These are some of the projects our members are currently working on.
Project team
Andy Bown (Lead Investigator) & Darren Pullen
Funding
Seed Funding ($4,000)
About
This research project centers on the investigation of how classroom teachers are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the learning experiences of students for whom English is not their primary language. Specifically, the study focuses on those students who are English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) learners. This study aims to investigate how classroom teachers are employing Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, to enhance the learning outcomes of English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) students and other students in their classes. The research aims to uncover the extent of LLM adoption, their usage patterns, and the benefits and challenges experienced by teachers in leveraging AI for differentiated instruction in diverse classrooms.
Project team
Stephanie Richey (Lead Investigator); Mairin Hennebry-Leung (Co-Lead Investigator); Gary Bonar (Monash University); Andy Xuesong Gao (UNSW)
Funding
Seed Funding ($5,000)
About
This study investigates teachers’ experiences of supporting language learning motivation in the primary-secondary school transition; a stage widely acknowledged to present motivational challenges. The study adopts Q-method to examine the challenges and opportunities language teachers experience in this regard and how schools and teachers prepare students for effective transition. Given the importance of synergy between primary and secondary schools in this regard, this will also be a focus of the project. The project will identify successful strategies which can be disseminated to schools to support and enhance their practices. The outcomes will enable schools and languages teachers to better understand how they can best support students’ motivation in this transition working towards sustainability in language teaching and learning.
Project leader
Dr Mairin Hennebry-Leung; Nita Novianti (Research Assistant)
Funding
The Spencer Foundation ($70,000)
About
As Anglophone countries seek to increase second and foreign language provision in primary schools a shortage of teachers means this teaching often falls to teachers with little or no language pedagogical content knowledge. This phenomenon threatens teachers’ sense of competence and their motivation. Despite its significant associations with learner outcomes and its importance in teacher professional well-being, language teacher motivation is under-researched.
This study will draw on qualitative network analysis to generate unique insights into the interplay of factors that shape teacher motivation. Findings will shed light on structures, processes and practices that inhibit or support teacher motivation and enabling conditions for effective Languages education. In so doing, they will inform the work of teacher educators, school administrators and policymakers.
Project team
Mairin Hennebry-Leung (Lead Investigator); Andy Bown; Steph Richey; Frances Fan; Isabel Wang
Funding
Modern Languages Teachers’ Association of Tasmania ($2,000)
About
This project entails a general population survey, documenting language practices and exploring Tasmanian attitudes towards other languages
Aim
Research points to the importance of social attitudes towards languages in students’ motivation for language learning. Language attitudes are also an important component of the mindset that students bring to the classroom. Language attitudes in Tasmania are largely unresearched. This project aims to provide an overview of the diversity and type of attitudes towards languages that exist in the Tasmanian communities. In doing so the project will generate important contextual insights to be shared with language educators, allowing an understanding of the sociocultural context that may interact with language learning in the classroom.
Project team
Mairin Hennebry-Leung; Ben Moorhouse (Hong Kong Baptist University); Karen Martin
About
Trauma-informed teaching is recognized as important across the educational trajectory and recommendations for trauma-informed pedagogy are available (e.g., UNHCR, 2017). Nevertheless, its integration into teacher education programmes is relatively unchartered territory. Given the strong identity component in language learning, language teachers may need to give particular consideration to what trauma-informed practice means in the language classroom. Notwithstanding, little is known about language teacher cognitions on trauma-informed language teaching. Indeed, the extent to which classroom teachers understand the nature of trauma, its potential impact on learning, what trauma-informed practice looks like, and how to effectively implement it in the classroom is largely unknown. Language teacher education programmes have a key role to play in preparing teachers for trauma-informed practice. This study involves an intervention in the context of a TESOL teacher education programme. Pre- and post-intervention measures of the pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards trauma-informed practice, are combined with case study responses, and qualitative interview data. The study provides insights for teacher educators looking to develop impactful learning opportunities on trauma-informed practice for pre-service teachers.