“EFFECTIVENESS OF PRE-SERVICE ENGLISH AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS: VOICES OF NOVICE TEACHERS”

Abstract

Novice teachers are one of the key stakeholders in education whose effectiveness impacts the whole education system`s effectiveness (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). Therefore, it is important to ensure that their training is effective.Novice EFL teachers` views about their real-life practices at schools can play a key role in identifying gaps in teacher training programs and improving their quality. In the Kazakhstani context, little is known about pre-service EFL teacher training programs and novice teachers` perceptions of them. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to shed light on novice EFL teachers` perceptions about their programs` effectiveness, identify the challenges faced by novice teachers in the first years of work, and report their suggestions for improving the quality of pre-service EFL teacher training programs. A qualitative phenomenographic research design was employed for this study. The data collection instrument was semi-structured individual interviews. The findings based on the interviews of 8 participants indicated that Kazakhstani novice EFL teachers’ perceptions varied from mostly negative to fewer positive perceptions about the effectiveness of their programs. Their perceptions varied regarding the same aspects of the programs, particularly the effectiveness of coursework, teacher-educators methodology, and organization of internships. The findings also revealed that inadequate pre-service teacher training programs cause a range of challenges, connected with lesson planning, assessment, EFL teaching methodology, and teaching SEN students. Besides novice teachers faced a number of school-based challenges related to lack of administrative support and insufficient mentorship. The suggestions to improve the quality of the programs include the need for more practice-oriented courses, hiring more qualified teacher-educators, and controlling the organization of internships. By filling gaps in previous research on the effectiveness of novice teachers` training, the findings of this research can contribute to the literature in this area and provide suggestions for practitioners