Possible Language Teachers Selves Development and Conceptual Change during Educative Practicum

• Main Authors: HSIEH, MIN-YI, 謝敏怡
• Other Authors: CHENG, HSING-FU
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/x29t75

碩士 === 銘傳大學 === 應用英語學系碩士班 === 108 === Drawing on Possible Language Teacher Self and Language Teacher Conceptual Change model as two theoretical frameworks, this study scrutinized the transformation of EFL student teachers during their practicum. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews and multiple reflection logs, the current longitudinal investigation is a qualitative inquiry that traces the way in which Possible Language Teacher Self developed among nine secondary language student teachers undertaking a 6-month teaching practicum. The findings suggest that student teachers’ past successful or frustrating experiences, particularly their apprenticeship of observations emerged as a preeminent source that may mediate their teachers’ hopeful or feared selves both before and during the practicum. Several contextual factors such as crisis that student teachers encountered, unsupportive school system, model in the school context, student needs and proficiency are the key factors for student teachers’ regulation of selves during their practicum. In alignment with Kubanyiova’s (2007) LTCC model, integrating the initial possible language teacher selves, student teachers who underwent systematic processing and employed regulated strategies seemed to balance the dissonance between their ideal and feared selves and achieved real conceptual changes with supportive model, thereby accommodating the stimuli of practicum into their teacher’s beliefs. Furthermore, for the teacher with the mentor whose characteristics were similar to her own expectations and hopes, she eventually arrived at systemic processing with initial possible selves strengthened. On the contrary, student teachers who adopted heuristic processing only experienced superficial conceptual changes in their teacher beliefs since they were in want of supportive model and significant self-regulated strategies to balance the awareness of dissonance toward current circumstance. It is found that the regulated strategies accompanied by reflective practices are the key agents to catalyze the systematic processing which leads to real conceptual change and accelerates the development of Possible Language Teacher Self.