Sabancı University School of Languages Trainer Education Program (SLTEP): A case study on trainer education in Turkey

In Turkey and elsewhere, there is a growing and challenging demand for the professional development of teacher educators in the field of language education. Trainer training continues to be a much-needed area where there is a growing and challenging demand for the education of trainers in the field of language education. This is because more and more language professionals are getting involved in professional development activities in their own institutions and beyond, carrying out classroom observations, giving professional presentations, supervising classroom research, designing various in-service or pre-service activities and courses. However, not many professionals have the opportunity to train as teacher educators and find themselves involved - or at times even ‘thrown into’ - teacher training with little or no support. This chapter discusses the design, implementation and evaluation of a twoweek intensive trainer training course which has been running at Sabancı University School of Languages in Istanbul, Turkey since 2004: the Sabancı University School of Languages Trainer Education Program (SLTEP). The course aims to help language professionals develop the knowledge, skills and awareness required for effective teacher training with a view to catering for the training and development needs of teachers in their own institutions and in the wider training context.