Abstract
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) iBT test is required by many universities for admission which has fostered training businesses in many Asian countries. Although there is an abundance of academic content in TOEFL test material, most of the research attention has focused on its linguistic aspects, such as teaching English vocabulary and grammar mainly because academic knowledge is believed to be unnecessary for achieving a good performance as claimed by the exam organizers (Educational Testing Service in Why choose the TOEFL test? (For test takers), 2012). Although some recent studies have found otherwise (Deniz in TESL-EJ 23:1–9, 2019), this gap in TOEFL preparation courses still exists. Using an autoethnographic approach, this study examines the first author’s teaching experience in TOEFL preparation by consolidating the teacher’s teaching notes, students’ narrative of course experience, and 20 h of classroom recordings into an analysis of implementing discourse strategies, translanguaging, and CLIL theories in a TOEFL preparation course. This study also explores how these theoretical insights can help to mitigate the tensions between the practical goal of helping students to pass the test and the long-term goal of expanding students’ linguistic repertoire in academic genre.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cummins, J. (2009). Multilingualism in the English-language classroom: Pedagogical considerations. TESOL Quarterly, 43(2), 317–321. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00171.x
Deniz, T. (2019). Topic familiarity matters: A critical analysis of TOEFL iBT reading section. TESL-EJ, 23(1), 1–9.
Educational Testing Service. (2012). Why choose the TOEFL test? (For test takers). www.ets.org. https://www.ets.org/toefl/test-takers/ibt/why
Educational Testing Service. (2019). TOEFL iBT Practice tests (for test takers). ETS TOEFL. https://www.ets.org/toefl/test-takers/ibt/prepare/tests
Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An overview. Historical Social Research/Historische Sozialforschung, 36(4 (138)), 273–290. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23032294
Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking science: Language, learning and values. Ablex.
Lin, A. M. Y. (2015). Conceptualising the potential role of L1 in CLIL. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 28(1), 74–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2014.1000926
Lin, A. M. Y. (2018). Theories of trans/languaging and trans-semiotizing: Implications for content-based education classrooms. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1515175
Lin, A. M. Y., Lau, S. M. C., & Van Viegan, S. (2021). TESOL and language teaching and learning as critical sociolinguistic inquiry and embodied practice. TL-TS Research Group. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX6tnEYmKUE
Swain, M. (2013). The inseparability of cognition and emotion in second language learning. Language Teaching, 46(2), 195–207. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444811000486
Tang, K.-S. (2021). Discourse strategies for science teaching and learning: Research and practice. Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chen, Q., Lin, A.M.Y. (2023). Facilitating the Comprehension of Academic Content in the TOEFL iBT Test Preparation Classroom. In: Raza, K., Reynolds, D., Coombe, C. (eds) Handbook of Multilingual TESOL in Practice. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9350-3_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9350-3_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-9349-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-9350-3
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)