Investigating the effectiveness of an online language teacher education programme informed by self-determination theory

Abstract

Despite the centrality of motivation for all learning, few studies have examined the effectiveness of online language teacher education (OLTE) programmes within a psychological framework. This explorative study seeks to address this gap by evaluating the effectiveness of a two semesters OLTE course for German teachers in the Norwegian context. The course was developed to address students’ innate psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness within the framework of self-determination theory (SDT). The paper first details the steps taken to meet students’ needs, and then evaluates the effectiveness of the programme by analysing the data from students’ questionnaires, which were completed after each of the two semesters. The results showed that most students were highly motivated throughout the course, and that their motivation increased over time. Furthermore, most of the students felt that their psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness were met. Thus, we suggest that designing OLTE programmes according to SDT principles can be an effective means of professional training for future language teachers.