Share Paper: Investigating the Effect of a Surprise Created by a Discrepant Event on Preservice Teachers’ Learning and Perceptions

  1. Kathleen Myers, Arkansas Tech University, United States
  2. David Smith, Arkansas Tech University, United States
  3. Mohamed Ibrahim, Arkansas Tech University, United States
  4. Rebecca Callaway, Arkansas Tech University, United States
Thursday, March 21 4:15-4:45 PM Sunset 3

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a discrepant event on preservice teachers’ perceptions regarding the experiences of English as Second Language (ESL) students in the classroom. Preservice teachers presented with a lecture in Arabic, a language with which they were unfamiliar, were administered a pretest/posttest survey to determine their perceptions regarding their ability to accommodate ESL students in their future classrooms. Participants were 89 preservice teachers attending courses focusing on foundations of special education and diverse learners. The results of the present study revealed a significant mean difference between students’ perception about ESL accommodation before ...