PRE-SERVICE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LANGUAGE AWARENESS

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the conceptual perceptions of preservice language teachers regarding the concept of language awareness. For this purpose, preservice Turkish language teachers were asked to write the first four words that came to mind when they heard the term language awareness. The research adopted a qualitative phenomenological design to examine in depth the mental representations formed by the participants concerning language awareness. The findings revealed that the phenomena most frequently associated with the concept were culture, communication, grammar, and speaking. Further analyses showed that participants emphasized different aspects of the concept, highlighting its cultural, cognitive, and structural dimensions.

Keywords: language awareness, culture, communication, pre-service language teachers.

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