AWEJ Volume.3 Number.4, 2012 pp. 4 – 18
The Knowledge Base of Teaching English as an Additional Language: A Framework for Curriculum and Instruction
Ghazi M. Ghaith
American University of Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon
Abstract
This paper presents a theoretical framework of the knowledge base of teaching English as an additional language. The paper is premised on the assumption that a knowledge base for teaching English as an additional language is essential despite significant variations in educational contexts and learners’ backgrounds. The proposed framework is grounded in the extant literature and consists of three dimensions relative to 1) knowledge of academic content, 2) knowledge of specialized pedagogy, and 3) knowledge of students, schools, and communities. Each of these three dimensions encompasses other types of knowledge concerning language, literature, culture, and the process of language acquisitions as well as methods of teaching and assessment and evaluation. Students’ characteristics, interaction dynamics, and motivations as well as how school and community factors may impact achievement are also discussed. The paper concludes with a suggested framework for the design and implementation of English teacher education programs in Lebanon and similar contexts in the Arab world where English is studied as an additional language for its vitality in the educational, commercial, and cultural domains.
Keywords: Knowledge base, English, Teacher education, Pedagogy, Culture