Innhold Preface. . . .............................................................. 11 Chapter 1 The English Subject Curriculum..................................... 13 Historical Developments in the English Subject Curricula.. ......... 14 The Current English Subject Curriculum............................. 15 Curriculum Revision: What Will the Future Bring?. . ............ 16 Being an English Teacher.............................................. 17 Chapter 2 Life as a KfK Student of English..................................... 18 Expectations........................................................... 18 English as Teaching Language. . .................................. 18 English as a University Subject and as a School Subject........ 19 A Note on Subject Didactics – “fagdidaktikk”................... 20 Reading and Writing.............................................. 20 Requirements.......................................................... 21 Required Readings................................................ 21 Written Assignments. . ........................................... 22 Oral Presentations. ............................................... 22 Experimenting in Own Classrooms.............................. 23 Sharing Knowledge with Colleagues. . ........................... 23 English Teachers as Language Role Models.......................... 24 Chapter 3 Writing in a KfK Course.............................................. 26 Academic Writing..................................................... 26 Academic Writing: Characteristics................................... 27
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Language.......................................................... 27 Thesis-Driven..................................................... 28 Evidence-Based................................................... 29 Citing Evidence................................................... 29 Plagiarism......................................................... 30 Subheadings...................................................... 31 Use of Personal Pronouns........................................ 31 Writing an Academic Text: Structure................................. 32 Introduction....................................................... 32 Body............................................................... 34 Conclusion........................................................ 34 Writing an Academic Text: Coherence and Cohesion............... 36 Topic Sentences. . ................................................. 37 Signposting Language: Transitional or Connecting Words and Phrases............................................... 37 Reflective Writing..................................................... 39 Chapter 4 Reading in a KfK Course.............................................. 41 Reading Academic Texts.............................................. 41 First Reading: Skimming. ......................................... 42 Second Reading: Annotating..................................... 43 Third Reading: Summarizing..................................... 43 Reading Literary Texts................................................. 44 Tackling New Vocabulary............................................. 45 Chapter 5 Oral Proficiency....................................................... 47 Oral Presentations. . ................................................... 48 Structure.......................................................... 48 Time Limit......................................................... 49 Clarity of Speech. . ................................................ 49 Visuals.. ........................................................... 50 Chapter 6 Core Components of a KfK English Course......................... 52 Language Learning in EFL............................................. 53 Approaches to Language Learning. . ............................. 53
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The Communicative Approach....................................... 54 Grammar and the Communicative Approach................... 54 Pronunciation and the Communicative Approach................... 55 Which Pronunciation is the “Correct” One?. . ................... 56 The English Teacher’s Role as a Pronunciation Model.......... 57 Language Choices in the EFL Classroom............................. 57 Grammar in KfK....................................................... 58 Intercultural Competence in EFL. . .................................... 59 The ‘Culture’ of Intercultural Competence...................... 59 Intercultural Competence........................................ 60 Intercultural Competence in English Subject Curriculum. . ..... 61 Intercultural Competence in KfK................................. 62 Literature & Other Narrative Texts.. .................................. 63 Approaching Literary Texts........................................... 66 Genre. ............................................................. 66 Characters and Narrators........................................ 66 Cultural Contexts................................................. 67 Chapter 7 Literacies: Reading, Writing, and Beyond. . ......................... 69 Listening. .............................................................. 70 Reading.. . .............................................................. 71 Extensive Reading................................................ 72 Intensive Reading................................................. 73 Writing. . . . ............................................................. 74 Digital Literacy. . ....................................................... 76 Defining Digital Literacy ......................................... 77 Recommended Resources ....................................... 79 Chapter 8 Finding Sources Online............................................... 81 Finding Relevant Literature for Research Purposes.................. 82 Methods of Literary Searches in Databases. . ................... 82 Evaluate the Sources You Have Found. . .............................. 83 Academic or Scholarly Sources.................................. 84 Non-Academic or Non-Scholarly Sources. . ..................... 84 Professional Development: Social Media and Relevant Websites.. 85 Twitter and the Use of Hashtags (#)............................ 86
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Finding Online Resources for Classroom Use: Literature............ 87 Online Databases and Book Selections. . ........................ 89 Book Awards...................................................... 91 Children’s Laureate............................................... 92 Publishers......................................................... 92 Other Websites. . ...................................................... 93 Chapter 9 Research Ethics....................................................... 94 Ethics. . ................................................................. 95 Power Relations. . ...................................................... 96 Informed Consent..................................................... 97 Chapter 10 Exams in the KfK Course............................................. 98 Types of Exams........................................................ 98 Written Exam..................................................... 98 Take-Home Exam................................................. 99 Portfolios.......................................................... 99 Oral Exams........................................................ 99 Digital Exams..................................................... 100 Advice for Exams...................................................... 100 Before the Exam....................................................... 101 Look at Previous Exams.......................................... 101 Create a Study Group.. ........................................... 102 During an Exam. . ...................................................... 102 Read Through the Whole Exam.................................. 102 Read the Exam Questions........................................ 103 Stick to the Question............................................. 103 Structure Your Time.............................................. 104 Other Practical Tips................................................... 104 Chapter 11 Life After KfK: Now What?. . ......................................... 106 Developing a Professional Learning Network........................ 107 Organize a Teach Meet. . .............................................. 107 Continuing Education................................................. 108 University Courses in Norway.. .................................. 109
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Online Courses................................................... 109 Summer Schools.................................................. 110 Conferences. . ..................................................... 110 Teacher Mobility and Exchange. . ..................................... 110 Erasmus+.. ........................................................ 110 eTwinning......................................................... 111 Other Opportunities. . ................................................. 111 Journals. . .............................................................. 112 Acta Didactica Norge.. ........................................... 113 Nordic Journal of Modern Language Methodology............. 113 Bedre Skole. . ...................................................... 113 Communicare (The Foreign Language Centre).. ................ 114 Children’s Literature in English Language Education. . .......... 114 Websites. . ............................................................. 114 Norwegian Directorate for Training and Education (Udir). . .... 114 National Centre for Multicultural Education (NAFO). . ......... 115 TESOL............................................................. 115 References. . ........................................................... 116
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Preface Stop and Think What do you want to learn from the English KfK course in which you are enrolled? What do you think the aims of the course, set by the course instructors and government, are? Is there any difference between what you want to learn and what you expect the focus of the course to be?
This handbook is for teachers of English who are returning to university to gain credits in the English subject through attending courses as part of the national strategy Kompetanse for kvalitet (KfK). The main goal of the strategy is to strengthen teachers’ knowledge of and competence in key subject areas, as well as to provide further education to teachers who may not have a university-level education in English. One of the strategy’s main purposes, which is also an important underpinning of the KfK English courses, is to give you the opportunity to combine your existing subject knowledge and classroom competence with what you learn in the course to further develop your overall English competence as well as your classroom practice. Returning to the classroom as a student can be a challenge to professionals such as yourselves. You might not have been a student
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for a while, and you will have to balance your personal and professional life with your studies. Balancing these equally important areas of your life is not always easy. Hopefully, this handbook can prove helpful in this respect as it provides advice regarding various aspects of being a KfK English student, which might be useful to you at different stages in your studies – as you prepare for your course, during the course, and even after you have completed it. The handbook covers several topics that are relevant to KfK students. For instance, it describes some of the expectations of requirements you will meet at a student in a KfK course, and it includes a chapter on how to best prepare for the exams. Other topics covered are reading and writing in a KfK course, literacies, how to search for relevant literature, resources and other learning material online, and research ethics. Furthermore, the handbook includes a chapter on how you can continue your professional development as an English teacher after you have completed your KfK course. In addition, many of the chapters provide study tips and strategies that can be helpful throughout the course. Throughout the handbook, you will find links to websites and databases containing resources which might not only be useful to you as a KfK student, but which can also be interesting for you to explore as an English teacher. In addition, many of the chapters include practical advice and tips which might be helpful to you in your studies. The handbook is intended for any teacher taking a KfK English course, regardless of whether you teach in primary, lower secondary, or upper secondary school. We hope you will find it a useful guide and companion on your journey as a KfK student of English. Trondheim, Aug 1, 2019 Jennifer Duggan Ingunn Ofte Marthe Sofie Pande-Rolfsen Kristoffer Humphrey
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Chapter 1
The English Subject Curriculum Stop and Think Are you familiar with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and its influence on the current English subject curriculum? In your opinion, how has the role of the English teacher changed over the last 10-20 years?
Working as English teachers, you are familiar with the various steering documents that guide and shape the English teaching and learning that goes on in your classroom, the most important of which is the English subject curriculum. Below, we will look at some of the developments in English subject curricula over the last decades, and comment on how they have contributed to shaping English teaching and what it means to be an English teacher. This introduction can serve as a useful backdrop to reading the rest of this book, and as you prepare for the classes, discussions and written work in your KfK course.
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Historical Developments in the English Subject Curricula The aims of teaching and learning English in Norwegian schools have changed over time, in line with international trends in education. These changes are clearly reflected in the focus areas and approaches to language teaching and learning advocated by the different subject curricula throughout the 20th century and the early 21st century (Simensen, 2018). While the first part of the 20th century was dominated by approaches such as the grammar-translation method, the direct method and the audiolingual method, towards the end of the 20th century there was an increasing focus on language in context in the English subject curricula. Here, authentic rather than constructed texts came to be seen as ideal models for language learning (Simensen, 2018, p. 28). Furthermore, throughout the 1980s and 1990s there was a growing focus on communicative competence in the English subject curricula (Simensen, 2018). The immediate inspiration behind this was the work of the Council of Europe (CoE) which focused on promoting language learning and language diversity. In particular, they recommended that language teaching and learning put a stronger emphasis on “what learners could do with the language, rather than what they knew about the language� (Simensen, 2018, p. 30). As a result, the ability to choose language appropriate for the communicative context gained prominence in the English subject curricula throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. In this period, the Council of Europe started developing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The result of an extensive international cooperation in the field of language learning spanning more than 20 years, the framework represents a communicative and action-oriented approach to language learning that aims to enhance transparency of language education
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across Europe (Speitz, 2018, p. 45). It came to be influential on language education in Europe, including Norway. Before moving on to discussing how CEFR has influenced and shaped the current English curriculum and the role of the teacher, we would like to mention a resource for teaching and learning which you might find useful (some of you might already be familiar with it): the European Language Portfolio (ELP). It builds on CEFR and contains a number of resources through which language learners can reflect on their language learning and record their language learning achievements and their experience of learning and using languages (Council of Europe, n.d.). Two versions of the ELP for use in Norwegian schools exist, one for age levels 6–12 and one for age levels 13–18, both of which are available for download and printing free of charge at www.fremmedspraksenteret.no/elp. We recommend that you explore the documents yourself, and consider if – and how – they can serve as resources in your English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom.
The Current English Subject Curriculum Interestingly, CEFR is not specifically referred to in the LK06 English subject curriculum. However, its influence is clear at several levels, for instance when comparing the competence aims related to written and oral communication listed in the subject curriculum with the descriptors of proficiency levels in the CEFR (Speitz, 2018, p. 45). Furthermore, the current curriculum stresses the role of English as a global language more clearly than did previous curricula, and it also emphasizes the importance of cultural competence to language learning (Fenner, 2018, p. 34). This reflects the communicative competence model presented in CEFR, which emphasizes general competences and communicative language competences as equally important to language learning (Simensen, 2018, p. 32). The
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general competences include knowledge about texts, knowledge of the world and socio-cultural knowledge, while communicative competences include linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences (Simensen, 2018, p. 32). In addition, the Knowledge Promotion (2006) added digital skills as one of the basic skills to be integrated into the different school subjects, including English. This opened up the possibility of using web-based tools and resources in language teaching and learning.
Curriculum Revision: What Will the Future Bring? The English subject curriculum is currently undergoing revision, and the new version will be implemented in 2020. It is difficult to predict which trends will be dominant in the revised document. However, research shows that newer English curricula in Norway are moving away from a social welfare focus – that is, away from a social equity focus, from the personal development of individual learner and his/her use of English socially and for pleasure –toward a socio-economic focus, in which English proficiency is seen more as an essential practical skill for all pupils to help equip them to play their part in securing the economic future of Norway in a globalized market, and less as a personal, social skill. Learning goals are thus shifting towards being free market- and economic competitivenessdriven (see, e.g., Telhaug, Mediås, & Aasen, 2006; Welle-Strand & Tjeldvoll, 2002). With this in mind, a continuing focus in the English curriculum on communicative language competences in a global perspective seems likely. Recent updates from the ongoing revisions published by the government also confirm this by stating that there will be a continuing focus on strengthening English as a working language, and as a means of communication between people who
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do not have English as their mother tongue (Ministry of Education and Research, 2018).
Being an English Teacher The curricular developments outlined above have redefined what it means to be an English teacher. It is no longer only about helping the pupils develop into proficient speakers of English, even if this is, obviously, still a crucial part of the job. The scope of the English subject has expanded and, as a result, being an English teacher today also entails teaching a broader language competence which includes knowledge of how language functions and how it is used in different social and cultural contexts, and for different purposes. In this way, being an English teacher today is also about promoting the pupils’ ability to be effective communicators across cultures by, among other things, exposing them to different kinds of texts and authentic sources – written, visual, auditive – which can help them broaden their understanding and perspectives. As such, the role of the English teacher today is to facilitate language learning on a broader scale, supporting their pupils’ development into becoming active participants in local, national and global communities.
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