Pre-Service Primary School and EFL Teachers’ Collaboration for Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Multi-grade Classes

Multi-grade classrooms, where children of varying ages and proficiency levels are taught together, present unique challenges not only for pre-service teachers but also in-service primary school teachers. This study explores pre-service primary school and pre-service EFL teachers’ opinions on collaborative pedagogy for teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in multi-grade classrooms. The results are used to assess pre-service primary school teachers’ English proficiency and teaching language skills. The participants consisted of 17 pre-service primary school teachers and 17 pre-service EFL teachers. The numbers were even in order to pair each pre-service primary school teacher with one ELT partner. During one semester, each pair continued their own teacher training and language arts development and collaborated in the process of preparing English language materials for multi-grade students and teaching and learning EFL. Data were collected through a combination of peer collaborative practices and open-ended questions. The findings highlight the pre-service primary school teachers’ need for systemic support in the process of teaching English in multi-grade classes. This research study can contribute to the understanding of how pre-service teachers’ collaboration can be a valuable pedagogical strategy during the preparation of prospective teachers for complex classroom contexts and affect the quality of EFL instruction in multi-grade settings.