Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia

This longitudinal mixed methods study concerns the professional development of eight non-native English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Slovakia. Raising awareness of the teacher's role in creating conducive learning environments has not traditionally been part of the aims of EFL teache...

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Main Author: Kubanyiova, Magdalena
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/10387/
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author Kubanyiova, Magdalena
author_facet Kubanyiova, Magdalena
author_sort Kubanyiova, Magdalena
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This longitudinal mixed methods study concerns the professional development of eight non-native English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Slovakia. Raising awareness of the teacher's role in creating conducive learning environments has not traditionally been part of the aims of EFL teacher education programmes. This study therefore set out to explore the impact of a 20-hour experiential in-service teacher development course that had been informed by theoretical principles drawn from within as well as outside the domain of applied linguistics, including second language motivation research, group dynamics and educational psychology. A combination of quantitative measures (pre- and post-test questionnaires measuring students' perceptions of their classroom environment) and qualitative measures (interviews, observations, and written course feedback) were employed to assess the course impact on the teachers' conceptual change. The results show that although some traces of impact were found in the participants' teaching practice, conceptual change did not occur despite their positive appraisals of the programme. Further interrogation of qualitative data about the reasons for this outcome has led to the generation of an integrated model of Language Teacher Conceptual Change (LTCC), which accommodates and thus interprets the variable and individual ways in which the eight teachers responded to the course input. The fact that the complex and idiosyncratic growth patterns fitted comfortably into the proposed conceptual framework provides validation for the theoretical construct, and the LTCC model is therefore believed to offer an integrated, theoretically-informed and empirically-grounded framework for future research on language teacher development and for designing effective teacher education interventions.
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spelling nottingham-103872025-02-28T11:08:05Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/10387/ Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia Kubanyiova, Magdalena This longitudinal mixed methods study concerns the professional development of eight non-native English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Slovakia. Raising awareness of the teacher's role in creating conducive learning environments has not traditionally been part of the aims of EFL teacher education programmes. This study therefore set out to explore the impact of a 20-hour experiential in-service teacher development course that had been informed by theoretical principles drawn from within as well as outside the domain of applied linguistics, including second language motivation research, group dynamics and educational psychology. A combination of quantitative measures (pre- and post-test questionnaires measuring students' perceptions of their classroom environment) and qualitative measures (interviews, observations, and written course feedback) were employed to assess the course impact on the teachers' conceptual change. The results show that although some traces of impact were found in the participants' teaching practice, conceptual change did not occur despite their positive appraisals of the programme. Further interrogation of qualitative data about the reasons for this outcome has led to the generation of an integrated model of Language Teacher Conceptual Change (LTCC), which accommodates and thus interprets the variable and individual ways in which the eight teachers responded to the course input. The fact that the complex and idiosyncratic growth patterns fitted comfortably into the proposed conceptual framework provides validation for the theoretical construct, and the LTCC model is therefore believed to offer an integrated, theoretically-informed and empirically-grounded framework for future research on language teacher development and for designing effective teacher education interventions. 2007 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/10387/1/Kubanyiova_PhD_complete.pdf Kubanyiova, Magdalena (2007) Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. language teacher development in-service teachers non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) teacher training teacher education teaching English as a foreign language second language motivation group dynamics motivating classroom environment instructional environment learning engagement conceptual change teacher cognition teacher beliefs possible selves Ideal Language Teacher Self integrated model of Language Teacher Conceptual Change (LTCC) mixed methods research design classroom-based research Slovakia
spellingShingle language teacher development
in-service teachers
non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs)
teacher training
teacher education
teaching English as a foreign language
second language motivation
group dynamics
motivating classroom environment
instructional environment
learning engagement
conceptual change
teacher cognition
teacher beliefs
possible selves
Ideal Language Teacher Self
integrated model of Language Teacher Conceptual Change (LTCC)
mixed methods research design
classroom-based research
Slovakia
Kubanyiova, Magdalena
Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia
title Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia
title_full Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia
title_fullStr Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia
title_full_unstemmed Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia
title_short Teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia
title_sort teacher development in action: an empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in slovakia
topic language teacher development
in-service teachers
non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs)
teacher training
teacher education
teaching English as a foreign language
second language motivation
group dynamics
motivating classroom environment
instructional environment
learning engagement
conceptual change
teacher cognition
teacher beliefs
possible selves
Ideal Language Teacher Self
integrated model of Language Teacher Conceptual Change (LTCC)
mixed methods research design
classroom-based research
Slovakia
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/10387/