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VOLUME 5. ISSUE.3,2017. (July-Sept)

ISSN:2395-2636(P):2321–3108(E) Impact Factor:5.002 ( COSMOS)

Research Journal of English Language and Literature

(RJELAL)

A Peer Reviewed International Journal

KY PUBLICATIONS

www.kypublications.com

INDIA

[email protected]

Research Journal of English Language

and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal

http://www.rjelal.com

Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)

ISSN:2395-2636(P):2321 – 3108(E) Estd:2013

Editorial Board

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Prof. Dr.R.Saraswathi PhD Dept of English Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjuna Nagar, Andhra Pradesh, India

Editorial Board members Dr Azadeh Nemati Department of English Language Teaching, Jahrom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Jahrom, Iran

Dr. K.V. RAGHUPATHI. PhD Department of English, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur- 610001, TAMIL NADU. INDIA

Dr María Luisa Carrió-Pastor PhD Universidad Politécnica de Valencia Departamento de Lingüística Aplicada. Edificio 4P Camino de Vera, 14, 46022 Valencia; Spain

Dr. Amrendra Sharma, Ph.D. Department of English , Dhofar University, Salalah, PO Box-2509; Postal Code-211; Sultanate of Oman

Dr.M.Suresh Kumar PhD Department of English Acharya Nagarjuna University Nagarjuna Nagar , Andhra Pradesh-India Research Interest: ELT & Translational Studies

Dr.Yazid Basthomi PhD English Department, Faculty of Letters Universitas Negeri Malang (State University of Malang) Jl. Semarang 5 Malang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia 65145

Dr Gullapalli Srilatha PhD Dept of English, P.B.Siddhartha College of Arts & Science, Vijayawada Affiliated to Krishna University; India

Dr Turki Diab Bani-Khaled PhD Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & English Language Teaching Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Foreign Languages University of Jordan, Amman 11942-Jordan

Dr. Ramani Perur Nagaratnam PhD Professor /Quality Assurance Expert English Language & Literature Teaching Ministry of Manpower Sultanate of Oman

Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)

ISSN:2395-2636(P):2321 – 3108(E) Estd:2013

Editorial Board

Eba Teresa Garoma Head, Department of English Language and Literature Jimma University, P.O.Box 5249 Ethiopia

Dr D.SUMALATHA Department of English University College of Engg& Technology, ANU, INDIA

Dr. Kadodo Webster PhD Department of Curriculum Studies, Great Zimbabwe University, Box 1235, Masvingo, Zimbabwe.

Dr.V.Rajesh PhD Vice Principal Sri Sayee Vivekananda Vidhyalaya Matric. Hr. Sec. School, Chennai

Dr. Dimitrios Politis PhD Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education Rion, University of Patras 265 04 Patras ;Greece.

Dr. G.A. GHANSHYAM, Ph.D. Department of English GOVT. ARTS COLLEGE, SEEPAT, BILASPUR (C.G.), INDIA

Dr. Naveen .K. Mehta, Associate Professor & Head Communication Skills Department, MIT, Ujjain (MP), India

Dr. Amir Al-Azab, Department of English , Qatar university, Qatar

Dr. V. Rajasekaran. Ph.D. Associate Professor /Head, Department of English,EBET Group of Institutions Tirupur , Tamilnadu, India

Dr.S.MOHAN Assistant Professor-I Department of English, Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil, Srivilliputhur. Tamilnadu,India

Dr. MILON FRANZ Associate Professor in English St. Xavier’s College for Women, Aluva, Kerala, India

Dr MESFIN ABERRA Hawassa University College of Social Sciences and Humanities School of Language and Communication Studies Research, Hawassa, Ethiopia

RJELAL Vol.5. Issue 3.2017

Index

S.No Article Details Page No

i | P a g e

1. The Challenges of the EST Teacher and Students in a Bilingual Institution Dr. JUSTINE FORCHAP University Institute of Science and Technology UCAC ICAM of Central Africa -BP 5504 Douala- Cameroon

1-6

2. In the Footsteps of the Shakespearean Fool: The Critique of Hegemonies in ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ Dr. KAMNA SINGH Faculty, Department of English, MCM DAV College, Chandigarh

7-9

3. LITERATURE PORTRAY OF NOVEL “THE KITE RUNNER” BY KHALED HOSSEINI SULEKHA SUNDARESAN*1, Dr.K.SUMATHI2, Dr.P.KOLAPPADHAS3 1Research Scholar Aff.to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abhishekapatti, Tirunelveli, TamilNadu, India. 2Associate Professor, Department of English, Vivekananda College of Arts and Science, Agastheeswaram Post, Agastheeswaram, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India 3Associate Professor, Department of English, S.T.Hindu College,Desi Vinayaga Nagar,Kottar, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu.

10-15

4. THE INTEGRATION OF MIND AND BODY IN THE NOVELS OF AYN RAND RENUKA NANDAKUMAR1, Dr. SASHIKALA.R2 1Research Scholar, Bharatiyar University, Coimbatore, India 2Former Principal, Dr.GRD College of Education, Coimbatore

16-18

5. Shakespeare’s use of Language in Macbeth MANJU DEVI Assistant Professor, Gaur Brahman Degree College, Rohtak

19-22

6. GLIMPSES OF TRUE LOVE IN “I TOO HAD A LOVE STORY” BY RAVINDER SINGH JAGJEET SINGH1, Dr. KULBHUSHAN KUMAR2 1Ph.D., Research Scholar (Full Time), 2Research Supervisor, Associate Professor and Head, Dept. of English and Communication Studies, Eternal University, Distt. Sirmaur, Baru Sahib via Rajgarh, (H. P) India

23-29

7. SOCIAL PROPLEMS AND THE ROLE OF THE PROTAGONIST IN MAHESH ELKUNCHWAR’S GARBO ANI SUNANDA BASAVARAJ1, Dr.A.LOURDUSAMY 2 1Research Scholar, Tumkur University, Tumkur, Karnataka, India 2Research Supervisor

30-32

8. MYTHS, CUSTOMS AND RITUALS: A STUDY OF SELECTED NOVELS OF SHASHI DESHPANDE THROUGH A FEMINIST LENS MRINMOYEE GOSWAMI*1, Dr. INDU SWAMI2 1Assistant Professor, Department of English, L. G. B. Girls’ College, Tezpur, Assam 2Assistant Professor, Department of English,Assam University, Diphu Campus, Diphu, Karbi Anglong, Assam

33-38

9. THE TRAUMA CAUSED BY BHOPAL GAS LEAK TRAGEDY BASED ON AMULYA MALLADI’S ‘A BREATH OF FRESH AIR’ TRESA P T1, G.RUBY2 1Head of English Department, Pavai College of Technology, Pachal, Namakkal. 2Asst.Professor of English, Govt.Arts & Science College, Komarapalayam

39-44

10. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: Employment of Naturalism in its Rudiments SHASHIDHAR S Assistant Professor, Department of English Acharya Institute of Graduate Studies Hesarghatta Road, Soldevanahalli, Bangalore. (Affiliated to Bangalore University and Approved by Government of Karnataka)

45-51

11. CONCEPTUALIZING THE FACETS OF INDIAN CULTURE APARNA SINGH Research Scholar, Department of English, D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur

52-55


Index


ii | P a g e

12. KHUSHWANT SINGH’S DELHI A NOVEL: RECOLLECTING AND RECLAIMING THE CITY SANGEETA MITTAL Associate Professor, Department of English, Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

56-65

13. THE MYTH OF MOTHERHOOD AND THE COMMODIFICATION OF FEMALE BODY NIMMY JOSEPH Assariparambil House Kottayam, Kerala, India

66-69

14. OVERVIEW OF COMMON SPELLING ERRORS IN STUDENT’S EXAMINATION COMMUNICATION SKILLS SCRIPTS: A DISTURBING PHENOMENON IN TAMALE POLYTECHNIC, GHANA RAFIU AYINLA SULEIMAN Tamale Polytechnic, P. O Box 3 er, School of Applied Arts, Department of Languages and Liberal Studies Tamale-Ghana

70-77

15. INDIA: THE NEW CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE COMMUNAL INTOLERANCE NIMMY JOSEPH Assariparambil House Kottayam, Kerala, India

82-84

16. THE CHARACTERS CONTROLLED BY ‘ID’ - A STUDY BASED ON JHUMPA’S SHORT STORIES COLLECTION, ‘AN UNACCUSTOMED EARTH’ AND ‘INTERPRETER OF MALADIES’ ANAMIKA LALL Research Scholar, English Literature, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences DIT University, Dehradun.

85-88

17. DISINTEGRATION OF THE SELF IN MARTIN AMIS’S MONEY: A SUICIDE NOTE: A SATIRE ON THE MODERN CONSUMER SOCIETY HARWINDER KAUR Research Scholar, Dept. of English, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra, Haryana, India

89-93

18. ERROR ANALYSIS ON SPOKEN ENGLISH AT UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL IN BANGLADESH SHARMIN JAHAN Lecturer, Department of English, Southern University Bangladesh 739A, Mehedibag Road, Chittagong, Bangladesh

94-99

19. Tolerance of human foibles - a blessing or a curse A study of the characters of Rosie -in R. K. Narayan’s The Guide and Rukmani–in Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a sieve N. USHA M.Phil Scholar, PRIST University, Vallam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu

100-102

20. CASTE SYSTEM AND THE ROLE OF INTOXICANTS IN THE NOVEL BRAVE NEW WORLD NIMMY JOSEPH Assariparambil House Kottayam, Kerala, India

103-106

21. ALICE WALKER AND THE THEMES OF THE COLOR PURPLE RAMYASREE. D M.Phil. scholar, Prist University, Thanjavur

107-108

22. HUMAN VIOLENCE AGAINST HUMANS: MANTO’S “OPEN IT!” IN THE CONTEXT OF PARTITION VISHNU RAM Research Scholar, Dpt. of English & Foreign Languages, M.D.U. Rohtak.

109-111

23. QUEST FOR SELF: A BRIEF STUDY OF ALICE WALKER’S THE COLOR PURPLE R. RAAJITHA LECTURER, DEPT. OF ENGLISH, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FOR WOMEN KOTI, HYDERABAD

112-118


Index


iii | P a g e

24. THE THEMES OF THE TEMPLE OF MY FAMILIAR BY ALICE WALKER RAMYASREE. D M.Phil. scholar, Prist University, Thanjavur

119-120

25. EFL Teacher Professional Development Practices in Beninese Secondary Schools ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN1, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU2 1English Department, Université d´Abomey-Calavi, Benin BP. 756 Abomey-Calavi, Benin 2English Department, Université d´Abomey-Calavi, Benin

121-131

26. PLACE-THOUGHT INTERRELATEDNESS IN LITERARY TEXTS SREEKALA. K Assistant Professor of English, Government College Chittur Palakkad, Kerala

132-134

27. THE THEME OF DISPLACEMENT: A STUDY OF ANITA DESAI’S BYE- BYE BLACKBIRD K. JAYA

135-139

28. GLOBALISATION AND MODERN INDIAN LITERATURE Dr. NABANEETA MUNSI Assistant Professor, Bhilai Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Bhilai

140-142

29. ANITA DESAI’S FICTION: A WHISPER OF INNER SELF NITIKA Assistant Professor, Department of English, Government College Hisar, Haryana, India

143-148

30. THE THEME OF SURVIVAL AND THE SEARCH FOR FEMALE IDENTITY IN MARGARET ATWOOD’S THE EDIBLE WOMAN MD. AJMAUL ANSARI Research Scholar (PhD), Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.

149-151

31. LOVE AND MARRIAGE IN THE NOVEL OF JANE AUSTEN R.SUMATHI M.Phil, PRIST University, Thanjavur Dt, Tamilnadu

152-154

32. LOVE AND MARRIAGE IN AUSTEN’S NOVELS A.HASEENA1, G.AMBIKA2 1, 2Assistant Professor in English, PRIST University Thanjvur

155-158

33. IMPRESSIONS OF IMMORALITY IN JOSEPH HELLER’S CATCH 22 AND SOMETHING HAPPENED APARNA MALIK Assistant Professor, Dept.of English C.R.M. Jat College, Hisar

159-163

34. FEMINISM IN SHASHI DESHPANDE'S NOVELS P.RAJYA LAKSHMI1, Dr.N.ARVINDA2 1Research Scholar English,Shri JJT University 2Associate Professor English Sreenidhi Institute of Sci &Tech

164-166

35. THINGS FALL APART: EXPLORING THE IMPERFECTIONS AS WELL AS STRENGTH OF IGBO CULTURE SANJAY DAS Assistant Professor of English, Subarnarekha Mahavidyalaya

167-170

36. CLIL Method in Imparting Reading Skills to Secondary level Students- An Experimental study THEPORAL.S1, Dr.J.SUNDARSINGH2 1Research Scholar in English, Department of Science and Humanities Karunya University, Coimbatore 2Professor in English, Department of Science and Humanities, Karunya University Coimbatore

171-174

37. THE PRODIGAL RETURNS: UNDERSTANDING NARRATIVES OF RETURN IN ONDAATJE’S RUNNING IN THE FAMILY (1982) RATIKA KAUSHIK Head of English Department, Raffles University

175-181

38. A Study on the Character ‘Jasmine’ as a Protagonist in Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine 182-185


Index


iv | P a g e

P. BINDUMADHAVI1, Dr.S.SELVA LAKSHMI2 1Research Scholar, Karpagam University , Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore 2Assistant Professor, Department of English, Karpagam University, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore

39. THE CHILD AS THE FATHER OF THE ANGRY YOUNG MAN: AN ANALYSIS OF THE QUINTESSENTIAL ANTI-HERO Dr. KAMNA SINGH Faculty, Department of English, MCM DAV College, Chandigarh

186-189

40. UNDERSTANDING ETHNIC STUDIES ABHISHEK CHANDEL Research Scholar, Department of English, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra

190-192

41. BETWEEN HOUSE AND HOME: SITUATING THE DIASPORIC SENSIBILITY OF V.S. NAIPAUL Dr. B. C. Dash1, Kironmoy Chetia2 1Associate Professor, Department of English, Assam University,Diphu Campus 2Assistant Professor, Department of English, C.K.B.Commerce College, Jorhat Assam.

193-198

42. AMITAV GHOSH’S THE HUNGRY TIDE ON THE PERSPECTIVE OF CULTURAL DISLODGMENT P.PRADEEP1, Dr.R.POLI REDDY2 1Asst.Professor of English, Sreenidhi Institute of Science & Technology, Yamnampet, Ghatkesar, Rangareddy District & Ph.D Research Scholar, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur. 2Research Supervisor and Principal, SV Arts & Science College,Giddaluru, Prakasam Dt., Andhra Pradesh

199-206

43. NEURO - LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING AND ELT D.M. VEDHA PRIYA Ph. D Research Scholar, Department of English, Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

207-209

44. FOOD AND DIASPORIC IDENTITY INPREETHI NAIR’S ONE HUNDRED SHADES OF WHITE SOUMI SINHA RAY Department of English, Ethiraj College for Women, Ethiraj Salai, Chennai, India

210-214

45. TOWARDS INDIAN ECOLOGICAL JUSTICE THROUGH MARGARET ATWOOD’S TRILOGY Sr.Candy D’Cunha Department of Sciences & Humanities, Andhra Loyola Institute of Engineering and Technology,Vijayawada,A.P, India

215-219

46. QUEST FOR BLACK IDENTITY IN THE EUROPEAN TRIBE ALKA1, Dr. DIVYA JOSHI2 1Ph. D. Scholar, 2Research supervisor Department of English, Govt. Dungar College, Bikaner. (Affltd. To Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner.)

220-227

47. CULTURAL CONFLICT IN WOLE SOYINKA’S THE LION AND THE JEWEL – A CONTRAPUNTAL READING NASREEN.M Post Graduate Student, Sathyabama University, Chennai,

228-233

48. RESURRECTING AFGHANISTAN: KHALED HOSSEINI’S THE KITE RUNNER ANJITHA GOPI Nedungayil, Velampurathu, Mulanthuruthy, Ernakulam, Kerala

234-238

49. FORWARD FAIRY TALE, DELETE ROMANCE: A FEMINIST REINTERPRETATION OF RED RIDING HOOD Dr. CHARU GOYAL Assistant Professor, Department of English Kanoria PG Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Jaipur

239-244

50. GENDER, SUBALTERNITY, AND SILENCE: RECOVERING WOMEN’S EXPERIENCE IN MULK RAJ ANAND’S UNTOUCHABLE RATHIKA.E Post Graduated Student, Department of English, Ethiraj College for Women, Egmore, Chennai.

245-249

Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal

Impact Factor 5.002 (COSMOS) http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected] ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O)

Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)

121 ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU

EFL Teacher Professional Development Practices in Beninese Secondary Schools

ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN1, JEAN COSME N. DOSSOU2

1English Department, Université d´Abomey-Calavi, Benin BP. 756 Abomey-Calavi, Benin E-mail: [email protected]

2English Department, Université d´Abomey-Calavi, Benin E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Whether EFL teachers are qualified or not, they need to keep abreast of recent

developments in their field. There lies the importance of professional development

which can be carried out through mentorship, lesson observation, and collaborative

discussion with colleagues (Ur, 2012), or through E-portfolios (Xerri and Campbell,

2016). This paper aims at investigating the practices of EFL teacher development and

identifying related challenges. It is also intended to make suggestions for the

improvement of professional development in Beninese secondary schools. In that

regard, a questionnaire was administered to 80 teachers in three different schools in

Cotonou. The findings revealed that weekly professional developments are organized in

the schools. During these meetings issues discussed include lesson planning, learner

assessment, teaching experiences to mention just a few. Other professional

development strategies such as reflective teaching, area professional development

workshops, participation in webinars have also been recorded. Challenges to the

professional development mentioned by respondents are lack of documentation, lack of

administrative support, and the fact that the coordinators of the weekly professional

development meetings are not creative. Suggestions for improvement focus on the need

for teachers to be mindful of their own professional growth and provision of adequate

document and support on the part of educational authorities.

Key words: Teachers; EFL; secondary education; professional development

.

1. Introduction

Teaching is a demanding job in that it

requires not only subject-matter knowledge but also

knowledge in educational psychology and pedagogy.

Knowledge in these three areas is constantly

evolving and EFL teachers should keep abreast of

new developments in their field to perform well in

their classes. Moreover, untrained and part time

teachers outnumber qualified and full-time teachers

in most secondary schools in Benin. As a

consequence, professional development activities

serve both as pre-service training and in-service

training for unqualified English language teachers.

The issue of teacher development becomes critical

for the quality of EFL education in secondary schools

in the country.

Furthermore, most research endeavours on

teacher development focuses on specific aspects of

professional development and do not portray a

comprehensive picture of the issue in a given

context. For instance, Xerri and Campbell (2016)

concentrated on E-portfolios whereas Gnawali

RESEARCH ARTICLE

ETIENNE K. IWIKOTAN



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


(2016) studied the importance of professional

organization for teacher development in Nepal. On

the contrary, this study covers many aspects of

professional development and shed light on how EFL

teacher professional development works in

secondary school context. This investigation has

been carried out to explore the professional

development practices in Beninese secondary

schools, identify the challenges related to

professional development, and suggest solutions to

the identified challenges. Therefore, three research

questions have been addressed: What are the

professional development practices in Beninese

secondary schools?; What are the challenges to

professional development? and How can

professional development be improved?

Before the description of the procedures

used to carry out the study, the theoretical

underpinnings as well as the practice of teacher

development are explored in details.

1.1 Theoretical Underpinnings of Teacher

Professional Development

Professional development is first and

foremost a matter of adult education. For that

reason, the approach recommended for its

effectiveness is the constructivist one in as much

previous experiences of adults should be tapped

into when training them (Baker, 2016). For that

reason, it is recommended to involve teachers in the

planning of professional development activities that

concern them and make the content of the activities

relevant to the problems they are confronted with

and teachers. Teachers should also be given the

opportunity to apply whatever they have learnt

during the training (Knowles, 1984). It follows that

teachers should play an active role in their

professional development, they should be given the

opportunity to learn from one another but most

importantly, they should not be treated like empty

tanks to be filled with knowledge by somebody else

(Johnson, 2006; Brown, 2007).

As mentioned earlier, adult education should

not be conducted in the same way as child or

teenage education. Adults´ ways of learning or

knowing are factored into EFL teacher development

programmes. Building on a study by Kagan (1991),

Drago-Severson (2004) identifies three categories of

adult learners. The first category includes

instrumental knowers who learn more when a

process is described step-by-step, socializing

knowers who learn better when they get

information from experts and self-authoring

knowers who learn more when they are given the

opportunity to take full responsibility for their

learning and practice (Crandall and Miller, 2014, p.

631). However, given that those in charge of

implementing teacher development programmes

may not be aware of the type of knowers they are

dealing with, they will serve teachers better by

varying their instructional delivery methods in order

to reach as many participants as possible.

Apart from the knowledge of adult learning

styles, the effectiveness of professional

development depends on two other factors: culture

and institutional performance goals. Taking into

account local culture can facilitate teachers´ buy-in.

For instance, Baker (2016) found that in the Thai

culture, “learning should be fun” (p. 38), which

implies that if a trainer is too serious, teachers may

not pay much attention to what he has to teach

them. In other contexts, making fun during a

training might be a sign that what is being taught

should not be taken seriously. On the other hand,

linking school performance goals to professional

development enables to get better results in that

teachers work together as a learning community or

a community of practice (Crandall and Miller, 2014;

Hedgcock, 2002).

The effectiveness of professional

development also depends on a number of

approaches that are likely to enhance teachers´

institutional as well as subject-matter knowledge

(Lv, 2014). Wallace (1991, as cited by Crandall and

Miller, 2014, p. 632) identified three such

approaches. In the apprenticeship approach to

teacher development, younger teachers learn from

more experienced ones. In the applied science

approach, teachers apply in their classrooms what

they have learnt from research and experts whereas

in the reflective approach, teachers constantly adapt

their practice through critical thinking and research.

Most EFL teacher development practices fall within

one of these three approaches.



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


In today´s globalized and IT world, EFL

teachers have myriads of opportunities for

development provided they are ready to grab one.

Discussing all available opportunities is beyond the

scope of this paper. Only the most salient and

teacher-friendly ones have been flagged.

1.2 EFL Teacher Development Opportunities or

Practices

There are various taxonomies of EFL teacher

development opportunities (Brown, 2007; Ur, 2012;

Crandall and Miller, 2014). However, for the purpose

of this paper, I have grouped them into three

categories: classroom-based opportunities; teacher

collaboration opportunities, and reading and

reading and writing opportunities.

1.2.1 Classroom-based Opportunities

Classroom-base opportunities include lesson

or classroom observation and action research. The

main form of classroom observation is peer

observation for development. Even though it takes

teachers some courage to accept their peers in their

classes, peer observation contribute to professional

development insofar as it gives teachers the

opportunity to hear comments on their instructional

delivery and to get new insights (Brown, 2007; Ur,

2012). To avoid the embarrassment that might arise

from lesson observation, Ur (2012) suggests that

teachers could arrange mutual observations as these

will enable them to create a “spirit of collegiality in

the workplace [through] the sharing of best

practices…” (Shousha, 2015, p. 131). But it is the

feedback that follows lesson observations that

contribute to professional development. Therefore,

a helpful feedback includes targeted, substantiated,

and specific comments (positive and negative) from

the observer and input from the observed (Kraft and

Papay, 2014; Ur, 2012).

As for action research, it is defined as

research carried out by teachers to understand and

resolve a problem in their classroom (Bailey, 2001;

Ur, 2012; Brown, 2007). According to Brown (2007),

action research falls perfectly within the

constructivist approach to professional

development, especially in this era of

communicative language teaching (CLT). In CLT,

teachers are to assess their contexts and students

on an ongoing basis and design instructional

techniques tailored to the contexts and students.

Various procedures have been suggested to conduct

action research. For Bailey (2001), when a problem

is identified, an action is planned and conducted,

observations are made and the teacher reflects on

them and another action is planned in case the

problem is not solved. On his part, Ur (2012)

suggests a seven-step procedure but it still start with

the identification of a problem and ends with the

redefinition of the problem in case the implemented

solution does not resolve the problem. The process

of action research is quite simple and it can be

carried out by teachers on various issues related to

their teaching practice. But for their professional

development, teachers can also collaborate among

themselves.

1.2.2 Teacher Collaboration opportunities

Collaborative opportunities include but are

not limited to professional organizations, peer

coaching, mentorship, and staff meetings.

Professional organizations offer diversified

advantages to their members such as individual and

institutional networking (Gnawali, 2016; Crandall

and Miller, 2014). For instance, the Nepal English

Language Teachers Association developed links with

the U.S. Embassy and the British Council, which gave

some of its members the opportunity to “attend

degree courses and short-term courses at home and

overseas” (Gnawali, 2016, p. 174). Besides, most

professional organizations publish journals and

subscription to some of them is free after payment

of membership fees. As a member of a professional

organization, EFL teachers have the opportunity to

contribute to the improvement of EFL instructional

standards, programme evaluation and to the

promotion of best practices (Crandall and Miller,

2014).

The importance of professional organizations

cannot be overstated but peer coaching also plays a

pivotal role in EFL teacher professional development

in that it enables teachers to “assist each other in

enhancing their teaching in an atmosphere of

collegial trust” (Kinsella, 1994, p. 35). This statement

shows that peer coaching provides an opportunity

for mutual support but it works well only if teachers

succeed in building trust among themselves as in the

case of the classroom observation for development



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


discussed earlier. Mentorship is a typical example of

peer coaching and it is a perfect illustration of the

apprenticeship approach to professional

development broached upon in the theoretical

underpinnings. The mentor´s role is to meet the

mentee on a regular basis to discuss issues such as

classroom management, grading, homework,

transitions between activities, school policies, and

what not (Crandall and Miller, 2014; Ur, 2012;

Brown, 2007). From a practical perspective, as

suggested by Ur (2012), a mentor can also observe

lessons taught by the mentee and give feedback on

the mentee´s instructional delivery or invite the

mentee to follow some of his lessons to see

pedagogy in action.

Further, staff meetings also provide

professional growth opportunities in as much as

they allow for “common planning time” (Kraft and

Papay, 2014, p. 478), thus enabling teachers to

receive input from one another. Staff meetings can

also serve as a forum of experience sharing in which

teachers discuss instructional challenges and

outstanding successes and for that reason, they may

be extended to teachers of other disciplines from

time to time because pedagogical breakthroughs in

the teaching of those disciplines may prove useful

for EFL teachers (Ur, 2012).

In addition to the foregoing, there are other

personal opportunities teachers can tap into in

order to grow professionally.

1.2.3 Reading and Writing Opportunities

Here, the focus is on professional journals,

presentation at conferences, and reflective teaching.

Despite their busy schedules, EFL teachers must find

time for reading if they want to hone their teaching

skills. While reading can substitute for courses and

conferences to a certain extent, “courses and

conferences are no substitute for reading” (Ur,

2012, p. 293). As a consequence, Brown (2007)

suggests that teachers can boost reading by

practicing skimming, scanning, and note-taking and

by setting writing goals for more focused and

selective reading. To that effect, teachers can

choose from a wide array of reading materials both

in print or online. Websites that English language

teachers may find useful include but not at all

limited to Linguist List (www.linguistlist.com); the

Education Alliance at Brown University

(www.lab.brown.edu/ae_ells.php), TTV by Russell

Stannard (www.teachertrainingvideaos.com), and

www.NGL.Cengage.com/tesfl (Crandall and Miller,

2014).

One of the productive skills teachers teach in

their classes is writing and they cannot do so

successfully without being conversant with writing

themselves. In the same way as setting writing goals

can stimulate reading, planning to give

presentations at conferences can stimulate writing

in teachers. However, to do the king of writing that

can be presented at conferences, teachers must

conduct research, whether it is action research as

mentioned earlier or research to answer questions

classrooms, learners or instructional practices

(Crandall and Miller, 2014). By engaging in research,

teachers will put an end to the abnormal situation in

education where teachers do education and

researchers or experts think about it (Meek, 1991).

But to be able to conduct scientific research whose

findings can be presented at conferences, teachers

who are not in the higher learning sector must be

trained or read about the principles of research to

avoid complacency and subjectivity since scientific

research is systematic and subject to professional

scrutiny and review (Shavelson and Towne, 2002).

In terms of personal initiative, teachers can

also reflect on their teaching. This is all the more

critical since Kraft and Papay (2014) contend that

school principals should “facilitate opportunities for

teachers to reflect on their practice” (p. 478).

Crandall and Miller (2014) went further and clarified

that teachers must reflect on their teaching by

keeping a teaching journal or a portfolio. Teaching

journals are used by teachers to record classroom

events, success stories, and insights about

themselves to mention but a few (Brown, 2007; Ur,

2012; Crandall and Miller, 2014). However,

recording events in the journal is not enough.

Entries must be written on a regular basis and

teachers have to set aside time to review such

entries if they want to draw the full growth potential

of their teaching journals.

As far as portfolios are concerned, Richards

and Schmidt (2010) define them as “a purposeful

collection of work that provides information about



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


someone´s efforts, progress or achievement in a

given area” (p. 443). An EFL teacher portfolio may

include texts, audio and video files, reflections,

beliefs, and principles (Brown, 2007; Crandall and

Miller, 2014). In some contexts, the use of portfolios

is compulsory and some indications are given on

their contents. The policy that introduced print

portfolios in the ELT sector in Malta in 2012

stipulated that each portfolio was to include a

number of items such as “CPD attendance

certificates, self-evaluation forms, reports on

observed lessons, etc.” even though each portfolio

should be adapted to local conditions (Xerri and

Campbell, 2016, p. 393). As such, in areas where

information technology is easily accessible, it is

better for teachers to keep e-portfolios in that they

are easily accessible to administrators who can

quickly give formative feedback on such portfolios. It

is worth underscoring that the outcomes of

reflective teaching and journaling can be easily

included into a portfolio.

2. Methodology of the Study

The study combines qualitative and

quantitative approaches even though it is mostly

qualitative. A 12-item questionnaire was designed to

shed light on the status of the participating teachers,

issues discussed during the weekly professional

development meetings, other professional

development activities in which teachers participate

as well as challenges and suggestions for the

improvement of professional development in

Beninese secondary schools. The questionnaire

includes open-ended as well as closed items in order

to maximize reliability as suggested by Cohen et al.

(2007).

The questionnaire was administered to 80

secondary school teachers in three different urban

schools in Cotonou. After many follow-up calls to

some teachers, 54 completed questionnaires were

returned, which means a return rate of 67.5

percent. For the data analysis, I used the hand

analysis procedure suggested by Creswell (2012) for

small samples. Before coding the data, I copied all

the qualitative responses on index cards with one

single idea per card. The coding procedure consisted

in putting together cards with similar ideas and

using a small post-it to label each group of cards.

After reducing the redundancies of the codes, I

collapsed “the codes into themes” (Creswell, 2012,

p. 244) and proceeded with interpretation.

3. Findings of the study

The data revealed that teachers who

participated in the study have diversified teaching

experiences as shown in the frequency distribution

table below.

Table 1: Frequency distribution table of teaching

experiences

n (years) f

3 6

4 6

5 7

7 4

8 7

9 6

10 8

15 4

16 2

18 3

26 1

The teaching experiences vary from 3 to 26

years. The youngest teachers have been teaching at

least for three years at the time the investigation

was conducted. The data have been analyzed along

three main lines including professional development

strategies used in the selected schools, challenges

and suggestions for improvement.

3.1 Professional Development Strategies Used in

the Selected Schools

The study revealed that many professional

development strategies are used in the investigated

schools. For instance, 24 out of 54 respondents

reported that they had been mentored by more

experienced teachers at the beginning of their

teaching career, which is not the case with the other

30. However, it is difficult to know where the

mentored teachers started their career. As for the

weekly professional development meetings, almost

89 percent reported that they attended such

meetings on a regular basis while 3 stated that they

participated sometimes. This implies that most



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


teachers are aware of the importance of those

meetings for their professional advancement.

During those weekly meetings, a wide range

of issues are discussed. The first issue is related to

teachers´ concerns as shown through the following

statements: “difficulties encountered by teachers

when teaching”; “the problems we are confronted

to in class”; “teachers´ problems in teaching and

how to help them”. Not only do teachers discuss

their problems but they also try to find solutions to

overcome the problems. Close to the concerns is the

topic of classroom management exemplified as

follows: “classroom management”; “How to behave

in front of our students”; “We always talk about

classroom management”; “discipline problems”. It is

worth noting that the phrase “classroom

management” has been used several times even

though no explanation is found in the responses

about its meaning but some respondents have been

specific to indicate that they discuss the behaviours

teachers should adopt in their classrooms.

Instructional improvement has also been

mentioned as one of the issues often discussed by

the teachers as the following statements show

clearly: “How to teach and how to make learners

understand the English language”; “improving

teaching ways”; “How to improve our teaching

methods”; “How to teach certain lessons”; “How to

conduct the different learning situations”; “How to

overcome teaching challenges”; “We often discuss

the means to better our level as EFL teachers and

the best way to transmit the lesson to the students

and to assess them”. Not only do teachers discuss

what to do to improve their teaching practices, but

they also tackle the issue of self-improvement,

certainly in terms knowledge of the subject they

teach.

Learner assessment was also discussed. Here

are some statements made by the respondents

about it: “How to submit exam papers”; “How to

evaluate our pupils/students”; “Decide on exam

papers”; “How to prepare a test”; “Student paper

making”; “How to elaborate [answer keys]”. Given

the importance of assessment in the teaching-

learning process, it is not surprising that teachers

devote part of their time to it by discussing how

tests and answer keys are to be designed as well as

the grading policy. Besides, lesson planning was

often broached upon by some of the respondents:

“setting pedagogical files”; “How to design and

perform a lesson plan”; “How to plan a class”; “How

to prepare a lesson plan”; “Lesson preparation”;

“How to prepare classes”. In these statements,

emphasis is on the design and implementation of a

lesson plan.

In addition to the mandatory weekly

meetings, 81.48 percent of the respondents

reported that they participate in other professional

development activities. Those activities include area

professional development workshops commonly

called “animation pédadgogique de zone”; online

courses and webinars organized by the American

Cultural Center in Cotonou. Others also mentioned

TEFL degree courses such as trainings for BAPES and

CAPES, the two major teaching degrees awarded by

the teacher training colleges in the country. In fact

the area professional development workshops are

organized from time to time by the teacher advisors

or inspectors and gather many schools in one place

to discuss pedagogical issues.

As far as teacher collaboration is concerned,

22 of the 54 respondents reported that they have

observed a class taught by a colleague once to learn

from him or her. Furthermore, only 22 respondents

reported that they belong to a professional

organization. Out of the 22, 4 indicated English clubs

as their professional organization while 2 others did

not mention any organization´s name. Obviously,

these 3 are not members of any professional

organization. Six mentioned that they belong

respectively to BENTA, NATE, and BENTEA, only 4

spelled correctly the name of the only professional

organization in the country, the Benin National

Teachers of English Association (BNTEA). The 6 give

the impression that they heard about BNTEA once

and just want to show that they are part of an

organization unless there are typos in their

responses. Six others reported that they belonged to

organizations that are not related to English

language teaching. What all these imply is that very

few respondents belong to or are active in a

professional organization.

Further, most respondents do not seem to be

aware of the importance of professional journals.



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


Only 10 out of 54 respondents reported that they

had subscribed to a professional journal. Out of the

10, 2 mentioned American Embassy as a journal, 1

mentioned VOA journal through e-mail and

mentioned CAMVAS, and 2 did not mention any

name of journal. Only 5 mentioned that they have

subscribed to the English Teaching Forum. As is the

case with professional organizations, very few

teachers read professional journals. However,

concerning the reflection on teaching practices by

teachers, the picture is markedly different.

A large proportion of respondents (almost 63

percent) reported that they do take time to reflect

on their teaching from time to time. Issues that

focus their attention fall in two categories. The first

category is the assessment of their own teaching to

see if objectives have been reached: “Are my goals

met”; “The way the lesson has taken place”;

“whether the lesson has been well carried out”;

“most of the time I ask myself whether my

objectives are reached”; “The way that the lessons

are conducted”; “The methodology and pedagogy.”

It appears from these accounts that the respondents

are have a strong desire to teach EFL well because

they appraise the implementation of their lesson

plans bearing in mind the objectives they set for the

lessons.

The second category, instructional

improvement, is illustrated as follows: “I mostly

realize what I did bad and how I will improve it”;

“How to teach without using French while teaching

English”; “How to better my way of teaching”; “the

use of audiovisual or visual aids to help pupils or

students to understand very well their English

courses”; “How to respect the timing of the different

skills”; “The way I teach grammar structure and how

I can make my course more attractive”; “I often

think about the strategies in order to transmit a

maximum information to the learners within few

minutes”; “How to improve things.” These

statements show that the respondents do reflect on

their teaching deeply to the extent of identifying

areas to improve for better performance.

Despite these good practices on the part of

many respondents, professional development

remains confronted with some challenges that are

worth highlighting.

3.2 Challenges to Professional Development

In addition to some of the limitations

identified so far, respondents pointed to others.

Some mentioned lack of experienced teachers in the

following terms: “lack of full time teachers to help

the many inexperienced part-time teachers”; “No

experienced teachers”; “The full time teachers do

not come regularly to the workshop to share their

knowledge”. It is important to point out that being a

full time teacher does not necessarily mean being

experienced. On the other hand, younger teachers

are aware that they can learn from more

experienced ones but the latter are not always

available.

Another important issue raised by the

respondents is the lack of documentation and

equipment: “Lack of adequate teaching materials”;

“The most important difficulty is that we lack of

documents related to the teaching of English”;

“Problem of materials”; “Problem of materials:

library, book”; “lack of documents related to

teaching”; “Lack of documents, records, tapes for

video projection”. As it appears, some of the

respondents have been specific about the type of

documentation lacking, TEFL documents. Some

mentioned overhead projectors that could be used

to project videos on how to teach lessons or films to

improve teachers´ subject matter knowledge.

Apart from lack of documentation, many

respondents revealed lack of administrative support:

“No administration support”; “Lack of

encouragement”; “Lack of training”; “The part-time

teachers are not paid for the meetings”; “There is no

motivation from the staff of the school”. In fact,

participation in the weekly professional

development meetings which last two hours is

counted as teaching hours so that a certified teacher

who is supposed to teach for 18 hours per week

teaches 16 hours in the classroom and devotes the

remaining two hours to the weekly meetings. A

recent policy by the government is that part-time

teachers are no longer going to enjoy that benefit.

Therefore, they are not obliged to attend anymore.

This might be the reasons why some respondents

talk about lack of encouragement or motivation.

It is worth pointing out that one respondent

made the following comments: “Most of the time,



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


our AE are narrow-minded people. They are not

creative”. The AEs are teachers elected by their

peers to lead the weekly meetings and coordinate

activities related to the subject. They play a critical

role and that is the reason why they are elected

among senior teachers if available. if they are open-

minded and creative, there is a lot that can be

achieved every week in terms of experience sharing,

document sharing and networking among the

teachers in the same school.

In addition to sharing the challenges

confronting their professional development,

respondents made a lot of suggestions for

addressing such challenges.

3.3 Ways of Improving Professional Development

The suggestions made by respondents can be

classified in two big groups: suggestions that require

action on the part of the teachers themselves and

suggestions calling for action from higher

authorities.

The suggestions that focus on the teachers

themselves are very limited in numbers: “Teachers

should be humble and read a lot”; “Sensitizing

teachers to devote part of their time to research and

avoid running after money”; “Participate actively to

weekly professional development meetings”. The

respondents who made these comments are aware

that the responsibility for professional development

falls upon the teachers. The most important

messages are reading, research and humility. If

teachers are not humble, they cannot realize that

they still have a lot to learn, and obviously there is

no learning without reading and researching. It is

also crucial for teachers to “avoid running after

money”. In fact, in order to make more money,

teachers are tempted to teach in many schools with

the accompanying workload in terms of lesson

planning and paper grading. All these mean that

there is hardly any time left for professional growth

through reading and research.

From a different angle, most suggestions

made by the respondents target the government.

They focus on training, equipment and support

provision.

Suggestions on training have been worded in

different ways including: “The state will train the

part-time teachers”; “Put emphasis on teachers´

training”; “Focus on training, especially on phonetics

and phonology”; “Teachers should be *trained+ not

only in pedagogical matters but also to better

improve their knowledge”; “Government should

organize periodically teacher trainings”. What

transpires through these statements is that the

training should cover both instructional procedures

and subject matter knowledge such as phonetics

and phonology as well they should be extended to

part-time teachers. The latter are graduates of the

English Department who have not received any

professional training.

Suggestions related to equipment provision

cover books and other equipment and some of them

read as follows: “The government should send

documents, books in the schools”; “Provide

materials to teachers to make listening

comprehension”; “Equip schools with sufficient

English books”; “Well-written books”; “English

laboratory”; “Provide teaching materials in quantity

and quality in all our schools”. In general, books are

needed but “well-written” and “quality” books. This

recommendation was certainly inspired by the poor

quality of the textbooks of the first four grades of

secondary school. Besides, the need for laboratory

and audiovisual equipment cannot be overstated,

especially for the teaching of listening

comprehension and pronunciation as indicated in

one of the suggestions.

It is good to have equipment but teachers

also want to be motivated: “First and foremost, EFL

teachers should be motivated to attend training”;

“The authorities have to motivate the teachers by

improving their life conditions”; “Providing teachers

what they need”; “Teachers should be encouraged

(those who do the job correctly)”; “Materials should

be given to us to have more motivation to teach

correctly”. For these respondents, motivation is not

just in terms of improving living conditions but also

providing teaching materials and rewarding teachers

who perform well, certainly to encourage others to

follow suit.

There is another form of motivation that goes

through the encouragement of supervision of

teachers: “The government should motivate and

encourage the accreditation officer, and educational

advisors to pay visits to the EFL teachers”. This



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


respondent is referring to classroom observations by

teacher advisors and inspectors. This is crucial

because in Benin, such observations are carried out

for development only. Neither the teacher advisors

nor the inspectors can recommend firing a teacher.

Now, what do all the above findings inspire?

4. Discussion of the Findings

The professional development practices in

Benin are diversified. The staff meetings are the

predominant form because they are mandatory for

all teachers. In fact, such meetings facilitate peer

knowledge sharing among teachers (Alimirzaee and

Ashraf, 2016). Issues discussed by teachers during

those meetings include instructional and classroom

management concerns, learner assessment as well

as lesson planning. Even though discussion of these

issues may contribute to teachers´ growth, they lack

an important component in that they focus on

problem sharing and surely the quest for solutions.

There is no mention of sharing of success stories. In

fact, Ur (2012) suggested that teachers should also

share their successful experiences to enable other

teachers to replicate such experiences.

As far as collaboration is concerned, a

sizeable percentage (40.74 percent) of respondents

reported that at the beginning of their career, they

were mentored by more experienced teachers. This

high percentage is quite surprising in as much as to

the best of my knowledge of the Benin educational

system, mentorship as discussed earlier (Ur, 2012;

Brown, 2007) is not a common practice in the

Beninese secondary schools. This may be due to

social desirability bias or to misunderstanding of the

questionnaire item related to mentorship. In

addition, very few respondents belong to

professional organizations. It is certainly those who

are members of a professional organization that

have the opportunity to follow webinars and online

courses. The largest majority of the respondents are

not involved and for that reason, they cannot enjoy

the numerous benefits associated with professional

organizations such as leadership development,

networking, development of the habit of reading,

participation in the improvement of the EFL teaching

profession (Gnawali, 2016; Crandall and Miller,

2014). If teachers are not members of professional

associations, it follows that they have limited

information about professional journals. Rightly so,

only a limited number of respondents reported to

have subscribed to a professional journal. As a

consequence, they cannot keep abreast of new

developments and advances in the EFL field which

keeps changing.

The fact that teachers do not have the

opportunity to read professional journals poses a

serious challenge to their professional development.

But in addition to that, respondents mentioned

other challenges. For example, some indicated that

full-time teachers or experienced teachers do not

attend the weekly meetings on a regular basis to

share their experiences. The implication of this

irregular attendance is lack of peer coaching.

However, this comment is in contradiction with the

fact that almost all the respondents reported that

they attend the meetings regularly. In actual facts,

full-time teachers do not seem to show much

interest in the meetings. Lack of document is

another impediment that compounds the lack of

access to professional journals. It shows that

teachers hardly have access to reading materials. As

clearly indicated by Ur (2012), there is no substitute

for reading in the professional life of EFL teachers,

whether they are experienced or not. But

documentation goes beyond books and other

materials teachers can learn from. It also covers

textbooks. Actually, the textbooks currently used

from the first to the fourth grades of secondary

schools are of poor quality. They are poorly

illustrated, the distribution of the skills is not

balanced, and most of the texts inside the textbooks

are not authentic, to mention but a few problems

(Iwikotan, 2013).

Furthermore, lack of administrative support

has also been repeatedly mentioned by the

respondents as one of the stumbling blocks to

professional development. This comes in the form of

lack of encouragement, lack of training and lack of

motivation. No doubt that administrative support is

pivotal in EFL teachers´ professional life because

“schools where teachers receive meaningful

feedback about their instructional practices and are

recognized for their efforts will promote teachers

improvement at faster rates than schools where

such practices are absent” (Kraft and Papay, 2014, p.



Vol.5.Issue 3. 2017

(July-Sept)


478). As it transpires through this idea, appropriate

feedback and recognition of teachers´ merits

motivate teachers and enable them to know what

they are doing well or inappropriately, thus

contributing to their development.

Suggestions have been made to overcome

the aforementioned challenges. On the one hand,

teachers are aware that they have a part to play in

their development. Teachers are encouraged to

realize that they are lifelong learners. As a

consequence they should read and take an active

part in the weekly professional development

meetings. On the other, the government is to

provide more training, teaching materials, and

mainly to prize teachers who perform well. Even

though this last recommendation may be difficult to

implement at national level, schools can try to

distinguish teachers who perform well, which will

stimulate competition.

Training in subject matter and pedagogy also

appears as a critical aspect of the recommendations.

Yet, the respondents remained silent on the need to

join a professional association, to subscribe to

professional journals or participate in professional

conferences. Through these channels, many of the

challenges can be resolved. As mentioned by

Crandall and Miller (2014), there is a wealth of

information on the websites of professional

organizations that teachers can tap into for their

growth. Access to the internet may not be easy,

especially in rural areas but I contend that there is a

price teachers have to pay if they want to grow

professionally.

5. Conclusion

We set out to investigate EFL teachers´

professional development practices and related

challenges in selected secondary schools in Cotonou,

Benin. Even though there are many challenges such

as lack of teaching inputs and lack of administrative

support, many professional development activities

are performed in the schools. Such activities include

a mandatory professional development weekly

meeting, reflective teaching, and mentorship to

mention but the prominent ones. To improve EFL

teachers´ professional development, school

administrators should be more supportive of

teachers while the government is to provide more

focused training. Nonetheless, teachers should be

sensitized on the centrality of professional

organizations and journal in their development.

One of the limitations of the study is that it

uses only self-reported data collected through a

questionnaire. A more empirical approach that uses

focus group discussions and analysis of the reports

of the weekly meetings will certainly enable to have

a deeper understanding of the issue of EFL teacher

professional development in Benin.

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Author bio

Dr. Etienne K. Iwikotan taught English at secondary

school level for 20 years. However, for two years

now, he has been an Assistant Professor of Applied

Linguistics at the English Department, Université

dÁbomey-Calavi. He also teaches translation at

undergraduate and graduate levels. He holds a PhD

in Applied Linguistics from Université dÁbomey-

Calavi, a Master of Education from Loyola University

Chicago, among others. On top of all that, he is an

international conference interpreter and translator.

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