Research Papers in Language Teaching and Learning (Feb 2010)
Foreign Language Usage by Secondary Education EFL Teachers
Abstract
In the last few decades there is growing interest in pre- and in- service teacher education which aims to help teachers keep up to date with new trends and developments in the field of education. Although this movement has resulted in upgraded approaches to the design and implementation of teacher training courses, most of them focus mainly on theoretical and methodological issues neglecting the systematic improvement and development of English teachers’ language proficiency and competence. However, it is a reality that several teachers sometimes feel uncomfortable with using the foreign language inside and outside the classroom. The present research investigates how comfortable teachers feel with their foreign language proficiency, whether their confidence in using it influences in any way their teaching practices and whether there is a need for in-service teacher training courses targeting teachers’ language development and improvement. From the analysis of the research data we are able to assume that teachers of English feel that there are deficiencies in their foreign language proficiency and competence and admit that their participation in training courses targeting their language development would improve not only their language proficiency but their actual teaching practices as well.
