A Comparative Study on Primary School English Language Teachers’ Expectations and Received Training: Kombolcha Town in Focus
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Date
2025-04-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The effectiveness of teacher education depends heavily on the competence of teacher educators and the learning experiences of student teachers. When trainees join teacher education institutions, they bring their expectations developed from experiences as teachers and observations as students. Meeting these expectations through training sustains competence among graduates as a program outcome. The effectiveness of a training program can then be measured by its capability to address these expectations. This study then explored the relationship between the training expectations of primary school English language teachers and the training they received. The results in this study are based on data collected from 47 English language teachers in nine primary schools located in Kombolcha town, 6 teacher educators of Dessie College of Teacher Education and the teacher training curriculum document that was in use. Data was collected using questionnaire, interviews, observations and document reviews. SPSS version 26 and NVivo version 11 are used by this correlational descriptive research to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The Spearman’s rho rank correlation was conducted to reveal the relationship between the training expectations of the teachers and the actual training that they received. The analysis of the data indicates that there is weak correlation between the participants’ expectations and the training they received. Some courses and/or contents were also not expected by the teachers prior their entry to college and have less contribution to teach at primary schools. On the other hand, some relevant courses to the level were found absent in the training program. The training is also deficient of practical sessions. The trainees also did not find the teaching approaches of the trainers as they expected. Hence, more relevant courses should be added. Trainees should also be engaged in more peer-teaching and reflective practice sessions so that they can improve their competence in the language. Furthermore, language teacher training programs should consider trainees’ needs. some of the courses contribute less to helping the trainees develop the required competence to teach the subject. There are also neglected but relevant courses. The findings indicate that teacher expectations should be considered when developing training plans for English language teachers, as these expectations influence their willingness to participate in the training activities and ultimately, their effectiveness as primary school English language teachers. More effort and planning are needed to meet their practical needs.