About the ELT research and methodology section
ELT Research and Methodology - what is it?
The ELT Research and Methodology section deals with the methodological and didactic training of student teachers. The English teaching degree program provides students with a broad range of knowledge in the areas of theory, practice and research. In all courses in our department, students are encouraged to reflect on their own learning process and possible methods of language teaching with the support of international experts in English didactics and English teachers who also teach at Austrian schools.
Research in the English Language Teaching section covers all aspects of English language teaching. As well as specializing in the psychology of language learning and teaching, we also focus on issues of language awareness, particularly in the area of English as a global language and World Englishes. The section has had funding for numerous projects on topics such as CLIL, well-being, global citizenship, multilingualism and the psychology of language learners.
Further Research Projects
Funding: none
Project members: Sarah Mercer, Dávid Smid, Gholam Hassan Khajavy, Carlos Murillo-Miranda
Project description: Language learning is a highly emotional endeavor. Most research to date has focused on anxiety but, recently, the scope and range of emotions investigated has begun to expand. One emotion which can potentially have a considerable impact on language learning and use processes is embarrassment. In this two-stage study, our aim is to explore the nature of embarrassment as experienced by language learners in different contexts seeking to understand which situations are more likely to induce embarrassment and why. Stage one of the study uses student-generated narratives to generate insights into the contexts and frames of reference influencing experiences of learner embarrassment in relation to language learning and use. In the second phase, we will develop a scale for measuring embarrassment in the foreign language classroom. This will be integrated into a global, international survey to better understand how embarrassment is experienced across contexts and populations as well as how it relates to other key variables known to impact on language learning processes such as engagement, mindsets, and self-concept.
Funding: none
Project members: Sarah Mercer, Dávid Smid, Gholam Hassan Khajavy, Carlos Murillo-Miranda, Giulia Sulis, Astrid Mairitsch, Salam Mairi, Sun Shin
Project description: Previous research on emotions has mostly focused on language learners and few studies have examined language teachers’ emotions. Yet, the act of teaching is replete with emotions, and teachers experience a full range of emotions in their professional lives. In general education, a powerful emotion for teacher wellbeing is experiencing a sense of pride in one’s job and professional experiences. In our research, we seek to investigate how this emotion is experienced among language teachers. Our first study in this regard established some of the characteristics of pride among English language teachers and revealed the extent to which it responds in domain-specific ways (Mairitsch et al., 2023). In our current research, we are working on developing a scale to measure language teachers’ pride. This will be integrated into a global, international survey to cast light on how language teacher pride relates to key variables such as engagement, wellbeing, and burnout in different contexts and across diverse populations.