Pronunciation & L2 Teacher Learning - Dr Michael Burri (Wollongong), UCL Inst. of Ed. 17 Nov 2021

"L2 Teacher Learning: A Longitudinal and Pronunciation-oriented Perspective"

UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics Research Seminar, University College London, 17th November 2021 (Wed), 10:00-11:30 am, held on Zoom

Dr Michael Burri, University of Wollongong, Australia
Hosted by Dr Talia Isaacs, UCL Institute of Education

Abstract
Longitudinal research on pre-service and in-service teacher education has increased notably in the last two decades. Studies have explored a number of issues related to the process of teacher learning (e.g., grammar instruction, teaching speaking, pedagogical knowledge, teacher identity) but the understanding of the long process of learning to teach pronunciation is just beginning to emerge. The aim of this talk is to provide an overview and findings of an ongoing 8-year longitudinal study that explores L2 teachers’ trajectories of learning to teach English pronunciation. Qualitative data collection has included five phases thus far, ranging from a graduate course on pronunciation pedagogy (Burri, 2015a, 2015b; Burri & Baker, 2019; Burri, Baker, & Chen, 2017, 2018; Burri, Chen, & Baker, 2017), to teachers’ early years (Burri, 2021; Burri & Baker, 2020) and then more experienced years of teaching (Burri & Baker, 2021), to the beginning and now current stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall findings show the complexity of teachers’ long-term learning trajectories, which are often influenced by a diverse array of interconnected factors, such as context, beliefs, knowledge, identity, and education. To illustrate and deconstruct this complexity, I will first summarize several of my recent papers that have explored the data from different perspectives, and then present some preliminary findings derived from the two latest rounds of interviews (phases 4 and 5 of the study). The talk will conclude with a series of recommendations and implications for L2 instructors, L2 teacher education, and research.

Bio
Michael Burri is Senior Lecturer in TESOL at the University of Wollongong, and Editor of English Australia Journal. He has taught and conducted research in a variety of contexts in Australia, Japan, and Canada. His professional interests include pronunciation instruction, teacher education and learning, Mind Brain Education, context-sensitive/innovative pedagogy, and non-native English-speaking teacher issues. For his longitudinal research on learning to teach pronunciation he was awarded the TESOL Award for an Outstanding Paper on NNEST Issues (2015), and the MAK Halliday Prize for Outstanding Research in Applied Linguistics (2019). You can find him on Twitter at @michaelburri or on his YouTube channel, The ELT Research Garage, which he created with the goal of making research more accessible to L2 teachers.