WHO SHOULD TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS: PRE-SERVICE CLASSROOM TEACHERS’ VOICES

Year 2023, Issue: 96, 247 - 259, 27.12.2023

Serdar Tekin

https://doi.org/10.17753/sosekev.1303346

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate pre-service classroom teachers’ beliefs about teaching English to young learners and a recently initiated course in 2021 named “Foreign Language Teaching in Primary Schools” in the initial classroom teacher education programmes in Turkey. More specifically, it explored to what extent this course was efficient to prepare them to teach English for their future careers. Adopting a mixed-method research design, the data were collected through a questionnaire (N=128) and follow-up semi-structured interviews (N=8). The findings revealed that professional English teachers were best placed to teach English to children for several reasons, including subject teachers’ high level of expertise in teaching English and participants’ low self-reported English proficiency level (A1-A2). However, participants mostly reported both in the quantitative and qualitative parts that this course had a considerable impact on their confidence to teach English at the primary level since they were familiar with various teaching techniques and activities to use for each language point in the curriculum. A number of implications are provided in the light of findings for a better implementation of English education in primary schools.

Keywords

Teaching English to young learners, Pre-service classroom teachers, Teacher education, Teacher language proficiency

Çocuklara İngilizce’yi Kim Öğretmeli: Sınıf Öğretmeni Adaylarının Görüşleri

Abstract

Bu çalışma, sınıf öğretmeni adaylarının ilkokul öğrencilerine İngilizce öğretilmesine ve Türkiye'deki üniversitelerdeki temel eğitim programlarında 2021 yılında başlatılan “İlkokullarda Yabancı Dil Öğretimi” adlı derse yönelik görüşlerini araştırmayı amaçlamıştır. Daha spesifik olarak, bu dersin onların gelecekteki kariyerlerinde İngilizce öğretmeye hazırlanmaları açısından ne ölçüde etkili olduğu araştırılmıştır. Karma yöntemli bir araştırma tasarımı benimsenen veriler, bir anket (N=128) ve takip eden yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler (N=8) aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Bulgular, İngilizce branş öğretmenlerinin İngilizce öğretmedeki uzmanlık düzeyi ve katılımcıların ankette kendilerinin bildirdiği düşük İngilizce yeterlilik düzeyi (A1-A2) gibi çeşitli nedenlerden dolayı profesyonel İngilizce öğretmenlerinin çocuklara İngilizce öğretmek için en iyi konumda olduklarını ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, katılımcılar çoğunlukla hem niceliksel hem de niteliksel bölümlerde, müfredattaki her bir konuda kullanılabilecek çeşitli öğretim teknikleri ve etkinliklere aşina oldukları için bu dersin ilkokul düzeyinde İngilizce öğretme konusunda kendilerine olan güvenleri üzerinde önemli bir etkiye sahip olduğunu belirtmişlerdir. Elde edilen bulgular ışığında ilkokullarda İngilizce eğitiminin daha iyi ve etkili uygulanmasına yönelik birtakım tavsiyeler sunulmuştur.

Keywords

Çocuklara İngilizce öğretimi, Sınıf öğretmeni adayları, Öğretmen eğitimi, Öğretmen dil yeterliliği

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