Narrative, belief and experience in teaching English:

Language Schools versus Regular Schools

INTRODUCTION:

There is a whole Universe to research inside a classroom. Where the classes are being given, who the students we are going to interact with are, the purpose of using a certain approach to teaching and, most coherent of all, how it is done are undoubtedly vital aspects that teachers learn not only to think about, but first and foremost, to research into.

Not only in Goiânia, where the present research takes place, has the amount of Private English Language Schools considerably increased in number and assumed very particular, peculiar characteristics, but they also have influenced somehow the whole concept of language teaching and learning insofar as teachers and students in two different contexts are concerned. Nevertheless when it comes to approaches, methods, coursebooks it is clearly evident that both Regular and Language Schools have been influenced by the different visions of language which arose from linguistic history and its many theories of second language acquisition.

All these is assumably noticeable in the narratives of pseudonym, an English teacher who works now at a public school but had previously experienced working in a well known private English language school for a long period of his professional career.

Studying these matters is of great importance since they might enable English language teachers to become more aware of and appropriate what is of worth in two different learning communities (Public/Private Regular Schools and English Language Schools)

Consequently, the wealth of details related to the teaching and learning process in these two distinctly different contexts enable English language teachers, especially those who work at public schools and face a diversity of problems such as a process of social exclusion and becoming active agents, participants of their own practice as well as among teachers, students and classmates. (Telles 2000, 2002, 2004)

Due to being the code unscramble and code receiver of student´s many languages, teachers definitely play a prominent role in the educational, learning process. Hence, the narrative is the study of experiences, beliefs from the point of view of a single teacher mainly with the purpose of educating the educationalists. Theodore W. Adorno in his enlightening book, Emancipation and Education, a gathering of different well known articles, speeches, debates related to the issue, draws our attention to the fact that “the only way to imagine a real, true democracy is through a society of emancipated people.” (Adorno, 1998, p. 68) This comes into contact with the number one priority of this research which involves firstly the teacher and his enormous responsibility towards the formation of student´s identity. Teacher´s roles are being redefined (Larsen-Freeman 1988) while computers may relieve teachers of certain functions; their responsibilities have multiplied in other ways. Due to the political nature of our students and of the world, some teachers are assuming the role of advocates. Advocates in such topics as environmental issues, ethical issues concerning globalization… (Larsen-Freeman, 2000).

 OBJECTIVES:

1. Investigating the thoughts (values, beliefs, assumptions) of an English teacher who has worked in a Private English Language School and currently works at a Regular Public School.
2. Analyzing teacher´s awareness in the learning and unlearning process insofar as teaching, pedagogical skills, attitudes, approaches, methods as well as social, behavioural and motivational aspects are concerned.
3. Not being prescriptive. Simply describing and discussing his own

METHODOLOGY:

The major premise of this research outlines Pseudonym´s point of view in relation to two dichotomic educational intitutions: Private Language Schools and Public/Private Regular Schools. The idea of researching about the paradoxical issue started last term at CEPAE (Centro de Ensino e Pesquisa Aplicada à Educação). I was a “Estágio II” student at Letras UFG. By playing the role of a classroom observer, I noticed I was somehow focused on an individual teacher, Pseudonym. Since Aldeman e al. suggest case study is the study of an ‘instance in action’ (1976), we might as well make a statement, that Pseudonym, an individual teacher has become the ‘single instance’.

According to learners of a second language in Public Regular Schools, facts such as pedagogical problems, demotivation, no effective use of the second language in class, and professional, technical incompetence in teaching pose something of a curious paradox between the real and the ideal. Accordingly, Private Language Schools are considered to be absolutely ideal for language learning. This clear bias towards Private Language Schools takes account of student, learner´s point of view. However, since this research is regarded as a single case study, it takes no major account of learner´s point of view, unless we take carefully into consideration the fact teachers, such as Pseudonym, are first and foremost, learners for a lifetime.

Even though this research takes place at CEPAE, where Pseudonym works nowadays, he has worked at Cultura Inglesa, one of the most well known commercial language learning enterprises in Brazil. Thus, a whole wealth of historical details involving the narrative of Pseudonym might take part in the investigation of the phenomena. In this sense, David Numan, a method researcher in language learning, mentions: “The case study resembles ethnography in its philosophy, methods and concern for studying phenomena in context.” (Nunan, 1992, p. 75)

Following this line of reflection, Nunan adds that, in fact, some researchers appear to see the case study as a limited type of ethnography. Indeed he regards the fact the case study is generally more limited in scope than ethnography as the main difference between them. (1992)

In accordance with what Adelman e al. suggest about how a case study research may be initiated: “…an issue or hypothesis is proposed, and an instance drawn from the class is selected and studied.” it seems to be quite relevant regarding the curious dichotomy (Language School and Regular Schools) as an issue proposed. Likewise, it seems to be sensible that Pseudonym, a single teacher, embodied the instance drawn from that class to be studied. In other words, the case is a ‘bound system’, the most common type of CS [case study] which involves the detailed description and analysis o an individual subject, from whom observations, interviews, and histories provide the database (Dobson et al. 1981; Shaughnessy & Zechmeister 1985). Hence, should I have the appropriate equipment, at least one interview will be digitally recorded. According to David Nunan (1992, p. 77): “Stenhouse(1983) develops a typology of case studies. The first type he identifies is the neo-ethnographic, which is the in-depth investigation of a single case by a participant observer.” With this purpose in mind, this research seems to suit it perfectly, at least as far as the role of participant observer is concerned. As a result, I intend to observe other classes mainly with interaction analylis purposes. These classroom observations should go along with the interviews and be guided by the insight yielded by the interviews and questionnaires analysis and results.

 QUESTIONNAIRE & INTERVIEW:

1. What are the autonomous differences or similarities between teaching in a Private English Language School and a Public School?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of teaching in a Private Language School?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a teacher at a Public School?
4. You have worked in an English School Enterprise which is regarded nowadays as a pioneer in communicative approach. Since you have worked there for 14 years, has it always been like it is nowadays? What has changed? What does communicative approach mean to you in practice instead of theoretically speaking?
5. What approach do you use with your students? What is the method of CEPAE? Do you follow the method? Do you choose among Language teaching methods in accordance with different situations? What do these choices depend upon?
6. How would you compare the coursebook adopted at CEPAE and at Cultura Inglesa? How and to what extend do tools provided by school such as active boards, internet inside the classroom, a personalized method can influence on the learning and teaching process in an English School like Cultura Inglesa? Are they essential? What about the Public Schools?
7. What motivates you the most in your profession?
8. What demotivates you the most?

TIMELINE

Attachment of 1st Interview:

1. What are the differences or similarities between teaching in a Private English School and a Public School?

There are several differences, so I’m going to mention some that in my opinion are more relevant. First of all in a private school you have students who belong to a social class that can afford a good regular education, trips abroad, entertainment and so forth. Situations which English may be present, in one way or another. On the other hand in Public schools English is most of the times only seen twice a week in the English classes. Therefore you teach English to students who are some how familiar with the language or with contexts in which it is used in one hand. On the other hand to students for whom not only the language is strange but also most contexts in which it is used.    
 
2. What motivates you the most?

To be honest, nowadays I am very discouraged to teach English. The main reason for that is that I see our educational system too worried about education as a product rather than as a process. So learning is not so important but being ready for the work market.
 
3. What demotivates you the most?

Within the whole system, the low wages teaches are paid is one of the greatest reasons for the low value education has in our society. What I usually see in schools is: teachers pretending to teach, students pretending to learn and life goes on. The only way to be motivated is if you want to keep things the way they are. So, you think about your salary and how you can spend the shortest time engaged with teaching as possible. 

REFERENCES:

LARSEN-FREEMAN, D. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. 2. ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.

ADORNO, T.W. Educação e Emancipação. 3. ed. 2003.

CASTRO, G. Professor Submisso, Aluno Cliente: Reflexões Sobre a docência no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro. PP&A, 2003.

BARCELOS, A.M.F. Narrativas, Crenças e Experiências de Aprender Inglês. Universidade de Viçosa. 2006

NUNAN, D. Research Methods in Language Learning. New YorK: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

 LÜDKE, M; ANDRÉ, M. E. D. A. Pesquisa em Educação: abordagens qualitativas.