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Presenters
Isil Ertas Senturk
Instructor
Yeditepe University,
Istanbul

Assoc. Prof. Yesim Ozek

Title
Differences in the Beliefs and Attitudes of Turkish and Foreign English Preparatory School Teachers towards Professional Development Events 

Abstract
The rise of English as the universal language in the academe has made it compulsory for students in higher education to master it, which consequently led to the increase of  English medium departments in universities across the globe. In Turkey, this need for English language learning is filled by English Preparatory Schools where  students who are academically eligible to study in English medium universities but are not sufficiently proficient in English are required to study for one year in order to gain the level of competence in the English language necessary for them to manage in their respective departments. For this reason, the need for well-qualified English teachers in the country has risen significantly, and as the quality of teaching is directly linked to the continuing and lifelong professional development of teachers, their beliefs and attitudes towards professional development events and the factors that motivate or restrict them from participating in such opportunities are crucial concerns for higher education research.  

This study was conducted to determine if the beliefs and attitudes of Turkish teachers towards professional development events were significantly different from those of foreign teachers’. Data was collected through a survey of 63 teachers working at 5 different private universities’ English Preparatory Schools and through interviews of 3 Turkish and 3 foreign teachers. Results showed that the beliefs and attitudes towards professional development events of Turkish teachers were not significantly different from those of foreign teachers’. However, the factors affecting their participation were found to be highly remarkable.