A Metaphorical Study: EFL Teachers' Concepts of "Standard", "Standards for Quality EFL and International Teacher"

Abstract

Delving into the multifaceted functions of EFL teaching, such concepts of global society as lingual and cultural diversity in the center of education manifest a big challenge for EFL. To deal with these demands on the teachers starts with setting the minimum level of practice expected of trainees and teachers: standards. Within this respect, this study was conducted to explore EFL teachers' metaphorical images about the concepts of "standard", "quality EFL teacher", "standards for quality EFL teacher" and "international teacher". 82 EFL teachers working in the Anatolian part of Istanbul in 2014-2015 academic year participated in the study. Data was collected through a form in which teachers were asked to produce a metaphor about each of the four mentioned concepts. Collected data was analyzed by using "content analysis technique". As a result, teachers were found to produce such metaphors about standards as a star, a scale, a book, a recipe to attract attention to the guiding nature of the standard to do the best. As result of the analysis of the metaphors in categories, teachers were also found to see quality EFL teacher as a multidimensional person, a lifelong learner, a guide and a multicultural domain. Moreover, they emphasized the facilitating impact of the standards on the quality of teaching service performed by EFL teachers. Participant teachers also stressed the cultural dimension of being an international teacher by resembling international teacher to a bridge between the local (national) and the universal cultures as a self sacrificing professional attempting to light the way for the students by keeping to be updated.