ERIC Number: EJ1351438
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Nov
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-1688
EISSN: EISSN-1477-0954
'We Acted Like ELLs': A Pedagogy of Embodiment in Preservice Teacher Education
Guerrettaz, Anne Marie; Zahler, Tara; Sotirovska, Vera; Boyd, Ashley Summer
Language Teaching Research, v26 n6 p1274-1298 Nov 2022
Many US K-12 teachers in ethnolinguistically homogenous, rural areas are not adequately prepared to meet the needs of their English language learner (ELL) students. Such educators often lack conceptual understanding of language pedagogy and affective investment in ELLs. The field of language teacher education (LTE) needs research on how to better prepare these teachers to serve ELLs. The teacher educator and lead researcher in this article responded to this need, implementing an LTE pedagogy of embodiment for preservice K-12 teacher-learners. Embodiment refers to ways in which a concept or feeling, related to language pedagogy in this case, is made physically or emotionally tangible. Participants -- undergraduates in a TESOL survey course -- took part in an embodied ELL lesson, which was rich in tasks that the teacher educator had developed years earlier for her own language learner students. In the context of the university teacher education classroom, teacher-learners participated in this authentic ELL lesson. Data include LTE classroom discourse, focus groups, written reflections, and background questionnaires. Findings reveal that two language learning tasks from the embodied lesson especially enabled teacher-learners' language pedagogy concept learning. Namely, in a timed reading and video enactment, teacher-learners experienced and reflected on language pedagogy concepts related to task sequencing, collaborative interaction, fluency development, and engagement. The participants performed two distinct roles during the embodied lesson: at some moments, they 'acted like' language learners while at others like reflective language educators. These teacher-learners reported increased empathy towards ELLs as a consequence of their participation in the embodied lesson. This research offers insights into LTE pedagogical practices that promote preservice K-12 educators' learning of language pedagogy concepts and their development of empathy for ELLs. By presenting the notion of an LTE pedagogy of embodiment, we contribute to sociocultural frameworks of learning.
Descriptors: English Language Learners, Preservice Teacher Education, Teacher Education Programs, Kindergarten, Elementary Secondary Education, Teacher Educators, Language Teachers, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Student Needs, Teaching Methods, Undergraduate Students, Authentic Learning, Lesson Plans, Video Technology, Concept Formation, Classroom Communication, Student Attitudes, Teacher Collaboration, Reflection, Empathy, Teacher Student Relationship, Sociocultural Patterns, Rural Areas, State Universities
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education; Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A