Handling the EFL Students＇ Crisis of Self-confidence to Ask Questions

It is no wonder that inquiring is an important skill. This paper deals with a research which was intended to see if respect and encouragement could solve the problem of students＇ self-confidence to inquire in the EFL （English as a Foreign Language） classroom. The research involved a secondary group of students whose self-confidence to ask questions was considered low by the teacher and research collaborators. The data were collected through observation, questionnaire and interview. Based on a pre-observation, problem sources had been identified, i.e., the students were afraid of being thought of as ＂looking for sensation only＂, afraid that their classmates would laugh at them, worried of being judged as arrogant or pretentious, did not want to be considered stupid, and wondered if they could produce qualified questions. Teachers believed that fear of asking questions is part of the Indonesian students＇ culture. The research team agreed upon the way to handle the problem--by respect and encouragement procedure. The first session implementing the procedure was not successful enough in raising the students＇ self-confidence. Though students had already started to address some questions of this stage, their behaviors did not seem to be improved. They were still afraid, doubtful and unhappy with questioning, which were the signs of lacking of confidence. However, the next cycle was in general a success. The students＇ questions increased considerably. They looked more enthusiastic, passionate and happier in response to teachers＇ invitation to inquire, showing that their self-confidence for asking questions has developed.

English Teachers＇ Classroom Verbal Strategy in the Dialogue Teaching

The core of dialogue teaching is dialogue. The dialogue here refers to the way in which the teachers and students based on mutual respect, trust and equal position carry on the two-way communication and mutual learning through conversation and listening. One of the marked differences between dialogue teaching and traditional teaching is that dialogue teaching highlights the essence of the teaching process of communication and cooperation. At the same time dialogue teaching is based on students＇ psychological demand, which makes the teaching full of strong emotion. Using the dialogue teaching as the background, this paper mainly provides the guiding principles and practical advice for the teachers＇ classroom language strategies so as to achieve more effective teaching effect.

Workshop on how to create a learner-centered classroom

Based on the literature review on learner-centered classroom, this essay is to explore now to create a learner-centered classroom in Chinese context so as to design a workshop for those teaching professionals all over China to create a learner-centered classroom. The workshop conducted mainly focuses on what is a learner-centered classroom, why and how to create a learner-centered classroom, meanwhile, it aims at helping the participants work out a practical framework which can be eventually put to their everyday teaching.

Exploring University ESL/EFL Teachers' Emotional Well-Being and Emotional Regulation in the United States, Japan and Austria

Teacher well-being has been shown to play a central role in the quality of teaching and student achievement(Day & Gu, 2009;Klusmann, Kunter, Trautwein, Lüdtke, & Baumert, 2008). However,the teaching profession is currently in crisis as it faces record rates of burnout and attrition(Borman & Dowling, 2008;Hong, 2010;Lovewell, 2012), including stressors specific to the changing nature of foreign language teaching(Hiver & Dornyei, 2015;Wieczorek, 2016) and to higher education(Kinman & Wray, 2013). This study seeks to understand how language teachers perceive of and experience their emotional well-being and what strategies they employ to manage it. Through a series of 12 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with ESL/EFL tertiary-level teachers in the United States, Japan and Austria, we explore a range of contexts examining how participants perceive of factors that add to or detract from their emotional well-being, the challenges and joys these teachers face in their professional and personal lives, and the most salient emotional regulation strategies that they employ to manage their emotions.