Canadian Pre-service Teachers’ English Language Teaching Practices in the Cross-Cultural Context

As ESL/EAL classrooms become more multilingual and multiethnic, Canadian teachers need more guidance to support newcomers coming from diverse cultural backgrounds and with different language levels. This research explores three Canadian pre-service teachers’ English language and cultural teaching experiences in China and Canada with the focus on their teaching strategies, resources, factors that impact their teaching and the influence of the reciprocal learning experiences on their teaching. Using qualitative research methods, we analyzed the participant teachers’ reflection journals, observation notes, and interview transcripts. The findings show that the students’ English level was an important factor that influenced the Canadian pre-service teachers’ teaching preparations and practices. They adopted a variety of strategies including body language, metaphors, bilingual slides, and simplification of task requirements. Meanwhile, they improved the ability to flexibly adjust teaching according to Chinese students’ level and interests. Overall, the cross-cultural experiences enhanced the participants’ teaching profession, motivated them to reflect on their teaching beliefs, and enabled them to learn reciprocally from the west and east. Our research provides implications on language and cultural teaching in both EFL and ESL contexts since Canada as the host country is accepting more and more immigrant students and refugees and China has made great efforts in improving the quality of its English language education.