Grammar Learning Preferences of Turkish Undergraduate Students of Translation-Interpretation

Abstract

 

The present study aimed to discover the grammar learning preferences of Turkish undergraduate students attending translation-interpretation department of a Turkish university.  Upon the review of the relevant literature, a survey questionnaire was administered on the students to find out their grammar learning preferences. The research is quantitative in nature. The participants were 100 undergraduate students whose genders, classes and majors varied. The results of the survey were analysed through in depth and detailed statistical analysis. Statistical analysis was also implemented to reveal if there exist statistically significant differences between different genders, classes and departments. To test the validity and reliability of the survey, varimax rotated subscale analysis, croanbach alpha and item-total correlation coefficients were calculated. Besides, T-test, Repeated Measures, and ANOVA were used to test the interaction of dependent variables with independent variables. The study revealed that the participants defended the use of formal instruction in grammar teaching either after or before communication takes place in the foreign language. 

Keywords

• Grammar Teaching Approaches, Focus on Form, Focus on Forms, Student Preferences

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44. Appendix A : Factor Analysis
45. Table Rotated Component Matrix Component 1 2 3 4 5
46. The aim of foreign language
47. teaching is to teach both accurate
48. communication and accurate grammar.
49. Communication in a foreign
50. language class should take place after
51. the necessary structures are taught.
52. A foreign language class should be
53. based only on meaning and form.
54. I should learn grammatical
55. structures from my teacher‟s
56. explanations before everything else.
57. In order to communicate in a
58. foreign language, I should learn both
59. meaning and individual structures.
60. A foreign language lesson should
61. only focus on meaning and communication.
62. In a foreign language lesson, the
63. teaching of structures should be mainly emphasized.
64. In foreign language teaching, the
65. aim is to teach a new grammatical
66. structure in each lesson.
67. In foreign language teaching, the
68. aim is to communicate and
69. In order to understand a text, it is
70. necessary to study its grammar first.
71. In order to communicate in a
72. foreign language, I should learn each
73. grammatical structure individually.
74. In a foreign language class,
75. meaning and form should be taught
76. first, grammar should come afterwards.
77. In a foreign language class, the
78. primary aim is to use the language
79. and the secondary aim is to study grammar. -0,07497 0,638196 -0,37737 0,035435 -0,07536 -0,17556 0,727616 -0,15416 -0,06634 -0,01859 0,68722 -0,09674 0,330667 -0,08508 0,181056 0,711309 -0,25725 0,20167 0,167021 0,222881
80. In foreign language teaching, the
81. aim is to learn communication before 0,548494 -0,27151 0,276658 0,201319 0,196508
82. individual grammatical structures.
83. Foreign language lessons should
84. be conducted on a communicative
85. basis without grammar instruction.
86. The primary aim of foreign
87. language teaching is to enable
88. learners use structures accurately.
89. In a foreign language class, the
90. main focus should be on meaning,
91. communication and grammar equally.
92. A foreign language lesson should
93. begin with communication and
94. language use, and continue with
95. grammatical analysis.
96. I should learn grammatical
97. structures without instruction,
98. through discovering in context.
99. In order to understand a text, both
100. meaning and grammar should be analyzed.
101. I should learn grammar by both
102. discovering in context and explicit instruction.
103. A foreign language lesson should
104. be based on communication through
105. accurate use of grammar. 0,474453 -0,0096
106. 0,5218 -0,10322 0,005289
107. -0,21536 0,575067 0,106965 0,489121 0,035069
108. 0,15918 0,090863 -0,53759 0,323477 -0,21975
109. 0,813886 -0,01601 0,011329 0,054674 0,021466
110. 0,366135 0,035011 0,200626 -0,14763 0,675004
111. -0,02154 -0,09072 -0,29804 0,696145 0,063084
112. -0,0435 0,045546 0,063263 0,057282 0,803531
113. -0,35432 0,414751 -0,24523 0,393261 -0,16427