ELT STUDENT TEACHERS’ COMPETENCE FOR TEACHING LANGUAGE SKILLS: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION

Abstract

As a result of the European integration process of Turkey, there have been radical changes in the education system of the country within the framework of a constructivist approach. Undoubtedly, teachers and teacher competencies play a critical role in these changes. Within this context, in 2006, the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Teacher Training prepared “Generic Teacher Competencies”, which identify task definitions of teachers. Later in 2008, subject-specific competencies were identified for different subjects including English language teaching (ELT). The present qualitative study attempted to explore 21 senior ELT student teachers’ competence regarding specifically the teaching of four basic language skills. Field notes, interviews and follow-up focus group interviews comprised the data sources for the study. Findings indicated that student teachers do not possess all the competencies required by the Ministry and that there is still room for improvement. Overall, the results are informative both for future researchers and those currently involved with teacher training in Turkey

Keywords

• ELT student teachers, competencies, language skills

Kaynakça

1. Arıkan, Arda (2011), “A Small-Scale Study of Primary School English Language Teachers’ Classroom Activities and Problems”, 2nd International Conference on New Trends in Education and Their Implications, 27-29 April 2011, Antalya.
2. Arslan, Selahattin and İlknur Özpınar (2008), “Öğretmen Nitelikleri: İlköğretim Programlarının Beklentileri ve Eğitim Fakültelerinin Kazandırdıkları”, Necatibey Eğitim Fakültesi Elektronik Fen ve Matematik Eğitimi Dergisi, Vol.2, No.1, pp.38- 63.
3. Aydoğdu, Egemen (2007), EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Foreign Language Competences, Master’s Thesis, Trakya University Institute of Social Sciences.
4. Berg, Bruce L. (2004), Qualitative Research Methods for Social Sciences, Boston: Pearson.
5. Bhat, V. D., Chaudhary, S.V.S., and Dash, N.K. (2008), “Teacher Competence in Higher Education”, http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/24676 [Accessed 7.05.2011].
6. Bogdan, R.C. and S.K. Biklen (2007), Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to Theories and Methods, Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
7. Brown, H. Douglas (2001), Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, NY: Pearson.
8. Çubukcu, Feryal (2010), “Student Teachers’ Perceptions of Teacher Competence and Their Attributions for Success and Failure in Learning”, The Journal of International Social Research, Vol. 3, No.10, pp.213-217.

9. Guest, Greg, Arwen Bunce and Laura Johnson (2006), “ How Many Interviews Are Enough? An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability”, Field Methods, Vol. 18, No.1.,58-82.
10. Hinkel, Eli (2006), “Current Perspectives on Teaching the Four Skills”, TESOL Quarterly, Vol.40, No.1, 109-131.
11. Kök, Mehmet, Muhammed Çiftçi and Ahmet Ayık (2011), “Öğretmenlik Mesleği Özel Alan Yeterliklerine İlişkin Bir İnceleme”, Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitü Dergisi, Vol.15, No.1, 169-183.
12. Merriam, Sharan B. (2009), Qualitative Research A Guide to Design and Implementation, USA: Jossey-Bass.
13. Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Teacher Training, “Generic Teacher
14. Teacher-Competencies.pdf. [Accessed 10.05.2011]. (2006),
15. http.//otmg.meb.gov.tr/belgeler/otmg/Generic- Özdemir, Özlem and Salih Uşun (2009), “İlköğretim Birinci Kademe İngilizce Öğretmenlerinin Eğitim Durumunda Yöntem-Teknik ve Araç-Gereç Kullanma Yeterlilikleri”, The First International Congress of Educational Research: Presentations. 1-3 May 2009, Çanakkale.
16. Punch, Keith F. (2009), Introduction to Research Methods in Education, London: Sage.