TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS: SOME CHALLENGES FACED BY PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

Abstract

Teaching and learning a foreign language at a young age is becoming more and more common in the world, which creates a great demand for specialized language teachers, since teaching to young learners requires special skill, competence and motivation. Each country and institution is taking precautions in terms of training teachers who will be able to efficiently serve young learners. As part of their training in faculties of education, all pre-service teachers of English in Turkey are provided with one, sometimes two courses on Teaching English to Young Learners, yet do not always have the opportunity to observe real young learner classrooms until their final year or graduation. The general aim of this study was to explore the extent to which pre-service EFL teachers in their third year were influenced by observations in young learner classrooms. The following research questions were asked: (1) to what extent is pre-service teachers’ willingness to teach English to young learners influenced by their experiences in schools? and (2) how is their perceived readiness and competence shaped by this experience? Data was collected from 110 junior level students enrolled in the ELT Department of a state university in Turkey. Open-ended questionnaire items administered both at the beginning and at the end of the semester, and reflective essays were the primary sources of data. The quantitative data was analyzed by applying descriptive statistics while the qualitative data was analyzed by using a coding procedure, in order to discover patterns and establish themes. Findings reflect the pre-service teachers’ perceived strengths and weaknesses in relation to teaching English to young learners, and how they were affected by the course that they took and the young learner classes that they participated in. Implications and recommendations for teacher-education programs as well as further research is shared.