Speaking problems of 9(th) grade high school Turkish learners of L2 English and possible reasons for those problems: Exploring the teachers and students' perspectives

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the speaking problems of ninth-grade high school Turkish EFL learners and possible reasons for these problems through the perspective of teachers and students. The means of data collection involved a questionnaire for teachers and students, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations considering classroom materials and syllabus. The results revealed that the students mostly experienced problems in speaking English affectively through personal factors including: insufficient language and content knowledge, limited contact with English outside the classroom, and the misdirected methods and materials used in the classroom.