Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature

Book Review. Avances en el estudio sobre el lenguaje científico y académico, by Ventura Salazar García y María Aurora García Ruiz (Coords.)

Marcos Antonio Troncoso Díaz — 2024-10-02

Editor’s note

Xavier Fontich Vicens — 2024-10-02

We present a new issue of BJTLLL, with three articles based on doctoral studies, an interview and a review. The first contribution is by Óscar Gómez-Delgado, a study entitled "The notion of English as an international language in a selection of teacher training programmes in Colombia". Next, Sofia Di Sarno-García presents the study “Expectations and level of satisfaction of language learners in a telecollaboration project”. The third article, written by Hilda Buitrago-García, is entitled “Principles of teacher professional development and digital lexicographic skills for the design of continuing education modules”. In the interview (“The word to collectively build peace”), Natalia Quiceno Rodríguez talks with the professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal and the University of Lisbon Ana L. Costa. Finally, Marcos Antonio Troncoso Díaz presents a review of the collective volume “Advances in the study of scientific and academic language”, coordinated by Ventura Salazar García and María Aurora García Ruiz.

The Notion of English as an International Language in a Selection of Teacher Education Programs in Colombia

Oscar Gomez-Delgado — 2024-10-02

English as an International Language (EIL) constitutes a paradigm for the teaching of English from a pluri-centric linguistic, cultural, and pedagogical approach. This article reports on the partial findings of a Comparative Case Study (CCS) conducted to assess the manifestation of the notion of EIL in the curriculum policy documents of a selection of initial teacher education programs in Colombia. Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) was applied to the curriculum policy documents of three English teacher education programs, and a descriptive account of the contents of these documents is given to support the reported assessment. The analysis revealed that the manifestation of EIL, whenever found, was mostly inferable in the documents of two programs in the functional dimension of EIL and in its dimension of Teacher Education, whereas one program’s document generally did not show manifestation of this paradigm.

Language learners’ expectations and satisfaction level in a telecollaboration project

Sofia Di Sarno-García — 2024-10-02

The aim of this paper is to analyse the data collected in a six-week telecollaboration project between 9 Spanish-speaking learners of English and 5 international students from the Erasmus+ programme, who engaged in both synchronous and asynchronous activities with 10 English-speaking learners of Spanish. Data was gathered through a pre-questionnaire enquiring about learners’ expectations at the beginning of the project and a post-questionnaire seeking information about students’ satisfaction at the end of the project. The results revealed that students’ expectations mostly aligned with the perceived benefits after carrying out the exchange. However, some of the participants found it difficult to meet on a weekly basis with their virtual partners as was required. This suggests that students participating in telecollaboration projects may need further guidance and help to plan their meetings. Despite this, most of the comments received at the end of the project were positive and showed participants’ overall satisfaction.

Principles of teacher professional development and digital lexicographical skills for designing in-service training modules

Hilda Buitrago — 2024-10-02

English as a foreign language teachers often use free access online bilingual dictionaries (FAOBD) to plan their lessons but rarely utilize these dictionaries as didactic resources. This paper outlines the design process, and theoretical foundations involved in designing an in-service teacher module, a byproduct of a multiple case study research, aimed at equipping tertiary EFL educators with the necessary conceptual and procedural knowledge to use these digital lexicographical tools. Data collected from a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and an online course evaluation form, applied to a sample of four teachers from a Colombian university, revealed scant teacher training and institutional support, limited motivation to use FAOBDs among teachers and students, and a high incidence of look-up errors. These results underscored the need for the training module. Addressing users’ perspectives, teacher training needs, and leadership support is fundamental to optimizing FAOBD use through enhanced lexicographical skills development.

“The word to collectively build peace” - Interview with Ana Luísa Costa

Natalia Quiceno — 2024-10-02

Ana Luísa Costa has been a secondary school teacher of Subject Portuguese and is currently associate professor at the Escola Superior de Educação of the Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, where she coordinates the Department of Communication and Language Sciences. She is a researcher at the Centre for Linguistics of the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and co-coordinator of the Eduling-Educational Linguistics group of ARLE (International Association for Research in L1 Education). She has participated in teacher training projects in Angola and Guinea-Bissau. In this interview she reflects on the challenges of teacher training, highlighting the importance of attending to socioeconomically vulnerable populations and developing critical pedagogy in language teaching.