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Exploring Prospective EFL Teachers’ Beliefs

ties (e.g. classroom observation, grading students’ work, preparing assessment tools). The professional
learning activities provide effective professional learning context for the PTs to expand their beliefs about
EFL teaching and becoming a language teacher (Johnson, 2006). As PTs reflected on their professional
learning experiences to test out their time management skills, the more opportunities they find to prac-
tice their teaching skills, the more they adapt their beliefs about classroom implementations. Therefore
as a second factor of providing the necessary socio-professional context for the PTs, CTs also play an
influential role in their developing PTs’ beliefs about teaching.
In terms of content analysis of the metaphors, the findings showed both consistencies and displayed
novel results for the literature. Specifically, the metaphors to refer to the role of the teacher as a guide is
consistent with the results of the studies reported in the literature (e.g. Saban et al., 2007; Farrell, 2011;
Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011). However, unlike the studies conducted with the practicing teachers, the
flexibility of teaching practices (e.g. Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011; Yeşilbursa, 2012), the nurturing nature
of teaching practices (Farrell, 2011; Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011; Yeşilbursa, 2012), and the authority
of teachers (e.g. Saban et al., 2007; Seferoğlu et al., 2009) were not addressed by the PTs in the current
study. However, the exhaustion of the teachers have been observed and reported on by the PTs by using
the metaphor ‘candle at its ends’. The aspect of frustration and considering teachers as hamsters were also
addressed in the literature (e.g. Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011; Yeşilbursa, 2012). Although the findings
of the current study show that the metaphors provided by the PTs could be categorized under certain
concepts, as Seferoğlu et al. (2009) and Oktay and Vancı-Osam (2013) claimed, the differences among
the reflections of the participants were observed throughout the data analysis.

SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

PTs’ cognitions about their previous experiences regarding the roles of teachers and teaching practices
should be examined and addressed in initial teacher training programs. Teacher educators should guide
PTs to become aware of their unexamined preconceptions about teaching and becoming EFL teachers
in order to consider the ways those beliefs influence their teaching and approaches to teaching. Given
the strong relationship between beliefs (Verbinska, 2014), attitudes and practice, teacher beliefs are
important in understanding teachers’ way of thinking and their professional growth.
Foreign language teacher education departments mainly focus on providing the context of professional
learning for the prospective teachers. However, the context of professional learning not only requires
teacher educators to convey the necessary theoretical foundations of learning and teaching a foreign
language but also to provide the necessary opportunities for PTs to reflect on their professional devel-
opment processes. Thus, metaphors are an alternative platform for PTs to examine their beliefs about
language learning and teaching. The metaphorical analysis of the beliefs could provide the chance for PTs
to form their professional identities. The present study, therefore, creates the opportunity for the current
and future PTs studying at the current EFL teacher education program to construct and reflect on their
beliefs throughout their professional learning experience within their initial teacher training program
(Saban, 2010). The metaphorical representations of the professional learning processes guide not only
teacher educators but also PTs in terms of examining, understanding and modifying the preconceived
professional beliefs regarding language learning and teaching. As an alternative, PTs could be asked to
reflect on the professional learning theories through analyzing the metaphors they provide for reflec-

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