| The need for qualified English language teachers is growing every day. Distance education can be an alternative mode of instruction to train great numbers of English language teachers faster and less expensively. To ensure the quality of such programs, distance education faculty should be supported by their institutions. The main purpose of this study was to examine the faculty support structure in a distance English language teacher education program in relation to faculty experiences and perceptions through a qualitative case study. The Distance English Language Teacher Education Program (DELTEP) at Anadolu University in Turkey was selected as the case. Data were gathered from three sources: an online survey, artifacts, and in-depth interviews. Participants included 3 administrators, 3 support personnel, and 10 faculty members. Data analysis was done through constant comparison data analysis method.; The experiences of faculty members who teach in DELTEP gave important clues about how distance English language teaching faculty should and could be supported by their institutions. Interviews with participants revealed that despite its challenges, faculty members had a positive attitude toward distance education. One of the most important factors in the motivation of faculty was the institutional support that they received. Faculty members received continuous administrative, technological, and pedagogical support as they worked on producing online courses. In addition, socio-emotional support, which consisted of emotional support received from administrators, colleagues, and students, was found to be an important factor in the motivation of faculty. In general, faculty members were happy with the institutional support which they perceived to be consistent and effective. The area in which they would like to receive more support was their workload. Since faculty members had to undertake both traditional and distance English language teaching programs, they wished their workload to be decreased to increase the amount of time they spend on their students.; The important lesson that can be drawn from the experience of DELTEP faculty is that faculty support infrastructure in distance education should be well integrated into the whole working environment of faculty members. Also, it should consist of a variety of support initiatives presented from various angles through the involvement of various key holders in the institution. |
