Contextualization or de-contextualization: Student teachers' perceptions about teaching a language in context

Abstract

Language cannot be acquired or learned through de-contextualized practice as many studies emphasized, thus, this study aims at investigating student teachers' views about teaching a language in context. To that end, 30 senior student teachers of Uludag University Faculty of Education ELT Department were given a five-point likert scale questionnaire besides conducting the structured interviews just after they had completed their practicum. As a result, the significance of contextualization was esteemed by most of the participants and they were able to use different techniques of creating context when teaching during their practicum. Moreover, the participants reported that more samples of different contexts for teaching different subjects should be provided to them to plan and teach more effective lessons.