Analyses of Non-Native Preservice English Teacher Verbal Interactions on COLT Part B Scheme

Abstract

This exploratory case study aimed to identify the characteristics of instruction by non-native preservice English teachers seeking to obtain an English teacher certificate in Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has mandated that the teaching of English should take place principally in English from 2020. This requirement will place greater emphasis on the communicative competence of English teachers. To achieve this goal, considerable empowerment of preservice teachers, who are mostly non-native, and enhancement of their communication abilities in the target language will be required. In the present study, 14 non-native preservice teachers were videotaped over three years while teaching practice lessons (6 with Year 7 students, 8 with Year 8 students). Their classroom utterances were transcribed and analyzed using the categories in Part B of the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) observation scheme, proposed by Spada and Fröhlich (1995). Chi-square tests found significant differences between the two grade levels regarding eight of the 18 features in the COLT Part B scheme. In contrast, there were no significant differences regarding important features such as percentage of target language use and requesting genuine information from students. Analysis of the overall results and grade-level differences indicates the features on which preservice teachers should focus so as to develop their capacity to deliver more interactional and effective English lessons.



Author Information
Noriaki Katagiri, Hokkaido University of Education, Japan
Yukiko Ohashi, Yamazaki Gakuen University, Japan

Paper Information
Conference: ACLL2017
Stream: Teacher training

This paper is part of the ACLL2017 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon