English Prospective Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Profession of Teaching: An Explorative Study in Yemen (Published)
This study attempts to obtain empirical evidence on pre-service student-teachers’ attitudes towards the teaching profession in the faculties of Education at Hodeidah University, Yemen. Also, it investigates the effect of the participants’ gender, place of study and their selection of English as a major on their attitudes. 300 fourth-year student-teachers, undergoing B.Ed. courses in the English Departments of the different Faculties of Education affiliated to Hodeidah University, are surveyed. The Attitude Scale Towards Teaching Profession is used to identify the participants’ attitudes. To analyze data, mean, standard deviation, t-test and Pearson correlation are calculated. The results indicate that the participants tend to hold fairly positive attitudes towards the teaching profession, their attitudes are affected by their gender and place of study while there is no correlation found between the students’ attitudes and their selection of English as a major. Some recommendations are made in order to enhance these attitudes .
Keywords: Attitudes, Faculties of Education, Profession, Prospective, Student Teachers
DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE SKILLS AMONG EFL STUDENT TEACHERS (Published)
This paper reports the results of a qualitative research study designed to examine the effects of guided written and oral reflections for developing reflective thinking skills among Arab-Muslim female student teachers in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher education program in Israel. Guidance was provided in the framework of a one-year practicum. Besides employing some qualitative research methods such as observations and conducting interviews, a pre-post questionnaire to examine changes in the participants’ perceptions of reflective skills was administered. The results indicate some improvement in the students’ reflective abilities. However, a more structured practice teaching program, time and ample opportunities for practice and reflection are needed to help Arab Muslim student teachers further develop their reflective abilities.
Keywords: Developing reflective skills, EFL, Guided reflections, Student Teachers