Vocational and technical anatolian high school teachers' and students' perceptions of the effectiveness of English curriculum: A sample of Osmaniye Province

This study, which has a mixed-method research design, was carried out in order to determine vocational and technical Anatolian high school (VTAHS) 12th grade students' and their EFL teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of VTAHS English curriculum. Research data were collected from VTAHS 12th grade students and their EFL teachers in the city centre of Osmaniye province in the second term of the 2015-2016 school year. In order to determine students' perceptions, Students' Perceptions Questionnaire was developed by the researcher by taking opinions from three different academicians working in the faculty of educational sciences. After being piloted with 47 students and revised relevantly, the 5-point Likert scale, which has 20 items in total, was conducted with 186 VTAHS 12th grade students. A focus group interview, which has four main questions including 12 sub-questions and lasted for 47 minutes, was also conducted with seven 12th grade students selected randomly from the participants of Students' Perceptions Questionnaire, with the aim of assessing and improving validity and reliability of the results obtained from Students' Perceptions Questionnaire. In order to determine the perceptions of EFL teachers, Teachers' Perceptions Questionnaire was developed by the researcher by taking relevant expert opinions from three academicians working in the faculty of educational sciences. After being piloted with three EFL teachers, Teachers' Perceptions Questionnaire, which included 5-level Likert 20 items, was carried out with 13 EFL teachers. The data obtained from the two questionnaires were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 21.0, and the research samples were described by using descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage. The data obtained from the focus group interview were analyzed descriptively. Finally, the results obtained from Students' Perceptions Questionnaire and Teachers' Perceptions Questionnaire were compared in order to reveal whether there are any significant differences between the two groups. The results of the study show that VTAHS 12th grade students and their EFL teachers have the perception that VTAHS English curriculum is not effective. Key Words: Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, English Curriculum, Students' Perceptions, Teachers' Perceptions