An Analysis of EFL Student Teachers' Teaching Behaviours of Al-Anbar University in the

Abstract

The present study aims at: 1- analyzing the types of teaching behaviours used by student teachers to know the superiority of each type of behaviour to the other; 2- investigating the teaching sub-behaviours that are commonly used (prevailing) in each main teaching behaviour type; and 3- identifying the influence of sex and geographical position on their total scores in the checklist. The subjects of the study are (50) male and female student teachers from the fourth year in the dept. of English/ College of Education for Humanities and College of Education for Women of Al- Anbar University in the academic year 2008-2009. To achieve the aims of the present study, a checklist of teaching behaviours was developed by the researchers depending on the theoretical background of teaching behaviour and related literature. The checklist consists of two categories. The first category is verbal behaviours which includes four aspects: methodology and teaching practices, psychological behaviours, linguistic behaviours and feedback and error correction. The second category is non-verbal behaviours which covers such things as face expressions, gestures, movements in the class, eye contact and anything achieved by writing or action without using spoken language in teaching English as a foreign language. The checklist has been exposed to a jury of experts to obtain its face validity. Reliability is found by using test-retest method and it is 0.82. The reliability sample involves (30) student teachers from both sexes. Analysis of the data has yielded the following results: 1- Verbal behaviours took the superiority to the non-verbal behaviours. 2- Aspects of the verbal behaviours took the following sequence according to their weighted means and weighted average: methodology and teaching practices, psychological behaviours, linguistic behaviours and feedback and error correction. 3- There is a statistically significant difference between the mean of the student teachers who applied in schools inside the city centre and the mean of those who applied outside the city centre in their total scores in the checklist and it is in favour of the first group. 4- There is no statistically significant difference between the mean of the male and the mean of the female in their total scores in the checklist.