Challenges facing the Turkish EFL teachers working with students with a migration background: The case of Syrian refugee learners

As of 2019, there are 5,631,155 Syrians in total who fled the country; and 3,606,737 people, or 64% of all the displaced people, are currently residing in Turkey (UNHCR). Since 45.1% of the refugee population is under the age of 18, it is crucial that they have access to education; as schooling enables the refugee children to normalize their lives and gives them hope for the future (Beste, 2015). The objective of this study was to identify the challenges the teachers face in teaching classes with students with migration backgrounds so that the issues stemming from those challenges can be analyzed, and hopefully solutions can be suggested. The study, which was conducted in alignment with qualitative research methodology, reached 11 English Language Teachers working in the Gaziantep province of Turkey. The data were collected through structured interviews, classroom observations and post observation interviews. The collected data were analyzed through content analysis. It was found out that the feelings and opinions of the participating teachers in the face of paradigm shift in their classes following the arrival of the students with migration backgrounds tend to be on the negative side since the in-service training they had received was not sufficient in meeting their needs. As for the challenges they face, it was found that the teachers were confused about medium of instruction, had low awareness in material selection and use, needed assistance in employable methods and techniques, were prone to employing summative assessment techniques that do not favor students with migration backgrounds due to their low proficiency of Turkish and were struggling to deal with the high tension in their classes. In order to face the challenges, the teachers are trying to come up with strategies on their own; however, they are feeling helpless and overwhelmed. It was suggested that a comprehensive diversity training that addresses includes practical classroom applications be provided for the teachers in addition to institutional changes so that the system can be more egalitarian. Keywords: Syrian refugee learners, EFL teachers, challenges