Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

Innovation in English Language
Teacher Education
Edited by George Pickering
and Professor Paul Gunashekar
Selected papers from the fourth

International Teacher Educator Conference
Hyderabad, India
2123 February 2014

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education
Selected papers from the fourth International Teacher Educator Conference

Hyderabad, India
2123 February 2014
Edited by George Pickering and Professor Paul Gunashekar
ISBN 978-0-86355-765-1
British Council 2015
British Council
17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg
New Delhi 110001
India
www.britishcouncil.in
2 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

Contents
Foreword
Michael Connolly 7
Introduction
Paul Gunashekar 9
Preface
George Pickering 13

OVERVIEW: Innovation in English language teacher education

Teacher research for professional development
Simon Borg 23

Teacher development as the future of teacher education
Rama Mathew 29

Innovation in the provision of pre-service education and
training for English language teachers: issues and concerns
Julian Edge and Steve Mann 38

THEME ONE: Innovations in Continuing Professional Development

for English language teacher educators and teachers

The House of Dos and Donts: teachers, self-access and
learner autonomy
Andy Keedwell and Sayed Najeem 49
Generating content through online collaborative writing: a study

Arindam Sengupta 56

Using Web 2.0 tools for teacher professional
development: a case study
Santosh Mahapatra 65

Professional development programme for British Council
Training Consultants KELTEP 2013
Shefali Kulkarni and Allwyn DCosta 73

Mobile embedded self-study materials for CPD: the use of
English language for teachers (EL4T) in Bangladesh
Farhan Azim and Mir Md. Saifur Rahman 79

The Jamaican Fragment: using video to add a new
dimension to the lesson
Ravinarayan Chakrakodi 87
Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 3

THEME TWO: Learning from experience

Critical reflection for Continuing Professional Development:
using the SOAP strategy to analyse pedagogical experience
Padmini Boruah 97

Tasks as tools to trigger reflection in pre-service teachers
K. Padmini Shankar 105

Using evaluation criteria to plan writing performance: a study
of pre-service teachers of English
Lina Mukhopadhyay 116

Facebook Interaction (FBI) and essay writing pre-task: Yemeni
EFL students perceptions, attitudes and challenges
Mohialdeen Alotumi 125
Assessment literacy for teachers: how to identify and write

a good test
Elaine Boyd 134

Innovations in pre-service second language teacher
education for the elementary level in West Bengal
Kuheli Mukherjee 140

The role of printed materials in promoting reflection in
distance ELT teacher education programmes
Pranjana Kalita Nath 148

Developing academic reading skills through strategy training
Sruti Akula 156

Reciprocal teaching in a pre-service teacher education context
Susmita Pani 164

Modifying ELT tasks to include the blind/visually impaired:
an exploration at the tertiary level
Shree Deepa 170

English language teacher educators feedback experience
as a teaching-learning tool in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria
Alice Udosen and Wisdom Jude 176

The use of observation feedback cycles as a method of teachers
continuous professional development in the context of TE:ST
Joy Townsend 184
Defossilising the errors of ESL learners through feedback

Sanjay Arora 192

Teaching ESL beginners effectively using corpus linguistics
and the lexical approach
Adam Scott 199

Teaching science through co-operative learning strategies
Geetika Saluja 213

THEME THREE: Technological resources for language education

The Pedagogy of Collaboration: teaching effectively within
an evolving technology landscape
Dawn Bikowski 223

Digital literacies
Nicky Hockly 232

Do online group tasks promote effective collaborative
learning experiences? Teacher perceptions
Meera Srinivas 237

Reflective feedback using video recordings in ELT
pre-service teacher training programmes
Bose Vasudevan 249

Using audio lessons for the visually impaired in inclusive
classrooms: an exploratory study
Priyank Varma and Madhavi Gayathri Raman 254

Testing reading abilities of the visually impaired using
scribes/technology
Ramraj M 261

Technology-mediated language teaching through a Kindle-based
mobile learning initiative in India: the access experience
Raashid Nehal 267

Exploring whole class to one feedback and revision using
technology in a writing classroom
Akhil Jha 275

Contributors 284

Foreword
Michael Connolly, Assistant Director English Partnerships,
British Council India
The theme of the 2014 edition of the Teacher Educators Conference was
'Innovation in English Language Teacher Education'. In the field of English language
teacher education, any innovation has to be practical. It has to meet the needs
of the teacher educators it is aimed at, but more importantly it must develop
skills and knowledge which will improve the quality of teaching in the classroom
and ultimately impact on learner outcomes. Innovation can be revolutionary and
abrupt, but more often it is part of an evolutionary process: small, forward-thinking
changes that cumulatively have a big effect.
Though I have worked for the British Council for over 13 years, and in countries
as varied as Jordan, Japan and Spain, I often tell colleagues that I had two distinct
careers: one before I arrived in India and the other one which started the moment
I landed in Delhi. When I arrived in India in 2011 I was thrown into the deep end,
developing the concept of what would become the Bihar Language Initiative
for Secondary Schools (BLISS) a teacher education project funded by the UK
Department for International Development (DfID). This has grown to be one of our
most high-profile projects, thanks to the work of local colleagues and the support
we receive from the Bihar state government and DfID. Working on BLISS, I have
not only experienced the real India first hand, with all its excitement, diversity and
challenges, but also saw from close quarters both revolutionary and evolutionary
innovation at play.
At the start of the project, fewer than 5% of our teacher educators had email
addresses. Very few had access to the Internet, mediated by clunky desktops,
expensive laptops and landline-based modems in a region with variable power
supply.
Within a short few years, our team witnessed almost every teacher educator going
online thanks to the sweeping changes brought in by the smartphone revolution
in India. Teacher educators and much of Bihars population as a whole
leapfrogged intermediate technologies and started speeding along the information
highway on their handheld devices.
This change allowed us to make a number of innovative changes to the way that
we communicated with the teacher educators. We started communicating key
project information by text message and began a Facebook group, bringing the
geographically dispersed team together in an online community. Knowledge
and information sharing became much easier. Technology also enabled us
to assess and evaluate the impact of our training more effectively as teacher
educators shared their experiences more quickly and we experimented with using
technology to collect monitoring and evaluation data.

But innovation is not always centred around technology. As a teacher and teacher
educator, I firmly believe that every lesson and every training session has the
potential to be innovative as each lesson or session is unique. Each lesson builds
on previous knowledge and introduces something new. Many of the papers
presented at the 2014 Teacher Educator Conference were focused on sharing
experiences and delegates and speakers alike debated the merit of different
approaches and collected ideas to fuel their own innovative practices.
At the same time, its important to recognise that innovation cannot be thrust
upon unwilling participants. Often, there is good reason for participants to resist
top-down initiatives, however innovative their proponents believe them to be. This
is particularly so in education. Participatory events such as this years conference
can go some way towards ensuring a feeling of ownership as the participants
construct their own knowledge and understanding of innovation as a concept, and
the potential for innovating within their own sphere of work.
One obvious measure of the relevance of the theme of a conference is the

participation of the target audience during the event. By that reckoning, our 2014
conference was an unqualified success with over 110 speakers delivering sessions
attended by 1,200 delegates from 27 countries. Our webcast sessions reached a
further 3,012 viewers from 104 countries across the globe.
The choice of the conference theme and the decisions around the relevant
sub-themes were made along with our colleagues at the English and Foreign
Languages University, Hyderabad, without whom not only this but previous editions
of the Teacher Educator Conference would not have been possible.
We have published select presentations from all three previous Teacher Educator
Conferences. However, this publication is not merely one more in a series, but part
of the British Councils ongoing and expanding work in English language policy,
research and publications, a critical area of our activity in India and worldwide.
Through this stream of our work, we work with local and international partners with
the aim of providing an evidence base for interventions and innovations that work
in language teaching and teacher education.
All our publications, including this one, are freely available for download from our
website www.britishcouncil.in/teach/resources/publications-research
I would love to hear from you and your colleagues about this volume and our other
publications.

Introduction
Paul Gunashekar, Professor, The English and Foreign
Languages University, Hyderabad
Innovations can cover a very broad range of areas some of which may
include methods for systematic assessment of student learning, improved
teacher training, innovative pedagogies in the classroom including those
that leverage technology in the classroom, supplemental instruction for
first-generation learners, methods for improving teacher motivation and
effectiveness, and methods for leveraging resources from third parties for
improving education (Twelfth Five Year Plan Vol 3: 65).
I am delighted to be associated with the publication of a select clutch of papers

presented at the Teacher Educator Conference 2014 (TEC14), co-hosted by the
British Council and my university, EFLU. The theme of the conference Innovation
in English Language Teacher Education was an excellent choice because it
has been an essential attribute in the profile of both institutions and in teacher
education enterprises across the country.
The National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (2009) in India

posits: Any system, in order to be forward looking, must be bold in encouraging
experimentation and innovation and also be involved with [a] constant review
of the outcomes of such efforts. The field of teacher education should be no
exception (p. 83). By choosing innovation as its central focus, TEC14 hoped to
provide a forum for teacher educators and teachers of English to showcase
their innovative practices in the training classroom and the language classroom
respectively. Given the extraordinary diversity of teaching contexts in India, the
practices and experiences that were highlighted at the conference would have
equipped the delegates with skills and strategies to deploy creatively in solving
common classroom problems that they as practitioners regularly confront.
English in India represents a wide range of use and ownership: from a foreign
language through to a second language and a first language. Consequently, the
contexts in which English is taught reflect this range and diversity, and have
implications for the teachers linguistic proficiency and professional competence.
In this regard, the National Focus Group on the Teaching of English Position Paper
(2006) envisions the route teacher education should take: Teacher education
needs to be ongoing and onsite as well as preparatory. Emphasis must be laid
on teacher proficiency in or familiarity with the language, as the teacher is
often a role model [] Proficiency and professional awareness are equally to be
promoted, the latter to be imparted where necessary through the teachers own
languages (p. 14). The National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education
(2009) elaborates this national vision of teacher education by foregrounding five
principles that should inform the enterprise: the integrative and eclectic nature
of teacher education; its liberal, humanistic and non-didactic underpinnings; its

multicultural and context-sensitive facets; the necessity for it to be transacted in
a diversity of learning spaces and curriculum sites apart from the classroom; and,
most importantly, reflective practice to be its chief aim. Pedagogical knowledge
has to constantly undergo adaptation to meet the needs of diverse contexts
through critical reflection by the teacher on his/her practices (pp. 19-20). TEC14
was therefore a suitable occasion for the delineation of the five principles.
EFLU
Of the 39 central universities in India, EFLU is unique in its conception and
function: a university that has over two hundred faculty members across three
campuses, all of whom have specialised in different aspects of language study and
language education. From small beginnings 56 years ago as the Central Institute of
English, we have now become synonymous with Indian ELT. A key mandate of EFLU
is to train language teachers in methods and approaches appropriate to the Indian
context, and it has been in the vanguard of teacher education enterprises and
research since its founding. This is an opportunity to highlight the more innovative
work that the university has been doing in the area of teacher education and
language teaching.
EFLU innovative practices

ELTI Support Scheme
The English Language Teaching Institutes Support Scheme (ELTISS), a Government
of India sponsored project, was launched in 1985 at the beginning of the seventh
Five-Year Plan and has continued since. English Language Teaching Institutes
are set up by the state governments; however, central assistance is provided to
augment state resources for teacher development at the school level. Currently,
there are 15 State Institutes of English and two Regional Institutes of English.
EFLU monitors the academic programmes of the 17 ELTIs, and provides academic
support to them in the form of syllabus design, materials development and train-
the-trainer courses.
District Centre Scheme

Begun in 1985, the District Centre Scheme (DCS) is a UGC-sponsored programme
that aims to impart saturation-level training to teachers of English in secondary
schools so that a qualitative improvement can be made in the teaching of English
across the country. At present there are 14 centrally-funded and 15 state-run
District Centres spread across the country. These centres are staffed by resource
persons who have received specialized training at EFLU.
CELT in Sri Lanka

In 2009 India and Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish
the Sri Lanka-India Centre for English Language Training (SLICELT). Under the MoU,
the Government of India appointed EFLU as the technical consultant for the project
and funded the deputation of two experts from EFLU to SLICELT for a period of two
years. In addition, a Digital Language Laboratory was set up in Sri Lanka with the
assistance of the Government of India.

CELTs in other countries
EFLU has been identified as the nodal agency for setting up permanent centres
for English language training abroad. As part of this initiative, CELTs have
been established in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam with the objective
of equipping teachers of English, students, civil servants, professionals and
businesspersons in these countries with adequate English language and
communication skills. Two experts were deputed from the university to each of
these centres for two years to launch turnkey projects.
International Training Programme

In the last decade the university has developed into a renowned training centre
for foreign professionals seeking to improve their proficiency in English. It has set
up an International Training Programme (ITP), which offers the course Progress
to Proficiency three times a year. ITP receives its impetus from ITEC/SCAAP
scholarships offered by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, to
developing countries in Africa, South Asia, South-East Asia, Central Asia and South
America.
Teacher education programmes

For the last three decades, EFLU has regularly organized teacher education
programmes for teachers of English in schools affiliated to national and state
organizations: the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangatan, the Navodaya Vidyalaya Sangatan,
the Andhra Pradesh Residential Schools Society, the Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare
Residential Educational Institutions Society, and the Andhra Pradesh Tribal Welfare
Residential Schools Society. The university has signed an MoU with the Kendriya
Vidyalaya Sangatan to train a large number of teachers of English and develop
teaching and training materials.
EFLU-British Council partnership

I cannot overestimate the immense potential for an abiding partnership between
the British Council and an institution that has a stake in languages and language
education. Of immediate relevance is TEC14 as well as the Directory of ELT
Research in India both outcomes of the close ties between the two organizations.
Research into English language teaching is visibly on the increase in India.
However, there has been little attempt to compile information about and ascertain
the value of the research that is being undertaken. It is therefore gratifying that
the two organizations and the University of Warwick have initiated a partnership to
engage in a survey of ELT research in India from 2005 to date. An EFLU team has
compiled a directory of ELT research that was carried out at the university itself
between 2005 and 2013. This initiative is a step towards the larger survey planned
and is the first tangible output of the collaborative project.
In this regard, I am underlining the prospective opportunity for even closer

collaboration with the British Council on the basis of two factors. Firstly, the
rich source of ELT research in India as demonstrated by EFLUs contribution.
And secondly, the findings of the British Councils timely online study titled ELT

Partnerships in India that was conducted recently. If our endeavour to establish
sustainable collaboration does succeed, the results will be most rewarding. As the
British Council online study has established, the impact on the ELT practitioner
would manifest itself in terms of academic and professional development while
the impact on the institution would be demonstrated in terms of capacity building,
professional networking, and increased understanding of different cultures.
The initial funding for the Central Institute of English came from the Ford
Foundation, and, notably, faculty support from the British Council in the form
of Bruton, Barron and George the big three of British ELT at the time. We are
therefore delighted that 56 years later the relationship between the university and
the British Council continues to flourish. The landmark TEC14 conference and this
ensuing publication are a celebration of the many successes in teacher education
that we have enjoyed, and a timely reminder of what remains to be done.
In Five Minds for the Future (2008), Howard Gardner indentifies innovation and
creativity as central to education. He describes the disciplined mind and the
synthesizing mind before introducing the creating mind. He says that in the future
anyone who aspires to success will need to master at least one discipline and learn
to work steadily over time to improve skill and understanding. The synthesizers
will need to be able to obtain information from disparate sources, understand
and evaluate that information objectively and put it together in ways that work for
themselves and for other persons. Using discipline and synthesis as the base, the
creating mind puts forth new ideas, poses unfamiliar questions, conjures up fresh
ways of thinking, and arrives at unexpected answers (p. 3). Happily, TEC14 brought
together a host of creating minds.
References
Gardner, Howard (2008) Five Minds for the Future. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard
Business School Publishing.
Government of India (2012) Twelfth Five Year Plan. Available at: http://
planningcommission.gov.in/plans/planrel/12thplan/pdf/12fyp_vol3.pdf
National Curriculum Framework 2005 Position Paper: National Focus Group on the
Teaching of English (2006) New Delhi: NCERT.
National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (2009) New Delhi: NCTE.

Preface
George Pickering, Education Consultant and Academic Lead
Consultant for the TEC14 Conference
This publication is born out of the ongoing shared interest and partnership of the
British Council India and the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
in exploring the key role of teacher educators in English language teaching
and learning. Previous collaboration, with the support of IATEFL (International
Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language) and ELTAI (English
Language Teachers Association of India), has led to three previous conferences
and publications related to teacher education issues (2011-2013).
One of the key issues confronting policy makers, academics, teacher educators
and teachers is how to plan, implement, evaluate and sustain effectively innovation
from the policy to the classroom levels. Nicholls (1983) defines innovation as an
object or practice perceived as new by an individual or individuals, which seeks to
introduce improvements in relation to the desired goals, and that is planned and
deliberate. Despite the passage of time this definition remains valid today. Edge
and Mann (2013: 5) point out that a new idea is in itself not an innovation:
Innovation demands concentration on process; it demands that we pay as

much attention to how we teach or train as to which topics get covered
along the way, or the tools that we employ.
They go on to suggest that whether an activity counts as an innovation depends

on where and when that action takes place. An activity can count as an innovation
if it is new-in-context, so the introduction of peer observations an established
practice in some contexts might be considered as an innovation in a situation
where it has not taken place previously.
The 2014 Teacher Educator Conference Innovation in English Language Teacher

Education, held in Hyderabad from 21 to 23 February 2014, sought to examine the
concept and practices of innovation from different perspectives.
The principal themes explored at the conference were:
1. Innovations in Continuing Professional Development for English language

teacher educators and teachers
technology and CPD
social media and networking for CPD
online and face-to-face mentoring
teacher motivation through technology

2. Learning from experience
reflection as a tool for growth
classroom-based research
alternative practices in assessment and evaluation
feedback as a teaching-learning tool
3. Technological resources for language education

m-learning in teacher education
online teacher education
interface of technological and traditional resources
digital course design and delivery
technology for inclusive and special education
technology enabled in-service teacher training (INSETT).
The challenges confronting educators in effecting innovations is well documented

(Waters 2009; Wedell 2009). Rather than focusing on learning lessons from
the sometimes catatastrophic, sometimes heroic past failures of innovation
in education, the conference sought to highlight the examples of successful
good practices and effective implementations that might have applications
and implications for innovation attempts elsewhere. The conference was an
opportunity for leading academics, teachers, students, managers, teacher
educators, researchers and policy makers to discuss and debate their
perspectives and experiences on innovation through a variety of conference
forums, including a keynote address, plenaries, featured talks, panel discussions, a
debate, presentations, workshops, poster presentations and informal networking.
Many of the conference sessions were web broadcast to a wider audience who
could contribute to conference discussions through tweets and Facebook posts.
The collection of papers in this publication reflects the diverse backgrounds,

contexts and perspectives assembled at the conference. One of the most notable
features of many of the papers is that they are based on bottom-up, grass roots
research conducted by practitioners in their own classroom contexts. As Waters
(2014) has pointed out, this kind of research is often not captured in the formal
innovations literature. In many cases practitioners, whose research is reported in
this publication, experimented with a new methodology or technology using an
action research methodology and recorded the results of their interventions for
the benefit of themselves, their students and other stakeholders.
Fullan (2007) and others have viewed innovating as comprising three broad
phases:
1. initiation (deciding to go ahead with an innovation),

2. implementation (attempting to put the innovation into practice), and
3. institutionalisation (seeking to achieve sustainability).
Most of the papers in these proceedings fall into the first two categories.

The contributions to this publication have been classified into four parts:
The Overview section presents the plenary talks which address themes that
cover more than one sub-theme of the conference including teacher research,
CPD practice and research in India and elsewhere and innovations in pre-service
INSETT. Simon Borgs paper, based on his keynote plenary talk at the conference,
examines teacher research as a strategy for professional development which
teachers can apply in their working contexts. The key questions he seeks to
address are:
1. What is teacher research?
2. What does doing teacher research involve?
3. Why is teacher research a valuable activity for English language teachers?
Rama Mathew examines the extent to which education policies support teachers
continuing professional development (CPD). She reviews some models of teacher
development that are in use in and outside India. She then revisits some of the CPD
work she has personally been involved in. Her examples help to indicate what kind
of CPD work is meaningful to teachers and what is sustainable. She believes that
an approach that creates opportunities for reflection and theorising from practice,
while continuing to learn about language teaching/learning and about teacher
development, is satisfying and sustaining.
Julian Edge and Steve Mann reflect on how successful innovations have been
in ELT in their paper entitled Innovation in the provision of pre-service education
and training for English language teachers: issues and concerns. They explore
the meaning of the notion of innovation and discuss some of the themes of their
recent book on pre-service innovations. The authors also invite us to reflect on our
role as teacher educators and whether or not we are reviewing our own practice
and location in a world of hegemony.
Theme one discusses various aspects of innovations in CPD for teacher educators
and teachers.
Andy Keedwell and Sayed Najeem review the introduction of self-access systems
in two contexts, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, where self-access and autonomy
remain unfamiliar concepts. They propose ways in which the potential obstacles to
effective implementation can be mitigated through systematic CPD and examine in
depth the rationale, design and impact of a CPD programme designed to support
all involved with self-access systems.
Arindam Sengupta reports on a project he conducted in a government

Bengali-medium school in Kolkata. Language learning content was generated
by encouraging a group of young ESL learners to write in an online students
magazine. His findings indicate that, by engaging with the collaborative writing
task, the learners generated content through a relevant lexical search and

writing coherent paragraphs to describe and/or interpret the artworks. Santosh
Mahapatra outlines a case study of an online teacher development programme
that focused on familiarising a group of ESL teachers located in diverse contexts
with Web 2.0 tools for language teaching purposes. One of the most important
pedagogical implications of the study is that Web 2.0-enabled online teacher
education holds great potential in ESL contexts like India, but that it should be
conducted carefully and in consultation with teachers.
Shefali Kulkarni and Allwyn DCosta outline an innovation in continuing

professional development for British Council training consultants working on
the Karnataka English Language Teacher Education Project (KELTEP) and review
its impact on their development. The paper aims to motivate both individual
practitioners as well as heads of institutions to think of collaborative and individual
tasks for the development of training consultants. Farhan Azim and Mir Md. Saifur
Rahman report on their research into the suitability of self-study materials used by
teachers in a CPD programme for primary school teachers involved in the English
in Action educational programme implemented in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ravinarayan
Chakrakodi discusses teacher motivation through the use of a video film that was
prepared on a particular text used in the Grade VIII English textbook being used
in government schools in Karnataka. The impact of the video on the teaching-
learning processes in the classroom was analysed and presented in the paper.
Theme two explores learning from experience including reflection as a tool

for growth, classroom-based research, alternative practices in assessment and
evaluation and feedback as a teaching and learning tool.
Padmini Boruah reviews the SOAP procedure (Subjective/Objective/Analysis/

Planning) as an effective model for critical reflection that makes practitioners
analyse their experience by revisiting it critically and referring it to research in
the field before planning the next step in their development. She argues that
critical reflection helps professionals question their pedagogical practices
through objective procedures, thus leading to healthier classroom interaction and
continuous professional development. K. Padmini Shankar reviews the role of
tasks in triggering reflection in pre-service teachers. Four tasks related to critical
moments in the classroom are used to encourage trainees to reflect on the actions
that they would take. Her findings indicate that tasks related to critical classroom
moments have the potential to trigger reflection and prepare pre-service teachers
to face challenges in their future careers.
Lina Mukhopadhyays contribution explores the use of evaluation criteria as a

scaffolding device to help adult ESL learners plan their writing performance. Her
findings indicate that if teachers design, share, and train learners to use evaluation
criteria to plan their performance, then learners will be more likely to experience
academic benefits. Mohialdeen Alotumi investigates Yemeni EFL students
perceptions, attitudes and challenges on integrating Facebook Interaction (FBI)
to improve their essay writing. The teacher researcher conducted their study to

uncover what would allow students to improve their writing skills in a Yemeni EFL
context.
Elaine Boyds reflective paper is designed to help teachers identify and write
good tests. The paper describes the importance of validity, reliability and impact
and considers their relationship to ethical practice and how this impacts on the
teachers responsibility to their students.
Kuheli Mukherjee reviews a recently revised curriculum for the Diploma in

Elementary Teacher Education in West Bengal designed to improve the quality
of English teaching. The researcher investigates the current reality of Second
Language Teacher Education (SLTE) at the elementary level to explore the
conditions necessary for successful implementation of the innovations. The paper
discusses three areas: content, approach and the evaluation of elementary SLTE,
where innovations have been proposed.
Pranjana Kalita Naths paper focuses on promoting reflective skills among

trainee teachers for their professional growth in distance ELT teacher education
programmes. It is an attempt to analyse how activities in print materials in such
programmes can be designed effectively to stimulate reflection, as these are still
the dominant medium of instruction in distance ELT programmes in India. The
paper offers some suggestions on how teacher support can be built into distance-
learning print materials to encourage trainees to reflect.
Sruti Akula argues that explicit strategy training can be used to develop the
higher-order academic reading skills of adult learners. She reports on research in
which college students were asked to read a range of texts and guided to match
strategies with reading purposes. The learners used a variety of strategies such
as predicting, re-reading, underlining and listing key ideas to comprehend texts
at both factual and inferential levels. Susmita Pani also refers to the reading
problems that many students have at the university level, as they have very limited
experience of engaging with texts directly. The paper presents a study that was
conducted in Odisha using reciprocal teaching as a classroom procedure. The
scaffolding inherent in the procedure and later the clear role distribution involved
in reciprocal teaching ensured learner participation and appeared to make this
procedure effective.
Shree Deepa points out that tasks used in the language classroom normally
have visual inputs and that such tasks exclude blind/visually impaired students
as they do not perceive them fully. An attempt is made in this paper to explore
the possibilities of changing tasks so that the goal of inclusiveness is realised.
The study has implications for minimising the exclusion of blind/visually impaired
students and facilitating their participation in the tasks with modes that are
meaningful and useful.
Alice Udosen and Wisdom Judes study, conducted in the Akwa Ibom state of
Nigeria, sought to explore English language teacher educators knowledge of

feedback, and the type and quality of feedback they utilised with their teacher
trainees. The results of the study indicated that teacher educators perceptions
of what constitutes feedback were different from those of their trainees. The
researchers recommend that teacher educators be exposed through workshops
to understanding what constitutes feedback and how they can implement it as
an innovation to achieve the aims of teacher education. Joy Townsend explores
the use and effectiveness of observation and feedback in the context of TE:ST
(Total Evaluation:School Transformation), an evaluation service conducted in a
school. The TE:ST process involved an initial evaluation of the school, including
observations of teachers with feedback, interviews, questionnaires and evaluation
of documents. A subsequent report with recommendations was then fed into the
formulation of a school development plan.
In his paper Sanjay Arora proposes ways of defossilising the errors of ESL
learners coming from rural backgrounds in Rajasthan through using a variety of
classroom strategies. The concluding part of the paper reviews some strategies
that may work in other situations beyond the one mentioned above.
Adam Scotts paper outlines the findings and practical applications of his action
research project with ESL beginners in a language school in Brighton, UK. The
research investigated the effectiveness of teaching corpus-driven content
delivered using a lexical teaching approach and found that this resulted in faster
language acquisition and more successful interaction, enabling learners to make
quicker progress to elementary level and beyond.
Geetika Saluja presents a study carried out to implement the principles of co-
operative learning (CL) structures in the curriculum transaction of Science in
grade VIII students and to study its effect on achievement in Science as well as
any changes in communication and interpersonal skills. The results indicated that
students who studied by the CL method had a higher level of achievement than
students in the control group.
Theme three covers various aspects of technological resources for language

education.
Dawn Bikowskis paper outlines a framework that guides educators in using

technologies in ways that meet students communicative competence and
digital literacy needs. Resources and guidelines for integrating them into the
classroom effectively are discussed and the framework she offers consists of
ten guiding principles, which she outlines in the paper. Nicky Hocklys paper on
digital literacies reviews the theory underpinning them, explores how teacher
training courses can address them, and considers the challenges involved in
operationalising digital literacies in the low-resource classroom. Hockly argues,
among other things, that institutions would be well advised to allocate 80% of
their budgets to teacher training and development and 20% of their budgets to
technology.

Meera Srinivas investigates whether the participants of e-teacher courses
consider their experience of participating in group tasks to be collaborative. Based
on the authors own experience of participating in a course, and the perceptions of
e-teachers obtained through a survey questionnaire, the paper argues that, while
there are a few factors that promote positive interaction in the discussion board
tasks, certain factors impede effective collaboration and learning in small group
projects. The paper discusses these factors and the implications for the design
and implementation of collaborative tasks in online teacher education courses.
Bose Vasudevan posits that video recordings of the micro teaching of ELT teacher
trainees can help them reflect on their own teaching. The paper, which was based
on research conducted with a group of ELT teacher trainees at the Institute of
Language Teaching, Jamnagar, presents the possibilities of using video recordings
of sequences of teaching language as tools for reflection to assist trainees to
become insightful and realistic about their own teaching.
Priyank Varma and Madhavi Gayathri Raman explore the possibility of making
print materials, specifically the language textbook, more accessible to visually
impaired learners who attend mainstream classes. Three lessons from the English
textbook used by schools affiliated to the Andhra Pradesh State Board syllabus
were presented in an audio format to eleven visually impaired learners from nine
schools. Their analysis indicates that the target group performed better when
provided with the necessary support using advancements in the print media and
audio technology. Ramraj Ms paper highlights that whilst reading is a complex
and cognitively demanding process that requires chunking, visually impaired
learners have to read a text word by word whether read out by a scribe or with the
use of technology. The researcher compares the differences in the performance of
sighted and visually impaired students using three parallel reading comprehension
texts, read out by scribes and by technology, with and without numbering and
indication of answer location.
Raashid Nehal documents a pilot study project funded by the Regional English
Language Office (RELO), American Centre, New Delhi and facilitated by the
Academic Staff College of the Aligarh Muslim University as part of the Kindle Mobile
learning initiative in India. The paper is based on the use of Kindle technology by
337 young learners enrolled in four English Access Microscholarship programmes
at Aligarh, Bhubaneswar, Kochi (Aluva) and Kolkata. Akhil Jha reports on research
into developing the the writing skills of first year engineering students at the Indian
Institute of Technology, Indore. Through peer group writing, students with better
writing skills provided a scaffold for learners who did not have appropriate writing
skills. Secondly, technology was used to enable peers and the teacher to provide
opportunities for whole class feedback and revision.
It is hoped that this publication will feed into the current and growing literature on
innovation in English language teaching and teacher education in diverse contexts
(Edge & Mann 2013; Hayes 2014). Waters (2014) has recently argued for the
research agenda on innovations to include:

1. investigations concerning the further application of established theoretical
frameworks;
2. others involving concepts from innovation theory which have not yet been
applied to English language education (ELE); and
3. research into under-researched aspects of ELE innovations.
We very much hope that this publication stimulates others to become more
involved in this agenda.
The editors would like to express their sincere thanks to the contributors to this
publication for conducting their innovations and for communicating them so
eloquently to others. We are very grateful that so many of the authors have agreed
to provide their email addresses so that individuals can follow up specific points
with them.
We hope that readers will find that the range of practices and perspectives
encompassed in this publication will encourage them:
to reflect on their own experiences of innovation

to carry out their own research and
to identify bright spots, examples of best practices, often carried out in
challenging contexts (Heath and Heath 2011).
The British Council and the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
welcome your responses to this publication and to the ongoing development of
research, planning, implementation and the institutionalisation of innovation in
English language teaching and English language teacher education.
References
Edge, J. and Mann, S. (Eds.) (2013)Innovations in Pre-Service Education and
Training for English Language Teachers. London: British Council.
Fullan, M. (2007) The new meaning of educational change (Fourth edition).

Abingdon: Routledge.
Hayes, D. (Ed.) (2014) Innovations in the continuing professional development of

English language teachers. London: British Council.
Heath, C. and Heath, D. (2011) Switch. London: Random House.
Nicholls, A. (1983) Managing educational innovations. London: Allen & Unwin.
Waters, A. (2009) Managing innovation in English language education. Language

Teaching 42/4: 421-458.
Waters, A. (2014) Managing innovation in English language education: A research

agenda. Language Teaching 47/01: 92-110.
Wedell, M. (2009) Planning for educational change: putting people and their
contexts first. London: Continuum.

Overview: Innovation in
English language teacher
education

Teacher research for
professional development
Simon Borg, ELT Consultant
Abstract
Conventional notions of teacher development are based on training models which
very often take teachers away from the classroom. This paper examines teacher
research as a strategy for professional development which teachers can apply in
their working contexts. Key questions I address are:
1. What is teacher research?

2. What does doing teacher research involve?
3. Why is teacher research a valuable activity for English language teachers?
My aim here is to demonstrate that teacher research is a feasible and valuable

professional development strategy that English language teachers can engage
in and which can contribute to improvements in the quality of the educational
experience they provide for their learners.
Introduction
Teachers spend the bulk of their time in the classroom, yet professional
development typically involves activities that occur away from the classroom,
such as workshops, lectures, courses and conferences. There is of course value
in all such activities; however, exclusive reliance on external opportunities for
professional development has several drawbacks, summarized in Table 1:
Table 1: External teacher development

Infrequent Teachers cannot attend external events on a regular basis
Costly Teachers or their schools must pay to attend
Disruptive Teachers are taken out of school and lessons must be rearranged
Generic External training may not address individual teacher needs
Decontextualized Learning is not situated in teachers classrooms
Receptive Teachers receive knowledge from more expert trainers
Not owned Teachers have minimal say in decisions about the training
Teacher research provides an alternative to external training and in the rest of this
paper I will explain what it is and what doing it involves.
Teacher research
Teachers often react negatively to the suggestion that they can use teacher
research to support their professional development. These reactions are caused

by misconceptions of what research is and Figure 1 shows six common ideas about
research that teachers often have. Research very often does have one or more of
these characteristics; however, none of them are defining features of research. For
example, although teachers often see research as an activity that is academic (i.e.
done to obtain a degree or by someone working in academia), research can also
be done by teachers to support their professional development. And, to take two
further examples, while research may be large-scale and statistical, it can also be
small-scale and qualitative. In introducing teacher research, then, it is important to
ensure that research is not being conceived of by teachers in ways which make it
appear to be an unfeasible and irrelevant activity. Research should not be defined
with reference to its scale, its methodology or the status of the researcher; rather, I
find it useful to see it more generally as planned, systematic, purposeful, empirical
inquiry which is made public. This definition of research is an appropriate way into
a more specific definition of teacher research, which can be distinguished from
other forms of research in three particular ways:
1. It is done by teachers i.e. teachers are the researchers.

2. It takes place in teachers working contexts the site for teacher research is
the school or classroom.
3. Its purpose is to enhance teachers work teacher research allows
teachers to understand themselves, their teaching and their students; such
understandings can also contribute to the growth of the organization teachers
work in.
Figure 1: Six misconceptions about the defining features of research

It is important to stress that teacher research is not simply research done by
teachers; a teacher doing research for their MA degree who studies other teachers
(e.g. through a questionnaire) is not doing teacher research because the focus
is not on themselves; similarly, not all research done in the classroom is teacher
research e.g. an academic who visits a school to collect classroom data is not
investigating their own teaching but studying others in the way that research
conventionally does this is not teacher research.
Doing teacher research

The process of teacher research is typically visualized as a cycle of some kind
(this is especially true in the case of action research, which is one particular type
of teacher research). Figure 2 highlights key elements in the teacher research
process.
Figure 2: Components in teacher research
The starting point for teacher research is a question of some kind an issue
that the teacher wants to learn more about or understand better. Although this
initial question is often driven by a problem, teacher research is not simply a
strategy for solving problems. For example, teachers may want to develop a better
understanding of something that works well. The questions that drive teacher
research will also be very practical, stemming from teachers experiences in the
classrooms. How can I integrate pair work activities into my lectures? What kind of
feedback on writing do my students prefer? How do my learners react to the use
of self-assessment? These are examples of questions teachers have investigated
using teacher research (see http://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2014/02/teacher-

research-practical-relevant-classroom-inquiry/ for more examples of the kinds of
questions teacher research can explore).
Returning to Figure 2, once teachers have a question the next step is to act
to collect some information (or data) relevant to it. This is a central part of the
process teacher research is empirical (i.e. it relies on the collection and analysis
of data). The information that is collected needs to be analysed and evaluated,
and teachers then use the insights emerging from these processes to make
pedagogical decisions. The cyclical nature of the diagram implies that the process
is an ongoing one; this does not mean that teachers will be doing teacher research
all the time, but more generally the idea is that it is not a linear process through
which definitive solutions or answers will be discovered after one cycle of inquiry.
Figure 2 also highlights four additional processes which can enhance teacher
research:
reflection, because teacher researchers are by definition being systematically

thoughtful about their work in an ongoing manner;
reading, because it can be useful to know about what others have already
written about the issues teachers are interested in (there is no suggestion
here, though, that teacher research should involve the kind of reading that
would be required for an academic degree);
communicating, because by talking to colleagues about their inquiries
teachers can receive useful feedback and advice and also motivate others to
engage in inquiries of their own;
and finally, collaborating, because teacher research will be enhanced when
teachers work together on a shared project rather than alone.
As noted above, teachers need to collect data to help them examine the questions
they are pursuing. Various strategies for data collection are available to teachers
e.g. journal writing, surveys, drawings and photos, video, observation, interviews,
class discussions, student work, and lesson plans. One key consideration which
should influence which options teachers employ is feasibility teacher research
must be feasible, as it is an activity which teachers do as part of their normal
teaching duties; data collection, then, should be integrated as far as possible into
teachers regular work (as opposed to creating large amounts of extra work for
them).
The further reading listed at the end of this paper includes many examples of
published teacher research projects.
Benefits of teacher research

Numerous benefits of teacher research have been identified in the literature.
For example, teachers engaged in teacher research have said they feel more
confident, motivated and autonomous; they also feel they are more knowledgeable
and have a better understanding of their students. Where teacher research is
collaborative, teachers have also reported improvements in their relationships
with colleagues. Teacher research allows teachers to be more optimistic; as one

teacher I worked with said, I look upon problems as challenges to be overcome
through research not hurdles to cry about. Renewed enthusiasm is another
benefit that teachers derive from teacher research, as illustrated in this comment:
We have been teaching the same way we taught ten years ago but now we have
an urge to experiment with new ideas in our teaching.
It is clear then that teacher research offers many potential benefits to teachers;
their students also benefit from more informed pedagogical decisions while
organizations can benefit too where a culture of teacher research exists across a
school. As evidence of these many benefits grows, teacher research is becoming
increasingly visible as a professional development strategy for teachers. For
example, Cambridge English and English Australia run a teacher research scheme
for ELT professionals in Australia; Cambridge English and English UK run a similar
scheme for teachers of English in the UK; while Cambridge University Press has
also recently launched its own teacher research scheme. The British Council is
also supporting teacher research, as for example in the project I facilitated with
teachers of English in Pakistan in 2012-13 and which resulted in a publication
containing the reports of teachers work (see further reading below).
Conclusion
I started this paper by arguing that exclusive reliance on external forms of
professional development has several drawbacks. In contrast, teacher research
provides an option which allows professional development to be ongoing,
inexpensive, integrated into teachers routine work, personalized and practical.
Teacher research also gives teachers a strong sense of ownership in shaping the
direction their professional development takes. I am not of course suggesting that
teacher research is the right or only option for all teachers teachers in different
contexts and at different stages of their career will benefit in varying ways from
different approaches to professional development; however, where the conditions
are appropriate and teachers have suitable skills, knowledge and dispositions,
teacher research has significant transformative potential.
Further reading
Allwright, D. and Hanks, J. (2009) The developing language learner: An introduction
to exploratory practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Altrichter, H., Feldman, A., Posch, P. and Somekh, B. (2008) Teachers investigate
their work: An introduction to action research across the professions (Second
edition). London: Routledge.
Borg, S. (2006) Conditions for teacher research. English Teaching Forum 44(4):
2227. Available at: http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/06-
44-4-d_0.pdf
Borg, S. (2010) Language teacher research engagement. Language Teaching,

43(4): 391-429.
Borg, S. (2013) Teacher research in language teaching: A critical analysis.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Borg, S. and Liu, Y. (2013) Chinese college English teachers research
engagement. TESOL Quarterly 47(2): 270-299.
Borg, S. (Ed.) (2014) Teacher research in Pakistan: Enhancing the teaching and
learning of English. Lahore: British Council.
Brindley, G. (1991) Becoming a researcher: Teacher-conducted research and

professional growth in E. Sadtono (Ed.), Issues in language teacher education.
Singapore: RELC.
Burns, A. (2010) Doing action research in English language teaching. A guide for
practitioners. New York: Routledge.
Burns, A. (2011) Embedding teacher research into a national language programme:

Lessons from a pilot project. Research Notes 44: 3-6.
Carter, K. and Halsall, R. (1998) Teacher research for school improvement in R.

Halsall (Ed.), Teacher research and school improvement: Opening doors from the
inside. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Davies, P., Hamilton, M. and James, K. (2007) Practitioners leading research.

London: NRDC. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/n35jutv
Ebbutt, D. (2002) The development of a research culture in secondary schools.

Educational Action Research 10(1): 123142.
Halai, N. (2011) How teachers become action researchers in Pakistan: Emerging

patterns from a qualitative metasynthesis. Educational Action Research 19(2): 201-
214.
Oolbekkink-Marchand, H. W., van der Steen, J. and Nijveldt, M. (2014) A study of

the quality of practitioner research in secondary education: Impact on teacher and
school development. Educational Action Research 22(1): 122-139.
Rickinson, M., Clark, A., McLeod, S., Poulton, P. and Sargent, J. (2004) What on
earth has research got to do with me? Teacher Development 8(2/3): 201-220.
Rust, F. and Clark, C. M. (2007) How to do action research in your classroom. New
York: Teachers Network. Available at: http://teachersnetwork.org/tnli/Action_
Research_Booklet.pdf
Sharp, C. (2007) Making research make a difference. Teacher research: a small-scale

study to look at impact. Chelmsford: Flare.
Wyatt, M. (2010) Teachers researching their own practice. ELT Journal, 65(4): 417-
425.
Zeichner, K. M. and Noffke, S. E. (2001) Practitioner research in V. Richardson (Ed.),

Handbook of research on teaching (Fourth edition). Washington, D.C.: American
Educational Research Association.
Visit http://simon-borg.co.uk/free-sources-of-language-teaching-research/ for a

list of free sources of language teaching research, including several volumes of
teacher research.

Teacher development as the
future of teacher education
Rama Mathew, Professor, Department of Education, Delhi
University, Delhi
Abstract
Available evidence about teachers professional development generally paints a
rather gloomy picture, especially in India. While some pockets can be identified
where good teacher development practices are in operation, reports from
schools and school boards indicate a contrary view: hardly any provision for
teacher development, either in terms of time given to the teacher for his/her own
development or any acknowledgement of how some teachers are making efforts to
develop on their own.
In this paper, I would like to first examine whether and to what extent education
policies provide for teachers continuing professional development vis--vis its
actual realisation in school contexts. Then I would like to look at some models of
teacher development that are in use outside India. With this as the backdrop, I
would like to revisit some of the CPD work I have been involved in to understand the
nuances of this construct. The examples I discuss indicate what kind of CPD work
is meaningful to teachers and more importantly what is sustainable. I would like to
suggest that an approach that creates opportunities for reflection and theorising
from practice while continuing to learn about language teaching/learning and about
teacher development is satisfying and sustaining.
Teacher Training (TT), Teacher Education (TE) and Teacher Development

(TD)
It is necessary to understand key terms such as TT, TE and TD before we go
on to discuss Teacher Development. Training, according to Widdowson (1983)
and Richards and Nunan (1990), deals with familiarising student teachers with
techniques and skills to apply in the classroom whereas education involves
teachers in developing theories of teaching, understanding the nature of teacher
decision making and strategies for self-awareness and self-evaluation... (Richards
and Nunan ibid: xi). TT is one-off, usually short-term and compulsory for getting a
job. On the other hand, TD is seen to be a voluntary process, ongoing, bottom-up,
since the starting point is the teachers own experience where new information is
sought, shared, reflected on, tried out, processed in terms of personal experience
and finally owned by the teachers (Ur 1997). For the purpose of this paper, TT
is an officially mandated programme that may or may not have elements that
promote TD. When development is not required on a TT programme, it becomes
a goal which a teacher engages in of his/her own volition; and understandably
not many teachers will want to take on anything extra. Regardless of low
salaries, inadequate resources and lack of incentives, some teachers set up a

developmental agenda and engage in activities because they see personal value in
it (see Head and Taylor 1997 for a discussion of this point).
Teacher development: a policy perspective

This section attempts to provide a brief summary and a critique of what various
committees and commissions have recommended especially for CPD of teachers.
This is done in order to understand the policy perspective that informs school
education vis--vis CPD in India.
Beginning with the University Education Commission (1948-49) which emphasised

the need to supplement experience with experiment, the different advisory bodies
have continually stressed the importance of different aspects of in-service teacher
education (Secondary Education Commission 1952-53, Education Commission
1964-66, Yashpal Committee 1993, National Commission on Teachers 1983-85,
National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2000).
Experts seem to agree that teacher education is a continuous process and that
its pre-service and in-service components are inseparable. However, there seems
to be some confusion/contradiction in the way TE has been conceptualised: on
the one hand, terms such as CPD, sharing of practice, need-based programmes,
self-learning and independent thinking, and on the other, notions such as training,
reorientation of teachers, equipping which implies a skill-based approach, are
interchangeably used. The more recent policy frameworks, e.g. the National
Curriculum Framework (2005) and the National Knowledge Commission (2006-
2009) see CPD as the most important measure to bridge the gap between
pre-service and in-service TE. The Commission also recommends peer feedback,
especially in rural areas, as a support system for TD.
The National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), a statutory body of the

Government of India, has made specific recommendations about in-service
TE (1998, 2009). One of the aims of CPD programmes according to the 2009
document is for teachers to break out of intellectual isolation and share
experiences and insights with others in the field, both teachers and academics
. (p. 65). For this, the need to create spaces for sharing of experiences of
communities of teachers (p. 66) is emphasised.
In sum, the terms training and development have been interchangeably used, as
a result of which even short, expert oriented, one-off in-service programmes are
seen as TD activities. The earlier recommendations saw a need for CPD but did
not articulate its ramifications clearly enough for implementation. The more recent
ones seem to spell out more details that render CPD achievable in more concrete
terms in school as well as in TEIs (Teacher Education Institutions), but do not
have a corresponding provision in school-practice. There are several unanswered
questions: How is the space to be created in the teachers busy schedule for
teacher reflection, sharing, mentoring and learning from one another? Who should
create it? What is the role of a TEI in CPD? Is there a provision for acknowledging

teachers own efforts at engaging in CPD activities? Can NCTE, school boards and
TEIs work collaboratively to make this policy a reality?
CPD in schools: what do teachers say?

A small questionnaire-based study of some thirty teachers in Delhi, with school-
teaching experience of 2 to 20 years, was carried out to find out their perceptions
of what their job entailed and of possibilities that exist for their professional
development. For a few it was a profession of their choice; for the rest it was by
accident or the last option as a career. However, if they were to make a choice
now, almost all of them felt that they would choose this profession; one of them, in
fact, said, I wish I had become a teacher sooner.
The study revealed that most teachers had settled into the profession even though
it may not have been their first choice. They do not like non-academic activities,
but derive a lot of satisfaction when students show interest in learning. They would
like to be up to date in their subject, but in-service programmes dont seem to help
them with this, nor with how to become better teachers; they have to themselves
find ways of doing this. Clearly they have not heard of TD and long for a forum
and an outlet where they can express and share their experience with each other.
Thus, while in policy there is a strong suggestion for creating space for teachers
to share experience with peers, from what obtains in schools, it seems clear that
except for short, discrete programmes which are mandatory, there is nothing that
helps teachers to keep themselves alive or motivated in their busy schedule. Many
of them have learnt to survive in their own ways, since there is no system-support
for ongoing professional development.
Some success stories around the world

There are quite a few initiatives elsewhere that not only visualise comprehensive
models for developing education professionals but also ensure that these models
are implemented in actual practice. The TE model for the 21st century (TE)
suggested by the National Institute of Education in Singapore comprises various
components unified by the overarching purpose of equipping teachers with
competencies that will enable them to respond proactively to the responsibilities
of the classroom and the school. The TE model takes into account the entire
spectrum of TE from the stage of initial teacher preparation through to the
continuing journey of teacher professional development (see National Institute of
Education 2009 for details).
The Professional Standards for Teachers (2007) designed by Ofsted (Office

for Standards in Education, Childrens Services and Skills) in the UK is a basic
framework within which all teachers should operate from the point of initial
qualification.
The five stages identified are:
Qualified Teacher Status

Core

Post Threshold
Excellent Teacher
Advanced Skills Teacher
Appropriate self-evaluation, reflection and professional development activity

are critical to improving teachers practice at all career stages. The standards
demonstrate clearly the key areas in which a teacher should be able to assess
his or her own practice, and receive feedback from colleagues. As their careers
progress, teachers are expected to extend the depth and breadth of knowledge,
skill and understanding that they demonstrate in meeting the standards
appropriate to the role they are fulfilling and the context in which they are working.
Stages in Professional Development conceptualised by the British Councils new

CPD framework focus on the level of understanding and ability that teachers have
in different areas of their professional practice. These stages are articulated as:
Awareness
Understanding
Engaged
Integrated.
These are only a few examples that offer a roadmap for teacher development. We
do not have in India a roadmap that delineates the different stages of development
let alone provides accreditation and acknowledgement to a teacher who traverses
the path of development. The next section discusses briefly examples of work
done in India and tries to understand what lessons we can learn from them.
Some examples from India

Here I would like to draw on work that I have been part of in the last twenty years
to highlight as well as critique some of the key features in in-service TE and CPD
projects.
The CBSE-ELT Curriculum Implementation Study (1993-1998)

This aimed to monitor and evaluate how the Interact in English books at Grade 9
and 10 levels within a communicative curriculum were used in actual classroom
contexts across the country and to provide ongoing support with a view to
strengthening the curriculum. This phase involved many teachers in studying their
own and colleagues classrooms in a research-based way and conducted need-
based workshops whenever the ongoing feedback indicated it. Teachers took on
different roles: i.e. that of researcher, resource person, materials writer, assessor
and mentor. This phase, that lasted five years, clearly indicated that an insider-
oriented monitoring and evaluation phase supported by outside experts was
indeed meaningful to teachers and sustainable. By the end of the project, it was
clear that a top-down as well as a bottom-up approach to curriculum renewal is
important to bring about change in schools. However, the project had a finite time-
line and funds and therefore had to end.

The tracer study
I undertook this to evaluate the projects impact after three years and addressed
the following questions:
1. the nature and extent to which the communicative curriculum introduced in

1993 continued to be communicative and learner-centred, taking into account
the kind of support available in school;
2. the nature and extent to which the teacher-research approach to ongoing
curriculum renewal and professional development had been sustained.
The findings from the tracer study revealed the following: the role of teachers-as-
researchers during the monitoring and evaluation phase gave teachers a broader
perspective on the curriculum in different contexts. Before the project, they
merely taught the lesson, did the exercises, and conducted tests and were happy.
Now their work did not end with a class. They could observe colleagues classes
in a non-judgemental way and it worked wonders (in a teachers own words) with
colleagues. Many of these teachers managed these ongoing professional activities
in spite of the schools (unwritten) rules and conventions. There were silent
innovators, albeit very few, who did things that they felt needed to be done, in
spite of school constraints. This study underlined the need for building on existing
school/Board structures to support the teacher in her ongoing professional
development (see Mathew 2006 for details).
Case study (six teachers)

I undertook a case study of six such silent innovators (2003). The study explored
the following questions:
How does the pedagogical understanding of teachers develop and change

over time?
What personal and professional influences impact teachers pedagogical
understanding?
What kind(s) of inputs are self-sustaining and generative?
How do teachers build on these inputs to become ongoing learners?
Four important themes that shape teacher development emerged from the case
study (see Mathew 2005 for details):
1. Certain personality traits that enable the teacher to see teaching as a vocation
2. A propensity for reflective thinking
3. The need for ongoing professional development activities, and
4. The importance of school support.
Mentoring in Delhi schools (20082010)

This project in in-service education aimed to arrive at a model of mentoring and to
create a community of teachers who support each other, keep growing and help
bridge the gap between teacher education institutions and schools (Mentoring in
Delhi Schools 2010).

We supported the teachers by developing a self-instructional handbook on
mentoring, giving them a hands-on orientation to how they could observe each
others classes and discuss them, and enabling them to read and discuss some
articles/papers in the area. Of the 80 teachers in 11 schools that participated in
this CPD project, we found the following:
About 25-30 managed to do most of the things and saw value in it. There were
mainly two kinds: where, because of school managements and leadership,
a model of CPD already existed; and where, in spite of a not-so-supportive
environment, teachers engaged in the work because they saw meaning in it.
About 25 of them gave it a try with different degrees of success.
The rest were non-starters: not volunteers, inadequate school support, not
motivated enough.
The project revealed that a framework for CPD was clearly necessary for teachers
to first of all take on work beyond their regular schedule and then to continue with
it. Self-motivation alone was not sufficient to pursue CPD.
Diary study with teachers

Ten volunteer teachers in Delhi took up a diary study that involved writing diaries,
looking at each others diaries and commenting on them in a non-judgemental
but a critical way. This three-month study resulted in the presentation of a paper
based on it at TEC12 and a subsequent publication in the British Councils CPD
book (Mathew 2013). The diaries indicated that although quite a few of them began
at the descriptive reflection level, over the three months of diary writing they had
reached the dialogic level; there were also instances of critical reflection (see
Hatton and Smiths (1995) stages of reflection in the Appendix).
These teachers wanted to do diary writing and contribute chapters to a book on

teachers voices and professional development. Now we are working on a project
involving young learners as researchers (in collaboration with Warwick University)
and hope to write a book on our work.
Conclusions
The work during the last twenty years shows that some things about CPD
have indeed changed: while the policy on TE appears to have become more
sophisticated, schools make heavier demands on teachers time, thus neutralising
the implementation of the policy. For example, the work on CCE (Continuous
Comprehensive Evaluation) has increased tremendously reducing the teacher to
the status of an assembly-line worker. Clearly school boards and policy makers
need to collaboratively arrive at a workable model for CPD. If not, while a few
teachers will struggle to stay growing and motivated, the large majority who do not
have the will and/or the energy to struggle give up and settle down to a normal
routine.

Where do we go from here?
I recommend the following:
We need to encourage teachers to theorise from their practice and articulate
their understanding in their own words and not pursue a theory-first-and-
then-practice approach. The schools agenda and TE policy provisions seem
to by and large contradict. While good initial TT programmes can well initiate
teachers to take on the path of CPD, unless (i) drastic changes are made to
the existing TT programmes with corresponding improvement in teacher
educators competence resulting in more learner-centred approaches to TE,
and (ii) schools put in place a strong CPD model and make it work, this will
remain a distant dream.
On our part, we need to accord the status to teachers as knowers, as
producers of legitimate knowledge, and as capable of constructing and
sustaining their own professional development over time.
For this to happen, we need to have a support system in schools which means that
they are given time and space to reflect, observe each others classes, engage in
a professional dialogue, read and write about education, share their experience
in seminars/workshops and carry out a host of other professional activities. The
stages of professional development, as envisioned by Ofsted, NIEs TE or the
British Council, will need to chart the pathways for professional development and
lay out clear benchmarks to achieve and appropriately reward those teachers
who achieve those targets. Such a scheme will alleviate the problem of teachers
attending in-service programmes because their Principals asked them to or
because they will get a show-cause notice. It will encourage teachers to take
charge of their professional growth and will help them to plan and organise
their learning in a way they can manage what is meaningful to them. After all,
development is a highly personal experience and each of us derives benefit from
opportunities that we encounter/create for ourselves in ways that are meaningful
to us. And intriguingly, we should have the choice not to develop if we dont wish
to; the only question is, what is the proportion of developing and not-developing
teachers that a school system can afford? Clearly it is imperative that we put in
place a workable model that helps teachers to keep growing. We need to create a
workable CPD model that makes teaching a profession of choice.
The following observation provides a befitting endnote to what I have tried to say
here:
In order for change to become self-sustaining, teachers must begin to

engage in practices that have built-in support for the changes they have
made; otherwise, the changes are likely to erode over timefor change
to become generative, teachers must engage in practices that serve as a
basis for their continued learning
(Franke, Carpenter, Fennema, Ansell and Behrend 1998: 67).

References
CBSE-ELT Curriculum Implementation Study (1993-97) Final Report 1997.
Unpublished. Hyderabad: Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages.
Education Commission (1964-66) Govt. of India, New Delhi, beta.metastudio.org/

gstudio/page/gnowsys-page/6605/
Franke, M.L., Carpenter, T., Fennema, E., Ansell, E. and Behrend, J. (1998)
Understanding teachers self-sustaining, generative change in the context of
professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education 14/1: 67-80.
Hatton, N. and Smith, D. (1995) Reflection in teacher education: Towards definition

and implementation. Teaching and Teacher Education 11/1: 33-49.
Head, K. and Taylor, P. (1997) Readings in Teacher Development. Oxford:

Heinemann.
Mathew, R. (2005) How do teachers continue to learn and grow? Understanding

teacher development in A. Pulverness (Ed.), IATEFL 2004, Liverpool Conference
Selections. IATEFL.
Mathew, R. (2006) Tracing the after-life of teacher development programmes:

Reopening closed chapters. English Language Teacher Education and Development
9, Winter 2006: 21-38.
Mathew, R. (2013) Diary writing as a tool for reflective practice in R. Bolitho and
A. Padwad (Eds.), Continuing Professional Development: Lessons from India. British
Council.
Mentoring in Delhi Schools (2010) A UKIERI In-service Project, Central Institute of

Education, University of Delhi, Delhi.
National Commission on Teachers (1983-85) Govt. of India, New Delhi. Available at:
http://www.teindia.nic.in/Files/TE-Vikram/The_Teacher_and_Society_Report_of_
National_Commission_on_Teachers.pdf
National Curriculum Framework (2005) NCERT, New Delhi. Available at: www.ncert.
nic.in/rightside/links/pdf/framework/english/nf2005.pdf
National Curriculum Framework for School Education (2000) NCERT, New Delhi.
Available at: www.eledu.net/rrcusrn_data/NCF-2000.pdf
National Institute of Education (2009) TE21: A teacher education model for the 21st
Century. Singapore: National Institute of Education. Available at: http://www.nie.edu.
sg/files/spcs/TE21_Executive%20Summary_101109.pdf
National Knowledge Commission (2006-2009) Govt. of India, New Delhi. Available

at: http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/reports/report09.asp
NCTE (1998) Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education. New Delhi. Available at:
http://www.ncte-india.org/pub/policy/policy_0.htm

NCTE (2009) National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education: Towards
Preparing Professional and Humane Teacher. New Delhi. Available at: http://www.
ncte-india.org/publicnotice/NCFTE_2010.pdf
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Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) Govt. of India, New Delhi. Available at:
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Report.pdf
University Education Commission (1948-49) Govt. of India, New Delhi. Available at:
http://www.southasiaarchive.com/Content/sarf.145194/214974
Ur, P. (1997) The English teacher as professional. English Teaching Professional

1/2: 3-5.
Widdowson, H.G. (1983) Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
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Available at: http://www.teindia.nic.in/Files/Reports/CCR/Yash%20Pal_committe_
report_lwb.pdf
Appendix
Stages of Reflection (Hatton and Smith 1995)
Descriptive, factual writing: Not reflective.

Descriptive reflection: Reflective, not only a description of events but some
attempt to provide reason/justification for events but in a reportive way.
Dialogic reflection: Demonstrates a stepping back from the events/actions
leading to a different level of mulling about, discourse with self and exploring
the experience, events and actions using qualities of judgement and possible
alternatives for explaining and hypothesising.
Critical reflection: Demonstrates an awareness that actions and events are not
only located in, and explicable by, reference to multiple perspectives but are
located in, and influenced by, multiple historical and socio-political contexts.

Innovation in the provision
of pre-service education and
training for English language
teachers: issues and concerns
Julian Edge, University of Manchester, UK
Steve Mann, University of Warwick, UK
Innovation: some issues from Steve

The British Council has invested some serious energy in the last decade in
promoting innovation. Taken as a whole, most of these efforts have been
worthwhile. Some might think that the ELTON awards (awards for innovation in ELT)
are a pale imitation of the Oscars but they are the closest that teachers, publishers
and those involved in teacher education will ever get to a red carpet and some
kind of recognition! The ELTONs are the only international awards that recognise
and celebrate innovation in the field of English language teaching. What is good
about the ELTONs is that they promote ideas that are new and above all ideas that
are practical and usable. This is the kind of philosophy that Julian and I adopted
for our Innovations book (Edge and Mann 2013). We wanted accounts of practice
which foregrounded practical steps and procedures. This is also the rationale for
other contributions in the Innovations series (British Council 2013).
How successful have innovations been in ELT?

I now want to focus on innovation. The first question to consider is how successful
innovations have been in ELT. Obviously in an article of this length we have not
time for an exhaustive survey but, although innovation in ELT has grown apace
in recent years, much of it has been unsuccessful (see, for example, Waters
2009). Wedell (2009) argues that this is because of a failure to take into account
lessons from innovation theory. He is referring to thinking about who will use the
innovation, how they will use it and what barriers there might be in successful
adoption of an innovation. In simple terms, he is talking about who is likely
to be using these innovations and under what conditions. This consideration
of innovation and its relation to context is situated and therefore should be
concerned with the development of an appropriate methodology (Holliday 1994).
Innovation in PreSETT
At this point in the article, it might be useful to tell you more about the British
Council publication we have been involved in. Edge and Mann (2013) includes
14 different articles that feature an innovation in a PreSETT context. Initially
there were over 150 proposals (showing a huge level of interest in the project),
confirming the British Council view that there were plenty of practitioners who
would like to share practice in this area. When we sent guidelines to the authors

we asked for specific detail of the innovation. In other words, we wanted clarity in
description of the procedures and process. It was also important that we heard
from those on the receiving end of the innovation: What were their views? How
had it gone for them? In addition, we wanted practitioners to be reflexive about
the process; that is: What had they learned? How had they changed? What is
important in the accounts we chose was that they provide the detail of innovation
and evaluation in a context of reflective practice (RP). This is important because
it gives a detailed, situated view and it also makes possible replication, or at least
informed action, on the part of other practitioners.
The importance of context

Innovations are not easily generalisable, because each context has its own
constraints, affordances and dynamic. This is why an in-depth appraisal of the
innovation context is vital before introducing an innovation. The hybrid model
(Henrichsen 1989) provides a thorough system for identifying contextual factors
likely to facilitate or hinder the change process and this gives us a good start in
responding to Hollidays (1994) call for the recognition of the importance of a
detailed, ethnomethodological understanding of the innovation situation in making
judgements of appropriacy. The idea of being appropriate chimes with ideas of
situated learning. If we embrace the ideas of appropriate methodology both in
what we are aiming to get our teacher-trainers to achieve and in what we aim for
it, this moves us away from ideas of generalised best practice towards praxis.
This is essentially where we currently live in a period of post-method condition
(Kumaravadivelu 2001). This is a time when there needs to be a renewed and
corresponding recognition of the importance of situated learning and appropriate
methodology.
Developing situated or appropriate tools

In order for appropriate and situated methodology and learning to happen, tools
need to be sufficiently flexible that they can be tailored to specific contexts and
facilitate the kind of up-close professional understanding that RP was originally
designed to foster. This is why some of the accounts in Edge and Mann (2013) are
important. For example, Kurtoglu-Hooton (2013) shows that RP can and should
be taught on pre- and in-sessional teacher education programmes but in a more
systematic way. Her tools enable close-up and data-led attention to teaching.
New in context
One of the key ideas of Mann and Edge (2013) is that a new idea is not the same
as an innovation. Innovation demands that the practitioner concentrates on
process; it demands ongoing self-evaluation and reflection; it asks that we pay
as much attention to how we teach or train as to which topics get covered along
the way, or the tools that we employ. This is why we asked contributors to make
clear the steps and detail of introduction, implementation and evaluation of their
efforts, because it is the realisation of an idea in action that constitutes genuine
innovation. Mawa Sambs (2013) article on formative assessment would not be
seen as a new idea in most contexts. However, it is an innovation in Senegal.

Likewise Lesley Dicks (2013) work in Sri Lanka may not immediately sound like
a headline-grabbing innovation. We have all used top tips havent we, with our
teacher-trainees? However, the innovative aspect of Dicks work is that these top
tips are an outcome of a bottom-up process of discussion. They are renewed and
revisited with each new group. We get a sense from Lesley that the reflective
process (stepping back) has established the nature of the task itself:
I have used Top Tips in input sessions and in teaching practice feedback
sessions for years but have never really taken a step back and queried why
it worked and what it did. (Dick 2013: 143)
Kaizen
There is a Japanese concept that is used in management and business called
kaizen and I think it is useful as a metaphor for the kind of innovation that we are
promoting in this chapter. Kaizen can be translated as kai (change) and zen
(good) and, taken together has the meaning of something like improvement.
Its intended effect on the workforce is to engage all workers in the continuous
improvement of design. The workers are not only encouraged to engage in
a process of continuous evaluation and potential improvement but they are
empowered to feel that they have both a voice and input. lf we apply the same
concept to teaching and teacher training we can focus on the following:
The practice of continuous quality improvement within ones teaching;

Innovation is based on many small changes rather than radical changes;
Ideas for change and improvement come from teachers and students
themselves;
Teachers take ownership for their work and related improvements.
For me this is a potentially powerful way of looking at innovation. For most of us

it will not be eureka moments that make a difference to quality. Rather it will be a
series of much smaller-scale modifications and small changes. I remember Jane
Willis once talking about the importance of small tweaks in task-based learning
and teaching. These kinds of tweaks are very much what the concept of kaizen
foregrounds.
Icarus and Narcissus

Having explained that I think kaizen can help us characterise innovation as a
reflexive process of small actions, I want to pause and share with you the central
comparative metaphor in Julians most recent book. It is called The Reflexive
Teacher Educator in TESOL (2011). You probably know the individual stories of
Icarus and Narcissus. Icarus had wings and ew higher than he should. Narcissus
stayed too long observing himself and put down roots. They are both seen as
failures. However, Julian argues that they represent a dynamic and inevitable
tension that propels us forward in our professional practice, where the mutually-
shaping interactions between our roots and our wings, our self-knowledge and our
environmental knowledge provide awareness so that we can commit ourselves

to future action based on that combined awareness (Edge 2011:17). We need to
know our context and ourselves (where we currently are) in order to make the kind
of small-scale innovation that is appropriate future action. Of course, the tension
between Narcissus and Icarus is not the only one we have to negotiate as teacher
trainers. For example, we need to negotiate a balance between direction and
reflection (see Farr 2011). At this point, I will hand over to Julian.
Innovation: some concerns from Julian

Shortly after my last visit to India, I remember being greatly encouraged by the
publication of Naidu et al (1992). The authors reported in depth on a piece of
collaborative teacher research in which they emphasised the importance of
articulating to each other the thinking behind what they actually did in class:
By naming what we do we have recovered our practice, which otherwise

might have been lost irretrievably (a fate we believe that many teachers
have suffered). Further, we can now identify for ourselves what aspects of
our practice we are confident of and what we need to strengthen. (p.261)
I find those words, a fate we believe that many teachers have suffered, to be
among the most hauntingly resonant ever written in the field, and as relevant now
as they were then as teachers are still encouraged to believe that their job is to
somehow apply other peoples so-called theories. As Kumaravadivelu (2006) puts
it:
Since the audiolingualism of the 1940s, TESOL has seen one method after
another roll out of western universities and through western publishing
houses to spread out all over the world. On each occasion, teachers in
other countries and other cultures have been assured that this one is
the correct one, and that their role is to adapt it to their learners, or their
learners to it. (p.20)
Politics, Neo-Colonialism and Globalism

We know well enough (Kumaravadivelu 2006) how the historical British/USA
succession in terms of massive economic, military and cultural influence on world
affairs has resulted in the current importance of the English language. We know
well enough that the driving purpose of globalism is to allow money to move freely
around the world to where it can find its biggest margins of profit, and then move
on when the time is right, leaving behind what it can no longer use. We know full
well that such dominance and such care-free profits depend on the teaching of
English. And that is how we earn our livings.
Another perspective responds that we teach English because that is what our
people, and especially our young people, need if they are to get a good education,
if they are to get good jobs, if they are to attain positions of influence. This is the
discourse of empowerment, and empowerment through English. So, which is it?
English for continuing domination or English for empowerment?

Hegemony and paradox
Here we have what I understand to be the inescapable paradox of hegemony: the
kind of power that invites you to support it because you and yours and those you
care about can so clearly be helped, encouraged and, yes, empowered by taking
advantage of the structures and possibilities that this same organisation of power
offers you. And so, on a daily basis, we act in ways that support power structures
of which, in principle, we might not approve.
I say the inescapable paradox of hegemony, because that is how I see it. But that is
not to say that we do not have choices. Indeed, as teaching is not simply a way of
providing global capital with the workforce that it requires to maximise its profits,
as teaching is also a values-based commitment to moral and ethical activity,
being clear about what choices we do have is an essential part of teaching and of
teacher education.
Given a commitment to democracy, we might say, we cannot choose to ignore

the massive public demand for English. Equally, we have an ethical imperative not
to follow educational policies that serve only to advantage further those people
already advantaged by the status quo.
Social justice and multilingual approaches

To pick up again the theme of what we know, we know well enough how the
language learning experiences and theories of monolingual speakers of English
have historically dominated the academic understanding of language acquisition.
We know well enough (e.g. Meganathan 2011) that India is massively multilingual,
as a country, as a number of communities and in the individual lives of its citizens.
Over recent years, research and scholarship that regard social justice as a core
element of educational purpose, and that see multilingualism as a natural human
resource, not as an aberrant problem (e.g. Mohanty et al. 2009, Mukherjee 2009)
have provided the bases for a number of well-grounded analyses and proposals
regarding social justice, for example:
English in India today is a symbol of peoples aspirations for quality

in education and fuller participation in national and international life
However, the disparity in the quality of English language education
experienced by children further intensifies the already existing divide
between English language-rich and English language-poor children.
(Meganathan 2011: 58)
Also other proposals have emphasised the benefits of multilingual approaches to

teaching English:
Decades of work confirms that learning is most effective when a child has
eight to ten years of good teaching through the medium of the mother-
tongue, accompanied by a gradual introduction of other languages,
first as subjects, then partly also as teaching languages. This ensures

a solid, cognitive foundation for learning non-language subjects. It
allows acquisition of other languages while retaining and developing the
mother tongue. And it results in better learning of other languages, when
compared to non-mother-tongue teaching models. (Rao 2013: 274)
Specific suggestions regarding the teachers multilingual potential have also been
developed, such as:
The findings of the study show that even when the teacher was not a
speaker of the childrens L1, she was a learner of that language. Her
sensitivity towards the childrens language allowing freedom of usage of
that language in class had a positive impact on the learning of English.
(Aggarwal 2013: 62)
The presentation at TEC14 by Prakash and Premachandra (2014) also contributed

to the record of reflective practice in this crucial area of multilingual teaching.
In such a massively multilingual setting as India, it is not difficult to question the
pre-eminence of theories of language acquisition, learning and teaching that have
been modelled so determinedly on the workings of the monolingual brain.
These ideas are now also at work in teacher education, as demonstrated by

Bedadur (2013) and reported by Bedadur and Vijayalakshmi (2013):
The vast canvas of regional languages and dialectic variations poses

many challenges. The burden of incomprehension, the lack of access
and materials and a history of immersion approaches loom large on
the historical horizon of multilingual pedagogy. Yet experiments on a
small scale tell the story of a culturally viable pedagogy which needs to
be developed if we want to have equal access to English education in
marginalised areas. (p. 70)
So, as I always encourage myself to ask, so what? What is to be done?
At least, and for a beginning, I might want to insist that these socio-political issues
are seen as core elements in a teacher education syllabus. Teachers, of course,
have the right to refuse to engage with the dilemmas involved if they so choose,
but teacher educators do not have the right to leave the next generation of
teachers uninformed about them. If the class of 2030 starts to ask:
Why did we kill off our indigenous languages?

Why didnt we recognise the interactions among early language use, cognitive
development and education?
Why did we prioritise increasing opportunities for the wealthy over social
mobility and social justice?
Wasnt it clear that those societies that had the smaller gaps between rich and
poor were also more stable, less violent, less prone to drug abuse and other
miseries?

Wasnt it obvious that globalisation meant the global freedom of money to
move around to where it could make most profit and move on when profits fell,
taking its jobs and its promises with it?
In the face of such questions, neither teachers nor teacher educators will want
to rely on the Eichmann defence, I was just following instructions. It is not
enough to give instructions on how to teach English, or even on how to become
reflective practitioners of, or action researchers in, the teaching of English, without
consideration of the larger social, moral and ethical context in which that work is
done.
Of course, I am an old, male, Anglo-Saxon, UK-based, native speaker of British

English and the advantages that I have gained from those accidents of birth have
been many. When I talk of hegemony and advise distrust of outside experts, you
might see me as condemned out of my own mouth. I have come to understand
better a Bob Dylan song from 1964, in which he sings of:
Fearing not Id become my enemy in the instant that I preach.
Paradox is endemic in hegemonic situations. At which point, I hand back to Steve.
Outro
Thanks, Julian. I have deliberately not used the word conclusion but the term
outro instead (the opposite of intro). I think it does a better job of making clear
that anything we write or say is part of an ongoing process. I am glad to have
the opportunity to work again with Julian and have conversations with other
reflective practitioners in Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Delhi (as well as
Hyderabad). Collaborations are what make our professional lives interesting. If you
find colleagues who can support you in articulating your own ideas and reflecting
on your practice then it is easier to embrace and commit to an ongoing sense of
innovation, I think.
My final comment is that, for us as teacher trainers it is important to practise what

we preach. Moon worries that while teacher educators promote reflection among
teachers, they seem to have less tendency to consider reflection as a method for
their own practice (Moon 1999: 57). There is no point in telling trainee teachers all
about reflective practice and the importance of innovation if there is no sign of it
from us (the teacher trainers). Theres the challenge.
Acknowledgements
Julian wants to express his sincere thanks to Alastair Pennycook and Robert
Philipson for their typically generous responses to his request for suggestions
of what to read before attending this conference, as well as for their own
groundbreaking contributions to work in areas on which he has touched.

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Theme one
Innovations in Continuing
Professional Development
for English language
teacher educators and
teachers

The House of Dos and Donts:
teachers, self-access and
learner autonomy
Andy Keedwell, Head of Teacher Development, British Council
Afghanistan
Sayed Najeem, Senior Teacher, British Council Afghanistan
Abstract
While in many countries, self-access systems involving learners working more
autonomously than in the classroom have become commonplace, there are also
still contexts around the world where self-access and autonomy are very unfamiliar
concepts. This paper examines two such contexts, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. It
will examine why, in this type of context, there is a considerable risk of failure
for implementation of self-access systems and how conservative perceptions
of teaching and learning represent a major potential obstacle to effective
implementation, however plentiful resources may be. It will propose that these
risks can only be mitigated through systematic CPD and will examine in depth the
rationale, design and impact of a CPD programme aiming to support all involved
with self-access systems.
Introduction
In many countries, self-access systems have become commonplace but there
are also still contexts around the world where self-access and autonomy are very
unfamiliar concepts. While research on self-access has accessed the views of
users and teachers, much of this has examined self-access operations in Europe
or other well-developed educational environments. Only a handful of studies (e.g.
Jones 1995; Joshi 2011; Ahmadi 2012) have investigated contexts where the idea
of self-access is completely new.
This paper examines two such contexts, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. It will examine
why, in such contexts, there is a considerable risk of failure in implementing
self-access systems, especially because conservative perceptions of teaching
and learning represent a major potential obstacle to success. It will propose that
risks involved can only be mitigated through systematic CPD and will examine the
rationale, design and impact of a CPD programme aiming to support all involved
with self-access systems.
Self-access learning described here was delivered through two projects: in

Ethiopia, the Peacekeeping English Project and in Afghanistan, the English for
Security and Defence Project. These two projects vary in a number of ways but
also have many similarities. Both projects are managed by the British Council on
behalf of sponsors including the British Embassy, the UK Ministry of Defence and
(in the case of Ethiopia) the Africa Conflict Prevention Fund with the aim of working

in partnership with local partners to secure sustainability after eventual handover.
Both projects support the delivery of English to military officers. The projects
employ or support the employment of national staff with a consequent emphasis
on training. There is a focus on self-access delivery and the establishment of self-
access centres, although resourcing, administration and the extent of countrywide
reach differ. In projects such as these, either complementing or substituting
classroom study, self-access can accelerate rates of learning and mean personnel
are ready to interoperate (communicate in English in crisis or conflict situations)
sooner and more effectively. Self-access can support the development of more
resourceful, independent learners who take charge of their own learning (Holec
1981: 3) after course completion. It enables learners to meet their own needs and
aspirations, working at their own pace, fitting learning into demanding military lives
and adds variety to learning.
Self-access challenges
However, in more difficult contexts, self-access systems often fail or collapse
soon after the departure of the funding organisation. Often, concerns by project
management centre on the misuse of resources and neglect, situations in which
equipment and resources may be damaged, dispersed or put to inappropriate
uses. However, the opposite strategy of over-zealous protection of resources can
result in just as negative a situation. Concerns (especially those of local military
administrations) about possible theft or misuse may lead to a lack of accessibility
of resources and, at worst, result in self-access centres that survive handover
in pristine condition but are barely used or not used at all. The most significant
obstacle to self-access, though, seems be rooted in the beliefs about effective
teaching and learning held by self-access stakeholders (users, coordinators,
teachers and administration). In both countries, the role of a teacher is close to
that of a factory operator attending to the machinery that churns out knowledge
into the empty heads of trainees and the possibility of choice, a key concept in
self-access, is rarely considered.
Studies (e.g. des 2007) have shown that teachers with positive previous
experience of self-access are much more likely to motivate their students to use it
but none of the stakeholders in the two contexts had had any type of self-access
component to their own education and there are few opportunities in either
country for self-access. The idea of learner autonomy was also very new. Some
teachers reported that they had been introduced to the idea of learner autonomy
during their initial country-based training, but had not come across practical
applications of the concept.
During and after CPD, teacher-coordinators were asked to retrospectively report

what their conception of self-access had been at entry point to the project. While
some more recently recruited coordinators in Afghanistan described a feeling
of excitement at the prospect of working at the centre, their more experienced
colleagues remembered being sceptical as to possible success. In Ethiopia,
teachers emphasised that they had initial concerns that they would be held

responsible for breakage or misuse of equipment and, in a memorable phrase, one
teacher described the SAC as the House of Dos and Donts a heavily regulated,
intimidating, best-avoided operation.
We suggest that it is essential that these beliefs and perspectives and many
other aspects of self-access implementation and use are dealt with fully through
training. Stakeholders in Ethiopia, Afghanistan were provided with the opportunity
to participate in intensive training that was founded on a number of key principles.
Principle 1: CPD needs to engage with the beliefs and perceptions of stakeholders.
In order to adapt to their new roles successfully (Gardner and Miller 1999: 13),
stakeholders need opportunities to restructure deeply held beliefs on teaching
and learning. One training strategy was to ask trainees to reflect on situations
outside the classroom and to consider the characteristics of real-life customer
service encounters (both satisfying and unsatisfying) through which the idea
of choice emerged naturally. Trainees offered their own experiences of limited
choice in less than successful service encounters and then applied lessons learnt
to self-access delivery. Trainees were also asked to describe their own non-
language-based experiences of learning something autonomously themselves.
These accounts enabled them to reach conclusions on language learning in the
classroom and to identify what makes an effective learner.
Principle 2: Effective self-access needs systems and procedures: stakeholders

need the opportunity to design, revise and have ownership of these systems and
procedures.
Self-access needs systems and procedures to be in place, including needs analysis,
learner guidance, counselling and feedback mechanisms. Too often, however,
these procedures are imposed top down and require personnel to implement
systems which they may not fully understand, value or even like (see Martyn and
Voller 1993: 105). In CPD described here, as far as possible, trainees were asked
to design and revise systems and procedures themselves. We began by examining
a range of examples. Trainees were asked to identify what they liked about these
examples and supported in synthesising the results of their discussion into the
design of their own procedures and documents which they then implemented.
Principle 3: Resources in themselves are not enough: opportunities need to be

provided for stakeholders to engage with resources.
The provision of resources is often one of the most top down of all interventions
related to self-access but all stakeholders benefit from familiarisation and
engagement with those resources. Trainees were given the opportunity to
experiment with resources they were least familiar with and report back in order
to identify those that could be used to meet specific needs. Opportunities were
provided for the more experienced to train the less experienced. Throughout the
training, teacher-coordinators were encouraged to give their opinions on what
further resources could be purchased.

Principle 4: Self-access implementers can contribute to the development of
resources, and need support to enable them to do this.
Trainees in Ethiopia identified that locally produced materials were necessary a)
to target local cultural contexts and users backgrounds and b) to widen access
to a range of authentic military-oriented materials. Course planning aimed to
expose trainees to a range of sample tasks and to enable participants to produce
materials which were appropriate for particular levels, had clear aims and were
well presented. Teachers and coordinators in Afghanistan were due to participate
in similar training.
Principle 5: Effective self-access development requires support for and

development of the problem-solving and evaluation skills of stakeholders.
The process of development needed some difficult questions to be asked and
challenges to be identified and solved. It was important to discourage specific
groups of stakeholders from passing the buck to other stakeholder groups and to
focus on trainees working to find realistic solutions. The course aimed to develop
an atmosphere of honest, objective and constructive evaluation and provide
opportunities for participants to raise issues and discuss the challenges they
themselves perceived.
Impact
Impact on stakeholder beliefs and attitudes
Trainee responses were gathered through questionnaires and one-to-one
interviews. Trainees were quite articulate in describing how their opinions had
changed and were able to revise their perceptions of their own roles:
The CPD helped me to transform the traditional teacher-based teaching

approach to more effective learner based language learning in the classroom
and the SAC. I think this is a milestone in my entire professional career (teacher,
Ethiopia).
Through this course, Ive realised that self-access, which is a completely new
culture in Afghanistan, is the most effective culture (coordinator, Afghanistan).
A diet of cheese is not enough (programme manager, Afghanistan).
Impact on implementation and effectiveness of systems and procedures

However, what stakeholders say they do may well be different from what they
actually do in practice. Actual practice was monitored through visits by project
staff and identified that needs analysis procedures had been put in place,
counselling sessions were taking place and enhanced guidance had been provided
for users. A shift from lockstep sessions (all users doing the same thing at the
same time) to ones in which users worked more independently was observed in
Ethiopia and is also currently taking place in Afghanistan.
Impact on exploitation of resources and tasks design

Accessibility became something of a buzzword with CPD participants, and training
led to a great deal of unlocking and emptying of cupboards, repositioning of

shelves and introduction of loan systems. Some significant progress was also
made in terms of task design. This was undertaken in the form of mini-projects with
trainees working in pairs or small groups, producing drafts which were trialled,
redrafted and modified.
Impact as assessed by self-access users

In early 2013, colleagues in Ethiopia undertook a survey of one hundred users to
identify perceptions of self-access (Hailelul et al. 2013) which can be compared
to a limited survey at one base in 2010. When the two sets of information are
contrasted, a very positive impact on self-access use can be identified. While some
of the 2010 feedback was positive, a sense of frustration on the part of users was
also evident, with complaints about the lack of access to the centre, a feeling of
being lost amidst resources they barely understood and a small but significant
minority feeling that self-access did not really contribute to learning at all.
The 2013 feedback was much more positive. 91% of users stated that they were
free to choose materials and software and 86% strongly agreed that the SAC was
easy to use. All users reported that they used the centre at least once a week.
82% of users said that they based their learning on their personal log. Comments
included:
When I started to use the SAC, it was difficult. After I learned about the SAC,
I can use it easily
The SAC is easy to use, even in the absence of teachers, one can learn
different skills alone.
Lessons learnt
There were many challenges, of course. Some centres implemented systems for
one course of learning but abandoned (or forgot) them on the next. Occasionally,
changes in local military administration meant the cycle of change had to be
begun again. In Afghanistan, logistical and security concerns slowed the process
down and limited effective monitoring and feedback. Some stakeholder beliefs,
especially on the pre-eminence of grammar and the degree to which learning
can be controlled, proved to be deeply entrenched. Both impact and challenges
suggested a number of lessons learnt, including:
Innovation depends on people and not things.

CPD aimed to provide training and support at each stage of implementing self-
access systems and procedures for people and reduce risks perceived as resulting
in many contexts from a focus on supplying things, such as infrastructure and
resources. Resources are essential but any success described here has been
just as much as a result of the development of the skills, beliefs and behaviour of
stakeholders. We cannot simply provide things on the expectation that people will
simply find a way to use them.
Innovation needs to take peoples beliefs (on what makes effective teaching and
learning for example) into account and provide opportunities for them to reconsider
and restructure their beliefs.

No innovation can be successful unless stakeholders are helped to identify and
articulate their beliefs and, if appropriate, restructure them. CPD awareness-raising
activities enabled participants to express and revise their beliefs, and apply them
in real-life problem solving and discussion of challenges. Trainee discussion was at
least as important as any training input.
Innovation needs time.

In both countries, projects benefited from the fact that funding was available
for intensive training over time for a relatively small group of stakeholders. The
original course in Ethiopia benefited from extensive follow-up at bases, while
in Afghanistan, logistical and security factors have meant that CPD has been
delivered in segments over weeks and months.
Innovation needs ownership.

Participants need to be involved as much as possible in the design of systems,
procedures, tasks and other self-access routines. This may take longer but has a
clear advantage in providing a sense of ownership.
Innovation needs the involvement and commitment of all stakeholders.

Successful innovation needs to engage with the awareness of all stakeholders not
only those working directly with learners. The support of administration is essential
not only to ensure that processes are implemented but also to remind personnel
what should be in place and to monitor change.
Innovation needs to be joined up.

The projects described here were relatively small scale, and it was comparatively
easy to interrelate different strands of the project. Participants were able to
make connections between the CPD for self-access and other courses they were
involved in such as testing and classroom methodology and the impact of one CPD
programme fed into that of others.
Innovation needs to be accompanied by support for critical thinking skills.

A conscious aim of CPD was to help participants critically evaluate systems and
challenges and find solutions. Throughout CPD, over time, participants matured
and developed as people, interacted more and more effectively and grew in range
and depth of perception.
Conclusions
Despite challenges, the process of change was, in the contexts described here,
quite dramatic and, given the foreignness of the whole idea of self-access, involved
a radical shift in stakeholder beliefs. One Ethiopian coordinator summarised this in
the following way:
The CPD opened my eyes and I looked into the SAC which is like a sea full
of fish and learnt how to give guidance and counselling to learners and
how to use the SAC to its maximum potential.
It is a long way from the House of Dos and Donts to a sea full of fish.

References
Ahmadi, R. (2012) Readiness for self-access language learning. A case of Iranian
students. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal 3(3): 254-264.
des, C. (2007) Teachers Perceptions of Their Role in Self-Access Language

Learning in Two Hungarian Secondary Schools. UPRT Empirical studies in English
applied linguistics UPRT 2007: 107-121.
Gardner, D. and Miller, L. (1999) Establishing Self-Access: From Theory to Practice.

Hailelul, B., Hare, P. and Yilhal, A. (2013) Making the Most of Your Self-Access
Centre. Paper presented at the 2013 IATEFL Annual Conference, April 2013,
Liverpool, UK.
Holec, H. (1981)Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon

Press.
Jones, J.F. (1995)Self-access and culture: retreating from autonomy. ELT

Journal49(3):228-234.
Joshi, K. (2011) Learner Perceptions and Teacher Beliefs about Learner Autonomy
in Language Learning. Journal of NELTA16: 1-2: 13-29.
Martyn, E. and Voller, P. (1993) Teachers Attitudes to Self-Access Learning. Hong

Kong Papers in Linguistics and Language Teaching 16: 103-110.

Generating content through
online collaborative writing: a
study
Arindam Sengupta, Teacher, Hare School, West Bengal, India
Abstract
This paper reports how language learning content was generated by encouraging
a group of young ESL learners to write in an online students magazine on the web.
Though a plethora of rich language learning materials abound on the internet, the
scarce physical infrastructure in the classroom, in this case, a government Bengali-
medium school in Kolkata, makes these resources inaccessible to the average
learner. Aimed to bridge this gap, an Internet-based writing project was undertaken
to engage the learners in an online collaborative task. The learners were given the
opportunity to use the target language, English, in a communicative manner as
they actively participated in a paragraph writing task based on artworks produced
by other learners in the school. The findings indicate that by engaging with the
collaborative writing task, the learners generated content through relevant lexical
search and writing coherent paragraphs to describe and/or interpret the artworks.
The project may have decreased the affective filter of the learners, by promoting
peer learning and interaction, thus increasing learners motivation and increased
production of the target language. This small-scale classroom research can be
replicated or adapted in the ESL classroom to develop writing skills of young ESL/
EFL learners at various proficiency levels.
Introduction
Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is yet to make its prominence felt
in the government and government-aided schools of West Bengal. Though the
computer has made inroads into all institutions across the state, many teachers
are yet to discover and realize its potential in creating and fostering a language
learning environment in their classrooms. I too was a part of this group, and
never endeavoured to use the computer in my class until an e-course entitled
Integrating the Internet into the classroom by Michael Krauss of Lewis and Clark
College, Portland, Oregon changed my perspective (January 2013). The course
taught me ways of exploring the internet for content material to be used in the ESL
writing class. I learnt that learners are likely to be motivated if they are presented
with cognitively challenging materials that are relevant to their lives and levels
of cognitive maturity. The course design made me understand that the Internet
can be effectively used as a creation tool (i.e. a production and publishing centre)
and an activity centre in any classroom irrespective of the number or the level of
learners it caters.
I endeavoured to use the Internet and computer to stimulate discussion and

writing skills in a group of young ESL learners through a small classroom-based

research. I also strove to examine whether authentic classroom materials could be
designed from the online magazine and tailor them to fit the specific needs of my
learners for promoting writing skills. After all the internet is an egalitarian meeting
place where each individual can crank up their own printing press and where the
best netizens post their best works for others to access freely (March 1995).
Literature review
Many teacher educators like Krauss and March are of the opinion that the natural
place to begin integrating the web for learning is collecting sites that are most
useful or interesting for the specific age group one wishes to teach: look for
sparks that create insights, the contrasts that excite problem solving, the bells and
whistles that motivate, the passion that inspires (March 1995). Computers can be
used as a language learning tool to foster communicative activities and facilitate
the teaching process by providing a stimulus for learning by increasing social
interactions and cooperation (Hoyles, Healy and Pozzi 1992) in the ESL class.
In the ESL writing class, teachers need to use materials which are creative and
learning-centred. They should provide stimulating activities to focus students
attention on the task at hand. Moreover the materials should be interesting.
Writing is basically a process of communicating something (content) on paper
to an audience. If the writer has nothing to say, writing will not occur (Oluwadiya
1992). So, a web magazine, which is easily available through the internet, can easily
provide a stimulating context and motivate learners to participate and generate
content.
Another way of generating content in the writing class is to use visual aids like
pictures and artworks. At the lower intermediate level, learners faces may go blank
when they are asked to write on any given topic. Teachers can avoid prolonged
silence and prevent their students from feeling embarrassed by providing them
with a picture (Albano 2013). Responding to artwork can be very stimulating and
can lead to a variety of writing activities. Incorporating art into the class can take
students out of the classroom and encourage them to use their language skills in
the real world (Lightfoot 2007). According to Eaton and Jogan (1992) the main
criteria for selecting art to be used for English language classroom activities are
availability in an inexpensive form and appropriateness for the specific activity
and learner levels. So, I took up this classroom research to promote collaborative
writing by using the internet, computer and artworks as aids. The details of this
project and its salient findings with pedagogical implications are reported in the
rest of the paper.
Setting
Like many traditional classrooms in state-run schools, my classroom does not
possess any facilities apart from the blackboard. Learners get access to computers
for a brief 30 minutes during their computer classes in the computer lab, which
has only twelve computers to cater to the entire school. I had to obtain permission
from the Head of my school to conduct this project. I could use three computers

and therefore selected six students of mixed ability and with varied levels of
computer use in their personal lives. Since they were all mobile savvy and were
conversant with chat on various applications, they were motivated to participate in
the project.
Genuine communication in English hardly takes place in a typical government-run

school in West Bengal. In the writing class, patterned compositions are given and
learners are expected to memorize and faithfully reproduce content during the
end of the year summative examinations. Learners are neither encouraged to write
independently nor are given appropriate scaffolds to structure their writing. The
writing tasks given in exams are assessed primarily for accuracy and spelling; little
attention is given to content. In this small-scale study, I attempted to examine the
following research questions:
1. Does artwork on the web enhance collaborative communication?

2. Can this communication lead to content generation through writing?
3. Is there a positive impact of this novel activity on the learners mind?
The project
An online student magazine (centerstagejunior.com) became the launch pad
for my project. The web magazine was the perfect space to utilize as it teemed
with student artwork and write-ups from different schools of Calcutta. A twin
artwork from the magazine (see Appendix 1B) was used as a stimulus to generate
communication and complete a paragraph writing task.
At the outset, I introduced the learners to the online magazine where they could
register and contribute their own creative works for sharing with the greater
community. I showed them how students of various schools across the city had
contributed and uploaded their own artworks, sketches, anecdotes, photographs
and write-ups. I knew that they would be enthused to send drawings and paintings;
but I wished them to generate a write-up that could go into the magazine,
prompted by an artwork contributed by another learner. With that end in view, I
had downloaded two artworks and displayed it on their computer screens. I asked
the three pairs to collaboratively come up with sufficient ideas to write a coherent
paragraph. I asked them to type out whatever words, phrases and sentences they
could think of regarding the artwork and later write paragraphs using those words/
phrases.
I wanted the writing activity to be entirely learner-driven as one of my objectives

was to determine their comprehension of the subject matter, here the content of
the twin artworks, which portrayed the life of a typical Indian farmer on the field
(see Appendix 1B). They were instructed to work together to organize the written
ideas generated from the artwork, make corrections and master the method
required for discerning and extracting information from the visual in front of their
eyes. The artwork was used to serve as an example of comprehensible input
which would be the impetus for language production among the pairs.

The aim of the project was to evaluate whether students could gather material
through observing, brainstorming, making notes and talking to each other through
authentic material downloaded from the internet relevant to their lives. It also
aimed to establish writing as a communicative act composed of three basic stages:
pre-writing, composing and post-writing reflective stages. The tools used were (see
Appendices 1A-1C):
a. a downloaded twin artwork from an online school magazine;

b. a paragraph writing task, and
c. a questionnaire-based learner interview to study the impact of the activity in
the learners mind.
Findings and discussion

We report the salient findings according to the three research questions that this
study addresses:
Pre-writing stage: Does an artwork on the web enhance collaborative

communication?
The pair activity was conducted on three computer terminals. The learners
engaged in a thorough lexical search closely linked to the artworks given as
stimuli. This is evident in the list of words and phrases presented in Table 1 below:
Table 1: Thematically related words/phrases listed during the lexical search stage
Objects/names Actions related to a Qualities attributed to

identified farmers work the Indian farmer
Pair A crops, seeds, corn harvest crops, hard life
wheat, maize, rice, sows seeds,
barley, jute, plant waters the plants
meadow, soil, milk,
animals, buffalo, cattle,
farm, farmer, harvester
farmhouse, field, fence,
sickle
Pair B tractor, cultivator, oxen, works hard, lives in huts,
mud houses, village, ploughs land, depends on rains,
land, soil, tree, rain tills the land, backbone of the nation,
eats under a tree patient, busy, humble,
always busy, simple life,
poor, son of the soil
Pair C straw-thatched hut, wears dhoti and kurta, tired, exhausted,
home, morning, evening, turban on head; unhappy if crops fail,
night, vegetables, crops, grows vegetable and happy when it rains, has
fruits, dhoti, kurta, fruits, works from no holidays
turban morning to night,
comes back home in
the evening
Table 1 indicates that the learners generated thematically related words and
phrases. They are from three related domains of a farmers life: (a) objects/

names related to the farmer (represented as NPs); (b) actions the farmer engages
in (represented as VPs); and (c) qualities attributed to the typical Indian farmer
(represented as adjPs). These findings affirm research question 1 that a piece
of artwork on the web enhances collaborative communication as the learners
generated a rich repertoire of lexis.
A rich lexical search was perhaps possible because the picture on the screen
acted as a scaffold and actively engaged the learners. Each pair focused on the
task at hand and generated ideas closely linked to the artworks. So, the picture on
the screen facilitated learner communication and the internalization of material
and enough ideas were produced to develop a coherent paragraph. Peer support
helped in the generation of content in the form of task-appropriate words and
phrases. The learners were also found to discuss with their peers how they would
arrange the words and phrases in a proper sequence giving a fitting introduction
and conclusion to the paragraph they were supposed to write in the next phase
Composing stage: Can collaborative communication lead to content generation

through writing?
After the brainstorming phase, the learners were instructed to move on to the
actual writing phase in which they were expected to write a paragraph on the life
of a typical Indian farmer. Using the words/phrases listed in Table 1, the three pairs
produced the three paragraphs given in Table 2 below:
Table 2: Paragraphs produced by the three pairs of learners
Pair A A farmer lives in the village. He grows all types of vegetables and cereals.
He grows rice, maize, wheat and various vegetables like brinjals, potatoes,
tomatoes, cabbages, carrots and raddish. He grows many crops in his farm.
He has cows and buffaloes to help him till the land. Before sowing the seeds,
he prepares the land well by ploughing. He is always busy working. His family
members too help him in sowing, tilling, ploughing and harvesting.
Pair B He works in his field in both summer and winter. He gets up early before
sunrise and goes to his land to cultivate. His tools are the sickle, spade and
plough. Often his wife comes in the afternoon to give his lunch. Mostly he
eats rice, dal and chapattis. After having food he gets busy again in his land.
He harvests a good crop by working hard all day. Then he ties them in a
bundle and carries them to the market to sell.
Pair C A farmer works in a field. He sows seeds, tills the land and harvests crops.
He is a simple man. He wears a dhoti and a vest. He is without chappals
sometimes. He leads a hard life in the village. He has no holidays. He works
from early morning to late evening. He carries loads of crops bundled on his
back. He is our real friend. He grows crops for us. Without him, we would not
get any food. He loves his farm and his land. If crops fail, he is unhappy.
In Table 2, we can see that the learner pairs wrote paragraphs based on the sets of
words and phrases they generated during the lexical search phase. An interesting
trend is noticed: Pair A concentrated more on naming objects and wrote in detail
about the action of the farmer in relation to the crops he produces and the
process of tilling the soil. But they do not comment on the farmer as much as Pairs
B and C do. Pair B concentrate more on the daily life of the farmer, like his routine,

food habits, and the process of harvesting. This description reads like a process
description. Pair C describe the farmer in relation to his attire and what kind of
work he does. They comment extensively on the quality of life that the farmer
has and evaluate his role in our lives. So, of the three pairs, A and B focus more
on the details of the life of the farmer while Pair C is able to go beyond a simple
description and analyse the life of the farmer. The third description is therefore
of a higher cognitive complexity (Blooms taxonomy as cited in Krathwohl 2002)
evident in thoughts expressed; but linguistically all the three texts are more or
less at a similar level with many simple sentences. Moreover, all the three pairs
used conjunctions such as additives (and), time markers (before, after, then) and
conditionals (if, without) to hold their ideas together. Another noteworthy point
noticed is that all the three pairs not only used the words and phrases they
generated in the lexical search stage, but they also added more ideas to write
coherent paragraphs with a perceptible introduction, body and conclusion. So,
the quality of the paragraphs clearly supports research question 2: collaborative
communication can lead to content generation through writing.
Post-writing stage: Is there a positive impact of this novel activity on the learners
mind?
After the learners finished working on the paragraphs, they were given a
questionnaire (see Appendix 1C) and asked to respond to it in writing. A
critical discussion was conducted based on their responses about the relative
effectiveness of this novel writing activity in the ESL classroom.
The questionnaire had four sets of questions which yielded the following responses
from the six learners. The first set was on access to computers and online writing
habits to which all the three pairs responded in the affirmative and expressed that
either they wrote emails or blogs or participated in online chats on social networks
through mobile applications. The second and third sets were on the writing activity
and the use of artwork to generate writing. All three pairs said that they liked the
activity as the artwork helped them generate ideas as is expressed in the following
comments:
Yes, we strongly feel that they do provide clues. That is because we feel
that a picture or artwork tells a story (for example, the picture we got today
was about farmers) and we can do very interesting activities by putting
them to words. (Pair B)
Yes, there was ample stuff in the drawing to expand upon. It literally was
a picture worth a thousand words. One can interpret the same image in
million different ways. So it is rife with clues. (Pair C)
The learners stated that they found writing through computers stimulating and it
helped them edit their work with ease. The last set was included to obtain their
comments on collaborative writing and the role of peers as resources. To this also
they responded positively as they wrote that peers helped them generate content
and helped them edit and reflect on their work as is expressed in the following
comments:

Yes, my friends were helpful. We talked about the different pictures we got
and discussing them together helped me a lot. (Pair B)
It was good to hear others interpret the artworks in a completely different

mannerit was illuminating. (Pair C)
So, the learners found the collaborative writing task interesting and motivating and
this indicates that, in line with the third research question, there is a positive impact
of this novel activity on the learners mind.
Conclusion
To conclude, the project helped generate the learners original ideas and provided
an opportunity to generate content through engagement with the computer and
artwork. They seemed to get deeply enmeshed in the task and wanted to give of
their very best. Working in pairs, they completed the writing assignment by mutual
co-operation and assistance by giving expression to their thoughts. This process-
oriented approach made them complete the assignment successfully, exchanging
ideas and deriving mutual support and encouragement from their peers.
From this small-scale classroom study we can conclude that if teachers encourage
their students to utilize the manifold resources available online, then learners can
access lots of comprehensible inputs in comparison to the skeletal points they are
familiar with in their usual guided writing exercises. The context is likely to lower
the affective filter and motivate learners to write to produce better content and
control the process of writing through revision and redrafts by using the monitor
in an optimal manner.
References
Albano, L. (2013) How English Teachers can use pictures in the classroom.
http://blog.britishcouncil.org/2013/12/06)
Cunningham, K. (2000) Integrating CALL into the Writing Curriculum. The Internet
TESL Journal Vol. VI, No. 5, May.
Eaton, S. and Jogan, K. (1992) A Gallery of Language Activities: US Art for the EFL
Class in T. Kral (Ed.) Creative Classroom Activities, English Teaching Forum 1989-
1993. Office of English Language Programs United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20547.
Hoyles, C., Healy, L. and Pozzi, S. (1992) Interdependence and autonomy: Aspects
of group work with computers.Learning and Instruction2(3): 239-257.
Krashen, S. (1982) Principles and practice in second language learning and

acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon.
Krathwohl, D. R. (2002) A revision of Blooms taxonomy: An overview. Theory into

Practice 41 (4): 212218.

Light, P. (1993) Collaborative learning with computers.Language, classrooms and
computers: 40-56.
Lightfoot, A. (2007) Art in the Classroom. Published onTeachingEnglish British

Council BBCwebsite (http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk).
March, T. (1995) Whats on the Web? Computer-Using Educators Newsletter July/

August.
March, T. (1995) Working the Web for Education. Computer-Using Educators

Newsletter July/August.
Oliver, R., Omari, A., and Knibb, K. (1997) Creating collaborative computer-based
learning environments with the World Wide Web.What works and why: Proceedings
of the 14th Annual Conference of the Australian Society for Computers in Tertiary
Education.
Oluwadiya, A. (1992) Some Prewriting Techniques for student writers. English

Teaching Forum April 1984 84: 20-24.
Siegle, D. (2005) Six Uses of the Internet to develop students gifts and talents.
Gifted Child Today Vol 28, no 2: 30-36.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in society: the development of higher psychological

processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Warschauer, M. (1997) Computer-Mediated Collaborative Learning: Theory and

Practice. The Modern Language Journal: 470-479
Appendices
Appendix 1A: Task
Look at the two pictures. These have been drawn by two of your friends and have
been published in our school web magazine. Using these two pictures, generate a
list of words and then write a coherent paragraph of about 100 words. Work with
your peer to do this activity. You will be using the computer to do this activity. You
will also have a chance to edit and revise your work.
Appendix 1B: Artworks used as stimuli
(Illustrated by (Illustrated by
Prasenjit Das, Barnamoy Roy, St.
Hare School, Augustines Day
published here School, Kolkata,
with the kind published here
permission of with the kind
Centre Stage permission of
Junior online Centre Stage
magazine, cen- Junior online
trestagejunior. magazine,
com) centrestagejunior.
com)

Appendix 1C: Learner questionnaire
I. Access to a. Do you have access to a computer at home?

computers b. Have you used a computer before?
at home and c. Do you use social network platforms?
writing habits d. Do you keep in touch with friends via Facebook?
e. Do you upload any of your creative outputs online for your
friends to see & comment?
f. Do you write e-mails to friends or blog?
g. Does the concept of an e-magazine excite you where you can
post and share with others? Why?
II. Comments a. Did you feel threatened or nervous to write during this activity?
on the writing b. Could you organize your ideas clearly?
activity and c. Did you write a title? Why?/Why not?
using computers d. Did typing on the computer screen seem problematic?
e. Did the computer aid the writing process in any way?
f. Did you check/revise? How?
III. Notion about a. Dont you think it is great to share writings and artwork via the
online writing computer?
and artwork b. Did you like the artwork in todays activity? Was it better or
worse than a real picture?
c. Do you feel the artwork provided sufficient clues to set your
ideas rolling?
d. Do you feel that artworks or pictures provide clues to generate
a writing activity?
e. After todays activity do you feel that an online magazine can
be a platform for both creativity and learning?
IV. Comments a. Were your friends helpful? If yes, how?
on collaborative b. Did todays activity lead to interesting conversations among
writing and peer your peers?
work

Using Web 2.0 tools for teacher
professional development: a
case study
Santosh Mahapatra, visiting faculty, BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad
Campus, India
Abstract
This paper reports a case study of an online teacher development programme
that focused on familiarizing a heterogeneous group of ESL teachers with Web 2.0
tools for language teaching purposes. The study tries to find out how teachers
respond to Web 2.0-based professional development programmes and the impact
the use of these tools has on the programme. The findings suggest that individual
motivation of teachers plays a major role in how they respond to the programme
and the employment of web tools contributes to the effect of the programme. The
most important pedagogical implication of the study is that Web 2.0-enabled online
teacher education holds great potential in ESL contexts like India, but it should be
inducted carefully and in consultation with teachers. There should be more research
to gauge the effectiveness of such programmes.
Background to the study

The preparation and professional development of English teachers in India
have been matters of concern (Mahapatra 2011; Padwad 2011). Government-
sponsored programmes have not yet been able to meet the demand for properly
trained English teachers at various levels. Though organizations like the British
Council and RELO have been supportive in this regard and have been providing
professional help to teachers through workshops and online teacher education
programmes, a large percentage of teachers still do not get adequate professional
support. It is necessary to reach out to these teachers and help them acquire
adequate professional expertise. Teachers who are motivated and willing to
grow professionally but do not have access to any formal teacher development
programmes can be helped through Web 2.0-embedded online professional
development programmes. Now that India has become the third largest user of the
Internet in the world, this seems to be a viable option.
The current study is presented in several sections. These sections contain a review
of existing research on the use of Web 2.0 in teacher education, the methodology
employed for the study, the procedure of data collection, findings and discussion,
implications of the study, suggestions for further research, and a conclusion.
Use of Web 2.0 in teacher education: review of current research

Web 2.0 tools comprise interactive web platforms like blogs, wikis, and social
networks, and are a step beyond Web 1.0, which includes e-mail, chat rooms

and discussion boards (McLoughlin and Lee 2007). Whereas Web 1.0 users are
confined to being passive receivers of information, the Web 2.0 user can be an
active sharer, editor, collaborator and consumer. There is some research that
supports the employment of Web 2.0 tools for promoting effective language
learning (Kukulska-Hulme and Shield 2006; Stevenson and Liu 2010; Anwaruddin
2013). It has also been proved that Web 2.0-integrated teacher education holds
immense potential (Albion 2008; Al-Ali 2010; Bustamante and Moeller 2013). In
the European Commission research report Learning 2.0: The Impact of Web 2.0
Innovations on Education and Training in Europe (2009), it is mentioned that Web
2.0 can be a practical option for teachers to grow professionally at a personal
level. Even theoretically, as pointed out by Grant and Mims (2009), Web 2.0-based
learning is grounded in constructivist and cognitivist theories.
Though the above-mentioned research sounds encouraging, more studies need to

be undertaken to make any strong claim about the effectiveness of Web 2.0 tools
for imparting professional education to English language teachers.
Methodology
Research questions
This study was guided by the following questions:
How do English language teachers respond to a Web 2.0-based PD

programme?
What kind of impact does the use of Web 2.0 tools have on the programme?
Case study approach

A case study approach was adopted for this research to ensure that the aforesaid
questions were answered and the problem under scrutiny was examined in an
in-depth manner. Apart from a small sample size, several methods were utilized for
data collection. The data collected through one method was always corroborated
with that obtained through another one.
Participants
The participants for the study comprised a heterogeneous group of ten ESL and
EFL teachers practising at different levels of the education system in India and
abroad. Seven teachers were from India and one each from Iran, Italy and Dubai.
Their age group varied from 25 to 50 years old and their experience from less than
five to 15 years. They voluntarily agreed to participate in the study by responding
to a free offer posted by the researcher on an educational group on Facebook.
Methods of data collection

The methods of data collection included the following:
Electronic portfolio: It was created and maintained by the researcher to

store information and data about the web platforms used by the participants
for teaching their own students, the participants weekly reports about their
learning, and his own observation about the participants progress.

Facebook group: A Facebook group, which had all the participants as its only
members, was created. The participants used this group to talk about and
respond to their peers problems and the success experienced while using the
newly learnt Web 2.0 tools.
Google Site: The entire training programme was imparted through a Google
Site created by the researcher.
Google Drive: The participants reported their progress on a shared
Spreadsheet created on a Google Drive. Also, the reading materials, audio and
video clips were shared by the researcher with the participants using the same
Drive.
Sogosurvey: A needs analysis was conducted before the commencement of
the course through a survey developed on Sogosurvey a free online web
platform for carrying out online surveys.
Apart from the above, many other Web 2.0 tools like Voicethread, Spiderscribe and
Vocaroo were used for collecting the required data.
Data collection
The data was collected in several phases. Each phase is briefly described in the
following sub-sections.
Needs analysis
Before the course began, a needs analysis was conducted to get information about
the participants teaching background, their familiarity with using the Internet for
pedagogic purposes, their students access to the Internet, etc. Six multiple-choice
questions were asked in this online needs analysis survey.
The programme
The 4-week PD course aimed to enable the participants to use a few popular Web
2.0 tools for teaching and learning purposes. After analysing their learning needs,
familiarity with and frequency of use of the Internet, and organizational facilities, it
was decided to familiarize the participants with using Google Sites, Google Docs/
Drive, Google Hangout, Edmodo, Vocaroo, Voicethread, Wordsift, Penzu, Diigo,
Spiderscribe, Blogger, Facebook and Lexia Reading for English language teaching
purposes. These tools were almost evenly distributed across four weeks, and the
syllabus for each week was shared with the participants at the beginning of the
week. A Google Site was developed to post the course content, and access to the
site was limited to the participants. A Google Spreadsheet was shared with the
participants so that they could report the completion of each task assigned to
them every week.
In fact, the researcher employed all the Web 2.0 tools included in the syllabus to
transact the programme. It was intentionally done to provide hands-on experience
to the participants. The participants, who were actually students, were made to
think and act like students.

The participants were asked to submit a weekly report about their progress in the
form of a diary entry on Penzu Diary and participate in a Google Hangout every
Saturday night from 10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. In the Hangout, the participants talked
about their experience and commented on their peers performance while the
researcher provided them feedback for the week and helped them with their tasks
when required. The participants also posted the screen-shots of the web platforms
they used during the week on the Facebook group page. The researcher as well
as the peers had access to all the web platforms developed and maintained by
the participants. He saved the screen-shots of these pages and analysed them to
provide feedback.
Assessment of the participants performance

The performance of the participants was assessed against a set of criteria. The set
is presented below.
1. Timely completion of the tasks assigned for the week

2. Quality of the web platforms created
3. Creativity in using the web tools
4. Participation in the Hangout and posts on the Facebook group page
5. Penzu Diary entry
6. Instructors weekly feedback on individual progress
Though no final grade was assigned to the participants, a final descriptive

report was provided to each participant about their overall performance in the
programme.
Evaluation of the programme

The programme was evaluated after its completion. The researcher created an
online questionnaire and asked the participants to rate the following components
on a five-point Likert scale:
Course website
Quality of instructions
Pacing of content
Utility of the web tools included in the programme
Feedback about performance
Response to queries
The responses are presented in the following figure:

Figure 1: Programme evaluation

The findings of the study are presented through answers to the two previously
mentioned research questions.
How do English language teachers respond to a Web 2.0-based PD programme?

Since the participants voluntarily participated in the programme, they displayed a
great deal of enthusiasm. But not everyone could explore the web tools on their
own. Almost half of them wanted each web tool to be explained to them by the
researcher. They were not ready to watch the demo videos posted by the sites
concerned and use the tools accordingly. So the researcher had to take screen-
shots of web pages and post them on Facebook along with instructions for the
participants to follow. It required a lot of patience and time.
It was also found that the participants needed a lot more time than what was
given to them to employ these tools with their own students. They wanted more
time to feel comfortable with the tools even though they were excited about their
new learning. They also reported that they were not happy with the pacing of the
programme and wanted to have one instead of four tasks every week. It was also
observed that they got a little exhausted by the end of the fourth week.
Discussion
Though Web 2.0 offers an amazing opportunity to help teachers grow
professionally, its success is entirely dependent on the motivation of the
participants and the patience of the instructor. The length and pacing of the
programme must be thought about seriously for any such programme. It may be a
good idea to have light courses for teachers, especially for those working in India.

In addition, participants can also be supported and monitored while using web
tools in their own teaching-learning situations.
What kind of impact does the use of Web 2.0 tools have on the programme?
The course was conducted using several Web 2.0 tools. It offered more options
to the instructor and the participants in terms of convenience and motivation.
The participants completed the tasks whenever they had time during the week.
The flavour of newness and immense possibilities offered by the web tools added
to their motivation. The use of Web 2.0 tools also made the development and
transaction of the programme much easier for the researcher. He could monitor
the participants progress and provide them feedback without having to write or
type all the time. He utilized voice and video modes to offer feedback.
Discussion
There are several advantages of a Web 2.0-based teacher development
programme. It certainly takes away the monotony that is often reported about
many teacher education programmes. The innovations involving the induction of
web tools add to the enthusiasm and motivation of participants. Moreover, getting
access to study materials in written, video and audio forms becomes much easier
in an online programme. The participating teachers can complete an online PD
programme without any struggle or pressure to find the time to undergo in-service
training.
Implications of the study

The study has a few important implications. Any attempt to replace the traditional
teacher PD programmes with Web 2.0-supported online PD programmes may
backfire if teachers are not taken into confidence. Since teachers need a great
deal of motivation to participate in and complete online courses, it should
be started on a small-scale. However, keeping in mind the potential of such
programmes, more support should be provided to educate teachers about the
possibilities offered by Web 2.0 tools.
Another significant implication of the study is that areas of English language

teaching like materials design and assessment, which are often ignored in teacher
preparation programmes in India, can be focused on in online programmes
for English language teachers. It will also compensate for the lack of expertise
available in the country in language assessment.
The last of the implications is that it is essential to train teacher trainers/educators

in the use of Web 2.0. It is crucial to the success of Web 2.0-based teacher
education programmes. Only when teacher trainers/educators acquire some
expertise in using Web 2.0 can changes in the traditional teacher education set-up
be initiated.
Suggestions for further research

Research on the use of Web 2.0 tools for second language teacher education
purposes is still in its infancy. Large-scale studies need to be carried out to see

how formal teacher education programmes are imparted on Web 2.0 platforms.
There should also be longitudinal studies to look into changes in teaching practice
after teachers undergo such training. It will be quite interesting to know whether
online PD programmes are more or less effective than traditional PD programmes.
Conclusion
This small-scale study was an attempt to explore the possibilities of employing Web
2.0 tools for teacher professional development. The study was limited in nature
from many angles. Nonetheless, it has been one of the first such attempts made
by any individual researcher in the country. It is hoped that this will lead to more
research and further exploration in a similar direction in the near future. It can be
expected that the recent rise in the number of Internet users will bring positive
changes in the field of second language teacher education.
References
Al-Ali, S. (2010) Understanding teachers and students use and attitudes of Web
2.0 in ESL classrooms at the American University of Sharjah. A thesis in teaching
English to speakers of other languages. American University of Sharjah College of
Arts and Sciences.
Albion, P. (2008) Web 2.0 in teacher education: two imperatives for action.
Computers in the Schools 25(3/4): 181-198.
Anwaruddin, S. M. (2013) Web 2.0 and language learners motivation: an action

research study. Canadian Journal of Action Research 14/1: 51-68.
Bustamante, C. and Moeller, A. J. (2013) Exploring the unique case of a

professional development program on Web 2.0 technologies for teachers of
German. CALICO Journal 30/1.
Grant, M. M. and Mims, C. (2009) Web 2.0 in teacher education: characteristics,

Implications and limitations in T.T. Kidd and I. Chen (Eds.) Wired for Learning: An
Educators Guide to Web 2.0. Information Age Publishing.
Gunashekar, P., Padwad, A. and Pawelec, D. (Eds.) (2011) Starting, Stimulating and
Sustaining English Language Teacher Education and Development: A selection of
papers presented at the International Conference in Hyderabad in January 2011.
New Delhi: British Council.
Kukulska-Hulme, A. and Shield, L. (2006) Are language learning web sites special?
Towards a research agenda for discipline-specific usability. Journal of Educational
Multimedia and Hypermedia 15: 349-366.
Mahapatra, S. (2011) Language training in ESL teacher education programmes in

India in P. Gunashekar, A. Padwad and D. Pawelec. (Eds.)
McLoughlin, C. and Lee, M. (2007) Social software and participatory learning:

pedagogical choices with technology affordances in the Web 2.0 era. Paper
presented at the Ascilite Conference 2007, Singapore.

Padwad, A. (2011) Professional development why bother? in P. Gunashekar, A.
Padwad and D. Pawelec (Eds.)
Stevenson, M. P. and Liu, M. (2010) Learning a language with Web 2.0: exploring
the use of social networking features of foreign language learning websites. Calico
Journal 27/2: 233-259.

Professional development
programme for British Council
Training Consultants KELTEP
2013
Allwyn DCosta, Freelance Training Consultant, British Council,
India
Shefali Kulkarni, Senior Teacher Trainer, British Council, India
Abstract
This article mirrors the presentation of the same title at the Teacher Educator
Conference 2014 about innovation in Continuing Professional Development for
British Council Training Consultants. British Council Training Consultants work on
English Partnerships projects of the British Council and this article follows the
Training Consultants professional development journey during the Karnataka
English Language Teacher Education Project (KELTEP) and its impact on their
development. The training in 2013 was in two stages over ten weeks and some
Training Consultants worked for three weeks at a stretch. One of the challenges
before the British Council academic team was to keep the team motivated
throughout.
Professional development tasks were given to the Training Consultants and

feedback on the tasks analysed and reflected upon. This article aims to motivate
both an individual practitioner as well as heads of institutions to think of
collaborative and individual tasks for the development of Training Consultants.
Introduction
English Partnerships in India partner with state governments to enhance quality
in English language teaching and learning in the state schools sector. The British
Council has been working in the State of Karnataka since 2009 and Karnataka
English Language Teacher Education Programme (KELTEP) is one of the major
English partnerships projects in India. In 2013, 1,200 Master Trainers were trained
by British Council Training Consultants who in turn trained 179,393 elementary
school teachers from Grades 1 to 8.
The English Partnerships South India team has devised a series of activities
geared towards the professional development of the Training Consultants during
the training phase of the KELTEP. These activities can be categorised as sharing
practice, creating awareness and creating mentoring opportunities. British Council
Training Consultants participated in peer observation and co-planning while under
the creating awareness category they worked on a case study and did action
research. Mentoring opportunities were created for the Training Consultants
through a collaborative article writing task.

This article outlines the process of implementing these Continuing Professional
Development activities with Training Consultants during the KELTEP project.
The tasks themselves are outlined and the reflections from Training Consultant
participants shared and analysed. Feedback from the audience at the conference
is also included where appropriate and the implications for other professionals
are also explored. The article is co-authored by a Training Consultant, who
experienced some of the activities, and a member of the British Council academic
team who worked on planning the activities.
Co-planning task
British Council Training Consultants were requested to co-plan for the training.
Some of the benefits envisaged were:
standardisation of the content to be delivered

sharing different perspectives on the materials
opportunity to clarify content and practice
articulation of ideas, beliefs and practice.
All of the 21 Training Consultants on the project reported through a feedback

questionnaire and telephone interviews that this was a beneficial and positive
experience. Eleven Training Consultants who had not experienced co-planning
before commented that in future it would be an integral part of their work. There
were some issues as regards finding mutually acceptable timings but all Training
Consultants agreed that it was enriching to plan together.
Peer observation task

During Stage 1 of the training in the months of October and November the
academic team worked towards creating opportunities for the Training Consultants
to observe each other. This was made possible by having the academic team
and the co-ordinator stepping in to do some of the sessions to allow the Training
Consultants to observe each other. The focus was on post-observation discussions.
It was felt necessary that the discussions following peer observations be
developmental in nature and not an evaluation of the Training Consultants skills. In
order to facilitate this, no fixed criteria were handed over to the observers.
Training Consultants feedback indicated that this was a positive and beneficial
experience.
Peer observation is a two-way mirror one learns about others, from

others, and about oneself from others as well (Training Consultant A)
Even when you observe the same person twice, you gain so much!
(Training Consultant B)
Another British Council Training Consultant summed up her experience:
The Peer Observation exercise was an enriching experience personally

and professionally. I would like to recommend it as a tool for in-service
Continuing Professional Development to be used within the British Council
Teaching Centre network.
Some of the challenges from the point of view of the Training Consultants were:
time constraints
lack of fixed criteria for observation.
Challenges perceived by the academic team at the office included:
scheduling peer-observations
moving from evaluation of observee to post-observation developmental
discussion.
The positive feedback from all the Training Consultants involved in the exercise
inspired the academic team to think of other professional development activities
during Stage 2 of the training programme. Some of the professional development
activities the Training Consultants experienced were writing a case-study, being
observed by a Senior Training Consultant or a Senior Teacher Trainer and having a
post-observation developmental discussion, designing a session, action research
and writing an article collaboratively with a Master Trainer (trainee) on one of the
topics covered during the training.
Case study task

Training Consultants new to the project were asked to undertake a case study. The
rationale was that in understanding one participant the Training Consultants would
get a better idea of the educational context that the participant worked in and also
recognise the training room as a group of individual participants.
One Training Consultant and co-author of this paper, Allwyn DCosta, shares
excerpts from his case study report here:
As a result of investigating this one case in detail, it made it clear that in

order for a teacher training course to be effective, it is imperative that
the real world needs of participants are addressed. It is quite important
to value participants as individuals with experiences, and this must be
factored in during lesson planning. Participants look up to the Training
Consultants (TCs) for models of good teacher training practice. Therefore,
it is necessary for TCs to exhibit skills, behaviour and values that they would
like the trainees to have and perform when they conduct their own teacher
training sessions.
Some of the constraints apart from time experienced by other Training Consultants
were:
getting support from participants

lack of continuity.

The choice of participants was also a challenge and there was a lively discussion
during the conference session about how our personality influences this during
the conference.
Action research task

For the action research, it was decided to focus on the area of micro-training. A
substantial part of the course was to co-plan and micro-train the activities that
were to be used in teacher training at block level. Micro-training is an opportunity
for the Master Trainers from the state to try out various activities and also get
some feedback. Training Consultants focused on various aspects of micro-training
like Understanding Trainer Notes, co-planning and co-training and giving peer
feedback. Advantages of action research are well documented (Burns 2010). The
action research task expected the Training Consultants to reflect on their practice
and then implement the changes they felt were necessary during the training
sessions.
The action research project was conducted in Mysore and Dharwad, Karnataka
between 2-6 September 2013 and 23-27 September 2013. This action research
addressed issues of 78 Master Trainers on the project who faced challenges in
regard to receiving feedback from and giving feedback to other Master Trainers
due to instances of feedback being threatening, potentially arbitrary, vague or
judgemental. The action research involved a cyclical process of background
reading, collecting and analysing information and reflection of events during
monitoring of peer observation and feedback.
This action research led to new insights in the area of research. It was found that
it is necessary for a Training Consultant to give Master Trainers opportunities
for peer observations which are not conducted with the intention to judge the
teaching of others, but to encourage self-reflection and self-awareness about
their own teaching, and focus more on opportunities to collectively clarify ideas
and discuss suggestions drawn on ones own experiences. The objective of
encouraging peer observation is to allow Master Trainers to focus on their own
development, rather than on any presumed ability to develop the teaching of ones
peers. Not only did this approach of peer observation help stimulate awareness of
criteria, reflection and a questioning approach, it also made Master Trainers aware
of good teaching practices and provided a forum to clarify any questions and
sharing of best practices amongst the observers and the observed.
Feedback from Master Trainers at the end of the course indicated that they were
most satisfied with the reflective approach adopted during peer observation and
feedback. Feedback from Master Trainers on the evolved approach indicated
that they were satisfied with this method of peer observation and feedback
because the approach was based on the intention of providing solutions to real
world problems faced by participants. Most solutions were drawn from their own
experiences and the experiences of peers who faced similar challenges during
cascade training in the past. More importantly, this made the whole process self-
reflective and extremely participant-centred.

It was learnt that action research is a research which is of long duration and an
ongoing one. The outcome may change with a change in needs and situation and
therefore the results of one research may not be applicable in other scenarios.
Training Consultants reported:
Action Research is a very engaging way of doing professional development

but also about learning more about research (Training Consultant C)
Action Research motivates me to reach my own solutions and conclusions

and this is far better than being presented with ideals which cannot be
attained (Training Consultant D)
I will continue to do Action Research. I have no doubt about the benefits

of such a task for my teaching, although I should admit that its not always
easy to conduct it under time constraints (Training Consultant E)
The action research task was initially set for a week but Training Consultants
who were on the project for a second or third week kept doing action research
throughout all the training weeks. During the Teacher Educator Conference
2014 some of the audience attending the talk were surprised that the Training
Consultants could be so motivated that some carried on their research for three
consecutive weeks of the training programme. Some decision makers thought that
there should be action research workshops for all school teachers.
Collaborative article writing task

For the last week of the training it was decided to create a mentoring opportunity
for the Training Consultants. They were supposed to choose one trainee from the
group they were working with and help this trainee to conduct action research
on a writing-related problem in their class. They were then supposed to write an
article based on the trainees report. The article writing activity was perhaps the
most challenging in terms of collaboration as it could not be done face-to-face
owing to geographical distances and had to be conducted via the telephone or via
email. Another challenge was that since the collaboration depended on the Master
Trainer trying out activities in their classes the time lines extended beyond the
training duration.
The Training Consultants were supposed to choose their collaborators and then
discuss and decide on a topic that was interesting for both of them from the
topics covered during the training session. Different consultants followed different
approaches; the most successful ones went equipped with ideas for classroom
activities for various topics but involved the Master Trainers in the decision making
by letting them choose a topic from a set that fitted their classroom challenges
best.
Apart from the major task of mentoring a Master Trainer to do structured action
research in class and submit a write-up about it, the task inspired Training

Consultants to research and read in depth about the particular topic they have
chosen like spelling or punctuation. In order to be well informed to be able to
support the Master Trainers, the Training Consultants read extensively about
current practice, educational policies in various states, newspaper articles on
reactions and opinions of educationists, parents and students about various
changes in textbooks and educational systems. M who worked with R on spelling
said that the variety of methods of teaching spelling that she came across in
the course of the research was mind-boggling. She also complimented her
collaborator R on her dedication to explore the various activities in class despite
time constraints.
Another Training Consultant, felt that collaborating with a Master Trainer had
helped her understand his classroom context better. She wrote H (Master Trainer)
believes strongly in his professional development and he said that as a result
of KELTEP, he now keeps a Continuing Professional Development folder which
contains his lesson plans and reflections. She continued, It is encouraging other
teachers in his district to research writing activities and try them out in their
classrooms.
On their own learning after the article-writing activity, Training Consultants

commented:
It is amazing how much research has gone into teaching spelling!

I understand the challenges the Master Trainers face much better now!
The enthusiasm and commitment with which British Council Training Consultants
completed these CPD activities has inspired the academic team to keep this
aspect in mind while planning other projects.
Implications and conclusions

The British Council Training Consultants are enthused and inspired to explore
and reflect on their skills and practice further. For individual practitioners there
are some activities that you can try out in your teaching or training sessions for
your own professional development. If you are the head of a department or an
institution, there are ideas here that can be used for encouraging collaboration
between staff to encourage their professional development and motivate them to
share their practice. In our case, the enthusiasm of our Training Consultants has
rubbed off on the academic team and the team are now busy planning continuing
professional development tasks as part of other state projects.
References
Burns, A. (2010) Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for
Practitioners.Routledge.
Cosh, J. (1999) Peer Observation: a reflective model. ELT Journal 53/1:22-27.
Thome, C. (1996) Action Research in Language Teacher Education. ELT Journal

50/3: 254-262.

Mobile embedded self-study
materials for CPD: the use of
English language for teachers
(EL4T) in Bangladesh
Farhan Azim, Deputy Head, Research Monitoring and
Evaluation, English in Action
Mir Md. Saifur Rahman, Deputy Head, Teacher Training and
Support, English in Action
Abstract
English in Action (EIA) provides self-study materials (English Language for Teachers
EL4T) to teachers participating in its Continuing Professional Development
programme. This study explored the suitability of EL4T for Self-Directed Learning
(SDL) with reference to Garrisons (1997) model. To collect data, in-depth
(qualitative) interviews were conducted with six primary school teachers from
Dhaka Division. The findings suggest that among the three dimensions of Garrisons
model, EL4T was the most suitable for motivation. A comparatively weaker link was
exhibited for self-management and self-monitoring.
Background
Self-Directed Learning (SDL) first became a viable and much researched concept
in the1970s (Merriam 2001b). Knowles (1975: 18) described Self-Directed Learning
(SDL) broadly as a process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without
the help of others, to diagnose their learning needs, formulate learning goals,
identify resources for learning, select and implement learning strategies, and
evaluatelearning outcomes.
During the late twentieth century, educationists began to distinguish adult

education from other forms of education and shifted the focus on the need
for developing professional knowledge (Merriam 2004: 04). This resulted in the
theory-building efforts around self-directed learning (ibid.). Based in humanistic
psychology, Knowles defined the term andragogy as a concept that described
individual adult learners as autonomous, free and growth oriented (Knowles in
Merriam 2001a: 07). Based on Knowles work on andragogy, Tough (1967, 1971)
and Houle (1961) carried out significant research studies on SDL and found that
this kind of learning is widespread, occurs as part of an adults everyday life, and
does not depend on formal instruction despite being systematic (Tough and Houle
in Merriam ibid.: 08). Learning in the self-directed mode thus seemed to have
various goals.
Since the inception of SDL a number of models of this concept have been
introduced (e.g. Brockett and Hiemstra 1991; Candy 1991; Garrison 1997). For

this study we considered Garrisons (2007) model, which in addition to being
more recent is considered to be a comprehensive choice among the others (Song
and Hill 2007). This model articulates SDL through three overlapping dimensions
i.e. self-management (task control), self-monitoring (cognitive responsibility),
and motivation (entering and task). Among these, self-management involves
task control and management of learning resources and support. According to
Garrison, this means learners taking control of the learning context to reach
their learning objectives. He further explained that this does not mean learner
independence but collaboration with people from the same context.
The second dimension, i.e. self-monitoring, addresses cognitive and metacognitive

processes where learners are responsible for critical reflection and collaborative
confirmation. Successful self-monitoring entails integrating new and existing
knowledge structures in a meaningful manner and meeting learning goals.
However, it is influenced by the context of the educational transaction and
dependent upon both internal and external feedback.
Motivation is depicted as the third dimension in Garrisons model. In order to

understand the salient role motivation plays in SDL, two distinguishable facets
of motivation need to be focused on: the process of deciding to participate
(entering motivation), and the effort required to stay on the task and persist (task
motivation). Commitment to a particular goal and the intent to act is considered
as entering motivation whereas the tendency to focus on and persist in learning
activities and goals is task motivation.
Keeping Garrisons model at the focal point, this study explores how the self-study
materials called English Language for Teachers (referred to as EL4T henceforth)
provided by English in Action (EIA) are contributing to teachers Continuing
Professional Development (CPD). Before discussing the research let us give a brief
introduction to EIA and its EL4T materials.
English in Action (EIA) and EL4T resources

English in Action (EIA) is a nine-year English language education programme
implemented through a partnership between the UK Government and the
Government of Bangladesh. The goal of EIA is to contribute to the economic
growth of Bangladesh by providing English language as a tool for better access to
the world economy. EIA works to reach 25 million primary and secondary students
and adult learners through communicative language learning techniques and use
of ICT, textbooks and supplementary materials in an innovative way. In schools,
EIA supports teachers for their professional development by providing them with
audio-visual and print-based materials. EIA also provides audio resources for
students to be used in the classrooms. All EIA teachers and students materials
are closely linked with the English for Today textbook, making the lessons more
interesting and engaging. As of 2014, EIA has already reached 12,500 teachers.
EIA in the role of educating teachers has taken into account the importance of
enhancing teachers capacity for taking charge of their own learning. Through

its developmental research from 2011 to 2014 the project has taken effective
measures to track teachers professional journey (Power and Shrestha 2010). The
programme has also been vigilant in recognising the need for a context-sensitive
pedagogy (Kumaravadivelu 2001), the need for updating teachers professional
knowledge and skills as they face new challenges resulting from changes in the
curriculum (Merriam 2001b). In response to the contextual needs of teachers in
Bangladesh, EIAs EL4T helps teachers develop a professional toolkit of resources,
knowledge, strategies and relationships that they can draw upon to enact more
effective teaching practices in their classroom (Power and Shrestha op.cit.).
EIA has developed two sets of resources in the EIA Primary Teaching and Learning
Programme and the EIA Secondary Teaching and Learning Programme. These
resources have been designed for teachers to engage in independent study for
two hours per week over three ten-week periods, so each programme comprises
30 study units or lessons. Although primarily intended as a self-study course,
the materials have been made suitable for use in group settings. Brief, additional
guidance on using the materials in such settings has also been developed. The
learning activities are interactive in nature, and are therefore suitable for use by
pairs of learners working together (e.g. two teachers in the same school). This
maximizes their potential to learn individually as well as in groups.
Methodology
With the advancement of theory and practice, educational researchers now have
a range of approaches that can be utilized to conduct a study producing either
quantitative or qualitative data. The selection of approach largely depends on
the phenomena being studied as different approaches contain their own set of
assumptions about the nature of the physical world and the kind of data that
can be produced to increase knowledge about the world (Cohen, Manion and
Morrison 2007; Denscombe 2010). The knowledge base of the researchers and the
availability of resources also play a crucial role in determining approaches (Gay
and Airasian 2000). Keeping in mind the focal issue of this study, our expertise
and the resources that we have, we adopted a qualitative methodology for this
research. Following the characteristics Denzin and Lincoln (2005) ascribe to
qualitative researchers, we studied the use of EL4T in a natural setting, attempting
to make sense of these phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to
them.
The sample for this research included six primary school teachers from Dhaka
Division of Bangladesh who were selected through convenience sampling (Cohen,
Manion and Morrison op. cit.: 114) from three different Upazilas (namely: Sutrapur,
Nawabganj and Kishorganj Sadar). A semi-structured interview was developed
based on the three areas of Garrisons (op. cit) model that was administered to
the teachers individually. The first draft interview schedule was piloted on two
teachers (not part of the final sample) and revised accordingly. The final interview
consisted of twenty questions and a number of probes covering the three areas
of SDL, i.e. self-management, self-monitoring and motivation. Teachers responses

were recorded verbatim and analysed thematically. We heeded Creswells (2007)
advice to analyse the data inductively to establish patterns and themes, and the
presentation of findings that follows includes the voice of the participants, our
reflections, and a description and interpretation of the issue under consideration.
Like all qualitative research, this study was conducted with a limited sample and its
findings cannot be generalized to a wider population. While conducting this study
we followed the ethical guidelines delineated by BERA (2011).

In this section we are going to present the findings from the semi-structured
interviews under three sub-headings that reflect the three areas of Garrisons
model.
Self-management
This dimension is related to the enactment of learning goals and the management
of learning resources and support (Garrison op. cit.). In our discussions with
teachers about their self-management with EL4T, three major themes were
identified. The first one combines areas related to process and materials.
Respondents suggested that they are given choice of proactively carrying out the
learning process, resources are available, and approaches suggested.
Core trainers and teacher facilitators advise us to use the EL4T (Male
teacher from Kishorganj)
We are encouraged by the teacher facilitators to use EL4T for our self-
development. They inspire us to use the audios and the wordbook at our
own convenience to learn English. (Female teacher from Nawabganj)
[When we want to use EL4T] we take our mobile phone and our workbook.
Then we play audio and practise with these. (Female teacher from
Sutrapur)
Teachers felt that EL4T is discrete enough to be used in different situations, and
flexible pacing can also be accommodated for their learning. They felt this was a
positive feature of these materials.
I can use EL4T in the school when I do not have any classes. I can use it
in the teachers room, I can listen to the audios even while travelling to or
back from the school. (Female teacher from Kishorganj)
I can use the EL4T in my own time. No one gives me pressure to do it. I can
carry on in my own pace. (Male teacher from Nawabganj)
In Garrisons (op. cit.: 22) view, self-management of the learning process facilitates
and energizes meaningful and continuous learning when learners are given the
choice to proactively carry out the learning process, when material resources are
available, approaches suggested, flexible pacing accommodated, and questioning

and feedback provided as needed. Teachers opinions suggest that most of
these criteria are fulfilled by EL4T except for the questioning and feedback one.
Limitations in questioning and feedback could be linked to another theme that
emerged from the teachers interviews.
Though the teachers appreciated the freedom offered by the existing design of
EL4T, they also voiced the need for direction and some set standards.
It would have been better if there were more help from the teacher
facilitators. We discuss EL4T during the cluster meetings but it is not
extensive, more direction would be helpful. If there were any set standards
to compare against, that would be helpful as well. (Male teacher from
Kishorganj)
We could interpret the first issue raised by teachers, i.e. their need for direction,
as something that could be helped through collaboration with peers. Teachers
concern over this can be regarded as an enactment of how Garrison (op. cit.)
opines that learners control does not mean independence, but collaboration with
other people within the context. The second issue of seeking standards is however
beyond the model under discussion.
Self-monitoring
In EIA teachers are encouraged to reflect on their practice with EL4T in
accordance with their learning tasks and goals. Some of the respondents were
found to set specific achievable goals. However, in many cases responses suggest
that they have general goals but no specific targets for improvement.
I want to use more English in my teaching learning and in my daily life.

(Female teacher from Kishorganj)
I want to become a good language teacher. (Female teacher from

Nawabganj)
I want to open an English teaching academy. (Male teacher from

Kishorganj)
Garrison (op. cit.) suggests that to self-monitor the learning process is to ensure
that new and existing knowledge structures are integrated in a meaningful manner
and learning goals are being met. He further explains that responsibility for self-
monitoring reflects a commitment and obligation to construct meaning through
critical reflection and collaborative confirmation. Though teachers responses
suggest presence of goal setting, nothing in the data suggested that teachers did
critical reflection on their learning.
Moreover, teachers responses suggest that there is a lack of collaboration among

them even though the design of the EIA programme ensures peer support at the
school level.

Sometimes I collaborate with my peers in studying English with help of
EL4T. But its not regular. It could be helpful if I had some way of working
with other interested teachers from the vicinity out of the cluster meetings.
(Male teacher from Sutrapur)
Research evidence also suggests that collaborative control results in more

effective self-monitoring and therefore improved performance (Butler and Winne
1995).
Motivation
EIA shares success stories as well as the achievement of the project and its impact
in the classroom and on the life of the practitioners. Participants of the study
suggest that these encourage them to use EL4T for English learning.
Our teacher facilitator gives us examples on how learning English could be

life changing. I also felt that being better in English would help me perform
my role (as an English teacher) better and help me in other ways. So I
started using EL4T. (Male teacher from Sutrapur)
The respondents perceived EL4T to be helpful in developing their English skills.

That encouraged them to start learning through it.
I started EL4T for learning English more and more because I think it is
very helpful to develop myself to speak English easily. (Male teacher from
Kishorganj)
The factors mentioned above can be regarded as the entering motivation for EL4T.
Garrisons model emphasizes the importance of entering motivation as this directly
influences the effort expended on learning tasks. This is the motivational reserve
or fuel that the learners possess when initiating learning experience (Garrison op.
cit.: 27).
According to the respondents, once they start using EL4T they continue as they
feel more confident professionally and socially. In addition, they also seem to draw
motivation from the fact that their repertoire of usable English is enriched through
EL4T.
Learning English through EL4T has boosted my confidence and I can now
easily use English in my classroom. This is very encouraging. (Female
teacher from Kishorganj)
Earlier, I used very simple English. After using EL4T I think I can
communicate with any person in English. I am able to use and understand
complex English now. (Male teacher from Nawabgonj)
Another factor that contributes to teachers continuing to use EL4T is that it is easy,
effective and helpful.

EL4T is easily understandable and it is quite simple to navigate through.
(Female teacher from Sutrapur)
These factors can be considered as the task motivation i.e. the tendency to focus
on and persist in learning activities and goals. We can consider the respondents
as becoming active learners, which should result in directing and sustaining
motivation.
Conclusion
As discussed above, among the three dimensions of Garrisons model EL4T is
very much on par with motivation. A comparatively weaker link was exhibited
for self-management and self-monitoring. Questioning and feedback a key
component of self-management is not focused on in teachers current practices.
Collaboration among peers could be strengthened to reinforce this component.
This could also be helpful for setting up standards and role models for EL4T use.
Overall, better collaboration among the peer teachers within school could improve
the utilization of EL4T for SDL. Critical reflection is the key component that seems
to be underemphasized with regard to the self-monitoring dimension. Teachers
could be encouraged to use a journal to reflect on their learning through EL4T to
help them self-monitor.
References
BERA (2011) Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research. London: British
Educational Research Association.
Brockett, R. and Hiemstra, R. (1991) Self-direction in adult learning: Perspectives on

theory, research, and practice. New York: Routledge.
Butler, D. and Winne, P. (1995) Feedback and self regulated learning: A theoretical
synthesis. Review of Educational Research 65: 245-281.
Candy, P. (1991) Self-direction for lifelong learning: A comprehensive guide to

theory and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007) Research Methods in Education (Sixth
edition). New York: Routledge.
Creswell, J. (2007) Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches (second edition). London: SAGE.
Denscombe, M. (2010) The Good Research Guide: for small-scale social research
projects (Fourth edition). Berkshire, England: McGraw Hill Open University Press.
Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (2005) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research.

Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Garrison, D.R. (1997) Self-directed learning: Toward a comprehensive model. Adult

Education Quarterly 48(1): 18-33.
Gay, L. and Airasian, P. (2000) Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and
Application (Sixth edition). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Knowles, M. (1975) Self-directed learning: A guide for learners and teachers.
Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall/Cambridge.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2001) Toward a postmethod pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly

35(4): 537-560.
Merriam, S.B. (2001a) Andragogy and Self-Directed Learning: Pillars of Adult

Learning Theory. New directions for adult and continuing education 2001 (89):
3-13.
Merriam, S.B. (2001b) Something Old, Something New: Adult Learning Theory for
the Twenty-First Century. New directions for adult and continuing education 2001
(89): 93-96.
Merriam, S.B. (2004) The Role of Cognitive Development in Mezirows

Transformational Learning Theory. Adult Education Quarterly 55(1): 60-68.
Power, T. and Shrestha, P. (2010): Mobile technologies for (English) language

learning: An exploration in the context of Bangladesh. IADIS International
Conference: Mobile Learning 2010, 19-21 March 2010, Porto, Portugal.
Song, L. and Hill, J. (2007) A Conceptual Model for Understanding Self-Directed

Learning in Online Environments. Journal of Interactive Online Learning 6(1): 27-42.

The Jamaican Fragment: using
video to add a new dimension to
the lesson
Ravinarayan Chakrakodi, faculty of the Regional Institute of
English South India, Jnanabharathi Campus, Bangalore, India
Abstract
This paper discusses teacher motivation through the use of technology. Video is
one of the resources that provide audio-visual input to children, engages them in
active learning, and motivates teachers to use technology in the classroom for
effective learning. The paper mainly focuses on a video film that was prepared on
the text The Jamaican Fragment in the Grade VIII English textbook being used in
government schools in Karnataka. The impact of the video on the teaching-learning
processes in the classroom was analysed and presented in this paper. It was
found that the video helps teachers create a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom
and makes the teaching-learning process a pleasurable experience. As a result
of the video, students had ample opportunities in the classroom to use various
reading strategies such as predicting, summarizing, visualizing and questioning,
and also take part in activities such as language games, story building, miming and
dramatization of the lesson. The video thus helped teachers in designing interesting
tasks and activities to enhance the learning capabilities of second language
learners.
The video has also been used as a teacher professional development tool in
teacher education courses. This has helped teachers gain insights into classroom
management skills, teacher talk and student talk time, and formative assessment
procedures. The video has also had a positive impact on teacher cognition and
teacher preparedness, and has made a positive difference in their professional lives.
Introduction
It is important to develop a package of teaching-learning materials for classroom
use in order to engage children in active learning. As stated in the position paper
on Curriculum, Syllabus and Textbooks of the National Curriculum Framework
(2005), what is needed in current educational practices is not a single textbook
but a package of teaching-learning materials. It is felt that a textbook should
become a part of this package and not the only teaching-learning material.
Against this backdrop, the Department of Education, Karnataka specifically the

Directorate of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT), Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA) and the Karnataka Textbook Society has developed a package of
audio-visual materials to enhance the learning capabilities of children studying
in government schools in Karnataka. As far as English as a second language is

concerned, in addition to textbooks and workbooks, radio lessons as well as video
films have been produced to provide rich exposure to the language and develop
the linguistic and communication skills of learners.
Why videos?
A teacher has to use a variety of teaching-learning materials in the classroom,
especially to teach a second language like English, as it is challenging for him/
her to sustain learner motivation for one full academic year using a single
textbook. Textbook lessons might sometimes cause boredom to learners due
to the sameness or repetitiveness of lessons and activities (Chou 2010). In
such a context, audio and video resources will help sustain learner motivation.
Also, teaching and learning in many schools is reduced to rote memorization
of questions and answers from the textbook. Resources like the video will help
teachers to design many different activities and make teaching and learning more
effective, interactive and meaningful.
Video is a powerful medium in todays world. It offers a multi-sensory experience.

It is a wonderful combination of visual, audio and written information. Also, as
videos provide rich audio-visual input to children and motivate teachers to use
technology in the classroom for effective teaching and learning, they can be
exploited as a potential educational tool in schools.
The background and the process

The videos developed by DSERT, Karnataka based on the new textbooks employ
powerful visual techniques to help children understand the lessons better.The
process of video production involved the following steps:
A two-day workshop was conducted with practising teachers to identify the

difficult units/areas (hard spots) in the textbook.
Based on teacher inputs, a few lessons were chosen for producing video films.
Expert teachers were involved in writing the objectives for these films. This
was done in a three-day workshop where the teachers prepared the scope of
the film and suggested activities for the video film (see Appendix 1).
Using the objectives, scope and the suggested activities as the base, scripts
for the films were written by ELT experts.
Video production was handled by well-known film directors and documentary
film makers.
In addition to the films, a teachers handbook was prepared by expert teachers
at a workshop. The handbook provides a brief summary of the film and a few
pre- as well as post-telecast activities.
Presently, videos on Grade VIII lessons are being telecast in selected schools
of Karnataka (Bangalore Rural, Chamarajanagara and Gulbarga districts) where
EDUSAT facilities are available.
The Jamaican Fragment was one of the lessons identified as difficult for

classroom transaction by the teachers. The opening paragraphs of the lesson are
given below:
Every day I walk a half mile from my home to the rail track lines in the
morning, and from the lines to my home in the evening. The walk is
pleasant. You can see on either side red and green-roofed bungalows,
green lawns and gardens. The exercise is good for me. And now and then, I
learn something from a little incident.
One morning, about half way between my front gate and the rail track,
I noticed two boys playing in the garden of the more modest cottages.
They were both very little boys, one was four years old perhaps, the other
five. The bigger of the two was a sturdy youngster, very dark, with a mat
of coarse hair on his head and coal-black eyes. He was definitely a little
Jamaican a strong little Jamaican. The other little fellow was smaller, but
also sturdy. He was white, with hazel eyes and light-brown hair. Both were
dressed in blue shirts and khaki pants. They wore no shoes and their feet
were muddy. They were not conscious of my standing there, watching
them: they played on. The game, if it could be called a game, was not
elaborate. The little white boy walked majestically up and down, and every
now and then, shouted in a commanding tone at his bigger playmate. The
little brown boy dragged on quietly behind him and did what he was told.
(English Second Language Textbook for Standard 8, 2012, pp. 30-31)
Teachers felt that a video film on this lesson would facilitate better comprehension
of the text. Accordingly, a script was written and a film titled The Jamaican
Fragment was produced.
The script has been prepared keeping the principles of learning a second
language in mind. The film has interesting warm-up and pre-, while- and post-
reading activities. Students in the video try to locate Jamaica on the globe, gather
information about Jamaica from the Internet and present them to the class. The
following are some interesting facts students gathered from the Internet and
presented to the class:
Jamaica is an island country.

It is situated in the Caribbean Sea.
Christopher Columbus reached Jamaica in 1494.
The Spanish occupied the country and ruled it for many years. Slavery was
practised.
Then the British took over (in 1655) and made it their colony. Slavery was
abolished in 1838.
Jamaica got independence on August 6, 1962.
In Jamaica, the majority of the people are black.
The background information presented in the video helps students understand

and appreciate the story better. Students are also involved in a number of other

activities such as constructing stories, making predictions and inferences, miming
and dramatizing the text, asking questions in groups and answering them, writing a
review of the story, and practising the pronunciation of past tense forms.
Making inferences and predictions is an important skill involved in reading. In the

video on The Jamaican Fragment, students make intelligent guesses that go
beyond the literal meaning of the text. They also use text clues and background
knowledge to predict what will happen next in the story. A few examples, from the
video, where students have to make inferences and predictions are given below:
1. Facilitator: Once there were two boys playing in a garden.

Who do you think these boys were?
What do you think they were playing in the garden?
2. Facilitator: The man went home and thought about it deeply. The next
morning, both the boys were there in the garden again. What do you think
happened next?
3. Facilitator: This time the black boy was giving commands while the little white
boy did everything quietly. What commands do you think the dark boy gave
the white boy?
Activities such as field visits, project work, group discussions, role plays and
dramatization have been meaningfully incorporated into the video films. In
these films, learners get ample opportunities to construct knowledge about the
topic, use language for authentic purposes and also develop critical thinking
skills. Attempts have been made to develop various reading strategies such as
predicting, summarizing, visualizing, questioning, connecting and evaluating.As a
post-reading activity, students were encouraged to write a review of the story. The
format for writing the review was given to them (see Appendix 2).
Teachers can use these videos in the classroom to give students further
opportunities to practise various language learning strategies in an engaging
way.These videos have the potential to be used as a learning tool, a teaching tool,
as well as a professional teacher development tool.
Some of these videos were used in a State-level Master Resource Persons (MRPs)
training programme for the new textbooks. The MRPs also used the same videos
when they cascaded the training for high school teachers across the state. All
these resulted in the classroom use of the videos with Grade VIII students.
Impact of the videos

A questionnaire (see Appendix 3) was conducted to explore further the usefulness
of the videos and to gauge the impact of the videos on teachers and students.
Questionnaires were distributed to 92 MRPs and 64 practising teachers. The
questionnaire had two parts. In Part A, MRPs and teachers were asked to provide
general information, and in Part B their opinions on the usefulness of the video
were sought. The questions in Part B were related to the different activities, such

as silent reading, pronunciation exercise, writing task, miming, using the globe,
using the Internet, students prediction, asking questions and giving answers
in groups, and dramatisation of the story, that were shown in the video. The
respondents were asked to mark the activities they liked the most. There were also
questions on the use of L1 in the video, and the teachers ability to design similar
tasks and activities and teach the lessons along similar lines.
The questionnaire survey and an informal interaction with the MRPs and teachers
revealed that the video was useful in many ways. The video benefited the
students in understanding concepts and the textbook content better. The MRPs
and teachers were of the opinion that students developed greater interest in
performing activities such as miming, dramatizing, asking and answering questions
in groups because they had seen relevant demonstrations in the video.
Teachers felt that the video was useful to them as it offered a lot of insights into
the designing of tasks and activities for teaching English. Teachers opined that
the video helped them understand how to balance teacher talk time and student
talk time, and learn the importance of developing learning strategies such as
making predictions, reading a text silently, using reference materials and involving
students in group discussions. The majority of teachers also stated that the video
helped them in their planning and preparation.
A few teachers who showed the video before teaching the textbook lesson
observed that students had difficulties in understanding the concept of an island
(Jamaica is an island country), the concept of black and white people living
together in Jamaica, and the blacks being the majority there. Students also had
difficulty in the pronunciation of past tense markers.
A few teachers were of the opinion that the 30-minute video had some limitations.
As there is a new assessment method in practice now in the state, teachers
expected the entire lesson to be taught incorporating elements of Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE).
As far as the trainers (MRPs) were concerned, they observed that the video helped
them in developing reflective skills among teachers. In the training programme,
teachers were encouraged to compare their classroom practices with the ones
shown in the video. The trainers were able to facilitate a meaningful discussion on
classroom processes, the teachers role, the learners role, classroom management
skills, etc. In this way, the video enhanced the quality of the training sessions and
reduced transmission loss that is typical of a cascaded training programme.
The following were some of the suggestions offered by teachers and trainers:
As children studying in government schools lack the language resource, it

may not be possible to perform such activities involving the whole class. In a
class of 60-70 children, nearly 50% of them cant speak or read in English. The
video should help teachers obtain practical ideas to support such students and
evaluate their language ability.

Current classroom practices that involve cooperative learning and peer
support could be reflected in the video.
More than a model lesson, there is a need for an experimental lesson that
shows classroom processes in detail and focuses on weaker children. Two
concerns to be addressed in the video are getting such children to be involved
in classroom activities and enhancing their language skills.
In sum, video materials play a vital role in teaching and learning English as there is
a scarcity of qualified teachers to teach English in schools. These supplementary
resources help teachers in making their classrooms interesting, lively and
interactive. However, these resources are not easily accessible to teachers and
learners in the state. The Department of Education should make efforts to provide
easy and wide access to such useful technological resources. Also, it is necessary
to maintain high standards and quality in the preparation and presentation of such
materials. Making the best use of these resources and providing children with
access to quality education rests in the hands of teachers.
References
Chou, P. T. (2010) Advantages and disadvantages of ESL Coursebooks. The
Internet TESL Journal Vol. XVI (11).
Karnataka Textbook Society (2012) English Second Language Textbook: Standard 8.

Bangalore: Karnataka Textbook Society.
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2006) Curriculum, Syllabus

and Textbooks. New Delhi: National Council of Educational Research and Training.
Appendices
Appendix 1: A broad framework for the production of the video film
1 Class: Subject:
2 Name of the textbook lesson
3 Title of the video film
4 Objectives of the lesson

5 Objectives of the video film
6 Scope of the film
7 A brief description of the film
8 Suggested activities for the film

Appendix 2: Format for writing a review
Title of the story

Author
Characters
A brief summary
What I like best in this story
How I rate this story (Give stars from 1 to
5 where 1 is the lowest score and 5 the
highest)
Appendix 3: Questionnaire
Regional Institute of English South India
Jnanabharathi Campus, Bangalore 560 065
Questionnaire on the use of video
Dear Colleague
This questionnaire seeks to examine the usefulness of the video The Jamaican
Fragment for teaching-learning purposes. Please complete both parts of the
questionnaire.
Part A
Name:
Gender: Male/Female
Experience in teaching: Less than 5 years/5 to 10 years/more than 10 years
Address for Communication:
Part B
Please put a tick mark () against the chosen response.
1. How useful is this video for teaching the given lesson?
Very useful Useful Not useful
2. Would you like to show this video to your students?
Yes No Not sure

3. Which part of the video did you like the best?
Silent reading
Pronunciation exercise
Writing task
Miming
Using the globe
Using the Internet
Students prediction
Asking questions and giving answers in groups
Video clippings of the drama
Any other (please specify) ..............................................................................................
4. What is your opinion on the use of L1 in the video?
Necessary Not necessary Necessary to some extent
5. What else would you like to be included in the video?
6. Will you be able to design similar activities for other lessons?
Yes No To some extent
7. Will you be able to teach a lesson like this?
Yes No To some extent
8. Any other comments/suggestions on the video?

Theme two
Learning from experience

Critical reflection for Continuing
Professional Development: using
the SOAP strategy to analyse
pedagogical experience
Padmini Boruah, Associate Professor, Department of ELT,
Gauhati University, Guwahati, India
Abstract
Critical reflection is the analysis of personal experience to enhance learning and
improve future professional behaviour and outcomes. The process and practice
of critical reflection goes beyond a mere recording of experience. Doing critical
reflection involves following a systematic procedure to revisit classroom practice,
analyse the experience, draw inferences from the learning, and planning a
revised procedure based on the learning achieved. One effective model of critical
reflection is the SOAP procedure (Subjective/Objective/Analysis/Planning) that
makes practitioners analyse their experience by revisiting it critically and referring
it to research in the field before planning the next step. Critical reflection thus
helps professionals interrogate their pedagogical practices through objective
procedures, leading to healthier classroom interaction and continuous professional
development.
Introduction: critical reflection

Critical reflection is the recording and analysis of experience to enhance learning
and improve future professional behaviour and outcomes. The act of critical
reflection includes reliving an experience, analysing it and making hypotheses
from the experience to apply to future situations. Thus critical reflection is not
an unconscious or subconscious activity; it requires self-awareness and meta-
cognitive skills. The act of critical reflection, in short, transforms a practitioner from
a participant to an observer and critic.
According to Larrivee (2000), Unless teachers develop the practice of critical

reflection, they stay trapped in unexamined judgments, interpretations,
assumptions, and expectations. Approaching teaching as a reflective practitioner
involves fusing personal beliefs and values into a professional identity (Larrivee,
2000: 293). Schon (1983) sees the reflective practitioner as one who is willing to
challenge self-evident truths, seek and take feedback and use it for professional
development.
Critical reflection is a cyclical process: as each plan evolved at the end of one
procedure is transacted in the classroom, the experience serves as content for
the next round. Reflective practices thus become embedded into the pedagogical

master plan, drawing sustenance from all its organs the materials, methodology,
learner behaviour, the evaluation system and teacher perspective.
Models of reflection
Critical reflection as a pedagogical exercise is not a new idea; the literature on
educational practices report on different models of reflective activities, the most
popular of which include:
Blooms taxonomy (1956): Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analysing,

Evaluating, Creating
David Kolbs Experiential Learning Model (1976): Concrete experience,
Observation and reflection, Formation of abstract concepts, Testing in new
situations
Gibbs reflective cycle (1988): Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis,
Conclusion, Action Plan
The SOAP strategy

The SOAP strategy (Aronson et al. 2012) is a model of reflection developed at the
University of California, San Francisco as part of the Learning from Experience as
a Professional (LEaP) guidelines. Using the SOAP strategy involves the following
steps:
1. exploring ones subjective (S) perspective of all facets of the experience in

terms of the context, the content and the pedagogical strategies i.e. ones
thoughts, feelings and perception of the event;
2. incorporating objective (O) data on the experience through feedback,
information and new learning from others (colleagues, available literature) and
additional research;
3. assessment (A) of the experience through analysis of subjective and objective
reflection, and synthesis of the learning obtained so that it leads to new
understanding and more focused learning goals;
4. planning (P) of future professional action (classroom practice, networking,
reading, research, etc.) based on the learning outcomes obtained through
assessment, by evolving an action plan that is specific, detailed, achievable
and measureable.
The significant departure of this strategy from other models of (critical) reflection
is that the process of reflection does not stop at analysing and learning from ones
personal experience alone. The SOAP strategy includes inputs from others by
referring ones experience to the available literature, others experiences and
observations, and similar forms of objective data.
Setting up criteria for reflection

As a pedagogical practice in English language teaching, critical reflection needs
to be more than an anecdotal reliving of personal experience. To enable critical

reflection to become a systematic and measureable process of inquiry, a set of
criteria based on the following five broad aspects can be evolved:
Lesson objectives
Teaching resources, i.e. the materials and activities used
Methodology
Classroom management
Use of English (i.e. the amount, frequency and purpose for which English is
used in the class by the teacher, and its comparison with students use of
English).
Following the SOAP procedure

Each stage of the SOAP procedure includes a careful and connected series of
steps to understand and learn from the pedagogical experience. Below are the
reflective activities for each stage.
Stage 1: Subjective (narration)

This includes:
describing what happened: the events, ones thoughts and feelings (content)
describing how it happened: how one acted, how students reacted, what went
well, what didnt (pedagogical process)
discussing why it happened: what were ones assumptions, what were the
students assumptions, how did the physical/linguistic/social environment
contribute to it (context)
By revisiting each part of the experience, the reflective practitioner gains a

perspective that builds on hindsight and enables the practitioner to see the event
from a psychological distance. The advantage of subjective reflection is that it
enables the reflective practitioner to momentarily suspend their emotions de-
emotionalize pedagogical experience and discover nuances of the experience that
they may have missed as a participant.
Stage 2: Objective interpretation

This involves reconsidering the experience and identifying key issues of the event:
by eliciting opinions, perspectives and feedback from other professionals

(colleagues/peers)
by consulting objective data from the literature.
By referring to research in the field, to other peoples experiences and to theories

evolved from such practices, the practitioner obtains multiple perspectives that
can help them draw informed insights into their own experience.
Stage 3: Assessment
This involves:

analysing the data gathered from subjective experience and objective inputs
synthesizing the learning obtained
identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the experience reflected upon,
and
relating this experience to past experiences to identify patterns (i.e. Have
I done this before?/Do I always do this?) and challenges (How can I do this
differently?).
By situating the lived experience in their past behaviour and practices,

the practitioner understands their practice in its context i.e. the physical,
psychological and cultural beliefs, behaviours and actions; past and present; ones
own and others that collectively influence ones classroom pedagogy.
Stage 4: Plan
In this final stage of the SOAP procedure, the practitioner has to plan the future
course of pedagogical action. This can be done by making a SMART plan that
includes:
specific next steps (based on the predetermined criteria)

measurable goals (changing particular aspects of behaviour, teaching
resources or methodology by locating them along a continuum e.g. Never
SometimesOftenUsuallyAlways)
attainable objectives (immediate, doable objectives rather than long-standing
general aims)
relevant action (that which has immediate positive consequences for students)
and
timely intervention (putting the plan in action in the next class/intervention/
discussion rather than waiting for a right time).
Statements about teacher beliefs

An important aspect of critical reflection is accounting for the practitioners
existing beliefs about teaching and learning. Since reflection is a conscious activity
and is based on a willingness to improve teaching practice, the practitioner needs
to be able to question their basic assumptions about what constitutes good or
effective teaching and learning. If such beliefs are not addressed at the beginning
of Stage 1 (subjective narration), the purpose of carrying out critical reflection may
be defeated.
Typical opinions of teachers on teaching English may range from general issues
such as classroom management or specific beliefs such as whether or not
grammar rules should be taught. Below is a sample of teacher beliefs that may
inform a reflective exercise.
1. Good teaching involves explaining the lesson to students; they would

otherwise not understand what it contains.

2. Pair and group work sounds like a good idea; but try it in your own classroom
its noisy, messy and unmanageable.
3. No matter what people say, I still feel formal grammar teaching is important;
if we only focus on fluency, chances are that students will always speak and
write ungrammatically.
4. My students know so little English that I need to translate every sentence,
every word into the local language the syllabus has to be finished wheres
the time for special language activities?
5. Frankly, my own English is not very good so it is better to use the local
language to teach English at least I can make them understand the lesson.
Such beliefs affect classroom pedagogy and, in turn, the articulation of the
experience during the reflective exercise. For example, a teacher who believes
that an English lesson needs to be translated word for word to the students may
not see the relation between this and the students inability to speak English with
confidence. She may then not think it necessary to mention it during subjective
narration (Stage 1), and the issue may remain unresolved during the next three
stages. A plan for future action may then exclude activities for students speaking
practice.
The language of reflective questions

As important as the procedure of reflection and the accounting for teacher beliefs
and assumptions is the articulation of the experience. The language in which
the practitioner expresses their pedagogical experience differentiates critical
reflection from anecdotal storytelling. Also, being able to translate ones thoughts
into specific pedagogical comments lays the ground for a specific and achievable
plan of future action. For example, vague generalizations such as I needed to give
proper instructions have less scope for intervention than specific comments such
as:
The pair work activity took more time than planned I should have given
instructions before giving away the worksheets and made students repeat
instructions; this would have made students do it quickly.
The value of springboard questions

Articulating a pedagogical experience includes asking springboard questions that
elicit and trigger focused reflection on a lesson. These springboards stem from the
criteria based on classroom aspects and make the narrative inquiry specific and
focused rather than an arbitrary plucking of points off the anecdotal conveyor belt.
Here is an example of springboard questions based on the criterion Use of

English:
For what purpose(s) did I use English? When? (Subjective)
How much English did you use? When? (Objective)

How much of English/mother tongue should a teacher use? (Analysis)
These springboards will then lead to informed decisions in the Planning stage:
In my next class I will use English, and not Hindi, for giving task instructions,
reading aloud and giving feedback.
There are several other advantages of using springboard questions:
They help make the reflective exercise a learning-directed pedagogic activity;

They allow the practitioner to plan specific activities for a future lesson;
They provide the practitioner with a measurable tool to map their progress
through the stages;
They help externalize the reflective experience so that the issues raised no
longer remain personal shortcomings, but generalizable pedagogic learning
points.
Demonstration of a SOAP cycle

Below is an example of following the SOAP procedure. The criterion informing
the reflective experience here is managing group work. The SOAP cycle for this
reflective exercise begins with subjective narration of the experience (Stage 1),
which considers the what, how and why of the experience.
1. First I divided the students into groups and then I told them which page to
open. There was a lot of chaotic movement, scraping of chairs and shouting of
group numbers. I got nervous and annoyed when the students began to make a
lot of noise. (What happened; Springboard question: What did I do?)
2. When I divided the students into groups, it became difficult for me to make
myself heard over that noise. It took me a lot of time to quieten them and give
my instructions for the activity. I had not demonstrated how to form the groups.
(How it happened; Springboard: How did it happen?)
3. I divided the students into groups because I feel I needed to organize them
before I made them start working. I did not anticipate the chaos maybe
there was a problem in my planning, or maybe it was a problem with class
management. (Why it happened; Springboard: Why did I do this?)
During Stage 2, objective inputs from oneself, colleagues, friends and other
experienced people are taken, and the experience is also referred to the available
literature in the field.
1. You divided the students into groups before you gave instructions; that may
have been why there was so much noise. (Input from others; Springboard:
What did you do that led to the problem?)
2. Ideas for managing group work (Input from relevant literature; Springboard:
What have other people reported about this experience?)

During Stage 3, the experience and inputs are analysed, leading to a synthesis
of learning. Strengths, weaknesses, patterns (emerging from past behaviour and
beliefs) and challenges are identified at this stage.
1. Why did it happen was this your first time organizing group work? Were
there many more students in the class than your expectation? Did you
anticipate this? Did you set a time limit? (analysing experience and inputs;
synthesizing learning)
2. You realized what was wrong, you managed to quieten the class, you exercised
control. (identifying strengths)
3. You did not plan ahead, you did not discuss with peers, you may not have read
about strategies, you do not know which activities to choose for group work.
(identifying weaknesses)
4. Has this happened before? How did you handle it the last time? Have you seen
others doing it did you feel you would do it better yourself? Do you usually
take up academic challenges? (identifying patterns and challenges)
During Stage 4, the analyses and synthesis are translated into doable actions for
the immediate future.
1. I will make one or two students repeat my instructions.

2. I will use a simpler way to form groups I will try making the first bench turn
towards the second, the third towards the fourth, and so on.
3. I will make them start work only after all groups are seated and ready.
Tips for effective reflection

Critical reflection on ones practice using the SOAP strategy is a very useful
exercise for continuous professional development. However, it is easy to let a
purportedly critical reflective exercise slip into storytelling. Here are a few tips that
help make critical reflection a purposeful learning tool:
Picking an experience that evoked a strong emotional reaction in the

practitioner
In subjective analysis, avoiding making excuses for ones actions and not
indulging in self-pity or self-congratulation
Adopting an attitude of suspended judgement and not second-guessing, until
one gets more data
Following every step of this in a cyclic process, because each step builds from
the previous
Working with an open mind to be able to accept a new perspective and a new
set of skills or attitudes
Remembering that the aim of critical reflection is professional development,
not writing a good narrative or advertising ones skills.

Conclusion
The act of interrogating pedagogical practice both as personal experience and as
an objective, contextualized event (with feedback from others) is meant to help
ELT practitioners learn how to synthesize their learning and evolve more effective
pedagogical strategies for future use. As current practice shows, a holistic and
experiential approach to pedagogy makes the teacher a better learner. Critical
reflection provides teachers with a platform to engage with good practice through
specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely interventions. It also helps
make continuing professional development (CPD) a natural outcome of everyday
pedagogical practices.
References
Aronson L., Kruidering M., Neihaus B. and OSullivan P. (2012) LEaP: Learning from
your Experiences as a Professional: Guidelines for Critical Performance Analysis.
Available from: www.mededportal.org/publication/9073
Larrivee, B. (2000) Transforming teaching practice: becoming the critically

reflective teacher. Reflective Practice 1(3): 293-307.
Schn, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action.

London: Temple Smith.

Tasks as tools to trigger
reflection in pre-service
teachers
K. Padmini Shankar, Associate Professor, Department of
ESL Studies, the English and Foreign Languages University,
Hyderabad, India
Abstract
Systematic reflection is a pathway to professional development. But the capability
to reflect on teaching practice does not develop naturally; neither is it automatically
subject to growth. Hence the paper posits that pre-service preparation must sow
the seeds of reflection and initiate the process of reflective practice for novices. It
shows how tasks can be used to trigger reflection in a set of pre-service teachers.
Four tasks related to critical moments in the classroom are used for the purpose.
Trainees are encouraged to reflect on the action that they are likely to take at those
moments. The following prompts are provided to help them reflect:
1. What would I do? (Choice/decision)

2. Why would I do this? (Rationale)
3. How would I do this? (Process of implementing the decision)
4. What would I achieve by doing this? (Goal)
5. What could be the consequences of my choice/action? (Possible problems)
6. How would I handle them? (Troubleshooting)
7. What other options are available (instead of the one that I chose)?
Findings reveal that tasks related to critical classroom moments have the potential
to trigger reflection and thereby prepare pre-service teachers to face challenges
in their future careers. Implications for teacher educators (e.g. issues that draw
trainees attention to techniques that cultivate and foster reflection) are discussed.
A reflection in a mirror is an exact replica of what is in front of it. Reflection

in professional practice, however, gives back not what it is, but what might
be, an improvement on the original. (Biggs 1999: 6)
Introduction
To reflect means to look within to seek answers to queries, and this is true of
teacher learning too. Reflection provides teachers an opportunity to understand
their practice. It enables them to act in a deliberate and intentional fashion
rather than in a blind and impulsive manner and helps them to monitor their own
practice and change it according to what they hope to achieve (Dewey 1933).
However, reflection does not always happen automatically. It is a skill that needs

to be cultivated early on in a teachers career and there can be no better platform
than a pre-service training programme to do so.
Aim
The paper demonstrates how tasks can be used to trigger reflection in a set of
pre-service teachers.
Rationale
Teachers must continually reshape their knowledge of teaching and learning.
Teacher education programmes are the platforms where such knowledge is
developed initially. The knowledge and the skills so acquired in the initial teacher
training settings become an essential part of their careers through reflective
practice. Hence a study that demonstrates how reflection can be fostered.
Hypothesis
Using tasks that focus on critical classroom moments helps foster reflection in
trainee teachers.
Review of literature
Wlodarsky (2005) conducts a study on transforming teaching practice
through critical reflection and dialogue. The aim is to examine what teacher
beliefs, through the use of critical reflection and dialogue, facilitate classroom
practices and ultimately develop teachers professionally.
Rosaen et al. (2008) investigate the efficacy of videotapes in helping interns
reflect on their teaching experiences in more complex ways than when they
use memory-based written reflection.
Clarke (1995) explores the applicability of Schons notion of reflective practice
for student-teachers in practicum settings with three aspects in focus: a) what
do student-teachers reflect upon? b) what precipitates reflection? and c) what
factors enhance or hinder reflection?
Lee (2005) reviews the criteria for assessing reflective thinking and
investigates how the process of reflective thinking develops in pre-service
teachers in terms of the content as well as the depth of reflection. The study
offers insights into how to measure the quality of reflective thinking and how to
cultivate reflective practitioners.
Theoretical support
The paper is based on the following theoretical propositions:
Reflective practice is an approach to professional growth that moves

away from standard, prescriptive responses to situations. It focuses on the
complexity, variability and uncertainty prevalent in the classroom and posits
that problems cannot be solved by the simple application of technical solutions
(Thompson 2002).

A reflective teacher is flexible and is able to change lessons on the spur of the
moment in order that students benefit (Moore 2004).
Reflection combined with practice links active theorizing and action. Reflective
practice thus marks the difference between an expert teacher who is willing
to learn and become a better teacher and a teacher who is only more
experienced than a novice teacher (Burton 2009).
Methodology
Eight trainee teachers (TTs) enrolled on a course titled The Second Language
Classroom (TSLC) offered as part of the M.A TESL programme at the English and
Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad were the subjects of this study. Four
tasks focusing on critical incidents in the classroom were used to trigger reflection.
There was a discussion in class on how the trainees would act in these awkward
situations. They were then encouraged to record their reflections in writing and
share them with their peers in order to learn about more options possible in any
given situation.
The following were the four critical incidents/moments:
1. You expected an activity to take five minutes. It has taken twenty so far, and the
Ss still seem to be very involved in it. There is something else you want to do
before the lesson ends in ten minutes.
2. The next activity involves Ss working in groups of five. At the moment all the
rows of desks (which take two students each) are facing the front of the class.
They are movable, but it will take a few minutes of chaos to do it.
3. The students are working in groups of three. Two groups have finished the task
you set them and are now sitting looking bored. The other groups still seem to
have a long way to go before they finish.
4. A student says, I dont want to do this exercise.
The trainees were encouraged to reflect on the critical incidents above using the
following prompts:

Data presentation and interpretation

The trainees offered an array of interesting responses to each of the critical
incidents while displaying the ability to think critically and perceptively.

Critical incident 1
You expected an activity to take five minutes. It has taken twenty so far, and the Ss
still seem to be very involved in it. There is something else you want to do before
the lesson ends in ten minutes.
Reflections of TTs a sample:

I would set one last deadline and ask them to conclude.
To save time for the next activity. I would do this because I want to
accommodate as many activities as possible.
I will ask students to complete it in 3 minutes, and if they are interested they
can continue it at home or out of class time.
I would save a lot of time because it does not mean that when students are
interested there is a lot of learning happening.
Possible problems are: students might be annoyed because of my cutting the
activity short; their motivation might be jeopardized; the next activity might
not grab their attention.
I will make them realize that it is their decision to stop the activity; I will
introduce the next activity in a more interesting, different way.
Instead of stopping the activity I could continue to do it in class and ask them
to reflect and collect information for the next activity.
Critical incident 2
The next activity involves Ss working in groups of five. At the moment, all the rows
of desks (which take two students each) are facing the front of the class. They are
movable, but it will take a few minutes of chaos to do it.

I would take time to rearrange the desks to make the students sit in groups of
five.
The activity has been planned this way. Hence the time spent and the chaos
would also have to be planned for, in advance.

I would ask the students to move two/three desks so that they face each
other, or in a semi-circular fashion.
I would successfully get the group members to interact with one another.
There would be genuine exchange of information and the activity would
progress smoothly.
Possible loss of more time than I would have wanted; more chaos; the students
(if younger) lose interest in the lesson and get into a quarrel. I might have to
work harder to bring the class to order.
Giving clear instructions, asking one or two students to repeat my instructions
to see if they have really understood what has to be done might ensure
less chaos. Students get to see that they have to play an important and
responsible role.
If there is ample floor space available, I would ask the students to leave their
desks and sit on the floor, in groups of five.
Critical incident 3
The students are working in groups of three. Two groups have finished the task you
set them and are now sitting looking bored. The other groups still seem to have a
long way to go before they finish.

I would give these two groups extra tasks.
To keep the learning process happening.
By giving them extra work related to the work they are doing, by increasing
the challenge or difficulty.
My class will run well, the learning process will have no distraction.
Other groups may feel differently and jealous.
I would give the other group the same work as homework, if they cannot finish
it in class.

I will ask the two groups to re-evaluate their work.
Critical incident 4
A student says, I dont want to do this exercise.

Find out why s/he doesnt want to do the exercise.
To determine what the issue is whether it is a problem with the exercise or
with the students attitude.
I would first finish giving my instructions to the rest of the class so that they
can get on with the exercise and then I would take this student aside and ask
him what the matter is.
I would succeed in inculcating in the students the belief that the teacher is
approachable and respects their feelings, at the same time making them
aware that they need to have a rationale for the stand they take in class.
Students might feel more at ease in expressing their opinions in class, and
refusing to do exercises might become a trend if the teacher appears to be
excessively understanding and accommodating.
I would let them know that on the one hand they are most welcome to be frank
about their opinions but on the other hand they should know that not all their
demands will be met in class unless they have a convincing reason.
I dont think theres any better option than actually talking to the student and
finding out what the problem is.
How is reflection helpful?

An attempt was made to capture participant perceptions about the need for and
the value of engaging in reflection. Given below are some of the trainee responses.
Response 1
This activity presents different problems that could occur in a classroom. As an
aspiring teacher I have not dealt with these issues yet. However, through this
reflective exercise I can mentally play out such scenarios and plan what I would
do. As I am asked to provide a rationale for my remedy, I have to make sure
that whatever I suggest is logical and attuned to my beliefs about learning and

teaching. Also by thinking of possible problems and troubleshooting, I can arrive at
a list of ideas that I could make use of when I actually start teaching.
Response 2
Such reflections are extremely useful. They act as a think-aloud activity where the
practitioner ends up talking to her/himself about the things s/he actually believes
in. These reflections also help to make her/him realize how far s/he actually does
the things s/he believes in, in class.
Response 3
These reflections were very helpful because I was able to imagine and use my
previous experiences in school, as a student, to react to each situation. I think
this helps me prepare a bit before actually going to teach in a real class. When
I actually start teaching, I can ask the same questions and work my way around
problems that might arise in a classroom.
Response 4
Yes, reflections of this kind are useful as they tend to channelize our thoughts,
help us carefully consider the multitude of options, and choose an appropriate
one based on the situation, time available, type of audience, etc. so as to make the
session cordial, interactive and productive.
Response 5
I do think that reflections of this kind are most helpful. They will help teachers to
anticipate impending incidents in a classroom and be prepared with necessary
planning. Planning and evaluation after such incidents will give us strength to cope
with students of different character and levels.
Response 6
I do believe reflections of this kind are helpful. It is human nature to stick to
convenient ways and options in all walks of life. So it may not be rare for many
teachers to stick to lesson plans and be less resilient when they are faced with
all kinds of problematic situations in the classroom. I believe that having the
forethought to ponder on possible what if situations in the classroom will help
teachers to actually deal with real unforeseen problems in the classroom prudently
and fairly.
Findings
Critical incidents have the potential to trigger reflection.
Reflection needs to be structured, at least in the initial stages of training.
Such structuring helps in probing the issue from several perspectives.
Trainees realize that for any incident there are several options available and
that several factors influence the choice of an option.
Trainees perceive reflection as a preparation for future practice.

Implications
Pre-service training is the best platform for initiating and cultivating the culture
of reflection.
Trainees have to be made aware of the benefits of reflection.
Positive attitudes towards reflection need to be inculcated for sustaining it in
the long run.
Other options such as Case Based Pedagogy (CBP) could be explored to foster
reflection.
References
Biggs, J. (1999) Teaching for Quality Learning at University. Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Burns, A. and Richards, J. (Eds.) (2009) The Cambridge Guide to Second Language
Teacher Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Burns, A. (2009) Action Research in Second Language Teacher Education in A.

Burns and J. Richards (Eds.)
Burton, J. (2009) Reflective Practice in A. Burns and J. Richards (Eds.)
Clarke, A. (1995) Professional Development in Practicum Settings: Reflective

Practice under Scrutiny. Teaching and Teacher Education 11 (2): 243-261.
Collin, S., Karsenti, T.andKomis, V. (2013) Reflective practice in initial teacher

training: critiques and perspectives. Reflective Practice: International and
Multidisciplinary Perspectives 14 (1): 104-117.
Dewey, J. (1933) How We Think. Boston: D.C. Heath.
Farrell, T. (2007) Reflective language teaching: From research to practice. London:

Continuum.
Freeman, D. (1998) Doing Teacher Research: From Inquiry to Understanding.

Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
Lee, Hea-Jin. (2005) Understanding and Assessing Pre-service Teachers Reflective

Thinking. Teaching and Teacher Education 21: 699-715.
Moon, J.A. (2000) Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and
practice. London: Kogan Page.
Moore, Alex (2004) A Good Teacher: Dominant Discourses in Teaching and Teacher
Education. New York: Routledge Falmer.
Osterman, K.F. and Kottkap, R.B. (2004) Reflective Practice for Educators:
Professional Development to Improve Student Learning (Second edition). California:
Corwin Press.
Rosaen, C., Lundeberg, M., Cooper, M., Fritzen, A. and Terpstra, M. (2008) Noticing
Noticing: How Does Investigations of Video Records Change How Teachers Reflect
on Their Experiences? Journal of Teacher Education 59 (4): 347-360.

Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. New York: Basic Books.
Thompson, N. (2002) People Skills. London: Macmillan.
Wlodarsky, R. (2005) The Professoriate: Transforming Teaching Practices through

Critical Reflection and Dialogue. Teaching and Learning 19(3): 156-172.
York-Barr, J., Sommers, W., Ghere, G. and Montie, J. (2006) Reflective Practice to
Improve Schools: An Action Guide for Educators (Second edition). California: Corwin
Press.
Zeichner, K. and Liston, D. (1996) Reflective Teaching: An Introduction. Mahwah, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum.
Appendix
Reflection sheet
Dear Participant
Write your reflections about the critical incidents we discussed in class and
share them with your peers. Mail a soft copy of your responses to your friends
with a copy marked to me. The data you provide may be used later for research
purposes. But rest assured that your identity will not be revealed when the
information you record is used for research and documentation.
Best wishes
Part I
Personal Profile
Name:
Teaching experience (if any):
Contact no:
Part II
Given below are four classroom critical moments. Imagine that you are the teacher
and reflect on the action that you are likely to take in that situation. Ask yourself
the following questions.


Critical incident 1
You expected an activity to take five minutes. It has taken twenty so far, and the Ss
still seem to be very involved in it. There is something else you want to do before
the lesson ends in ten minutes.

Critical incident 2
The next activity involves Ss working in groups of five. At the moment, all the rows
of desks (which take two students each) are facing the front of the class. They are
movable, but it will take a few minutes of chaos to do it.

Critical incident 3
The students are working in groups of three. Two groups have finished the task you
set them and are now sitting looking bored. The other groups still seem to have a
long way to go before they finish.

Critical incident 4
A student says, I dont want to do this exercise.

5. What could be the consequences of my choice/action? (Possible problems
Part III
Do you think reflections of this kind are useful/helpful? In what way(s)?

Using evaluation criteria to plan
writing performance: a study of
pre-service teachers of English
Lina Mukhopadhyay, Assistant Professor, the Department of
Testing and Evaluation, the English and Foreign Languages
University, Hyderabad, India
Abstract
This paper explores the use of evaluation criteria as a scaffolding device to help
adult ESL learners plan writing performance. Task-specific evaluation criteria
were shared prior to writing. This made the learners engage in strategic planning
at pre- and within-task performance stages. Learner statements on the nature
of planning were collected through a post-task open-ended questionnaire. The
responses showed that the learners used evaluation criteria to attend to task details
and move from declarative to procedural knowledge of the use of criteria. At later
stages, some of them also used criteria as a monitor to critically revise their work
prior to submission. Hence, as expected, the findings of this exploratory study
show that evaluation criteria help learners move through their zone of proximal
development (ZPD) to a next higher level through a series of writing assignments as
they begin to pay close attention to features of academic writing. The findings have
implications for the ESL/EFL classroom: if teachers design, share and train learners
to use evaluation criteria to plan their performance for what and how to write, then
learners are likely to experience academic benefits.
Introduction
There is a multitude of research on the beneficial role of planning on task
performance as it helps ESL/EFL learners to attend to task details and improve
on either form (Ellis and Yuan 2005) or meaning (Bygate and Samuda 2005) or
both (Sangarun 2005). The beneficial effects of planning are experienced because
when learners get more time they can attend to task details. In addition, planning
reduces the processing load by breaking the task down into smaller manageable
bits. Generally planning is learner driven and most often it is the learners who
come up with strategies to break a task into smaller bits to complete a task. But
can learners be provided with a guideline to plan their performance? Can such
guidelines be provided by sharing task-specific evaluation criteria?
As an attempt to answer these questions, we conducted a small-scale exploratory

classroom-based study. We collected ESL learners reports on the use of evaluation
criteria to plan task performance. This was done to study the impact of learners
use of criteria, which till date has rarely been documented systematically.
This paper is organized in the following manner. We begin with a brief description
of the role of planning in task performance along with some details on the use of

evaluation criteria for writing performance. Then we present details of the study-
like research questions, subject profile, task design, findings and discussion. We
conclude by making a few pedagogical suggestions to incorporate evaluation
criteria as part of teaching writing.
Role of planning
Planning refers to conscious attention drawn to a task to fulfil a goal, namely,
completing a task. For example in a writing task, like a picture description task,
learners would need to know the following to complete the task successfully:
1. Which ideas should I write about?

2. What kind of vocabulary and sentence structures should I use to express
those ideas?
3. How should I connect all the ideas in my text?
When learners are given a visual stimulus, it would direct their attention to the
objects in the picture and they would need to figure out a relationship between
the constituent parts of the picture to write a connected text. This activity would
require them to engage in strategic planning (Ellis 2005) whereby they would have
to attend to each of the three task components listed in (1-3) above. In doing so,
they are likely to notice information and orientate themselves to deciding how
best to achieve the goal, here, describing the picture as a written connected piece
of work. So, strategic planning for the task will make them more conscious about
the ideas and the structural forms to be used in the task. In fact, research on the
effect of planning on task performance has shown that learners pay attention to
meaning and in some cases to form when given a chance to plan before main task
execution. So, it is quite evident that noticing through planning positively impacts
ESL/EFL learners task performance. The nature of gain, however, may vary in
different conditions and due to individual differences; and the gain can be anything
from language to content to organization.
Research in the last two decades has shown that strategic planning works best
when learners have the time to focus on task components and their proficiency
levels are advanced enough to handle task complexity (Ortega 2005; Kawanchi
2005). Though there have been quite a few studies that have documented the
product that emerges out of planning, very few studies have documented planning
as a process or what learners do to plan their performance. One such study is by
Ortega (ibid), where she documents learners perceptions and strategies during
planning through post-task interviews. The findings show that learner-driven focus
on strategic planning initiates cognitive and socio-affective domains of thought
processes.
We were also interested in finding out the process of planning in adult ESL
learners, as this area has not received much attention. So our study was designed
along the lines of Ortegas study. One added component in our study was that we
incorporated evaluation criteria to aid learner planning. This we expected would
generate strategic planning in adult ESL learners.

Role of evaluation criteria
In the context of assessment and pedagogy, evaluation criteria have been seen to
serve two roles (Brown and Abeywickrama 2010). One role is to maintain uniform
standards in scoring free responses (inter-rater reliability). The second role is to
provide feedback to learners by placing them on different levels of performance
across sub-features such as content, language and organization.
In this study, we posit a third role of evaluation criteria, namely its potential for
being used by learners during task performance under an unpressured formative
assessment situation. This role can be utilized if task-specific evaluation criteria are
shared with learners prior to their task performance. It can transform evaluation
criteria from a rating device to a scaffolding device (Vygotsky 1978) and help
learners plan their performance in a streamlined manner. It is likely to direct their
attention towards the goal such as completing a written assignment following task
requirements. Used over a period of time, it would help learners gradually become
independent when they apply this knowledge to newer contexts of writing (Bloom
as cited in Krathwohl 2002) and experience growth in writing skills.
The study
Whether ESL learners engage in strategic planning when given evaluation
criteria formed the base of the present study. The learners who participated in
the study were given task-specific analytical evaluation criteria at four levels of
performance with a tripartite structure (content-language-organization); each
criterion was fine-tuned to suit the needs of each task (see the Appendix for a
sample task and criteria). It was expected that these evaluation criteria would
serve as a scaffolding device to help learners plan their performance and direct
their attention to noticing finer details about task requirements. Note that neither
were the learners explicitly asked to use the criteria to plan performance nor
was any monitoring done during the task completion phase to check whether
they used the criteria and/or in what manner they had used the criteria. This was
deemed as unnecessary as the tasks were part of formal assessment. We expected
the learners to use the criteria and assumed that if they use evaluation criteria
meaningfully, it would positively impact their task performance.
Research questions
The study attempted to address the following research questions:
1. Do ESL learners use evaluation criteria to plan task performance?

2. In what ways do the criteria help them plan?
3. Do they experience any change in their perception when using criteria across
tasks over a period of time?
Subjects
Eleven adult ESL learners enrolled on a doctoral programme in an Indian university
participated in the study. We did not conduct any proficiency test. Based on
other writing samples it was concluded that all the learners were at an upper
intermediate level of proficiency in English. There were six female and five male

participants and they were twenty-five to thirty-five years old. All of them had a
minimum of fifteen years of exposure to English.
Task design
At the time of the study, the learners did a course on Language Testing and
Assessment as part of their doctoral programme. In this course, a formative
model of assessment was used with periodic assignments and an end-of-term
project report and a term paper. For each assignment, the learners were provided
with task-specific analytical evaluation criteria (refer to Appendix 1) that had
descriptions of performance across three levels. The learners were given the
criteria before they performed on each task. (The criteria were also used to
evaluate their performance later.)
A free response questionnaire was used to tap learner reflections on the process
of planning. The comments were collected after they had completed all the writing
assignments on the course. The three questions in the questionnaire included to
make the learners respond to use of evaluation criteria are given in Figure 1 below:
Figure 1: Questions on use of evaluation criteria during task performance
1. Do you think if task-specific evaluation criteria are given to students, it will

have an impact on their written performance? What will the kind of impact be?
Explain briefly with examples from experience on working on assignments in
the LTA course or any other course where you may have used such criteria.
2. With every task prompt you were given evaluation criteria. How did you
respond to it when you used it for the first time (in your presentation and first
write-up on research use of language tests in your project)? By the end of the
course did your response to using evaluation criteria to plan and write your
assignments change (improve/left you confusedetc.)? If yes, then explain how.
3. Was it difficult to use the criteria to write your responses or did it make your
job easier? State your opinion and briefly explain it.
Learner responses from such questions will provide us evidence of how learners
plan and orientate themselves to meet the task requirements satisfactorily. If
they do so successfully, then this procedure will have significant pedagogical
implications for ESL/EFL teachers.

In this section we present the salient findings of the study.
1. Do ESL learners use evaluation criteria to plan task performance?

All the 11 learners reported that they had used evaluation criteria for all the writing
tasks. They had used the criteria at two points: (a) pre-task planning and (b) within-
task planning. So this affirms the first research question that ESL learners use
evaluation criteria to plan task performance. The learners also reported that they
had never used evaluation criteria to plan task performance prior to this study.

2. In what ways do the criteria help them plan task performance?
Learner comments provide instances of using evaluation criteria for different
reasons and these are listed in Table 1 below:
Table 1: Learner statements on use of evaluation criteria in pre- and while-task

performance stages
Types of use Examples Socio-

affective
functions
ease in Reflecting on my experience of using evaluation object
structuring/ criteria for LTA writing assignments, they guided me directed
organizing to organize my writing in a better way. Also, they
assignments helped me to think in certain lines, helping me not
to digress from the main subject. (JA1)
understanding It gave me a clear idea of what the assessor object

tutors/assessors expected, what I was supposed not to miss while directed
expectations writing my responses. (VR9)
noticing specific Evaluation criteria are very useful because they object
details in the guided me what content I have to use, how to directed
assignments organize the content and what style of language I
have to produce for the assignments []The aspects
for all the assignments given in the evaluation
criteria are same i.e. content, organization and the
language but the instructions for each assignment
are different. These instructions are very helpful as
a checklist to complete the assignment in the right
manner. (AN2)
reflecting on The first time when I used the evaluation criteria, self-
problems and I followed them strictly. For every section or for directed
working on them every new idea that I put down, I would look at
the evaluation criteria given to me. But eventually
I started using the evaluation criteria in a mature
way. Instead of using them constantly, I started
using them at the end of my writing to bring in
organization to my writing. (JA1)
expression of By the end of the course my response to using the self-

future intention to evaluation criteria to plan and write my assign- directed
use this process ments improved. I think that it is a very significant
and necessary aspect of writing an assignment. For
the other courses, where we did not receive any
evaluation criteria I tried to speculate the expecta-
tions of the assessor and create the criteria and
then write the assignment. (VR9)
Table 1 shows that evaluation criteria have been used by learners in a variety of
roles. Their responses capture instances of self-talk (OMalley and Chamot 1990:
217) and object and self-directed statements (Leontiev 1981). These could be seen
as evidences of learning where the evaluation criteria have acted as a scaffolding

device to guide learners to break the tasks into smaller manageable bits and
complete them successfully.
3. Do they experience any change in their perception when using criteria across
tasks over a period of time?
Learners reported that in the initial stages it was either difficult to use the criteria
or they did not know the value of using them; but in the later stages they used
them at greater length, mostly as a monitor (Krashen 1982) to critically review
their work before submission. So learners were found to move from declarative to
procedural knowledge (Anderson 1983) in using criteria to plan their performance.
(Cognitive, associative, and autonomous are three stages through which learners
move from declarative to procedural knowledge according to Anderson in his ACT
theory.)
4. Why could the learners strategically plan and experience benefits using task-
specific criteria?
The learners were given divergent problem-solving activities, which necessitated
planning. The assignments were not strictly timed; on each one they could spend
anything from a week to a month. So for each assignment the corresponding
evaluation criteria acted as a resource to decrease the processing load (Skehan
2009). Under normal circumstances, learners only have extra time at their disposal
but they have to work out the guidelines or choose ideas on their own. However,
in this study the learners did not have to generate ideas on their own; instead
they could pay attention to what information to present and how to present it in a
streamlined manner. So the criteria acted as a set of guidelines and directed their
attention to the key ideas to be presented and other discourse structure features
like text-specific organization of ideas and presentation of content following
standard academic conventions like formality of tone, no plagiarism, hedging to
produce the required effect of objectivity, and so on. In this manner, the criteria
made all the task components salient (Pienemann 2007) to the learners and
helped them complete the task to their satisfaction. Otherwise, as their comments
show, they could not have performed in a streamlined manner. Thus, the criteria
acted as a scaffold to help them perform better than they may have done
otherwise, and this can be seen as an instance of their movement within the ZPD.
Thus, all the task-specific evaluation criteria positively impacted performance

because they:
1. made task components salient (Pienemann ibid.) and orientated the learners
to attend to details like what should be presented and how it should be
presented
2. broke down the tasks into smaller and manageable bits thereby reducing the
processing load (Skehan ibid.)
3. helped them engage in strategic planning over a period and through a
variety of writing tasks; so the learners moved from cognitive to associative
processing (Anderson op.cit.)

4. ensured fairness in evaluation and urged learners to perform better as they
had an idea about the assessors expectations (Kunan 2000)
5. initiated the learners into taking responsibility for their learning; they could
also monitor their progress like identifying strengths and weaknesses vis--vis
the levels specified in the criteria
6. made them aware of long-term benefits of using the criteria as future teaching
professionals.
This is a small-scale study and has only tapped whether learners use evaluation
criteria to plan task performance when they work in an unpressured condition. It
has, like Ortegas study (op.cit.), shed light on the process of planning. The product
of planning or its effect on writing performance will be taken up as an extension of
this study later. Further studies can be undertaken to understand the generalizable
effects of evaluation criteria as a device to generate strategic planning and
whether the effects are linked to other variables such as task type or learners
proficiency levels or individual differences. Such investigations will show whether
learners attest experiencing similar positive effects in a robust manner.
Conclusion
To conclude, the findings of this study demonstrate that evaluation criteria
can be employed to generate strategic planning in adult ESL learners. This is
pedagogically significant. Teachers can incorporate evaluation criteria into tasks
and document (i) what the benefits of using them are, (ii) which learners benefit the
most, and (iii) which task types and task conditions generate maximum benefits.
Hence, there is much room for experimentation.
Lastly, it is also important to mention that in this study we have used evaluation
criteria to help learners engage in strategic planning in a content-based course.
But a similar process can be adopted in any ESL/EFL writing classroom and
teachers can study the benefits of strategic planning through the use of evaluation
criteria and document various learner-driven strategies employed thereby.
Acknowledgement
An earlier version of this paper titled The impact of evaluation criteria on writing
performance: A study of pre-service English teachers was presented at TEC14 on
20 February 2014. Professor Geetha Durairajan was a co-presenter. I thank her for
reviewing this paper and giving me her valuable comments.
References
Anderson, J. (1983) The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Brown, D. and Abeywickrama, P. (2010) Language assessment: principles and

classroom practices. Pearson Education.
Bygate, M. and Samuda, V. (2005) Integrative planning through the use of task-

repetition in R. Ellis (Ed.) Planning and task performance in a second language.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Ellis, R. (2005) Planning and task performance in a second language. Amsterdam:

John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Ellis, R. and Yuan, F. (2005) The effects of careful within-task planning on oral
and written task performance in R. Ellis (Ed.) Planning and task performance in a
second language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Kawanchi, C. (2005) The effects of strategic planning on the oral narratives of

learners with low and high intermediate L2 proficiency in R. Ellis (Ed.) Planning and
task performance in a second language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing
Company.
Krashen, S. (1982) Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford:

Pergamon.
Krathwohl, D. (2002) A revision of Blooms taxonomy: An overview. Theory into

Practice (Routledge) 41 (4): 212218.
Kunan, A. (2000) Fairness and validation in language assessment: selected papers

from the 19th Language Testing Research Colloquium, Orlando, Florida. Cambridge:
Leontiev, A. N. (1981) Problems of the development of mind. Moscow: Progress

Publishers.
OMalley, J.M. and Chamot, A.U. (1990) Learning strategies in second language
acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ortega, L. (2005). What do learners plan? Learner-driven attention to form during

pre-task planning in R. Ellis (Ed.) Planning and task performance in a second
language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Pienemann, M. (2007) Processability theory in B. Van Patten and J. Williams (Eds.)

Theories in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Sangarun, J. (2005) The effects of focusing on meaning and form in strategic

planning in R. Ellis (Ed.) Planning and task performance in a second language.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Skehan, P. (2009) Modelling second language performance: integrating complexity,

accuracy, fluency, and lexis. Applied Linguistics 30: 510-532.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in society: the development of higher psychological

processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Appendix
Task prompt
A proficiency test paper is given to the learners. They have to analyse it with the
help of the following instructions and task-specific evaluation criteria.

This is a proficiency test used as an entrance test for the BA English programme
at EFL-U. Does this test pass all the five principles of assessment (authenticity,
reliability, validity, practicality and washback)? Justify your stance with relevant
examples. Write a critical response in about 500 words.
Evaluation criteria
1. Does the response contain an overall thesis statement and comments on

all the five principles? Is each principle justified with at least one example?
(content)
2. Is the response written in academic language (e.g. passivization, linkers, voice)
and does it include referencing details? (language)
3. Is the response presented in three parts (intro-body-conclusion) with adequate
links between them? Are ideas linked at intra- and inter-sentential levels?
(organisation)

Facebook Interaction (FBI) and
essay writing pre-task: Yemeni
EFL students perceptions,
attitudes and challenges
Mohialdeen Alotumi, PhD Scholar, School of English Language
Education, EFL University, Hyderabad, India
Abstract
This study investigates Yemeni EFL students perceptions, attitudes and challenges
on integrating Facebook Interaction (FBI) to improve their essay writing. The teacher
researcher conducted this study to provide a platform to uncover pedagogical
implications that would allow the students to improve their writing skills in a Yemeni
EFL context. Fifty Yemeni higher-intermediate EFL learners participated in this study.
The researcher created three FB groups and the respondents were required to take
part in FBI. An online questionnaire, encompassing 17 closed-ended questions and
three open-ended ones, was used to measure students perceptions, attitudes and
challenges. The findings indicated, besides positive attitudes, that FBI helps students
effectively in becoming familiar with the writing topics, forming better thought,
brainstorming and mind-mapping, reducing spelling errors, as well as acquiring and
practising new vocabulary. Though this study shows that typing and time pressure
are major challenges faced by students, further research should be recommended
to investigate other challenges that arise as a result of FB integration.
Introduction
With the current innovative technology and the easy access to information,
present generation learners are fundamentally different from past generation
learners. According to Prensky (2001), people who grew up with technology
around them are called Digital Natives for our students today are all native
speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet
(Prensky ibid: 1). People who grew up in a different world and have later adapted,
sometimes with difficulty, to the new digital world are called Digital Immigrants as
he defines Those of us who were not born into the digital world but have, at some
later point in our lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects
of the new technology are Digital Immigrants. (Prensky op.cit.).
The easy access to and abundance of information available through cyberspace

and the different communication means (synchronous or asynchronous) have
changed learners perceptions of the world, the relationships between educators
and learners, as well as learning styles. As a consequence, there is now a
widespread agreement among foreign language educators that technology
should be utilised in instruction, a premise that is supported by scientific research

(Chapelle 1989, 2003, 2005; Warschauer 1997; Warschauer and Meskill 2000;
Zhao 2003; Blake 2009; Goertler 2009).
Computer mediated communication and social networks

For Warschauer (2001: 207) CMC refers to reading, writing and communication via
networked computers. He pinpointed the types of CMC as synchronous whereby
people communicate in real time or asynchronous whereby people communicate
in a delayed fashion by computer, e.g. by email (Warschauer op.cit.). Chun (2008)
stated that synchronous CMC encompasses text-based instant messaging, Internet
Relay Chat (IRC) or simply chat, and multiuser virtual realities. On the other hand,
asynchronous CMC subsumes text-based email, bulletin boards, newsgroups,
forums, blogs and wikis.
Social Network Sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Google+,

Twitter, and LinkedIn are examples of CMC. According to Boyd and Ellison
(2007), these SNSs have attracted millions of Internet users, many of whom have
incorporated these sites into their daily practices. Facebook (FB), the most popular
SNS, serves a huge online community. According to FB (2014), it has 1.23 billion
users worldwide as of December 31, 2013, out of which the Republic of Yemen
has 1,200,000 active users (Social Times 2014). Its feature of allowing its users to
post information and comments, chat with others, as well as collaborate within the
system is worth investigating in ESL/EFL, especially in the area of writing.
FB and writing
The interactive feature of FB is believed to provide students with great
opportunities to practise their writing. In other words, students post their written
pieces, receive comments, write and post their own comments, replying to other
FB group members. Therefore, this interactive communication enables students
to actively engage in the writing process and improve their writing skills (Schultz
2000, as cited in Zhao 2003). Also, the computer-based grammar checkers and
spelling checkers, that students use from time to time while interacting on FB
groups, are considered to be powerful ways of providing immediate feedback on
their written output (Jacobs and Rodgers 1999, as cited in Zhao 2003). Further,
the use of FB is deemed to have a positive impact on boosting students motivation
and attitude (Kabilan, Ahmed and Abidin 2010).
However, there are a number of challenges that should be taken into account when
incorporating Web 2.0 tools in teaching/learning. These challenges are embedded
in the risks that are associated with the use of SNSs in general and FB in particular.
Those risks include users safety (Selwyn 2007), identity theft, bullying, stalking,
even blackmailing (Gross and Acquisti 2005, as cited in White 2009). Besides, time-
management is another issue that may emerge as a result of students using FB to
hang out (Selwyn 2007).
In this study, the teacher researcher looked at a task-based learning (TBL)

framework proposed by Willis (1996) and a task-based language teaching (TBLT)

framework proposed by Nunan (2004) and tried to investigate the following
questions:
1. How does Facebook interaction (FBI) assist Yemeni higher-intermediate

students in writing their essays?
2. What are the Yemeni students attitudes towards FBI integration in the writing
class?
3. What are the challenges faced by Yemeni EFL students while utilising FBI in the
writing class?
Methodology
FB utilisation
This study was carried out at AMIDEAST-Sanaa, which is a US-funded non-profit
educational service organisation based in Sanaa, in July 2012. For the writing
pre-task, the teacher researcher created three different FB groups (see Table 1)
and required the students to participate in those groups for 20 minutes, in the
computer lab, every time they had an essay writing task. Having finished their FBI,
students were required to go back to their classes and start writing their essays
(the task).
Table 1: Facebook groups

Facebook groups
Fun for Interaction https://www.facebook.com/groups/fun4interaction/
Interaction for Fun https://www.facebook.com/groups/interactionforfun/
Interaction is Fun https://www.facebook.com/groups/interactionisfun/
In the FB groups, the teacher researcher posted an essay topic, each time there
was an essay writing task, for students to enrich with their views as well as images,
videos and other relevant hypermedia of their own choice. The time of each
writing session was two hours (one hour for the teachers writing lesson delivery
plus one hour for the writing task) and the total number of the writing sessions
was six, as a part of a six-week course, at the end of which students were asked to
respond to an online survey.
Participants
Fifty higher-intermediate students, 28 males and 22 females, studying English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) in three classes participated in this study. The respondents
were in three different classes (same EFL level) and had three different FB groups,
created for the purpose of an essay writing pre-task.
Instrument
An online mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) survey with Google Forms
was utilised in this study. This survey was made up of three parts, the first of which
is about students personal information (demographic data) such as name, age,
and gender. The second part of the survey encompassed 17 items with a four-

point Likert Scale of Strongly agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly disagree. This
part was prepared to collect the respondents views on certain aspects related
to the ways in which FBI might help in essay writing pre-task, the respondents
attitudes towards the use of FBI, and the challenges that might come to surface
when utilising FBI. The third part contained three open-ended questions to enable
the respondents to subjectively state the ways in which FBI might have helped
them in an essay writing pre-task, and the ways in which FBI motivated them, as
well as the challenges they faced when using FBI.
Procedure
The teacher researcher administered the online Google Forms survey at the end
of the six-week course by sending its web address link to the FB groups. Then,
he convened all the students in the computer lab. After providing them with
clear instructions and advising them to read all the items carefully, the teacher
researcher urged the students to respond to all of the items to the best of their
knowledge and honestly. All 50 students responded to the online questionnaire
and, therefore, the return rate was 100%.
Results and discussion

Results presented below address the students responses to the questions set
by the teacher researcher regarding their perceptions of the different ways in
which FBI might help them in essay writing pre-tasks and their attitudes towards
the experience of using FBI as an essay writing pre-task as well as the challenges
facing them while utilising FBI.
Demographic Data
The majority of the students responding to the questionnaire were between 18 and
20 years old 56% of the students were male and 44% were female.
Students perceptions of improving their writing through the use of FBI as a pre-task
Items 1-7 of the questionnaire were designed to find out the respondents views
on how FBI helped them improve their writing. Those responses are grouped under
two main categories Cumulative Agree and Cumulative Disagree as shown in
Table 2 below.
Table 2: Students perceptions of improving their writing through FBI
No. Item Cumulative Cumulative

Agree (%) Disagree
(%)
1. FBI comments and posts helps with topic 88.0 12.0
familiarity
2. FBI helps in brainstorming and mind-mapping 82.0 18.0
3. Spell-checker assists in reducing errors 85.0 15.0
4. Comments made through FBI help form better 86.0 14.0
thought before writing

5. FBI makes essay writing easy 80.0 20.0
6. Reading comments and posts on FBI helps acquire 87.0 13.0
new vocabulary
7. Replying and commenting through FBI helps 90.0 10.0
practise vocabulary
From the table above, it is clear that the majority of the students (above 80%)
agree that FBI is of great help when it is utilised in essay writing pre-tasks. The
responses indicate that FBI can help students become familiar with the writing
topic, brainstorming and mind-mapping, reducing errors, forming better thought
before they start writing, acquiring new vocabulary, as well as practising this
vocabulary.
The responses above are also in line with the answers to the first question of
the qualitative section of the questionnaire. Gaining new vocabulary, practising
vocabulary, flow of ideas, and improving spelling were mentioned frequently in
respondents answers. Examples of those comments are as follows:
The repetitive practice for writing helps teach us practically the correct way for
using vocabulary.
Usually, interaction on Facebook gives me more information and more new
ideas. First, the interacting in the Facebook helps me in finding new ideas for
my topic. Second, I can get two or more different opinions from interacting in
Facebook.
The more I write comments in English, the more I get acquainted to thinking in
English and writing directly my comments without the need to translate.
It appears from the above-mentioned comments that FBI helps students a lot
in their writing when it is used as a medium for writing pre-tasks particularly in
brainstorming, mind-mapping, obtaining and practising new vocabulary, as well as
improving spelling.
FBI impact on students attitudes

To explore the effect of the use of FBI as an essay writing pre-task on students
attitudes, items 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 posited some predictions that might link FBI
and students attitudes. Item 8 explores whether there is a connection between
respondents anxiety and working on FB group. Item 9 investigates respondents
comfort while commenting on FB group. Item 10 looks at whether the respondents
find it convenient that other FB group members read their comments and posts.
Item 11 examines respondents motivation when their comments and posts are
read by other FB group members. Finally, items 12 and 13 investigate respondents
readiness and liking, respectively, on discussing topics on FB before starting doing
their writing.

Table 3: FBI impact on students attitudes

Agree (%) Disagree (%)
8. Feeling anxious and worried while posting on 20.0 80.0
FB group
9. Feeling easy and comfortable while 75.0 25.0
commenting on FB group
10. It is convenient that FB group members read 96.0 4.0
and comment on each other posts
11. Feeling motivated when FB group members like 98.0 02.0
his/her comments and posts
12. Feeling ready and prepared for writing after 80.0 20.0
topic discussion on FB group
13. Liking topic discussion on FB group before 84.0 16.0
meeting in the classroom
As shown above in Table 3, the highest percentages are associated with motivation
(98%) and convenience (96%). Students feel motivated and encouraged when
other FB group members like their comments and posts and they do not seem to
mind that other FB group members read and comment on their posts. Additionally,
when students interact with each other over topics on FB group, the majority
like to discuss on FB group before meeting in the classroom (84%), feel ready
and prepared to write after discussing topics on FB group (80%), and find it
comfortable commenting and receiving comments on FB group.
Respondents answers to the third open-ended question of the qualitative section

of the questionnaire to whether FBI makes them motivated support the findings
reported above. Students stress that they feel motivated, comfortable, happy and
encouraged while interacting on FB group. Examples of their comments are as
follows:
Yes, it is. In making me willing to study more and discuss with friends, I mean it
helps me exchange ideas and opinions.
Yes it does. It helps motivate me when using new vocabulary, also when I
comment and respond to others comments. This motivates me to write and
practice more.
Sure it does. If my group-mates like what I say and I will be happy and
encouraged to write what we discuss.
Challenges faced by students utilising FBI for essay writing pre-tasks

To find answers to the third question of this paper, the teacher researcher
used items 14-17 of the questionnaire to elicit the challenges that might face
respondents while utilising FBI for their writing pre-task. The first possible
challenge is whether or not the students find typing challenging while interacting
on FB. The second is whether they find FB graphics, hyperlinks as a source of
distraction. The third is whether they use an e-dictionary while interacting on

FB. The fourth is whether they double-check their pieces of writing before they
post them to their FB group. The cumulative percentage for those who agree or
disagree is presented in Table 4.
Table 4: Challenges faced by students while utilising FBI for their writing pre-task

Agree (%) Disagree (%)
14. Typing on the keyboard is a challenge 68.0 32.0
15. FB graphics and hyperlinks are a source of 48.0 52.0
distraction
16. Frequent use of e-dictionary 72.0 28.0
17. Double-checking before posting 65.0 35.0
As can be seen in the table above, the majority of the respondents (68%) agree
with the researchers prediction that typing on the keyboard is one difficulty
the students have to deal with and the teacher has to address and bear in mind
when utilising FBI. Contrary to the researchers prediction that FB graphics and
hyperlinks are a source of distraction, the majority of the respondents (52%)
disagree with that. However, the majority of the respondents (65%) agree that they
have to double-check before they post any comment or other pieces of writing
and frequently use an e-dictionary while interacting on FB.
The findings above are also in line with the answers to the second question of
the qualitative section of the questionnaire. In their answers to this question, the
respondents highlighted typing, double-checking, consistency of ideas, time limit,
and misunderstandings as major challenges they face while working on FB. Here
are some examples:
Typing! Typing! And typing!

To find the good answer for each on the Facebook group QUICKLY.
Sometimes I didnt find the correct vocabulary while I am discussing
Conclusion and recommendations

From this study of 50 Yemeni EFL students perceptions, attitudes and challenges,
it seems clear that the utilisation of FBI in writing pre-tasks is of great help to them
when writing their essays. Students responses indicate that FBI assists them a lot
in becoming familiar with the writing topics, forming better thoughts, brainstorming
and mind-mapping, reducing spelling errors, as well as acquiring and practising
new vocabulary. In addition, their responses reflected their positive attitudes
toward FB use as they felt motivated, comfortable, and ready to write after they
had been engaged in FBI. The main challenges, which the students faced and
teachers should tackle, are typing on the keyboard and providing more time for
the students, since they prefer to double-check and consult e-dictionaries before
posting comments on the FB group. It is recommended that further research
should focus on the role and perceptions of language teachers on utilising FBI as

writing pre-tasks and the challenges of integrating FB to improve students other
language skills such as reading.
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Assessment literacy for
teachers: how to identify and
write a good test
Elaine Boyd, Senior Academic, English Language Testing and
Assessment, Trinity College London, UK
Abstract
Teachers are increasingly expected to demonstrate an understanding of testing
as part of their ongoing engagement with monitoring their students as well as
sometimes advising on external tests. But what makes a good test? And how do
we know that a particular test is appropriate for the student it is testing? Testing
is driven by theory, practicality and, increasingly, how the test affects the focus of
activities in the classroom. When evaluating or writing a test we need to consider
three important principles of testing: validity, reliability and impact. This paper
describes each of these factors and why they might be important for a teacher to
be aware of and understand. It also considers their relationship to ethical practice
and how this impacts on the teachers responsibility to their students. It offers
examples of some familiar objective test items such as multiple choice as well as
productive tasks in speaking and writing and outlines some rules for test writing
which teachers can apply when evaluating or writing tests.
Introduction
There is a recognized increasing need for teachers to know about assessment.
This is across all subject areas and has a range of benefits both to the teachers
themselves and to their students. This is especially true in language where,
with such a wealth of material on offer, both as books and through the Internet,
teachers are shifting towards becoming curators of resources for their students
and have to be able to evaluate the usefulness and impact of working with those
resources.
At the same time, testing has now become part of the narrative of a learners
progression rather than solely an event at the end of learning, and so there is
a greater focus on ongoing assessment via formative testing. This means that
teachers are involved in a much greater variety of assessments across the cline
from diagnostic to high stakes external tests. In practical terms teachers need to
be able to identify good and bad tests in, for example, coursebooks, whether tests
are assessing what the teacher or students desire to be assessed, how to interpret
scores, how a test might impact positively or negatively on learning, and even to
design and write tests themselves.
The result is a drive to incorporate assessment literacy as part of teacher

development not only so that teachers are best placed to evaluate and create

tests for their students but as part of their own development by understanding
assessment criteria and how these operate. At the same time, teachers are under
increasing pressure to know and deliver more so we do have to be practical about
how much a teacher can absorb and usefully apply given the wealth of other
material she or he has to curate and deliver. This paper is not an attempt to cover
all aspects of testing but simply to focus on what a teacher might prioritize in order
to evaluate or advise their students. So what are the bare bones that a teacher
needs to know?
Testing principles
The very first thing that a teacher needs to understand are the core principles
behind testing. These again apply across all subject areas but can vary in
importance and focus depending on the type of test a teacher wishes to deliver.
These core principles are validity, reliability and impact. These apply to all tests and
test items whether those tests are constructed of objective items (such as multiple
choice) or productive tasks for speaking and writing.
1. Validity
Test validity has many strands but a key focus for teachers would be whether
or not tests are testing what they intend to test and this also relates to the
conclusions that can be drawn from the scores on the test. We need to trust that
the test is giving us the information we need to know. This principle of testing is
crucial as it relates to fairness. Fairness is not just about reporting scores but has
a more ethical dimension. Any form of assessment and especially failing that
assessment can have an impact on an individuals self-esteem or sense of self-
worth so we must ensure that any tests we impose on students are completely fair
both in what they are testing and in how they test.
The very first thing we need to identify is which skills or abilities we are
measuring. These should only be ones which have been an objective of the
learning programme. In other words, we must make sure a test does not assess
competences that a learner might not have had access to or practice in.
1.1 Test focus

We need to know a test is not dependent on variables (or skills) we are not trying
to test. An example might be when a student is asked to read a lot of input before
a speaking task. What are we testing here is it the Speaking skill? Or Reading and
Speaking? If we intend to assess Speaking competences, then the task must not
depend on the candidate understanding a large chunk of written text in order to
perform the task adequately.
1.2 Test and task/item match

Equally if we need to test how well a student can write, we probably do not want to
give them a test composed of multiple choice items, which may demonstrate what
they know but not what they can actually do. So the match between test purpose
and test item is critical.

Lets look at an example. If we have a writing task for our intermediate B2 level
students that is as follows:
Write a review of an art exhibition you have been to.
Superficially this may look a reasonable task. It is asking for a review, which the
teacher has covered in class, and the reading input is short and clear so should
not interfere with the students ability to do the task. However, although this might
work well in the classroom where a lot of support can be given, it is challenging as
a test item as it relies on the candidates having been to an exhibition and/or being
able to visualise such. Even then they need to be able to capture that visualisation
in words. This is very hard in our L1 so how fair is this for a learner? It potentially
excludes those whose fluency does not work in this way. It may make those not
familiar with this context nervous and this will add to their underperformance. So is
this task really testing writing? And is it fair?
2. Reliability
Reliability is a testing principle that focuses on how reliable scores are and whether
a test is consistent over time. This is a strong feature of testing organizations and
awarding bodies and can be challenging for an individual teacher to manage. High
stakes external tests especially undergo rigorous trialling processes and statistical
analyses to ensure that a test measures each student in exactly the same way that
test items are consistent with the level and with previous versions and that any test
tasks which are marked by examiners are being assessed in a standardized and
reliable way. This again relates to fairness both candidates and test users (e.g.
universities or employers) need to know that every student with a certificate for a
particular test has been measured in the same way.
So what aspects of reliability should a teacher be aware of? Firstly, teachers

need to know that reliability is important for their students and that there are
some aspects they can work with. For example, they should ensure that every
student gets the same test. Sometimes the teacher might give students different
assignments to measure how far they have absorbed the same learning objectives.
This is fine but a teacher needs to be aware of reliability to ensure that all
the assignments are equally challenging and accessible. This can be done by
looking at past tasks, asking colleagues to review the tasks, seeking the views of
external experts or external tests, and/or aligning to descriptors given in external
frameworks like the Common European Framework of Reference. An awareness of
the issue and a willingness to check are probably the first steps to being able to
implement reliability.
3. Impact
This is arguably the most important testing principle for a teacher, even if they
are only assessing external tests to approve. All assessments can potentially have
important effects and consequences within a classroom (washback), within an
education system, and within society more widely.

Ideally we would all strive to create a positive impact on both teaching and
learning within the classroom. In order to do this one of the most important things
we need to do is to ensure that the test is integrated with the curriculum. This is
true whether we are implementing a formative or diagnostic test or a summative
end-of-year or term test. We are all aware that teachers focus learning on the
assessment and so, recognising this, we should make the assessment as relevant
and supportive of the learning process as possible.
Lets look at an example of a writing task for students learning business English.
Imagine you are running a large company. Write a proposal saying what
you would do to increase sales. Write no more than 350 words.
This ostensibly looks like a reasonable task for the context. It is certainly focused
on business and targets proposal writing a very important genre in the business
world. So we could argue this has real-life relevance (context validity) for the
learners and would demonstrate to someone external how far the candidate
would be able to perform this task in the real world (predictive validity). The task
input is short and straightforward so there are no apparent variables to affect the
assessment of writing. Nevertheless, this task has significant problems. Firstly, it
is not only highly unlikely that the range of learners taking this test would have
been in the position of running a large company so the candidates are asked to
role play something they have no experience of. Secondly, even assuming they
were business leaders, it is rather implausible that a Managing Director would
write a whole proposal with this focus in 350 words. Finally, we should look at what
impact this task might have on learning. In preparing for this task, the teacher
would be obliged to ask learners to imagine themselves in a very senior role which
they would not be required to do in real life. Also their language learning would
be distorted into squashing complex ideas and unquantifiable information into an
inappropriate summary to no good end as no one would be asked to do this in
real life. A better task might be to ask candidates to write a proposal saying how
their team or department might save money or cut costs. This is constrained so
better suited to the exam format (i.e. 350 words) but still targets proposal writing
and the language of suggestion and persuasion.
Features of items
As mentioned above, test items generally separate into productive tasks and
objective items.
1. Productive tasks
The benefits of setting productive tasks are that they usually reflect real-life skills
that the students will need, they can create highly positive activity in the classroom
because of their relevance, and they also allow students to offer their own input
which can be very motivating. When setting these tasks for Speaking or Writing,
teachers should check that the tasks are:

fair, i.e. they only elicit what has been taught
accessible, i.e. they do not rely on any external world knowledge
real world, i.e. they represent something students might have to display
competence in in real life
clear and unambiguous
written in language which is easier than the level targeted
doable within the stated word count or time available.
We have discussed these aspects in the examples above.
2 Objective items
Objective test items are frequently used to test reading and listening skills as well
as specific grammar and vocabulary knowledge. They are likely to be the type
of test item that teachers have most familiarity with because they often appear
at the end of coursebook units as well as in school summative tests. The focus
of discussion here is on multiple choice items as they are the core of objective
testing and many rules which apply to multiple choice apply also to other
objective items.
A multiple choice item is composed of two parts:
a stem or question
options which consist of a key and generally 2 or 3 distractors or wrong
answers.
An item such as the following is a typical multiple choice question following a

listening text:
What is the speakers opinion?

a. He supports a ban on smoking.
b. He does not support a ban.
c. He thinks a ban should be optional for each restaurant.
However, items such as these break many of the rules for multiple choice
questions for language.
The stem/question does not guide the students on where to listen in the text.
The options are of varying lengths.
The options have a different grammatical structure.
The options are positive, negative and in between. This means they are not a
true test of language understanding as if a student is considering one he will
automatically reject the opposite option so they become highly guessable.
An example of a better multiple choice item which follows a listening test is as

follows:

Students who practise a sport
a. do well in their studies.
b. make good use of their time.
c. wake up early every day.
It adheres to the following rules which should be applied to all items.
An item must be at the appropriate level.

The stem or question must be clear on its own (i.e. without reading the
options).
The stem or question must identify where to listen or read.
The distractor options must be plausible and capture genuine distraction.
All options must be of similar length and structure.
All options must have the same focus e.g. positive or negative.
The key must be true and only the key is true.
The item must test language knowledge not general knowledge.
There are other more detailed rules to follow and there are many websites that
discuss and outline the necessary features of objective items. Teachers would be
advised to apprise themselves of these rules so that they can become expert
judges and satisfactory writers of such items.
Summary
What has been outlined is the need for all teachers to be aware of testing
principles because of the impact which tests have on the test taker. Teachers
need to pay special attention to aspects of fairness, accessibility, authenticity and
impact (or washback). When evaluating or writing tasks for writing and speaking,
check that the tasks are fair and real. When evaluating or writing multiple choice
items, ensure the items follow the rules, otherwise they are not only unlikely to
give you reliable information about the learners progress but they may also be
unfair on the candidate.
Although all tests should ideally encompass all the principles of testing, in fact the
strength of each feature is likely to vary according to what type of test is being
applied. So you might find, for example, that validity is the critical principle in any
formative tests you run, whereas reliability might be a strong feature of summative
or external tests. Impact will always be important as it dictates how any test will
affect classroom practice.

Innovations in pre-service
second language teacher
education for the elementary
level in West Bengal
Kuheli Mukherjee, Assistant Mistress in English, Sakhawat
Memorial Government Girls High School, Kolkata, India
Abstract
West Bengal recently revised the curriculum for the 2-year D.El.Ed. (Diploma
in Elementary Teacher Education) in line with the recommendations of NCFTE
2009. A number of innovations have been proposed and transactional modalities
recommended in the newly developed curriculum and syllabus for school education
in the state. To improve the quality of teaching of English, changes have been
suggested in the curriculum of second language teacher education for the
elementary level. First-hand experience of working in a group that developed
the revised SLTE (Second Language Teacher Education) curriculum for D.El.Ed.
motivated me to investigate the current reality of SLTE at the elementary level and
find out conditions necessary for successful implementation of the innovations. The
paper discusses three areas viz. content, approach and evaluation of elementary
SLTE, where innovations have been proposed. Emphasizing the importance of
properly equipped teacher educators with mastery over discourse norms, the paper
tries to find ways of empowering teacher educators to make innovations successful
at the grassroots level.
Introduction
West Bengal has revised the curriculum for elementary teacher education keeping
in view the expected transactional modalities in real classrooms at the school
level. A number of innovations have been proposed to align the D.El.Ed curriculum
with the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education or NCFTE (2009;
2011). The changed approach in teacher education is a corollary of the National
Curriculum Framework or NCF 2005 that recommends a classroom where teachers
are thought of as facilitators in the construction of knowledge. The Right of
Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 again makes it mandatory
for every teacher to be trained as per NCFTE. The experience of working with a
group of experts to revise the curriculum framework for the 2-year Diploma in
Elementary Teacher Education or D.El.Ed. inspired me to investigate the feasibility
of implementing the new curriculum in the state. I start with a brief description
of the context of teacher education for elementary level in West Bengal. Next, I
present an outline of the innovations proposed in elementary Second Language
Teacher Education (SLTE). This is followed by my investigation about the real
context to adapt the innovations. I conclude with a few suggestive measures that
would facilitate the successful adaptation of the innovations.

Context
Teacher education in West Bengal
Teacher education for the school level in West Bengal involves a number of
agencies working under the Department of Education, Government of West Bengal.
Teacher education institutes running Bachelor of Education courses belong to
the Higher Education Department and they educate prospective teachers of
secondary and higher secondary levels. Teacher education for the elementary
level, however, belongs to the School Education Department. Since this paper
focuses on elementary education I will describe in detail the context of elementary
teacher education in the state.
Teacher education for the elementary level (classes I-VIII)

Three agencies of government are involved in educating teachers for lower (I-IV)
and upper elementary levels (V-VIII) in West Bengal. The agencies are:
1. Directorate of School Education,

2. State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), and
3. West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), which is an autonomous
body.
Figure 1: Elementary Teacher Education in West Bengal (before 2013)
The teacher education institutes catering for elementary level teacher education
are District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and Primary Teacher
Training Institutes (PTTIs). Before 2013 administrative concerns of both DIETs and
PTTIs were looked after by the Directorate of School Education and their academic
interests were taken care of by WBBPE. The D.El.Ed. examination was conducted
by WBBPE. SCERT was mainly involved in research under various projects of the
National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). At times they
organised the training of teacher educators from DIETs and PTTIs. However, a
change came about in the teacher education system of the state in January 2013
when SCERT was empowered to take care of both administrative and academic
aspects of the DIETs.

Figure 2: Elementary Teacher Education in West Bengal (since 29/01/2013
However, PTTIs remained under the dual control of WBBPE and the Directorate of
School Education. In the changed scenario the Government entrusted SCERT with
the responsibility of revising the curriculum framework for D.El.Ed. in February
2013. Subsequently, workshops were organised in two phases by SCERT for
aligning and calibrating the D.El.Ed curriculum for the state in the light of NCFTE
2009 and 2011. On 20 March 2013 the final draft of the revised D.El.Ed curriculum
was handed over to the Government.
Innovations proposed
Outline of the proposed curriculum
The two-year programme will consist of thirty courses, twenty-four of which
will be theory-based and six practicum-based. These thirty courses will cover
seven curricular areas spread over four semesters. However, my focus is on the
innovations proposed for Second Language Teacher Education in this curriculum.
Figure 3: Innovations proposed in elementary SLTE

Innovation in the content of the SLTE curriculum
The proposed Second Language Teacher Education curriculum consists of three
courses in the area of Curriculum and Pedagogic Studies. The three courses are:
1. CPS 01- Proficiency in English

2. CPS 09- Pedagogy of English Language I
3. CPS 10- Pedagogy of English Language II
In addition to these theory-based courses, there will be two practicum-based

courses comprising internship and classroom teaching.
It is worth mentioning that the current curriculum has only one course for
training ESL teachers. This course comprises the content of teaching ESL and
the methodology of teaching English. Experience shows that this course with a
very traditional content and approach can hardly prepare ESL teachers for the
challenges of an ELT classroom that follows the constructivist approach. Hence
changes are proposed in the course content to equip teachers with content
knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and curricular knowledge
(Shulman 1986: 7).
Innovations proposed in the approach of teacher education

The Preface to NCFTE 2009 points out that the new concerns of school curriculum
and the expected transactional modalities need to be emphasized in designing
the curriculum framework for teacher education. It also mentions that the focus
on process-based teacher education has to be attempted as models for practising
teachers to adopt/adapt. Reflective practice is to be the central aim of teacher
education and student-teachers need to be provided with opportunities for
self-learning, reflection, assimilation and articulation of new ideas. To empower
student-teachers to be reflective teachers the TE curriculum should provide:
[] a variety of learning experiences in institutionally based sessions and

in real school and classroom, with an emphasis on awareness raising,
collaborative learning, reflection and learning from experience. (Wright
2010: 267)
Bearing in mind the concepts mentioned above, we proposed that the mode
of transaction should be interactive or participatory. Interactive learning and
teaching would take place through:
classroom discussions for developing conceptual understanding based on a

close reading of text materials/research papers
individual and group presentation
debates and discussions
interaction
group learning
peer learning
workshops/seminars.

To equip student-teachers with the experience of working in the real world they
would be given activities based on first-hand data collected from real contexts or
schools. Such practical activities would include:
case studies through interviewing children and guardians

assignments based on intensive reading and relating them with real classroom
situations
writing reports on peer observation, school visits
writing a journal
project work
role play
internship.
The proposed activities and transactional modes are expected to empower

teachers to reflect upon and learn from experience.
Innovations proposed in the evaluation scheme

The existing scheme of evaluation comprises end-of-course written evaluation
and internal assessment. There is variety in the allotment of marks in internal
assessment in different courses, and student-teachers depend on rote learning
to answer questions for written evaluation. My interviewees stated that internal
assessment is done without proper evaluation criteria. The proposed curriculum
introduces an evaluation scheme that comprises continuous evaluation and an
end-of-course written test. The rationale behind introducing continuous evaluation
is that in order to enable the student- teachers to implement CCE in the classroom,
they themselves should experience such methods and find them helpful in their
own learning (Wright 2010).
The proposed continuous evaluation is to be based on:
course-based assignments (both theory and practical courses)

development of portfolios
project work group and individual
school-based practical activities.
Any of these modes may be used for internal assessment in each semester as
found appropriate for the specific courses being taught. Thus initiative will be
taken to use reflection not only in classroom transaction but also in evaluation.
The division of marks for theoretical courses will be 30% for internal assessment
and 70% for external evaluation. However, it may be worth mentioning what Akbari
(2007) said about the conditions for successful implementation of reflection in
classroom teaching. In her opinion, effective reflection would be impossible unless
a sound grasp of its basic principles is established and a mastery of the discourse
norms and features of the community is established.

Hence I tried to investigate how prepared our teacher educators are to implement
these innovations appropriately.
Findings
Lack of coordination
The data collected from elementary teacher education institutes and SCERT
shows that there are 16 DIETs, 22 Government PTTIs, 22 Government-aided
and Sponsored PTTIs, and 115 Private PTTIs to take care of elementary teacher
education in West Bengal. SCERT looks after the academic and administrative
aspects of DIETS but PTTIs are controlled by the West Bengal Board of Primary
Education (WBBPE) and the Department of School Education. Teacher Education
Institutes for upper elementary and secondary levels on the other hand are under
the Higher Education Department. The Department of School Education has no
connection with these higher education institutes.
WBBPE is empowered to look after the curriculum and syllabus of the lower
elementary level, i.e. grades I-IV in school. However, the D.El.Ed examination
(preparing student-teachers to teach till class VIII) is conducted by them. Till 2013
the curriculum and syllabus for D.El.Ed were also developed by this Board. Hence,
lack of coordination and lack of accountability is apparent in the elementary
teacher education system of West Bengal.
Scarcity of properly equipped faculty for ELT

Though in each institute four to five classes per week are allotted for ELT, the
number of permanent trainers of English is not sufficient. In the 16 DIETs there are
four permanent teachers of English and in the PTTIs there are very few permanent
teachers of English. Teaching is locally arranged by using English teachers of
Government or Government-aided schools or retired faculty of teacher education
institutes. Secondly, these teachers of English have an M.A. in English Literature
along with a B.Ed. None of them has a specialization in ELT or in Applied Linguistics.
Very few of the faculty preparing student-teachers for elementary ESL classrooms
have an M.Ed. Consequently, the issue that claims attention is how equipped such
teachers would be to enable student-teachers to reflect upon and construct
concepts such as:
Factors affecting Second Language Acquisition

Four skills of language and their relation to acquisition and learning
Using portfolios for subjective assessment in the English classroom
Planning and developing materials
Critical analysis of existing material and designing innovative supplementary
tasks.
Classroom reality
The lecture method is still the predominant transactional mode with occasional use
of PowerPoint presentation. At times student-teachers may be asked to reflect on
classroom activities in the feedback sessions but there is no scope for structured

reflective activities as proposed in the new curriculum. One member of the faculty
in English informed me that he used journal writing and peer observation with
his student-teachers. However, it was not clear whether peer observation was
done with structured guidelines about objectives, and one is therefore not sure
that learning might have occurred through reflection. According to a number
of principals of DIETs and PTTIs, a number of trainers are not well versed in
the application of reflective practices. In the words of one such interviewee:
Appointing properly qualified and experienced teacher educators is a must to
enable student-teachers to implement the constructivist approach in L2 teaching.
The student-teachers views reflected in the report of the Joint Review Mission in
April 2013 reveal the same: Teachers also expressed how the teacher training
followed the dominant paradigm and did not reflect or relate to the real situation
and context.
The Preface to NCFTE 2009 mentions that the new concerns of the school
curriculum and the expected transactional modalities need to be emphasized
in designing the curriculum framework for teacher education. The latest West
Bengal textbooks of ESL are based on the constructivist approach. Hence,
student-teachers should also experience the same approach in teacher education
institutes. As Korthagen (2001) posits, if the children to be taught by student-
teachers need to develop a problem-solving attitude in their life, they need to
develop reflection skills. The student-teachers learning to reflect on their own
experience is an important preparation for enabling their students to gain the
capacity for independent and continuous learning.
Measures planned for successful implementation

SCERT plans to encourage the teacher educators of INSET to increase faculty
strength. A pool of teachers is going to be shortlisted by using a British Council
developed platform for the selection of trainers. They will give support to the
institutes till permanent trainers are appointed. Secondly, the Department of
School Education is also actively pursuing the regular appointment of faculty with
WBPSC. This is in keeping with the recommendations of the JRM constituted for
Teacher Education.
Conclusion
The innovations proposed for elementary ESL teacher education are expected to
prepare student-teachers to implement the constructivist approach in ELT in West
Bengal. However, two main issues need be resolved for successful implementation
of these innovations the dearth of second language teacher education faculty
and appropriate pedagogical content knowledge. Whether SCERTs plan can
resolve the issues is yet to be seen. From my long experience of West Bengal
INSET it seems very difficult to identify an adequate number of properly trained
INSET teacher educators who would be able to do justice to the innovations
proposed. Secondly, mere short-term training by the British Council may not be
empowering enough to enable INSET teacher educators to help student-teachers
construct and reconstruct concepts on the pedagogy of English.

I feel that appointing permanent faculty of English with NCTE approved
qualification should be immediately initiated. At the time of appointment
preference should be given to candidates with qualifications in ELT or TESOL or
Applied Linguistics. Existing ESL faculty should be allowed to obtain PGDTE or DELT
or a Masters in ELT. The current faculty as well as the new appointees must be
properly oriented in using reflection in action and reflection on action (Schn
1987) as tools to learn from experience. There should be coordination between
DIETs or PTTIs and B.Ed colleges. Finally, to cope with the paucity in second
language teacher educators, ICT can be used to reach a large number of trainees
using available ESL faculty. The innovations will manifest themselves in elementary
classrooms only if the issues mentioned are properly addressed.
References
Akbari, R. (2007) Reflections on reflection: A critical appraisal of reflective
practices in L2 teacher education. System 35/2: 192-207.
Korthagen, F.A.J. (2001) A reflection on reflection. Linking Practice and Theory:

The pedagogy of realistic teacher education. Mahwah, N. J. Lawrence: Erlbaum
Associates.
NCFTE (2009) National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education: Towards

preparing professional and humane teachers. New Delhi.
Report of the Joint Review Mission on Teacher Education, West Bengal, 2013.
Accessed on 04/01/2014 from: http://www.teindia.nic.in/Files/jrm/JRM_Reports/
JRM_Report_WB.pdf
Richards, J.C. (2008) Second language teacher education today. RELC Journal
39/2: 158-177.
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009.
SCERT (2013) West Bengal Elementary Teacher Education Curriculum Framework:

Diploma in Elementary Education (2yrs), Draft. SCERT: Kolkata, West Bengal.
Schn, D.A. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey Bass
Shulman, L. (1986) Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching.

Educational Researcher 15/2: 4-14.
Wright, T. (2010) Second Language Teacher Education: Review of recent research

and practice. Language Teaching 43/3: 259-296.

The role of printed materials
in promoting reflection in
distance ELT teacher education
programmes
Pranjana Kalita Nath, PhD research scholar, the Department
of English Language Teaching, Gauhati University, and Master
Trainer, Aim Higher in Assam Project, British Council SSA
Assam, India
Abstract
This paper focuses on promoting reflective skills among trainee teachers for their
professional growth in distance ELT teacher education programmes. It is an attempt
to analyse how activities in print materials in such distance programmes can be
designed effectively to stimulate reflection. As print materials are still the dominant
medium of instruction in distance ELT programmes in India, the deliberations will
hopefully have significant implications for the teaching-learning process in such
contexts. There are many recent studies that consider reflection as a crucial tool
for learning and suggest strategies to foster reflection among learners. But in a
distance education system, the measures to be adopted for promoting reflection
need special consideration, different from those in regular education. Print materials
need to be used optimally to help compensate for the physical gap between
learners and teachers in such a context. The paper offers some suggestions on how
teacher support can be built into distance learning print materials to encourage
trainees to reflect, and highlights this as a special need of distance education
teacher trainees. Some materials from an existing distance ELT programme will be
used to illustrate the case.
Introduction
Distance education pedagogy is different from regular education pedagogy
in many ways. In distance education, the basic feature is that teachers and
learners are separated physically from each other for most of the time during a
programme of study. This makes education possible/convenient for in-service
professionals, married women with family responsibilities, and other persons who
cannot attend classes in the face-to-face mode due to personal or professional
commitments, problems or responsibilities. This feature of distance education,
which also basically differentiates it from regular education, requires the adoption
of instructional design suitable for a distance mode. Efforts are being made to
build teacher support in the materials in such a programme. With the advent of
technology, course designers use both synchronous and asynchronous ways
of course delivery to increase support to the learners. On the whole, course
designers of a distance education programme need to adopt an approach and
pedagogical strategies significantly different from those in regular education.

Reflection a gap
Reflection is a buzzword nowadays especially in the field of teacher education. A
lot of deliberations have taken place regarding strategies to promote reflection
among teachers in a regular teacher education programme (where the teacher
or trainer is present as a facilitator) or in general classroom situations. But the
context of distance education is often deprived of such discussions on reflection
though it is actually more important to promote this quality in the physical
absence of teachers or trainers. In the distance education context, teachers and
trainees need to motivate themselves to continue their studies in the midst of
distractions, and gain academic and practical professional insights from whatever
materials (print and online) they receive on the programme. So the ability to reflect
as an adult learner is very important for them to gain maximum professional
competence through a programme of study in the distance mode. Accordingly,
course designers need to adopt strategies specific to the distance education
context to promote reflection among distance teacher trainees.
Why print materials

Many distance education programmes all around the world have utilized
technological advancements to deliver instructional materials to the learners. But
in developing countries like India, print materials are still the dominant medium of
instruction. In many other places too, where online materials are more dominant
than print materials, print materials are used as an additional support to learners.
Therefore, in order to start from the existing situation in developing countries,
we need to exploit the print medium to its maximum. Regarding print materials in
distance education, the most often talked-about issues are increasing accessibility
by using access devices and making them self-learning enabled. Very little
discussion focuses on promoting reflection through print materials. This is why this
paper is attempting to generate discussion on this less talked-about issue.
Reflection in distance education

Reflection is defined in different ways for different purposes. For the purpose of
this discussion, by reflection through print materials, we mean presenting print
materials in such a way that they provide stimuli for thinking, engage learners
in activities, and help them use reflective skills. This is important for promoting
learner autonomy as well, which is a key feature of distance education. If trainees
are able to use their own reflective skills through print materials, it will enhance
their learning experience and fill the gap created by the physical absence of
teachers to some extent.
What we can do
It is often stressed that distance print materials need to be self-learning, self-
directed, self-explanatory, and self-guided so that learners/trainees can easily use
them on their own. But just presenting content in a simplified way will only spoon-
feed the trainees rather than hone their skills. So it is essential to give them scope
to think, contextualize knowledge and learn at a deeper level. That demands a

balance between presentation of content and engaging trainees in activities that
trigger reflection.
Instructional designers and academics should allow distance learners

to be more reflective, to give personal views on topics, to debate and
argue their points of view, to question information given by the instructor
and textbooks, based on personal observations and knowledge acquired
elsewhere. (Tam 2000)
A demonstration
In the following sections, I will try to present a demonstration of how we might
incorporate reflective activities in the text. For this purpose, I will use a model
originally propounded by Benjamin Bloom, which was later revised, i.e. Revised
Blooms Taxonomy (Anderson and Krathwohl 2001).
Figure 1: Revised Blooms taxonomy
As shown by the arrow, the model presents a continuum from lower-order thinking
skills to higher-order thinking skills. Though this is not a direct model for reflection,
I think that the continuum in this model is appropriate for promoting reflection
among distance trainees. This will become clear as we go through the revised
design of a text.
The original text (slightly modified)

The following text has been taken from the materials of a distance MA ELT
programme in an Indian University. I have slightly modified the text (by adding/
removing a few words and by slightly changing the structure of a sentence) in
order to protect the identity of the institution, because I feel that criticizing the
type of activity design is more important than criticizing the institution concerned.

Inter-language Interference
There is an influence of the properties of the L1 on the course of L2
learning. The learners transfer sounds, structure and usage from one
language to the other. Transfer is of two kinds positive transfer and
negative transfer. Positive transfer is the result of similarities between the
L1 and L2, while negative transfer is the result of differences between
the two. The latter is known as interference. Positive transfer makes
it acceptable to use the L1 habits in the L2 settings. For example, the
assumption that the subject goes before all other units in a positive
sentence satisfactorily transfers from Telugu to English. On the other hand,
in negative transfer L1 habits cause errors in L2. For example, Subject-
Object-Verb order does not satisfactorily transfer from Telugu to English.
The redesigned text (by using Blooms taxonomy)

In the following sections I will present the same content by following the different
stages given in Blooms taxonomy. I will use bullet points in the section for the first
stage (Remember and understand) for the convenience of analysis in the next part
of this paper.
Language Transfer/Interference
(Stage: Remember and understand)
a. English is not our mother tongue. In most cases in our daily life, we talk in our
mother tongue, i.e. in Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, etc. So when we speak in the
second language, i.e. English, it is often influenced by our mother tongue. This
is called interference or language transfer.
b. For example, Assamese people often find it difficult to pronounce /f/ or //
because it not there in their mother tongues. So while speaking in English,
they often pronounce ship as /sip/ instead of /ip/ and /phan/ instead of
/fn/.
c. Have you ever noticed such influences among the people in your region? If
yes, make a list of them below. (If you are an in-service teacher, you might
think of your students coming from different regions, and note if you observed
any such influence among your students.)
..
d. In the example given above regarding Assamese speakers, the speakers

transfer sounds from their mother tongue to English. Sometimes the structure
or other features might also be transferred. For example, Telugu speakers
easily transfer the subject in the sentence-initial position to English, because it
is there in Telugu too. For example,
In Telugu, Manamu andaramu Bharateeyulam. In English, We all are Indians.
e. From the above two examples (the first one in an Assamese context and the
second one in a Telugu context), we can see that language transfer can be
of different types. In the first case, transfer happened due to differences

between the two languages (Assamese and English). This phenomenon
is called negative transfer. In the second case, transfer was the result of
similarities between the two languages (Telugu and English). This is called
positive transfer.
(Stage: Apply)
Now think of some more examples of positive and negative transfers from your
own mother tongue to the English language. Make some notes in the following
space.
...................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................
(Stage: Analyze)
How do you think language transfer is relevant to language teaching? In the
case of positive transfer, we do not need to worry at all. But negative transfer
calls for specific strategies for language teaching. As a language teacher,
which of the following things would you do with your students if you find
negative transfer?
1. Ignore it.
2. Explain the concept of negative transfer.
3. Ask students not to be influenced.
4. Design activities focusing on areas of negative transfer to minimize it.
If you are aware of negative transfer among your students, it will help you
identify the areas to work on to help your students improve their English.
For example, if you find that many of your students find it difficult to use the
verbs drink and eat because there is one single word to refer to both in their
native language, you can design activities around this learning point. So we
can see that Option 4 given above is correct.
Now look at the following case study.
(I am giving just an outline of the subsequent steps to save space as this will help
us visualize the whole process.)
Subsequent steps:
Case study of a teacher designing an activity focusing on an area of negative

transfer
(Stage: Evaluate)
Present a list of a number of activities. Trainees will choose one that is
appropriate for a particular case of negative transfer.
(Stage: Create)
Guide trainees to design an activity appropriate for addressing a particular
case of language transfer.

Analysing the redesigned activity
If we analyse the above redesigned activity, we may notice the following.
Scaffolding for reflection: Reflection is a complex process. As the learners/trainees

in a distance education process study on their own, it would be wrong to expect
them to be able to apply advanced reflective skills from the very beginning while
confronting new content. The process used here facilitates reflection step by step.
The first step (Remember and understand) is not really reflection-oriented, but it
provides a firm foundation for reflection. If we notice carefully, we can find the
following structure in this stage.
Figure 2: Scaffolding for reflection
Though it seems to be a long process, it is important to prepare the trainees for

further reflection on the issue, especially while presenting new content. The next
few activities demand the application of the skills of applying, analysing, evaluating
and creating respectively. Thus attempts have been made to make a gradual shift
to advanced reflective skills. The whole process is a kind of scaffolding facilitating

higher levels of reflection. We can show the structure of scaffolding in this
particular presentation of content in the following way.
Figure 3: A structure of scaffolding
Input between steps: In the distance education context, as the teacher is not
always there physically to give instant feedback, the course writer needs to give
some additional inputs between activities. For example, in the analysis stage,
the question asking the trainees to decide on the appropriate option has been
followed by a discussion of the solution. Moreover, case studies have been used at
various places to help trainees obtain conceptual clarity.
Other features of SLM (Self-learning Materials): Research in distance education has

established the need for using various features in order to make materials self-
learning for distance learners. In the above redesigned text, various such features
have been incorporated. They include use of personalization (personal pronouns
like you, I, we, etc., slightly informal language, direct questions like Have you
ever noticed such influences among the people in your region?) and simple
language (short sentences, small paragraphs, etc.).
Conclusion
Teacher trainees be they in the regular or the distance mode of training are
learners with experience and the ability to use their reflective skills. Print materials,
being a dominant medium of instruction in distance training programmes in

developing countries, should trigger their motivation to use reflective skills for
pedagogic purposes. This paper has attempted to generate discussion on possible
ways to facilitate such a process on the basis of a revised model developed by
Bloom. However, I do not claim that this is the only way to promote reflection
among distance teacher trainees, or that one needs to follow the model rigorously
to facilitate reflection. What I want to suggest is that incorporating elements of
such a model might guide us in the promotion of reflection through print materials
in distance teacher training programmes.
References
Anderson, L. and Krathwohl, D. (Eds.) (2001) A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and
Assessing: A Revision of Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York:
Longman.
Tam, M. (2000) Constructivism, Instructional Design, and Technology: Implications

for Transforming Distance Learning. Educational Technology and Society 3/2: 50-
60.

Developing academic reading
skills through strategy training
Sruti Akula, ELE PhD scholar, the English and Foreign
Languages University, Hyderabad, India
Abstract
Research in the area of strategy training advocates explicit strategy training.
However, such explicit training has not informed and fed into the ESL reading class
in India. The paper argues that explicit strategy training can be used to develop the
higher-order academic reading skills of adult learners. To enable these academic
skills, tertiary level learners (college students) were asked to read a range of texts
and guided to match strategies with reading purposes. Their strategy use was
assessed through self-reflection grids, which were also used as tools for self-
evaluation. Their reactions were captured through guided interviews. An analysis of
the grids revealed that learners used a variety of strategies like predicting, re-
reading, underlining and listing key ideas to comprehend texts at both factual and
inferential levels. The interviewed learners emphasized that the teaching of such
strategies would help them apply it to other contexts. An implication of this study
therefore is that explicit strategy instruction in ESL classrooms might result in the
development of academic reading skills.
Introduction
Learning how to read in a second language is one of the most challenging
aspects of second language learning as reading is a complex process involving
the use of linguistic knowledge, background knowledge or schema, cognitive and
metacognitive reading strategies. A good comprehender is an interactive reader
who constructs meaning from the text and personal background knowledge,
and monitors comprehension, making inferences using text clues to confirm or
abandon hypotheses (Wade 1990). This ability can be effectively acquired through
intensive and specialized instruction and practice.
Research problem
It is generally observed that students who have insufficient exposure to academic
reading in English at the school level face difficulties in reading academic texts
at the undergraduate level due to the specific nature of the discourse, the
density of information and the technical vocabulary present in the texts. At this
level, students need to read prescribed materials and subject-related reference
books. This makes a demand on their self-study skills and strategies. However, the
students seem underprepared for advanced level reading. This problem needs to
be addressed as inadequate reading skills hinder their progress in both academic
and professional domains.

Research on strategy training
Research has shown that strategies play a crucial role in developing reading skills
and that strategy training techniques actually work and produce more effective
readers and thus strategies should be taught explicitly (Kern 1989; Moran and
Williams 1993; Kong 2006; Aebersold and Field 2007; Karbalaei and Rajyashree
2010). In developing principles of L2 reading, Aebersold and Field (2007)
show how effective reading strategies address both top-down and bottom-up
dimensions of reading; help learners identify appropriate attitudes towards text
and purposes for reading and develop readers awareness of appropriate reading
skills and strategies (p. ix). Based on research in the area of strategy training and
reading, an intervention was planned as part of the study focusing on developing
reading skills through strategy training. The training involved the use of tasks
and awareness-raising discussions using reflection grids. Though it has been
established that explicit strategy training improves reading comprehension, the
use of reflection grids to raise learners awareness has not been explored in this
area. Thus an attempt has been made in this study to use reflection grids for self-
evaluation and to capture strategy use.
The study
It is posited that academic reading skills can be developed through a course
that gives learners training in using reading strategies effectively, with the help
of reading tasks, awareness-raising discussions and reflection grids. Base line
information regarding learners reading habits and problems related to reading
comprehension was collected through learner and teacher questionnaires and
interviews. Using this information, texts were carefully selected and tasks created.
Self-reflection grids along with post-task discussion questions were also used.
Research procedure
The following steps were undertaken for the study:
Questionnaires were administered to the target group to understand their

reading habits, the kind of reading they needed to do and the reading
strategies they were familiar with. The faculty was interviewed to elicit their
views on the importance of reading and the problems students face due to
inadequate reading skills.
The target group was administered a pre-test to assess their reading
proficiency in L1 and L2. Then a set of 15 students with intermediate to
advanced level proficiency in L1 and basic to intermediate level of proficiency
in L2 were selected from the 40 students who took the test.
Intervention: The selected students were offered a special course (18 hours
spread across 12 days, 1-2 hours per day) focusing on developing reading
strategies through a wide variety of texts and tasks that were specifically
designed for strategy training. Materials used were six modules each focusing
on a reading strategy. A module consisted of reading texts (scientific texts from
popular science) and tasks. The approach adopted was interactive and task-
based. Here, the reading process and the strategy used were more important

than arriving at the right answer. Each module was divided into a pre-task
discussion about the strategy in use and the nature of the texts and tasks; the
actual completion of the reading and tasks; a post-task discussion about the
reading processes and strategies used; and filling the reflection grids.
Research framework
The study operates on the premise that reading is a process involving the use of
strategies that can be developed through sustained teaching and practice, and
that explicit strategy instruction contributes significantly to reading proficiency.
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the focus and methodology of the
intervention carried out as part of the present study, and a description of it.
The existing knowledge of the learners, comprising the underlying L1 reading

strategies they might have developed as proficient readers in L1 and their
schemata, was tapped for the purpose of the study. This was done by selecting
texts related to their field of study. Secondly, the tasks and the post-task
discussions were designed to activate their schema and encourage them to read
the texts critically, based on their background knowledge and by linking the new
ideas presented in the texts with what they already knew, so as to facilitate the
comprehension process. The intervention focused on explicit strategy training,
which was done through reading tasks, awareness-raising post-task discussions
and reflection grids. This led to conscious learning of strategies, and when the
learners became conscious of the strategies they were using and the benefits of
using them, they started applying them in the subsequent reading.
Analysis and interpretation of data from the pre-test and the post-test
A pre-test aimed at assessing learners reading proficiency was administered. It
had reading texts followed by MCQs, tasks on information transfer, comparison of
two texts on the same topic, and short answer questions. The mean of the pre-test
scores of the 15 selected students was 50.9%. A post-test aiming at assessing the
result of the course and learners achievement was conducted. It had pre-reading,
while-reading and after-reading activities/tasks. The mean of the post-test was
66%. It is important to note that though the tasks in the post-test were of a higher
order when compared to the pre-test there was improvement in the mean.
Interpretation of the data from the reflection grids

The study used reflection grids after each module to capture strategy use and to
enable self-evaluation. The grids had general statements and statements specific
to the strategy in use. Let us look at the data obtained from these grids.
Given below is a list of the strategies that were most preferred by the target group
in order of priority (with an average % of learners who used the strategies across
the six modules).
This list has been divided into three groups. Strategies in the first group are those
that are important and were used by a significant number of learners. Some of

these strategies, like underlining, guessing, predicting and rereading were those
that learners were subconsciously aware of. However, they couldnt match them
with the purpose of reading. When they were guided to use these strategies for
appropriate tasks through post-task discussions, their awareness became explicit
and they made a conscious effort to use them across the modules. Thus, their
strategy use improved with each module.
Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context (100%)

Predicting what the text is about by looking at the title (95.8%)
Underlining the key points while reading (87.5%)
Rereading the text several times, going back and forth to understand the text
better (80%)
Reading the text word by word at a slow pace to enable understanding (64%)
Drawing inferences from the text with the help of the clues provided by the
writer (61%)
Trying to link the new ideas presented in the text with background knowledge
or schemata while reading a text on a familiar topic (57%)
The strategies in the second set are those that they were not familiar with. They
were made aware of them during the intervention. Though almost half of the
learners could use them across the modules, in order to increase strategy use
among other learners a follow-up is required. For instance, taking the help of
linkers to understand text organization is a useful strategy. However, as learners
were not aware of this earlier it took them some time to get used to this.
Skipping some parts of the text that are not needed (53%)
Looking for repetitive ideas and words in the text to understand the
connection between different parts of the text (53%)
Taking the help of linkers to understand the way a text is organized and to get
a clear idea about arguments developed in the text (50%)
Reading the entire text quickly once to get the gist and then reading
paragraph by paragraph for deeper meaning (50%)
This set of strategies is important, yet their use was minimal. This might be due
to the wrong notions that students had. For example, using L1 while reading in
L2 was considered something that is done by learners with low proficiency. Thus,
learners were not using strategies related to L1. It is important to make learners
aware of the advantages of using L1 while reading in L2 so that they reconsider
their opinions. Furthermore, reading in chunks is another important strategy that
readers need to be using. Some of the students unfamiliarity with the word or
the notion chunk might have documented this % of strategy use while they could
actually chunk better. In this case, giving these learners sustained practice and
raising their awareness can lead to better results.
Reading in chunks (47%)

Translating words/sentences into Telugu while reading a text in English (33.3%)

Reading the texts in English in the same way in which they read academic texts
in their L1 (20%)
Thus, looking at this list one would realize that the first four strategies were the
most preferred.
To sum up, after learners started using the strategies and experienced advantages
such as improved reading comprehension and speed, they continued using the
strategies in subsequent modules. This shows that when students are trained to
use strategies explicitly, they can develop appropriate reading strategies and
improve reading comprehension. It was interesting to note that all the learners
used strategies like guessing the meaning and predicting frequently and more than
50% used the whole range of strategies. In addition, most of the learners liked the
texts and the activities in the modules. This was because the texts were popular
science articles related to topics familiar and interesting to them. Secondly, the
learners found the activities engaging and interesting. In sum, the intervention
helped the learners become aware of the important strategies to enhance the
reading comprehension process thereby making reading effective.
Interpretation of the data from the structured interviews

After the intervention, four students who had participated actively during the
study (from the first group in the pre-test and post-test table) were selected
and interviewed. The interview aimed at collecting data related to their attitude
towards the course, the texts, the tasks and the methodology used. All the
students unanimously felt that the training was useful. They found the texts and
tasks interesting and said that the post-task discussions helped them think about
the process of reading in an intensive way.
The interviews captured three broad advantages of strategy training from the
learners perspective:
1. Improved reading comprehension

Students unanimously said that their reading comprehension improved due
to strategy training. Here are some of the statements by certain students that
express this opinion.
Rereading to understand the text better.
Underlining key points was helpful in capturing the gist of the text which in turn
helped in completing the tasks.
Using background knowledge made reading effective.
Awareness about text organization helped me improve my reading

comprehension.
2. Improved reading speed and saved time

All the students felt that their reading speed improved, thus helping them
save time. They believed that these strategies would be helpful while reading

lengthy texts and preparing for and taking exams. Some of the specific
statements made are as follows:
Skipping and reading in chunks saved time and improving reading speed.

Predicting saves time.
3. Useful techniques to prepare for exams
Students said that the techniques like note making, summarizing and
information transfer become useful while preparing for exams. The statements
that capture their opinions are as follows:
Note making tables helped while summarizing. I will use this while preparing for

exams as well.
Information transfer is a useful technique while preparing for exams.
The strategies they felt they had used the most were: skimming, scanning,
guessing the meaning, rereading, underlining, note making, summarizing, looking
for repetitive ideas, linking their schema with the new idea presented, chunking,
inferencing and using illustrations to understand the text better. They said that
strategy training definitely helps to improve reading skills, and the use of reflection
grids makes them aware of the strategies to be used and their progress.
Thus, one can conclude that there is relative improvement in the students reading
skills from the pre-test to the post-test. Furthermore, students felt that their
reading comprehension and reading speed improved through strategy training.
Though the improvement may not be reflected significantly in all the cases, it
validates to an extent the premise of the study that a well-structured course
focusing on strategy training will improve learners academic reading skills.
Findings
Explicit strategy training can be done through reading tasks, awareness-raising
discussions, and reflection grids.
Explicit strategy training enhances academic reading skills, improves reading
fluency and builds students confidence to read and comprehend academic
texts.
Awareness raising using grids and discussions leads students to reflect on their
reading processes (meta awareness).
Conclusion
To conclude, a specially designed course in strategy training results in improved
reading performance. Self-reflection and self-evaluation enable learners to become
better readers. Thus, learners need to be encouraged to reflect on their reading
process. Teacher education courses need to include a module on strategy training
to train teachers in using this approach to develop academic reading skills.

References
Aebersold, J.A. and Field, M.L. (2007) From Reader to Reading Teacher: Issues and
strategies for Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Karbalaei, A. and Rajyashree, K.S. (2010) The Impact of Summarization Strategy

Training on University ESL Learners Reading Comprehension. The International
Journal of Language Society and Culture 30: 41-53.
Kern, R. (1989) Second Language Reading Strategy Instruction: Its Effects on

Comprehension and Word Inference Ability. The Modern Language Journal 73, (2):
135-49.
Kong, A. (2006) Connections between L1 and L2 Reading: Reading Strategies used

by four Chinese Adult Readers. The Reading Matrix 6 (2): 19-45.
Moran, C. and Williams, E. (1993) Survey Review: recent materials for teaching of
reading at intermediate level and above. English Language Teaching Journal 47,
(1): 64-84.
Wade, S. (1990) Using think aloud to assess comprehension. The Reading Teacher
44: 442-451.

Reciprocal teaching in a pre-
service teacher education
context
Susmita Pani, Reader in English, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack,
Odisha, India
Abstract
Like many students at school level, many students at the university level also have
reading problems since they have very limited experience of engaging with a text
directly. This becomes a big issue when the course demands reading academic texts
for class discussion. This paper presents a study that was conducted in an intact
MA, ELT class in Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha to deal with this problem
using reciprocal teaching as a classroom procedure. The scaffolding inherent in
the procedure and later the clear role distribution involved in reciprocal teaching
ensured learner participation and made this procedure effective. At the end of
the short period of the study, learners were more participatory, more confident
and showed improved comprehension of academic articles given to them to read.
Not only this, in their response to the end-of-semester feedback questionnaire,
reciprocal teaching was voted as the best classroom procedure. The study
showed the potential that reciprocal teaching has in helping learners develop their
comprehension skills.
Background
This paper reports a study that was conducted with the MA students of the
department where I work. Some of the students of this course have opted for an
ELT option paper which is spread over two semesters. They have completed their
BA with English (Hons.) and like most teaching contexts in India, their learning
experience includes reading literary texts that are exhaustively explained by the
teachers with nearly no student engagement with these texts. As a result, both
at school and at college level, these students have had practically no experience
of engaging with the text directly. The system does not push them to read much
either as it is possible for them to pass their examinations which generally involves
answering essay-type questions using bazaar notes. These extremely simplified
notes generally match the reading levels of the students and students do not make
any effort to stretch their reading abilities. In general, this is the profile and reading
ability of students who opt to specialize in Linguistics and ELT.
As students of an ELT course, they, however, had to do extensive reading of

academic texts necessary for class discussion. Most of them found this difficult to
cope with and only a few students could participate meaningfully in the discussion.
As a result, the discussion very often happened to be one-sided with the teacher
raising issues and offering solutions. Thus, this became another type of teacher

explanation though in a different format. The problem, therefore, was how to make
the students of the ELT option course read.
The research questions were:
How can we make the students of ELT courses read academic articles?
Can reciprocal teaching (Palincsar and Brown 1983) be used as a classroom
procedure here?
Can reciprocal teaching help students read and be more autonomous?
Reciprocal teaching defined

Reciprocal teaching (RT) is an instructional procedure which was initially
suggested by Palincsar and Brown (1983) and later taken up by others. This is a
procedure through which the teacher teaches the students cognitive strategies
such as summarizing, clarification, prediction and a meta-cognitive strategy
such as question generation. Since this procedure leads to improved reading
comprehension and since teacher support is gradually withdrawn leaving students
to work on their own, it may eventually result in learner autonomy. It was decided
to use this procedure because the goal of education is to make the students
eventually autonomous.
Explicit instruction of comprehension skills is not an easy process as there are

several strategies that are difficult to define. However, six major functions seem to
underline the comprehension skills. These are:
1. understanding the purposes of reading both explicit and implicit

2. activating relevant background knowledge
3. allocating attention so that concentration can be focused on the major
content at the expense of trivia
4. critical evaluation of content for internal consistency, and compatibility with
prior knowledge and common sense
5. monitoring ongoing activities to see if comprehension is occurring, by
engaging in such activities as periodic review and self-interrogation and
6. drawing and testing inferences of many kinds, including interpretations,
predictions, and conclusions (Brown and Palincsar 1984).
RT focuses on four of these functions, that is, summarizing (self-review),

questioning, clarifying and predicting. These four strategies focus on generation
of comprehension as well as on monitoring of comprehension, thus include both
cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies.
Procedure
The study was carried out in an intact class of 35 students, spread over eight
one-hour classes. Two articles were used for this purpose, Grammar Teaching
Practice or Consciousness Raising? (Ellis 2002) and The Writing Process and
Process Writing (Seow 2002). The rationale behind the selection was that these

were the articles the students were required to read at that point of time during
their course work. There was no simplification of material as it was necessary
to develop their ability to read texts of this level on their own. Thus, no specific
change was made in the classroom or to the materials except to introduce RT.
To begin with, the students background knowledge was activated by asking them
to examine the title of the first article and then by asking them to think about
the answer to the question: Should we teach grammar at all? Following this
discussion, I told them that I would use some strategies to make sense of the first
paragraph and the second paragraph of the article. They were to follow what I
was doing carefully as they would later have to take over from me. They were then
asked to read the paragraph silently. At the end of the stipulated time, they were
told that I would ask a question that a teacher or a test might ask them based on
the two paragraphs that they had read. Similarly, I asked them to clarify certain
things in the paragraph that I pretended were not clear to me, summarized the text
and predicted what came next based on the paragraph we had read. I continued
with the same procedure with the next two paragraphs since the students were not
able to understand the procedure. I then assigned three paragraphs for them to
read at home.
In the next class, I started with questions based on their reading at home. Since
they needed clarification on several points we had to pause every now and then.
Next, I divided the class into groups and nominated one student in each group
to take over the role of the teacher. This student had to apply the four strategies
to the paragraph assigned to them asking a question(s) based on the text,
summarizing, clarifying and predicting. As they worked in groups, I went around the
class. The students were finding the text difficult and it was slow-going. I helped
occasionally and at times had to model the strategies and redo their summaries.
Although the students were not able to make a lot of progress, they were all
actively involved.
Considering the problems the students had in the first class, I then used a modified
procedure based on Dyer (2012) in the next class. The steps were as follows:
Students were divided into groups of four.

Each student in the group was given one note card, identifying that persons
role as summarizer, questioner, clarifier and predictor.
They were given the next two short paragraphs from the same article to read.
They were encouraged to make notes to prepare themselves for their roles in
the discussion.
After they completed their reading, the student in the role of summarizer
highlighted the key ideas in the reading.
The questioner then posed questions about the unclear parts, puzzling
information and connections to other concepts already learned.
The clarifier addressed the confusing parts and attempted to answer the
questions that were posed.

The predictor offered predictions about what the author will tell the group next
as far as it was possible.
The roles in the group were then switched when the next paragraph was read.
The students were asked to use the prompts given for clarifying concepts such as
Is there anything in this segment I dont understand?, What words or ideas need
clarifying?, Which of these words am I not sure about, etc. This was specifically
done to focus on monitoring their comprehension. My role was to guide and
nurture the students ability to use the four strategies successfully within the small
group.
During the first class, I took notes on the proceedings of the class. But from the
second class onwards, I used a tape recorder to record students discussions
only in individual groups because of the quality of the audio-recording. At the
completion of each article, students were asked to answer comprehension
questions based on the articles. This helped me to get an idea of the extent to
which they had comprehended the article. Transcripts were then prepared based
on the recordings of their discussions using RT. Finally, at the end of the semester,
the students were asked to respond to a feedback questionnaire on the course in
general.
Findings
A comparison between the students responses to the comprehension questions
based on the first article given on the third day and those based on the second
article given on the eighth day showed an improvement in their reading
comprehension. Improvement was measured in terms of the accuracy of their
answers to oral questions asked in the class and the number of students who
answered the questions with reasonable accuracy. The accuracy of language
was not taken into consideration for this purpose since the focus was on
comprehension. There was also an improvement in the strategy of questioning. A
study of two sample transcripts showed their movement from missing the woods
for the trees to a reading from the whole to the parts. Some of the students who
had the role of clarifier had already taken on a teacher role with confidence.
The utterance S1: Just read that sentence.. At the drafting stage, the writers
are focused on the fluency of writing and are not preoccupied with grammatical
accuracy or the neatness of the draft is extremely teacher-like. During class also, it
was observed that the students in the group gave their full attention to the weaker
students when they were in the role of the clarifier. The students became less
tentative and more confident.
Students considered this procedure valuable as seen from their responses to

the anonymous end-of-semester feedback questionnaire. Almost all the students
mentioned RT as the most effective teaching technique learned during the
semester. Most of them also said that they had gained confidence by doing this
activity. However, students generally were not able to make successful predictions,

a strategy that seems to work very well with literary texts. This could be because
of their lack of adequate background knowledge regarding academic text types.
Why was RT successful with the students? There could be several reasons for this.
The students gradually developed familiarity with the procedure over time. This
procedure required them to do a deeper processing of what they read and engage
in making sense of that information. They had a conscious of need for debugging
so they did additional reading and searching. In addition to these, the work was
done while working in supportive groups. The classroom dynamics helped them
to slide into their roles with confidence. Finally, the problems of the students were
not reading problems but comprehension problems. RT addressed the issue of
comprehension fostering processes, hence it worked well with them.
Some problems
Summarizing is a crucial part of RT and the assumption is that students know
how to summarize what they read. However, the students in this study had no
training in summarizing at any of their earlier levels of language learning. Using
an ExplicitTeachingbeforeReciprocalTeaching format (Rosenshine and Meister
1994) and including summarizing procedures as suggested in Brown and Day
(1983) in advance would have made RT more effective. Another problem was
that sometimes it was difficult for me to hold myself back from taking over when
students were having problems formulating questions or working out strategies
to get the co-operation of their class mates. It was difficult not to intervene when
students made mistakes or even sometimes to accept incorrect answers. This was
probably the biggest challenge for me as a teacher. To lead, help, support and
then gradually fade away are skills that we as teachers need to learn and practise.
In conclusion it can be said that RT as a classroom procedure can help develop

the reading skills of the students, promote student autonomy as well as give the
teachers ample opportunities for professional development, which is an integral
part of being effective teachers.
References
Brown A. and Day J. (1983) Macro rules for summarizing texts: the development of
expertise. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 22/2: 1-14.
Brown, A., Palincsar A. and Armbruster, A. (1994) Instructing comprehension

fostering activities in interactive learning situations in R. Ruddell, M. Ruddell and
H. Singer (Eds.) Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (Fourth edition).
Newark, DE: International Reading Association. 757- 787
Dyer, D. (2012) Strategies for Reading Comprehension: Reciprocal Teaching. North

West Regional Education Service Agency, North Carolina. Available at: http://www.
readingquest.org/strat/rt.html
Ellis, R. (2002) Grammar Teaching Practice or Consciousness-Raising? in J.

Richards and W. Renandya (Eds.).

Palincsar, A. and Brown, A. (1983) RT of Comprehension-Monitoring Activities.
Technical Report No. 269. Institution Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc., Cambridge,
Illinois Univ., Urbana.
Palincsar, A. and Brown, A. (1984) RT of Comprehension-Fostering and

Comprehension-Monitoring Activities. Cognition and Instruction 1/2: 117-175.
Richards, J. and Renandya, W. (Eds.) (2002) Methodology in Language Teaching: An

Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rosenshine, B. and Meister, C. (1994) RT: A Review of the Research. Review of

Educational Research 64/4: 479-530.
Seow, A. (2002) The Writing Process and Process Writing in J. Richards and W.
Renandya (Eds.).

Modifying ELT tasks to include
the blind/visually impaired: an
exploration at the tertiary level
Shree Deepa, Assistant Professor, the Centre for English
Language Studies, Central University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad,
India
Abstract
Tasks used in the language classroom normally have visual inputs and/or stimulus.
Such tasks exclude blind/visually impaired students as they do not perceive them
fully. An attempt is made in this paper to explore the possibilities of changes that
can be made to tasks so that inclusiveness is realized. The study has implications
for minimizing exclusion of the blind/visually impaired students and facilitating their
participation in the tasks with modes that are comfortable, meaningful and useful.
Background to the study

English is the language of economic and social mobility; in multilingual countries
such as Indiathe orientation in the English classroom has been towards
communicative language teaching. Accordingly, most classes and syllabuses use
tasks to enable such communication. Tasks expect learners to comprehend and
manipulate information provided in order to create text which expresses what they
need to say succinctly (Nunan 2004). The purpose of many of these tasks, which
focus on meaning making, is also to enable the learning of the forms of language
(Prabhu 1987: 28).
At the tertiary level, students need to be able to use language to describe

objects and events from alternating perspectives, and more importantly, read
and describe figures and graphs to write reports. Twenty-first-century inclusive
education policy has brought lots of children with physical and sometimes
cognitive disabilities into tertiary education with the deliberate intention
ofreducing and eliminating exclusion within and from education. The policy
document also mandates changes and modication in approaches and strategies.
And more importantly, it demands that inputs, processes and environments should
be modified to foster learning both at the level of the learner in his/her learning
environment and at the system level to support the entire learning experience
(UNESCO).
However, the tasks that are used in most English classrooms exclude a wide variety
of students, particularly those who are disabled. The blind/visually impaired are
denied the facilities to interact with tasks that have visual stimuli, and to read
graphs and figures and interpret them.

In the Integrated Masters Programme at the University of Hyderabad (IMP
henceforth) English is taught as a skill-based subject using tasks. Some of the
students, particularly those who are blind/visually impaired who are registered
for this programme, however, are not able to engage completely with the tasks
because it involves visual interpretation of stimulus material. This paper is an
attempt to describe and critique the inclusive modifications made in some of
these tasks.
Student profile
The students of IMP in general, and the blind/visually impaired (BVI henceforth)
in particular, join the university after having completed their 10+2 years of
schooling and are admitted into the programme through a national level entrance
examination (and an interview in some disciplines). The present number of
students enrolled is more than 200 across various disciplines. All of them need to
study English in their first two semesters as a compulsory course. The students
are placed at different levels of proficiency after their performance is assessed
through a screening test. The Centre for English Language Studies (CELS) teaches
this course. There are about eight groups of students every semester. And last
year as many as fourteen students belonged to the visually-impaired category.
The idea is to help them adjust to mainstream education through inclusion. Most
of these students have studied in special schools for the blind till grade 12, and
having joined the university aspire to earn their masters degree after five years of
full-time study in their respective disciplines. The levels of visual disability in these
students range from total to partial.
As part of the English syllabus all students are expected to interpret graphs, use
appropriate vocabulary to express what is given in them, and write descriptive
essays. At the university able-bodied students and BVI students are taught in
the same classroom; the only modification is that BVI students have access to
a separate dedicated computer laboratory with assistive software. The mode of
interaction in the English language classes is through PowerPoint presentations,
augmented by handouts when needed. Pair and group work is the usual norm.
As per university specifications soft copies of all handouts and PowerPoint
presentations are provided in advance to all BVI students, but this has not enabled
full participation.
Experiment with tasks

The second semester (January to May 2013) class that I taught consisted of 22
students of which five were blind/visually impaired, one was also hearing impaired,
and one partially sighted. This formed more than 24% of the entire class. These
students are the subjects of the study.
Teacher development courses do not provide workable solutions for inclusive

education even though it is mandated policy. The teacher has to use their gut/
impressionistic judgements to enable such inclusiveness in classroom transaction.
Very often, either the normal or the impaired group has to suffer. In the

ESL writing classroom, all students have to use prepositions of location and
appropriate vocabulary to compose descriptive essays. Most tasks in a general
classroom are primarily visual in nature or rely on visual input. They therefore
exclude BVI students and do not allow them to comprehend, manipulate or
interact with the medium. This further prevents them from mobilizing their schema,
conveying meaning or manipulating form in a communicative task. Such exclusion
is not deliberate, but however unplanned or incidental, it is debilitating for them.
This does not mean that a fresh set of tasks needs to be created for them. With
some modifications and additional inputs, the learning experiences of BVI students
can be enhanced. For them, tactile and auditory stimuli make more sense than
mere visual stimuli or verbal descriptions.
Descriptive tasks
All students are required to learn to write descriptive paragraphs and then learn to
write essays. For BVI students this becomes difficult for two reasons. Firstly, they
can either write on the computer or in Braille, or replace writing with speech if
they are not proficient in either Braille or the computer. They can also make use of
scribes, but in the current classroom context scribes are not available. Secondly,
the description itself becomes very demanding because the inputs are visual.
As a stimulus and as a pre-task, all students were put into different groups and
were asked to think of an item and write down words that described a mystery
object that they had in mind as a group. The groups had BVI students and were
instructed to think of an item that the BVI students could hear and touch-and-feel
(such as a twig or an item in their bag/classroom). The items were put in a bag so
that the other groups and able-bodied students could not see the item. Then the
groups were assigned a speaker and a writer each. In order to solve the problem
of the non-availability of a scribe, in every group, care was taken to ensure that
the speaker was a BVI student and the writer an able-bodied student. The groups
were instructed to use only descriptive words related to smell, tactile feeling,
size, shape, components, etc. and not the actual names of the objects. Then the
speakers of the group would speak out the words and phrases related to the
object. The other groups/members were encouraged to guess the object and if
needed ask descriptive questions at any point of time, but all of them had to do
this by both raising their hand and clicking their fingers. This went on till the object
was identified. Later the collected words and phrases were converted into a
paragraph or a descriptive essay. As a connected task, the same object was given
to all the groups (the students did not know this) and the task repeated. In the end
the objects were exchanged along with descriptions and it was revealed that the
same object was given to all the groups. This led to a comparison of descriptions
across groups and an exchange of the vocabulary choices made.
Nature of inclusions
The BVI students felt comfortable with this task for a couple of reasons. First, they
got to touch, feel, smell and hear the sound of the target object to be described
instead of relying on other peoples descriptions. This led to more descriptive

words being generated (in terms of smell, tactile feeling, size, shape, etc.). In their
own words, they felt included, contributory and useful during the exercise. As one
participant put it: The first class that I enjoyed was the class 1 day you showed
some twigs to me and my friends and told us to compare them we absorved [sic]
a laught [sic] of differences bitwin [sic] other comparisons and my comparison.
So far I havent come across such a class in my life time. Another student
corroborated: Other class which I liked is when madam brought those twigs in
to the class and asked us to describe them. I liked it because firstly I even dont
know about the tree which madam showed and secondly I have learnt some words
which are used for describing things. One student passionately observed: How
can I forget the class with some twigs and plants you brought and started teaching
comparison probabully [sic] this my favoret [sic]class. Another studentwas even
able to go meta on his experience and talk about the twig class, that he liked
it because when we speak, we dont use the same language which we use for
describing an object. This class helped me to learn some new expressions used
to describe an object. If tactile, olfactory and auditory senses are exploited, then
descriptions can become meaningful to BVI students.
Vocabulary learning
All students are required to learn vocabulary. The specific items in discussion
here are the words that are related to running or walking, for example, crawl,
creep, drag, inch, plod, slide, slither, tiptoe, amble, sprint, dart, rush, zip, zoom,
dash, hurry, race and whiz. An understanding of the minute differences between
these terms is mainly through sight for able-bodied students. This creates obvious
problems for BVI students. These words were written on the board while being
spelt out at the same time, and each one of them was demonstrated by total
physical response. For example, the teacher held the hands of each BVI student
and jogged while offering a description of what and how she was pacing and
placing her steps in order for the student to comprehend the meaning of the
word. This was done on a one-to-one basis. The other words were compared and
contrasted to bring out the similarities and the differences. The follow-up task was
to write paragraphs or sentences using these words in groups and then reading
them out to the rest of the class. As in the previous task, this too had a writer and
a speaker.
All the students, including the non-BVI ones, understood the nuances and the
subtle differences in the meanings of the words through the use of TPR. The BVI
students were comfortable and found the task useful. As one student observed,
the first day of my English class you made me feal [sic] free and allowed me to
express mycelf [sic] and u even taught me the action words by performing actions
along with me. This attitude helped everyone to understand the verb words like
run, sit, jog, so on. Another student added, I learnt many things from the class
regarding action words in the bigining [sic] I dont no [sic] the meaning of all these
words, but after your inspiring class I came to no [sic] all the words by action you
showed all the action performing I like the class the most.

TPR-integrated activities allow BVI students to comprehend, internalize and
scaffold the new words that are learnt as part of the syllabus in an inclusive
classroom.
A similar exercise was used to teach prepositions. An empty carton box and a
special ball for BVI learners were used to demonstrate prepositions by placing
the ball in the appropriate position vis--vis the carton. The students received this
task well. One student observed that class which I liked was when madam taught
prepositions using a practical example. I liked that class because as a visually
challenged student, we can understand easily by practical examples. This class has
given me the exact picture of using those prepositions [sic].
Transfer of information to graphs

Special tactile aids were used to ensure non-exclusion. BVI students were made to
understand the concept of graphs through embossed aids using thread for lines to
be strung around drawing board pins for points. Like the other students in class, I
expected BVI students to respond using the aids used.
They were able to do so, during the group activity that followed, and not only
responded with the help of the aid but also made a presentation. Similarly during
the teaching of percentiles using pie graphs a pie plate was used; a similar string
instead of colours was used to indicate percentiles. The centre bulb was the centre
of the pie chart and the string was made to pass through it as it wound around
the bulb. This ensured minimum exclusion. In the words of one of the students,
Our teacher ensured that none of us were excluded in anything she taught us. The
special effort and care to develop the tools helped us to stay as equals with my
friends. Though we have Tailor board, we find that these tools and classes helped
us learn the way our normal friends do. She insisted that we be equal thats all!
The Government of India (GOI) order no. 1139 seems to still follow a policy of
exclusion, although all education policy documents refer to inclusive education. It
states: All Visually Impaired students are exempt from drawing or interpreting
graphs. With a little tactile assistance, this exclusion can be easily eradicated.
Conclusion
Inclusive education cannot end with a few sentences in policy documents. Even
the allotting of funds is not going to solve the problem. An overall empathetic
approach with a specific focus on the learning how to learn pattern of education
is required and this alone can make classrooms inclusive. Students need to feel
included and made responsible for their own learning.
References
Policy guidelines on Inclusive Education (2009). Available at: http://unesdoc.
unesco.org/images/0017/001778/177849e.pdf
Nunan, D. (2004) Task-Based Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Prabhu, N.S. (1987) Second Language Pedagogy. Oxford: OUP.
The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education.
(1994). Available at: http://connectaschool.org/sites/default/files/Salamanca_
Declaration[1].pdf
Van Avermaet, P. et al. (2006) The Role of Teachers in Task-Based Language

Teaching in K. Van den Branden (Ed.) Task-Based Language Education: From Theory
to Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

English language teacher
educators feedback experience
as a teaching-learning tool in
Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria
Alice Udosen, Department of Curriculum Studies, University of
Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria
Wisdom Jude, Department of Curriculum and Teaching College
of Education Afaha Nsit, Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria
Abstract
The study sought to find out English language teacher educators knowledge
of feedback, and the type and quality of feedback they utilize with their teacher
trainees. A purposive sampling technique was used to select two out of four
teacher training institutions in the state while a random sampling technique was
used to select 250 respondents (50 teacher educators and 200 teacher trainees)
from the two institutions. Three research questions guided the study while two null
hypotheses were tested. Two sets of researcher-made and validated questionnaires
were used in collecting data for the study. The result of the study indicated that
teacher educators do not have a clear knowledge of what constitutes feedback.
While they claimed to use different modes and good quality feedback, their teacher
trainees disagreed. It is recommended that teacher educators be exposed through
workshops to knowledge of what constitutes feedback and how to implement it as
an innovation to achieve national curricular goals of teacher education.
Introduction
In any teaching and learning situation, teachers desire that their students
acquire the objectives of the curriculum. Hence, they employ various techniques
and strategies along with cutting-edge media resources. In order to find out
whether they have reached their curriculum goals, teachers often generate
information about students progress using a variety of methods class work,
tests/assessments, questioning and observation. As they mark students work or
interact with them orally, data is generated. Reviewing and reflecting on students
data/feedback provides teachers with insight into learning progress and helps
identify the gaps which require appropriate actions to close. Students for their
part appreciate it when teachers point out what they need to do to acquire skills,
attitudes and knowledge. When specific errors are pointed out with information
on how to make improvements, it makes it easier for students to learn. Thus, when
feedback enables teachers to tailor their teaching and points the way for students
to improve their performance, it becomes both a teaching and a learning tool.
Literature is replete with success stories involving the effective use of feedback

in teaching/learning situations (Bransford, Brown and Cocking 2000; Marzano,
Pickering and Pollock 2001; Hattie 2008; Mazur 2009). It has also been indicated in
the literature that frequent high stakes assessment lowers students motivation for
learning. This is because high stakes assessment focuses on grades/marks rather
than on refocusing students on the course concerned.
In spite of the potential for feedback facilitating teaching and learning, not much
has been reported in this regard in Nigeria and Akwa Ibom state. Experience
indicates that what is claimed to be feedback is actually marking and returning
students work. Not many teachers deem it necessary to let students know how
they are performing. Even continuous assessment which was meant to monitor
students progress with a view to closing yawning gaps is being abused by many
teachers at the tertiary level as some of them delay continuous assessment
and make it part of the final exam. Thus, students are denied the opportunity of
learning from their mistakes and prevented from improving their performance.
Where then lies the motivation for learning? And how can such teachers
understand students learning difficulties and adapt their teaching accordingly?
Teacher education programmes aim to produce educators who are academically

and professionally well-groomed to be able to translate theory into practice and
vice versa (Osuji 2009: 298). The National Policy on Education [npe], which serves
like a blueprint for education for the nation and stipulates the aims and objectives
of education for each level, addresses teacher education in section 8b and lists
five goals. Among the goals are that teachers should be highly motivated, have
the spirit of enquiry and creativity with the necessary intellectual and professional
background as well as being adaptable to changing situations. These qualities
are to be learned from their teacher educators in the course of their professional
preparation. This means that the educators themselves must possess these
qualities and should adapt easily to any changing situation in the course of their
work.
Teachers at the university and College of Education are seen as models. Their
feedback practice would influence their teacher trainees. It is, however, doubtful
whether English language teacher educators understand the concept of feedback
and do incorporate it into their curricular practices.
Continuous assessment is an innovation in the Nigerian education system. Prior

to its introduction learners waited till the end of the term or the end of the year
before being assessed. At that time learners did not benefit nor did they learn
from their mistakes because feedback was not forthcoming. Obviously, formative
assessment that provides lots of feedback and opportunities for students to use
the feedback leads to better achievement and enhanced performance (Wiggins
2012).
In view of the preceding observations, it does seem that teachers knowledge of

feedback is questionable. It must be noted that the first step towards implementing
any innovation lies in the proper understanding of the concept involved. This

study is undertaken to explore English language teacher educators knowledge of
feedback and practices in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria.
Concept, purpose and types of feedback

Teaching and learning aim at achieving specific goals. While learners strive to
reach their goals, they constantly need information on how well they are doing on
the course. Such information must be descriptive enough to point them on the way
to achieving their goals. Thus, feedback is not advice, evaluation or judgement,
neither is it grades as these cannot possibly tell the learners what to do the next
time to improve their performance. Feedback is information a learner receives on
how he/she is doing in his/her efforts to reach the desired goal. Thus, the purpose
of feedback is to help students develop their understanding and improve their
performance in relation to the expected standard. Feedback should identify the
gap between expected outcome and current achievement and provide assistance
on how to close the gap. When feedback functions this way, scholars prefer to
regard it as feedforward because it is future work that would be improved.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria the story is different. Teacher educators and teachers

do not seem to realize the potential role of feedback in the teaching-learning
situation. At the teacher education level, teacher trainees receive very little
information on how they are progressing. Emphasis is placed on teaching to cover
the syllabus and not on whether students are learning or not. Everyone seems
to ignore the fact that teaching less and providing more feedback can produce
greater learning (Mazur 2009).
There are different types of feedback a teacher can use. It can be a demonstration
of a skill, a discussion, or the teacher may decide to engage the students in
conversation individually or in groups. What determines the type of feedback
used is the level of the learners involved and the purpose it will serve. Feedback
can be given in small groups or large groups. It can come from oneself or peers
as an ongoing process of learning. It can come from teachers. It can be given as
comments on the work, in a feedback sheet and even online. Feedback dialogue,
where students not only receive feedback but also have the opportunity to
engage in discussion about the feedback, can be used. Feedback can be formal or
informal.
Equally important in feedback practice is the need to train students to develop

the same evaluative skills as their teachers. Scholars have stressed the need for
teachers to also focus their efforts on strengthening the skills of self-assessment
in their students (Yorke 2003; Boud 2000). When feedback practice puts learners
at the centre, they will be actively involved in the learning process thereby
monitoring and regulating their own performance.
ICT and feedback practice in Nigeria

ICT has actually revolutionized teaching and learning by transferring power from
teachers to learners, and increased access to quality education. In spite of all the

benefits that ICT holds for the improvement of classroom interaction, there seems
to be no meaningful application of this technology in the classrooms (Salisu 2003
cited in Anekwe and Ifeakor 2004). The challenges in integrating ICT into the
Nigerian classrooms include lack of knowledge and skills, non-availability of ICT
facilities, power outage, poor funding and management problems (Abolade and
Yusuf 2005; Udosen 2008).
A study conducted to find out how literate English language teachers were in ICT,
its availability and utilization in teaching and learning in Akwa Ibom state secondary
schools, discovered that most teachers were not ICT literate, that ICT facilities were
not available in schools and so teachers could not use them (Udosen 2008).
Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to find out English language teacher educators
knowledge of and feedback practice in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria.
Research questions
Two research questions guided the study.
1. What is the English language teacher educators knowledge of feedback?

2. What is the type of feedback used by teacher educators?
Hypotheses
Two null hypotheses were tested for the study.
1. There is no significant mean difference in the responses of teacher educators

and teacher trainees regarding the type and quality of feedback used.
2. English language teacher educators do not differ significantly from their
trainees with regard to the technology used in feedback practice.
Method
The Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria was created in 1987 with about eight core ethnic
groups. There are six tertiary institutions in the state but only two train English
language teachers for the state and nation. The population of the study comprised
all 68 teacher educators and all 245 in years two and three from the two teacher
training institutions. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the
two institutions while a simple random sampling technique was used to select
the teachers and teacher trainees. That brought the sample size to 50 English
language teacher educators and 200 teacher trainees.
Two sets of questionnaires, tagged English Language Teacher Educators

Feedback Experience Questionnaire (ELTEFEQ) and English Language Teacher
Trainees Feedback Experience Questionnaire (ELTTEQ) and developed by the
researchers, comprised 27 items while the trainees had 23 items all measuring
the major variables of the study. The respondents were requested to indicate
their opinion on a four-point rating scale of Strongly Agree (SA) (4), Agree (A) (3),

Disagree (D) (2) and Strongly Disagree (SD) (1) on positive items, and the reverse
for negative items. The benchmark was 2.5 and above. The instruments were face
validated by two experts in the department of Educational Foundations majoring
in measurement and evaluation. Their comments were used to modify the items.
The instrument was then trial tested on a sample of 20 teacher educators and
trainees who were not part of the main study. Cronbach Alpha procedure was
used to ascertain the internal consistency reliability of the instruments, which
yielded .93 for the teachers and .72 for the trainees. The validated instruments
were personally administered to the respondents by the researchers in the two
institutions. Data collected was analysed using mean and t-test statistics.
Results
The results of the study are presented in tables in accordance with the research
questions and null hypotheses.
Research question 1: What is the English language teacher educators knowledge

of feedback?
Table 1: Knowledge of feedback by English language teacher educators
Knowledge of feedback N Sum Mean S.D

Items
Grading students work 50 157.00 3.1400 1.01035
(score) A+B+ etc.
Providing praise on 50 156.00 3.1200 .68928
strengths
Providing criticism on weak 50 130.00 2.6000 1.03016
points (e.g. poor work)
Describing what students 50 162.00 3.2400 .74396
need to do next time for
improvement
Feedback is the same as 50 141.00 2.8200 .77433
knowledge of result (KOR)
Overall 50 746.00 14.9200 2.62515
Table 1 indicates that teacher educators knowledge of feedback includes grading

students work, offering praise on strengths and criticizing weak points, as well
as feedback being the same as knowledge of the results. Their positive ratings of
these negative items indicate that they do not have a clear knowledge of feedback.
Research question 2: What types of feedback do teacher educators use?

Table 2: Result of descriptive statistics on types of feedback used by English teacher
educators
Types of feedback used N Sum Mean S.D

Items
l grade students work once 50 124.00 2.4800 1.14713
l give comments orally 50 132.00 2.6400 1.02539
l write comments on 50 169.00 3.3800 .53031
students work
l give specific comments on 50 173.00 3.4600 .50346
students errors
l give specific suggestions 50 181.00 3.6200 .49031
for improvement
l train students to self- 50 142.00 2.8400 .84177
assess their work
Fellow students are trained 50 119.00 2.3800 .90102
to peer assess work
Overall 50 1040.00 20.8000 3.06394
Table 2 shows that teacher educators give feedback orally and in written form.
They also give specific comments on students errors, give specific suggestions for
improvement, and train students to assess themselves. They however do not grade
students work all at once and do not use peer assessment.
Null hypothesis 1: There is no significant mean difference in the responses of

teacher educators and their trainees regarding the type of feedback used.
Table 3: t-test analysis of the mean difference in the responses of teacher educators
and trainees on types of feedback used
Variable Respondent N Mean Std. Deviation t-Cal
Response on Trainee 200 16.41 4.14

feedback type
Trainer 50 20.80 3.06 -7.04*
*
Significant at .05; Critical-t = 1.972; df=248
Table 3 shows that t-cal of 7.04 was greater than crit-t of 1.972 at .05 alpha
level. The null hypothesis is rejected. This means that there is a significant mean
difference between teacher educators and their trainees regarding the type of
feedback used.
Null hypothesis 2: English language teacher educators do not differ significantly

from their trainees on the technology used in feedback practice.

Table 4: t-test analysis of the mean difference in the responses of teacher educators
and trainees on technology used in feedback
Variable Respondent N Mean S. D t-Cal

Response Trainee 200 5.57 2.19 .55
on Technology
Trainer 50 5.38 1.89
Significant at .05; Critical-t = 1.972; df=248
Table 4 shows that t-cal of .55 is less than critt of 1.972. Based on this result
we retain null hypothesis 2.This means that both teacher educators and teacher
trainees are agreed that technology is not used in their feedback practice.
Discussion of the findings

Table 1 contains the finding of this study on teacher educators knowledge of
feedback where they rated the negative items highly showing that they do not
have a clear understanding of what constitutes feedback. This finding indicates
that many teacher educators do not understand what feedback is (Hattie 2008).
On the type of feedback used, the teacher educators rating of the items in Table
2 shows that they use different modes in giving feedback. This again is reflected
in Table 3 where their mean rating is significantly higher than the teacher trainees.
The teacher trainees do not seem to agree with the type of feedback the teacher
educators claim to use. Teachers do not feel confident using self and peer
assessment whereas these skills should be encouraged (Yorke 2003; Boud 2000).
On the issue of technology, the teacher educators and their trainees are agreed
that they do not use them. This finding corroborates earlier studies (Salisu 2003,
cited in Anekwe and Ifeakor 2004) that technology has not been adequately
integrated into our school system largely due to teachers ICT illiteracy as well as
the non-availability of these facilities.
It is worth noting that in the course of this study the researchers encountered
some teacher educators who totally lack knowledge of feedback and those who
know what constitutes feedback but fail to incorporate it in their teaching. This
accounts for the variance in the responses of teacher educators and their trainees
in most of the variables examined and demonstrates a clear gap between theory
and practice.
Conclusions
From the findings of this study, we can safely conclude that the English language
teacher educators used in this study do not fully understand what feedback
is. They, however, acknowledge the availability of types of feedback but fail to
incorporate it into their teaching practice. It is disappointing to discover that
technology has no place in feedback practice in teacher training. One wonders
how their trainees will function in the system in this digital age.

Recommendations
1. Workshops should be organized for teacher trainers on what constitutes
feedback and how to incorporate it in their teaching practice to achieve
curricular goals.
2. The issue of integrating technology into curricular practice should be given
attention to at the tertiary level if the ripple effect must reach the lower levels.
3. Teacher educators should provide models for their teacher trainees on the
use of feedback to monitor teaching and learning goals through proper
administration of continuous assessment.
References
Abolade, O. and Yusuf M. (2005) Information and communication technology (ICT)
and the Nigeria teacher education programme. Journal of Education Studies 3(1):
1-19.
Anekwe, J. and Ifeakor, A. (2004) Integrating Media Technologies into early

Childhood Education: Challenges for Human Resources Development. Nigeria
Journal of Curriculum Studies, 11(2): 109-110.
Boud, D. (2000) Sustainable Assessment: rethinking assessment for the Learning

Society. Studies in Continuing Education 22(2): 151-167.
Bransford, J., Brown, A.L. and Cocking, R. (Eds.) (2000) How people learn: Brain,
Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004): National Policy on Education. Yaba, Lagos:

NERDC Press.
Hattie, J. (2008) Visible learning: a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to

achievement. New York: Routledge.
Mazur, E. (2009) Farewell Lecture. Science, 323: 50-51.
Marzano, R., Pickering, D. and Pollock, J. (2001) Classroom instruction that works:
research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandra, VA: ASCD.
Osuji, S.N. (2009) Teacher education curriculum in Nigeria in the perspective of

lifelong education. The Journal of International Social Research 2(8): 297-301.
Udosen, A. (2008) English Language Teachers utilization of information and

communication technology (ICT) for effective curriculum implementation in Akwa
Ibom state of Nigeria. International Journal of Arts and Technology Education 2 (3):
60-77.
Wiggins, G. (2012) Seven Keys to Effective Feedback. Educational Leadership

70(1): 10-16
Yorke, M (2003) Formative assessment in higher education: move towards theory

and the enhancement of pedagogic practice. Higher Education 45(4): 477-501.

The use of observation
feedback cycles as a method
of teachers continuous
professional development in the
context of TE:ST
Joy Townsend, Director, CEO Destiny Education, Mumbai, India
Abstract
Observation of teachers is a very common occurrence in schools but is less
frequently connected with effective feedback. In order to be effective, feedback
needs to be specific, actionable, constructive and timely. Feedback is more
successful when part of an ongoing process in order to allow for changes to occur
and a sense of achievement to build, thus leading to increased motivation and
further change.
This paper explores the use and effectiveness of observation and feedback in the
context of TE:ST (Total Evaluation : School Transformation), an evaluation service
carried out by Destiny Education (DE), Mumbai in Victoria Falls School (name
changed). Forty-nine teachers from pre-school to high school were observed and
given feedback at least twice within a period of six months.
TE:ST involved an initial evaluation of the school, including observation of teachers

with feedback, interviews, questionnaires and evaluation of documents. A report
was then written. Using these recommendations, along with input from school
management, a school development plan (SDP) was formulated. The paper
concludes with suggestions for improvements to future iterations of the programme.
Introduction
TE:ST (Total Evaluation : School Transformation) is an evaluation service carried
out by Destiny Education (DE), Mumbai. One of the aims of TE:ST is to ensure that
observations are not only useful for whole school evaluation, but also for each
individual teachers development. The observations inform specific feedback,
which in turn informs an individuals professional development.
Observation in the context of appraisal

Jones (1993) cited in Tilstone (1998) points out that although classroom
observation is just one data-gathering process, it is a crucial aspect of evaluation.
Carthew (1988) perceptively states that observation is essential to support a
teacher, and provide relevant and useful training. It is hard to know how a teacher
needs to develop unless evaluation has occurred. This could be in the form of
self-evaluation by the teacher or observation by another person. Third-party

observation can often add greater insight and clarity to a teachers own self-
evaluation. TE:ST provided this third-party evaluation.
Most school appraisal systems include both self-evaluation and third-party

evaluation, and are conducted in a cyclical format. In fact observation and
feedback are most frequently referenced as part of appraisal cycles. Whilst the
evaluation aspect of TE:ST is not cyclical, the input phase after the SDP includes
cyclical observation and feedback sessions.
According to Goddard and Emerson (1992) there are two types of appraisal: the
staff development model and the accountability model. Goddard and Emerson
themselves question whether the two methods are compatible, concluding that
because of the teachers different perspectives and attitudes to each method;
it would be near to impossible. When teachers are appraised for accountability,
especially when tied to promotion or salary, they make sure they are presenting
their best. Lessons are planned and executed to impress the observer. Students
are warned to be on their best behaviour and teachers can tend to play safe
(Tilstone 1998). On the contrary, when lessons are observed for development a
teacher feels less need to impress. There is no longer the pressure of external
reward or failure. As teachers feel a part of the process they are more likely to
experiment with new methods, developing their skills, knowing that if it doesnt
work or mistakes are made, it is not going to cost them their jobs. Development
is only going to occur when new strategies are implemented and teaching
changes. This highlights the dilemma of TE:ST. Whilst we at DE promote teacher
development and see it as an essential part of TE:ST, it is argued that observation
towards both accountability and development cannot happen at the same time and
be effective. Principals and management often appear to be more concerned with
the accountability and grading of their teachers.
Observation process
Carthew (1988) indicates that repeated or multiple observations will clearly be
more productive and representative. Poster and Poster (1991) claim that the first
observation should be of a more general focus and the second more specific.
TE:ST (pre-SDP), however, conducts a minimum of two observations per teacher
and both are general. This enables us to obtain an informed, triangulated base
line on which to build. TE:ST (pre-SDP) consists of one known (date and time told
in advance) and one unknown observation. The resulting comparison shows us
what a teacher is capable of when time, effort and thought have been put into
the lesson (known) as opposed to everyday reality (unknown). This then raises the
question not of ability but of motivation.
Whether observation is carried out in-house or by outsiders it is essential, as

Tilstone (1998) indicates, that the atmosphere is positive, supportive and based
on mutual trust. An initial meeting between the observer and teachers before
the observation would aid this process greatly. An introductory meeting would
help move the teachers away from feeling apprehensive, watched and judged, to
knowing that we are there to help and work alongside them towards improvement.

Preconceived ideas of observations and expectations often influence teachers
attitudes and performance.
Much has been written about the actual mechanics of classroom observation.
Goddard and Emerson (1992), Tilstone (1998) and Wragg (1999) all talk extensively
about the position of the observer, whether they participate or just watch, and
even how the observer dresses. During TE:ST we try to gain, as far as possible, an
accurate picture of what normally happens in the classroom, although we realise
we are not invisible, and therefore may influence the students and teacher.
Study
The TE:ST (Total Evaluation : School Transformation) process was carried out by
Destiny Education (DE) in Victoria Falls School (name changed). Each teacher
(49 teachers from pre-school to high school) was observed and given feedback
at least twice within a period of six months. TE:ST included an initial evaluation
of the school, including observation of teachers with feedback, interviews,
questionnaires and evaluation of documents. A report was then written. Using
these recommendations, along with input from school management, a school
development plan (SDP) was formulated.
The majority of our observation recording during TE:ST was qualitative; most of the
time we looked at an overview rather than specific traits of a lesson. This allowed
for a more open discussion with the teacher during the feedback phase. It was
then possible to gain insight into the teachers philosophy as she explained why
something occurred, the context and circumstances.
Before trainers/observers used the TE:ST form, each section was explained and
explanatory notes provided for future reference (see Appendix). These notes
acted as prompts as suggested by Goddard and Emerson (1992). The form covers
eight sections, and observers wrote as much or as little detail as they wished. The
purpose of the explanatory notes was to ensure that observations conducted by
DE were standard regardless of who the observer was. This was essential in order
to provide consistency between observers.
Wragg (1999) talks about our own subjective perception, personal views of quality
and effectiveness, as well as our pre-supposed ideas and values. However, when I
reflect on the assumptions of the teachers we observed and their views of good
and effective education I realise there is considerable discrepancy not in theory,
but in practice. During TE:ST we found that many teachers were able to give the
answers we expected with regard to attitudes and skills of a teacher. However,
when observing the teachers in action, the difference between the known theory
and the practical outworking was vast. The teachers may have known what they
were meant to do, yet they appeared to find it incredibly difficult to translate this
into practice. Therefore the required development was not about teaching more
theory but enabling the teachers to gain practically the skills and techniques
required to put theory into practice.

Goddard and Emerson (1992) clearly state that both the teacher and the observer
need to be open about classroom expectations. This was not facilitated by DE in
TE:ST on this occasion. On reflection, this needs to be integrated into TE:ST in the
future. During the pre-observation meeting, time must be spent finding out the
teachers classroom expectations and sharing DEs expectations where additional
or different.
Whilst it was not possible within the constraints of TE:ST (pre-SDP) to complete
whole appraisal cycles, an effort at triangulation was made by using student,
teacher and parent questionnaires alongside observations. Campell and Fiske
(1959) cited in Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2007: 141) state that Triangulation
is a powerful way of demonstrating concurrent validity particularly in qualitative
research. As recommended by Denzin, referred to in Salkind (2010), we used
investigator triangulation (more than one observer) and methodological
triangulation (same method used on more than one occasion).
DEs TE:ST effectively fulfilled Montgomery and Hadfields (1989: 98) other
purposes for appraisal schemes:
1. improving the lines of communication

2. increasing managerial awareness
3. creating a more open school ethos
4. identifying in-service requirements
5. improving teacher standards
6. developing whole school initiatives.
Although DE personnel were initially unknown to the school staff, they appeared
to improve communication, providing teachers with the chance to speak out
during feedback sessions, and allowing them to voice difficulties or suggestions.
These were passed on to management, fulfilling the second point increasing
managerial awareness. TE:ST very much fulfils points four and six in the formation
of the report and SDP. At the end of the six months all observation reports were
analysed to ascertain common in-service training requirements. These were then
incorporated into the recommendations which subsequently informed the SDP,
thus fulfilling point six. Point five is a longer-term project and only when TE:ST is
fully taken into the post-SDP stage is this adequately fulfilled.
Feedback process
Observers are constantly trying to balance positive and negative feedback. During
TE:ST we found that unless teachers were given written points, many of them could
not remember what was discussed, let alone make any changes to their teaching.
We tried to put more positive points than areas to improve.
In order to fulfil ethical considerations, it was clearly stated at the beginning of

TE:ST that copies of observation forms and feedback slips would be given only to
the concerned teacher, school management and DE.

Feedback should be given as soon as possible. Green and Sanders (1990) indicate
that it should be within forty-eight hours of the observation. They also feel that
the teacher should be given a copy of the observation form before the meeting
in order to read and assimilate the points. Whilst DE always gave the feedback
within forty-eight hours, the form was only given during the meeting itself. Time
was given during the meeting for the teacher to read it and ask for clarification if
needed, before any comments were made by the observer. We found this reduces
any misunderstandings that the written word, given in advance, could cause. In
fact, the observer often asked for the teachers thoughts about the lesson before
even beginning their own feedback. Explanations were often all a teacher needed,
but without these they tended to interpret from their own possibly widely different
assumptions, which sometimes then led to misunderstandings and breaks in
communication and relationship.
Observing a number of teachers in a short space of time during TE:ST gave us

a general feel for the level of experience and exposure of the teachers within
the school. Accordingly, we were then able to form a baseline evaluation and
therefore work with value-added rather than absolute expectations.
Conclusions
The conclusions drawn from this study can be categorised under Danielson and
McGreals (2000) three essential aspects of evaluation.
1. What are the acceptable standards in teaching?

It is clear that we as observers need to be aware of our own prescriptive
assumptions (Brookfield 1995). We have found that our expectations and
assumptions of good practice are often not the same as the teachers we are
observing. There are currently no published standards of practice to refer to in
India, although expectations can be gleaned from the NCF (NCERT 2005). In order
to ensure that all teachers and management know what is expected, extended
time must be given to detailing good practice and explaining the criteria of
observation. It is recommended that a set of levelled indicators be derived from
the NCF (NCERT 2005), in a manner similar to the UK professional standards for
teachers (TDA 2007). There is a great need for contextual and relevant standards
to be made available.
2. Methodology of assessment
Time is one of the key limiting factors. Schools are also limited by budget and
teacher availability for input and training. Structured and planned teacher
development does not yet appear to be high on the agenda of many schools and
NGOs.
It is essential that a pre-observation meeting occurs with teachers to promote an

atmosphere of collaborative learning and change. Teachers need to be far more
involved in the whole evaluation process with time made available for their initial
and ongoing input.

Post-SDP DE needs to continue the observationfeedback cycle in a specific
manner with individual teachers to move them towards more effective teacher
development. Effective development involves a collaborative process, and the
teachers need to be more aware of and encouraged into taking an active role.
Teacher motivation and the simple acknowledgement of the need to develop
will play an important part in making this a success. DE can play an active role in
enabling teachers to help themselves learn by accessing relevant internet sites.
Presently the triangulated qualitative methods in TE:ST are effective in providing

an initial assessment of individual and school needs forming a baseline for future
observations. TE:ST observations tend to be very general, so even though we
point out a focus to improve in the feedback, this does not become the focus of
follow-up observations. TE:STs current observation style is therefore more suited
to school evaluation (accountability) rather than the development of individual
teachers. We will ensure in future that once the two initial observations have
occurred, future observations will always involve discussion with the teacher,
creating focus, followed by focused observation and specific feedback. Results
would then show clearly where the improvement focus needs to be.
3. Evaluators skills and expertise

Consistent programmes and time need to be taken to train and acculturate TE:ST
observers. An observer can only observe and feedback within their own limitations
and expectations.
References
Brookfield, S. (1995) Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Carthew, C. (1988) Classroom Observation in L. Bell (Ed.) Appraising Teachers In

Schools: A Practical Guide. London: Routledge.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007) Research Methods in Education (Sixth
edition) Oxon: Routledge.
Danielson, C. and McGreal, T.L. (2000) Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional

Practice VA: ASCD.
Green, K. and Sanders, M. (1990) The Teacher Appraisal Book. London: Mary
Glasgow Publications Ltd.
Goddard, I. and Emerson, C. (1995) Appraisal and Your School. Oxford: Heinemann
Educational.
Montgomery, N. and Hadfield, D. (1989) Practical Teacher Appraisal. London: Kogan

Page
NCERT (2005) National Curriculum Framework. Delhi: Publication Dept. NCERT.
Ofsted (2010) Conducting School Inspections. London: Crown Publications.

Poster, C. and Poster, D. (1991) Teacher Appraisal A Guide To Training. London:
Routledge.
Salkind, N.(2010) Encyclopedia of Research Design (Volume 3). California: Sage

Publications Inc.
TDA (2007) Professional Standards for Teachers. London: TDA.
Tilstone, C. (1998) Observing Teaching and Learning. London: David Fulton

Publishers.
Wragg, E.C. (1999) An Introduction to Classroom Observation (Second edition).

London: Routledge.
Appendix
CLASSROOM OBSERVATION
TEACHERS NAME: DATE:
STANDARD / CLASS: NUMBER OF CHILDREN:
SUBJECT(S) TAUGHT:
TIME LESSON STARTED: DURATION OF OBSERVATION:
Comments
Is the planning book up to date including

evaluations? Does the lesson plan match the
Evidence of planning:
lesson being taught? What are the differences?
Clear aim of lesson?
What styles are being used? Class / group /
Teaching methods: individual? Organisation? Types of teaching /
learning? Change of activities? Suitability?
Attention-gaining strategies? Organisation

Behaviour management strategies? Discipline strategies? Positive
strategies: behaviour management?
What TAs are being used? How effectively?

Teaching aids:
Enough?
How catering for struggling students / average

Differentiation: / high achievers? Difference in task / outcome?
Attitude towards different types of students?
Interest of students? Participation of students
Students approach to work
who, how many, how often?
/ task:

Pace of lesson too slow / too fast? How much
content covered in lesson? Explanations too long
Use of time:
/ brief? Teacher led / child directed? Beginning /
ending of lesson? Dead time?
How students assessed? Records of assessment?
Assessment and evaluation: Marking of work? Comments made to students?
Areas to develop:
Effective strategies: Max 4 points T needs to improve on.
2 4 points T is doing well Prioritise.
o Yes o No
Feedback Discussed:
Observer: Teacher:

Defossilising the errors of ESL
learners through feedback
Sanjay Arora, Associate Professor, Department of English,
Central University of Rajasthan, Kishangarh, Ajmer, Rajasthan,
India
Abstract
This paper proposes ways of defossilising the errors of ESL learners coming from
rural backgrounds in Rajasthan through using a variety of classroom strategies.
Learners errors become fossilised at the school level due to lack of feedback or
error correction. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part reviews some
of the causes of the fossilisation of errors of ESL learners. This is followed by a
focus on phonological, syntactic and lexical errors. The concluding part of the
paper reviews some strategies that may work in other situations beyond the ones
mentioned above and gives some suggestions for defossilising the errors of ESL
learners in general.
Introduction
English in Rajasthan, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas, is learnt mainly
with the intention of securing a job. It is perhaps because of this limited goal
that most students only learn the very basics of the language. Students make
errors that go uncorrected by teachers. Over the years these errors get deeply
rooted and inadvertently repeated in the speech and writing of ESL learners. This
cementing of errors is called fossilisation and the embedding is so firm that it is
very difficult for most ESL learners to avoid or evade them.
Feedback on a students performance can enhance their knowledge, problem

management, critical and creative abilities and sense of appreciation for the
language and their work. Feedback from teachers to students can be either
corrective or non-corrective in nature. The focus of the paper will be more on
corrective feedback.
Context
The idea for the paper germinated from my teaching ESL learners (many of whom
were first-generation learners) at the tertiary level in three government colleges
in eastern and southern Rajasthan (all located in the semi-urban belt). Over the
last 15 years of my teaching in these colleges, I have realised that there are some
errors which seem to have become fossilised because of repeated use and lack
of feedback. It is with this premise in mind that this paper has been planned. At
the tertiary level, the concept of feedback is completely missing from language
teaching. The main cause of this is that most teachers at no stage of their career
are trained in how to give feedback to learners, and even when they do come
across the idea of feedback, they rarely learn the strategies for giving feedback

effectively in the classroom. Furthermore, after training there is no monitoring or
follow-up of whether the teachers are practically implementing what they have
learnt in training sessions.
Causes of fossilisation
One of the root causes of the fossilisation of errors is the lack of feedback. The
only feedback given to students from teachers in some contexts is through marks
given in tests and exams which rarely improve their linguistic competence. Another
challenge in an Indian classroom is heterogeneity. In a diverse class it becomes
difficult for the teacher to cater to the needs of all. Even the teaching style and
teaching methodology vary from one teacher to the other. The errors of learners
reflect their culture, personality and level of comprehensibility. It is only by keeping
these factors in mind that the causes of fossilisation can be effectively explored.
The main factors of fossilisation in the context mentioned above are simplification,
overgeneralisation, faulty teaching, first language transfers and lack of feedback.
Beyond these there are some other secondary factors such as inadequate
learning, message misinterpretation, inaccurate facts and inappropriate use.
Areas of fossilisation
The major areas of fossilisation observed during my teaching are pronunciation,
lexis and syntax. In terms of lexis, learners tend to pick up incorrect words from
various sources of information around like pamphlets, boards, hoardings, banners,
newspapers, advertisements on TV, language used in soap operas, on the Internet,
especially social networking sites. Most of these errors are because of first
language interference. Some such uses in this regard noticed are in phrases and
sentences like, memorise me to her, and fast air. Then we have misuses like too
many rush, health hazards are arriving, etc.
Most of the syntactical errors of ESL learners are due to mother tongue
interference (MTI). Two of the common errors committed by learners in the course
of testing and observation are given below:
We are playing since two hours. (This comes out of do ghante se saatbaje se
)
If he will come, we will play. (This comes from the Hindi translation, Agar who
ayega to hum khelenge.)
Feedback in detail
Broadly speaking, feedback comprises correction, assessment, mistakes
and errors, conveyed to the learners with the intent of improving them by
providing pinpointed and precise information on their performance. It should
be incorporated into the learning and teaching process to improve student
engagement (Price and ODonovan 2008). In order to enhance the learning
process and overall learning rate, timely and effective feedback should be
integrated with assessment. Effective feedback provides reinforcement to the

students, is clear, meaningful, relevant and compatible with the students prior
knowledge.
In the National Student Satisfaction Survey in the UK in 2008, 54% of

undergraduate students agreed that the feedback they had received had been
prompt and had helped to clarify points they did not understand (Tahir 2008). This
percentage may be initially lower in non-native-speaking countries and remote
rural and semi-urban schools and colleges, yet it can give a real boost to the
overall learning process and acts as a motivator. In the Indian situation where we
have large classes, the transformation of information in the form of feedback can
be arduous and cumbersome.
Advantages and disadvantages of written feedback

As written feedback is documented, every possible care should be taken to make
it clear and comprehensible. It can be argued that it does not leave much scope
for misinterpretation if both teachers and students are aware of correction codes.
Written feedback is an enduring record which cannot be tampered with. Rather, it
can be repeatedly referred to for further correction and improvement.
As written feedback is time-consuming a lot of effort and energy goes to waste

if it is not properly utilised. As there may not be immediate feedback for some
writing tasks, the context of correction after a passage of time may be lost. So it
is imperative that an efficient system for a speedy feedback be developed right
from the primary up to the university level. At present written feedback is more
expensive but to economise on that we can use technology which might, in some
respects, also be more objective.
Advantages and disadvantages of oral feedback

In contrast, oral feedback is less time-consuming and less expensive as it can
be given directly on the spot. With less advanced learners, repetition is very
important for embedding thoughts and concepts for which the game Bingo
has been suggested. In my classes, both language and literature, it has evoked
positive responses from my students because it is not at all challenging. In a play-
way method corrective feedback is given for various concepts of literature and
grammar in a camouflaged manner by the teacher and directly through peers. In a
traditional classroom it can be taken up on the board. For example, the board can
be divided into 16 boxes and numbered from 1 to 16. Thereafter the class can be
divided into two teams, Team A and Team B. A captain for each team is appointed
and asked to monitor the responses given. Team A starts by picking a number pair
and the teacher writes the answers in the chosen boxes from the master chart that
s/he has prepared. After writing the answers in the respective boxes, the teacher
tries to elicit responses from the students about the validity of the choice made;
this promotes a lot of discussion; the students discuss, correct and decide whether
the answer pair in the two boxes match in terms of the topic at hand. If they do,
the answer is not rubbed out and the team picking up the right answer gets 10
points. All through the game, the teacher continues to elicit responses from the

learners through metalinguistic cues and clarification requests which assist them
in arriving at the correct match.
In order to check the relevance of this game, a pre-test was given to 38

undergraduates who opted for English literature at the tertiary level, to test their
understanding of finite and non-finite verbs which they had already studied at
senior secondary level. The results were very disappointing, as is evident from the
graph below:
Figure 1: Pre-intervention scores
Not even 10% of students were familiar with these terms. They were then taught
the topic and then played Bingo. After elicitation, peer feedback and teacher
feedback a post-test was taken. The post-test improvement is indicated in Figure 2:
Figure 2: Post-intervention scores

Corrective feedback
Apart from Bingo, corrective feedback which includes explicit correction,
recasting, clarification requests, metalinguistic cues, elicitation and repetition
can also be taken up (Lyster and Ranta 1997). In explicit correction the teacher
indicates that there is an error and provides the correct form, e.g. We cannot say,
She have completed her work, we say, She has completed her work. This is the
most common method of feedback that is widely practised by many teachers in
India, but it is less preferred these days as it may discourage learners.
A more refined method of feedback these days is recasting in which the teacher
does not directly indicate the error, instead reformulates the utterance in the
correct form. For example:
S: She have completed her work.
T: She has completed her work, hasnt she?
Another way of giving feedback is by making a clarification request in which the

teacher uses phrases to indicate that the message was not understood and that a
reformulation is required. For example:
Could you repeat what you said, please?
The teacher can even repeat the students error by adjusting intonation to draw
attention to it.
They has done the work?
A better way that works in my situation is by giving metalinguistic cues which

I do mainly while making the students play Bingo. Here the correct form is not
provided, instead yes/no questions are posed suggesting that a reformulation is
necessary:
Can we transform intensive verbs?
I have found that direct elicitation of the correct form through questioning also
works with low-proficiency ESL learners. A hint like How do we say that in English?
can set learners on the right track or at least ensure that they make an effort to
recall and reformulate.
Celce-Murcia (1985) advocates eliciting information from the class, conducting

meaningful practice of a problematic form, giving focused cues about the error,
recasting and encouraging peer or self-correction as effective ways of error
correction. For a teacher it is important to diagnose the cause and type of error
and avoid over-correction and too much negative feedback, but it is not uniformly
the same in all situations. It may be the case in some contexts that some learners
are more interested in obtaining negative feedback rather than positive feedback.

So the teacher might want to resort to both negative and positive feedback.
Further s/he has to decide as to which one will prove to be more effective and
when. In order to provide effective feedback the teacher has to be mindful of
the basic objectives of the lesson, regulate the pace of the activity as per the
comprehension level of the students, identify problem areas and give clear
instructions.
Elicitation is also a vital part of feedback. Elicitation techniques like remaining silent
and allowing the learner to think, asking yes/no questions, using encouraging
language, gently asking another learner to answer if someone answers incorrectly,
using encouraging language and rejecting learners wrong responses tactfully can
help in making even the shyest of learners improve.
Conclusion
In order to defossilise the errors of ESL learners, teachers have to use multiple
strategies. Before this they need to understand their students, their background,
their shortcomings, the topic(s) to be taught, the expected outcomes, the
limitations of the students and the availability of time apart from a host of other
secondary factors. No single strategy, game or teaching methodology can work
universally in all situations. It may vary from one class to the other and one
teaching situation to the other. Feedback, especially oral feedback, which is a
neglected part of teaching should be used and, as per the comprehension abilities
of ESL learners, used more extensively to infuse confidence in the learners.
References
Beckman, L. and Klinghammer, S. (2006) Shaping the Way We Teach English:
Successful Practices Around the World. Office of English Language Programs,
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State,
Washington, DC 20547
Brandl, K. (2008) Communicative language teaching in action. New Jersey: Pearson

Prentice Hall.
Celce-Murcia, M. (1985) Making informed decisions about the role of grammar in

language teaching. Foreign language annals 18(4): 299-300.
Chiu Yin Wong, C. and Barrea-Marlys, M. (2012) The role of grammar in

communicative language teaching: an exploration of second language teachers
perceptions and classroom practices. Electronic journal of foreign language
teaching Vol.9. No 1: 61-75.
Ellis, R. (2000) Second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
El Tatawy, M. (2002) Corrective feedback in second language acquisition.

Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL & Applied
Linguistics, Vol 2, No 2.
Haskins, T. (2007) Growing changing learning creating: learning from feedback.

Available at: www.growchangelearn.blogspot.com

Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007) The power of feedback. Review of education
research. March 2007, Vol. 77.I: 81-112.
Hattie, J. (2009) Effective feedback enhancing learning. Available at: www.

slideshare.net/.../effective feedback-enhancing-learning
Lyster, R. and Ranta, L. (1997) Corrective feedback and learner uptake. Studies in
second language acquisition 19: 37-61.
Price, M. and ODonovan, B. (2008) Feedback All that effort, but what is the
effect? Paper presented at EARLI/ Northumbria Assessment Conference, 27-29
August.
Omaggio Hadley, A. (2001) Teaching language in context (Third edition). Boston:

Heinle & Heinle.
Stevick, E. (1986) Images and options in the language classroom. Cambridge:

Tahir, T. (2008) Feedback must be top priority. Times Higher Education

Supplement.
Ur, P. (1991) A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press

Teaching ESL beginners
effectively using corpus
linguistics and the lexical
approach
Adam Scott, Teacher, St Giles International, Brighton, United
Kingdom
Abstract
This paper outlines the findings and practical applications of a one-year action
research project with ESL beginners in a language school in Brighton, UK. The
research investigated the effectiveness of teaching corpus-driven content delivered
using a lexical teaching approach and found that this interface resulted in faster
language acquisition and more successful interaction, allowing learners faster
progress to elementary level, and potentially beyond. The study arose out of an
identified problem with some beginner learners poor progress at my school, and
resulted in a new 70-hour beginner course being designed and implemented, to
provide learners with the necessary foundations to move on to fruitful further
study. This research suggests that many of the approaches in producing materials
for lower level learners could achieve higher outcomes and the paper outlines the
major elements of the research and its findings, detailing how they can be applied in
the classroom to better support ESL beginner learners.
Background
The study took place at St Giles College, an English language school in Brighton,
in southern England, where adult learners take intensive English courses. I had
noticed a significant number of the beginner level learners were making very slow
progress, regularly taking over three months to progress to elementary level.
They and their teachers were frustrated with this situation, and their being cut off
from the English-speaking environment outside the classroom for so long. This
frustration was exacerbated by the schools rolling enrolment intake, where more
gifted beginners would frequently enter the class and then quickly be promoted
to the next level, often on a judgement of comparative (rather than actual) ability.
This demotivating factor created self-esteem issues for learners who remained in
the class without making tangible progress.
The school is typical in using trusted, international coursebooks as the basis of its
courses, and at beginner level these were failing to deliver in the intensive course
setting. Analysis of these coursebooks revealed that almost without exception
they followed a structural syllabus that devoted the first half to establishing the
grammar of the verb BE exemplified with pronouns and lexical sets of nouns and
adjectives. In Brighton, this hindered learners development as life goes on in the
city outside the school and, unguided, learners attempt to pick up more functional

language themselves transferring from L1 to fill the gaps, which creates learner
errors that quickly become fossilised and hinder accuracy. Such coursebooks
may perhaps be better suited to less intensive, semester courses and L1 learning
settings, but highlight the dangers of an overly structural syllabus. The needs of
learners in Brighton mirror those of English learners across the world today, who
are learning English for practical, developmental reasons attached to their work,
studies or life opportunities.
Assumptions
Structural syllabus coursebooks seemed to offer beginners a slow and theory-
laden introduction to learning English. By contrast, I predicted that collocation
would help beginners to develop their language skills more quickly. It would offer
learners a practical method for sticking together pieces of language and seeing
some of the structure underlying what people say in English, calling for a lexical
approach to teaching. Collocation also led me to think that learning and attempting
natural pronunciation of collocations would help learners both to learn the
individual words as chunks and to enable them to hear them in use when listening
to spoken English outside the classroom.
At beginner level, the need to be economical and judicious with content led me
to assume that using a corpus, database of real spoken and written English, to
identify what vocabulary, grammatical forms and structures to include in lesson
content would offer more effective instruction. Corpus linguistics offered a logic
to guide me in lesson content, as what were highest frequency lexis and grammar,
and most frequent collocations and colligations (the grammatical structures a
word commonly appears with) would be more frequently encountered outside the
classroom and therefore studying these would increase the learners opportunities
to hear and understand comprehensible input.
Finally, a common theme among collocation, corpus linguistics and traditional

structural approaches is syntax, which is central to learning to speak English. If
students fail to understand the importance of syntax, it remains a problem even
in advanced learners, one which I believe makes progress at higher levels harder
to achieve. Syntax also featured heavily in the findings of a backwards analysis of
desirable beginner course content, conducted from the perspective of problems
found in higher-level learners, identifying gaps in learners knowledge and L1
transfer strategies which were overlooked at lower levels and influenced lesson
design.
The literature
A literature review revealed very little attention has been given to teaching
beginners since Chapman (1958) with the exception of a resource book by Grundy
(1994). However, much of the work on collocation and corpus linguistics revealed
itself to be highly applicable to beginner course construction and addressing
the challenges identified above (Willis 1990; Hunston and Francis 2002; Hoey
2005; OKeeffe, McCarthy and Carter 2007). Corpus linguistics and the lexical

approach also revealed the relevance of McLaughlins Attention-Processing Model
(Brown 2006: Ch. 10) to the development of language ability, wherein language
learning is itself a learnt skill and the brains limited mental capacity means that
as learners we can only focus on combining a few items in a controlled manner
at one time. The idea that structured practice of these combinations gradually
leads to automaticity in these patterns, with our peripheral attention being given
to items already mastered or the broader situation or context, fitted well with
the assumptions that learners would benefit from focusing on creating chunks of
frequent language.
Practical approach
The logic of corpus linguistics gives teachers guidance in what to teach, and the
lexical approach a way to exploit this content, using the corpus tools of frequency
lists and online concordancers to establish the natural collocation patterns of high-
frequency lexis. To test this assumption, I constructed and analysed frequency
reference tables out of British National Corpus (BNC) frequency lists (Leech,
Rayson and Wilson 2001).
Figure 1: Frequency reference table

the Det 61847 1 6187267 the det time 1833 be 42277 of 29391 so 1893 it 10875 other 1336
of Prep 29391 2 4239632 be v year 1639 have 13655 in 18214 up 1795 i 8875 good 1276
and Conj 26817 3 3093444 of preps people 1256 do 5594 to 9343 then 1595 you 6954 new 1154
a Det 21626 4 2687863 and conj way 1108 will 3357 for 8412 out 1542 he 6810 old 648
in Prep 18214 5 2186369 a det man 1003 say 3344 with 6575 now 1382 they 4332 great 635
to inf 16284 6 1924315 in prep day 940 would 2904 on 6475 only 1298 she 3801 high 574
it Pron 10875 7 1620860 to inf-marker thing 776 can 2672 by 5096 just 1277 we 3578 small 518
is Verb 9982 8 1375636 have v child 710 get 2210 at 4790 more 1275 who 2055 different 484
to Prep 9343 9 1090186 it pron Mr 673 make 2165 from 4134 also 1248 them 1733 large 471
was Verb 9236 10 1039323 to prep government 670 go 2078 as 1774 very 1165 him 1649 local 445
Ungrouped Grouped Nouns Verbs Preps Adverbs Prons Adjs
I Pron 8875 11 887877 for prep work 653 see 1920 into 1634 well 1119 me 1364 social 422
for Prep 8412 12 884599 I pron life 645 know 1882 about 1524 how 1016 her 1085 important 392
that Conj 7308 13 760399 that conj woman 631 take 1797 like 1064 down 845 one 953 long 392
you Pron 6954 14 695498 you pron system 619 could 1683 after 927 back 793 us 623 young 379
he Pron 6810 15 681255 he pron case 613 think 1520 between 903 on 756 something 526 national 376
be* Verb 6644 16 680739 on prep part 612 come 1512 through 743 there 746 nothing 341 british 357
with Prep 6575 17 675027 with prep group 607 give 1284 over 735 still 718 himself 311 right 354
on Prep 6475 18 559596 do v number 606 look 1151 against 562 even 716 anything 288 early 353
by Prep 5096 19 534162 at prep world 600 may 1135 under 553 too 701 itself 237 possible 342
at Prep 4790 20 517171 by prep house 598 should 1112 out_of 491 here 699 themselves 237 big 338
have* Verb 4736 21 465486 not adv area 585 use 1071 without 456 where 628 someone 187 little 306
are Verb 4707 22 461945 this det company 579 find 990 within 449 however 605 everything 187 political 306
not Neg 4626 23 459622 but conj problem 565 want 945 during 440 over 584 herself 172 able 304
this DetP 4623 24 434532 from prep service 549 tell 775 before 434 in 573 anyone 150 late 302
s Gen 4599 25 433441 they pron place 534 must 723 such_as 321 as 567 everyone 133 general 301
but Conj 4577 26 426896 his det hand 532 put 700 towards 286 most 565 whom 129 full 289
I then used these to help me identify the most common collocations and
colligations of the highest frequency words using online concordance software
(Brigham Young University 2012). NB: although this concordance only uses the

BNC to 1993, its validity for high-frequency words is still high. However, open
access to more up-to-date corpora for teacher research is a matter of necessity if
this area of research is to flourish.
Concordances brought to the surface surprising data about the high frequency
of common collocations which even high-level learners are seldom able to
understand or produce. Teaching these collocations might develop more learner
awareness and natural use of language and reduce the instinct to rely on L1
transfer, in lessons that highlight similarity and difference between languages. Just
one example is the use of the word way, which is among the ten most frequent
nouns in the BNC and strongly collocates with many of the ten most frequent
adjectives (and many of the 30 highest-frequency BNC words), see Figure 2
(Brigham Young University 2012), but in my experience is seldom used with such
frequency even by advanced learners.
Figure 2: Online concordancer showing high-frequency adjective collocates of way

in the BNC (reproduced here with the kind permission of Brigham Young University)
Therefore, based on these clear corpus findings rather than my intuition, I

developed lesson aims, content and materials. Lessons focused on discrete lexis
which fell within the 500 most frequent words in most cases, and often the most
frequent fifty words in any word class. Any exceptions to this, for example using
memorable vocabulary from pictures, were always presented in collocation with a
high-frequency collocate, extending the range of the frequent items collocation
for learners, while allowing some flexibility within the research parameters.
Using only the highest-frequency words excluded some stock content of beginner
courses such as nationalities, which allowed time to be used on content with
higher frequency and more transferrable use. Teaching high-frequency words
highlighted and differentiated parts of speech for learners through chunking
activities, raising awareness of word class and syntax through collocation. Lessons
often involved use of collocation memory maps which supported learners

recording and review of lexis in collocation rather than serial lists of words, and
speaking activities exploited these to enable accuracy and fluency in practice
tasks.
Course design typically takes either an analytic or synthetic approach. Analytic,

bottom-up approaches to understanding and production primarily teach
grammatical rules and focus on individual words, while synthetic, top-down
approaches develop language aptitude through focusing on collocations and
chunks of language as whole units, and the meaning and function of the words
together in combination.
This course blended both approaches, presenting vocabulary in meaningful

collocation, e.g. go to the gym, a big breakfast, and chunking up grammatical
structures into functional pieces, e.g. Do you..., didnt go, reinforcing this with
natural connected speech, while also training learners to construct lexical
collocations usingindividualhigh-frequency words, and to put different chunks
together into structures, together highlighting the fundamental patterns of English
syntax. The approach helped students collocate and combine chunks in their
own production, and provided a controlled space for learners to experiment and
develop a personalised understanding. This allowed students to achieve early
fluency and accuracy in production and nurtured learners own independent study
skills and language learning skills.
First lessons
The initial lesson introduced the 30 most frequent words from the BNC (Leech et
al. 2001) ten at a time, and asked learners to play with them to make collocations
and add content words to them to make sentences, bringing together some of
the words learners may already know and highlighting the importance of syntax
in English. Although this lesson had little communicative purpose, it drew learners
attention to noticing syntax as a feature of English more broadly, and at the end of
the lessons learners felt that they had some welcome certainty on the use of these
words and their syntax in sentences, which learners could construct. Two further
lessons reviewed these collocations and this approach notably freed learners from
overthinking these words in later lessons and enabled peer-teaching to take place
within the lessons themselves, where one learner had a better command of basic
syntax or knowledge of these words than their partner or classmates.
Focusing on and combining collocations

Many lessons focused on introducing lexical items, first introducing the oral form
with the written word, and then clarifying meaning, before introducing some
collocates and building this content into collocations using collocation memory
maps, finally, combining these collocations with a grammatical collocation to
establish, practise and automise these patterns in receptive and productive tasks.
In the example below, learners practise some international nouns, see Figure 6
adapted from Bygrave (2012), match these to six high-frequency verb collocates

Figure 3: Top 30 English words classroom activities


Figure 6: International nouns
Acknowledgement: New Total English Starter Student's Book, Jonathan Bygrave,

Pearson Education Limited, Pearson Education Limited 2012
Figure 7: Scaffolding high achievement

on collocation memory maps and then review the present simple question form
and short answers taught the previous day, before having the past simple question
form and short answer introduced and practising these in speaking activities.
Co-text
Collocations and chunks also associate with particular contexts and co-texts, the
words or sentences surrounding the language being used. Adjacency pairs are
one meaningful way of helping learners to build their understanding of and ability
to use language, developing the skill of predicting content in situations, as with
the short answer responses above. This was extended in other lessons to develop
listening skills of prediction before listening to texts and associate certain chunks
with predicted lexical and grammatical content e.g. asking about the weekend.
Syntax development
In this example the ten highest frequency nouns from the BNC (Leech et al. 2001)
are introduced on individual paper squares, followed by the ten most frequent
adjectives. Pronunciation and meaning are checked, learners make adjective
and noun collocations and map these onto collocation memory maps in group
feedback. Learners then play a Pelmanism game with the word cards to review
common adjective and noun collocations.
Figure 8: Ten most frequent nouns and adjectives
Repurposing communicative materials

A further benefit of using this approach is that it can provide a new purpose to
well-designed, picture-based practice materials we already have at hand. They
contain a wealth of useful, high-frequency, distinct yet contextualised vocabulary
in which learners can explore and chunk together nouns, verbs and prepositions,
explore tense use and reinforce accurate syntax use, e.g. Figure 10 (Hadfield

1984). Identifying the elements for students and asking them to find and connect
these in controlled stages allows learners to achieve a lot and engage with the
resource using a simple worksheet emphasising syntax and collocation. Although
it may look messy, learners are really engaged and working out syntax, collocation,
and producing some technically challenging constructions, made achievable
through controlled lexical chunking.
Figure 9: Adjectives and nouns collocations 3

Figure 10: A rich communicative activity image
Acknowledgement: Elementary Communication Games, Jill Hadfield, Pearson

Education Limited, (c) Jill Hadfield 1984

Figure 11: A lexical worksheet for use with a picture of a park
Pronunciation
Teaching chunks brings pronunciation features to prominence, so discrete
vocabulary and lexical and grammatical collocations were modelled and drilled
using a natural pronunciation learners could expect to hear on the street or
on TV and the radio. This pronunciation was practised to help match word and
collocation sound-shapes with learners lexical and grammatical knowledge.
To simplify teaching of sounds, I used synthetic phonics (which uses letters of
the alphabet separated by hyphens to represent sounds) rather than requiring
students to learn the phonemic symbols. Its benefit in highlighting sound-spelling
correlations and differences allowed me to develop learners understanding of
the most common features of English phonology both in an integrated way and by
reviewing high-frequency lexis from earlier lessons.
Findings
Successful lessons focused on high-frequency lexical and grammatical words
in combination, introducing individual chunks from grammatical structures with
high-frequency lexis to achieve functional speaking aims. When content words
were combined in collocation, it enabled students to focus on both the meaning of
these words and their place in grammatical and lexical patterns together. Further
activities joining lexical collocations with grammatical chunks enabled learners to
become communicative speakers with unusual fluency, and to build connections
between different pieces of the English language jigsaw that discrete grammar
teaching fails to allow.

Figure 12: Presenting sounds with synthetic phonics when drilling
Figure 13: Focusing on sound features reviewing previous lesson content
Where discrete high-frequency function words, e.g. prepositions, tenses or

quantifiers, were the focus of a lesson with content words incidental to the
lesson focus, learners generally assumed they had understood input activities
but went on to demonstrate considerable misunderstanding and mis-collocation
in production activities, when compared to items introduced incidentally, in
combination with lexical collocation, strongly indicating that structural courses
relying on notional syllabuses do little to support ESL beginner learning.
The range of language features to be noticed in each lesson held the interest
of both the strongest and the weakest learners in classes, with the result that

learners did not feel bored by the content or push to change level, meaning
weaker learners felt less frustrated by their pace of progress and were supported
by stronger peers.
Results for learners

Learners made significant progress compared to those who had studied traditional
coursebook-based lessons, with all students changing to elementary level after
four weeks and managing well in those classes. Despite small data samples (25
students on the traditional, coursebook courses and 11 on the research courses)
the results for longer-stay students are also interesting. The median average time
between changing level (counting beginner and elementary as one level) fell by
four weeks from 12 weeks to 7.81 weeks, indicating possible advantages beyond
the level itself.
Figure 14: Comparing long-stay beginner students progress
The qualitative feedback from elementary level teachers is that students coming
up from beginner classes fitted capably into their classes, and were not the lowest
either in production or understanding. They reported that these students had
stronger language awareness and a pro-active attitude to learning, being on task
and actively questioning them about activities. They also said learners produced
more natural language and collocation than other learners and routinely checked
the accuracy of collocations with the teacher.
Conclusions
The interface of corpus linguistics and the lexical approach connects up pieces of
the English language puzzle, giving learners an outline of the overall picture of the
language, which typical structural coursebooks leave as unconnected islands of
content. It also chunks up confusing grammatical notions into manageable parts,
enabling learners to construct quite complex and accurate language to express
themselves using the limited range of language that is available to them.

This approach to language learning at beginner level motivates learners and
provides essential content for understanding English in a range of situations. It
prepares learners well for the next level of English language study and seems
to have an impact on progress at higher levels, possibly through highlighting
collocation, language awareness and language learning skills which are
transferable to other levels and learning contexts.
References
Brigham Young University (2012) BYU-BNC British National Corpus. Available at:
http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/ [Accessed 21 July 2012]
Brown, D. (2006) Principles of language learning and teaching. White Plains, NY:
Pearson Education.
Bygrave, J. (2012) Total English starter students book. Harlow: Pearson.
Chapman, L. (1958) Teaching English to Beginners. London: Longman.
Grundy, P. (1994) Beginners. Oxford: OUP.
Hadfield, J. (1984) Elementary Communication Games. Walton-on-Thames: Nelson.
Hoey, M. (2005) Lexical priming. Abingdon: Routledge.
Hunston, S. and Francis, G. (2002) Pattern Grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins

Publishing Co.
Leech, G., Rayson, P. and Wilson, A. (2001) Companion website for: Word
frequencies in written and spoken English. Available at: http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/
bncfreq/flists.html [Accessed 20 July 2012].
OKeeffe, A., McCarthy, M. and Carter, R. (2007) From corpus to classroom.

Cambridge: CUP.
Willis, D. (1990) The Lexical Syllabus. London: Collins ELT.

Teaching science through
co-operative learning strategies
Geetika Saluja, Educational Coordinator, St. Kabir School,
Ahmedabad, India
Abstract
The present study was carried out to implement the principles of co-operative
learning structures in curriculum transaction of Science in grade VIII students
and to study its effect on achievement in Science as well as any changes in
communication and interpersonal skills. The sample of the study was 120 students
of grade VIII. The experimental group was taught using a mixture of co-operative
learning (CL) strategies as per the requirement of the content, while a control
group was taught using traditional teaching methods. The results indicated that
students who studied by the CL method had a higher level of achievement than
students in the control group. The present research indicates that changing from a
traditional competitive classroom to a co-operative one does not diminish student
achievement; it significantly improves achievement. In the present research,
students were individually accountable for their academic performance and the
group was also responsible for every group members performance. Thus a positive
effect on students achievement in Science was found to suggest the usefulness of
co-operative learning for improving students achievement.
Rationale of the study

Scientists and engineers work mostly in groups and less often as isolated
investigators. Similarly, students should gain experiences sharing responsibility
for learning with each other. Research indicates that a vast majority of students
view school as a competitive enterprise where one tries to do better than other
students. This competitive expectation is already widespread when students
enter school and grows stronger as they progress through school. Co-operation
among students, who celebrate each others successes, encourage each other
to do homework, and learn to work together regardless of ethnic backgrounds or
whether they are male or female, bright or struggling, disabled or not, is still rare.
Schools generally focus on teaching and content and life skills separately. There is
a need to integrate content teaching and life skills teaching, keeping in mind the
effectiveness and usability of learning in ones immediate life. It is also mentioned
in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005) that, Childrens voices and
experiences do not find expression in the classroom; often the only voice heard
is that of the teacher. All these situations indicate the need for reshaping and
recreating our present classroom environments and methodologies as per the
basic societal needs and the educational aims suggested by the NCF.
One approach for providing collaborative opportunities for students of science

isco-operative learning. Co-operative learning (CL) is defined as students working

together to attain group goals that cannot be obtained by working alone or
competitively (Johnson, Johnson and Holubec 1993). It is a process which
requires knowledge to be discovered by students and transformed into concepts
to which the students can relate. Learning takes place through dialogue among
students in a social setting. The present study was carried out to implement the
principles of co-operative learning structures in curriculum transaction of Science
in grade VIII students and to study its effect on achievement in Science as well as
change in communication and interpersonal skills.
Objectives of the study

1. To study the effectiveness of co-operative learning methods compared to
traditional methods of teaching in relation to achievement in Science of
standard VIII students.
traditional methods of teaching on achievement in Science of standard VIII
students in relation to:
gender
type of family
having sibling(s) or not
interpersonal skills measured by Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)
communication skills.
traditional methods of teaching in relation to changes in the communication
skills of standard VIII students.
traditional methods of teaching in changes in the communication skills of
standard VIII students in relation to:
gender
type of family
having sibling(s) or not
interpersonal skills measured by Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI).
Methodology
The sample of the study comprised 120 pupils studying in VIII Class. They were
divided into two groups, a control group and an experimental group, comprising
60 students in each of them. The methodology used included:
purposive sampling for selection of the school

stratified random sampling for selecting the class for the control and
experimental group
all students of a class selected as part of the experimental or control group
were included in the study.

It is necessary to control all those variables that may significantly affect the
dependent variables. Hence, such intervening variables were controlled by
employing suitable controls.
Nature of school
The sample was selected from a school (St. Kabir School, Ahmedabad) of GSEB.
Both branches of the school employed the same scholastic and co-scholastic
curriculum and activities.
Grade level
Class VIII students were selected for the study and grade level was thus kept
constant during the study.
Teacher
The experimental group sections were taught by teachers with a sound knowledge
of co-operative learning and the control group was taught by the teachers who
teach traditionally as planned in the annual curriculum of the school. Teachers
teaching the control group did not interact with the teachers teaching through CL
methods during the entire time period of intervention ensuring the non-influence
on each other.
Subject
The experimental group and the control group were taught the same units of
Science of std VIII text book of GSEB.
Duration employed
Both control group and experimental groups were taught the topics for the same
time period.
Co-operative learning structures used

You will find listed below the common Co-operative Learning strategies which the
researcher has found useful in the Indian classroom with around 45 students per
class: Fish bowl, Learning Partners, Think-Pair-Share, Think-Pair-Square, Three-
Step-Interview, Checkmates, Roundtable, Numbered Heads Together, Pairs-Check,
Jigsaw-II.
Intervention
The experiment was conducted in the following phases:
Phase 1: Administration of pre-test to both experimental and control groups

Phase 2: Formation of Co-operative learning teams in the experimental group
Phase 3: Orientation of students of the experimental group
Phase 4: Conducting the Instructional programme
- Implementation of five lesson plans for five weeks
- Lesson plans were planned taking into account the social and
academic goals.
Phase 5: Administration of the post-test

Data collection tools
Completed by participants
1. A close-ended questionnaire sheet to collect data about their gender, type of
family, whether they have siblings or not.
2. A pre- and post-test paper for measuring achievement in Science.
3. A team project evaluation sheet.
Instruments administered by the researcher

1. Communication skill tool. The Communication Skills Test designed by Robin
Jacobs, Portland Community College, Portland, Oregon.
2. Interpersonal Reactivity index. Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI).

The post-test achievement mean scores of the experimental group and the
control group, matching on their pre-knowledge of the topic covered during the
intervention, differ significantly in favour of the experimental group who were
taught using CL methods.
Table 1: Table with Sample size (N), Mean, Standard deviation, Degree of freedom (df)
and t value of achievement in Science of Std. VIII students taught by co-operative
learning methods and traditional methods of teaching.
Mean score of achievement test in science
Std. Calculated Signifi-

Group N Mean df
Dev t value cance
Experi-
60 31.29 5.01
Achievement mental
Significant
Score in 118 15.84
at 0.01 level
Science Control 60 18.75 3.53
(Also both the male and female students, students living in joint and nuclear
families, having siblings or being a single child, having high or low IRI of Std. VIII,
benefited significantly in achievement in Science when taught using co-operative
learning structures.)
Students in the experimental group taught through CL showed significant

development of their communication skills

Table 2: Table with Sample size (N), Mean, Standard deviation, Degree of freedom (df)
and t value of communication of students taught by co-operative learning methods and
traditional methods of teachings
Mean difference in communication skill scores
Group N Mean Std. Dev df t Significance
Experimental 60 4.10 3.04 Significant at 0.01

118 6.98
Control 60 1.25 0.89 level
(Also both male and female students, students living in joint and nuclear families,
having high or low IRI of Std. VIII, benefited significantly in achievement in Science
when taught using CL.)
There was no significant difference in the development of communication skills

of students having no siblings in the experimental and control groups. However,
it was significant in the case of students with siblings. There was a big difference
in the sample size of students having siblings and those not having siblings. From
a total sample size of 120 students, the number of students having no sibling,
in both experiment and control groups put together, is 17 in comparison to 103
students who do have siblings. This could be one of the reasons for t value being
significant with respect to students having no siblings. However this needs further
investigation by equalizing both the groups based on having siblings or not.
There was no significant difference in the mean scores of communication skills of

Std. VIII students taught by CLS and traditional methods of teaching in relation to
interpersonal skills.
Conclusion of the present study

This study indicates that co-operative learning can enhance students readiness to
work with their peers. It reduces communication apprehension and increases the
development of empathy and the competencies to resolve issues amicably.
Group work can fail if we do not take into account the social interactions among
pupils and the competencies developed within the classroom context. Implicit
learning by observing others working and sometimes observing ourselves acts as
a valid resource for developing a new perspective for both teacher and taught.
A better understanding of their classroom culture leads to developing successful
and boundary-less co-operative learning structures across curriculum and grades.
As the term suggests, the transmission orientation views teaching as the

transmission of prescribed bodies of knowledge. A transaction orientation is via
dialogue between teacher and pupils and is open to students contributing their
own knowledge to the learning process. The transformation orientation gives
students control over their learning and enhances their self-motivation and self-
direction, with the teacher acting as a co-learner.

The results of this study indicate that the post-test achievement mean scores
of the experimental group and control group, matching on their pre-knowledge
of the topic covered during the intervention, differ significantly in favour of the
experimental group who were taught using co-operative learning methods. Both
the male and female students of Std VIII living in joint and nuclear families, having
siblings or no siblings benefited significantly in achievement in Science as well
as the development of communication skills when taught using co-operative
learning structures. CL provides an environment for both male and female learners
wherein they understand other persons or situations, and enables them to resolve
differences, build trust and respect, and create an environment where creative
ideas, problem solving, affection and caring can flourish.
Educational implications
It is suggested that co-operative learning has proven to be practical and widely
acceptable to students.
When students are not able to understand the teachers explanation, group
members are able to explain in simpler words that are more easily understood.
In this way, it improves students perception about learning and decreases their
feeling of alienation.
Co-operative learning can be used as a supplement to large group classroom
teaching. It is easier to monitor 12 or 13 students in groups than 55 or 60
individuals in a class.
Co-operative learning suggests a new role for the teacher. A teacher,
accustomed to being the sole source of information for teaching the passive
learners in the classroom, has to change to become a facilitator in the learning
process to actively encourage the students to:
help each other and learn from each other
participate in discussions
facilitate each others learning
engage in problem solving in a democratic way.
The teacher should closely monitor the involvement of all kinds of students,
especially the achieving students, to make sure everyone shares and benefits
from group learning. Teachers need to structure the lessons and curriculum
co-operatively.
Group tasks should be designed and communicated to students in ways that
make them believe that they are linked in such a way that one cannot succeed
unless everyone succeeds. The tasks should engage students more actively in
their learning experiences.
Meaningful content in co-operative lessons is critical for the success of all
students. The topics in different subjects to be taught by co-operative learning
should be so decided that they develop the skills in students that infuse self-
confidence in the direction of becoming independent learners.

Important skills such as critical thinking, creative problem solving and the
synthesis of knowledge can easily be accomplished through co-operative
group activities in the inclusive classroom. So co-operative learning is
recommended for fostering students reasoning, communication, empathy, and
stress reduction.
For students to succeed within their groups, careful consideration regarding
group heterogeneity must be considered in conjunction with roles that ensure
active and equal participation. Various roles can be given to students making
them responsible and valuing their contribution in group work.
The method of co-operative learning is much more crucial to the inculcation of

values of co-operative living and healthy co-operation rather than competition
that narrows down the process of education to self-directed individualized
learning. Both healthy co-operation as well as healthy competition complement
and supplement each other. As educators it is important for us to create the
right environment, organize ideas, be clear and stay on topic in order to develop
content knowledge and life skills among pupils under our care.
References
Ahuja, A. (1994) The effects of a co-operative learning instructional strategy on
the academic achievement attitudes towards science class and process skills of
middle school science students. Dissertation. Ohio State University.
Baloche, L. (1998) The Co-operative Classroom: Empowering Learning. Prentice Hall,

Inc.
Best, J. and Kahn, J. (1986) Research in Education. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India.
Gillies, R. (2003) Structuring Co-operative learning experiences in R. Gillies and

A. Ashman (Eds.) Co-operative Learning: The Social and Intellectual Outcomes of
Learning in Groups. Routledge Falmer
Jacobs, G. M., Lee, C. and Ng, M. (1997) Co-operative learning in the thinking
classroom: Research and Theoretical Perspectives. Paper presented at the
International Conference on Thinking, Singapore.
Johnson, D. and Johnson, R. (1983)Learning Together and Alone. New Jersey:

Prentice Hall.
Johnson D. and Johnson, R.(1989) Co-operation and competition: Theory and

research. Interaction Book Company; Edina, MN.
Johnson D., Johnson, R. and Holubec, E. (1993)Circles of Learning: Co-operation in

the Classroom (Fourth edition). Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.
Kishore, K. (2011) Structuring co-operative learning in a class. Educational Quest 2

(3): 341-345.
Koul, L. (2006) Methodology of Educational Research (Third edition). Delhi: Vikas

Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

National Curriculum Framework (2005). New Delhi: NCERT.
Pandey, N. and Kishore, K. (2003) Effect of co-operative learning on cognitive

achievement in science. Journal of Science and Mathematics Education in South
East Asia 26 (2): 52-60.
Panitz, T. (1997) Collaborative versus cooperative learning: Comparisons of the

two concepts which will help us understand the underlying nature of interactive
learning. Cooperative Learning and College Teaching8(2): 5-7.
Sahlberg, P. (2011) Cooperative learning and Global Competitiveness. Experiments

in Education 39(3): 15-22.
Slavin, R.E. (1994) A Practical Guide to Cooperative Learning. Allyn and Bacon.
Slavin, R.E. (1996) Research for the future: Research on Cooperative Learning and
Achievement: What We Know, What We Need to Know. Contemporary Educational
Psychology 21: 4369.

Theme three
Technology resources for

language education

The Pedagogy of Collaboration:
teaching effectively within an
evolving technology landscape
Dawn Bikowski, Ohio University, U.S.A.
Abstract
As technologies evolve, our communication styles, information needs and
learning patterns are changing as well. How we as professionals can harness
these opportunities that technology provides yet maintain our grounding in solid
pedagogical approaches can be challenging. Yet, this is an exciting time, allowing
us to utilize our own creativity as we innovate our teaching in response to our
changing environments. This paper outlines a framework that guides educators in
using technologies in pedagogically sound ways that meet students communicative
competence and digital literacy needs within an increasingly connected world.
Resources and guidelines for integrating them into the classroom effectively
are discussed, as teachers use technology for collaboration in an ever-changing
technological landscape.
Background
The current educational and technological landscape in India and many
global contexts is one that increasingly demands English employability skills
for collaboration and authentic communication such as job interviews and
international projects. This need arises at least in part from rising demands for
highly skilled professionals who are proficient in technical and professional English
across all skills. Coupled with increased internet connectivity, there is a growing
awareness of the need for students to become more digitally literate. These
current realities are leading to calls for increased creativity and innovation, as well
as new roles for learners and educators. Teachers can move from being one-way
transmitters of information into educational facilitators and guides, and students
can now become more self-directed and active in their own learning processes.
Pedagogies to meet the demands of these new roles include group learning
tasks and tasks that allow students to become collaborators and cooperators
in the classroom, not competitors (Lakshmi, as cited in Gunesekera 2013: 140).
The opportunities for current interactive technologies are to allow teachers and
students to become content producers, not just consumers, as technology is
integrated into curricula (NCERT 2005).
The current educational landscape is thus one that needs to permit self-expression
and questioning; be motivating and challenging; build students self-confidence;
allow for independent thinking; encourage learners to seek information; and allow
for teacher flexibility (NCERT ibid.). These realities lead to the need for a new
educational framework.

The Pedagogy of Collaboration within an Evolving Technology Landscape
While technology provides many opportunities, it also can lead to tension and
uncertainties in the classroom. The Pedagogy of Collaboration within an Evolving
Technology Landscape is one framework that can provide the guidance educators
and students need to maximize learning potential. Collaboration here refers to
students working in groups on a project or task that has a common goal. Whereas
with teamwork students may compile their individually completed work for a final
product, with collaborative work students share their work and co-participate
through all phases of project/task development, building on the new student and
teacher roles (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Opportunity for a Pedagogy of Collaboration within an Evolving Technology

Landscape
Figure 1 highlights that the greatest potential to meet current educational

opportunities is found in the intersection between student collaboration, new
student and teacher roles, and interactive technologies. The framework consists of
ten guiding principles, which will be outlined below.
Guideline 1: Allow your teaching to evolve as technology evolves

The collaborative autonomous language learner (Kessler and Bikowski 2010: 53)
should be in the centre of any learning experience (see Figure 2). These learners
are autonomous in that they are self-directed, goal-oriented and monitor their
learning. They:
1. are able to use language to independently contribute personal meanings as a

collaborative member of a group

2. are able to use appropriate strategies for communicating as a collaborative
member of a group
3. have the willingness to demonstrate these abilities within the group (Kessler
and Bikowski ibid: 53).
There can be tension between the individual learners goals, however, and the
goals of the collaborative group, where members also have their own priorities.
Therefore, the collaborative autonomous language learner needs to successfully
negotiate this space. As Figure 2 illustrates, also affecting the learner are evolving
collaborative tools, evolving collaborative use of those tools and evolving
pedagogical practices.
Figure 2: A framework for the co-evolution of collaborative autonomous pedagogy

(Kessler, Bikowski and Boggs 2012: 105)
Teachers can allow their teaching to evolve as technology evolves by engaging

in activities such as collaborative writing tasks. Web-based word processing tools
(such as docs.google.com, plus.google.com/hangouts, or piratepad.net) can be
utilized, as they offer synchronous or asynchronous writing/editing, chatting,
comment features, and revision history features for referring to or reverting to
past versions of the document. Students can be placed into groups based on
teacher selection, given two or three topics to choose from for their writing,
and move through the stages of writing together. Having students work on in-
class writing three or four times during a term allows students to develop their
collaborative as well as personal writing skills.

Guideline 2: Have students collaborate in a variety of ways using
different technologies
Efficient learners are able to choose an effective technology tool from many
options that meet the needs of the learning task. Making these choices effectively
requires practice using a variety of types of technologies and for different types
of collaborative projects. In contexts with a wide penetration of mobile devices,
apps provide an opportunity for learners and teachers to explore collaboration
creatively. Many browser-based online tools (such as padlet.com or diigo.com) can
be accessed on any type of device, and often have a corresponding downloadable
app. In lower-technology contexts, apps allowing feature phones to be used as
smartphones (e.g., American Englishs use of binu, m.binu.com/ae/) can provide a
vehicle for student collaboration that would not be otherwise available.
Students can be tasked with generating their own content, for example, with a
reflexive photography project. They can, for example, create a multimedia collage
(e.g. with presentation or video production software), with media representing
their language learning goals, barriers to meeting those goals, and strategies to
overcoming those barriers. Collaborating in small groups, students encourage
each other and offer recommendations on further ways to meet their goals.
In addition to offering students increased opportunities for practical tips and
communication, projects using student-generated content support learners
as they build a greater sense of ownership over their own learning and help
educators more fully understand learners realities (Schulze 2007).
Guideline 3: Harness the powers of technologies that encourage

communication and increase learner motivation and reflection
Technologies that allow students to create their own identity and express
themselves not only with words but also with rich media content such as images,
music, artwork, or even varying colour schemes/templates can be very motivating.
Collaborative projects that encourage students to add their personal voice to the
group voice offer students the opportunity to reflect upon and communicate their
opinions. Blogging tools (e.g., blogger.com) or online graphic novel tools (e.g.,
comiclife.com) are user-friendly and can be easily monitored by the teacher, while
they also offer many options for users, including using images/movies or linking to
other pertinent sites. Reflection can be encouraged by using an online journaling
tool (e.g., penzu.com), where learners can write about and add images about their
development in English as well as their ability to be effective collaborators. These
journals can be shared with the teacher or with group members, or students can
reflect and write in them independently.
Digital storytelling is one type of student-generated content that can be quite

motivating. Collaborative groups create short multimedia stories (e.g., with
presentation or video production software such as animoto.com, wevideo.com,
audacity.sourceforge.net, iMovie, or Photostory). Topics can include personal
stories, stories about historical figures from different points of view, community
cultural stories, travel guides, or new endings to existing stories.

Guideline 4: Elicit student input in working with new technologies
Using in-class discussions, anonymous paper surveys, or online surveys (e.g.,
with Google forms or surveymonkey.com), educators can solicit feedback about
students technology use, including what devices they use most frequently,
what frustrations they have and how you as the teacher can help, what they do
with technology, and what their favourite features are. Watch students as they
use technology in order to develop a sense of where they may need guidance.
Things to look for include groups that are not communicating, individual non-
communicative members, or members who are not allowing others to contribute.
While teachers do not want to confront every group that may be experiencing
difficulties in constructive communication, consistent monitoring is crucial in order
to help teams that need additional teacher guidance and support.
Guideline 5: Train learners to use new technologies effectively

While many young people may be experienced with using technologies and
software for social networking or entertainment purposes, they may not be as
successful with using technology for learning. Training thus often needs to be
provided for the following:
Troubleshooting what to do if the technology does not work, having backup

plans not involving technology
Privacy & security not sharing private information, not opening unknown
links, blocking uncaring individuals, informing trustworthy adults of suspicious
behaviour
New technologies/activities not grading assignments using new
technologies, allowing students to experiment with new technologies, moving
from known to new activities, engaging in a cyclical approach to training with
technologies (Kolaitis, Mahoney, Pomann and Hubbard 2006)
Academic honesty using sources without plagiarizing, checking personal
writing for plagiarism (for information videos and online plagiarism checker
options, see http://linguistics.ohio.edu/ELIP/?page_id=663) (Bikowski 2012a).
Guideline 6: Guide students on how to work autonomously within a

collaborative environment
Teachers can help students become more autonomous with their language
learning by supporting their effective use of online tools and resources, such
as dictionaries (e.g., Merriam Webster, m-w.com), thesauri (e.g., wordsmyth.net),
collocation dictionaries (e.g., ozdic.com), general internet search engines (e.g.,
google.com), or academic internet search engines (e.g., scholar.google.com).
Time management and planning skills can be developed through online tools and
apps (e.g., focusatwill.com, focusboosterapp.com, rescuetime.com or evernote.
com). Cloud file-sharing tools (e.g., dropbox.com or drive.google.com) or social
bookmarking tools (e.g., diigo.com) provide collaborative groups and teachers a
means of easily sharing information.

Teachers can allow learners to communicate through a variety of channels. Quiet
students often increase their participation in text-based communication such as
discussion boards (e.g., lefora.com or forums.com), chats (englishclub.com/esl-
chat/), blogs (e.g., blogger.com) or social media tools (e.g., Facebook or Twitter).
Creating learning tasks that urge students to embrace and benefit from diversity
and yet encourage inclusivity of all members voices allows learners to further
develop as collaborative autonomous language learners.
The stages for guiding students through this process are found in Figure 3.
1. Preparation StageStudents are prepared in terms of language and context,

various collaboration strategies and options, and the technology. Teachers
guide students through the process of identifying language and collaboration
goals.
2. Collaboration StageStudents collaborate on project/task and monitor their
language and collaboration progress and group goals; teacher monitors group
dynamics and language use and development. Students and teachers access
web-based tools and other resources as necessary.
3. Reflection StageTeachers guide students through the process of reflecting
on their progress toward their language and collaborative goals.
Figure 3: Three Stages of Web-Based Collaborative Writing (Vithanage and Bikowski

2013)

Guideline 7: Develop real-world projects that require collaboration and
encourage shared learning
Real-world projects allow the students and teacher to work on a project for a
client, such as a local small business, non-government organization or community
group. After the teacher communicates with the client to establish a project goal,
the client can communicate with the class in-person or via technology (e.g., skype.
com or plus.google.com/hangouts) on project specifics. Student groups then
engage in tasks to meet the project goal, such as finding and evaluating online
information, sharing information via technology, and communicating with each
other via technology (try using a tool such as zotero.org). The final stage is a
presentation to the client of the project findings. An example project might be to
work with a local business that wants to increase the number of young people who
use their product or service.
Guideline 8: Provide clear expectations while maintaining flexibility with

technology use
Student groups can be chosen by the students themselves, but it is often useful
for the teacher to choose. Groups can be made that include students strong
in key areas depending on the task. Informing students of their strength and
encouraging them to use it for the groups benefit is helpful in developing
students collaborative skills. Students can also be given flexibility with how they
will use technology to communicate, for example, at one computer together, in the
same room using different computers, or in separate places but accessing online
tools simultaneously. Student choices of topics or types of technology to use are
also possible depending on the context.
Guideline 9: Vary assessments of collaborative experiences

Moving beyond written tests, collaborative projects can be assessed, for example,
using e-portfolios. Students can choose pieces to include based on how the work
shows their development as language learners. Student-generated work includes
audio and video recordings of readings, oral presentations or skits; collaborative
writing samples; art work; or collaborative tests and quizzes. E-portfolios can be
created in presentation or movie-making software or can be put into blogs or
websites (such as with sites.google.com). Rubrics can be used to guide students
before they submit the assignment as well as to assess the e-portfolios. Free
online rubric makers (e.g., rubistar.4teachers.org) provide guidance to teachers on
possible assessment categories.
Guideline 10: Prepare students to become life-long learners of digital

literacies currently unknown
Digital literacies (a term first coined by Gilster 1997) move beyond functional
literacies of reading and writing a language. Depending on the context, skills such
as collaboration, cultural and social understanding, critical thinking, finding and
selecting information, technical skills, sociological skills and e-safety are added.
Increased critical thinking, flexibility and a variety of experiences prepare students

for new technologies and new uses of old technologies. Collaborative projects
offer the opportunity for students to develop not only their cultural literacy
(learning about other cultures) but also their cultural liberty as they learn from
other cultures (Kumaravadivelu 2008: 237).
Digital games can provide students with opportunities to engage in complex

social interactions and communication while in a safe learning environment.
Teachers can guide students through using Finite digital games (e.g., Trace Effects,
americanenglish.state.gov/trace-effects) and infinite digital games (e.g., Minecraft,
minecraft.net) for their learning goals. Figure 4 illustrates the crucial roles of
learner characteristics such as curiosity and motivation, combined with teacher
guidance, as they enter an engaging space such as those offered by digital games,
leading to language use and learning.
Figure 4: The Language Learning Components Offered by Digital Games (adapted from
Bikowski 2012b: 3).
Gesture-based and immersive technologies such as those provided by Leap Motion

(leapmotion.com/) or Microsoft Kinect (microsoft.com/en-us/kinectforwindows/)
are becoming increasingly feasible for learning, as are applications of voice
recognition, eye tracking and automated writing evaluation.
Conclusion
The Pedagogy of Collaboration within an Evolving Technology Landscape
framework guides educators and students as they strive to use technology
for collaboration and navigate the potentially conflicting role of autonomous
collaborative learning. It highlights the importance of students contributing
personal meanings and using appropriate communication strategies as they work
together using interactive technologies in innovative ways. These ten guidelines
remain relevant as pedagogy continues to evolve and can include various
technology landscapes, including online as well as face-to-face contexts.

References
Bikowski, D. (2012a) Exploring non-native English speaking students use of
technology to improve their paraphrasing skills and avoid plagiarism in G. Kessler,
A. Oskoz and I. Elola (Eds.)Technology across Writing Contexts and Tasks. CALICO
Monograph.
Bikowski, D. (2012b) Trace Effects teachers manual part 1: Gaming in education.

U.S. Department of State, Retrieved from: americanenglish.state.gov
Gilster, P. (1997) Digital Literacy. New York: Wiley.
Gunesekera, M. (2013) English skills for employability in the 21st century in P.

Powell-Davies and P. Gunashekar (Eds.) English Language Teacher Education in a
Diverse Environment, British Council.
Kessler, G., Bikowski, D. and Boggs, J. (2012) Collaborative writing among second
language learners in academic web-based projects. Language Learning &
Technology 16/1: 91-109. http://llt.msu.edu/issues/february2012/
Kessler, G. and Bikowski, D. (2010) Developing collaborative autonomous language

learning abilities in computer mediated language learning: Attention to meaning
among students in wiki space. Computer Assisted Language Learning 23/1: 41-58.
Kolaitis, M., Mahoney, M.A., Pomann, H. and Hubbard, P. (2006) Training ourselves
to train our students for CALL in P. Hubbard and M. Levy (Eds.) Teacher Education
in CALL. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2008) Cultural Globalization and Language Education. New

Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) (2005) National

Curriculum Framework, India. Retrieved from http://www.ncert.nic.in/rightside/
links/nc_framework.html
Schulze, S. (2007) The usefulness of reflexive photography for qualitative

research. South African Journal of Higher Education 21/5: 536-553.
Vithanage, R. and Bikowski, D. (2013) Collaborative writing with web-based word

processing tools: Its effects on the classroom and on individual writing scores.
Paper presented at CALICO Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Digital literacies
Nicky Hockly, Director of Pedagogy, The Consultants-E, Spain
Abstract
The advent of digital media has changed our perceptions of literacy. Digital
literacies the technical skills and social practices needed to effectively interact
with digital technologies are key 21st-century skills, and are increasingly important
in educational curricula. What exactly are these literacies, and where might they
have a place in English language teacher training? In this paper we look at the
theory underpinning digital literacies, explore how teacher training courses can
address them and consider the challenges involved in operationalising digital
literacies in the low-resource classroom.
Literacy and digital literacies

Traditionally, literacy has referred to the basic skills of reading and writing,
occasionally coupled with basic numeracy and referred to as the 3 Rs (reading,
writing and arithmetic). With the proliferation of digital media, however,
commentators have come to consider a wider range of skills as figuring in a
new definition of digital literacy. As Clay Shirky points out (2010), Reading
is an unnatural act; we are no more evolved to read books than we are to
use computers. Literate societies become literate by investing extraordinary
resources, every year, training children to read. Now its our turn to figure out what
response we need to shape our use of digital tools. Even if we teach supposedly
tech-comfy younger learners, we cannot assume that they are digitally literate. In
fact, they often are not.
So, what exactly is digital literacy? Are there a series of subskills or digital
literacies (note the plural) that we can define? In a recent publication (Dudeney,
Hockly and Pegrum 2013), we propose one way of conceptualising digital
literacies. We envisage four main areas: language, information, connections and
(re)design. Lets explore these one by one.
Focus on language: these are key digital literacies which focus on communication
via the language of text, image and multimedia, and include:
print literacy: the ability to read and produce online text, such as blog entries,
tweets, emails, etc. This is clearly related to traditional print literacy, but
includes an awareness of online text genres.
texting literacy: an awareness of the conventions of texting language or
txtspk (text speak, that is, the use of abbreviations, acronyms, symbols,
etc.), and of knowing in what contexts to use or not use it. Research (Crystal
2008; 2011) has shown that, far from having a detrimental effect on language
standards and literacy, text speak can in fact aid literacy.
hypertext literacy: understanding how hyperlinks in online text work, and

being able to produce texts with effective use of hyperlinking. Here we could
include knowing how many hyperlinks to include in a text and why, what to link
to, understanding the effects of over- (or under-) linking in a text, and so on.
visual, media and multimedia literacy: the Internet is a multimedia medium
par excellence, and we need to understand how images and multimedia (audio,
video) can be used to supplement, enhance, subvert or even replace text
communication. We also need to know how to produce multimodal messages
ourselves, from sharing our photos on Facebook to creating video clips for
YouTube. In the age of Web 2.0 we are no longer passive consumers who
need to learn how to sit back and critique mass media (although this is still a
key skill). We are now prosumers (producers and consumers) of multimedia
artefacts.
gaming literacy: a macroliteracy involving kinaesthetic and spatial skills,
and the ability to navigate online worlds (such as Second Life) or use gaming
consoles such as the Wii. Although this may seem like a literacy unconnected
to education, there is a growing interest in serious games for education.
mobile literacy: an understanding of how mobile technology is transforming
our world, from issues of hyperconnectivity (always being connected to the
Internet), to understanding how to use geolocation and augmented reality.
code and technological literacy: apart from basic technical skills (such as
knowing how to use a word processing program or how to send an attachment
by email), a basic knowledge of html coding can help us understand how online
tools and products are put together and more importantly, enable us to
make changes to these to overcome limitations. As Rushkoff (2010) puts it If
we dont learn to program, we risk being programmed ourselves. We are not
talking here about becoming fully fledged computer programmers, but rather
about developing an awareness of the basics. Very basic coding skills can
help one customise the elements in ones blog for example, or route around
censorship (for good or bad).
Focus on information
search literacy: the ability to search for information effectively online. This
includes an awareness of search engines beyond Google!
tagging literacy: knowing how to tag (or label) online content, how to create
tag clouds and to contribute to folksonomies (user-created banks of tags).
information literacy: the ability to evaluate online sources of information for
veracity and credibility. In this age of information overload, we also need to
develop filtering and attention literacy so as to know what to pay attention to
and what not and when.
Focus on connections
personal literacy: knowing how to create, project and curate your online
identity. This includes an awareness of issues such as online safety or identity
theft.

network literacy: the ability to take part in online networks and to leverage
these to help you filter and find information. For teachers, their PLN (Personal
Learning Network) online professional contacts can be useful as a means of
tapping into ongoing professional development.
participatory literacy: closely aligned to network literacy, participatory
literacy involves contributing to and participating in online networks. So not
just reading professional development tweets on Twitter, but contributing
your own tweets. Not just reading blog posts, but leaving comments or even
writing your own blog.
cultural and intercultural literacy: understanding digital artefacts from other
cultures, and interacting effectively and constructively with people from other
cultures take on even more importance in our global world, where intercultural
contact via digital communication is increasingly possible and increasingly
likely.
Focus on (re)design
remix literacy: the ability to repurpose or change already-made content in
order to create something new. Literal videos on YouTube are a good example
of this see the Harry Potter literal film trailer here for just one example: http://
youtu.be/MahTKZDHXaA
Clearly, then, this is a complicated mix of skills to master, and teachers can play a
part in helping learners acquire some of the necessary skills by integrating them
into their classroom practice alongside the regular content they deal with. In this
way we can make a difference in our learners comfort level, helping them beyond
the tech comfy to the tech savvy which will contribute to their life beyond the
classroom, in the professional workplace and in our (increasingly) knowledge-
based economies.
Digital literacies in teacher training

What does this mean for the English language teacher training? In my view, the key
to providing teachers with the digital literacy skills they need can be achieved via a
careful consideration of Training, Teaching materials and Technology.
Lets take Training first. A clear and thorough focus on digital literacies needs to
be integrated into the delivering of all pre-service and in-service training, whether
institution- or state-led. For training to be effective, a transmission (or lecture-
based) pedagogy needs to be replaced with collaborative models and spaces,
so that trainee teachers have the necessary approaches clearly modelled for
them. Mishra and Koehlers 2006 TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical and Content
Knowledge) model needs to be integrated into any teacher training syllabus. And
for practising teachers, ongoing in-house continual professional development that
includes work on digital literacies needs to be the norm.
Secondly, in terms of Teaching materials, digital literacies need to be

integrated into coursebook syllabi, so that teachers understand how they can

be operationalised within the English language classroom, and closely tied to
language aims. And if students are producing digital artefacts as part of their
language work, then the assessment criteria for these need to be closely and
coherently aligned to learning outcomes.
Thirdly, the role of Technology in teacher training needs to be carefully examined.

Trainers and institutions need to avoid falling into the trap of thinking that the most
expensive or latest gadgets are the most effective. When choosing technology
or devices, institutions (or Ministries of Education) need to clearly identify the
economic pressure groups involved, and to carefully examine to what extent the
technology really does lead to improved learning outcomes. The case of IWBs
(Interactive Whiteboards) is a salutary example of how entire governments have
wasted vast amounts of money with nothing to show for it in terms of improved
learning outcomes (see Hockly 2013). As a rule of thumb, institutions would be well
advised to allocate 80% of their budgets on teacher training and development, and
20% of their budgets (or less) on any technology, whether hardware or software.
At the end of the day, it is vital to ensure that technology is always subordinate to
learning aims and outcomes.
And if you need one final reason to start integrating digital literacies into your
English language classes, here are some sobering words from Henry Jenkins:
What [students] do in their online lives has nothing to do with the things
they are learning in school; and what they are learning in school has little
or nothing of value to contribute to who they are once the bell rings.
Although Jenkins (2009) is referring to mainstream secondary schooling in the

USA, his words are a strong reminder of the pressing need to make education both
relevant and motivating for our students in the 21st century. As communicative
English language teachers, we are in a good position to marry a focus on digital
literacies with a focus on language itself and in the process to make our classes
both more relevant and useful for our students. And as teacher educators, we have
a duty to ensure our teacher trainees not only know this, but know what to do
about it in their classrooms.
References
Crystal, D. (2008) Txtng: The gr8 db8. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crystal, D. (2011) Internet Linguistics: A student guide. London: Routledge.
Dudeney, G., Hockly, N. and Pegrum, M. (2013) Digital Literacies. Harlow: Pearson.
Hockly, N. (2013) Interactive Whiteboards. English Language Teaching Journal

67/3: 354-358.
Jenkins, H. (2009) "Geeking out" for democracy (Part two). Confessions of an

Aca-Fan. Available at: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2009/05/geeking_out_for_
democracy_part_1.html

Mishra, P. and Koehler, M.J. (2006) Technological pedagogical content knowledge:
A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record 108(6): 1017-1054.
Rushkoff, D. (2010) Program or Be Programmed: Ten commands for a digital age.

New York: OR Books.
Shirky, C. (2010) Does the internet make you smarter? Wall Street Journal.
Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704025304575284
973472694334.html
Also see this list of resources about digital literacies:
http://www.theconsultants-e.com/resources/ToolsResources/DigiLit.aspx

Do online group tasks promote
effective collaborative
learning experiences? Teacher
perceptions
Meera Srinivas, Associate Professor, Department of Materials
Development, The English and Foreign Languages University,
Hyderabad, India
Abstract
The discussion board tasks and small group projects in online teacher education
courses facilitate collaborative inquiry, as teachers process information, think
reflectively, share and construct knowledge through the experiences that each
of them bring to the tasks. In view of their potential for creating an environment
that is conducive for collaborative learning, this paper investigates whether the
participants of e-teacher courses perceive their experience of participating in
the group tasks to be truly collaborative. Based on the authors experience of
participating in a course on Critical Thinking for Language Learning and Teaching,
and the perceptions of e-teachers obtained through a survey questionnaire, the
paper argues that, while there are a few facilitative factors that promote positive
interaction in the discussion board tasks, factors like group grading, different
time zones, lack of group monitoring and mediation by the instructor, and lack of
orientation to collaborative group work impede effective collaboration and learning
in small group projects. The paper discusses the factors and the implications for
the design and implementation of collaborative tasks in online teacher education
courses.
Introduction
Collaboration promotes social construction of meaning in a professional
community of inquiry (Garrison 2005: 15).
The aim of online teacher education courses is to provide not just knowledge and
content (which is readily available even without formal enrolment in a course), but
access to a rich learning environment that provides opportunity for interaction and
connectedness, leading to enhancement of reflection and critical thinking skills. It
has been argued that incorporating well-planned collaborative tasks into teacher
education courses generates better learning, reflection, higher order thinking and
communication skills, through the active co-construction of knowledge during
peer-to-peer and peer-instructor interactions. A great deal of research in this
area also indicates that the collaborative process can result in better motivation,
higher performance and enhanced thinking, as learners achieve richer knowledge
generation through the creation of shared goals, shared exploration and a shared

process of meaning making. (Garrison and Anderson 1999; Garrison and Archer
2000; Palloff and Pratt 2005) (Cited in An and Kim 2007).
Although a significant amount of research has cited the benefits of collaborative

learning in online learning environments, there are studies that show that learners
can perceive the collaborative learning activities as frustrating experiences
(Capdeferro and Romero 2012). While participants appreciate the opportunity
to interact and work with fellow group members, they seem to find consensus
decision making and production of a product much less satisfying (Dirkx and
Smith 2004). Difficulties with interpersonal issues and trying to ensure that all
group members do their share seem to cloud their initial enthusiasm. In addition,
communication and interaction limitations caused by technology only serve
to exacerbate these concerns, which then become a channel for frustrations.
Dirkx and Smith (2004: 134) found that learners are often reluctant, frustrated
and dissatisfied with collaborative learning methods, especially when working
within small online groups, because they struggle with the development of a
sense of interdependence and intersubjectivity within their online groups, but
end up holding fast to subjective, individualistic conceptions of learning. These
perceptions and experiences often generate a profound sense of ambivalence
when learning and working in a group.
Given these critical viewpoints and the dearth of empirical studies on teacher
perceptions of collaborative learning experiences, this paper attempts to
investigate how e-teachers perceive their online collaborative group learning
experiences, in order to gain fresh insights into the design and implementation of
collaborative tasks in online courses.
Collaborative learning
Collaborative learning is based on the constructivist theory that recognizes
knowledge as a socially constructed process, a synthesis of social experiences. It
is predicated on the following premises: (a) learning is a social act; (b) learning is
an active process; (c) learners benefit from others knowledge and viewpoints; (d)
dialogue and active involvement promote learning; and, (e) learning takes place
when learners critically reflect on their knowledge (Smith and MacGregor 1992).
Collaborative tasks in E-teacher courses

In E-teacher courses, collaborative learning is facilitated through threaded,
prompt-based, weekly discussions on complex pedagogic issues in which the
entire class participates as a group, and also through small group/pair work tasks
and projects that are assigned to groups of two/three teachers in the course. For
example, in the course on Critical Thinking for Language Learning and Teaching,
collaborative learning tasks consist of:
discussion board tasks that involve writing weekly discussion posts based
on readings (asynchronous communication and interactions), and replies to
each others postings, questions and ideas. It is generally observed that there
is positive interaction, deep reflection and shared learning in the threaded

discussion tasks as these are well structured and demand responding to
others comments, elaborating an idea or sharing an experience within a
specific timeframe. The contributions are assessed individually
small group tasks and projects like analysing a course using intellectual
standards, designing a lesson plan in pairs, peer reviewing and feedback
on each pairs plan using specific criteria, revising the lesson plan based
on feedback obtained from another pair, designing a unit plan in a group,
commenting on another groups unit plan using specific assessment criteria,
revising unit plans based on feedback from instructor and other groups. During
peer feedback, teachers comment on an assignment/project for the purpose
of becoming adept at formulating and receiving critical comments based on
certain criteria. These tasks receive group grades and individual contribution/
participation is not assessed.
In the course, Blackboard (learning management system) is used for posting

instructions and for monitoring the discussions in the discussion board. While
working on projects, teachers also use additional tools (e.g., social networking
tools, phone, Skype, e-mail), as group projects entail continuous sharing of ideas,
readings, drafts and suggestions for revision. For more than 70% of the course
time, teachers are required to do collaborative work in dyads or in triads to
complete weekly tasks and assignments within strict timelines.
The study
Since collaborative tasks are integral to the courses, it was felt necessary to
investigate the teachers perceptions of their collaborative learning experience, in
order to understand what factors facilitate/impede effective collaboration on the
course. Therefore, an opinion survey questionnaire (Appendix) was administered to
teachers who participated in the courses.
The questionnaire consisted of sixteen questions pitched at two levels: at the

personal level, the teachers reflected on their collaborative community learning
experiences, their personal gains, and the factors that facilitated and impeded
successful collaborative learning in the group projects. At a general level, the
teachers evaluated factors like positive interdependence, promotive interaction,
individual accountability, consensus building skills, positive group leader, that
are considered to be essential elements of cooperative learning (Johnson
and Johnson 2004: 787), in the order of their perceived importance, and also
commented on the impact of factors cognitive conflicts arising from differing
perspectives, group grading, different time zones, lack of orientation to group
work on successful collaborative learning. Also, the teachers suggestions for
enhancing collaboration in group tasks were obtained through an open-ended
question at the end of the questionnaire. The purpose of the questions was to
promote teacher reflection on factors that can lead to effective collaborative
learning in online courses. Twenty teachers (12 males and 8 females) participated
in the study.

Data analysis and interpretation
In the first part of the questionnaire, the teachers were asked to reflect on their
online collaborative learning experiences and identify the factors that led to
successful completion of the tasks. Other than personal factors like self-motivation,
respect for diverse views, the teachers mentioned factors related to course
structure-collaborative environment and sharing of knowledge through group
discussions and peer reviews, good instructor and feedback strategies, and the
asynchronous mode of delivery, as significant for the successful completion of
group tasks. The factors are categorized in the table below.
Figure 1: Factors for successful collaboration
Personal Course Technological Instructor

factors factors factors factors
Self-motivation Asynchronous Good instruc- The col-
Reflection model tions (and laborative
Clear and objectives) for environment
Recognizing each task and and sharing
and respecting easy online
delivery plat- the feedback of of knowledge
diverse views the facilitators through group
form
Open and frank of the course discussions
discussions Moderators and peer re-
Prompt comments and views
responses questions Clear course
Willingness structure, in-
to share structions
responsibilities
The data pertaining to teachers opinion on the nine facilitative factors, with
relation to their role and importance for successful collaboration, was coded as a
percentage for each factor. This helped to represent the information visually in a
bar graph, highlighting the relative importance of each factor.
Figure 2: Facilitative factors (in %)

As the graph indicates, from the percentage of responses (90%), teachers
consider clear task instructions to be an important facilitative factor for successful
completion of group tasks. This is followed by factors like group monitoring
(75%), promotive interaction (60%), the presence of a positive group leader
and consensus building skills (60%). 55% of teachers also felt that instructor
skills in creating and managing group interaction are important for sustaining
an environment of collaboration. The teachers opinions on these factors are
presented below.
Figure 3: Facilitative factors teacher statements
Factor Opinion statements
Positive Because it gives everyone equal chance to improve and

interdependence grow
Yes, as we say in Arabic one hand cannot clap.
Promotive interaction Your ideas are either supported or challenged by others. So,
theres a great deal of interaction that is positive and
constructive.
Greater camaraderie and exchange of ideas is possible.
Individual account- The accountability of the group is a synergy of that of each
ability/assessment member.
Each member is responsible for his/her own learning as well
as that of the group as a whole
Group monitoring Group monitoring is also important because a trainer can
lead the group on the right track.
The presence of Positivity triggers creativity.
a positive group leader Instructor as a positive leader can maximize group learning
Consensus building Its a useful skill because trainees come from different
skills of the group countries and they need to learn how to come to a
consensus.
Clear task instructions Well-stated clear instructions are crucial so that theres no
ambiguity
Instructor skills in It is super important because it is the instructor who builds
creating and managing a friendly atmosphere and rapport between the participants.
group interaction
Transparency of It minimizes disappointments and conflicts and maximizes
task expectations learning output by situating it in the global picture of its use.
Since one of the aims of the questionnaire was to ascertain what factors acted
as an impediment to effective collaboration in small group projects, the teachers
opinion and comments on their experiences were invited. Interestingly, the
analysis of the six factors in Figure 4 (bar graph) shows a significant convergence
on two impeding factors: lack of orientation to collaborative group work (75%) and
cognitive conflicts (60%).

Figure 4: Impeding factors
As is evident from some of the teachers statements Orientation is very

important as it gives an insight into what to do and with whom. People from
different cultures have different attitudes to collaborative group. Its important
to specify its essence and prepare learners adequately to achieve mutual goals
there seems to be a real need for prior training in preparation for collaborative
group projects. With regard to cognitive conflicts a teacher voiced the view that
differences in understanding and the inability to work around these differences
can seriously hamper group work. Some teachers (45%) also felt that different
time zones can impede collaborative learning because group communication is
often affected.
In order to stimulate the teachers into reflecting on ways of overcoming the

impediments, the final part of the questionnaire invited suggestions for enhancing
group work. Some of the insightful responses are presented below.
Figure 5: Teacher suggestions
Efficient mentoring for each group; interim feedback; accessible mechanism for
conflict resolution; appropriate tools and resources and continuous motivation.
Instead of random grouping, a pattern should be followed with countries in
different time zones.
The course leader should pitch in to clarify certain concepts, consolidate the
discussions and present a summary at the end.
Sometimes face to face interactions are also required, at least using Skype or
webinars.
For collaboration, I think provision of on-line class for all at the same time would
also give a deeper understanding of each other thoughts, ideas as it would lead to
more of interaction and discussion
The tasks should be well-designed and appropriate for collaborative work.
Guidelines for peer assessment should be clearer to make the collaboration more
meaningful.

Assigning specific tasks/roles to different members within the group then regular
exchanges and monitoring will enhance collaboration in online group tasks.
Group tasks should be preceded by some small initiatives whereby the members
get to know each other; since they are not likely to have met or seen each other.
The findings from the graphs and tables have significant implications for online
course design in two areas: collaborative task design and implementation, and
instructor/instructional strategies.
Implications for collaborative task design and implementation

Since the collaborative tasks in online courses provide an opportunity for teachers
to apply the principles and knowledge gained in the course, and to share previous
experiences and insights with teachers from different contexts, it is imperative
for course designers to design tasks that provide productive, engaging and
skill-building spaces to encourage meaningful interaction. The tasks have to be
intrinsically motivating, appropriate for group work, contextually relevant and
lead to real sharing of ideas and meaning making. For example, peer reviewing of
group projects enhances meaningful collaboration; however, the task of designing
a lesson plan for an imaginary group of learners by a group of teachers who teach
at different levels primary, secondary, tertiary would neither be authentic nor
appropriate.
While incorporating collaborative tasks it is also important to maintain a balance

between structure (clarity of task expectations, clear objectives and guidelines)
and learner autonomy (flexibility of task interpretation). The course design should
allow for flexibility, such as choice of group membership based on interests, time
zones (one of the teachers has suggested that group membership should be
based on time zone to facilitate easy interaction), membership role and innovative
perspectives on the given topic. This will lead to enhanced learner engagement,
and the sense of the relevance of the task will be heightened.
While implementing group work, as some teachers have pointed out, there is a
need for changing the group constitution for each task so that the participants
get a chance of working with different people. Also, it is useful to allocate
responsibilities to different members (like monitor, chaser or tail-twister), and
ask groups to nominate their members for each role to ensure a more focused
discussion.
Implications for instructor/instructional strategies

The fact that 90% of the teachers have indicated a lack of orientation to group
work as a major impeding factor for successful collaboration in online small group
tasks reflects the need for training the participants (in planning and negotiating
skills in particular) prior to the group tasks, to facilitate learner readiness and to
provide scaffolding for the tasks. This is important because teachers are often
ill-equipped through their previous educational experiences to collaborate (in
general) or peer-review, and also the social milieu of online activities is quite

different from in-person interactions, thus requiring new skills and behaviour.
Therefore, it would be useful to include an orientation component that will teach
participants not only how to collaborate to learn but also learn to collaborate.
One other factor that teachers have considered to be important for facilitating
effective collaboration is group monitoring (75%). It is suggested that group
conferences and exchanges in the group projects should be monitored closely
by instructors, and timely feedback should be given on the process and direction
when necessary, to prevent groups from getting stalled or going off-course. This
would also help to ensure that each member is contributing to tasks in equal
measure. It is often noticed that instructors have a dynamic presence in the weekly
discussion board tasks as they monitor the discussions and provide continuous
guidance to focus on the course goals by utilizing a technique called weaving (a
skill that involves using a part of a teacher comment in a posting and redirecting
it to the main topic without an explicit negative value judgement), but they do not
monitor the progress of the group project or the contribution of each member to
the project regularly. On the other hand, group processing might be necessary to
suggest new paths to explore the topic, or intervene if the project seems to be
falling short of expectations.
A related way to ensure learner participation in online collaboration is to

demonstrate the value of group learning by assessing both the product and the
process of group work (Swan, Shen and Hiltz 2006). It is perhaps important for
instructors to assess individual performances in group work so that the teachers
who contribute substantially to the group task do not feel that they have had to
carry more than their fair share of the workload in a group, or have received a
grade that does not reflect their level of contribution to a group project. As one of
the teachers stated some members work much more while the others do not. So,
group grading sometimes causes discouragement. It can be a dampener.
Since computer-mediated communication is at the core of online collaboration,

a range of tools that promote dynamic exchanges needs to be used, as the
asynchronous mode can sometimes be an impediment for negotiation of difficult
issues that require quick responses and timely intervention. It is therefore
suggested that tools that are more suitable for collaborative learning (wikis, Skype
in particular), be incorporated into virtual classrooms in a systematic way. A few
teachers have suggested that participants should have IT and web skills, and face-
to-face interactions are also required at least using Skype or webinars.
Conclusion
There appears to be a strong argument for including collaborative tasks in
online courses as they promote positive interdependence and interaction,
provide a supportive learning community, and lead to the development of meta-
cognitive knowledge, critical thinking skills and reflection (100% of the teachers
acknowledged this in the survey).

However, in order to generate a truly educative and meaningful group learning
experience, it is necessary to periodically reconceptualize the design and
implementation strategies of collaborative projects in the courses. Assumptions
about what impact specific strategies have on learner behaviour need to be
tested constantly. Also, a clear understanding of teacher perceptions of online
collaborative learning experience through meaningful end-of-course feedback,
in the form of short narrative reports/semi-structured interviews on the quality
of collaboration pertaining to each task rather than a generalized questionnaire-
based response (to quote a teacher) is important, because the experiences and
perspectives teachers obtained through the courses will in turn influence their
willingness to implement collaborative learning methods in their classrooms.
References
An, H. and Kim, S. (2007) The perceived benefits and difficulties of online group
work in a teacher education program. International Journal of Instructional
Technology and Distance Learning 4/5. Available at: http://www.itdl.org/journal/
may_07/article01.htm
Capdeferro, N and Romero, M. (2012) Are Online Learners Frustrated with

Collaborative Learning Experiences? The International Review of Research in Open
and Distance Learning 13/2: 1-19.
Dirkx, J.M. and Smith, R.O. (2004) Thinking out of a bowl of spaghetti: Learning
to learn in online collaborative groups, in T.S. Roberts (Ed.) Online collaborative
learning: theory and practice. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.
Haythornthwaite, C. (2006) Facilitating collaboration in online learning. Journal of

Asynchronous Learning Networks 10/1: 724.
Johnson, D.W and Johnson, R.T. (1989) Cooperation and competition: Theory and
Research. Edina. MN Interaction Book Company.
Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, R.T. (2004) Cooperation and the use of technology
in D.H. Johanssen, Handbook of research on educational communications and
technology (Second edition). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Palloff, R. and Pratt, K. (2005)Collaborating online: Learning together in

community.San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass.
Smith, B. and MacGregor, J. (1992) What is collaborative learning? in A.S. Goodsell,

M.R. Maher and V. Tinto (Eds.), Collaborative learning: A sourcebook for higher
education. Syracuse, N.Y: National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, &
Assessment, Syracuse University.
Swan, K. (2001): Virtual interaction: Design factors affecting students satisfaction

and perceived learning in asynchronous online courses.Distance Education 22/2:
306-331.
Swan, K., Shen, J. and Hiltz, S.R. (2006) Assessment and Collaboration in Online
Learning. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 10/1: 4562.

Appendix
Sample survey questionnaire
DO ONLINE GROUP TASKS PROMOTE EFFECTIVE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

EXPERIENCES?
An opinion survey
Dear teacher
This survey aims to gather information on your perception of collaborative
learning in E-teacher courses, with specific reference to group tasks/projects.
Could you please reflect on your own online group work experience in the course
that you have participated in and complete the survey form? The information will
be used for research purposes only.
Your participation is greatly valued and appreciated.
Meera Srinivas
A. Personal information
1. Full name:
2. Country:
3. Gender:
4. Age:
5. Professional position (teacher, trainer, school administrator, independent
educational consultant, other):
6. Location of work:
7. Years of professional experience, with details:
8. Reasons for enrolling in E-Teacher courses:
B. Questions pertaining to your online collaborative learning community

experience
(Please provide honest and detailed responses)
9. Please check all of the communication methods you used during group
assignments.
Telephone
E-mail
Skype (video calls)
Instant messaging or other types of synchronous chatting methods
Group Discussion Board
10. Which communication methods did you utilize most in completing group
assignments/projects in your course? Why?
11. List the factors which helped you to successfully complete the online group
tasks in the course.

12. List the factors, if any, that you think impeded the successful completion of the
online group assignments/projects in your course.
13. In what ways has participating in online group tasks/projects helped you? (Tick
whatever is applicable to you) It has:
a. led to the development of metacognitive knowledge

b. provided a supporting learning community
c. given me a new understanding of the use of online tools
d. fostered higher-order thinking skills
e. made me more reflective as a teacher
f.
g. ..
14. In your opinion, how important are these factors for promoting effective
collaborative learning? Give reasons.
Factors Very Important Not Reasons

important important
Positive interdependence
(each member thinks that
they cannot succeed unless
the group does)
Promotive interaction
(each member acts as
trustworthy members by
acknowledging and
challenging others ideas and
efforts)
Individual accountability/
assessment
Group monitoring
The presence of a positive

group leader
Consensus building skills of -

the group
Clear task instructions

Instructor skills in creating
and managing group
interaction
Transparency of task
expectations (requirements
for group work to be
specified in the course
syllabus)

15. It is generally stated that the following factors can impede collaborative
learning in group projects. For each factor, say whether you agree/disagree and
give your reasons.
Factors Agree/Disagree Reasons

Cognitive conflicts
Individual differences in
learning styles
Group grading
Different time zones
Lack of face-to-face
communication opportunities
Lack of orientation to
collaborative group
16. What suggestions do you have for enhancing collaboration in online group
tasks?
Thank you for completing the survey.

Reflective feedback using video
recordings in ELT pre-service
teacher training programmes
Bose Vasudevan, Associate Professor, the Institute of
Language Teaching, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India
Abstract
Video recordings of micro teaching of ELT teacher trainees can help them reflect
on their own teaching. This paper, which is based on a tryout with a group of ELT
teacher trainees at the Institute of Language Teaching, Jamnagar, presents the
possibilities of using video recordings of sequences of teaching language as tools
for reflection to assist trainees to become insightful and realistic about their own
teaching. By enabling them to watch their own video-recorded lessons in ELT
pre-service teacher training programmes, we can assist trainees to reflect on
their teaching and thereby help them become autonomous learners. This view is
endorsed by the responses of the trainees in the study.
Introduction
Micro teaching is one of the most important components of pre-service English
Language Teacher training programmes. The aim of micro teaching is to bring
prospective ELT teacher trainees to the real world of teaching where they are
guided first to observe the trainers demonstrations and then plan lessons in
groups in order to teach their peers and obtain feedback from both peers and
trainers. This crucial part of pre-service training requires careful thought and
planning. The objective is to help trainees become insightful and realistic about
their own teaching practices by guiding them to discover their own strengths and
weaknesses in teaching and helping them find ways to improve their classroom
performance.
Self-reflection
Reflection is crucial at every stage of teaching and training, but this is often
neglected in pre-service teacher training programmes or left to the trainees
to reflect without any assistance from the trainers. As reflection applies to all
educational situations and is essential to life-long professional development (PD)
(Wallace 1981), it is important to provide opportunities to the trainees to self-
reflect on their own teaching. Self-reflection encourages teachers to develop the
skills of viewing the teaching process thoughtfully, analytically and objectively as a
way of improving classroom practices (Richards 2002).
Though self-reflection is not a mandatory component of micro teaching in the

Indian context, there is always the possibility of making it a valuable addition
to practicum and a vital and indispensable element of pre-service ELT teacher

training programmes (Tuga 2013). When trainees are first introduced to various
approaches, methods and techniques of language teaching, they should be given
an opportunity for safe experimentation (Orlova 2009). Micro teaching helps
them apply techniques based on various methods of language teaching and get
constructive feedback from both peers and trainers. Along with this feedback
it is also necessary to guide them to self-reflect on their own teaching to gain
confidence and thereby develop their teaching skills. Since a video recording has a
well-known motivating effect (Wallace 1981) and allows trainees to view it as many
times as they want to self-reflect, I decided to record a sequence of micro teaching
with the consent of a group of B.Ed English trainees.
Context of the study

The study was conducted with a group of 34 B.Ed English trainees at the Institute
of Language Teaching, Jamnagar. This programme (B.Ed English) is designed to
develop the communicative competence of the trainees as well as their pedagogic
competence. Most of the trainees are from regional-medium colleges, hence their
competence in English is low, especially in speaking. However, they are highly
motivated and are ready to accept and adopt technology in teaching and learning
language skills. Since the Institute does not have the resources to use high-
definition videos for recording teaching, we decided to use mobile phones.
Self-video recordings: rationale

Video recording is an objective and permanent resource for self-reflection,
and is reliable and durable. Trainees can view it any time at any place at their
own convenience. It acts as a tool for observing various aspects of classroom
practice and has a special value for non-native English-speaking trainees because
it enables them to reflect on their communicative competence and pedagogic
competence (Orlova 2009). It also assists them to reflect on non-verbal aspects of
teaching and key aspects of classroom interaction. Self-video recording is intended
to assist teacher trainees to produce a real-time record of teaching work and help
them look back on their professional development. This will therefore serve as a
foundation for their continuous professional development (CPD).
The experiment
Video recording of teacher trainees could be a sensitive issue in Indian contexts.
It is therefore important to convince them that it would help them notice their
strengths and weaknesses in teaching language. It is also important to make
sure that they are not too conscious of being recorded and get tense. With this
in mind the tryout was carried out with 34 ELT teacher trainees at the Institute of
Language Teaching, Jamnagar when the micro teaching was scheduled. Micro or
peer teaching is a compulsory component of B.Ed English and therefore trainees
have to take five lessons on different language skills, for example, teaching
speaking and listening, reading, writing, grammar, and vocabulary. They are
supposed to work in groups of four to plan the different stages of a lesson. Hence
they were divided into groups and each group was helped to plan a lesson. Each
member of the group would take one stage of the lesson with the peers as the

class and the observers. The trainees were given the freedom to choose one of
their friends to record his/her teaching on a mobile to ensure that the recording
would be cost effective and not threaten the teacher. The recordings of seven to
ten minutes teaching were later saved on pen drives and given to the trainees to
view at their own convenience. They were given reflection forms which contained a
set of questions to help them reflect on their teaching. A sample reflection form is
given below.
Figure 1: Sample reflection form
Whether your instructions were clear

Whether your body language was appropriate
Whether your questions were relevant
Whether you involved the whole class
Whether you talked too much (in Gujarati? Or in English?)
Whether you were too fast or too slow
Whether you made any serious errors (grammar/vocabulary/accent)
Whether you were able to achieve your objectives
Self-viewing and reflection

The trainees were allowed to view their own recorded teaching at home to make
it less threatening to their self-esteem. They could view it alone as many times
as they wanted and thereby gain confidence. This first viewing itself helped them
raise questions about their teaching. They later looked at their peers and trainers
questions for a deeper reflection. Most of them asked How is my English?, Am
I confident or nervous?, Do I speak very slowly?, etc. Daxa, for example, was
worried about her speed of delivery. Her friends also noted that she spoke fast
and used the filler ahh, ahh often, which she agreed with. Vijays response was
different: First, I was not ready to watch my video, but gained confidence and
watched it alone. I found myself teaching and it was a good experience. We have
a lot of fun, this is the first time I listened to my own recorded voice in English, and
I made a lot of errors, said Sheetal. The trainers questions like Do you think your
instructions were clear?, Do you think you tried to involve the whole class?, etc.
guided them to watch the video again and helped them reflect on their teaching
skills and language use.
Viewing video with a friend/friends

The second phase of video reflection was to view the recordings with a friend. The
rationale of this task was to stimulate greater self-awareness as both of them might
have things to share and gain from each others observations. They compared
their video recordings and invited questions on their teaching and received
constructive feedback. They later invited the trainer to view their teaching and
got motivated to reflect critically on the recorded teaching sequence. This was
different from the phase when they viewed the video alone. For example, when

they viewed the video by themselves, they mainly focused on language errors,
voice modulation and confidence, but when they viewed it again with a friend
or the trainer they reflected on class interaction, sense of involvement and
appropriate use of questions and techniques.
Participants response
Based on the guiding questions, they submitted a brief report on their teaching of
each micro lesson. The pre-service teachers appreciated the video recordings as
they would serve as a permanent record of their lessons. For example, Daxa wrote:
Yes, its a very good way of watching your performance and observing your way
of teaching. After seeing my video I came to know about my pluses and negative
points, which I can think about when I plan lessons next. Hemangi said: This video
recording helped me find out my mistakes, errors in pronunciation, and helped me
improve my confidence. I think it is good to catch my negative and positive points. It
feels good.
Though they experienced difficulties such as apprehensions of being recorded

on a mobile and low quality of the video, they came to believe that the recordings
helped them improve their classroom management skills and skills of teaching
English. Initially they were wary about being recorded as they thought the video
might be misused. However, when they were given the freedom to choose their
own friend to record their teaching, they gained confidence and were ready to be
recorded. There were questions about the quality of recording with a mobile and
there were problems of external noise. This was minimized in the second round of
recordings when we used high-quality smartphones.
The self-reflection enabled them to identify their areas of strength and weakness,
especially in the use of English. For example, Ratan wrote: I was able to engage
the class but my English was so poor I made a lot of errors in tenses, while
Chandini focused on handwriting and use of vocabulary on the chalkboard. She
said, My chalkboard writing was bad, and I even made errors in spelling. I wrote
irrigation instead of irritation, which the observer did not notice. They realized they
needed to worry about their body language, improve their accent and knowledge
of language functions, and their interaction with the students. Sonals response
supports this view: I was standing in one place the whole period, and I addressed
most of the questions to only Ramesh. I read the whole poem in a single breath
and never looked at the class while reciting it, and I addressed questions to only two
participants, was Jays response. Others commented that they looked confident,
gave clear instructions, were able to ask relevant questions, and tried to involve
the whole class.
Viewing the video alone or with a friend gave the trainees a lot of confidence and
they were able to identify what was missed in the peer/trainer feedback. Most
of them talked about their body language: their posture was not appropriate
and they did not smile at all. These minute issues, though relevant in language
teaching, might be missed in the trainers feedback. The recording also gave them

a chance to share their teaching experience with family members, and this eased
their tension as they received a lot of support from them. Jasminas response on
viewing her video with her husband was: My husband and my kids watched my
teaching and praised me. The kids were happy to see Mummy in a film, and so Ive
decided to keep it forever! I showed my video to friends who are teachers. They
said nothing like this is done in their school, and they appreciated my presentation,
wrote Nisha. These responses show that trainees valued the video recordings
immensely. They had gained considerable confidence in facing a classroom and
expressed their readiness to be recorded again for self-reflection.
Implications
The video recording of micro teaching and the self-reflections of the trainees
underline the possibilities of using mobiles to record teaching sequences and
the importance of making it a compulsory component of an ELT pre-service
teacher training programme. Teacher trainers should realize the significance of
video-recording as it would enable trainees to shift their focus of reflection from
superficial features of classroom management to key pedagogical issues. They
should be ready to use video recordings (mobile recording for cost effectiveness)
in both peer teaching and real classroom teaching and help promote self-
reflection.
References
Kong, S., Shroff, R. and Hung, H. (2009) A web based video system for self
reflection by student teachers using a guiding framework. Australian Journal of
Educational Technology, 25(4): 544-558.
Orlova, N. (2009) Video recording as a stimulus for reflection in pre-service EFL

teacher training. English Teaching Forum 2: 30-35.
Richards, J. (2002) Theories of teaching in language teaching in Methodology

in language teaching: An anthology of current practice in J.C. Richards and W.A.
Renandya (Eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Slagoski, J.D. (2007) Practicum: microteaching for non-native speaking teacher

trainees. English Teaching Forum 4: 32-37.
Tuga, B.E. (2013) Reflective feedback sessions using video recordings. ELT Journal
67/2: 175-183.
Wallace, M.J. (1981) The use of video in EFL teacher training. ELT Documents 110,
Focus on the teacher: Communicative approaches to teacher training. London:
British Council.

Using audio lessons for the
visually impaired in inclusive
classrooms: an exploratory
study
Priyank G. Varma, ELE PhD student, the English and Foreign
Languages University, Hyderabad, India
Madhavi Gayathri Raman, Assistant Professor, Department
of Materials Development, the English and Foreign Languages
Abstract
This paper explores the possibility of making print materials, specifically the
language textbook, more accessible to visually impaired learners who have been
mainstreamed in regular classrooms. This is done to facilitate their participation
in classroom activities and help them engage more meaningfully in the learning
process. The study has employed prior knowledge of listening skills for an
individuals cognitive development. Three lessons from the English textbook used
by schools affiliated to the Andhra Pradesh State Board syllabus were presented
in an audio format (as Mp3 files) to eleven visually impaired (partially sighted and
legally blind) learners from nine schools. Modifications for the prescribed tasks
and activities at the end of the lesson were carried out in order to generate self-
reliant participation of the target group to identify learning. Response sheets were
provided using Braille and large-print answer sheets to encourage participation.
Analysis shows the target group were better performers when provided with
necessary support using advancements in the print media and audio technology.
On the other hand, the findings proved to have disadvantages for the Braille learner
after they had been mainstreamed into regular schools.
Introduction
Education must aim at giving the blind child knowledge of the realities
around him, the confidence to cope with these realities, and the feeling
that he is recognized and accepted as an individual in his own right.
(Berthold Lowenfeld)
Despite the existence of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities,

Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act (1995) and Article 45 of the
Constitution of India, which states that the State should provide free and
compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen
years, a very small percentage of such people have access to education. A
meagre 5% of visually impaired students have been enrolled in mainstream schools

despite the fact that this fundamental right is dictated and protected by the
Constitution of India for more than 66 years now. The presence of students with
visual impairment pursuing degrees in higher education prompted us to enquire
into challenges faced and met by them in their school years. Through informal
interviews and discussions, it was revealed that many such participants faced
problems specific to accessing print materials usually used in the classrooms. This
prompted us to investigate such problems a little more as they may be the reason
why there are so few such participants in mainstream classrooms.
Background
Participants excelling in special schools are recommended for enrolment in
mainstream schools after certain necessary skills such as mobility (being able
to use a white cane), academic skills (ability to read and write Braille), computer
skills (to access information) have been taught. Such participants find themselves
among the greater population of the class as the odd ones with special needs.
They find accessing material is a challenge as they are not provided with the
necessary Braille materials in the regular classrooms. Instead, teachers cater for
the needs of students who are partially sighted whenever possible by providing
A3-size sheets in large font format. However, these materials do not last till the
end of the academic year. Visually challenged students are usually provided with
scribes during examinations. They prefer advanced learners to be their scribes
during examinations as students from lower levels of study or administrative staff
members may make errors in writing the answers, or they may interrupt the flow of
thought of the participant concerned while (s)he is dictating their answers to the
scribe. Such students find advanced learners to be more patient and effective in
helping them perform at their best within the given time.
Teachers, on the other hand, do manage to generate materials that can help at
least the partially sighted students to participate. Many teachers, however, ask
how they can allow a visually impaired student to use Braille when they themselves
cannot read Braille. Not many teachers are trained to face such situations, and
they are left to adapt to institutional procedures, which usually focus on the needs
of the majority. In such situations they are required to design new materials, which
is evidently not possible in the case of Braille. They are therefore completely
dependent on the institution to address the special needs of the participants
enrolled.
Institutions do realize the fact that infrastructure to meet such special needs has
to be created, provided the State makes available teachers with the necessary
training and adequate support staff. If schools are to provide education to visually
disabled students, they should be able to establish a materials development
department for special needs or the Government should find ways to meet
the demands of visually impaired students. Computer laboratories need to be
equipped with user-friendly software, which is usually very expensive. However,
even if the cost is met, trained staff to assist the users should be made available.

The study
The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of making the coursebook,
prescribed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, more accessible to the visually
impaired learners in mainstream schools.
Due to the nature of the problems mentioned earlier, the population ratio between
regular students and visually impaired students per class is 25:1. It should be
noted that students are promoted to join mainstream schools after they acquire
the necessary skills to participate and perform in class including mobility skills,
academic skills specific to Braille literacy, and computer skills. In the existing
situation, we were able to identify only 11 visually impaired participants from 9
different schools. In this target group 7 participants were Braille users (legally
blind) and 4 were large font users (being partially sighted). They had been
mainstreamed to join grade 7. In order to study how they adapt to new methods
in mainstream school we chose our target group from standard 8. This we thought
would help us investigate their current academic progress.
Hypotheses
1. Modifying the reading passages in the textbook and presenting them in the
Mp3 audio format would provide greater accessibility to the content of the
lessons. Students would be able to access print material and would not need
to depend on their peers or parents to read out lessons to them, thus making
them independent readers.
2. A smaller file format would facilitate repeated use at home and at school
without the need to erase the files for future use. Easy storage capabilities
keep usage-related problems at bay and are also helpful to those who get
promoted the next academic year.
3. Using the multiple choice and true/false question format to present the
exercises at the end of a reading passage (such as comprehension questions,
word study, usage and grammar) would allow visually impaired students to
answer questions just like their sighted peers.
4. The use of large font and Braille response sheets to code their responses
would allow us to assess the comprehension of our learners. It would also
provide them with an opportunity for self-assessment and this could have a
further effect on their motivation to learn.
Design of the study

The study was conducted in four phases. Phase 1 consists of the design and
administration of a questionnaire. In phase 2, the most significant part of the
study, we show how the units chosen from the textbooks were modified in terms of
format and task types to suit the needs of our target group. In phase 3, we discuss
how the materials are to be used in the classroom. Using the feedback gained from
the earlier phase with regard to the efficacy of the materials, we made further
modifications to them. This forms phase 4 of the study.

Questionnaire
Section 1 is designed to elicit information about the participants personal
information such as name, age, level of study and details of parents. Such data
helped us make profiles of each participant and learn about how they got support
at home from parents and family members. Section 2 elicited information about
the participants current classroom experiences with the language teacher. This
helped us generate information on teacher practices and methods to cater for
special needs. Section 3 is designed to obtain information about the participants
access to other resources such as the computer, the Internet, or any specific
software used to access textual data for classroom assignments both at school
and at home. Section 4 gives us information about examination procedures
practised in school, the students attitude to examinations, and the scribes
provided during examinations. Having obtained relevant information to address
questions of participation and access to information, the second phase of the
study was attempted.
Modification of materials
Phase 2 of the study was divided into two parts. The first part was to analyse the
lessons in the language textbook prescribed by the Andhra Pradesh State Board.
The analysis was carried out in terms of (i) the number of units, (ii) the presentation
of these units (i.e. the number of pages per textbook, the font size used), (iii) the
language skills and areas covered by the post-reading exercises at the end of
the unit, namely, comprehension, spelling, word study, language use, usage and
grammar, and writing. We then decided to use three units for the purpose of the
study:
1. My Struggle for an Education: Booker T. Washington

2. With the Photographer: Stephen Leacock
3. The Seventh Mandarin: Anonymous
The second was to provide access to the textbook and its units; therefore the units
were recorded in the studio in Mp3 format. This was meant to help learners store
and save the Mp3 files for extended use. To increase comprehensibility and proper
learning, task types were modified so that the students could perform on their own
without the need for a scribe.
Modification of task types and format

Multiple choice post-reading tasks were given in audio format to ensure learner
participation and to make them independent. By providing the answers and
asking them to choose the right one, we were able to assess their understanding
of the task as well as the language item they had learnt with regard to grammar,
vocabulary or language function. They were then required to mark their responses
on specially designed Braille and large font OMR answer sheets. The following
table provides the profile of units used and its contents and its design to make the
textbook user-friendly.

Table 1: Profile of units used
S.No. Layout of the unit My Struggle for With the The Seventh
an Education Photographer Mandarin
1. No. of paragraphs 15 11 27
2. Notes & meanings 27 29 21
3. Comprehension 15 10 20
4. Spellings 12 12 15
5. Word study 19 26 15
6. Language use 13 Oral activity , 1 14
activity
7. Usage and 9 8 5
grammar
8. Writing activity 2 activities 2 or 3 paragraphs, 2 2 activities
Response in 2 activities. Response
or 3 paragraphs in 2 or 3
paragraphs
The table above shows the number of paragraphs and activities in each unit
recorded as an Mp3 file. For example, the first unit My Struggle for an Education
is in 15 paragraphs in the textbook. Therefore, an Mp3 file named after the lesson
consists of 15 Mp3 files of just the text paragraphs. This is the method used for
every activity and indicated by the serial number given. The textbook itself is
user-friendly in terms of presentation, the paragraphs consisting of not more than
five sentences each, making it easier to remember the text in smaller chunks. Bold
fonts, italics, quotation marks, etc. give the reader essential clues to meaning;
this was necessary for our target group also to notice. Therefore, for a tactile and
auditory learner we decided to provide such clues in the audio file by using a male
voice and a female voice. For example, the title of the lesson was read out by the
female voice and the remaining paragraphs by the male voice. For synonyms, the
difficult words were read out by the male voice and the meaning was provided in
the female voice.
Efficacy of the modified materials

In order to determine whether our materials were effective, we evaluated the
learners on each of the tasks and tabulated their scores. This was not meant to
test them. Rather, it was meant to determine whether two of our hypotheses had
been proved: that the use of modified task types would help students answer post-
reading tasks independently thereby increasing motivation and make print more
accessible to them. The following tables provide a gist of their comprehension
through the scores they achieved from the first two units out of the three
mentioned previously.

Table 2: Number of correct responses to the questions in My Struggle for an Education
Participant Sec. I Sec. II Sec.III Sec. IV Sec. V Sec.

(14) (9) (6) (7) (5) VI
(41)
Santosh Kumar 13 9 5 7 5 39
Bernard 14 9 5 7 5 41
Raghu Ram 14 9 5 7 5 41
Madhan Mohan 14 9 5 7 5 41
Annie 14 9 5 7 5 41
Sara Kiranmayee 8 9 5 4 5 31
Kumar Swamy 14 9 5 7 5 41
Naga Bhavanisilpa 14 9 5 7 5 41
Bhanu Prasad 14 9 5 7 5 41
Nagesh Reddy 14 9 5 7 5 41
Prathyusha 14 9 5 7 5 41
Note:
Sections I-V refer to the activities (MCQs, T/F, Yes/No).

The number within brackets indicates the number of questions in each section.
The total number of questions for the writing activity is 41.
The first seven students mentioned above are legally blind and the remaining
four are partially sighted.
Table 3: Number of correct responses to the questions in With the Photographer
Name Sec. I (9) Sec. II (8) Sec. III (17)

Santosh Kumar 9 8 17
Bernard 9 7 16
Raghu Ram 9 7 16
Madhan Mohan 9 7 16
Annie 9 7 16
Sara Kiranmayee 9 7 16
Kumar Swamy 9 7 16
Naga Bhavanisilpa 9 8 17
Bhanu Prasad 9 8 17
Nagesh Reddy 9 8 17
Prathyusha 9 8 17
Note: Refer to the previous table.

Scores indicate that the target group were able to comprehend the lesson
successfully and complete tasks related to it, thereby providing evidence for our
hypothesis that presenting modified texts and materials in the Mp3 audio format
would provide greater accessibility to the content of the lessons.
Conclusion
Relevant literature indicates that the concept of access is one of the main
research areas in visual impairment education. Having examined the existing
problems of the target group in mainstream classroom, this study attempted to
make English accessible to the target group by adopting some alternative formats.
We began with the hypothesis that presenting print material in an audio format
(Mp3) would make it more accessible to our learners. A smaller file format would
facilitate repeated use in school or at home. The theoretical support for this came
from two core areas: (i) research in reading which shows that listening and reading
are closely linked, and (ii) research in the area of multimedia as an alternative
means of literacy for those whose access to print is limited.
We also hypothesized that using the multiple choice and true/false question format
to present the exercises at the end of the reading passage would give learners a
sense of satisfaction at being able to complete these tasks independently thereby
increasing their motivation levels. The fact that they were able to complete the
post-reading tasks well before their peers in class motivated them enormously and
the performance was at its peak. Attention must be drawn to the fact that the task
types modified for greater participation proved to be user-friendly for our target
group and made scribes redundant. In our informal interviews we learnt that our
students are unable to practise Braille reading or writing in mainstream schools.
This highlights the fact that certain students when mainstreamed lose the literacy
skills acquired in special schools. Due to non-availability of Braille materials in
mainstream schools, they are in danger of becoming unable to access Braille print
altogether. This has implications for decision makers at the school and government
levels.
Therefore, we should take prompt steps to introduce audio lessons to impart

better learning to visually impaired learners instead of making their world darker
by forcing them to learn through inaccessible textbooks.

Testing reading abilities of the
visually impaired using scribes/
technology
Ramraj M., ELE PhD scholar, the English and Foreign Languages
Abstract
Reading is a complex and cognitively demanding process that requires chunking.
But visually impaired learners have to read a text word by word whether read out by
a scribe or with the use of technology.
Reading comprehension tests have both global and local questions, and not
always in a linear order. To answer these questions, therefore, a reader has to go
backwards and forwards within the text. This is a capability taken for granted by
sighted learners but causes immense problems for a visually impaired student.
Paragraphs are rarely numbered and questions do not indicate the location of
the answers. Good scribes identify appropriate paragraphs; technology only
enables word/line/paragraph skipping. Paragraphs in reading comprehension tests
for visually impaired students should therefore be numbered and local/specific
questions should indicate the paragraph they refer to.
The attempt made in this paper is to compare the differences in performance of

sighted and visually impaired students using three parallel reading comprehension
texts, read out by scribes and by technology, with and without numbering and
indication of answer location. The performance of the two groups of students and
the time taken is compared and presented along with a qualitative analysis of a
retrospection done by the visually impaired learners.
Introduction
The ability to read has been and continues to be indispensable and fundamental
to education. Reading, in general, involves the ability to comprehend and interact
with written text either in print or in the electronic mode. In academic contexts,
this ability is expected to increase because, as students progress in their
academic levels, the demand of reading increases enormously. Thus, reading is
arguably the most essential skill for success in all educational contexts. It also
remains a skill of paramount importance in the context of general language
assessment and testing. This is because most formal tests use the written word as
a stimulus for test-take responses and reading performance is a prerequisite for
certain tasks even in oral interviews (Brown 2004). The visually impaired learner/
reader/test taker (the VI learner/reader/test taker hereafter) therefore, in the
context of testing, is at a disadvantage as reading involves the ability to decode
print and understand the meaning of the text. VI learners, if they cannot access

a text through Braille, have to hear texts either read out by a scribe or with the
use of a screen reader. Moreover, a VI learner cannot run his/her eye down a text
to either skim or scan it. This implies that the very construct of reading ability is
different for a VI reader. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to problematize
the construct of the visually impaired learners reading capability and explore
plausible alternatives.
Understanding reading capability of the visually impaired

Reading is usually defined as the process of receiving and interpreting information
encoded in language form via the medium of print (Urquhart and Weir 1998: 22).
It is also perceived as a complex task which involves both visual (print) and non-
visual factors such as motor coordination, motivation and cognitive ability.
Visually impaired learners access their reading either through Braille or through
a human/screen reader. Cost effectiveness, length of text and durability are
serious concerns with Braille. It is also not preferred these days due to advances in
technology. In the twenty-first century, therefore, most VI learners use a scribe or
rely on technology.
When a text is read out to VI learners they cannot visualise the orthography of
the language. As a result, they become print disabled. If the reader/scribe fails
to articulate or draw attention to text features like punctuation, capitalization,
underlining, bold, italicization, and differences in fonts and indents, VI learners
may not completely comprehend the text. Decoding skills like letter recognition,
understanding word boundaries, and text chunking becomes near impossible.
Graphemes are purely a visual input and the identification of letters entails the
ability to match letters and sounds which, in turn, enables the development of the
understanding of words and spelling patterns. Even with the use of technology/
scribe, graphemes cannot be perceived by visually impaired learners. They can be
perceived when texts are read in Braille, but it involves tactile reading and has its
own problems.
Word boundaries are conventionally represented, in writing, by spaces between

words. When a VI reader uses Braille, word boundaries can be perceived but when
texts are accessed through a scribe or a screen reader, identification of word
boundaries is difficult.
Chunking is the grouping of words in a sentence into short meaningful phrases.

A good sighted reader does this automatically but it has to be done for the VI
test taker by the scribe. If the reader/scribe parses words wrongly, or chunks
differently, comprehension gets affected.
Problematizing the reading assessment of VI learners

Reading tests very often test certain important sub-skills like careful reading,
skimming and scanning, both at the global and local level (Urquhart and Weir

1998). Skimming and scanning require the ability to move the eyes rapidly over the
printed text to locate specific information or get a quick sense of the gist of the
text. It is an important speed-reading technique. VI learners, by contrast, have to
listen to each and every word in the text as it is read out to them.
Texts of varying length and complexity are used to assess reading capability. The
information in these texts could also be presented in a linear or cyclical manner
and links within and across paragraphs indicated overtly or covertly. Sighted
learners can easily move back and forth within the text to access the required
information and make necessary connections. For the visually impaired learner
such cyclical reading is time-consuming and laborious.
More importantly, in the context of a reading test, VI learners have to rely on

the scribes ability to skim and scan the given text and ask whether a particular
paragraph which may have an answer to a question needs to be re-read by him/
her. If the test is being taken by the VI learner using technology, he/she can only
ask the screen reader to read and re-read the whole text laboriously to enable
such skimming and scanning to happen. To ensure that it is the capability of the
VI learner that is being tested and not that of the scribe, all paragraphs must be
numbered and questions should carry paragraph numbers next to them. This will
also aid the VI learner who is using a screen reader to access a particular part of
the text.
The study
The argument made in this paper is that, if paragraph numbers are marked and
each question carries this number next to it, a VI reader who is taking a reading
comprehension test will be able to answer the test more easily and will also be
able to exhibit his/her own capability.
For the purpose of this study, five visually challenged learners and five sighted
learners with varying levels of proficiency (registered for courses ranging from
BA to PhD) were asked to take tests of reading comprehension. There were three
parallel expository reading texts, with eight multiple-choice question (MCQ) items
each. In the first text paragraphs were not marked, while in the second and third
texts paragraphs were marked and paragraph numbers indicated next to each
question. The first two tests were taken by both sighted and visually impaired
learners (with the help of a scribe). The third test was taken only by the visually
impaired learners with the help of a screen reader. The performances across these
tests were compared.
A retrospective interview that dealt with comparisons and contrasts across text
performances and modalities was also conducted with the visually impaired test
takers. The impact of paragraph marking and indication of paragraph number next
to the question was one major focus. The other was to find out scribe/technology
preference for testing.

Interpretation of test results
An examination of the test results shows that the VI learners were able to perform
comparatively better when paragraph numbers were marked and the texts were
read out by the scribe. This information is presented in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Range of marks, time and mean
Visually impaired Sighted
Range of Mean Time taken Range of Mean Time

marks marks taken
Text 1 26 4.2 13 30 ms 37 5 6 21
Text 2 36 4.6 13 26 ms 26 4.2 5 20
Text 3 35 3.9 37 71 ms -- -- --
When one looks at the range of marks and the mean of the VI learners for scores
in tests 1 and 2, there is a slight difference. The minimum mark has changed from
2 to 3 and the mean has also increased by 0.4%. By contrast, the performance of
the sighted learners across these two tests shows that both the minimum and the
maximum mark was reduced by 1. Their mean has therefore dropped by 0.8%.
One can therefore tentatively conclude that marking paragraphs has helped the VI
learners perform better but that it has not really aided the comprehension of the
sighted learner.
When one compares the scores of tests 2 and 3 (taken only by the VI learners)
it is clear that the maximum score has come down by 1 mark and the mean has
dropped by 0.7%. Test 3 had to be taken with the use of a screen reader. One
could argue that this decrease in marks could have been caused only by non-
familiarity with technology under test conditions. But even though paragraphs
were marked, the table shows that the time taken for this test was much more than
the other two tests. The VI readers stated in their interview that they had other
problems with the use of technology for testing.
It is interesting to note that, with reference to time, both sighted and visually
impaired learners spent less time with test 2 where paragraphs were marked and
the numbers of paragraphs indicated next to the corresponding question. Sighted
learners took only one minute less to complete test 2 when compared to test 1.
By contrast, the VI test taker took a good 4 minutes less. The maximum amount
of time taken (more than three times as much as the time taken by the sighted
learner to complete one test) was by the VI test taker who had to rely on the
screen reader, JAWS.
Thus, one can tentatively conclude that a VI test taker prefers a human reader,
or rather a scribe, to the use of technology when he/she has to take a reading
comprehension test. The marking of paragraphs and indication of answer location,
it would seem, aids better comprehension. This was stated in many ways by the
five VI learners who participated in the study.

Perceptions of the visually impaired of reading comprehension tests
VI learners prefer human readers to screen readers for various reasons including a
non-metallic voice, accessibility and the ability to search for a particular paragraph
to find an answer. As one test taker put it, Because of the human voice there is life
in the reading, which makes comprehension better [V3]. He went on to add: With
technology the screen readers voice is not comprehensible because the voice is
mechanical and metallic.
The problem of accessibility was mentioned by another VI learner. In his own

words, a scribe can stop the text while reading and go to the question and come
back to start where I left [V4]. One needs to understand that when using a screen
reader VI test takers cannot directly go to a particular part of the text that they
need to go to. Instead, they have to read from the beginning of the paragraph at
least. In the process of such searching, VI learners comprehension tends to get
affected. While reading with a screen reader, after reading the question, numerous
keyboard commands also have to be given in order to locate the exact part of the
text where the answer can be found. This can be described as a processing gap.
It is also much more demanding; a sighted learner can indulge himself/herself
by processing and reprocessing the text to find answers. The VI test taker has to
get technology to work for him. He/she has to keep count of paragraphs and lines
and then command technology to go where needed. Care with such commands
complicates and sometimes even delays the process of comprehension.
A screen reader cannot also be commanded to highlight parts of a text, while it

is being read, the way a sighted reader can. As one of the test takers put it: I can
ask my scribe to underline or write short notes on important points while reading
[V4]. Another problem is that searching and identifying the place where the answer
has to be indicated/written is also time-consuming with a screen reader. As a test
taker put it, with the screen reader, after reading the question, I again go back to
read the text. When I go back to answer I have to search for the appropriate box to
indicate or write the answer. The scribe can do that in no time [V2].
Thus, one could conclude that scribes would be preferred by VI learners when they
have to take comprehension tests. This does not mean, however, that test taking
with scribes is problem free. The proficiency of the scribe, or rather lack of it, can
even lead to non-intelligibility in reading. As succinctly put by a test taker: Wrong
parsing and mispronunciation result in misinterpretation of text [V1].
The scribes attitude can cause even more problems for the VI test taker. Scribes
are just that: paid to do a job and therefore not committed to the process of test
taking. They are often reluctant to read and re-read a text and questions. One of
the test takers spoke on this at length: After all it is not the scribes test, therefore,
they dont want to read the text again and again when asked for. This is one of the
major problems with scribes, where learners are forced to memorize the text in
order that they can answer the questions without asking the scribe to read again
and again [V1].

One solution posited in this paper to counter some of these problems is to mark
paragraphs and indicate the location of answers. All five test takers valued this
modification. First, they felt that it helped them with time management. All five had
variations of the same statement: I need not to read the whole text again (sic). It
was perceived as immensely helpful; as explicated by a test taker: it is wonderful
to have marked paragraphs (V2). One of them compared this experience with
using technology and said: When I went to answer the questions with Jaws, I tend
to forget the questions. Since paragraphs are marked I could concentrate better
(sic) (V2).
Three others (V1, V3 and V5) asserted: I could directly go to the paragraph and
answer the questions. One test taker went to the heart of the matter when he
stated: It is useful for the scribe, who need not to search for the paragraph and
lines (sic) (V4).
This implies that when paragraphs are not numbered, and the location of answers
not indicated for VI test takers, more often than not, particularly when questions
test skimming and scanning, it is the capability of the scribe that is being
evaluated. This is much more problematic and worrying than construct-irrelevant
issues like a metallic voice, accessibility and extra time taken affecting test
performance (Bachman 1990).
References
Bachman, L. F. (1990) Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Brown, D. (2004) Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices. New

York: Pearson Education.
Urquhart, S. and Weir, C. (1998) Reading in a Second Language: Process, Product

and Practice. New York: Longman.

Technology-mediated language
teaching through a Kindle-based
mobile learning initiative in
India: the access experience
Raashid Nehal, Associate Professor, Department of English,
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
Abstract
The search for and study of appropriate digital technological applications in ELT
classrooms continues to impact the development of pedagogy, yet teachers
and students lack opportunities for reflecting upon their experience of handling
technology in the language classroom. The study is based on a pilot study project
funded by the Regional English Language Office (RELO), American Centre, New
Delhi and facilitated by the Academic Staff College of the Aligarh Muslim University
as part of the Kindle Mobile learning initiative in India. The paper is based on the
use of Kindle technology by 337 young learners enrolled in four English Access
Microscholarship programmes at Aligarh, Bhubaneswar, Kochi (Aluva) and Kolkata.
In keeping with the scope of the project, the use of the Kindle technology relates to
the development of strategies for the integration of pre-loaded content, continuous
evaluation and troubleshooting. The starting point of this paper is to see how Kindle
technology is used for getting young learners to motivate themselves for language
learning when opportunities are created outside the formal conventional English
classroom.
Introduction
In recent times research has reported evidence of teachers using learning
technologies and adapting them to their classrooms. The 1998 UNESCO World
Education Report on teachers and teaching in a changing world describes the
radical implications Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have
for conventional teaching and learning (Traore and Blankson 2011). Wickman
(2009) believed that students would not be prepared for the real world and
the expectations of employers unless they are given an opportunity to use
technology (cited in Cravens 2011: 35). The tech-savvy generation is catching up
with technological changes since it has dramatically changed the way people
communicate and exchange information (Akyol 2010). Zhao and Lai (2008) point
out that technology encourages active practice and helps to eradicate the filter
of anxiety as identified by Krashen (1982).
The E-reader is an emerging reading device and is becoming increasingly popular

because it is light and comfortable to read. There is an enormous library of
e-books available on the web.

Access Program at Aligarh, Bhubaneswar, Kochi and Kolkata
The UGC Academic Staff College at AMU, Aligarh, the Kalinga Institute of Social
Sciences (KISS) in Bhubaneswar, the Sir Syed Group of Schools in Khidderpore,
Kolkata, and the Centre for Information and Guidance in Aluva/Cochin have been
hosting the Access Program sponsored by RELO, USA since 2007. The programme
aims at including the excluded and supports indigenous minority, non-elite,
underprivileged and tribal students. A minimum of 240 instructional hours is fixed
beyond school hours for providing English language proficiency training to 200
students.
Objectives
Since Kindle-learning research is still in its infancy, the amount of available primary
research studies is not significant vis--vis other fields of study like e-learning.
While the topics reviewed in other E-literature reviews have undoubtedly added
to the field, none of theresearch was found to be specifically focused on student
perception of using Kindle technology. It is against this background of Kindle use in
the ESL classroom and perceptions of young learners that the following research
questions were formulated:
1. What teaching strategies can be developed for the integration of preloaded

content on the Kindle in the context of Access classes?
2. How best can Kindle-assisted language teaching be assessed through
continuous evaluation based on quantitative (attitude, motivation and
technology use surveys) and qualitative research instruments (lesson plans
and video transcription of classroom observation)?
3. What is the level of learner motivation to use Kindle technology in ESL
classes?
Methodology
The study used a mixed research design based on qualitative and quantitative
research instruments. Quantitative surveys which follow later are further cross-
referenced with the qualitative data obtained through the transcription of video
data of classrooms observed at the four centres.
Questionnaires were designed to investigate the young learners ability to use the
Kindle, attitude and motivation regarding the use of Kindle technology and pre-
loaded language activities in the device. These questionnaires were designed on a
five-point Likert Scale.
Kindle lesson plans and video transcripts were employed to provide a clear picture
of the classroom activities, and the methods and strategies used by teachers in
order to find out how far the participation and involvement of learners seemed
evident in the learning process.
Data collection procedure

The method for collecting information for the project was to approach the key

contacts within relevant Access centres in India already identified for the 2011-
13 Access programme in India. This made the collection of a large body of data
feasible within the short time span allotted to the project and meant that the
respective centres were responsible for the administration of entries in the survey
and the accuracy of returns. Survey database input templates originally designed
by the AMU Access Kindle assessment team were used, to which participating
Access institutions had access via email. Coordinators and trainers acted as
interlocutors with teachers and students in Access institutions and arranged the
compilation of entries, with assistance from the Project team scheduled in phase-
wise timeline communication, including on-the-spot assessment visits to the
Access centres by the Kindle assessment project team.
Data processing
The analysis of data was done through lesson plans designed for Kindle use and
transcription of video files of the classrooms observed at the four centres. Video
recordings and transcripts were maintained to provide an authentic record of the
Amazon Kindle lesson plans in action, the classroom events, teachers movement,
gestures, use of body language, environment of learning, and other contextual
aspects of the lesson. To enable a closer analysis of the data, contextual aspects
of the lesson were captured to provide evidence of discussion, and analysis based
on quantitative surveys was attempted. The descriptive statistics obtained through
survey findings were cross-referenced with the video data.
Sample
A total of 337 participants aged 14-16 years old took part in the survey including
110 participants from Aligarh, 110 from Bhubaneswar, 45 from Kochi/Aluva, and 78
from Kolkata.
Question 1: What teaching strategies can be developed for the

integration of preloaded content on the Kindle in the context of Access
classes?
A typical scenario that emerges is in the form of presentation of language activities
using the pre-loaded text and tasks on the Kindle. Students are engaged in the use
of technology in a teacher-led interaction session mostly in the form of question
and answer sessions or instructions given to operate the various Kindle functions
for developing listening, reading and vocabulary skills. (See Table 1.)
81-98 per cent of learners reported looking up words in the in-built dictionary
(see Table 1c). Similarly, vocabulary learning became easier (see Table 1a). Doing
the activities in the form of a vocabulary quiz competition increased the learners
motivation for finding new words (see Table 1b). In addition, learning with pre-
loaded texts provided more exposure to predicting and acquiring contextualised
vocabulary. For younger learners the Kindle became a motivating source of
authentic reading and listening comprehension via vocabulary games, and they
seemed to have become aware of pronunciation as well as new vocabulary. (See
Table 2.)

Table 1: Vocabulary development
Agree % Undecided % Disagree %

a. Vocabulary learning Aligarh 95 5 0
through the Kindle is
Bhubaneswar 96 3 1
easy for me.
Kolkata 95 5 0
Aluva 98 5 0
b. Vocabulary Aligarh 97 3 0
through topic-based
Bhubaneswar 85 2 13
information is easy for
me to learn through Kolkata 97 3 0
the Kindle. Aluva 100 0 0
c. Look up words in Aligarh 81 14 5
the in-built dictionary.
Bhubaneswar 98 12 0
Kolkata 81 14 5
Aluva 81 19 0
Tables 1-6 are amended on a 3-point scale for data presentation purposes from the
original questionnaire which was distributed to the participants. All of the data is
presented in percentages.
Table 2: Reading
Agree Undecided Disagree
a. I am delighted to read Aligarh 100 0 0

stories loaded in the Kindle.
Bhubaneswar 95 3 2
Kolkata 100 0 0
Aluva 96 4 0
b. Having the latest Aligarh 83 17 0
technology in reading skills is
Bhubaneswar 85 15 0
important to success.
Kolkata 83 17 0
Aluva 80 0 20
c. Improving reading speed is Aligarh 95 5 0
possible through the Kindle.
Bhubaneswar 95 4 1
Kolkata 95 5 0
Aluva 98 2 0

Since reading from the Kindle E-Book reader was a new experience, it increased
interest for more reading, and 80-85 per cent of the learners claimed that the
technology was important to their success (see Table 2b). Moreover, the in-built
dictionary in the Kindle helped the learners to find new words without seeking
the help of the teacher and also facilitated text comprehension. 96-100 per cent
of respondents from all the centres enjoyed reading pre-loaded stories while a
significant proportion of respondents (95-98 per cent) felt that Kindle use might
improve their reading speed (see Table 2c).
A high percentage of students (90-99 per cent) enjoyed the text-to-speech

function, which enabled 83-88 per cent to listen to and understand native
speakers of English. 90-95 per cent of learners from Aligarh, Bhubaneswar and
Aluva felt that the listening and speaking activities might help to improve their
fluency.
Question 2: How best can Kindle assisted language teaching be

assessed through continuous evaluation based on quantitative (attitude,
motivation and technology use surveys) research instruments?
It can be seen from Table 3 that the ability to handle digital functions has a
significant role to play in enhancing English learning. The digital functions that
made learners more comfortable were operating the menu, text-to-speech and
highlight functions (see Table 3j), changing the font size, and switching the Kindle
off and on (see Table 3). This was evident in the learners efficient handling of text-
to-speech, select and homepage functions (Appendix 1c). Not many learners were
comfortable with typing data on the Kindle (see Tables 3c and 3d). (See Table 3.)
Question 3: What is the level of learner motivation to use Kindle

technology in ESL classes?
82-98 per cent of respondents felt that the Kindle technology improved their
learning. Very few of the participants had a negative attitude to using the Kindle
(4c, 4d). The majority of the participants had a positive attitude towards using
the Kindle technology. They reported that working with technology was a kind
of collaboration with the teacher and fellow students, which gave them a strong
sense of independence. (See Table 4.)
The study, by and large, reported ample evidence of the effective use of the Kindle.
Nevertheless, there were instances of difficulties relating to troubleshooting,
reflected in nearly 29 per cent of the respondents from Aligarh, 18 per cent from
Bhubaneswar and 29 per cent from Kolkata. 16 per cent from Aluva were unable to
perform troubleshooting functions. Only 24-42 per cent of respondents performed
on an average level. This problem was further compounded by difficulties
experienced in rebooting and resetting by way of a frozen screen and the device
not being charged on a regular basis.

Table 3: Using Kindle functions
Good Average Poor

a. Student is able to use the Aligarh 90 8 2
Kindle technology. Switch On/
Off Bhubaneswar 94 5 1
Kolkata 89 5 6
Aluva 89 11 0
b. Put the Kindle on standby Aligarh 80 15 5
Bhubaneswar 82 17 1
Kolkata 87 10 3
Aluva 82 18 0
c. Type text Aligarh 50 45 5
Bhubaneswar 53 35 12
Kolkata 63 15 22
Aluva 53 35 12
d. Numbers and symbols Aligarh 55 40 5
Bhubaneswar 55 43 2
Kolkata 55 18 27
Aluva 65 32 3
e. Delete entered text Aligarh 85 13 2
Bhubaneswar 70 27 3
Kolkata 54 23 23
Aluva 47 27 26
f. Change font size and screen Aligarh 70 25 5
aspects Bhubaneswar 88 11 1
Kolkata 80 5 15
Aluva 68 32 0
g. Enable/Disable text-to- Aligarh 90 8 2
speech Bhubaneswar 85 13 2
Kolkata 83 17 0
Aluva 92 8 0
h. Use the menu key Aligarh 84 8 8
Bhubaneswar 86 9 5
Kolkata 89 11 0
Aluva 82 12 6
i. Highlight the text/paragraph Aligarh 60 37 3
Bhubaneswar 64 35 19
Kolkata 60 37 3
Aluva 94 6 0

Table 4: Motivation
Agree Undecided Disagree

a. Use of Kindle Aligarh 98 1 1
technology in a lesson
increases my learning.
Bhubaneswar 89 5 6
Kolkata 98 1 1
Aluva 82 10 8
b. I learn my lesson Aligarh 97 3 0
better when I get the
Bhubaneswar 88 2 10
chance to use the
Kindle. Kolkata 97 3 0
Aluva 88 2 10
c. I am bored when the Aligarh 0 1 99
Kindle is used in the
Bhubaneswar 18 0 82
classroom.
Kolkata 0 1 99
Aluva 0 1 99
d. I am not interested Aligarh 0 1 99
in using the Kindle.
Bhubaneswar 21 2 77
Kolkata 0 1 99
Aluva 3 0 97
Limitations of the study

Whilst the mixed research techniques adopted here have given learners a platform
to report what they do when using Kindles in specific contexts, no attempt was
made to statistically measure the different occurrence of variables. This study
explicitly focuses on the learning-teaching perspective of the use of Kindle
technology in an Access classroom context that normally goes beyond traditional
school learning hours. There is a need to replace the pre-loaded narratives on
profiles of great persons in the Kindle with familiar settings and scenarios like
the school, family and neighbourhood, allowing young learners to internalise and
predict contextualised vocabulary. Future studies in less-controlled situations
need to employ observational research designs to add a new dimension to this
work. However, it is recognized that video recording followed by transcription
work of this nature is extremely time-consuming and therefore costly in terms of
manpower deployment.
Conclusion
Findings indicate that when students are given opportunities to practise
language skills by way of using technology, they feel more confident about their
understanding and take chances (Wartinbee 2009: 13). This is also possible in the
case of Kindle technology since Kindle use is clearly situated and is dependent
on the Access context. It is assumed that this might work in contexts outside the
formal English classroom though it may not be entirely replicable.

The data suggests that students made extensive use of materials pre-loaded on
the Kindle sometimes relying on both their native language and English. They
recognised the value of accessing information in the English language through the
Kindle. They appeared to have made considerable use of the Kindle, and there may
have been acquisition of English language skills, particularly listening, speaking
and reading. When learning was captured through the video recording, learners
became self-conscious and thereafter the element of fun was less noticeable.
The study concludes that we need to go beyond traditional frameworks of teacher

training for understanding, using and investigating the applications of technology
in language pedagogy, and Kindle-assisted Language Learning (KAAL) is a way of
offering opportunities for training teachers to handle troubleshooting issues and
to keep up high motivation levels.
References
Akyol, K.P. (2010) Using educational technology tools to improve language and
communication skills of ESL students. Journal of Novitas-Royal Research on Youth
and Language 4 /2: 225-241.
Cravens, T.R. (2011) Effective technology strategies teachers use in the urban
middle grade mathematics classroom. Middle-Secondary Education and
Instructional Technology Dissertations. Paper 85.
Krashen, S. (1982) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. New

York: Pergamon Press.
Traore, M. and Blankson, L.K. (2011) Using literature and multiple technologies in
ESL technologies in ESL instruction. Journal of language teaching and research
2/3: 561-568.
Wartinbee, E. (2009) The value of technology in EFL and ESL classroom: using
the smart pen to enhance the effectiveness of ESL instruction. Peabody College,
Vanderbilt University.
Zhao, Y. and Lai, C. (2008) Technology and second language learning: Promises
and problems in L. Parker (Ed.) Technology-Mediated Learning Environments for
Young English Learners: Connections in and out of School. New York: Taylor &
Francis Group.

Exploring whole class to
one feedback and revision
using technology in a writing
classroom
Akhil Kumar Jha, faculty of the School of Humanities and Social
Sciences, the Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, India
Abstract
This paper is an attempt to document the experience of an intervention that
focused on developing the writing skills of first year engineering students at the
Indian Institute of Technology (lIT) Indore. The exigencies of classroom procedures
and pragmatic considerations make it rather difficult for the teacher in mixed
ability classrooms to pay attention to students who do not write very well. A two-
pronged attempt was made to resolve the problem of teaching writing in large ESL
classrooms. Firstly, through peer group writing students with better writing skills
provided scaffolding for learners who did not have appropriate writing skills. This is
in line with collaborative learning preceding and promoting individual development.
Secondly, technology (track changes and comment in MS Word, multimedia
language laboratory) was used innovatively within the classroom to enable peers
and the teacher to provide opportunities for whole class feedback and revision. For
this to happen, over many classes the essays written by each group were displayed
on the projector, commented on and revised by the class collaboratively. These
writing activities will further the process of building writing strategies.
Introduction
Writing is central for our personal and social identities, and we are often evaluated
by our control of it (Hyland 2002: 1).
Writing skills are widely recognized in industry as having a clear impact on career
advancement. Employers and teachers have long been concerned about students
whose poor written English prevents them from reaching their full potential. Singh
(1990), in a nation-wide survey under the Need-based English for Science and
Technology (NEST) at the Curriculum Development Cell of the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) Kanpur, concluded that:
Discourse is the very essence of traditional EST at a higher academic level,

but training in the art of technical and scientific writing must be given to
students during the college years. Our students are keen to be taught the
style of scientific and technical writing as they are quick to recognize the
writing areas most needed for their careers. (Singh 1990: 27)
Faculty members and administrators in IITs and other engineering colleges

generally agree that it is important for students to gain the ability to write

effectively as part of their undergraduate education. Most students in IITs, even at
the entry level, regard English as the provider of vocational opportunities to obtain
a well-paying job, upward social mobility and a means to success in their academic
pursuits.
Flaws in the present system

Exigencies of classroom procedures and pragmatic considerations make it rather
difficult for teachers in the widely found mixed ability classrooms to focus desired
attention on students who do not write very well. Usually these student writers
think that writing is a timed one-shot-activity that begins with the first sentence in
the first draft and ends with the last sentence of the same draft. Being part of large
classes and with a heavy workload, these students do not write enough and this in
turn fuels a poor self-image and a feeling of inadequacy.
Good writing is never one shot or timed. It is a step-by-step process interspersed

with prewriting, drafting and revising to refine the text, but this rarely happens
in Indian ESL contexts. Correction itself takes up time and revision even more.
Some students idea of revision is merely to copy out the rough draft in ink.
Their concern about the accuracy of their language also truncates their idea
generation (Perl 1979).
Although technology provides facilities like track changes and comments (MS
Word) they are hardly used by teachers in ESL Indian classrooms. Evaluation
procedures are norm-referenced, which provides little information to teachers,
students and parents as to what students can or cannot do.
The ebb and flow of constructive criticism is important for learning. Universities
conventionally put forward a top-down model of criticism, much of which is linked
to pointing out errors and assigning marks. The horizontal student-to-student and
self-critical aspects of this flow are rarely cultivated (Jha 2004: 99).
Damage control
Effective writing skills are of top importance for the IITians. The good news is that
students are aware of their own difficulty in writing. It is therefore imperative that
they are offered help with writing, and the criteria for assessment of a task made
familiar to them. The teacher needs to step out of the traditional role of the reader,
which has been to evaluate the learners first draft as if it were the learners final
draft, and assume the role of a consultant facilitating the learners step-by-step
creation of the text (Dharem 1995: 160).
Although evaluation is an important part of the education process, it has failed

to really involve and benefit the individual learner. There is a need to shift the
focus from assessment of learning to assessment for learning; evaluation will
then become an integral part of the teaching-learning loop (Durairajan 2013: 35).
Approach to learner evaluation should be descriptive, illuminative, interpretive and
dynamic. Tharu (2014) asserts that the ongoing assessment conducted during

the programme (sessional testing) needs to be geared to forward progress from a
base level rather than a negative distance from the final target. Progress levels
(milestones) should be criterion referenced with specifications of mastery linked to
the priority assigned to the relevant segment in the content units of the course.
The study
The aim of the present study was to examine the benefits of feedback in multiple
mode technology on the writing skills of first year engineering students at lIT
Indore. An ancillary aim was to study the impact of increased clarity regarding
evaluation criteria on their writing. It was hypothesized that scaffolding writing
techniques through peer-editing, and feedback debriefing sessions guided
by evaluation criteria would significantly improve student-writers writing. The
researchers underlying pedagogic concern was to create an environment
conducive to revision of drafts and thereby to help students see the learning
process in action.
The sample of learners

The subjects in the study were 40 first year students (38 males and 2 females) at
IIT Indore. They had been placed in a 15-week foundation course HS: 157 - English
Language Lab, which ran through the first semester (August to November 2013)
based on their performance on a screening-diagnostic test. They showed low
comprehension and a low capacity to write and speak in English. They were from
low-income families and some were first-generation school-goers. They also had
varied linguistic backgrounds.
Components of the intervention

The instructional lesson covered five types of writing tasks: paragraphs,
descriptive essays, narrative essays, opinion essays, and comparison and contrast
essays. For each of these text types students went through a cycle of prewriting,
drafting, whole class feedback and revision. The specific learning targets were:
wider knowledge of genre conventions ranging from structure and

paragraphing to tone and mechanics
engagement in awareness activities such as conferencing on plans and drafts,
peer editing, reformulation and checking accuracy
increased knowledge of assessment criteria to judge quality of writing, which
guides informed decisions about how to revise drafts
knowledge and appreciation of the collaborative and social aspects of writing.
Methodology
The methodology followed in the writing classes was based on the concept of
scaffolding which points to sustained support for the student-writers endeavour
to create texts. Donato (1994), cited in Cotterall and Cohen (2003), explains the
concept of scaffolding as follows:

In social interaction knowledgeable participants can create, by means of
speech supportive conditions in which the novice can participate in, and
extend, current skills and knowledge to higher levels of competence. (p.40)
Various scaffolding techniques can be used to help novice learners develop

their writing skills. Help can come from the teacher and importantly from more
able peers. Scaffolding is especially important in the language classroom, as
negotiation of meaning and linguistic assistance are both crucial to students
development (Kayi-Aydar 2013: 324).
The preparation for individual writing tasks included interactive lecturettes,

presentation of a predetermined essay structure, and an evaluation grid. Ongoing
support came from teacher conferences. Students with better writing skills helped
informally to provide models and/or support to their less advanced peers. Initial
discussions usually focused on what kind of information might be expected in each
paragraph of the essay.
Every class session (organized once a week) lasted for three hours and included a
review of the days learning, feedback from student-writers and an opportunity for
them to arrive at an individual action plan for the following session. The emphasis
was on stimulating introspection and critical reflection in a non-threatening
environment, wherein every student writer could try out ways of expressing ideas
in the drafting-revising process leading to the first version finally submitted. The
very process of reflection is a powerful resource as through it we integrate new
learning with our previous experience and that of others. OMalley and Pierce
(1996) believe that through self-reflection students learn how to collaborate
with their peers effectively, exchange ideas, co-construct meaning, revise their
understanding, and share meaning with others all of which helps in developing a
meta-perspective on their own learning.
The teaching-learning transaction went through the following stages.
Stage 1: Orientation
The objectives, contents, evaluation scheme and methodology of the writing skills
development were explained in the introductory lecture. Attributes of effective
writing were made clear and a handout on tips for effective writing was provided.
Students were asked to use these guidelines when they began to write in the
sessions to follow. Since they would meet the teacher (the researcher) only once
a week for three hours in the language laboratory they were made aware of
how online tutoring would be provided by the teacher. They were also asked to
maintain a daily learning log. The introductory session involved one writing task: a
personal narrative of about 150 words with a generous time allowance of one hour.
They were given a separate file to keep their papers (drafts) to make them readily
available to work on later.

Stage 2: Use of scoring guide
The scoring guide used for assessing writing was based on the revised scale for
the British Councils ELTS test cited in Hughes (1989: 87-88) for testing writing.
In session 2 the marked compositions (the personal narrative written in session1)

were returned to them. This marking done by the researcher only indicated
spelling errors, grammatical errors and wrong selection of words by means of
underlining. No mark or grade was awarded. Students were asked to correct the
errors. They were then asked to exchange their corrected/improved compositions
with their neighbours and other student-writers in class.
After having prepared the students in this manner, a short presentation was made
on the scoring guide and its use. This was to make them aware of different aspects
of a written text through criteria specified in the guide. A set of three sample
essays on a given task were shown on the screen. One of these was selected for
scoring by them. Students were asked to grade the displayed essay on a nine-point
scale using the scoring criteria. Helping them get this meta-perspective was the
first stage in preparing them to engage in self-assessment and peer assessment in
the later sessions.
The session ended with a phase of self-reflection for which three questions were
given:
What was the purpose of the session?

What have you learned?
How can you apply it?
A glance through these reports was quite a heartening experience as it seemed

the message had been put across in so short a time. One of the students wrote,
Todays class has been a sort of an eye-opener for me. I now understand the
demands of a given task. The scoring criteria are like a checklist for me to evaluate
my own writing and look for weaknesses in it and learn how to improve upon these
weaknesses.
Stage 3: Online tutoring

As noted earlier, the class sessions were supplemented by online tutoring. Inputs,
tasks and instructors feedback were given through group email. The input was
mainly in the form of self-explanatory e-material on grammar, vocabulary, idioms
and phrases to build linguistic competence. Students were given short writing
tasks to be done in their free time and submitted for feedback but not grading.
Such low stakes writing tasks were posted every day to ensure that they wrote
daily.
Stage 4: Whole class to one feedback and revision

This stage was allocated three sessions of three hours each spread over three
weeks for an essay. The type of text used here was the opinion essay. A short
presentation on the features of an opinion essay was given initially. The class was

then divided into small groups of six to seven students each. Each group was
given an opinion essay to write in not less than 250 words. One hour was allotted
for this. Next, each groups essay was displayed on the projector in turn, and
feedback elicited from the other groups. Selected items from the observations and
suggestions given as feedback were incorporated using the track change device
of MS Word. The whole class participated in this exercise. The teacher also gave
feedback on some important issues overlooked by the students. The same process
was repeated in the next two sessions beginning with the revised draft of the
previous session.
Each group produced another two revised drafts of the same essay. After the third
session a post task was given. Each student working individually wrote an opinion
essay on a new topic. This essay was formally evaluated by the teacher. The same
method was adopted for the other genres narrative, expository, argumentative,
etc.
Findings
The study revealed that structured peer collaboration was successful both in
facilitating students revision skills and in helping them in a whole class discussion.
Many positive learning experiences were noted in the study related to texts,
genres, lexico-grammatical features, meta-discourse and overall enjoyment.
Use of effective scoring guides helped them internalize the assessment criteria
and understand the demands, constraints and parameters of a specific task.
They learned more about writing and revision by reading each others drafts
critically, and their awareness of what makes writing successful and effective was
significantly enhanced. Peer correction succeeded in removing nearly 80% of
errors in a reviewed draft. These included changes in meeting task requirements,
coherence, overall clarity of idea in a sentence, the forms of citation used and their
relevance. The fact that most of the errors were removed by peers speaks volume
of the efficacy of the method used. Table 1 given below shows some of the errors
noticed by the peers.
Table 1: Errors of students observed in the first and second drafts
Type of error Examples

Singular/Plural No peoples welcome his plan.
Many problem
Childrens do not pay attention.
Spelling Payed, gudget, facilityes, misile, mechine, acommodation,
sauround, greatful
Vocabulary TV effected the health of schoolboy.
My father was death so I could not joined college.
My carrier was ruined.
Auxiliary Ancient people is doing difficult thing and got successful.

This improvement in computer technology are helping us.

Articles She was in hurry.
Boys went to the school.
Pronouns Boys bring his home work.
Everyone must meet her old friends.
Tense Once there lived a king in Ujjain whose name is Vikramaditya.
Many people told me that Internet creates many problem.
Subject-verb Engineer make sonography.

agreement Electrical designs is made more convenient.
She understand your point.
Referencing Sunil and Priya are my classmates. I share my secrets with her.
Voice She is been informed.
Corrective feedback was well received by students using the track change function
of a word processor in whole class discussion. Assigning students to mixed ability
groups was found beneficial as it gave them more opportunities for collaboration.
They could get over their initial inhibition of giving and seeking feedback.
The major outcome of this study was the students recognition of themselves
as having significant competencies as opposed to their initial self-perception
as language learners with problems. The impact of increased clarity regarding
evaluation criteria on their writing was visible. Their understanding of the
advantages of multi-drafting tasks and improved writing skills were reflected in the
end-semester examination and graded writing assignments.
Conclusion
Large classes are a reality. This method may in fact turn out to be beneficial to
large classes. Whole class discussion and the editing of a sample of monitored
writing allow students to practise the skills of evaluation while maximizing their
understanding of the needs of both readers and writers. Besides providing time
for students, this provides the teacher with a battery of strategies to utilize in
the classroom. Unless students become the fulcrum, teachers will not be able to
achieve much. Training them in self- and mutual correction should be seen as an
essential part of teaching how to write.
References
Cotterall, S. and Cohen, R. (2003) Scaffolding for second language writers;
producing an academic essay. ELT Journal 57/2: 158-66.
Dharem, P. K. (1995) Feedback as a two-bullock cart: a case study of teaching

writing. ELT Journal 49/2: 160-168.
Donato, R. (1993) Collective scaffolding in second language learning in J.P.

Lantolf and G. Appel (Eds.) Vygotskian Approaches to Second Language Research.
Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing.

Durairajan, G. (2013) Open-book examination: The need of the hour in teacher
education in P. Powell-Davies (Ed.) Assessing and Evaluating English Language
Teacher Education, Teaching and Learning Selected papers from the second
International Conference of English Language Teacher Educators held in Hyderabad,
India, 3-5 March 2012. New Delhi: British Council.
Hughes, A. (1989) Testing for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.
Hyland, K. (2002) Teaching and researching writing. London: Longman.
Jha, A. (2004) Promoting Learning and Autonomy through Self-assessment.

Unpublished PhD thesis, EFL University, India.
Kayi-Aydar, H. (2013) Scaffolding language learning in an academic ESL classroom.

ELT Journal 67/3: 324-335.
O Malley, J. and Pierce, L. (1996) Authentic Assessment for English Language

Learners: Practical Approaches for Teachers. New York, NY: Addison Wesley.
Perl, S. (1979) The composing process of unskilled college writers. Research in

Teaching of English 13/4: 317336.
Singh, D. (1990) NEST A Programme on Need-based English for Science and

Technology. Language Studies Unit, Curriculum Development Cell. Kanpur: Indian
Institute of Technology.
Tharu, J. (2014) Some elements in a curriculum framework for a Bridge Course.

Paper presented at a two-day Workshop on The English Language Classroom at IIT
Delhi.

Contributors

Contributors
Foreword
Michael Connolly has been Assistant Director English Partnerships for the British
Council in India since September 2013. Michael began his career in ELT in 1998
in Japan, working as a language assistant in local high schools. He has since
worked in a variety of teaching, teacher training and academic management roles
in Spain, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and in India since
2011. As Assistant Director English Partnerships India, Michael is responsible for
the strategic direction, leadership and management of the English Partnerships
project which since 2007 has reached more than 840,000 English teachers in
twelve Indian states, working directly with over 8,000 Teacher Educators selected
and trained by the British Council. Michael has Cambridge CELTA and DELTA
qualifications in English language teaching as well as a BA and an MA from the
University of Leeds in the UK.
Introduction
Paul Gunashekar has been teaching English, training teachers of English and
developing instructional materials for language teaching for over forty years.
He is a Professor in the Department of Materials Development, Testing and
Evaluation, and Dean, Publications at the English and Foreign Languages University,
Hyderabad. He has authored, co-authored and edited over two hundred ELT
textbooks, workbooks, supplementary readers and reading cards. He specializes
in course design, teacher development and English for Specific Purposes. He edits
the EFLU research journal Languaging, and is the Indian English consultant to the
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary.
Preface
George Pickering is a coach, trainer and consultant, who has delivered talks
and consultancies in over 60 different countries for the British Council and other
organisations. He is the academic director of the English UK Diploma in English
Language Teaching Management and a tutor on the International Diploma in
Language Teaching Management. He is an inspector of language schools for the
British Council in the UK (Accreditation UK). George was the co-ordinator of the
IATEFL Leadership & Management Special Interest Group for many years and is
currently the SIG representative on the IATEFL Board of Directors. He has degrees
in Philosophy & Politics and Psychology & Anthropology, a PGCE and a Masters in
Second Language Learning & Teaching.

Overview
Simon Borg has been involved in ELT for over 25 years. After 15 years at the
University of Leeds, where he was a Professor of TESOL, he now works full-time as
an ELT consultant and specializes in teacher development, teacher research, and
research methods. Full details of his work are available at http://simon-borg.co.uk.
Rama Mathew is Professor of Education in Delhi University, Delhi. Previously she

taught at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad where
she worked on language teacher education and assessment for more than twenty
years. She has co-ordinated several ELT projects. Her current interests include
teaching English to young learners, teacher education and proficiency assessment.
Julian Edgehas been involved in TESOL and teacher education since 1969, living
and working in Germany, Egypt, Singapore, Turkey and Australia. He has also held
a number of university posts in Britain, from which he has travelled and taught
widely. His research and publication interests have been increasingly committed to
issues of continuing personal and professional development, along with a growing
engagement with the sociopolitical implications of the spread of English. The
Reflexive Teacher Educator in TESOL: Roots and Wings (Routledge 2011) explores
the lessons learnt.
Steve Mann(Associate Professor) joined the Centre for Applied Linguistics at

University of Warwick in 2007. He previously lectured at both Aston University and
University of Birmingham. He has experience in Hong Kong, Japan and Europe
in both English language teaching and teacher development. His most recent
publications deal with the status of reflective practice, reflexive approaches to
qualitative interviewing and the development of context-appropriate materials.
Steve supervises a research group of PhD students who are investigating teachers
education and development.
Theme 1
Andy Keedwell is a Senior Training Consultant at British Council, India. He
previously worked for British Council Afghanistan, where a significant part of his
work involved support for the English for Security and Defence project which
provides the delivery of English to Afghan military personnel. He has also worked
in various capacities in South Caucasus, the Middle East and East Africa.
Sayed Najeem is Senior Teacher at British Council Afghanistan. His work includes
support for the English for Security and Defence project, in which role he regularly
observes teachers and provides feedback, and co-trains on sessions for less
experienced teachers. He was previously an IELTS teacher for the project and has
delivered teaching and training for the air force.

Arindam Sengupta teaches ESL at Hare School, Kolkata. A teacher-trainer,
facilitator and presenter at various international conferences and workshops, he
was involved with the Project English (British Council) from 200311 and worked
as a state-level resource person. He is an alumnus of the Texas Intensive English
Program of the US State Department (2010) and RELOs various online scholarship
programmes.
Santosh Mahapatra is a faculty member in the Department of Humanities

and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani (Hyderabad Campus). His research interests
include language assessment, teacher education, mixed methods research and
technology-enhanced learning. He has presented and published papers in these
areas of applied linguistics.
Shefali Kulkarni works with the British Council in South India and has worked
in the field of education for more than 15 years. She is interested in inclusive
education, teacher development and learner autonomy. In her free time, Shefali
likes to travel and read.
Allwyn DCosta works for the British Council as a teacher trainer, corporate
trainer, test developer and as an examiner. He is particularly interested in teacher
training and testing. In his free time he enjoys reading and travelling.
Farhan Azim works as the Deputy Head of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation
at EIA, Bangladesh. He completed his MA in Educational Assessment from the
Institute of Education (IOE), University of London as a Commonwealth Scholar. He
also has an MEd from IER, University of Dhaka.
Mir Md. Saifur Rahman works as the Deputy Head of Teacher Training and
Support at EIA, Bangladesh. He has an MA in ELT from Presidency University, Dhaka
and an MA in English Literature from the University of Dhaka.
Ravinarayan Chakrakodi works at the Regional Institute of English South India,

Bangalore. He has done his MA (TESOL), with distinction, from Lancaster University,
UK. He is involved in pre- and in-service teacher education programmes and
is interested in second language acquisition theories, materials production
and testing. He has published articles in many peer-reviewed journals and also
chapters in edited books.
Theme 2
Padmini Boruah, PhD is Associate Professor in the department of ELT, Gauhati
University, Assam, India. Her academic interests lie in teacher development,
methodology and materials development. She is also interested in participating in
research that tries to understand teacher and learner perspectives on the learning
of English. Besides this, Padmini enjoys writing poetry, travelling and meeting
people.

K. Padmini Shankar is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of ESL Studies,
School of ELE in the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India.
She teaches on the MA TESL programme and offers research guidance to PhD
students. Her research interests include: classroom-based research, teacher
development, psychology for language learning, and teaching and assessing
young learners.
Lina Mukhopadhyay teaches at the Department of Materials Development, Testing

and Evaluation, EFL University, Hyderabad, India. She researches in SLA, bilingual
education, language assessment, literacy and academic writing.
Mohialdeen Alotumi is a PhD scholar at the English and Foreign Languages

University, Hyderabad, India. His Masters was in TESOL from Murray State
University, KY, USA.
Elaine Boyd is Senior Academic English Language Testing and Assessment at

Trinity College London responsible for product research, special projects and the
spoken learner corpus project with Lancaster University. She has over 35 years
experience in English language teaching, assessment and test development and
training. She is also the author of several coursebooks for both young and adult
learners.
Kuheli Mukherjee, MA TESOL Teacher Education (University of Leeds), is a

teacher, teacher educator, syllabus designer, material developer and reviewer. A
winner of the prestigious Hornby long-term scholarship in the UK, she is currently a
member of the state resource group for teacher education in West Bengal. She has
contributed to international publications on ELT and presented papers in national
and international conferences.
Pranjana Kalita Nath is a Doctoral Fellow (Ugc-Jrf) in the Department of English

Language Teaching, Gauhati University, Assam, India.
Sruti Akula is a research scholar at The English and Foreign Languages University,
Hyderabad working in the area of English Language Education. She did her MPhil
(ELE) and PGDTE from EFLU. Her areas of interest are academic reading and
writing, second language assessment and second language acquisition. She is
working as a teaching assistant at EFL University.
Susmita Paniwas a Reader at the Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, India where she
taught on the MA (ELT) course and research programmes. Earlier, she worked as a
teacher educator at the English Language Teaching Institute, Odisha. She has been
a part of several teacher development and textbook writing projects. Currently,
she is associated as a teacher educator with Access, a global, American project to
help disadvantaged learners.
Shree Deepa teaches at the Centre for English Language Studies, University of
Hyderabad. She was awarded a PhD in English in 2014. She has taught proficiency

courses in English for 15 years at various levels including kindergarten. She is
currently interested in the study of including blind-visually-impaired students into
mainstream education and improving techniques of teaching English at the tertiary
level. She is more of a classroom practitioner than a theorist.
Alice Udosen teaches English methodology to teacher trainees in the Department

of Curriculum Studies, University of Uyo, Nigeria.
Wisdom Jude teaches English methodology to teacher trainees in the College of

Education, Afaha Nsit, Nigeria.
Joy Townsend, Co-founder, Director and CEO of Destiny Education, travels

extensively across India conducting training workshops for teachers. She works
with aspiring schools, evaluating, planning and facilitating their transformation. Joy
is instrumental in writing pre-school and primary curricula, as well as designing
teaching aids to enable interactive, multi-sensory learning. She has authored Fab
Phonics, a multi-level phonics curriculum.
Sanjay Arora is working as Associate Professor of English in Central University

of Rajasthan, Kishangarh (Rajasthan). His areas of interest are English Language
Teaching and Second Language Pedagogy. He is the National President of English
Language Teachers Association of India (ELTAI). He has also been the recipient of
a Post Doctoral Fellowship from UGC and has been a trainer.
Adam Scott has nine years experience teaching English, and is a teacher and
teacher-researcher at St Giles College, Brighton (UK). He specialises in undertaking
classroom research, applying published research findings in practice, and
course development. Adam has a Cambridge DELTA and is part of the inaugural
Cambridge/EnglishUK Action Research Scheme, developing his skills investigating
the uses of synthetic phonics in ELT.
Geetika Saluja, MSc Med, is currently pursuing a doctoral thesis on the benefits
of co-operative learning in the Indian classroom. She was instrumental in getting
ISA certification for St. Kabir School, Ahmedabad where she work as Educational
Co-ordinator. She has been awarded commendation for Action Research for Global
Teachers Accreditation (GTA), and is a member of International Association for
the Study of Co-operation in Education (IASCE). Her interests include education in
sustainable development, incorporating global dimension in classroom and travel.
Theme 3
Dawn Bikowski directsthe English Language Improvement Program (ELIP) in the
Linguistics Departmentat Ohio University. With a PhD in Instructional Technology
and an MA inLinguistics, she enjoys researchinghow best to use technology
to help students succeed in higher education and professionally. Her teaching
experienceincludes ESL/EFL contexts as well as international teacher training
andcurriculumdevelopment.

Nicky Hockly is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E, an award-winning
online training and development organisation. She is a teacher, trainer and
international plenary speaker, and has co-written several award-winning
methodology books on technologies in ELT. Her most recent book is Going Mobile
(2014). She lives in Barcelona and is a technophobe turned technophile.
Meera Srinivas teaches at the English and Foreign Languages University,

Hyderabad. She has been teaching English, training teachers of English and
developing materials for English language teaching for over twenty years. She
has authored several school-level English teaching books. Her areas of academic
interest include curriculum and syllabus design, materials development, ESP
course design and teacher education.
Bose Vasudevan is currently working with the Institute of Language Teaching,

Jamnagar, as an associate professor in ELT. He has a PhD in ELT from Sardar Patel
University and a Post Graduate Diploma in ELT from English and Foreign Language
University. Dr Bose is associated with British Council India and an active member of
ELTAI and IATEFL.
G. Priyank Varma is currently pursuing his PhD at the English and Foreign
Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, India. His doctoral thesis investigates the
understanding of concrete and abstract concepts by visually impaired students.
His research interests include visual impairment, and materials development and
language teaching to young learners.
Madhavi Gayathri Raman is Assistant Professor at the English and Foreign

Languages University, Hyderabad, India. Her interests include materials design,
curriculum development, specific language impairment and dyslexia in an ESL
context. She has authored articles on the assessment of dyslexia, school-level
English textbooks, language playbooks and a book chapter on the use of plays to
teach language.
Ramraj M Is a PhD Research Scholar in EFL-University, Hyderabad. He is interested

in vocabulary acquisition and inclusive education.
Raashid Nehal is an Associate at the Department of English, Aligarh Muslim

University and currently serving as Director, AMU Centre, Kishanganj. He received
his PhD in ELT from AMU and PGDTE from EFLU and completed UGC, Hornby
Alumni and RELO projects on Academic Writing, Training Needs Analysis,
Materials Adaptation and Kindle Assessment in India.
Akhil Kumar Jha holds an academic position at Indian Institute of Technology,

Indore. He has a PhD in ELT. His current research interest is teaching English to
under-privileged engineering students.

www.britishcouncil.in
ISBN 978-0-86355-765-1
British Council 2015
The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries
and builds trust between them worldwide.
A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

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What are the main themes discussed in the document?

What are the main themes discussed in the document?

What innovations in continuing professional development for English language teachers are mentioned?

What innovations in continuing professional development for English language teachers are mentioned?

Innovation in English Language

Selected papers from the fourth

2123 February 2014

Selected papers from the fourth International Teacher Educator Conference

2123 February 2014

Edited by George Pickering and Professor Paul Gunashekar

British Council 2015

2 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

OVERVIEW: Innovation in English language teacher education

THEME ONE: Innovations in Continuing Professional Development

Generating content through online collaborative writing: a study

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 3

Assessment literacy for teachers: how to identify and write

Defossilising the errors of ESL learners through feedback

4 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 5

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 7

One obvious measure of the relevance of the theme of a conference is the

8 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

I am delighted to be associated with the publication of a select clutch of papers

The National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (2009) in India

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 9

EFLU innovative practices

District Centre Scheme

CELT in Sri Lanka

10 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

International Training Programme

Teacher education programmes

EFLU-British Council partnership

In this regard, I am underlining the prospective opportunity for even closer

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 11

12 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

Innovation demands concentration on process; it demands that we pay as

They go on to suggest that whether an activity counts as an innovation depends

The 2014 Teacher Educator Conference Innovation in English Language Teacher

The principal themes explored at the conference were:

1. Innovations in Continuing Professional Development for English language

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 13

3. Technological resources for language education

The challenges confronting educators in effecting innovations is well documented

The collection of papers in this publication reflects the diverse backgrounds,

1. initiation (deciding to go ahead with an innovation),

14 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

Arindam Sengupta reports on a project he conducted in a government

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 15

Shefali Kulkarni and Allwyn DCosta outline an innovation in continuing

Theme two explores learning from experience including reflection as a tool

Padmini Boruah reviews the SOAP procedure (Subjective/Objective/Analysis/

Lina Mukhopadhyays contribution explores the use of evaluation criteria as a

16 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education

Kuheli Mukherjee reviews a recently revised curriculum for the Diploma in

Pranjana Kalita Naths paper focuses on promoting reflective skills among

Innovation in English Language Teacher Education | 17

Theme three covers various aspects of technological resources for language

Dawn Bikowskis paper outlines a framework that guides educators in using

18 | Innovation in English Language Teacher Education