Multiple Case Study on University Students’ Motivation and Attitudes toward the Content-Based English Teaching Method in English Preparatory Year Program
Merve Keskin, Mehmet GürlekThe purpose of this study is to evaluate students’ motivation and attitudes toward the content-based English classes that are a part of the freshman year curriculum at a university in Istanbul, Turkey. This study has adopted the integrated research design and includes 27 students from 16 different disciplines. The learners were first given a scale to measure their attitudes and motivation, and this makes up the quantitative portion of the study. Attitude scale was adapted from the scale “Thai EFL High School Students’ Attitude Toward Content-Based Instruction” (2015) and motivation scale was adapted from "Motivations towards Learning English: The Case of Jordanian Gifted Students" (2015). After the adaptation and translation process, a pilot study was implemented to measure validity and reliability. Cronbach Alpha score of the scale was above 0.9. Therefore it is considered as reliable. (Nakip, 2003) Semi-structured interviews with the students were then conducted as part of the study’s qualitative methodology. The study uses SPSS to conduct a descriptive analysis of responses from the attitude and motivation scale t-tests to see whether a substantial difference exists between the motivation and attitudes of male and female students. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also used to determine whether a significant difference exists for the students’ attitude and motivation in terms of department. The study then carried out a situational data analysis of the semi-structured interviews using MAXQDA, with the results showing more than half the students (55.5%) to have favorable attitudes toward the course. The median score from the attitude scale was 3.48, from which one can say that the learners are generally optimistic. The mean score from the instrumental motivation scale (M = 3.72) was found to be slightly higher than the mean score from the intrinsic motivation scale (M = 3.51). No discernible difference was found between the male and female students’ scores according to the results from the t-tests on the attitude and motivation scales nor among departments according to the one-way ANOVA. Six themes were revealed to impact students’ attitudes and motivation as a consequence of the situational data analysis. These include interest in the subject matter, contribution to language skill development, contribution to vocabulary, impact of in-class activities, impact of course materials, and teacher’s impact.
İngilizce Hazırlık Programındaki Üniversite Öğrencilerinin İçerik Temelli İngilizce Öğretim Yöntemine Karşı Tutum ve Motivasyonuna Yönelik Çoklu Durum Araştırması
Merve Keskin, Mehmet GürlekBu çalışma İstanbul, Türkiye’deki bir vakıf üniversitesinin hazırlık yılına entegre edilmiş içerik temelli İngilizce derslerine karşı öğrencilerin tutum ve motivasyonlarını ölçmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışmada karma araştırma deseni kullanılmıştır ve 16 farklı bölümden 27 öğrenci katılmıştır. İlk olarak öğrencilerin tutum ve motivasyonunu ölçmek amacıyla öğrencilere bir anket uygulanmıştır. Bu kısım araştırmanın nicel kısmını oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmanın nitel bölümünde ise öğrencilerle yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Tutum ve motivasyon anketine verilen yanıtların SPSS kullanılarak betimsel analizi yapılmış, kadın ve erkek öğrencilerin arasında tutum ve motivasyon açısından anlamlı bir fark olup olmadığını görmek için t-testler ve bölümler arası anlamlı bir fark olup olmadığını görmek için ise tek yönlü varyans analizi yapılmıştır. Yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmelerin durumsal veri analizi ise MAXQDA programında tamamlanmıştır. Araştırmanın sonucunda öğrencilerin yarısından fazlasının (%55,5) bu derse karşı olumlu bir tutum sergilediği görülmüştür. Tutum ölçeğinin ortalaması 3.48’dir. Öğrencilerin kısmen olumlu bir tutum sergilediği söylenebilir. İçsel motivasyon ölçeğinin ortalaması 3.51’ken araçsal motivasyonun ortalamasının biraz daha yüksek olduğu görülmüştür. Tutum ve motivasyon ölçeklerinde yapılan t-testler sonucu kadın ve erkekler öğrenciler arasında, tek yönlü varyans analizlerinin sonucunda ise bölümler arasında anlamlı bir fark olmadığı görülmüştür. Durumsal veri analizinin sonucunda ise öğrencilerin tutum ve motivasyonunu etkileyen altı tema ortaya çıkmıştır. Bunlar içeriğe yönelik ilgi, dil becerilerine katkı, kelime dağarcığına katkı, ders içi yapılan aktivitelerin etkisi, ders materyalinin etkisi ve son olarak öğretmenin etkisidir.
This research takes as its subject the English preparatory classes that use content-based instruction, a method that combines language and content, where the content is used as a tool for learning the language without focusing too much on the form of the language. In general, this method also uses authentic materials suitable to the students’ level and is applicable for students of all ages and levels. Different opinions are found on what the chosen content should be and whether content or language should be prioritized. For this reason, Met’s (1999) content-based instruction is divided into six different topics: bilingual education, partially bilingual education, sheltered courses, adjunct models, theme-based courses, and language courses that focus more on the content.
This study aims to measure students’ attitudes and motivation toward the content-based English courses that are integrated into the preparatory year program of a foundation university in Istanbul, Türkiye. The study uses the mixed-methods research design, and 27 students from 16 different departments participated in the study. First, a questionnaire was applied to the students to measure their attitudes and motivation. This part constitutes the quantitative section of the research. The qualitative section of the study conducted semi-structured interviews with the students. Descriptive analyses of the students’ responses to the attitude and motivation scale was analyzed using SPSS. T-tests were implemented to see if a significant difference occurs between the male and female students in terms of attitudes and motivation. Additionally, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to see if a significant difference occurs in the students’ attitudes and motivation in terms of department. The situational data analysis of the semi-structured interviews was conducted using MAXQDA.
The results show more than half the students (55.5%) to have positive attitudes toward this course. The mean score from the attitude scale was 3.48, and the students can thus be said to have partially positive attitudes. While the mean score from the intrinsic motivation scale was 3.51, the mean score from the instrumental motivation scale was slightly higher (M = 3.72). As a result of the t-tests performed regarding the students’ scores from the attitude and motivation scales, no significant difference was found to have occurred between the female and male students, while the results from the one-way ANOVA also found no significant difference among the scores in terms of department. As a result of situational data analysis, six themes emerged that are shown to affect students’ attitudes and motivation: interest in the content, contribution to developing language skills, contribution to lexicon, the effect of inclass activities, the effect of the course material, and the teachers’ effect.
