EFL TEACHERS’ DEMANDS AND PREFERENCES ON IN-SERVICE TRAINING IN TURKEY

Abstract

One of the significant means of ensuring quality instruction in language classrooms isestablishing an effective program of continuing professional development for languageteachers. When conducted efficiently as a part of CPD, in-service training (INSET) proves tobe a key component in improving teachers’ instructional skills as well as keeping theirmethodological knowledge up-to-date. Nonetheless, both state-led and private-held INSETefforts in Turkey receive considerable criticism regarding their inefficiency and insufficiency.One of the reasons for any ineffectiveness might be INSET program developers’ negligence intaking into consideration teachers’ actual needs. Thus, more empirical research that exploreslanguage teachers’ demands and preferences on in-service training should be carried out invarious contexts. Consequently, this study aims to investigate English teachers’ demands andpreferences on an INSET program. Descriptive in nature and following a quantitative researchdesign, the present study collected data from 985 state and private school teachers via a scaledeveloped by the researchers. Having ensured construct validity via factor analysis, the scaleconsisted of three sub-factorial groups: demands on INSET, preferences regarding the contentand the trainers, and personal preferences. The findings displayed some statistically significantdifferences between state and private schools, novice and experienced teachers, and betweenteachers who had previous INSET experience and those who do not at different sub-factorialgroups. The study has implications for policymakers, who are in the process of designing anINSET model for Foreign Language Teachers, as well as teacher trainers who carry out INSET.