Foreign Language Teachers’ Language Proficiency and Their Language Teaching Practice

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aut.relation.endpage246
aut.relation.issue2en_NZ
aut.relation.startpage231
aut.relation.volume41en_NZ
aut.researcherConway, Alison Clare
dc.contributor.authorRichards, Hen_NZ
dc.contributor.authorConway, Cen_NZ
dc.contributor.authorRoskvist, Aen_NZ
dc.contributor.authorHarvey, Sen_NZ
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-01T22:31:33Z
dc.date.available2017-03-01T22:31:33Z
dc.date.copyright2013en_NZ
dc.date.issued2013en_NZ
dc.description.abstractTeachers’ subject knowledge is recognised as an essential component of effective teaching. In the foreign language context, teachers’ subject knowledge includes language proficiency. In New Zealand high schools, foreign languages (e.g. Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish) have recently been offered to learners earlier in their schooling, prompting a demand for more foreign language teachers. A nationwide professional development programme for language teachers is building language teacher capacity to meet the demand. Participants on the programme have a range of language teaching subject knowledge. While some have extensive knowledge of their target teaching language but lack formal language teaching qualifications, others are generalist teachers with an interest in teaching a foreign language who are just beginning to develop their subject knowledge. This paper considers teachers’ subject knowledge, that is, their language proficiency. We report on the differences in the classroom practice of teachers with limited subject knowledge, compared with teachers with more extensive subject knowledge. The data were analysed against key aspects of teaching based on the work of Farrell and Richards. The analysis revealed a variance in the number of key aspects the teachers could manage and differences in their level of effectiveness in managing the key aspects. We highlight the importance for teachers with limited levels of target language proficiency of continuing to develop their subject knowledge in order to maximise the language-learning experience for their students.
dc.identifier.citationThe Language Learning Journal, vol.41(2), pp.231 - 246en_NZ
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/09571736.2012.707676en_NZ
dc.identifier.issn0957-1736en_NZ
dc.identifier.issn1753-2167en_NZ
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/10353
dc.publisherTaylor & Francis
dc.relation.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2012.707676en_NZ
dc.rightsCopyright © 2013 Taylor & Francis. Authors retain the right to place his/her pre-publication version of the work on a personal website or institutional repository as an electronic file for personal or professional use, but not for commercial sale or for any systematic external distribution by a third. This is an electronic version of an article published in (see Citation). The Language Learning Journal is available online at: www.tandfonline.com with the open URL of your article (see Publisher’s Version).
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccessen_NZ
dc.subjectSubject knowledgeen_NZ
dc.subjectTeacher language proficiencyen_NZ
dc.subjectForeign languageen_NZ
dc.subjectModern languageen_NZ
dc.subjectClassroom practiceen_NZ
dc.titleForeign Language Teachers’ Language Proficiency and Their Language Teaching Practiceen_NZ
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id116962
pubs.organisational-data/AUT
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Culture & Society
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