Pre- and in-Service Foreign Language Teachers’ Perceptions of Effective Teaching

Görsev Sönmez Boran,Volkan Inceçay

doi:10.24106/kefdergi.434148

Abstract

The field of foreign language teaching and learning has been experiencing a shift of paradigm; from traditional to more communicative and student-centered pedagogy. However, how these changes are represented in the minds of both pre and in-service teachers is still an area requiring examination. The interest in teachers’ personal theories has sparked owing particularly to the possible outcomes of these beliefs on the process of language learning and teaching. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to identify and compare the ideals of both pre- and in-service foreign language teachers’ perceptions regarding effective teaching. 25 pre-service teachers in their senior year and 68 in-service language teachers, 9 of whom were native speakers, responded to a questionnaire (Brown, 2006). To gather in-depth data, randomly selected five pre-service and five in-service teachers (two native, three non-native) were requested to write a reflective essay. The findings are discussed along with pedagogical implications.

Highlights

The attempt to identify the perceptions of language teachers regarding effective teaching has attracted educational researchers for a long period
Keeping in mind that the nature of good teaching is essentially a matter of opinion rather than certainty (Roberts, 1998), this article reports a study exploring the perceptions of pre, native and non-native in-service language teachers regarding what constitutes effective teaching
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the differences between pre- and in-service as well as native and non-native EFL teachers’ perceptions with regard to issues in effective language teaching

Summary

Introduction

The attempt to identify the perceptions of language teachers regarding effective teaching has attracted educational researchers for a long period. Cooper and McIntyre (1998) emphasize the importance of understanding what teachers do in the classroom if the aim is to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning. They argue that the practices employed by teachers to achieve their goals, the methods they apply and the problems encountered during the process provide fruitful departure points for gaining insights into effective classroom learning and teaching. Keeping in mind that the nature of good teaching is essentially a matter of opinion rather than certainty (Roberts, 1998), this article reports a study exploring the perceptions of pre-, native and non-native in-service language teachers regarding what constitutes effective teaching

Objectives

Results

Conclusion