Data sources

Data will be won from courses taught during the period under examination, the years 2005 to 2008. These are as follows:

• ANN- 462 Methodology Foundation I

• ANN- 464 Methodology Foundation II

• ANN-466 Methodology Specialisation – Focus on the teacher

• ANN-466 Methodology Specialisation – Teaching English for business

• ANN-465 Methodology Specialisation Lecture – Teaching ESP

Based on generic DEAL guidelines in regard to course content, I provided potential course participants with the following course description documentation:

Table 6 Consideration of ANN- 462 Methodology Foundation I

This course will introduce you to the theory and practice of English language teaching (ELT) via coverage of the following topics: an introduction to ELT and ELT methodology; lesson planning; teaching vocabulary; teaching grammar; teaching the four skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening).

Emphasis throughout will be on practical classroom activities, and will include the opportunity for you to experiment with your own teaching via in-class peer teaching. In addition, you will be encouraged to actively reflect upon your own practice by observing and discussing the teaching of others. This course leads on to Methodology Foundation II.

Table 7 Consideration of ANN- 464 Methodology Foundation II

This course will serve as preparation for your Teaching Practice (TP) and as input for your final examination. It will deal with the principles and practice of:

lesson observation; choosing and using the course book; classroom management (including discipline); error correction; assessment and testing. As with Methodology Foundation I, emphasis throughout will be on the practical classroom application of theory. In addition, you will have the opportunity to experiment with your own practice via in-class peer teaching and presentations.

You will be encouraged to actively reflect upon your own practice and that of your peers via observation and discussion.

Table 8 Consideration of ANN-466 Methodology Specialisation Tier – Focus on the teacher

The aim of this course is to shift focus somewhat from that of Methodology Foundation I and II. Placing the teacher centre stage will do this by offering more detailed consideration of areas that are only touched upon in the Foundation courses. The course will be comprised of two components. The introductory core dealing with: teacher research; teacher knowledge and teacher reflection; the post-method condition; teacher development. The elective part, which, depending on your particular interests, will offer, for example, coverage of the likes of classroom observation; group dynamics; the native and non-native speaker debate; curriculum design; language classroom research; humanistic language teaching; needs analysis; language policy and planning; communicative

language teaching; language programme evaluation. The emphasis throughout, however, will be on the teacher. Your suggestions will, therefore, be very welcome.

In all of these courses, but especially in the specialisation tier course, Focus on the Teacher, I hoped to work together with the student participants in my research and so in their learning and their researching, thus avoiding Allwright’s (2003) warning in regard to research of a parasitic kind. All of the above courses, as well as the specialisation tier course Teaching Business English, had elements conducive to collecting data and discussing the findings from its collection and so sharing the experience and knowledge won. Such classroom activities as peer teaching, class discussions and presentations allowed for a range of possible interactions which could produce a variety of data in a variety of forms. Although not immediately apparent the ANN-465 lecture did also produce a considerable amount of data.

Table 9 Consideration of ANN-466 Methodology Specialisation Tier – Teaching English for business

This course will provide you with the basic knowledge and abilities to successfully research, plan, deliver and evaluate your own business English (BE) courses in a variety of teaching situations.

To achieve this Consideration will be made of the differences between General and Business English, the function of Needs Analysis and the development of BE within the wider field of English for Specific Purposes. The course will consider the skills areas characteristic of BE: meetings, negotiations, presentations, correspondence and

telephoning. We shall also investigate the role of culture in Business and in BE teaching, as well as looking at how BE can be tested and assessed, and how you can develop as a BE teacher. All these areas will be examined in terms of content, language and teaching methodology.

Table 10 Consideration of ANN-465 Methodology Specialisation Lecture – Teaching ESP

This course will introduce you to the teaching of English for Specific Purpose (ESP) in order to provide you with the background knowledge, and basic skills and abilities necessary to successfully research, plan, deliver and evaluate your own ESP courses in a variety of teaching situations. To achieve this we shall examine the following:

ESP: origins and history;

the role and the function of Needs Analysis in ESP;

the varieties of ESP;

the language skills in ESP;

methodology for ESP;

approaches to ESP syllabus and course design;

materials development and evaluation for ESP;

teaching ESP: from beginner to advanced;

motivation in ESP teaching;

the roles of the ESP teacher;

ESP assessment and testing;

teacher development for ESP.

In addition to the course descriptions, mention must be made of the participants. The trainees attending the methodology seminars described above were all undergraduates studying for a Master's degree in English, some also with another major, and wished to qualify as English teachers by taking the prerequisite number of methodology courses, both compulsory and elective. All trainees were in their third year or above of study. Over the course of the three and a half years of the study I taught approximately 240 trainees, the majority of whom were female. The average seminar sizes was 13 trainees across the 13 seminars examined here. The data used later in the study was collected with the help of these trainees and as subsequent chapters will reveal most of the trainees when asked were quite ready to provide data. The one major exception was the methodology lecture alluded to earlier. Of the 73 trainees registered, 34 did provide data. The reason for this was that attendance at the course was not compulsory.