Teaching English Pronunciation to Prep-Class Students: A Needs Analysis Study

In the 21st century, learning a foreign language and being able to communicate in that language has become a very important competence. Therefore, it becomes very important for an individual who learns a foreign language to acquire the main skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and sub-skills (grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation) in language education, but it is also clear that not much importance is given to pronunciation skill compared to other skills. Thus, the purpose of the research was to find out the opinions of the prep-class university students regarding their foreign language pronunciation skills, and to analyze their needs related to teaching pronunciation skills, and to use the research as a needs analysis of the curriculum design that will be prepared following the current study. The study was designated according to qualitative research methods, and the case study model was applied. The research data was collected from 213 students through the form consisting of five open-ended questions prepared by the researcher, and the data obtained were analyzed by the content analysis method. As a result of the research, it was determined that the students have some important problems with pronunciation skills and that they find this skill highly important in terms of language learning.

Hazırlık Öğrencileri İçin İngilizce Telaffuz Öğretimi: Bir İhtiyaç Analizi Çalışması

21. yüzyılda bir yabancı dil öğrenmek ve o dilde iletişim kurabilmek hayatta oldukça önemli bir yetkinlik haline gelmiştir. Bunun için de yabancı dil öğrenen bireyin dil eğitimindeki ana (dinleme, konuşma, okuma ve yazma) ve alt (dilbilgisi, kelime ve telaffuz) becerileri edinebilmesi oldukça önemli hale gelmektedir. Tüm bu beceriler içerisinden telaffuz becerisine diğer beceriler kadar önem verilmediği anlaşılmaktadır. Bu yüzden bu araştırmanın amacı; bir üniversitenin İngilizce hazırlık biriminde öğrenim görmekte olan öğrencilerinin yabancı dil öğretiminde telaffuz becerisiyle ilgili görüşlerini belirleyip onların bu alandaki ihtiyaçlarını incelemek ve araştırmayı daha sonra geliştirilmesi planlanan bir öğretim programı için ihtiyaç analizi olarak kullanmaktır. Araştırma, nitel olarak tasarlanmıştır ve durum çalışması modeli uygulanmıştır. Bu kapsamda araştırmacı tarafından hazırlanmış olan ve açık uçlu sorulardan oluşan form yardımıyla 213 öğrenciden araştırmanın verileri toplanmıştır ve elde edilen veriler içerik analizi yöntemiyle incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda öğrencilerin telaffuz becerisi ile ilgili önemli sorunlarının olduğu ve telaffuz becerisi ile ilgili birtakım ögeleri bilmedikleri ve bu beceriyi dil öğrenme açısından oldukça önemli buldukları ortaya çıkarılmıştır.

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