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EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION
“There is a lot of writing already published from classroom teachers
across the world; many topics have been covered beautifully by teachers
in the past. But we wouldn’t be encouraging you if we didn’t know that
most teachers do have something to contribute through writing and
publishing”.1
It is well-known that research is thought to be valuable if findings
are made public. The same could be said of innovations. Publishing our
projects allows other researchers and teachers to try to evaluate and
replicate them. Thus, we deepen and refine our knowledge about the
English language teaching field and the factors that influence it. This is
the way professional development takes place.
As mentioned above, the main purpose of publishing is sharing
knowledge. Researchers report what they have found and other people
can examine the results and methods, and even carry out similar studies
to confirm the results. If the new studies get different results, the results
of both studies can be re-examined to find out the reason for the
differences. Errors may be found, or the influence of other variables may
be better understood. In this way, knowledge is developed.
This journal has as its main goal the dissemination of research and
innovations carried out by teachers in the Colombian context. It is a
pleasure to see that this attempt is shared by professionals from different
parts of the world. As you will see in this number, PROFILE will spread
issues in teachers’ professional development beyond our country. I am
very glad to share with you papers sent by contributors from Brazil, India,
Slovakia, and the Ukraine as well as from our country, whose contributors
have been engaged in carrying out research and innovations in wide-
ranging contexts. This, I am sure, will give us the chance to get in touch
with a wider community so that we can examine our thoughts and local
teaching conditions and contrast them with what happens elsewhere.
1 Hubbard, R. S. and Power, B. M. (1999). Living the questions. A guide for teacher researchers.
York, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers, p. 183.
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We begin this issue with five reports from
teacher researchers. First, we have an
empirical study that investigated whether the
methodologies of implicit and explicit EFL
instruction account for the improvement of
university students on a performance test for
two grammar topics. Then we find an
experiment aimed at assessing the two most
widely-used methods of correction for
compositions, traditional teacher correction
and peer marking, and their effect on the
frequency of errors. After that, a case study
shows that reforms, in classrooms where
English is not the mother tongue and where
age-old teaching methodologies are
predominant, can be self-defeating if they
are imposed without an attempt at a gradual,
gentle and well-thought-out implementation.
We continue with an ethnographic research
project which tells us about the complex task
of teaching English to children in public
elementary schools in Colombia. This is
shown in the analysis of class methodology
in terms of activities, materials, and teacher
and student roles. Following that, we can
read a study of the reliability and validity of
the English component of the 2002 Entrance
Examination of the Federal University of
Amazonas, in Brazil. Afterwards, we can get
acquainted with a methodological innovation
implemented in a beginner’s English class
at university level in Colombia, which aimed
at exploring the role of reading aloud
activities in the teaching of English and
describing the narrative template students
use when retelling a story via writing.
The section concerning issues from
novice teacher researchers includes a report
on a case study carried out by a pre-service
teacher when doing his teaching practice in
a public high school in Colombia. It accounts
for the students’ views on English reading
comprehension, their handling of strategies
to develop reading competence in English,
and their progress in the reading
comprehension process.
The last section of this number includes
reflections and innovations concerning
ethnography, literacy processes in an adult
English class, materials design, and the
hidden curriculum. A description of ethnography,
the various tasks of the ethnographer, and
the values and limitations of this qualitative
approach are presented in the first paper. The
second article of this part of our publication
deals with a Slovakian experience. It refers
to the introduction of the CLIL (Content and
Language Integrated Learning) -a newly
invented and officially recommended
method for the teaching of foreign languages
in the European Union. The third article
gathers fundamental aspects for the
elaboration of materials to support the
instructional design component of our
English classes. Then, we can read about the
framework that guided the design and
implementation of a curricular unit for
university students. Lastly, we can find some
reflections regarding the hidden curriculum
and its relevance in educational processes.
Once more, we hope that you will find
the contents of this number relevant to your
teaching context and cordially invite you to
consider sharing your reflections,
innovations, and research experiences
through this publication.
Melba Libia CárMelba Libia CárMelba Libia CárMelba Libia CárMelba Libia Cárdenas Beltrándenas Beltrándenas Beltrándenas Beltrándenas Beltrán
Journal Editor