Microteaching: A Technique to Enhance English-as-a-Foreign Language Teacher Candidates’ Professional Learning

Abstract

Öz Practicing teaching occupies a vital place in initial teacher training programs, and microteaching technique is implemented in teacher training to create an environment where teacher candidates (TCs) have a chance to transfer accumulated content knowledge into practice. This qualitative case research was undertaken to explore a) English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) teacher candidates’ (EFLTCs) perceptions of the contribution of the microteaching they either conducted or observed in Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYLs) II course to their professional learning, b) to what extent getting feedback on their microteaching from peers reinforces their professional learning, c) their conceptions of the contribution of reflecting on their own microteaching to their professional learning, and d) how they would redesign the way the microteaching process was gone through to better serve EFLTC professional learning. The findings demonstrated microteaching was viewed as effective at enhancing professional learning and the incongruence with respect to their views on the contribution of receiving peer feedback to their professional learning. Additionally, the findings indicated that engaging in self-evaluation prompted EFLTC professional learning and a set of suggestions were put forward to improve microteaching experience for EFLTCs. Even though the effect of microteaching on professional learning was evaluated in the context of initial EFL teacher training and TEYLs II course, the findings of this research could be thought-provoking for teacher educators from diverse disciplines already integrating or intending to integrate microteaching into their teaching.