Competence and Performance in Language Teaching
Competence and Performance in Language Teaching
Jack C. Richards
Competence and Performance in Language Teaching
Jack C. Richards
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, São Paulo, Mexico City, Tokyo, Singapore, Madrid, Cape Town, Dubai, Melbourne, New Delhi Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 2011 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2011 Printed in the United States of America isbn 978-1-107-91203-8 Paperback
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Table of Contents
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Introduction 1
The language proficiency factor 3 The role of content knowledge 5 Teaching skills 9 Contextual knowledge 11 The language teacher’s identity 14 Learner-focused teaching 16 Pedagogical reasoning skills 19 Theorizing from practice 22 Membership of a community of practice 25 Professionalism 27
10
Conclusions 29
References 30
Introduction
What is it that language teachers need to know and do to be effective classroom practitioners and language teaching professionals? How is this knowledge and practice acquired? And how does it change over time? The issue of language teachers’ knowledge and skill base is fundamental to our understanding of effective teaching and to approaches to language teacher education. In this paper I want to explore the knowledge, beliefs, and skills that language teachers make use of in their practice. My focus is on the understandings and practices of those teachers who would generally be regarded by their peers as exemplary language teaching professionals. We all recognize those teachers when we work with them. But what
Jack C. Richards
Competence and Performance in Language Teaching
Jack C. Richards
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, São Paulo, Mexico City, Tokyo, Singapore, Madrid, Cape Town, Dubai, Melbourne, New Delhi Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 2011 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2011 Printed in the United States of America isbn 978-1-107-91203-8 Paperback
Book layout services: Page Designs International
Table of Contents
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Introduction 1
The language proficiency factor 3 The role of content knowledge 5 Teaching skills 9 Contextual knowledge 11 The language teacher’s identity 14 Learner-focused teaching 16 Pedagogical reasoning skills 19 Theorizing from practice 22 Membership of a community of practice 25 Professionalism 27
10
Conclusions 29
References 30
Introduction
What is it that language teachers need to know and do to be effective classroom practitioners and language teaching professionals? How is this knowledge and practice acquired? And how does it change over time? The issue of language teachers’ knowledge and skill base is fundamental to our understanding of effective teaching and to approaches to language teacher education. In this paper I want to explore the knowledge, beliefs, and skills that language teachers make use of in their practice. My focus is on the understandings and practices of those teachers who would generally be regarded by their peers as exemplary language teaching professionals. We all recognize those teachers when we work with them. But what
References: Bailey, Kathleen M. 1996. The best laid plans: Teachers’ in-class decisions to depart from their lesson plans. In Kathleen M. Bailey and David Nunan (eds.), Voices from the language classroom (pp.115–40). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bailey, Kathleen M. 2006. Language teacher supervision: A case-based approach. New York: Cambridge University Press. Bartels, Nat. 2005. Applied linguistics and language teacher education. New York: Springer. Benson, P. 2001. Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. London: Longman. Borg, Simon. 2006. Teacher cognition and language education: Research and practice. London: Continuum. –. 2009. Language teacher cognition. In Anne Burns and Jack C. Richards (eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 163–71). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brick, J. 1991. China: A handbook in intercultural communication. Sydney, Australia: National Centre for English Teaching and Research. Canagarajah, A. Suresh. 1999. Interrogating the “native speaker fallacy”; Non-linguistic roots, non-pedagogical results. In George Braine (ed.), Non-native educators in English language teaching (pp. 77–92). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Cooke, Melanie, and James Simpson. 2008. ESOL: A critical guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cullen, R. 1994. Incorporating a language improvement component in teacher training programmes. ELT Journal, 48 (2): 162–72. –. 2002. The use of lesson transcripts for developing teachers’ classroom language. In H. Trappes-Lomaz and G. Ferguson (eds.), Language in language teacher education (pp. 219–35). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins. Dewey, J. 1933. How we think. New York: D. C. Heath. Dornyei, Zoltan. 2001. Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 30 Competence and Performance in Language Teaching Farrell, Thomas S. C. 2009. The novice teacher’s experience. In Anne Burns and Jack C. Richards (eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 182–89). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Golombek, Paula. 2009. Personal practical knowledge in L2 teacher education. In Anne Burns and Jack C. Richards (eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 155–62). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Halliday, Michael. 2004. An introduction to functional grammar. London: Arnold. Johnson, K. 2009. Second language teacher education: A sociocultural perspective. New York: Routledge. Johnston, Bill. 2009. Collaborative teacher development. In Anne Burns and Jack C. Richards (eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 241–49). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Khamhi-Stein, Lia D. 2009. Teacher preparation and nonnative Englishspeaking educators. In Anne Burns and Jack C. Richards (eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 91–101). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lave, J., and E. Wenger. 1991. Situated learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lavender, S. 2002. Towards a framework for language improvement within short in-service teacher development programmes. In H. Trappes-Lomaz and G. Ferguson (eds.), Language in language teacher education (pp. 237–50). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins. Leung, Constant. 2009. Second language teacher professionalism. In Anne Burns and Jack C. Richards (eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 49–58). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lewis, C., and I. Tsuchida. 1998. A lesson is like a swiftly flowing river: How research lessons improve Japanese education. American Educator, Winter (12–17): 50–52. Medgyes, Peter. 2001. When the teacher is a non-native speaker. In Marianne Celcie-Murcia (ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language. 3rd ed. (pp. 415–27). Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Ortega, Lourdes. 2008. Understanding second language acquisition. 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The experience of language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shulman, L. S. 1987. Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Havard Educational Review, 57 (2): 4–14. Snow, M. A., L. D. Kamhi-Stein, and D. Brinton. 2006. Teacher training for English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26: 261–81. Tsui, Amy B. M. 2009. Teaching expertise: Approaches, perspectives and characteristics. In Anne Burns and Jack C. Richards (eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 190–97). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tudor, I. 1996. Learner-centredness as language education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Zeichner, K., and C. Grant. 1981. Biography and social structure in the socialization of student teachers. Journal of Education for Teaching, 1: 198–314. 32 Competence and Performance in Language Teaching In Competence and Performing in Language Teaching, Jack C. Richards discusses what language teachers need to know and do to be effective classroom practitioners and language teaching professionals. By exploring the knowledge, beliefs, and skills that exemplary language teachers consistently make use of – focussing on ten core dimensions of language teaching expertise and practice – Jack C. Richards helps conceptualize the nature of competence, expertise, and professionalism in language teaching. Jack C. Richards is an internationally renowned specialist in English Language Teaching and an applied linguist and educator. He is the author of numerous professional books for English language teachers as well as many widely used textbooks for English language students. His titles include the best-selling Interchange series, Four Corners, Passages, Connect, and Strategic Reading.