At the end of June, I had the privilege of traveling to Vietnam (with several colleagues from UOW) to attend the 2nd Mekong TESOL Conference. Prior to the conference, we were able to spend two days in Ho Chi Minh City, which is, without a doubt, one of the most vibrant and chaotic places I have ever been to. The traffic is relentless and the place never sleeps; yet, exploring the city was fun, and we made sure to include plenty of stops at local coffee shops (love the weasel coffee!). The conference committee then organized a coach for us to travel down to Can Tho where the conference was held. The 4-hour drive through the countryside was stunning, and  spending three days in Can Tho was exciting. I can’t remember the last time I ate that much food, including Pho at the floating market and several enormous lunches and dinners to which we were invited.
 
The conference, with its theme Think Globally, Act Locally, generated stimulating and interesting discussions. It was an ideal venue for local English teachers to explore a wide variety of relevant language teaching and research issues. The ~350 attendees provided some great networking opportunities, too. Unfortunately, the day after the conference I felt pretty crook. The timing was definitely not ideal, as I was scheduled to deliver an all-day workshop at Gaviet Language Center for Vietnamese English teachers on how to teach pronunciation to young learners. In spite of feeling a bit off, the workshop went well, and the participants seemed to enjoy the opportunity to learn about pronunciation instruction. The next day, five of us flew to Phu Quoc Island where we spent four relaxing days. We snorkeled, fished, and explored the island by car (we had a driver). The beaches, the night market, and the seafood were incredible, but the rapid resort development, the simple lifestyle in some of the local villages, and the ever-present garbage lying around were a bit of an eye-opening experience. It made my sore stomach and emerging toothache feel almost irrelevant.

Overall, the 11 days in Vietnam were an incredibly enriching experience. I learned a lot about this fascinating country and its friendly people. I’ll be back, for sure!

I’ve just returned to Australia after spending seven exciting weeks in Japan. Having gained extensive experience and further education since leaving my teaching job in Japan in 2003 has enabled me to observe English education/teaching in Japan somewhat differently and more critically. Having three children attend Japanese public school this year has also provided me with fascinating insights. These are not ground-breaking observations, and they are meant to be factual and not judgmental in nature:

• The English proficiency level of the general population is relatively low because English is treated as a subject in school and not as a means to communicate
• The desire for perfection prevents risk-taking and subsequently hinders L2 acquisition and fluency development
• The widespread testing washback continues to drive teaching and prevents learning English for communicative purposes
• The value of and partial emphasis on indirect communication in Japanese makes it challenging for Japanese students to communicate in English
• Technology continues to be virtually non-existent in many public school classrooms
• Educational reforms are more or less ineffective without adequate in-service teacher training

My 12-year old son is attending junior high school in Japan this year. Even though his first language is English, he is required to sit through all of the English language classes. My wife met with the school principal a few weeks ago to discuss an alternative option, but she was told that there was nothing that could be done. Initially, attending English class seemed to be a total waste of his time, but then I realized that this was in fact quite an interesting context. How often does a kid who is highly proficient in a language need to sit through a beginning level class while his classmates don’t speak the language at all? So, to explore my son's perspective on English teaching at a Japanese junior high school, I’m going to have weekly (5-10 minute) interviews with him. I’m really not sure where this little project is going, but here are a few interesting points he has mentioned so far:

• The Japanese teacher speaks English for the entire 50 minutes, except when she has to explain concepts that are unfamiliar to the children
• The teacher explains new English sounds (vowels and consonants) in relation to Japanese sounds. Flashcards, TPR-based activities, and songs are also used to introduce new sounds. Oral production of new sounds is mostly done through teacher-led drills and repetitions
• Teacher-made worksheets supplement the phonics textbook and the regular English textbook
• Students are asked to curl up their tongue to pronounce /r/ (if you’re interested in how this sound is really produced, you need to take my applied phonology course at UOW)

I may blog more about my son's experience in the near future. For now, if you’re interested in pedagogy at Japanese schools, consider reading this fascinating article written by Scott Johnston, a professor at Osaka Jogakuin University:
 
Johnston, S. (2002). A Japanese 3rd grade classroom: The individual within the group. Childhood Education, 78(6), 342-348.

I'm giving three talks with Amanda Baker at the upcoming TESOL Convention in Chicago, USA (March 27-30, 2018). Here are the session details, including presentation summaries:

Enhancing Learners' Pragmatic Competence Using a Haptic Approach
Thursday, March 29, 2018: 13:00-13:45 
E264 (McCormick Place, Lakeside Center, East) 

• This session provides training in using haptic (movement + touch) techniques to teach speech acts to ELLs. These techniques are used to foreground intonational features (pitch, volume, stress) that can be mapped haptically onto existing speech acts (e.g., apologies, requests) to develop learners’ pragmatic competence.

Pronunciation Teacher Education: Researching a Blended Online and On-Campus Design
Friday, March 30, 2018: 11:30-12:15 
N137 (McCormick Place, North Building) 

• This presentation explores the development of a blended delivery system for teaching L2 pronunciation pedagogy in a TESOL teacher education program. The impact of this system on graduate student learning for both on-campus and online-only students is analysed and implications for teacher education programs are discussed.

Learning to Teach English Pronunciation: From Student to Novice Teacher
Friday, March 30, 2018: 14:00-14:45 
N138 (McCormick Place, North Building) 

• Few studies have examined the connection between pronunciation teacher preparation and actual teaching practices. This session presents a longitudinal study exploring how the practices of novice instructors developed and how that development related to their graduate education. Following an overview of the findings, implications for language teacher education are discussed.

Last weekend, I was fortunate to attend and present at the annual ETAS (English Teaching Association Switzerland) conference in Zofingen. Below are a few brief thoughts about the event:

• Meeting several people I had connected with through Twitter was great
• Presenting at a European conference for the first time was a definite highlight
• The event had a pedaogogical focus with little research being presented (no surprise, given that this was a teaching conference)
• Scheduling fewer concurrent presentations might have improved session attendance
• The overall quality of the presentations was excellent with many of them providing great ideas that teachers can use in their classrooms
• The weather was authentically Swiss: wet and cold, with sleet, rain, and snow (in no particular order)......
• Lunches were free and good + the croissants and coffee in the morning a real treat
• Daniel Xerri’s plenary talk about teacher-based research was stimulating (and relevant to the study I'm planning to conduct next year)
  
• Zofingen was a good choice for a conference location as the town is conveniently located in the center of Switzerland
• Swiss trains are incredibly punctual.....Other than in Japan, I’ve never seen this type of punctuality anywhere else!

I’ve just returned from the Applied Linguistics Conference in Auckland (NZ) where I presented my latest research on learning to teach English pronunciation. Here are a few highlights and thoughts on the conference:

• Second language teacher cognition (SLTC) research is growing enormously. I attended several sessions on studies that draw on SLTC to examine learning and teaching
  
• The network area on the ground floor of the conference building was excellent, with posters presentations being right in that area too
• There was a good session balance between emerging (Phd students) and established scholars
• The plenaries were engaging and thought-provoking. I particularly enjoyed Chris Davison’s talk on assessment literacy
• Unlike other applied linguistics conferences I have attended, the applied part featured strongly with many of the sessions making explicit connections to the classroom
• Task-based teaching in Asia is omnipresent
• Several sessions provided interesting insights into the ongoing challenges and mismatches between government policies and practice
• The food was excellent
• Auckland is an incredibly multi-cultural city
• A trip to Rangitoto Island and up Auckland’s Skytower are both must-do’s to get a sense of the beauty of the city and its surrounding this area
• If you’re into running, Auckland is perfect for hill training (the area has more than 50 volcanoes)
• The many beautiful urban parks (with huge trees) provide plenty of space to relax
• Auckland’s vibrant craft beer scene was an awesome way to wind down after a full day of conferencing

As mentioned in a previous blog post, I’m presenting some preliminary findings of my latest research project on learning to teach English pronunciation at the upcoming Applied Linguistics conference in Auckland, New Zealand (November 28, 2017). Here are the title and the abstract of the session:  

 
Title:
Learning to Teach Pronunciation: A 4-Year Study
 
Abstract:
Research has provided evidence about the positive impact of second language teacher education (SLTE) on the practices, and beliefs and knowledge (i.e., cognition) of in-service and pre-service teachers (Busch, 2010; Farrell, 2009; Kurihara, 2013; Lee, 2015). Studies have also shown that preparing second language (L2) teachers to teach English pronunciation can be effective (Baker, 2011; Burri, 2015, Burri, Baker & Chen, 2017; Golombek & Jordan, 2005). However, research has yet to examine how novice L2 teachers’ pronunciation teaching practices develop longitudinally and how that development relates to their postgraduate studies. Such research is needed to demonstrate the long-term effectiveness of SLTE on teacher practice.
 
The longitudinal study presented in this session examines the cognition development of three instructors teaching English as an additional language in Australia following their study of a postgraduate subject on pronunciation pedagogy. Specifically, the research compares the teachers’ current pronunciation-oriented cognitions and classroom practices with the teachers’ previous cognitions about teaching pronunciation formed during their university study four years earlier. Questionnaires, interviews, assessment tasks, focus groups, and observations conducted during the participants’ postgraduate studies, as well as narrative frames (Barkhiuzen, 2014) to elicit participants’ perspectives on their current practices were collected and triangulated to compare data over a period of four years.
 
Findings showed that learning to teach English pronunciation is a dynamic, individual and non-linear process; one that goes beyond postgraduate education and well into L2 teachers’ professional career. Teachers reported using their classrooms knowledge about pronunciation acquired during their studies; yet, external factors exerted powerful influences on their practices. These factors limited teachers’ implementation of acquired knowledge, which led some of the teachers to return to practices and cognitions held prior to their postgraduate studies. The session concludes with a brief discussion of implications for SLTE.

Farrell (2015) suggests that second language teacher education (SLTE) often lacks effectiveness in preparing second language (L2) instructors. He argues that programs do not prepare “teacher learners adequately about how to deal with the realities of teaching in the classroom” (p.2). Farrell proposes for programs to align their content with prospective L2 teachers’ needs more closely to ensure that content presented to student teachers was relevant to their future teaching contexts. He goes on to say that L2 teacher educators should continue monitoring the development of graduates’ pedagogical skills once they are teaching in their L2 classrooms. This would allow teacher educators to create cases of practicing instructors that could then be incorporated into SLTE programs to facilitate reflection and student teacher learning. Exploring these cases would enable future teachers to attain insights into the realities, challenges, and issues that are typically involved in L2 classroom teaching.
 
I like Farrell's suggestions, as they resonate with one of my ongoing research projects. In this longitudinal study I am exploring how L2 teachers’ pronunciation teaching practices and their current beliefs and knowledge (i.e., cognitions) about English pronunciation relate to what they learned during a graduate course on pronunciation pedagogy. Examining this connection should yield important insights into L2 teacher learning and into the effectiveness of SLTE. I am presenting preliminary findings of this research at the Applied Linguistics conference in Auckland, New Zealand (November 2017). It would be great to see some of you there, but in case you cannot make it to Auckland, I am going to make the presentation abstract available on my blog a couple of weeks prior to the conference.
 
 
Reference:
Farrell, T. S. C. (2015). Second language teacher education: A reality check. In T. S. C. Farrell (Ed.), International perspectives on English language teacher education: Innovations from the field (pp. 1-15). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.