Job Discussion Forums

[Lauddie]

My name is Tina Beattie and I am a graduate student at Grand Valley State University completing my Masters in Education with an emphasis on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

For my thesis I am conducting a case study on the ways in which context affects English teachers� methodologies in teaching English in foreign settings.

For this research I am in need of volunteers, specifically volunteers who are native English speakers and who are in their first year of teaching English in a foreign setting.

The research will consist of one questionnaire and two on-line interviews coordinated between myself and the participant. All data collected in this study will be stored on a secure external hard drive and will be deleted three years after the completion of the study.

The participant will need to have access to a secure computer, e-mail program, and on-line chat programs.

If you are interested in participating in this research or have further questions about it please e-mail me at [email protected]

All participants will have the right to withdraw from the study at any point without fear of penalty.

This Exempt research protocol has been approved by the Human Research Review Committee at Grand Valley State University. File No. 10-173-H.

[zipper]

It sounds like it's going to be an interesting study, and you would be amazed to learn how one�s ethnocentric views could potentially cause conflicts in an EFL classroom; particularly with co-teachers and adult students in a foreign country. Not to mention that teachers often have to adjust or alter their teaching methods and styles within various contexts. For instance, a teacher may have to employ different physical cues when eliciting, error correcting and concept checking when teaching in countries like Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.

I think that your study could potentially shed some light on the topic; however, it has been dealt with before.

Is it possible for you to every now and then post some of your research questions and findings to elicit comments from a general audience of EFL and ESL teachers? There are a lot of seasoned teachers here that could offer some insight into the subject as well.

Personally, I don�t qualify for your research project, but I would be fascinated to read in the future about some of your findings, though.

Good luck!



http://www.gvsu.edu/hrrc/index.cfm?id=E5A495CC-0C1F-4B86-0F8377253E298487

[rockinrobin714]

Wow Tina -
This is really random because I am currently attending Grand Valley!

I'm about to graduate in a week and a half and am planning on teaching English in Taiwan. I just got a job offer from Hess.

Anyway, that won't start until August so I won't be much help, though I'd love to help you, from one Laker to another