Evolvement of Pre-service Language Teachers’ Beliefs Through Teacher Education

In language teacher education, beliefs of language teachers about language learning and teaching have a powerful effect on the way they teach. Therefore, the quality of teacher education programs should be considered as an influential variable that might cause changes in pre-service language teachers’ beliefs. The main purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify the beliefs future English language teachers hold toward learning and teaching, and the impact of the courses given in the program on altering their beliefs about learning and teaching a foreign language. The data gathered from twenty-three first year and twenty-one final year language teacher candidates through an openended questionnaire form were analyzed using content analysis. The results revealed that the program created an increase in their awareness and an improvement in their understanding of the processes inherent in foreign language teaching and learning.