MA in Training and Education

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Browsing MA in Training and Education by Author "Comiskey Stephen"

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    What have Irish ESL teachers learned and how does it affect how they teach? Comparing international best practices with the CELTA and Irish ESL teachers’ experience in the classroom.
    (Griffith College, 2019) Mc Ardle, Áine
    This thesis contributes to the existing body of knowledge by giving an Irish insight into ESL training. A mixed methods approach was used to explore international and national best practices in English as a Second Language (ESL). The Certificate in English Language Training for Adults (CELTA) was compared to international standards using a programmatic review and Irish ESL teachers were interviewed to give their perspectives on their training. In phase one of this study a programmatic review was carried out with the Celta syllabus being mapped to The European Profile for Language Teacher Education: A Frame of Reference (Kelly et al., 2004). This was then compared to Karatsiori’s (2014) quantitative analysis and evaluation of academic curricula for the initial training of TEFL teachers in the member states of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML). Phase 2 explored Irish ESL teachers’ perceptions of Celta training course. As it stemmed from Peacock’s (2009) mixed methods approach of evaluating the effectiveness of a TEFL programme in China this included both a survey and a semi-structured interview. The findings from the programmatic review found that Celta met 45% of the criteria outlined in the Profile (Kelly et al., 2004). However, when the programmatic review is compared with teacher feedback it becomes clear that areas of concern for teachers are not the areas which are missing from The Profile, but which partly met the criteria. Areas that partially met The Profile but may need further development are content knowledge, assessment, and selfevaluation. The interviews also highlighted three main themes, content knowledge, time constraints, and classroom management, which participants highlighted as the areas of Celta they would recommend for review.