EFL teachers' representations of Task-Based Language Teaching
Abstract
This exploratory research study has been carried out to inform teacher education practices designed for the professional development of pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers at the school of teacher education, École Supérieure du Professorat et de l'Éducation (ESPE), at the University of French Polynesia. The present paper deals only with the results obtained during the first work-package of a two-phase study and reports on the data about 12 EFL tutors' representations (i.e., stated beliefs, knowledge, conceptualizations, perceptions, feelings, etc.) of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in EFL classrooms. The study aimed to explore and scrutinize the teachers' (i) representations of TBLT (ii) use or non-use of TBLT in their practices, and (iii) experience and feelings about their TBLT practices. The literature review provides a synopsis of the research and theoretical concepts which have contributed to the development of the TBLT pedagogy. The theoretical stance of the study is founded on Moscovici's representations theory, and the assumptions about teacher representations are explained using this theory. This work adopted the research techniques and paradigms employed in the grounded theory approach formulated by Glaser and Strauss (1967). Following the grounded theory tradition, the data were collected via extensive semi-directed interviews and transcribed by using the verbatim method. The qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti. was used to analyze the interview corpus. During the analysis process, the researcher carried out a series of concurrent data collection and analysis procedures. The interviewing activities ended when the analysis procedures ceased to generate new categories of information. The results of the study were presented using verbatim extracts, theoretical framework charts, and descriptive data presentation methods such as histograms and pie charts.
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