English Language Teachers’ Stated Beliefs and Practices Regarding Task-Based Language Teaching and Listening

Literature on both task-based language teaching (TBLT) and listening in language teaching generally as well as in English language teaching (ELT) is lacking in description about what teachers do and to what extent they apply theory or research-based evidence to their classroom practice. The current study consists of 7 interviews conducted face-to-face, by internet video telephony and through asynchronous text messaging with English language teachers around the world. Interviews focused on teachers’ listening pedagogy, their understanding of task-based pedagogy and the use of materials in teaching. A phenomenological analysis of what participants said in interviews is taken to explain reasons for the author’s understanding of the data, less in the hope of a generalizable set of findings but more toward insight into what teachers do, their ideas about authenticity, their understanding of TBLT and its various frameworks, use of theory and how research is connecting and failing to connect with working English language teachers in various contexts.

Reformasi Sekolah melalui Lesson Study untuk Membangun Learning Community Menuju Pembelajaran Abad 21 di SD Negeri 6 Kuta Blang

<p align="center">Abstrak</p><p> </p><p>Bireuen Regency needs various supports from various parties both material and moral. During the learning that took place at SD Negeri 6 Kuta Blang, the teacher was less willing to observed by other teachers. Teachers are also not ready to accept criticism from others so that the attitude to be together with others (a way of life that is related) was still not implemented in the education system. The relationship between teachers in schools and even in classrooms had not yet materialized. The learning atmosphere that was runned in the class was still less able to compete with other students, besides that there was still needed to improve the quality of educators in learning. The learning model applied by the teacher did not fully support collaborative learning. Meanwhile, there are some teachers who have implemented small groups but the purpose of learning using collaborative has not been successful. This was because lack of the teacher ability in collaborative learning. In addition, not all the teachers got the chance to attend the training related to increase the learning. Disruption of information creates a sense of injustice and trust towards fellow teachers. Circumstances like this were also increasingly creating disharmony and are not mutually related to both fellow teachers and even the principal. These things were an educational phenomenon that was happening right now in the learning process at Elementary School 6 Kuta Blang. By presenting school reforms that are based on lesson studies have produced significant results both from the learning process that involves collaborative learning that was student-centered and collegiality at school that can form a learning community based on listening to pedagogy.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: School reform, lesson study, learning community</p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><strong>Abstrak</strong></p><p align="center"><strong> </strong></p><p>Kabupaten Bireuen membutuhkan berbagai dukungan dari berbagai pihak baik itu secara moril maupun materiil. Selama ini pembelajaran yang terjadi di SD Negeri 6 Kuta Blang, kurangnya keterbukaan guru untuk bersedia membuka kelas kepada sesama guru yang lain sehingga tidak terciptanya kolegalitas sesama para pendidik. Para guru juga belum siap untuk menerima kritikan dari orang lain sehingga sikap untuk bisa bersama-sama dengan orang lain (<em>a way of assosiated living)</em> masih belum dijalankan dalam sistem pendidikan. Hubungan untuk saling mendengarkan antar sesama guru di sekolah bahkan di ruang kelas belum terwujud. Suasana pembelajaran yang dijalankan pada saat ini para peserta didik masih kurang mampu bersaing dengan siswa lain, selain itu masih diperlukan peningkatan mutu pendidik dalam pembelajaran. Model pembelajaran yang diterapkan oleh guru belum sepenuhnya secara collaborative learning walaupun ada sebagian guru sudah menerapkan dalam kelompok-kelompok kecil tetapi tujuan dari pembelajaran yang bersifat kolaboratif belum tercapai. Hal ini dikarenakan kurangnya pengetahuan guru terhadap pembelajaran yang bersifat <em>collaborative learning</em>. Selain itu, tidak meratanya para guru untuk mengikuti berbagai pelatihan pembelajaran dan ada sebagian guru yang sudah mengikuti pelatihan tidak mensosialisasikan kembali kepada guru-guru yang lain. Terputusnya informasi terciptanya rasa ketidakadilan dan kepercayaan terhadap sesama guru. Keadaan seperti ini juga semakin terciptanya ketidakharmonisan dan tidak saling menghargai baik sesama guru bahkan kepada kepada kepala sekolah. Hal-hal ini merupakan fenoma pendidikan yang terjadi saat ini dalam proses pembelajaran di Sekolah Dasar Negeri 6 Kuta Blang. Dengan adanya reformasi sekolah yang berbasis <em>lesson study</em> telah menunjukkan hasil yang siknifikan baik dari proses pembelajaran yang bersifat <em>collaborative learning</em> yang berpusat pada peserta didik maupun kolegalitas disekolah yang dapat membentuk <em>learning community </em>berdasarkan <em>listening pedagogy</em>.</p><strong>Kata kunci</strong>: Reformasi Sekolah, Lesson Study, Learning Community

“Where Were You When You Found Out Singer Bobby Caldwell Was White?”

In this chapter, we discuss the dramatic narrative arc of what we call the timbre–race equilibrium, particularly how it unfolds in discourse around the career of singer Bobby Caldwell and during the blind auditions for the televised singing competition The Voice. We outline how audience confusion about Caldwell’s racial identity has served as a reliable source of conversation and so-called clickbait. We also examine two instances in which The Voice employs this narrative arc, with the show’s judges serving as listener-protagonists. These judges model a way of listening for the home audience, enacting what Eidsheim calls “informal listening pedagogy.” In witnessing an effort to repair the rupture that occurs when race and timbre fail to align as expected, the public is entrained into normative—in this case, racialized—listening. In short, these examples model how we train ourselves, through this cyclical narrative arc, to hear timbre as racialized essence.

Exploring Difficulties Faced in Teaching Elective English Listening Courses at Japanese Universities

In this paper, an exploration of the problems encountered in teaching two elective English listening courses at Japanese universities in 2017 and 2018. Intended as a working paper with an intended audience of teaching professionals and those who support them, problems in working memory, motivation and general listening pedagogy are detailed.

Implementing a flipped classroom approach in postgraduate education: An unexpected journey into pedagogical redesign

<p>This paper describes the implementation of a flipped approach by two lecturers teaching different postgraduate education courses at an Australian university. Case studies, written as chronological stories, were developed with data collected from email correspondence between the two lecturers as critical friends, as well as from student feedback in the form of face-to-face discussions, online discussions, emails, mind maps, multimodal discussion boards and end-of-semester university surveys. Over a period of 2 years, both lecturers moved from an initial focus on technology and organisation to a focus on pedagogy, while coming to see themselves as (re-)designers of learning. Technologically, the need for time to select and learn to work with appropriate software emerged as a key theme. Organisationally, the need for time to plan and to identify lecturer expectations of students emerged as key themes. Pedagogically, a shift occurred towards a <em>listening pedagogy</em> on the part of the lecturers, and towards more active and engaged learning on the part of the students. It was found necessary to ensure a close fit between what to present in flipped mode, what to do in class time, and how to assess students formatively and summatively.</p>