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Download - EnglishAgenda - British Council

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of the project and we believe that this model of linking research and in-serviceteacher education can be effective in supporting institutional development inrelation to a wide range of issues in foreign language learning.Using e-learning to develop intercultural awareness in ELT:a critical evaluation in a Thai higher education settingAuthor: Will BakerE-learning offers many new pedagogic opportunities as well as challenges butwhile it has grown in prominence, it is still far from a ‘normalised’ part of EnglishLanguage Teaching (ELT). Similarly, the significance of the cultural dimensionin ELT has also gained in importance. However, the use of English as a globallingua franca, going beyond the traditional ‘native-speaker’ English countries, hasresulted in a need for a more intercultural approach to ELT that recognises thisrole for English. This study investigated the development of an online course inintercultural communication and intercultural awareness for a group of Englishlanguage learners in a setting in which English predominantly functions as a linguafranca. A 15 hour independent study online course was developed and deliveredto 31 students and six teachers from a higher education institute in Thailand.The interactive online materials for the course are presented and discussed inthis paper as well as student and teacher feedback. The findings demonstrategenerally positive responses to both the course contents and the course deliverythrough e-learning. However, while most of the participants gave the coursepositive ratings, many still felt they would have preferred a face-to-face course. Inrelation to the course content, the participants had very favourable attitudes andresponses to learning about intercultural communication and global Englishes.‘Tanggap, tiklop, tago’ (receive, fold, keep): perceptions ofbest practice in ELT INSETAuthors: Alan Waters and Maria Luz C. VilchesIn-service teacher training (INSET) for English language teachers is an importantbut often relatively ineffective aspect of large-scale English language teaching(ELT) curriculum development. Based on a synthesis of findings from the ELT andnon-ELT literature on the topic, this study therefore first of all attempted to developa ‘user-friendly’ theoretical model for informing ‘best practice’ in this area. Thestrength of the model was then assessed in relation to data concerning practitionerperceptions of optimal procedures in ELT INSET. The data were elicited by a varietyof research methods (interviews, focus group meetings and questionnaire survey)from a cross-section of ELT trainers and teachers in a representative ELT situation(that of government schools at the basic education level in the Philippines). Thefindings were analysed in terms of each of the mains stages involved in INSETdesign and delivery (‘pre’-, ‘while-‘ and ‘post-’), and are seen i) to confirm the validityof the theoretical model and ii) to provide a number of practical guidelines on howto maximise the potential for ‘best practice’ in ELT INSET.10 | Overview

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