), and teacher retention and attrition (e.g. Mason and Matas, 2015). Kosnik, Beck, and Goodwin (2016) identify the areas on which teacher education reform (initiatives for improvement) should focus. These areas include making standards explicit, setting minimum requirements for ITE programmes, employing research-based education, increasing the external assessment of ITE programmes, enhancing the theory-practice nexus, and putting emphasis on subject matter knowledge (SMK) and professional development. On setting minimum requirements, they propose “raising admission standards for teacher candidates; increasing the formal qualifications of teacher educators; prescribing a minimum length for programmes; mandating that all teacher education be conducted at university level; and requiring that all programmes lead to a master’s degree” (p. 270). It has been suggested that an effective teacher education programme prepares teachers with coursework that connects theory to learning in schools under the clinical training of expert teachers (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Martin and Mulvihill, 2017). However, although the practice element in teacher education is largely valued and regarded as essential in developing teaching competence (Darling-Hammond, 2006), there remains a lack of consensus throughout ITE programmes around the world in terms of the goals, educational construct, assessment guidelines, and developing strategies and professional competencies of the practicum (Flores, 2016). The debate about the most effective structure, timing, location and length of the teaching practicum in ITE is widely documented in White and Forgasz (2016), and this seems likely to continue. Even though the idea of the-more-the-better and the-sooner-the-better is often seen as advantageous by pre-service teachers and educators alike, there are many who argue that ensuring the quality of professional experience is a much more pertinent consideration, although extremely complex (Gore, 2001).. One important aspect of professional development in teacher education is teacher research which involves systematic inquiry into teachers’ own practices based on self-study research and reflection (Wells, 2014; Korthagen, 2016). Totterdell and Lambert (1998) insisted on the need to include the concept of reflection in ITE programmes in order to emphasise theory-in-practice. In fact, Lunenberg and Williamse (2006) report that the teacher educators they worked with found the role of reflection and self-study research to be effective for their student teachers in encouraging self-awareness and enabling improvement in terms of their skills, knowledge and practice. For teacher knowledge,

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subject specialisation is highlighted in the role of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for developing practice (Loughran and Hamilton, 2016), and while different ITE programmes around the world utilise PCK in various ways for different subjects, it was suggested that PCK should be developed around initial teachers’ SMK and their teaching experiences from their practicum (Berry, Depaepe, and Van Driel, 2016). Research on the effect of informal or formal practical teaching experience prior to ITE on candidates’ experience of ITE programmes is scant. Although Ateşkan (2016) reports that a pre-ITE voluntary teaching programme for Turkish students in the United States resulted in perceived personal and professional development. Finally, using their three-element framework based on theory, practice and reflection, Kitchen and Petrarca (2016) examined ITE programmes around the world to develop suggestions for improving conventional teacher education programmes. They found that while practice-oriented programmes are effective in terms of authentic learning situations for student teachers, the approach to theory and reflection are rather downplayed. On the other hand, they report that while reflection-oriented programmes effectively facilitate the relationship between theory and practice, they acknowledge that practical challenges in delivering high-quality programmes that integrate all three elements remain.

Background and context In 2008, Brunei announced the country’s Vision 2035 leading to the new national education curriculum, SPN21 (Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad Ke-21, ‘The National Education System for the 21st Century’), being introduced in alignment with the vision’s goals in education policy that highlight the development of twenty-first-century competencies. Implemented in January 2009, a significant change under SPN21 is that mathematics and science are now taught in English from the first year of primary level (Jones, 2012). The educational outcome of the policy change on the improvement of the overall performance of Bruneian pupils, however, remains to be seen (McLellan, Noor Azam, and Deterding, 2016). At about the same time, UBD introduced a revised undergraduate degree termed GenNEXT, which saw the expansion of programmes offered, including revised bachelor degrees in arts, business, health sciences and science. As well as this, UBD also introduced major changes in the training of teachers at its education faculty, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education (SHBIE). Previously, the minimum academic qualification for applicants to ITE was quite low (Mundia, 2010) and public opinion of the teaching profession was correspondingly low. To address this, raising standards for ITE in Brunei was considered essential, and the reshaping of the professional preparation of Brunei’s teaching force a priority. Thus, setting minimum requirements at UBD has been observed, including the requirement of a PhD qualification for teacher educators, and the upgrade of ITE from the undergraduate level to graduate

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level. The bachelor’s degree in education was discontinued in 2009 and SHBIE currently offers the Master of Teaching (MTeach) programme. The philosophy of MTeach underpins the development of learner-centric, research-informed, pedagogically knowledgeable teachers for the twenty-first century to be achieved through deliberate, reflective, evidenced-based practice. Closely based on the elements for effective teacher education programmes outlined in Darling-Hammond (2006), the MTeach programme offers modules which are integrated with clinical work in schools using pedagogies linking theory and practice; extensive and intensive clinical supervision of teacher candidates; and a proactive partnership with schools that provide mentoring and model good teaching practices. The pedagogy and structure of MTeach is also heavily influenced by ITE in Australia (see Craig, 2016) and reflects the same shift towards teacher as scholar/researcher seen there. MTeach therefore aims to produce education professionals who are capable of engaging students in active, intellectually challenging learning activities developed from well-articulated and relevant content; who analyse and use information about students in the design of learning situations accommodating their individual learning needs; and who engage in reflective practice in a process of continuous development. Under this eighteen-month-long programme (equivalent to three semesters), English teacher candidates are engaged in education action research and in curriculum design using the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge framework (TPACK). For their practicum, they are required to attend regular school hours four days a week for a span of twelve weeks in each semester (a duration of four months) under the mentorship of the school’s expert teachers. They are guided by the university subject and clinical specialists, who will engage them in professional practice and seminar discussion fortnightly. However, although this programme has been running for nearly ten years now, there have not been any published reports on its outcome or effectiveness for its stakeholders thus far. This therefore provides a gap for the researchers of this study to look into the programme and offer an overview of initial teacher preparation at UBD through the accounts of the participants involved.

Research methodology The objective of the study is to examine the MTeach programme through the perspectives of the university English specialist and teacher candidates in order to offer insight into English teacher preparation in Brunei. In fact, analysis of multi-participatory data (e.g. from teachers and teacher educators) in teacher education research presents a shift towards current trends in such research studies, as it has proven to be useful in generating diverse findings (Zein, 2017).The study sets out to answer the following questions: 1 How can the current English teacher training programme offered at UBD be described?

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2 In what ways do different stakeholders (facilitators/candidates) perceive the Master of Teaching (MTeach) programme and its effectiveness for preservice English teacher training? The research design uses the method of case study research to collect qualitative data from the stakeholders of the MTeach programme. Such an approach is necessary here in order to provide a holistic description and analysis of MTeach about the current English teacher training programme offered at UBD from different perspectives. Participants

Purposive sampling was used in selecting participants for the study. The sample consists of thirteen MTeach stakeholders: one English language clinical specialist and twelve English teacher candidates. The clinical specialist is an instructor at SHBIE in UBD who specialises in training English language teacher candidates under the MTeach programme. The selection of these participants was vital to the study because, as stakeholders of the programme, they can provide insightful and valuable information about the MTeach English programme. The teacher candidates are identified using numbers 1 to 12 respectively in order to protect their identities.The details of their teaching background which are provided in their questionnaire feedback are presented in Table 7.1. Candidates 1 to 4 from the 2016 intake have completed the MTeach English programme of eighteen months at the time of data collection, while Candidates 5 to 12 from the 2017 intake have only completed one out of the three semesters. Half of the candidates reported that they had prior teaching experience of various kinds ranging from part-time tutoring to full-time teaching in both Table 7.1 English teacher candidates of MTeach Can.

Intake

Previous teaching experience (if any)

1 2 3

Jan 2016 Jan 2016 Jan 2016

4 5

Jan 2016 Jan 2017

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Jan 2017 Jan 2017 Jan 2017 Jan 2017 Jan 2017 Jan 2017 Jan 2017

Posted at a co-ed govt. school 2011–2015. Taught Year 7–9 English. Private school. Taught at local 6th form centre for 3 years. General Paper, O Level and IGSCE English. None. Taught 2 years at a local private school (English and Social Studies to upper primary students). None. None. None. None. Private tutoring school. None. Relief teacher from 2011–2015 as well as tutoring and other experience.

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local government and private schools, while the other half (Candidates 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11) had no previous teaching experience. Data collection

The research data was collected in May 2017 through interviews with the clinical specialist and a questionnaire with the teacher candidates. The decision to carry out separate data collection methods on the participants was based on their consent in providing data. There were two interview sessions with the specialist. Conducting more than one interview with the same participant is common in research that is based on the participant’s accounts as it allows the researcher to follow up on issues discussed and seek clarification from the earlier interview (Duff, 2008, p. 133). The first interview was conducted by one of the researchers of this study in a quiet office at SHBIE and lasted about thirty-three minutes. A semistructured interview was chosen because it encourages open-ended responses from the interviewee which are closely guided by the interviewer (Freebody, 2003, p. 133). The predetermined questions which led to follow-up questions are as follows: 1 How does the MTeach differ from other English teacher training previously offered at this institution? 2 What features of MTeach do you find to be effective? 3 How many English candidates are there on MTeach per intake? The second interview, which was more structured and was also about thirtythree minutes long, was conducted four months later with questions inquiring about the specialist’s perceptions about MTeach pertaining to her role as instructor. The structured questions are parallel to a set of questions in the questionnaire (6 to 9) that was distributed to the teacher candidates to facilitate comparison with the responses of the teacher candidates.The parallel questions are shown in Table 7.2. For the next dataset, an instrumental questionnaire, designed using Google Forms, was distributed online to current and previous MTeach English candidates. Web-based data collection is increasingly favoured in research due to its many benefits, including low costs and convenience in administering materials, ease of access and the high level of anonymity for participants (Dörnyei, 2007, p. 121). There are nine questions altogether, with the first five questions relating to the candidates’ educational background and teaching experience. The remaining four questions, Questions 6 to 9, asked about their experiences on the MTeach programme (refer to Table 7.2). This includes their opinions on MTeach for English with regard to teacher preparation, challenges faced, suggestion for improvements and the length of the programme. These questions are parallel to the questions for the clinical specialist in the second interview to facilitate comparative analysis. Questions 1 to 3 are multiple choice questions

124  Ishamina Athirah Gardiner et al. Table 7.2 Parallel questions Qn.

Interview with clinical specialist

Qn.

Questionnaire for teacher candidates

1

In what way(s) do you feel that the MTeach programme has helped the candidates prepare for teaching? As an instructor, have you found anything challenging about the MTeach programme? If you have, what are they? As an instructor, do you think that the MTeach programme can be improved? If so, in what way(s)? Do you feel that eighteen months is an appropriate length of time for the programme? Explain your answer.

6

In what way(s) do you feel that the MTeach programme has helped you prepare for teaching? What have you found challenging about the MTeach programme, if there is/are any?

2

3 4

7

8 9

In what way(s) do you think that the MTeach programme can be improved? Do you feel that eighteen months is an appropriate length of time for the programme? Explain your answer.

while Questions 4 to 9 are open ended in order to gain qualitative feedback from the candidates. The questionnaire was distributed via email to fifty-two candidates (ten from the January 2016 intake and forty-two from January 2017 intake). Unfortunately, there was a low response rate of only twelve responses (four from the 2016 intake and eight from the 2017 intake). Data analysis

The data is analysed both deductively according to the research questions and inductively according to categories that emerge from the data. This analysis is consistent with the analysis of qualitative and case study data for a small-scale project, as described in Dörnyei (2007). The findings from both datasets (the parallel questions in the questionnaire and second interview) are compared in order to examine the ways in which the responses from the specialist and candidates are similar or different, and triangulated to increase the validity of the study (Duff, 2008). In the questionnaire analysis, the dataset is considered as a whole (twelve candidates) and it also important to note that half of the candidates (1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 12) have prior teaching experience while the other half did not. In this respect, their views regarding the course may differ. Therefore this part of the analysis is inductive as these categories have emerged from the data.

Findings In this section, the findings from the first interview with the specialist about the organisation of MTeach are presented first, followed by findings of the parallel questions from both datasets. While the main focus of analysis is on comparing the responses of the specialist and candidates, it is interesting to also consider

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in what ways the difference in the candidates’ teaching experience may have affected their experience of MTeach in accordance to their responses.This is an inductive area of interest that has arisen through the data. In the first interview, in response to how the MTeach programme differs from the previous ITE programme, the specialist explained that MTeach focuses on teaching practice and places the trainees in the role of teacher-researcher, which is a significant departure from previous English teacher training programmes in Brunei and at UBD. When asked about her perceptions of the effectiveness of MTeach, the specialist described the way in which theory learnt on the university-based modules can immediately be applied to practical classroom settings, which is a particularly effective feature of the programme. She explained that the candidates are required to take compulsory modules which mainly focus on literacy, text analysis and classroom talk. As for the number of candidates, she reported that the cohort of MTeach English in 2016 was only ten but it had increased to forty-two in 2017 and will likely continue to rise for the 2018 intake. Next, the findings of the parallel questions are presented. For the first parallel question, the candidates were asked to explain how the MTeach programme has effectively helped them in preparation for teaching. A summary of the responses is presented in Table 7.3. Table 7.3 Teacher candidates’ responses to Question 6 Can. 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

In what way(s) do you feel that MTeach has helped you prepare for teaching? Various pedagogical tools, as well as methods in giving feedback/feed forward, awareness of classroom management. I’ve also learnt to rely on textbooks less and to try to gauge my students’ needs when creating activities and planning lessons. Learnt how to utilise reflection in personal and professional practices. Identifying areas in my own teaching that could be improved. Gaining familiarity with own role as a teacher-researcher. Being equipped with tools and knowledge on various pedagogy that inform my own teaching. Positive experiences and hope to stay in the teaching profession and develop the skills learnt here. It’s showing different ways of teaching, different aspects of class to focus on, and different perspectives on teaching itself. It prepares us in various techniques that can help in improving our teaching skills. Minimally. Feel like a baby thrown in a swimming pool. This programme gives me the opportunity to experience a real-life teaching career, understand different students’ learning needs. Through teaching practice, learning something new/outside my degree background. I’m ready to challenge myself. Developing strategic questioning to explore students’ ideas. Exploring the different strategies of teaching and on few aspects of teaching such as classroom management, language-wise i.e. grammar, vocabulary, writing and reading and then trying them in schools. More exposure to the school environment in different places.

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The responses show that candidates with previous teaching experience went into more detail and used more professional terminology compared to candidates without prior teaching experience when answering the same question. Phrases such as ‘pedagogical tools’, ‘classroom management’ (Candidate 1), ‘reflection’ (Candidate 2) and ‘strategic questioning’ (Candidate 10) are used by these candidates. Whereas Candidate 4 reported that he/she felt that MTeach has prepared him/her to teach by providing positive experiences and hoped to develop the skills further by staying in the teaching profession, and Candidate 6 described the techniques that will help improve his/her teaching skills. On the other hand, the majority of candidates reported experiencing challenges on the programme, regardless of prior teaching experience. Candidate 1 (with teaching experience) and Candidate 4 (without teaching experience) pointed out their lack of confidence to perform well in the programme, while other issues on challenges are raised concerning completing assignments and meeting deadlines (Candidates 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11), balancing their time between school work and teaching (Candidates 9, 10, 11, 12) and the lack of guidance in the programme (Candidates 7, 8). In the second interview, the specialist was asked in what ways she felt the MTeach programme had helped candidates prepare for teaching. She first talked about the structure of MTeach, which incorporates the elements of theory, practice and reflection, but emphasised the practicum in which candidates are placed in schools after only a few weeks on the programme. She expressed that this teaching practice allows candidates to feel more prepared for their teaching role. Second, she explained that specific modules in the programme help prepare candidates for teaching such as the Language and Teaching module, where candidates look at concepts like ‘teacher talk’ as they develop key skills and language domains and begin to consider the practical applications of English in the classroom; and the Action Research module where candidates are required to work as teacher-researchers and identify areas of concern in a particular class, and try different strategies to address these issues and reflect on the interventions. She felt that these were essential tools for preparation and expressed that it was an approach she had lacked in her own training. A summary of her response is as follows: Through the MTeach structure . . . in the first two semesters they (the candidates) have lectures and they go into schools . . . with lectures at the same time, it’s a bit heavy for them but they have a good idea of what school feels like immediately . . . so first is the structure and second is the modules. For the second parallel question, which asked about the challenges of the MTeach programme, the candidates’ responses are shown in Table 7.4. One response touched on the lack of English linguistics background by Candidate 1 who perceived this as a disadvantage and a challenge throughout the programme. Apart from managing time and tasks, and having to work in groups to complete assignments (two out of eight candidates mention group work),

English teacher preparation 127 Table 7.4 Teacher candidates’ responses to Question 7 Can. 1

2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

What have you found challenging about the MTeach programme? (if any) I suppose my lack of background in linguistics as well as educational psychology has had me at a disadvantage. I also did not have any experience in writing a thesis – a workshop on that, instead of the current hands-off lectures would have been more useful. Reflecting upon mistakes, acknowledging them and seriously thinking about ways on how to improve or avoid them the next time. It could be a challenge at times to complete numerous assignments that may have deadlines that fall around the same date. So far it has definitely been challenging to psychologically motivate myself to follow through the entire MTeach course as it was ingrained in me that I am not as competent as some or all of the TCs in my batch. I might have or will only pass narrowly on some of my modules. Working with new people, and dealing with teenagers as my previous experience was with younger children. The assignments given throughout the semester. Limited guidance and an absence of structure. Assignments with ridiculous deadlines and group work, no proper guidelines on how to teach students, have to figure everything out by ourselves. Some mentors are not very helpful. Group work especially finding the right time to do/discuss, time constraint in teaching and a bit of heavy workloads (assignments). Juggling between assignments and teaching. When I could not organise my time well enough to juggle between tuition classes and assignments. And thus, unsatisfactory results. Balancing private life, school life and UBD life.

working with a younger age group in the schools was also considered a challenge (by Candidate 5). In the second interview, the specialist was asked about challenges she faced in her role as instructor, and it is important to note that she was asked about challenges for herself, not the challenges she perceived the candidates to face. She revealed that there are challenges for instructors in terms of helping candidates who do not have any English teaching experience, or any kind of English teaching or English language qualification, cope with the MTeach English programme. Part of her response is as follows: Sometimes we have candidates who don’t have an English linguistics degree . . . so they’re good models but when it comes to something like a grammar explanation, they can’t do it and sometimes they feel like they wish they could learn more of the grammar. She explained that as the demand for locally trained English teachers in Brunei increases, there are many candidates who are accepted on the course even if their undergraduate degree did not have an English language component.

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In fact, a follow-up survey found that three out of eighteen current MTeach English candidates hold a bachelor degree in English language and linguistics or in English literature while the rest of them mostly have qualifications in business, engineering and computer sciences.The specialist added that although their English language skills are very good, she explained that their ability to describe English grammar and other linguistic features of the language is rather lacking. Further, although there are modules on MTeach that address English language awareness, she felt that offering extra modules for candidates without an English language background could be beneficial as they are being trained to teach English at secondary level. It is also important to note that her response is similar to the concern expressed by Candidate 1 with regard to a lack of English linguistics background being a challenge. The third parallel question asked about suggestions for improvement for MTeach, and the responses of the candidates are shown in Table 7.5. It can be observed that Candidates 1 to 4 were able to reflect on what could be done to improve the programme from the vantage point of having completed it. Various points were raised about having more time with specialists in their subjects, Table 7.5 Teacher candidates’ responses to Question 8 Can. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12

In what way(s) do you think that MTeach can be improved? As an English Literature major I would have loved to specialise in that. It feels that it would have been great to able explore an existing passion. Encourage students to mix with students from other specialisation. A better planned schedule. More assignment time for the teacher as a researcher module. Lectures that are more specific to our subject areas. Basically, to make it even better, I may want to consider taking a tougher route of teaching placements to know whether it is possible for me endure. To have proper workshops on how to actually apply the theories that we learnt in class. It would have been better if the teaching practical was held in the same school for the two semesters. 18 months is a rather ambitious time frame for the completion of Masters degree of this magnitude. If the programme was restructured into a 2-year programme instead where the first semester focused solely on preparing students for their internship (by exposing them to various teaching methodologies and video examples of classroom management), I think not as many people would be intimidated by the idea of teaching. Scholarship allowance should be given before the teaching practice starts. We need it to support our teaching practice. I guess more time to practice in teaching and have a cooperative mentor from school (easily approachable and helpful). Perhaps less assignments, but more interactive teaching learning such as how to deal with children with special needs, coping with slow learners, methods of effective teaching, and ways to develop good lesson plans. More exposure on the reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary and how to teach the students all those without effecting their initial classes (with the original teacher). It’s all right (I think).

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but also being able to mingle with teacher candidates of other subjects in their training sessions. Candidates 1 and 3 (with teaching experience) focused more on providing lectures based on specific subject areas, while the other candidates emphasised teaching practicum as an area for improvement. In the second interview, the specialist raised two points in her answer to this question, both relating to her previous comment about candidates who lack an English language background. She suggested that entry into schools could perhaps be delayed until the second semester of the course to allow more intensive language awareness modules to be completed before candidates are required to teach. She further mentioned that it would be even more beneficial to have separate modules for candidates coming from a non-English language background, but in practice, this is unlikely to be feasible given the time frame of the programme. Part of her response is as follows: There could be an extra module for them (candidates without an English language background). I do sometimes tell them that one of the things they need to be working on is content itself. The final parallel question concerns the length of time of MTeach and its perceived appropriateness. The responses of the candidates are shown in Table 7.6. Nearly all of them state that the length of time of eighteen months Table 7.6 Teacher candidates’ responses to Question 9 Can. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Is 18 months (3 semesters) an appropriate length of time for MTeach? Yes. 12 months is just too short, and a thesis is incredibly time consuming and deeply absorbing not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too. It’s perfect in my opinion however the teacher as a researcher module could be brought forward to provide more time for students to spend more time focusing on their dissertation in the final semester. Yes, 18 months is just the right length. It is helpful to have the last semester to focus on our Research Exercise. Eighteen months has been more than enough. It’s fine, though the current structure of the programme makes it feel like everything is crammed into a short period of time. Yes, as the last semester focuses more on the research exercise and does not directly construct other modules. I wish SHBIE nothing but the best of luck in their future endeavours. 18 months is an ideal length. One year is ridiculous. Two years is too long. Within 18 months, at least we have two months off. Extra two months for us to complete our research exercise right after the second semester ends. I think ok but a year is also enough (with less course). It is more than enough. If there are no assignments and focus more on interactive teaching and completing thesis work, even 12 months is sufficient. I feel that it is appropriate because as we go by the years, we are still in a learning despite finishing the programme. Yes, it’s enough time to be exposed to the teaching life and decide whether being a teacher is the right way to go or otherwise.

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is suitable. However, Candidate 7 disagreed and discussed the length of the programme in his/her response to Question 8, stating that extending the length of time to two years would have been preferable in order to accommodate a wider range of teaching areas, which would be more effective for teacher training. The specialist felt that three semesters was an appropriate length, especially for those with a degree in English language. She further explained that for the first seven years the MTeach was running, it had been a two-semester programme (twelve months) and that it had only been running as a three-semester programme for the last two years. Her response is as follows: I think it is [enough] for those who have the content . . . but I think because the teaching itself is integrated, for those who have the content, three semesters is enough.

Discussion There is notable divergence in the opinions expressed by the specialist and some of the candidates with regard to MTeach and its effectiveness on teaching preparation. The specialist felt that the concurrent structure of university-based modules and teaching practicum was particularly effective.This means that candidates get an immediate sense of being in a school environment and being a member of a staffing body as they begin teaching very early on. However, the candidates’ feelings about the structure of the programme do not always concur. This is evident in the response of Candidate 7, who expressed shock and feelings of unpreparedness at being required to teach so early in the programme (see Table 7.3) as ‘like a baby thrown in a swimming pool’. Furthermore, the candidates focused on teaching elements such as ‘pedagogical tools’, ‘classroom management’ and developing teaching techniques rather than looking at the structure of MTeach. The divergence of attitudes regarding the structure and length of the programme reflects the different perspectives and experiences of the specialist and candidates. On the matter of perceived challenges of MTeach, the response of the specialist coincides with the concerns raised by Candidate 1 with regard to candidates studying for MTeach English without any English language or linguistics background. Indeed, the impact of a candidate’s lack of sufficient background knowledge cannot be understated (Korthagen, 2016, p. 317). As explained by the specialist, this was brought on by the necessity to increase the cohort to meet the country’s demand for qualified local English teachers, a similar problem raised in Buchberger, Campos, Kallos, and Stephenson (2000).The specialist described that the candidates’ English is usually of a very high standard, due to the success of bilingual education, but their language awareness and knowledge of grammar is sometimes noticeably absent. What is essentially interesting here is that both the specialist and candidate have raised this issue for concern. Although MTeach has been briefly described in the section on Background and Context as utilising the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) framework

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for initial teacher development, it is notable that preliminary evidence of lack of subject matter knowledge (SMK) of candidates emerged from the findings of this study. The specialist felt that the lack of SMK/content knowledge of an increasing number of candidates could be addressed with different and/or extended modules for candidates in this position. The findings in this study therefore indicate that perhaps including more English language content on the MTeach English programme can help in improving the programme and meeting the needs of candidates from differentiated SMK backgrounds. Content knowledge such as meta-grammatical knowledge of English might be included, as English teachers are required to be able to explain the structure of English as well as how to use it effectively. As Rollnick and Mavhunga (2016) conclude, SMK that is taught in close alignment with pedagogical training for the discipline is valuable and this view lends weight to the idea that MTeach could be adapted to include more SMK for English. Regarding the value in modifying MTeach in any way in order to add or extend SMK modules, as suggested by the specialist, Flores (2016) argues that it is necessary to reconsider and, where necessary, consistently revise teacher education curriculum “to respond to the increasing uncertainties and complexities of teaching in the twenty-first century” (p. 221). Overall, conclusions cannot be made on the basis of minor evidence, and it is beyond the scope of this study to provide valid contribution to the wider discussion and literature of PCK in teacher education widely documented in Berry et al. (2016). To what extent SMK helps (or hinders) pre-service and inservice teachers, and in what ways a focus on PCK can resolve those challenges remains an open question in the field (Rollnick and Mavhunga, 2016). Related to this is the issue of previous formal or informal teaching experience for pre-service teachers. As shown in the analysis of Question 6, the responses of the candidates who have had prior teaching experience are quite different from those who did not.While the responses from candidates without prior teaching experience are valid and reveal that the candidates do perceive ways in which MTeach has prepared them to teach effectively, the language used by the candidates with previous teaching experience is observably richer in professional terminology, which perhaps indicates a deeper engagement with the input provided on the programme. However, as mentioned previously, the analysis also shows similarities between the responses of candidates who had prior teaching experience and those who did not. For instance, the similarities in the reported challenges indicate that prior teaching experience does not have any discernible impact on how the teacher candidates cope with the demands of the programme. Moreover, although studies have made a connection between the lack of prior teaching experience and student teachers’ unpreparedness (Kee, 2012; Korthagen, 2016), the current study did not find any clear distinction in this, as all candidates, regardless of their prior teaching experience, reported being unprepared in different ways in their responses to what they found challenging about MTeach. Further, Ateşkan (2016) reported that pre-service teachers who participated in international voluntary teaching

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programmes prior to their ITE found the experience helped them develop professionally and personally, but there is no comparison with pre-service teachers who did not participate in such voluntary programmes. It is worthy to note that Candidate 7’s responses can be described as noticeably more negative in comparison to the other candidates’ responses. This candidate has expressed concern regarding the structure of the course in terms of length and the concurrent structure of university-based modules, along with school experience and teaching. Although the specialist and all the other candidates agreed that eighteen months is an appropriate length for MTeach, Candidate 7 disagreed and suggested extending the programme to two years, with focus on lectures and classroom-based modules in the first semester rather than immediately carrying out the practicum. However, Flores (2016, p. 204) reports that evidence from empirical studies in some countries show that a shorter teaching practicum, and its timing at the end of the ITE programme, can be problematic. The suggestions of Candidate 7 on the duration and delay of the practicum may therefore affect the delivery of MTeach and its efficacy on teaching practice as a whole. Some of the candidates also mentioned ‘limited guidance’ as one of the challenges in MTeach. This is consistent with Kosnik and Beck (2011) on how teacher educators should not leave student teachers “to figure out on their own” (p. 3). These concerns are valid and constructive, and should therefore be considered carefully by the course facilitators. They reflect the major questions of any teacher preparation programme design and highlight the need to design programmes based on research, experience and feedback from stakeholders. As White and Forgasz (2016) state, it is important that programmes evolve and respond to individual, local and emerging issues. Next, it is helpful to return to the research questions raised in the Research methodology section of the chapter.To answer the first research question about the current English teacher training programme at UBD, the Master of Teaching (MTeach) for English can be described as a programme for English teacher training which has been developed to meet the new educational standards laid out in the country’s Vision 2035. It represents a higher degree (at master level) and candidates are expected to become highly qualified teachers upon completion. As described by the specialist in the first interview, the programme aims to train teachers who are learner focused and are able to create and teach differentiated lessons which all learners can access. As part of the programme, candidates must also produce a 12,000-word thesis based on practitioner research which they conduct in their respective schools, so there is a focus on teacher as researcher. As documented in Kosnik et al. (2016, p. 270), the implementation of a more research-based teacher education is related to raising standards in teacher education, which UBD is committed to achieve. Considered as an essential component of teacher education, pre-service teaching practice remains to be the most valuable element in initial teacher preparation in many parts of the world (White and Forgasz, 2016, p. 232), and Brunei is no exception in realising this, thus shifting the focus of ITE in UBD to the practicum.

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For the second research question, which asked about how facilitators and teacher candidates perceive the programme and its effectiveness, there are several points which can be drawn from the analysis of the study. The responses of the English teacher candidates from the questionnaire revealed that, among the respondents, there is overall satisfaction with the programme, although Candidate 7 seems to be an outlier, as this candidate expressed more negative views. The candidates generally find the length of time (three semesters) to be suitable, and there are positive recommendations for improvements and honest appraisals of the challenges they have faced. It is also interesting to note that the candidates with previous teaching experience seemed to use more professional terminology when describing the programme, even those who have only completed one semester of the programme. Nonetheless, all respondents were able to give detailed responses about how they felt about MTeach and how they were being prepared to teach. From the interviews, the specialist expressed that the practical application of theory into the classroom is an important development for successful English teacher training that MTeach now provides. While MTeach has been described in Background and Context on the basis of utilising the initiatives for improvement outlined in Kosnik et al. (2016), we propose that descriptions on how these reforms are being implemented through the programme should be made more explicit. In order to achieve this, however, more feedback is needed from a larger number of the stakeholders, course facilitators and candidates alike, as well as the potential inclusion of school-based mentors, in relation to these issues. We further acknowledge that this is a limitation of the study due to limited resources and time constraints. This issue is however not exclusive to this study, as it is indeed not feasible to make final and absolute conclusions about the effectiveness of teacher education programmes (Korthagen, 2016, p. 336). Nonetheless, it is hoped that the findings of this study can lead to a positive and effective evaluation of ITE offered in Brunei and help point towards specific areas of the programme that could benefit from review and/or reform.

Implications of the study Overall, the responses from both groups are generally semi-positive, although some of the issues raised about MTeach cannot be overlooked.The study’s focus on the voices of the candidates, as well as the specialist, has generated comparable data which highlight individualised and diverse views on this ITE programme, particularly on the programme’s concurrent structure in teacher preparation, challenges faced, and the overall support and guidance provided by the course facilitators. As multi-participatory research in teacher education is still scarce, the current study can therefore contribute to the mainstream research that has a focus on emic perspectives of student teachers (e.g. Bramald, Hardman, and Leat, 1995; Barkhuizen and Feryok, 2007; Morgan and Kennewell, 2007). The inclusion of the views of teacher educators as well as student teachers in order

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to gain a deeper and valid understanding of the ITE experience among different stakeholders can in turn help inform teacher education reform in general. Thus, the need to incorporate the perspectives of both teacher candidates and teacher educators in teacher education research is essential in generating diverse data that is substantial and comparable (Zein, 2017). Such an approach also limits any potential of bias in reporting or analysing data and enhances the internal validity of the study (Thurmond, 2001). In the case of ASEAN Integration, Brunei, represented by SHBIE/UBD, could certainly provide a contribution by participating in the discussion on English teacher education through such means as membership of the ASEAN Teacher Education Network (AsTEN). KUPU-SB (Kolej Universiti Perguruan Ugama Seri Begawan, ‘The Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College), is already a Brunei member of AsTEN and contributes towards the discussion on Islamic religious teacher education and the role of Malay and Arabic as mediums of instruction in ASEAN (Noor Azam, 2016). SHBIE at UBD could contribute to the discussion on English teacher preparation by informing ASEAN member states through AsTEN about the MTeach for English programme. A consideration of the post-graduate approach to English ITE and the structure of a Master of Teaching programme could be made alongside other approaches to English ITE among ASEAN states. Further, the focus on preservice (and in-service) teachers-as-researchers on MTeach, as well as the concurrent structure of practicum and university modules which MTeach offers, could allow for interesting comparison and potential collaboration with other members of AsTEN and go towards informing about or assisting in English teacher education policy among member states. The perspective of candidates and instructors raised in this study are also worthy of consideration, as they provide an emic insight into the experience of MTeach and some of its unique features. As ASEAN continues to realise its goals of increased integration, the possibility is also raised of recruiting potential teacher candidates from ASEAN countries into Brunei’s ITE for English programme and vice versa. Such a move could address the lack of qualified local English teachers discussed in Tien and Cuong (2015), which is an ASEAN-wide issue. These collaborations with other countries for the betterment of ASEAN in English language education would indicate Brunei’s continued contribution to ASEAN Integration.

Conclusion To conclude, this chapter has provided an overview of the MTeach for English programme which is explored through the perspectives of some its stakeholders, and the findings point to both successful features and areas for concern. Certainly, the current study can provide insights into the overall organisation of the MTeach English programme through the perspectives of its stakeholders, and it is hoped that this chapter can provide a contribution of the current ITE at UBD in Brunei to the wider literature of initial teacher preparation and teacher education.

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The chapter has also discussed the country’s contribution to ASEAN Integration through its provision of English language training to citizens of ASEAN member states through various programmes offered at the UBD. As a provider of English language learning and teaching for Bruneians as well as students from ASEAN member states, Brunei is committed to improving its English teacher training policy to ensure that it achieves its aim in producing highly qualified local English teachers. If all ASEAN member states continue to work towards understanding and discussing best practice and, where appropriate, aligning their English teacher education policy and practice, this will act to greatly assist in ASEAN Integration in the area of English teacher education.

References Ateşkan, A. (2016). Pre-service teachers’ cultural and teaching experiences abroad. Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(2), 135–148. doi:10.1080/02607476.2016.1144634 Barkhuizen, G., and Feryok, A. (2007). Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of a short-term international experience programme. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 34(1), 115– 134. doi:10.1080/13598660500479904 Berry, A., Depaepe, F., and Van Driel, J. (2016). Pedagogical content knowledge in teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 311–346). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_9 Bramald, R., Hardman, F., and Leat, D. (1995). Initial teacher trainees and their views of teaching and learning. Teaching & Teacher Education, 11(1), 23–31. Buchberger, F., Campos, B. P., Kallos, D., and Stephenson, J. (Eds.). (2000). Green paper on teacher education in Europe: High quality teacher education for high quality education and training. Umea, Sweden: Thematic Network on Teacher Education in Europe. Craig, C. J. (2016). Structure of teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 69–136). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_3 Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). How teacher education matters. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(3), 116–173. doi:10.1177/0022487100051003002 Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Constructing 21st-century teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 57(3), 300–314. doi:10.1177/0022487105285962 Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Getting teacher evaluation right:What really matters for effectiveness and improvement. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Duff, P. A. (2008). Case study research in applied linguistics. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Flores, M. A. (2016). Teacher education curriculum. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 187–230). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_5 Freebody, P. (2003). Qualitative research in education: Interaction and practice. London: Sage Publications. Gore, J. M. (2001). Beyond our differences: A reassembling of what matters in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 124–135. doi:10.1177/0022487101052002004H

136  Ishamina Athirah Gardiner et al. ollins, E. R. (2011). Teacher preparation for quality teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 62(4), 395–407. doi:10.1177/0022487111409415 Jones, G. M. (2012). Language planning in its historical context in Brunei Darussalam. In E. Low and A. Hashim (Eds.), English in Southeast Asia: Features, policy and language use (pp. 175–187). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Kee, A. N. (2012). Feelings of preparedness among alternatively certified teachers. What is the role of program features? Journal of Teacher Education, 63(1), 23–38. doi:10.1177/0022487111421933 Kirkpatrick, A. (2010). English as a lingua franca in ASEAN: A multilingual model. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Kirkpatrick, A. (2012). English as an Asian lingua franca: The ‘lingua franca approach’ and implications for language education policy. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 1(1), 121– 139. doi:10.1515/jelf-2012–0006 Kitchen, J., and Petrarca, D. (2016). Approaches to teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 137–186). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_4 Korthagen, F. A. J. (2016). Pedagogy of teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 311–346). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_8 Kosnik, C., and Beck, C. (2011). Teaching in a nutshell: Navigating your teacher education program as a student teacher. New York, NY: Routledge. Kosnik, C., Beck, C., and Goodwin, A. L. (2016). Reform efforts in teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 267– 308). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_7 Loughran, J., and Hamilton, M. L. (2016). Developing and understanding of teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 3–22). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_1 Lunenberg, M., and Willamse, M. (2006). Research and professional development of teacher educators. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(1), 81–98. Martin, L. E., and Mulvihill, T. M. (2017). Current issues in teacher education: An interview with Dr Linda Darling-Hammond. The Teacher Educator, 52(2), 75–83. doi:10.1080/0887 8730.2017.1294921 Mason, S., and Matas, C. P. (2015). Teacher attrition and retention research in Australia: Towards a new theoretical framework. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(11), 45–66. McLellan, J., Noor Azam, H-O., and Deterding, D. (2016). The language situation in Brunei Darussalam. In H-O. Noor Azam, J. McLellan, and D. Deterding (Eds.), The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 9–16). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0853-5_2 Morgan, A. E., and Kennewell, S. E. (2007). Initial teacher education students’ views on play as a medium of learning – a divergence of personal philosophy and practice. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 15(3), 307–320. doi:10.1080/14759390600923691 Mundia, L. (2010). Implementation of SPN21 curriculum in Brunei Darussalam: A review of selected implications on school assessment reforms. International Education Studies, 3(2), 119–129. Noor Azam, H-O. (2016). Bilingual education revisited: The role of ugama schools in the spread of bilingualism. In H-O. Noor Azam, J. McLellan, and D. Deterding (Eds.), The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 253–265). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0853-5_16

English teacher preparation 137 Noor Azam, H-O., and Salbrina, S. (2015). Brunei’s role in ASEAN Integration: English language as capital. In R. Stroupe and K. Kimora (Eds.), ASEAN Integration and the role of English language teaching (pp. 72–87). Phnom Penh: IDP Education. Retrieved from http:// dx.doi.org/10.5746/LEiA/ASEAN_Integ_ELT Rollnick, M., and Mavhunga, E. (2016). The place of subject matter knowledge in teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 423–452). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_11 Sammons, P., Davis, S., Bakkum, L., Hessel, G., and Walter, C. (2014). Bilingual education in Brunei: The evolution of the Brunei approach to bilingual education and the role of CfBT in promoting educational change. University of Oxford, Department of Education. Retrieved from http://cdn.cfbt.com/~/media/cfbtcorporate/files/research/2014/r-brunei-full-2014.pdf Stroupe, R., and Kimura, K. (2015). Opportunities and challenges across ASEAN: Looking ahead to the ASEAN Economic Community. In R. Stroupe and K. Kimora (Eds.), ASEAN Integration and the role of English language teaching (pp. 1–12). Phnom Penh: IDP Education. doi:10.5746/LEiA/ASEAN_Integ_ELT Thurmond, V. A. (2001). The point of triangulation. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 33(3), 253–258. Tien, N. Q., and Cuong, N. C. (2015). English language teaching and learning in ASEAN countries and preparatory steps to integrate into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015. International Integration, 24(34), 94–100. Totterdell, M., and Lambert, D. (1998). The professional formation of teachers: A case study of reconceptualising initial teacher education through an evolving model of partnership in training and learning. Teacher Development, 2(3), 351–371. Wells, M. (2014). Elements of effective and sustainable professional learning. Professional Development in Education, 40(3), 488–504. doi:10.1080/19415257.2013.838691 White, S., and Forgasz, R. (2016). The Practicum: The place of experience? In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 231–266). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_6 Zein, M. S. (2017). Professional development needs of primary EFL teachers: Perspectives of teachers and teacher educators. Professional Development in Education, 43(2), 293–313. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2016.1156013

8 Meeting the needs of an international student population Richmond Stroupe and Miyoko TakatamaNeeds of an international student population

The response of a Japanese graduate program Richmond Stroupe and Miyoko Takatama Introduction Increased internationalization has both driven and resulted in increased opportunities for students to study abroad in a variety of programs across many countries. While quite recent political changes may negatively impact international student application numbers in some Western countries (Alpert, 2017; Carter, 2017; Snyder, 2017), in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, international student numbers have consistently risen in recent decades, and have become a major revenue and enrollment source for many institutions (Andrade, 2006; Crawley, 2017; Jackson, 2017; Struck, 2017). In East Asia, South Korea (Huang, 2014), Taiwan (Ho, Lin, and Yang, 2015) and China (Huang, 2014; Jiang, 2014) have also increased focus on attracting international students. In Japan, the emphasis on attracting a larger number of international students has been a part of Ministry-level policy for the past two decades, but has taken on increased importance with recent government initiatives (Fenton, 2015; Ho et al., 2015; Okugawa, 2014). The process and impact of the ageing population in Japan has been well documented. Since the 1980s, the decrease in the 18-year-old population in Japan has been a major concern of tertiary institutions (Fenton, 2015; Huang, 2014). Currently, the domestic tertiary-level participation rate seems to have reached a plateau while the 18-year-old population is predicted to start decreasing again around 2021 (Cabinet Office, 2014). However, the changing demographic situation has been complicated by an increase in number of available programs and private institutions at the tertiary level as a result of government deregulation (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 2016; Oba, 2008; Cabinet Office, 2006; Yamamoto, 2012; Yonezawa, 2007). Therefore, while the 18-year-old population has been decreasing, the participation rate in college has in fact been increasing, based on increased opportunities, resulting in increased competition between institutions and programs (Cabinet Office, 2014; Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 2016). These changes have forced many institutions to expand their enrollment, in some cases by

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lowering standards, to seek alternative applicant pools, or to close their institutions in recent years (Fenton, 2015; Huang, 2014). Through a succession of policy initiatives, the Ministry of Education (MEXT) has focused on increasing the influx of international students in an attempt to internationalize the tertiary institutions in Japan. On one hand, the aim of these initiatives is to bolster the global competitiveness and international ranking of Japanese universities and research institutions. Second, an increase in international students is seen as an opportunity to compensate for the decrease in the number of domestic applicants (Hiratsuka, 2016; Ho et al., 2015; Huang, 2014; Okugawa, 2014). The focus of the most recent policy is to increase the number of international students in the country to 300,000 by 2020 (MEXT, 2008a; Okugawa, 2014). In Western countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, which have traditionally been recipients of larger numbers of international students, these students face a variety of difficulties adjusting to their new cultural and academic environments. Often, first among these challenges is English-language proficiency levels, but also learning to live within a new culture, adapting to new educational expectations and developing social relationships are indicated as challenges for international students (Andrade, 2006; Hiratsuka, 2016; Turnage, 2017; Volante and Earl, 2004; Yeh and Inose, 2003). Likewise, faculty members and administrative structures must also adapt to this influx of international students. Faculty members may misinterpret the behaviour of international students and confuse what may seem as a lack of motivation or effort with struggles with the English medium of instruction. While faculty members may need to adjust their own teaching styles to accommodate these new students, international students must also adjust their expectations to match the academic culture in a different context. Finally, administrative structures must adapt to accommodate the needs of international students, which are typically not the same as those of domestic students (Andrade, 2006; Turnage, 2017). International students coming to Japan to study experience both opportunities and challenges.While many educational programs that Japanese universities offer are of high quality, implementing the newest technology, Japanese university structures are often traditional in nature and designed solely to serve the needs of domestic students. When working with international student populations, many of whom do not speak fluent Japanese, institutional systems must adapt in order to meet the needs of a much more diverse student population (Hiratsuka, 2016). As can be seen in other receiving countries, such support services are vital to the long-term success of international students. With the increased mobility of international students, there is also an increased awareness and need for quality assurance in programs that specifically cater to an international student population (Fenton, 2015). The comprehensive evaluation of student preparedness and expectations, graduates’ skills, qualifications and expertise of faculty, and administrative support systems is

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useful to judge the overall quality of a program and to identify areas that need improvement (Frye and Hemmer, 2012; Hopson, 2003; Mizikaci, 2006; Peacock, 2009; Praslova, 2010). Specifically related to teacher preparation programs in TESOL, some researchers have indicated a concern that current programs do not prepare novice teachers for authentic classroom practice (Crandall, 2000). In addition, to better understand the needs of international students who are becoming novice teachers, and to improve the overall instruction and research included in a TESOL Program, a thorough evaluation, through which the voices of students, faculty and administration are heard, is helpful (Faez and Valeo, 2012; Fradd and Lee, 1997; Porter-Szucs, 2008;Volante and Earl, 2004).

Research context The focus of the current research is a TESOL Master’s Program that was established in 2009 (MEXT, 2008b) at a private university in Tokyo, Japan.This graduate program provides a Western-style educational environment to Japanese and international students through an English-medium delivery of courses.The program benefits by being situated in an EFL context, in a non-English dominant country, where graduate students and novice teachers are able to learn, develop and practice their English teaching skills. Initially, students who made up each cohort of the TESOL Program were classified as either Japanese or non-Japanese students. As the program grew, and more and more international students from a variety of backgrounds entered the program, such a limited categorization of students did not fully provide an understanding of the needs of students from different backgrounds. A preliminary evaluation of the graduate program, based on feedback from currently enrolled students, indicated the need for a more diverse categorization of students based on their national and educational backgrounds, native language (L1), student expectations and unique student needs (Takatama and Sharma, 2016). This categorization included four broad groups: •

L1 dominant/second language (L2) native speakers of English with Western educational backgrounds (Students originally from English dominant countries such as the United States, Canada or Australia, or immigrants to those countries, who completed all of their education in English in those countries)

•

L2 dominant/L1 native speakers of English with non-Western educational backgrounds (Students who are native speakers of English who completed their Englishmedium education in non-English dominant countries, such as India, the Philippines or Sri Lanka)

•

Japanese non-native speakers of English (Japanese students who completed their education in Japan)

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•

Non-native speakers of English other than Japanese (Students who completed their education neither in Japan nor in solely English-medium programs, such as those from countries in Southeast Asia)

Based on the feedback from students through this preliminary evaluation, a number of changes were implemented in the TESOL Program, including more detailed and extensive information for potential applicants on the program website, preliminary workshops for students entering the program focusing on academic and writing skills, an expanded graduate program handbook, and seminars highlighting employment opportunities after graduation. While these changes were well received by students and faculty, there was a clear need for a more overall evaluation to identify strengths and weaknesses throughout the program.The current research expands on the preliminary evaluation and seeks to provide a more comprehensive view of the functioning of the program.

Methodology This study aims to evaluate the TESOL Program in the light of how to address student needs in a multicultural TESOL graduate program. The evaluation is done through examination of two factors: the validity of the four categories to identify potential challenges of a multicultural student body; and the level of impact of the changes which have been made by the program considering the different needs identified through the categorization. The current research adapts some specific components related to evaluation and assessment for quality assurance from a more comprehensive modular framework for a Total Quality Management (TQM) system proposed by Fenton (2015).These components include evaluation and feedback from participants (students, faculty and administrative support staff), organizational innovative ability, focused improvement in processes and services, and an examination of external participant-stakeholder (alumni) expectations and experiences. Inclusion of these components is further supported by program evaluation frameworks such as those proposed by Mizikaci (2006), Praslova (2010), Hopson (2003), Frye and Hemmer (2012) and Peacock (2009). A survey instrument was developed based on the Graduate Program SelfAssessment (GPSA) Questionnaire (Tezel, 2006), including forty Likert-scale statements regarding different aspects of the program and administration. Ten additional Likert-scale statements were included in the alumni survey instrument regarding job placement and practicum experience, and three additional Likert-scale statements were added to the faculty survey instrument regarding their evaluation of the program as teaching professionals. Four groups of participants that represent different stakeholders were selected to provide comprehensive feedback on the program. Current students, alumni members and faculty members of the TESOL Program completed online questionnaires and several representatives from these groups as well as administrative staff members

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joined interviews in order to expand on their perceptions of the program. Interviews were conducted individually or in small groups, in person or via telecommunication technology, in Japanese or English. All research participants were asked to complete an informed consent statement prior to being included in the research. The data collected through the online survey were analyzed in four areas. First, average and standard deviation scores for each program evaluation question were calculated in the three stakeholder groups of current students, alumni and faculty members.The scores were then compared between the three groups to identify similarities and differences in their perceptions towards the program. Second, the ratio of the number of current students in the four student categories was calculated. The data was compared to the ratio of the number of alumni members in the four categories to see any demographic changes in the program over time. Third, comparing the number of faculty who listed a certain skill as important identified student skills that were perceived as critical by faculty members. Finally, the average and standard deviation scores of the level of acquisition of necessary skills before entering the program were calculated in the four student categories. The data was compared between the categories to identify any notable tendency of a particular category of students. The same data was also compared to the data of critical skills from faculty’s perspectives to determine the seriousness of any lacked skills. The qualitative data from the interviews were coded based on the coding scheme described by Harrell and Bradley (2009). The data was first sorted into two types of codes. One is attribute codes that reflect demographic information such as the length of study in the program, gender and the self-selected student category. The other is substantive codes that reflect the content of the interview. Substantive codes were first developed deductively based on the questions asked. The initial codes included student categorization, program structure, learning environment, faculty members, skills, practicum and changes made by the program. Each code consisted of subcodes such as identification, experiences, assertion, judgement and suggestion. Codes and subcodes were added, eliminated or combined inductively as a new theme emerged in the course of data analysis. Descriptive statistics from the online survey results were compared to the coded data from the interviews to identify further similarities, contradictions, and patterns and themes that emerged in the data.

Results Data collected through online surveys and interviews was analyzed with regard to student demographics, responses towards the four categories, the students’ level of preparedness for a Western-style English-medium graduate program and their continuing needs, as well as their perceptions towards the changes made by the program. All current students (N = 21), available alumni members (N = 32), and faculty members (N = 12) were included at the time when the survey was conducted. Response rates are 90% for current students, 53% for

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alumni members and 100% for faculty members. All the three groups evaluated the statements by providing scores from 1 (Poor/Strongly Disagree) to 6 (Excellent/Strongly Agree). The survey instrument included a final invitation to be included in an interview related to the research questions. Seventeen current students (89% of those who completed the online survey), ten alumni members (59%), and ten faculty members (83%) were interviewed during the current study. Effectiveness of student categorization

The data from student and alumni online surveys indicate an important change in student demographics. Over 40% of current students identified themselves as native speakers of English with a Western educational background, whereas 52.9% of alumni members identified themselves as Japanese non-native speakers of English. This indicates a shift to cohorts made up of more varying, nonJapanese, international students. Another aspect of the data is related to the validity of the four categories. One current student commented that they did not feel they belonged to any of the four categories, indicating the potential necessity of additional complexity. Also, none of the current students identified themselves as Japanese nonnative speakers of English, which contradicts the reality of current enrollment (Japanese non-native speakers of English are enrolled in the program). One possibility is that there may be a fear of being identified through the survey since Japanese non-native speakers of English represent a minority of current students in the program. When the purpose of the categorization was explained during the interview process, 96% of current students and alumni participants acknowledged that the four categories were valid and useful to identify potential challenges of each group. Faculty members expressed mixed responses when asked whether they saw students in the program as a homogeneous group or categorized them based on specific factors to address certain needs and issues. Several professors asserted that particular tendencies existed depending on the students’ cultural and educational backgrounds, sometimes in combination with gender. However, one of the professors suggested that such a categorization would possibly increase the risk of stereotyping students, which should be strictly avoided. Another professor was concerned that students from particular cultures in which asking for help might not be common or encouraged (such as in Japan, and other Asian and South Asian contexts) seemed hesitant to ask for clarification or support, particularly outside of class. One of the students from an Asian background expressed this hesitancy as: I know professors are good. I know it. But even though they tell us to ask questions if we do not understand, it’s really a shame for me asking questions to a professor again and again. And it’s even more uncomfortable to ask other classmates because I’m [older].

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In some cases, this could lead to students eventually withdrawing from the program. On the other hand, another professor suggested that how students reacted to a new learning system at the graduate level (flexibility and ability to accommodate) was much more important than differences in cultural or educational backgrounds. Lastly, one faculty member categorizes students based on their learning styles as well as educational/professional goals and objectives in order to support students effectively. Perceived student needs

One goal of the current research is to determine to what extent current support systems in place are sufficient, whether recent changes and initiatives have been useful, and which further measures should be taken to appropriately support students in the program. Necessary skills

While faculty members are not overly concerned about the familiarity with details such as a specific academic referencing system (while understanding the referencing system used in the program is important, it is assumed that students will develop this skill during the course of their studies), the majority of faculty members consider knowledge of basic academic writing structures necessary before entering the program. Reading skills, which were defined in faculty interviews as not only skimming and scanning skills but also the ability to read critically, are also necessary prior to beginning classes in the program. The data also indicate that faculty members regard discussion skills and time-management skills as important skills for success in the program. Counter intuitively, one faculty member indicated that Japanese and other non-native-speaking students, having possibly benefitted from explicit academic writing instruction through English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classes in their undergraduate studies, were more skilled at academic writing organization than their native-speaking (North American or South Asian) classmates who had never been taught the mechanics of academic writing explicitly. In addition, some students were far better at time-management issues than others, and some students struggled with reading academic texts and organizing their ideas more than others.These observations point to the complexity of skills, and such skill preparation, that a diverse student population presents. According to the online survey data, the native English-speaking students from non-Western educational backgrounds reported not being familiar with the skills which faculty members consider as necessary to succeed in Westernstyle English-medium programs, reinforcing the aforementioned perceptions of the faculty members. Specifically, knowledge of basic academic writing structures, APA style formatting and referencing, and time-management skills are the three areas that the students seem not to have received instruction in before entering the program. Non-Japanese non-native English-speaking students also

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tend to be quite unfamiliar with basic academic writing structures; however, they seem to be relatively familiar with other skills. On the other hand, Japanese non-native English-speaking students tend to be familiar with most of the skills, with a possible weakness in presentation skills. Overall, the standard deviation scores indicate that although there seem to be particular tendencies depending on the groups’ linguistic and educational backgrounds, there are also distinctive group differences. When asked about time-management skills, non-native English-speaking students from both Japan and other countries were in consistent agreement of the importance of these skills. Native English-speaking students from non-Western educational backgrounds indicated less familiarity and a broader range of views with respect to time-management skills. These results seem to indicate that among students in the program, there is a range of (un)familiarity with the skills necessary in the program, and within some groups, less consistency among those perceptions. These results further point to the complexity of the preparedness and needs among, and within, different categories of students in the program. Academic culture

In addition to the data obtained through the online survey, student and alumni interviews revealed various needs of students in all four categories. Current and graduated students from non-Western educational backgrounds, both native and non-native speakers of English, expressed their struggles with becoming accustomed to the academic culture of the program. There are students from educational traditions where assessment is quite standard, possibly examination based, and did not significantly vary among their former faculty members. For such students, dealing with different types of assessment methods in the TESOL Program, including research or reflective papers, presentations, participation in discussions, tests and combination of these tools, seems to be quite challenging. Struggles with academic writing were expressed mainly by native speakers of English from non-Western educational backgrounds, and are consistent with the data obtained in the online survey. One student expressed that their education never pressured them to think and write in the style required in the program. Several students asserted that they needed more time and/or individualized support to adjust to Western-style academic writing. Another student discussed that students needed support consistently, not only at the beginning of the program. A comment from a native English-speaking student from a non-Western educational background summarizes their situation: I would say Western standards are not compatible with Asian standards. I didn’t write any discussion paper, [not] even a five-paragraph essay in my undergrad. But it doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything. Even from Europe or any of the Asian countries, they have no clue about academic writing. Give us more time to understand what is academic writing throughout the first semester.

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The struggles are often intensified in combination with the difficulties in adjusting to the host culture. One student described that “We have to get used to the new style of writing at the same time we settle ourselves in a very different country. It’s very hard”. On the other hand, several current and former students from Japan indicated that they did not face difficulties with academic writing. The comments support the data of the online survey that indicate Japanese students’ relatively high familiarity with academic writing before entering the program. These students are typically from undergraduate programs that provide adequate opportunities to develop skills to succeed in English-medium academic programs. The comments from the Japanese students seem to support the assertion by the students from non-Western educational backgrounds: To be competent in a different academic (thinking and writing) style, students need a certain amount of formal instruction and support over time. Non-native speakers of English who have experienced mostly teacher-centred forms of education tend to struggle more during class discussions. One Japanese graduated student recalled that “I often felt [like a] nobody or stupid because I couldn’t keep up with the speed of class discussion[s]”. Another non-native English-speaking student from an Asian country described their struggles in class discussions as follows: In my education, we were not encouraged to ask questions or think differently. . . . I have to think longer than native speakers, and when I finally come up with something, the discussion is already gone. . . . “Let’s move on to the next topic!” Several students perceived their experiences in class discussions not only as a language matter but also as a cultural matter. One student observed that “I sometimes feel uncomfortable with native speakers . . . dominating class discussions”. However, not all native speakers of English seem to be comfortable with the situation. One student who is a native speaker of English from a Western educational background described that “I do feel that I have more pressure to speak in class because I’m familiar [with the academic culture]”. These comments indicate that most students struggled with adapting to the academic culture in a graduate program, and this struggle was related to but not solely dependent on English proficiency, educational background or country of origin. Host culture

A number of current and graduated non-Japanese students expressed their frustration towards the insufficiency of information and student services provided in English. Currently, there is a very limited number of staff members in the Health Centre and no staff member in the Counselling Centre who can provide services in English. The latter was described as critical by students in the

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TESOL Program because incoming non-Japanese students had to deal with both the rigour of the academic program and adjusting to living in a culture that is totally different from their own: Counselors don’t speak English. That’s a huge, maybe the biggest problem, especially for students who try to adapt here because it’s very stressful. The first semester was definitely the hardest in terms of adapting in everything, not just TESOL but outside issues as well. In addition, although improvements were noted, various emails and announcements from the university offices are still written only in Japanese. Only a part of the online portal site, through which students check course syllabi, grades and other important information, has been translated into English. While the majority of non-Japanese students expressed their appreciation for the assistance they have received from Japanese classmates and friends to adjust to Japanese culture, comments during the interviews clearly indicated international students’ frustrations towards perceived insufficient administrative bilingual support for non-Japanese students. Several current and graduated non-Japanese students suggested adding seminars or courses to help current students learn Japanese language and culture during their graduate program. Previous professional experiences

The program is not only culturally diverse but also diverse in age and professional backgrounds compared to other Japanese graduate programs. Several current students who are more mature in terms of age and professional experiences expressed their frustrations that their experiences were not valued in the program. One student with extensive professional experience in a noneducational field expressed their frustration: “My previous experiences are not valued at all in the academic world”. At the same time, one faculty member indicated that working with more experienced graduate students presented different challenges. One purpose of graduate study, particularly for more experienced students, is to challenge their currently held beliefs and practices, and to introduce them to different approaches and perspectives. Far from not valuing their past experiences, the program encourages students to re-evaluate their present and past experiences and methodologies in light of the theoretical and pedagogical approaches presented in their courses. Compared to novice teachers in the program, more mature students may be challenged to reconsider their views rather than relying on past experiences and beliefs, and encouraged to step outside their ‘comfort zones’ in order to refine, further develop, and broaden their current skills rather than abandon them. Being (positively) challenged in such a way may be very unfamiliar (and uncomfortable) for more experienced students from professional contexts where their views have often been unquestioned based on seniority or other cultural issues.

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In response to the preliminary program evaluation that led to the development of the four categories, a number of changes were made in the program based on students’ requests. For applicants considering pursuing their graduate study in the program, there is more detailed information related to the requirements of the program, including course descriptions along with assessment procedures and main text references for each, samples of completed theses, and titles of student research and curriculum development projects. Additionally, for current students, introductory seminars have been provided related to study, research and academic writing skills. The dedicated course on graduate student writing skills has also been focused on the more explicit mechanics of academic writing, utilizing actual assignments from students’ first semester courses as content. Also for all current students, an employment seminar was provided to assist with job-search issues leading up to graduation. Lastly, faculty members have regularly discussed and reflected on how they individually and the program in general can continue to maintain high expectations of students while providing necessary support and feedback, both academically and personally. In order to determine the effectiveness of these changes, responses from current students who were enrolled in the graduate program before, during and after the changes were implemented were key. In addition, current student responses were compared to alumni responses to determine what differences in the program were now apparent. Students, faculty and alumni were asked a series of questions through the survey related to all aspects of the graduate program. According to the online survey data, compared to the program as recalled by alumni members, the program as perceived by current students and faculty members is slightly more open to different views and new ideas. More collaboration, communication and respect between faculty members and students can be observed in the program. The program seems to be able to monitor students’ progress with respect to degree requirements more effectively than before. Moreover, although still imperfect, the data shows a notable improvement in curricular and career advising. The improvement may reflect the fact that the program has been planning and providing the aforementioned orientations and career-related seminars for both incoming and continuing students since the fall 2016 semester. The improved evaluation of financial support may result from the ability of the majority of international students in the university to receive stipends to cover some of their living expenses in Japan in addition to tuition exemptions based on Ministry grants. In addition, although limited, Japanese students became eligible for scholarship support only beginning in the 2017 academic year. During interviews, a number of second- and third-semester students as well as recent graduates, regardless of their backgrounds, have expressed that they had recognized the fact that the program had been making efforts to respond to students’ voices. They felt that approaching faculty members to ask for help

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was much easier. They also perceived that faculty members were making more efforts to support struggling students compared to before. One third-semester student described the change: Now faculty members are not only friendly but so open to comments. If we make some recommendation, suggest some idea to change, or if we don’t seem comfortable, they listen to us and try to work with us. However, it was unclear as to whether these perceived changes were due to the students’ awareness that asking for assistance was acceptable and encouraged in the current academic environment (compared to what they had experienced before), a more open and supportive approach by faculty members, or a combination of the two. Also, alumni members who were familiar with the current changes regarded writing and academic skills workshops, employment seminars, and orientations provided to current students by the program as an enormous and effective change that they would have appreciated during their studies.

Discussion The current study provides an evaluation of a Western-style TESOL graduate program that serves a multicultural student population. While previous evaluations of the program have investigated whether the program is comprehensive in providing content knowledge and practical experience, the focus of the current study is to investigate the extent to which the program addresses the academic and personal needs of students from a variety of educational and cultural backgrounds. This later emphasis has largely been overlooked in previous program evaluations. The study shows that a distinction between international students and local/ host students is not static and single-faceted but dynamic and multi-faceted in a graduate program with a diverse student population. Students who are ‘local’ to the academic culture can be ‘international’ to the host culture, and vice versa. Student who are linguistically native of the language of instruction can be nonnative of the academic culture of the program. This is why the program in this study required a more complex rather than a simple binary system of classification between international students and local/host students, as is often used in Western-based programs in Anglophone countries (Arthur, 2017; Ryan, 2009, 2011; Glass, Kociolek, Wongtrirat, Lynch, and Cong, 2015). The majority of current and graduated students acknowledged that the four categories were valid and useful to identify potential challenges of each group of students in the program. As McAdams (2003) described, “identity is a life story” (p. 187), the students were able to discuss their feelings, struggles and experiences in the program through recognizing their cultural, educational and linguistic identities. On the other hand, several issues regarding the validity of variables and values that constitute the categorization were identified through

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the interviews and online surveys. The four categories were initially developed based on students’ familiarity with the academic culture of the program (Western/non-Western), familiarity with the host culture (Japanese/non-Japanese) and proficiency in the language of instruction (native/non-native English speaking). Online surveys and interviews revealed that presenting participants a forced choice among the four categories may not have accurately reflected the complexity of their perception of their own identity. Through the online surveys and interviews, two additional variables were identified. One variable that emerged was a student’s ability to accommodate differences, in culture or academics, namely their competence in dealing with differences, new ideas, and challenges to their beliefs. There was a marked difference between those students who were able to better accommodate differences and be open to different ideas and approaches than those who were not. While possibly related to past educational and professional experiences, this variable seemed to be just as related to individual personality. The second variable that emerged is the level of agreement between program and student goals. Applicants and incoming students often recognize the program only from the language of instruction, and tend to be unaware of the norms of the academic culture of the program that can be extremely different from their previous educational experiences. New students from non-Western educational backgrounds, especially non-Japanese students, tend to suddenly realize that they have to deal with unfamiliar teaching, thinking and writing styles in addition to the efforts to adjust to the host Japanese society. A program can expect some graduate students, during the course of their study, to determine that English language teaching may not fulfill their professional or personal goals as they hoped. However, there seemed to be some students who entered the program without a clear understanding as to the nature of the program itself or how the program would assist them in meeting their professional goals, even though this is an explicit component of the application process. The need to be familiar with the academic culture of a graduate program was a consistent theme of the current research. In response to needs identified among students, the program and faculty provided various forms of ask to aid in the transition into the graduate program, and to develop the skills necessary to be successful. Proficiency in English in such an English-medium program is certainly an overriding concern (Andrade, 2006; Sawir, 2005), yet once a minimum proficiency is obtained, other academic and research skills take precedence. Far more students, both native and non-native English speaking, struggled with academic writing organization and expressing ideas, engaging in critical inquiry and discussions, time management, and managing academic research and reading, rather than solely English proficiency issues. The lack of these skills tends to be regarded by faculty members as an unpreparedness as a graduate student; however, this judgement is often based on the faculty members’ cultural and educational backgrounds, which are dominantly North American. Faculty interviews have revealed a tension between their beliefs and expectations regarding student autonomy and supporting students to adjust to

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new academic demands, as observed in a university in New Zealand (Skyrme and McGee, 2016).Through this research, several faculty members seem to have developed new perspectives on how to better support students from diverse backgrounds without compromising their beliefs as a tertiary teacher. While recognizing this transitional period that needs to occur from the perspective of the faculty members, as this allows for adjustment of expectations and provision of appropriate support, an important distinction between intellectual skills and attitude on one hand and academic skills that are required to follow the academic norms of the program should be emphasized. Students from differing educational traditions possess intellectual abilities (critical analysis, analysis, reasoning and synthesis skills) but may have seldom been called upon to utilize these skills in an academic environment, particularly at the level required during graduate study. Ryan (2012) discusses that international students in Western universities tend to be regarded as “dependent learners lacking in criticality” (p. 62) without supervisors’ understanding of “what is unfamiliar for them, and the impact of their previous learning experiences” (p. 62). Students from differing educational traditions must also become accustomed to a less familiar, but more linear, Western rhetorical style, and the multiple academic skills related to expressing that style through academic writing structures, class discussions and presentations, for example. Developing these two skill areas against a backdrop of adapting to the host culture is challenging for all students to some degree, regardless of L1 or educational or professional experience. In addition to academic expectations, familiarity with the host culture remains a challenging aspect to successful integration into the program and social circles for international students. While characteristic of international students globally, this is a challenge that students need to be supported when overcoming, but not insulated against. One of the values of international study is to learn about, and how to adapt to, a different culture. While administrative mechanisms and support can be improved, and the educational traditions and experiences of students can be better appreciated, developing the ability to function effectively in a ‘foreign’ culture, by its very nature, is not always easy, but always valuable. Because of the changes implemented by the program, there were notable improvements such as an increase of trust between the students and faculty members, a more open atmosphere, and more effective curricular and career support in the program.The first point is particularly important as various studies have discussed the crucial academic and social influence of faculty members over international students (Glass et al, 2015; Ryan, 2011; Skyrme and McGee, 2016), especially at the initial stage of adjustment (Arthur, 2017). However, a fundamental change should be made on how to support students from diverse backgrounds. The initial categorization was originally developed under the presumption that faculty members and the program are responsible to be aware of the cultural differences of students and provide effective support to address these differences. The purpose was fulfilled; however, the categories have also fixated students in the position to receive support, and the program/

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faculty members in the position to provide support. Such a single focus will be less effective, and will ultimately be detrimental to the program in the form of dissatisfied students and burnt-out faculty members. In contrast, the identified variables could be used otherwise to promote reflections not only on the part of the program side but also on the part of the students so that both could work together to deal with the challenges. In addition to the support that the program has provided, the program may need to develop a scheme to raise awareness of students, faculty members, and the administration towards several critical variables, and facilitate opportunities of reflection about individuals’ backgrounds, goals, teaching and learning styles, and resulting actions. The reflection can empower new students to identify and prepare for potential challenges they may face in their Western-style graduate program, and current students to analyze their situations and ask for necessary support. For both faculty members and the administration, the reflection can assist with understanding the relationship between their own educational beliefs and practices and their students’ challenges, and how to provide effective support.

Recommendations Providing content knowledge and practical experience in a TESOL graduate program is the main purpose of English pre-service teacher preparation. However, students in such programs exhibit a variety of needs related to their ability to recognize and adapt to new academic expectations. This is particularly true for students who are studying in a different host culture, or a multicultural context. Adjusting to these academic and cultural differences can be interrelated and compounded. Based on the results of the current study, the administration and faculty members of multicultural programs should recognize the importance of and difficulty with adapting to different cultural and academic expectations, and address these explicitly with their student populations. Students must recognize outlets for their voices to be heard. The response on the part of administration and faculty is deceptively simple – to listen. A reactionary tendency on the part of these groups may be apparent, either by becoming defensive or trying to address every possible complaint. The recommendation based on the current research is to avoid either extreme, and rather develop structures to ensure dialogue and shared responsibility among all involved – administration, faculty members and students. Programs are responsible for responding to the needs of students, but at the same time, the responsibility to adapt and excel in a program that they take ownership over is the responsibility of each student. Graduate students in such programs also need specific support, whether focused on academic skills, adjusting to cultural differences, or opportunities to express personal concerns. Workshops (pre-sessional and during the program) targeting specific academic weaknesses as well as intercultural communication and understanding are highly recommended. In addition, availability of

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professional counselling staff to assist with the personal stress related to graduate study should be viewed as a necessity. Lastly, individual differences – cultural, educational, professional and personal – should not only be recognized and respected but also valued. Such multicultural programs become living examples of sociolinguistic relationships, and add value to the educational experience of all involved. In the current study, the faculty of the program in Japan, while supporting the concept of World Englishes in their lectures, needed to be reminded that, in the reality of this multicultural program, this belief needs to be put into practice. How to do so effectively will be a focus of future research.

Conclusion While most evaluations of TESOL graduate programs focus on the quality and extent of content knowledge and practical experience in a course of study, the current research sought to determine how best to address student needs in an international graduate program in English language education. Utilizing a categorization first identified in a preliminary evaluation, focusing on educational background/tradition and linguistic background proved useful yet limiting. The addition of variables such as matching student/faculty/ program expectations, ability to accommodate change and new ideas, and the ability to adjust to a different cultural context quickly began to illustrate the complexity of meeting the needs of a diverse student population in an international setting. Responsiveness on the part of a program to the needs of students is extremely important. However, the findings of the current research indicate that the process is far more complex and multi-faceted. Most importantly, the responsibility to meet the needs of students is not solely with the program, the faculty or the administrative staff. In a multicultural graduate program, there should be a fundamental shift in perceptions of both the program and students: Students, faculty members, and administration are partners to work together to address challenges in the program. All the three groups should develop graduate programs in the international context that should view students with diverse backgrounds as valuable partners with which to work to achieve shared goals. Program administrators and faculty should strive to support students. At the same time, students must also take on more responsibility to make informed choices about their studies, about how their studies relate to their professional goals and objectives, and to actively shape their own programs to meet their needs within recognized program constraints. Faculty and administrative staff and structures should work towards facilitating this process. The goal of evaluation and revision should not be to develop a program that is easy to complete: This is neither possible nor educationally valuable. What is possible and important is to put into place administrative and program structures and systems that allow for the voices of all to be heard and acted upon, provide opportunities for reflection and revision, develop realistic and appropriate goals and objectives to

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be reached, and provide the necessary and reasonable support for students to achieve their personalized goals.

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Needs of an international student population 155 Hopson, R. (2003). Overview of multicultural and culturally competent program evaluation: Issues, challenges and opportunities. Woodland Hills, CA: The California Endowment. Huang, F. (2014). Challenges for higher education and research: A perspective from Japan. Studies in Higher Education, 39(8), 1428–1438. doi:10.1080/03075079.2014.949535 Jackson, A. (2017, November 22). The 20 American colleges with the most foreign students. Business Insider. Retrieved from www.businessinsider.com/the-20-american-colleges-withthe-most-foreign-students-2016-11 Jiang, K. (2014). Inequality in internationalization of higher education. Frontiers of Education in China, 9(2), 182–188. McAdams, D. P. (2003). Identity and the life story. In R. Fivush and C. A. Haden (Eds.), Autobiographical memory and the construction of a narrative self: Developmental and cultural perspectives (pp. 187–207). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2008a). Outline of the student exchange system – Study in Japan and abroad 2008. Tokyo, Japan: Author. Retrieved from www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/ryugaku/081210/001.pdf Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2008b). Heisei 21 nendo kaisetsu yotei no daigaku no gakubu tou no secchi todokede ichiran [A list of university departments and programs which are registered to begin in the 2017 academic year]. Retrieved from www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/20/07/08072802/001.htm Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. (2016). Daigaku no gakkou-su, zaisekisha-su, kyoshokuin-su (Showa 23 nen -) [The number of universities, university students, and faculty members from 1948] [Data file]. Retrieved from www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/Xlsdl. do?sinfid=000031607512 Mizikaci, F. (2006). A systems approach to program evaluation model for quality in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education, 14(1), 37–53. doi:10.1108/09684880610643601 Oba, J. (2008). Creating world-class universities in Japan: Policy and initiatives. Policy Futures in Education, 6(5), 629–640. doi:10.2304/pfie.2008.6.5.629 Okugawa, I. (2014). Internationalization of higher education in Japan:The aim and challenge at the University of Tsukuba. Inter Faculty, 5, 119–132. Peacock, M. (2009). The evaluation of foreign-language-teacher education programmes. Language Teaching Research, 13(3), 259–278. doi:10.1177/1362168809104698 Porter-Szucs, I. (2008). From the other side of the desk: Recent Master’s TESOL graduates speak from community college ESL classrooms. In C. M. Pearson, K. M. Losey, and N. A. Caplan (Eds.), “Making Connections”: Selected proceedings of the 2007 Michigan teachers of English to speakers of other languages conference (pp. 55–72). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University. Praslova, L. (2010). Adaptation of Kirkpatrick’s four level model of training criteria to assessment of learning outcomes and program evaluation in higher education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 22(3), 215–225. doi:10.1007/s11092-010-9098-7 Ryan, J. (2011). Teaching and learning for international students: Towards a transcultural approach. Teachers and Teaching, 17(6), 631–648. doi:10.1080/13540602.2011.625138 Ryan, J. (2012). Internationalisation of doctoral education: Possibilities for new knowledge and understandings. Australian Universities’ Review, 54(1), 55–62. Ryan, J., and Viete, R. (2009). Respectful interactions: Learning with international students in the English-speaking academy. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(3), 303–314. doi:10.1080/13562510902898866 Sawir, E. (2005). Language difficulties of international students in Australia: The effects of prior learning experience. International Education Journal, 6(5), 567–580.

156  Richmond Stroupe and Miyoko Takatama Skyrme, G., and McGee, A. (2016). Pulled in many directions: Tensions and complexity for academic staff responding to international students. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(7), 759–772. doi 10.1080/13562517.2016.1183614 Snyder, B. (2017, February 1). Trump’s travel ban could hurt U.S. college revenue. Newsweek. Retrieved from www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-travel-ban-college-tuitionsinternational-students-551442 Struck, K. (2017, June 14). More US colleges seek international students. Voice of America. Retrieved from www.voanews.com/a/more-us-colleges-seek-international-students/ 3899698.html Takatama, M., and Sharma, P. (2016). [ILE: TESOL Program evaluation: Feedback from S2016 students]. Unpublished raw data. Tezel, K. V. (2006). A study of an American university master’s program in TESOL: Multiple perspectives in program evaluation (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. Turnage, C. (2017, August 9). In higher ed’s mental-health crisis, an overlooked population: International students. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from www.chronicle. com/article/In-Higher-Ed-s-Mental-Health/240891 Volante, L., and Earl, L. (2004). Assessing conceptual orientations in teacher education programs. Essays in Education, 10. Yamamoto, S. (2012). Higher education reforms in Japan: Changing relationship between government and universities. In H. G. Schuetze and G. A. Mendiola (Eds.), State and market in higher education reforms: Trends, policies and experiences in comparative perspective (pp. 201– 211). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. Yeh, C., and Inose, M. (2003). International students’ reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 16(1), 15–28. doi:10.1080/0951507031000114058 Yonezawa, A. (2007). Stability amidst a storm of evaluation: Policy trends and practice in higher education evaluation in Japan. In A. Cavalli (Ed.), Quality assessment for higher education in Europe (pp. 95–103). London: Portland Press.

9 Assessment education of pre-service English teachers in the Philippines Aireen Barrios-Arnuco et al.Assessment education in the Philippines

Prospects and challenges Aireen Barrios-Arnuco, Rachelle Ballesteros-Lintao, Sterling Miranda-Plata and Marilu Rañosa-Madrunio Introduction There is an increasing interest in assessment education of pre-service teachers because of their role as assessors, gatekeepers and decision-makers in the classroom. In addition, the movement to standards-based assessment and grading demands that teachers develop their assessment literacy to be able to implement national assessment reforms, develop assessment tasks that meet their purpose, match assessment tasks with content standards or learning competencies, ensure balanced assessment, provide meaningful feedback and grade students fairly. In addition, English proficiency has an economic advantage in the Philippines in the global economic imperative because around ten million Filipinos work overseas. Moreover, the Philippines is a business processing hub employing more than one million people, making English the language of business for various outsourcing companies (Madrunio, Martin, and Plata, 2016). With this scenario, future English teachers need to develop their assessment literacy to ensure that Filipino students are able to fully develop their English language proficiency and achieve the content standards set by the Department of Education (DepEd) in the Philippines. The Filipino students’ advancement of the English language competencies and realization of the content standards set by the DepEd are all-important to measure up to the greater challenge in the region, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Integration. Established in 1967 by Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand then later joined in by Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, ASEAN upholds cooperation in economic, social, cultural, technical, educational and other fields, and in the promotion of regional peace and stability. Under the motto, “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”, ASEAN has continued to work on policies and projects including the development of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. Considered as a milestone in the regional economic integration agenda in ASEAN, the AEC is a move towards “a globally competitive single market and production base, with a free flow of goods, services, labour, investments and capital across the 10 member states” (World Economic Forum,

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2018, para 1).The ASEAN Integration through the AEC has brought in opportunities and challenges among the ASEAN member states. In the educational landscape, a pressing concern relates to the quality of graduates produced to keep up with the economic integration in the region. While the membercountries all do their share to help improve the English proficiency of their respective workforces to facilitate the mobility of people engaged in trading and investments in the region, the Philippines continues to upgrade the level of English proficiency of its people so that more Filipinos can better fit in various work environments locally and overseas. As a fast-growing regional hub for business process outsourcing (BPO), the Philippines has a more pronounced need for high English language proficiency compared to other countries in the region. Moreover, teacher quality has been getting increased attention as well because of recent curricular and assessment reforms. Two research themes are deemed to be in the research agenda in education. One theme is on teacher professional standards (Griffin, Nguyen, and Gillis, 2004; Mayer, Mitchell, Macdonald, and Bell, 2005). In the Philippines, Gonong (2017) reports the process of drafting and validating the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST). This landmark document on standards is highly important in the present research because Domain 5 is on Assessment and Reporting. This domain has five strands (DepEd, 2017, p. 6): Design, selection, organization and utilization of assessment strategies; Monitoring and evaluation of learner progress and achievement; Feedback to improve learning; Communication of learner needs, progress and achievement to key stakeholders; 5 Use of assessment data to enhance teaching and learning practices and programmes. 1 2 3 4

Under the research theme on professional standards is the development of standards on assessment literacy (Buros Centre for Testing, 1990; Magno, 2013). The second major theme is on teacher preparation and how it promotes teacher quality or teaching quality (Ledwell and Oyler, 2016). A sub-theme under this area is on teacher preparation and the development of assessment literacy of pre-service teachers. Studies on classroom assessment have shown that formative assessment improves student learning (Black and Wiliam, 2010; Hanover Research, 2014; OECD, 2005). However, research also shows that assessment literacy of pre-service teachers (DeLuca and Klinger, 2010; Fives and Barnes, 2017) and in-service teachers (Lam, 2014; Yamtim and Wongwanich, 2014) seems lacking. This conclusion is also supported by research conducted in the Philippines. Studies on assessment literacy of educators and pre-service teachers in the Philippines uncovered gaps in their training. For example, Plata (2010) reported that teachers did not learn performance assessment in pre-service.

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The teacher-respondents also lamented on the lack of materials and support to implement the new assessment policy. In addition, Delosa and Morales (2015) concluded that pre-service teachers who participated in their study on assessment literacy could recall principles they learned in their assessment class, but they could not apply those principles in making decisions. The researchers also concluded that assessment literacy of their participants was weak particularly with developing grading procedures. Another study found that pre-service teachers had difficulty preparing diagnostic, authentic and summative assessments (Ambag, 2014). A large-scale study on teacher preparation in the United States uncovered the source of this lack of assessment literacy (Greenberg and Walsch, 2012).The study “concluded that while assessment is addressed to some extent in all but five of the 180 programmes we examined, only six programmes (3 percent) provide preparation that can be deemed adequate: four elementary programmes and two secondary programmes” (p. 6). At the regional level, efforts in developing a qualifications framework for teacher education in the ASEAN are underway. The Association of Southeast Asian Teacher Education Network (AsTEN) is a network of 10-member teacher education institutions (TEIs) of countries in the ASEAN region. Formed in 2014 in a meeting organized by the Philippine Normal University in Manila, Philippines, AsTEN was formed to address the integration of member states of ASEAN in 2015, and to collectively provide a quality teacher education programme in the region. The organization committed itself in an agreement sealed in 2014 to quality assurance in teacher education by developing a quality standards framework for teacher education to guide TEIs in the region to attain programmes that are responsive to global development. A workshop held in Bangkok,Thailand in 2017 focused discussion on the draft titled Teacher Education Standards and Teacher Qualifications Framework for Quality Assurance Agencies for Teacher Education in ASEAN presented by the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Presently, deliberations among TEIs are held in order to refine the said framework (Association of Southeast Asian Teacher Education Network Secretariat, n.d.). It is this current regional focus on internationalization, particularly of harmonizing standards and of global benchmarking of teacher professional quality and qualification standards that motivate the present study. By examining nuances of assessment literacy of pre-service teachers from the top TEIs in the Philippines vis-à-vis the national standards of Domain 5, the study may uncover gaps between national goals and actual practice that impact on pre-service teacher preparedness for the global world. Specifically, the seeming disconnect between the critical role of assessment literacy of educators and the lack of training on this area of pre-service and in-service teachers prompted the authors of this chapter to study the alignment of the national assessment education programme of pre-service teachers to the national assessment reforms. In addition, there seems to be a need to analyze how teacher education institutions prepare their students to implement the

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national assessment reform policy. In this connection, this chapter intends to answer the following research questions: 1 Is assessment education of English majors/pre-service teachers aligned to the national classroom assessment policy, in the following universities: 1.1 De La Salle University-Manila 1.2 Philippine Normal University 1.3 University of Santo Tomas? 2 Do the portfolios show evidence that the pre-service teachers meet the beginning teacher indicators under Domain 5 of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers? Background of K to 10 English curriculum

The K to 10 English Curriculum is a 171-page document published by the Department of Education in 2013 (DepEd, 2013). It is divided into two parts. Part 1 presents the framework while part 2 presents the curriculum per grade level. The English curriculum, compared to the curriculum of other subjects, is complicated because there are nine to 11 domains such as listening comprehension, oral language, vocabulary development, reading comprehension, oral language fluency, study strategy, writing/composition, viewing and attitude. Each domain has a learning competency per week. A simple math will show that English teachers need to assess more than 400 learning competencies across the domains in a school year of around 40 weeks. In addition, they have to prepare assessment tasks under the new grading system based on the following criteria: written works, performance tasks and quarterly assessment (DepEd, 2015). Classroom assessment reform in the Philippines

A major educational reform is in the area of classroom assessment (CA). It is worth noting that, in the Philippines, the teachers’ grade is the only source of information for the report card. This means that teachers’ assessment literacy is very important because their decisions will affect the future of their students. There are four reforms that were implemented in recent years. The first one is DepEd Order 8 series of 2015, entitled “Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment (CA) for the K to 12 Basic Education Program”. This policy document provides the theoretical background of CA, its definition, aspects of assessment, the assessment process, grading system, how the core values are reflected in the report card, the attendance report in the card and the target audience of the report card. Table 9.1 summarises this policy: The second reform is DepEd Order 29 series of 2015, entitled “Clarifications to DepEd Order 8 s. 2015”. This is a one-page document that states that those who fail in only one or two subjects will be promoted to the next grade level. The third reform is the template of the grading system based on

Assessment education in the Philippines 161 Table 9.1 Classroom assessment policy (DepEd Order 8 series, 2015) DepEd Order 8 s., 2015

Aspects of the classroom assessment reform policy

Theoretical framework

• Assessment is embedded in instruction. • Teachers need to provide holistic assessment. • Students need to take responsibility as well. • Assessment facilitates higher order thinking skills and 21st-century skills. • There is a need for multiple ways of assessment because of the varied abilities and learning potential. • Learners are co-participants in the assessment process. • Appropriate assessment is committed to ensure learners’ success in moving from guided to independent display of knowledge, understanding, and skills, and to enable them to apply them in future situations (DepEd, 2015, p. 3) “Classroom assessment is an ongoing process of identifying, gathering, organizing, and interpreting quantitative and qualitative information about what learners know and can do” (DepEd, 2015, p. 1) Formative (assessment for learning) and summative (assessment of learning) Content standards Performance standards Learning competencies Concept development Before the lesson During the lesson After the lesson Written work Performance task Quarterly assessment Grade 1–10 Written work (30%) Performance task (50%) Quarterly assessment (20%) SHS (core subjects) Written work (25%) Performance task (50%) Quarterly assessment (25%) Promotion of students despite failures in one or two subjects

Definition of classroom assessment

What to assess (p. 3)

When are students assessed? Summative assessment component Grading system

DepEd Order 29 s, 2015

DepEd Order 8, series of 2015. This template (in Excel) is divided into four grading periods and automatically calculates the averages. The fourth reform is the inclusion of assessment in the Basic Education Research Agenda (BERA) through DepEd Order 39 series of 2016. “This policy provides guidance in the conduct of basic education research to ensure its alignment with DepEd’s vision, mission and goals, maximize existing resources, and set up platforms for the sharing and use of results” (DepEd, 2016). At least four themes are identified in BERA. Under Teaching and Learning, assessment is categorized as a

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sub-theme. Following are the three research questions indicated under this sub-theme (DepEd, 2016, p. 8): • What factors affect the implementation of classroom assessment? • How is assessment conducted and utilized in the Philippine education system? • How effective is Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in determining students to special programmes? The last major change is in the teacher preparation curriculum of English majors. Their curriculum is comprised of 194 units, spread out in four years (CHED CMO 30, s. 2004). The curriculum requires three assessment courses: Assessment of Student Learning 1, Assessment of Student Learning 2, and Assessment of Language and Literature. The last major reform is the adoption of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (DepEd, 2017). The details and background are given in the following subsections: Background of DepEd Order 47 s. 2017, “National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers”

This policy document has the following parts: 1 Background 2 Aims 3 Uses 4 Dissemination 5 Appendix – The Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers The Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers has seven domains: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Content Knowledge and Pedagogy Learning Environment Diversity of Learners Curriculum Planning Assessment and Reporting Community Linkages and Professional Engagement Personal Growth and Professional Development

Each domain has four career stages: beginning, proficient, highly proficient, distinguished. Each stage has five or more descriptors per strand. There are “37 strands that refer to more specific dimensions of teacher practices” (Department of Education 2017, p. 5). This reform has implications to assessment education and assessment literacy of pre-service teachers because of Domain 5 “Assessment and Reporting”.

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The following are the outcomes for beginning teachers (DepEd, 2017, pp. 17–18): Demonstrate knowledge of the design, selection, organization and use of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment strategies consistent with curriculum requirements. • Demonstrate knowledge of providing timely, accurate and constructive feedback to improve learner performance. • Demonstrate knowledge of monitoring and evaluation of learner progress and achievement using learner attainment data. • Demonstrate familiarity with a range of strategies for communicating learner needs, progress and achievement. • Demonstrate an understanding of the role of assessment data as feedback in teaching and learning practices and programmes. •

In a nutshell, teacher education institutions (TEIs) need to consider these reforms in preparing assessment education of pre-service teachers. For example, programme and learning outcomes need to include pre-service teachers’ application of the principles in DepEd policy documents on assessment and grading as well as the outcomes under Domain 5 in the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers.

Method This research utilized qualitative content analysis of the syllabi related to assessment education in three teacher education institutions using a blind review process and content analysis of practicum portfolios. Research sites

Three teacher-education institutions recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as Centers of Excellence and by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) as top schools for teacher education were selected for this particular study. These are the Philippine Normal University (PNU), the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and De La Salle University-Manila (DLSU). PNU is a public and state university which started as a normal and trade school, an institution for the training of teachers. In 2008, it was declared the National Center for Teacher Education in the country by virtue of Republic Act No. 9647. PNU has at least five campuses and the Manila campus, being the oldest, serves as the flagship of the institution. On the other hand, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) is the oldest existing Catholic university in Asia and is managed by the Dominican fathers. Established in 1611, it is the largest Catholic university in the country in terms of enrollment found in only one campus. Unlike PNU and DLSU, UST has only one campus. For years now, UST’s teacher education programmes in bachelor in elementary education and

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bachelor in secondary education have been recognized by CHED as Centers of Excellence, able to produce quality graduates who excel in the teaching profession. Finally, De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila, also known as La Salle, is a private, Catholic and research university founded in 1911 by the De La Salle Brothers. As an educational institution, it excels in research. La Salle is recognized by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a Center of Excellence in several programmes including teacher education. These three universities served as the source of data for teacher participants who were all pre-service teachers. Moreover, the teacher education curricula of these universities were examined in relation to classroom assessment. It is to be noted that the assessment components in PNU’s teacher education curriculum mainly comprise of two courses. Assessment and Evaluation, which is offered as a professional course and is handled by a faculty from the Institute of Teaching and Learning, aims to equip students on how to develop and use different tools in evaluating learning and in improving the teaching-learning process. Meanwhile, the Introduction to Language Testing course is taught by a professor from the Faculty of Arts and Languages. The course focuses on the theoretical foundations of language testing and the practices designed in the secondary classroom. In the case of UST and DLSU, Assessment of Student Learning is taught as two separate courses: Assessment of Student Learning 1 and Assessment of Student Learning 2.While the former focuses on the use of testing for evaluating knowledge, comprehension and other skills, the latter emphasizes on ways to assess process- and product-based targets, as well as effective learning. Moreover, both institutions also offer a Language and Literature Assessment course which deals with the theories, principles, procedures, requirements and styles of language as well as literature tests, including issues and trends. Procedure

First, a protocol for the analysis of syllabi related to assessment education was created. This protocol was based on the six sections in the “Policy Guidelines on Classroom Assessment for the K to 12 Basic Education Program” (DepEd, 2015) which included the following: 1.) Theoretical framework; 2.) Definition of classroom assessment; 3.) What to assess; 4.) When to assess students; 5.) Components of summative assessment; and 6.) Grading system (please see Table 9.2). Second, the protocol was pilot-tested on a sample syllabus. The final protocol is shown in Table 9.2. Independently, two researchers were asked to analyze the syllabi. After this process, they compared their analysis and discussed their disagreements until they reached a consensus. This was an important aspect of inter-rater reliability.Third, the protocol was applied in the analyses of syllabi of assessment education courses: 1.) Assessment of Student Learning 1; 2.) Assessment of Student Learning 2; 3.) Language and Literature Assessment; and 4.) Assessment and Evaluation.

Assessment education in the Philippines 165 Table 9.2 Protocol used for content analysis of the syllabi Parts of the syllabus

Questions for the content analysis of the syllabus

Course description

Does the course description include the term “Classroom Assessment for the K–12 Basic Education Program”? Do the learning outcomes include any of the aspects of the theoretical framework of DepEd Order 8 s. 2015? Does it have an outcome that refers to the K to 12 content, performance standards, learning competencies and concept development? Does it include outcomes that refer to the ability to grade students based on DepEd’s system: written work, performance tasks and quarterly assessment? Do the assessment tasks reflect the actual demands in the K to 12 curriculum such as formative tasks and summative tasks based on the K to 12 curriculum? Does this section include DepEd’s K to 12 English curriculum and DepEd Order 8 s. 2015?

Learning outcomes

Assessment tasks References

Fourth, nine final demonstration teaching plans from nine portfolios included in the three participating institutions set were randomly selected for content analysis. The lesson plans were examined against the five indicators or strands for beginning teacher indicators under Domain 5: Assessment and Reporting of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers. Moreover, the portfolio cover sheets or reflection sheets, as well as the artefacts in the portfolios, were also analyzed based on the same indicators. The protocol was pilot-tested on one portfolio randomly selected from the portfolios collected from the participants. A blind review was conducted to ensure inter-rater reliability. The two reviewers discussed their analysis to uncover disagreements. This stage was important for the actual analysis.

Findings and discussion Alignment of the assessment education of English majors/pre-service teachers in the three universities to the national classroom assessment policy

As seen in Table 9.1, DepEd Order 8 series of 2015 clearly stipulates the aspects of classroom assessment reform policy. Classroom assessment as defined in the DepEd Order “is an ongoing process of identifying, gathering, organizing and interpreting quantitative and qualitative information about what learners know and can do” (p. 1). It is then expected that variables such as what to assess, when to assess students, the summative assessment component, and the grading system should be included in the course plans or syllabi of institutions or departments and should be aligned with this national classroom assessment policy.

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Based on the review of selected course plans (Assessment of Student Learning 1, Assessment of Student Learning 2, Language and Literature Assessment, and Assessment and Evaluation), varying presentations of the variables have been noted. For instance, for all four course plans, content standards, performance standards, learning competencies, and concept development are all present and are, therefore, assessed in class. As regards the variable when students are assessed, it is notable that, for all course plans, there was no indication that assessment is done before the conduct of the lesson except for the course Assessment and Evaluation. Students, however, are assessed during and after the lesson. With respect to the variable on Summative Assessment Component, all four course plans do include Performance Task and Quarterly Assessment. Except for Assessment and Evaluation, the three other courses also include Written Work as part of the Summative Assessment Component. Finally, as regards the variable Grading System, analysis of the data revealed varying results. For instance, while all four courses allot 50% for Performance Tasks in the Grading System, it is only the course Language and Literature Assessment that clearly identified Written Work as part of the Grading System. And while the course Assessment and Evaluation had Project as a component, it was not specified if it is oral or written or, if at all, could be a Performance Task. The rest did not clearly specify any written work required. Said variable may encompass long tests and preliminary and final examinations. Finally, Quarterly Assessment as a variable was present in all four courses except for the course Assessment and Evaluation portion, which stipulated Major Exams equivalent to 40% of the computation. The rest of the courses had 20%, which is aligned to the national classroom assessment policy. It can be deduced that the syllabi designed by the three universities do not strictly conform to what is prescribed in the DepEd document. This may be due to the fact that the two private universities were given the autonomous status by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which the highest governing body in the Philippines that creates and implements policies for higher education institutions. The Philippine Normal University, on the other hand, is the country’s national teacher education and, as such, has its own charter. Although not all syllabi were found to strictly conform to the DepEd document in all aspects, the major components were found to be present in the course plans. The data suggest that assessment education needs to review its assessment courses. DeLuca, Chavez, Bellara and Cao (2013) point out that best practices in assessment education of pre-service teachers should include connecting theory and practice as well as modelling. This means that both the content and assessment practices of assessment education courses need to be applied as preached. Content analysis of pre-service teachers’ portfolios

The analysis reveals that majority of the portfolios generally meet the five indicators of the beginning teacher under Assessment and Reporting. Seven out

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of the nine lesson plans evaluated show the necessary components that make up the necessary structure of a lesson plan (i.e., from objectives to assignment). A Grade 7 lesson plan on Direct and Reported Speech: Imperatives that was evaluated explicitly enumerates three learning objectives including differentiating imperatives in direct and reported speech, transforming imperatives from direct to reported speech and constructing sample sentences of imperatives in direct speech and reported speech. The last activity in the plan ends with a concluding activity with the teacher asking the students about what they have learned in the discussion. The sample plan shows an inadequacy in terms of the completeness of the components of the lesson plan evaluated. A seat work requiring students to transform directed to reported speech is regarded as an adequate assessment tool. This is without regard for a more communicative activity in which students can use the language more effectively and productively. The completeness of parts of the majority of the lesson plans assessed reflects that most of the authors (i.e., the pre-service teachers) have adequate knowledge of lesson designing. In addition, the components reflect a variety of sources and modes (e.g., songs) from which input or activity is taken to teach a particular grammatical unit (e.g., pronouns). Most of the lessons have provision for activities that build up the complexity of tasks leading to the summative assessment activity (e.g., filling in information in the “attribute web” before the students are asked to write the story frame of the selection as the final activity. A Grade 10 lesson plan on the Kaleidoscope World by Francis Magalona assessed presents the following objectives: deduce the message of the song listened to and note details from the song listened to. The plan describes all the activities from routinary, preliminary (including the unlocking of difficulties and information about the author), the lesson proper consisting of group activities, another group task for the enrichment activity, evaluation up to the assignment. It can be noted that the evaluation given is a non-traditional assessment in which students are directed to write a letter to those who are experiencing discrimination or bullying because of their differences. The second strand (i.e., demonstrate an understanding of the role of assessment data as feedback in teaching and learning practices and programmes) does not appear to be sufficiently reflected in the lesson plans.While three out of the nine lesson plans show implicit reference to monitoring students’ progress as evidenced by the building-up design of the tasks or activities in the lesson plan, there is generally little reference to how the teacher would provide feedback to monitor how the students are progressing as the lesson unfolds. In one of the lesson plans in which this attribute is present, the teacher is described to check whether or not the students identified the correct pronoun from a pool of options derived from a prior activity in the lesson. However, very little detail is provided as to how the teacher would process the responses. For the majority of the lesson plans assessed in relation to the second strand, these lesson plans did not entirely reflect the pre-service teachers’ knowledge of the role of assessment data in monitoring and evaluating their students’ progress.

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Even for a detailed plan, what are described in the plan are the activities that the students are expected to accomplish. No information is provided as to the way in which tasks and responses are processed. Greenberg and Walsh (2012) uncovered the same result. They found that teacher education programmes were inadequate in preparing teachers to analyze assessment data. They suggest that “school data sets that contain student performance data from a typical range of classroom, district and state assessments could form the basis of simulations and exercises in teacher preparation coursework” (p. 27). The third strand is implicitly addressed in the delivery of the lesson itself. As explained in the preceding paragraph, little reference to teacher feedback for monitoring students’ progress is provided. However, this is most evident in the demonstration of the lesson itself. Generally, all students show the ability to provide timely remarks, either through back-channelling devices or praises, or critique, or questions that express acknowledgement, encouragement, criticism or instruction as the lesson develops. Processing of responses and of an activity in general is one of the areas that most, if not all, pre-service teachers are trained for. Although degrees of effectiveness vary between student teachers, the ability to provide timely feedback is almost always seen among the education students in their demonstration teaching. Akcan and Tatar (2010) conclude that “student teachers in this particular teacher education programme expressed a strong need for oral and written modes of feedback from their supervisors and cooperating teachers in order to improve their teaching practices” (p. 170).This conclusion implies that assessment educators need to model oral and written feedback. This modelling will provide a scaffold for future teachers. Such provision of giving timely, right and positive feedback is reflected in Table 9.3. This extract of a lesson plan reflects how a rich exchange of ideas between the teacher and the students can help improve learner interaction and performance. The fourth strand appears to be the most prevalent feature in all the lesson plans examined.There is evidence for creative use of varied activities developed from popular games and varied communicative activities. Thus, the ability to communicate the lesson to the students via relevant activities, as well as the provision of relevant activities to encourage students to participate and to make use of target grammatical units in their responses, is an indication that the preservice teachers are adept in this attribute. The final indicator may not be explicitly reflected in all the lesson plans but at least two particular lessons present rubrics in assessing the final activity in the lessons. A Grade 8 lesson plan on The Types of Propaganda Techniques includes rubric for peer-evaluation of a debate.The inclusion of this rubric suggests that the authors do have enough knowledge about the importance of assessment in objectively providing feedback to students’ progress. Overall, most of the lesson plans show that they adequately address the beginning teacher’s attributes in assessment and reporting. However, explicit articulation of these targets in the lesson plan is generally in need of improvement. DeLuca et al. (2013) uncovered pre-service teachers’ perceptions regarding best

Assessment education in the Philippines 169 Table 9.3 Projected teacher and student exchanges in a detailed Grade 10 lesson plan about O’Henry Teacher

Student response

What do you think are the intentions of the characters for not revealing their true status in life?

Ma’am, I think the young man’s intention for pretending to be someone who’s poor is to find a girl who is not blinded by wealth and who would truly love him not because he’s rich but because he is worthy to be loved. Ma’am I don’t think that she has the same intention as the young man. I think her purpose is to find someone who’s really rich. At the beginning of the play, she was already trying to impress the young man through her stories about being royalty despite the fact that she’s not. I think she’s just really after the wealth.

Very well said! What about the intention of the girl?

Yes, you have a point for saying that. Based on your opinions about the characters, I can conclude that you think that even if both characters pretended to be someone they’re not, their intentions are different. Do you agree?

practices in assessment education. These perceptions may be of help to teacher preparation institutions. Pre-service teachers felt that it was important for their class to align course content and grading.They also felt that it was important to develop assessment as learning or metacognition. Jeong (2013) also claims that language assessment courses should use a common definition of assessment literacy. Fulcher (2012) proposes an expanded definition of assessment literacy as the knowledge, skills and abilities required to design, develop, maintain or evaluate, large-scale standardized and/or classroom based tests, familiarity with test processes, and awareness of principles and concepts that guide and underpin practice, including ethics and codes of practice. The ability to place knowledge, skills, processes, principles and concepts within wider historical, social, political and philosophical frameworks in order to understand why practices have arisen as they have, and to evaluate the role and impact of testing on society, institutions, and individuals. (p. 121) However, this definition does not include local educational reforms that have an impact on assessment competence of teachers.The present research provides an impetus to define assessment literacy in the context of DepEd’s national assessment policy and PPST Domain 5 Assessment and Reporting. The importance of local contextualization is in agreement with Lam (2014).

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Conclusion and implications The study shows that much can still be done in relation to classroom assessment in the country. As evidenced by the portfolios, pre-service teachers saw the need to enrich their knowledge in preparing assessment tasks prior to practicum so that, when immersed in real work situations, they can easily troubleshoot the difficulties they encounter. The courses they took were not enough to prepare them in the workplace, so much so that assessment of learning is the only aspect given emphasis. As regards the syllabi or course plans being implemented in the three universities, much can still be done to further improve or refine the documents in relation to assessment. As seen in the course plans except for one, assessment was not at all included prior to the conduct of the lesson and that written work was not always made part of summative assessment. This is compounded by the fact that the grading system was found to be problematic, as written works were not indicated as part of the grading system. While the government tries its best to draft meaningful national classroom assessment policies, the execution and implementation phases done in the classroom should be monitored so that misalignment or mismatch does not occur. Monitoring and evaluation should be done at least periodically so there will be no room for laxity. After all, significant effects can only be felt if right at the start, things are planned and executed in the best way possible. Whatever reforms are implemented certainly affect all stakeholders. But critical is the adjustment to be engaged in by teachers which includes retraining and retooling.Very likely, whatever experience their students receive from them will also be the same experience to be shared by these pre-service teachers with their students during their practicum or internship which begins with instruction and concludes with assessment. Thus, reforms like these cannot be taken for granted and should be addressed the soonest. Otherwise, this teaching and learning phenomenon will become recursive. In addition, and as mentioned earlier, the recently released PPST focuses on Assessment and Reporting in one of the seven domains.The inclusion of assessment solely in one domain in the standards signifies its relevance to the preservice teachers’ academic preparation for real work across teacher education programmes in different fields of specialization, including English. According to the PPST, the development of the teacher begins not upon the time he or she starts to work as a teacher, but that it begins in the teacher education institution that is expected to equip him with the minimum entry requirements to join the teacher workforce, one of which is literacy in assessment. The pre-service teacher in all fields of specialization (i.e., mathematics, science, Filipino, early childhood, and English, among others) should be well acquainted with various types of assessment – exam, oral presentation, portfolio, report, quiz, research paper, critique, etc. – as well as their principles and uses.The present study is relevant in that it shows what gaps in assessment literacy are needed to be addressed by leading teacher education institutions in their respective programmes. As

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described by Fulcher (2012), the new age draws attention to assessment literacy and its role in the creation of new teaching materials and language assessment programmes that address the changing needs of language teachers and of learners. By critically examining assessment practices in the top TEIs in the country against national and regional benchmarks, specific aspects of assessment literacy among pre-service teachers are more effectively identified. Lastly, assessment literacy is contextual (Fulmer, Lee, and Tan, 2015). The context includes the basic education curriculum of English with content standards, performance standards and learning competencies that all students must meet. The context also includes the national classroom assessment reform policies as well as national teacher standards. All these have to be taken into consideration by teacher preparation institutions whether in the Philippines or in other countries to train future English teachers to use assessment to guide their learners to develop the standards set by the Department of Education. The following are specific recommendations necessary for the improvements in teacher preparation, specifically assessment education of pre-service English teachers. First, HEIs offering bachelor of science in education majors in English should align their programme outcomes with the Domains in PPST. Second, performance indicators, aligned with the programme outcomes, should include a demonstration of knowledge and skills to unpack the national English standards and to implement the national assessment reform policies to ensure that all learners meet the national content standards.Third, teacher preparation programmes need to check their curriculum map to ensure that the outcomes of courses related to assessment education are aligned with the assessment standards expected of beginning teachers. Fourth, teacher preparation institutions need to design summative assessment tools such as portfolios with rubrics that assess all the programme indicators. In this way, pre-service teachers will know which specific teacher standards they are developing and which ones need more training. Finally, all teacher educators need to be oriented regarding the latest English curriculum, the latest national classroom assessment reforms, the latest professional standards for teachers, and the latest national teacher education policies and guidelines. They should also be cognizant of the programme outcomes and performance indicators of the programme. Their role as teacher educators is critical in harmonizing education reforms in order to train future teachers who possess the standards necessary to hone the English proficiency of their students. Knight et al. (2015) underscore that quality teaching happens as a result of three things: (a) a solid foundation of the effective pedagogical practices that teachers can build on in their entire career; (b) their capacity to examine students’ knowledge and needs as regards content and their ability to respond appropriately; and, (c) a commitment for continuous professional development. As education is transforming and English standards are changing with globalization, future English teachers need to be trained how to align their practice with current developments in the field. Teacher preparation institutions now

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have a mission to prepare the next generation of teachers who are not only competent, but also contextually literate in assessment. With these reforms being effected, it could be claimed that the Philippines, in its engagement as a member of ASEAN, has done much in addressing classroom realities to develop the English language proficiency of the students to the level that meets international standards. It is hoped that this initiative will result in narrowing down development gaps in the region. As in the case of the Philippine universities cited in the preceding examples, other schools face continuing challenges from past mistakes and need to be ready to meet further challenges in the future. It is only through this that these institutions may be able to address the stark realities in the local context to meet the demands of the global environment. Hopefully, this development in the Philippine education sector will address the issues arising in the global market in connection with the apparent mismatch between the kind of graduates produced by Philippine institutions and the growing requirements of the evolving global workplace.

Appendix A Portfolio parts

DLSU portfolio parts Part 1 (submitted by mid-term) 1 Foreword a b c d

Table of Contents Introduction to the Portfolio Description of Yourself as a Student and Student Teacher Teaching Philosophy/Belief Statement

2 Learning/Teaching Experiences and Artefacts a

Management and Organization • • •

A drawing or picture of the floor plan in your classroom with a formal written description Artefacts representing the non-instructional tasks of teaching with written reflection Photographs and/or sketches of bulletin boards, learning centres etc. with written reflection

b Planning and Instruction • • • 3

A lesson that you created with written reflection A formal lesson plan which you have taught with written reflection Samples and analysis of the two best lessons you taught

Other Activities a

Classroom Observation (onsite and on-campus) A drawing or picture of class activities with written reflection (a discussion on how these can be used in your field of specialization) • Classes/teachers you observed with written reflection (a discussion on how the teachers’ style can be used in your field of specialization)

•

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b Seminar-Workshop on Quality Teaching and Learning • 4

Drawing a picture of activities with written reflection (a discussion on how these can be used in your field of specialization)

In-Depth Weekly Reflections Part 2 (submitted by the end of the term) a

Assessment and Evaluation • • •

A class record form with written reflection Samples of student work from your teaching with a formal written analysis Samples of rubrics you developed with or without students and a formal written analysis

b Needs of Individual Students • • c

Examples of ways in which you adapted lessons to meet the needs of individual students with written reflection Anecdotal records of three different students’ development or progress with written reflection

Teacher as a Lifelong Learner: Professional Growth and Development • List of readings (with written reflection of reasons behind the chosen list of readings) • A formal summary reflection about your student teaching experience • Create a learning agenda that you can use in your next teaching experience

UST portfolio parts Preliminary Contents 1 Title Page 2 Acknowledgment 3 Table of Contents 4 Curriculum Vitae 5 School Profile 6 Summary of Experiences a

Curricular Functions • •

Narrative Report and Reflection Sample Learning Plan

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b Instructional Functions • c

Assessment Functions • •

d

Narrative Report and Reflection Narrative Report and Reflection Samples of Given Written Work and Motivational Activity

Final Demonstration Teaching • •

Narrative Report and Reflection Final Demonstration Teaching Pictures

PNU portfolio parts  1 Introduction   2 Rationale for Practice Teaching   3 Readiness for Practice Teaching   4 The School Environment   5 The Classroom Environment   6 Meeting the Pupils/Students   7 Lesson Planning   8 Teaching Strategies   9 Instructional Materials 10 The Art of Questioning 11 Working with Cooperating Teachers 12 Classroom Management/Discipline 13 Auxiliary Service 14 Getting Acquainted with School Forms 15 Conference 16 Practice Teaching Forms 17 Final Demonstration (Photos) 18 Instructional Materials Used in Final Demonstration 19 Lesson Plan for Final Demonstration (Semi-Detailed) 20 Sample Lesson Plans 21 Action Research

References Akcan, S., and Tatar, S. (2010). An investigation of the nature of feedback given to preservice English teachers during their practice teaching experience. Teacher Development, 14(2), 153–172. doi:10.1080/13664530.2010.494495 Ambag, S. (2014). Assessment of competency level of pre-service teachers based on national competencybased teacher standards (Ncbts) in public schools in the National Capital Region (NCR). Retrieved from www.globalilluminators.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ETAR-14-107.pdf

176  Aireen Barrios-Arnuco et al. Association of Southeast Asian Teacher Education Network (AsTEN) Secretariat (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2018, from www.asten1.org Black, P. J., and Wiliam, D. (2010). Inside the black box. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(1), 81–90. doi:10.1177003172171009200119 Buros Center for Testing. (1990). Standards for teacher competence in educational assessment of students. Retrieved from http://buros.org/standards-teacher-competence-educationalassessment-students Commission on Higher Education CHED CMO 30. (2004). Revised policies and standards for undergraduate teacher education curriculum. Retrieved from www.ched.gov.ph/wp-content/ uploads/2013/07/CMO-No.30-s2004.pdf Delosa, J. G., and Morales, K. M. (2015). Assessment literacy of pre-service teachers and the NCBTS Domain. IAMURE International Journal of Education, 13(1), 1–1. DeLuca, C., Chavez, T., Bellara, A., and Cao, C. (2013). Pedagogies for preservice assessment education: Supporting teacher candidates’ assessment literacy development. The Teacher Educator, 48(2), 128–142. doi:10.1080/08878730.2012.760024 DeLuca, C., and Klinger, D. (2010). Assessment literacy development: Identifying gaps in teacher candidates’ learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 17(4), 419– 438. doi:10.1080/0969594X.2010.516643 Department of Education. (2013). K-12 Curriculum guide English. Retrieved from http://www.deped.gov.ph/sites/default/files/English%20CG%20Grade%201-10%2001. 30.2014.pdf. Department of Education. (2015). Policy guidelines on classroom assessment for the K to 12 basic education program. Retrieved from www.deped.gov.ph/sites/default/files/order/2015/ DO_s2015_08.pdf Department of Education. (2016). Adoption of the Basic Education Research Agenda. http://www.deped.gov.ph/sites/default/files/order/2016/DO_s2016_039.pdf Department of Education. (2017). National adoption of the Philippine professional standards for teachers. Retrieved from www.deped.gov.ph/orders/do-42-s-2017 Fives, H., and Barnes, N. (2017). Informed and uninformed naïve assessment constructors’ strategies for item selection. Journal of Teacher Education, 68(1), 85–101. doi:10.1177/ 0022487116668019 Fulcher, G. (2012). Assessment literacy for the language classroom. Language Assessment Quarterly, 9(2), 113–132. doi:10.1080/15434303.2011.642041 Fulmer, G. W., Lee, I. C., and Tan, K. H. (2015). Multi-level model of contextual factors and teachers’ assessment practices: An integrative review of research. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 22(4), 475–494. doi:10.1080/0969594X.2015.1017445 Greenberg, J. and Walsh, K. (2012). What teacher preparation programs teach about K-12 assessment: A review. Washington, DC: National Council on Teacher Quality. Retrieved from http://www.nctq.org/edschoolreports/assessment/report.jsp Gonong, G. (2017). Professional standards for teachers/Developmental NCBTS. Retrieved from http://patef-update.org/resources/DR-GONONG.pdf. Griffin, P., Nguyen, T. K. C., and Gillis, S. (2004, November). Developing and validating primary school teacher standards in Vietnam. Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education. University of Melbourne. Hanover Research. (2014). The impact of formative assessment and learning intentions on student learning. Retrieved from www.hanoverresearch.com/media/The-Impact-of-FormativeAssessment-and-Learning-Intentions-on-Student-Achievement.pdf Jeong, H. (2013). Defining assessment literacy: Is it different for language testers and nonlanguage testers? Language Testing, 30(3), 345–362. doi:10.1177/0265532213480334

Assessment education in the Philippines 177 Knight, S. L., Lloyd, G. M., Arbaugh, F., Garson, D., McDonald, S. P., Nolan, J., Jr., and Whitney, A. E. (2015). Reconceptualizing teacher quality to inform preservice and in service professional development. Journal of Teacher Education, 66(2), 105–108. doi:110.1177/0022487115570564 Lam, R. (2014). Language assessment training in Hong Kong: Implications for language assessment literacy. Language Testing, 32(2), 169–197. doi:10.1177/0265532214554321 Ledwell, K., and Oyler, C. (2016). Unstandardized responses to a “standardized” test: The edTPA as gatekeeper and curriculum change agent. Journal of Teacher Education, 67(2), 120–134. doi:10.1177/0022487115624739 Madrunio, M., Martin, I., and Plata, S. (2016). English language education in the Philippines: Policies, problems, and prospects. In R. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), English language education policy in Asia (pp. 245–264). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. Magno, C. (2013). Standards of teacher competence on student assessment in the Philippines. Assessment Handbook, 10, 42–53. Mayer, D., Mitchell, J., Macdonald, D., and Bell, R. (2005). Professional standards for teachers: A case study of professional learning. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 33(2), 159–179. doi:10.1080/13598660500121977 OECD (2005). Formative assessment: Improving learning in secondary classrooms. (Policy brief) Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/35661078.pdf. Plata, S. (2010). Exploring assessment reform policy and implementation in Philippine public secondary education. Philippine Journal of Linguistics, 38(1), 135–156. World Economic Forum. (2018). The ASEAN Economic Community: What you need to know. Retrieved from www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/asean-economic-community-whatyou-need-to-know/ Yamtim,V., and Wongwanich, S. (2014). A study of classroom assessment literacy of primary school teachers. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 2998–3004. doi:10.1016/j. sbspro.2014.01.696

10 Meeting the needs of primary school pre-service teachers in the undergraduate school English programme in South Korea Hoo Dong KangNeeds of primary school pre-service teachers

Hoo Dong Kang Introduction The necessary qualifications of the English teacher have been intensively discussed in the past several decades (Borg, 2006; Butler, 2007; Flores, 2016; Kim, Y-T., 2004; Kubanyiova and Feryok, 2015; Wright, 2010). There was also discussion among scholars as to what is more important for an English teacher to be successful: Is it English competence (Butler, 2004, 2005; Chung, 2005; Le and Do, 2012) or English teaching methods (Kim, Y-S., 2000; Richards, 2015; Richards and Farrell, 2005; Tomlinson, 2005)? Asian countries currently regard English as key to survival in this global era, and thus have started teaching English as one of regular subjects at primary school (Korea in 1997, China in 2001, Taiwan in 2001, Vietnam in 2008, Japan in 2011). Teaching English in primary schools has been an important educational policy in Asian countries; however, they have relatively very brief history of teaching English in primary schools and environmental limitation as English as a Foreign Language except a few countries like Hong Kong and Singapore. Zein’s (2015) study demonstrates that the poor classroom practice of English teachers at primary school level in Indonesia is attributed to the inadequacy of pre-service education. This is also the case of other ASEAN Plus Three countries and countries in East Asia that suffer from a lack of qualified English teachers and adequate teacher training (Butler, 2015; Canh and Chi, 2012; Chen, 2012; Kang, 2012; Shiga, 2008; Yoshida, 2012; Wu, 2012). Kang (2002) and Kim, Y-T. (2004) argued that the current English programme of pre-service teacher training in Korea has caused the unbalance among the components of teacher qualification. Kang (2012), Shiga (2008) and Butler (2015) also indicated that the pool of teachers who could teach English in English effectively was insufficient in Korea. To make matters worse, many Korean parents were not satisfied with Korean formal education and spending a tremendous amount of money on sending their children to private education institutes for learning English from English native instructors, not from Korean English teachers (Statistics Korea, 2010).

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 179

This issue led curriculum developers to think about the balance between practical English subjects, which improve students’ English ability, and pedagogical content knowledge (Golombek, 2009; Swart, Graaff, Onstenk, and Knezic, 2018), which improves students’ teaching skills or enhance students’ knowledge of English, in teacher preparation programmes. However, as relevant research on curriculum development for primary English education is scarce, empirical studies in universities of education are needed. The findings of such studies could help inform educational policymakers, curriculum developers and curriculum design. What should be considered to improve the curriculum of teacher’s colleges? First, it will be very helpful if Asian universities which have a teacher preparation programme share their curricula and developing experience with one another for improving their undergraduate students programme. Based on the Taiwan context, Chou (2008) insists that policymakers need to set up a sound EFL teaching and learning programme for primary schools. Second, the curriculum developers in universities of education should reflect the needs of not only student teachers but also in-service teachers in their curricula (Zein, 2016b, 2017b). This needs-based approach to course development and these results can be supported by the arguments of Enever (2014) and Zein (2015, 2017a) that adequate and effective classroom practice of English teachers at primary level depends on the pre-service teacher programmes and the models of teacher development programme should be based on the needs of pre- and in-service teachers. Other researchers also proposed developing needs-based professional development models for primary EFL teachers (Kabilan and Veratharaju, 2013; Kang, 2012; Le and Do, 2012; Zein, 2016a). Kang (2012) stated that education policy should undergo the right process of the needs analysis and customized approaches are very important in developing teacher training programmes and English learning environments. Flores (2016) insisted that teacher preparation curriculum needs to focus on what it means to be a teacher through the lens of in-service teachers as well as pre-service teachers. Discussing the key components of the curriculum for teacher education, Koniga et al. (2017) asserted that the more coherent the student teachers perceived their university-school relationship, the better they are able to benefit from their teaching practice. In the context of the previous studies on the necessity of needs analysis for primary school teacher development mentioned earlier, this chapter is to propose a needs-based model of English curriculum development examining the change of English curriculum at universities of education in Korea in the last decade, the important qualifications for primary English teachers, the course priority, and the differences in the perception of EFL courses among respondent groups. The chapter also sheds light on the importance of inservice teachers’ perception on university courses as well as pre-service teachers, and the role of government policymakers and curriculum developers for the customized pre-service teacher training programme. The chapter starts

180  Hoo Dong Kang

with a discussion of the necessity to provide university curriculum developers and professors with a needs-based model of the undergraduate English programme for student teachers following a brief history of recent primary English education policies and practice in Korea. This is followed by the introduction of the Korean teacher education system and English curriculum components to discuss. The next section delineates the methodology used in this study. A needs-based English curriculum model for pre-service teachers to enhance teacher professional development is presented in the findings section of the chapter. Finally, implications of the study in Asian and global contexts are provided.

English and teacher education English education and its curriculum in Korea have been dramatically reformed due to the recent remarkable improvement of the economy, the high expectation of Korean parents for better education, and the perception of English competence as one of the most important components to foster the person of talent in the international society. The strong desire of English by the Korean people enabled English to be introduced as a regular subject at the primary school level in Korea in 1997, which is relatively early for Asian countries. According to Kang (2012), these conditions have revealed crucial issues needed to improve the quality of English teachers in Korea. This also brought about the needs of reforming the curriculum of teacher’s colleges in South Korea. As a result of discussions on these issues, universities of education in Korea began to reform their English curriculum beginning in 2002 (Yoon et al., 2007): First, the course revision in the university English curriculum has expanded to practical courses from theoretical courses. For example, they added a practical course for teaching practice like ‘Classroom English’ into their Liberal Arts programme instead of a linguistic course such as English Grammar, English Structure & Syntax (Kang, 2012). Second, Practical English Empowerment Project was operated by Korean MOU in 2009 to 2010 with financial support in order to innovate the English curriculum of universities of education in practical terms. This led each university of education to focus on meeting the needs of pre-service teachers by reforming their curriculum. The course titles less related to English education like Introduction to Linguistics, English Grammar, English Syntax, and English Phonology have been changed to the course titles related to practical English courses like English Conversation and Everyday English, and the course titles related to English education like Classroom English and Actual Practice of English Teaching in Classrooms. Third, Korean MOU financially supported universities of education to hire more foreign speakers (Kang, Min, and Kim, 2014) in order to meet the needs of pre-service teachers who should develop their English proficiency more. This reminds us of the arguments that the education structure and programmes have been much influenced by local education policies and economics (Craig, 2016; Kang, 2012).

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 181

University system for teacher education It is necessary to know the Korean system of teacher education as a basic knowledge for further discussion since it has a very different teacher education system compared with that of other countries. There are two different systems to produce English language teachers in the formal education in Korea. One is the teacher’s college to cultivate secondary school teachers in a comprehensive university. The other is the universities of education to cultivate only primary school teachers. All universities of education in Korea are national universities which are funded by the government. It is a very specialized education system for only primary school teacher education separated from secondary school teacher education. Accordingly, the aim of primary school English education in Korea has been differentiated from that of secondary school English education due to its focus on fostering students’ interest in learning English and developing the basic communicative competence to allow them to understand English and express themselves in English in their daily lives, with special emphasis on the spoken language (Korean Ministry of Education, 1997). Graduating from their universities and passing the teacher certificate exams, the graduates become one of the following three types of service teachers: first, a full-time teacher of English who teaches only English in many different classrooms; second, a classroom teacher who teaches English along with other subjects only in one designated classroom; third, a classroom teacher who teaches subjects other than English in one designated classroom while other full-time English teachers teach English in his or her classroom (Kang, 2012). It is the principal who appoints them as one of the three types of service teachers according to the school situation and its need. In 10 universities of education in Korea, there has been only one major: primary education. Each university of education has English education as one of 12 different minors since 1993. Undergraduate students who minor in English education take not only courses related to English education but also many additional courses related to the other 11 minors, as in Table 10.1. Table 10.1 The minors of CNUE in Korea Major

Minor

Primary education

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Moral education Korean education Social studies education Mathematics education Science education Physical education Music education Fine Arts education Practical education Education English education Computer education

Credits in a minor

Total credits

20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

145

182  Hoo Dong Kang

As seen in Table 10.1, in the example of Chinju National University of Education (CNUE), undergraduate students undertake about 20 credits on the average for their minor from a total of 145 credits. The total number of credits to graduate from a university of education varies according to the universities of education in Korea. In the teacher’s college at comprehensive universities, on the other hand, English education is one of many different majors, roughly 17 majors. Preservice teachers of English as undergraduate students in teacher’s colleges take about 70 credits, including 21 required courses related to their major throughout their four-year study. Graduating from their universities, they become full-time English teachers in secondary schools. The curriculum of teacher’s colleges which aims to train pre-service English teachers for secondary English education to teach middle and high school students is also different from that of universities of education.

Present curriculum of university of education Many normal universities in Asian countries have been interested in the innovation of their educational programme for training the undergraduate students to be competent teachers and eager to have other universities’ curricula as models. The curriculum of CNUE presented in this chapter could be a good example for other normal universities in Asia to share with and to start our discussion for the better model development. The total number of credits is composed of divisions, as in Table  10.2. The total number of credits (145) is composed of divisions such as Liberal Arts (30), Teaching Profession (22), Minor (20), Subject Education including Creativity Experience Activity (62), and Teaching Practice (11). The total number of class hours is 155. Teaching Profession consists of Teaching Theories, Teaching Knowledge/Refinement and Student Teaching. In terms of ‘Student Teaching’, their teaching practicum actually starts from the second semester of the sophomore year to the first semester of the senior year. Each student teaching course has one credit. It takes two weeks per semester. However, in their teaching practicum at primary schools, they do not just focus on English language classes, but all the subjects.

Table 10.2 Organization of the total credits of CNUE curriculum Division

Liberal Arts

Teaching profession*

Minor

Subject edu. & creativity experience activity

Teaching practice

Total credits

Credits

30

22

20

62 (64)

11 (19)

145 (155)

() = class hours, * = There is no English-related subject in the division.

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 183 English education courses in the divisions

Table 10.3 shows English-related courses in each division. The courses are distributed across the divisions such as Liberal Arts, Curriculum and Creativity Experience Activity, and English education minor.

Methodology The objective of the study

A comparative analysis of the education curricula of 10 different universities of education was made to present the characteristics of the teacher preparation programmes based on structural components of the programmes at the undergraduate level in South Korea. To address the aim, the following questions were asked: Is there any difference of the total number of credits for graduation and the components of curriculum among 10 universities of education in Korea? What is the most important qualification for primary English teachers among command of English, knowledge of English, and English teaching methods? What course do pre-service teachers think is the most important for teacher qualification? Is there any difference in their perceptions of EFL courses in the curriculum among respondent groups such as pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and instructors and administrators? What courses should be included as required courses in the English education programme of teacher preparation universities? Instruments and participants

First, the study collected data through survey questionnaires. In total, 35 different courses were listed on a 7-point Likert scale to be rated from 1 (least important) to 7 (most important). The survey questions were adjusted in order to make the course titles more appropriate and relevant to the current English education curriculum in universities of education for this study, referring to the originally written survey questionnaire in Korean by Yoon et al. (2007). For the effective conduct of the survey, the Korean version of the questionnaire was used to ensure respondents comprehend the questions. The survey was conducted online in March for a month in 2017. In the survey questionnaire, an open-ended suggestion or comment to suggest was also added for changes in the pre-service English curriculum (see Appendix A). Data were collected through survey instruments from stakeholders in the programme, including: current undergraduate students (pre-service teachers), in-service teachers (graduates), and administrative representatives and instructors. The survey data were collected online through Google Drive from 132 senior students and graduates in 2017, including 60 undergraduate students from the English education department at CNUE, 113 primary school teachers from many provinces, and 24 college instructors. The total number of survey

R

Minor (English Education)

R

R

Subject Education

Liberal Arts

E

Required/ elective

Division

Understanding Children’s Literature & Culture Teaching Methods in Primary Schools Teaching Listening & Speaking Option English Phonology English Phonetics & Phonology Option Teaching English Culture in Primary Schools Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning Option English Syntax Understanding English Structure & Writing Practice Option Teaching Vocabulary & Meaning Understanding English & Meaning English Education Methodology English Curriculum Classroom English English Teaching Practice in Classes English Conversation Current English Reading*

Subject title

Table 10.3 Organization of English education courses of CNUE

2(2) 2(2) 1(1) 2(2) 2(2) 2(2)

3(3)

3(3)

3(3)

3(3) 3(3)

2(2)

3(3)

Credit (hour)







1

1

2

Sophomore

Freshmen





2



1

Junior



2







1

Senior







2

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 185

respondents was 269 persons, who were about 60% of the people who were requested to respond to the online survey. After the survey, interviews were also conducted to follow up on the survey results, focusing on areas such as teaching methods, important English courses during pre-service teacher education, and suggestions for changes in pre-service English curriculum. The interviews involved 10 instructors and administrators, 15 student teachers, and 15 in-service teachers. Three to four questions were given to each person in order to understand their opinions more based on the survey results. Some important comments from them are stated in the “Results and discussion” section. For a comparative analysis of the total number of credits and its components among university curricula, the university curricula were downloaded from the homepages of 10 universities in the spring of 2017. Data analysis

The data analysis was also designed to know whether or not there is any difference in perceptions of EFL course importance among pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and college instructors and administrators. Each course title of 35 was listed on a 7-point Likert scale to be rated from 1 (least important) to 7 (most important). The survey results were analyzed through Excel 2007. The mean scores of each course importance were compared and ranked among three groups. For comparison of curricula among universities of education in South Korea and their longitudinal comparison between 2006 and 2017, the total credits for graduation, the total credits of their English minor, and their class hours were also counted.

Results and discussion The total number of credits for graduation

To understand how undergraduate students are trained to be primary teachers and the English curriculum in universities of education in Korea, it is necessary to know the total number of credits and the components of the university curriculum. Table 10.4 shows the total number of credits for graduation and the basic curriculum components in 10 universities of education. The total number of credits for graduation is in the 134–147 credit range. However, Korean MOU recently recommends that the total number of credits be below 140 credits for less burden on the students. Some universities try not to lose the class hours for their teaching even when they have to lose a certain number of credits for graduation. The trend of the credit number for an English education minor

Findings from the study suggest that the average of the number of minor credits has been decreased from 21 to 20, as shown in Table 10.5. This trend has been

186  Hoo Dong Kang Table 10.4 The total number of credits for graduation Univ.

Liberal Arts

Teaching profession

Se

40

22

Gye Bu

31 31

Da

44 (46) 35

24 24 (30) 22

Gw Go

Minor

Total credits

50 (57) 48 44 (59) 52 (56) 52 (62) 53 (54) 48 (53) 45 (47) 51 (51) 62 (64)

8 (15) 21 13 (23) 6 (12) 6 (12) 11 (19) 16 (22) 17 (25) 12 (21) 11 (19)

140 (154) 138–142 134 (165) 145 (157) 137 (149–153) 147 (159) 146 (158–161) 145 (155) 141 (150) 145 (155)

21

24

20 (20–24) 21

22

24

20 (21–23) 21

Chu

34

23

21

CNUE

30

22

20

Je

Teaching practice

20 (20–30) 18–22 22

40 (43) 40 (41) 38

Che

Subject edu. & creativity experience activity

22

() = class hours

Table 10.5 The number of credits and class hours in the English education minor Year

Univ.

2006 Credit (class hour)

Bu

Go

Gw Gy

Da

Je

30 21 21 21 21 21 (32) (25) (24) (21) (21) (21) 2017 Credit (class hour) 22 21 20 18 21 21 (22) (25) (24) (18) (21) (21) Df −8 0 −1 −3 0 0

CNUE Chu Se 21 (21) 20 −1

Che

21 20 18 (21) (20) (18) 21 20 18 (20) (18–21) 0 0 0

due to the decrease of the total credits for graduation. In 2006, the average of total credits of English minors in universities of education was 21.5 and had a range from 18 to 30.Yoon et al. (2007) insisted that the total credits for an English education minor should be extended to 24 for a better programme and take more advantage of courses for English skills in the Liberal Arts program. This point of view was from college professors.The Korean government has tried to decrease students’ study burden and the financial support to national universities, and spend the budget to support another area. This is why Craig (2016)

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 187

argued that the structure of education is not only shaped by history, culture and economics, but increasingly dictated by politics. The important courses for teacher qualification

The data from the study suggests that there is a significant difference in importance among command of English, knowledge of English and English teaching methods. As shown in Figure 10.1, the respondents chose the item ‘English teaching methods’ as the most important qualification (pre-service teachers: 55.9%; in-service teachers: 64.6%; and college instructors and faculty members: 70.8%), followed by ‘command of English’ and ‘knowledge of English’. This order of importance degree is exactly the same as that of Yoon et al. (2007). These results imply that all the three groups perceive that acquiring English teaching methods is the most important among the three different qualifications for English teachers at the primary school level. Acquiring command of English is more important than knowledge of English. However, the relative proportion of importance is somewhat different among each group. To better understand the reason they chose English teaching methods as the most important qualification of English teachers, interviews were done: The reason I chose English teaching methods as the most important qualification is because knowing English well is one thing, and teaching English is another. (Suh OO)

80

70.8 64.6

70 60

55.9

50 40

36.4

Teaching methods 31.8

Command of English

25

30

Knowledge of English

20 10

0.60%

3.5

4.1

0 Pre-service teachers

In-service teachers

Professors

Figure 10.1 A comparison of qualifications for primary English teachers

188  Hoo Dong Kang

Presenting well what we already know to our students is more important. (Ok OO) Even though we cannot speak English well, it will be very effective if we know well how to teach English well. (Kwon OO) As shown in Figure 10.1, the response weight of college instructors and administrators of primary schools on English teaching methods was heavier than those of the in-service teacher group and pre-service teacher group (70.8: 64.6: 55.9). However, the response weight of the pre-service teacher group on acquiring command of English was heavier than those of the in-service teacher group and college instructor and administrator group (36.4: 31.8: 25). These results are somewhat different from those of Yoon et al. (2007). In the study of Yoon et al. (2007), there was not much weight difference between English teaching methods and command of English in the instructor and professor group, while there were much weight differences between English teaching methods and command of English in pre- and in-service groups.This implies that the instructor and professor group thinks both command of English and English teaching methods are important, while pre-service teachers and in-service teachers think command of English is more important than basic skill for teaching English. As persons who should teach English in the future or now, pre- and in-service teachers think their command of English should be prioritized. The differences in these items suggest that courses for English teaching methods and command of English are more important factors to the pre-service teachers at universities of education. The more teaching career the respondents have, the more they perceive the importance of acquiring English teaching methods. It also implies that all three groups perceive that knowledge of English is much less important in designing the curriculum for the English education minor. These results give curriculum developers significant input when they decide the proportion of the three areas in the curriculum. The importance degree of courses among groups

Data from the study shows that there is a difference in importance degree among groups.Table 10.6 shows the rank of 24 courses out of 35 in each group. Pre- and in-service teachers perceive that ‘Classroom English’ is the most important for English teachers at primary schools while college instructors and administrators perceive that ‘Teaching Methods in Primary Schools’ is the most important for English teachers at primary schools. It can be stated that Classroom English was considered to be a very important course for English teachers in the primary level.Teaching Methods in Primary Schools is also perceived as a very important course for primary school English teachers.The course was ranked eight by pre-service teachers and fourth by in-service teachers.

Table 10.6 The importance degree of courses among groups Rank

Pre-service teachers (184)

In-service teachers (113)

Instructors (24)

1

Classroom English 6.22

Classroom English 6.07

2

Teaching English Listening & Speaking 6.15 English Listening & Speaking 5.83 English Teaching Practice in Classes 5.79 English Education Methodology 5.78

Teaching English Listening & Speaking 6.03 Teaching Reading & Writing 5.93 Teaching Methods in Primary Schools 5.82 Teaching English Vocabulary 5.79

Teaching Methods in Primary Schools 6.09 English Education Methodology 5.27

Teaching Reading & Writing 5.78 English Conversation 5.72 Teaching Methods in Primary Schools 5.57 Teaching English Vocabulary 5.54 Teaching English Pronunciation 5.28 Teaching Storytelling 5.14 Teaching English with Skits 5.07 English Material Development 5.07

English Listening & Speaking 5.76 English Conversation 5.57 English Teaching Practice in Classes 5.56 English Education Methodology 5.54 English Curriculum 5.53

14

English Curriculum 4.94

15

Understanding Children’s Literature & Culture 4.92 Teaching English with ICT 4.89 English Acquisition Theories 4.81 Current English Reading 4.63 Integrated Subjects 4.6

English Material Development 5.26 Understanding Children’s Literature & Culture 5.19 Teaching English Culture 5.10 Teaching English with ICT 5.07 English Acquisition Theories 5.06 English Assessment 4.97

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Teaching English Culture 4.57 English Assessment 4.52 English Composition 4.42 Teaching English Grammar 4.4 Understanding English Culture 4.3

Teaching English Pronunciation 5.52 Teaching English with Skits 5.42 Teaching Storytelling 5.4

Understanding English Culture 4.90 Teaching English Grammar 4.79 Integrated Subjects 4.71 Current English Reading 4.69 English Composition 4.55

English Curriculum 5.25 Teaching English Vocabulary 5.22 Teaching English Listening & Speaking 5.18 Teaching Reading & Writing 5.14 English Assessment 5.13 Classroom English 5.1 English Listening & Speaking 5.08 English Acquisition Theories 4.98 Teaching English with Skits 4.95 Teaching English Culture 4.9 Understanding Children’s Literature & Culture 4.86 English Conversation 4.81 Current English Reading 4.8 English Material Development 4.78 English Composition 4.76 English Semantics 4.75 English Teaching Practice in Classes 4.73 Understanding English Culture 4.72 Teaching English Pronunciation 4.71 Teaching English with ICT 4.68 English Phonetics 4.66 English Syntax 4.63

190  Hoo Dong Kang

The practical courses in which students can apply what they have learned, like simulational teaching, are very important and helpful for them. This interpretation is based on the results that eight practical courses including Classroom English were ranked in the top 10. They were Teaching English Listening & Speaking, English Teaching Practice in Classes, English Education Methodology, Teaching Reading & Writing, Teaching Methods in Primary Schools, Teaching English Vocabulary, The other two courses in the top 10 were the courses to improve English skills like English Listening & Speaking and English Conversation. According to the results, in-service teachers also think that practical courses were very important. The courses in the top 10 were all the same with those of pre-service teachers except Teaching English Pronunciation, which was ranked 10th. However, the group of college instructors and administrators tend to give more weight to the courses closely related to theories than pre- and in-service teachers. As seen in Table 10.6, the top 10 courses by college instructors and administrators were somewhat different from those by pre- and in-service teachers.They were English Curriculum, English Assessment and English Acquisition Theories. Among 24 different courses, the group included completely theoretical courses such as English Semantics, English Phonetics and English Syntax. This seems due to where they are from academically. Even though this chapter focuses on teacher preparation programmes, as Flores (2016) insists the role of research in connecting theory and practice and curriculum integration in initial teacher education has been advocated, teacher preparation curricula need to focus on what it means to be a teacher through the lens of in-service teachers as well as pre-service teachers. That is the reason why the responses of in-service teachers to the importance degree of EFL courses were added to and compared with those of pre-service teachers, college instructors and administrators in this study. There was somewhat of a difference in preference of English-proficiencyrelated courses between pre-service teachers and in-service teachers. Interviews with in-service teachers revealed a critical implication: I think the responses of pre-service teachers would be almost same with those of in-service teachers, however, it could be a little or somehow different. I think the opinions of in-service teachers are more important since we experienced through actual teaching for years. (Seo OO) It is quite natural that the responses of student teachers were a little different from those of our in-service teachers. Students need to focus more on developing English proficiency, but we think teaching methods is more important since we are actually teaching. (Lee OO)

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 191 Recommended courses for English education minor

In this study, participants suggested that the importance degree of EFL courses that the beneficiaries perceive should be mostly considered to design the English programme. For example, to improve CNUE’s English education minor curriculum, the current courses (Table 10.7) were first displayed and then suggested courses (Table 10.8) by the importance degree of EFL courses were presented as follows. In Table 10.7, the current English-related courses of CNUE were presented with importance degree, rank and the average of each course. According to the data analysis, four of the current courses such as Understanding Children’s Literature & Culture (4.99), Teaching English Culture in Primary Schools (4.79), Understanding English Structure & Writing Practice (4.60), and English Phonetics & Phonology (4.42) were below 5.0 in the course importance degree. The numbers in the parentheses mean the rank of the importance degree out of 35 courses. The four courses below the 5.0 importance degree were below a 10th of the rank averages as well.

Table 10.7 Current English education courses of CNUE Subject English education minor Teaching Listening & Speaking Teaching Methods in Primary Schools Teaching Vocabulary & Meaning Understanding Children’s Literature & Culture* Teaching English Culture in Primary Schools* Understanding English Structure  & Writing Practice** English Phonetics & Phonology*** Subject Education Division English Education Methodology English Curriculum Liberal Arts Division Classroom English English Conversation English Teaching Practice in Classes Current English Reading*

Pre-service teachers

In-service teachers

Professors & administrators

Average (rank)

5.83 (3) 5.57 (8)

6.03 (2) 5.82 (4)

5.18 (5) 6.09 (1)

5.68 (3.3) 5.82 (4.3)

5.54 (9) 4.92 (15)

5.79 (7) 5.19 (15)

5.22 (4) 4.86 (13)

5.51 (6.6) 4.99 (14.3)

4.57 (20)

4.90 (20)

4.9 (12)

4.79 (17.3)

4.4 (23)

4.79 (21)

4.63 (24)

4.60 (22.6)

4.16 (30)

4.39 (33)

4.72 (23)

4.42 (28.6)

5.78 (5) 4.94 (14)

5.54 (9) 5.53 (10)

5.25 (3) 5.27 (2)

5.53 (5.3) 5.24 (9.0)

6.22 (1) 5.72 (7) 5.79 (4)

6.07 (1) 5.57 (7) 5.56 (8)

5.1 (8) 4.81 (14) 4.73 (19)

5.79 (3.3) 5.36 (9.3) 5.36 (10.3)

4.63 (18)

4.69 (23)

4.8 (15)

4.70 (18.6)

192  Hoo Dong Kang Table 10.8 Suggested courses for English education minor Subject

Pre-service teachers

In-service teachers

Professors & administrators

Average (rank)

Teaching Listening & Speaking Teaching Methods in Primary Schools Teaching Vocabulary Teaching Reading & Writing* Teaching English with Skits* English Material Development* Teaching English Pronunciation*

5.83 (3)

6.03 (2)

5.18 (5)

5.68 (3.3)

5.57 (8)

5.82 (4)

6.09 (1)

5.82 (4.3)

5.54 (9) 5.78 (6)

5.79 (7) 5.93 (3)

5.22 (4) 5.14 (6)

5.51 (6.6) 5.61 (5.0)

5.07 (12)

5.42 (11)

4.95 (11)

5.14 (11.3)

5.07 (13)

5.26 (13)

4.78 (16)

5,03 (14.0)

5.28 (10)

5.52 (11)

4.71 (21)

5.17 (14.0)

These courses have usually remained until now due to the history of the English-related discipline (linguistics has come earlier than EFL education) and the majors of the present professors at the department. New courses were recommended to replace them, as shown in Table 10.8. They were Teaching Reading & Writing (5.61; 5.0), Teaching English with Skits (5.14; 11.3), English Material Development (5,03; 14.0) and Teaching English Pronunciation (5.17; 14.0). The course of Teaching Reading & Writing was much preferred by each group in terms of the course importance degree (5.61) and its rank average (5.0). The course can also contribute to the balance between spoken language courses and written language courses, even though the national primary English curriculum emphasizes spoken language rather than written language (Korean Ministry of Education, 2009). Teaching English Pronunciation can be also the proper substitute for English Phonetics & Phonology, which is largely a theoretical course. It is more practical for pre- and in-service teachers since it focuses on how to teach pronunciation. One important thing in innovation of the curriculum we should remember is how to draw consensus on the sensitive issue from fellow professors at the same department and in the same university. It should also be remembered that the innovation of the curriculum could usually take time and energy to achieve this. In terms of administrative strategy for a smooth transformation, a task force team for curriculum innovation should be established in advance and then organizing a curriculum committee composed of leading professors who are well aware of the necessity of curriculum innovation will play a crucial role in forming public opinion and making adjustments among professors. A few instructive responses from the

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 193

interviews with one administrator and one professor are presented in the following extracts: Teachers and professors are one of the groups who dislike to be changed. To make them accept the revised curriculum, they should be provided with rationale and multi-analysis of the present curriculum to be changed. Government Grant Project for Curriculum Revision has been effective since they think they received a reward for the change. (Hwang OO) When professors are provided the rationale to change the curriculum, emphases on the demand of students, or the adjustments for teacher appointment have been strong persuasive power. (Won OO) The revision of curriculum in a university usually needs multi-dimensional preparation and long-term adjustments from viewpoints of different groups such as students, professors and government. It has also been affected by many factors such as curriculum history, budget and politics, as mentioned in Craig (2016).

Conclusion and recommendations This chapter has examined the current state of undergraduate school students in Korean universities of education and addressed a model of improving courses and the curriculum for teacher development. The system of Korean universities of education is very specialized in terms of their focus on training primary school teachers, not training secondary school teachers. The findings of the study in this context can give good implications to other Asian primary teacher development programmes. Through an inquiry of English curricula of 10 universities of education in Korea, the following results could be stated. First, the total number of required credits at each university of education is a range of 137–147. However, Korean MOU has requested a decrease of the total number of credits under 140 for the heavy study burden of students and financial problems.The average English minor credit has decreased from 21.5 to 20.2 over the past 10 years. The finding of the study reveals that the government’s point of view has been still more influential than professors and curriculum developers at the universities in Korea in decision-making to change the curriculum framework of the universities, including not only the number of native English lecturers to hire and the total number of credits but also the direction of curriculum revision at the university level. This study illustrates that a political act is inherently embedded in education and the government plays a critical role in the improvement of primary English education as well. Therefore, the findings of

194  Hoo Dong Kang

this study provide a basis for the insistence of Kwon (2011) on the powerful role of government in the improvement of English education in Korea. These also extend the research conducted on teacher professional development for other countries such as Malawi (Chazema and O’Meara, 2011), Syria and Pakistan (Dayoub and Bashiruddin, 2012), Malaysia (Kabilan and Veratharaju, 2013) and Indonesia (Zein, 2016a). These cases are not much different from even developed countries such as Australia (Cameron, Mulholland, and Branson, 2013; Luke and McArdle, 2009) and the United States (Darling-Hammond, 2010). The findings of the survey showed that ‘competence of teaching English’ and ‘command of English’ are generally more important qualifications for teachers than ‘knowledge of English’, even though there was a little difference among response groups. This point of view was supported by survey responses of three groups to the questions on the importance of each course. These findings set an agenda to reinvigorate inquiry into language teacher cognition that aims to the real-world concerns of language teachers and language teacher educators, especially in Asian EFL contexts. If the curriculum developers want to meet the customers who are undergraduate school students and in-service teachers, they need to focus on the development of practical courses in which students can apply what they have learned to the real-life classroom. Therefore, the courses needed for acquiring classroom English and English teaching methods are more important for these customers since these meet their needs. On the other hand, the simulated teaching experience would be very important to pre-service teachers. Those courses including online or offline actual teaching demonstrations presented by competent career teachers or instructors and a follow-up practice by the students could be excellent lessons for pre-service teachers. Such course designs will reinforce the links between pre-service teachers’ coursework at the universities of education and their actual practice in schools, and, as a result, enhance the potential for student achievement and thereby improve pre- and in-service teacher quality. Based on the survey results of course importance for English teacher qualification, results revealed practical English teaching courses are more important than theoretical courses for pre- and in-service teachers. These results correspond with Zein (2015, 2017b) that redesigning pre-service curricula needs more provision in practical components of teaching English, practical courses related to the real-life classroom in the future and more English components in the curriculum for teacher preparation. For example, Zein (2017b) stated that classroom English-related courses would allow teachers to apply what they have learned into a similar situation like a real lesson, while practicing their command of English. This is similar to the findings of this study. Considering the course importance rated by respondents, I recommend the following required courses for primary English teacher training: Teaching Listening and Speaking, Teaching Methodology in Primary English Education, Classroom English (if it is not in the Liberal Arts course), Teaching Vocabulary, Teaching Reading and Writing in Primary English Education, and Teaching English with Skits.

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 195

Another finding of the study is that the curriculum seems to reflect the interest of the person in the specific department rather than that of pre-service teachers. Education departments need to ask themselves what their priority is: to serve their students or the interests of their colleagues? The best-case scenario is they should focus on the needs of their students. Another area which will likely need to be addressed is how to go about setting steps and rules to come to a consensus to accept the changed curriculum. This may process be slower than expected and need to negotiate a settlement. Once they agree upon the changed course title, they should change almost everything, such as the main textbook, supplementary textbooks, teaching materials, syllabus, methods of teaching and evaluation. Even though this may be challenging, it is important to be willing to be part of the process, look at the process and change in a positive way to accept the change, even if it is a radical change. The needs of their students and concentrating on what is most beneficial to them are of utmost importance. Inviting public participation, through budget support, by the government-related institutes is a very effective way to advance higher education. These educational policies will not only motivate and empower the curriculum designers to move forward but also provide justification for change to their colleagues. Since this study focuses on English language programme for EFL teachers and the scope of the study was limited to English language course development for student teachers at universities of education, courses related to pedagogical areas warrant further examination. These include classroom management, knowledge of child psychology, and knowledge of children’s learning styles and strategies (Zein, 2016a, 2017b). Zein (2017b, p. 72), for example, argued that “TESOL teacher educators need to place emphasis on children differential psychology and to design methodological courses aimed to foster childfriendly pedagogy”. These areas are part of the components of the university curriculum under the divisions of Teaching Profession, Subject Education and Creativity Experience Activity, as in Table 10.2 in this study. Other countries in the ASEAN Plus Three context may need to reflect upon the findings of this present study while placing emphasis on knowledge of children in pre-service teacher education as well. The same needs-based approach and methodology of this study can be applied to improve the curriculum of pedagogical areas for EFL preparing teachers in a further study. Further investigations also need to examine how processes at each university of education have resulted in improvements to their curriculum in the past 10 years. The results and suggestions of these additional studies can provide information to discuss and share as well as ideas to develop constructive ways of responding to pre-service EFL teachers’ needs, interests and preferences.

Appendix A Survey questionnaire on teacher qualification and curriculum

This survey is to use the result only for the purpose of education and research. It will be very appreciated if you frankly express your opinion on the curriculum of the university of education. April, 2017 H. D. Kang (Chinju Nat’l Unive. of Edu.)

Basic information 1 Educational Career: (1) Under 5 years, (2) Under 10 years, (3) Under 20 years, (4) Over 20 years 2 Region: (1) Seoul, (2) Chungcheong, (3) Gyeongbuk, (4) Julla, (5) Gyeongin, (6) Busan, (7) Daegu/Ulsan, (8) Gyeongnam (9) Other area 3 Which one is the most important qualification to be an English teacher at the primary school? (1) English proficiency, (2) Knowledge of English, (3) English teaching methods Questionnaire items

Following are the course titles related to the English minor (intensive course) at the university of education in Korea. For its effective curriculum, what do you think about the importance of the course subject? (1 = Least important, 7 = Most important)  1 English education theories  2 English acquisition theories  3 Introduction to linguistics  4 English phonetics  5 English syntax  6 English semantics  7 Introduction to English literature

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 197

 8 Understanding children’s literature 1 2 3 4 5 6 7  9 Understanding English literature  & culture 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 English assessment 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 Teaching English listening  & speaking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 & reading 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 Teaching English reading  13 English teaching practice in classes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 14 Teaching English pronunciation 15 Teaching English vocabulary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 16 Teaching English grammar 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 17 English teaching methods in primary schools 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 18 Teaching English culture 19 Teaching English through children’s literature 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 20 Teaching English through skit activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 21 Storytelling 22 ICT/MALL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 23 Study & analysis of teaching primary English 1  2  3  4  5  6  7 24 Study of English teaching materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 25 Teaching English in unified courses 26 English conversation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 27 English listening  & speaking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 & writing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 28 English reading  29 English reading with comments 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 30 English composition 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 31 English grammar 32 English classroom 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 33 English education methodology 34 English curriculum 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 If you have any course title to recommend for pre-service teacher education except the courses mentioned above, please do so. (translated from Korean)

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198  Hoo Dong Kang Butler, Y. G. (2015). English language education among young learners in East Asia: A review of current research (2004–2014). Language Teaching, 48, 303–342. doi:10.1017/ S0261444815000105 Cameron, S., Mulholland, J., and Branson, C. (2013). Professional learning in the lives of teachers: Towards a new framework for conceptualizing teacher learning. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 41(4), 377–397. doi:10.1080/1359866X.2013.838620 Canh, L.V., and Chi, D. T. M. (2012). Teacher preparation for primary school English education: A case of Vietnam. In B. Spolsky and Y. Moon (Eds.), Primary school English-language education in Asia (pp. 106–128). New York, NY: Routledge. Chazema, J., and O’Meara, J. (2011). National and local sources of power: Important considerations for teacher education reforms in rural Malawi. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 37(4), 471–481. Chen, C. (2012). Planning and implementation of elementary school English in Taiwan. In B. Spolsky and Y. Moon (Eds.), Primary school English-language education in Asia (pp. 129–144). New York, NY: Routledge. Chou, C-H. (2008). Exploring elementary English teachers’ practical knowledge: A case study of EFL teachers in Taiwan. Asia Pacific Education Review, 9(4), 529–541. Chung, Y-J. (2005). Chodeungkyosaeu yeonguhgusaneungreok: Chodeungyeonguh kyojae sokeu kumoonul joongsimuhro (Oral communicative abilities of elementary school teachers in English: On the sentences in the Elementary School English Textbooks). Primary English Education, 11(1), 33–58. Craig, C. J. (2016). The structure of teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 69–135). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Teacher education and the American future. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1–2), 35–47. Dayoub, R., and Bashiruddin, A. (2012). Exploring English-language teachers’ professional development in developing countries: Cases from Syria and Pakistan. Professional Development in Education, 38(4), 589–611. Enever, J. (2014). Primary English teacher education in Europe. ELT Journal, 68(3), 231–242. doi:10.1093/elt/cct079 Flores, M. A. (2016). Teacher education curriculum. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 187–230). Dordrecht,The Netherlands: Springer. Golombek, P. R. (2009). Personal practical knowledge in L2 teacher education. In A. Burns and J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge to guide to second language teacher education (pp. 155– 162). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kabilan, M. K., and Veratharaju, K. (2013). Professional development needs of primary school English language teachers in Malaysia. Professional Development in Education, 39(3), 330– 351. doi:10.1080/19415257.2012.762418 Kang, H. D. (2002). Korea’s recent history of reformation in English Education at the college level. Annual Review of English Learning & Teaching, 7, 31–44. Kang, H. D. (2012). Primary school English education in Korea: From policy to practice. In B. Spolsky and Y. Moon (Eds.), Primary school English-language education in Asia (pp. 59–82). New York, NY: Routledge. Kang, H. D., Min, C., and Kim, J. S. (2014). Kyodae wonamin yeonguhkangsa whalyong hyogahae daehan yeongu (The effects of the English native instructor program at universities of education in Korea). Primary English Education, 20(4), 63–89.

Needs of primary school pre-service teachers 199 Kim, Y-S. (2000). Chodeungyounguh damdang kyosaeu jaegilyeongu (A study on an elementary school English teacher’s competency). Primary English Education, 6(1), 31–62. Kim,Y-T. (2004). Chodeungyeonguhkyokwakyoyuk jeondamkyosa yangseong program gaebal (A development of English teacher training program for teaching elementary school English). English Language Teaching, 16(2), 127–157. Königa, J., Bremerich-Vos, A., Buchholtz, C., Lammerding, S., Strauß, S., Fladung, I., and Schleiffer, C. (2017). Modelling and validating the learning opportunities of pre-service language teachers: On the key components of the curriculum for teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 40(3), 394–412. Korean Ministry of Education. (1997). Jae Chilcha Kyoyukkwajung (The 7th foreign language curriculum). Seoul: Korean Ministry of Education. Korean Ministry of Education. (2009). Echeongoo Gejeong Kyoyukkwajung (The 2009 revision of foreign language curriculum). Seoul: Korean Ministry of Education. Kubanyiova, M., and Feryok, A. (2015). Language teacher cognition in applied linguistics research: Revisiting the territory, redrawing the boundaries, reclaiming the relevance. The Modern Language Journal, 99(3), 435–449. doi:10.1111/modl.12239 Kwon, O. (2011, July). Roles of the government, society, and professionals in the improvement of English education. Paper presented at the 2011Asia TEFL International Conference, Seoul, Korea: AsiaTEFL. Le,V. C., and Do, T. M. C. (2012). Teacher preparation for primary school English education: A case of Vietnam. In B. Spolsky and Y-I. Moon (Eds.), Primary school English-language education in Asia: From policy to practice (pp. 106–121). New York, NY: Routledge. Luke, A., and McArdle, F. (2009). A model for research-based state professional development policy. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 37(3), 231–251. doi:10.1080/13598 660903053611 Richards, J. C. (2015). Key issues in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C., and Farrell, T. S. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shiga, M. (2008). Development of primary English education and teacher training in Korea. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 34(4), 383–396. Statistics Korea, (2010). 2009 Sakyoyukbi Josa (A survey result of private education expenditure in 2009). Retrieved from the World Wide Web www.kostat.go.kr/survey/pedu/index.action Swart, F., de Graaff, R., Onstenk, J., and Knezic, D. (2018).Teacher educators’ personal practical knowledge of language. Teachers and Teaching, 24(2), 166–182. doi:10.1080/13540602 .2017.1368477 Tomlinson, B. (2005). English as a foreign language: Matching procedures to the context of learning. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of eesearch in second language teaching and learning (pp. 137–153). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Wright, W. (2010). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing. Wu, X. (2012). Primary English education in China: Review and reflection. In B. Spolsky and Y. Moon (Eds.), Primary school English-language education in Asia (pp. 1–22). New York, NY: Routledge. Yoon, Y. B., Ihm, H-J., Kim, H-R., Min, D-G., Hong, K-S., Oh, M., and Park, M. (2007). Gyeoyukdaehakkyo yeonguhkyoyukkwa pyojun shimwhakwajeong gaebal yeongu (A Study for the development of a standard curriculum in primary English education as a second major at national universities of education). Primary English Education, 13(1), 95–125.

200  Hoo Dong Kang Yoshida, K. (2012). Issues in the transition of English education from elementary schools to secondary schools. In B. Spolsky and Y. Moon (Eds.), Primary school English-language education in Asia (pp. 23–37). New York, NY: Routledge. Zein, M. S. (2015). Preparing elementary English teachers: Innovations at pre-service level. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(6), 104–120. doi:10.14221/ajte.2015v40n6.6 Zein, M. S. (2016a). Government-based training agencies and the professional development of Indonesian teachers of English for Young Learners: Perspectives from complexity theory. Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(2), 205–223. doi:10.1080/02607476.2016.1143145 Zein, M. S. (2016b). Pre-service education for primary school English teachers in Indonesia: Policy implications. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(S1), 119–134. doi:10.1080/02188 791.2014.961899 Zein, M. S. (2017a). Professional development needs of primary EFL teachers: Perspectives of teachers and teacher educators. Professional Development in Education, 43(2), 293–313. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2016.1156013 Zein, S. (2017b). The pedagogy of teaching English to Young Learners: Implications for teacher education. Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching, 12(1), 61–77.

11 English teacher professional development and the role of professional learning communities to enhance teacher practice and student outcomes in China Sally M. Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini JiangEnglish teacher professional development

Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang Introduction Since the opening of a market-based economic system in the last quarter of the twentieth century, the central government in China has linked achieving economic growth and a need for educational reform designed to meet the challenges of globalisation.This has involved an accelerating series of reforms of curricula and assessment. In particular, the 2010 ten-year National Plan for Education Reform and Development (Chinese Ministry of Education [CMOE], 2010) included the requirement to improve the quality of teaching and teachers’ professional development. Moreover, these policy reforms are in line with the broader goals of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three, a regional forum that facilitates political, economic and educational cooperation, of which China is a member state. In this context, the use of English to facilitate communication plays an increasingly significant role, as does the availability of high-quality English language teaching. However, the extent to which these policy developments have improved the preparation and training of English teachers in mainland China remains debatable and this chapter seeks to provide an overview of the current situation regarding the training and professional development of English teachers. We will draw on published research evidence as well as new findings from the Improving Teacher Development and Educational Quality in China (ITDEQC) project, funded by UKAID (via Economic and Social Research Council [ESRC] Grant RES-167–125–0428), which investigated the existence and relevance of professional learning communities (PLCs) in China to promote student outcomes and teacher development (Thomas, Peng, and Triggs, 2017; Improving Educational Evaluation and Quality in China [IEEQC], 2017). The chapter concludes by discussing what we can learn from the Chinese experience of English Teacher training and development and the implications for improving English teacher preparation in China.

202  Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang Teacher preparation in mainland China

With regard to teacher preparation, there are differences in the requirements for different educational phases in mainland China. Senior high, junior high and primary schooling usually require teachers to have a four-year university, three-year college and three-year secondary vocational school training qualification, respectively. Further, a teacher candidate has to obtain a National Teacher Certificate jiaoshi zige zheng so that he/she is eligible to work in a school (CMOE, 2000). The typical route to becoming an English teacher in China is to apply to study English education yingyu jiaoyu in a university. This programme is offered in both Normal Universities (teacher training colleges) and comprehensive universities and involves students being trained in English language and pedagogical skills. The programme usually requires student teachers to have a one-term practicum in local schools, depending on what the university arrangements are. For those who are not trained in a university, they can still apply to be certified by passing the National Teacher Certificate Exam, which is a state-level test administered by provincial education authorities. Crucially, teaching experience prior to that is not compulsory and graduates of yingyu jiaoyu can request an exemption from certain tests if they have obtained relevant university credits. They can also request an exemption from the interview requirement if evidence is provided of teaching experience over three months. This implies that novice teachers require considerably less practical experience than in some other countries, such as the United Kingdom, prior to certification. The National Teacher Certificate for senior high school English teachers provides the highest level of qualification and comprises five basic requirements: 1) an undergraduate degree and above; 2) Mandarin Chinese proficiency of Grade 2 Level B (erji yideng); 3) passing the National Teacher Certificate Exam, including a written test and interview that involves mock teaching and lesson preparation activities; 4) medical fitness; and 5) evidence of appropriate values and morality (Chinese Teacher Certification [JSZG], 2017). It is used to examine whether prospective teachers have the required values and morality, educational knowledge and ability, subject knowledge and pedagogical competence, and potential for professional development (National Education Examinations Authority [NEEA], 2017). Quality of English teacher preparation

With regard to the required quality of English Teacher Training in China, this is outlined in the ‘National Standards for the Teaching Quality of Undergraduate Courses in Foreign Languages in Chinese Higher Education Institutions’ (Sun et al., 2016). These standards also largely mirror the more generic ‘Professional Standards for Secondary School Teachers’ (CMOE, 2011) in terms of teacher morality, subject and pedagogical content knowledge, and classroom teaching and management (Wang, 2011). However, in spite of the existence of national standards for teacher preparation, researchers claim that the pre-service training

English teacher professional development 203

of English teachers in China is inadequate, particularly in terms of providing relevant content, pedagogical knowledge, professional teaching skills and cultural awareness in the English language (Jiang, 2016). Cheng and Sun (2010) argue the curriculum aims and design of English programmes in Normal Universities are not sufficiently clear, the total hours spent on teacher education courses are inadequate, and some programmes seem to have shifted away from the initial purpose of developing English language teachers to a more general focus on English language learners. Other researchers claim the content of the curriculum is relatively abstract and outdated (He, 2015), and tends to focus more on theoretical knowledge and traditional culture than on pedagogical practices and modern scientific knowledge (Zhou, 2008). Further evidence supporting these assertions is provided by Zhan (2008) who found that over three-quarters (77%) of sampled teachers reported that their teacher education programmes did not inform their teaching practices sufficiently, and only around a third (35%) of teachers agreed that their pre-service training had had a positive impact on their teaching practice. Zhan concluded that to improve pre-service English training there is a need to increase course time, clarify whether the programme is developing English language learners or English language teachers, as well as establish and specify more clearly the knowledge a student English teacher needs. Wang (2015) also evaluated an English teacher education programme in a Chinese university and found that teachers seemed to be positive about the development of their professional knowledge, but nevertheless, also reports insufficient attention given to the practical use of this knowledge in the classroom and how to deal with students in schools. Overall, there are clear concerns about the quality of teacher preparation in the current system, in part due to the outdated quality assurance regulations and practices in the evaluation and accreditation of teacher education institutions (Ren, 2010). This suggests that, given the apparent weaknesses in pre-service education, the induction and continuing professional development of novice English teachers is crucial in developing effective teaching practices. Induction and professional development of teachers in China

The induction of novice teachers typically spans the first three years employed in teaching and includes training organised by regional education authorities and schools, as well as mentoring, class observation, lesson preparation, teaching and research group activities, case study and reflective learning (Lai, 2010). Duan (2004) outlines six main types of continuing professional development activities, some of which are unique to the Chinese context: i) school-based training in collaboration with higher education institutions; ii) researchtraining activities such as designing and implementing an action plan to target a specific teaching and learning issue; iii) collaborative basic education reform training across subjects, year grades, different roles and schools; iv) mobile training programmes, particularly to meet the needs of teachers in remote areas; v) specialised teacher professional development via organisations that promote

204  Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang

teachers’ reflective practice and collaboration with other institutions; and vi) distant learning programmes and networks, involving shared educational resources, particularly aimed at teachers in disadvantaged or rural areas. However, Zhao, Zhou, and Zhu (2009) claim that the most common professional development activities are teaching and research group activities, continuing education courses and training focused on the new curriculum. Importantly the research also reveals the limitations of teachers’ professional development. Around half (40–50%) of survey respondents report that factors such as a heavy workload, inappropriate timetabling, training not meeting their actual needs and no follow-up are restricting the effect of professional training. Specifically, with regard to the in-service professional development of English language teachers, researchers have similarly argued that their professional development is limited and tends to lack practicality, depth and consistency (Ding, Chen, and Sun, 2011). In line with the claims regarding pre-service training, the content tends to be too abstract and academic and does not facilitate an in-depth understanding of the new curriculum in the English language (Yang, 2016). Wang (2011) also found that almost three-quarters (71%) of the sampled English teachers were not satisfied with the organisation of in-service training and report the content is not suited to teachers’ needs. Indeed, over half (51%) of the teachers reported their unwillingness to participate, due to lack of perceived benefits from the training sessions, even though almost threequarters (74%) indicated that they need to improve their English language and pedagogical skills. It is therefore not surprising that Wei (2009) argues inservice professional development courses typically do not address the gaps or weaknesses in English teachers’ pre-service preparation. This issue is especially important given that Cheng and Sun (2010) maintain that new English teachers graduating from Normal Universities have not been adequately and systematically trained in their professional practice. Moreover, Qi (2010) found that the opportunities to receive formal professional training vary by teacher age and professional status. In particular, it is more likely for senior teachers to attend professional training courses at provincial and national levels, which are thought to be more effective compared to training organised at lower administrative levels. Consequently, some junior teachers have negative attitudes towards formal professional training due to lack of opportunities, and this is an unfortunate situation given they seem to have considerable training needs. A key issue also identified by researchers is the variability in the quality of training provided across provinces. In particular, there is a prominent difference between urban and rural English teachers in their professional development practices and training opportunities (Ding et al., 2011). This is partly because urban schools, especially in the more affluent coastal areas of East China, tend to have more funding for professional development activities than rural schools, and the training approaches in urban schools are considered more diverse and effective than those in rural schools (Yang, 2016). It is also argued that, in rural China, English teachers are more likely to have inferior qualifications, weak

English teacher professional development 205

teacher professionalism and less motivation for their professional development; they tend to participate passively in professional development activities, without a strong awareness of the need to improve their own knowledge and skills to enhance their teaching practices (Wang, 2011; Yang, 2016). Sun and Long (2016) in a survey of English teachers in Yunnan Province, Southwest China also found high workload and a lack of resources prevent rural teachers from participating in professional development activities. This evidence is somewhat limited due to the typically small-scale nature of the studies; nevertheless it indicates that more effective delivery of professional development training courses by experienced teachers, especially in rural areas, coupled with reduced workload and better resources, are key factors in the Chinese context to promote the professional development of English language teachers, especially novice teachers. Crucially improvements of this kind are essential to improve teaching practices and address perceived inadequacies in pre-service English teacher training programmes. Professional learning communities and other factors that promote the professional development of English teachers

In terms of informal learning opportunities, Qi (2010) found that lesson observation, reflective teaching, and use of internet information were rated as the topthree most effective approaches for self-learning, and learning from colleagues, experts or via online networks was also reported to be effective. The importance of these kinds of informal activities for teacher learning indicates that the development of schools as PLCs is likely to promote teachers’ professional development, an issue we return to later. Informal opportunities for teacher learning may be especially pertinent given the highly bureaucratic nature of educational administration and training in China, as in some other Asian countries, which is a factor that can lead to a disconnect between teacher training needs and provision and a negative effect on teacher professional development practices (Zein, 2016). Xu, Liu, Wu, and Zhang (2016) have also examined factors that can promote the professional development of new secondary school English teachers and found that the improvement of teachers’ commitment and passion, support from the school, enhancement of teacher professionalism, as well as the development of professional-practice-focused training curriculum, self-regulated learning and reflective ability is essential in promoting the professional development of novice English teachers. Meng (2016) similarly investigated the role of teacher identity in the professional development of English teachers and found there is a statistically significant correlation between teachers’ identity and professional development participation. In general, the stronger English teachers’ identity as a teacher is, the more willing they are to participate in professional development activities.Thus, strengthening these aspects for teachers via an effective PLC may be an important lever in promoting teacher learning and development (Thomas and Peng, 2014). Along similar lines, Nie

206  Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang

(2007) argues that being a teacher is not just taking up an occupation but being a professional, and it is important to create a learning school where every teacher becomes a lifelong learner.Yu (2008) also points out that awareness of responsibility and the pursuit of achievement are critical forces for teachers to undertake self-reflection. Hence, it is important that schools are able to provide an environment to cultivate teachers’ reflective practices, raise their awareness of responsibility and enhance their professional knowledge. These aspects as well as collaborative learning are seen as key aspects of a PLC; thus it is not surprising that Thomas et al. (2017) report that the typically ‘Western’ PLC concept is seen as highly relevant by Chinese stakeholders. Li and Xiong (2012) and Chen and Long (2012) also argue that PLCs should be a part of contemporary teacher education reform and teacher development, and Wang (2017) suggests that PLCs can make the teaching process more transparent, enabling teachers to learn from each other. This evidence points to the strong potential of PLC development in Chinese schools to support the in-service professional learning of teachers, including English teachers, thereby also better addressing weaknesses in teacher preparation.

The need for new research In spite of the weaknesses highlighted in relation to teachers’ in-service training in mainland China, in many respects, the kind of activities reported are typically in line with the findings of international research seeking to better understand and support teacher professional learning (Opfer and Pedder, 2011). However, it is notable that these international analyses tend to be de-contextualised and there is a need for more large-scale empirical context-specific research evidence. Overall, our introduction to teacher training, professional development, and PLCs provides a summary of the issues around teacher training and development currently being debated in China, especially with regard to English teachers. There seems to be a considerable need for quality in-service professional development to enhance effective English teaching and learning practices in China and address the perceived inadequacies in teacher preparation. However, as noted previously, much of the Chinese literature reported in this chapter is methodologically limited, small-scale and non-empirical. Thus we aim to build on the national research knowledge base by presenting the findings from new analyses of a large-scale teacher survey (conducted as part of the ITDEQC project) to examine the reality and extent of English teachers’ professional development in China and their perspectives on PLCs to promote teacher learning. In the following sections we provide an account of the ITDEQC study design, methods and key findings. This is followed by a discussion of the lessons learned from ITDEQC project and the implications of the findings for improving English teacher preparation policy and practice in mainland China and internationally, and in relation to issues of context specificity and school improvement.

English teacher professional development 207

Methodology of improving teacher development and educational quality in China (ITDEQC) project The ITDEQC project involved a detailed survey of 17,000 teachers from more than 100 senior secondary schools conducted in 2012 and more than 70 teacher interviews from four case study schools in three contrasting eastern and western provinces in mainland China. The participants comprised head teachers, deputy head teachers, heads of subject or year groups, and senior and junior class teachers. However, given the focus of this chapter, the survey findings we report here are only from the English teachers (n = 2647) categorised by teacher experience (0–3 years; 4–10 years; 11–20 years; 21 years and over). We focus specifically on separating out the category of novice English teachers during induction with three or fewer years of teaching experience to compare with the views of other teachers, as this group is at a foundational stage in developing their knowledge, skills, professionalism and identity as teachers. The study was located within a large-scale longitudinal quantitative research project examining school effectiveness with regard to academic ‘value added’ performance in the Entrance Exam to Higher Education (EEHE) controlling for the Senior High School Entrance Exam and other student and school background factors, as well as the impact of teachers’ professional development factors on student progress and outcomes. The overall findings and survey results from all teachers are reported elsewhere (Thomas, Peng, and Li, 2015).

ITDEQC findings: key features of teacher professional development in China In line with previous research, stakeholders interviewed in the ITDEQC study typically reported that professional development for serving teachers in China is stratified according to the individual’s role or level of experience. The focus for novice or recently qualified teachers is on basic skills: language and presentation, subject knowledge and use of ICT. For senior teachers, such as heads, deputies and subject leaders, there is training in the new curriculum reforms. Usually whoever is given the leadership responsibility in a school will take the associated training and a focus may be on, for example, improving school efficiency or teaching quality. There is also a National Training Programme which takes many forms and which all teachers are required to be involved in for a specified number of hours in a given period (360 hours within each five-year period). The most evident school-based activity for all teachers is their participation in Teaching and Research Groups. This is a longstanding and deeply embedded feature of life as a teacher in China.Time is allocated for this every week. Membership most frequently relates to the subject taught, though a group may be formed around teachers in a student year group. Activities undertaken in collaboration depend on the school and most commonly include lesson preparation,

208  Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang

textbook writing and resource creation, and analysis of student test and exam outcomes to improve performance. Demonstration lessons and mentoring by a more experienced teacher in a master/apprentice model are also established development activities. Teachers expect to see other teachers teach and to have their lessons observed. They may also enter teaching competitions, give model class lessons/presentations or publish accounts of their research activity, locally or regionally.These activities can be understood as a form of PLC development specific to the Chinese context and, when asked, ITDEQC participants mostly reinforced this view (Thomas et al., 2017). However, the concept of the expert and model lessons is the basis for most provision and the approach is typically top-down. ‘Backbone’ teachers may demonstrate in schools, and experts from universities may lecture in the province or region. The city authority has its own office for Teaching and Research and organises and provides activities and materials. Teachers’ attendance at such events is recorded and head teachers may be required to examine the teacher’s notes of the activity.Teachers may also access different sorts of provision via distance learning and the internet. For example, schools may pay for access to specialist sites where teachers may download resources or past examination papers. ITDEQC participants also reported that professional development is linked to career advancement and teachers’ pay. Self-evaluation related to the results their students get is an important part of this, as are interim and annual assessments by their head teacher. Progress through the designated levels, for example, from second-rank teacher to first-rank teacher is closely defined and regulated. Teachers may fund their own professional development, for example by postgraduate study at the master’s or doctoral level, but there are also funds available at regional or county level, and schools may cover a teacher’s expenses incurred in attending development events. However, there are considerable regional differences in the resources available for teachers’ professional development activities. These findings broadly support and reiterate on a larger scale the findings from previous small-scale research on the extent of teachers’ professional development and the nature of PLCs in China, such as Zhao et al. (2009) and Qi (2010). However, in the next section, we look in detail at the survey results from English teachers and specifically examine the responses regarding training needs of novice English teachers with three or fewer years’ experience, in comparison to more experienced teachers. Taking this approach, we can identify the particular requirements of junior teachers who are still in the early stage of preparing and developing their teaching knowledge, skills and practices, and the relevance of PLCs to support novice teacher learning.

ITDEQC findings: professional development needs of English teachers in China The reported impact of English teachers’ participation in various types of professional development activities, categorised by teacher experience, is shown in Table 11.1. Given the limitations of pre-service training outlined previously, it

English teacher professional development 209 Table 11.1 Impact of participation in professional development activities by teacher experience (and ANOVA results) Impact of participation in professional development activities

Teacher experience 0 to 3 years

4 to 10 years

11 to 20 years

21 years and above

F statistics

P value

Courses/workshops

1.97 (0.94)

1.86 (0.98)

1.77 (0.98)

1.78 (0.96)

3.49

0.02

Education conferences or seminars

1.80 (1.08)

1.78 (1.05)

1.71 (1.01)

1.73 (1.00)

1.18

0.32

Qualification programme

1.30 (1.21)

1.31 (1.19)

1.29 (1.19)

1.32 (1.17)

0.09

0.97

Network of teachers

1.62 (1.11)

1.57 (1.08)

1.50 (1.09)

1.59 (1.04)

1.39

0.25

Individual or collaborative research

1.57 (1.17)

1.57 (1.13)

1.47 (1.12)

1.57 (1.09)

1.45

0.23

Mentoring and/or peer observation and coaching Reading professional literature

2.13 (0.95)

2.15 (0.92)

2.03 (0.93)

2.03 (0.92)

3.41

0.02

1.72 (1.10)

1.69 (1.07)

1.67 (1.05)

1.73 (1.02)

0.35

0.79

Informal dialogue with colleagues

2.12 (0.93)

2.12 (0.95)

2.01 (0.98)

2.03 (0.95)

2.99

0.03

Research project or writing papers

1.52 (1.11)

1.66 (1.11)

1.64 (1.05)

1.66 (1.05)

1.13

0.34

Engaging in planning activities

2.16 (0.89)

2.13 (0.92)

2.00 (0.95)

2.02 (0.91)

3.52

0.01

217

898

1057

475

N = 2647

Note: mean coefficients of 4 scale answers (0: no impact; 1: small impact; 2: moderate impact; 3: large impact). SD in parentheses. Grey shading indicates highest mean score across the four categories.

is not surprising to find that novice teachers, and to some extent also teachers with slightly more experience (4–10 years), are most likely to report a positive impact of professional development activities on their professional practice. Activities highlighted on Table 11.1 appear to have the most impact on novice teachers and included: courses/workshops, mentoring/peer observation, informal dialogue with colleagues and engaging in planning activities, in line with Wang (2017). Interestingly, mentoring/peer observation and informal dialogue with colleagues are typical features of effective PLCs, so these findings underline the value of promoting PLC development in Chinese schools. Meanwhile it is very encouraging that participation in these activities reported by novice teachers was found to be high (between 82%–91%). Nevertheless, importantly, other findings suggest that considerable future training needs remain for English teachers (see Table 11.2). For novice teachers

Table 11.2 The extent of future needs for training in different topics by teacher experience (and ANOVA results) The extent of need for training in different topics:

Teacher experience 0 to 3 years

4 to 10 years

11 to 20 years

21 years and above

F statistics

P value

New SHS curriculum reform

0.84 (0.37)

0.82 (0.38)

0.80 (0.40)

0.82 (0.39)

1.08

0.36

Academic subject knowledge

0.84 (0.37)

0.81 (0.39)

0.80 (0.40)

0.80 (0.40)

0.74

0.53

How to teach in a multicultural setting

0.80 (0.40)

0.78 (0.42)

0.78 (0.42)

0.77 (0.42)

0.19

0.91

Instructional strategies and teaching Teaching content and performance standards Use of ICT skills

0.84 (0.37)

0.80 (0.40)

0.78 (0.41)

0.78 (0.41)

1.52

0.21

0.78 (0.41)

0.75 (0.43)

0.74 (0.44)

0.74 (0.44)

0.53

0.66

0.78 (0.42)

0.77 (0.42)

0.77 (0.42)

0.78 (0.42)

0.15

0.93

Class management

0.78 (0.42)

0.72 (0.45)

0.69 (0.46)

0.71 (0.46)

1.97

0.12

Student discipline and behaviour

0.79 (0.41)

0.75 (0.43)

0.74 (0.44)

0.76 (0.43)

0.96

0.41

Student assessment practices

0.77 (0.42)

0.72 (0.45)

0.71 (0.45)

0.75 (0.43)

1.72

0.16

How to counsel students

0.80 (0.40)

0.79 (0.40)

0.75 (0.43)

0.77 (0.42)

1.77

0.15

Teaching students with special learning needs Psychological development of students Ethics, ideology and politics

0.79 (0.41)

0.78 (0.42)

0.76 (0.43)

0.78 (0.42)

0.80

0.49

0.85 (0.36)

0.80 (0.40)

0.79 (0.41)

0.80 (0.40)

1.39

0.24

0.78 (0.42)

0.78 (0.42)

0.74 (0.44)

0.78 (0.42)

1.74

0.16

School management and administration

0.61 (0.49)

0.56 (0.50)

0.52 (0.50)

0.59 (0.49)

3.96

0.01

217

898

1057

475

N = 2647

Note: mean coefficients of 2 scale answers (0: no need at all/low level of need; 1: moderate/high level of need). SD in parentheses. Grey shading indicates highest mean score across the four categories; bold font indicates novice teacher mean higher by >0.2 in comparison to other categories.

English teacher professional development 211

especially, between 61% and 85% report a moderate or high training need across all professional development topics, although they also typically report that appraisal feedback has led to greater positive changes in key aspects of their teaching practice, in comparison to other teachers (see Table 11.3). It is worth noting that at least some of the additional training needs of novice teachers do seem to be addressed through the teacher appraisal system.Yet in our view this is insufficient and we would argue novice teachers and other teacher development needs could be better supported through school and local authority leaders actively promoting Chinese schools as PLCs. Table 11.4 shows the frequencies of different Teaching and Learning practices in class throughout the school year by teacher experience. Interestingly the findings indicate that novice teachers and those with slightly more experience (4–10 years) are most likely to report teaching and learning practices that are in line with the new curriculum reforms, especially those related to student-centred learning via discussions and group work, and focusing on higher order skills such as problem-solving. Table 11.5 similarly reports the frequencies of different professional development practices throughout the school year. Again, novice teachers report the highest level of engagement in all professional development activities in comparison to other teachers. These findings point to cautious optimism in the sense that novice English teachers, in spite of the Table 11.3 The extent of the feedback leading to changes in different aspects of teaching practice by teacher experience The extent of the feedback leading to changes in:

Total All Teaching experience ANOVA Goups 0 to 4 to 11 to 21 years F statistics P value 3 years 10 years 20 years and above

Your classroom 1.67 management (0.98) practices Your knowledge and 1.85 understanding of (0.94) your main subject field(s) Your knowledge 1.86 and understanding (0.93) of instructional practices Your development 1.79 or training plan (0.94) to improve your teaching (6_2_4) N 2647

1.84 (0.95)

1.72 (0.99)

1.59 (0.96)

1.69 (0.98)

5.81

0.00

2.10 (0.86)

1.91 (0.92)

1.75 (0.94)

1.85 (0.98)

11.41

0.00

2.08 (0.83)

1.91 (0.93)

1.78 (0.93)

1.86 (0.93)

7.89

0.00

2.00 (0.90)

1.83 (0.95)

1.70 (0.94)

1.81 (0.93)

7.64

0.00

217

898

1057

475

Note: mean coefficients of 4 scale answers (0: no change; 1: small change; 2: moderate change; 3: large change). SD in parentheses. Grey shading indicates highest mean score across the four categories.

Table 11.4 The frequencies of different teaching and learning practices in class throughout the school year by teacher experience (and ANOVA results – only statistically significant results shown) The frequencies of the Total all Teaching experience ANOVA following teaching and groups 0 to 4 to 11 to 21 years F statistics P value learning practices in class 3 years 10 years 20 years and above throughout the school year: I ask my students to suggest or to help plan classroom activities or topics At the beginning of the lesson I present a short summary of the previous lesson Students work on projects that require at least one week to complete Students evaluate and reflect upon their own work Students work individually to practice newly taught subject matter Students debate and argue particular viewpoints which may not be their own I check, by asking questions, if the subject matter has been understood Students work in groups based upon their abilities Students make a product that will be used by someone else N

3.81 (1.24)

3.90 (1.25)

3.88 (1.22)

3.77 (1.26)

3.72 (1.23)

2.56

0.05

4.11 (1.19)

4.25 (1.19)

4.18 (1.18)

4.10 (1.20)

3.97 (1.21)

5.07

0.00

2.79 (1.38)

2.93 (1.44)

2.83 (1.40)

2.69 (1.35)

2.83 (1.37)

2.92

0.03

4.01 (1.18)

4.17 (1.16)

4.05 (1.18)

3.99 (1.18)

3.94 (1.20)

2.98

0.03

3.96 (1.26)

4.00 (1.34)

4.06 (1.23)

3.93 (1.27)

3.83 (1.27)

3.89

0.01

3.41 (1.36)

3.51 (1.39)

3.49 (1.37)

3.32 (1.37)

3.42 (1.30)

3.14

0.02

4.14 (1.20)

4.19 (1.23)

4.23 (1.17)

4.11 (1.21)

4.07 (1.20)

3.00

0.03

3.79 (1.34)

3.92 (1.34)

3.86 (1.32)

3.75 (1.36)

3.69 (1.32)

2.92

0.03

2.65 (1.44)

2.81 (1.51)

2.69 (1.47)

2.53 (1.43)

2.78 (1.40)

4.33

0.01

2647

217

898

1057

475

Note: mean coefficients of 5 scales questions (1: never or hardly ever; 2: sometimes (once a year or less); 3: often (3–4 times per year); 4: frequently (monthly); 5: always or very frequently (weekly or more often)). SD in parentheses. Grey shading indicates highest mean score across the four categories.

Table 11.5 The frequencies of different professional development practices throughout the school year by teacher experience (and ANOVA results – only statistically significant results shown) The frequencies of different professional development practices throughout the school year:

Total all Teaching experience ANOVA groups 0 to 4 to 11 to 21 years F statistics P value 3 years 10 years 20 years and above

I modify and improve my practice on the basis of constructive feedback I learn from and with other teachers

4.03 (1.16)

4.19 (1.12)

4.08 (1.14)

4.02 (1.18)

3.92 (1.16)

2.99

0.03

4.22 (1.15)

4.40 (1.03)

4.24 (1.14)

4.23 (1.15)

4.07 (1.19)

4.15

0.01

I discuss teaching methods with colleagues I share professional experiences and successes with colleagues I engage in team teaching

4.26 (1.14)

4.44 (1.00)

4.30 (1.12)

4.26 (1.16)

4.13 (1.15)

3.79

0.01

4.23 (1.14)

4.40 (1.02)

4.28 (1.11)

4.24 (1.15)

4.07 (1.17)

4.49

0.00

4.16 (1.19)

4.33 (1.12)

4.18 (1.18)

4.17 (1.20)

4.05 (1.18)

2.71

0.04

I have dedicated time for classroom observation I have dedicated time to be mentored in a new role I have opportunities for work shadowing I actively seek ideas from colleagues in other schools I actively seek and use feedback from students I carry out classroombased research

4.14 (1.18)

4.32 (1.10)

4.20 (1.16)

4.14 (1.20)

3.98 (1.21)

5.51

0.00

3.39 (1.44)

3.84 (1.34)

3.44 (1.43)

3.29 (1.47)

3.36 (1.41)

10.08

0.00

3.14 (1.54)

3.59 (1.47)

3.17 (1.53)

3.08 (1.56)

3.07 (1.50)

7.82

0.00

3.94 (1.25)

4.16 (1.20)

3.99 (1.23)

3.91 (1.29)

3.84 (1.23)

4.04

0.01

4.10 (1.19)

4.28 (1.10)

4.13 (1.16)

4.09 (1.20)

3.99 (1.22)

3.19

0.02

3.98 (1.25)

4.16 (1.23)

4.02 (1.23)

3.95 (1.26)

3.90 (1.24)

2.61

0.05

I seek and value external ideas about teaching methods

3.97 (1.23)

4.20 (1.12)

3.99 (1.22)

3.97 (1.24)

3.86 (1.24)

3.93

0.01

(Continued)

Table 11.5 (Continued) The frequencies of different professional development practices throughout the school year:

Total all Teaching experience ANOVA groups 0 to 4 to 11 to 21 years F statistics P value 3 years 10 years 20 years and above

I collect/use data and other research evidence to inform my practice

3.90 (1.27)

4.05 (1.26)

3.94 (1.26)

3.92 (1.26)

3.78 (1.29)

2.65

0.05

I give priority to learning more about students’ learning

4.13 (1.18)

4.30 (1.12)

4.18 (1.15)

4.13 (1.20)

4.00 (1.21)

3.55

0.01

The head teacher observes my teaching

2.91 (1.31)

3.09 (1.40)

2.97 (1.32)

2.82 (1.30)

2.92 (1.28)

3.75

0.01

I have opportunities to take on leadership roles I receive training in how to work and learn in teams I participate in teaching competitions I present model lessons

2.23 (1.52)

2.48 (1.63)

2.27 (1.56)

2.13 (1.48)

2.29 (1.47)

4.62

0.00

3.28 (1.43)

3.60 (1.40)

3.41 (1.43)

3.17 (1.44)

3.17 (1.42)

10.39

0.00

2.93 (1.32)

3.12 (1.40)

3.00 (1.32)

2.85 (1.31)

2.87 (1.27)

4.44

0.00

3.07 (1.20)

3.19 (1.22)

3.13 (1.21)

3.01 (1.19)

3.02 (1.16)

2.98

0.03

I use online learning community to enhance my professional development I have protected time for joint planning/ professional development I take responsibility for my own professional learning I use university staff for professional learning I use county-level research staff for professional learning

3.49 (1.38)

3.77 (1.35)

3.54 (1.40)

3.45 (1.38)

3.39 (1.35)

4.91

0.00

3.53 (1.33)

3.74 (1.31)

3.60 (1.33)

3.49 (1.32)

3.40 (1.33)

4.67

0.00

3.82 (1.28)

4.09 (1.19)

3.88 (1.27)

3.78 (1.29)

3.68 (1.30)

5.50

0.00

2.55 (1.44)

2.86 (1.53)

2.55 (1.49)

2.47 (1.40)

2.57 (1.34)

5.07

0.00

2.99 (1.36)

3.28 (1.37)

2.98 (1.42)

2.91 (1.32)

3.03 (1.29)

5.10

0.00

The frequencies of different professional development practices throughout the school year:

Total all Teaching experience ANOVA groups 0 to 4 to 11 to 21 years F statistics P value 3 years 10 years 20 years and above

I use professional/ subject associations for professional learning

3.07 (1.38)

3.30 (1.40)

3.08 (1.42)

2.98 (1.35)

3.11 (1.34)

3.54

0.01

I share information with parents and the community I attend professional development training programmes I participate in curriculum content design or development

3.08 (1.38)

3.40 (1.38)

3.03 (1.42)

3.06 (1.36)

3.07 (1.33)

4.51

0.00

3.08 (1.25)

3.30 (1.30)

3.08 (1.28)

3.04 (1.22)

3.10 (1.23)

2.68

0.05

2.87 (1.44)

3.05 (1.51)

2.89 (1.47)

2.78 (1.41)

2.96 (1.40)

3.08

0.03

I use prefecture-level research staff for professional learning I create conditions for pupils to feel the confidence to learn I experience job rotation

2.85 (1.35)

3.07 (1.40)

2.83 (1.39)

2.80 (1.33)

2.88 (1.30)

2.56

0.05

3.84 (1.27)

4.06 (1.16)

3.88 (1.27)

3.83 (1.28)

3.68 (1.29)

5.06

0.00

2.15 (1.39)

2.40 (1.53)

2.20 (1.41)

2.04 (1.34)

2.16 (1.37)

5.11

0.00

I feedback the outcomes of external courses to colleagues I attend year group meetings

2.99 (1.40)

3.29 (1.47)

2.96 (1.42)

2.97 (1.38)

2.96 (1.35)

3.44

0.02

4.05 (1.22)

4.17 (1.18)

4.12 (1.18)

4.02 (1.26)

3.96 (1.23)

2.71

0.04

I talk to colleagues about classroom management and student behaviour I receive meaningful feedback from colleagues on my working practices I both offer and receive from other teachers reassurance and support

4.05 (1.24)

4.25 (1.12)

4.10 (1.22)

4.06 (1.26)

3.89 (1.27)

4.88

0.00

4.02 (1.24)

4.23 (1.15)

4.05 (1.24)

4.01 (1.25)

3.88 (1.24)

4.25

0.01

4.08 (1.22)

4.27 (1.13)

4.10 (1.23)

4.09 (1.22)

3.96 (1.23)

3.32

0.02

(Continued)

216  Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang Table 11.5 (Continued) The frequencies of different professional development practices throughout the school year: I invite other teachers into my classes to observe, give feedback, etc. I exchange teaching materials with colleagues I engage in discussion about the learning development of specific students I discuss and coordinate homework practice across subjects N

Total all Teaching experience ANOVA groups 0 to 4 to 11 to 21 years F statistics P value 3 years 10 years 20 years and above 3.67 (1.27)

3.94 (1.21)

3.71 (1.27)

3.65 (1.28)

3.56 (1.26)

4.88

0.00

4.09 (1.22)

4.28 (1.07)

4.12 (1.23)

4.09 (1.24)

3.96 (1.22)

3.36

0.02

3.79 (1.29)

3.99 (1.22)

3.81 (1.31)

3.76 (1.30)

3.73 (1.28)

2.84

0.04

3.77 (1.34)

4.02 (1.24)

3.75 (1.37)

3.75 (1.36)

3.79 (1.27)

2.58

0.05

2647

217

898

1057

475

Note: mean coefficients of 5 scales questions (1: never or hardly ever; 2: sometimes (once a year or less); 3: often (3–4 times per year); 4: frequently (monthly); 5: always or very frequently (weekly or more often)). SD in parentheses. Grey shading indicates highest mean score across the four categories; bold font indicates novice teacher mean higher by >0.2 in comparison to other categories.

limitations of pre-service training and their high training needs (Table 11.2), are frequently offered and actively seek opportunities to enhance their teaching practices, especially in those aspects highlighted in bold in Table 11.5. Crucially, many of the highlighted activities of novice English teachers, such as mentoring, observation, dialogue, valuing external ideas and taking responsibility for your own learning are key strategies typically observed in effective PLCs, which bodes well for future PLC development. Moreover, novice English teachers are also more enthusiastic in reporting the relevance and utility of the concept of professional learning communities in the Chinese context (see Table 11.6), and arguably this underlines the strong potential of PLCs to support their professional development. One implication of this finding, in order to address the perceived inadequacies in English teacher preparation, would be for the Chinese government to formally encourage PLC development in schools via new policy actions (see also Thomas et al., 2017). Finally, Table 11.7 presents findings which support and reiterate smaller scale previous research which argues that rural teachers in less affluent areas have fewer opportunities for professional development activities (Ding et al., 2011; Yang, 2016). As can be seen, all teacher groups in LEA3, located in the poorer west of China, are predicted to have less time to participate in both formal

Table 11.6 English teacher views about the relevance and utility of the concept of professional learning communities in the context of Chinese schools Agreement with the following statement:

Total all Teaching experience ANOVA groups 0 to 4 to 11 to 21 years F statistics P value 3 years 10 years 20 years and above

‘A professional learning community’ is a meaningful concept in Chinese schools

4.09 (0.83)

4.20 (0.75)

4.16 (0.80)

4.04 (0.86)

4.00 (0.84)

6.22

0.00

‘A professional learning community’ exists in Chinese schools

3.97 (0.84)

3.98 (0.80)

4.06 (0.79)

3.93 (0.87)

3.90 (0.89)

5.82

0.00

‘A whole school professional learning community’ exists in this school

3.97 (0.85)

4.07 (0.75)

4.03 (0.82)

3.93 (0.88)

3.92 (0.88)

4.19

0.01

N

2647

217

898

1057

475

Note: mean coefficients of 5 scale answers (1: strongly disagree; 2: disagree; 3 uncertain; 4: agree; 5: strongly agree). SD in parentheses. Grey shading indicates highest mean score across the four categories.

Table 11.7 Predicted probabilities for numbers of lesson hours of teachers with different teaching experience in different local authorities (LEAs) participating in formal/informal PLC activities in last 18 months (formal = workshops, conferences/seminars, qualification programme; informal = discussion in group and informal feedback and support from colleagues) LEA

Teaching experience

0 to 50 hours

51 to 100 hours

101 to 200 hours

More than 200 hours

LEA1

0 to 3 years 4 to 10 years 11 to 20 years > 20 years

0.89/0.96 0.86/0.86 0.81/0.85 0.78/0.86

0.08/0.01 0.10/0.04 0.12/0.05 0.14/0.04

0.03/0.02 0.03/0.08 0.04/0.08 0.05/0.08

0.01/0.01 0.01/0.02 0.02/0.02 0.03/0.02

LEA2

0 to 3 years 4 to 10 years 11 to 20 years >20 years

0.50/0.68 0.51/0.70 0.49/0.68 0.50/0.71

0.27/0.08 0.27/0.08 0.27/0.08 0.27/0.08

0.15/0.18 0.14/0.17 0.15/0.18 0.14/0.16

0.08/0.06 0.08/0.06 0.09/0.06 0.08/0.05

LEA3

0 to 3 years 4 to 10 years 11 to 20 years > 20 years

0.72/0.80 0.66/0.75 0.68/0.70 0.64/0.70

0.18/0.06 0.21/0.07 0.20/0.08 0.22/0.08

0.07/0.11 0.09/0.13 0.08/0.16 0.10/0.16

0.03/0.03 0.04/0.04 0.04/0.06 0.05/0.05

218  Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang

and informal professional development activities, in comparison to equivalent teacher groups in a more affluent coastal region (LEA2). Interestingly the teachers with the least time for formal and informal professional development activities are those in a less affluent eastern region (LEA1). This is most likely due to the additional government professional development funding support specifically for poorer western regional schools (CMOE, 2010), which does not take account of rural teachers’ needs in less-deprived eastern areas. Moreover, remarkably, novice teachers in LEA1 and LEA3 are likely to be predicted to have less total professional development hours in comparison to more experienced teachers, supporting the findings of Qi (2010), and this approach seems counterproductive given the limitations of pre-service training and the Chinese government’s stated emphasis on improving training quality (CMOE, 2010). Again these findings point to the potential of PLC development and improved within-school support to better address the training needs of novice English teachers. The probabilities were estimated in cumulative logit model for ordinal responses, with LEA, teaching experience, and the interactions between LEAs and teaching experience as explanatory variables.

Discussion and conclusion Since 2010, the ‘National Training Plan for Primary and Secondary School Teachers’ has been implemented to enhance the effectiveness of teacher training and professional development to promote a high-quality teacher workforce in China (CMOE & Ministry of Finance, 2010). Nonetheless, the ITDEQC findings suggest that further improvements in resources, time and opportunities are required to address the substantial perceived training needs of English teachers, although reassuringly novice teachers do report an active involvement in many types of professional development activities and emphasise the value of feedback to improve their teaching practice. As noted previously, the issue of improving English teaching preparation in China is particularly important as a member of the ASEAN Plus Three forum, given the increasing need to use English to facilitate cooperation. In terms of lessons learned from the ITDEQC project, an important strategy could be to enhance teachers’ professional development and training via the development of PLCs in Chinese schools, as similarly noted in other international contexts (Harris, Jones, and Huffman, 2017). Based on the ITDEQC findings, it is evident that the school-based activity of Teaching and Research Groups in Chinese schools can be understood as a context-specific form of PLCs, or smaller sub-PLCs, illustrated in part by the strong recognition of novice English teachers of the relevance and utility of the PLCs concept. However, in spite of its potential leverage and value for promoting teacher development and school improvement, it is clear that the PLC approach needs to be adapted for the Chinese context and supported further to enhance English teacher practice and student outcomes in China, particularly in areas of

English teacher professional development 219

reflective professional enquiry and inclusive membership (Thomas et al., 2017). We would also argue that new Chinese national and regional government policy and support is needed to better develop schools as PLCs, and this would provide a useful framework to ensure the benefits of both informal and formal learning opportunities are shared by all professionals working in a school. A fairer allocation of higher quality national and provincial training opportunities for novice teachers would also be welcomed. Overall, a focused and more systematic development of PLCs in Chinese schools may be particularly important given there is strong evidence of a mismatch between pre-service teacher preparation for English language teachers and their in-service development (Cheng and Sun, 2010;Wei, 2009;Yang, 2016; Zhou, 2008). Student teachers generally lack sufficient thinking on what problems they might encounter in teaching practice (Opfer, 2016), and stronger formal and informal supporting structures are crucial to improve the alignment of their pre-service preparation to qualification accreditation, and to in-service professional training and development. Hence, there is a pressing need for the Chinese government to develop a holistic teacher development system that can link up the pre-service teacher preparation with in-service teacher training, especially in terms of ‘curriculum integration’ (Wei, 2009; Cheng and Sun, 2010; Zhong and Wang, 2016). Research has suggested that better curriculum alignment and a smoother transition from pre-service to in-service training requires closer collaboration among novice teachers, language teacher educators and school administrators. More teaching practice and improved mentoring and reflective professional enquiry opportunities during teacher preparation courses that can be continued into novice teachers’ first years would also enhance this transition (Farrell, 2012, Mann and Tang, 2012). Arguably, better transitions are also more likely to be achieved via developing schools as PLCs. Moreover, the ITDEQC findings suggest key areas of training needs that are highest for novice teachers, and therefore could be better incorporated into the teacher preparation curriculum and the process of novice teachers transitioning to the job. These include: academic subject knowledge, instructional strategies, teaching content and performance standards, class management, student discipline, and behaviour and psychological development of students (see Table 11.2). In conclusion, this chapter has highlighted the current issues and debates around the professional development practices of English language teachers in China and sought to address the limitations of previous literature by presenting new large-scale evidence from the ITDEQC project on this topic.The ITDEQC findings establish that novice English teachers have considerable training needs, and this is in line with previous research in the Chinese context (Wang, 2017), as well as the international evidence of Jensen, Sandoval-Hernández, Knoll, and Gonzalez (2012). The ITDEQC findings also highlight the strong potential for PLCs to support English teacher development, and this approach may provide a key strategy to address perceived weaknesses in pre-service and in-service training.We hope that this new evidence provides food for thought for policymakers

220  Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang

and practitioners in China and elsewhere in terms of the encouraging variety of professional development activities that Chinese teachers are engaged in, as well as their significant training needs and an urgent requirement to better align the preparation and development of English teachers throughout their careers, but especially during pre-service and induction periods.

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222  Sally M.Thomas, Lei Zhang and Dini Jiang Wang, H.Y. (2011). Zhiyue zhongxiaoxue yingyu jiaoshi zhuanyehua fazhan de yinsu fenxi yu duice – yixiang jiyu jixu jiaoyu guannian yu xianzhuang de diaocha yanjiu [Analysis of the factors that affect the professional development of primary and secondary school teachers: An investigation into the values and status of continuing professional development]. Neimenggu shifan daxue xuebao (Jiaoyu kexue ban), 24(2), 129–131. Wang, P. (2015). An evaluation of the preservice English teacher education in a university in China: Pros and cons from an insider’s journey of learning. Journal of Pedagogy, 6(1), 11–174. doi 10.1515/jped-2015-0008 Wang,Y. M. (2017). Jiyu xuexi gongtongti de zhongxue yingyu jiaoshi zhuanye fazhan [The professional-learning-communities-based professional development of English teachers in Chinese secondary schools]. Heilongjiang jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao, 36(2), 24–26. Wei, M. (2009).Yingyu jiaoshi jiaoyu zhi qian zhi hou yitihua kecheng tixi ji shijian moshi [Curriculum and practical models on the integration of English teachers’ pre-service and in-service education]. Jiaoyu kexue, 25(4), 59–64. Xu, G. H., Liu, Y., Wu, L. J., and Zhang, C. (2016). Cujin xin jiaoshi kuaisu zhuanye fazhan de guanjian yinsu yanjiu – yi san ming zhongxue yingyu xin jiaoshi wei gean de tanxi [Factors that can promote the professional development of new teachers: A case study of three new English teachers]. Zhongxiaoxue jiaoshi peixun, 12, 24–28. Yang, H. (2016). Xin kegai beijing xia zhongxue yingyu jiaoshi zhuanye fazhan tanxi [The professional development of English teachers in secondary schools under the new curriculum reform]. Jiaoyu tansuo, 3, 120–121. Yu, Z. F. (2008). Guanyu jiaoshi fansi nengli de jidian sikao [A few thoughts on teachers’ reflective abilities]. Yangzhou daxue xuebao (Gao jiao yanjiu ban), 12(6), 24–26. Zein, S. (2016). Factors affecting the professional development of elementary English teachers. Professional Development in Education, 42(3), 423–440. doi:10.1080/19415257.2015.1 005243 Zhan, S. (2008). Changes to a Chinese pre-service language teacher education program: Analysis, results and implications. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 36(1), 53–70. doi:10.1080/13598660701793392 Zhao, M. R., Zhou, J., and Zhu, X. D. (2009). Beijing shi zhongxiaoxue jiaoshi canyu zhuanye fazhan huodong xianzhuang yu xuqiu de diaocha yanjiu [A survey on the participation and needs of primary and secondary school teachers’ professional development]. Jiaoshi jiaoyu yanjiu, 21(1), 62–67. Zhong, W. H., and Wang, W. W. (2016). Guojia biaozhun beijing xia wo guo yingyu lei zhuanye jiaoshi nengli goucheng yu fazhan tixi jianshe [The construction and development system of professional qualities for English teachers in China]. Waiyu jie, 6, 2–8. Zhou, Q. (2008).Yingyu xueke jiaoshi jiaoyu gaige xin yi [New discussion on the reform of English teacher education]. Jiaoyu yanjiu, 7, 85–87.

Part IV

Teacher preparation and policy

12 Teaching renovation and efficiency Khanh-Linh Tran-Dang and Marianne TurnerTeaching renovation and efficiency

Education policy as an affordance for Task-Based Language Teaching in pre-service teacher education in Vietnam Khanh-Linh Tran-Dang and Marianne Turner Introduction Teacher education in Vietnam

In Vietnam, an extensive long-term policy called The National Foreign Language 2008–2020 Project was launched in order to address the perceived language proficiency gaps between the Vietnamese workforce with those from other ASEAN countries. The goal was for graduates from secondary, vocational and higher education to communicate confidently in English in a range of contexts by 2020 (Vietnamese Prime Minister’s Office, 2008). To realise this goal, the Project assigned a specific language proficiency outcome for students and teachers at different educational levels by drawing on the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – Learning, Teaching, Assessment” by the Association of Language Testers in Europe. According to this Project, preservice English language (EL) teachers are now obliged to reach C1 (advanced) upon graduation, and prepare their primary students (Year 1–5) for A1 (elementary), their lower secondary students (Year 6–9) for A2 (elementary) and their upper secondary students (Year 10–12) for B1(pre-intermediate) (Phuong and Nhu, 2015;Vietnamese Prime Minister’s Office, 2008). Different measures have been implemented to realise the established targets. The most conspicuous measure has been the reinforcement of ELT reforms. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) entered policy in 1996 as a way to teach English more communicatively, and there has been an increasing move towards real-world use of English since that time. For example, the launch of new secondary textbooks (Year 6 to Year 12) occurred during 2002–2008, and the stipulation of communicative tasks in the secondary EL curriculum in 2008 (Loi, Dung, and Nhan, 2002; MOET, 2008, 2012). The new textbooks and the new curriculum were considered fundamental reforms towards a communicative, learner-centred, task-based approach (Barnard and Nguyen, 2010; Canh and Barnard, 2009; Hoang, Nguyen, and Hoang, 2006). In primary and tertiary

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EL education, communication-oriented textbooks such as Let’s Go (Oxford), Families and Friends (Oxford), New Interchange (CUP) and New Cutting Edge (Longman) are used to realise these proficiency outcomes. Contemporary ELT reforms in Vietnam, therefore, suggest a need for EL teacher education to prepare pre-service teachers for communication-oriented teaching, and TBLT, the subject of this chapter, falls under this umbrella. A number of regional researchers such as Barnard and Nguyen (2010), Canh and Barnard (2009), Dang (2016), and Hamano (2008) have pinpointed problems inherent in TBLT implementation in Vietnam and similar EFL teaching contexts in the region. These researchers also considered EL teacher educators as one of the stakeholders best positioned to solve those problems. Teacher education in Vietnam occurs under the management of Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in two main sectors: pre-service and inservice teacher training. Whereas pre-service training is the responsibility of universities and colleges of education, in-service training is mainly assigned to provincial Departments of Education and Training (DOETs). The degree of collaboration between DOETs and education institutions varies. Colleges affiliated to national universities or national junior colleges 1 function independently from DOETs as they report directly to MOET. On the other hand, provincial junior colleges, which train primary and lower secondary pre-service teachers for provincial schools, are expected to consult with their provincial DOETs regarding training scope and quotas. Although both sectors are key stakeholders in teacher education and education reforms, each has independent training programmes supervised by MOET. In this chapter, we focus on policy which impacts pre-service teacher education in the context of ELT reform in Vietnam. As well as the reforms around the communicative teaching and learning of English, two other policies also have a significant impact on pre-service teacher education. First, the Higher Education Reform Agenda (HERA), approved in 2005, has earmarked the tertiary sector for comprehensive reform by 2020 (Harman, Hayden, and Pham, 2010). Second, as part of the tertiary sector, pre-service teacher education has been involved in the process of shifting from the academic-year training system to the credit-based training system since 2006. This shift has necessitated a considerable reduction of class time and a review of the whole training course to fit reduced class time and new course structures. Along with the 2008–2020 Project’s requirement to improve language proficiency outcomes, the HERA placed an urgent need for EL teacher educators to renovate their “lecture style” teaching practice (Hamano, 2008, p. 406) so that students (pre-service teachers) would be able to take a more active role in their own learning. Collaboration between (1) teacher education institutes, (2) schools, and (3) education administrative authorities was also a MOET (2011) directive aimed at guaranteeing uniformity in the design and operation of the new teaching curricula in schools and education in general after 2015. Although pre-service teacher education has the potential to play a significant role in the implementation of education policies (Hamilton and Loughran,

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2016), there has been scant research into how Vietnamese teacher educators enact ELT reform policies (and education policies in general). This chapter reports on a case study aiming to help fill this gap in literature. In particular, it seeks to understand Vietnamese EL teacher educators’ perceptions and practice of TBLT. In doing so, it attempts to provide insight into the particularity of TBLT in the Vietnamese pre-service teacher education context, and to contribute to literature on EL teacher education in a nuanced and situated way (see Hamilton and Loughran, 2016). In the chapter, we examine Vietnamese teacher educators’ perceptions of current education policies as providing opportunities and/or constraining their preparation of pre-service EFL teachers for TBLT.We will begin by reviewing literature on TBLT. Following this, we will elaborate on the notion of ‘affordance’ – the theoretical construct we use to investigate the teacher educators’ relationship with influential education policies. We will then discuss the study itself and how different policies were found to play a significant role in the teacher educators’ perceptions and practice of TBLT. Task-based language teaching

In TBLT, communicative tasks are key, “serv[ing] not only as major components of the methodology but also as units around which a course may be organised” (Littlewood, 2004, p. 324). As such,TBLT is understood as “a development within [Communicative Language Teaching – CLT]” (Littlewood, 2014, p. 350; Nunan, 2004, p. 10; Richards, 2005, p. 29) or “an offset of CLT” (Kumaravadivelu, 2006, p. 66). In particular, TBLT is often referred to as a strong version of CLT while the well-established Present-Practice-Produce (PPP) lesson sequence a weak version (Littlewood, 2013; Long, 2016). Resting on the assumption that exposure to purposeful language use and communication in a language can lead to language acquisition in a natural process (Littlewood, 2013), TBLT requires the teacher to assign learners with tasks that trigger language use. The tasks assigned can be weak – ‘focused’ and ‘structure-trapping’, or strong – ‘unfocussed’ and ‘real-world’ – (Ellis, 2009; Long, 2016; Skehan, 1998). In addition, TBLT teachers are supposed to allow students to explore the language necessary for fulfilling the tasks (Butler, 2011). The learning process is, therefore, less structured or observable than that in the PPP lesson, with the teacher playing the role of facilitator rather than knowledgetransmitter (Littlewood, 2013). A teaching approach combining TBLT tasks with a small proportion of enabling tasks (Estaire and Zanon, 1994) or linguistic exercises (Ellis, 2003; Long, 2016; Skehan, 1998) such as uncontextualised grammar exercises or substitution drills can be called task-supported language teaching (Ellis, 2009; Littlewood, 2014; Long, 2016). The levels of task-support can vary according to the extent to which meaning-focused tasks are incorporated. The PPP lesson model, for example, can involve both weak and strong TBLT tasks in the production stage, but the majority of class time is spent on presenting and practising the target language rather than having students explore language use in this final stage.

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The PPP model, therefore, can be classified as task-supported language teaching (Ellis, 2003, 2009). Lastly, in TBLT, there is some confusion over what constitutes a ‘task’. Tasks are supposed to bear four characteristics: (1) a primary focus on ‘meaning’, (2) a ‘gap’ to fill, (3) an opportunity for learners’ own resources (both linguistically and non-linguistically) and (4) a clearly defined outcome other than the use of language (Ellis, 2009). Furthermore, Long (2016, p. 5) categorises four main conceptualisations of ‘task’ in literature. The first type is simply an alternative term for any linguistic exercise or activity in textbooks. The second type represents any classroom activity a writer refers to, such as ‘problem-solving’, ‘question-answer exchanges’, and ‘prepared role plays’ (see also Bruton, 2002, p. 282). The third type refers to tasks with some degree of communicativeness but still aiming at practising certain linguistic items. The fourth type is what Long refers to as ‘genuine’ tasks – real-world communicative use of language. In the same vein, Long (2016, p. 6) argues that only the teaching approach in which “the task syllabus stands alone, not as one strand in a hybrid of some kind” should be referred to as TBLT; otherwise ‘task-supported language teaching’ as suggested by Ellis (2009) would be a more suitable term. For the purpose of examining TBLT from the teacher educators’ perspectives, this study follows Littlewood’s (2004) conceptualisation of TBLT as a continuum from task-supported language teaching to task-based instruction, and takes the four characteristics given earlier (Ellis, 2009) as what constitutes a task. Affordances

In this study, education policies have been conceptualised as affordances in order to explore teacher educators’ perceptions of contextual opportunities and constraints for their implementation of TBLT in pre-service teacher education in Vietnam. Originally Gibson’s (1986) term, an affordance denotes the entangled relationship between an organism and a feature of the environment (Letiche and Lissack, 2009). “What becomes an affordance depends on what environmental properties an organism perceives and considers relevant from the point of view of action and, finally, what this organism does in order to create this relationship” (Tella and Harjanne, 2007, p. 501). Affordances are, therefore, ascribed to neither the quality of the actor nor the quality of the environment separately but they are “properties taken with reference to the observer,” (Gibson, 1986, p. 143) when the observer can see a particular meaning in an object (either tangible or intangible) for a particular purpose (Letiche and Lissack, 2009). “Affordances occur when self and other, perceiver and perceived, objects and persons meet in actionable combinations” (Lissack, 2012, p. 161). In the context of educational reforms, policies for changes in education may or may not constitute an affordance. When a stakeholder recognises an opportunity or constraint that is presented to him/her in his/her context and takes further action, we can say the action is afforded by the recognition of this opportunity or constraint. The affordance construct allows us to interpret the

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relationship between education policies and teacher educators’ perceptions and practices of TBLT.

The study This chapter draws on a qualitative doctoral study designed to investigate teacher educators’ perceptions and practice of TBLT alongside the factors shaping their decisions about TBLT. The research was conducted on the campuses of two Vietnamese education colleges during the first semester of academic year 2014–2015. One college was affiliated with the Provincial People’s Committee (i.e. a provincial arm of the government) where the college was based. The other was affiliated directly with the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), and had a higher status than the former. Four English language teacher educators were recruited from each college. All eight TE participants of the study were females, ranging from their late twenties to early fifties. Two of the participants held key positions in their colleges – one being head of the English Division under the Foreign Languages Department of one college; the other head of the English Department in the other college. The research questions addressed in this chapter are: 1 How do Vietnamese English language teacher educators perceive TBLT? 2 How do education policies shape these perceptions? Data collection and analysis

To uncover the multiple meanings that Vietnamese EL teacher educators have constructed about TBLT in the setting of Vietnam pre-service EL teacher education, the study drew on the social constructivist worldview with its core assumption that individuals develop an understanding about TBLT through their own experiences (Creswell, 2009; Merriam, 2009).To achieve this, instead of observing and evaluating the participants’ teaching from the researcher’s own perspective, the participants were invited to share what they thought about their work, how their work was shaped in “their natural [teaching] settings” (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000, p. 3; Merriam, 2009, p. 17). Data were collected from: 1) individual interviews with researcher; 2) demonstration classes observed by peer participants in conjunction with the researcher; 3) focus-group discussions among participant observers following each demonstration class; and 4) documents and work samples. Table 12.1 summarises the participants and the data collection process. The interviews, of which six were conducted in English and two in Vietnamese, according to the preference of the participants, covered both the participants’ perceptions of language teaching in general and of TBLT in particular. Peer-observed demonstration classes took place during normal class hours. The participant observers were mainly from the same college except for the exchange visit by the English Division and the department heads of the two

57’ English 32’ English 43’Vietnamese

38’ English 52’ Vietnamese 29’ English 28’ English 45’ English

Doan (English Division Head) Lam

Anh

Ha, Kim, Linh* Ha, Lam, Anh, Linh*

Listening & Speaking (100’) English-Vietnamese Translation (100’) Teaching English to Young Learners (150’) EL Teaching Methodology (primary education) (100’) Reading (100’) Writing (100’) EL Teaching Methodology (junior secondary education) (100’)

1(Ha)

1 (Thuy)

Doan, Ha, Thuy, Linh* Doan, Ha, Linh*

Doan, Ha, Le, Linh*

6 (Lam, Kim, Anh, Thuy, Le, Hoang) 1 (Le)

1 (Kim)

5 (Anh, Ha, Thuy, Le, Hoang) 2 (Kim’s & Doan’s classes) 2 (Lam & Doan)

Class observation (N = 8)

Doan, Hoang, Linh*

Ha, Doan, Linh*

Lam, Kim, Linh*

Observer

EL Teaching Methodology (100’)

Class

Class demonstration (N = 8)

NB: Linh* was the researcher; participants in white rows (from Doan to Anh) are from White Sand College, grey rows from Blue Stone College

Hoang

Le

Ha (Department Head) Thuy

Kim

Interview (N = 8)

Participant (N = 8)

Table 12.1 The research setting and data collection methods

2 (with Doan, Ha, Thuy) 2 (with Doan, Ha)

2 (with Le, Doan, Ha)

3 (with Lam, Ha, Doan) 2 (with Ha, Doan, Kim, Lam) 7 (with all)

3 (with Ha, Kim, Anh)

6 (with all)

Group discussion (N = 8)

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colleges. Then, in the group discussions, the demonstration participants and the observing participants discussed the classes, mainly in English. In addition, three types of documents were collected throughout the research period: (1) policyrelated documents such as decrees, circulars, decisions, reports and meeting minutes; (2) teacher educators’ professional resources, such as curricula, course descriptions, lesson plans, and academic reports; and (3) work samples produced by the pre-service teachers from the observed classes. Observation of the demonstration classes was designed with a dual purpose: (1) to see how the demonstration participants transferred their teaching beliefs as articulated during the interviews into their classroom activities, and (2) to provide real classroom contexts for peer participants to evaluate and discuss their teaching practices in focus groups. In this way, evidence about the teacher educators’ perceptions was collected with minimal interference from the researcher during class demonstration and focus-group discussion. The researcher’s role was to moderate the discussions, pose prescheduled questions, and actively encourage group members to participate (Wilkinson, 2011). Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was employed to analyse the data. During this recursive process, the transcribed data were first colour coded after the research questions during the open-coding phase to generate initial home codes. Once all data had been coded, translated and participant-checked (where necessary), compared, contrasted and categorised, the lengthy texts were reduced into categories of “significant instance” (Stake, 1995, p. 74) or “themes” that were understood to be the research findings (Julien, 2008, p. 121). The themes discussed in this chapter were then analysed using the theoretical construct of affordances as well as research on TBLT.

Findings and discussion The main policies that were found to afford teacher educators’ engagement with TBLT were the National Project 2008–2020 and the Higher Education Reform Agenda (HERA) 2005–2020, and not the policies directly related to ELT reform. ELT reform policy aimed at in-service teacher education included the implementation of TBLT in EL curricula at primary and secondary levels, but seven out of eight teacher educators were not aware that teachers were required to teach using the TBLT approach as per this policy. This may have related to the frequent separation between pre-service education and DOETs in terms of school ELT reform, as stated at the beginning of the chapter. The higher education policies, on the other hand, were found to have a greater influence on teacher educators’ decision-making. The HERA was found to afford the teacher educators a certain space for autonomy while the Project 2008–2020 (and part of the HERA) was found to push them to renovate their teacher education programme. The affordances of teacher autonomy and renovation of teaching programmes are discussed in the following subsections.

232  Khanh-Linh Tran-Dang and Marianne Turner Teacher autonomy

Teacher educators from both colleges reported a certain level of freedom in their choice of teaching content, including teaching materials and teaching methods. However, choices were not only influenced by policy but also by the leadership style in each college. The leader at White Sand College (Doan) was found to have a more ‘laissez-faire’ management style, whereas the leader at Blue Stone College (Ha) was found to have a more authoritative style. This appeared to have influenced teacher educators’ engagement with TBLT but a degree of autonomy was reported by all eight participants. First, at White Sand College, Doan reported that she had read about TBLT on the Internet but it did not make an impact until she experienced it in a language-training course for tertiary EFL teachers. She professed herself to be interested in how the trainers set the goal for each lesson, then assigned tasks for the class to work towards that goal, and finally elicited opinions about language use while giving feedback to task performances. After observing the trainers and experiencing task-based learning, she started using that strong version of TBLT in her classes: Nobody asked us to use TBLL [Task-based Language Learning] or TBLT, . . . But since I attended a training course in X [name of a city], I observed a master trainer work in our training course and see that it was TBLT . . . it was similar to what I read on the Internet about TBLT. And I think that is very good, why I don’t apply to my students? (Doan, interview) Enthusiastic about her experience as a language learner in a strong TBLT class model, Doan was observed to implement a strong version of TBLT and believed she had been successful with the teaching approach in most of her classes, particularly in her Teaching Methodology classes (Doan, interview, class demonstration and discussion following her own demonstration). Doan’s implementation of TBLT involved applying her experience with TBLT as a learner. In that TBLT model, tasks were used as a teaching tool, so her perception of TBLT was more inclined to that pedagogical aspect of task, without an awareness of a syllabus based on tasks as in Long’s model (2016) mentioned earlier in the chapter. Doan also reported that, at White Sand College, each individual TE was given a certain amount of freedom when it came to teaching methods and teaching materials as long as the chosen materials were understood to be effective for students’ learning. Anh, who also worked at White Sand College, reinforced this approach. Two relevant extracts from interviews appear in the following extract: We have more freedom [compared to secondary teachers] in the course books, in designing the activities and using our time because the college

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just show their interest in the outcomes, not in the process of teaching. . . . Our teacher [educators] usually don’t follow a certain course book. They may collect materials from different course books. . . . So, we are not prescribed with course books. [The teachers] have the freedom to choose the materials from a book but they may also adapt them. (Doan, interview) The teacher [educators] have the freedom to choose the techniques, to choose the approach to follow, either Communicative, either TBLT, or sometimes, sometimes we can use a little bit of Grammar-Translation if we think it is appropriate, it is suitable, it is effective for that specific class. (Anh, interview) The freedom in choosing textbooks and reference materials at White Sand College was considered by Anh and the other teacher educators as both an opportunity and a constraint for the inclusion of TBLT. For subjects with high availability of commercial materials (e.g. books for the teaching of the four macro skills, grammar, or ELT methodology), teacher educators had the opportunity to choose materials consistent with their teaching approach and they incorporated TBLT according to this approach. For example, Kim reported that she found TBLT best suited to the speaking and listening units because of the abundant materials available, but not for teaching translation due to a lack of teaching materials and because she “[did] not see much space for TBLT in this subject” (Kim, interview, translation first author). However, for Anh, the freedom could be overshadowed by the lack of teaching materials in teaching units like Methodology and Interpretation. This appeared to create extra workload in preparing tasks: Now I teach only Methodology and Interpretation. In the methodology [unit], we do not have one course book for the course. We choose the materials from a variety of materials. Sometimes it is an advantage in that we can have a look at different views on one thing. But it is a disadvantage when we have to spend a lot of time looking for things, organising tasks, making the plans and then teach, very time-consuming and expertiseconsuming, demanding, and energy-consuming. (Anh, interview) The reality of TBLT at White Sand College was thus considerably diverse, ranging from real-world tasks in Doan’s and Anh’s ELT Methodology classes, to focused tasks in the skills classes by all the four participants. Especially, in the case of Kim, despite her deep understanding of TBLT as expressed through the interview and group discussions, Grammar Translation Method (GTM) dominated the class activities with students working on linguistic exercises in her observed demonstration class.

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In Blue Stone College, the leader Ha, like Doan in White Sand College, imitated the model of TBLT that she experienced in her pre-service training, during which a teacher educator in charge of Speaking assigned drama scripting and performing to groups of five to seven students as a major learning and assessment component. Following her favourite teacher educator, Ha assigned out-of-class tasks to her own classes. For her Speaking class, each student was required to make two video clips each semester, recording their authentic conversations with “Westerners” at a public place or place of interest in the city. In Ha’s reflection, this task type had been a great success for over five years (Ha, interview). However, due to her extensive experience as a learner in GTM language classes Ha admitted she had formed a long-rooted mindset of teaching in the traditional way. She did not feel the need to turn completely to such ‘trendy’ Communicative Language Teaching methods as TBLT. She reasoned: Younger cohorts (of EFL teachers) may have another orientation, but I was taught English in GTM and my mindset has been established in that orientation. . . . Now I face the contradiction between what I believe to be not bad with the newer teaching trends which conflict with GTM, and this gets stuck in my mind. . . . Researchers may give me the answer regarding this, but I’m still in two minds. (Ha, focus group discussion after Kim’s demonstration class, translation first author) Ha’s interaction with TBLT thus was triggered by her positive experience with tasks as a language learner, but her implementation of tasks did not go further than the use of the models from her own learning. Her more intensive learning experience with GTM in the classroom may have overshadowed other possible uses of tasks. Ha’s experience-based implementation of tasks extended to other department members at Blue Stone College (Hoang, Thuy and Le) as a result of her authoritative management in her position of departmental Head: I don’t think all the teachers can fulfil the three stages of TBLT, even in its weaker form [PPP]. Yet, my orientation is for all members to master the three stages, that is instruction of task, task performance and review of performance. . . . The out-door activities [TBLT tasks] require hard work on planning and marking; some teachers accept the idea; some do not, but everyone is supposed to do it for their classes. It’s obligatory. (Ha, interview, translation first author) Due to Ha’s authoritative management, outdoor tasks were incorporated into EL teaching practice at Blue Stone College in a homogenous manner.

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However, class activities mainly followed the PPP class sequence.This is evident in Le’s and Thuy’s descriptions: I didn’t know much about TBLT because so far I just use PPP . . . some of my teaching can be called TBLT, but not all, just some steps in my teaching. (Le, interview) I teach reading and listening skills. I design my lessons into presentation – practice – production. In presentation, I let them watch some clips or I give them new word exercises. After that I will ask some questions about the topic to get them brainstorm . . . and another set [of questions] for whilereading or while-listening. Finally, they will speak about the topic. . . . The outcome is they will understand the message that the writer wants to tell and express their own opinions about it. (Thuy, interview) Therefore, although all the teacher educators at the two colleges were engaged in task-supported teaching (Ellis, 2009; Littlewood, 2014; Long, 2016), the freedom was taken up by teacher educators in different ways across both colleges. For units with abundant commercial materials, Kim, Lam, Le, Thuy and Hoang chose textbooks and designed weak tasks for the production stage of the PPP teaching approach. For units with scarce resources, the teacher educators were found to use more of their own initiative in their choice of input and teaching methods. Kim, for example, resorted to GTM, and Hoang chose strong tasks as observed in their demonstration classes. Doan, Anh and Ha, on the other hand, allowed more space for strong tasks due to their positive experiences with TBLT, as reported by Doan and Ha in interview, or due to their curiosity about a ‘trendy’ teaching method, as reported by Anh. In line with reports from other empirical studies in Vietnamese pre-tertiary ELT contexts (Barnard and Nguyen, 2010; Nguyen, 2014), it was found that TBLT was not implemented at the two colleges as a result of the ELT renovation policies. In fact, TBLT did not appear to be prescribed in higher education, and the teacher educators were not aware of the prescription of TBLT in primary and secondary EL education. Engagement with TBLT in these two colleges appeared to result partially from the space afforded by higher education policies, especially the HERA. This finding supports Robinson’s (2003) argument that for teacher education policy to have an impact on practice, it is essential that the teacher educator be allowed sufficient space to mediate between policy and their personal and/or institutional values through critical reflection. However, the finding reveals a lack of collaboration between in-service and preservice teacher education with regard to ELT reforms. The neglect of teacher educators’ role in preparing pre-service and in-service teachers for reforms in the target teaching contexts appeared to be not only a waste of professional and

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academic resources in the education system but also a drawback in the knowledge content of pre-service teacher training programmes. A holistic approach to teacher education, whereby a partnership between key stakeholders in both the pre-service and in-service sectors are encouraged (Gray and Weir, cited in Gilroy, 2014), appeared to be a more grounded model. Renovation of training programmes

Another policy-related affordance that appeared to be significant for the teacher educators was the renovation of the EL teachers training programme. The National Project 2008–2020 pushed the teacher educators to renovate their teaching practice for improving students’ language proficiency to the required standard, and the HERA demanded methodological renovation to accommodate a reduction of instructional hours, as mentioned earlier in this chapter.The two policies were found to add new challenges to the teacher educators at both colleges. For example, Kim and Lam at White Sand College showed concerns that the compact syllabi in a reduced instructional time frame following the HERA made it hard to cover all the syllabus content, especially the communicative activities in textbooks: I find the compact syllabi not good; it’s like we are forcing students to digest an amount of a 45-hour content within 30 class hours. 30 hours for five big themes, for example, is not enough for students to comprehend and to practise the content. (Kim, interview, translation first author) We don’t exploit the [grammar] textbook properly. They design a lot of role plays or oral work but we don’t exploit it because we don’t have much time, and the grammar class is big so we don’t have much time for the students to practise oral tasks or writing tasks. (Lam, interview) Ha at Blue Stone College also saw the accumulated challenges resulting from the shortened instructional hours. In her calculation, a total of 32 credits allowed by MOET were insufficient for guaranteeing a B2 outcome – equivalent to IELTS 5.5 – as her students’ entrance level was quite low (Ha, interview). However, proactive as a leader, Ha responded to the challenges with an innovative strategy for the whole department, that of outdoor activities. This was mentioned in the last section in relation to teacher autonomy, but it also relates to the reduced number of instructional hours and the call for innovation. In the excerpt, Ha explained the strategy: Facing the challenges of considerable shortage of instructional hours and big class size, we came up with an initiative called outdoor activities. They are outdoor tasks in which students decide on topics, target language and

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the expected outcomes are video clips. . . . I think that is how we attempt to incorporate TBLT. That is how we attempt to reach the Production stage. (Ha, interview) In Ha’s perception, PPP is “a lower form [of TBLT]”, with tasks best suited to “the last P” (Ha, interview). By separating the final stage of the PPP into outdoor activities, Ha and her colleagues at Blue Stone College (Hoang, Le and Thuy) developed the Production stage of the PPP to an extent that exceeded the ordinary ‘communicative activities’ of the PPP (Littlewood, 2014).Through the ‘outdoor activities’ tasks, the production stage effectively turned into unfocused or real-world tasks (Littlewood, 2004). This initiative of Ha’s was found to be welcomed by her colleagues and each appeared to have their own way of incorporating tasks. Thuy, for example, noticed that “TBLT gives students chances to work in pairs or groups and use the target language a lot” so she invested in outdoor tasks such as group roleplaying a story from a reading unit (Thuy, interview). For Le, TBLT meant the students had the right to articulate and choose what they wanted to learn about in the class, so she reported that she would bring more TBLT into her class when she felt confident in her ability to deal with unpredictability: With a topic I’m quite confident, I’m kind of risk-taking. I will ask what the students want to know about. But if I’m not confident, if I think I don’t have enough knowledge about language input, or something else, to meet the students’ requirements, then I’ll narrow down the requirements, just focus on the task [the syllabus] by the faculty itself. (Le, interview) Hoang took a further step by doing TBLT in skills-focused classes while retaining PPP for language-based lessons: When I direct the students to use the target language that is very important, the new one, I will follow PPP. And during the time I develop students’ skills – any skills from speaking to listening to working with a new subject – I can use a task. (Hoang, interview) At White Sand College, Doan – the English Head – was found to share Ha’s proactive stance. She reported that she understood a teacher’s willingness to try new methods to be important. When asked what she would say about some teachers’ opinions that TBLT was not suitable for teaching grammar, reading or writing, she strongly argued that a teacher’s choice of a teaching method could be justified by their sense of commitment: If you want to apply TBLT in a subject, then you can think of a way to apply it. If you don’t want, you can never. So don’t say whether this subject

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is easier or more difficult to apply TBLT. Like in writing, you may design them a task like writing a letter to your friends or somebody, and they will have to write it and bring it to you. I’m not teaching writing, but I ask the students to write diary every day. Is that not a task? (Doan, interview) With this strong sense of commitment and enthusiasm, Doan used strong tasks in most of her units and classes, except for Public Speaking, in which she mainly stuck to the PPP with language samples for students to follow. Doan ascribed her withdrawal from strong TBLT in this unit to the fact that the unit “was new” for the students (Doan, interview). A review of her teaching artefacts, however, showed that the unit was also new to her, and subsequently she had not yet developed a large bank of resources. Doan had to compile materials from different sources to structure the whole unit in terms of its content as well as its teaching methodology. Meanwhile, in the other speaking units, she had access to textbooks written in the communicative approach, with well-structured lessons for her to follow. The lack of well-established teaching materials may have accounted for her reluctance to explore TBLT in this unit. Perhaps given her understanding of the need to develop resources for TBLT and constraints on teacher educators’ time, Doan was not found to require her colleagues to follow her uptake of TBLT. The other teacher educators at White Sand College (Anh, Lam, Kim) were consequently found to enact different understandings of how TBLT fitted in their teaching renovation. As evidenced in her interview, Anh believed TBLT could enable students’ long-term use of language, as it allowed students to explore the language in their own way and for their own purposes. As a result, Anh tended to replace PPP with TBLT in ‘practice’ subjects such as Interpreting skills, during which she often asked her students to play the roles of foreign guests and interpreters on various topics. Lam and Kim also found TBLT a better way to encourage students’ use of English compared to the PPP: In PPP, I have to force my students to use just one or two points of grammar or some structures that I intended before, but with TBLT my students can use a wide range of language. They can use the previous knowledge with the one that I present to them, so I think they can review and they use the new [language items] properly. (Lam, interview) [TBLT] makes language practice more interesting as the required language is usually unexpected. In the traditional PPP, the teacher presents all the target points before asking students to practise each point, so it’s hard to motivate students. (Kim, interview, translation first author)

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However, both Lam and Kim considered big class size and short class session (on average 100 minutes each) major deterrents to tasks. As mentioned at the beginning of this section, Lam found it hard to go through the communicative activities in a big grammar class. Meanwhile, Kim believed TBLT in such a context would not be efficient as the teacher was likely to downgrade tasks and reduce students’ working time: The duration of a class session is too short to cover all the content, so we have to resize the tasks, making them shorter, simpler, less time-consuming; then the tasks are not effective. In addition, sometimes the teachers may feel the pressure to finish the class on time so they would push the students to finish their task work. (Kim, interview, translation first author) This may have accounted for Lam’s and Kim’s only intermittent use of tasks despite their favour of TBLT, as evidenced during interviews and focus group discussions. This also reinforces the study finding that teacher educators employed TBLT to renovate their teaching in the way they saw fit. It was their various understandings of TBLT that afforded renovation. They did not appear to feel that they had to closely follow any ‘proper’ espoused version of TBLT. This finding has implications for both policy implementation and pedagogy reform. On the political plane, the finding concurs with Gilroy’s (2014) critique of the “central, top-down” policy intervention of teacher education (p. 623) by pointing out that policy practitioners have a natural tendency to implement a policy in the way they feel fits their contexts, not necessarily the way policymakers envisage it. EL teacher educators, as education policy practitioners, are integral members of the ELT policy communities in Vietnam, but they are not necessarily viewed in this way by policymakers (Holloway, 2009). With regard to pedagogical reform, the finding of a teaching renovation policy affording a space for experimenting with TBLT reveals a continuing need to view pedagogical theories from a classroom-based perspective (Legutke, 1994; Littlewood, 2007). A collaboration between theorists, policymakers, teacher educators and key in-service teachers may provide a better reform framework in place of the current top-down approach to pedagogy or education reforms in Vietnam (Holloway, 2009; Kitchen and Petrarca, 2016).

Conclusion In this chapter we have discussed how wider Vietnamese higher education policies, such as the National Project 2008–2020 and the HERA, were found to afford TE engagement with TBLT in English language teacher education in Vietnam. More specifically, the two policies were found to afford teacher autonomy and the renovation of teaching programmes: teacher educators reported their uptake of TBLT resulted from their own choices around professional

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learning and desire to find innovative teaching approaches that would improve their own practice. Although teacher educators were expected to prepare their pre-service teachers for the kind of TBLT prescribed in primary and secondary schools, as directed by MOET in 2011 and suggested in TBLT literature, the majority of teacher educators at the two colleges were not aware that TBLT had been embedded in the CLT reform. Given that teacher educators were engaging with TBLT as a result of wider education policies, and not as a result of what TBLT-related policy espoused, their understanding of TBLT differed both from espoused policy and from each other. Perceived tasks ranged from linguistic exercises to focused and unfocussed tasks (Ellis, 2003, 2009; Long, 2016; Skehan, 1998). TBLT was thought by some teacher educators to suit skills-based but not content-based lessons, whereas others believed lesson types did not influence their TBLT implementation as greatly as logistical factors like instructional time, class size, or the availability of textbooks. Especially at Blue Stone College, TBLT was implemented as an extension of PPP with the last P turned into outdoor unfocused or focused tasks. This model was the teacher educators’ response to logistical constraints and pedagogic challenges – an innovative from task use as espoused by ELT reform. These findings about teacher educators’ “context-sensitive teaching methods” or the “situated task-based approach” (Carless, 2007, p. 605; Butler, 2011, p. 49; and Littlewood, 2013, p. 9) may help us understand teachers’ resistance to the top-down ELT curriculum innovation in Vietnam and similar contexts (e.g. Canh and Barnard, 2009; Jeon and Hahn, 2006; Nguyen, 2014). Investigating teachers’ reactions through the ‘affordance’ lens allows for the voices of the teachers-in-context to be heard, and therefore, provides insights into reform realities. The teacher educators’ proactive appropriation of TBLT demonstrated in the study confirms the agentive roles that teachers in general and teacher educators in particular can manipulate upon language policies (Nguyen and Bui, 2016; Wang, 2008). In agreement with Nguyen and Bui’s (2016) findings about Vietnamese teachers’ agency, we suggest that teacher educators be viewed not as passive practitioners of top-down language policies but as a key stakeholder in ELT policy communities in Vietnam (Holloway, 2009).They can be best positioned to work side by side with the in-service education sector in informing policymakers and mediating ELT-related policies (Gilroy, 2014; Zein, 2016). In addition, the findings from this investigation complement those of earlier studies that pointed out the impact that teacher educators may have on preservice teachers if they ‘own’ the new teaching ideas and model them in their teaching (Ellis, 2010; Nguyen and Hall, 2017; Timperley, 2008). Together with these authors, we also argue that teacher educators are in a position to critique how TBLT can be used in the Vietnamese context due to their potential multiple roles as teachers and researchers, transmitters of information about theories and policies, mentors for both pre-service and in-service teachers, and awareness-raisers.

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Note 1 Junior colleges in Vietnam refer to institutions providing three-year training courses with associate degrees. The country currently has three national junior colleges of education affiliated with MOET and over 30 provincial junior colleges nationwide. Graduates from education junior colleges are eligible for teaching at primary and lower secondary levels.

References Barnard, R., and Nguyen, G.V. (2010).Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT): A Vietnamese case study using Narrative Frames to elicit teachers’ beliefs. Language Education in Asia, 1(1), 77–86. doi:10.5746/LEiA/10/V1/A07/Barnard_Nguyen. Braun,V., and Clarke,V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Bruton, A. (2002). From tasking purposes to purposing tasks. ELT Journal, 56(3), 280–288. doi:10.1093/elt/56.3.280 Butler,Y. G. (2011).The implementation of communicative and task-based language teaching in the Asia-Pacific region. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31(1), 36–57. doi:10.1017/ S0267190511000122 Canh, L. V., and Barnard, R. (2009). Curricular innovation behind closed classroom doors: A Vietnamese case study. Prospect, 24(2), 20–33. Carless, D. (2007). The suitability of task-based approaches for secondary schools: Perspectives from Hong Kong. System, 35(4), 595–608. doi:10.1016/j.system.2007.09 Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Dang, T. K. A. (2016). Understanding practices, informing policies. In S. Bohlinger, T. K. A. Dang, and M. Klatt (Eds.), Education policy: Mapping the landscapes and scopes (pp. 199–222). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften. Denzin, N., and Lincoln,Y. S. (Eds.) (2000). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ellis, R. (2009). Task-based language teaching: Sorting out the misunderstandings. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 19(3), 221–246. doi:10.1111/j.1473–4192.2009.00231.x Ellis, R. (2010). Second language acquisition, teacher education and language pedagogy. Language Teaching, 43(2), 182–201. doi:10.1017/S0261444809990139 Estaire, S., and Zanón, J. (1994). Planning classwork: A task based approach. Oxford: Heinemann. Gibson, J. (1986). The ecological approach to visual perception. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Gilroy, P. (2014). Policy interventions in teacher education: Sharing the English experience. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 40(5), 622–632. doi:10. 1080/02607476.2014.957996 Hamano, T. (2008). Educational reform and teacher education in Vietnam. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 34(4), 397–410. doi:10.1080/0260 7470802401693 Hamilton, M. L., and Loughran, J. (2016). Looking beyond borders: Scholarship of teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 503–517). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0369-1_15-10-0366-0_11 Harman, G., Hayden, M., and Pham, T. N. (Eds.). (2010). Reforming higher education in Vietnam. Higher Education Dynamics, 29. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3694-0_1 Hoang,V.V., Nguyen, T. C., and Hoang, X. H. (2006). Innovating ELT methodology in Vietnam’s upper-secondary school. Hanoi: Education Publisher.

242  Khanh-Linh Tran-Dang and Marianne Turner Holloway, D. (2009). Reforming further education teacher training: A policy communities and policy networks analysis. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 35(2), 183–196. doi:10.1080/02607470902927233 Jeon, I. J., and Hahn, J. (2006). Exploring EFL teachers’ perceptions of task-based language teaching: A case study of Korean secondary school classroom practice. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 8(1), 123–143. Julien, H. (2008). Content analysis. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (vols. 1 and 2, pp. 120–121). Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Kitchen, J., and Petrarca, D. (2016). Approaches to teacher education. In J. Loughran and M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 137–186). Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_4 Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). TESOL methods: Changing tracks, challenging trends. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 59–81. doi:10.2307/40264511 Legutke, M. (1994). Teachers as researchers and teacher trainers: An in-service project for German in the Pacific Northwest. Teaching German, 27(1), 56–76. doi:10.2307/3531476 Letiche, H., and Lissack, M. (2009). Making room for affordances. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 11(3), 61–72. Lissack, M. R. (2012). Narratives of coherence: The role of affordances and homologies. In D. M. Boje, B. Burnes, and J. Hassard (Eds.), The Routledge companion to organizational change (pp. 160–170). New York, NY: Routledge. Littlewood, W. (2004). The task-based approach: Some questions and suggestions. ELT Journal, 58(4), 319–326. doi:10.1093/elt/58.4.319 Littlewood, W. (2007). Communicative and task-based language teaching in East Asian classrooms. Language Teaching, 40, 243–249. doi:10.1017/S0261444807004363 Littlewood, W. (2013). Developing a context-sensitive pedagogy for communication-oriented language teaching. English Teaching, 68(3), 3–25. doi:10.15858/engtea.68.3.201309.3 Littlewood, W. (2014). Communication-oriented language teaching: Where are we now? Where do we go from here? Language Teaching, 47(3), 349–362. doi:10.1017/S0261444 812000134 Loi, N. V., Dung, N. H., and Nhan, T. T. L. (2002). Tieng Anh 6: sach Giao vien [English 6: Teacher’s book]. MOET: Education Publisher. Long, M. H. (2016). In defense of tasks and TBLT: Non-issues and real issues. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 5–33. © Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/ S0267190515000057 Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research – a guide to design and implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Minister of Education andTraining (MOET).(2008).The national project on the teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system from 2008 to 2020.Hanoi:Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam. Retrieved from http://vanban.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/ chinhphu/hethongvanban?class_id=1&_page=1&mode+detail&document_id=78437 Minister of Education and Training (MOET). (2011). Decision No. 6290/QĐ-BGDĐT: Decision on the master program for the development of teacher education and teacher education institutions from 2011 to 2020. Hanoi: Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam. Retrieved from http://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Giao-duc/Quyet-dinh-6290-QD-BGDDT-phe-duyetChuong-trinh-phat-trien-nganh-su-pham-132978.aspx Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). (2012, January). Chuong trinh giao duc pho thong Tieng Anh thi diem cap trung hoc co so [Piloted English language curriculum for lowersecondary schools]. Hanoi: Author.

Teaching renovation and efficiency 243 Nguyen, G.V. (2014). Forms or meaning? Teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding task-based language teaching: A Vietnamese case study. The Journal of ASIA TEFL, 11(1), 1–36. Nguyen, T. M. H., and Bui, T. (2016). Teachers’ agency and the enactment of educational reform in Vietnam. Current Issues in Language Planning, 17(1), 88–105. doi:10.1080/1466 4208.2016.1125664 Nguyen, T. M. H., and Hall, C. (2017). Changing views of teachers and teaching in Vietnam. Teaching Education, 28(3), 244–256. doi:10.1080/10476210.2016.1252742 Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Phuong, L. N.T., and Nhu,T. P. (2015). Innovation in English language education in Vietnam for ASEAN 2015 Integration: Current issues, challenges, opportunities, investments and solutions. In R. Stroupe and K. Kimura (Eds.), ASEAN Integration and the role of English language teaching (pp. 104–120). Phnom Penh, Cambodia: IELTS. Richards, J. C. (2005). Communicative language teaching today. Singapore: Regional English Language Centre. Robinson, M. (2003). Teacher education policy in South Africa: The voice of teacher educators. Journal of Education for Teaching, 29(1), 19–34. doi:10.1080/0260747022000057954 Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Tella, S., and Harjanne, P. (2007). Can we afford any more affordances? Foreign language education specific reflections. In K. Teoksessa, K. Merenluoto, A.Virta, and P. Carpelan (Eds.), Opettajankoulutuksen muuttuvat rakenteet. Ainedidaktinen symposium 9.2.2007. Turun opettajankoulutuslaitos. Turun yliopiston kasvatustieteiden tiedekunnan julkaisuja B 77 (pp. 500–506). Retrieved from www.helsinki.fi/~tella/ads07.pdf Timperley, H. (2008). Teacher professional learning and development. Retrieved from www.ibe. unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Educational_Practices/EdPractices_18.pdf Vietnamese Prime Minister’s Office. (2008). Approving the scheme on foreign language teaching and learning in the national education system in the 2008–2020 period (Decision No.1400/ QD-TTg). Hanoi,Vietnam: Author. Wang, H. (2008). Language policy implementation: A look at teachers’ perceptions. Asian EFL Journal, 30(1), 1–38. Wilkinson, S. (2011). Analysing focus group data. In D. Silverman (Ed.), Qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 168–184). London: Sage Publications. Zein, M. S. (2016). Factors affecting the professional development of elementary English teachers. Professional Development in Education, 42(3), 423–440. doi:10.1080/19415257. 2015.1005243

13 English language teacher preparation in Myanmar Mary Shepard Wong et al.English language teacher preparation

Challenges and recommendations for Myanmar and the ASEAN region Mary Shepard Wong, Jennifer Miller and Brooke Treadwell Introduction Myanmar (or Burma as it was called before 1989), once held the distinction of having one of the top universities in all of Southeast Asia (Lall, 2016) with English as the medium of instruction in many subjects. But after five decades of isolation and neglect, Myanmar became one of the poorest countries in the world with one of smallest budgets for education (MOE, 2015) resulting in a shortage of qualified English language teachers. November 8, 2015 marked Myanmar’s first free and fair national elections in five decades, and in March 2016 the new government made education and the economy a priority, offering new hope. However, the current shortage of qualified English language teachers and teacher trainers (Ju Paw, 2015) negatively impacts English language teacher preparation in Myanmar, as it affects universities that train pre-service English teachers. Myanmar’s ability to equip English teachers with the skills to be effective hinges on the country’s teacher preparation programmes, and thus they are the focus of this study. This chapter reports the findings from 17 interviews conducted with participants in Mandalay and Yangon which asked: 1) What do teacher educators, current students, and alumni of English teacher preparation programmes in Myanmar identify as their greatest challenges? 2) What can be done to address these challenges? 3) What opportunities are identified that might enhance English teacher preparation in not only Myanmar, but also in the ASEAN Plus Three context? The chapter begins by contextualizing the study in Myanmar and providing a brief overview of current educational reform efforts, the role of English as a medium of instruction, teacher qualifications and preparation, and challenges found in previous studies on ELT in Myanmar. This is followed by the methodology section, which describes the participants and the data collection and analysis procedures. The Results section provides the findings organized by the key challenges that emerged from the data, and the discussion section provides a synthesis of findings and recommendations for ELT not only in Myanmar but also the ASEAN Plus Three region.

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Contextualizing the study Current educational reform efforts in Myanmar

After the 2010 elections, discussions of reform began, and the Myanmar government launched the Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR, 2014) to analyze and assess the challenges in the education system and plan how to address them. The CESR was conducted by the Ministry of Education with financial and technical support from international development partners including UNICEF, UNESCO, AusAID, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the European Union, DFID, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Norway and Denmark (MOE, 2015). A report released by JICA (2013) suggested that the CESR planning process should address weaknesses in access to education, quality and management of education, ethnic and regional equity, and curriculum and methodology.While intended to be a participatory process, a key critique of the CESR was that it did not take into account input from the general public or grassroots-level education organizations, such as the National Network for Education Reform (NNER) (Metro, 2016). The Myanmar government is now operationalizing several recommendations that originated in the CESR.With technical assistance from JICA and the ADB, the Ministry of Education is developing new textbooks for all primary and secondary grades that are designed to encourage more active engagement of students in the class and decrease reliance on rote memorization (JICA, 2017). Teacher training is also undergoing significant change. The Ministry of Education is working to establish national teacher education standards that will align teacher education programmes across the country, ensuring all teachers will have the same key knowledge and skills (UNESCO, 2016). With technical assistance from UNESCO, Myanmar’s 25 Education Colleges, which train the majority of Myanmar’s primary and middle school teachers, are being upgraded from two-year diploma programmes to four-year degree-granting institutions. To further strengthen the quality of the teacher education provided within the new four-year program, new, more effective textbooks are being developed for the Education Colleges (Ei Shwe Phyu, 2017; UNESCO, 2016). In addition to these national-level reforms, there are also localized initiatives taking place to improve education in a few targeted regions where ethnic minority groups, such as the Mon and Karen groups operate some schools independently, or partly independently of the government school system (Lall and South, 2013; Metro, 2016). English as medium of instruction in Myanmar

The English language has played a prominent, and sometimes controversial, role in schooling in Myanmar. While Myanmar has a rich tradition of monastic

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schools dating back to the 11th century, it was the country’s non-monastic schools, established by the British colonial government in the early to mid1800s, that were the first to include English language instruction (Cheesman, 2003). By 1916, there were 5,066 non-monastic schools in Burma (Hillman, 1946). The British colonial government viewed English language instruction as particularly important, as they were seeking to cultivate a cadre of Burmese civil servants who could effectively serve the colonial government (Furnivall, 1956; U Kaung, 1963). A small portion of these colonial era schools provided instruction entirely in English. These were referred to as ‘English Schools’ and were considered the most prestigious schools in the nation. The pupils in attendance were primarily the children of wealthy and well-connected parents (Hillman, 1946). Rising nationalist sentiment, beginning in the 1920s continued to strengthen leading up to Burma’s independence from Britain in 1948 and beyond. In this context, there was growing concern in Burma that using English as the medium of instruction had caused the native languages and cultures of Burma to be devalued by the Burmese, thus damaging the social fabric of Burmese society (Aye Kyaw, 1993). In response, the language of instruction at all levels of state-run primary and secondary schools was changed to Burmese in 1964. English was taught as a second language beginning in grade five (Allott, 1985). A year later, the New University Law was passed, which changed language of instruction at universities from English to Burmese as well. The quality of English language instruction declined in the decade that followed the change to Burmese as medium of instruction in schools (Lall, 2016). This led to wide recognition that mastery of both Myanmar and English language were necessary for a thriving society. In response, the New Education Programme was introduced in 1981, making English a compulsory subject at every grade level, beginning in kindergarten and establishing English as the language of instruction for science subjects and economics in upper secondary grades (Fen, 2005). This is the role English continues to play in governmentrun schools in Myanmar today. Teacher qualification and training in Myanmar

The requirements to become a teacher in Myanmar, like in most countries, vary according to the level or sector in which a teacher will work. There are different requirements for those teaching in primary (grades 1–5), lower secondary (grades 6–9), upper secondary (grades 10–11) and tertiary. Reforms to change Myanmar to a K-12 system are currently underway, but have yet to be completed. To become a primary assistant teacher (PAT) one needs only a certificate, which under some circumstances, can be obtained with less than a year of training following upper secondary school. However, other primary teachers obtain a diploma by attending a two-year programme at an Education College. Primary teacher salaries are very low, compelling many of the best teachers to work their way up the ladder to lower secondary (to become

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junior assistant teachers, or JAT) or upper secondary teachers (to become senior assistant teachers, or SAT) as soon as they have obtained the additional qualifications and experience required. To teach at the lower secondary level as a JAT, one needs a two-year diploma from one of the Education Colleges. To teach in upper secondary as a SAT, one needs to complete a five-year programme at one of two teacher education universities. Students with high enough matriculation exam marks are eligible to join these five-year universities to become a SAT. Those with matriculation marks below the cut-off have a second chance to become upper secondary teachers through in-service training and a two-year correspondence course. There is also a one-year post-graduate Diploma in English Language Teaching (DELT) programme for aspiring English teachers with a bachelor’s degree. Studies on in ELT in Myanmar

Due to Myanmar’s isolation in the past decades, research studies of English language teaching in Myanmar are just emerging (Hayden and Martin, 2013; Ju Paw, 2015; Thandar Soe and Roberts, 2015). While Hayden and Martin (2013) found finance, governance, management, pedagogy, equity and quality to be the major challenges, Ju Paw (2015) found that curriculum, staff development, assessment, large class sizes, and a shortage of qualified faculty the most problematic. Thandar Soe and Roberts (2015) noted that a challenge was a mismatch between student readiness and the pre-service teacher education curriculum. Students had not received sufficient academic preparation. They also found low English proficiency and confidence among teacher educators, a lack of familiarity with technology that students used, and an over-reliance on the transmission model of education as problematic. Programme level challenges included large class sizes, low salaries for teachers, demanding teaching conditions and overloaded schedules with little time to reflect on practice. Thandar Soe and Roberts (2015) state that more studies need to be conducted to further investigate these and other issues and to determine how teacher preparation programmes can overcome the challenges to better prepare future English language teachers.

Methodology To investigate the views of key stakeholders regarding the challenges of English teacher preparation programmes in Myanmar, the following study was undertaken. After receiving ethical clearance and approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and securing signed informed consent forms from the university administrators and all participants, the authors conducted 11 interviews in Mandalay and six in Yangon during the spring of 2017. An interview guide was created, piloted on non-participants, and revised resulting in a total of 11 questions excluding the preliminary questions that asked for permission to record the interview and clarified the purpose of the

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study. Six questions focused on the participant’s background, school context, and programme. Five questions focused on the specific needs and challenges of the English teaching programmes, teachers and students in Myanmar. Additional clarification questions were asked during the interviews as time permitted. The interviews lasted from about 45 minutes to an hour. Participants included five teacher educators, five students in teacher preparation programmes, five alumni of teacher preparation programmes, and two administrators. One of the researchers was teaching in Mandalay during the study, which provided her access to the 11 participants in Mandalay who agreed to be in the study. Although only six participants from each location were originally sought out, additional interviews were conducted in Mandalay to ensure data were collected from the three types of programmes offered there (undergraduate, master’s and doctorate). The other researcher who conducted interviews had taught at Yangon University, which provided her access there. An administrator of the teacher education programme in Yangon helped to arrange the six interviews to take place during a research visit conducted in the spring of 2017. The interviews were conducted in English, digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and member checked when possible. The researchers transcribed the interviews themselves, entered the transcripts into the software programme, Nvivo, and independently coded by them for key themes and patterns. The authors then compared the themes they found to determine which had sufficient support to include (Merriam, 1988; Polkinghorne, 1995).

Results The participants in this study noted several challenges and opportunities in English language teacher preparation in Myanmar. The key findings are presented in the following subsections, followed by one or more of the participants’ supporting quotes and the authors’ summary responses. The examination system

The participants explained that in Myanmar, the score that students receive on their high school matriculation exam is the main factor in determining what subject they choose to study at the university level. For instance, those with the highest scores study medicine, engineering or law. Those with lower scores tend to study to be teachers. This examination system has a negative impact on the teacher workforce, since in many cases, students are becoming teachers, not because they are passionate about teaching, but because their exam scores happened to fall into the range of points that qualified them to enroll in a teacher preparation programme. This results in demotivated teacher candidates at the undergraduate level, as they may not have chosen teaching if they had scored higher marks on the matriculation exam. Similarly, students who have a passion for teaching, but who have high matriculation exam scores typically

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choose a profession aligned with their score, even if it interests them far less than teaching. Several participants commented that they were not interested in teaching or that they knew others in the teaching field who were not interested in teaching as described by this teacher educator: “I think our [system] is not correct because our students are not interested in teaching. They come based on their exam marks . . . not [out of] interest”. Not only does the examination system play a large role in steering students towards – or away from – a career in teaching, exams also shape the content and pedagogy students are exposed to throughout their teacher preparation programme. The examination system largely determines what is taught, as teacher educators feel they must ‘teach to the test’ to help ensure their students are successful on their exams. In terms of shaping teachers’ pedagogy, or how they teach, the examination system leads many teachers to prioritize rote memorization instead of teaching students how to use language, to think critically, and to apply knowledge in new ways. This is expressed by this teacher educator, who stated, “All the schools in Myanmar are teaching for the exams, not for the students. Only [when] the whole system can be changed can [we] change the teaching style”. While the exam system is a complex problem to solve, participants raised it as an important challenge to tackle, and one that some participants said needed to be addressed at a higher, policy level. The promotion system

Another challenge is the promotion system, which continuously drains skilled teachers from the primary level, where they are arguably most needed. Becoming a primary teacher requires the least amount of training and it is therefore where most new teachers begin their careers. Since primary teachers are paid the lowest, teachers often seek promotion to the middle school level as soon possible, as they will be rewarded with a significant salary increase.The next significant pay raise comes with a promotion to teaching high school. No matter how many years of experience teachers have, or how skilled they are, teachers who continue to teach at the primary level will earn virtually the same salary throughout their careers. This promotion system discourages teachers from remaining at the primary level even if their skills and interests are focused on younger learners. As one teacher educator states, “As a primary teacher, it was my happiest experiences. I loved children [ . . . but] in our education system, the [higher level] positions make more salaries so I tried to get a promotion to the university”. Consequently, the system discourages teachers from developing the specialized knowledge and skills that are needed to become highly effective primary school teachers. In addition, the promotion system is weighted heavily on seniority as opposed to quality outputs, leading to further negative impacts on teacher quality. For example, whether a teacher can be promoted from the primary to middle school level, is based on how long the teacher has been in the system, rather than on how well the teacher is performing. As one student stated, “It’s kind of

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difficult because the promotional system here is not about how [well] you work in that sector but how long you’ve been working there. They always take into account service [seniority]”. Adjusting the promotion system to one that is not based on seniority alone would require a major change in the current system. However, if such a change leads to greater accountability, higher job satisfaction, and improved quality of teaching, then making the change is justified. The compensation system

Low wages for government teachers can encourage the so-called shadow education system referring to extra teaching for hire, which has been criticized for its potential to be exploitive, as students from lower income homes cannot avail themselves of this extra help (Bray and Kwo, 2014; Steinberg, 2010). Since teachers are not making enough in their official jobs, they find it necessary to engage in moonlighting, or tutoring students after class. It has been reported that some teachers may withhold their energy, preparation time, and the best content in the fulltime job, so they can provide this to the paying students who remain after school for private tutoring. This results in an unjust system, which benefits the wealthier students and marginalizes those without funds for extra tutoring. The relationship between low teacher salaries and potential corruption is alluded to here by a teacher educator who stated, “I don’t dare say it, but teachers must feed their family members and will find a way to do so. This can be the starting point of corruption.They need enough money for their family”. Increasing the government’s education budget, to raise teacher salaries, must be made a priority in order to attract and retain high-quality candidates, and enable them to do their best work during regular school hours. Curriculum and textbooks

In terms of the curriculum, participants described an over-packed curriculum in some cases, with courses, which were irrelevant to their future teaching roles, as emphasized in the following student teacher’s comment. “They might want us to study more, they want us to understand more, but I feel like it’s too much. So if they could reduce some other things and pick what is more important, it might be better for us”. Several student teachers in the five-year bachelor’s programme longed to focus on language education instead of the additional requirement of preparing to teach three other subjects such as physics, biology and chemistry. One participant stated, “Every student who matriculates here must take three compulsory subjects: Myanmar, English, Math and then choose three out of six others. . . . So now I have to teach English, Biology and Chemistry, but I really want to teach English”. Many of the textbooks were outdated while others were homemade “books” comprised of a seemingly random collection of chapters with no reference to original sources. Some students found the readings either too easy (referring to

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English courses), or too difficult (referring to the research courses). A desire for fewer courses overall was expressed, allowing for a greater depth of understanding in each course. Gathering student and teacher input on the curriculum and materials is essential so that materials can be continually updated. In order to determine the best curriculum and select the most appropriate textbooks, programme learning outcomes need to be developed with stakeholder buy-in. A comprehensive mapping of the courses and how they support (or don’t support) the programme outcomes is needed to reduce or eliminate redundancy, gaps and superficial content, and ensure the curriculum supports the programme’s goals. Methodology

Many participants commented that the methods teacher educators use to instruct student teachers needed improvement. Participants stated that more student-centred activities and discussions about the actual subject under study needed to replace the current emphasis on translation and memorization. Some teacher educators spend significant time translating the text and vocabulary instead of discussing the ideas and concepts in greater depth. Several participants felt there was a need for more activities. As one teacher educator stated, “We need to give them lots and lots of activities, hands-on actives, so many activities. So if I have a chance, I will add more activities to the curriculum”. Some participants described signs of change in methodology from mere rote memorization to more active, student-engaged learning, although this was not widespread. As changes are made to the exam system, the promotion system, the compensation system, and materials and curriculum, then changes in methodology are likely to become more widespread. One cannot expect overworked, underpaid teachers who have outdated materials and inappropriate curriculum to invest time and energy into changing the way they teach. Improvements in one area will impact those other areas and motivate teachers to change. Practice teaching and accountability

The practice teaching was a topic of discontent in several of the interviews. Students, teachers and administrators all felt the practice teaching periods were too short and that there was a lack of adequate mentoring and accountability. For instance, the assigned mentors check student teachers’ lesson plans, but they fail to actually observe their teaching or offer suggestions for improvement. Participants also felt universities and the schools hosting student teachers were not working together. As this administrator states, “We need a good practicum, which is very important. Four weeks does not make a teacher! . . . I think we should allow the students to go to school to teach more and then they come back and discuss what happens in the school”. Creating more accountability

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and rigour in the teacher practicum experiences is a feasible goal for the teacher preparation programmes. Greater accountability for teacher educators overall, as suggested in relation to the promotion system, could also be applied to practice teaching. Teacher quality

Teacher quality was raised as an issue in almost all the interviews and thus was one of the most salient issues. A student echoed this sentiment of the importance of the quality of teacher educators and stated, “I will start from the teachers. That’s the biggest problem that they face, they need – uh, is it polite or ethical to say? – good teachers”. A teacher educator put it this way: As our State Counselor, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi told us, it is time to change. What do we need to change? Human resources is very important. Improve the quality of the teacher of teachers. If I had the authority to improve something, it would be the quality of the teachers. One teacher educator noted that teachers need more exposure to English so that they can speak more fluently. The teacher lamented of a “lost generation”, and stated: In our country in the last 20 years, people in our country did not have much contact with people who speak English. Twenty years is a very long time. It can be called a generation. And the people of this time are now teachers in our country. In government schools if we cannot develop the language skills of the teachers, what can we do? China faced the challenge of a “lost generation” due to the wholesale disruption of the education system during the decade of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). But China bounced back, and today, many universities not only in China, but also in the West have top scholars in the field of ELT who are from China. Perhaps Myanmar can look to China and countries that have invested in collaboration schemes (i.e., Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong), as described in Copland, Garton, and Mann (2016), for ways this might be accomplished. A criticism of these governmental funded schemes is that they look to the “native speaker” as their model (Wong, Lee, and Gao, 2016). ASEAN Plus Three nations might instead choose the multilingual, proficient English speaker of Southeast Asia as the model. Teaching conditions

Participants noted that their workload was heavy and university teachers spoke a great deal about being overloaded. As seen in the following quotes, university

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teachers noted that much of their time is spent on paperwork and other administrative tasks, which leaves little time for them to prepare their lessons. As one teacher educator said, “As an English language teacher in Myanmar, we have so many, lots of workload. We need more staff so that we can reduce our workload so we can concentrate on preparation of our lessons”. The list of tasks that teacher educators are asked to do in Myanmar often leaves them spread too thin and unable to engage in the type of scholarship needed to keep them abreast of changes in the field (Ju Paw, 2015). For example, some teacher educators were required to translate documents, which could be completed by private agencies rather than teachers, so that the task of education and scholarship remains central to university professors. Inequality in education

Study participants commented on the inequality of educational opportunities based on class, language and ethnicity as well as the unequal distribution of educational recourses adversely affecting students in rural areas. This results in inequality of educational outcomes and achievement. Participants stated that many children from low-income families cannot afford to stay in school and drop out to make money for the family. While monastic education provides some help for these children, many teachers in the monastic education system do not speak English, which makes it difficult for them to teach English. Some participants voiced an interest in conducting research in this area. Opportunities for reform and collaboration

Although participants voiced several challenges to English teacher preparation in Myanmar, some of the participants spoke of how they were engaged in improving it. This student sees himself as a person of influence in education, working in the ministry to make change, as he states here: When I got to this university, I thought, I’m not going to teach for all my life because changing the education won’t do by teaching my whole life.You have to participate in other sectors.You have to participate in the reform of education. So, what if I want to reform the education? What do I have to do? I have to be in greater positions. I have to be in the higher ranking officials . . . officer in ministry so that I can change the education system. Another student said: [I ask myself] [c]ould I change the education system? But then there’s going to be a lot of hard times before I reach that, the financial problems

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and other things. Okay, I just think that I can resist that. I can take it. It is something I have to do. It is something I have to give back to society. One alumnus talked about an opportunity to study in Japan and stated: Before I came to this university, I got a scholarship,Teacher Training course, one year and six months in Japan. I studied Japanese six months, and one year I studied English education in Japan. Especially I observed the Japanese classes, sometimes I joined the English classes and discussed about the English education between Japan and Myanmar. One student, who had been awarded a grant opportunity for professional development, talked about feeling hopeful after interacting with leaders and educators from ASEAN countries. The opportunity to collaborate with international counterparts helped this student imagine taking a leadership role in the future. The participant stated: There’s still hope because I’ve seen a lot of educators from the ASEAN and they really did a good job and they were given a higher respect in the society. And they really have the pedagogy skills that they taught me because I was the only education student from Myanmar and they’re really interested about it. Not only them, the leader [is] from the Philippines. He said he’s working with the government. What if I become like them?

Discussion Synthesis of findings

Many of the challenges articulated by the 17 participants in this study are also found in the ASEAN region. The negative washback effect of the examination system, the inadequate compensation of teachers, and the need to provide a more supportive promotion system are issues faced by teachers in many nations in the region. Developing locally appropriate curriculum and materials and improving teacher trainer quality and practice teaching are areas ASEAN educators can address by working together. Best practices of how educators are moving towards more student-centred teaching and critical thinking and away from rote memorization could be shared. Advocacy training of how ASEAN teachers might come together to address inadequate and non-supportive work environments and conditions could be conducted, drawing from the human resources and talent within the region. What is unique to Myanmar is the need to catch up due to the lack of exposure to English caused by decades of isolation and neglect of the education sector. Thus in-service teacher education may be needed in Myanmar for the teacher trainers in order to improve pre-service teacher education. With this

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in mind, the following recommendations are provided for English language teacher preparation in Myanmar as well as the wider ASEAN region. Recommendations

The first and most important recommendation is to value and invest in teachers and teacher preparation (Sutton Trust, 2014). Valuing teachers means listening to and addressing teacher concerns, which for English language teacher educators in universities includes not burdening them with tasks unrelated to their academic duties such as setting and grading national exams or providing editing services for work not directly related to their own classes and research. Extra labour outside of duties of a professor should be voluntary and adequately compensated. Providing a work environment that allows educators to thrive will provide a more productive educational experience for students. Currently in Myanmar, to receive a salary increase, a teacher must be promoted to teach at a higher level. Primary school teachers are given a raise once they are promoted to teach middle school just as middle school teachers are given a raise once they are promoted to teach high school. No matter how many years of experience a teacher has, and no matter how talented he or she is, if a teacher continues to teach at a certain level, they will earn the same salary. This results in good teachers leaving primary schools, which is often where the best teachers are needed. The structure of this promotion system discourages teachers from considering what level of education they are most skilled at teaching or which they are most passionate about. It discourages teachers from specializing their teaching to a certain level of education and taking the time to gain and refine the specific knowledge and skills necessary to be a highly effective teacher at that level (UNESCO, 2016). The promotion system should be revised so teachers with specific areas of expertise can be hired and retained in their chosen field of specialization, thus offering a more enriching experience for students at all levels. Raising teacher salaries in Myanmar is essential (UNESCO, 2016) as, without it, many of the other recommendations cannot be realized. Funding sources need to be identified and the education sector needs to be made a priority (MOE, 2015) in order to catch up with its ASEAN counterparts. Higher teacher salaries will attract and keep more capable teacher candidates and help to address the issue of teacher quality. Several participants mentioned that they felt there were too many subjects required. Furthermore, limited time was given to fully grasp some of the concepts and students lack opportunities for extensive background reading that could help them achieve a deeper level of understanding. Thus, strategically focusing the teacher education curriculum would allow more time for faculty and students to engage in the content of the courses deemed essential (UNESCO, 2016). The curriculum needs to be updated with input from the teachers, students and other stakeholders. Efforts to address curriculum revision

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in Myanmar have started with the help of international development partners. A recent UNESCO (2016) report confirms this, and makes the recommendations to decongest the curriculum, allowing for greater specialization. Virtually every participant spoke of the need to reduce teacher-centred teaching that relies on rote memorization and translation, and increase the number of hands-on activities, which encourage students to engage in active learning. The Sutton Trust (2014) found that teaching strategies were key to great teaching. A recent UNESCO (2016) report also supports these recommendations. Teacher educators should be held accountable to implement these changes in their own classrooms. For example, universities could require students to complete anonymous surveys at the end of each course. The surveys would provide data on the extent to which pre-service teachers felt they were engaged in practical activities in class and whether their examinations asked them to provide original responses, as opposed to spending class time translating from the course textbook in order to produce the expected (memorized) responses on their examinations (UNESCO, 2016). Participants stated that site visits and observations of real classrooms were needed as well as adequate preparation and support for practice teaching. Participants suggested teacher educators might conduct a critical review of lesson plans, observe student teachers during practice teaching and discuss the observation in post-observation meetings. Assessment of practice teaching, with formative evaluation and substantive critical feedback on specific ways to improve is critical to build strong teaching skills (UNESCO, 2016). Accountability measures that guide and ensure adequate mentoring of student teachers need to be in place. Finally, teaching students to reflect deeply on their preprofessional practice could help them during their courses as well as into their careers as educators (UNESCO, 2016). Teachers in training need to learn about the importance and benefits of ongoing professional development throughout their careers. Teacher educators can model this for their students by continuing to learn themselves, offering workshops, attending conferences, including students in presentations and engaging in joint research projects. If teachers feel that their development ends once they have their certificate or degree, they may not take advantage of professional development even when it is offered to them. The value and importance of ongoing professional development needs to be taught and modelled with examples provided, even with limited resources (Wong, 2011). Ensuring that all students have an equal opportunity for an education means that special attention needs to be provided to marginalized students. This is important as it can reap benefits for social cohesion. Data should be collected and disaggregated to see which student populations are not in school, dropping out of school, not thriving in school, and not achieving the same level of success upon graduation. This type of data collection and analysis could be the focus of PhD students, MA students in education or current faculty members in the field of education. Two of the participants in this study voiced an interest in such research. Kirkpatrick (2012a, 2012b, 2014) warns of the potential

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threat that English language education might have on minority languages and the speakers of these languages, which might also be a focus of student research. Also of interest is the work by Lo Bianco (2014, 2015, 2016) on forming a comprehensive language policy that is inclusive of all students and languages. Essential educational resources such as textbooks, libraries, Internet access, and teaching supplies need to be provided. If funding is not available, creative solutions need to be found to acquire or create the resources. While the first priority is human resources, basic material resources are also important. Stakeholder voices needs to be sought about which educational resources are essential and how the resources will be distributed, so the process is participatory and buy-in from the community is achieved (Lo Bianco, 2015; UNICEF, 2016). The quality of teacher trainers, or more specifically their English language proficiency and teaching methodology are of key concern. A report by UNESCO (2016) contends: “Improving teacher education is acknowledged as the most critical input in improving effective learning” (p. 13). It is clear that the need to enhance English language capacity in higher education in Myanmar is vital to educational reform. In the Report on the Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Myanmar Initiative: Investing in the Future: Rebuilding Higher Education in Myanmar completed in April 2013, Allan Goodman, President and CEO of IIE, states “The Myanmar government has made reform of the entire higher education system a national priority. One of the main drivers is the recognition of the important role of human capital to the economic development goals of the country” including “the upgrading of the quality of faculty” (p. 8). Five recommendations are made in that report for goals for US-Myanmar higher education cooperation. It is of interest that stakeholders in this study mentioned three of their recommendations: 1) expanding person-to-person networks through faculty and staff exchanges; 2) helping inform the vision of Myanmar higher education through cooperation; and 3) enhancing English language capacity of academic staff to teach effectively in English. Changing policy and reforming educational systems can seem daunting, but teachers need to be part of the process and not leave this to the government and NGOs. Metro (2016) argues that students and teachers in Myanmar are aware of the problems of “corruption, squashed critical thinking, and woeful mismanagement” that have plagued the education system in the past decades (p. 209). Metro states that students and teachers are not waiting for the government or NGOs to fix things. Instead, students and teachers are actively seeking solutions themselves. Metro’s (2016) ethnographic research found the following priorities of teachers and students in Myanmar: “ameliorating ethnic discrimination, addressing language barriers, rethinking teaching methods based on rote memorization, and reducing corruption” (p. 210). Applying a “funds of knowledge approach” (Gonzalez, Moll, and Amanti, 2005), teachers, students and communities are viewed as resources for change rather than problems to be fixed. Metro (2016) cites Fielding, noting that “authentic participation of students and teachers has been shown to improve educational outcomes” (p. 211).

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Collaboration among ASEAN Plus Three educators provides opportunities for improving English language teacher preparation. It is becoming easier for members of ASEAN to engage in study abroad, grants, exchanges, competitions, collaborative research and conferences. Stroupe and Kimura (2015) note that the ASEAN members are seeking to increase integration and collaboration. This is also true among the Plus Three nations, such as Japan.

Conclusion The findings from this study of 17 teacher educators, students and alumni in English language teacher preparation programmes in Myanmar confirmed many of the key challenges raised in previous studies of English language teacher preparation programmes in the region. The first set of challenges to English language teacher education found in this study was related to the examination, promotion and compensation systems in education. Another set of challenges more within the teacher’s control included revising the curriculum, updating textbooks, improving their methodology, and monitoring practice teaching. Other challenges mentioned in this study were reducing teacher workload and addressing the unequal educational opportunities. Specific recommendations regarding how to establish, effectively implement and improve existing pre-service teacher programmes in Myanmar on the basis of the findings include finding ways to support teachers. Although this volume focuses on improving pre-service education in English language education, in order to improve this in Myanmar, in-service professional development is needed in some cases for teacher educators. Recommendations for ELT pre-service education throughout the larger context of the ASEAN region includes exploring ways to improve teacher trainers’ language proficiency and pedagogy; participating in educational policy formation and reform; and collaborating with colleagues in ASEAN and neighbouring nations to network and find solutions to common problems. While the challenges of English language teacher preparation in Myanmar may appear daunting, the means to address the challenges have been identified and changes are underway. Working with local partners will serve Myanmar well, as it seeks to recover the reputation it had not long ago, as a nation with one of the top academic English-medium institutions of higher education in all of Southeast Asia. As Myanmar’s former deputy minister or education, Dr. Myo Myint (2016) has said, “[I]nvesting in education is the best investment for a nation’s future. So too, investing in teacher education can be said to be the best investment for the education sector” (p. 133).

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English language teacher preparation 259 Aye Kyaw. (1993). The voice of young Burma. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Southeast Asia Program. Bray, M., and Kwo, O. (2014). Regulating private tutoring for public good: Policy options for supplementary education in Asia. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC). CESR. (2014). Comprehensive education sector review. Retrieved from www.cesrmm.org/ index.php/en/ Cheesman, N. (2003). School, state and Sangha in Burma. Comparative Education, 39(1), 45–63. doi:10.1080/03050060302565 Copland, F., Garton, S., and Mann, S. (Eds.). (2016). LETs and NESTs: Voices, views, and vignettes. Manchester, UK: British Council. Ei Shwe Phyu. (2017, June 5). Colleges to be upgraded, award degrees. Myanmar Times. Retrieved from www.mmtimes.com/national-news/yangon/26255-colleges-to-beupgraded-award-degrees.html Fen, W. S. (2005). English in Myanmar. RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 36(1), 93–104. doi:10.1177/0033688205053485 Furnivall, J. S. (1956). Colonial policy and practice: A comparative study of Burma, and Netherlands India. New York, NY: New York University Press. Gonzalez, N., Moll, L. C., and Amanti, C. (Eds.). (2005). Funds of knowledge:Theorizing practices in households and classrooms. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates. Hayden, M., and Martin, R. (2013). Recovery of the education system in Myanmar. Journal of International and Comparative Education, 2(2), 47–57. Retrieved from https://epubs.scu. edu.au/educ_pubs/1024/ Hillman, O. (1946). The problem of education in dependent territories. The Journal of Negro Education, 15(3), 526–533. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/i349036 Institute of International Education (IIE). (2013, April). Investing in the future: Rebuilding higher education in Myanmar. Report on the IIE Myanmar initiative. A briefing paper from IIE’s Center for International Partnerships, New York, NY: IIE. Retrieved from file:///Users/ mwong/Downloads/Rebuilding-Higher-Education-in-Myanmar.pdf Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). (2013, February). Data collection survey on education in Myanmar final report. Retrieved from http://open_jicareport.jica.go.jp/ pdf/12113635.pdf Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). (2017, July 27). Primary schools in Myanmar start using new textbooks: Children excited about colorful textbooks, speak up more in class. Retrieved November 9, 2017, from www.jica.go.jp/english/news/field/2017/170727_01.html Ju Paw. (2015). Current English language teaching in Myanmar. In T. W. Bigalke and S. Sharbawi (Eds.), English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region. Proceedings of the forum on English for ASEAN Integration (pp. 103–109). Brunei Darussalam: Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Kaung, U. (1963). A survey of the history of education in Burma before the British conquest and after. Journal of the Burma Research Society, 46(2), 9–124. Kirkpatrick, A. (2012a). English as an international language in Asia: Implications for language education. In A. Kirkpatrick and R. Sussex (Eds.), English as an international language in Asia: Implications for language education (pp. 29–44). Dordrecht,The Netherlands: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4578-0_3 Kirkpatrick, A. (2012b). English in ASEAN: Implications for regional multilingualism. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 331–344. doi:10.1080/01434632.201 2.661433 Kirkpatrick, A. (2014). English in Southeast Asia: Pedagogical and policy implications. World Englishes, 33(4), 426–438. doi:10.1111/weng.12105 Lall, M. (2016). Understanding reform in Myanmar: People and society in the wake of military rule. London: Hurst & Company.

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14 The “Practising Adaptive Expert”

Mai Trang VuThe “Practising Adaptive Expert”

Professionalism as constructed in Vietnam English language teacher policy Mai Trang Vu Introduction Among the key areas that the ASEAN and ASEAN Plus Three cooperation cover are socio-cultural development, sustainable development, and education (ASEAN, 2017). In these processes, English is considered as “an indispensable tool to bring our community closer together” in the increasingly globalised world (ASEAN 2013, as cited in Kirkpatrick, 2017, p. 8). English is promoted as the communication tool between governments, businesses and local populations to realise economic interests and internationalisation goals (Stroupe and Kimura, 2015; Badiozaman, 2016), and in all thirteen ASEAN Plus Three member states, English has received much investment (for example, being introduced to school at primary level). Meanwhile, raising the quality of English language teaching (ELT) teachers has become a prime concern given the standards regarding language proficiency and teaching approaches (Le and Barnard, 2009; Nguyen, 2015; Zein, 2016). In response to these conditions, the Vietnam government has put English teacher education and continuous education high on agenda.Within the ongoing National Foreign Language 2020 Project (NFL2020), the Vietnam English Teacher Competencies Framework (ETCF) was approved in 2012 and officially introduced in 2014. Since its approval, the policy has been used to inform the development of pre-service and in-service English teacher education and training programmes in the country (Dudzik and Nguyen, 2015; Pham, 2017). The chapter analyses the knowledge and skills expected of English teachers in Vietnam expressed in the ETCF and examines the principles underlying these qualities, using the notion of professionalism (Freidson, 2001; Evetts, 2009; Kennedy, 2014). Reading professionalism in the ETCF not only as a set of qualities (a trait-based approach) but also from a critical perspective, using policy analysis, the chapter addresses the questions: What is professionalism as it is articulated in the ETCF? What are the values and priorities underpinning this articulation? How do these values and priorities reveal insights into the construction of professionalism?

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The chapter starts by introducing the notions of “occupational professionalism” and “organisational professionalism” in teacher profession literature and relates these to the contemporary discourse in Vietnam regarding foreign language policy and teacher education contexts, including the ETCF. After presenting how the ETCF was analysed, the chapter reports the findings generated from the analysis and discusses how this representation of professionalism may be interpreted. The results indicate that professionalism as constructed in the ETCF promotes English language teachers in Vietnam as practitioners with adaptive expertise, articulated through concrete competencies and performance indicators. The study raises the question about a more explicit emphasis in the policy on formal knowledge that enhances teacher autonomy and support for professional development. The discursive construction of teachers in education policy documents has been the topic of previous research. For example, Thomas (2005), using discourse policy analysis, discusses how teacher quality in education policies in Australian contexts is connected to the knowledge economy and to the government’s political interests, and how this has a consequence on teacher professionalism. In the particular context of Vietnam, research on teacher professionalism appears to be limited. Most of the few studies in this area deal with teacher quality development from a teaching effectiveness approach rather than a critical perspective (e.g. Griffin, Nguyen, Gillis, and Mai, 2006; Tran, 2015). Meanwhile, to date there has been no research on Vietnam ELT teacher professionalism policies. The chapter thus contributes not only to the growing literature on professionalism in ELT, but also to policy development on English teacher education in Vietnam and other similar contexts. With regard to more practical implications, the study offers policymakers insights of their construction of professionalism as a critical concept, while teacher educators and teachers themselves may use the study’s findings for both pre-service and in-service curriculum design and professional learning process.

Occupational and organisational professionalism, and the contemporary professionalisation of the ELT occupation in Vietnam A recent review of the literature on professionalism in ELT (Vu, 2016) indicates that the notion of professionalism needs to be understood simultaneously from a trait-based perspective and a critical dimension. Since traits are value-laden, there seems to be always a question of power involved. The research resonates with Gewirtz, Mahony, Hextall, and Cribb’s.’s (2009, p. 4) view – which follows Freidson’s (2001) ideas – seeing professionalism “both as a mode of social coordination and as shorthand for a (shifting and contested) set of occupational virtues”. Related to “professionalism” is the term “professionalisation” – the process in which an occupation attempts to achieve the status of profession. Professionalisation can be initiated by different forces, for example, the occupational

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group itself (professionalisation “from within”), or the market or the state, or both (professionalisation “from above”) (McClelland, 1990). From this premise, the recent construction of professionalism as a critical notion can be seen as following two approaches: one that focuses on the impacts from the “from above” professionalisation and one that highlights the “from within” role of professional groups (e.g. Sachs, 2003;Whitty, 2008; Evetts, 2009; Hasselberg, 2013; Kennedy, 2014). “Occupational professionalism” (Evetts, 2009) is defined as a discourse constructed by professional groups. Its core elements include collegial authority, discretion and occupational autonomy of the work, and trust in practitioners by both clients and employers. Meanwhile, “democratic professionalism” (Whitty, 2008; Kennedy, 2014) is built on “teacher activist professionalism” (Sachs, 2003, 2013) where teachers are agents of change. In this sense, occupational and democratic professionalism can be seen an ideal-type of professionalism where the practitioner has the control over their work. According to Freidson (2001), this ideal-type of professionalism can be most developed if it is a discretionary specialisation that consists of more formal knowledge than practical, manual knowledge. On the other hand, “organisational professionalism” (Evetts, 2009) refers to the professionalism resulting from a discourse of control. Organisational professionalism is manifested through standardisation, accountability and externalised forms of regulation. These features of “organisational professionalism” can be traced in what Sachs (2003, 2013) and Whitty (2008) term as a “managerial professionalism” that controls teachers by means of intervention including standardisation, supervision and regulation. In Vietnam, the professionalisation of the ELT occupation seems to have been implemented mostly by the state with its policies and regulations. There has been no official professional association for English language teachers in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the roles of unions at schools and education institutions mostly concern administrative rather than professional, occupational aspects. A few studies have discussed the qualities expected of teachers, but they either aim at teachers of all subjects, such as the study by Griffin et al. (2006), or examine student perceptions (Tran, 2015). The latest and ongoing policy discourse concerning English language education in Vietnam is the “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008–2020”, commonly known as the National Foreign Language Project 2020 (NFL Project 2020). NFL Project 2020’s overall goal is “to renovate thoroughly the tasks of teaching and learning foreign languages within the national education system” (Decision 1400/ QĐ-TTg). NFL Project 2020 sees teachers as the major party in achieving its mission. Three major tasks have been identified, which are also perceived as challenges: “Improving teachers’ language proficiency; Developing teaching capacity that reflects the demands of the 21st Century; and Delivering effective teacher

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development” (Dudzik and Nguyen, 2015, p. 48). Teachers are seen as the key agent that brings about changes, and at the same time the root of the problem since the lack of good English teachers and effective teaching methods has produced students with poor English performance (Baker, 2012). With this rationale, a nationwide assessment of teacher proficiency has been conducted since 2011 among public school English teachers. This aptitude test is benchmarked against a framework of six levels compatible to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The screening is stated by the NFL Project 2020 management as “a proficiency test to identify how many teachers need government-funded language training before they can go on teacher training courses” (Parks, 2011). At the same time, a set of professional standards required of English teachers was developed, which was approved by MOET in December 2012, entitled “Vietnam English Teacher Competency Framework” (ETCF), which is the policy that this research studies.

Methods The policy analysed in this study is the Vietnam English Teacher Competency Framework (ETCF). This particular policy is selected because it is the first, and most important, legal document regarding English language teachers in Vietnam at present.The ETCF addresses the knowledge, competence and skills expected of ELT teachers; thus, it has a direct impact on their work and professionalism. The ETCF was officially introduced under Public document 792/BGDĐTNGCBQLGD in 2014 (hereafter Document 792) regulating the competencies required of English language teachers in Vietnam. The ETCF was designed and developed during 2010–2012 by a team of ELT professionals convened by MOET through the NFL Project 2020, including international and Vietnamese experts, university teacher educators and English school teachers (ETCF User’s Guide, p. 4). The main partners engaging in the development of the framework are MOET’s NFL Project 2020,Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences, major local English teacher training institutions, the Resource Exchange International and US Department of State, and the British Council. Before its official approval in 2012, the document had been exposed to numerous discussions, seminars and conferences where its contents were discussed and adjusted. This research uses policy analysis from a discourse theory perspective (e.g. Taylor, 1997; Bacchi, 2000; Thomas, 2005; Gulson, Clarke, and Petersen, 2015) as its method. Policy-as-discourse analysts “enable valuable fine-grained analyses to be undertaken within a broader structural analysis” that consider the discursive field within which policymaking processes take place (Taylor, 1997, p. 25). By attending to both linguistic features and their embedded meaning placed in discourses (Taylor, 1997; Thomas, 2005), discourse policy analysis emphasises “deeper reflection on the contours of a particular policy discussion; the shape assigned a particular ‘problem’ ” (Bacchi, 2000, p. 48), putting the problem into questions and contextualising the problem – “problematisation” (Bacchi, 2000, 2009). The study resonates with what Ball (2015, p. 310) sees

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as the purposes of policy analysis: “The current framework of global educational reform and the necessarian logics of standards and competition is fertile ground within which to explore ‘complementarity and conflict’ ”. The policy was thus treated as conveying, through signs and symbols, “a way of thinking that is culturally or institutionally conditioned” (Cohen, Manion, and Morrison, 2011, p. 574). In other words, the study aims to problematise the seemingly “technical” (Gulson et al., 2015) by exploring the policy’s several layers of meaning presented through both content and form, using thematic analysis at different levels – semantic, interpretative and latent (Braun and Clarke, 2008). These analysis stages were conducted with a recognition of the interrelationships between them (Thomas, 2005). In analysing the policy, attention was paid not only to what the text says (semantic analysis for contents), but also how the contents are presented (interpretative analysis). In this way, both description and interpretation become necessary analytical strategies so that implicit and explicit meanings may be unravelled. The questions asked include: What is counted as professionalism? What kinds of professional knowledge and skills are referred to in the policy? How is professionalism presented? What seems to be more valued and prioritised? How is it legitimised? The information segments identified from these questions helped generate initial codes (for example, not only content knowledge but also pedagogical content knowledge, skills, processes and values that comprise a domain), which were in turn categorised into sub-themes if patterns were found (for example, “knowledge as a complexity of holistic fluidity”).The sub-themes were then grouped into themes (for example, “occupational professionalism”).

Results and discussions The ETCF: main areas of knowledge and skills

The ETCF covers five domains; each domain consists of competencies and indicators. Domain is defined in the policy as “the major areas or ‘big ideas’ that answer the question, What do teachers need to know and be able to do”; competencies as “the levels of knowledge or skill at which teachers are expected to perform”, and performance indicators as “evidences of competency” (p. 13).The first three domains seem to be more concrete – they are also “hard” areas of technical competencies, while those in the last two domains seem to be “softer” as they are values, attitudes and approaches. Domain 1: English subject matter knowledge and curricular content knowledge

This domain includes teachers’ language proficiency, understanding and applying the national six-level language proficiency framework, knowledge of the English language system, understanding how languages are learnt, knowledge of the cultures of English-speaking countries, using English materials in teaching and knowledge of locally used English curricula.

266  Mai Trang Vu Domain 2: English pedagogical content knowledge

This domain includes teaching the four skills, planning effective lessons, conducting effective lessons, creating supportive learning environments, assessing students’ progress and proficiency, and using resources and technology effectively to support student learning. Domain 3: Knowledge of language learners

This domain consists of understanding students’ development, understanding stages of learner language, developing students’ potential and interest for language learning, and developing students’ creativity and critical thinking. Domain 4: Professional attitudes and values in language teaching

This domain includes promoting and modelling the values of language learning, practising cooperation, collaboration and teamwork, demonstrating lifelong learning and participating in professional development activities. Domain 5: Practice and context of language teaching

This domain involves teachers’ connecting their own learning with colleagues, and connecting their students’ language learning with other students, classes and schools. They also need to practise ongoing reflection. The competencies are then concretised into performance indicators. For example, the competence “understanding how languages are learnt” is interpreted as knowledge of “how instruction affects language learning” and “how individual learner variables affect language learning”. These sub-categories of knowledge are further elaborated into statements such as “use English as much as possible (to provide a model) and encourages children to do the same”, “use Vietnamese where appropriate (particularly to reduce anxiety)”, and “recognise individual learner variables (such as age, L1 literacy, personality, motivation, socioeconomic status)”. The domains that the framework is based upon are represented in the policy as a Venn diagram composed of interlinked circles (Figure 14.1).The three central, frontline circles are Domains 1, 2, and 3, while Domain 4 spreads across the intersections of the three circles. The entire set of domains is then placed in a larger circle, which is Domain 5. Teacher knowledge as a complexity of holistic fluidity

The analysis shows that the areas of teacher knowledge promoted in the ETCF include: English proficiency, Knowledge of teaching, Knowledge of learners, Reflective teaching, and Contextual knowledge. Knowledge of subject content (Domain 1: English language) and pedagogical knowledge (Domain 2: Knowledge of teaching) seem to be the two most

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1

KNOWLEDGE OF SUBJECT

4 ATTITUDES & VALUES

2

3

KNOWLEDGE OF TEACHING

KNOWLEDGE OF LEARNERS

5

LEARNING & FROM PRACTICE & INFORMED BY CONTEXT

Figure 14.1 The ETCF framework

important bodies of expertise, since they are placed above other domains, and they also have the most competencies and indicators. Knowledge of learners is also presented as a key area that English teachers have to possess since it is made a separate, independent domain from “Knowledge of teaching”. Learningcentredness and Communicative Language Teaching are promoted. Meanwhile, “effective” learning is conceptualised as “situative” (p. 16), where all factors such as learners, curriculum, resources and professional community are considered. The norms of this professionalism are no longer formal qualifications seen in conventional traditions of Vietnam. What matters most here seems to be an accomplishment of teaching, which is defined as bringing about effective student learning. Also, professional attitudes and values, including teacher learning and reflection; and contextual knowledge, including cooperation, are explicitly articulated into Domains 4 and 5, though they may be “backdrop” domains in comparison to the first three ones. This reflects a recognition of the importance of these “softer” bodies of knowledge. These trends are also in line with contemporary definitions of ELT professional expertise: subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of learners; teacher self-awareness and reflection, and knowledge of context (e.g. Murray and Christison, 2011; Pennington and Hoekje, 2014; Richards, 2011). With teacher professionalism imagined as domains that interlace and contain various types of knowledge mingled with each other, the ETCF seems to recognise the fluidity and complexity of English teaching work.The occupation is presented in the policy in a holistic way. Indeed, in its introduction, the ETCF

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states that the term “knowledge” is being used in its broadest sense to include not only content knowledge but also to pedagogical content knowledge, skills, processes and values that comprise a domain (p. 13). The framework aims to answer the question “What do teachers need to know and be able to do?” (p. 16) with Domains 1, 2, and 3.These three domains are embedded in professional values and attitudes (Domain 4) and located within a larger sphere (Domain 5) that reflects a “situative” (local) perspective of effective teacher learning that takes place within the contexts and practice of teaching (p. 16). The policy thus strives for a holistic understanding of the occupation and of those who perform it. In order to be able to accomplish the work of teaching, various types of knowledge are required: teacher’s common sense (everyday knowledge), practical knowledge (learnt on the job), experience and intuition (tacit knowledge), and to a lesser extent, teacher’s knowledge learnt from specialised training (formal knowledge informed by theories and principles) (Freidson, 2001). ELT teaching as a functional, mechanical specialisation?

While the ETCF emphasises that it sees teacher knowledge as a complexity of holistic fluidity of interwoven areas, at the same time, the results generated also indicate a rather functional and mechanical interpretation of the work of ELT teachers. A significant observation is that functionality is a prominent message promoted in the ETCF. Describing itself as a set of “can-do” statements, the framework formulates the domains, competencies and indicators as leading to a productive end – which is teachers are able to accomplish an occupational task. Although the domains are labelled as nouns that denote “knowledge” (e.g.“Knowledge of subject content”, “Knowledge of teaching”, “Professional values”), almost half of the competencies that they encompass are articulated starting with verbs (e.g. “conducting”, “showing”, “developing”, etc.), and almost all performance indicators – which make up the most elaborate picture of the framework – employ the formula “know . . . and be able to do . . . ”. As such, in the ETCF, knowledge always goes with application; the competencies are identified so as to realise a productive end. In this way, it can be said that the knowledge in the policy is a skill type of knowledge, as defined by (Freidson, 2001, p. 25) as “the capacity to accomplish a task”. Skill is a type of knowledge, but it can be differentiated from the substantive knowledge that is connected to the task itself (Freidson, 2001, p. 25). Functionality, or working knowledge, seems to dominate over other types of knowledge. Meanwhile, desirable qualities are presented in the policy as task-oriented competencies. At the same time, this task-oriented, functional approach allows for specialised characteristics of the ELT occupation to emerge, which might less likely be the case if an approach that focuses only on substantive knowledge were employed. Indeed, the contents of the framework, which are composed of competencies and performance indicators, besides describing the knowledge

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and skills applying to teaching in general, also try to highlight the specialisation of the teaching of the English language. If Domains 4 and 5 can be relevant to teachers of all subjects, in Domains 1, 2, and 3 the attempt to distinguish teaching English from the work of other teacher groups seems to be stressed. For example, teacher language proficiency can be understood as both what to teach – content knowledge (Competency 1.1) – and how to teach – how classroom instructional language should be conducted (Competency 1.3). The detailed elaboration of competencies into skills linked to tasks also helps to distinct the work of English language teaching. For instance, Competency 1.3 illuminates knowledge of “individual learner variables” as knowledge of “age, L1 literacy, personality, motivation, socioeconomic status”, an important factor if English teachers are to apply “a variety of instructional techniques to address student differences” – the task that this knowledge targets. At the same time, in the ETCF it can be noted that the term “research” is not emphasised.Teacher reflection and critical thinking are promoted as important qualities – as demonstrated later, but the policy does not mention teacher research engagement as an explicit competence. Also, theory knowledge appears to play a modest role. As such, “research” in the policy is conceptualised as having a rather practical nature in familiar teaching contexts. Teachers are encouraged to possess this version of research, and mostly they use theories to reflect on teaching rather than to create new knowledge in the form of more formal research activities.

Beyond the “Teaching4 Machines”: ELT teachers as “Adaptive Experts” The ETCF describes its guiding principle as follows: The vision of the ETCF is to build the profession of English teaching beyond the level of technicians or teaching machines (giáo viên là những cái máy dạy) to practising teachers with “adaptive expertise”, considered the “gold standard” in teacher training. (User’s Guide, p. 8) Dr. Diana Dudzik, one of the leading developers of the ETCF, elaborates the intention of this statement (email communication, September 2015): The phrase “professional practitioners with adaptive expertise” came out of my research on teacher development (Dudzik, 2008, p. 135). In this phrase, I combined Bransford et al. (2005) “vision of professional practice” (p. 11) with “adaptive expertise” which has been called the “gold standard” of teacher professional development (Bransford et al., 2005, p. 76). In Vietnam, the idea of teachers as “teaching machines” came up several times. The ETCF vision was meant to counteract that idea and to elevate teaching to a profession of practising teachers.

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A number of observations can be gained from the vision statement and its elaboration. First, although in the final version of the ETCF the term “professional practitioners” was replaced with “practising teachers”,1 the policy’s essence, one that aims for a professionalisation project, seems to remain the same. This professionalisation project is understood as to establish and maintain teacher professional freedom. Indeed, ELT is constructed as a profession, and this is conceptualised in the document as teachers gaining more flexibility over their work (not technicians nor teaching machines but “practising teachers with adaptive expertise”). This is the very core idea of the ideal-typical professionalism, which imagines the occupation group can control their own work (Freidson, 2001). This philosophy is articulated across the ETCF document. Furthermore, the professionalisation project to elevate teaching to a profession of practising teachers also reveals how the ELT occupation is viewed. The observation noted earlier shows that the policy is making attempts to lift ELT from a mechanical specialisation (teachers as technicians and teaching machines) by granting teachers more control. This discretion can be described as being at a moderate level, as the phase practising teachers with “adaptive expertise” may suggest. In other words, the policy promotes a view towards ELT as an occupation where teachers start to use their specialised expertise to actively accomplish a practical task effectively, and not just a manual craft mechanically operated. Moving beyond being technicians and teaching machines, English teachers in the ETCF have a knowledge base (domains and competencies), and they understand and confidently perform work (practising teachers) and start to take control (adaptive expertise). Throughout the ETCF, informed adaptive expertise for ELT teachers is a strongly promoted feature. The “adaptive expertise” mentioned in the ETCF emerges through the use of phrases such as, “where appropriate”, “wherever possible”, “a variety of (techniques)”, “a varied sequence of (activities)”, “use . . . as much as possible”, “(plan) accordingly”, “differences”, “select”, “evaluate”, “appropriate”, “relevant”, etc. throughout the policy where performance indicators are described. For example, Competency 2.6 Technology for Language Teaching is elaborated into this indicator, “Select and use available ICT materials and activities in the classroom appropriate for students including presentation tools, educational websites, blogs, social networks to assist learning (where applicable)”. Adaptive expertise is also made explicitly in the contents of indicators. For example, Competency 1.6 Language Curriculum is elaborated as,“Understand that curriculum is more than following a textbook”, and Competency 2.2 Lesson Planning as, “Set objectives which help students to reach their full potential, taking into account their needs, abilities, and interests”. In this way, the policy attempts to create some free space for English teachers, since adaptive expertise, as manifested in the framework, implies (informed) choices. However, the status of ELT constructed in the ETCF cannot be described as a fully mental discretionary specialisation, since, as demonstrated earlier, the policy stresses on functionality, practicality and situatedness, and it does not prioritise one type of knowledge over the others. The policy seems to hold the view that the knowledge needed to achieve functionality can stem from

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everyday, practical knowledge (tacit knowledge), and not necessarily from a base of theories and abstract concepts (formal knowledge) (Freidson, 2001). With these considerations, it seems that the ETCF is promoting a professionalism of a manual discretionary specialisation. A “First do no harm” occupational professionalism versus a manual specialisation?

The findings and observations so far have suggested that the professionalism constructed in the ETCF can be characterised as moving towards an occupational professionalism (Evetts, 2009). However, despite its attempts to promote ELT as a discretionary specialisation, a presence of a culture of functionality and measurability that sees the work as being manual was also detected. On the one hand, the policy promotes an increased discretion for teachers. The ETCF and its issuance legislation, Public document 792, state they are designed as a support tool for teachers in their work: “a self-assessment tool for individual English teacher” and the results will be used in “their self-learning and participating in CPD courses in order to improve their competencies” (Public document 792). The policy emphasises that the standards have to be employed “flexibly” and they are not the criteria for teacher performance as well as teacher recruitment and promotion. In the ETCF User’s Guide, it is also stated that the policy follows the “First do no harm” principle: “The purpose of ETCF is additive – to help teacher educators, administrators and teachers to move toward a new vision of language teaching and learning – not punitive (to punish teachers)” (User’s Guide, p. 9). Across the policy, as the earlier analysis has demonstrated, the claim that teachers should be able to exercise discretion in their own work is articulated, through which the status of the occupation is raised. The idea of professional community also seems to be promoted in the policy, through an emphasised repetition of the words teaching community, learning community, professional community, and community of practice. Although the ETCF presents itself as a professional development support tool, it is, on the other hand, a set of standards that teachers need to comply with. The construction of teacher knowledge, skills and attitude as definite tasks, behaviour and responsibilities, the presentation of these requirements in bullet-point items, and then in blocks and categories, and the classification of professional expertise and competencies into rankings, all show that professionalism is viewed as being able to be added, measured and exemplified. Teacher knowledge is conceptualised into a hierarchical structure of domains, competencies and indicators. Meanwhile, competencies are concretised into either observable behaviours or deliverables (with the use of verbs such as “conduct”, “plan”, “integrate”, “identify”, “use”, etc.). In the ETCF, the five domains are elaborated as 23 competencies, which are further codified into more than 130 performance indicators. This approach to defining bodies of skills and knowledge, and therefore defining the work of teachers, seems to be competing with the professional autonomy the policy claims it aims at.

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How the contents of the ETCF are formulated reveals the type of specialisation the policy is viewing English teaching work. English teacher expertise is constructed as knowledge of immediate practical use and productive ends, and this implies a perspective towards the occupation as a manual discretionary specialisation (Freidson, 2001). Freidson conceptualises manual discretionary specialisation as having a high proportion of practical knowledge that is used in a particular work and not others, and moderate proportions of everyday and tacit knowledge. As a result, this specialisation exercises more discretion – the work control – than mechanical specialisation, but less discretion than mental discretionary specialisation, which has a larger proportion of formal knowledge. In the case of the ETCF, it seems that the paradox of teacher standardisation versus teacher development is well perceived in the policy. It acknowledges the dilemma and shows the intention to compromise different discourses. When the ETCF claims it is underpinned by the “First do no harm” principle, it seems it has already acknowledged an existence of the “harm”.This is further revealed when the framework describes itself as “standardised, yet able to be customised and flexible” (User’s Guide, p. 17). In this way, the policy is declaring that standardisations will provide teachers with “occupational shelters” (Freidson, 2001) rather than something to control them. Indeed, with the observations gained earlier through analysing the contents and their representation of the policy, it can be said that overall the framework has constructed an ELT professionalism that reaches beyond a mechanical specialisation type of teachers as technicians and teaching machines. Nevertheless, it can also be noted that in constructing ELT expertise with productive ends, little is discussed in the policy about the sources needed in order to possess this expertise. For example, whenever theory and abstract ideas are mentioned in the policy, this formal knowledge is immediately followed by how it should be used to realise a task. No formal qualification requirements such as degrees and certificates are specified, except the requirement on language proficiency. No prescription regarding experience, which can be considered as either tacit knowledge or practical knowledge (Freidson, 2001), is provided. The ETCF explicitly stresses on the actual competencies and skills for English teachers to accomplish their tasks. The results of this analysis resonate with those by Thomas (2005) on how developing teacher professionalism through raising standards may reflect the government’s political interests of regulation and control.

Conclusion The findings from this study of the ETCF indicate there exist several facets of professionalism for ELT teachers in Vietnam. Two main representations of the notion co-exist in the policy and they reflect different, even competing values between teacher development and teacher management. One representation of professionalism can be characterised as promoting occupational expertise and teacher autonomy, while at the same time the notion is presented in the policy as a professionalism of functionality, productivity and measurability.

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This paradox reveals the professionalism in the ETCF is somehow entangled between different discourses. With the measurability approach, it can be seen that the discourse of managerialism has permeated in the discourse of professionalism. The present professionalism, associated with managerialism, has been described as having transformed the conceptions of what it meant to be a teacher (Apple, 2009). Indeed, although the ETCF is a professional development support tool, it is on the other hand a set of standards that teachers need to comply with. At the same time, the policy is also under the pressure from the society. The Vietnam National Foreign Language Project 2020 is initiated on the rationale that English education needs to produce human resources with English competencies and qualifications in response to the country’s new conditions.This rationale also forms the grounds from which the ETCF departs from, being part of the NFL Project 2020. The mission that English teachers have to fulfil is phrased in the policy as “helping students gain the language competencies and soft skills called for in the 21st Century”, which is “the job that they are being called on by society to do” (User’s Guide, p. 8). These quite different, even contradictory contexts and interests are demonstrated in the policy as “competing discourses”, and the tension between which may lead to its effects being by no means certain or predictable (Taylor, 1997; Bacchi, 2000). Although being embedded in these possibly competing discourses, the policy can still be viewed as aiming at an ideal-type occupationally controlled professionalism that wants to see ELT elevating to a higher status and English teachers exercising a higher level of discretion – striving for an ideal-typical professionalism (Freidson, 2001). The contents of the documents, their claimed purposes, and how they are presented, imply an attempt to professionalise the work of English teaching with a priority set towards teacher development and support. That the policy is designed and developed by a team of ELT educational experts, teacher educators, and teachers, is one factor that may be used to support this finding. Considering the paradox of measurability versus discretion, and between teacher standardisation and teacher development discussed previously, the question of whether the ETCF is a really a support or a management tool, especially when used by administrators (one of the intended audience of the policy, which, interestingly, is not mentioned in the “standardised, yet able to be customised and flexible” message noted earlier), still remains. If this teacher competency framework is to be used as an effective tool for both professional development and quality assurance, all actors, especially teachers, should be given optimal conditions to be able to actively implement policies (Vu and O’Rourke, 2013). The contemporary professionalism for ELT teachers in Vietnam as articulated in the policy has not manifested itself as an activist, democratic professionalism. The overall purpose of democratic professionalism is to promote developmental aspects of teacher quality (i.e. to enhance strengths and interests, not to fix weaknesses). Their work, meanwhile, is assessed against outcomes that are context-specific and negotiated, rather than externally prescribed standards of an organisational, managerial professionalism. In an occupational, democratic

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professionalism, collaboration, openness, teacher autonomy and social justice commitment are the values privileged (Whitty, 2008; Evetts, 2009; Sachs, 2013; Kennedy, 2014). Thus, an instrumental interpretation of knowledge, in this case teacher knowledge, may have a significant consequence on learning (Wahlström, 2016). Rather, teacher autonomy should be made more pronounced as their voice being invited back to, and not taken out of, the “equation” in education policy decision-making (to use the words of Thomas, 2005). This proves to be an important issue in the case of Vietnam’s ETCF policy, being a steering policy for both pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes. If the ELT teacher is to be seen as a capable, autonomous professional, a more visible focus on teachers’ formal knowledge and critical reflection could be a consideration in the ETCF and other policies on (English) teacher professionalism and education in Vietnam. This can also be a consideration for the policymaking regarding ELT in the regional contexts of ASEAN Plus Three, where similar strategic plans towards English teacher development are currently being adopted (e.g. Subramaniam, 2014; Chodidjah, 2015; Goh, 2015; Rañosa-Madrunio, 2015). The ability to critically reflect on the assumptions about their own teaching and being a teacher can be promoted an essential part of teacher knowledge, especially as the topic of English language teacher competences (e.g. language and culture) and identities has increasingly been studied in both international contexts and in Asian contexts (Lim, 2011; Zacharias, 2012; Cheung, Ben Said, and Park, 2015). Also, enhancing teacher research competence can be included as one of the focal points in both policy designing and implementing, since this formal knowledge can enable the autonomous dimension of professionalism (Freidson, 2001). Indeed, recent discussions on the work of ELT teachers call for an increased linkage between research and pedagogy. Understanding and reviewing one’s own theories of learning and teaching is an essential part of teacher professional growth (Richards and Farrell, 2005; Richards, 2011), which should be the overall goal in teacher education (Ellis, 2012). These considerations will enable teachers to have more voice in shaping their work and designing the support needed for their work, activate their innovation and creativity, and be well prepared in entering into the conversation with other actors in the process of making meaningful changes in the classroom.

Acknowledgements This chapter is developed from part of a doctoral thesis:Vu, M. T. (2017). Logics and politics of professionalism: The case of university English language teachers in Vietnam. Umeå University, Sweden.

Note 1 On this change, Dr. Dudzik wrote, “I’m not sure why we dropped “professional practitioners”, except that it becomes somewhat cumbersome both to use and to explain the longer phrase” (email communication, September, 2015).

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References Apple, M. (2009). Foreword. In S. Gewirtz, P. Mahony, I. Hextall, and A. Cribb (Eds.), Changing teacher professionalism: International trends, challenges and ways forward (pp. xiv–xvii). London: Routledge. ASEAN (2013). Keynote address by H. E. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN at the British Council Conference on ‘Educating the next generation of workforce: ASEAN perspectives on innovation, integration and English’. Bangkok, 24 June 2013. ASEAN (2017). Overview of ASEAN plus three cooperation. ASEAN Secretariat Information Paper. Retrieved from http://asean.org/storage/2017/06/Overview-of-APTCooperation-Jun-2017.pdf Bacchi, C. (2000). Policy as discourse: What does it mean? Where does it get us? Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 21(1), 45–57. doi:10.1080/01596300050005493 Bacchi, C. (2009). Analysing policy: What’s the problem represented to be? Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson. Badiozaman, I. (2016). Managing context and complexities: My career trajectory of teaching English as a second language in Malaysia. In P. Haworth and C. Craig (Eds.), The career trajectories of English language teachers (pp. 49–60). Oxford: Symposium Books. Baker, A. (2012, June 20). Vietnam testing all its English teachers. The PIE News. Retrieved from https://thepienews.com/news/vietnam-testing-all-its-english-teachers/ Ball, S. J. (2015). What is policy? 21 years later: Reflections on the possibilities of policy research. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 36(3), 306–313. doi:10.1080 /01596306.2015.1015279 Bransford, J., Darling-Hammond, L., & LePage, P. (2005). Introduction. In J. Bransford & L. DarlingHammond (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world:What teachers should learn and be able to do (pp.1–39). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bransford, J., Deny, S., Berliner, D., & Hammerness, K. with Beckett, K. L. (2005). Theories of learning and their roles in teaching. In J. Bransford & L. Darling-Hammond (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do (pp.40–87). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Braun,V., and Clarke,V. (2008). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Cheung,Y. L., Ben Said, S., and Park, K. (Eds.). (2015). Advances and current trends in language teacher identity research. Abingdon and New York, NY: Routledge. Chodidjah, I. (2015). ELT in the Indonesian school system. In T. W. Bigalke and S. Sharbawi (Eds.), English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region (pp. 41–45). Bandar Seri Begawan: Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Cohen, L., Manion, L., and Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education. London: Routledge. Dudzik, D. L. (2008). English policies, curricular reforms, and teacher development in multilingual, postcolonial Djibouti. University of Minnesota, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (304531986). Dudzik, D. L., and Nguyen,T. N. Q. (2015).Vietnam: Building English competency in preparation for ASEAN 2015. In R. Stroupe and K. Kimura (Eds.), ASEAN Integration and the role of ELT (pp. 41–71). PhnomPenh: Language Education in Asia. Ellis, R. (2012). Language teaching research and language pedagogy. Chichester, UK: WileyBlackwell. Evetts, J. (2009).The management of professionalism: A contemporary paradox. In S. Gewirtz, P. Mahony, I. Hextall, and A. Cribb (Eds.), Changing teacher professionalism: International trends, challenges and ways forward (pp. 19–30). London: Routledge.

276  Mai Trang Vu Freidson, E. (2001). Professionalism:The third logic. Cambridge: Polity Press. Gewirtz, S., Mahony, P., Hextall, I., & Cribb, A. (2009). Policy, professionalism and practice: understanding and enhancing teachers’ work. In S. Gewirtz, P. Mahony, I. Hextall, & A. Cribb (Eds.), Changing teacher professionalism: International trends, challenges and ways forward (pp. 3–16). London: Routledge. Goh, C. C. M. (2015). Educating English-knowing bilinguals in Singapore: Challenges and opportunities. In T.W. Bigalke and S. Sharbawi (Eds.), English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region (pp. 127–139). Bandar Seri Begawan: Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Griffin, P., Nguyen, T. K. C., Gillis, S., and Mai, T. T. (2006). An empirical analysis of primary teacher standards in Vietnam. Planning and Changing, 37(1–2), 71–92. Gulson, K. N., Clarke, M., and Petersen, E. B. (2015). Introduction:Theory, policy, methodology. In K. N. Gulson, M. Clarke, and E. B. Petersen (Eds.), Education policy and contemporary theory: Implications for research (pp. 1–12). London: Routledge. Hasselberg,Y. (2013). In defence of discretion. In S. Rider,Y. Hasselberg, and A. Waluszewski (Eds.), Transformations in research, higher education and the academic market: The breakdown of scientific thought (pp. 137–144). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media B.V. Kennedy, A. (2014). Understanding continuing professional development: The need for theory to impact on policy and practice. Professional Development in Education, 40(5), 688–697. doi:10.1080/19415257.2014.955122 Kirkpatrick, A. (2017). Language education policy among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). European Journal of Language Policy, 9(1), 7–25. doi:10.3828/ejlp.2017.2 Le, V. C., and Barnard, R. (2009). Curricular innovation behind closed classroom doors: A Vietnamese case study. MacQuarie University Prospect Journal, 24(2), 20–33. Lim, H-Y. (2011). Concept maps of Korean EFL student teachers’ autobiographical reflections on their professional identity formation. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 969–981. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2011.05.001 McClelland, C. E. (1990). Escape from freedom? Reflections on German professionalisation 1870–1933. In M. Burrage and R. Torstendahl (Eds.), The formation of professions: Knowledge, state and strategy (pp. 97–113). London: Sage Publications. Murray, D. E., and Christison, M. (2011). What language teachers need to know. New York, NY: Routledge. Nguyen, N. H. (2015). Vietnam’s National Foreign Language 2020 Project: Challenges, opportunities, and solutions. In T. W. Bigalke and S. Sharbawi (Eds.), English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region (pp. 62–64). Bandar Seri Begawan: Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Parks, E. (2011, November 8). Vietnam demands English language teaching ‘miracle’. The Guardian. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com/education/2011/nov/08/vietnamunrealistic-english-teaching-goals Pennington, M. C., and Hoekje, B. J. (2014). Framing English language teaching. System, 46, 163–175. doi:10.1016/j.system.2014.08.005 Pham, T. H. N. (2017). General English proficiency or English for teaching? The preferences of in-service teachers. RELC Journal, March 28, 1–14.doi:10.1177/0033688217691446 Rañosa-Madrunio, M. (2015). English language instruction in the Philippines: Methods and practices. In T.W. Bigalke and S. Sharbawi (Eds.), English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region (pp. 120–126). Bandar Seri Begawan: Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Richards, J. C. (2011). Competence and performance in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The “Practising Adaptive Expert” 277 Richards, J. C., and Farrell,T. S. C. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Sachs, J. (2003). The activist teaching profession. Buckingham: Open University Press. Sachs, J. (2013). Teacher professionalism: Why are we still talking about it? Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference of Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) 2012 ‘Teacher Education Policies and Professionalisation’. Brussels: ATEE. Stroupe, R., and Kimura, K. (2015). ASEAN Integration and the role of English language teaching. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Language Education in Asia & CamTESOL. doi:10.5746/ LEiA/ASEAN_Integ_ELT Subramaniam, G. (2014). Transforming conditions for learning English in Malaysia. In K. Sung and B. Spolsky (Eds.), Conditions for English language teaching and learning in Asia (pp. 205–222). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Taylor, S. (1997). Critical policy analysis: Exploring contexts, texts and consequences. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 18(1), 23–35. doi:10.1080/0159630970180102 Thomas, S. (2005). Taking teachers out of the equation: Constructions of teachers in education policy documents over a ten-year period. The Australian Educational Researcher, 32(3), 45–62. doi:10.1007/BF03216826 Tran, L. H. N. (2015). Vietnamese students’ perception of English teacher qualities: Implications for teacher professional development. International Journal of Academic Research in Education and Review, 3(1), 7–19. doi:10.14662/IJARER2014.058 Vu, M. T. (2016). The kaleidoscope of English language teacher professionalism: A review analysis of traits, values, and political dimensions. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 13(2), 132–156. doi:10.1080/15427587.2016.1146890 Vu, M. T., and O’Rourke, J. (2013, February 26–27). Vietnam English teacher competency framework: Implementation considerations. British Council East Asia “Teacher Competency Frameworks: Developing Excellence in Teaching”. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: British Council. doi:10.13140/ RG.2.2.25908.45445 Wahlström, N. (2016). A third wave of European education policy:Transnational and national conceptions of knowledge in Swedish curricula. European Educational Research Journal, 15(3), 298–313. doi:10.1177/1474904116643329 Whitty, G. (2008). Changing modes of teacher professionalism: Traditional, managerial, collaborative and democratic. In B. Cunningham (Ed.), Exploring Professionalism (pp. 28–49). London: Bedford Way Press. Zacharias, N. T. (2012). EFL students’ understanding of their multilingual English identities. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 9(2), 233–244. Zein, S. (2016). Pre-service education for primary school English teachers in Indonesia: Policy implications. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(1), 119–134. doi:10.1080/021887 91.2014.961899

Conclusion

15 Maintaining balance

Richmond Stroupe and Gabriel Díaz MaggioliMaintaining balance

How can ASEAN Plus Three best preserve diversity and prepare for the globalized world in the 21st century? Richmond Stroupe and Gabriel Díaz Maggioli Introduction In any educational system, whether locally, regionally, or nationally based, preservice teacher education programs play a vital role (Flores, Santos, Fernandes, and Pereira, 2015). Pre-service experiences provide novice teachers with theoretical and methodological foundations on which they can begin to develop practical skills (Cochran-Smith, 2005; Northcote and Lim, 2009). Likewise, they can begin to use these foundations to reflect on their own educational experiences, and how these experiences have shaped their own teaching beliefs. These teachers will also begin to consider how their beliefs can be supported or contradicted based on their observations or experiences as they begin to engage with a professional educator community. In a language educator preparation context, this process may be more complex, as teachers themselves may come from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and will have to negotiate how to integrate their experiences and beliefs with those of their learners who may come from still different backgrounds (Naylor, Campbell-Evans, and Maloney, 2015). Moreover, prospective teachers arrive in teacher preparation programs having had a host of very diverse learning experiences that impact directly on how they perceive their role as language educators, and what teaching a language entails (Diaz Maggioli, 2012). Among the constructs that make up the experiential base of prospective teacher education candidates is the “apprenticeship of observation” (Lortie, 1975) understood as the preconceptions all teaching candidates have as a consequence of having spent thousands of hours in classrooms as learners. These experiences constitute a de facto set of beliefs and maxims about teaching which, when compared with what is being taught in the teacher education program, proves hard to alter (Borg, 2006; Sanchez, 2010) and significantly influences how the content of the teacher preparation course is perceived and understood. When considering this diverse context related to English language education, non-native English-speaking teachers may express concerns over their own level of proficiency, and at the same time will need to address the needs of learners from different linguistic backgrounds in their

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classes (Hudson, Nguyen, and Hudson, 2008). All of these factors come into play against a backdrop of local, regional and national education policy, availability of resources and continuing professional development, and frequent curricular changes (Cheng, 2009). In the ASEAN region, this process is not only nation based, but increasingly international, as educational systems across the region are both developing individuality and enhancing their alignment with each other as student mobility increases as a result of economic and administrative integration among member states (Barbin and Nicholls, 2012; Dudzik and Nguyen, 2015; Luz, 2014; Stroupe and Kimura, 2015). Along the same lines, policy initiatives regarding the adoption of English in educational systems have recurrently experienced a shift from traditional imposition of models to a phenomenon which can best be described as “policy borrowing” (Diaz Maggioli, 2017) whereby countries with similar needs in geographical proximity look to each other for solutions to their problems, thus eschewing the imposition of traditional models of teaching and learning English stemming from inner circle countries (Kachru, 1986). The present chapter will discuss some of the challenges that pre-service teacher education programs face as they assist teachers entering their professional community. At the same time, unique challenges faced in the expanded ASEAN Plus Three region will be highlighted.

Background Educational systems in the ASEAN Plus Three region are facing a period of significant challenge and opportunity. As the integration of member states across borders continues economically, politically and related to security concerns (ASEAN, 2012), educational systems are being called upon to develop the skills of the regional workforce in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century (Dudzik and Nguyen, 2015). One significant push in this area is to focus on more relevant and crucial skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration, in anticipation of the new requirements that will be placed on government officials, business professionals and students as they graduate and increase mobility throughout Asia and beyond (Stroupe and Kimura, 2015). As English has been selected as the language of administration in the region (ASEAN Secretariat, 2008), emphasis in the educational system on English as well as other ASEAN languages has significantly increased as the need for proficiency in these languages becomes more important (Barbin and Nicholls, 2012; Dulyadaweesid, 2013; Dudzik and Nguyen, 2015; Fitzpatrick and O’Dowd, 2012; Nunan, 2003). Programs exist nationally and internationally to improve the quality of English language education, but challenges and inequities remain and are ongoing concerns for governments in the region (Haji-Othman and Sharbawi, 2015; Tweed and Som, 2015). While recruiting, preparing and supporting effective teachers is difficult in most educational systems (Asian Society, 2011; Fernet, 2016; OECD, 2005), ASEAN member states face a myriad of

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challenges when trying to train and retain effective teachers and improve their professional environment (Dudzik and Nguyen, 2015; Tweed and Som, 2015). One reason that might explain some of these challenges is that both the means and the process for the dissemination of globalizing influences have a central focus on the English language. The view espoused by these initiatives sees education as the main provider of human capital leading to economic growth and the English language as a criterion for individuals’ success in entering the economy. As Saltman (2009, pp. 55–56) puts it “the only question on reform agendas appears to be how to best enforce knowledge and curriculum conducive to national economic interest and the expansion of a corporately managed model of globalization as perceived from the perspective of business”. Hence, curricula, methods and materials promote English as an indispensable commodity, and render education a key tradable good enacted through that language albeit without specifically considering the constraints and affordances of the local environment and its idiosyncrasies.

Theoretical and methodological foundations Some of the practical areas related to curriculum changes in the ASEAN Plus Three region focus on reconceptualization of the place of English language study in course curricula, the emphasis on 21st-century skills, including critical thinking, and more effectively integrating technology into teaching practice. English has long been a critical component of high stakes examination processes in East and Southeast Asia. However, realities of ASEAN Integration and globalization are forcing teachers and educational leaders to change the role English language study plays in the curriculum. In some ways being driven by the necessities in the larger community, educational leaders and students are recognizing that English language proficiency, along with proficiency in other languages, is necessary for individual and national success (Dudzik and Nguyen, 2015; Nunan, 2003; Stroupe and Kimura, 2015; Tweed and Som, 2015). However, changes to traditional perceptions and methodologies are challenging to implement. Resistance can be founded in administrators’, teachers’ and students’ beliefs and expectations as well as in structural components of the educational system that are not easily changed. While efforts have been made to integrate more innovative approaches into language education, including the adoption of different methodologies and beginning language education at younger ages, these initiatives have not occurred without criticism (Kirkpatrick, 2013; Hong, 2011; Nguyen, Terlouw, and Pilot, 2006; Pham and Renshaw, 2015). Problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills are being more emphasized in educational systems across Asia where instruction has traditionally been teacher centred and focused on knowledge transmission. This shift is in line with a growing realization that knowledge alone will no longer be sufficient to be competitive in the global community. Students need to develop

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and refine what have recently been termed 21st-century skills in order to remain competitive in an increasingly globalized world (Asian Society, 2018; Bell, 2010; Greenhill 2010; Saavedra and Opfer, 2012a, 2012b; Shulman, 1986). A focus on developing higher order thinking skills is increasing in significance throughout these educational systems. Likewise, increasing opportunities for students to develop their autonomy, exercise their choice in their language learning experiences, and develop problem-solving skills have taken centre stage in recent curricular revisions (Ganapathy, Singh, and Kaur, 2017; Littlewood, 1999; Murase, 2012; Sakai, Takagi, and Chu, 2010; Stroupe, 2006; Stroupe, Rundle, and Tomita, 2016). Increasingly, teachers and curriculum developers are recognizing the need for learners to use critical thinking skills in order to understand their place in a more integrated yet diverse global community, and to make use of the massive amounts of information that are readily available through technology (Asian Society, 2018; Ishikawa, Sasaki, and Yamamoto, 2011; Schroeder, 2012; Shulman, 1986). The integration of more advanced forms of technology in the educational context itself can be quite challenging across a region where economies and populations are very diverse, and access to different forms of technology cannot always be guaranteed. Nevertheless, as in other areas around the world, countries within ASEAN Plus Three, and in particular regions within those countries, have skipped implementation of different stages of technology, and most are focusing now on mobile and Wi-Fi technologies. While questions remain whether investment in such technology warrants prioritization over traditional educational materials (Tsai and Hwang, 2013; Valk, Rashid, and Elder, 2010; Ziguras, 2001), the introduction to and development of skills related to using technology in the educational context is becoming increasingly a common component of pre-service teacher education programs (Jones, 2002; Khokhar and Javaid, 2016; Kim, Choi, Han, and So, 2012; Sabzian and Gilakjani, 2013). We see here the confluence of two of the main globalizing influences mentioned thus far: the ready association of the spread of English language instruction and the incorporation of technologies to that avail. Both influences have significantly impacted education at all levels, though they were rarely driven by educational imperatives. The hegemonic discourse seems to imply that quality learning is assured where Englishmedium and technology-mediated instruction are the norm. The incorporation of technologies into education has become a mantra even despite assertions by researchers that there have been “no appreciable improvements in student achievement in reading, mathematics or science in the countries that had invested heavily in ICT for education” (OECD, 2015, p. 3). However, how efficiently both influences are harnessed and put to use rests mostly on actions taken by teachers at the classroom level. Here is precisely where clashes between intentions and the realization of those intentions play a role against the backdrop of teachers’ prior experiences and beliefs in an everchanging globalized scenario.

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Educational experiences and teaching beliefs Much research has examined the influence and persistence of teacher beliefs on teaching practice. Such a relationship is important when considering the potential impact of programs designed to introduce new methodologies or innovative approaches to teaching, particularly with teachers who may have a set belief system based on their own personal experiences, as not only teachers but also learners (Phipps and Borg, 2009; Nespor, 1985; Richards, Gallo, and Renandya, 2001; Xu, 2012). In the ASEAN Plus Three region, the persistence of teacher believes takes on greater importance for national educational policy which is attempting to shift the curricular focus from a traditional grammar translation approach to language education to more of a communicative approach that fosters critical thinking and learner autonomy. The second belief that remains prevalent in the Asia region is the superiority of native-speaking English teachers compared to non-native English-speaking teachers. While there has been research that supports the contrary, non-native English-speaking teachers in the region, and educational leaders, still rely often on the native-speaking English standard, both with respect to the teacher and to the learners’ goals for language study. This influence permeates the reality of English usage in the region where varieties of non-native speaker English are well established and constitute a valid source of linguistic input within the context of English as a lingua franca. Hence, it can be rightly claimed that such policies have failed to recognize the unique skills and contributions of non-native English-speaking teachers in the region, and have set unnecessarily difficult and unreasonable goals for language learners. While English language proficiency levels of teachers in the region may remain low, a move away from a deficiency model is necessary, with a focus on realistic proficiency goals for teachers related to the language that is necessary in the classroom to effectively teach and support students’ language learning (Liu, 2011; Richards, 2017). In Chapter 2 of the current volume, Ng and Cheung have investigated research findings on perceived and expected proficiency levels of English teachers in the ASEAN Plus Three region. In addition, these authors have surveyed research that examines the prevalence of the native-speaking English standard of teachers, teacher identity and non-native-speaking teacher status in the region. In Chapter 3, Zein investigates teachers’ beliefs related to monolingual and translanguaging pedagogy and stresses the need to reconsider the use of students’ L1. In Chapter 8, the challenges of matching the beliefs and expectations of a diverse student population with the content of a Western-oriented pre-service masters graduate program is investigated by Stroupe and Takatama. Lim and Burns also highlight the continuing influence of the native-speaking English standard in Cambodia in Chapter 6.These authors investigate the challenges teachers face when balancing their identity, local languages and underrecognized skills with adopted methodologies and the persistent non-native English-speaking standard which remains prevalent in the region.

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Professional learning communities An effective method to maintain a system of development for educators once they enter the field is the development of a professional learning community. The focus of such a community is to continue to provide teachers with the information and skills necessary to improve the learning experiences of their students (Kirkpatrick, 2013). Such communities are productive if the focus is relevant to teachers’ needs and is comprehensive, including all stakeholders involved in the educational context. While expert advice may be provided, the focus is on collaboration or co-teaching, classroom-based investigation, sharing and reflection, and peer support (Avalos, 2011; Asia Society, 2017; Ermeling, 2010; Girvan, 2016). Even though the benefits of the development of such learning communities have been well documented, in practice, setting aside the time necessary for peer support and individual reflection is often challenging, and more often than not, neglected (Collins, 2011). Beginning with the planning stages of lessons, working through the delivery of courses, through to evaluation of courses and teacher performance, learning communities can increase a sense of collegiality, increase job satisfaction, improve student performance, and develop confidence in novice teachers. It is only with administrative support and shared decision-making that teachers can achieve such positive benefits (Collins, 2011; Ngo, 2011).While attempts to develop such professional communities in and among ASEAN Plus Three states have begun, the sustainability of expected results is mixed. Thomas et al. highlight the potential role that professional learning communities could play in pre-service teacher education programs in China in Chapter 11.

Policies affecting teachers and teacher education As the importance of English language competency has increased, and has seemed to be closely related to national development and economic goals, the importance of the supply of qualified English teachers has also increased (Wright, 2010). Like other areas, governments in the ASEAN Plus Three region have responded to this need by implementing a variety of policies related to the substance and quality of teacher education. Increasingly, teachers, and teacher education systems responsible for producing effective teachers, have become politicized, and are seen by some as the key to economic development and competitiveness, while being criticized by others (Flores, 2016; Mayer and Reid, 2016). Globalization has also played a role in this increased scrutiny of teachers and teacher education systems. Because of the perceived links between quality of education and economic prosperity, teachers are being seen as key players in the development process and in global competitiveness. International assessment programs such as the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) are being used as global benchmarks in order to evaluate the potential competitiveness of students, the suitability of school curricula, and the effectiveness of

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teachers and teaching methodologies (Flores, 2016; Mayer and Reid, 2016). While an argument can be made that such global comparisons are justified, and even effective, teacher education systems, teachers themselves and teaching processes are situated within unique sociological and cultural contexts which must also be considered when developing teacher education programs and evaluating teachers (Angus, 2007; Flores, 2016). Debates on policy related to what to teach teachers, how to teach teachers, and how to assess or evaluate teacher effectiveness have fluctuated between a focus on professionalism and a focus on the role of the teacher preparing students for an economic market (Mayer and Reid, 2016; Rollnick and Mavhunga 2016). In some cases, governments have focused on developing standards as a tool to guide the development of teacher education programs and/or assess teachers’ effectiveness (Flores, 2016; Mayer and Reid, 2016). However, oftentimes policies in general and such standards in particular are based on current, popular beliefs about teaching and the teaching process, or possibly the personal views of the author of the standards, rather than empirical evidence produced by research. At other times, it is common to see local adaptations of inner circle standards. One such case is the Standards for the Recognition of Initial TESOL Programs in P-12 ESL Teacher Education (TESOL International Association, 2017), created for the teaching of English in the United States and used as a template for the development of local standards in many countries. While these standards revolve around five distinct domains (Language Content; Instruction: Planning and Implementation; Assessment and Evaluation; English Language Learners in Context; Professionalism and Leadership), local standards should also incorporate an explicit description of the language proficiency expected of teachers. While the standards that TESOL International Association (in collaboration with the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE]) developed for the United States assume the presence of a native speaker or, at least, a very articulate speaker of the language, in non-English dominant countries, such teachers may be rare.The necessary proficiency levels of teachers therefore should be integrated into such standards, and an habitual reliance on a native English-speaking standard or assumption should be avoided (Diaz Maggioli and Kuhlman, 2010; Richards, 2017). A clear research agenda is also missing within the field of teacher education, related to the effectiveness of the basis for such standards, along with other aspects of the teaching/learning process, leaving teachers open to criticism without the benefit of counter arguments based on research findings. However, the complexity of the educational and learning process does not lend itself to the straightforward, linear cause-and-effect outcomes that are popular and often required by policymakers (Mayer and Reid, 2016). So the question of what constitutes a “good teacher” continues to be fluid (Angus, 2007; Mayer and Reid, 2016). Historically this question has been answered by what a teacher knows, or how a teacher teaches, or more recently, how a teacher thinks about the teaching process (Flores, 2016; Mayer and Reid, 2016). The most recent emphasis has focused on the reflective process of

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teaching and learning, inquiry-based teaching (or action research) and schoolbased learning for the teacher (Mayer and Reid, 2016;Wright, 2010). However, while much research has focused on preparing teachers and developing teachers’ abilities, a lack of emphasis placed on the teacher educators who play a significant role in the learning process is seen as a significant weakness (Korthagen, 2016). In this respect, a research agenda for teacher education should explore the roles and responsibilities of teacher educators and, in the same way as standards are developed for classroom teachers, a set of guidelines of competencies should be made explicit for teachers of teachers (Malderez and Wedell, 2007). In Chapter 2, teacher education curricula, including the theory-practice link and the role of practicum in teacher pre-service preparation, have been reviewed. Ling and Amran discuss teaching standards in Brunei in Chapter 4. These authors also emphasize that teacher effectiveness is not based solely on pedagogical skill or content knowledge, but also on an in-depth understanding of the local context and students’ unique needs. The authors advocate for the development of a situated form of what has been called Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) (Shulman, 1986) which operates as a synthesis of all other kinds of teacher knowledge. However, how this PCK develops, evolves and crystallizes in good teaching practices is an area where research is still lacking. In Chapter 5, Othman and Senom emphasize the importance of the practicum experience, the selection of mentors and the curriculum in Malaysian pre-service teacher education. This emphasis is important as the practicum, if correctly implemented, is the key to the development of PCK as student teachers engage in practicing the theory they learn in college and, in attempting to reach and teach all their learners, begin to theorize their own practice by reflecting on the impact of their teaching intentions on the learning of the students.To this avail, the practicum experience, accompanied by a thorough regime of reflection in and on teaching actions, together with activities and spaces oriented towards student teachers developing an awareness of their self-authorship processes as teachers, becomes a requirement of high-quality teacher education. How and what pre-service teachers learn about assessment is emphasized in Chapter 9. In this chapter, Barrios-Arnuco et al. attempt to address the conundrum of assessment in teacher education programs by answering the question: What do pre-service teachers learn about assessment? In Chapter 10, Kang highlights the influential role government policies play in undergraduate pre-service teacher education programs in South Korea. And lastly, in Chapter 13, Wong et al. consider the role of teachers in the process of educational policy development and addressing educational challenges in Myanmar.

ASEAN Plus Three education policy One of the challenges teachers in the Southeast Asian nations face is a frequent change of educational policy, including policies that are related to languages of instruction, and the place of English language learning in the curricula of the region (Hallinger, 2010; Kosonen, 2017; Kirkpatrick, 2011). Southeast Asia is an

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amazingly diverse linguistic landscape, with hundreds of languages represented in a number of countries, with a wide variety of languages listed as national, official or minority languages (Hallinger, 1998; Kirkpatrick, 2011). Language policy also varies, sometimes swinging from one side of the pedagogical pendulum to the other, at times emphasizing mother tongue instruction, incorporating many minority languages within national borders, and at other times focusing primarily on the national language, or an imported language (Baker, 2008). English has been held in a higher regard more recently since being declared the administrative language of ASEAN (Kirkpatrick, 2011). Resulting educational policies related to English language instruction, including methodology, beginning year of study and intended outcomes have been varied and frequently have failed to deliver promised results (Kirkpatrick, 2011). All the while, teachers in the classroom face the same challenges that their colleagues around the world experience, namely large class sizes, lack of adequate training for new methodologies, irrelevant materials and being overloaded with responsibilities (Baker, 2008; Hull, 2011). Teachers have to adapt to these shifting sands of language education policy, which sometimes seem to change with each incoming political party. This is no easy endeavour. Oftentimes, the shifting sands of policy render teachers as mere implementers of mandated reforms for which they are ill prepared, if prepared at all. What is still missing in the realm of indigenization of policies is heeding the teachers’ voices since “[p]olicies do not normally tell you what to do; they create circumstances in which the range of options available in deciding what to do are narrowed or changed. A response must still be put together, constructed in context, off-set against other expectations” (Ball, 1993, pp. 12–13). Above and beyond the political quandaries of policymaking and implementation, a certainty remains. Unless teachers are afforded the chance to create their own responses to policies, the expected changes will not crystalize. Vaillant (2007) clearly identified that one of the most crucial variables in the failure of educational policies implemented in the 1990s lies in the fact that teachers were neither consulted nor properly prepared to face the demands of the new methodologies and programs of study. The possibility of emphasizing English as an international language in preservice teacher education programs was one of the issues investigated by Ng and Cheung in Chapter 2. These authors also address the policies influencing a shift from traditional teacher-centred instruction to a more communicative approach to language instruction. Also, the implementation of English language instruction at the primary level, “policy borrowing”, the place of English language instruction in the overall curricula in these linguistically diverse countries, and the resulting need for qualified teachers of young learners has also been discussed in this chapter. Zein in Chapter 3 also addresses the teachers of young learners, particularly related to the effective use the L1 of these students, focusing on increasing the awareness of the multilinguistic nature of English language classrooms across the region. In Chapter 4, Ling and Amran, and in Chapter 7, Gardiner et al. discuss the unique role that Brunei can play in

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strengthening English language instruction in the ASEAN Plus Three region. In Chapter 8, Stroupe and Takatama suggest that a broader acceptance of World Englishes should be investigated in a pre-service graduate program in Japan. The alignment of assessments in institutions responsible for pre-service teacher education and the Department of Education policy initiatives in the Philippines are investigated by Barrios-Arnuco et al. in Chapter 9. Kang investigates the alignment of undergraduate pre-service teacher education programs with ministry guidelines in South Korea in Chapter 10. In Chapter 11, Tran-Dang and Turner discuss an apparent lack of coordination between teachers and ministry policy related to the implementation of Task-Based Language Teaching in Vietnam.

Availability of resources and support Lastly, as with the situation in many developing countries, there is often a lack of resources, and in some cases a lack of support for teachers as they try to address changes in educational systems. However, on closer inspection, some local resources may often be overlooked. Since ASEAN established English as the administrative language, a number of international programs in the region focusing on improving the capacity of government officials, including teachers, have been widespread, and have realized some success (Anderson, 2012; Stroupe, 2017). Different countries in the region have contributed based on their own unique expertise. In some projects, Thailand has provided distance learning capabilities, Brunei has provided expertise in English language education and Singapore has supported the use of technology (Anderson, 2012; HajiOthman and Sharbawi, 2015). At the local level, teachers have opportunities and the expertise to develop and adapt teacher materials to suit the local context (Hull, 2011). So although resources may be few, and there remain inequities between urban and rule centres throughout the region, there is much local expertise that can be accessed in order to support teachers. Updating textbooks and other issues related to the availability of resources are also discussed in the current volume by Wong et al. in Chapter 13.

Recommendations The chapters included in this volume have highlighted some of the common challenges that language educators and educational systems across the ASEAN Plus Three region are increasingly facing, partly due to increased political, educational and economic integration, but also due to the rising importance of English language proficiency on the global stage. While similarities do exist, the vast cultural, religious, development and linguistic diversity among and within the countries in the region should not be overlooked or underestimated. The research and insights presented here provide an opportunity for language educators and policymakers in the region to learn from experiences in other countries, and incorporate views from further afield. However, this adopting of

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methodologies and perspectives must be accompanied with healthy scepticism, without the assumption that “one size fits all”. Programs, policies or research findings cannot be adopted in this diverse context without careful consideration and meaningful adaptation. Like the countries in which they are applied, policy initiatives must be unique and diverse, not wholesale acceptance of trending methodologies or transplanted approaches. Consideration of local context and needs must always remain a priority. The development of policies should be the result of cooperation among different levels of society, including ministry officials, consultants, members of Departments of Education, local community officials, school officers, individual teachers, the wider community and, most importantly, our learners. Oftentimes, those at the lower levels of such a hierarchical pyramid are marginalized during the process, or their voices are not sufficiently heard. When space is not made for the voices of those who are in the classroom every day, policies invariably are less successful. Policies which are developed through collaborative processes and which recognize the needs of all those involved increase ownership, and will be more likely to succeed. Particularly in the ASEAN Plus Three region, this could be a useful policymaking strategy given that policies that are developed in these countries target varying versions of the same social, cultural, linguistic, political and religious diversity. Unlike other areas of the world, plurality is the norm in this region and it is, as yet, an untapped policymaking capital. Any policy implemented in the ASEAN Plus Three region must recognize the importance of the linguistic diversity in the region: English is but one of a multitude of national and indigenous languages represented (Zein and Stroupe, 2017). In addition, the talent, creativity and skills of dedicated non-native English-speaking teachers in the region must not only be recognized but celebrated as the move away from a native English-speaking model continues to gain momentum (Richards, 2017). A focus on supporting and encouraging local teachers to recognize and appreciate their skills, indigenous languages, and local varieties of English should be encouraged (Richards, 2017; Sadeghpour and Sharifian, 2017; Zein and Stroupe, 2017). One much-needed acknowledgement is that the region is populated by success stories of pertinent innovations that bear the potential to be socialized – albeit by being duly contextualized – to areas of the region sharing similar needs and characteristics. One example of such a success story is “jugyō kenkyū”, or Lesson Study, which originated in Japanese elementary education (Takahashi and McDougal, 2016) and became a widespread professional development strategy worldwide. Lastly, while there are notable exceptions, the chapters in this volume highlight that there is a lack of a specified, rigorous research agenda that is developed locally in the region to address the issues that are unique to the educational systems here. Without such research, teachers are left without empirically based support for their work in the classroom, and policymakers must rely on decontextualized research findings from abroad. Support for action research at the local level, a targeted research agenda in the field, and support and recognition

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of under-represented authors from the region should be a priority. Ministries of education, teaching associations, teacher education programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and administrative bodies developed out of newly formed partnerships among universities within the ASEAN Plus Three region should take a leadership role in this area. Unique challenges presented in the region should be identified, and such institutions should support research to address these issues. It is only when locally based research is used to develop locally based policies that success within local educational systems will be truly realized.

Conclusion The ASEAN Plus Three region remains one of the most diverse, complex and dynamic in the world today. The chapters in this text provide a window into this diversity, addressing some of the myriad of cultural, economic, linguistic and religious complexities in the region. The local and international authors share their findings and experiences navigating the challenges and opportunities that are presented related to developing effective English language education programs in the region, training, supporting and retaining effective teachers, and developing appropriate and effective policies. Educational systems in the region are striving to support their learners as they prepare for the globalized world in the 21st century. Yet this region is not alone in dealing with such complex issues against a diverse local context. Similar situations can be seen in parts of Africa, South America, the Middle East and Europe, to name a few. Those national educational systems also focus on balancing the effects of globalism, preservation of local culture and linguistic diversity, with the impact of global languages and market demands. While the findings and recommendations presented in the chapters here should not be simply adopted in different contexts, the authors do provide their insight and suggestions as local policymakers and researchers strive to address the unique challenges in their own local context, while hopefully preserving and maintaining their local linguistic diversity and cultural heritage.

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Index

Asia/Asian 1 – 4, 6 – 10, 13 – 14, 22, 28, 47 – 48, 59 – 60, 71, 75, 100, 145 – 146, 163, 178 – 180, 182, 193 – 194, 205, 274, 282 – 283, 285; East Asia 20, 138, 178, 283; South Asia/South Asian 143 – 144; Southeast Asia/Southeast Asian 2, 48, 95, 118, 244, 252, 258, 283, 288 assessment: assessment education 10 – 11, 157, 159, 160, 162 – 166, 169, 171; assessment literacy 6, 9 – 11, 157 – 160, 162, 169, 170 – 171; classroom assessment 158, 160 – 162, 164 – 166, 170 – 171; formative assessment 158; international assessment 286; national assessment 157, 159 – 160, 169, 171; summative assessment 64, 159, 161, 163 – 167, 170 – 171 Association of South East Asian Nations/ ASEAN 2, 4, 8 – 10, 24 – 25, 31 – 32, 63, 78, 81, 85, 95, 98 – 101, 109 – 110, 117 – 118, 134, 157 – 159, 172, 225, 244, 254 – 255, 258, 261, 282, 289 – 290; ASEAN Council of Teachers 63; ASEAN Economic Community/AEC 20, 63, 157, 158; ASEAN Integration 78, 81, 94, 117 – 118, 134 – 135, 157 – 158, 283; ASEAN Plus Three 3 – 5, 7, 9, 11 – 13, 19 – 22, 26 – 30, 32 – 34, 47 – 48, 60, 178, 195, 201, 218, 244, 252, 258, 261, 274, 281 – 286, 288, 290 – 292; ASEAN Teacher Education Network/ASTEN 10, 134, 159; ASEAN University Network/AUN 9, 60, 95; Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) 9, 95 classroom observation/observation/peer observation 24 – 26, 31, 51, 64, 66, 89, 91, 94, 203, 205, 209, 216, 256, 281 classroom research/action research/ enquiry-based teaching 19, 31 – 32, 121, 126, 175, 288, 291

collaboration 4, 8, 12, 25, 57 – 58, 94, 118, 134, 148, 203 – 204, 207, 219, 226, 235, 239, 252 – 253, 258, 266, 274, 282 – 283, 286 – 287 culture 1, 10, 26, 51, 53, 100, 108, 143, 151, 187, 191, 203, 246, 265, 271, 274, 292; academic culture 139, 145 – 146, 149 – 150; host culture 10, 146, 149, 150 – 152; intercultural 20, 22, 100, 152; multicultural 10, 22, 29, 141, 149, 152 – 153 distance learning 208, 290 English: English as a Foreign Language/ EFL 9, 22 – 27, 30 – 33, 99 – 102, 103, 108 – 110, 140, 179, 183, 185, 190 – 192, 194 – 195, 226 – 227, 232, 234; English as a Lingua Franca/ELF 2, 9, 99, 109, 285; English as an Additional Language/EAL 2; English as an International Language/ EIL 9, 23, 24, 100, 289; English as a Second Language/ESL 3, 9, 22, 27, 81, 84, 99; English language competence/ language proficiency/communicative competence 11, 23, 32, 58, 78, 83, 157, 178, 180 – 181, 194, 286; Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages/TESOL 2, 6, 10, 51, 82 – 83, 91, 140 – 141, 145, 147, 149, 152 – 153, 195, 287; World Englishes 10, 100, 153, 290 English language use in the classroom 25, 47, 50; classroom English/classroom discourse 11, 29, 47, 59, 180, 184, 188 – 191, 194; code-mix/code-mixing/ mixing language 49, 53, 57, 68, 77; code switch/code-switching 49, 56, 57; discourse/discourse analysis 7, 50 – 52, 55, 59 – 60; translanguage/translanguaging 4, 6 – 8, 13, 47 – 52, 55 – 60, 285

Index  299 in-service level/in-service education/ in-service teacher education/in-service training 11 – 12, 22, 31, 204, 206, 219, 226, 235 – 236, 240, 247, 254, 258, 261 – 262, 274; in-service teachers 4, 11, 12, 24, 31, 100, 134, 158 – 159, 179, 183, 185, 187 – 192, 194, 235, 239, 240 Kachru, B. 1, 100 knowledge 8, 13, 21 – 23, 25, 55, 57 – 58, 81 – 88, 90, 99, 105, 110, 119, 130, 144, 163 – 164, 167 – 171, 179, 181 – 183, 187 – 188, 194 – 195, 203, 205, 207 – 208, 211, 236 – 238, 245, 249, 255, 257, 261 – 263, 265 – 272, 274, 283, 288; knowledge base 82 – 83, 206, 270; pedagogical content knowledge 83, 87, 120, 130, 179, 202, 265 – 268, 288; pedagogic knowledge/pedagogical knowledge 25, 87, 106, 203, 266; procedural awareness/procedural knowledge 81, 83 – 86, 89; professional knowledge 83, 203, 206, 265; subject matter knowledge/knowledge of English 119, 131, 194, 202, 207, 219; teacher knowledge 119, 266, 268, 271, 274, 288; theoretical knowledge 84, 94, 203 -lingual: bilingual/bilingualism 23, 29 – 30, 33, 47 – 50, 58, 110, 117 – 118, 147; bilingual education/bilingual classroom 29, 50, 117, 130; monolingual/ monolingualism 3, 4, 8, 9, 48 – 49, 52, 55 – 56, 58 – 59, 106, 285; multilingual/ multilingualism 2 – 4, 6 – 8, 13, 29 – 30, 32 – 33, 47 – 52, 55 – 60, 110, 252 mentoring 7, 11 – 12, 24 – 25, 27, 33 – 34, 85, 121, 203, 208 – 209, 216, 219, 251, 256 micro-teaching 19 – 20, 23 – 25, 27, 33 – 34 monitoring 7, 158, 163, 167 – 168, 170, 258 native speakerism 9, 100 – 101, 105, 108 – 110; native English speakers/native speakers of English/native speaking/ native English-speaking teachers 2, 23, 26, 30, 47, 55, 69, 100, 108 – 109, 285; nativelike 26; native tongue/native language 1, 3; non-native English speakers/nonnative speakers of English/non-native speaking/non-native English speaking teachers 2, 7, 20, 26, 32, 34, 81 – 82, 92 policy 2 – 7, 9, 12 – 14, 19, 28 – 30, 32 – 33, 52, 59, 102, 104 – 105, 108 – 110, 117,

120, 135, 138 – 139, 159 – 166, 169, 201, 206, 216, 219, 225 – 226, 231 – 232, 236, 239 – 240, 249, 257, 261 – 274, 282, 287, 289 – 291; education policy/ educational policy 12, 28 – 29, 117 – 118, 120, 134 – 135, 178 – 179, 225, 235, 239, 262, 274, 282, 288 – 290; language policy 4, 5, 19, 20, 28, 32, 110, 257, 262, 289; national policy 20, 28 – 30, 33; policy analysis 12, 261 – 262, 264 – 265; policymaking 12, 75, 264, 274, 289, 291 practice teaching 26, 175, 251 – 252, 254, 256, 258 practicum 4, 6 – 10, 19 – 20, 24 – 27, 31 – 34, 51, 53, 81 – 82, 84 – 94, 103 – 104, 106 – 107, 119 – 121, 126, 129, 130, 132, 134, 141 – 142, 163, 170, 182, 202, 251 – 252, 288 pre-service: pre-service curriculum 194, 247, 262; pre-service education/ pre-service level/pre-service teacher education/pre-service teacher preparation/pre-service training 2, 7, 10, 12, 19 – 22, 24, 28 – 34, 84, 86, 98 – 99, 101 – 102, 108 – 110, 152, 178 – 179, 185, 195, 202 – 205, 208, 216, 218 – 220, 225 – 229, 231, 234, 236, 254, 258, 261, 274, 282, 284 – 286, 288, 290; pre-service teachers/pre-service students 8, 11, 22 – 27, 31 – 32, 59, 81 – 95, 100 – 101, 103 – 105, 108 – 110, 119, 131 – 132, 157 – 160, 163 – 171, 179 – 180, 182 – 183, 187 – 192, 194 – 195, 226 – 227, 231, 235, 240, 244, 256, 288; pre-service teaching practice/pre-service experience 132, 281 primary: primary education 181, 230; primary level/primary school level 28, 53, 120, 179, 187 – 188, 249, 261, 289; primary school/primary schooling 2, 12, 23, 29, 33, 51, 178 – 182, 184, 188 – 192, 196 – 197, 202, 249, 255; primary teachers/primary school teachers 4, 7, 11, 28 – 29, 185, 193, 246, 249, 255 professional experience 104, 119, 147, 150 – 151, 213 professional learning community 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 71, 201, 205, 216, 217, 286 qualifications 66, 99, 119, 120, 127 – 128, 130, 132, 134, 139, 159, 178 – 179, 183, 187, 194, 202, 204, 209, 219, 244, 246 – 247, 267, 272 – 273; Bachelor of Education 84, 99, 103; bachelor’s degree 23, 120 – 121, 128, 163 – 164, 171, 250;

300 Index Master of Teaching/MTeach 9, 117, 121 – 122, 132, 134 reflection/reflective practice/reflective teaching 4, 7, 11, 13, 19 – 20, 24 – 28, 30, 33 – 34, 52, 60, 73, 75, 84 – 85, 90, 104, 107, 118 – 121, 125 – 128, 145, 148, 152 – 153, 165, 173 – 175, 203 – 206, 219, 234 – 235, 247, 256, 264, 266 – 267, 269, 274, 286, 287 research methods 6, 51; case study 8, 27, 81, 86, 122, 124, 203, 207, 227; ethnography 6 – 8, 51 – 52, 59 – 60; interviews 6, 8 – 12, 23 – 26, 29, 31, 66 – 67, 86, 98, 104 – 108, 122 – 129, 132 – 133, 141 – 145, 147 – 148, 150, 183, 185, 187, 190, 193, 202, 207, 229 – 239, 244, 247 – 248, 251 – 252; questionnaires/surveys 6, 10, 11, 128, 141 – 146, 146, 148, 150, 183, 185, 194, 204, 206 – 208, 256; research observation/ observation 68 – 69, 75, 77, 106, 173, 231 resources 57, 65, 69, 73, 76, 133, 161, 208, 235, 238, 256 – 257, 267, 282; discursive resources 49, 55, 57 – 58; educational resources 204, 236, 257; ICT/Information and Communication Technology 7, 19 – 20, 24, 27, 33 – 34, 70, 189, 207, 210, 270, 284; linguistic resources 57, 59, 228 Richards, J. C. 83 – 84, 86 – 87, 90, 91 – 92 secondary: secondary education 164, 230; secondary learners 48; secondary level 119, 128, 231, 241, 247; secondary school 2, 24, 48, 67, 84 – 85, 181 – 182, 202, 205, 207, 240, 246; secondary school syllabi 32; secondary teachers/secondary school teachers 24, 193, 202, 205, 218, 232, 247 second language acquisition/SLA 53, 100, 105, 108, 227; first language/L1 26, 47, 51, 53 – 55, 57 – 59, 105 – 107, 140, 151, 266, 269, 285, 289; foreign language/FL 13, 20, 23, 28, 30, 50, 53, 55, 99, 108, 118, 178, 202, 225, 229, 261 – 263; second language/ L2 52 – 53, 55, 57, 59, 87, 105 – 106, 140 standards/benchmark: content standards 157; international or global standards 159, 286; professional standards 64, 158 – 160, 162 – 163, 165, 169 – 171, 202, 264; Professional Standards for Teachers 158, 170; quality standards/quality assurance 13, 159, 173; regional standards 9, 95, 171; standards-based assessment

157; standards framework 159; Total Quality Management 141 students/learners 32, 48 – 55, 57 – 58, 63 – 65, 67 – 78, 82 – 83, 85, 87 – 90, 93, 98 – 101, 102 – 103, 105 – 108, 110, 120 – 122, 125, 127 – 129, 135, 138 – 142, 143 – 154; domestic students 139; international students 10, 138 – 140, 143, 147 – 149, 151; student or learner-centred learning 26, 31, 63, 87, 211, 225, 251, 254; students in rural areas 12, 253; young learners 7, 33 – 34, 47, 51, 57, 230, 289 teacher education 206, 225 – 228, 229, 231, 236, 239, 245, 247 – 248, 257 – 258, 261 – 262, 274, 281 – 282, 284 – 290; English language teacher education 19 – 20; initial teacher education/ITE 118, 190; language teacher preparation 12, 248 – 249, 254; professional development 71, 82 – 83, 174, 203, 205 – 206, 208 – 211, 213, 216, 218 – 219; teacher education curriculum 23, 109, 131, 164, 247, 255, 288; teacher education policy 134 – 135, 235, 239; teacher educators 4 – 8, 12, 25, 29, 33, 51 – 52, 54 – 55, 60, 110, 119, 120 – 121, 132 – 134, 171, 194 – 195, 219, 226 – 229, 231 – 236, 238 – 240, 244, 247, 248 – 253, 255 – 256, 258, 262, 264, 271, 273, 288; teacher preparation 2 – 6, 7 – 14, 19, 20, 28 – 29, 32 – 33, 50, 58, 60, 63, 78, 81 – 82, 84, 94, 101, 117 – 119, 121, 123, 125, 132 – 134, 140, 152, 158 – 159, 162, 168 – 169, 171, 179, 183, 190, 194, 213, 202 – 203, 206, 216, 219, 244, 247 – 249, 251 – 253, 255, 257 – 258, 281; teacher training 23, 29, 77, 84, 109, 121, 125, 130, 133, 178, 194, 201 – 202, 205 – 206, 245, 254, 264, 269; see also in-service education; pre-service education teacher education institutions/regulators: De La Salle University 10, 160, 163 – 164; National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education 287; Philippine Normal University 10, 159 – 160, 163, 166, 175; Universiti Brunei Darussalam/ UBD 9, 118, 120 – 122, 125, 132, 134 – 135; University of Santo Tomas 10, 160, 163, 174 teachers: novice teachers 26, 140, 202 – 203, 205, 209, 211, 218 – 219, 281, 286; preservice teachers/prospective teachers/

Index  301 student teachers/teacher trainees 25, 29, 157, 159 – 160, 162 – 166, 169, 171, 207, 244; teacher agency 5; teacher autonomy 5, 13, 231 – 232, 236, 239, 262, 272, 274; teacher beliefs 26, 33 – 34, 285; teachercentred 12, 30 – 31, 146, 256, 289; teacher competence/teaching competence/ teacher efficacy/teaching efficacy 8, 25, 53, 88, 119, 132, 266, 269, 271, 274; teacher identity 7, 19 – 20, 24, 26 – 27, 33, 81 – 84, 86, 91, 93 – 94, 205, 285; teacher professionalism 205, 262, 267, 272 – 274; teacher proficiency 13, 23, 263 – 265, 269, 272, 281 teaching methods 3, 11, 20, 30 – 33, 85, 102, 178, 183 – 185, 187 – 192, 194,

196, 213, 232, 235, 240, 257, 264, 287; Communicative Language Teaching/ CLT/communicative approach 26, 30 – 33, 58, 108, 225, 227, 234, 238, 240, 267, 285, 289; Task-Based Language Teaching/TBLT 5, 12, 30, 225, 227 – 228, 231, 233, 236 – 240, 290; teaching approaches 19 – 20, 30, 87, 227 – 228, 232 – 233, 235, 240, 261 theory: Activity Theory 8, 63, 65 – 67, 76; Furnished Imagination 82 – 84, 86; sociocultural theory/scaffolding 52, 105; VAM/Value Added Measures 4, 6 – 8, 63 – 67, 74 – 76, 78 Vygotsky, L. 65