Bridging skill gaps in language teacher education for enhanced workforce readiness

The rapidly evolving educational landscape places considerable demands on early-career teachers (ECTs). Despite extensive theoretical preparation, these teachers often struggle to reconcile their university training with the practical realities of contemporary classrooms. This study explores the employability skills of six early-career Turkish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers. The primary objectives are twofold: 1) to examine how novice Turkish EFL teachers evaluate the overall effectiveness of their teacher education programs; 2) to identify the main challenges they face in the early stages of their teaching careers, while examining the extent to which these difficulties stem from the preparation they received during their training. The study employed a narrative case study approach. Participants were selected through purposeful and convenience sampling to ensure diversity in teaching experience, regional background, educational attainment, and gender. Data were collected through two rounds of in-depth interviews and analyzed thematically. Findings indicate that while participants valued the theoretical foundations and instructional strategies provided during their teacher education, they highlighted critical gaps, namely, limited practical experience, theory–practice gap, insufficient preparation for managing diverse classrooms, inadequate support for emotional resilience, and challenges in parent-teacher communication. The study proposes the development of a Context-Responsive and Emotionally-Informed Teacher Education Program (CREITEP), which aims to enhance teacher employability through targeted skill development. The proposed program ensures that future educators are not only theoretically and contextually prepared but also equipped with the professional competencies necessary to handle the multifaceted demands of today’s classrooms.