In this completed qualitative dissertation research, the nature of the relationship between professional development programs (in-service training programs) and English language instructors was studied with a critical postmodern lense focusing on the narratives of nine English language instructors on their experiences in their professional development programs. The results revealed that the instructors conceptualize these programs as domains in which they develop themselves professionally amidst many hardships that have the power of hindering their development. It is noted that such conceptualization has effects on their professional development as well as their own classroom teaching. Data collection method was in-depth interviewing and it was found that the instructors' narratives included themes of power struggles affecting their conceptualizations of teacher trainers, classroom observations, the delivering of these programs and the administrative units all of which signal the need for a shift towards more humanitarian and innovative professional development practices. [Title and abstract provided in both English and Turkish. This paper was published in: Hacettepe Universitesi Egitim Fakultesi Dergisi 27: [2004] 40-49.]