The Language of God


Book Description

Dr Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists, working at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God. How does he reconcile the seemingly unreconcilable? In THE LANGUAGE OF GOD he explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes the reader on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry and biology -- indeed, reason itself -- are not incompatible with belief. His book is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all: why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?




The Beliefs and Experiences of World Language Teachers in the US


Book Description

This book tells the stories of 15 world language (WL) teachers in the United States at elementary and secondary levels through rich descriptions of their lived worlds and experiences. In-depth interviews, extensive observations, learner interviews, and document and environment analysis illustrate in detail how teacher beliefs relate to their practices and are mediated and moderated by their learners, institutional demands, equity and access to WL education and other factors. The chapters provide a deep and robust explanation of individual teachers’ teaching lives and a cross-contextual comparison of their experiences, shining a light on the realities and demands of modern US schools. Grounded in the research literature on language teacher beliefs and cognition, this book takes the stance that all teaching is situated and contextual, and that addressing teachers' methods, practices and knowledges in ways that are divorced from their setting and environment has serious limitations. It offers fascinating insights for researchers, language educators and pre- and in-service teachers, with reflection questions at the end of each chapter to guide readers in drawing connections with their own practice, interests and contexts.







The Relations between Vietnamese EFL Students' and Teachers' Language Learning Beliefs


Book Description

This book examines the relationships between foreign language learning beliefs and learning preferences of two English language learners and the beliefs and teaching practices of two Native English-speaking teachers in the EFL context. In such an environment, the learners were not satisfied with learning English in their public school; they paid a great deal of money to attend a private school and had many expectations regarding the course and the teachers. On the other hand, the teachers had to satisfy their students without any personal experience in learning English as a foreign language. Practically, the book will help private schools and other similar contexts to enhance their competitiveness in the market and serve their learners better. In addition, the book will also help EFL teachers to raise their awareness of the nature and effects of the relationship between teachers’ and students’ beliefs. Theoretically, this book contributes to the current literature on this subject by relating not only learners’ beliefs and preferences, but also teachers’ beliefs with their on-going practices.




Building the Self-Efficacy Beliefs of English Language Learners and Teachers


Book Description

Building the Self-Efficacy Beliefs of English Language Learners and Teachers explores, juxtaposes and bridges two fields of research that have developed separately: the self-efficacy beliefs of English language learners and the self-efficacy beliefs of English language teachers. The aim is to expand understanding in each field and highlight how the two areas can mutually inform each other. This should encourage fresh perspectives, providing direction for researchers, and improving learning, teaching, and teacher education. Empirical research suggests that English language learners and teachers who believe they can fulfil a task are more likely to succeed than those who believe they cannot. Based on a deep understanding of how self-efficacy beliefs are formed and developed, this book illustrates how such beliefs can be supported and researched amongst English language learners and teachers. Bringing together the work of educators and researchers working in contexts including Algeria, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Iran, Israel, Japan, Türkiye, the UK, the USA, and Vietnam, this volume includes meta-analyses largely focusing on quantitative data and empirical studies employing qualitative approaches and mixed methods. Studies included examine factors impacting the development of language teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and investigate domain-specific dimensions of the self-efficacy beliefs of English language learners and teachers. This rigorous and original volume will appeal to an international readership of scholars, teachers, teacher educators, and researchers with interests in language education, teacher education, TESOL, linguistics, and educational psychology.




Teacher Beliefs as a Complex System: English Language Teachers in China


Book Description

The volume is a practical introduction to the ways in which the teachers deal with classroom events in the context of change for researchers, teachers, administrators who wish to implement curriculum reform to EFL in schools. The author provides insights into the beliefs of Chinese teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), and their pedagogical choices in the context of the National English Curriculum Reform. The complex nature of EFL teachers’ beliefs about EFL teaching and learning are exposed, how their beliefs interact with mental and actionable processes triggered by classroom practice, and how their beliefs co-adapt with contexts to maintain the stability of the teachers’ belief systems. This is the first study to present complexity theory in a narrative context of education, exploring the non-linear and unpredictable features of the relationship between the teachers’ beliefs and practices. Integrating complexity theory with interpretivist, ecological and sociocultural perspectives, this book contributes to the research agenda by providing a systematic framework for examining teacher beliefs as a whole, and examining the extent to which western theory may be applied to Chinese educational contexts.




Beliefs, Agency and Identity in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching


Book Description

This book explores the phenomena of believing (or giving personal meanings), acting, and identifying (or identity construction), and the interconnectedness of these phenomena in the learning and teaching of English and other foreign languages.




Understanding EAP Learners’ Beliefs about Language Learning from a Socio-cultural Perspective


Book Description

This book focuses on the dynamic nature of EAP (English for academic purposes) learners’ beliefs about language learning in their shift from an EFL (English as a foreign language) environment to an EMI (English as the medium of instruction) setting in mainland China. It adopts a mixed method paradigm, whose quantitative part aims to capture the general dynamic feature of the selected student population, while its qualitative part attempts to unveil the process of change in beliefs about language learning among the sample. It is hypothesized that the change in their beliefs about language learning is the result of the interplay between the learners’ agency and the mediation of the contextual realities at the institutional and social levels.