Page 186 - Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education

Identifying the Target Needs of Non-Native Subject Teachers

one. He pointed out that the program staff includes experienced teachers from different subject fields
“who are good models for the language and methodology in their subjects” mentioning the sample
lessons these teachers present. As for micro teaching sessions, the course manager stated that they are
good opportunities for these teachers where “they learn from each other” adding that “They usually take
note of every new vocabulary because they know that they will need them next year while teaching”.
Apart from these general comments on the strengths of the language course, the manager also men-
tioned specific implementations and learning strategies they employ throughout the course. For example,
he stated that “… we have them read at least 100 graded books during the course” and for each skill “we
ask them to keep separate notebooks”. He also believed that “There are plenty of listening and writing
exercises”. Finally, he emphasized that “there is constant assessment and evaluation to ensure that the
aims and goals of this training program are met”.
As for the weaknesses of the course, the manager identified two major ones: lack of enough speaking
practice and the intensity of the program. Like the subject teachers, he believed that not having several
native speaker teachers is a problem as he pointed out that “We have only one native speaker for them
to practice their English in a natural way”. Although it was not mentioned by the subject teachers them-
selves, the course manager also stated that “the intensity of the program was very challenging for some
of the teachers especially for those who had just completed their undergraduate studies as they wanted
to relax after four years of study”.
Consequently, in the light of the findings presented under RQ2 it can be claimed that the program
is successful in helping the subject teachers develop especially their basic receptive English language
skills. Given the entry proficiency level of the course attendees and the more emphasis put on reading
and grammar as stated by the stakeholders, this result may be an expected one. Overall, the similarities
between the views of the stakeholders regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the language course
have some implications for program revision and development.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

This study primarily investigated the target needs of non-native subject teachers who were attending a
specifically designed training program preparing them to teach their subjects in English. Secondarily,
the study looked into the key stakeholders’ overall evaluation on the language course segment of the
program to understand whether the present course is able to meet the needs of the subject teachers.
There are three main conclusions that could be drawn out from the findings of this study. They are
presented below and possible implications are discussed:
Firstly, the subject teachers reported to have developed basic English language skills and knowledge
related to comprehension-based tasks. The course structure can be a reason for this particular result. As
the subject teachers reported not to have enough practice in speaking and some of them indicated that
they needed to develop their writing skills, it can be assumed that there is an imbalance in the distribution
of skills courses in the language course program. Therefore, the lesson hours allocated to different skills
in the weekly program could be revised. Apart from this reason, the teaching methodology used in the
language course might be another cause for this perceived underdevelopment of productive skills. Thus,
it might be necessary to question whether the program staff utilizes integrated or segregated approach
to skills teaching in the language course.

167