AN INVESTIGATION OF THE 21ST CENTURY SKILLS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (ELT) PROGRAMS IN TURKEY

The rapidly developing technology has affected our lives in many ways. The Internet has now directly affected our daily and business life, our education system and even our social life. For this reason, there is a need to develop some new skills required by our age in education. The concepts such as “Life and Career Skills”, “Learning and Innovation Skills”, “Information, Media and Technology Skills” have also entered our lives as the 21st century skills. This study aimed to investigate to what extent the 21st century skills were included in English language teacher training programs; to compare the perspectives of students and academics of the related programs with the program and to discuss the effectiveness of the program in terms of gaining the 21st century skills. For this purpose, the study adopted mixed methods research design based on both qualitative and quantitative data. The data were collected using triangulation method via document analysis, questionnaires for students and academics and face to face interviews. In addition, the ELT department programs of randomly selected Faculties of Education of 4 different universities were examined. The results have revealed that the curriculum provided by the Council of Higher Education are applied in all the participating ELT departments and it aims to develop the 21st century skills in prospective EFL teachers at some points.  However, the course contents of the curricula in those departments are limited to some of the skills which may break the integrity of the 21st century skills in professional life reflections. The participant academics and students believe that some of the components of the 21st century skills are included in their course contents but not completely. The students do not feel utterly confident about handling the 21st century skills in a real-life implementation

Self-assessment in EFL classes of secondary education in Türkiye: the common european framework of reference for languages (CEFR)-based implementations

The current study investigates the CEFR-based self-assessment implementations in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes in secondary education in Türkiye. The study adopted a qualitative research design, and the data were collected via document analysis, an interview form, and an observation checklist. The results revealed an incongruity between theory and practice regarding the CEFR-based self-assessment implementations in 9th grade EFL classes; the CEFR-based self-assessment was provided in the coursebook through ‘can do’ statements at the end of each unit in the ‘Check Yourself’ parts. However, the compatibility of these items with the EAQUALS Bank of Descriptors as Checklists was relatively low. In addition, the study revealed that the participating teachers favoured self-assessment implementations in their classes. However, they did not implement the self-assessment parts upon completing units in real EFL class contexts

TEACHING THE CEFR ORIENTED PRACTICES EFFECTIVELY IN THE M.A. PROGRAM OF AN ELT DEPARTMENT IN TURKEY

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (hereafter CEFR) and the related documents are the current realities of ELT professionals, mainly in Europe, as part of the practices in their field of study. Although it is labeled as “common” and “European”, the CEFR is an internationally recognized framework worldwide. In this sense, this study aims to uncover whether the CEFR and the other related European documents such as the European Language Portfolio (hereafter ELP), as a course in M.A. classes, have reflected certain degree of effectiveness in relation to students’ expectations. Herein, students’ self-reflection forms and achievement test-retest scores were analyzed. Accordingly, the mixed method laced with both qualitative and quantitative data was implemented. The learners’ test-retest scores as achievement criteria constituted the quantitative part of the study. On the other hand, the qualitative part was composed of the learners’ self-reflection forms for the course and discussion-based self-assessment reports. The results of the study revealed the fact that the CEFR as an M.A course was internalized better on condition that the lecture was followed by self-study, self-reflection, discussion-based self-assessment as a part of review process and test-retest practices respectively, when applied whole and complete

MEASURING POSSIBLE LANGUAGE TEACHER SELVES: A SCALE DEVELOPMENT STUDY

The current study set out to build on the limited research on possible language teacher selves. The study aimed to develop a possible language teacher selves scale (PLTSS) for English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers. The tripartite scale intending to measure the constructs of ideal, ought-to and feared language teacher selves was developed in two major stages. Data were collected from two distinct samples of senior Turkish EFL student teachers studying at twelve different universities in Turkey. In a preliminary study, tentative scale items were constructed based on a review of literature and qualitative data collected from a small sample, and finalized through expert review and pre-piloting. The initial form of the scale was then administered to 296 senior student teachers of English. Following an exploratory factor analysis, the final form of the scale was constructed. The final form was administered to a different sample involving 274 student teachers. By this way, the scale was further validated through confirmatory factor analysis. The three scales under the PLTSS were checked for internal consistency reliability with both datasets. Findings revealed sound psychometric properties of the PLTSS in terms of construct validity and internal consistency reliability

ENGLISH INSTRUCTORS’ PERCEPTION RELATED TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY IN A FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY

Over the past decades, the importance given to Teacher Professional Development (TPD) activities and opportunities have been undoubtedly increasing day by day all around the world. As every living thing in the world is evolving, a language itself, a living phenomenon, is assuredly evolving which means that educators face new challenges they have to come up with new solutions for and adapt. The study aims to investigate the English language teachers’ perceptions with regards to teacher professional development and its related options. For that purpose, in the study, the sequential method was adopted. The participants were composed of 20 full-time instructors (16 female, 4 male) working in a foundation university in Turkey as English instructors. The data were collected using via both a questionnaire developed by Eksi (2010) and a follow-up interview. For follow-up interview, the respondents were gathered of 5 full-time instructors determined by simple random sampling method. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25 and the data from the follow-up interview were coded and were analyzed by carrying out inductive content analysis. Keywords: Teacher professional development; self-directed learning; personalized professional development; self-assessmen

Contribution of Corrective Feedback to English Language Learners’ Writing Skills Development through Workfolio Based Tasks

This study investigates the relationship between corrective feedback through workfolio based tasks and English Language learners’ writing skills development. The study was carried out with 64 B1 level students at a foundation university in the city of Ankara in Turkey. The study took thirteen weeks during which the experimental group received explicit corrective feedback on their written tasks while the control group didn’t receive any feedback. Throughout this process, participants took three progress tests. In addition to the quantitative data, qualitative data were also obtained via interviews with both instructors and participants. While the quantitative data were analyzed in independent samples t-tests through SPSS 20©, the qualitative data were interpreted on. Results from the analyses show that there is a statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control group. The study also found out that while both females and males improved their writing skills, females in the experimental group outperformed the males in the same group. Furthermore, students stated that getting corrective feedback was beneficial for them as they could learn from their mistakes and be more motivated towards the lesson. As for the instructors, they believed that corrective feedback sessions were useful for their students as they were low proficiency learners. To conclude, the results of the study show that corrective feedback does have a positive impact on improving writing skills and helps to motivate students as well

Implementation and evaluation of an EFL teacher training program for non-formal education settings

Abstract. This study aims to implement and evaluate a suggested in-service teacher training program for English language teachers in non-formal education institutions. In doing this, 2-week online training program was designed considering the professional needs of the teachers and implemented with a follow-up. Pre and posttests, self-assessment scales and lesson observations were utilized in order to compare teacher knowledge and behaviors before and after the training. In addition, those instruments, feedback forms were also received from the teachers in order to figure out their attitudes towards the implemented program. Findings from the study showed that the program had a significant impact on teacher knowledge and behaviors. Although the majority had a positive attitude towards the program, some teachers suggested that a face-to-face training program be held and that the length could be extended

The Effect of the EPOSTL on the Self-evaluation of Student Teachers of English

Abstract. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the EPOSTL (European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages) on the self-evaluation of student teachers of English at AkhmetYassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University in Kazakhstan. The study, which employed a mixed-methods sequential explanatory research design, was conducted at AkhmetYassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University Faculty of Philology in Turkistan, Kazakhstan in the 2017-2018 academic year. 71 fourth year ELT student teachers participated in the study. The participants were divided into control and experimental groups. Only pretest and posttest were conducted to control group participants; however, pretest and posttests, the EPOSTL Use 1 and 2 were conducted to the experimental group participants. Multiple sets of data came from a) questionnaire, b) peer observation, c) reflective journal, and d) interview. The quantitative data were analyzed descriptively using IBM SPSS 21. The qualitative data collected from the peer observation, reflective journal, and interview was analyzed through qualitative thematic analysis. The results, overall, showed that the effect of the EPOSTL on the self- evaluation of the student teachers of English provided positive results. The findings demonstrate that the majority of the participants agree that the EPOSTL advances self-reflection and self-assessment, since it assists in checking the improvement of their didactic knowledge, teaching competences and skills. The comprehensive and clear structure of the EPOSTL found to be the main advantage of it. As the student teachers are not practical in teaching and require guidance through the complexity of language teaching, the EPOSTL enables them to match the theoretical knowledge with practical skills