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GAUN JES
Yurtsever Bodur, G., Arıkan, A., (2017).
Why Can’t We Learn English? : Students’ Opinions at Akdeniz
University, Gaziantep University Journal of Educational Sciences, 1 (1), 1-7.
Why Can’t We Learn English? : Students’ Opinions at Akdeniz University1
Neden İngilizce Öğrenemiyoruz?: Akdeniz Üniversitesi Öğrencilerinin
Görüşleri
Arda ARIKAN
*
Gözde YURTSEVER BODUR
**
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.
Keywords: Failure, success, achievement, English, reasons, motivation.
Öz
Bu çalışmanın amacı üniversite öğrencilerinin İngilizce öğrenmelerindeki başarısızlıklarının toplumsal, bireysel
ve eğitimsel sebeplerini ortaya koymaktır. Çalışmanın verilerini Akdeniz Üniversitesi’nde öğrenim görmekte olan
toplam 1414 öğrencinin geliştirilen bir ölçeğe verdikleri yanıtlar oluşturmaktadır. Verilerin çözümlenilmesinde
betimsel istatistik araçlarından frekanslar, yüzdelikler, ortalamalar ve standart sapmalar öğrencilerin toplumsal,
bireysel ve eğitimsel gerekçelerini hesaplama ve göstermede kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonuçları öğrencilerin
İngilizce öğrenimindeki başarısızlıklarını anne ve babalarının yabancı dil bilmemesine, televizyon ve film gibi
araçlar yoluyla İngilizceyi duyarak büyümemelerine bağladıklarını göstermektedir. Ayrıca, öğrencilerin etnik-
merkezci görüşlerinin olmadığı, İngilizceye olumsuz bir yaklaşım taşımadıkları görülmektedir. Çalışmanın
sonuçları ayrıca öğrencilerin başarısızlıklarını kendilerinden ziyade toplumsal ve eğitimsel olan dış etmenlere
bağladıklarını göstermektedir. Öğrenciler ayrıca eğitimsel etmenlerden dört beceri ve özellikle de konuşma
becerisine ve çok çeşitli metinlere derslerde az yer verilmesinden dolayı başarısız olduklarına inanmaktadır.
Anahtar sözcükler: Başarısızlık, başarı, İngilizce, sebep, gerekçe, motivasyon.
Introduction
According to Stern (1975), a language learner has three main problems that mainly occur
due to the effect of the first language reference system on the newly developing foreign
language system. For him, students often experience difficulty in balancing the use of the newly
acquired linguistic forms in communication while feeling in dilemma as learners who are stuck
between rational and intuitive learning. Turkish students usually use their first language
reference system while learning a foreign language which may hinder their foreign language
acquisition. In Turkey, it is often argued that people spend many years to learn English, but
they cannot be accurate and fluent in it. While there are many studies related to Turkish
students’ failure in learning English, this problem especially affects university students who,
after graduation, must look for jobs for which knowledge of English is decisive. Therefore, it
is important to identify the reasons that hinder learners’ development in English.
There are a number of studies aiming at exploring the reasons why students fail in
learning English. Trang and others (2012) investigated foreign language anxiety and its’ effect
on students’ determination to study English. Participants were 49 non-English tertiary level
1 This paper is a shorter version of the primary author’s MA thesis advised by the second author. The thesis can
be found at the Council of Higher Education Thesis Center, Thesis ID: 394934 [Yüksek Öğretim Kurulu
Başkanlığı Tez Merkezi, Tez No: 394934]).
* Prof.Dr.
, Akdeniz Üniversitesi, Edebiyat Bölümü,
ardaari@gmail.com
**
Okutman, Akdeniz Üniversitesi,
Yabancı Diller Yüksekokulu.
2
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students feeling anxious about learning English. Data was gathered using autobiographies and
interviews. The findings in this study showed that being aware of the importance of English
and desire to learn a foreign language were two important factors that influenced students’
determination to study the language. The study also suggested that students should be
encouraged to be aware of the importance of English and their volitional strategies should be
reinforced in order to help them deal with their anxiety.
In Sawir’s study (2005), language learning difficulties of many international students
studying in Australia were studied. The researcher tried to find the reason why these students
face difficulties in speaking. Data was gathered through interviews with students from five
different Asian nations. As the results showed, students’ weaknesses depended on their prior
learning experiences. It was found that the students’ previous learning experiences were framed
in a teacher-centered learning context in which the focus was on grammar teaching and reading
skills rather than conversational skills. Sawir (2005) summarized the reasons as follows:
Students’ prior English language learning experience has an impact on how well they
can cope with the academic requirement of the Australian university.
The data indicates that students did not have sufficient exposure to English language
conversation either in classroom or outside class, prior to coming to Australia.
Classroom practice was not only largely didactic (one-way) rather than conversational
in form, but was largely confined to the teaching of grammatical rules.
This classroom practice appeared to have shaped some learners’ beliefs that grammar
was the most important part of English language learning.
It appeared that this belief had then become manifested in their communication
behavior, so that they were not able to communicate effectively, socially and academically, and
the learning of conversational skills was retarded. (p.577)
Reiss (1983) suggests that successful foreign language learners are supposed to be
highly motivated, active and monitoring individuals who focus on meaning rather than the form.
Reiss further argues that teachers have some responsibilities in learners’ success in English.
They should first let students know about the tasks associated with learning a language. Then,
they are supposed to create an effective classroom atmosphere which helps students feel
comfortable and develop guessing abilities. Furthermore, they should motivate learners to
express themselves freely and monitor their and their peers’ speech. They should also create
opportunities where student practice the language outside the classroom. Asking successful
students to act as informants for unsuccessful students regarding learning strategies is also of
great importance. They need to encourage slow students to find the most appropriate learning
style for them.
Abidin and others (2012) investigated secondary school students’ attitudes towards
learning English in terms of the behavioral, cognitive and emotional aspects. A total of 180
participants in the three study years from three departments of Basic Sciences, Life Sciences,
and Social Sciences took a questionnaire as a measuring instrument. The result indicated that
students’ attitudes towards learning English language were negative. The students also had a
negative behavioral attitude and stated that they felt nervous whenever they tried to speak in
English in class. The researcher recommended encouraging a relaxed atmosphere in English
classes to motivate students to learn English. The importance of English should be highlighted
by implementing suitable methods and activities effectively. Furthermore, integrating the
modern materials and supplementary resources in addition to course books is of great
importance to attract students’ attention. Teachers were also recommended to adopt
WHY CAN’T WE LEARN ENGLİSH? : STUDENTS’ OPİNİONS AT AKDENİZ UNİVERSİTY
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communicative approach which enables learners collaborate and become more motivated and
enthusiastic about learning the target language.
Wang (1993) studied the factors affecting language learning of Chinese EFL learners.
The factors included language shock, cultural differences, cultural background knowledge,
motivation, and ego permeability. It is concluded that Chinese learners need to be encouraged
by their teachers and peers and their teachers should arrange activities which increase learners’
curiosity in English speaking countries. Hamid and Baldauf (2011) analyzed Bangladeshi
language learners’ perceptions and experiences of learning English and showed how important
the curricular regulations were and how English dominated their thoughts and consciousness.
Students in their study desired to learn English, but because of their poor educational
environment, they were unable to learn it.
Çelebi (2006) summarized the important issues that are supposed to be taken into
consideration in foreign language teaching as follows:
Since language is acquired through experiencing, curriculum needs to be prepared
according to this principle.
Learning environments should be appropriate to individual students’ needs.
Teachers must not have concerns about meeting the deadlines while they are following
the curriculum.
Students need to be encouraged to attend out-of-class activities for practice.
While preparing the lesson plans, teachers are supposed to consider using stimulus and
reinforcement very often.
Multiple choice tests should not be often used in testing. Instead, other alternative testing
techniques can be engaged in learning process.
Language teachers always have to be planned for their lessons (p.305).
A study that demonstrated the reasons behind university students’ failure in English is
completed by Gökdemir (2005) who found the following factors affecting students’ overall
success:
Theoretical information is usually emphasized in classes, whereas practice is ignored.
Lessons are generally teacher-centered rather than student-centered.
There is a general belief that universities are not the best places for language learning.
Preparatory class students do not spare sufficient time to learning the language.
School administrators do not promote the importance of foreign language learning.
Universities which offer preparatory classes do not provide convenient classroom
atmosphere with necessary materials and equipment in a way to make students active
participants.
The curriculum for language teaching in preparatory programs is usually so accelerated
that it is often difficult to keep up with it effectively.
Considering the related studies mentioned above, little research has been done to
investigate university students’ perceptions on their failure in learning English. Moreover, their
social, personal and educational reasons have not been studied comprehensively and little has
been put forward about university students’ opinions on their failure in English. In the light of
the scarcity of available information pertaining to the issue mentioned above, the main purpose
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of this study is to find university students’ opinions on the social, personal and educational
reasons for their failure in English. To be more exact, in this study, factors affecting students’
failure as language learners are studied in terms of some self-reported social, personal and
educational reasons within the context of Akdeniz University.
Method
Research Design
A quantitative approach was followed in this study. Descriptive statistical techniques
(frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations) were used to show participants’
perceptions on social, personal and educational reasons for their failure in English. Cross-
tabulation was also used to point out the relationships between the selected variables and
participants’ demographic information.
Research Sample
The participants were selected through a convenience sampling procedure. Teddlie and
Yu (2007) state that “convenience sampling involves drawing samples that are both easily
accessible and willing to participate in a study” (p.78). In our case, Akdeniz University was
found to be the most convenient location in which students could be reached easily because
both researchers taught at this university and the primary researcher was enrolled in the
university’s English language teaching MA program. University students from 19 different
faculties or vocational schools completed the questionnaire (n=1414).
Research Instrument and Procedure
To develop the questionnaire, first, an open-ended question was asked to 34 students
enrolled in the preparatory school to collect their views on their possible weaknesses in
language learning. After getting students’ written opinions, the researchers prepared a bulk of
questionnaire statements related to students’ personal, educational and social reasons that
affected their failure. Then, the researchers added some other statements after reviewing the
related literature. After this item preparation process, the questionnaire items were examined
by two experts researching in the field of English language teaching and an expert of Turkish
language. The final version of the questionnaire was applied in Turkish considering issues
related with participants’ success in comprehending the items.
The questionnaire is divided into 2 parts. The first section aims to collect students’
demographic information. The second section is designed to collect the data about the reasons
why students fail learning English as a foreign language. In this part, the items about the social,
personal and educational reasons were grouped separately. For the second section the
participants were asked to answer all the items on a 5-point Likert-type scale with options
ranging from “Strongly Agree” (5) to “Strongly Disagree” (1). The reliability of the scale was
calculated by using Pearson Correlations as represented by the Cronbach’s alpha value through
a statistical package and it was found to be .895 which is considered as an acceptable value in
educational research.
Although there were 50 items in the scale, for the purposes of easy reading, we have
decided to use a cut-point of 60% to share the results. Results lower than this cut-point are
excluded from this report while the study as a whole can be reached at the national repository.
Results
Social Reasons
The participants showed the most positive attitude (“strongly agree” and “agree”)
towards the statements, “if my mother or my father had known English, I would have learnt
WHY CAN’T WE LEARN ENGLİSH? : STUDENTS’ OPİNİONS AT AKDENİZ UNİVERSİTY
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English better” (item 2) and “if there had been English speakers around me, I would have learnt
English better” (item 4). The statement “if there had been English programs on TV and radio
(original or with English subtitles), I would have learnt English better” also had a high level of
agreement (item 1).
Table 1: Social reasons
Questionnaire Items
S.A. / A.
Neutral
S.Di. / Di.
Mean
Standard
Deviation
(%)
(%)
(%)
1. If there had been English programs on TV and
the radio (original or with subtitles in
English), I would have learnt English better.
64.5
24
11.4
3.799
1.122
2. If my mother or my father had known English,
I would have learnt English better.
76.2
13.9
9.9
4.11
1.1186
3. I couldn’t learn English because my mother or
my father motivated me to go to other courses
(football, the guitar, etc.) instead of English
courses.
12.7
11.2
76.2
1.917
1.1832
4. If there had been English speakers around me,
I would have learnt English better.
74.5
14.6
10.8
4.032
1.1533
5. I couldn’t learn English because I think that
we would be dominated by another country if
we learnt English.
11.1
10.7
78.2
1.806
1.168
6. I believe that we don’t need to learn English
because other nations need to learn our
language instead.
22.2
16.1
61.6
2.373
1.4368
Items such as “I couldn’t learn English because I think that we would be dominated by
another country if we learnt English” (item 5) and “I couldn’t learn English because my mother
or my father motivated me to go to other courses (football, guitar etc.) instead of English
courses” (item 3) received the lowest scores. Another statement “I believe that we don’t need
to learn English because other nations need to learn our language instead” had a notable level
of disagreement (item 6). These results suggest that most students do not hold ethnocentric
views towards learning foreign languages. These results suggest that students attribute their
failure most to the fact that they were not exposed to English in their immediate social
environment especially when they were children. They claim that their parents are not able to
speak English, there were no English speakers around and English was non-existent in the
media. Hence, according to these results, our participants tend to believe that earlier and
continuous exposure to English in family or through the media would result in successful
learning.
Personal Reasons
Results show that our participants do not blame themselves for their failure in learning
English. Our participants strongly believed that if only they could have an opportunity to go
abroad, they could learn English successfully (item 20). Participants do not believe that they
couldn’t learn English because they think English has no use in their future life (item 25) or
because they always wanted to learn another language (item 13). These results show that our
participants are eager to learn English especially for their future careers and they could do better
in it if only they had been abroad.
Table 2: Personal reasons
Questionnaire Items
S.A. / A.
Neutral
S.Di. / Di.
Mean
Standard
Deviation
13. I didn’t learn English because I have always
wanted to learn another language.
13.6
11.2
75.2
2.012
1.1726
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20. If I had had the chance to go abroad, I would
have learnt English better.
80.3
8.7
11
4.231
1.1471
25. I couldn’t learn English because I think
learning English won’t contribute anything to
my life.
12.1
14.4
73.5
1.953
1.1732
Educational Reasons
Students showed a high level of agreement towards the items “If speaking had been
practiced with the teacher rather than teaching the rules, I would have learnt English better”
(item 46), “If much importance had been given to the four basic skills (listening, speaking,
reading, and writing) in English lessons, I would have learnt English better” (item 47) and “If
reading texts which appeal to everyone (magazines, cartoons, short stories, etc.) had been used
in lessons instead of boring ones, I would have learnt English better” (item 49). Additionally,
68.4% of the participants agreed on the importance of speaking practice rather than studying
the book in their classes (item 40). More than sixty percent of the students showed agreement
on the item “if I had had a greater vocabulary, I would have learnt English better (item 45).”
Related with teachers’ instructional techniques and materials, majority of students believe that
if English had been taught through games and enjoyable activities such as through songs and
films, they would have learnt English better (item 48).
Table 3: Educational reasons
Questionnaire Items
S.A. / A
(%)
Neutral
(%)
S.Di. / Di
(%)
Mean
Standard
Deviation
40. If we had spoken more rather than studying
the book in classes, I would have learnt English
better.
68.4
17.6
14
3.883
1.1749
45. If I had had a greater vocabulary. I would
have learnt English better.
62.7
18.9
18.5
3.722
1.2708
46. If speaking had been practiced with the
teacher rather than teaching the rules, I would
have learnt English better.
72
15.3
12.8
3.995
1.1672
47. If much importance had been given to the
four basic skills (listening. speaking. reading. and
writing) in English lessons, I would have learnt
English better.
71.3
15.7
13
3.952
1.1623
48. If English had been taught through games and
enjoyable activities (songs. films etc.). I would
have learnt English better.
67.9
17.5
14.7
3.873
1.2046
49. If reading texts which appeal to everyone
(magazines. cartoons. short stories etc.) had been
used in lessons instead of boring ones. I would
have learnt English better.
70.2
17
12.7
3.937
1.1576
Discussion and Conclusion
The main purpose of this study was to collect and understand university students’ self-
reported reasons for failure as foreign language learners. It can be inferred from the results that
parents’ knowledge of English might be a major element in students’ success of failure. In
conjunction with this, not having people speaking the target language around them may be an
influential reason for their not learning the language because the students are hardly ever
exposed to the target language in their daily lives. Another underlying reason to prevent
students from being exposed to the target language can be mass media which does not provide
programs in the target language. Furthermore, it can be concluded that students did not have
ethnocentric thoughts that set them apart from learning another language. They are likely to
have preferred learning English to other hobbies and they probably received support from their
WHY CAN’T WE LEARN ENGLİSH? : STUDENTS’ OPİNİONS AT AKDENİZ UNİVE RSİTY
7
parents. However, it is indicated that students did not blame their geographical locations for
their failure most probably because there were some institutions where they could learn English.
As far as the personal reasons for students’ failure in English are concerned, it is
probable that a majority of the students did not have the chance to go abroad to learn or practice
the language they were learning. As our findings show, they did not see themselves responsible
for their failure. Results also demonstrate that students are probably aware of the importance of
the skills teaching, especially speaking, and they mostly prefer doing activities which improve
their speaking instead of other activities such as rule-based teaching.
Some pedagogical implications can be made on the basis of the findings of this study.
First of all, parents should be informed about the importance of learning English and be
motivated to encourage their children. They should also be a model for their children by
learning the language and using it. Similarly, learners should be provided with social
environments where they can use the language actively. Learners should be exposed to English
as widely as possible, that is, in their families and peer groups, through the media, and by means
of visits to other countries. When the case of Turkey is considered, Çelik, Arikan and Caner
(2013) state that classroom teachers are the only source for students through which they are
exposed to English. Therefore, foreign language teachers’ roles as models are critical for the
effectiveness of language teaching although our results suggest that family and the media are
the leading ones. Hence, future studies should interrogate the factors that affect learners’
success and failure in English.
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