Abstract-Microteaching has been widely used in pre-service teacher education programs to enhance prospective teachers' instructional experiences. Within ELT programs, the use of microteaching offers valuable opportunities for trainee-teachers to develop effective teaching strategies. Understanding the perceptions and concerns of student teachers is crucial for promoting teacher education programs' outcomes. This study aimed at investigating the views of sixty-one female teacher trainees from the English Language Education Program in the Faculty of Education in the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) regarding the microteaching component offered in two courses of English language teaching methods. A combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques was employed for the purpose of gathering the data. Mainly, a questionnaire and a focus group interview were used as the main tools for data collection. Overall analysis of the findings indicated that prospective teachers described a variety of benefits they gained from microteaching experiences. The study ended with recommendations and directions for future studies to further examine the highlighted results.
Cooperative learning and differentiated instruction have recently attracted a lot of attention as they are considered by educators and teachers to play significant roles in motivating learners and promoting interactive learning. The present study aims to examine English teachers' views about the effectiveness of the practice of cooperative learning and differentiated instruction in enhancing students' learning in English language classes. A sequential mixed method was used to collect the necessary data to answer the research questions. A questionnaire was first sent to 200 English language teachers, and then the researchers conducted focus group interviews with eight teachers. The findings of the study reveal that English language teachers consider cooperative learning as a valuable instructional procedure for promoting learners' engagement, classroom social interaction, cultural appreciation, and differentiated instruction. The present study's findings may have implications at all levels, such as teacher training, academic administration, curriculum designing, and decision making. Applications of those findings may attract the attention of others beyond the English classes. In addition, the findings may provide valuable guidance for researchers and educators to carry out large scale studies on the practice of cooperative learning and differentiated instruction in English language classes within the present study's context and beyond.
Writing has always been regarded as playing a prominent role in learning a second language. Research within this discipline has mainly focused on the development of writing skill, but in recent years, some researchers have examined students’ perceptions of writing. The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ perceptions about an academic writing course and writing in general. A total of 64 female students from an ESP program participated in the study. The general design of the study was quantitative and qualitative in nature as a questionnaire and a focus-group interview were implemented for data collection. A combination of quantitative and qualitative procedures was employed to analyze the data collected via the questionnaire and the focus group interview respectively. The overall results demonstrated the students’ positive views towards the Academic Writing Course (AWC) in particular and ESL writing in general. The major findings demonstrated students’ awareness of their needs and ESL writing requirements. The study concluded with recommendations for future research.
The issue of preparing qualified and motivated teachers equipped with all the essential pedagogical and content knowledge and language proficiency has recently become a top priority in many countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The main aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of teaching practice on pre-service teachers' perceptions of their pedagogical preferences, teaching competence and motivation for choosing teaching as a future career. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods in order to have a better understanding of the phenomenon. A five Likert scale questionnaire and a focus group interview were used to collect the necessary data. The questionnaire was distributed and collected from 30 senior prospective female teachers in both elementary and early childhood education programs in a university in the UAE, while the interviews were conducted with only 12 volunteered student teachers. The study's results revealed positive views about the two groups' pedagogical preferences, teaching competence and motivation. Many of the statistically significant results were in favour of the elementary group. Overall, a considerable number of results revealed that prospective teachers view teaching practice experience to have an impact on their pedagogical preferences, teaching competence and motivation. The study concluded with some implications and/or recommendations for future research.
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