A case study on the English language teacher trainees' perceptions about teacher competencies identified by Common European Framework (CEF) and European Language Portfolio (ELP)

The aim of this study is to shed light on English Language Teacher (ELT) Trainees? perceptions about teacher competencies identified by Common European Framework (CEF) and European Language Portfolio (ELP) by describing their current and desired competencies. In doing so, how their perceptions on the competencies differ according to the variables such as ?grade level, gender, language level and the graduated high school? during the process of education is also explored.As identified in ?Common European Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualifications?, the required teacher competencies are elaborated under four common European principles ?being a graduate profession, a profession placed within the context of lifelong learning, a mobile profession, a profession based on partnerships?. The three key competencies are ?working with information, technology and knowledge, working with their fellow human beings ? learners, colleagues and other partners in education, and working with and in society - at local, regional, national, European and broader global levels?.154 ELT trainees studying in the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd and the 4th grade at the English Language Teaching Department, Foreign Language Education Programme at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University participated in this case study. A questionnaire about the required teacher competencies in the implementation of the CEF and the English Language Portfolio was administrated to these trainees, and the survey results were analyzed quantitatively and with the use of the descriptive and exploratory statistics while some open-ended questions were dealt with qualitatively. The findings obtained revealed that the trainees that participated in the questionnaire currently found themselves to be competent in the required teacher competencies defined in ?Common European Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualifications?; moreover, they would like to have to be experts in these competencies. It has been marked that the more the trainees found themselves competent currently, the more they would like to be competent in the competencies described in the CEF and the ELP in the future. The fourth-grade trainees are currently more competent than the first and the second grades according to their views. In terms of gender, there is not a significant difference between males and females in relation to their current competencies, whereas females expect to be more competent than males. Moreover, there is a positive and significant relationship between the ELT trainees? language competency levels and their perceptions on both current and desired competencies that they have. Furthermore, the trainees graduated from Anatolian Teacher Training High Schools found themselves more competent than the trainees graduated from Anatolian High Schools. There is not a relationship between their grades or the type of high school the ELT trainees graduated and their perceptions on the desired competencies.Key words: Common European Framework (CEF), European Language Portfolio (ELP), Teacher Competencies, ELT Trainees.