A Suggestion toward an eclectic approach for english language teaching in Turkish public junior high schools

Abstract

Teorik bir çalışma olan tez, Türkiye'deki ortaokullarda İngilizce'nin yabancı dil olarak etkin bir şekilde öğretilebilmesi için birleşik bir model sunmaktadır. Bir öneri niteliği taşıyan yeni model, dil öğretiminde kullanılan metodların kaynak taranmasından ve iyi yönlerinin seçilip, uygulanmasından oluşmaktadır. Sonuç bölümü, tezin bir özetini ve orta dereceli okullardaki yabancı dil eğitiminde alınması yaralı görülen önlemlerle ilgili önerileri kapsamaktadır.

This study is primarily about an evaluation of the teaching of English as a foreign language in Turkish public junior high schools. In the study, the currently applied method, the Audio-Lingual Method, with its materials available in Turkish public junior high schools is reviewed, and a new methodological suggestion, the Eclectic Approach, is presented for language teachers in public junior high schools in the country. The study is a theoretical one throughout and also includes a review of six language teaching methods, namely, The Grammar- Translation Method, The Direct Method, The Audio-Lingual Method, The Cognitive-Code Approach, The Communicative (Functional/Notional) Approach, and The Humanistic/ Affective Approach in order to s elect good points from some of them and to use them in an eclectic manner in the classroom. IVThe study begins with the chapter Introduction in which the Audio-Lingual Method which is used for Teaching of English as a Foreign Language(TEFL) in public junior high schools in reviewed with respect to its textbook and application in the classroom. Then comes the evaluation of the method. The second chapter of the study is Review of Literature on the subject of the thesis. In this chapter, the definition of approach, method, and technique is presented, and it is followed by the review of the methods and approaches mentioned above. The third chapter is concerned with the evaluation of the sample text-books, aiming at how the textbooks teach the language with respect to the requirements of the methods and approaches on which they are based. The fourth chapter is about Suggestion in which language teachers are presented an Eclectic Approach by which English Language Teaching (ELT ) may be carried out effectively in public junior high schools. The aim of the chapter is to make a suggestion to them to teach the language in an eclectic manner. The last chapter is a conclusion in which all that has been said in the study is summed up and ended with a suggestion about what precautions should be taken to improve ELT in secondary schools.The thesis ends with Appendixes. The aim of them is to give an idea and to make any confusion that might appear in minds clear about the teaching materials reviewed, criticized, and suggested in the study. VI