Abstract

This study presents and analyzes the positive and negative reflections of ten pre-service English teachers who kept diaries on their own learning and teaching processes and daily lives. The participants were students in an English Language Teacher Education Program who took an on-campus methodology course and voluntarily agreed to keep diaries. These student teachers were asked to write for one month, outside of class contact hours, about their own learning and teaching experiences. The diaries were analyzed to explore the pre-service English teachers’ language learning and teaching processes, daily routines and turning points regarding their future profession. Results showed that diaries might provide an effective tool to gain insight into the pre-service English teachers’ learning and teaching processes both in and outside of the classroom and to understand in more depth their daily routines as student teachers.

Key words: Pre-service teachers, diary, language teacher education, reflective thinking, Turkey.