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VOLUME 5. ISSUE.3,2017. (July-Sept)
ISSN:2395-2636(P):2321–3108(E) Impact Factor:5.002 ( COSMOS)
Research Journal of English Language and Literature
(RJELAL)
A Peer Reviewed International Journal
KY PUBLICATIONS
www.kypublications.com
INDIA
Research Journal of English Language
and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
http://www.rjelal.com
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)
ISSN:2395-2636(P):2321 – 3108(E) Estd:2013
Editorial Board
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Prof. Dr.R.Saraswathi PhD Dept of English Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjuna Nagar, Andhra Pradesh, India
Editorial Board members Dr Azadeh Nemati Department of English Language Teaching, Jahrom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Jahrom, Iran
Dr. K.V. RAGHUPATHI. PhD Department of English, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur- 610001, TAMIL NADU. INDIA
Dr María Luisa Carrió-Pastor PhD Universidad Politécnica de Valencia Departamento de Lingüística Aplicada. Edificio 4P Camino de Vera, 14, 46022 Valencia; Spain
Dr. Amrendra Sharma, Ph.D. Department of English , Dhofar University, Salalah, PO Box-2509; Postal Code-211; Sultanate of Oman
Dr.M.Suresh Kumar PhD Department of English Acharya Nagarjuna University Nagarjuna Nagar , Andhra Pradesh-India Research Interest: ELT & Translational Studies
Dr.Yazid Basthomi PhD English Department, Faculty of Letters Universitas Negeri Malang (State University of Malang) Jl. Semarang 5 Malang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia 65145
Dr Gullapalli Srilatha PhD Dept of English, P.B.Siddhartha College of Arts & Science, Vijayawada Affiliated to Krishna University; India
Dr Turki Diab Bani-Khaled PhD Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & English Language Teaching Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Foreign Languages University of Jordan, Amman 11942-Jordan
Dr. Ramani Perur Nagaratnam PhD Professor /Quality Assurance Expert English Language & Literature Teaching Ministry of Manpower Sultanate of Oman
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)
ISSN:2395-2636(P):2321 – 3108(E) Estd:2013
Editorial Board
Eba Teresa Garoma Head, Department of English Language and Literature Jimma University, P.O.Box 5249 Ethiopia
Dr D.SUMALATHA Department of English University College of Engg& Technology, ANU, INDIA
Dr. Kadodo Webster PhD Department of Curriculum Studies, Great Zimbabwe University, Box 1235, Masvingo, Zimbabwe.
Dr.V.Rajesh PhD Vice Principal Sri Sayee Vivekananda Vidhyalaya Matric. Hr. Sec. School, Chennai
Dr. Dimitrios Politis PhD Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education Rion, University of Patras 265 04 Patras ;Greece.
Dr. G.A. GHANSHYAM, Ph.D. Department of English GOVT. ARTS COLLEGE, SEEPAT, BILASPUR (C.G.), INDIA
Dr. Naveen .K. Mehta, Associate Professor & Head Communication Skills Department, MIT, Ujjain (MP), India
Dr. Amir Al-Azab, Department of English , Qatar university, Qatar
Dr. V. Rajasekaran. Ph.D. Associate Professor /Head, Department of English,EBET Group of Institutions Tirupur , Tamilnadu, India
Dr.S.MOHAN Assistant Professor-I Department of English, Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil, Srivilliputhur. Tamilnadu,India
Dr. MILON FRANZ Associate Professor in English St. Xavier’s College for Women, Aluva, Kerala, India
Dr MESFIN ABERRA Hawassa University College of Social Sciences and Humanities School of Language and Communication Studies Research, Hawassa, Ethiopia
RJELAL Vol.5. Issue 3.2017
Index
S.No Article Details Page No
i | P a g e
1. The Challenges of the EST Teacher and Students in a Bilingual Institution Dr. JUSTINE FORCHAP University Institute of Science and Technology UCAC ICAM of Central Africa -BP 5504 Douala- Cameroon
1-6
2. In the Footsteps of the Shakespearean Fool: The Critique of Hegemonies in ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ Dr. KAMNA SINGH Faculty, Department of English, MCM DAV College, Chandigarh
7-9
3. LITERATURE PORTRAY OF NOVEL “THE KITE RUNNER” BY KHALED HOSSEINI SULEKHA SUNDARESAN*1, Dr.K.SUMATHI2, Dr.P.KOLAPPADHAS3 1Research Scholar Aff.to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abhishekapatti, Tirunelveli, TamilNadu, India. 2Associate Professor, Department of English, Vivekananda College of Arts and Science, Agastheeswaram Post, Agastheeswaram, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India 3Associate Professor, Department of English, S.T.Hindu College,Desi Vinayaga Nagar,Kottar, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu.
10-15
4. THE INTEGRATION OF MIND AND BODY IN THE NOVELS OF AYN RAND RENUKA NANDAKUMAR1, Dr. SASHIKALA.R2 1Research Scholar, Bharatiyar University, Coimbatore, India 2Former Principal, Dr.GRD College of Education, Coimbatore
16-18
5. Shakespeare’s use of Language in Macbeth MANJU DEVI Assistant Professor, Gaur Brahman Degree College, Rohtak
19-22
6. GLIMPSES OF TRUE LOVE IN “I TOO HAD A LOVE STORY” BY RAVINDER SINGH JAGJEET SINGH1, Dr. KULBHUSHAN KUMAR2 1Ph.D., Research Scholar (Full Time), 2Research Supervisor, Associate Professor and Head, Dept. of English and Communication Studies, Eternal University, Distt. Sirmaur, Baru Sahib via Rajgarh, (H. P) India
23-29
7. SOCIAL PROPLEMS AND THE ROLE OF THE PROTAGONIST IN MAHESH ELKUNCHWAR’S GARBO ANI SUNANDA BASAVARAJ1, Dr.A.LOURDUSAMY 2 1Research Scholar, Tumkur University, Tumkur, Karnataka, India 2Research Supervisor
30-32
8. MYTHS, CUSTOMS AND RITUALS: A STUDY OF SELECTED NOVELS OF SHASHI DESHPANDE THROUGH A FEMINIST LENS MRINMOYEE GOSWAMI*1, Dr. INDU SWAMI2 1Assistant Professor, Department of English, L. G. B. Girls’ College, Tezpur, Assam 2Assistant Professor, Department of English,Assam University, Diphu Campus, Diphu, Karbi Anglong, Assam
33-38
9. THE TRAUMA CAUSED BY BHOPAL GAS LEAK TRAGEDY BASED ON AMULYA MALLADI’S ‘A BREATH OF FRESH AIR’ TRESA P T1, G.RUBY2 1Head of English Department, Pavai College of Technology, Pachal, Namakkal. 2Asst.Professor of English, Govt.Arts & Science College, Komarapalayam
39-44
10. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: Employment of Naturalism in its Rudiments SHASHIDHAR S Assistant Professor, Department of English Acharya Institute of Graduate Studies Hesarghatta Road, Soldevanahalli, Bangalore. (Affiliated to Bangalore University and Approved by Government of Karnataka)
45-51
11. CONCEPTUALIZING THE FACETS OF INDIAN CULTURE APARNA SINGH Research Scholar, Department of English, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur
52-55
RJELAL Vol.5. Issue 3.2017
Index
S.No Article Details Page No
ii | P a g e
12. KHUSHWANT SINGH’S DELHI A NOVEL: RECOLLECTING AND RECLAIMING THE CITY SANGEETA MITTAL Associate Professor, Department of English, Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
56-65
13. THE MYTH OF MOTHERHOOD AND THE COMMODIFICATION OF FEMALE BODY NIMMY JOSEPH Assariparambil House Kottayam, Kerala, India
66-69
14. OVERVIEW OF COMMON SPELLING ERRORS IN STUDENT’S EXAMINATION COMMUNICATION SKILLS SCRIPTS: A DISTURBING PHENOMENON IN TAMALE POLYTECHNIC, GHANA RAFIU AYINLA SULEIMAN Tamale Polytechnic, P. O Box 3 er, School of Applied Arts, Department of Languages and Liberal Studies Tamale-Ghana
70-77
15. INDIA: THE NEW CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE COMMUNAL INTOLERANCE NIMMY JOSEPH Assariparambil House Kottayam, Kerala, India
82-84
16. THE CHARACTERS CONTROLLED BY ‘ID’ - A STUDY BASED ON JHUMPA’S SHORT STORIES COLLECTION, ‘AN UNACCUSTOMED EARTH’ AND ‘INTERPRETER OF MALADIES’ ANAMIKA LALL Research Scholar, English Literature, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences DIT University, Dehradun.
85-88
17. DISINTEGRATION OF THE SELF IN MARTIN AMIS’S MONEY: A SUICIDE NOTE: A SATIRE ON THE MODERN CONSUMER SOCIETY HARWINDER KAUR Research Scholar, Dept. of English, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
89-93
18. ERROR ANALYSIS ON SPOKEN ENGLISH AT UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL IN BANGLADESH SHARMIN JAHAN Lecturer, Department of English, Southern University Bangladesh 739A, Mehedibag Road, Chittagong, Bangladesh
94-99
19. Tolerance of human foibles - a blessing or a curse A study of the characters of Rosie -in R. K. Narayan’s The Guide and Rukmani–in Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a sieve N. USHA M.Phil Scholar, PRIST University, Vallam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
100-102
20. CASTE SYSTEM AND THE ROLE OF INTOXICANTS IN THE NOVEL BRAVE NEW WORLD NIMMY JOSEPH Assariparambil House Kottayam, Kerala, India
103-106
21. ALICE WALKER AND THE THEMES OF THE COLOR PURPLE RAMYASREE. D M.Phil. scholar, Prist University, Thanjavur
107-108
22. HUMAN VIOLENCE AGAINST HUMANS: MANTO’S “OPEN IT!” IN THE CONTEXT OF PARTITION VISHNU RAM Research Scholar, Dpt. of English & Foreign Languages, M.D.U. Rohtak.
109-111
23. QUEST FOR SELF: A BRIEF STUDY OF ALICE WALKER’S THE COLOR PURPLE R. RAAJITHA LECTURER, DEPT. OF ENGLISH, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FOR WOMEN KOTI, HYDERABAD
112-118
RJELAL Vol.5. Issue 3.2017
Index
S.No Article Details Page No
iii | P a g e
24. THE THEMES OF THE TEMPLE OF MY FAMILIAR BY ALICE WALKER RAMYASREE. D M.Phil. scholar, Prist University, Thanjavur
119-120
25. EFL Teacher Professional Development Practices in Beninese Secondary Schools ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN1, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU2 1English Department, Université d´Abomey-Calavi, Benin BP. 756 Abomey-Calavi, Benin 2English Department, Université d´Abomey-Calavi, Benin
121-131
26. PLACE-THOUGHT INTERRELATEDNESS IN LITERARY TEXTS SREEKALA. K Assistant Professor of English, Government College Chittur Palakkad, Kerala
132-134
27. THE THEME OF DISPLACEMENT: A STUDY OF ANITA DESAI’S BYE- BYE BLACKBIRD K. JAYA
135-139
28. GLOBALISATION AND MODERN INDIAN LITERATURE Dr. NABANEETA MUNSI Assistant Professor, Bhilai Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Bhilai
140-142
29. ANITA DESAI’S FICTION: A WHISPER OF INNER SELF NITIKA Assistant Professor, Department of English, Government College Hisar, Haryana, India
143-148
30. THE THEME OF SURVIVAL AND THE SEARCH FOR FEMALE IDENTITY IN MARGARET ATWOOD’S THE EDIBLE WOMAN MD. AJMAUL ANSARI Research Scholar (PhD), Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
149-151
31. LOVE AND MARRIAGE IN THE NOVEL OF JANE AUSTEN R.SUMATHI M.Phil, PRIST University, Thanjavur Dt, Tamilnadu
152-154
32. LOVE AND MARRIAGE IN AUSTEN’S NOVELS A.HASEENA1, G.AMBIKA2 1, 2Assistant Professor in English, PRIST University Thanjvur
155-158
33. IMPRESSIONS OF IMMORALITY IN JOSEPH HELLER’S CATCH 22 AND SOMETHING HAPPENED APARNA MALIK Assistant Professor, Dept.of English C.R.M. Jat College, Hisar
159-163
34. FEMINISM IN SHASHI DESHPANDE'S NOVELS P.RAJYA LAKSHMI1, Dr.N.ARVINDA2 1Research Scholar English,Shri JJT University 2Associate Professor English Sreenidhi Institute of Sci &Tech
164-166
35. THINGS FALL APART: EXPLORING THE IMPERFECTIONS AS WELL AS STRENGTH OF IGBO CULTURE SANJAY DAS Assistant Professor of English, Subarnarekha Mahavidyalaya
167-170
36. CLIL Method in Imparting Reading Skills to Secondary level Students- An Experimental study THEPORAL.S1, Dr.J.SUNDARSINGH2 1Research Scholar in English, Department of Science and Humanities Karunya University, Coimbatore 2Professor in English, Department of Science and Humanities, Karunya University Coimbatore
171-174
37. THE PRODIGAL RETURNS: UNDERSTANDING NARRATIVES OF RETURN IN ONDAATJE’S RUNNING IN THE FAMILY (1982) RATIKA KAUSHIK Head of English Department, Raffles University
175-181
38. A Study on the Character ‘Jasmine’ as a Protagonist in Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine 182-185
RJELAL Vol.5. Issue 3.2017
Index
S.No Article Details Page No
iv | P a g e
P. BINDUMADHAVI1, Dr.S.SELVA LAKSHMI2 1Research Scholar, Karpagam University , Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore 2Assistant Professor, Department of English, Karpagam University, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore
39. THE CHILD AS THE FATHER OF THE ANGRY YOUNG MAN: AN ANALYSIS OF THE QUINTESSENTIAL ANTI-HERO Dr. KAMNA SINGH Faculty, Department of English, MCM DAV College, Chandigarh
186-189
40. UNDERSTANDING ETHNIC STUDIES ABHISHEK CHANDEL Research Scholar, Department of English, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra
190-192
41. BETWEEN HOUSE AND HOME: SITUATING THE DIASPORIC SENSIBILITY OF V.S. NAIPAUL Dr. B. C. Dash1, Kironmoy Chetia2 1Associate Professor, Department of English, Assam University,Diphu Campus 2Assistant Professor, Department of English, C.K.B.Commerce College, Jorhat Assam.
193-198
42. AMITAV GHOSH’S THE HUNGRY TIDE ON THE PERSPECTIVE OF CULTURAL DISLODGMENT P.PRADEEP1, Dr.R.POLI REDDY2 1Asst.Professor of English, Sreenidhi Institute of Science & Technology, Yamnampet, Ghatkesar, Rangareddy District & Ph.D Research Scholar, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur. 2Research Supervisor and Principal, SV Arts & Science College,Giddaluru, Prakasam Dt., Andhra Pradesh
199-206
43. NEURO - LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING AND ELT D.M. VEDHA PRIYA Ph. D Research Scholar, Department of English, Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
207-209
44. FOOD AND DIASPORIC IDENTITY INPREETHI NAIR’S ONE HUNDRED SHADES OF WHITE SOUMI SINHA RAY Department of English, Ethiraj College for Women, Ethiraj Salai, Chennai, India
210-214
45. TOWARDS INDIAN ECOLOGICAL JUSTICE THROUGH MARGARET ATWOOD’S TRILOGY Sr.Candy D’Cunha Department of Sciences & Humanities, Andhra Loyola Institute of Engineering and Technology,Vijayawada,A.P, India
215-219
46. QUEST FOR BLACK IDENTITY IN THE EUROPEAN TRIBE ALKA1, Dr. DIVYA JOSHI2 1Ph. D. Scholar, 2Research supervisor Department of English, Govt. Dungar College, Bikaner. (Affltd. To Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner.)
220-227
47. CULTURAL CONFLICT IN WOLE SOYINKA’S THE LION AND THE JEWEL – A CONTRAPUNTAL READING NASREEN.M Post Graduate Student, Sathyabama University, Chennai,
228-233
48. RESURRECTING AFGHANISTAN: KHALED HOSSEINI’S THE KITE RUNNER ANJITHA GOPI Nedungayil, Velampurathu, Mulanthuruthy, Ernakulam, Kerala
234-238
49. FORWARD FAIRY TALE, DELETE ROMANCE: A FEMINIST REINTERPRETATION OF RED RIDING HOOD Dr. CHARU GOYAL Assistant Professor, Department of English Kanoria PG Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Jaipur
239-244
50. GENDER, SUBALTERNITY, AND SILENCE: RECOVERING WOMEN’S EXPERIENCE IN MULK RAJ ANAND’S UNTOUCHABLE RATHIKA.E Post Graduated Student, Department of English, Ethiraj College for Women, Egmore, Chennai.
245-249
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
Impact Factor 5.002 (COSMOS) http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected] ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O)
Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017
(July-Sept)
121 ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU
EFL Teacher Professional Development Practices in Beninese Secondary Schools
ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN1, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU2
1English Department, Université d´Abomey-Calavi, Benin BP. 756 Abomey-Calavi, Benin E-mail: [email protected]
2English Department, Université d´Abomey-Calavi, Benin E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Whether EFL teachers are qualified or not, they need to keep abreast of recent
developments in their field. There lies the importance of professional development
which can be carried out through mentorship, lesson observation, and collaborative
discussion with colleagues (Ur, 2012), or through E-portfolios (Xerri and Campbell,
2016). This paper aims at investigating the practices of EFL teacher development and
identifying related challenges. It is also intended to make suggestions for the
improvement of professional development in Beninese secondary schools. In that
regard, a questionnaire was administered to 80 teachers in three different schools in
Cotonou. The findings revealed that weekly professional developments are organized in
the schools. During these meetings issues discussed include lesson planning, learner
assessment, teaching experiences to mention just a few. Other professional
development strategies such as reflective teaching, area professional development
workshops, participation in webinars have also been recorded. Challenges to the
professional development mentioned by respondents are lack of documentation, lack of
administrative support, and the fact that the coordinators of the weekly professional
development meetings are not creative. Suggestions for improvement focus on the need
for teachers to be mindful of their own professional growth and provision of adequate
document and support on the part of educational authorities.
Key words: Teachers; EFL; secondary education; professional development
.
1. Introduction
Teaching is a demanding job in that it
requires not only subject-matter knowledge but also
knowledge in educational psychology and pedagogy.
Knowledge in these three areas is constantly
evolving and EFL teachers should keep abreast of
new developments in their field to perform well in
their classes. Moreover, untrained and part time
teachers outnumber qualified and full-time teachers
in most secondary schools in Benin. As a
consequence, professional development activities
serve both as pre-service training and in-service
training for unqualified English language teachers.
The issue of teacher development becomes critical
for the quality of EFL education in secondary schools
in the country.
Furthermore, most research endeavours on
teacher development focuses on specific aspects of
professional development and do not portray a
comprehensive picture of the issue in a given
context. For instance, Xerri and Campbell (2016)
concentrated on E-portfolios whereas Gnawali
RESEARCH ARTICLE
ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
Impact Factor 5.002 (COSMOS) http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected] ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O)
Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017
(July-Sept)
122 ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU
(2016) studied the importance of professional
organization for teacher development in Nepal. On
the contrary, this study covers many aspects of
professional development and shed light on how EFL
teacher professional development works in
secondary school context. This investigation has
been carried out to explore the professional
development practices in Beninese secondary
schools, identify the challenges related to
professional development, and suggest solutions to
the identified challenges. Therefore, three research
questions have been addressed: What are the
professional development practices in Beninese
secondary schools?; What are the challenges to
professional development? and How can
professional development be improved?
Before the description of the procedures
used to carry out the study, the theoretical
underpinnings as well as the practice of teacher
development are explored in details.
1.1 Theoretical Underpinnings of Teacher
Professional Development
Professional development is first and
foremost a matter of adult education. For that
reason, the approach recommended for its
effectiveness is the constructivist one in as much
previous experiences of adults should be tapped
into when training them (Baker, 2016). For that
reason, it is recommended to involve teachers in the
planning of professional development activities that
concern them and make the content of the activities
relevant to the problems they are confronted with
and teachers. Teachers should also be given the
opportunity to apply whatever they have learnt
during the training (Knowles, 1984). It follows that
teachers should play an active role in their
professional development, they should be given the
opportunity to learn from one another but most
importantly, they should not be treated like empty
tanks to be filled with knowledge by somebody else
(Johnson, 2006; Brown, 2007).
As mentioned earlier, adult education should
not be conducted in the same way as child or
teenage education. Adults´ ways of learning or
knowing are factored into EFL teacher development
programmes. Building on a study by Kagan (1991),
Drago-Severson (2004) identifies three categories of
adult learners. The first category includes
instrumental knowers who learn more when a
process is described step-by-step, socializing
knowers who learn better when they get
information from experts and self-authoring
knowers who learn more when they are given the
opportunity to take full responsibility for their
learning and practice (Crandall and Miller, 2014, p.
631). However, given that those in charge of
implementing teacher development programmes
may not be aware of the type of knowers they are
dealing with, they will serve teachers better by
varying their instructional delivery methods in order
to reach as many participants as possible.
Apart from the knowledge of adult learning
styles, the effectiveness of professional
development depends on two other factors: culture
and institutional performance goals. Taking into
account local culture can facilitate teachers´ buy-in.
For instance, Baker (2016) found that in the Thai
culture, “learning should be fun” (p. 38), which
implies that if a trainer is too serious, teachers may
not pay much attention to what he has to teach
them. In other contexts, making fun during a
training might be a sign that what is being taught
should not be taken seriously. On the other hand,
linking school performance goals to professional
development enables to get better results in that
teachers work together as a learning community or
a community of practice (Crandall and Miller, 2014;
Hedgcock, 2002).
The effectiveness of professional
development also depends on a number of
approaches that are likely to enhance teachers´
institutional as well as subject-matter knowledge
(Lv, 2014). Wallace (1991, as cited by Crandall and
Miller, 2014, p. 632) identified three such
approaches. In the apprenticeship approach to
teacher development, younger teachers learn from
more experienced ones. In the applied science
approach, teachers apply in their classrooms what
they have learnt from research and experts whereas
in the reflective approach, teachers constantly adapt
their practice through critical thinking and research.
Most EFL teacher development practices fall within
one of these three approaches.
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
Impact Factor 5.002 (COSMOS) http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected] ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O)
Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017
(July-Sept)
123 ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU
In today´s globalized and IT world, EFL
teachers have myriads of opportunities for
development provided they are ready to grab one.
Discussing all available opportunities is beyond the
scope of this paper. Only the most salient and
teacher-friendly ones have been flagged.
1.2 EFL Teacher Development Opportunities or
Practices
There are various taxonomies of EFL teacher
development opportunities (Brown, 2007; Ur, 2012;
Crandall and Miller, 2014). However, for the purpose
of this paper, I have grouped them into three
categories: classroom-based opportunities; teacher
collaboration opportunities, and reading and
reading and writing opportunities.
1.2.1 Classroom-based Opportunities
Classroom-base opportunities include lesson
or classroom observation and action research. The
main form of classroom observation is peer
observation for development. Even though it takes
teachers some courage to accept their peers in their
classes, peer observation contribute to professional
development insofar as it gives teachers the
opportunity to hear comments on their instructional
delivery and to get new insights (Brown, 2007; Ur,
2012). To avoid the embarrassment that might arise
from lesson observation, Ur (2012) suggests that
teachers could arrange mutual observations as these
will enable them to create a “spirit of collegiality in
the workplace [through] the sharing of best
practices…” (Shousha, 2015, p. 131). But it is the
feedback that follows lesson observations that
contribute to professional development. Therefore,
a helpful feedback includes targeted, substantiated,
and specific comments (positive and negative) from
the observer and input from the observed (Kraft and
Papay, 2014; Ur, 2012).
As for action research, it is defined as
research carried out by teachers to understand and
resolve a problem in their classroom (Bailey, 2001;
Ur, 2012; Brown, 2007). According to Brown (2007),
action research falls perfectly within the
constructivist approach to professional
development, especially in this era of
communicative language teaching (CLT). In CLT,
teachers are to assess their contexts and students
on an ongoing basis and design instructional
techniques tailored to the contexts and students.
Various procedures have been suggested to conduct
action research. For Bailey (2001), when a problem
is identified, an action is planned and conducted,
observations are made and the teacher reflects on
them and another action is planned in case the
problem is not solved. On his part, Ur (2012)
suggests a seven-step procedure but it still start with
the identification of a problem and ends with the
redefinition of the problem in case the implemented
solution does not resolve the problem. The process
of action research is quite simple and it can be
carried out by teachers on various issues related to
their teaching practice. But for their professional
development, teachers can also collaborate among
themselves.
1.2.2 Teacher Collaboration opportunities
Collaborative opportunities include but are
not limited to professional organizations, peer
coaching, mentorship, and staff meetings.
Professional organizations offer diversified
advantages to their members such as individual and
institutional networking (Gnawali, 2016; Crandall
and Miller, 2014). For instance, the Nepal English
Language Teachers Association developed links with
the U.S. Embassy and the British Council, which gave
some of its members the opportunity to “attend
degree courses and short-term courses at home and
overseas” (Gnawali, 2016, p. 174). Besides, most
professional organizations publish journals and
subscription to some of them is free after payment
of membership fees. As a member of a professional
organization, EFL teachers have the opportunity to
contribute to the improvement of EFL instructional
standards, programme evaluation and to the
promotion of best practices (Crandall and Miller,
2014).
The importance of professional organizations
cannot be overstated but peer coaching also plays a
pivotal role in EFL teacher professional development
in that it enables teachers to “assist each other in
enhancing their teaching in an atmosphere of
collegial trust” (Kinsella, 1994, p. 35). This statement
shows that peer coaching provides an opportunity
for mutual support but it works well only if teachers
succeed in building trust among themselves as in the
case of the classroom observation for development
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
Impact Factor 5.002 (COSMOS) http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected] ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O)
Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017
(July-Sept)
124 ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU
discussed earlier. Mentorship is a typical example of
peer coaching and it is a perfect illustration of the
apprenticeship approach to professional
development broached upon in the theoretical
underpinnings. The mentor´s role is to meet the
mentee on a regular basis to discuss issues such as
classroom management, grading, homework,
transitions between activities, school policies, and
what not (Crandall and Miller, 2014; Ur, 2012;
Brown, 2007). From a practical perspective, as
suggested by Ur (2012), a mentor can also observe
lessons taught by the mentee and give feedback on
the mentee´s instructional delivery or invite the
mentee to follow some of his lessons to see
pedagogy in action.
Further, staff meetings also provide
professional growth opportunities in as much as
they allow for “common planning time” (Kraft and
Papay, 2014, p. 478), thus enabling teachers to
receive input from one another. Staff meetings can
also serve as a forum of experience sharing in which
teachers discuss instructional challenges and
outstanding successes and for that reason, they may
be extended to teachers of other disciplines from
time to time because pedagogical breakthroughs in
the teaching of those disciplines may prove useful
for EFL teachers (Ur, 2012).
In addition to the foregoing, there are other
personal opportunities teachers can tap into in
order to grow professionally.
1.2.3 Reading and Writing Opportunities
Here, the focus is on professional journals,
presentation at conferences, and reflective teaching.
Despite their busy schedules, EFL teachers must find
time for reading if they want to hone their teaching
skills. While reading can substitute for courses and
conferences to a certain extent, “courses and
conferences are no substitute for reading” (Ur,
2012, p. 293). As a consequence, Brown (2007)
suggests that teachers can boost reading by
practicing skimming, scanning, and note-taking and
by setting writing goals for more focused and
selective reading. To that effect, teachers can
choose from a wide array of reading materials both
in print or online. Websites that English language
teachers may find useful include but not at all
limited to Linguist List (www.linguistlist.com); the
Education Alliance at Brown University
(www.lab.brown.edu/ae_ells.php), TTV by Russell
Stannard (www.teachertrainingvideaos.com), and
www.NGL.Cengage.com/tesfl (Crandall and Miller,
2014).
One of the productive skills teachers teach in
their classes is writing and they cannot do so
successfully without being conversant with writing
themselves. In the same way as setting writing goals
can stimulate reading, planning to give
presentations at conferences can stimulate writing
in teachers. However, to do the king of writing that
can be presented at conferences, teachers must
conduct research, whether it is action research as
mentioned earlier or research to answer questions
classrooms, learners or instructional practices
(Crandall and Miller, 2014). By engaging in research,
teachers will put an end to the abnormal situation in
education where teachers do education and
researchers or experts think about it (Meek, 1991).
But to be able to conduct scientific research whose
findings can be presented at conferences, teachers
who are not in the higher learning sector must be
trained or read about the principles of research to
avoid complacency and subjectivity since scientific
research is systematic and subject to professional
scrutiny and review (Shavelson and Towne, 2002).
In terms of personal initiative, teachers can
also reflect on their teaching. This is all the more
critical since Kraft and Papay (2014) contend that
school principals should “facilitate opportunities for
teachers to reflect on their practice” (p. 478).
Crandall and Miller (2014) went further and clarified
that teachers must reflect on their teaching by
keeping a teaching journal or a portfolio. Teaching
journals are used by teachers to record classroom
events, success stories, and insights about
themselves to mention but a few (Brown, 2007; Ur,
2012; Crandall and Miller, 2014). However,
recording events in the journal is not enough.
Entries must be written on a regular basis and
teachers have to set aside time to review such
entries if they want to draw the full growth potential
of their teaching journals.
As far as portfolios are concerned, Richards
and Schmidt (2010) define them as “a purposeful
collection of work that provides information about
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125 ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU
someone´s efforts, progress or achievement in a
given area” (p. 443). An EFL teacher portfolio may
include texts, audio and video files, reflections,
beliefs, and principles (Brown, 2007; Crandall and
Miller, 2014). In some contexts, the use of portfolios
is compulsory and some indications are given on
their contents. The policy that introduced print
portfolios in the ELT sector in Malta in 2012
stipulated that each portfolio was to include a
number of items such as “CPD attendance
certificates, self-evaluation forms, reports on
observed lessons, etc.” even though each portfolio
should be adapted to local conditions (Xerri and
Campbell, 2016, p. 393). As such, in areas where
information technology is easily accessible, it is
better for teachers to keep e-portfolios in that they
are easily accessible to administrators who can
quickly give formative feedback on such portfolios. It
is worth underscoring that the outcomes of
reflective teaching and journaling can be easily
included into a portfolio.
2. Methodology of the Study
The study combines qualitative and
quantitative approaches even though it is mostly
qualitative. A 12-item questionnaire was designed to
shed light on the status of the participating teachers,
issues discussed during the weekly professional
development meetings, other professional
development activities in which teachers participate
as well as challenges and suggestions for the
improvement of professional development in
Beninese secondary schools. The questionnaire
includes open-ended as well as closed items in order
to maximize reliability as suggested by Cohen et al.
(2007).
The questionnaire was administered to 80
secondary school teachers in three different urban
schools in Cotonou. After many follow-up calls to
some teachers, 54 completed questionnaires were
returned, which means a return rate of 67.5
percent. For the data analysis, I used the hand
analysis procedure suggested by Creswell (2012) for
small samples. Before coding the data, I copied all
the qualitative responses on index cards with one
single idea per card. The coding procedure consisted
in putting together cards with similar ideas and
using a small post-it to label each group of cards.
After reducing the redundancies of the codes, I
collapsed “the codes into themes” (Creswell, 2012,
p. 244) and proceeded with interpretation.
3. Findings of the study
The data revealed that teachers who
participated in the study have diversified teaching
experiences as shown in the frequency distribution
table below.
Table 1: Frequency distribution table of teaching
experiences
n (years) f
3 6
4 6
5 7
7 4
8 7
9 6
10 8
15 4
16 2
18 3
26 1
The teaching experiences vary from 3 to 26
years. The youngest teachers have been teaching at
least for three years at the time the investigation
was conducted. The data have been analyzed along
three main lines including professional development
strategies used in the selected schools, challenges
and suggestions for improvement.
3.1 Professional Development Strategies Used in
the Selected Schools
The study revealed that many professional
development strategies are used in the investigated
schools. For instance, 24 out of 54 respondents
reported that they had been mentored by more
experienced teachers at the beginning of their
teaching career, which is not the case with the other
30. However, it is difficult to know where the
mentored teachers started their career. As for the
weekly professional development meetings, almost
89 percent reported that they attended such
meetings on a regular basis while 3 stated that they
participated sometimes. This implies that most
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126 ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU
teachers are aware of the importance of those
meetings for their professional advancement.
During those weekly meetings, a wide range
of issues are discussed. The first issue is related to
teachers´ concerns as shown through the following
statements: “difficulties encountered by teachers
when teaching”; “the problems we are confronted
to in class”; “teachers´ problems in teaching and
how to help them”. Not only do teachers discuss
their problems but they also try to find solutions to
overcome the problems. Close to the concerns is the
topic of classroom management exemplified as
follows: “classroom management”; “How to behave
in front of our students”; “We always talk about
classroom management”; “discipline problems”. It is
worth noting that the phrase “classroom
management” has been used several times even
though no explanation is found in the responses
about its meaning but some respondents have been
specific to indicate that they discuss the behaviours
teachers should adopt in their classrooms.
Instructional improvement has also been
mentioned as one of the issues often discussed by
the teachers as the following statements show
clearly: “How to teach and how to make learners
understand the English language”; “improving
teaching ways”; “How to improve our teaching
methods”; “How to teach certain lessons”; “How to
conduct the different learning situations”; “How to
overcome teaching challenges”; “We often discuss
the means to better our level as EFL teachers and
the best way to transmit the lesson to the students
and to assess them”. Not only do teachers discuss
what to do to improve their teaching practices, but
they also tackle the issue of self-improvement,
certainly in terms knowledge of the subject they
teach.
Learner assessment was also discussed. Here
are some statements made by the respondents
about it: “How to submit exam papers”; “How to
evaluate our pupils/students”; “Decide on exam
papers”; “How to prepare a test”; “Student paper
making”; “How to elaborate [answer keys]”. Given
the importance of assessment in the teaching-
learning process, it is not surprising that teachers
devote part of their time to it by discussing how
tests and answer keys are to be designed as well as
the grading policy. Besides, lesson planning was
often broached upon by some of the respondents:
“setting pedagogical files”; “How to design and
perform a lesson plan”; “How to plan a class”; “How
to prepare a lesson plan”; “Lesson preparation”;
“How to prepare classes”. In these statements,
emphasis is on the design and implementation of a
lesson plan.
In addition to the mandatory weekly
meetings, 81.48 percent of the respondents
reported that they participate in other professional
development activities. Those activities include area
professional development workshops commonly
called “animation pédadgogique de zone”; online
courses and webinars organized by the American
Cultural Center in Cotonou. Others also mentioned
TEFL degree courses such as trainings for BAPES and
CAPES, the two major teaching degrees awarded by
the teacher training colleges in the country. In fact
the area professional development workshops are
organized from time to time by the teacher advisors
or inspectors and gather many schools in one place
to discuss pedagogical issues.
As far as teacher collaboration is concerned,
22 of the 54 respondents reported that they have
observed a class taught by a colleague once to learn
from him or her. Furthermore, only 22 respondents
reported that they belong to a professional
organization. Out of the 22, 4 indicated English clubs
as their professional organization while 2 others did
not mention any organization´s name. Obviously,
these 3 are not members of any professional
organization. Six mentioned that they belong
respectively to BENTA, NATE, and BENTEA, only 4
spelled correctly the name of the only professional
organization in the country, the Benin National
Teachers of English Association (BNTEA). The 6 give
the impression that they heard about BNTEA once
and just want to show that they are part of an
organization unless there are typos in their
responses. Six others reported that they belonged to
organizations that are not related to English
language teaching. What all these imply is that very
few respondents belong to or are active in a
professional organization.
Further, most respondents do not seem to be
aware of the importance of professional journals.
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127 ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU
Only 10 out of 54 respondents reported that they
had subscribed to a professional journal. Out of the
10, 2 mentioned American Embassy as a journal, 1
mentioned VOA journal through e-mail and
mentioned CAMVAS, and 2 did not mention any
name of journal. Only 5 mentioned that they have
subscribed to the English Teaching Forum. As is the
case with professional organizations, very few
teachers read professional journals. However,
concerning the reflection on teaching practices by
teachers, the picture is markedly different.
A large proportion of respondents (almost 63
percent) reported that they do take time to reflect
on their teaching from time to time. Issues that
focus their attention fall in two categories. The first
category is the assessment of their own teaching to
see if objectives have been reached: “Are my goals
met”; “The way the lesson has taken place”;
“whether the lesson has been well carried out”;
“most of the time I ask myself whether my
objectives are reached”; “The way that the lessons
are conducted”; “The methodology and pedagogy.”
It appears from these accounts that the respondents
are have a strong desire to teach EFL well because
they appraise the implementation of their lesson
plans bearing in mind the objectives they set for the
lessons.
The second category, instructional
improvement, is illustrated as follows: “I mostly
realize what I did bad and how I will improve it”;
“How to teach without using French while teaching
English”; “How to better my way of teaching”; “the
use of audiovisual or visual aids to help pupils or
students to understand very well their English
courses”; “How to respect the timing of the different
skills”; “The way I teach grammar structure and how
I can make my course more attractive”; “I often
think about the strategies in order to transmit a
maximum information to the learners within few
minutes”; “How to improve things.” These
statements show that the respondents do reflect on
their teaching deeply to the extent of identifying
areas to improve for better performance.
Despite these good practices on the part of
many respondents, professional development
remains confronted with some challenges that are
worth highlighting.
3.2 Challenges to Professional Development
In addition to some of the limitations
identified so far, respondents pointed to others.
Some mentioned lack of experienced teachers in the
following terms: “lack of full time teachers to help
the many inexperienced part-time teachers”; “No
experienced teachers”; “The full time teachers do
not come regularly to the workshop to share their
knowledge”. It is important to point out that being a
full time teacher does not necessarily mean being
experienced. On the other hand, younger teachers
are aware that they can learn from more
experienced ones but the latter are not always
available.
Another important issue raised by the
respondents is the lack of documentation and
equipment: “Lack of adequate teaching materials”;
“The most important difficulty is that we lack of
documents related to the teaching of English”;
“Problem of materials”; “Problem of materials:
library, book”; “lack of documents related to
teaching”; “Lack of documents, records, tapes for
video projection”. As it appears, some of the
respondents have been specific about the type of
documentation lacking, TEFL documents. Some
mentioned overhead projectors that could be used
to project videos on how to teach lessons or films to
improve teachers´ subject matter knowledge.
Apart from lack of documentation, many
respondents revealed lack of administrative support:
“No administration support”; “Lack of
encouragement”; “Lack of training”; “The part-time
teachers are not paid for the meetings”; “There is no
motivation from the staff of the school”. In fact,
participation in the weekly professional
development meetings which last two hours is
counted as teaching hours so that a certified teacher
who is supposed to teach for 18 hours per week
teaches 16 hours in the classroom and devotes the
remaining two hours to the weekly meetings. A
recent policy by the government is that part-time
teachers are no longer going to enjoy that benefit.
Therefore, they are not obliged to attend anymore.
This might be the reasons why some respondents
talk about lack of encouragement or motivation.
It is worth pointing out that one respondent
made the following comments: “Most of the time,
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our AE are narrow-minded people. They are not
creative”. The AEs are teachers elected by their
peers to lead the weekly meetings and coordinate
activities related to the subject. They play a critical
role and that is the reason why they are elected
among senior teachers if available. if they are open-
minded and creative, there is a lot that can be
achieved every week in terms of experience sharing,
document sharing and networking among the
teachers in the same school.
In addition to sharing the challenges
confronting their professional development,
respondents made a lot of suggestions for
addressing such challenges.
3.3 Ways of Improving Professional Development
The suggestions made by respondents can be
classified in two big groups: suggestions that require
action on the part of the teachers themselves and
suggestions calling for action from higher
authorities.
The suggestions that focus on the teachers
themselves are very limited in numbers: “Teachers
should be humble and read a lot”; “Sensitizing
teachers to devote part of their time to research and
avoid running after money”; “Participate actively to
weekly professional development meetings”. The
respondents who made these comments are aware
that the responsibility for professional development
falls upon the teachers. The most important
messages are reading, research and humility. If
teachers are not humble, they cannot realize that
they still have a lot to learn, and obviously there is
no learning without reading and researching. It is
also crucial for teachers to “avoid running after
money”. In fact, in order to make more money,
teachers are tempted to teach in many schools with
the accompanying workload in terms of lesson
planning and paper grading. All these mean that
there is hardly any time left for professional growth
through reading and research.
From a different angle, most suggestions
made by the respondents target the government.
They focus on training, equipment and support
provision.
Suggestions on training have been worded in
different ways including: “The state will train the
part-time teachers”; “Put emphasis on teachers´
training”; “Focus on training, especially on phonetics
and phonology”; “Teachers should be *trained+ not
only in pedagogical matters but also to better
improve their knowledge”; “Government should
organize periodically teacher trainings”. What
transpires through these statements is that the
training should cover both instructional procedures
and subject matter knowledge such as phonetics
and phonology as well they should be extended to
part-time teachers. The latter are graduates of the
English Department who have not received any
professional training.
Suggestions related to equipment provision
cover books and other equipment and some of them
read as follows: “The government should send
documents, books in the schools”; “Provide
materials to teachers to make listening
comprehension”; “Equip schools with sufficient
English books”; “Well-written books”; “English
laboratory”; “Provide teaching materials in quantity
and quality in all our schools”. In general, books are
needed but “well-written” and “quality” books. This
recommendation was certainly inspired by the poor
quality of the textbooks of the first four grades of
secondary school. Besides, the need for laboratory
and audiovisual equipment cannot be overstated,
especially for the teaching of listening
comprehension and pronunciation as indicated in
one of the suggestions.
It is good to have equipment but teachers
also want to be motivated: “First and foremost, EFL
teachers should be motivated to attend training”;
“The authorities have to motivate the teachers by
improving their life conditions”; “Providing teachers
what they need”; “Teachers should be encouraged
(those who do the job correctly)”; “Materials should
be given to us to have more motivation to teach
correctly”. For these respondents, motivation is not
just in terms of improving living conditions but also
providing teaching materials and rewarding teachers
who perform well, certainly to encourage others to
follow suit.
There is another form of motivation that goes
through the encouragement of supervision of
teachers: “The government should motivate and
encourage the accreditation officer, and educational
advisors to pay visits to the EFL teachers”. This
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respondent is referring to classroom observations by
teacher advisors and inspectors. This is crucial
because in Benin, such observations are carried out
for development only. Neither the teacher advisors
nor the inspectors can recommend firing a teacher.
Now, what do all the above findings inspire?
4. Discussion of the Findings
The professional development practices in
Benin are diversified. The staff meetings are the
predominant form because they are mandatory for
all teachers. In fact, such meetings facilitate peer
knowledge sharing among teachers (Alimirzaee and
Ashraf, 2016). Issues discussed by teachers during
those meetings include instructional and classroom
management concerns, learner assessment as well
as lesson planning. Even though discussion of these
issues may contribute to teachers´ growth, they lack
an important component in that they focus on
problem sharing and surely the quest for solutions.
There is no mention of sharing of success stories. In
fact, Ur (2012) suggested that teachers should also
share their successful experiences to enable other
teachers to replicate such experiences.
As far as collaboration is concerned, a
sizeable percentage (40.74 percent) of respondents
reported that at the beginning of their career, they
were mentored by more experienced teachers. This
high percentage is quite surprising in as much as to
the best of my knowledge of the Benin educational
system, mentorship as discussed earlier (Ur, 2012;
Brown, 2007) is not a common practice in the
Beninese secondary schools. This may be due to
social desirability bias or to misunderstanding of the
questionnaire item related to mentorship. In
addition, very few respondents belong to
professional organizations. It is certainly those who
are members of a professional organization that
have the opportunity to follow webinars and online
courses. The largest majority of the respondents are
not involved and for that reason, they cannot enjoy
the numerous benefits associated with professional
organizations such as leadership development,
networking, development of the habit of reading,
participation in the improvement of the EFL teaching
profession (Gnawali, 2016; Crandall and Miller,
2014). If teachers are not members of professional
associations, it follows that they have limited
information about professional journals. Rightly so,
only a limited number of respondents reported to
have subscribed to a professional journal. As a
consequence, they cannot keep abreast of new
developments and advances in the EFL field which
keeps changing.
The fact that teachers do not have the
opportunity to read professional journals poses a
serious challenge to their professional development.
But in addition to that, respondents mentioned
other challenges. For example, some indicated that
full-time teachers or experienced teachers do not
attend the weekly meetings on a regular basis to
share their experiences. The implication of this
irregular attendance is lack of peer coaching.
However, this comment is in contradiction with the
fact that almost all the respondents reported that
they attend the meetings regularly. In actual facts,
full-time teachers do not seem to show much
interest in the meetings. Lack of document is
another impediment that compounds the lack of
access to professional journals. It shows that
teachers hardly have access to reading materials. As
clearly indicated by Ur (2012), there is no substitute
for reading in the professional life of EFL teachers,
whether they are experienced or not. But
documentation goes beyond books and other
materials teachers can learn from. It also covers
textbooks. Actually, the textbooks currently used
from the first to the fourth grades of secondary
schools are of poor quality. They are poorly
illustrated, the distribution of the skills is not
balanced, and most of the texts inside the textbooks
are not authentic, to mention but a few problems
(Iwikotan, 2013).
Furthermore, lack of administrative support
has also been repeatedly mentioned by the
respondents as one of the stumbling blocks to
professional development. This comes in the form of
lack of encouragement, lack of training and lack of
motivation. No doubt that administrative support is
pivotal in EFL teachers´ professional life because
“schools where teachers receive meaningful
feedback about their instructional practices and are
recognized for their efforts will promote teachers
improvement at faster rates than schools where
such practices are absent” (Kraft and Papay, 2014, p.
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478). As it transpires through this idea, appropriate
feedback and recognition of teachers´ merits
motivate teachers and enable them to know what
they are doing well or inappropriately, thus
contributing to their development.
Suggestions have been made to overcome
the aforementioned challenges. On the one hand,
teachers are aware that they have a part to play in
their development. Teachers are encouraged to
realize that they are lifelong learners. As a
consequence they should read and take an active
part in the weekly professional development
meetings. On the other, the government is to
provide more training, teaching materials, and
mainly to prize teachers who perform well. Even
though this last recommendation may be difficult to
implement at national level, schools can try to
distinguish teachers who perform well, which will
stimulate competition.
Training in subject matter and pedagogy also
appears as a critical aspect of the recommendations.
Yet, the respondents remained silent on the need to
join a professional association, to subscribe to
professional journals or participate in professional
conferences. Through these channels, many of the
challenges can be resolved. As mentioned by
Crandall and Miller (2014), there is a wealth of
information on the websites of professional
organizations that teachers can tap into for their
growth. Access to the internet may not be easy,
especially in rural areas but I contend that there is a
price teachers have to pay if they want to grow
professionally.
5. Conclusion
We set out to investigate EFL teachers´
professional development practices and related
challenges in selected secondary schools in Cotonou,
Benin. Even though there are many challenges such
as lack of teaching inputs and lack of administrative
support, many professional development activities
are performed in the schools. Such activities include
a mandatory professional development weekly
meeting, reflective teaching, and mentorship to
mention but the prominent ones. To improve EFL
teachers´ professional development, school
administrators should be more supportive of
teachers while the government is to provide more
focused training. Nonetheless, teachers should be
sensitized on the centrality of professional
organizations and journal in their development.
One of the limitations of the study is that it
uses only self-reported data collected through a
questionnaire. A more empirical approach that uses
focus group discussions and analysis of the reports
of the weekly meetings will certainly enable to have
a deeper understanding of the issue of EFL teacher
professional development in Benin.
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Author bio
Dr. Etienne K. Iwikotan taught English at secondary
school level for 20 years. However, for two years
now, he has been an Assistant Professor of Applied
Linguistics at the English Department, Université
d´Abomey-Calavi. He also teaches translation at
undergraduate and graduate levels. He holds a PhD
in Applied Linguistics from Université d´Abomey-
Calavi, a Master of Education from Loyola University
Chicago, among others. On top of all that, he is an
international conference interpreter and translator.
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