Novice EFL Teachers' Beliefs and Practices During Online Education for Young Learners

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted global sectors, including education. To curb the virus's spread, the World Health Organization and CDC recommended social distancing, prompting shifts to remote learning. In Turkey, the Ministry of Education transitioned to emergency remote teaching in March 2020. This study examines Turkish novice EFL teachers' beliefs and practices in teaching English to young learners online during the Spring 2021 term. It explores their perspectives on being novice teachers, implementing activities for four language skills (reading, listening, speaking, writing), and using digital tools in online education. Four second-grade teachers from private schools in Istanbul, Kocaeli, and Izmir participated. Conducted via Zoom, the semi-structured interviews asked teachers to compare online and in-class activities and discuss the challenges of virtual classroom management and teaching different language skills. Findings indicate that teaching productive skills online is more challenging than receptive skills, with writing identified as particularly difficult. Teachers felt that being novice was advantageous due to their technological proficiency as they mainly adapted tasks for the online setting. As education continues to evolve in response to global challenges, the experiences of these teachers can inform ongoing and future educational practices, particularly in contexts requiring rapid transition to online formats.

Keywords

• teacher cognition
• online education
• efl teaching

Meslekte Yeni EFL Öğretmenlerinin İlkokul Öğrencilerine Uzaktan Eğitimdeki İnançları ve Uygulamaları

Öz

COVID-19 salgını, eğitim dahil olmak üzere dünya çapında birçok sektörü etkilemiştir. Virüsün yayılmasını önlemek amacıyla Dünya Sağlık Örgütü ve CDC tarafından önerilen sosyal mesafe önlemleri, eğitim alanında uzaktan öğrenmeye geçişe yol açmıştır. Türkiye'de, Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı Mart 2020'de acil durum uzaktan eğitimine geçiş yapmıştır. Bu çalışma, 2021 İlkbahar döneminde, Türkiye'deki yeni EFL öğretmenlerinin genç öğrencilere İngilizce öğretirken sahip oldukları inançları ve uyguladıkları yöntemleri incelemektedir. Araştırma, yeni öğretmenlerin çevrimiçi eğitim sürecindeki deneyimlerini, dört ana dil becerisi (okuma, dinleme, konuşma, yazma) üzerinde uyguladıkları etkinlikleri ve derslerde kullandıkları dijital araçları ele alıyor. İstanbul, Kocaeli ve İzmir'deki özel okullarda çalışan dört ikinci sınıf öğretmeni ile yürütülen yarı yapılandırılmış mülakatlar Zoom üzerinden gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bulgular, üretken dil becerilerinin çevrimiçi olarak öğretilmesinin, alıcı becerilere kıyasla daha zor olduğunu göstermektedir. Özellikle yazma, çevrimiçi ortamda etkinlik uygulamak için en zorlu beceri olarak belirlenmiştir. Öğretmenler, teknolojik yeterliliklerine dayanarak, yeni öğretmen olmanın çevrimiçi eğitim süresince bir avantaj olduğunu düşünmektedirler.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• uzaktan eğitim
• öğretmen inanışları
• ingilizce öğretimi

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