The effect of an in-service training program on developing Jordanian English language teachers’ competencies in the lower basic stage

Other Title(s)

أثر برنامج تدريبي أثناء الخدمة في تطوير كفايات معلمي اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية في المرحلة الأساسية الدنيا

Dissertant

Tawalibah, Thair Isa Ahmad

Thesis advisor

Shair, Awatif Ali
al-Smadi, Uqlah Mahmud

Comitee Members

al-Duwayk, Badr Said
al-Makhzumi, Khalaf Falah
Abu Zaynah, Farid Kamil

University

Amman Arab University

Faculty

Faculty of Educational Sciences and psychological

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

University Country

Jordan

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Date

2005

English Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of an in-service training program on developing EFL teachers’ competencies in the Jordanian Lower Basic Stage at Amman Fourth Directorate of Education.

This program was developed by the researcher according to the EFL teachers’ needs.

The subjects of the study were 20 EFL teachers chosen from the target community which comprised 80 teachers.

They were BA.

holders with an experience ranging from one to three years in teaching English in the Lower Basic Stage at Amman Fourth Directorate of Education during the academic year 2004-2005. The present study attempted to answer the following questions: 1- What are the teachers' competencies required for the profession of EFL teaching in the Lower Basic Stage as delineated by related literature ? 2- What are the teachers’ needs in EFL teaching competencies in the Lower Basic Stage in Jordan as delineated by the needs analysis questionnaire ? 3-What is the effect of the proposed in-service training program on developing the EFL teachers' competencies in the Lower Basic Stage in Jordan? 4-Which teacher competencies ranked higher due to the proposed in-service training program? 5- Are there any statistically significant differences between the development of knowledge and practice of the teaching competencies under study? To answer these questions, the researcher designed a needs analysis questionnaire, an observation checklist, and a test.

And to test the effectiveness of the training program, the researcher prepared interview questions for the subjects of the study.

Means, standard deviations and paired samples T-test were used to analyze the results of the study. The results of the study were as follows: 1- The previous researchers who conducted researches in the field of teaching competencies divided the competencies needed by teachers into three categories: professional skills, personal qualities and language proficiency.

The most common category was the professional teaching competencies. 2- The results of the needs analysis indicated that teachers are in need of seven categories of competencies: methods of teaching, evaluation, co-curricular activities, classroom management, problem solving, planning and error correction.

3-There were statistically significant differences at (= 0.05) between the means of the pretest and the posttest in favor of the posttest.

The overall means of the posttest is (32.25) compared to (25.15) in the pretest.

There were also statistically significant differences at (= 0.05) between the overall means upon the three stages of the observation checklist and its seven domains in favor of the third observation compared to the first and the second, and in favor of the second observation compared to the first.

4- A-The Test: The domains of planning and instructional technology and co-curricular activities did not keep the same rank in the posttest compared to the pretest.

However, the other five domains(methods of teaching, classroom management, error correction, problem solving and evaluation) have kept the same rank.

The teachers’ achievement in the posttest has also risen in comparison with the pretest. B- The Observation Checklist: The domains of classroom management and instructional technology and co-curricular activities have kept the same rank in the third observation as in the first one.

However, The other five categories(methods of teaching, planning, error correction, problem solving and evaluation) did not keep the same rank in the third observation compared to the first. 5-There were no statistically significant differences at (=0.05) between the development of knowledge and practice of the teaching competencies in both the test and the observation checklist as a whole and on their domains upon the different stages.

However, there was a statistically significant correlation between the post test and the third observation in the domain of problem solving.

The value of this correlation was 0.47.

In light of the findings of the study, it was recommended that other studies be conducted to compare the professional, personal and language competencies in terms of their effect on developing teachers’ competencies.

It was also recommended that other studies be carried out to investigate the teachers’ needs in other stages such as the upper basic stage and the secondary stage.

Finally, the researcher recommended that in-service training programs be based on the needs and investigate the development of the practical aspects of teaching competencies.

Main Subjects

Educational Sciences
Languages & Comparative Literature

Topics

• Education
• Learning
• Second language learning
• Jordan
• Amman
• English language

No. of Pages

375

Table of Contents

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-436327