Opinions and suggestions of prospective teachers on the teaching of speaking skill in French: The case of Bursa Uludag University
Erdoğan Kartal, Melek AlparIn this study, student views on how speaking should be taught in a beginner’s French class as a foreign language are analyzed. To achieve this, a survey was carried out among the prospective teachers studying at the Department of French Language Teaching of the Faculty of Education at Bursa Uludağ University, at the end of the Fall 2011-2012 semester. The survey consisted of three open-ended questions. A total of 62 volunteers participated in the survey. The questions were: 1. Which methods and techniques should be used for effective French teaching? What approaches must be used to select these methods and techniques to make students more active and productive inside and outside the classroom? 2. How should the following four fundamental language skills be taught in French language teaching: a. Speaking; b. Reading; c. Writing; d. Listening; 3. Which assessment method(s), e.g. exams, should be used in French Language teaching and how should these methods be used? The link to the Google Docs survey was sent to students via electronic mail. In this survey, the students were asked to respond to the questions and share their opinions in Turkish. This study analyzes the students’ views on how the subject of the second question, speaking skills, should be taught. In this qualitative survey based on the screening model, the views were classified under various topics after undergoing content analysis and discussed in comparison to the literature. The findings were then interpreted and presented as a situation assessment.
Opinions et suggestions des futurs enseignants de Français langue étrangère (FLE) sur l’enseignement de la compétence orale en français : L’exemple de l’Université Uludağ de Bursa
Erdoğan Kartal, Melek AlparDans cette étude, nous avons examiné les opinions des futurs enseignants de français langue étrangère (désormais FLE) sur l’enseignement de la compétence orale en français. À cette fin, une enquête a été menée auprès des futurs enseignants du Département de FLE de la Faculté de pédagogie au sein de l’Université Uludağ à Bursa en Turquie, à l’issue de la session automnale de l’année académique 2011-2012. L’enquête comportait trois questions ouvertes auxquelles au total 62 volontaires ont participé à l’enquête. 1. Quelles méthodes et techniques devraient être utilisées pour un enseignement efficace du français ? Quelles approches doivent être utilisées pour sélectionner ces méthodes et techniques afin de rendre les étudiants plus actifs et productifs à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur de la classe ? 2. Comment enseigner les quatre compétences linguistiques fondamentales suivantes dans l’enseignement du français : a. Expression orale, b. Compréhension ecrite, c. Expression ecrite et d. Compréhension orale. 3. Quelles méthodes d’évaluation, c’est-à-dire les examens, devraient être utilisés dans l’enseignement du FLE et comment ces méthodes devraient-elles être utilisées ? L’enquête a été envoyée aux étudiants par courrier électronique via Google Docs, et ils ont été invités à répondre aux questions en turc. Cette étude analyse les opinions des étudiants sur la manière dont la compétence de communication devrait être enseignée. Dans cette enquête qualitative basée sur un modèle de dépistage, les points de vue ont été classés sous divers sujets. Les résultats ont été interprétés et présentés comme une évaluation de la situation.
Upon researching this subject area, it appears that most studies on speaking education are theoretical studies. These were carried out by teachers who have many years of experience. The next thing to determine is how best to teach this language skill, which is prioritized and centralized with a communicative approach (learnercentered) (Galisson, 1980) and described as an actor in today’s action-oriented approach (Conseil de l’Europe, 2001). According to Pallotti (2002), a language teaching class in an educational institution is a communication medium in which students and teacher interact. All rules in this medium are generally defined in accordance with some protocols predetermined by institutions. In this agreement, called the “didactic contract”, what, when, how, when and for how long the student will learn in reality is generally implicit. In this case, we must clarify the existing contract, which defines the “rules of the game”, by redefining it as a “didactic contract” to create awareness about the contract’s emphasis on cooperation. On the other hand, Weiss (1979) argues that students’ linguistic needs must be taken into consideration during the language teaching process. From this point of view, one may think that students must have a say in how they are taught the fundamental language skills. This study aims to analyze prospective French language teachers’ views on how speaking should be taught in the teaching of French as a foreign language. The study uses a qualitative approach and is structured with the case study pattern. It was carried out with the participation of 62 volunteers of 120 students from all grade levels, who study at the Department of French Language Teaching of the Faculty of Education at Bursa Uludağ University, at the end of the Fall 2011-2012 semester. The data was gathered from a survey with semi-structured, open-ended questions prepared by the researchers. The Google Docs link for the survey was sent to the students who were notified in advance by electronic mail via the Uludağ University Institutional, Educational and Research Governance System (UKEY). Students were asked to answer in Turkish after being reminded that their feedback as prospective teachers is vital for improving the current teacher training program. The participants submitted their answers within a 17-day period, from October 30, 2019 to November 17, 2019. The researcher downloaded the data as an e-Table (Excel). The data were then transferred into separate Word documents. The answers were labeled from “S1” to “S62” using the abbreviation “S” for Student. The data was analyzed with the content analysis method. The results were grouped into three sections - the expectations from the instructor, activities and materials. The participants’ top three expectations from the instructor were student-centered teaching (f=11), native speaker instructors (f=9), banning students from speaking Turkish (f=6) and correction of speaking mistakes and feedback (f=6). The highest ranking activities were dialogs (f=19), group work (f=7), drama/improvised plays (f=7), one-on-one practice with native speakers (f=6), role-playing everyday situations (f=6) and Q&A (f=6). Only one participant stated that visual teaching materials should be actively used in the classroom by augmenting these materials with text in speaking skills teaching. For the expectations from instructor section, the results show that studentcentered teaching is the top priority of the students. The focus of student-centered teaching in speaking skills education is promoting students to communicate. One of the most important factors in reaching a certain level of fluency in a language skill is learners’ participation in activities, in which s/he is active, throughout the whole process. One aspect that affects students’ participation is the motivation of their instructors. The students become more eager to communicate when motivated. To support speaking skills step by step, the curriculum can be changed to reflect things that the learners may encounter in their daily lives (Nation & Newton, 2008, p. 17). As the communicative method is a requirement for European language studies, all present activities for foreign language teaching and learning must comply with the communicative approach (İşisağ & Demirel, 2010). Also, the students’ suggestion of banning students from speaking Turkish in the classroom is supported by Guthrie’s (1984) idea that teachers can yield optimal results in a classroom (cite par Savignon, 1991, p. 271) by speaking only in the language of instruction. It was determined that the participants wished to discuss movies as part of speaking skills teaching. The students need preparation that engages their listening and watching skills to improve their speaking skills. Lewis (2002, p. 42) states that teachers can support classes with interesting reading materials, show video examples or invite native speakers to authentically improve students’ language skills. In conclusion, taking the “didactic contract”, and an action-oriented approach while respecting the learners’ speaking skills is a more appropriate means of meeting learners’ needs/expectations in speaking skills education.