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The Impact of Pre-service Teachers’ Reflection

and complete each task as a requirement of their field-based experience. After each week, the participants
had a discussion session, of which the researcher kept field notes, about the observation tasks completed
that week. Finally, at the end of the term, the participants were required to write their overall feedback,
by responding to prompts regarding what they did throughout the semester.

Data Analysis

The data from diaries were subjected to content analysis (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Due to the small
number of the participants, the data were coded by hand. Next, the researcher identified the central themes
for each set of data relating to a specific objective which were in turn identified under sub-themes. This
process was carried out with the help of another researcher who was blind to the aim of the study to
ensure the reliability. As for the class discussion, the notes taken by the researcher were analyzed in ac-
cordance with the categorizations obtained from the diaries. Finally, the participants’ written feedback
was investigated to find out how the freshmen pre-service English teacher felt during their field based
experience.

Findings

Regarding the findings gathered from the diaries, the pre-service ELT teachers shared common obser-
vation points about teaching activities, use of materials and classroom management. In the diaries, the
majority of the participants mentioned the same central themes and sub-themes shown in Table 1.
As can be seen in the table, due to the fact that the observed classrooms were kindergarten, the most
used teaching activities are games, songs, and stories which reflect the needs of this particular age group.
Since, in kindergarten, the students do not yet have literacy skills, the main activities are based on play
and fun. Following are some examples in which the freshmen pre-service English teachers reflected on
the teaching activities:

...they generally play games like, matching or they do painting to learn the names of things (Freshmen
pre-service English teacher 1, Diary).

...they play musical chairs. It was so funny (Freshmen pre-service English teacher 1, Diary).

Table 1. Perceptions about teaching activities, use of materials and classroom management

Central Themes Sub-Themes
Teaching activities Games: Question game, matching game and board game
Songs: Nursery rhymes
Story telling
Instructional materials Pictures and paintings
I pads
Smart board
Flashcards
Classroom management Teacher’s action zone
Teacher’s role: Mothers and fathers
Use of positive language
Creating friendly classroom atmosphere

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