EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF CONSTRUCTIVIST AND REFLECTIVE ELT COURSES ON PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Abstract

This longitudinal, mixed-methods study considered the constructivist-oriented English Language Teaching (ELT) program in a public university in Turkey as a dynamic variable and examined its impact on thirty-nine pre-service teachers’ beliefs about language learning and teaching over their four-year long program. Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) was given in the junior and senior years and a semi-structured interview was conducted in the senior year with randomly selected twelve participants. Due to the Covid pandemic, the participants completed Spring semester’s course-work in their junior year, as well as all the course-work and practicum in senior year as distant education. Despite the unexpected distant teaching and learning context, survey data demonstrate that some beliefs about language learning and teaching have changed. Findings from interviews provided evidence supporting the survey results and reasons for the changes. Findings suggest that pre-service ELT programs using constructivist approaches and reflection could change ELT pre-service teachers’ beliefs about language learning and teaching even in distant teaching and learning contexts. Therefore, it is recommended that teacher education programs design evidence-based coursework that allows reflective thinking. The findings are informative for developing and designing ELT programs worldwide in face-to-face and distant education contexts.