Browsing by Author "Mueller, Katherine"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    The Journey to French Immersion: Reflections of Pre-service Teachers
    (Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers : Réflexions, 2020-01) De Silva, Noeleen; Roy, Sylvie; Dressler, Roswita; Mueller, Katherine
    How often do we take the time to look back and consider how our past has influenced our choices and shaped our identity? In today’s complex language classrooms, a strong pedagogical approach and teaching identity are important components in addressing the needs of language learners (Roy & Byrd-Clark, 2018; Costa & Norton, 2017; Smyth, 1989; Kondrat, 1999). A small group of pre-service French Immersion (FI) teachers were given the opportunity to reflect on their experience as FI students and consider how it shaped their identity and outlook as future FI teachers.
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    Pedagogical Strategies to Foster Target Language Use: A Nexus Analysis
    (University of Toronto Press, 2022-02) Dressler, Roswita; Mueller, Katherine
    Fostering target language use in second language classrooms is a persistent challenge for teachers. A lack of specific guidelines in curriculum documents, inexperience with a wide variety of pedagogical approaches, and the tendency to default to English, have been documented as reasons behind this challenge. Strategies from the Neurolinguistic Approach (NLA) show promise for fostering target language use in a variety of contexts in Canada and abroad. This study examined the use of NLA strategies in one German Bilingual Program in western Canada. The oral modeling sequence and literacy loop were implemented by six K-6 teachers during three sets of two Intensive (German-only) Weeks during a collaborative action research project over the course of one year. Nexus analysis served as a conceptual framework for analysis of interview data. Teachers reported that the strategies led to more structured, purposefully planned, collaborative learning opportunities. Students quickly picked up the NLA oral modeling sequence structure which allowed teachers to promote meaningful communication. Teachers used the literacy loop to scaffold target language use in both oral and written modes. Teachers collaborated in planning and teaching in grade teams, with buddy classes, and as a German teaching team. These results suggest the applicability of these strategies for other dual language programs to foster target language use.
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    Pre-service teachers at risk: Intervention strategies for and by teachers. Research Project Brief
    (University of Calgary, 2017-06-01) Burns, Amy; Eaton, Sarah E.; Gereluk, Dianne; Mueller, Katherine
    Pre-service teachers may face challenges in field experience that have a real impact on both them and their partner teachers. Sometimes these challenges arise as a result of the field experience and sometimes they present themselves before the field experience begins. Current legislation prevents postsecondary institutions from divulging potential challenges pre-service teachers may face. As a result, successfully supporting struggling pre-service teachers in their field experience is a challenge. This research will follow a multiple site case study methodology where the case is bounded by the identified examples of placements in which a pre-service teacher has struggled and either succeeded or failed the field experience placement.
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    Rethinking Pedagogical Options for Teaching Explicit Grammar in French Immersion
    (2015-02-04) Mueller, Katherine; Dansereau, Estelle; Roy, Sylvie
    Canada’s French Immersion program, introduced in the mid-1960s, is widely recognized as a successful classroom model for developing language competence. The accuracy of the written production of French Immersion students has been problematic (Genesee 1987; Harley 1989; Cummins 2000; Lyster 2007; Burger et al 2011) and is a particular challenge for those students in high school who intend to use French for post-secondary education or to seek employment opportunities. In this study, R. Lyster’s 2007 Noticing-Awareness-Practice model is used for the delivery of explicit grammar instruction about the direct and indirect object pronouns in a Grade 12 French Immersion language class. The cognitive maturity of Grade 12 students and their implicitly-built knowledge and understanding of French could provide an advantage in the learning context provided by the model. Following L.S. Vygotsky’s (1978) view of the value of peer work in the classroom, peer collaboration is included in the model in order to encourage metatalk and languaging, identified by M. Swain (2001; 2010) as a way to encourage students to reflect on language use and to enhance their metalinguistic awareness. The goal of the study was to explore the effects of explicit instruction about the targeted structure on students’ written production and the effects of such instruction on their metalinguistic awareness. Following a mixed method study design, quantitative data were collected from a treatment class and a control class at three times, and supporting qualitative data were provided by student and teacher interviews and audio recordings of peer work groups in the treatment class. The results from this study show that providing explicit and proactive grammar instruction within the framework of Lyster’s model, supplemented by opportunities for peer interaction, can enhance students’ metalinguistic awareness, and have a positive impact on the accuracy and frequency of use of the targeted structure in their written production. These results support the creation of curriculum materials that will assist French Immersion teachers in implementing such a model in their classroom in order to improve the accuracy of students’ written production and to enhance their metalinguistic awareness; a sample document inspired by the study is included.
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    Strategies for purposeful oral language use in the second language classroom
    (Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers : Réflexions, 2020-01) Dressler, Roswita; Mueller, Katherine
    Second language teachers regularly encourage students to speak the target language to develop oral language competency. Whether the learners are in a bilingual program, French Immersion, Core French, or another type of second language program, teachers seek purposeful strategies that can help them to structure the introduction and reinforcement of oral language. Yet, teachers often promote oral language by coupling it with written language. This coupling can result in students focusing on the written form without truly listening to the spoken language the teacher is modelling. In a recent study we conducted with German bilingual school teachers, we looked at how teachers might focus on oral language development using strategies from the neurolinguistic approach (NLA; Germain, 2018) during three sets of two intensive (German-only) weeks. We explored the role of purposeful planning for the introduction and reinforcement of oral language development. This learning could be applicable to all second language teachers as they seek to increase the amount of language spoken by their students. In this study, K-6 teachers in a western Canadian partial immersion (bilingual) program created planning sequences and classroom activities that would maximize opportunities for students to speak personalized sentences in the target language. From these first sentences, students built on what they knew to create ever-richer oral language. Teachers chose to follow the principles suggested by the NLA (Germain, 2018).
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    Supporting struggling preservice teachers: A guide for mentor teachers
    (University of Calgary, 2019-10-01) Burns, Amy; Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Gereluk, Dianne; Mueller, Katherine
    This resource presents the findings of a two-year study on preservice teachers who struggle in practicum. This study, funded by the Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies, sought the tips and advice of ten in-service teachers and five school-based leaders who work extensively with preservice teachers and who have had at least one preservice student struggle in the last four years. The result was this resource which covers ten themes common to struggling preservice teachers and the schools with whom they work including isolation, modelling, feedback, communication, big-picture thinking, expectations, preservice teacher self-reflection, mentor teacher reflection, early intervention, early identification, and goal setting. Each theme is underpinned by relevant literature from the field and the advice from those interviewed.
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    The Mentorship Guide for Teaching and Learning
    (Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, 2019) Barrette-Ng, Isabelle H.; Nowell, Lorelli; Anderson, Sarah J.; Arcellana-Panlilio, Mayi; Brown, Barbara; Chalhoub, Serge; Clancy, Tracey L.; Desjardine, Patricia; Dorland, AnneMarie; Dyjur, Patti; Mueller, Katherine; Reid, Leslie; Squance, Rod T.; Towers, Jo; Wilcox, Gabrielle
    Rooted in evidence, this guide will provide you with a unique perspective on supporting mentoring relationships for teaching and learning development. You will explore mentoring relationships, assessing readiness for mentorship, initiating mentorship, developing and sustaining mentoring relationships and mentoring transitions while ultimately improving student learning. You will also reflect on your mentoring relationships as you work through a series of guided questions and practical worksheets. Research on academic mentorship often measures success in terms of mentee research productivity (Feldman, Arean, Marshall, Lovett & O’Sullivan, 2010; Kalet, Fletcher, Ferdman & Bicknell, 2006; Sambunjak, Straus & Marušić, 2006). Teaching mentorship produces different measures of success, including the development of reflective practice and, most importantly, improvements in student learning. Although there are many resources for mentorship in academia (Johnson, 2015; Straus & Sackett, 2014), none of them aim specifically at supporting mentorship for teaching and learning development. Mentorship in teaching and learning differs from research mentorship in terms of aims, approaches and measures of success, which is why we offer this resource.