DESCRIPTIVE VERSUS DIALOGIC REFLECTION AND POSITIVE VERSUS NEGATIVE STANCE IN THE REFLECTIVE WRITING OF TURKISH PROSPECTIVE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

: While there is a wide body of research that reports the benefits of engaging prospective English Language teachers in reflection during the practicum courses of their teacher education, there are relatively few studies which describe the nature of prospective teachers written reflections on examples of their own teaching during campus-based methodology courses. However, it has been suggested that engaging prospective English Language teachers in reflective practice early on in their teacher education could be beneficial in helping them to develop their critical thinking skills and to make the most of their future teaching experiences. Thus, the current study was conducted to describe the individual reflective profiles emerging from the analysis of the written reflections of 28 Turkish prospective English Language teachers on a video-recorded microteaching experience carried out as part of a methodology course. A mixed method approach was adopted to this aim. First, qualitative analysis of the written reflections revealed reflective categories showing how the participants reflected on their teaching experience. Second, frequency analysis was used to reveal the distribution of these reflective categories for each participant. The data analysis showed that the individual participants displayed different patterns of reflection in terms of descriptive and dialogic reflection, and positive and negative stance.