QUALITY LANGUAGE TEACHING

IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
FINDING PATHWAYS TO ACHIEVE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
5TH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE 4TH 5TH JULY 2017

Marcos Antnio Amaral

Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosae (UNTL)
 QUALITY LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

In order to achieve quality, it is necessary to approach the teaching-learning process as a whole,

evaluating the contribution of each of the elements involved in this process (Arends, 2012):

Learner Curriculum
the Curriculum

The Learner

the Teacher

Teacher
QUALITY LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The Curriculum
In East Timor, the curriculum developed for language teaching, namely Portuguese as
one of the official languages, and English as a foreign language, has already been
developed considering intended learning outcomes (Spady,1994) within the following skills
(Delors, 1996):
Learning to know: to provide the cognitive tools required to better comprehend the world and
its complexities, and to provide an appropriate and adequate foundation for future learning.
Learning to do: to provide the skills that would enable individuals to effectively participate in the
global economy and society.
Learning to be: to provide self analytical and social skills to enable individuals to develop to their
fullest potential psycho-socially, affectively as well as physically, for a all-round complete person.
Learning to live together: to expose individuals to the values implicit within human rights,
democratic principles, intercultural understanding and respect and peace at all levels of society
and human relationships to enable individuals and societies to live in peace and harmony.
 QUALITY LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The Learners
Based on the expected learning outcomes, by the end of secondary school, students
should be able to operate within the more complex levels:

Q. 1 Are Timorese students

able to perform such
complex tasks?

(Blooms Taxonomy, 1975)

 QUALITY LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The Teachers
As an agent of social change and curriculum
innovation (Flores, 1998), the teacher must be responsible
for a constructive alignment between the chosen
learning outcomes, the teaching methodologies and
the assessment framework.

Q. 2 Are Timorese teachers ready to achieve/construct this

alignment?
Does teacher training in East Timor prepare teachers to select
and implement the suitable teaching methodologies and
assessment framework in order to achieve the chosen learning
outcomes? Probably, not yet.
 QUALITY LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

To briefly analyse the quality of language teaching in secondary schools in East Timor we can
have a look at the Cycle of Deming, known as the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act):

Q. 3 Is there a plan for language teaching in secondary

schools?
Yes, the curriculum already has the content that should be
delivered and how it should be delivered based on learning
outcomes.

Q. 4 Who is doing it implementing the language teaching in

secondary schools? Are they prepared?
The teachers working in the educational system of East
Timor.
 QUALITY LANGUAGE TEACHING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

To briefly analyse the quality of language teaching in secondary schools in East Timor we can have
a look at the Cycle of Deming, known as the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act):

Q. 5 Who is checking the language teaching in secondary

schools?
Currently, the educational system lacks of monitoring, at
Ministry and school level, of the following elements:
- Curriculum implementation
- Assessment frameworks
- Teaching methodologies

Q. 6 Can any actions be taken to improve the quality of

language teaching in secondary schools?
Yes, but due to lack of monitoring/assessment of the whole
process, measures will be ineffective.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arends, R. (2012). Learning to teach (9th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Biggs, J. (2003a). Teaching for quality learning at university. Buckingham: Open University
Press.
Biggs J. (2003b). Aligning teaching and assessing to course objectives. Teaching and
learning in higher education: new trends and innovations. University of Aveiro, 1317
April.
Bloom, B. S. (1975). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Book 1, Cognitive Domain.
Longman Publishing.
Delors, J. J. (1996). Learning: the treasure within. Report to Unesco of the International
Comission on Education for the twenty-first century. Paris: UNESCO
Flores, M. A. & Flores, M. (1998). O professor - agente de inovao curricular. Braga:
Universidade do Minho.
Spady, W. G. (1994). Outcome based education: critical issues and answers. Virginia:
American Association of School Administrators.
 THANK YOU
FOR
YOUR ATTENTION