Learning to Teach English as a Foreign Language in Japan: A Linguistic Ethnographic Study of Post-Observation Feedback Conferences

Abstract

This study focuses on pre-service trainees’ learning to teach English through their participation in their post-observation feedback (POF) conferences as a means of promoting reflective practice. While POF has received increasing research attention in TESOL, only a few studies have examined the content of this speech event systematically. More importantly, perhaps, although it is widely recognized that learning takes place over time, few studies have examined trainees’ learning diachronically, particularly across POF conferences and related events. To address these research gaps, the present study investigates pre-service trainees’ learning across events and over time in their university-based programme. Recognizing the situated nature of teacher learning, the study employs a linguistic ethnographic approach and draws primarily on the theory of language socialization. Participants included thirteen Japanese undergraduates enrolled in a methods course and their instructor. Four trainees concurrently taking three related courses were purposefully selected as focal trainees. Data were generated during one academic year through video-recorded observations of classes and POF conferences, fieldnotes, semi-structured interviews, and collection of student products (e.g., essays, lesson plans). Transcribed POF discourse was examined through content analysis, microethnographic discourse analysis, and tracer analysis. The content analysis showed that the participants discussed a wide range of topics (e.g., trainees’ L2 problems, student participation) by referring to a variety of texts and contexts. The microethnographic analysis illustrated the various ways in which the instructor supported trainees’ reflection and knowledge construction. Finally, the tracer analysis detailed the different learning pathways that the trainees constructed as they responded to the affordances of their POF discussions. The findings highlight the role of the instructor in promoting pedagogical link-making (Scott et al., 2011) and the importance of examining each POF talk as part of the long conversation carried out by the participants over an extended period of time in various contexts.