چکیده:
Improvement in the quality of teacher education is an issue of considerable concern to every country including Iran. The challenges that student-teachers face during their education can be highly influential in this regard. Consequently, the present study was an attempt to come up with a model for the factors challenging Iranian EFL preservice teachers using a grounded theory approach. For this purpose, 30 TEFL M.A. candidates were interviewed individually and in focus groups, and the elicited responses were transcribed and coded using the 3 codification processes of open, axial, and selective codings. Findings revealed 6 major challenges: (a) problems with teachers, (b) lack of educational facilities and amenities, (c) financial problems, (d) problems with educational planning and curriculum development, (e) problems with peers, and (f) personal and social problems. Findings are discussed, and pedagogical implications and suggestions are presented, too.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Consequently, the present study was an attempt to come up with a model for the factors challenging Iranian EFL preservice teachers using a grounded theory approach.
Nevertheless, having a broader view of this issue would certainly lead one to notice the profound impact of teacher education on both teacher effectiveness and student outcomes as the most determining factor (Gustafsson, 2003; Wayne & Youngs, 2003).
g. , the design of the program, the presented curriculum, the enrolment, and graduation of competent applicants), the amount of research in these areas is comparatively limited (Shahmohammadi, 2012; Shamsipour Nodehi & Mehrabi, 2013), leaving lots of uncertainties about the problems inhibiting the required amount of development and progression in EFL teacher education program (Mirhassani & Beh-Afarin, 2004).
This study, as part of an effort towards this aim, investigated the problems facing Iranian EFL student- teachers during their education.
Universities are also under a lot of cost pressure, and they try to compensate for this problem by increasing tuition rates, lowering the amount of student loans, or decreasing the quality and quantity of the available facilities (Johnstone & Marcucci, 2007).
Hence, the financial problems that the students are facing need special attention in order to improve their efficacy as future teachers as well as the quality of higher education.
In this study, the factors challenging the Iranian graduate student-teachers of English as an L2 were investigated, and six factors including problems with teachers, lack of educational problems and amenities, financial problems, problems with educational planning and curriculum development, problems with peers, and personal and social problems were obtained.