scholarly journals Publishing in Local ELT Journals: A Way to Decolonialize Knowledge

HOW ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 31-46
Author(s):  
Melba Libia Cárdenas

Educational institutions, particularly those for higher education, seek to ensure their visibility and valid indicators for institutional accreditation processes through the publications of their teachers. Their projection is intimately associated with the circulation of their production in accredited publications whose reputations depend on their positions in prestigious rankings, databases, and indexing systems. That is why Colombia, in recent years, has experienced an increase in the number of scientific journals published in the country. This phenomenon was a reaction by academics to the obstacles for publishing in renowned journals, generally edited in hegemonic or central contexts, where it is presumed that knowledge is disseminated for the whole world. In this article, I analyze the role played by locally edited journals in the decolonialization of knowledge. I base my analysis on studies carried out in the fields of the English teacher as researcher and writer, academic writings, and the publication of scientific journals. I identify the contributions, suggestions and challenges for publications in the English Language Teaching area. I also stress the importance of strengthening professional communities, encouraging greater participation by professors in the dissemination of their work, and the need to value knowledge generated in peripheral contexts, without ignoring links with the global world.

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110609
Author(s):  
Kim Murray ◽  
José Reis-Jorge ◽  
Julie-Anne Regan

Research in language learning indicates that process drama (PD), an educational approach where students and teachers work in and out of role to explore themes and issues, can be well suited to the Japanese higher education (HE) context. Despite the benefits highlighted in the literature, PD remains a niche approach to language teaching and learning, with a limited number of practitioners in Japan. This study seeks to uncover language teachers’ experiences of becoming Process Drama Practitioners (PDPs) and using and sharing PD as an English language teaching approach in Japanese HE. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with six experienced PDPs. The findings indicate that prior positive experiences with drama was an encouraging factor of the adoption and self-directed initial use of PD in their teaching practices. Positive student outcomes and feedback were primary motivators for continued use of PD. Experiences of sharing PD led to a perceived need to distinguish PD from theatre-based approaches and establish connections to familiar approaches to language teaching.


Author(s):  
Hamza R'boul ◽  
M Camino Bueno-Alastuey

Teaching English in higher education entails additional factors and considerations that exemplify the complexity of accounting for the diverse population in modern higher education institutions. In particular, the increasing flow of international students and the employment demands of functioning in multicultural contexts render helping students to develop a critical understating of intercultural relations an important aspect of English language teaching. With the increasing adoption of English as a medium of instruction and its use as a lingua franca in intercultural communication, it is important to structure English education in a way that accounts for intercultural relations both in and outside the university. In addition to the postmodern conceptualizations of interculturality that emphasize the fluidity of culture, language and identity intercultural relations are characterized by power imbalances. That is why this chapter makes a case for the necessity of considering sociopolitical realities in intercultural English language teaching in higher education.


DINAMIKA ILMU ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Dedi Irwansyah

English Language Teaching (ELT) practices are strongly underpinned by an epistemological view. Different beliefs on what constitute as sources of knowledge and methods of knowledge acquisition bring about different instructional implications. The case is true within the context of ELT at Indonesian Islamic higher education where the desired goals of the English teaching are not only for mastering language skills and pedagogy but also for strengthening Islamic faith and nurturing virtuous action. This research, therefore, aims to provide a description of how the decision makers and ELT practitioners at the Islamic higher education view the Islamic epistemology conceptually and practically. It addresses an attitude toward the epistemological contestation between Islam and West, as well as the strategies of integrating Islamic epistemology into English language instruction. A case study with a qualitative technique of data collection was conducted. Four decision makers, with a formal educational background of Islamic epistemology, and three ELT practitioners were involved as the research participants. The findings show that: First, ELT has its roots in Quranic revelation and prophetic tradition. Second, the Islamic epistemology and the Western epistemology ought to be interconnected rather than to be put within a contestation framework. Third, the Islamic epistemology should be integrated, explicitly or implicitly, into the curriculum, teaching materials, classroom scenario, assessment, academic atmosphere, and research policy. It is recommended that ELT practitioners responsibly explore the notion of Qur'an as the basis of linguistics and language pedagogy, and creatively accommodate the issues of locality and particularity into their instructional activities.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Zarina Othman ◽  
Shahizan Shaharuddin ◽  
Azizah Ya’acob

Phrases such as ‘learning English is fun’ or ‘English is fun’ are often heard when one speaks about learning English especially in a context where English is not the mother tongue of the learners. What about when the focus shifts to English language teachers on the other hand, who are non-native speakers of English? The focus on the teacher other than the curriculum, syllabus, material and pedagogy needs considerable attention in promoting effective English language learning. What are the profile characteristics of an English teacher that can help most importantly first boost the students’ motivation and interest to learn English. Studies have explored in general the characteristics of effective language teachers but to what extent has it identified the ‘X’ factors. This paper addresses a discussion on the the profile characteristics of specifically non –native English language teachers. It focuses on the relevance of the ‘qualities’ of English language teachers’ in relations to English teacher attributes specifically.We gathered the views and opinions of English language instructors teaching English at one of the local higher institutions who are non-native and who have had twenty years’ experience in the field of ELT (English Language Teaching) on what they believe is the X factor characteristics profile of an English language teacher.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-135
Author(s):  
Rizky Eka Prasetya

The Indonesia higher education majority utilized the Language Management System (LMS) Moodle. The English Moodle-based teaching is a massive pedagogy shift due to pandemic. The study aimed to investigate and explore the technicality feature of teaching English, particularly the student-centered approach. The study was conducted in the qualitative approach experimental sequential research design. The substantive research instruments applied in the study comprised centered on questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire was generated to investigate the lecturer used Moodle in their English language teaching. It is expected to discover the utilizing feature and adapting virtual class in LMS Moodle. The findings revealed that the system had an exclusive feature to accommodate student-centered teaching, yet it was found that the lecturer's unfamiliarity implied the inadequacy of Moodle course feature


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document