what we have -- Work Group Four

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Subject: what we have

Author:
Angelina

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Date Posted: 15:18:41 08/22/10 Sun

Friends:
I�ve tried to put together what we already have, with some cuts and aditions to what had already been posted, let�s all look and give opinions, make the changes we think are necessary and finish what is still missing, like the answers for questions 1, 3, and second part of the 4...I�m posting in two parts because the site won�t let me do it in a total, maybe because it�s yoo long.
Here it goes!

A brief review of the two studies chosen:

1)- The study �A case study on foreign English teachers� challenges in Taiwanese elementary schools� is a qualitative study which was focused on the challenges that foreign English teachers encounter in Taiwanese elementary schools.

Understanding better this study:
With the spread of English as the global language, many people from English-speaking countries go to foreign land to work as English teachers.
Situated in an intercultural team-teaching program in Taiwan, this study documented the many challenges that three South African teachers faced.

Description of the methods and procedures:

1) Participant recruitment:

The Hsinchu Program organized several workshops to provide training for teachers and administrators involved in intercultural team teaching in the city.
One of the authors attended several of these workshops in order to look for potential participants.
Three South African teachers agreed to participate in this study that began in late August 2006 and ended in June 2007, having one of them left the program before it had finished.
They were:
1- May: a black woman in her mid-50s from Johannesburg who had a 26-year experience in the English teaching field.
The most challenging aspect of her teaching at the Taiwanese school was managing the misbehaved students.
2- Amy- a white woman in her mid-20s who had just completed her 1-year teaching practicum before going to Taiwan.
Her main challenge there was teaching phonics, in which she didn�t have adequate knowledge.
3- Ivy- a black woman in her early 40s who had worked as an English tutor for two years and whose accent and teaching skills were very doubtful at the Taiwanese school she worked.
The three participants had native co-teachers at the schools they performed .

2) Data collection and analysis
Data were collected via different methods, including interviews, questionnaires, classroom observation, fieldnotes and researcher journal, and document inspection. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim for further analysis.

Results:
The data collected suggest that one common challenge the three teachers face is doubts on their South African accents mainly because most Taiwanese people are more familiar with the American accent which they consider �beautiful�.
Besides confronting various problems like having to teach something they were not familiar with, managing misbehaved students, and teaching large classes, there were also problems and frustration due to cultural differences and �racism suspicion�. Amy and Ivy ( the two black ones) felt that the reason for Amy�s student�s misbehavior and for Ivy�s coleagues� doubts on her teaching skills was the disrespect for their color.
The study calls for a better preparation for foreign English teachers before they begin their teaching assignments.
To be more specific, they need to make adjustments to address the learning needs of their students and gain more knowledge about the classroom, school, and societal contexts. The program organizers will need to provide many on-the-job training opportunities to help professionalize these teachers and help them function effectively.

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
Re: what we have-2nd part	Angelina	15:21:08 08/22/10 Sun