Lifelong Learning Tendencies and Academic Coping Among Pre-service English Language Teachers: Implications for the Teacher Education Curriculum

Öz

How do undergraduate candidates preparing to teach English describe their dispositions toward continued learning and the ways they manage difficulties in their studies? To answer this question, the present article reports on 52 students from an English language teacher education programme who completed an online survey containing both Likert-type items and written reflection prompts. A convergent mixed-methods logic guided the inquiry. Numerical scores were summarised through descriptive indices, examined for reliability, and submitted to non-parametric group comparisons; written replies were coded inductively, then organised into themes. The instrument proved highly reliable (α = .95), and overall scores were considerably above the scale midpoint (M = 4.90, SD = 0.82). Among the demographic comparisons, only one yielded a significant total-score difference: senior students outperformed third-year peers (p = .006). Gender, double-major enrolment, and intention to pursue postgraduate study did not produce significant divergence at the global score level. From the written responses, six recurring themes emerged: reliance on social networks, deliberate planning, drawing on multiple resources, regulation of affect, persistence, and metacognitive recalibration. Read jointly, these strands point to one conclusion: in the context of English language teacher preparation, lifelong learning is more accurately characterised as a professionally embedded orientation than as a stable personal trait, and its growth depends on the interaction of academic challenge, supportive relationships, autonomous inquiry, and institutional structures. By tying continued learning to the demands of multilingual, technology-rich, and curriculum-responsive language teaching, the article contributes to current debates in English language teacher education.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• prospective English language teachers
• lifelong learning
• academic coping
• self-directed learning
• teacher education
• mixed methods

Destekleyen Kurum

Yeditepe University Humanities and Social Sciences Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Committee,

Etik Beyan

Ethical approval and institutional permission details should be completed before submission: Yeditepe University Humanities and Social Sciences Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Committee, July 12, 2024, E.61350595-050.06-431. Each participant was informed about the aims of the study, the voluntary nature of their participation, and the anonymous use of their responses for research purposes.

İngilizce Öğretmeni Adaylarının Yaşam Boyu Öğrenme Eğilimleri ve Akademik Başa Çıkmaları: Öğretmen Yetiştirme Programına İlişkin Çıkarımlar

Öz

İngilizce öğretmeni adayları, yaşam boyu öğrenmeye yönelik eğilimlerini ve eğitimlerindeki zorluklarla akademik başa çıkma biçimlerini nasıl tanımlamaktadır? Bu soruyu yanıtlamak amacıyla bu makale, hem Likert tipi maddeler hem de yazılı yansıtma yönergeleri içeren çevrimiçi bir anketi dolduran, İngilizce öğretmeni eğitimi programındaki 52 öğrenciyi incelemektedir. Araştırmada yakınsak karma yöntemler deseni temel alınmıştır. Sayısal puanlar betimsel istatistikler aracılığıyla özetlenmiş, güvenilirlik açısından incelenmiş ve parametrik olmayan grup karşılaştırmalarına tabi tutulmuştur; yazılı yanıtlar ise tümevarımsal olarak kodlanmış ve ardından temalar halinde düzenlenmiştir. Ölçme aracı yüksek düzeyde güvenilir bulunmuş (α = .95) ve genel puanlar ölçek orta noktasının oldukça üzerinde yer almıştır (M = 4.90, SS = 0.82). Demografik karşılaştırmalar arasında yalnızca biri toplam puan açısından anlamlı bir fark yaratmıştır: Son sınıf öğrencileri, üçüncü sınıf öğrencilerine göre daha yüksek puan almıştır (p = .006). Cinsiyet, çift anadal programına kayıtlı olma ve lisansüstü eğitime devam etme niyeti, genel puan düzeyinde anlamlı bir farklılık oluşturmamıştır. Yazılı yanıtlardan altı yinelenen tema ortaya çıkmıştır: sosyal ağlara dayanma, bilinçli planlama, çoklu kaynaklardan yararlanma, duyuşsal düzenleme, kararlılık ve üstbilişsel yeniden ayarlama. Birlikte ele alındığında bu bulgular tek bir sonuca işaret etmektedir: İngilizce öğretmeni eğitimi bağlamında yaşam boyu öğrenme, sabit bir kişisel özellikten ziyade mesleki olarak içselleştirilmiş bir yönelim olarak tanımlanabilir ve bu yönelimin gelişimi akademik zorlukların, destekleyici ilişkilerin, özerk sorgulamanın ve kurumsal yapıların etkileşimine bağlıdır. Makale, yaşam boyu öğrenmeyi çok dilli, teknoloji açısından zengin ve müfredata duyarlı dil öğretiminin gereksinimleriyle ilişkilendirerek İngilizce öğretmeni eğitimi alanındaki güncel tartışmalara katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• İngilizce öğretmeni adayları
• yaşam boyu öğrenme
• Akademik başa çıkma
• Öz-yönelimli öğrenme
• Öğretmen eğitimi
• Karma desen

Destekleyen Kurum

Yeditepe Üniversitesi Beşeri ve Sosyal Bilimler Bilimsel Araştırma ve Yayın Etik Kurul

Etik Beyan

Yeditepe Üniversitesi Beşeri ve Sosyal Bilimler Bilimsel Araştırma ve Yayın Etik Kurul

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