This study investigated the effects of competitive and cooperative teaching techniques on Iranian adult EFL learners’ use of direct strategies. To this end, a sample of 88 non-English major university students at Sohrevardi Nonprofit College in Qazvin were assigned to two groups, and each group received instruction under one of the treatment conditions including cooperative and competitive teaching techniques. To collect data, the Persian translation of a modified version of the subsection of Oxford’s Strategy Inventory of Language Learning pertaining to direct strategy use was administered before and after the treatment. The obtained data were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) procedure. The result of data analysis showed no significant difference between the effects of competitive and cooperative teaching techniques on direct strategy use of Iranian adult EFL learners. The findings of the present study may have implications for learners, teachers, and syllabus designers.

This paper describes a pedagogical framework that teachers can use to support students who are engaged in solving open-ended problems, by explaining how two Japanese expert teachers successfully apply open-ended problems in their mathematics class. The Open-Ended Approach (OPA) framework consists of two main sections: Understanding Mathematical Knowledge and Applying Mathematical Knowledge. The sections were cross-analyzed with students’ responses to provide a comprehensive analysis of how teachers use various techniques to support students. It is proposed that teachers can use this framework to create an environment that promotes learning with open-ended as well as other open problems in their mathematics classroom. The OPA framework can contribute to teacher education, the design of mathematics curricula and to educational research.

Facilitating effective mathematics learning and higher mathematics achievement have long been recognized as a key to the scientific and technological advancement of the African continent. While the central role that language proficiency plays in mathematics teaching and learning has received an overwhelming research attention in the literature over the past two decades, this is not the case among African policy-makers and political leaders. Drawing mainly from our professional experiences as mathematics educators and from the international research literature, our primary intent in this paper is to answer this question: How does the learning of mathematics in English at the basic school level help or hinder students’ mathematical proficiency? To answer this question, the paper is organized as follows. The first part, the introduction, gives a brief overview of the language of learning and teaching in Africa. The second part describes the method and conceptual framework undergirding the research. In the third section, we have analyzed the effects of mathematics learning and teaching through English for basic students whose mother tongue is a Ghanaian language. The conclusion offers four recommendations for developing and improving the mathematics proficiency of students in basic schools.

Learner and teacher beliefs play an important role in second language (L2) learning. Furthermore, the role of grammar instruction and error correction in the L2 classroom is a topic that is still debated in the literature. This study explored the beliefs of EFL learners and teachers regarding the controversial role of grammar instruction and error correction. A total of 17 instructors and 60 students at a private Turkish university participated in the study. The participants completed an open-ended questionnaire and interviewed regarding their beliefs about grammar instruction and error correction. Themes emerging from the qualitative data were identified. As a result of this study, it can be said that both learners and teachers believed in the importance of grammar in language and error correction, however there were some differences between the learners and teachers regarding the use of native language in grammar teaching and other areas of grammar teaching.

Majority of NOS studies comprise of determination or assessment studies conducted with ordinary students. In order to gain further understanding on variation in NOS understandings among the students, there should be different research attempts focusing on unconventional students such as academically advanced students. The purpose of this study is to determine epistemological understanding of Finnish academically advanced science students concerning aspects of NOS. The study was a case study (N=39) conducted with qualitative perspective. Questionnaires on the students’ attitude toward science and motivation toward science learning plus a form for the teacher’s ideas and VNOS-C, were used as diagnostic tools and data collection instruments. The study revealed that the majority of the students were found to be naïve in aspects such as “empirical basis of science”, “observation and inference”, “subjectivity of scientists”, “social and cultural embeddedness”, “creativity in science”, “theories and laws” and “tentativeness”.

The purpose of the study is to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure the teachers’ levels of student-centered education practices. The Exploratory Factor Analysis sample included a total of 426 teachers and the Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the scale was conducted on a total of 160 teachers working in the province of Duzce during the spring term of 2014-2015 education year. Exploratory Factor Analysis was performed to test the construct validity of the scale and the model was tested through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis. For the reliability, Cronbach’s Alpha internal coefficient was calculated and item analysis was performed based on the corrected item total correlation. The final form of the scale included 32 items and one dimension. These 32 items explained 40.04% of the total variance. The results of the item total correlation analysis indicated that none of the item was below 0.30 and the lowest item correlation coefficient was 0.51. Cronbach’s Alpha was found to be 0.95 for the internal consistency of the scale. The reliability and validity results for the Student-Centered Education Scale suggest that this scale is a reliable and valid tool to measure the levels of student-centered educational practices among teachers.

This study investigated prospective mathematics teachers’ reflections on the experience of designing and conducting one-to-one clinical interviews with middle school students in the context of an elective course on use of video in teacher learning. Prospective teachers were asked to write about weaknesses and strengths in student understanding as well as their own performance as an interviewer in terms of asking questions and responding to student thinking in their reflections on conducting clinical interviews. Furthermore, prospective teachers were also asked to reflect on what they would do differently in order to conduct better clinical interviews.  Nature of prospective teachers’ reflections were analyzed by using existing frameworks (through constructs of reflection-on-action and reflection-for-action) and by using thematic analysis. Results of data analyses revealed that prospective teachers had more difficulties in providing meaningful reflection-for-action which was related to alternative decisions and planning for future similar interviews. Thematic analysis results revealed prospective teachers’ learning were grouped under three categories: conducting clinical interviews as part of being a teacher, complexity of conducting clinical interviews, and personal theories about middle school students. There are implications for both teacher learning and research.

The purpose of the study is to reveal the effect of cooperative learning on language skills in an English course. The study was carried out for 5 weeks with 66 students studying at the 10th grade at an Anatolian high school in the district of Karadeniz Eregli in Zonguldak during the fall term of the 2015-2016 academic year. The design of the study was ‘nonequivalent control groups pre-test post-test’ which is one of quasi-experimental designs. Data were gathered using an achievement test measuring students’ vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, reading comprehension and listening skills. Results showed that cooperative learning had a larger effect on vocabulary knowledge, grammar, listening and reading skills compared to traditional method.

Human Resource Management (HRM) includes recruitment, training, development, motivation and evaluation of the staff who will achieve the goals of the organization and perform the necessary activities to be successful. The success of the organization depends on the effective use and management of human resources. Considering that The Ministry of Turkish National Education has the most crowded personnel and the potential of leading the future human resources, the HRM strategies of this organization becomes significant.  In this study, it is aimed to investigate to the human resources management practices of the Ministry of Turkish National Education from the perspectives of teachers who are also the human resources of the system.  In this research, holistic-multiple case study design was employed and the open-ended interview form which includes nine questions considering the functions of the HRM was utilized as the data collection tool. Research results showed that teachers know the duties and responsibilities which are declared in their job definition but they do not consider some of the significant professional efficiencies such as planning, assessment and evaluation. Moreover, the ministry does not make long-term plans in order to determine the required human resources, and also the functionality and subjectivity of the system is under discussion in terms of selection and appointment. What's more, the desired aims cannot be reached in terms of professional development. Teachers have the anxiety of performance evaluation based on accountability, and they emphasize fair and subjectivity in terms of payment, rewarding and discipline.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between Turkish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ self-efficacy level and their use of compensatory strategies (CSs). The study further searched into the most and the least frequently used CSs by Turkish EFL learners. The participants of the study were fifty university students enrolled in the department of English Language Teaching at a private university in Istanbul, Turkey.  Results indicated that the level of self-efficacy among Turkish learners of EFL was high. The top two most frequently used CSs by the learners were concluded to be the use of non-verbal signals (i.e., mime, gesture, facial expression) and circumlocution (i.e., describing an object or idea with a definition). In addition, the two least frequently used strategies were word coinage (i.e., creating a non-existent second language word based on a supposed rule) and avoidance (i.e., avoiding a topic, concept, grammatical construction, or phonological element that poses difficulty). The findings also revealed that the participants’ strategy use was not related to their degree of self-confidence.

This study aims to analyse the emotional intelligence scores of the special education teacher candidates for the predictor of multiple intelligences areas. This study was conducted through relational scanning model. 211 teacher candidates, 106 females and 105 males, participated in the study. Data were collected through Personal Information Form, Teele Multiple Intelligence Inventory and Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale. Logistic regression analysis was used to find whether the gender and grade level variables, and optimism, utilization of emotions and the scores of emotion evaluation are statistically significant in defining predominant intelligence areas or not. SPSS 24.0 was used in the data analysis process. The results revealed that while the gender variable and optimism scores are significant variables predicting the determination of individuals in which predominant intelligence is both interpersonal and not, optimism and evaluation of emotions scores are significant variables predicting the determination of individuals whose predominant intelligence is both visual and not. However, the results suggested that demographic variables (gender and grade level) and emotional intelligence scores did not affect kinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal, logical and verbal intelligence areas which were found as the predominant intelligence areas of teachers.

Pragmatic competence is an indispensable dimension of overall language ability, and proper interpretation of implied meanings is a major constituent of pragmatic competence. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate the efficiency of a film-based instruction program devised to facilitate the interpretation of implied meanings in English. It was conducted with a quasi-experimental design. First, a multiple-choice discourse completion test was given to 144 English language teacher trainees with 77 people in the experimental group and 67 in the control group. After the 5-week instruction given to the experimental group, the test was administered to both groups again. The results revealed significant differences in favor of the experimental group. This makes the program a promising one as it made the participants, who were also prospective English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers responsible for helping their own students have pragmatic competence too, significantly more equipped about processing implied meanings as a major constituent of pragmatic competence.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not teachers’ lifelong learning tendencies vary by gender, professional field, educational level of service, professional seniority, and frequency of reading a book, magazine, and newspaper. The study employs a descriptive research model. Its population consists of primary teachers and field teachers working in the central district of Kayseri province, located in the middle part of Turkey, in the 2015-2016 academic year. The study group consists of 380 teachers chosen from this population through stratified sampling. The data were collected through Personal Information Form and Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale developed by Diker-Coskun. The obtained data were analyzed via SPSS 20.00 at 0.05 significance level. The study revealed that the teachers working in the middle part of Turkey have low lifelong learning tendencies. Also, the study determined that the teachers’ lifelong learning tendencies significantly vary by gender, professional field, educational level of service, and frequency of reading a book, magazine, and newspaper, but professional seniority is not a factor that leads to a significant difference in lifelong learning tendency.

This paper presents how the process of flipped teaching with Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) works in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing in the Indonesian context. As well, it also elaborates how the teaching model affects learner autonomy. This flipped teaching with CALL was experienced by some lecturers of private universities in East Java, Indonesia. This study used a multi-site case study research design. The data were yielded from in-class observation, lesson plan analysis, focus group interviews, and questionnaires. The total of 5 EFL writing teachers and 150 students from 5 private universities in East Java, Indonesia had participated in this study. Experimenting with flipped teaching with CALL in teaching EFL writing enabled the teachers, as course developers, to get an idea of their students’ response to the challenges of new ways, methods, and techniques of their study. The flip-class environment fostered better communication amongst learners and learner autonomy as well. The flip-class atmosphere also had a beneficial impact on the motivation of learners. The qualitative results from interviews of the learners showed that the learners had inspired themselves to engage in in-class learning activities and self-regulated teaching environments. The findings gave reflection to the teachers on several vitally necessary conditions enabling a course in a flipped teaching with CALL format to contribute to developing students’ professional competencies.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between foreign language anxiety, shyness, language learning strategies, speaking scores and academic achievement of university preparatory students learning German. In addition, it was aimed to determine how the independent variables predict the speaking scores and academic achievement. The research sample consisted of 110 students (75 female and 35 males). Three instruments used in the study were: Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale; Strategy Inventory of Language Learning and Shyness Scale. The results of this study revealed that a moderate significant negative relationship (r= -.434) was present between the students' foreign language learning anxiety and academic achievement. Besides, a significant and negative relationship (r= -.290) was found between foreign language anxiety and speaking scores of students. According to the correlation analysis, no significant relationship was identified between shyness, academic achievement and speaking scores of students. According to the analysis, a significant positive relationship was found between the students' language learning strategies and their academic achievements (r= .275). Namely, these data showed that, the level of academic achievement increases as the use of strategy increases. Similarly, shyness and foreign language anxiety show a moderate positive correlation (r= .419). According to these findings, it may be stated that shyness increases as speaking anxiety rises. Besides, it was determined that students' shyness, foreign language anxiety and language learning strategies predicted 26.4 % of their academic achievement. The results indicated that independent variables were positive predictors of students’ academic achievement. Finally, suggestions were made for German teachers to reduce the effects of shyness and anxiety in the process of foreign language learning.

If the challenges of today's world are to be met, then there is a need to give more prominence to emotion in education, i.e.  indulging the personal, emotional and spiritual aspects of teaching, and promoting the teachers’ social-emotional competencies along with the schooling influence. In this respect, structuring the contents of in-service programs has gained vital importance in all fields of education including English Language Teaching (ELT). This action research study involved 17 EFL instructors to enhance their emotional literacy regarding learning in self and in others and consequently develop behaviors that would be caused by finding out about emotional intelligence. Relatedly, it was aimed to set up a framework of a teacher development program that the instructors at a foreign language school at a state university in Turkey improve their emotional literacy skills and create opportunities to impart these skills to their students as well as to people in their personal lives. The article reports on the participants’ and the researcher’s views regarding the maturation of an emotional literacy improvement program for in-service professional development purposes in ELT context.

This study investigates the emotional responses of EFL student teachers to various affective situations during practicum and their coping strategies to enhance positive emotions and reduce negative emotions. Seventy female EFL student teachers participated in this study. To collect quantitative and qualitative data, two instruments were used: an emotional reflective diary and semi-structured interviews. The results of the study revealed that the practicum is an emotionally positive experience. The frequency of occurrence of pleasant affective situations was more than that of unpleasant ones. In the decreasing order of frequency, the most frequent emotional responses were happy, angry, and stressed and the least frequent ones were lost, influential, and shamed. Furthermore, the results indicated that student teachers adopted many regulation strategies to manage their emotions. The study recommends that teacher education programmes increase the focus on teachers’ emotions and training student teachers to manage their emotions to build future professional identities.

The article reveals the problem of empirical research of training higher education institutions teachers in the context of the master’s degree programme. This study specifies and adapts the methods of diagnostics, criteria for conducting teacher training which are reasonable, psychologically and pedagogically approved and could be implemented in the institutions of higher education of different profiles. It was found out that the training of a teacher within the boundaries of the master’s degree programme of institutions of higher education is an actual task of three-level training of a specialist in Ukraine and requires a differentiated approach for institutions of higher education of various profiles. The components of the programme, based on their comparative characteristics, the status of teacher training in higher education institutions of different profiles with the application of certain criteria, indicators and levels were determined. Comparative analysis of the results of determining the levels of activity empathy and pedagogical reflection formation at the final stage of the study showed objective differences in teacher training in the context of the master’s degree programme of institutions of higher education of different profiles. The perspective directions of the problem under consideration are the study of the didactic conditions of effective teacher training for the master's degree in higher education and the development of the Concept of master’s training in higher education institutions on this basis, the analysis of the influence of the main factors on the formation of a teacher of a higher educational institution in the context of a master’s degree programme, in the profile professional training.

Despite its well-documented benefits for training a wide range of professionals, including teacher candidates in almost all content areas, the incorporation of service-learning into foreign language teacher education is relatively new, and most research only dealt with narrative accounts of non-work-related charitable activities. Consequently, this study sought to investigate the impact of the 20-hour peer-tutoring project on the teaching beliefs, community service attitudes, personal and professional development of 14 Turkish EFL teacher candidates. A comparison between their pre- and post-service metaphors revealed a conceptual shift not only in their teaching perspectives from the behaviorist to constructivist paradigm for knowledge acquisition, but also in their community partnership approaches from the unidirectional to reciprocal pattern of altruism towards their tutees. The classification of their written reflections into six types of significant learning demonstrated that despite a relatively greater focus on expressing their foundational knowledge and application practices, a more balanced distribution of learning gains was achieved between the two overarching spheres of academic learning and personal growth, when coursework engagement and multimodal reflections were co-implemented. They reported developing effective teacher dispositions, interpersonal skills and social responsibility, valued intrinsic rewards for their contributions to the youth well-being, and also appreciated the informal professional learning opportunities the peer-tutoring service offered, though without establishing their own learning agendas.

Achieving educational goals is based on the skills and competence of teachers; therefore, professional development of teachers is important to policy and decision-makers. Worldwide, the percentage of teachers who leave the profession within their first years of teaching is high therefore, professional support is essential to ease on their integration. Previous research indicates a positive and significant correlation between teachers' self-efficacy and their attitudes toward the teaching profession. Our study included three hypotheses: 1) teachers' pedagogical applications serve as mediators for the relationship between teachers' self-efficacy and their attitudes toward the profession; 2) participating in a professional development school (PDS) training program interacts with teachers' self-efficacy in predicting their attitudes toward the profession; and, 3) participation in a PDS training program will positively affect the two variables. A close and open-ended questionnaire was replied by 300 novice teachers, some of whom participated in the PDS program and others who did not. Findings indicate that the relationship between teachers' sense of self-efficacy and their attitudes towards the teaching profession was partially mediated by: applying constructivist pedagogical practices; matching to differences between learners; collaboration between fellow teachers; accountability; planning and teaching management; and academy-community relationships. Participation in a PDS program was not found as a moderator variable for this relationship, but novice teachers who participated in this program had a significant higher sense of self-efficacy and more positive attitudes towards the teaching profession. Findings are important for designing novice teacher training programs with an emphasis on the implementation of specific pedagogical practices.