Empowering Language Teachers and Learners in Uzbekistan: Opening Doors through Formal English Reading and Writing Development

赋予乌兹别克斯坦语言教师和学习者权力：通过正规英语阅读和写作发展打开大门

• 批准号: ES/P009689/1
• 负责人: Diana Mazgutova
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lancaster University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FP009689%2F1
• 关键词: Empowering; Language; Teachers; Learners; Uzbekistan

On World Teachers' Day 2014, the heads of UNESCO/ ILO/ UNICEF/ UNDP and Education International affirmed that "an education system is only as good as its teachers" [1]. A 2015 UNESCO report [2] on the relationship between the teaching profession and Art. 26 of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights [3], the right to education, reported that teachers often lack the resources and training to give the high standard of teaching required for good learning outcomes. Uzbekistan, a lower-middle income country, has insufficient resources for the education sector to fully capitalise on learner and teacher development, with knock-on effects on its economic workforce.A working knowledge of English is an important facet of a professional education. However, a 2010 OSCE report [4] found that only 1% of students, teachers, professors and public servants in Uzbekistan used English in their professional lives or read articles in English, a finding potentially explained by low levels of English proficiency. Thus, providing a program to improve English formal reading and writing abilities will bring benefits to Uzbek students, language teachers, and, via a trickledown effect, the country as a whole. This will give students the skills to successfully study online/abroad bringing back valuable knowledge to benefit the country, give teachers access to international professional journals to improve their teaching and share their own practices and research, and allow Uzbek citizens to more effectively communicate with the rest of the world.My PhD research focused on the development of formal reading and writing skills of non-native English speaking students. Also, I have been a teacher of formal English in Uzbekistan for 4 years and in the UK for 6 years, and have seen how certain skills and practices could be beneficially transposed from the UK to the Uzbek context. My goal is to create two inter-related educational tools, which aim to initiate and perpetuate high-quality teaching and learning of formal English in Uzbekistan via a bottom-up approach. The tools will be based on my PhD findings and teaching experience that 1) exposure to formal writing styles in English and the use of model essays with extensive feedback, and 2) training teachers on navigating English language knowledge networks and engendering sensitivity to and knowledge of English formal writing styles, are both beneficial to language learners' outcomes.My first aim is to create an interactive model essay website (package 1) containing a corpus of formal student writing in English from the Uzbek context, via my close links with the Uzbekistan Teachers of English Association (UzTEA). The texts will be sorted thematically, digitised, reviewed and annotated with extensive feedback on issues such as text organisation, appropriacy of language, etc. These will interactively allow students and teachers to notice and attempt to correct errors and provide detailed feedback on the correction they choose. The materials will be a valuable pedagogical tool.The second aim is a self-perpetuating workshop on improving formal reading and writing skills (package 2). The 3-day workshop package, in a modular format, will provide instruction to English teachers on aspects of teaching formal reading and writing felt lacking in the Uzbek context. Development of the workshop package will be based on my PhD findings and a brief needs analysis in the form of an online questionnaire. The materials will be constructed via a co-production process, in Uzbekistan, with teachers from varying educational sectors. The workshop package will be implemented by effectively running it with a group of teachers and will thereby also serve as a model for those teachers of how to run the workshop. All resources will be made available online. Attendees will be encouraged to run a similar workshop in their home institutions, thus, initiating a domino effect that can will cascade through the country.

在2014年世界教师日，联合国教科文组织/国际劳工组织/联合国儿童基金会/联合国开发计划署和国际教育组织的负责人申明：“教育系统的好坏取决于其教师”。联合国教科文组织2015年关于教师职业与联合国《世界人权宣言》第26条（受教育权）之间关系的报告[2]指出，教师往往缺乏资源和培训，无法提供良好学习成果所需的高标准教学。乌兹别克斯坦是一个中低收入国家，教育部门没有足够的资源来充分利用学习者和教师的发展，对经济劳动力产生连锁反应。英语工作知识是专业教育的重要方面。然而，2010年欧安组织的一份报告[4]发现，乌兹别克斯坦只有1%的学生、教师、教授和公务员在职业生活中使用英语或阅读英语文章，这一发现可能是由于英语水平较低。因此，提供一个提高英语正式阅读和写作能力的方案将有利于乌兹别克学生、语言教师，并通过涓滴效应，有利于整个国家。这将使学生能够成功地在网上/国外学习，带回宝贵的知识，造福国家，让教师获得国际专业期刊，以提高他们的教学和分享自己的实践和研究，并允许乌兹别克斯坦公民更有效地与世界其他地区进行交流。我的博士研究重点是非英语母语学生的正式阅读和写作技能的发展。此外，我在乌兹别克斯坦当了4年正式英语教师，在英国当了6年正式英语教师，我看到了某些技能和实践如何从英国有益地转移到乌兹别克斯坦。我的目标是创建两个相互关联的教育工具，旨在通过自下而上的方法在乌兹别克斯坦启动和延续高质量的正规英语教学。这些工具将基于我的博士研究结果和教学经验，1）接触英语正式写作风格和使用具有广泛反馈的范文，2）培训教师浏览英语语言知识网络，并培养对英语正式写作风格的敏感性和知识，我的第一个目标是创建一个互动的范文网站（包1）包含一个语料库的正式学生写作英语从乌兹别克的背景下，通过我的密切联系，乌兹别克斯坦英语教师协会（UzTEA）。这些文本将按主题分类，数字化，审查和注释，并就文本组织，语言适当性等问题提供广泛的反馈，这些将以互动方式让学生和教师注意并尝试纠正错误，并提供有关他们选择的纠正的详细反馈。第二个目标是举办一个关于提高正式阅读和写作技能的自我延续讲习班（第2套材料）。为期3天的讲习班教材采用模块形式，将向英语教师提供乌兹别克语中缺乏的正规阅读和写作教学方面的指导。研讨会包的开发将基于我的博士研究结果和在线问卷形式的简短需求分析。这些材料将在乌兹别克斯坦与来自不同教育部门的教师共同制作。将通过与一组教师一起有效地开展讲习班来实施讲习班一揽子计划，从而也将成为这些教师如何举办讲习班的一个模式。所有资源都将在网上提供。将鼓励与会者在本国机构举办类似的讲习班，从而产生多米诺骨牌效应，在全国范围内级联。