Lacks, Necessities and Wants of Prospective English Teachers in ELT Departments: A Needs Analysis and Sustainability

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to determine the needs of prospective English teachers in ELT departments throughout Turkey within three dimensions as lacks, necessities and wants from the perspectives of both insiders and outsiders. In the light of Target Situation Analysis (TSA), qualitative research design was administered to reach more detailed and in-depth conclusions with the help of open-ended interview questions. In order to generalize the results of the study, and do a comprehensive needs analysis, all teacher trainers and seniors in ELT departments were contacted via internet or face to face. Totally, 14 state and foundation universities throughout Turkey, 41 teacher trainers whose rankings varies from lecturer to professor, and 85 prospective English teachers attending the last year of their education took part in this study. The collected qualitative data by online, printed forms and interview recordings were analyzed by coding and categorizing. It can be concluded according to the findings that from the outsiders’ perspective, lacks are mainly clustered around four titles as more practice, prospective teachers’ qualifications, extrinsic and intrinsic needs. There are four main necessities put forward by insiders as the exterior, interior, practical and occupational necessities. The results also reveal that only 23 percent of the prospective teachers feel themselves ready to teach: however, the rest thought vice versa. To feel ready to teach, they need some supports under the title of “wants” as individual, pedagogical, linguistic and structural support.