Perception of initial language teacher education in Greece and curriculum evaluation among EFL student teachers

Abstract

This paper describes a study which examines EFL (English as a Foreign Language) student teachers’ perception of their initial teacher education and its contribution to their future professional life. The sample comprised 112 student teachers in their fourth year of studies for a bachelor degree in the school of English language and literature in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. The study was based on the European Profile for Language Teacher Education: A Frame of Reference (Kelly et al. 2004), which identifies 40 items as important elements in foreign language teacher education. Prominent among the findings is student teachers’ perception that the current academic curriculum should place more emphasis on school-based teaching practice, on active learning and on ways of reinforcing communication with other universities and research institutes. The paper concludes by proposing ways of improving the existing curriculum of initial language teacher education.