English Language Teaching (ELT) practices have been gaining an increasing level of importance around the world since English is regarded as today’s lingua franca (Mishan & Timmis, 2015). Therefore, as Onalan (2005) states, English is primarily learned to attain better occupational and educational opportunities. For that reason, the number of English learners is increasing day by day and English teaching practices are becoming more and more important. Therefore, it becomes urgent to improve teacher education programs in order to have more qualified English teachers and in turn, better English language teaching practices (Ministry of National Education, 2017). Moreover, improvement of teacher education programs might mean that teachers become able to address sectorial needs in a better way. Better English language teaching practices are closely linked to pedagogical content knowledge of teachers, which is conveyed via English language teaching methods courses. However, informally collected opinions of the graduates state that these courses are “adequate to teach theoretical knowledge, but not efficient in terms of classroom practice.” Similarly, Bartels (2005) claims that studies have shown controversial results when it comes to the effect of pedagogical content knowledge on teachers’ practices in the classroom. Namely, the fact that a teacher has a good amount of pedagogical knowledge may not mean that s/he will utilize it in real classrooms. As it might be seen, pedagogical content knowledge and the ability to apply it are significant in the success of English language teaching. For these reasons, this study concentrates on ELT methods courses and the skills expected to be developed in these courses. To sum up, this study aims to uncover whether ELT methods courses achieve their overall goals; whether their content is selected, organized and implemented in a way that develops and improves language teaching skills; whether assessment of the courses provide appropriate feedback on teacher candidates’ learning and progress; whether the courses can address sectorial needs, and what skills and competencies are taught in these courses. Competencies are emphasized since teachers who are aware of the competencies and develop them will have an effect on the quality of education, and student success (Çelik et all, 2018). Via analyzing systematically gathered data about the courses which convey pedagogical content knowledge, the researchers intend to consolidate the opinions of novice teachers and faculty members regarding the process of ELT methods courses; detect the parts that work well or need improvement in relation to courses’ goals, content, organization, implementation, student assessment and alignment with sectoral needs and propose practical implications for the department to improve them. This assessment might reveal why some of the graduates of the program think that they have not been prepared to teach in real classrooms and why they think they are equipped with theoretical knowledge, but not so much of skills and abilities that help them survive in real teaching environments.

Regarding this purpose, the following research questions are formulated for the study:

1. Do ELT methods courses achieve their overall goals from the perspective of novice teachers and faculty members?

2. How do novice teachers and faculty members assess the content, content organization, implementation and assessment of ELT methods courses?

3. How do novice teachers and faculty members assess the alignment of ELT methods courses with sectorial expectations?

4. Which skills and competencies required by education sector might novice teachers have gained from ELT methods courses from the perspective of faculty members and novice teachers?

5. What strengths and weaknesses are primarily emphasized regarding ELT methods courses from the perspective of faculty members and novice teachers?

As it is stated by Fraenkel et all (2012), a phenomenological study aims to explore the “perceptions and reactions” of individuals in order to shed light on a particular phenomenon. This study utilized phenomenological design as it aims to have a ‘practical understanding of meanings and actions’ (Miles & Huberman, 1994) in the processes during and after ELT methods courses, which were experienced by novice teachers and faculty members. The selection of novice teachers was made on the basis of a combination of snowball sampling and criterion sampling. As a result of the sampling procedure described above, eleven novice teachers participated in this study. In the selection of faculty members, a combination of purposive sampling and maximum variation sampling was utilized. As a result of this, six faculty members participated in this study. In data collection, semi-structured interview schedules were utilized. The researchers have composed interview schedules considering related literature such as doctorate dissertation of Erozan (2005), the research questions, syllabi of ELT methods courses and English Language Teaching Competencies published by Directorate General for Teacher Training and Development of Ministry of National Education. In order to ensure validity and reliability, expert opinions and pilot tests were utilized. Participants were fully informed about the research conditions and their consent was gathered via informed consent forms. Interviews were conducted on Zoom, Skype or as phone calls depending on the choices of the participants, and lasted around 25-75 minutes. All the interviews were voice or audio-recorded with the consent of individuals. The data were analyzed via content analysis utilizing Maxqda 2020, 20.2.1. In the analysis, inter-coder reliability was ensured.

In order to increase the achievement level of overall goals, differences among instruction in different sections, the quality of practice opportunities, the nature of goals, faculty members’ qualifications and changing student profile need to be considered. Although content was found appropriate and adequate by some of the participants, it requires some improvement so that it can address the needs of both private schools and state schools; it might be more practice-oriented; it might problematize local issues of ELT in Turkey; it might address disadvantaged groups such as students with special needs. Allowing students to take courses in a more flexible order could minimize the problems caused by content organization. Increasing the number and the quality of genuine practice opportunities seems to be an urgency in implementation, which might eradicate problems regarding theory-practice incongruence. Assessment of the courses could be improved via more performance-based assessment tools. Over-grading was mentioned as an issue in the assessment as a result of alternative assessment practices. Faculty members could establish a framework on what is expected of teacher candidates during teaching performances. The alignment of courses with sectorial needs could be improved by bridging theory to practice and making practice opportunities more realistic, including the stakeholders in decision-making processes, tracking the developments and trends and revising entry and exit requirements of the program. Data obtained also show that skills and competencies gained through ELT methods courses are parallel to the sectorial needs. From that perspective, perhaps, it can be implied that ELT methods courses are indeed able to convey introductory knowledge that a teacher might need in his/her professional life (Shulman, 1987). Strengths of the courses mainly revolve around conveying a good basis of theoretical knowledge to teacher candidates while weaknesses are mainly about lack of genuine practice opportunities.

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