Teachers' opinions about the methods/techniques proposed for speaking education in secondary school Turkish course curriculum

The aim of the present study is to investigate the teachers' opinions about the methods / techniques proposed for speaking education in secondary school Turkish course curriculum. In accordance with this purpose, teachers were asked to present problems and views about how proficient they regarded themselves in implementing speaking education techniques and methods, how frequent they used these techniques and methods, what they took into consideration in choosing them, their efficiency level based on grades, the problems they faced while implementing them. The research design is paralel mixed design. Phenomenologic method was used in qualitative aspect while survey method was carried out in quantitative aspect of the research. The population of the study consists of Turkish teachers (n=117) of 6th, 7thand 8th grades working in state and private schools in Bolu Province (Central District, Gerede, Dörtdivan, Yeniçağa, Mudurnu, Kıbrısçık, Göynük, Mengen, Seben). Quantitative data was collected through the population of the study. Qualitative data was obtained from 26 Turkish teachers working in Central District of Bolu. Within this context, "Questionnaire of Teachers' Views on Techniques and Methods Used for Instruction of Speaking Skills", which was developed by the researcher, was used to obtain qualitative data. In order to collect quantitative data, a semi-structured teacher interview was used. The data collected from the questionnaire was analysed via SPSS 15 software using frequency and percentage from descriptive statistical methods. For qualitative data analysis, categorical analysis technique was used. After these processes, the findings were discussed in relation with the literature. The findings can be summarized as follows: • It was found that teachers were not aware of their competence in the methods and techniques for speaking education suggested in Turkish Lesson Curriculum.It was understood from the interview that the teachers were not familiar with the techniques and methods in speaking education, they experienced cognitive dissonance, they lacked theoretical knowledge about how to implement them, even though they had the required knowledge, they did not transform it into skills. • Teachers relate their inadequacy of techniques and methods with the lacking quality of education they received at university, the complexity of curriculum and teacher's books, insufficient literature and unsatisfying personal effort. • The most frequently used methods and techniques in order to develop speaking skill are question and answer, brain storming and controlled conversation. • It was stated that apart from controlled conversation which was suggested by Turkish Lesson Curriculum, other methods were rarely used, memorizing technique was never used. • It was found that free conversation and emphatic conversation techniques which are supposed to be used each week according to the curriculum were largely used "sometimes" and "rarely". • Teachers reported that the reasons why they "always" and "frequently" used question and answer, brain storming and controlled speaking techniques were that they were time-saving, they were effective in large classes, teachers were very familiar with these methods and techniques and they were practical and rapid. • Teachers pointed out that role playing, controlled conversation, emphatic conversation techniques and methods were more effective for speaking education in 6th grades. • Teachers told that useful techniques and methods for 7th grade speaking education were question and answer, controlled speaking, participating conversation and brain storming. • Teachers stated that critical speaking, discussion and brain storming were more effective speaking education techniques and methods for 8th grades. Teachers believed that these methods and techniques were practical because they helped students express themselves freely, generate original ideas and gain critical thinking skills. • Majority of the teachers thought that they did not need techniques and methods for speaking education or speaking skill automatically developed during learning and teaching process. • The research showed that there were several problems in implementing speaking education techniques and methods. However, teachers generally did not pay necessary attention to speaking skill in native language education. Suggestions for practice and future studies were reported in the light of the results summarized above in the last part of the research.