Pre-Service Teachers’ Learning about Language Learning and Teaching: A Nexus Analysis of Study Abroad Blogging

ABSTRACT

Learning about another educational context is often a stated institutional goal of pre-service study abroad. However, living abroad is no guarantee that pre-service teachers will reflect upon their language learning and teaching experiences through the lens of future teaching. Drawing from a large study of reflective practices during study abroad, from preparation to debriefing, we use nexus analysis to focus on how five pre-service teachers living and volunteer-teaching abroad over nine weeks reflected upon their learning and teaching experiences through blogs. We ask: “What study abroad participant learning about language teaching and learning emerges through blogging?” Despite disparate teaching specializations, the participants often found themselves learning firsthand about the opportunities and challenges of language learning. They used blogs to reflect upon knowledge, skills, and attributes needed for language teaching. These results reveal that learning during study abroad can advance the teaching competencies necessary to working with diverse learners in future classrooms.

KEYWORDS:

• Blog
• language learning
• language teaching
• pre-service teacher
• study abroad

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Taylor Institute of Teaching and Learning, University of Calgary [Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grant].

Notes on contributors

Roswita Dressler

Roswita Dressler is an Associate Professor in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. She holds an MA in German and a PhD in Education. Her research examines preservice and in-service teachers’ understandings of Second Language Teaching and Learning. Her research in K-12 school settings looks at Canada’s bilingual programs in international languages and global competencies of teachers and students. Her higher education work examines the formal and informal learning of students on study abroad.

Katherine Crossman

Katherine (Katie) Crossman, PhD is an instructor with an academic research focus at Bow Valley College, where she leads research projects about newcomer settlement and integration. Her research interests also include second language acquisition and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She has lived and taught in Canada, Mexico, Ukraine, and Russia.

Colleen Kawalilak

Colleen Kawalilak, full Professor and Associate Dean International in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, provides leadership in negotiating international partnerships and developing initiatives that support internationalisation at home and abroad. Her research, teaching, and graduate supervision span formal and informal adult learning in diverse work and learning contexts; internationalisation and building intercultural capacity; lifelong learning; and relational epistemologies that inform teaching and learning.