Pre-service teachers' perceptions of EFL teacher education

Abstract

As the very first step of pre-service teachers' professional careers, teacher education has a profound effect on teacher quality and, as a result, the success of students. This study aimed to reveal the perceptions of prospective EFL teachers with regard to their evaluation of the contribution of the English Language Teacher Education Programme (ELTEP) to their teaching competence. Seventy senior students in the English Language Teaching Department of Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University participated in this study in the 2015-2016 academic year, fall semester. All participants were doing their teaching practice at several state schools in Canakkale. A questionnaire was distributed to collect data from the participants regarding how they relate their teaching competence with what they were taught on the ELTEP. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics through SPSS and the participants' responses were used to evaluate the contribution of the ELTEP. The pre-service EFL teachers selfreported having a high level of proficiency in teaching, especially using verbal language effectively and organising the learning environment. On the other hand, they stated that they were less competent at using time efficiently and carrying out formative assessment. Briefly, their self-reported efficacy perceptions revealed that the current ELTEP is able to cater for the needs regarding several aspects of language teaching while it falls short in using time effectively. The results call attention to the need for developing more specific set of competences with regard to the pedagogic content knowledge components of the programme and are expected to contribute to revising the curriculum of the ELTEP.