The influence of a VC-based training course on pre-service EFL teachers’ teaching strategies: A case study of training Syrian pre-service EFL teachers

The pressing need for training pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to teach English through synchronous videoconferencing (VC) courses is heightening due to the authentic foreign language learning opportunities offered by the VC medium concerning the practice of all four L2 skills. This need should be emphasised further by the positive impact of using VC that can potentially bring forth the teaching strategies implemented by EFL teachers. To date, few studies have explored the effects of VC-based training on EFL teachers' teaching strategies. Existing studies examined mainly the effects of the training on inservice EFL teachers' teaching performance rather than on pre-service teachers. Thus, this paper aimed to investigate the effects of the VC-based training on the pre-service teachers' teaching strategies regarding how they teach all four macro L2 skills, vocabulary, and grammar. A case study of VC-based EFL teacher training was conducted with six pre-service Syrian EFL teachers. Data was gathered from a series of observations during the VC-based EFL teacher practicum. Teacher diaries sought to examine the change in the teaching strategies before and after the training. The study findings showed that pre-service EFL teachers could adopt more communicative and student-centred teaching strategies and create a friendly, engaging atmosphere in VC-based EFL classes. Though the study is limited in scope, it explored a context previously unresearched gaining valuable insights