The investigation of english preparatory classes in terms of differentiated instruction and andragogy

The purpose of this study was to investigate differentiated instruction and andragogy practices in English preparatory classes and the factors that affect the reflection of these practices on the teaching-learning process within the perspectives of instructors and students. Employing partially mixed sequential equal status design, the quantitative part of this study conducted with 644 students and the qualitative part conducted with 12 English instructors of English preparatory classes of public universities in Ankara during 2021-2022 academic year. The quantitative data was collected through student questionnaire for English preparatory classes and the qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interview form. The quantitative data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was analyzed by content analysis. According to the findings, both students and instructors thought that differentiated instruction and andragogy practices were necessary in English preparatory classes; however, it was revealed that those practices were not adequately reflected in English lessons. Moreover, the findings indicated that the self-efficacy levels of the instructors regarding differentiated instruction and andragogy practices were quite low. In the findings related to the factors that affect differentiated instruction and andragogy practices are "instructor-related", "student-related" and "related to the structure of teaching-learning process in preparatory classes" factors were determined. Within this context, the result of this study is expected to provide comprehensive basis for improvement studies of teaching-learning process in English preparatory classes and to guide several stakeholders for their studies in future.