Vol. 5. No. 3 A-2 December 2001
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Pre-Service Teachers as Readers and Future Teachers of EFL Reading

Leyla Tercanlioglu
Southampton University
<l.tercanlioglu@soton.ac.uk>

Abstract

The study reported here aims to deepen our understanding of what pre-service teachers think about their own reading, their future responsibility as teachers of EFL reading, and about the effectiveness of the education they have been receiving. Pre-service teachers did not describe themselves as very competent readers, but when they read, they have intrinsic reasons to do so. The findings suggest that they believe good reading teachers should themselves be good readers, who read along with their students. They were not very enthusiastic about teaching reading, though they accepted they would need to teach it as part of a language course. 51.51% of the pre-service teachers rated their teacher education program as satisfactory in this domain.

Recently, the voice of pre-service teachers has started to be recorded to find out what they think about themselves as future teachers (Young, 1998), and their perceptions of quality of the education they get (Brookhart & Loadman, 1996). It has also been found useful to document teacher educator views, to explore relationships between the perceptions of pre-service teachers and teacher educators in the course of pre-service education.

The research reported here aimed to study the views of pre-service EFL teachers, both as readers themselves and as potential teachers of EFL reading. A short discussion of the significance of self perceptions within theoretical frameworks of teaching and of reading is followed by a brief discussion of the need for pre-service ratings of teacher education program quality. After that the study is introduced, in which the distinction between pre-service teachers' description of themselves as readers and as teachers of reading, and teacher educator views, was explored. Pre-service teachers of different genders and at different years of training were cross-sectionally compared to trace differences in perspective between these different groups. The study also explored participants' perceptions of the preparation of pre-service teachers. [-1-]

Literature review

Pre-service teacher perceptions about teaching

Pre-service teachers' perceptions about teaching have recently attracted the attention of researchers (cf. Almarza, 1996; Joram & Gabriele, 1998; Brown & Mc Gannon, 1998). These researchers, among others, have identified a wide range of benefits in helping pre-service teachers reflect on their beliefs. Their perceptions are considered significant because engagement and success in teaching may be determined primarily by pre-service teachers' perceptions of "Can I be a good teacher?" "Do I want to be a good teacher?" and "Why?" It has also been frequently asserted that pre-service teacher perceptions are important for at least two further reasons: (a) pre-service teacher opinions and attitudes toward teaching can affect their decisions on how best to modify and use various language teaching techniques and methods in the future (b) certain attitudes and beliefs derived from their perceptions can have a profound impact in turn on their students' affective state (Young, 1998).

It has been claimed that teachers' beliefs in their abilities to instruct students and influence student performance are a very strong indicator of instructional effectiveness (Bandura, 1997). Bandura originally proposed that an individual's beliefs or efficacy expectations are major determinants of activity choice, willingness to expend effort, and persistence (1977). Efficacy beliefs also have been shown to affect teacher activity, effort, and productivity (Ashton & Webb, 1986). Teachers with high efficacy hold positive expectations for student behaviour and achievement; they take personal responsibility for student learning; they use strategies for achieving objectives; and they have a sense of control and confidence in their ability to influence student learning (Ashton, Webb, & Doda, 1982). Studies in different countries (Campbell, 1996; Gorrell, Ares, & Boakari, 1998; Gorrell et al., 1998) have shown that pre-service teachers vary in the degree to which they believe themselves to be efficacious in their teaching. These studies suggested that the teacher efficacy concept is more differentiated in some countries, and is strongly influenced by unique features of the inherent cultures. For example, Lin and Gorrell's (2001) study of Taiwanese pre-service teachers reported that efficacy beliefs are influenced by cultural and/or social backgrounds, as well as by the features of particular programs, and by the context of pre-service teachers' studies.

As to pre-service teachers' response to the question "Why do I want to teach?" Yong (1995) pointed out in his study of pre-service teachers in Brunei that teaching attracts different people for different reasons. The literature shows that their reasons can be extrinsic and/or intrinsic. According to Dörnyei (2000) teaching is more closely associated with intrinsic motivation, which refers to being motivated and curious to do an activity for its own sake (Harter, 1981; Deci & Ryan, 1985). Dörnyei (2000) suggests that teaching has always been associated with an internal desire to educate people, to impart knowledge and values, and to advance a community or a whole nation. In the ESL field, although the literature on the motivation of language teachers is scarce, existing studies (e.g., Pennington, 1995; Doyle & Kim, 1995) have also found that ESL pre-service teachers are intrinsically motivated to teach ESL.

On the other hand, young people may select teaching for extrinsic reasons, such as seeking to gain recognition, win rewards, and surpass others in publicly acknowledged achievement (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991). Material benefits, job security, shorter working days, or long school holidays may also influence their decisions to choose a teaching career. For example, Unwin (1990) carried out research amongst final-year undergraduates in the United Kingdom to determine their reasons for choosing teaching. The study showed that the criteria for doing so were related to extrinsic reasons. [-2-]

Some studies have focused on gender as an explanation for pre-service teachers' perception about their sense of efficacy and the reasons to teach. Gender differences in teacher efficacy have been identified as a possible variable accounting for individual differences in teacher practice and student outcomes. Females report higher teacher efficacy than males (Raudenbush, Rowan, & Cheong, 1992), possibly because teaching is viewed as a female occupation (Apple & Jungjk, 1992). It seems females are more satisfied in teaching, they more strongly believe that they can affect students' academic achievement, make changes in students, and facilitate student learning. The previous literature also reveals that males were more likely than females to have extrinsic reasons to teach. For example, it was shown by Johnston, McKeown, and McEwen, (1998) that female pre-service teachers tended to seek intrinsic rewards such as mental stimulation.

Pre-service teachers' perceptions within the theoretical framework of reading

As introduced above, competence and efficacy belief constructs are individuals' general perceptions of their competence in different areas. So, for example, the statement "I think I am a good reader," reflects the reader's perception that s/he has the capability to read effectively. It has been shown that belief in self-efficacy predicts text comprehension, and that students with high self-efficacy see difficult reading tasks as challenging and work attentively to master them, using their cognitive strategies productively (Guthrie, Wigfield, Metsala, & Cox, 1999). Some other studies have clearly demonstrated that students' sense of efficacy relates to their academic performance (Schunk, 1991).

Extrinsic motivation refers to being motivated in an activity as a means to an end, such as outperforming others (Observational comparison) and receiving a tangible form of recognition for success in reading (Social feedback). It is increasingly clear that many students are motivated to read for extrinsic reasons (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997).

As far as reading is concerned, intrinsic motivation is based on the students' understanding of how well they read and how they can improve their reading performance (Psychological states); intrinsically motivated students are more concerned with their own progress. Increased intrinsic motivation has been found related to greater interest in the reading material, higher reading performance, greater amount of reading (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997), higher frequency of reading, higher achievement in text-comprehension tasks (Benware & Deci, 1984; Gottfried, 1990) and higher sense of competence (Miller, Behrens, Greene, & Newman, 1993).

The general reading literature contains a number of articles that examine the perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of children, and how these may change over time and between genders, but it seems there is a relative lack of studies of undergraduates' perceptions of themselves as readers, whether in first or foreign language.

Pre-service teacher ratings of teacher education program quality

Teacher education programs have tended to be something "planned for'" and "done to" pre-service teachers, yet they are the ones who are the most directly affected by the program. Therefore, what they think, feel, and know about various aspects of their teacher education, and whether their perceptions change as they progress through their pre-service programs, have already received a lot of attention. For example, Hsieh and Hu (1994) reported on a survey of pre-service teachers in Taiwan to find out what were the important teaching competencies and what their relative order of importance was, in order to guide a teacher education program. Similarly, Arubayi (1989) surveyed pre-service teachers from three Nigerian universities about four aspects of satisfaction with their teacher education programs. Brookhart and Loadman (1996) have also explored practising teachers' rating of their initial preparation in terms of teaching quality, teaching skills and teaching knowledge. The mean ratings were slightly above the adequate. This study also aimed to elicit pre-service teachers' ratings of their teacher education program in preparing them as teachers.[-3-]

The Study

The review of related research shows that no study has yet been conducted on the self-perceptions of pre-service EFL teachers as readers and future teachers of EFL reading. Thus, the present study will hopefully contribute to a better understanding of these perceptions, and indirectly of the quality of new teachers entering the profession. The paper also aims to describe and explore the pre-service teachers' evaluation of their teacher education program in respect of preparation to teach reading. It is an attempt to examine in what way the needs of the pre-service teacher, as a reader, and the future teacher of reading, are being addressed in pre-service education in a particular context, that of a Turkish higher education institution. Furthermore, the study records what teacher educators in this institution think, so as to explore the dis/agreements between those who educate and who are educated.

This study was limited to a Turkish pre-service teacher education program preparing future teachers of secondary school English teachers. The subjects were not chosen randomly, and therefore, caution should be taken in making generalizations from the results to other contexts.

The following research questions were generated to guide the inquiry:

  1. How do prospective English teachers describe themselves as future teachers of reading?
  2. What are the pre-service teachers' perceptions about themselves as readers?
  3. How do pre-service teachers rate their teacher education program in preparing them to teach reading?
  4. How and to what extent are reading self-perceptions and the teaching of reading addressed in the teacher education program?

Where appropriate, answers to these questions were further analysed by gender and year differences among the pre-service teachers.

Participants

Pre-service teachers. The participants were all full-time undergraduates on the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program at a Turkish university. This is a 4-year full-time pre-service TEFL teacher-training program, for those who wish to teach English in secondary schools, which has a yearly intake of 200. 132 pre-service EFL teachers (72 males and 60 females), aged 20-22, from two different course years (third N= 88 and fourth N= 44) took part in the study. All of them speak Turkish as their first language.

Teacher educators. In the 2000-2001 academic year, the total number of full-time teacher educators in the TEFL department was 13, of whom one held a PhD in Linguistics, ten in Literature and two in Applied Linguistics. Seven teacher educators (6 males and 1 female) agreed to participate. Their average length of teaching experience was 15 years. All teacher educators were non-native speakers of English. [-4-]

Measures

Reader self-perception scale (RSPS). The first instrument of measurement was adapted from the RSPS developed by Henk and Melnick (1995). The RSPS was chosen because it accounts adequately for concerns related to focus, norming, theoretical grounding, and practicality. Beyond these advantages, the RSPS offers a wide range of assessment, instructional, and research applications that are outlined in Henk and Melnick (1995). This RSPS consists of thirty-three questions and provides information about how the respondents feel about themselves as readers. These thirty-three questions are organized into five dimensions of reader self-perception. A 5-point Likert-scale (strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, strongly disagree) was used. The abbreviations (Ab.) for each dimension, and sample items selected from each dimension, are given in Table 1 (Appendix 1).

Table 1. Sample items for RSPS

Dimension Ab.  # Sample Item
General perception GP 1 I think I am a good reader.
Psychological states PS 8 Reading makes me feel happy inside.
Progress P 9 When I read, I don't have to try as hard as I

used to.

Observational comparison OC 6 When I read, I can figure out words better than other

classmates.

Social feedback SF 9 People in my family think I am a good reader.

The RSPS was designed to assess the feelings about themselves as readers of elementary students who are speakers of English as a native language. However, it has been used in this paper to assess pre-service EFL teacher's feelings about themselves as readers of both Turkish and English. Therefore, all items, which included the words "kids," and "teacher" were modified to "classmates" and "lecturer". The subscales showed an internal consistency coefficient ranging between 74 and 80, in line with existing evidence regarding the validity and reliability of the subscales (see Henk & Melnick, 1995).

Teaching reading self-perception scale (TRSPS). To address the questions related to the students' perception of themselves as future teachers, a second questionnaire was needed, relating specifically to beliefs and attitudes towards the teaching of reading, and a five-item questionnaire was designed (Appendix 2). Furthermore, one item (Item 39) was added to elicit respondents' ratings of their teacher education program in preparing them both as readers and as reading teachers. A 5-point Likert-scale (strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, strongly disagree) was used. One item (Item 38) was worded negatively. Scale reliability showed tolerable internal reliability in this total sample (0.56.).

Teacher-educator questionnaire. To examine the beliefs and practices of teacher educators, a teacher-educator questionnaire was distributed to all 13 teacher-educators. Respondents were asked to identify the experience they had in years. (0-5; 6-10; 11-15; 16-25; 26+). Following questions were designed to inquire into the types of reading experiences being pursued in the teacher-training program. They were also intended to explore the extent to which teacher educators' beliefs mirrored those found in current paradigms for reading instruction, and finally attempted to find out where, and how, the identity of a teacher as a reader, was being addressed in the course content (Appendix 3).

Procedure

The pre-service teachers were told that the questionnaires were anonymous and were reassured that their responses would not be available to their educators. They were also offered the option to decline participation or withdraw at any time. All questionnaires were completed under the supervision of the researcher.[-5-]

Data analysis

The data analysis was conducted using SPSS 10.0, and basic descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations) were computed for all the data. Gender and year differences in pre-service teachers' self-perceptions as readers (research question 1), and as future teachers (research question 2), and their perceptions of their training (research question 3) were analysed using Mann-Whitney U statistics.

Percentages were used to report the proportion of pre-service teachers who selected each alternative on the TRSPS (research question 2) and rated their teacher education program (research question 3). Percentages were used similarly in reporting teacher-educator responses on how the teacher education program addresses reading self-perceptions and teaching reading (research question 4).

Bivariate correlations were used to explore the relation between pre-service teachers' self-perception as readers and as future reading teachers (research question 2), and between their self perception as readers and their perception of how well they are educated (research question 3).

Analysis of the completed teacher educator questionnaire involved interpretation of open-ended responses, as well.

Results

How do the prospective secondary teachers describe themselves as readers? The examination of data collected through RSPS permitted a description of pre-service teachers' perceptions of themselves, and gave information about which dimensions of self-perception students endorse most and least. The means and standard deviations for the different dimensions of pre-service teachers' self-perceptions as readers are provided in Table 2.

Table 2:  Pearson correlations among scales and descriptive statistics  (n=132)
Correlation coefficient=r

Scale

Statistics

GP

P

OC

SF

PS

GP

r

         
 

P

         

P

r

0.09

       
 

P

0.31

       

OC

r

0.38

0.45

     
 

P

0.00**

0.00**

     

SF

r

0.38

0.41

0.61

   
 

P

0.00**

0.00**

0.00**

   

PS

r

0.33

0.44

0.41

0.45

 
 

P

0.00**

0.00**

0.00**

0.00**

 
             
 

M

3.56

4.11

3.26

3.38

3.98

 

SD

0.93

0.49

0.53

0.47

0.55

** p= < 0.01, 2-tailed
Note 1. P= Progress; PS= Psychological states; GP= General perception; SF= Social feedback; OC= Observational comparison

The mean ratings for the item for the item ("I think I am a good reader") were slightly above the "undecided" level on the 5-point scale. This implies that respondents are not very confident that they have the capability to read effectively.[-6-]

However, when they read, they read for intrinsic reasons. The table shows that more intrinsic dimensions (Progress and Psychological states) have the highest scores, whereas more extrinsic dimensions (Observational comparison and Social feedback) have the lowest scores. Pre-service teachers seem to view themselves as reading well, improving their reading, enjoying reading significantly, and being motivated to be engaged in an activity for its own sake, rather than for "extrinsic" reasons.

When considering the correlations among the subscales, the most notable aspect was the generally high level of interrelatedness. The existence of these relations would suggest the existence of multidimensionality of the pre-service teachers' self-perceptions as readers. That is, self-perception is a multifaceted psychological phenomenon, and individuals may have multiple, rather than a single, perceptions of reading. Unexpectedly, self-perceptions of reading Progress and General perception of reading ability were found to be unrelated. However, the related literature on self-efficacy theory postulates that progress raises self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986).

In order to determine if there are year and gender differences in pre-service teachers self-perceptions as readers, a non-parametric two Independent Samples - Mann Whitney U Test was run.

Table 3: Two independent samples for gender differences in pre-service teachers' self-perceptions as readers

Variable

Gender

N

MR

SR

U

P

GP

F

60

62.350

3741

1911.0

 0.22

 

M

72

69.958

5037

   

P

F

60

67.825

4069.5

2080.5

 0.72

 

M

72

65.395

4708.5

   

OC

F

60

62.958

3777.5

1947.5

 0.33

 

M

72

69.451

5000.5

   

SF

F

60

65.825

3949.5

2119.5

 0.85

 

M

72

67.062

4828.5

   

PS

F

60

66.233

3974

2144.0

 0.94

 

M

72

66.722

4804

   

Table 4: Two independent samples for year differences in pre-service teachers' self-perceptions as readers

Variable

Year

N

MR

SR

U

P

GP

3

88

62.875

5533

1617.0

0.10

 

4

44

73.75

3245

   

P

3

88

66.017

5809.5

1893.5

0.84

 

4

44

67.465

2968.5

   

OC

3

88

64.75

5698

1782.0

0.45

 

4

44

70

3080

   

SF

3

88

63.505

5588.5

1672.5

0.20

 

4

44

72.488

3189.5

   

PS

3

88

62.761

5523

1607.0

0.11

 

4

44

73.977

3255

   

Yet, the results revealed no significant gender (Table 3) or year (Table 4) differences in pre-service teachers' perceptions of themselves as readers. It seemed that positive feelings on reading were shared across whole group.[-7-]

What are the pre-service teachers' perceptions about themselves as readers? As noted previously, an additional 5-item section was added to the TRSPS (items 34-38), to measure beliefs regarding the teacher's role in reading, both generally and personally. The percentages and descriptive statistics for pre-service teacher comments on four questions are presented in Table 5.

Table 5: Items with percentages, means and standard deviations of pre-service teachers selecting each alternative (n=132)

Item

Statistics

SA

A

U

D

SD

M

SD

34

Percent

28.8

47.7

13.6

6.1

3.8

3.92

1.00

35

Percent

34.8

45.5

15.9

3.8

-

4.11

0.81

36

Percent

62.9

27.3

6.1

3.0

0.8

4.48

0.81

37

Percent

45.5

42.4

9.8

1.5

0.8

4.30

0.77

Note. SA=Strongly agree; A=Agree; U=Undecided; D=Disagree; SD=Strongly disagree.

The table shows that the mean score of 3.92 for Item 34 "I want to teach reading" is only slightly higher than "undecided." 47.7% of the pre-service teachers merely "agreed" with this statement, suggesting pre-service teachers are not very highly motivated to teach reading. This is the only item that displays gender differences in pre-service teachers' perceptions of themselves as readers. On this item males (M=4.0556, SE=.1168) had higher score than females (M=3.7500, SE= .1294). Table 6 given below displays the gender differences.

Conversely, the mean scores of 4.3 for Item 37, "I plan to use reading regularly in my classes when I teach" is higher than that for Item 34, and 45.5% of the pre-service students "strongly agreed" and an additional 42.4% "agreed" with this item. This suggests that pre-service teachers recognize that they must teach reading, at least as a section in a course.

Although they themselves are not very motivated to teach reading, these instructors strongly believe those who will teach reading should be good readers (Item 36, M=4.48; SD=0.81) and should read along with their students (M=4.11; SD=0.81) [-8-]

Table 6: Two independent samples for gender differences in pre-service teachers' self perceptions as future teachers

Variable

Gender

N

MR

SR

U

 p </p>

34

F

60

59.616

3577

1747.0

 0.04

 

M

72

72.23

5201

   

35

F

60

68.091

4085.5

2064.5

 0.64

 

M

72

65.173

4692.5

   

36

F

60

68.316

4099

2051.0

 0.56

 

M

72

64.986

4679

   

37

F

60

67.291

4037.5

2112.5

 0.81

 

M

72

65.840

4740.5

   

38

F

60

69.866

4192

1958.0

 0.33

 

M

72

63.694

4586

   

As noted above, the results presented in Table 6 indicate that there is a significant gender difference in pre-service teachers' perceptions of themselves as reading teachers. On Item 34 "I want to teach reading" (U 1747, p < .05.) males (M=4.0556, SE=.1168) had higher score than females (M=3.7500, SE= .1294). It seemed that males in general were more confident and more motivated to teach reading than the females, although there was no gender difference (Table 3) in their perceptions of themselves as readers. This finding implies that males' choosing to teach reading has some other explanation than being a good reader. However, this study does not help us to explain the gender difference.

Table 7 displays the year differences in pre-service teachers' perceptions of themselves as readers

Table 7: Two independent samples for year differences in pre-service teachers' self perceptions as future teachers

Variable

Year

N

MR

SR

U

F

34

3

88

 63.82

5616

1700.0

 0.22

 

4

44

 71.86

3162

   

35

3

88

 64.95

5716

1800.0

 0.48

 

4

44

 69.59

3062

   

36

3

88

 61.22

5387.5

1471.5

 0.01

 

4

44

 77.06

3390.5

   

37

3

88

 66.59

5860

1928.0

 0.97

 

4

44

 66.32

2918

   

38

3

88

 72.42

6373

1415.0

 0.01

 

4

44

 54.66

2405

   

Two related items showed a difference by year: Item 36, U 1471 =. 001, p < .01 and Item 38 U 1415.5 = 0.01 p < .01. On item 36 "All teachers should be readers", 4th year pre-service teachers had higher scores (M=4. 6818, SD =. 7400). Conversely, on Item 38 "EFL teachers do not have to be readers", which was the only negatively worded item, 3rd year pre-service teachers had higher scores with M= 2. 2273, SD= 1.0140. The 3rd year pre-service teachers appeared to have less clear-cut beliefs about the connection between being a good reader and a good reading teacher. This situation may imply a belief change from one year to another. 4th year pre-service teachers were likely to revise their ideas as a result of experiences on teaching practice.[-9-]

Correlations between the sub-scales of self-perception as readers, and self-perception as future teachers of reading are shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Summary of bivariate correlations--reader self perception and self-perception as future teacher

Variable

Statistics

GP

P

OC

SF

PS

34

R

0.034

0.167

0.167

0.176

0.102

 

P

0.697

0.056

0.056

0.043*

0.244

35

R

-0.014

0.242

0.091

0.211

0.142

 

P

0.870

0.005**

0.301

0.015*

0.104

36

R

0.052

0.231

0.141

0.210

0.099

 

P

0.551

0.008**

0.106

0.016*

0.258

37

R

- 0.005

0.175

0.025

0.150

0.066

 

P

0.959

0.045*

0.777

0.085

0.453

** p= < 0.01, 2-tailed *p= <0.05, 2-tailed

Correlation coefficient =r

The results revealed significant differences in pre-service teachers' perceptions of how they have been trained, relating to several dimensions of their perceptions of themselves as readers. Progress had a significant correlation with item 35 (0.242, p < .01), item 36 (0.231, p < .01), and with item 37 (0.175, p < .05). That is, the more pre-service teachers perceived themselves as making progress, the more likely they were to report planning to use reading in their language classes, reading along with the students to motivate them, and having a view that all teachers should be good readers. This finding suggests a dynamic view of reading. Social feedback was also correlated with Items 34 (0.176, p < .05), 35 (0.211, p < .05) and 36 (0.210, p < .05), suggesting a concern with how others see them, reflected on both scales. That is, social feedback influences pre-service teachers' desire to teach reading and plan to use it when they teach positively.

How do pre-service teachers rate their teacher education program in preparing them to teach reading? The last item on the TRSPS was used to assess the respondents' feelings about their teacher education program: 15.15% indicated that they strongly believed they had been trained well, 36.36% indicated that they agreed. On the other hand, a total of 19.70% disagreed with this statement, and 10.61% said that they strongly disagreed. 18.18% of thesubjects said they were uncertain. The results can be seen in Table 9.

Table 9: Percentage of pre-service teachers who responded that their teacher education program has trained them well (n=132)

 Statistics

 SD

 D

 U

 A

 SA

 Frequency

 14.00

 26.00

 24.00

 48.00

 20.00

 Percent

 10.61

 19.70

 18.18

 36.36

 15.15

Overall, in Table 9 we see that 30.31% of the prospective teachers participating in this study did not feel they had been trained well in this area. An additional 18.00% were uncertain about their level of preparation for teaching reading, so that a total of 48.49% seem not satisfied with their training. The pre-service teachers report significantly low ratings of the usefulness of teacher education for developing the knowledge and skills necessary for teaching. No difference for gender (Table 10) was identified. Furthermore, the present study found that these perceptions remained unchanged from third to fourth year students (Table 11), so that that this rating is shared across whole group.[-10-]

Table 10: Two independent samples for gender differences in pre-service teachers' perceptions on their training

Variable

Gender

N

MR

SR

U

P

39

F

60

68.166

4090

2060

0.64

 

M

72

65.111

4688

   

Table 11: Two independent samples for year differences in pre-service teachers' perceptions on their training

Variable

Year

N

MR

SR

U

P

39

3

88

68.602

6037

1751

0.36

 

4

44

62.295

2741

   

How and to what extent are reading self-perceptions and the teaching of reading addressed in the teacher education program? In this phase of the study we analyse the responses of seven teacher educators to a series of questions about the types of reading required in their courses. The responses indicate that the most popular type of reading is literary works (85.7%). Literary reading is followed by journal reading (57.1%). The type of reading used by the fewest teacher educators (14.2%) was research papers.

Next, respondents were provided with a space for describing the types of feedback pre-service teachers receive for the above-mentioned course-related reading. Four of the respondents mentioned that they correct errors of pronunciation and intonation, implying that reading aloud is practised. The others did not reply to this question.

Next, teacher educators were asked whether it is a goal of their instruction to train pre-service teachers how to teach reading. Three responded affirmatively, to a great extent; two responded affirmatively, but to some extent, while 2 responded negatively. A few expressed the view that since reading is not their content area, or is the responsibility of methods courses, it was not their responsibility to train reading teachers.

How does this group of teacher educators rate the reading ability of their pre-service teachers? Not a single respondent rated pre-service teachers' reading as excellent. The majority (57.1%) considered pre-service teacher reading to be satisfactory whereas 42.7% found it to be poor.[-11-]

Teacher-educators were also asked to describe what they believed to be the attitude toward reading of pre-service teachers in their classes. 42.7% rated pre-service teacher attitudes toward reading as being positive. The most common rating of pre-service teacher attitude toward reading was "neutral", given by 57.3%. However, no respondent rated pre-service teacher attitudes toward reading as being "negative".

Finally, teacher educators were given an open opportunity to express any additional comments they had concerning pre-service teacher reading or their approach to teaching reading. Several seemed to have the desire to have good readers but they saw reading ability as something pre-service teachers should improve in their free time, not a curricular issue.

Discussion

The first aim of this investigation was to explore the pre-service teachers' self-perceptions as readers. Results revealed that respondents here are not very confident that they have capability to read effectively. However, when they read, they read for intrinsic reasons.

As expected, the results also revealed highly significant correlations among the subscales. In fact, the scales relate so much to one another that interrelations among them are unavoidable. These interactions confirm the idea that reading is complex and multidimensional. However, although the related literature on self-efficacy theory postulates a relationship between perceived progress and self-efficacy beliefs by suggesting that individuals are competent and can continue to learn (Bandura, 1986), in this study these two scales were found to be unrelated.

Gender and year differences did not have direct effects on pre-service teachers' perceptions of themselves as readers. Previous research has already suggested that teachers' beliefs tend not to change much from the time they enter until they leave pre-service training programs, and that their beliefs are generally not influenced easily. Beliefs probably persist in part because they serve as "filters" through which new information is processed (Cohen and Ball, 1990; Kagan, 1992). However, given the course tutors stress on pre-service teachers' self-development as readers, it is disappointing not to see any significant change from one-year group to the next in pre-service teachers' self-perception.

Several implications can be drawn from this first group of findings. The first is that teacher-educators in this program should pay more attention to pre-service teachers' perceptions of their capability to read, in part because these perceptions work in concert with future experiences to help determine the academic choices and achievements of students (Hackett & Betz, 1989). Furthermore, as regarding differences by year, the study found that 4th year pre-service teachers did not report any stronger perceptions of themselves as readers than 3rd year pre-service teachers. This lack of development suggests that attention to pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs should become an explicit feature of teacher education in such programs, and should assess both competence and the beliefs that accompany competence as part of reading. This is an area that merits continued scrutiny, especially in a study that would trace a cohort of students as they progress through beginning teaching.

The second aim of the study was to discover pre-service teachers' self-perceptions as future teachers of reading in a foreign language. Findings revealed that, the mean score of the item "I want to teach reading" was only slightly higher than "uncertain", though the mean score of the item "I plan to use reading regularly in my classes when I teach" was higher. However, although pre-service teachers themselves are not very motivated to teach reading, they strongly believe that those who will teach reading should be good readers and should read along with their students.

The study revealed a direct effect of gender, favouring males, on the item "I want to teach reading." However, this study does not help us to explain this. "All teachers should be readers" also showed a difference by year, as 4th year pre-service teachers had higher scores. This situation may imply a belief change from one year to another. 4th year pre-service teachers were likely to revise their pedagogic ideas as a result of confronting experiences on teaching practice (Cohen & Ball, 1990).[-12-]

The study also correlated pre-service teachers' perceptions of themselves as readers with their perceptions of themselves as future teachers. These results showed that, at least for this sample, Progress and Social feedback had significant correlations with pre-service teachers' perceptions of their future practice as teachers. Progress is defined as how one's perception of present reading performance compares with past performance. The more they perceived progress, the more likely they were to report planning to use reading in their language classes, reading along with the students to motivate them, and having a view that all teachers should be good readers. Social feedback includes direct or indirect input about reading from others. Social feedback also seems to influence pre-service teachers' desire to teach reading and plans to use it when they teach positively. So, our results confirm that pre-service teacher perceptions on teaching are positively related to both intrinsic and socially situated extrinsic goal orientations (Dweck, 1986; Urdan, 1997). The existence of these correlations underlines the relevance of self-perceptions relating to becoming a teacher of reading.

The third aim of the study was to explore the pre-service teachers' evaluation of their teacher education program for teaching reading. A total of 51.41% seem satisfied with their training. No difference for gender was identified, and self-perceptions remained unchanged from third to fourth year students, so that this rather low rating is shared across the whole group. This result indicates the need for improving standards in teacher education in Turkey regarding reading, focusing on what current participants think.

The fourth aim of the study was to examine in what way the needs of the pre-service teacher, as a reader, and the future teacher of reading, are being addressed in pre-service education in the context of a Turkish higher education institution.

Teacher educators were asked how and to what extent reading self-perceptions and the teaching of reading are addressed in the teacher education program. Teacher educator responses indicate that teacher educators prefer to focus on prestigious literary texts. It seems that dealing with literary works may have resulted in aesthetic pleasure, since pre-service teachers reported more intrinsic reasons for reading. However this focus could be viewed as somewhat one-sided. That is, teacher educators are focusing on personal development of pre-service teachers as readers, rather than their vocational development as teachers of reading.

Respondents also described the types of feedback pre-service teachers receive for their course-relatedreading. Providing feedback to pre-service teachers is one of the teacher educator's most important tasks, offering individualized attention that is otherwise rarely possible under normal conditions. Teacher educators are already conscious of the potential feedback has for helping a supportive learning to teach environment and the related literature generally acknowledges its usefulness (Hedgcock & Lefkowitz, 1994.) However, in this case it seems that teacher educators limit the form of feedback they provide to the correction of errors in pronunciation and intonation. Some did not reply this question at all. Yet as discussed above, pre-service teacher replies suggested that social feedback had significant influences on both pre-service perceptions as both a reader and a future teacher of reading. Could the pre-service teachers' lack of feedback be limiting/depressing these self-perceptions? This possibility cannot be excluded.

On the other hand, both pre-service teachers and teacher educators agreed that pre-service teacher attitudes to reading are positive, but not very high. This implies that there is still more to do to increase pre-service teacher reading to the desired level. However, teacher educators seemed to see reading as something pre-service teachers should improve in their free time, not a curricular issue.

When teacher educators were asked whether it was a goal of their instruction to train pre-service teachers how to teach reading, two responded negatively and three expressed the view that since reading was not their content area, or was the responsibility of methods courses, it was not their responsibility to train reading teachers. This suggests that the education of teachers in the area of reading is still not a primary concern in foreign language education. [-13-]

Conclusion

Teacher educators at this university are committed to the development of pre-teachers as readers. They approach this through a focus on literary reading, which is arguably a bit narrow, but seems to produce pre-service teachers who are indeed intrinsically motivated to read. However, the teacher educators are ambivalent about their responsibility for delivering professional education in the teaching of reading. Correspondingly, the students do not feel well prepared to teach reading, and are not all that enthusiastic about teaching it.

There are obvious implications here for the development of the teacher education programme. The teaching of reading needs much more attention in the programme. However, this needs to be done in such a way as not to destroy what is positive about the present situation (pre-service teachers' personal enthusiasm for reading).

Future research is needed to track any such developments so that we continue to learn more about how pre-service teachers' intrinsic motivations and self-efficacy beliefs can best be carried out through into their professional training e.g., in the skills of reading reaching, and be communicated in turn to their students, through effective classroom practice.

Future studies should also examine the content of pre-service EFL teacher perceptions in the social and cultural context by investigating the common views of pre-service teachers share across teacher education programs. Additionally, examining teacher education program influence by looking at the consistency between the context of pre-service teachers' perceptions on reading and teaching reading, and program goals would further isolate the degree to which social and cultural perspectives are affected by the programs. A better understanding of these relationships can lead to a more effective integration of program goals and cultural context.

Acknowledgments

The author is indebted to Prof. Rosomund Mitchell, Southampton University, UK, for invaluable comments.

The author expresses her appreciation to Prof. Cem Alptekin, Bogazici University, Turkey, for his critical feedback and valuable suggestions on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

The reader self-perception scale (RSPS)

1.I think I am a good reader.
2.I can tell that my lecturer likes to listen to me read.
3.My lecturer thinks that my reading is fine.
4.I read faster than other classmates.
5.I like to read aloud.
6.When I read, I can figure out words better than other classmates.
7.My classmates like to listen to me read.
8.I feel good inside when I read.
9.My classmates think that I read well.
10.When I read, I don't have to try as hard as I used to.
11.I seem to know more words than other classmates when I read.
12.People in my family think I am a good reader.
13.I am getting better at reading.
14.I understand what I read as well as other classmates do.
15.When I read, I need less help than I used to.
16.Reading makes me feel happy inside.
17.My lecturer thinks I am a good reader.
18.Reading is easier for me than it used to be.
19.I read faster than I could before.
20.I read better than other classmates in my class.
21.I feel calm when I read.
22.I read more than other classmates.
23.I understand what I read better than I could before.
24.I can figure out words better than I could before
25.I feel comfortable when I read.
26.I think reading is relaxing.
27.I read better now than I could before.
28.When I read, I recognize new words than I used to.
29.Reading makes me feel good.
30.Other classmates think I am a good reader.
31.People in my family think I read pretty well.
32.I enjoy reading.
33.People in my family like to listen to me read.
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Appendix 2

The reading teacher self-perception scale (TRSPS)

34.I want to teach reading
35.Teachers should read along with their students
36.All teachers should be readers
37.I plan to use reading regularly in my classes when I teach
38.Teachers in my field do not have to be readers
39.My teacher education program has trained me well to teach reading

Appendix 3

Teacher educator questionnaire

· Please indicate your years of experience as a teacher educator?

0-5 ____ 6-10 ______ 11-15 ______ 16-25 _____ 26+ ____

· What type(s) of reading are required in your courses?
journal _____ essays _____ reviews of literature _____ research papers ____literary works___ other

· What type(s) of written or verbal feedback do your students receive from you for their reading:
· Is it a goal of your instruction to train pre-service teachers how to teach reading?

yes, to a great extent ____ yes, to some extent _____ no _______

If yes, how:

If no, why not:

· How would you rate the reading ability of most of your students?

excellent _____
satisfactory _____
poor _____

· How would you describe most of your students' attitudes toward reading as demonstrated in your class?

positive _______
neutral _____
negative ______

About the Author

Dr. Leyla Tercanlioglu is an assistant professor at Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey. Her main academic interests are foreign language teaching education, reading, and L1 and L2 reading instruction. She is currently at the University of Southampton, UK, doing postdoctoral work on the L1 and L2 readers.

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