International Association of Educators   |  ISSN: 1308-951X

Volume 6 Issue 3 (September 2015)

Original Articles

Friend or foe?: English As The Medium of Instruction Policy Versus Code Switching Practices

Yagmur Raman & Nur Yigitoglu

pp. 1 - 23

Abstract

This study investigated the educational functions of code switching instances that occur during the classroom interactions of novice teachers who teach English at an English medium institution of higher education. The study also aimed to explore teachers’ and their students’ perceptions regarding CS in teachers’ teaching practices and the role of the functions of CS in the classrooms. Three novice English language teachers and 12 of their students volunteered to take part in the study. A number of six pre-intermediate level preparatory school classes of an English medium university were observed, video recorded and fieldnotes were taken. Additionally stimulated recall interviews were conducted with the participants. Results indicated that CS served for variety of educational functions being but not limited to create a feeling of connectedness, to put forward teachers’ inner voice and to express feelings emotions and abstract concepts. Finally, in contrast to what has been emphasized in English-only policy-related studies, the study revealed that both teacher and student participants perceived CS as a positive contributor to teaching and learning environment in the classrooms. 

Keywords: Code switching, novice teachers, classroom interaction, educational policies

Entrepreneurship in Finnish Teacher Training

İsa Deveci & Jaana Seikkula-Leino

pp. 24 - 39

Abstract

Concrete steps are taken on entrepreneurship education in Turkey, as in a lot of countries. One example to such concrete steps is the treatment of entrepreneurship as one of the skills which students are to be provided in curricula from primary education to higher education. However, as entrepreneurship has just started to be focused on in education, observation of other countries engaged in it for a long time is important. Finland is a country which is always shown as a model for entrepreneurship education in the reports of the European Commission and is one of those countries which conduct most scientific research on this subject. Thus, the way Finnish education system handles entrepreneurship education should be examined. In this sense, the present study aims to explain how Finnish education system handles entrepreneurship education; what steps they take in this matter; and what kinds of supporting elements they use. This is a compilation work. It gives brief information about primary education and secondary education, but focuses most attention on teacher training. 

Keywords: Primary education, secondary education, Finnish teacher education, entrepreneurship education

Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety and Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Turkish Pre-Service EFL Teachers

Ali Merc

pp. 40 - 58

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of language teaching anxiety experienced by pre-service EFL teachers and their language teaching self-efficacy beliefs. The participants of the study were 117 pre-service EFL teachers completing their teaching practicum as a requirement for graduation at Anadolu University, Turkey. A Foreign Language Student Teacher Anxiety Scale (FLSTAS) and a SelfEfficacy Questionnaire (SEQ) together with semi-structured interviews were used as research instruments. The results of the analyses showed that student teachers experienced a relatively low level of anxiety in general and their perceived self-efficacy was high in their overall scores. Although gender and type of practicum school were not predictors of anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs, certain correlations were found among the components of the anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs.

Keywords: Foreign language teaching anxiety, teacher self-efficacy, pre-service EFL teachers, teacher education

Corporal Punishment is a Necessary Evil: Parents’ Perceptions On The Use Of Corporal Punishment In School

Clifford Gomba

pp. 59 - 71

Abstract

Keywords: -

A Multivariate Analysis of Pre-Service Teachers Use of Metacognitive Reading Strategies

Fatih KANA

pp. 72 - 83

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the level of Turkish language pre-service teachers metacognitive reading strategy use by various variables. Relational screening model is used in the study. Participants are 342 Turkish language pre-service teachers studying in the Turkish Language Education Program of a university located in the Western part of Turkey. The “Metacognitive Reading Strategy Scale,” adapted to Turkish by Çöğmen and Saracaloğlu (2010), is used in the study. T-test analysis is used for the bivariate data and one-way analysis of variance is used for the data with more than three variables. The analyses demonstrate that there is no significant relationship between the class level (seniority) of pre-service teacher and their metacognitive reading strategies, that there is a significant difference between pre-service teachers gender and their learning and guessing strategies, and that there is a significant difference between their education types and guessing strategies. Preservice teachers report viewing themselves effective in imagining descriptions, re-reading texts when they have difficulty in understanding them, having an idea about the reading difficulty or ease of a text, activating their background knowledge about the subject to help their reading comprehension, and assessing texts while reading them.

Keywords: Metacognitive reading strategies, Turkish language pre-service teachers, reading.