Conceptions of teaching and novice EFL teachers

Abstract

Today, teachers are expected to be engaged with and in research for sustainable professional development, which may help to bridge the gap between theory and practice as well. This fact points to the importance of exploring the applicability of research findings onto teaching in action, and to the necessity of research engagement on the part of teachers. Novice teachers especially are considered to benefit from science-research conceptions at the beginning of their career as they would feel more confident when they teach from proven facts and scientific studies. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the source of teaching conceptions of inexperienced EFL teachers and to analyze their perceptions about the place of research in the actual pedagogical practices. The study focused on whether novice teachers followed and used the findings of scientific research in their teaching procedures. Data collected through a questionnaire and follow-up interviews showed that Turkish novice EFL teachers believed in the usefulness and relevance of research conducted on second language learning for teaching procedures and they were willing to exploit the findings of L2 research in their teaching. However, few of them stated that they actually read and followed the L2 research agenda closely. They also indicated that they could not apply the research findings in their teaching because of a variety of reasons. The study points to the need to improve novice teachers' awareness on the relevance of research and the avenues to utilize scientific facts. However, they should definitely be warned against the misapplications of research findings into practice and the importance of teaching context they are involved in.