Reconstruction of Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Conceptual Understandings About SLA and Language Pedagogy Through Experiential Tasks

Year 2024, Issue: 54, 11 - 25, 26.09.2024

Sibel Söğüt

https://doi.org/10.33418/education.1556755

Abstract

The course on Second Language Acquisition (SLA), which is a component of language teacher education programs, includes consciousness-raising and experiential activities that prepare pre-service teachers for the profession. Pre-service English teachers need to have a well-grounded understanding of how SLA relates to language teaching to comprehend how SLA theories contribute to their language teaching processes. To address this need, this study examined the effects of an SLA course on pre-service teachers’ conceptual changes and beliefs regarding language pedagogy. To identify the extent of their conceptual changes and awareness, a language-learning autobiography project was used to decode multifaceted processes and elements of their first and second language acquisition. Pre-service teachers were asked to describe their language acquisition processes before taking the SLA course and then to revise their autobiographies in line with the theories and concepts covered in the SLA course. Content analysis was used to compare the two versions gathered from 54 pre-service teachers, and emerging themes and concepts in both forms were identified. The overall findings indicate that their initial versions are limited to basic linguistic descriptions, whereas they have gained a rich repertoire of grounds and connections and an understanding of the relevance of SLA to language pedagogy. Relatedly, instructional implications were suggested to facilitate their professional stance and understanding of the relationship between SLA and language pedagogy.

Keywords

Language acquisition, experiential learning, pre-service English language teachers, conceptual changes

İngilizce Öğretmen Adaylarının Dil Edinimi ve Dil Öğretimine İlişkin Kavramsal Anlayışlarının Deneyimsel Etkinliklerle Yeniden Yapılanması

Abstract

Dil öğretmeni yetiştirme programlarının bir bileşeni olan İkinci Dil Edinimi dersi, İngilizce öğretmen adaylarının mesleki beceri ve yeterliliklerini artıran bilinçlendirmeyi ve deneyimsel etkinlikleri içermektedir. Dil edinim kuramlarının dil öğretim süreçlerine nasıl katkıda bulunduğunu anlamak için dil ediniminin dil öğretimiyle bağlantısına dair sağlam temelli bir anlayışa sahip olmaları da önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışma bu ihtiyaca cevap vermek için dil edinimi dersinin öğretmen adaylarının dil öğretimine ilişkin kavramsal değişimleri ve inançları üzerindeki etkilerini incelemiştir. Kavramsal değişimlerinin ve farkındalıklarının kapsamını belirlemek için, birinci ve ikinci dil edinimlerinin çok yönlü süreçlerini ve öğelerini çözmek için bir dil öğrenme otobiyografi projesi kullanılmıştır. Öğretmen adaylarından dil edinim kuramları dersini almadan önce kendi dil edinim süreçlerini anlatmaları ve daha sonra dil edinimi dersinde işlenen teori ve kavramlar doğrultusunda otobiyografilerini gözden geçirmeleri istenmiştir. 54 öğretmen adayından toplanan bu iki versiyonun karşılaştırılmasında içerik analizi kullanılmış ve her iki metinde ortaya çıkan temalar ve kavramlar belirlenmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, ilk versiyonların temel dilbilimsel açıklamalarla sınırlı olduğunu, gözden geçirilmiş metinlerde ise dil edinimi ve öğretimine dair bağlantıların ve öğretmen adaylarının dil edinim kuramlarınının kendi dil öğrenme yaşantıları ve dil öğretimine ilişkin bağlantılarla ayrıntılandığı saptanmıştır. Sonuçlar ışığında İngilizce öğretmen adaylarının dil edinimi ve öğretimine yönelik ilişkileri kavramsallaştırmalarına yönelik öğretimsel öneriler paylaşılmıştır.

Keywords

Dil edinimi, deneyimsel etkinlikler, İngilizce öğretmen adayları, kavramsal anlayışlar

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