Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi [H. U. Journal of Education] 44: 249-261 [2013] VIEWING FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ ROLES THROUGH THE EYES OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ÖĞRETMEN VE ÖĞRENCİ GÖZÜNDEN YABANCI DİL ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN ROLLERİNE BAKIŞ Yeşim Betül OKTAY * , Ülker VANCI OSAM ** ABSTRACT: This study (both qualitative and quantitative in nature) examines the metaphors students at a university chose to describe the roles of foreign language teachers and compares metaphors chosen by teachers of English at the same university. Findings indicate that the same three roles (conductor, shopkeeper, and entertainer) were favored most by both the participating students and teachers though they were ranked differently. A deeper analysis of the primary metaphors chosen by the participants suggests that there is a significant discrepancy between teachers’ and students’ perceptions. While students preferred a learner-centered approach, teachers opted for a teacher-centered teaching. Implications for classroom practices indicate that teachers need to pay closer attention to their students’ needs, difficulties and interests. Keywords: role perceptions, metaphors, philosophies of education ÖZET: Nitel ve nicel araştırma özelliği taşıyan bu çalışmanın amacı üniversite düzeyindeki bir grup öğrencinin yabancı dil öğretmenlerinin rol tanımlarıyla ilgili olarak seçtikleri metaforları ortaya koymak ve yine aynı ortamda görev yapan İngilizce öğretmenlerinin tercih ettikleri metaforlarla karşılaştırmaktır. Bulgulara göre, her iki katılımcı grubun en fazla tercih ettikleri ilk üç rol tanımı aynı olmakla birlikte (orkestra şefi, bakkal, şaklaban), birinci tercihlerinde farklılık olduğu görülmektedir. Bu metaforların derinlemesine yapılan analizinde, öğrenciler ile öğretmenlerin yabancı dil öğretmeninin rolüne ilişkin algılamalarında önemli bir ayrılık olduğu söylenebilir. Birinci tercihlerine göre öğrenci katılımcılar daha çok öğrenci-odaklı bir yaklaşımı tercih ederken, öğretmen katılımcıların daha fazla öğretmen-odaklı bir öğretim anlayışına sahip oldukları görülmektedir. Bu bulgulara dayanarak, öğretmenlerin, öğrencilerin yabancı dil öğrenirken karşılaştıkları güçlüklere, ilgi ve gereksinimlerine daha fazla eğilmelerinin gerekliliği vurgulanabilir. Anahtar sözcükler: rol algıları, metaforlar, eğitim felsefeleri 1. INTRODUCTION Teaching is a complex process because the variety of unpredictable challenges that stem from the dynamic interactions of teacher, student, school, community, and culture makes it difficult to understand its nature. Within this multi-faceted environment, the teachers’ role in class depends on their perceptions of the incidents that make up classroom life (Brown, 1975; Carter & Doyle, 1987; Doyle 1977). This perception also develops through cultural expectations from outside the classroom; in other words, school climate and occupational culture influence teachers’ thinking and behavior in and out of class (Roberts, 1998, p. 108). The complexity of teaching has been a research concern for many years. Studies have focused not only on the teaching profession itself, but also on the characteristics of teachers (Borg, 2006; Mollica & Nuessel, 1997; Reichel & Arnon, 2009; Sullivan, 2004; Timmering, 2009). Despite the characteristics all teachers have in common, teachers of different subjects are assumed to have distinguishing features. Being a foreign language teacher can necessitate different skills and strategies from being a teacher of physics, for example. The difference could be related to the nature of the subject matter, i.e. language. Foreign language teachers are perhaps one of a kind teachers because in foreign language teaching, the content and the process for learning the content are the same. Borg (2006) reports that foreign language teachers are different from other subject teachers because of the “dynamic nature of language, the scope and complexity of the content of language teaching, the range of materials, methods and activities available to language teachers, the especially close relationships between language teachers and learners, and issues relating to the status of native and non-native language teachers” (p. 29). Earlier than Borg, Hammadou and Bernhardt (1987, p. 302) have proposed some factors that distinguish the experience of foreign language (FL) teachers from that of teachers of other subjects: i) the nature of the subject matter itself (FL teaching is the only subject where effective instruction requires the teacher to use a medium the students do not yet understand) * Doctor, Eastern Mediterranean University, Modern Languages Division, yesim.oktay@emu.edu.tr ** Professor, Eastern Mediterranean University, Department of English Language Teaching, ulker.osam@emu.edu.tr