ABSTRACT
Though Gaza pre-service teachers’ proficiency level in English language is poor, no empirical studies have been conducted on the factors contributing to such weakness. Consequently, the study discussed in this chapter explored the factors contributing to the poor proficiency level of pre-service English teachers in Gaza. To gather the study data, I conducted focused-group semi-structured interviews with 20 English pre-service teachers and individual interviews with six English language instructors selected from different universities in the Gaza Strip. Results showed the factors resulting in the students’ low proficiency level, such as teachers’ use of teacher-centered approach in English classes, lack of teachers’ feedback on students’ compositions, teachers’ use of reading aloud for comprehension strategy and neglect of silent reading strategy in reading classes, teachers’ overuse of the first language in English literature and reading classes, teachers’ neglect of the highest levels of cognitive development in Blooms Taxonomy (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) in their evaluations, and students’ lack of opportunities to practice language learning strategies. Finally, the study offered relevant implications.
