Research article | Open Access
International Journal of Excellent Leadership 2025, Vol. 5(1) 1-20
Reflective Teaching in Tertiary-Level EFL: Practices and Barriers
pp. 1 - 20
Publish Date: June 30, 2025 | Single/Total View: 0/0 | Single/Total Download: 0/0
Abstract
The present study aims to reveal the reflective teaching practices and the barriers that the EFL instructors in Türkiye associate with reflective teaching. In this respect, the extent to which EFL instructors engage in reflective teaching, the EFL instructors’ reflective teaching practices, the perceived barriers of EFL instructors to reflective teaching, and the extent to which EFL instructors’ reflective teaching practices change depending on their gender, age, graduate degree, and work experience were investigated. Thus, a mixed-methods study design was adopted, and both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through a scale and an interview. The participants in the study were selected using a convenience sampling method, and 40 EFL instructors participated in the first stage of the study by completing the scale. Six instructors also volunteered for semi-structured interviews. The data obtained from the qualitative and quantitative means were analysed separately. Initially, SPSS 22 was used to analyse the quantitative data, and MAXQDA was used for the analysis of the interviews. The results demonstrated that reflective teaching is not a frequent practice employed by the EFL instructors in Türkiye, although they believe that reflective teaching is efficient in enhancing their teaching. The underlying reason for the lack of reflective practices among EFL instructors was based on the barriers that the participants encountered, such as heavy workload, lack of knowledge, and lack of motivation. Certain practical implications were presented to increase the reflectivity among EFL instructors as a result of the study. The study is valuable since it offers practical implications to improve reflective teaching. Additionally, it makes a unique contribution to the literature as it stands out as one of the rare investigations focusing on reflective teaching.
Keywords: Reflective teaching, practices, effects, barriers, EFL instructors
APA 7th edition
Ozaslan, A., & Ucacelik, M. (2025). Reflective Teaching in Tertiary-Level EFL: Practices and Barriers. International Journal of Excellent Leadership, 5(1), 1-20.
Harvard
Ozaslan, A. and Ucacelik, M. (2025). Reflective Teaching in Tertiary-Level EFL: Practices and Barriers. International Journal of Excellent Leadership, 5(1), pp. 1-20.
Chicago 16th edition
Ozaslan, Aysegul and Mevludiye Ucacelik (2025). "Reflective Teaching in Tertiary-Level EFL: Practices and Barriers". International Journal of Excellent Leadership 5 (1):1-20.
Akbari, R. (2008). Postmethod discourse and practice. TESOL Quarterly, 42(4), 641–652. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2008.tb00152.x
Aliakbari, M., & Adibpour, M. (2018). Reflective EFL education in Iran: Existing situation and teachers’ perceived fundamental challenges. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 77, 129–144. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ejer/issue/42545/512705
Afshar, H. S., & Farahani, M. (2017). Inhibitors to EFL teachers’ reflective teaching and EFL learners’ reflective thinking and the role of teaching experience and academic degree in reflection perception. Reflective Practice, 19(1), 46–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2017.1351353
Akbari, R., Behzadpoor, F., & Dadvand, B. (2010). Development of English language teaching reflection inventory. System, 38(2), 211–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2010.03.003
Anderson, C. A. (2008). A quantitative study of the perceived professional development needs of foreign language teachers employed in rural school districts within the state of South Carolina [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Capella University.
Bolam, R. (2000). Emerging policy trends: Some implications for continuing professional development. Journal of In-service Education, 26(2), 267–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674580000200113
Boyle, B., While, D., & Boyle, T. (2004). A longitudinal study of teacher change: What makes professional development effective? The Curriculum Journal, 15(1), 45–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450500114819
Brookfield, S. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research in English language teaching: A guide for practitioners. Routledge.
Calderhead, J. (1989). Reflective teaching and teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 5(1), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/0742-051X(89)90018-8
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage Publications.
Crandall, J. (2001). Keeping up to date as an ESL or EFL professional. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 535–552). Heinle & Heinle.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
Dağkıran, I. (2015). Postmethod pedagogy and reflective practice: Current stance of Turkish EFL teachers [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Ihsan Doğramacı Bilkent University.
Day, C. (1999). Developing teachers: The challenges of lifelong learning. Routledge Falmer.
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the education process. D.C. Heath and Company.
Díaz-Maggioli, G. (2004). Teacher-centered professional development. ASCD Publications.
Elmore, R. E., & Burney, D. (1997). Investing in teacher learning: Staff development and instructional improvement in Community School District #2, New York City (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 4162). National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. https://publications.iadb.org/en/investing-teacher-learning-staff-development-and-instructional-improvement-community-school
Farahian, M., & Rajabi, Y. (2022). An investigation into the level of reflection and barriers to EFL teachers’ reflective practice. International Journal of Research in English Education, 7(2), 81–100. https://ijreeonline.com/article-1-665-en.html
Farrell, P. (2000). The impact of research on developments in inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 4(2), 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/136031100284867
Farrell, T. S. (2012). Reflecting on reflective practice: (Re)visiting Dewey and Schön. TESOL Journal, 3(1), 7–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.10
Farrell, T. S. C. (2016). Surviving the transition shock in the first year of teaching through reflective practice. System, 61, 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.07.005
Ferdowsi, M., & Afghari, A. (2015). The effects of reflective teaching on teachers’ performance. International Journal of Educational Investigations, 2(6), 20–31. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1201647
Freeman, D., Katz, A., Garcia Gomez, P., & Burns, A. (2015). English-for-Teaching: Rethinking teacher proficiency in the classroom. ELT Journal, 69(2), 129–139. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccu074
Fullan, M. G. (1995). The limits and the potential of professional development. In T. R. Guskey & M. Huberman (Eds.), Professional development in education: New paradigms and practices (pp. 253–267). Teachers College Press.
Giraldo, F. (2014). The impact of a professional development program on English language teachers’ classroom performance. Profile, 16(1), 63–76. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1053740.pdf
González, A. (2007). Professional development of EFL teachers in Colombia: Between colonial and local practices. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 12(18), 309–332. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/2550/255020488012.pdf
Gunn, C. (2010). Exploring MATESOL student ‘resistance’ to reflection. Language Teaching Research, 14(2), 208–223. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168810363940
Kennedy, J. (1995). Getting to the heart of the matter: The marginal teacher. The Teacher Trainer, 9(1), 10–14.
Kohl, A. G. (2005). The professional development needs of K–12 ESL and foreign language teachers: A descriptive study [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Korumaz, M., & Karakaş, A. (2014). An investigation of EFL language instructors’ attitudes towards reflective teaching. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 4(1), 27–46. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/209621
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Understanding language teaching: From method to postmethod. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lau, K. (2006). Implementing strategy instruction in Chinese language classes: A school-based Chinese reading strategy instruction programme. Educational Research, 48(2), 195–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131880600732280
Moradkhani, S., & Shirazizadeh, M. (2017). Context-based variations in EFL teachers’ reflection: The case of public schools versus private institutes in Iran. Reflective Practice, 18(2), 206–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2016.1267002
Murray, A. (2010). Empowering teachers through professional development. English Teaching Forum, 48(1), 2–11. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ914883
Opfer, V. D., & Pedder, D. (2011). Conceptualizing teacher professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 81(3), 376–407. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654311413609
Richards, J. C. (1991). Toward reflective teaching. The Teacher Trainer, 5(3), 4–8. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265934213_Towards_Reflective_Teaching
Richards, J. C., & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. Cambridge University Press.
Sadeghi, K., & Richards, J. C. (2016). The idea of English in Iran: An example from Urmia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(4), 419–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2015.1080714
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Schön, D. (1988). Coaching reflective teaching. In P. Grimmett & G. Erickson (Eds.), Reflection in teacher education (pp. 19–29). Teachers College Press.
Stanley, C. (1998). A framework for teacher reflectivity. TESOL Quarterly, 32(3), 584–591. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3588129
Tice, J. (2002). Reflective teaching: Exploring our own classroom practice. BBC/British Council Teaching English. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/taking-responsibility/articles/reflective-teaching-exploring-our
Tok, Ş., & Doğan-Dolapçıoğlu, S. (2013). Reflective teaching practices in Turkish primary school teachers. Teacher Development, 17(2), 265–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2012.753940
Yıldırım, S. (2020). Reflective teaching in ELT: Obstacles and handling strategies [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Akdeniz University.
Zahid, M., & Khanam, A. (2019). Effect of reflective teaching practices on the performance of prospective teachers. The Turkish Journal of Educational Technology, 18(1), 32–43. http://www.tojet.net/articles/v18i1/1814.pdf
