A Small Scale Retrospective Study on Chinese EFL Teachers'Experienc-es in the Practicum

The goal of this small scale retrospective study is to examine the perceptions of Chinese EFL(English as a foreign language) teacher trainees of what they do and what they develop in the practicum. Research questions guiding this research are:(1)How much relative attention do Chinese teachers attribute to teaching EFL areas in the practicum in retrospect?(2) What activities do Chinese EFL teachers recollect doing in the practicum? and(3) What are the areas which they are aware of having developed in during the practicum? A questionnaire targeting EFL areas and general activities is employed to collect data; items contain 5-point Likert scales and three open-ended questions. Forty-eight respondents(44 female) are included in the sample. In the teaching of EFL areas, the results indicate that the participants experienced more emphasis on exam-oriented areas. The means for practicum activities show that participants highlighted learning by observation, discussion, and journals, among their various recalled activities. When evaluating development and learning opportunity in the practicum, participants reported improvements in general pedagogical knowledge, but they missed out on other aspects of teacher knowledge. The findings bring about evidence in what is effective and what is not of the practicum. It gives guidance to what could be changed for the practicum.

A Research on Different Classroom Questioning Strategies Between Chinese and Foreign EFL Teachers

The application of questioning as a teaching tool has always been considered as a main part of the teaching process.Based on the viewpoint of several researchers,a survey was conducted on the application of different questioning strategies by Chinese and foreign EFL teachers in a middle school,in order to determine their effects on students’language learning output and propose measures to optimize Chinese teachers’questioning strategies for improving students’learning efficiency.This research provides preliminary results based on the data collected from the video recordings of class sessions,a questionnaire,and an interview.According to the analysis,the questioning strategies differ between Chinese and foreign EFL teachers in many aspects,such as in information seeking,offering,modification,adjustment,feedback,and so forth.

Investigating L2 Request Strategies: A Case Study of Chinese English teachers' L2 Pragmatic Competence

Empirical descriptions of how the teacher performs requests in English can make them realize the importance of improving pragmatic competence, so that they could help students develop more native-like pragmatic behaviors and enhance cultural competence. This case study is to explore the pragmatic competence of a Chinese EFL teacher by investigating the patterns of realization strategies and the ways of reacting to the different social and contextual variables in her requests. It was found out that the teacher investigated in the study had good pragmatic awareness and pragmatic competence to produce the speech act of requests and develop students' pragmatic competence, but more explicit instructions should be provided to help students develop more native-like speech acts by providing more explicit instructions.

“We Are Left in Limbo!”:Chinese EFL Student Teachers’Teaching Practicum Experience

Tensions between vision and reality in the teaching practicum is a significant issue in research and practice globally,but scanty attention has been awarded to research into areas of tension in teaching practice itself.This paper reports on a study that examines a cohort of Chinese English as a Foreign Language(EFL)student teachers’perceptions of the tensions arising in their teaching practicum in secondary schools.Triangulated research methods were employed for data collection.Reflective papers were employed as the main instrument of data collection,with classroom observation and field-notes used as supplementary sources of evidence for the occurrence of various unexpected difficulties.The overriding cause of this situation appeared to be the foundationalism paradigm that the teacher education program followed.The study highlights the need for teacher education programs to deal with emergent issues by way of critical postmodernist ideologies and make concerted efforts with schools to help student teachers continually adjust their visions in their practice.