Examining Power-Sharing in English Preparatory School Environment

The aim of this research was to examine the level of power sharing in the language classes of English Preparatory School at Eastern Mediterranean University from the perspective of different variables.Survey method was adopted as the major design of the research. The research was also supported with concurrent triangulation mix research method that includes semi-structured interview questions based on teachers and students. 136 students at EPS whose native language was Turkish were chosen randomly from different levels and they were asked to fill in the power sharing scale for quantitative data analysis. 20 of them were chosen randomly from different levels to answer semi-structured interview questions. 20 instructors were chosen randomly from different levels to answer semi-structured interview questions.When power sharing is analyzed overally, the result appears to be in between 2 and 3 according to the likert which is closer to “it is mostly applicable to me”. On the other hand, course content decisions score is the lowest and in-class activities and duties decisions scores are the highest. It can be said that from students’ perspectives while instructors consider power sharing in terms of other dimensions, they do not consider power sharing in terms of course content. This might be due to the strict policy implemented by the School Administration which gives the authority to the Syllabus Unit for the decisions to be taken regarding the content. It is utmost important for the instructors to stick on the decisions that the Syllabus Unit takes regarding the content. The reason for the in-class duties and in-class activities scores to be higher can be because of the flexibility that the instructors have regarding those dimensions. These are the areas that School Administration can not interfere. Keywords: Learner-Centered Teaching, Power-Sharing, English Preparatory Classroom.