Successful FL learners are characterized by knowing how to use language learning strategies effectively. This pilot study demonstrates the procedure to cultivate the effectiveness of the strategy training to the learn...Successful FL learners are characterized by knowing how to use language learning strategies effectively. This pilot study demonstrates the procedure to cultivate the effectiveness of the strategy training to the learners of low language proficiency. It begins with a questionnaire surveying the learners' use of strategy in language acquisition, and then a strategy training integrated with the class teaching and learners' learning diary are introduced. The analysis proves that strategy training to learners of low proficiency can become a crutch for their further study.The role of teachers in the process of the training is also discussed. The author proposes that teachers should be ready for the shift of the role to be an organizer, facilitator, councilor or cooperator, even a negotiator in the road of promoting autonomous learners.展开更多
Few jobs come without irritations, and foreign language instruction comes with its own particular set of frustrations which, when accumulated, can lead to stress and eventual burnout for teachers.One mechanism for red...Few jobs come without irritations, and foreign language instruction comes with its own particular set of frustrations which, when accumulated, can lead to stress and eventual burnout for teachers.One mechanism for reducing such frustrations is that of emotion regulation, the cognitive and behavioral strategies individuals employ to manage the emotions they experience or display. To date,no known studies have reported specifically on the in-class frustration experienced by language teachers, or on how teachers regulate their feelings of frustration. Herein, the authors discuss the experiences of seven EFL teachers at a university in Japan obtained through a series of semistructured interviews, classroom observations and corresponding stimulated-recall sessions. The authors discuss four salient thematic frustrations: student apathy, classroom silence, misbehavior in the context of relational strain, and working conditions. The results reveal that participants applied contextually-dependent emotion regulation behaviors, the success of which was often contingent on the participants’ levels of confidence and control over the stressors. Thus, participants showed more success in managing pervasive low-level stressors such as apathy and silence, and more support would be welcome to aid them to manage more debilitating stressors such as student misbehavior.The authors offer suggestions for teachers, trainers and institutions on reducing frustration.展开更多
Job burnout is a synthetic syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. It has a time-linked and situation-specific nature by developing gradually and fluctuating with chang...Job burnout is a synthetic syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. It has a time-linked and situation-specific nature by developing gradually and fluctuating with changes of environmental contributors. In this study, four related diary entries were analyzed narratively, written by a polytechnic teacher teaching English for General Purposes （EGP） in a semester, to verify the possible work- related situational factors causing iob burnout of EGP teachers in the Chinese context. The results revealed ten environmental burnout elements, including overload, severity of students＇ problem, lacking supervisors＇ support, limited iob autonomy, a stern hierarchical organizational system, and opaque operating rules. We interpreted the results in terms of teacher professional development and proposed that enhancing EGP teachers＇ professional identity and revaluing the EGP course in polytechnics were the basic ways to mitigate burnout and improve English teachers＇ professional development.展开更多
文摘Successful FL learners are characterized by knowing how to use language learning strategies effectively. This pilot study demonstrates the procedure to cultivate the effectiveness of the strategy training to the learners of low language proficiency. It begins with a questionnaire surveying the learners' use of strategy in language acquisition, and then a strategy training integrated with the class teaching and learners' learning diary are introduced. The analysis proves that strategy training to learners of low proficiency can become a crutch for their further study.The role of teachers in the process of the training is also discussed. The author proposes that teachers should be ready for the shift of the role to be an organizer, facilitator, councilor or cooperator, even a negotiator in the road of promoting autonomous learners.
文摘Few jobs come without irritations, and foreign language instruction comes with its own particular set of frustrations which, when accumulated, can lead to stress and eventual burnout for teachers.One mechanism for reducing such frustrations is that of emotion regulation, the cognitive and behavioral strategies individuals employ to manage the emotions they experience or display. To date,no known studies have reported specifically on the in-class frustration experienced by language teachers, or on how teachers regulate their feelings of frustration. Herein, the authors discuss the experiences of seven EFL teachers at a university in Japan obtained through a series of semistructured interviews, classroom observations and corresponding stimulated-recall sessions. The authors discuss four salient thematic frustrations: student apathy, classroom silence, misbehavior in the context of relational strain, and working conditions. The results reveal that participants applied contextually-dependent emotion regulation behaviors, the success of which was often contingent on the participants’ levels of confidence and control over the stressors. Thus, participants showed more success in managing pervasive low-level stressors such as apathy and silence, and more support would be welcome to aid them to manage more debilitating stressors such as student misbehavior.The authors offer suggestions for teachers, trainers and institutions on reducing frustration.
文摘Job burnout is a synthetic syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. It has a time-linked and situation-specific nature by developing gradually and fluctuating with changes of environmental contributors. In this study, four related diary entries were analyzed narratively, written by a polytechnic teacher teaching English for General Purposes （EGP） in a semester, to verify the possible work- related situational factors causing iob burnout of EGP teachers in the Chinese context. The results revealed ten environmental burnout elements, including overload, severity of students＇ problem, lacking supervisors＇ support, limited iob autonomy, a stern hierarchical organizational system, and opaque operating rules. We interpreted the results in terms of teacher professional development and proposed that enhancing EGP teachers＇ professional identity and revaluing the EGP course in polytechnics were the basic ways to mitigate burnout and improve English teachers＇ professional development.
