EXPLORING ELT STUDENT TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT ICC: INSIGHTS FROM TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN TURKEY
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Keywords:
Intercultural Communicative Competence, Teachers’ Beliefs, Students’ Beliefs, Pre-service Teacher Education, English Language.Abstract
Teacher beliefs about how cultural variables should be taught in English courses are of great importance specifically in countries where English is not spoken beyond educational contexts. To find out whether English teachers are prepared effectively in teacher education programs, this study aims at evaluating the beliefs of student teachers about intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in Turkey. To this end, Beliefs about ICC Inventory was developed as the main data collection tool. The quantitative data obtained from the inventory were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A total of 430 ELT student teachers across Turkish state universities participated in this study. The quantitative analyses revealed that most of the participants perceived themselves as the most competent in “ICC attitudes” and “ICC awareness” dimensions. Results also indicated that male student teachers held stronger beliefs about ICC skills and awareness than female participants; however, such differences were not observed in the other dimensions of ICC.
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