Competency Beliefs, Teaching Confidence and Teaching Performances of English Major Graduating Students in Teaching Practice

Abstract

This study endeavored to explore the competency beliefs,
teaching confidence in teaching practice, and teaching performances of
graduating English major students at Bahir Dar University (BDU). Pre-and
post-teaching practice explorations were made using questionnaires,
interviews, and documents analyses. Pearson’s Correlation Co-efficient and
descriptive methods were employed for analysis,. Findings indicated a
strong correlation between the trainees’ competency beliefs in their linguistic
capacity and knowledge of methods. Their competency beliefs, however,
had no significant relations with their teaching confidence and teaching
performance. The instructors reported the trainees had low level of
competence. The trainees’ interview indicated that there was a mismatch
between their expectations and the classroom realities. Finally, it was
concluded that many of the trainees may have been equipped with
theoretical knowledge, but they lacked adequate teaching practice and
language command. Therefore, it was recommended that the trainees be
offered additional skill courses to enhance their language capacity, more
practice time be arranged, and methodology courses be designed to
integrate awareness creating and practice.