Journal of NELTA

Role of Expectations and Emotions in Pre-service Teacher Identity Construction

Padmini Shankar — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The construct of Language Teacher Identity has garnered tremendous research interest over the past two decades with teacher aff ect – the relationship between emotional factors and teacher identity construction – as one of the areas of focus. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) enter the teacher education program (TEP) with expectations of becoming ‘good’ teachers. These are negotiated and mediated through the practicum experience that entails enormous emotional investment on the part of the PSTs as they experiment with their developing skills and knowledge to transact learning. This paper explores the role of expectations and emotions in the emerging identities of PSTs. It examines: a) PSTs’ beliefs about ‘good’ teachers which translate into expectations, b) teaching events involving pleasant and unpleasant emotions for PSTs infl uencing the construction of a positive and negative sense of identity as teachers and c) ways in which PSTs negotiate and adjust their emerging identities as language teachers vis-à-vis their expectations and emotions. Five PSTs enrolled in a TEP at a Central University in India are the participants of the study. Reflective journals, classroom observation, and oral narratives are used as tools to collect data which is analyzed qualitatively. The fi ndings reveal that PSTs use several coping strategies to combat unpleasant emotions that erode their fragile emerging identities while exercising agency all through to develop positive identities with the help of pleasant emotions.

Narrative Analysis in English Language Teachers’ Professional Identity Research: A Review

Bharat Prasad Neupane, Laxman Gnawali — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Amidst the escalating emergence of generic methodological articles on narrative inquiry, this article critically reviews diff erent narrative analysis approaches and their application in English language teachers’ professional identity research. For this purpose, we reviewed currently available methodological books and articles on narrative inquiry in general and narrative analysis in particular. Additionally, we reviewed twenty purposively selected empirical articles published since 2015 thatemployed narrative inquiry to explore English teachers’ professional identities.

A review of methodological articles revealed that the narrative analysis and analysis of narrative dichotomy are blurred as a certain level of interpretation occurs during the co-construction of stories, transcribing, translating, restorying, and fi nally, the consumption of the reports by the readers. Consequently, many researchers have considered paradigmatic analysis as the first step of narrative analysis. In contrast, research practices showed that the interpretation of stories begins only after story generation. Besides, amongst diff erent narrative analysis approaches, positioning analysis underscores how tellers represent themselves through narratives, whereas the small story approach of Barkhuizen accentuates analyzing content and context; however, narrative forms and linguistic features and their motives are rarely investigated. Though the small stories approach of Georgakopoulou (2007) advocates explicitly for considering ways of telling (linguistic features and communicative how), it is rarely evident in practice. This article, therefore, identifies a need for a comprehensive narrative analysis approach that considers what (content), where and when (context), how (form), and who and why (agency and discourse) of the story.

Exploring Professional Wellbeing of English Language Teachers

Surendra Prasad Bhatt — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Teacher wellbeing concerns teachers’ satisfaction, happiness, and attraction to their profession. It is equally essential in quality education since the attraction to English language in schools is growing gradually. This study aims to discovers perceptions of English language teachers teaching secondary level on their wellbeing in an institutional setting. Using lived stories through in-depth interview and informal communication, the study explores the perception of their wellbeing. The research findings show that teachers teaching English perceive their wellbeing as having positive psychology, positive emotion, respect and achievement in the job, and healthy relations among the institutional members. This study paves the way for a more extensive debate on policy and practice surrounding teachers’ wellbeing among educators, academicians, and decision-makers.

Notions of Identity and Investment in Second Language Acquisition: Bangladeshi Indigenous Students’ Perspectives

Ghazi Shahadat Hossain — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Identity and investment are closely related to second language learning in many contexts. Many studies have been done on how second language learning aff ects the identity and investment of second language learners. Banking on the theory of identity, this article investigates how and why Bangladeshi students, belonging to indigenous communities, invest in second language learning and how their investment in L2 is linked to their agency. The study adopted an interpretative qualitative research paradigm and more precisely, utilized narrative inquiry as a research method to explore the lived experiences situated in a particular time, space and context. The findings exhibit that Bangladeshi ethnic students have made financial, physical, psychological and academic investments to own the linguistic, cultural and symbolic capital of English as a second language and such investment seems to be impacted by factors such as generating new identities (real or imagined), agency, neoliberalism and social justice. The research findings tend to have implications for second language teachers, researchers, SLA curriculum and material designers and other stakeholders in the Bangladeshi context or elsewhere.

Student Identity in the EFL Classrooms

Arjun Basnet — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper explores various processes of identity construction of the students studying in English medium secondary schools in Nepal while learning English as a second /foreign language. The students in English medium schools actively participate in various classroom interactions, engage mutually in the learning process and share their feelings through which they make sense of themselves and construct various identities. By collecting information from interviews with eight participants, this qualitative study showcases that the EFL students construct multiple identities through the process of positioning, opportunity and transformation. Due to positioning, i.e., how the students situate themselves through their discursive practices and how they are situated by others, the students construct a number of identities namely, discourse identity, social identity, institution identity, authored identity, affinity identity and L1 identity, becoming and being as identity, learner identity and inner circle identity. Some of these identities, especially the former ones are constructed by virtue of opportunity whereas the later one is constructed due to transformation. These identities, however, were not found going parallel because the identities constructed in one field infused their identities in other fields.

Head Teachers’ Ideologies Behind English Medium Instruction in the Community Schools

Tek Raj Bhatta — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

English, a global lingua franca, is neither a second nor an offi cial language in Nepal. However, several community schools existing in Nepal have implemented English Medium Instruction (EMI, hereafter). Therefore, this study examines the ideologies of community schools’ head teachers behind starting EMI. In addition to this, it aims to discover implementational challenges during the initial days of EMI adoption. I have adopted narrative inquiry approach of qualitative research to bring out the ideologies of the head teachers behind starting EMI in community schools in Dhangadhi. I purposively selected three head teachers and conducted semi-structured interviews with them to elicit stories. Interpretation of the stories revealed various ideologies of head teachers behind starting EMI in community schools. The study concludes that EMI in community schools is adopted to assist them in enrolling and increasing the number of students. Moreover, it has challenged the stereotyping of the public towards community schools. Likewise, the study reveals several legal challenges, like the admission of preschool-aged children to primary schools and tuition fees charged to the students, which is against the Constitution of Nepal 2015 faced by community schools in the initial days of EMI adoption. The study’s findings present the adoption of EMI in community schools in the form of neoprivatisation. Finally, the study provides insights to stakeholders willing to initiate EMI community schools in Nepal.

Resistance and Gender in an EFL Classroom Interaction: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Kohinoor Akther — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A classroom is not only a place for female learners’ learning and growth but also a place for enacting their knowledge, power, positioning, and resistance in their classroom interaction. As important social members, these learners bring the society-approved discourses that restrict their gendered roles in their classroom participation. Female learners, dominated by their social-historical-cognitive selves, mostly do not try to initiate a conversation or participate in that as they have to contest the status quo of male learners who particularly dominate the conversation process. Hence, they have to struggle to negotiate their position and identity by resisting the ‘boy discourses’ that delimit their equal participation. This study focuses on the reproduction of resistance and the struggle for achieving the equality dynamics of the female learners to participate in classroom discourses. Six female learners and two teachers were the research participants at a private university in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Kumaravadivelue’s (1999) critical classroom discourse analysis (CCDA), van Dijk’s (2003; 2016) socio-cognitive and Wodak’s (2009) historical-cognitive model and Braun and Clerk’s (2006) thematic analysis approach had been used here as an analytical framework and for data analysis tool. Structured focus group interviews and classroom observation were the tools used for generating data that gave the impression that female learners use both active and passive resistance that happens due to the existing micro and macro factors surrounding them. Moreover, their historical, social, and cognitive positioning and struggle for negotiating power and identity gave them the insight that the classroom served both as a learning and growing space for them. This study contributes to the budding research on female learners’ being and becoming an identity in a powerful classroom interaction that can infl uence them beyond the classroom.

Rethinking English Classroom Practices in the Post-COVID Bangladesh: Making a Case for Blended-learning

Mohammad Sajjad Hossen — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic caused large-scale disruption to education worldwide and forced educational institutions to switch to online education. During this pandemic, Bangladeshi educational institutions also transitioned to online teaching. While most teachers and students felt immensely challenged by this new mode of education because of a lack of training and infrastructural limitations, some English language teachers were found to exploit this opportunity to teach online using accessible technologies. The teachers who successfully integrated technology in the classroom recommended continuing online education in the post-COVID period because of the benefi ts this mode of education off ers. However, they did not suggest online education as a substitute for in-person education. This systematic review critically examined the literature that explored Bangladeshi teachers’ and students’ experiences of COVID-19 online education to understand if online education offers any solutions to the challenges that negatively aff ect the country’s secondary-level English education. Based on the meta-analysis of data, this review paper makes a case for blended learning for English language classrooms in Bangladesh, as research on blended learning shows that this dual-mode education can address the issues of space, time, and reach that negatively impact the country’s English language education. More importantly, the blended approach can reduce inequities that characterize the current English language classrooms in the country and can, consequently, increase inclusion. Accordingly, drawing on global and local scholarship, this paper sheds light on various features of blended education.

Students’ Perceptions of ESP Online Pedagogy during COVID-19 and Pedagogical Transitions in a Nepali University: Case Studies and Embedded Action Research

Haris Chand Adhikari — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study explores undergraduate students’ perceptions of online pedagogy (OP) practiced during COVID-19 pandemic and blended pedagogy (BP)/ blended teaching and learning (BTL) currently in practice in the post-pandemic times in ESP courses at Kathmandu University School of Law (KUSL), Nepal. While essentially a study of two case studies, it also develops as embedded informal action research (Beck, 2017). The study reveals that both OP and BP/ BTL, despite many transitions, function(ed) only as makeshift pedagogies in the local context, which is not how they are taken in their mainstream uses. It first highlights the majority voice for continuing using helpful elements from OP (with improvements) in the conventional mode, diagnoses numerous problems associated with the pedagogy, and identifi es spaces to bring about improvements in. It then examines the transitions, including BP/ BTL, which reveal that OP has been instrumental in encouraging the practitioners to increasingly embrace BP/ BTL for its immense usefulness. However, (collective) institutional readiness in investing in major OP and BP/ BTL resources and technologies seriously lacked/ lacks. These fi ndings, with local and global literature aside, also help to successively build and refi ne the conceptual framework used. Finally, the study forwards useful implications and suggestions for those who have been practicing similar pedagogies in similar contexts.

English Language Teachers’ Experiences of Using ICT in ELT

Dammar Singh Saud, Suman Laudari — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

While technologies have penetrated all regions and states in Nepal – a developing country with challenging terrains – teacher educators’ practices, especially those in remote areas, are still unexplored. Integrating innovative technologies into English language education, in this context, has become essential as their aff ordances help to enhance teaching and learning. This hermeneutic phenomenological research paper, hence, explores the perspectives and experiences of using ICT in English language teaching by four English language teacher educators in Darchula, a remote district located in the Sudurpaschim Province of Nepal. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed thematically. The fi ndings indicate positive attitudes among English language teacher educators towards incorporating ICT in ELT, as it enhances learning and teaching experiences, fosters student engagement, improves access to learning resources, and establishes dynamic and interactive learning environments. This study emphasises the importance of effectively integrating ICT in English language teaching while addressing technical obstacles and striking a balance between online resources to maximise benefi ts and mitigate drawbacks.

Comparing Hybrid and Flipped Modalities in Remote and Face-to-Face Learning in a Japanese University L2 Academic Writing Course

Ranson Paul Lege — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Teachers throughout the world are interested in the eff ectiveness of online and fl ipped class methods of instruction. During the Covid-19 pandemic, these platforms went from cutting edge to becoming the central teaching platform. Online classes in particular can be effective in teaching reading and writing. In 2013, a hybrid online class was introduced into the academic writing program at the Graduate School of Law at Nagoya University as a way to assist Master’s students with their writing needs. Between 2012 ‒ 2023, the same writing courses underwent three phases of development: hybrid, flipped, and fully remote. As part of an action research study, the process included stages of planning, implementing, observing, and refl ecting on the design of each of the learning platforms. For the planning and implementing phases, the paper compares the quality measures of the instructional designs. Surveys on student perspectives were used to help with the observing and reflecting phases. Student survey results indicated that, even during the peak of the pandemic, learners were satisfi ed with all three platforms as they developed.

The Trend of Mixed Methods Research Employed in the Journal of NELTA (2009-2022)

Samikshya Bidari, Laxman Gnawali — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This research trend analysis aims to understand the prevalence of Mixed Methods Research (MMR) in English language teaching (ELT) research within the Journal of NELTA from 2009 to 2021, identifying the extent to which MMR is employed in the ELT field and assessing adherence to the International Journal of Mixed Methods Research (IJMMR, 2018) guidelines. A two-stage screening process was conducted, initially involving the manual screening of 176 articles and subsequently assessing 20 shortlisted articles against the checklist of IJMMR. The analysis confirms a limited utilization of MMR in ELT research, with only 20 (approximately 11%) of the 176 reviewed articles incorporating MMR, while qualitative and quantitative methodologies take precedence. Adherence to the International Community of Practice guidelines, as established by IJMMR, is lacking in most articles, emphasizing the need for better alignment with established guidelines to enhance MMR quality in ELT research. This study highlights a substantial gap in the adoption of MMR in ELT research, possibly due to methodological conservatism and a lack of awareness and training within the ELT community, presenting an opportunity for scholars to explore MMR’s potential to bridge gaps in traditional ELT research and enhance the understanding of language teaching and learning processes.

Teaching Pronunciation at Tertiary Level in Bangladesh

Sharmin Siddique — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Pronunciation is the way to give a word an oral or aural shape which is measured as one of the most significant skills of language. For non-native speakers, English pronunciation is considered one of the most tough problems. At the same time, in Bangladesh, teaching English pronunciation is measured one of the most diffi cult parts of ELT. This paper focuses on the challenges confronted by English teachers at the tertiary level to teach pronunciation. This research also tries to focus on the teaching strategies for teaching pronunciation. For collecting data, a survey was conducted and a set of questionnaires was used for teachers. In this survey, 22 English language and literature teachers from various universities took part. Finally, some contextual solutions have been suggested to solve problems of teaching pronunciation in the EFL classroom.

Lessons Learned in Establishing a University Global Course

Karl Hedberg, Paul Tanner — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper outlines the creation, implementation, and subsequent development of a Global Leadership course at a national university in Japan. In 2014, our university in central Japan, with the encouragement of Japan’s Ministry of Education, established a Global Leadership course for elite students. The purpose was to foster leadership and develop relations with other Asian countries using English. Students accepted into the program take supplementary English classes and participate in a foreign internship. The application was open to all matriculated graduates. Since the establishment of the Global Course, adjustments have been made to improve the application procedure, academic rigor, and assessment. The authors address the adaptations that have been made to improve the Global Course program, particularly the application process and method of selection as well as some changes made to the curriculum.

Language Learning and Teaching in Digital Environment

Anita Lie, Imelda Gozali, Agus Wardhono — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The impetus for this conceptual article was derived from the panel discussion on “Language Learning and Teaching in Digital Environment” in the 27th NELTA International Conference 2023 and the authors’ reflections on their experiences as teachers and teacher educators in Indonesia, particularly after the unprecedented lock-down. The recent school closure has off ered lessons learned on the need for digital pedagogy and led to the new awareness of the challenges and opportunities in the inevitable digital environment. This article discusses some of the major contextual changes and the future directions of digital pedagogy for language learning.

Editorial Vol.28(1)

Ram Ashish Giri — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000