Opinions and suggestions of prospective teachers on the teaching of speaking skill in French: The case of Bursa Uludag University

Abstract

In this study, student views on how speaking should be taught in a beginner's French class as a foreign language are analyzed. To achieve this, a survey was carried out among the prospective teachers studying at the Department of French Language Teaching of the Faculty of Education at Bursa Uludag University, at the end of the Fall 2011-2012 semester. The survey consisted of three open-ended questions. A total of 62 volunteers participated in the survey. The questions were: 1. Which methods and techniques should be used for effective French teaching? What approaches must be used to select these methods and techniques to make students more active and productive inside and outside the classroom? 2. How should the following four fundamental language skills be taught in French language teaching: a. Speaking; b. Reading; c. Writing; d. Listening; 3. Which assessment method(s), e.g. exams, should be used in French Language teaching and how should these methods be used? The link to the Google Docs survey was sent to students via electronic mail. In this survey, the students were asked to respond to the questions and share their opinions in Turkish. This study analyzes the students' views on how the subject of the second question, speaking skills, should be taught. In this qualitative survey based on the screening model, the views were classified under various topics after undergoing content analysis and discussed in comparison to the literature. The findings were then interpreted and presented as a situation assessment.