Page 45 - Getting of the fence

questionnaires for 2 years, and 10 teachers filled out three questionnaires, one
for each of the three years. This resulted in the following number of responses
for each of the 3 years: year 4: n = 54, year 5: n = 55, year 6: n = 63. Table 2.5
presents an overview of the four teacher demographics of the 106 teachers who 2 filled out the questionnaire. The majority of the teachers were female (70%) and
university educated (69%) 7. Furthermore, the average number of years of teaching experience of the teachers was 13 but ranged between 0 and 40 which corresponds with the age range between 25 and 63.
Table 2.5 Teacher demographics
Gender Education
Years of teaching experience at pre-university level
Age
Male (30%) University (69%) 0 – 40 years
25 – 63 years
Female (70%)
Higher Professional Education (31%) M 13.44 SD 10.97
M 46.65 SD 10.61
Exploring EFL literature approaches
2.2.3 Analytical procedure
In order to answer the first research question, participants were asked how often the 20 elements occurred in their EFL literature lessons. They were asked to mark their responses on a six-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 6 (always). The decision for an even scale was made to rule out the option for answering without considering the item or avoiding making a real choice (Dörnyei, 2003).
We calculated the reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient) of the scales measuring the average reported occurrence in literature lessons during one school year (September 2012 - June 2013) to see if the items of the four approaches each formed a reliable scale. Since it is our understanding that in a Comprehensive Approach to foreign language literature teaching and learning the four approaches can be regarded as a unified whole, we also needed to assess the existence of the reciprocal relationship between the four approaches. Confirmatory Factor Analysis
7 Initial teacher training programmes in the Netherlands are provided at institutions of Higher Professional Education (HBO) and at universities. The HBO teacher training course for secondary education is a practically oriented 4-year programme, which leads to a grade two qualification, allowing teachers to teach in the first three years of second- ary education. After this 4-year-programme teachers can continue to obtain a vocational Master’s degree which will provide them with a grade one qualification, which allows teachers to teach in all years of secondary education (years 1 – 6). The university training programme is a postgraduate programme open to university graduate students who have taken a Master’s degree in a subject closely related to the subject they wish to teach and leads to a grade one qualification.
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