Concept-Based Language Instruction as the Mediational Means of Novice Language Teacher Development
Open Access
- Author:
- Garcia Alonso, Alba
- Graduate Program:
- Applied Linguistics
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 23, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Tommaso Milani, Program Head/Chair
Matthew Poehner, Outside Unit & Field Member
Karen Johnson, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Deryn Verity, Major Field Member
Celeste Kinginger, Major Field Member - Keywords:
- Language Teacher Education
Applied Linguistics
Sociocultural Theory
Narrative research
Concept-Based Language Instruction - Abstract:
- Leveraging the effectiveness of Concept-Based Language Instruction (C-BLI) in language teaching and learning, including in the teaching of specific linguistic features of target languages (Negueruela, 2003; Van Compernolle, 2012), pragmatic elements such as sarcasm (Kim & Lantolf, 2018), and even discipline-specific concepts (e.g., Casal, 2020; Kurtz, 2017; Yang & Sang, 2023), this project adds to the emerging scholarship on the use of C-BLI as a means of teacher professional development (Fogal, 2017; Lantolf & Esteve, 2019; Van Compernolle & Henery, 2015; Williams et al., 2013) and argues that C-BLI represents an effective pedagogical frame for language teacher development interventions for novice teachers. A pedagogical intervention was conducted through a course on teaching English as a Second Language, which connected pairs of novice teachers to an existing language course. Pairs were then assigned a target concept from the course syllabus (e.g., conditionals, intonation, tone and register). The intervention used C-BLI as a pedagogical frame through which novice teachers developed their target concept knowledge, created lesson plans, and taught a lesson in their partner course. The intervention also employed narrative inquiry and responsive mediation as means to bring about and mediate novice teacher conceptual development of the target concepts. Data collected consisted of narratives on prior language learning and teaching experiences, weekly reflections, meetings with the teacher educators, practice and actual teaching sessions, stimulated recalls, and final teaching reflections. The novice teachers’ evolving conceptual knowledge of their target concepts, as well as the potential understanding and enactment of the principles of C-BLI in educational activity, were understood through both their sociocultural history and the mediational space created in the intervention by the teacher educators. Results from the case studies highlighted the potential benefit of employing C-BLI as a tool to mediate both conceptual understanding of target concepts and orientation to educational activity for novice language teacher teachers, as well as the importance of creating spaces for verbalization of evolving understandings in language teacher education courses. Further, results highlighted the importance of the teacher educator figure enacted as a responsive mediator to provoke and mediate novice teachers’ development.