Turkish Primary School EFL Teachers’ Use of Supplementary Materials: A Case Study on Problems and Solutions

Abstract

Turkish EFL teachers teaching in state primary schools often create or employ supplementary materials to promote more concrete learning. However, in some cases, the use of supplementary materials leads to several problems. The main purpose of this study is to define these problems and to develop strategies for overcoming them while using the supplementary materials. This is a qualitative case study. Two EFL teachers participated in this study. A purposive sampling technique was applied to select the teacher participants. The study took place over six weeks. The data were collected through classroom observation, interviews, and self-evaluation reports and analysed by coding and theming. The findings revealed that teachers encountered problems such as students being distracted, students not understanding the instructions for using the supplementary materials, technological issues, insufficient class time, slowness of young learners, damage to the supplementary materials, and lack of materials for students (e.g., scissors or glue). The study also provides some alternative strategies for overcoming these problems (e.g., adaptation of material, giving instruction one by one etc.).

Keywords

• Turkish EFL teachers
• Supplemental material use
• Problems

References

1. Adil, M. (2022, January 13). 10+ problems faced by teachers in teaching English language. Adil Blogger. https://adilblogger.com/problems-faced-teachers-teaching-english-language/
2. Best, J., & Kahn J. (2006). Research in education (10th ed.). United States of America: Pearson Education Inc. Büyüköztürk, Ş., Kılıç, Çakmak, E., Akgün Ö.E., Karadeniz, Ş., & Demirel, F. (2020). Eğitimde bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri. Ankara: Pegem.
3. Carless, D. (2004). Issues in teachers' reinterpretation of a task‐based innovation in primary schools. Tesol Quarterly, 38(4), 639-662.
4. Chung, H. V. (2016). A study of reading comprehension problems in English encountered by first year students of faculty of Vietnamese studies at Hnue (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi.
5. Creswell, J. (2017). Eğitim araştırmaları: Nicel ve nitel araştırmanın planlanması, yürütülmesi ve değerlendirilmesi. İstanbul: EDAM.
6. Çulha, M. (2018). The use of material and teaching technologies in English teaching curriculum of the primary and secondary schools. International Technology and Education Journal, 2(2), 19-27.
7. Dodd, A. R.., Camacho, G. K., Morocho, E. L., Paredes, F. M., Zúñiga, A., Pinza, E. I., Toro, L. V., Vargas, A. B., Benítez, C. D., & Rogers, S. (2015). The use of supplementary materials in English foreign language classes in Ecuadorian secondary schools. English Language Teaching, 8(9), 187-195.
8. Cherrez, N. M. G., Montalvan, J. P. M., Brito, O. E. G., & Ochoa, S. K. M. (2018). Impact of the use of selected Youtube videos to enhance the speaking performance on a2 EFL learners of an ecuadorian public high school. RECIMUNDO: Revista Científica de la Investigación y el Conocimiento, 2(3), 199-226.

9. Işık, A. (2018). Do English teaching materials foster foreign language education affectively? Journal of Education and Learning, 7(1), 272-280.
10. Jimenez, E. C. (2020). Motivating factors of teachers in developing supplementary learning materials. International Journal of Advanced Research, 8(5), 108-113.
11. Kabilan, M. K., & Izzaham, R. I. R. (2008). Challenges faced and the strategies adopted by a Malaysian English language teacher during teaching practice. English Language Teaching, 1(1), 87-95.
12. Karki, T. M. (2018). Supplementary resource materials in English language classrooms: Development and implementation. Tribhuvan University Journal, 32(1), 251-260.
13. Kessler, C. (1992), Cooperative language learning- A teachers’ resource book. UK: Prentice Hall Inc. Lê, Q. A. D., & Polikoff, M. S. (2021). Do English language development curriculum materials matter for students’ English proficiency? SAGE Open, July-September, 1–15. DOI: 10.1177/21582440211035770.
14. Mehdipour, Y., & Zerehkafi, H. (2013). Mobile learning for education: Benefits and challenges. International Journal of Computational Engineering Research, 3(6), 93-101.
15. Merç, A. A. (2015). Using technology in the classroom: A study with Turkish preservice EFL teachers. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 14(2), 229–240. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1057362
16. Milal, A. D., Rohmah, Z., & Kusumajanti, W. (2020). Varying strategies to maximize the effectiveness of ELT: Lessons from training sessions. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 3(3), 263-271.
17. Mollaei, F., & Riasati, M. J. (2013). Teachers’ perceptions of using technology in teaching EFL. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2(1), 13–22. https://doi.org/10.7575/ijalel.v.2n.1p.13
18. Nguyen, T. (2022). Investigation into using supplementary materials in teaching English speaking skill at high schools. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 27(5), 13-19.
19. Nureldeen, W. (2020). Teachers’ beliefs about language teaching and learning. Journal of English Teaching, 6(3), 232-245.
20. Nurliana, N. (2019). Developing a model of supplementary English materials based on local content. Journal of English Language Studies, 4(1), 86-100.
21. Olpińska-Szkiełko, M. (2015). Teaching materials for English in the primary education–also for the pre-school education?. Glottodidactica, 42(2), 61-72.
22. Peńa, G., & Sarmiento, G. (2012). The use of supplementary materials for teaching children in EFL classes. Unpublished Thesis. Loja: University Center Cuenca.
23. Quigley, M. T. (2020). Concrete materials in primary classrooms: Teachers’ beliefs and practices about how and why they are used. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 23(2), 59-78.
24. Rejeki, S., Kristina, D., & Wijayanto, A. (2022). Websites as supplementary reading materials: Challenges faced by vocational students. VELES (Voices of English Language Education Society), 6(2), 407-416.
25. Salehi, M., & Zamanian, M. (2012). The use of supplementary materials by Iranian EFL teachers at high schools for talented students. Journal of Studies in Learning and Teaching English, 1(2), 167-185.
26. Sarıçoban, A., Tavil Z. M. (Eds.) (2012). Yabancı dil öğretiminde öğretim teknolojileri ve materyal tasarımı. Ankara: Anı Yayınları.
27. Songbatumis, A. M. (2017). Challenges in teaching English faced by English teachers at MTsN Taliwang, Indonesia. Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, 2(2), 54-67.
28. Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. (2011). Selection and use of supplementary materials and activities. In The TKT course modules 1, 2 and 3 (TKT Course, pp. 161-165). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139062398.027
29. Sultana, S., & Ashrafuzzaman, M. (2016). Teachers’ efficiency in using materials in English classrooms: Cases from elementary grades of Bangladesh. The Online Journal of New Horizons in Education (TOJNED), 6(4), 211-222.
30. Surtikanti, M. W. S. (2014). Developing video-based supplementary materials to teach speaking skill based on curriculum 2013 for the seventh-grade students. The 61 TEFLIN International Conference, UNS Solo.
31. Tomlinson, B. (2013). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
32. Tomlinson, B. (2020). Is materials development progressing? Language Teaching Research Quarterly, 15, 1-20.
33. Yangın-Ekşi, G. (2015). Materials. In Gürsoy, E., & Arıkan, A. (Eds.), Teaching English to young learners: An activity-based guide for prospective teachers (pp. 21-43). Ankara: Eğiten Kitap.
34. Wahyuningsih, D., Wahyono, S. B., & Nugroho, A. A. (2021). Teachers’ difficulties in developing learning resources. KnE Social Sciences, 6(2), 665-679.
35. Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. Harlow, England: Longman.