Iraqi EFL Teachers’ Perception towards the Inclusion of Lesson Planning in In-Service Training Programs

It is often argued that a well-ordered in-service training program would augment the teachers’ capability to effectively achieve  classroom activities and practices, and back the educational organization to realize its objectives and ultimately develop teaching (Mahmood, 2016). Moreover, contemporary research studies maintained that Iraqi EFL teachers have need of sustenance and aide in terms of ordering active lesson plans (Al-Tufaili, 2016; Hindi, 2012). Building an effective lesson plan is one of the essential requirements for teachers in their careers in schools. Therefore, it becomes so necessary that a training program must include items related to the content of lesson planning. This paper intends to gather Iraqi EFL teachers' opinions and views concerning items classified under lesson planning, i.e. which ones are more appealed by them, which ones they disprefer. A sample of eighty Iraqi EFL teachers teaching in secondary schools from Kirkuk Governorate have been selected to answer a questionnaire containing 15 items of lesson planning. Utilizing Likert's scale, the participants reveal that operational planning for EFL classes can motivate teachers to pay attention to specific learning and teaching goals and purposes, as a lesson plan often yields a framework for teaching EFL that enables teachers to allocate exact time for teaching activities in the class. The questionnaire also shows that planning the accurate lesson and organizing it into professional steps is an interesting matter for teachers.