An Investigation into Turkish english language teachers’ perceived professional development needs, practices and challenges

Download

index.pdf

Date

2015

Author

Korkmazgil, Sibel

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

1296
views

525
downloads

This phenomenological research study seeks to explore English language teachers’ professional development needs, practices and challenges that they experience in their professional growth. Data were collected from 41 English language teachers working at public schools in 14 different cities in Turkey through semi-structured interviews conducted in 2012. The findings suggested that highest level of needs were indicated with regard to developing teachers’ English language proficiency and speaking skills, improving knowledge and skills in English language teaching methodology, incorporating technology into language teaching, and materials development and adaptation. It was found out that teachers with low levels of perceived English language proficiency seemed to have more of a need for professional development than teachers with a higher level of perceived language proficiency. Despite the wide range of perceived professional development needs, the participants were reluctant to attend in-service trainings offered by Ministry of National Education. The perceived challenges were identified under five categories: teacher-related problems; student-related difficulties; contextual factors; challenges related to the educational system; and the social status of the teaching profession. Furthermore, highly centralized educational system as well as the lack of support, guidance and supervision constitute challenges to teachers’ professional growth. Teachers in this study suffered to a great extent from the lack of autonomy and freedom over their teaching practices, especially their role in pedagogical decision-making processes was concerned. This study suggests that professional development practices that might best contribute to teachers’ professional growth need to be based on their immediate needs, designed and directed with their involvement.

Subject Keywords

English language, English teachers, Teachers, Teachers, Teaching, Learning, Psychology of.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12619513/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/25248

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

An Analysis of english language testing and evaluation course in english language teacher education programs in Turkey: developing language assessment literacy of pre-service efl teachers Şahin, Sevgi; Hatipoğlu, Çiler; Department of Foreign Language Education (2019) This thesis aims to draw a detailed portrait of the status quo of English Language Testing and Evaluation Course (ELTEC) in the English Language (EL) Teacher Education Programs in Turkey focusing on the construct of language assessment literacy (LAL) for prospective EFL teachers. To this end, it examines how ELTEC instructors plan, teach, and assess in the ELTEC, the problems encountered; suggestions and solutions to these problems for effective LAL development as well as pre-service EFL teachers' evaluatio...
An Analysis of the needs and perceptions of english language teachers and students in an EAP course Demir, Müslüme; Eröz Tuğa, Betil; Department of English Language Teaching (2015) The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions and needs of English language teachers and students pertaining to an EAP course -Professional Communication Skills (PCS 406)- and propose an In-Service Teacher Training Module for EFL teachers working in the Foreign Languages Unit at a private university in Ankara. Hence, a case study was designed to investigate the needs of the stakeholders: the learners, teachers and principal. The study undertook a multifaceted needs analysis including questionn...
The Perceptions of EFL instructors and administrators on teacher autonomy: a case study Yıldırım, Tuğba; Savaş, Perihan; Department of English Language Teaching (2017) This case study aimed to explore the perceptions of EFL instructors and administrators working at tertiary level in regard to the concept of “teacher autonomy” and to investigate to what extent the instructors were perceived to possess autonomy in their work context and desired autonomy over six domains, namely curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, classroom management, and institutional operations. The study also sought administrators’ views on what the extent of teacher autonomy s...
A Qualitative case study of english language teachers’ views towards teacher research as a professional development tool Karakaya, Nuriye; Savaş, Perihan; Department of English Language Teaching (2015) This study investigated the current situation in relation to teacher research as a professional development tool among practicing English teachers in Turkey in their respective educational contexts. The perceptions of in-service ELT teachers on teacher research as a professional development tool and its sustainment among practitioners were studied in a qualitative case study design. Eighteen in- service EFL teachers from primary school, high school and university settings were recruited in the study. Initia...
Professional development and competence profiles of English language teacher educators in Turkey Ataş, Ufuk; Daloğlu, Ayşegül; Department of English Language Teaching (2018) This study aims to investigate the definition, competence, and professional development profiles of English language teacher educators in Turkey. With this general aim, this study looks into three components; definitions, competences, and professional development of teacher educators. It specifically focuses on how the profession of teacher educator is defined, what professional characteristics and personality traits teacher educators need to have, and what roles and responsibilities university-based teache...

Citation Formats

S. Korkmazgil, “An Investigation into Turkish english language teachers’ perceived professional development needs, practices and challenges,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2015.