Linking theory and practice in ELT program
An evaluation of materials, testing and practicum courses
Keywords:
ELT program, Program evaluation, Testing, Materials design and adaptation, Pre-service teacher educationAbstract
Changes and innovations to the English language teacher education program in Turkey has occurred quite often over the last two decades and studies in the ELT program focused predominantly on the effectiveness of the program, along with the implemented changes. Yet, evaluation studies on the specific components of the program remained scarce. Within this perspective, the aim of this study is to evaluate the testing and materials courses of an undergraduate English Language Teaching (ELT) program offered at a state university through the voices of pre-service teachers, teacher educators, mentor teachers, and graduates. Using the evaluation model for foreign language teacher education by Peacock (2009) and checklist of parameters by Weir and Roberts (1994) as the framework for analysis, questionnaires, interviews and document analysis for data collection, a case study is designed to uncover the theory/practice link among Materials and Testing courses, and the practicum component. Findings indicate lack of theory/practice link among the components, as well as suggestions on ways to strengthen the link related to testing and materials and their applications in the pre-service teaching practicum contexts.
References
Alderson, C. J. (1992). Guidelines for the evaluation of language education. In C. J. Alderson, & A. Beretta (Eds.), Evaluating second language education (pp. 274-305). Cambridge University Press.
Aydın, Ö., & Ok, A. (2020). Mentoring practices in English language teaching practicum: Student teachers’ perspectives on cooperating teachers’ roles in the Turkish context. Teacher Educator, 55(3), 248-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2019.1701756
Bayyurt, Y. (2013). 4+4+4 eğitim sisteminde erken yaşta yabancı dil eğitimi [Foreign language learning for young learners in 4+4+4 education system]. In A. Sarıçoban & H. Öz (Eds.), Hacettepe üniversitesi eğitim fakültesi ingiliz dili eğitimi anabilim dalı 1. yabancı dil eğitimi çalıştayı bildirileri [Proceedings of the 1st national workshop on foreign lan-guage education] (pp. 115-125). Hacettepe University.
Bayyurt, Y., & Akcan, S. (2016). Türkiye’deki ingilizce öğretmeni yetiştirme programları üzerine düşünce ve öneriler [Opinions and suggestions on English language teacher education programs in Turkey]. In S. Akcan, & Y. Bayyurt (Eds.) 3. Ulusal Yabancı Dil Eğitimi Kurultayı: Türkiye’de Yabancı Dil Eğitimi Üzerine Görüş ve Düşünceler. [The 3rd National Foreign Language Education Conference: Views and Opinions on Foreign Language Education in Turkey] (pp. 3-9). Boğaziçi University.
Boyatzis, R.E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information. Sage Publications.
Canh, L. V. (2014). Great expectations: The TESOL practicum as a professional learning ex-perience. TESOL Journal, 5, 199–224. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.103
Celen, M. K., & Akcan, S. (2017). Evaluation of an ELT practicum programme from the per-spectives of supervisors, student teachers and graduates. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 6(3), 251-274.
Coşkun-Ögeyik, M. (2009). Evaluation of English language teaching education curriculum by student teachers. İnsan ve Toplum, 9(1), 42-57.
Coşkun, A., & Daloğlu, A. (2010). Evaluating an English language teacher education program through Peacock’s model. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35(6). https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2010v35n6.2
Darling-Hammond, L., Holtzman, D. J., Gatlin, S. J., & Heilig, J. V. (2005). Does teacher preparation matter? Evidence about teacher certification, Teach for America, and teacher effectiveness. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 13(42), 1-51. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v13n42.2005
Day, R. R. (1991). Models and the knowledge base of second language teacher education. In E. Sadtono (Ed.), Issues in language teacher education (pp. 38-48). SEAMOEO Re-gional Language Centre.
Farrell, T. S. C. (2008). ‘Here’s the book, go teach the class’: ELT practicum support. RELC Journal, 39(2), 226–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688208092186
Grudnoff, L. (2011). Rethinking the practicum: limitations and possibilities. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 223-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2011.588308
Hati̇poğlu, Ç. (2015). English language testing and evaluation (ELTE) training in Turkey: ex-pectations and needs of pre-service English language teachers. ELT Research Journal, 4(2), 111-128.
Hatipoğlu, Ç., & Erçetin, G. (2016). Türkiye’de yabancı dilde ölçme ve değerlendirme eğitiminin geçmişi ve bugünü [Past and present of education in foreign language test-ing and assessment in Turkey]. In S. Akcan, & Y. Bayyurt (Eds.) 3. Ulusal Yabancı Dil Eğitimi Kurultayı: Türkiye’de Yabancı Dil Eğitimi Üzerine Görüş ve Düşünceler [The 3rd National Foreign Language Education Conference: Views and Opinions on Foreign Language Education in Turkey] (pp. 72-89). Boğaziçi University.
Hennissen, P., Beckers, H., & Moerkerke, G. (2017). Linking practice to theory in teacher ed-ucation: A growth in cognitive structures. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 314-325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.01.008
İli̇n, G. (2019). Mirroring the gap between theory and practice: ELT juniors’ auto-criticism on their teaching. IBAD Journal of Social Sciences, (2019 Special Issue), 116-129. https://doi.org/10.21733/ibad.603392
Karakaş, A. (2012). Evaluation of the English language teacher education program in Turkey. ELT Weekly, 4(15).
Kırkgöz, Y. (2007). English language teaching in Turkey: Policy changes and their implemen-tations. RELC Journal, 38, 216- 228. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688207079696
Kırkgöz, Y. (2008). A case study of teachers’ implementation of curriculum innovation in English language teaching in Turkish primary education. Teaching and Teacher Educa-tion, 24, 1859–1875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.02.007
Kırkgöz, Y. (2016). Türkiye’de yabancı dil eğitim politikaları ve müfredat programı [Foreign language education policies and curricula in Turkey]. In S. Akcan, & Y. Bayyurt (Eds.) 3. Ulusal Yabancı Dil Eğitimi Kurultayı: Türkiye’de Yabancı Dil Eğitimi Üzerine Görüş ve Düşünceler [The 3rd National Foreign Language Education Conference: Views and Opinions on Foreign Language Education in Turkey] (pp. 45-59). Boğaziçi University.
Kırkgöz, Y. (2017). English education policy in Turkey. In R. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), English lan-guage education policy in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 235-256). Springer.
Korthagen, F. A. J. (2010), The relationship between theory and practice in teacher education. In P. Peterson, E. Baker & B. McGaw (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (pp. 669-675). Elsevier.
Lam, R. (2015). Language assessment training in Hong Kong: Implications for language as-sessment literacy. Language Testing, 32(2), 169–197. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532214554321
Lynch, B. K. (1996). Language program evaluation: Theory and practice. Cambridge Univer-sity Press.
Mattsson, M., Eilertsen, T., & Rorrison, D. (2011). What is practice in teacher education? In M. Mattsson, T. Eilertsen, & D. Rorrison (Eds.), A practicum turn in teacher education (pp. 1–15). Sense Publishers.
Mckay, S. L. (2006). Researching second language classrooms. Lawrence Erlbaum Associ-ates.
Meijer, P. C., Zanting, A., & Verloop, N. (2002). How can student teachers elicit experienced teachers’ practical knowledge: tools, suggestions, and significance? Journal of Teacher Education, 53(5), 406–419. https://doi.org/10.1177/002248702237395
Middle East Technical University, (n.d.-a). Department of Foreign Language Education. https://fle.metu.edu.tr
Middle East Technical University. (n.d-b). FLE413 English Language Testing and Evaluation. https://catalog.metu.edu.tr/course.php?course_code=4500413
Middle East Technical University. (n.d-c). FLE405 Materials Adaptation and Development.
https://catalog.metu.edu.tr/course.php?prog=450&course_code=4500405
Moreno, J. M. (2007). Do the initial and the continuous teachers’ professional development sufficiently prepare teachers to understand and cope with the complexities of today and tomorrow’s education? Journal of Educational Change, 8, 169-173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-007-9027-9
Nunan, D., & Bailey, K. M. (2009). Exploring second language classroom research: A com-prehensive guide. Heinle, Cengage Learning.
Ölmezer-Öztürk, E., & Aydın, B. (2019). Voices of EFL teachers as assessors: Their opinions and needs regarding language assessment. Journal of Qualitative Research in Educa-tion, 7(1), 373-390. https://doi.org/10.14689/issn.2148-2624.1.7c1s.17m
Peacock, M. (2009). The evaluation of foreign-language-education programmes. Language Teaching Research, 13, 259-278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168809104698
Salihoğlu, U. (2012). Pre-service English language teacher education: “The Turkish case”. Contemporary Online Language Education Journal, 2(1), 151-168.
Seferoğlu, G. (2006) Teacher candidates' reflections on some components of a pre‐service English teacher education programme in Turkey. Journal of Education for Teaching: International research and pedagogy, 32(4), 369-378. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607470600981953
Smith, K., & Lev Ari, L. (2005) The place of the practicum in pre‐service teacher education: the voice of the students. Asia‐Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 33(3), 289-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598660500286333
Sürüç Şen, N., & İpek, H. (2020). Perceptions on an EFL teacher education program: Voices from teacher candidates. Language Teaching and Educational Research, 3(1), 136-148.https://doi.org/10.35207/later.643694
Ur, P. (2019). Theory and practice in language teacher education. Language Teaching, 52(4), 450-459. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444819000090
Uzun, L. (2016). Evaluation of the latest English language teacher training programme in Tur-key: Teacher trainees’ perspective. Cogent Education, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1147115
Weir, C., & Roberts, J. (1994). Evaluation in ELT. Blackwell.
Yavuz, A., & Zehir Topkaya, E. (2013). Teacher educators’ evaluation of the English language teaching program: A Turkish case. Novitas-ROYAL: Research on Youth and Language, 7(1), 64-83.
Yüksek Öğretim Kurulu [Council of Higher Education in Turkey] (1998, March). Eğitim fakültesi öğretmen yetiştirme lisans programları [Undergraduate teacher education programs of faculty of education. https://www.yok.gov.tr/Documents/Yayinlar/Yayinlarimiz/egitim-fakultesi-ogretmen-yetistirme-lisans-programlari-mart-1998.pdf
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Journal of Narrative and Language Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
