Perspectives and trajectories of the language teacher in the 21st century

Karamifar, Banafsheh; Stickler, Ursula; Hampel, Regine; Germain-Rutherford, Aline; Hopkins, Joseph; Heiser, Sarah; Ernest, Pauline; Emke, Martina and Pellerin, Martine (2018). Perspectives and trajectories of the language teacher in the 21st century. In: Proceedings WorldCALL 2018 Concepción, 13-16 November, 2018 CALLing all the CALLers Worldwide (Barr, David; Banados, Emerita and Gimeno, Ana eds.), Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile, pp. 51–54.

Abstract

Founded in 2018, the AILA Research Network entitled Perspectives and Trajectories of the Language teacher in the 21st century (TPLang21) brings together 35 established language educators and researchers from 15 countries across five continents who work on information and communication technology (ICT) and (self-)empowering methods of continuing professional development (CPD). Through an online questionnaire shared with national and international networks for language teachers, trainers and administrators, we collected information about CPD programs, focusing on ICT and/or self-empowerment of language teachers, to compare approaches across institutions and countries, and explore beliefs about “ideal” teachers from an intercultural perspective. We investigate to what extent the digital revolution in communication technology has affected the notion of the ideal language teacher, perceptions of language training needs and actual models of language teacher training. This article reports the first results of this study, focusing on the professional background of respondents and on their satisfaction with the training received. The analysis shows that, overall, language teachers seem at least partly satisfied with the type of training received and the quality of the teacher trainers. However, other aspects of training, such as hands-on practice, do not meet language teachers’ demands.

Viewing alternatives

Item Actions

Export

You can export this page using these formats