Challenges in teaching English as a foreign language at schools in Poland and Turkey

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a qualitative case study that investigated the challenges faced by teachers who teach English as a foreign language at secondary schools in Poland and Turkey. A number of shared challenges affecting teachers in both Poland and Turkey were identified, despite the contrast between these educational contexts. These challenges included: students’ motivation to learn; students’ emotional inhibitions; teaching large classes; differentiation; the need for the quality in-service teachers’ professional development; high teaching hours; provision of pre-service teacher education; attractiveness of the profession; and career-path incentives. Importantly, some of these challenges have not been highlighted in the literature to date. Other challenges are more localised, such as in-service professional development focused on developing teachers’ competence in English language. The findings suggest that support provided for teachers of English must be flexibly aligned to local educational conditions as well as by evidence based strategies at national level.

KEYWORDS:

• Challenges in teaching
• English as a foreign language at school
• Teacher education
• Comparative study
• Case study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joanna Madalińska-Michalak

Joanna Madalińska-Michalak is Titular Professor of Social Science, within the field of educational research. She works at the Faculty of Education University of Warsaw and serves for global, international, and national scientific organisations. Her research focuses on teacher education and teacher education policies in Europe, teachers’ professionalism and ethics, educational leadership and school development, and methodology of educational research.

Bünyamin Bavli

Bünyamin Bavli PhD, he works at Yildiz Technical University School of Education, Istanbul, Turkey. Between 2015 and 2016 he was a visiting researcher at University of Warsaw and conducted research on English teachers’ effectiveness. The study was financed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. His research interest focuses on teacher education, curriculum evaluation, instructional design, and curriculum development.