An assessment of the perceived professional development needs of Turkish as a foreign language teachers

Abstract

Please fill up the following information accurately. (Please use Times New Roman, 12 pt.
An assessment of the perceived professional development needs of Turkish as a foreign language teachers
This study aimed to investigate the professional development needs of Turkish as a foreign language teachers and to examine whether there was a difference among the professional development needs of teachers with different educational backgrounds. To this end, the professional development needs of teachers were first investigated through a questionnaire administered to a total of 160 participants. Then, 15 teachers were interviewed in focus groups randomly selected from Turkish teaching centers (TÖMER) in Ankara. The population of the study was teachers working in Turkish language centers and institutes around Turkey. As a research method, the explanatory sequential mixed method was used. In the analysis of the data, descriptive and prescriptive statistical analyses were conducted and content analysis was used in the analysis of the interviews. Findings revealed that teachers needed to develop speaking and writing skills in both assessment and teaching. Professional development needs of the teachers varied according to age, occupational experience, the department they graduated from and the latest graduation degree. Finally, pedagogical implications of our research are briefly considered.
Information about Author(s)*
Author 1
Author (Last name, First name)	Ünlü, Nihan Aylin
Affiliated institution (University)	Hacettepe University
Country	Turkey
Email address	[e-mail]
Department & Rank
Corresponding author (Yes/No) Write only one corresponding author.	Yes
Author 2
Author (Last name, First name)	Öz,Hüseyin
Affiliated institution (University)	Hacettepe University
Country	Turkey
Email address	[e-mail]
Department & Rank
Corresponding author (Yes/No)
Author 3
Author (Last name, First name)
Affiliated institution (University)
Country
Email address
Department & Rank
Corresponding author (Yes/No)
Author 4
Author (Last name, First name)
Affiliated institution (University)
Country
Email address
Department & Rank
Corresponding author (Yes/No)

Keywords

• Professional development; teaching Turkish as a foreign language; needs analysis

References

1. Alade, O., & Odebode, O. (2014). An assessment of the impact of the teachers’ professional development program under Lagos “Eko” Secondary Education Project in Lagos State. Journal of Education and Practice, 5, 1-8.
2. Altschuld, J. W., & Kumar, D. D. (2010). Needs assessment: An overview. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
3. Arıkan, N. (2002). A teacher study group as an alternative method for professional development: Analysis of initial procedures in group formation, group dynamics, and teacher perceptions of and attitudes to the teacher study group. (Unpublished Master’s Thesis). Bilkent University, Ankara.
4. Bayraktaroğlu, A., & Bayraktaroğlu, S. (1992). Colloquial Turkish. London: Routledge.
5. Borg, S. (2015). Overview – Beyond the Workshop: CPD for English language teachers. In S. Borg (Ed.), Professional development for English language teachers: Perspectives from higher education in Turkey (5-12). Ankara: British Council.
6. Brown, J. D. (1995). The elements of language curriculum: A systematic approach to program development. Boston, MA: Heinle and Heinle.
7. Creswell, J. W. (2012a). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. (4th Ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
8. Creswell, J. W. (2012b). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

9. Çınkır, G. (2017). Professional development of secondary EFL teachers: Lessons from Turkey [Ortaokulda çalışan İngilizce öğretmenlerinin mesleki gelişimi: Türkiye örneği]. (Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Çağ Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
10. Desimone, L. M., Porter, A. C., Garet, M. S., Yoon. K. S., and Birman, B. F. (2002). Effects of professional development on teachers’ instruction: Results from a three-year longitudinal study. Educational evaluation and policy analysis, 24(2), 81–112.
11. Desimone, L. M., Smith, T., and Ueno, K. (2006). Are teachers who need sustained, content-focused professional development getting it? An administrator’s dilemma. Educational Administration Quarterly, 42, 179-215.
12. Ekşi, G. (2010). An assessment of the professional development needs of English language instructors working at a state university. (Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, ODTÜ, Ankara.
13. Ganser, T. (2000). An ambitious vision of professional development for teachers. NASSP Bulletin, 84(618), 6-12.
14. Glatthorn, A. (1995). Teacher development. In L. W. Anderson (Ed.), International ecyclopedia of teaching and teacher education (2nd ed.) (pp. 41-46). Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
15. Göçer, A. (2009). Türkçe eğitiminde öğrencilerin söz varlığını geliştirme etkinlikleri ve sözlük kullanımı. [Activities in improving vocabulary knowledge of students in Turkish education and using dictionary] Electronic Turkish Studies, 4(4), 1025-1055.
16. Göçer, A., ve Moğul, S. (2011). Türkçenin yabancı dil olarak öğretimi ile ilgili çalışmalara genel bir bakış [A general look at the studies related to teaching Turkish as a foreign language]. Electronic Turkish Studies, 6(3), 797-810.
17. Guskey, T. R., (2000). Evaluating professional development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
18. Gültekin, İ. (2007). The analysis of the perceptions of English language instructors at TOBB University of economics and technology regarding in-set content (Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi). ODTÜ, Ankara.
19. İşcan, A., Yağmur Şahin, E., Kana, F., ve Koçer, Ö. (2013). Yabancı dil olarak Türkçe öğrenen öğrencilerin ihtiyaç algıları: betimsel bir durum çalışması. [Perceptions of students who learn Turkish as a foreign language: a descriptive case study] International Journal of Social Science, 6(4), 1185-1198.
20. Kaila, H. L. (2005). Human resource management. New Delphi, India, Kalpaz Publication.
21. Kan, M. O., Sülüşoğlu, B., ve Demirel, Ö. (2013). Yabancı dil olarak Türkçe öğretimi programı ile ilgili okutman ve öğrenci görüşlerinin değerlendirilmesi [Assessment of instructors and students’ opinions about program for teaching Turkish as a foreign language]. Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 10(24), 29-42.
22. Karaaslan, A. D. (2003). Teachers’ perceptions of self-initiated professional development: a case study on Başkent University English language teachers (Yayımlanmamış Yüksek lisans Tezi), ODTÜ, Ankara.
23. King, M. B., and Newmann, F. M. (2000). Will teacher learning advance school goals? Phi Delta Kappan, 81(8), 576–580.
24. Koçoğlu, Z. B. (2006). The role of portfolios in EFL student teachers’ professional development: a case study [Portfolyoların ingilizce eğitimi anabilim dalı öğretmen adaylarının mesleki gelişimlerindeki rolü: bir durum çalışması]. (Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi), Boğaziçi Üniversitesi. Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İstanbul.
25. Korkmaz, T. (2015). In-service ELT teachers’ first year with reference to mentor teachers and professional development [Görevdeki İngilizce öğretmenlerinin meslekteki ilk yıllarının rehber öğretmen ve mesleki gelişim açılarından değerlendirilmesi]. (Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi), Ufuk Üniversitesi. Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Ankara.
26. Korkmazgil, S. (2015). An investigation into Turkish English language teachers’ perceived professional development needs, practices and challenges (Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi), ODTÜ, Ankara.
27. Lieberman, J. and Wilkins, E. (2006). The professional development pathways model: from policy to practice. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 42 (3), 124-128.
28. McLaughlin. M. W., and Talbert, J. E. (2006). Building school-based teacher learning communities: professional strategies to improve student achievement. New York: Teacher College Press.
29. Moir, E., & Gless, J. (2001). Quality induction: an investment in teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 28(1), 109-114.
30. Muijs, D., Kyriakides, L., van der Werf, G., Creemers, B., Timperley, H., and Earl, L. (2014). State of the art-teacher effectiveness and professional learning. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 25(2), 231- 256.
31. Muyan, E. (2013). A case study on ELT teachers’ perceptions towards professional development acivities [İngilizce öğretmenlerinin mesleki gelişim etkinliklerine yönelik tutumları ile ilgili durum çalışması]. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi.
32. Nunan, D. (1998). Syllabus design. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
33. Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T.S.C. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
34. Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. (2010). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics (4th ed.). Harlow, CM: Pearson.
35. Richter, D., Kunter, M., Klusmann, U., Lüdtke, O., & Baumert, J. (2011). Professional development across the teaching career: Teachers’ take-up of formal and informal learning opportunities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 116-126.
36. (TALIS) Teaching and learning international survey. (2013). Teaching and learning international survey: user’s guide to 2013 U.S. data files and database. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/ pubs2016/2016063_userguide.pdf. 01.06.2017
37. Wyatt, M. (2016). Engaging language teachers in research: achieving psychological ad educational benefits. In K. Dikilitaş, M. Wyatt, J. Hanks, and D. Bullock, (Eds.), Teachers Engaging in Research. (3-18), Kent: IATEFL ReSIG.
38. Yağcı, H. (2014). Tracking changes and progress in EFL teachers’ classroom practices through professional development: the case of Gaziantep. [İngilizce öğretmenlerinin mesleki gelişim aracılığıyla sınıf uygulamalarındaki değişim ve ilerlemelerinin izlenilmesi: Gaziantep ili örneği]. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Ankara.
39. Yıldırım, A. ve Şimşek, H. (2013). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri (9th ed.) [Qualitative research methods in social sciences]. Ankara: Seçkin.