Journal Name:
- Journal of Educational and Instructional Studies in the World
| Author Name | University of Author |
|---|---|
Abstract (2. Language):
English language education has been an essential constituent of Turkish educational system since the
worldwide popularization of English as a foreign language particularly after the second half of 20th century.
After the seventy-year period witnessing constant changes in course hours, materials and methods, etc.,
studies indicate that problems related to language education in Turkey still remain unresolved.
In this study, it is aimed to investigate higher education-level English language course in a provincial state
university from the students’ perspective. The study intends to simultaneously find out the students’ opinions
about English language and learning it, their evaluations of the course in question, and finally the problems
leading to unsuccessful language learning experiences.
The study was conducted in a quantitative cross-sectional survey design, where a Likert-type questionnaire was
administered at three faculties and two vocational schools of Iğdır University in 2010-2011. The data were
analyzed via SPSS 17.0 and percentages, mean and standard deviation values were determined through
descriptive statistics while Chi-square and G statistics were used as inferential statistics to test the association
between participant responses and independent variables of age, gender and school type.
The results have shown that the students find English course of medium difficulty and they are motivated to
learn English and they find the language necessary for both professional and social motives. The students
demand more communicative activities promoting practical language use during the classes and more
objective tests (true – false, matching or completing) in the assessment and evaluation processes. The majority
of participating students believe that finishing high school with insufficient language education is the main
reason for failure or inefficient learning in the course. The results have also indicated that students’ age and
gender do not significantly affect their viewpoints while their being whether a faculty or a vocational school
student has a significant association with their responses to many items.
The study indicates that university students believe that all parties have responsibilities that should be
actualized for better and more effective language education at universities in Turkey: the instructors should
experiment with more contemporary methods and techniques while teaching, the students should have more
a sophisticated approach towards language learning than only focusing on passing, and the system should
accomplish a continuity in language education between primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
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