An analysis of the issues in English language teacher training and development

Abstract

The paper aims to provide a systematic review of the studies covering the issues in teacher training and development in the EFL/ESL context between the years 2010 to 2018. Thirty two studies were selected for the analysis after a rigorous search through the Web of Science database. Manifest content analysis was applied for analysing the data according to the following parameters: distribution of the studies based on their context, publication date, sample type (in-service, pre-service), research design, data collection tools, and thematic trends. The results indicate that most of the articles were published between 2016 and 2018 and focused predominantly on the in-service teacher development; qualitative studies outnumbered quantitative ones which could be explained by the nature of the research focus of these articles. Analysis of the findings of the research included in the study, reveal the major problems that teachers or student teachers face during their in-service or pre-service teacher training courses and also the in-service teachers’ needs and preferences in terms of teacher development. The authors suggest viewing the process of teacher training and development within a constructivist paradigm highlighting the importance of previous teaching experience and also of the structure and the context regarding the process of teacher learning and development.