English learners in EFL contexts where grammar-based instruction is still dominant often lack opportunities to use the target language both within and outside the classroom. In 2010, we initiated a club-based approach to facilitate students' learning beyond the classroom. It focused on meaningful communication, authentic tasks, student agency,…

Providing academic assistance to English Language Learners (ELLs) is varied and often ineffective. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to determine if there was a relationship between 9th grade students' performance on the High School Graduation Exam (HSGE) in reading and language and the Push-in and Pull-out models of instruction.…

ELTeach is an online professional development program developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) in collaboration with National Geographic Learning. The ELTeach program consists of two courses: English-for-Teaching and Professional Knowledge for English Language Teaching (ELT). Each course includes a coordinated assessment leading to a score…

A number of reports in the US have highlighted the country's need for improved second language skills for both national security and economic competitiveness. The Language Flagship program, launched in 2002, aims to raise expectations regarding language proficiency levels at the post-secondary level and to address structural gaps in the curricula…

This paper examines the nature of the "additive" experience of a bilingual French-English curriculum at Killarney Heights Public School in New South Wales. Predictably, the well-supported "additive" nature of the languages program model elicited positive reactions regarding educational success. The paper also explores issues…

This paper reports on a study of Chinese pre-service teachers' perceived problems in their teaching practicum. Reflective paper-writing was employed to investigate the views of 210 student teachers on an English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher education programme in Central China. The findings highlight six major problems. The paper points out…

This article explores teacher learning in the UK English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) context. We draw on data from a continuing professional development (CPD) initiative to understand how learning is shaped by collaborative discussion with others and by reading from the language classroom research literature. The CPD programme--designed…

This article describes an apprenticeship model that was developed and implemented across several language areas within one department at a large Canadian university. The apprenticeship provides two semesters of training for graduate foreign language teaching assistants before they are put in charge of their own classes. The purpose of this study…

This article discusses the combination of two professional development strategies--lesson study and the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)--which gave teachers in Freeport Public Schools, a district on Long Island, New York, new tools for improving instruction for ELLs in mainstream classrooms. The unique combination of the two…

Describes the new direction in Canadian continuing education for German teachers. Autonomous learning and collegial collaboration at the regional level are at the center of this re-orientation. At the national level, networking among regionally-active teacher groups that will lead to a new organizational structure and to new forms of cooperation…

Presents a needs analysis framework that was developed out of experience with a professional development project in the Philippines. Offers a principled approach to identifying areas for action within a project, many of which have been traditionally overlooked. (Author/VWL)

Hackman's (1987) job characteristics model of work motivation is described and applied to English language teaching, with concrete recommendations made on the basis of Hackman's action principles for job design. The approach results in teacher opportunities for long-term growth, career advancement, increased self-actualization, and empowerment.…

This article is a descriptive account of a professional learning community established among university professors, university teacher candidates, a school district instructional supervisor, the high school principal, a high school literacy coordinator, and teachers of a Mid-Atlantic high school in the United States. This learning community…

Describes a collaborative model as operationalized in a teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages teacher training course across two stages of course implementation, i.e., the piloted and the revised course. Presents qualitative and quantitative data analyses of student reactions through both stages of course implementation and identifies…

In order to become "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion" the European Union realizes its people as the most important asset. Moreover, every human becomes a value for the whole society. It makes significant to…