ELT STUDENT TEACHERS’ COMPETENCE FOR TEACHINGLANGUAGE SKILLS: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION

As a result of the European integration process ofTurkey, there have been radicalchanges in the education system of the country within the framework of aconstructivist approach. Undoubtedly, teachers andteacher competencies play acritical role in these changes. Within this context, in 2006, the Ministry ofNational Education General Directorate of Teacher Training prepared “GenericTeacher Competencies”, which identify task definitions of teachers. Later in 2008,subject-specific competencies were identified for different subjects includingEnglish language teaching (ELT). The present qualitative study attempted toexplore 21 senior ELT student teachers’ competenceregarding specifically theteaching of four basic language skills. Field notes, interviews and follow-up focusgroup interviews comprised the data sources for thestudy. Findings indicated thatstudent teachers do not possess all the competencies required by the Ministry andthat there is still room for improvement. Overall,the results are informative bothfor future researchers and those currently involvedwith teacher training inTurkey