Examining standard and english teaching programmes in terms of students' self-efficacy beliefs and teachers' opinions

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine standard and intensive English teaching programmes in terms of students' self-efficacy beliefs and teachers' opinions. Method: In the study, mixed method was used seeing that quantitative and qualitative data were correlated. Following that quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently and analysed, results of the quantitative and qualitative analyses were interpreted by comparing/relating them. Therefore, convergent parallel design, one of the designs of mixed method, was used. In the first part of the study, descriptive survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was preferred with the aim of determining English language skills self-efficacy of the students taking part in standard English and intensive English education system. The study consists of 686 students studying at state secondary schools implementing intensive English teaching programme in the fifth and sixth grades in Yıldırım, Bursa. Due to the accessibility of the population, sample selection procedure was not applied. In the study, "English Language Skills Self-efficacy Scale" developed by Ocak, Küçükçınar and Karakuyu (2022) for secondary school students was used. In the second part of the study, multiple case-embedded design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used because the study includes multiple schools and types of programmes. The study group consists of nine English teachers working in the fifth and sixth classes of the state secondary schools where the quantitative data of the study were collected and being willing to participate in the study. With the aim of taking the teachers' opinions on the teaching programmes they implement in their classes, they were interviewed with the help of a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. The data of the study were collected in the second academic term of 2022-2023 academic year. The process of collecting data lasted three weeks. Results: Concerning the quantitative data of the study, the self-efficacy beliefs of the fifth and sixth grade students taking part in standard English and intensive English education system indicated a significant difference in favour of the students taking part in intensive English education system. No significant difference was observed between the fifth and sixth grade students receiving standard English education. No significant difference was observed between the fifth and sixth grade students receiving intensive English education, either. Considering productive language skills (speaking and writing) self-efficacy beliefs of the students, it was seen that the self-efficacy levels of the students receiving intensive English education were higher. It was observed that the language skills self-efficacy levels of girls were higher than boys'. On the other hand, the self-efficacy beliefs of the students indicated no significant difference according to their age and nationality. Concerning the qualitative data of the study, English teachers implementing intensive English teaching programme found the programme "adequate"; on the other hand, English teachers implementing standard English teaching programme found the programme "inadequate". Concerning the schools where the teaching programmes were implemented, some teachers found the schools "adequate" while some found them "inadequate". Teachers evaluated the effects of intensive English teaching programme on students' behaviour "positively" in general; on the contrary, the teachers implementing standard English teaching programme generally evaluated the effects of the programme on the behaviours of the students "negatively". It was presented that, compared with the standard English teaching programme, intensive English teaching programme was more effective on productive language skills, namely speaking and writing. Regarding the students' use of English, the students receiving intensive English education used the target language in a larger number of ways including reading the books written in English, having a daily conversation in English, having a chat with people in English compared with the use of the students receiving standard English education. Evaluating the strong and weak sides of the teaching programmes, teachers stated strong sides of intensive English teaching programme in general; on the other hand, they generally expressed weak sides of standard English teaching programme. In conclusion, teachers, in general, suggested reducing intensive English teaching programme and updating course books. Conclusion and Suggestions: At the end of the study, it was observed that English language skills self-efficacy levels of the fifth and sixth grade students receiving intensive English education were higher compared with the students receiving standard English education. The teachers implementing intensive English teaching programme generally presented positive views concerning the programme and they asserted that the use of the programme needed to be expanded. The teachers implementing standard English teaching programme, on the other hand, emphasised the weaknesses of the programme and they suggested the number of the hours of the lesson to be increased. In accordance with these views of teachers, the use of intensive English teaching programme that has started to be implemented in secondary schools in our country can be expanded after updating and for the classes where this intensive programme is not preferred, standard English teaching programme can be updated. Without limiting the subject with the fifth grade students, the impact of the implementation of intensive English teaching can be investigated profoundly by including the sixth and seventh grade students going on receiving intensive English education and other foreign languages than English.