Possible effects of employing video recording as a self-monitoring tool on pre-service EFL teachers' reflectivity and teaching knowledge

The overall aim of the research study is to explore the potential effects of training and implementing video recording and analysis on pre-service teachers' professional development as a self-monitoring tool in an ELT pre-service teacher education context in Turkey. More specifically, the study seeks to observe any promising changes in pre-service EFL teachers' reflectivity levels and their competencies in terms of their knowledge regarding lesson planning, selection and make use of language teaching resources, teachers' language use in the classroom and classroom management. In this sense, a convergent parallel design in which the effect of this activity was assessed with a control group was employed to address the purpose of this study. Therefore, both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered concurrently, and the results were collated to provide a stronger baseline. The study was conducted in an ELT department at a state university located in the northwest of Turkey with thirty senior pre-service EFL teachers who were selected by the random sampling strategy. Fifteen of them were assigned to the study group and the other fifteen were allocated to the control group. Having been trained about the usage of video recording and analysis as a self-monitoring tool for a semester, participants in the study group employed this activity in their teaching practice course while the control group followed the routine requirements of the teaching practice course. Data collection was performed in the following academic semester employing quantitative and qualitative research instruments. For collection of quantitative data, The Profile of The Reflective Thinking Attributes Instrument developed by Taggart and Wilson (1998) and The Teaching Knowledge Test (Cambridge ESOL) were employed as a pre-test and post-test design to both groups. Video recordings of school lessons, video-stimulated recall sessions, and written reflections based on those sessions were employed to gather the qualitative data from participants in the study group. Analysis of the quantitative data was made using IBM SPSS Statistics 21 programme and the qualitative data were analysed by the software MAXQDA 12. Results regarding a shift in the reflectivity levels indicated that the participants in the study group enhanced their reflectivity level more than the control group. Overall qualitative findings of the study supported the quantitative findings as there was a hierarchical improvement in pre-service EFL teachers' reflectivity level throughout the study. The study concluded that majority of the participants reached the highest level of reflectivity due to the implementation of video based self-monitoring activity. In addition, individual analysis of qualitative data revealed that some of the participants exploited more from the procedure to improve their reflectivity level. Results regarding teacher knowledge growth as a consequence of self-monitoring usage divulged that video recording and analysis as a self-monitoring tool is a highly effective activity for enhancing teachers' knowledge growth, particularly about planning and preparing a lesson, its flow, selecting and utilising language teaching resources and materials, teachers' language use in the classroom and managing the teaching learning process. In other words, the use of video as a self-monitoring tool can be considered as a powerful instrument to support the professional development of pre-service teachers. The study provides several implications for teacher educators, university supervisors and particularly for teacher education programmes whose aim is to prepare pre-service teachers for the real teaching profession by training them using professional development tools.