On 27 August 2024, a study conducted in the context of the Italy ELT Archive project will be presented at the 2024 Conference of the European Society for the Study of English (ESSE), taking place at the University of Lausanne between 26 and 30 August 2024.
The paper presentation will examine trainee teachers’ perception and awareness of L2 teaching methods as well as the way in which they make sense of their application in teaching materials. The study involved nine trainee teachers attending an MA course in L2 teaching methodology held by Professor Luciana Pedrazzini at the University of Milan. The participants’ perceptions were gathered through forum discussions on the course e-learning platform and a follow-up focus group and were investigated through thematic analysis. The results show the role of the trainees’ previous learning experiences and their ability to reflect on the application of L2 teaching methods in Italy. Awareness of the way methods are applied was fostered by asking participants to discuss examples from coursebooks they are familiar with. The focus group involved the participants in a real-life task of materials evaluation based on resources from the Italy ELT Archive. The findings from the discussion highlighted how deeper awareness of the way methods are applied can be developed through materials evaluation tasks.
University of Lausanne (Photo credits: University of Lausanne)
The study will be presented in one of the sessions of Seminar 9, convened by Lucie Betáková (University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice) and María Luisa Pérez Cañado (University of Jaén, Spain), and dedicated to Critical Issues in English Language Teacher Education. A critical issue is any element of the educational content that can be considered difficult, problematic, demanding, or even failing, for different reasons. The papers in Seminar 9 deal with problems or difficulties of trainee teachers or beginner teachers in the process of becoming ELT professionals, as well as problems or difficulties in teacher training courses from the point of view of teacher trainers, training institutions, schools, and future employers.
Seminar 9 is one of 60 seminars about research in English language, culture, and literature, offered in the 2024 Conference organised by the European Society for the Study of English (ESSE). ESSE is a European federation of national higher educational associations for the study of English which aims to promote the European study and understanding of English languages, literatures in English, and cultures of English-speaking peoples. The 2024 Conference also includes 13 parallel lectures, 9 round tables, a poster session, and a doctoral symposium. The full academic program can be viewed here.