Effective teachers are capable of self-evaluation, a competence developed through heightened awareness of one’s own practices and clear self-assessment criteria (Dewey, 1933). Kolb (1984)’s Experiential Learning Theory posits that teachers construct their personal theories by reflecting on their experiences; thus, reflection activates essential skills such as planning, problem-solving, analysis, evaluation, and informed decision-making. Likewise, Roberts (2016) argues that experience alone is not adequate for meaningful learning unless it is interpreted through personal reflection and dialogue. Grounded in these perspectives, reflective practice has been regarded as one of the most effective tools for supporting prospective teachers’ professional development within the social constructivist framework of teacher education. In this view, learning is addressed as a dynamic, meaning-making process developed through experience, in which knowledge of teaching is constructed by examining one’s own instructional practices with the help of systematic thinking. In this regard, reflective practice has been highly recommended for teacher education programs to yield the necessary reflective skills to reflect on among students (Freeman, 2002). The use of reflection is also suggested to overcome the dichotomy of theory and practice (Lee, 2008), and studies examining the impacts of reflective practice on PSLT education have catered for numerous advantages on teacher development (e.g., Eröz-Tuğa, 2013; Liou, 2000). Despite their clear benefits, reflective skills are neither innate dispositions nor abilities that naturally develop through individual experience (Gelter, 2003). Rather, they need to be deliberately fostered through explicit instruction (Gelter, 2003). Learners should be guided in how to engage in reflection by means of authentic reflective tasks embedded within a structured reflective framework (Williams & Grudnoff, 2011).

In language teacher education, for pre-service language teachers (PSLT), systematically reviewing and evaluating their own classroom practices is also crucial for developing awareness of the multiple variables shaping teaching, as experience gains value only when critically examined. Accordingly, recalling incidents encountered during macro teaching enables PSLTs to analyze their experiences more directly and meaningfully. In that sense, integration of critical reflective practices in language teacher education programs, in particular, into practice teaching courses where PSLTs perform their macro teachings has been a necessity (Hamiloğlu, 2013).

In contrast to the widespread emphasis on reflection in language teacher education, language teacher education programs were criticized as they did not take the critical role of reflection on teaching practices in the knowledge production process (Freeman & Richards, 1993; Wallace, 1991). Rather, these programs focused on the development of abstract and decontextualized scientific knowledge (Bruner, 1990). Hitherto, studies indicated the lack of reflective skills among prospective teachers (Azeem, 2011; Khanam, 2015), and prospective teachers were not found to be successful while engaging in critical reflection on their experiences (Turhan & Kirkgoz, 2021). Likewise, the utilization of reflective tasks in the practicum process in the Turkish language teacher education context has been quite limited. Only a few intervention studies investigated their impacts on language teacher development (Bener & Yıldız, 2019; Eröz-Tuğa, 2013; Tavil, 2014), and these studies were far from suggesting reflective tasks for the use of language teacher education programs. In this regard, to address the need of structured, task-based reflective tools, this study designed and implemented a reflective task that PSLTs could make use of during the practicum process for their macro teaching experiences with a needs analysis-based research design. Followingly, the study evaluated the effectiveness of the task.

A case study methodology was adopted in this study to generate deeper, more nuanced reflections aimed at identifying the effects of the developed task. Pre-service language teachers (PSLT) who are senior students in a language teacher education program of a top-tier university in Türkiye were selected as participants. As a sampling method, the study adopted convenience sampling to select 10 PSLTs who attend the practicum schools. Also, this intervention study was guided by the stages of the ADDIE Model to design and develop the Reflection-Oriented Self-Awareness Task through a longitudinal process. Firstly, PSLTs’ needs were analyzed through semi-structured interviews, observation reports, and reflective diaries in the Fall Term. The needs analysis indicated that PSLTs could not make use of their macro teaching experience in the practicum schools, as these experiences were not paid attention to after they were completed. In this regard, PSLTs stated that they needed a task to carefully recall their macro teaching performances and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of their lessons to be integrated into the practice teaching course. To address this need, the Reflection-Oriented Self-Awareness Task was developed to enable PSLTs identify and interpret their macro teaching experiences, become aware of their existing knowledge and gaps in language teaching, and consider strategies to address and enhance these areas under the roof of social constructivist framework of teacher education. As part of the task, PSLTs were required to systematically recall incidents that occurred before, during, and after the macro-teaching session in the Spring Term. Drawing on these incidents, they produced reflective accounts guided by structured reflection questions adapted from Gibbs’ (1988) Model of Reflection, in line with the suggestions of Williams and Grudnoff (2011) regarding the necessity of providing a reflective framework model to PSLTs. PSLTs were also provided with focus areas for their reflections, adapted from Farrell (2022). In the implementation stage, the data were collected through self-reflection documents from 10 PSLTs. For the evaluation of the developed task, semi-structured interviews with each participant PSLT were carried out. Data were analyzed through document, content, and thematic analysis. The software program MAXQDA 2022 was used for the organization and management of the data.

Findings of this study revealed that PSLTs’ reflections mostly focused on the strengths and weaknesses of their lesson planning and classroom management competencies. With a closer lens, PSLTs reflected on time management, classroom interaction, teacher questions, grouping, feedback, and instructions. Moreover, self-reflection questions integrated into description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, and conclusions stages enlightened PSLTs’ pathway with a general and systematic approach on the way of interpreting past actions. In the same vein, by realizing their strengths and weaknesses, PSLTs had a chance to develop action plans for further development, too. Coupled with these, reflection contributed to PSLTs’ professional development as they analyzed their own teaching from an evaluative standpoint. They perceived reflective practice focused on their macro teaching experiences to be more effective than reflecting on a peer’s performance. Reflection enhanced PSLTs’ awareness of classroom management, lesson planning, and material design by linking theoretical knowledge with practical application. For nearly all PSLTs, reflection functioned as a fundamental tool for improvement, as it provided a basis for evaluating teaching situations. In general, the task cultivated a reflective culture that supports PSLTs’ adaptability and ongoing development in lesson planning and teaching skills, in line with the criteria associated with being adaptive experts. It also enabled PSLTs to internalize reflection as a guiding practice throughout their professional career. In a nutshell, the self-reflection task, incorporating clearly defined focus points and multiple stages supported by guidance questions, laid the ground for a structured basis for professional development and facilitated PSLTs’ transformation of theoretical knowledge into classroom practice.

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