İngilizce öğrtemeni adaylarının etkili İngilizce öğretmeni olmaya yönelik kavramlaştırmalarının keşifsel bir durum çalışması ile incelenmesi

The objective of this study is to investigate prospective teachers' concepts on the features of an effective (English) foreign language teacher. Additionally, the study attempts to explore the role of the of the EFL teacher education program on EFL prospective teachers' views about being an effective EFL teacher. The study was carried out with 170 prospective EFL teachers at Abant İzzet Baysal University in Turkey. At the first stage of the study, the data were gathered through concept maps from all the participants. Then, focus group interviews were conducted with 20 prospective teachers selected randomly from all participants. The data from concept maps and focus group interviews were analyzed through content analysis. Additionally, the data coming from the PTs of different grades were analyzed separately in order to examine the role of the ELT program on PTs. The results gathered through concept maps revealed that the professional development and the knowledge of EFL teachers were considered to be the most important in ten categories defined to depict the profile of an effective EFL teacher. Under the category, the most important subtheme was having the necessary language skills in order to be able to use the English language accurately and fluently. This result was also supported by the details given by the participants during the interviews. The following outstanding category referred on the concept maps was the personality traits of effective EFL teachers which are being patient, helpful and funny. Moreover, it was emphasized that having good relationships with students is important in order to become an effective EFL teacher during the interviews. When the differences between the different classes are taken into account, the frequency and the content of the definitions of PTs have displayed differences which indicate that during the process of professional learning, PTs gained new insights about defining effective EFL teacher in accordance with the priorities and the needs of their educational grades.