Teaching English to young learners has gained speed in the past twenty years. Many countries in Europe are offering English at the primary level as advised by the EU. The efforts to lower the age for foreign language learning have echoed in countries in Asia as well. Turkey as one of these countries has changed its educational policy in 2012 and launched the new English Language Teaching Program for grades 2-8 in 2013. Along with many changes, the new system offers EFL in the second grade. The present study not only aims to investigate the views of prospective ELT teachers towards this change, but also to compare their views with those of trainers, and English teachers who were investigated in the earlier phases of the study. The results indicate that although all three groups of participants favor an earlier start in foreign language education, there are significant differences between groups in terms of the appropriate starting time and teaching methodologies used. Teachers were indecisive as they favored both the first and second tiers to introduce a foreign language. The results have implications for policy makers, teachers, teacher trainers, and prospective teachers.
For over sixty years what motivates individuals to become teachers and how they perceive teaching as
The current study aims at exploring what teacher trainees expect from their cooperating teachers and what they really experience with cooperating teachers (CTs) in practice schools. A pre-practicum questionnaire (expectation) and postpracticum questionnaire (experience) were utilized in order to find the differences in teacher trainees' expectations and experiences in practicum,. The data were gathered from 86 teacher trainees, who were in the practicum period in the last year of their education in ELT Department in a public university in Turkey. In order to triangulate the data collection, different instruments such as questionnaires, interviews and field notes were used. Both the qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed in this study. For quantitative analysis, the frequencies and mean scores for each item were taken; in addition, the T-test was utilized. For qualitative data, categories and sub-categories were formed. The areas in which help is desired and considered important by teacher trainees were analyzed under three main categories: Readiness for practicum, planning and reflection, and mentoring. The results showed that teacher trainees have considerable expectations from the CTs. On the other hand, the findings revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between teacher trainees' expectations and experiences. The level of help provided by CTs was below the level of teacher trainees' expectations. Implications and suggestions for further research were also highlighted for the stakeholders of the practicum process.
The current study aims at examining the effects of videos on the development of English stress and intonation of first grade EFL learners in an ELT Department at a public university in Turkey. 44 EFL learners were participated in the study on the voluntary basis. 24 learners, who are assigned as the test group, were given a list of videos and an online tutoring program and related assignments as a supplement to a 3-hour Listening and Pronunciation course each week. 20 learners, the participants of the control group, were requested to attend only the classes and do the regular assignments. The study conducted through eleven weeks during the fall semester at the department. The total number of the hours that all the participants attended the course was 33. As for the test group, the studying hours, including the class hours, was calculated as approximately 110 hours during the term. The participants' development in spoken English was compared with the control group. Comparison was realized through two ways. First, the participants were pre-and post-tested by two experienced raters of pronunciation. Then they were given a questionnaire to investigate their pronunciation learning experiences and attitudes towards the development of pronunciation through videos (featured films, short films etc.) and the online program. The findings of the study indicate that videos were much more effective in improving the EFL learners' ability to produce and perceive different stress and intonation patterns in words, phrases and sentences than through the online tutoring programs. The findings also reveal that the students feel more comfortable themselves in a self-study for the improvement of intonation and stress in English.
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