scholarly journals An investigation of English language instructors' attitudes towards reflective teaching

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mithat Korumaz ◽  
Ali Karakaş

This study is predicated on a descriptive survey of quantitative research designs, which attempts to identify the attitudes of instructors of English towards reflective teaching in Turkey. For the collection of data, Reflective Teaching Attitude Scale, developed by Akbari, Bahzaadpoor and Dadvand, was distributed to 56 instructors of English who comprised the sampling of the study. The instructors were sampled more than ten universities across Turkey. The questionnaire was administered via using the online questionnaire feature of Google documents. The results demonstrate that all instructors tend to hold positive attitudes towards reflective teaching. In addition, when some variables such as gender, types of institutions worked at, faculties graduated from, and finally the last degree they hold are concerned, no statistically significant difference is observed among the participants in relation to their attitudes towards reflective teaching.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 3696
Author(s):  
Ümit Çelen ◽  
İlker Kösterelioğlu ◽  
Meltem Akın Kösterelioğlu

Teachers participate in-service trainings in order to contribute their vocational development after completing graduate education and appointed as a teacher. The positive attitudes of teachers about participating in-service trainings increase the expectations about the teaching activities in their classrooms. In addition, The participation levels of teachers and the quality of in-service training activities may have a significant role on boosting teacher’s attitudes on attendance to in-service trainings. Based on this principle aim, in this research, the answers to these questions of teachers’ working in pre-primary, primary, secondary and high schools in Amasya, Tokat, Samsun and Çorum cities were sought in this study:  what are the attitudes of the teachers in participating the in-service trainings? Do the attitudes of the teachers differ significantly based on the factors of gender, professional experience, the city where they work, or their branch?  And is there any interconnection between the attitude scores of the teachers participating in the in-service trainings and their ages and years of seniority? 4) What are the expectations of the teachers about improving the effectiveness of the in-service trainings? Since this research tries to define the existing situation, the descriptive survey model was used in this research. N=37.028 teachers are the population of this research. In the research, which used a stratified cluster sampling method, n=961 teachers’ data were collected. The data of the research were collected by using the “Attitude Scale on In-Service Training (ASIST)”, which was in likert-form, and developed by Çelen, Kösterelioğlu and Akın Kösterelioğlu (2016). According to the findings, a statistically significant difference could not be found among the attitude scores of the teachers who work in four different provinces regarding participation in in-service training activities in terms of the gender, marital status and the number of the children they have. In the attitude scores of teachers, a significant difference was seen only in branch variable in favour of pre-primary teachers. Furthermore, whether the subject of the training to be given meets the needs of the education and trainings in the school, whether the in-service trainings address the teachers’ vocational and social interests; and the time they are organised and by whom they are given can be defined factors which can affect the participation levels of teachers and indirectly the attitudes regarding them.   ÖzetÖğretmenler eğitim fakültelerinde hizmet öncesi öğrenimini tamamladıktan ve öğretmen olarak atandıktan sonra mesleki gelişimlerine katkı sağlamak için hizmet içi eğitim programlarına katılırlar. Öğretmenlerin hizmet içi eğitimlere katılmak konusunda olumlu bir tutuma sahip olmaları onların sınıflarındaki öğretim faaliyetlerinden beklenen etkiyi arttırır.  Bunun yanı sıra düzenlenen hizmet içi eğitim etkinliklerinin niteliği ve öğretmenlerin katılım düzeyi, zamanla hizmet içi eğitimlere katılma konusunda tutumlarının gelişmesinde etkili olabilmektedir. Bu nedenle bu araştırmada Amasya, Tokat, Samsun ve Çorum illerinde, okul öncesi, ilkokul, ortaokul ve liselerde görev yapan öğretmenlerin; hizmet içi eğitime katılmaya ilişkin tutumları nasıldır? Hizmet içi eğitime ilişkin tutum puanları, cinsiyet, öğretmenlik hizmet yılı, öğretmenlik yaptığı şehir, branş gibi değişkenler açısından manidar farklılık göstermekte midir? ve hizmet içi eğitimlerin etkililiğinin artmasına ilişkin beklentileri nelerdir? sorularına yanıt aranmıştır. Var olan durumu saptamak amaçlandığından araştırma, tarama modelinde nicel bir araştırmadır. Araştırmanın evreninde N=37.028 öğretmen yer almaktadır. Tabakalı küme örnekleme yöntemiyle seçilen örneklem üzerinde yürütülen araştırmada n=961 öğretmenden veri toplanmıştır. Araştırmada veriler, Çelen, Kösterelioğlu ve Akın Kösterelioğlu (2016) tarafından geliştirilen ölçek ile toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizinden elde edilen sonuçlara göre; öğretmenlerin hizmet içi eğitim programlarına katılma konusunda; Tokat, Çorum, Amasya ve Samsun illerinde görev yapma, cinsiyet, mesleki kıdem, medeni durum ve çocuk sahibi olma değişkenleri açısından anlamlı fark elde edilmemiştir. Öğretmenlerin tutum puanlarında sadece okul öncesi öğretmenler lehine olmak üzere branş değişkeninde manidar fark saptanmıştır. Ayrıca hizmet içi eğitime katılma konusunda eğitimlerin öğretmenlerin ihtiyaçlarına uygun olması, eğitimin ilgilerini çekmesi, eğitimin yapılacağı zamanın uygunluğu ve kim tarafından verilecek olması öğretmenlerin katılım düzeylerini arttıracak ve dolaylı olarak olumlu tutum geliştirmelerine etki edebilecek unsurlar olarak sıralanmaktadır.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ali Al-Saggaf ◽  
Norhafiza Azween Binti Sumali ◽  
Mohammed Mohammed Ali Abdulkhaleq

Despite the fact that English songs with written lyrics are already familiar in Malaysia, however only a few that recognizes the potential use of the material in teaching vocabulary especially among Malaysian English teachers. The researcher finds it necessary to understand the perception towards the idea of using English songs with written lyrics in teaching vocabulary especially in Malaysian context. This quantitative research aims to identify the MSU TESL practicum students’ perception towards the idea of using English songs with written lyrics in teaching vocabulary and to find out if there is any difference according to gender and program (DTESL/BTESL) in the practicum students’ perception. A total of 164 TESL practicum students are used as the sample in this research where an online questionnaire is distributed to collect data. The results reveal that the practicum students exhibit a positive perception towards the idea of using English songs with written lyrics in teaching vocabulary. No significant difference in perception is found regardless the gender and programs. The findings are hopefully to give significant to the English teachers and the English Language Teaching curriculum developer. Further recommendation is given for a better understanding of the perception.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 581-596

Technology plays a crucial role in the self-guided learning of a second language in general and English in particular. Nevertheless, many students in different contexts still ignore the application of technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) tools in enhancing their foreign language proficiency. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the attitudes towards the use of TELL tools in English-language learning (ELL) among English majors at one university in Vietnam. To collect data, 197 English majors participated in finishing the questionnaire, and 20 students were invited to join the interviews. The findings are that the majority of students have positive attitudes towards the use of TELL tools and the frequency of using these tools is very high. In addition, the results also reveal that there is no significant difference in attitudes towards and frequency of using TELL tools in learning English in terms of the year of study. However, students of different levels of academic achievements have different attitudes towards using TELL tools and use TELL tools to learn English differently. Received 2nd May 2019; Revised 16th July 2019, Accepted 20th October 2019


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Kifayatullah Khan ◽  
Wasal Khan

This cross-sectional quantitative research was conducted to compare the average perceptions of students and teachers regarding students’ English language proficiency at the higher secondary level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The participants were 1975 students and 108 teachers belonging to one each district of the seven divisions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Data were collected through pre-tested questionnaire i.e., one each for students and teachers. To analyze the significance difference between the average perceptions of students and teachers about higher secondary students’ English language proficiency; independent samples t-test was applied. The findings of the study revealed significant difference in teachers’ and students’ perceptions regarding students’ partial command over English language; use of English in and beyond classroom; expressing views fluently in English; students’ listening, speaking and reading skills; while no significant difference was seen regarding students’ full command over English language and their writing skill.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazeer Ahmed ◽  
Zahid Hussain Pathan ◽  
Faria Saeed Khan

English language enjoys its glory as an official language of Pakistan and it is used widely as a medium of instructions across educational institutes. Since anxiety retards the learning process, therefore it has been widely researched in the world and seems under researched in Pakistani context. Thus, the prime aim of this research is to explore the factors that cause English language speaking anxiety among Postgraduate Students of University of Balochistan (UoB), Pakistan. This study also aimed at determining the statistical significant difference if any across gender. The quantitative research design was employed in which a questionnaire comprising of eighteen items was adapted from the study by Horwitz et al. (1986). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were performed in the SPSS (version, 21). The findings revealed that UOB students were experiencing anxiety due to myriad factors in EFL classroom. The findings of the t-test revealed no statistical significant difference across gender. This paper has implications on both teaching and learning of English as a foreign language in Pakistani context.


Author(s):  
Pınar Bilasa ◽  
Mehmet Taşpınar

The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of the students of Gazi University Gazi Education Faculty towards Scientific Research Methods (SRM) course. The survey model was used in this descriptive study. In the study, 20-item 'Attitude Scale towards Scientific Research Methods Course' developed by Yaşar (2014) was used. The study population consisted of 308 pre-service teachers attending the German Language Education, Arabic Language Education, French Language Education, English Language Education, Philosophy Group Education, department of primary education and Preschool Teacher Education Departments at Gazi University, Gazi Faculty of Education in the spring term of 2017-2018 academic year. As a result of the research, it is difficult to say that the pre-service teachers have positive attitudes at the desired level towards the SRM course. It was determined that the pre-service teachers of the Philosophy Group had more positive attitudes towards the SRM course than the pre-service teachers of the other departments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-156
Author(s):  
Titus Terver Udu

This survey tested the null hypothesis that teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards reading and writing do not simultaneously predict students’ achievement in the English language. The researcher utilized a sample of 38 teachers and 492 senior secondary school students from 12 schools in Benue State, Nigeria, for the study. The researcher developed and utilized the English Language Students’ Attitude Scale (ELSAS), English Language Teachers’ Attitude Scale (ELTAS), and Reading and Writing Achievement Test (RWAT) for data collection. An estimate of internal consistency was obtained through Cronbach’s Alpha and Kuder Richardson’s reliability methods and found to be 0.76 for ELSAS, 0.68 for ELTAS, and 0.81 for RWAT. Data analysis was by multiple regression statistics. The findings revealed that both English language teachers and students have a positive attitude towards reading and writing (F3, 492 = 0.160, p0.05) implying that teachers and students’ attitudes towards reading and writing jointly predicted students’ achievement in the English language in senior secondary schools. To conclude, learning would be facilitated if both teachers and students hold positive attitudes towards reading and writing, and this, in turn, could impact the students’ achievement in the English language. It was recommended that teachers should plan reading and writing instruction that can help students develop positive attitudes to these skills and parents should help in the development of these skills at home.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jwahir Alzamil

This study of 87 Saudi female university students aimed to discover whether they experience difficulties learning to listen to spoken English. Acknowledging that listening is an important part not just of learning a new language but also of day-to-day communication, data was collected using an online questionnaire. Participants were asked to respond to a series of statements designed to test four constructs relating to their attitudes to learning English language skills in general (a); learning listening skills specifically (b); their attitudes towards listening activities (c); and (d) their attitudes towards improving their listening skills. The results showed that most of participants felt that speaking and listening were the most important skills to learn, but listening was also the most challenging. Reading was felt to be the most effortless skill to learn, as well as the most commonly used, suggesting that frequency of use contributes to students’ perceptions of the ease of learning a skill. Participants’ difficulties with learning to listen to English were associated with speech rate, pronunciation, nervousness, limited vocabulary, and lack of background information. However, students also expressed positive attitudes towards improving their listening skills. Understanding students’ attitudes to listening skills and their problems with listening may help teachers improve the way they teach these skills. This may in turn improve students’ listening comprehension not only in universities but also in schools.


Author(s):  
Thamer Binmahboob

YouTube has been shown to be a rich source for teaching speaking in EFL contexts. However, the use of YouTube is developing speaking skills is still understudied in the Saudi EFL context. The full use and awardees of YouTube resources are not well articulated by many EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia. This study attempted to examine the perceptions of English instructors of using YouTube to improve the speaking skills of the students in the secondary stage in Saudi Arabia. The English instructors’ attitudes towards YouTube and the best ways to use YouTube in the class were examined. The descriptive and analytical approaches have been applied in order to design the research. For data collection, a questionnaire has been designed to addresses the research topic. It was distributed on a sample of English language instructors (30 EFL instructors) in the secondary stage in Riyadh city in Saudi Arabia. The findings of the study showed that English language instructors see that YouTube is a highly beneficial instructional tool in improving the speaking skills of the secondary school students. It was found that the instructors have positive attitudes towards YouTube. They expressed that YouTube lessens the students’ anxiety and allow the students to learn faster, retain attention for a long time and motivates the students to learn the language. On the other hand, the findings showed that YouTube can be used in different ways in the class such as asking the students to comment on a particular video or to give some details, discuss, pose questions and give answers. YouTube gives a real chance for the students to interact in the class and to speak freely and get improved in pronunciation. The study recommended using YouTube as an integral instructive tool in English language classes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-69
Author(s):  
Mustafa ÖZGENEL ◽  
Esin METLİLO

This study aims to a cross-cultural comparison of teachers' attitudes towards educational research in Turkey and Kosovo. The study is carried out according to the descriptive survey model, which is one of the quantitative research models. The study group consists of a total of 336 teachers 186 teachers from Turkey (Istanbul and Batman) and 150 teachers from Kosovo (Prizren) working in the academic year of 2018-2019. As a data collection tool, “Teacher Attitude Scale for Educational Researches” and “Personal Information Form” is used to determine the demographic characteristics of teachers. The data is analyzed with the SPSS statistics program. The data is analyzed by independent groups’t-test and one-way analysis of variance. According to the findings, it is revealed that in Turkey, the teachers' attitudes towards educational research are "high level", while in Kosovo, teachers' attitudes towards educational research are "moderate level". Moreover, as a result of cross-cultural comparisons, a significant difference is discovered between teachers' attitudes towards educational research. It is determined that this significant difference is in the sub-dimensions of the necessity of educational research and the applicability of educational research.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document