Ali Karakaş

Southampton University, UK

LECTURERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ENGLISH

ABILITIES AND LANGUAGE USE IN ENGLISH-

MEDIUM UNIVERSITIES

2014

Antalya

outline

Introduction

Bakcground to the study

Purpose of the study

Method

Research design

Setting and participants

Data collection and analysis

Results & Discussion

Conclusion

References

Background to the study

Globalization + Internationalization English : language of Higher Education

(Brumfit, 2004; Coleman, 2007)

Increased use of EMI in non-English speaking contexts (Europe)

(Wachter & Maiworm, 2008)

Turkey: EMI programs on the rise

Approaches to EMI (partially or fully) (Alexander, 2008)

EMI trend spearheaded by private universities

Entry requirements for

Students

Certification of their English skills

e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, Universities’ own exams

Remedial language teaching Preparatory schools (one year)

Language support (academic writing centers)

Deficit

approach

Any requirements for academic staff?

Previous studies

Students’ perceptions of their English skills (Kırkgöz, 2005)

less positive about speaking skills

Students and lecturers’ view of their English skills (Byun et al, 2010)

not satisfactory with their English skills

Problems observed in language use (Klaassen & Graaf, 2001; Ball & Lindsay, 2013; Jensen et al, 2011)

oral production (e.g. accent, pronunciation, fluency)

diffculty coping with EMI

Students: more positive

Purpose of the study

…to study lecturers’ self-perceptions of their

English abilities and language use.

… to learn about what goals they have with

respect to academic speaking and writing skills

…to explore what they think about their

students’ English skills

Method

Research Design:

Descriptive + quantitative approach

Setting & Participants

Three EMI universities : Fatih, Boğaziçi (İstanbul), Metu (Ankara)

A total of 33 academic staff (i.e. Lecturers)

Faculty of economoics and administrative sciences

Faculty of Engineering

Data collection tool

Online questionnaires

Closed-ended items

November-December 2013

Data analysis

SPSS used for data analysis

Descriptive & Inferential

statistics

The Results & Discussion

Background of participants

Frequency

(f)

Percentage

(%)

Gender Male 24 72,7

Female 9 27,3

University Fatih 5 15,5

Boğaziçi 10 30,3

METU 18 54,5

Faculty Economics and

Administrative Sciences

15 45,5

Engineering 18 54,5

Being abroad Yes 32 97,0

No 1 3,0

Background of

participants

Research question 1:

Lecturers’ self-evaluation of their English skills

Writing Listenin

g

Vocabular

y

Speakin

g

Overall

proficiency

f % f % f % f % f %

Poor - - - - 1 3,0 1 3,0 - -

Satisfactor

y

1 3,0 3 9,1 2 6,1 1 3,0 2 6,1

Good 16 48,5 10 30,3 16 48,5 1

7

51,5 15 45,5

Excellent 16 48,5 20 60,6 14 42,4 1

4

42,4 16 48,5

The relationship between English Proficiency and other

variables

Gender and proficiency (Mann-Whitney U test)

English

skills

Gender n X SD Σrank Xrank U Z P

1. Writing Male 24 3.41 .58 16.48 395.

595.5 -.57 .619

Female 9 3.55 .52 18.39 165.

5

2.

Listening

Male 24 3.41 .71 15.81 379.

579.5 -1.33 .254

Female 9 3.77 .44 20.17 181.

5

3.Vocabula

ry

Male 24 3.12 .74 14.69 352.

552.5 -2.49

.023

*Female 9 3.77 .44 23.17 208.

5

4.

Speaking

Male 24 3.29 .75 16.67 400.

0100 -.36 .238

(U=52.5, p= 0.023)

The relationship between English Proficiency and other

variables

University and proficiency (Kruskal-Wallis H test)

Skills Universities N Xrank X2 SD Sig.

Writing

Fatih University 5 9.50

5.20 .56 .074Bogazici

University10

16.65

METU 18 19.28

Listening

Fatih University 5 13.20

1.31 .66 .518Bogazici

University10

18.35

METU 18 17.31

Vocabulary

Fatih University 5 12.40

2.57 .72 .277Bogazici

University10

15.70

METU 18 19.00

Speaking

Fatih University 5 9

6.07 .69 .048Bogazici

University10

16.3

METU 18 19.61

Speakin

g

Universitie

s

n X SD Σrank Xrank U Z P

Fatih Uni 5 2.60 .89 6.20 31.0

016.0

0

-

2.45.030METU 18 3.55 .51 13.6

1

245.

0

Mann-Whitney U test

Use of Skills in Practice Statements (N=33) SA A D SD

f % f % f % f %

1. I have adequate vocabulary to write in

English.

21 64 10 30 1 3 1 3

2. I make basic grammatical errors in

speaking.

4 12 12 36 17 52 - -

3. My English sounds like native English. 3 9 10 30 18 55 2 6

4. I experience some difficulties in writing

for publication.

- - 6 18 15 46 12 36

5. I can communicate successfully in

English.

22 67 11 33 - - - -

6. I lack fluency in English. 1 3 - - 15 46 17 52

7. I have good English pronunciation. 11 33 19 58 3 9 - -

8. I have a foreign (i.e. Turkish) accent. 3 9 20 60 5 15 5 15

9. My English is difficult to understand. - - 1 3 11 33 21 64

Research question 2:

Goals in academic writing

30%

37%

12%

21%

to be a competent writer, thatis, it's OK to make somegrammatical mistakes aslong as my writing isunderstood.to write like Americanspeakers.

to write like British speakers.

Research question 2:

Goals in academic speaking

64%15%

3%

9%

9%

To be a competent speaker; itis ok to have a Turkish accentand make mistakesTo speak like Americanspeakers

To speak like other nativespeakers (Canadians,Australians)To speak like British speakers

Other

Groups n Xrank Σrank z P

Goal in

speaking 33 10.23 20.50

-2.679 0,007Goal in writing

33 8.83 132.50

Research question 2:

Difference between Lecturers’ Orientations to Speaking

and Writing

Research question 3:

Lecturers’ views on students’ English skills

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Excellent Good Satisfactory Poor

0%

12%

55%

33%

0%

40%

55%

7%

Turkish Students' English Non-Turkish Students' English

Groupsn

Xrank Σrank z P

Turkish

students’

English

33 .00 .00

-3.819

0,000Non-Turkish

students’

English

33 8.50 136.00

Difference between lecturers’ rating of Turkish & Non-Turkish Students’

English

Conclusion

English skills to be of a high level No problems reported concerning the micro skills

Gender & the university they work at affect their ratings

Male & female lecturers differed in vocabulary knowledge

Goals Spoken English: 64% aspire for competency

Written English: 49% aspire for native-like proficiency

Students’ English

Turkish students’ English v.s. Non-Turkish students

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