An Autoethnography of Teaching English to Young Learners: From Theory to Practice

In this paper, the researcher look into the own theoretical and practical knowledge of teaching English to young learners through an autoethnographical research design. In order to understand to what extentthese theory-driven conclusions "actually work" in primary school English language classrooms, the researcher recorded autoethnographical entries over a period of four months while teaching at a state-run primary school in Antalya, Turkey. These notes contain feelings and opinions about teaching and theoretical knowledge. The autoethographical work revealed that the researcher had difficulties in classroom management, keeping students' interest in the activities, using the mother tongue of the learners in the classroom, and using too many instructional materials in number and nature.