The Islamic University- Gaza Deanery of Higher Education Faculty of ...

Continuous follow up, support and evaluative feedback are desperately needed to reachdeeply rooted positive changes.Sharing the same scenario of investigating the impact of inservice training programmes onteachers overall change process, Imijinda (2005) conducted a study which aimed atdeveloping, implementing and evaluating a small-scale inservice training programme forprimary Thai EFL teachers. The programme was designed to help EFL teachers in changingtheir practices from traditional forms into more communicative practices. The programmecontent made use of collaboration, peer coaching, and a systematic follow up insideclassroom models. The study sample consisted of nine primary EFL teachers along with theirclasses and supervisors in three cities in Thailand. A triangulation of data was used over thespan of eight months including interviews, observation checklist, and a questionnaire. Resultsclarified that the programme has led to observable positive changes in teacher classroompractices; furthermore, all teachers were rated higher by their supervisors on following thecommunicative language teaching principles. The researcher suggested that any INSETprogramme closely adapted to teachers specific needs, contexts, making use of collaboration,peer coaching, ongoing follow up is capable of bringing about long-lasting positive changesat all levels.In correspondence with the previous studies positive results, Kirkgoz (2008) reported astudy which aimed to evaluate inservice training programmes impact on teachers‟implementation of Communicative Oriented Curriculum -COC- in primary Turkish schools.The study sample consisted of 32 Turkish English teachers. Two ethnographic data collectiontools were used involving interviews and observation. Data analysis showed that teachershave changed their teaching practices and employed COC principles positively. Theresearcher commented that such findings highlighted the need for more expanded inservicetraining programmes taking into account teachers own beliefs.- 72 -