Analysis of Teacher Candidates’ Learning Experiences in an “English Teaching Methods” Course

Sumru Akcan

Abstract

This study examines the learning experiences of non-native pre-service teachers in an English language teaching methods course. The study investigates the effect of the learning experiences used in the course on the teacher candidates’ opinions about language teaching methodology. The course employed various modes of learning, including peer teaching, video recordings that exemplify language teaching methodologies, discussions, written reflections, and a paper in which the teacher candidates explained their philosophy of teaching. The data were collected from the responses of teacher candidates who took the course in the fall semester of 2008-2009 at an English-medium university in Istanbul. The findings reveal the ways in which the teacher candidates engaged in various learning experiences and developed a perspective of second language teaching methodologies. The article describes various learning experiences and includes some written responses of teacher candidates who took the course.

Keywords

Non-native pre-service English teachers, methods course, modes of learning, peer teaching, teaching philosophy

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.