Issues in pre-service and in-service teacher training programs for university English instructors in Turkey

Abstract

English language teaching programs in Turkish universities do not have uniform standards. The quality ofeducation given to teachers in their undergraduate programs varies as does the teacher training provided duringemployment. The factors affecting the teacher training policies are numerous, such as the needs of the institution,the funding, time, technology and especially the importance attached to an ongoing development process.Particularly in higher education, lip service is paid to English language teacher training policies. To investigatethe shortcomings of these teacher training policies, this research study was conducted by interviewing instructorsfrom twenty different universities in Turkey. The study conducted has revealed the fact that there is a gap inspecific language learning management policies concerning preservice and in-service language teacher trainingfor university instructors in Turkey.