Dublin Core
Title
Autonomous English Activities of Prospective EFL Teachers
Abstract
This study aims to explore whether and how Turkish prospective teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) engage in English activities outside their undergraduate courses to improve their English language abilities and their reasons for doing so. The research questions include the following: (a) Do the participants engage in out-of-class English activities? (b) If yes, what is the nature of these activities (e.g., the frequency level, the activity type and the reasons)? (c) If no, what are the reasons behind this choice? (d) What is the relationship between their independent English activities and factors such as their personal and educational backgrounds, and year of study? The study was conducted at the Faculty of Education, in the Department of English Language Teacher Training of a state university in İstanbul, Turkey. Data were collected from 326 Turkish EFL prospective teachers enrolled in all four years of the undergraduate program (90 freshmen, 99 sophomores, 67 juniors, and 70 seniors). A survey consisting of closed-ended and open-ended items was administered to the participants at the end of spring 2011 semester. The survey aimed at obtaining the teacher candidates’ autonomous English use and practice behaviours aside from the departmental requirements. In order to analyze the data, both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Qualitative data gathered from the open-ended items of the survey were grouped under categories and coded. To give an account of the type and frequency of the participants' out-of-class English use and practice, frequency counts of all responses were conducted by using descriptive statistics. In addition, t-tests were run to compare the answers of the teacher trainees at different years of study. The findings of the survey will be presented and implications of the results for teacher education programs will be discussed and recommendations will be proposed.
Keywords
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
PeerReviewed
Date
2012
Extent
957