Turkish EFL Teacher Candidates’ Research Article Reading: A Two-pronged Approach

Abstract

This qualitative study reports on how 107 English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher candidates have read and interpreted research articles (RAs) in a course they took in a teacher education program in Turkey. By using the basic principles of sociocognitive views of literacy, I analyzed the interview data to have a descriptive analysis of my students’ (i.e., teacher candidates who are pre-service EFL teachers) engagements and also challenges with research article (RA) reading. The findings revealed a two-pronged approach toward RA reading by the participants. While the participants have found this engagement new and edifying, at the same time they have complained of their challenges in several parts. Similarly, while most of them found reading RAs useful, they also claimed that they could not a see a real value in reading them. The findings obtained therefore call for a detailed scrutiny and design of pre-service teachers’ academic text reading.