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Makale Özeti:
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Promoting higher communication efficiency among teacher candidates and acting as models are among the main professional responsibilities of teacher educators. This makes the task of teachers even more important in language education classes where students are prospective language teachers and their development as language teachers highly depend on the way teacher educators teach and communicate (Wen & Clément, 2003). This sequential mixed-method study examined Communication Apprehension (CA) levels of a convenience sample of pre-service language teachers at a state university with a particular focus on the influence of gender, year level, and achievement on CA towards lecturers. Given that CA is a psychological experience, a self-reported questionnaire, Communication Apprehension with the Lecturers Scale (CALS), (Eren-Gümüş, and Kolburan-Geçer, 2008) was considered appropriate for measuring the participants’ levels of communication apprehension with their instructors. In order to compare the CA levels of students at each level, a cross-sectional survey design was selected (Creswell, 2002). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, ANOVA, and independent samples t-test. In addition to the quantitative data analysis, the researcher purposefully elicited open-ended written comments of pre-service language teachers in order to gain deeper insights into the phenomenon. The data obtained through open-ended survey questions were subjected to qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate that communication should have a greater role in teacher education and teacher educators should refrain from exhibiting behaviors that can prevent prospective teachers from communicating with them.
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