Exploring the Principles of Reflective Practice in ELT
Research and Perspectives from Turkey
Edited by
Bahar Gün [+–]
İzmir University of Economics, Turkey
Asst.Prof. Dr. Bahar Gün holds BA, MA and PhD degrees in ELT. She has been working at İzmir University of Economics since 2003. She worked as the Head of the Teacher Development Unit in the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) at IUE between 2006- 2021. She is currently a member of TDU that is in charge of in-service teacher training and development programs in the SFL. Her research interests include EFL teacher education in general, and teacher cognition and reflective teaching and learning in particular. She is also a CELTA and ICELT tutor, and an OTA trainer. She is the founding president of TESOL Turkey Association, a CEA reviewer, and the coordinator of IATEFL Teacher Training and Education Special Interest Group. She is also a board member of DEDAK, a national agency for the accreditation of language programs in Turkey.
Evrim Üstünlüoğlu [+–]
İzmir University of Economics, Turkey
Assoc. Prof. Evrim Üstünlüoğlu received her BA and MA degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language; her Ph.D in Educational Sciences with a special focus on program development. She has a strong background as a director, a researcher, and a lecturer for over 30 years. She is a qualified reviewer of CEA, a founding member of DEDAK, TESOL Turkey, and a board member of IATEFL LAMSIG. She has publications on quality in higher education, pedagogical competencies of faculty members, observation/reflection, and new approaches in teaching in both international and national journals. She has been awarded scholarships to conduct research and to teach as a visiting scholar abroad. Her expertise and interests are quality in education, program development, methodology and design thinking. She is currently working as a lecturer at İzmir University of Economics.
This book aims to shed light on the ways in which Reflective Practice (RP) is exploited in the Turkish context, by introducing the research and practical applications in different language education settings. It is important to note that in Turkey there is a great amount of knowledge and research in ELT in general, and RP in particular. Extensive publications and national and international conference presentations on reflection related topics are increasingly common in Turkey. The book includes examples of this scholarly work, so that ELT professionals in different parts of the globe may benefit from the advances made in context-dependent RP applications in Turkey. This book, overall, is a call to action for all ELT professionals, whether experienced, novice or student teachers, leaders, managers or teacher educators, who wish to invest in their own professional development by engaging in Reflective Practice. It is hoped that the book contributes to the diversity of understanding and interpretations of this practice, by sharing a variety of perspectives from scholars in Turkey.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Introduction [+–]
İzmir University of Economics, Turkey
Asst.Prof. Dr. Bahar Gün holds BA, MA and PhD degrees in ELT. She has been working at İzmir University of Economics since 2003. She worked as the Head of the Teacher Development Unit in the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) at IUE between 2006- 2021. She is currently a member of TDU that is in charge of in-service teacher training and development programs in the SFL. Her research interests include EFL teacher education in general, and teacher cognition and reflective teaching and learning in particular. She is also a CELTA and ICELT tutor, and an OTA trainer. She is the founding president of TESOL Turkey Association, a CEA reviewer, and the coordinator of IATEFL Teacher Training and Education Special Interest Group. She is also a board member of DEDAK, a national agency for the accreditation of language programs in Turkey.
İzmir University of Economics, Turkey
Assoc. Prof. Evrim Üstünlüoğlu received her BA and MA degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language; her Ph.D in Educational Sciences with a special focus on program development. She has a strong background as a director, a researcher, and a lecturer for over 30 years. She is a qualified reviewer of CEA, a founding member of DEDAK, TESOL Turkey, and a board member of IATEFL LAMSIG. She has publications on quality in higher education, pedagogical competencies of faculty members, observation/reflection, and new approaches in teaching in both international and national journals. She has been awarded scholarships to conduct research and to teach as a visiting scholar abroad. Her expertise and interests are quality in education, program development, methodology and design thinking. She is currently working as a lecturer at İzmir University of Economics.
Outline of the contents of the book.
Chapter 1
Reflection and Collaboration in EFL Teacher Professional Development in Turkey: A Systematic Review [+–]
İzmir Institute of Technology, Turkey
Serhat Başar works as an English instructor at İzmir Institute of Technology, İzmir, Turkey. He is a Ph.D. candidate in the English Language Teaching Department of Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey. He completed his undergraduate and MA programs in the Foreign Language Education Department of Boğaziçi University. His field of interests includes language teacher cognition, teacher education, and professional development of EFL teachers.
Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey
Esat Kuzu is a research assistant and Ph.D. student in the ELT Department of Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey. He completed his undergraduate program in the Foreign Language Education Department of Boğaziçi University and his MA in the ELT Department of Çukurova University. He is interested in research on program evaluation, ecological literacy, and professional development of EFL teachers.
Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey
İrem Çomoğlu works as an Associate Professor at Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Education, English Language Teaching Department, Izmir, Turkey. She has published widely in national and international journals and books. In her research she focuses on teacher learning and development in TESOL and teacher research mainly from a qualitative research paradigm.
The first chapter in the book is different in nature from the others in the sense that it is a meta-synthesis exploring the implementation of reflective practice studies in ELT in Turkey. In this study, Başar, Kuzu and Çomoğlu review 24 RP studies carried out in Turkey between 2010 and 2021. The results of their inductive thematic analysis indicate clear implications for the pre-service education practicum programs, in-service education of tertiary-level teachers, as well as the reflective practices for EFL teacher educators.
Chapter 2
Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Turkey
Ceyhun Yükselir (PhD) is an associate professor of English language teaching at the department of English language and literature, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, where he teaches Academic Writing, Research Methods, Teaching Language Skills, Literature in Language Teaching and Linguistics. His research interests include teacher education, reflective teaching, learner autonomy, technology integration in EFL classes and applied linguistics with ELT focus.
Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey
Saadet Korucu-Kış is an Assistant Professor in the English Language Teaching Department of Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya. She holds a BA, MA, and PhD in English Language Teaching. Her research interests relate to teacher education, technology-enhanced language learning, instructional design, and reflective practice.
In the second chapter, Yükselir and Korucu-Kıs present their study on exploring the pre-service teachers’ reflective inquiry skills, specifically focusing on digital technologies, and how developing reflective thinking in an online-education setting can improve cognitive presence. Throughout the chapter, the authors seek to understand the relationship between level of reflective thinking and cognitive presence, and the data analysis clearly points to a positive correlation between the two. The chapter carries important implications for pre-service teacher education contexts, by highlighting the mutual influences of reflective thinking and cognitive presence.
Chapter 3
Bahçeşehir University, Turkey
Ali Öztüfekçi is a lecturer at Bahçeşehir University, İstanbul, Turkey in the department of Foreign Language Teaching. Currently, he is in the process of writing up his PhD thesis on bilingual pre-service education. He has published articles on early bilingualism, learner autonomy and World Englishes. His research interests include teacher reflection, early bilingualism, and bilingual teacher education.
University of Stavanger, Norway
Kenan Dikilitaş is a professor at the University of Stavanger in Norway, where he mentors academics and supports professional development, in particular relating to their (online) teaching practices. He also leads a Ph.D. course ‘Qualitative Research in Higher Education’ for doctoral students at the department of education. His research interests include (language) teacher education, mentoring and investigating action research, and more recently, developing teaching and learning in digital environments.
Öztüfekçi and Dikilitaş, in the third chapter, explore a similar aspect of reflection for pre-service teachers, namely, the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to encourage teachers to become reflective practitioners. In their chapter, the authors report on their research into ELT pre-service teachers engaged in online writing tasks, and describe their digital reflections based on the constructive feedback from tutors in an asynchronous course in their curriculum. Potentially relevant to ELT professionals working in similar pre-service settings, the authors make implications to professional development in terms of fostering teachers’ autonomy, enhancing their self-efficacy and developing their professional identities.
Chapter 4
Izmir Katip Celebi University, Turkey
Burak Aydın is an Instructor of English and a licensed teacher trainer for SIT TESOL Certificate Course. He teaches in a tertiary level preparatory English program and is also involved in mentoring and supervising language teachers. In the field of teacher training, he has been conducting research, facilitating courses and presenting for ELT conferences, INSET PD events and various educational institutions
Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey
İrem Çomoğlu works as an Associate Professor at Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Education, English Language Teaching Department, Izmir, Turkey. She has published widely in national and international journals and books. In her research she focuses on teacher learning and development in TESOL and teacher research mainly from a qualitative research paradigm.
Chapter four is a study sharing perspectives in an in-service teacher education context. Aydın and Çomoğlu, in their chapter, explore collaborative reflection through “Reflective Practice Groups” (RPGs), and investigate the effects of such reflection on teachers’ professional development in an in-service training program. The chapter focuses not only on the RP tools used in the process, but also on the insights gained into the value of RPGs as a professional development model. Aydın and Çomoğlu’s insightful suggestions and implications may form the basis for ELT institutions applying similar model of in-service teacher training.
Chapter 5
Balikesir University, Turkey
Ozgehan Ustuk (Ph.D.) is an EFL teacher, teacher educator, and research assistant at Balikesir University, Turkey. He is the chair-elect of the TESOL International Association’s Research Professional Council. His research interests include reflexivity and reflective practice in TESOL, language teacher education and professional development through practitioner inquiry, identity work, and tensions.
Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey
İrem Çomoğlu works as an Associate Professor at Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Education, English Language Teaching Department, Izmir, Turkey. She has published widely in national and international journals and books. In her research she focuses on teacher learning and development in TESOL and teacher research mainly from a qualitative research paradigm.
Uştuk and Çomoğlu, in chapter five, share their study conducted on a different reflective professional development model: Lesson Study (LS). The authors describe how reflective practice helps one EFL teacher engaged in LS, by developing and improving her teaching practice. As well as providing insights on RP in LS, the chapter highlights the importance of teacher discourse in understanding teacher reflection in language teaching. Highly plausible implications are made for the use of LS in in-service teacher education context, to enable the teachers to reach higher levels of reflection.
Chapter 6
TED University, Turkey
İlknur Bayram received master’s and PhD degrees from Ankara University in the field of Curriculum and Instruction. She currently works at TED University, Center for Teaching and Learning. She also teaches at the faculty of education. Her main research interests are teacher professional development, reflective practice, lesson study, curriculum evaluation and education for sustainable development.
TED University, Turkey
Özlem Canaran is currently working as a lecturer in the English Language Education Program at TED University, Turkey. She has an MA and PhD in Foreign Language Education. Her research interests include language teacher education, teacher professional development, English for academic and specific purposes.
Chapter six is somewhat different from the others; in that it mainly focuses on teachers’ reflection of a Reflective Teaching and Learning Program (RTLP). Bayram and Canaran explore the perceptions of a group of novice EFL teachers on an RTLP in an in-service teacher education setting. The authors describe in detail the RTLP, the opportunities for teachers to enhance their reflective skills, and the participants’ perceptions on the effectiveness of the program. Bayram and Canaran clearly explain the benefits and the challenges the teachers experienced throughout the program; and make suggestions on how to improve the program based on the feedback from the teachers. Institutions intending to offer a RTLP for their teachers would benefit from the light shed upon the design and conduct of such a PD program.
Chapter 7
Izmir University of Economics, Turkey
Dr. Mehmet Haldun Kaya has been working at Izmir University of Economics both as an English language instructor and teacher-trainer for the past twenty years. He is also an approved Cambridge CELTA Tutor. He has national and international publications in the fields of ELT and educational technology.
The final chapter of the book has a completely different nature, as Kaya focuses on the self-reflection of a teacher trainer. He emphasizes that reflection is equally important for teacher trainers as for teachers. In his chapter, Kaya explores the notion of ‘reflection-on-action’, and he describes his instrumental single case study on ‘Blended Reflection Cycle for Trainers’ with the aim of improving both his own training activities and reflective skills. His qualitative analysis leads him to important implications for teacher trainers around themes including identity change, attitudes of the trainees in training events, and management of affective domain. This chapter has valuable implications, for not just teachers, but teacher trainers whose professional development tends to be neglected in RP studies. Clearly, all the teacher trainers and educators, regardless of their level of pedagogical knowledge and experience, need to seek ways to continue to develop professionally.
Chapter 8
İzmir University of Economics, Turkey
Asst.Prof. Dr. Bahar Gün holds BA, MA and PhD degrees in ELT. She has been working at İzmir University of Economics since 2003. She worked as the Head of the Teacher Development Unit in the School of Foreign Languages (SFL) at IUE between 2006- 2021. She is currently a member of TDU that is in charge of in-service teacher training and development programs in the SFL. Her research interests include EFL teacher education in general, and teacher cognition and reflective teaching and learning in particular. She is also a CELTA and ICELT tutor, and an OTA trainer. She is the founding president of TESOL Turkey Association, a CEA reviewer, and the coordinator of IATEFL Teacher Training and Education Special Interest Group. She is also a board member of DEDAK, a national agency for the accreditation of language programs in Turkey.
İzmir University of Economics, Turkey
Assoc. Prof. Evrim Üstünlüoğlu received her BA and MA degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language; her Ph.D in Educational Sciences with a special focus on program development. She has a strong background as a director, a researcher, and a lecturer for over 30 years. She is a qualified reviewer of CEA, a founding member of DEDAK, TESOL Turkey, and a board member of IATEFL LAMSIG. She has publications on quality in higher education, pedagogical competencies of faculty members, observation/reflection, and new approaches in teaching in both international and national journals. She has been awarded scholarships to conduct research and to teach as a visiting scholar abroad. Her expertise and interests are quality in education, program development, methodology and design thinking. She is currently working as a lecturer at İzmir University of Economics.
ISBN-13 (Hardback)
9781800502963
Price (Hardback)
£75.00 / $100.00
ISBN-13 (Paperback)
9781800502970
Price (Paperback)
£24.95 / $32.00
ISBN (eBook)
9781800502987
Price (eBook)
Individual
£24.95 / $32.00
Institutional
£75.00 / $100.00
£24.95 / $32.00
Institutional
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Publication
01/06/2023
Pages
180
Size
234 x 156mm
Readership
scholars and language teachers
Illustration
19 figures
