Two Different Perspectives on Alternative English Teacher Certification Practices

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to explore comparetively the perspectives of teacher educators and teacher candidates on alternative English teacher certification practices. The data were collected through a 9-item open-ended questionnaire. The participants of the study were 140 senior year students in the Teaching English program of a Faculty of Education and 20 staff members who teach the departmental courses in the same Faculty. After the data from these two groups of participants were subjected to descriptive analysis separately, the findings were compared based on the framework of the research questions for similarities and differences. The findings indicated that both group of participants believed that English teachers trained through alternative routes will face many problems in teaching English.