Evaluation of the Views of American Teaching Assistants on the English Language Education Offered at Universities in Turkey

Abstract

Ogr. Gor. Dr. Emrullah YILMAZ Bartin Universitesi Yabanci Diller Bolumu emrullahyilmaz@bartin.edu.tr Abstract: Higher Education Council of Turkey assigned English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) from USA at 54 universities in Turkey in 2010 through Fulbright Scholarship in order to improve the quality of English language instruction at universities. A survey consisting of 19 likert-type items and 5 open-ended items was implemented on 25 ETAs working at different universities in Turkey. ETAs rated the Turkish instructors of English below average for using contemporary teaching methods, being dedicated to their job, being good at their job and motivating their students except for two items, lacking the necessary materials and equipment and their English competency, the mean scores of which were just above average. As for university students, ETAs disagree with the ideas that Turkish university students are motivated to learn English, lack technological facilities and like English. They agree that students lack the environment to support their learning English and a considerable number of them think that students have an aptitude to learn English. In addition, they rated the physical facilities, weekly hours allotted to English instruction, books and administrations below average. They believe that they shared information and experience with Turkish instructors and contributed significantly to English instruction. Finally, they suggest that homogeneous classes should be formed and foreign teaching assistants should be frequently employed.