Islamic Azad University, Semnan Branch
Faculty of Literature and Humanities
Department of Foreign Languages
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Foreign Language
(TEFL)
An Investigation of the Iranian Foreign Language Teachers’ Knowledge and Performance Based on INTASC Model
Supervisor: N. Salehi, Ph D
Semnan-Iran
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Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT VI
ABSTRACT 1
LIST OF TABLES 2
CHAPTER 1:Background and Purpose
- Introduction 3
- Teacher Education 4
1.2.1Issues in Teacher Education 4
1.2.2 Teacher Preparation 5
1.2.3 Pre-service Teacher Education
6 1.2.4 In-service Teacher Education
8
1.3 Statement of the Problem 9
1.4 Significance of the Study 10
1.4.1 The Effect of Teachers on the Quality of Education 11
1.4.2 Preparatory Programs 11
1.4.3 The Role of Policy Makers 13
1.4.4 Postmodernism and English Education in Iran 14
1.5 Research Questions 16
1.6Limitations of the Study 17
1.7 Delimitations of the study 17
1.8Definition of Key Terms 18
1.8.1 Teacher Education 18
1.8.2 Knowledge 19
1.8.3 Teacher Performance 19
1.8.4 INTASC Model Standards 20
CHAPTER2: Review of Literature
2.1 Introduction 24
2.2 Schooling in Iran 24
2.3Islamic Philosophy of Education 26
2.4. The Importance of Understanding Educational Philosophies 28
2.5. Components of Teacher Preparation 30
2.6.History: Teacher Education in Iran 33
2.7. Teacher Education in Other Countries 35
2.7.1Evaluation of Teacher Education in Turkey 36
2.7.2Evaluation of Teacher Education in India 37
2.7.3Evaluation of Teacher Education in Pakistan 37
2.8. Issues in the Investigation of Teachers 37
2.8.1 Investigation of Teachers’ Knowledge 40
2.8.2 Investigation of Teachers’ Performance 43
2.8.3 Investigation of Teachers’ Disposition 44
2.8.4 Teacher Effectiveness 44
2.9 Evaluation of English Language Teachers 50
2.10. Globalization 52
2.11Standards and Accountability 53
2.12 Chapter Summary 54
CHAPTER 3 :Methodology
3.1. Overview 55
3.2.Subjects 55
3.3Instrument 57
3.3.1 The teacher’s Knowledge 57
3.3.2 The teacher’s Performance 57
3.4. Procedure 57
3.5. Research Design 58
3.6. Data Analysis 59
3.7Chapter Summary 59
CHAPTER 4 :Results and Discussion
4.1 Overview 60
4.2 Data Analysis 60
4.2.1. Testing the Research Hypotheses 61
4.2.1.1 Hypothesis 1 61
4.2.1.2 Hypothesis 2 63
4.2.1.3 Hypothesis 3 64
4.2.1.4Hypothesis 4 66
4.3 Discussion
4.3.1 Comparing the participants’ responses to knowledge 67
4.3.2 Comparing the participants’ responses to performance 71
4.4 Chapter Summary 75
CHAPTER5 :Conclusion, Pedagogical Implications, and Suggestions for further Research
5.1.Overview 77
5.2Restatement of Findings 77
5.3Conclusions and Discussion 80
5.4 Pedagogical Implications 82
5.5. Suggestions for Further Research 83
REFRENCES 85
APPENDICES 111
ABSTRACT
English teachers need to be well-equipped at both knowledge and performance levels to meet their needs in real teaching practices. This study was conducted to investigate the Iranian foreign language teachers’ knowledge and performance based on INTASC model standards. Two questionnaires (knowledge and performance) were adopted using INTASC (2011) model and used in this study. The participants of this study were 70 EFL Junior high school teachers of Tehran Province that selected randomly. This study investigated the levels of English teachers’ knowledge and performance and also revealed the relationship between teachers’ knowledge and performance, as well as, identifying the teachers’
knowledge could predict their performance. The results indicated the strong and weak points of English teacher education programs in Iran.
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.4: Contingency Table for the Performance Two-Way Chi-Square Analysis..62
CHAPTER I
Background and Purpose
1.1 Introduction
English is being treated as a world language because of its vast presence in schools all over the world. Students are being taught that English is an international language. School study is an important phase in students’ life (Kannan, 2009).
Students are the precious assets of any society. Well-being of society depends upon its students because these are the students who will take the responsibility of the success of the society in future and in achieving this goal, teachers play extremely important roles. They are the sources of guidance at many crucial steps in academic life. When teachers are qualified, they can perform their responsibilities with more concentration, devotion, and competence.
At the same time, education is one of the crucial elements in the life of all the human beings. According to Noordin and Jusoff (2009) societal expectations depends upon the successful running of the education system.
All the students around the world deserve qualified teachers. So, “there is a pressing need for education for teachers at all stages in their
careers which aims to prepare or upgrade teachers’ knowledge and skills” (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & Levy, 2008, p.10).
1.2 Teacher Education
The success of the educational system depends upon the involvement, effort, and the contribution of the academic staff or their professional expertise.
1.2.1 Issues in Teacher Education
The major issues that are discussed in teacher education according to Townsend and Bates (2007) are:
- Globalization and diversity,
- Standards and accountability,
- Teacher preparation,
- Teacher induction,
- Continuous development of teachers,
- The reflective practitioner, and
- The impact of technology.
1.2.2 Teacher Preparation
Children make the future of every country and education is a future-oriented business because it aims to prepare the children for the future. So teacher education is even a more future-oriented business because it aims to prepare teachers for future educational purposes of future citizens (Zhao, 2010). Moreover, it is not just preparing any teacher that is important. It is very important to prepare the right teacher, with the right skills for the right situation (Townsend & Bates, 2007).
The term teacher education was traditionally used to mean pre-service teacher preparation before being a teacher and joining the teaching profession (Al-Weher& Abu-Jaber , 2007), but in this study “teacher education” and “pre-service teacher training programs” are used interchangeably.
Darling-Hammond, Wei, and Johnson (2008) demonstrate a relationship between teacher education and teacher effectiveness according to various ines of research. Teacher effectiveness affects student learning, so the importance of teacher preparation and teacher learning would become clear.
Moon, Brown, and Ben-Peretz(2000, p.733) have divided teacher education into three stages:
initial teacher education ( pre-service preparation before entering the classroom as a teacher),beginning teacher induction (the process of providing training and support during the first few years of teaching or the first year in a particular school),and continuing professional development (an in-service process for practicing teachers).
