Why Can’t We Learn English? : Students’ Opinions at Akdeniz University
Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to find out university students’ opinions on the social, personal and educational reasons for their failure in learning English. Data is collected by means of a scale answered by 1414 students enrolled at Akdeniz University. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean scores and standard deviations) were used to interpret participants’ perceptions on social, personal and educational reasons for their “failure” in English. Results show that students feel disadvantaged because of their parents’ not knowing English. Students also do not hold ethnocentric thoughts that may hinder their language learning. Results also show that students are aware of the importance of English in their future careers. However, participants do not particularly blame themselves for their failure as they tend to blame some sociocultural and economic on their learning. Students also believe that their failure is mostly related with educational factors among which giving all skills and especially the speaking skill and a variety of materials less importance in the classroom environment are the leading ones.
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References
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