Efficacy of L2 teacher education programs: A comparison of public and private sectors in Iran

The study is an attempt to evaluate and compare teacher education programs (TEPs) in Farhangian University and private language institutes in Iran. The data were collected from 142 Iranian EFL teachers through a questionnaire and focus group interviews. The results of multiple independent samples t-tests showed that teacher educators in private language institutes performed better in preparing teachers compared to teacher educators in Farhangian University, while no considerable difference was found in the other five subscales of the TEPs (i.e. program structure, program courses, psychology and cognition, professional development, and knowledge base), and the overall teacher education programs in Farhangian University and private language institutes; nonetheless, teachers in private language institutes recorded higher mean scores in all the subscales than their counterparts from Farhangian University, indicating that private language institutes performed slightly better in preparing EFL teachers. Additionally, based on the interview data, various categories of suggestions were developed for improving the TEPs from several aspects including the length of the programs, teacher educators, content knowledge, practice-based education, reflection and professional development, and program courses. The implications for L2 teacher education, policymakers, and teacher educators are discussed, along with some suggestions for additional research.