The effects of using the EPOSTL on prospective EFL teachers' teaching autonomy

In pre-service teacher education, it is of importance to match the gap between theory and practice. In order to fill this gap, teacher autonomy has continuing concern within the scope of teacher education. Although extensive research has been carried out on this area, there is little published study suggesting techniques to foster teacher autonomy in the field of English Language pre-service teacher education. Hence, this study sets out to explore the potential use the EPOSTL (European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages) to promote prospective EFL teachers' autonomy. It is a comprehensive guide of teacher competencies for prospective teachers projected by the European Center for Modern Languages to harmonize language education across Europe. Adopting mixed method, this study used Teaching Autonomy Scale and semi-structured interviews to collect data from 19 prospective EFL teachers in the third year of their education at Hacettepe University. Before and after the use of the EPOSTL, Teacher Autonomy Scale was implemented to see the change. After the implementation, semi structured interviews were conducted with the participants to investigate their views on using the EPOSTL. The quantitative analyses were performed using IBM SPSS version 25.0 and the qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. The study indicated that the EPOSTL is a very useful tool to increase awareness of the prospective EFL teachers on teaching autonomy. The EPOSTL was beneficial for the development of reflective skills. This study provided new perspectives for prospective EFL teachers, instructors, curriculum developers and institutions.