Does Practice Make Perfect? Insights from Pre-service EFL Teachers via Metaphors

Abstract

How pre-service EFL teachers conceptualize their professional identities has always been part of scientific inquiry since it is one of the fundamentals of language teaching settings. Yet, uncovering its interaction with constructs such as in-class practice has been only possible via a limited set of instruments one of which is the metaphor analysis. Hence, the aim of the current study was to figure out how pre-service EFL teachers with different experience backgrounds perceive their professional identities, namely English language teachers in the form of metaphors and then to understand if in-class practice either via micro-teachings or practicum courses had any say on their preferences. Data collected from 184 participants through the metaphor analysis methodology were analyzed qualitatively in line with the framework proposed in Saban, Kocbeker, Saban (2007). Results revealed that although choices were diversified practice type tested across three groups ranging from no experience to experienced affected pre-service EFL teachers’ metaphors. In specific, it was observed that there was a focus shift from a teacher centered account to a learner centered one in line with the accumulation of in-class practice.