Análisis de composición elemental con EDS

Trilingual teaching is one of the most challenging jobs in many countries. According to Benson (2004), trilingual teachers should be trained to fulfil different roles: linguist, community member, intercultural communicator and advocate (pp.211-215). They are expected to teach literacy, whilst teaching communicative language skills together with curricular content. In addition, they are required to be trilingual and have the task of bridging the linguistic and cultural gap between home and school. With regard to this job, some

trilingual teachers are usually less trained, and mostly have no option but to work in schools with insufficient resources (Benson, 2004).

2.8.1 Differences between bilingual and trilingual teacher training

There is a common consensus that both the third language acquisition and second language acquisition do not follow the same processes (Gay et al., 2008; Zhu, 2012; Li, 2009 ). It is stated that L3 and L2 learners have different ways of approaching the task of language learning as well as the effects of their efforts. Firstly, the third language learner has a minimum of two language systems at his/her disposal while learning the third target language (Cenoz, 2009; Baikeli, 2010; Stakhnevich, 2005; Zeng, 2010; Chen, 2008; Singleton and Little, 2005). Secondly, third language learners have had at least two kinds of language learning experiences, which also affects the approaches that they employ in the new learning situation (Zeng, 2010). Moreover, the memories of their previous positive or negative language learning experiences may influence the student’s self- worth, readiness to take risks, attitudes to language learning and motivation in learning a new language (Gay et al., 2008). Thirdly, the third language learners may also have the exact expectancies of the functions and role of the third language teacher (Aronin, 2005). Lastly, some research findings also suggest that the third language learners have the advantages in receptive skills over the bilingual learners; the positive influence of bilingualism on third language acquisition has been shown in these studies (Cenoz and Genesee, 1998; Cenoz and Jessner, 2000; Cenoz, Hufeisen and Jessner, 2001).

However, recent research has indicated that third language acquisition varies from second language learning, with many teachers insufficiently equipped to teach their L3 students (Li, 2009; Gay et al., 2008). One of the reasons for this is that most methodology courses deal only with first or second foreign language acquisition and learning only (Gay et al., 2008). It is suggested that third language teachers should be capable of identifying and understanding their students’ attitudes, motivation and expectations that is associated with the new learning situation. They should be aware of the students’ preferred learning strategies and learning styles, level of intercultural awareness, complex linguistic knowledge and rich language learning experience, which will probably be fundamental to them when acquiring a new language. The teachers should have the ability to conduct contrastive analysis and a needs analysis (Zhu, 2012). Furthermore, the third language teachers should be made aware of the procedures and resources used in the country or region for their students’ second language teaching, so as to be able to make appropriate links to the students’ already existing knowledge which they are familiar with (Liang, 2010; Gay et al., 2008; Zhang, 2015). They should realize that compared with the second language learners, the third language learners must be given additional cognitive activities and be encouraged to discover facts about the

new language independently for further learning (Gay et al., 2008). More importantly, they must be capable of adapting or designing sufficient materials and programmes which can aid their students to attain the best learning success. Another issue is that of the lack of third language resources. These are the skills and knowledge that the trilingual teacher training courses should offer for future trilingual teachers (Li, 2009; Gay et al., 2008).

2.8.2 Principles in trilingual teacher training

According to Baker (2001), teacher training programmes should include language learning theory and demonstrative language teaching techniques so that appropriate and effective practices are modelled and experienced, thus aiding the leap from knowledge to application of knowledge in teacher training programmes. In addition, with the increasing variety - both culturally and linguistically - teacher education programmes should particularly tackle issues of diversity (García and Pugh, 1992) and assist pre-service and in-service teachers in developing conceptual frameworks that are responsive to the educational needs of students who come from different cultural backgrounds with diverse language backgrounds (Banks, 1993; Luo and Jiang, 2009; Zeichner, 1993). The courses which introduce political, cultural, and social patterns of the larger society, as well as the student teaching experience, should also be included in the preparation of qualified trilingual teachers (Zhang, 2009; García and Pugh, 1992). It is also suggested that the teacher trainers and syllabus developers must have sufficient experience, as they cannot be expected to teach or write about trilingual methods which they themselves have never experienced (Benson, 2004). The implications made from this discussion concerning the trilingual teachers’ training should preferably capitalize on their strengths whilst attending to their needs. The efforts discussed above might be helpful for improving the quality of trilingual teacher training to some extent.

Language teacher education is a diverse subject area and teacher training is regarded as ‘one of many factors that may influence student learning’ (Jacob and Lefgren, 2004, p.59).Various ways of regarding trilingual teacher training are based on concepts and judgements, that usually give a partial interpretation of the complexities involved. Moreover, each of these deep-seated differences between teaching and talking about teaching terms involves a complex ways of knowing and acting. There are always degrees of explicitness and implicitness, and individual personal and context-bound differences (Grenfell, 1998). Establishing a concrete opinion on the appropriate method to train teachers usually takes place in this space of conflicting forces and often seeks to lessen such conflicts in the teacher training programme. Training itself is a practical activity, and behind the training itself, there are real places and real people. Therefore, it is clear that most training processes and outcomes achievement cannot be evaluated without consideration of the context to which the literature review now turns/addresses.