The Examination of High School Students' Opinions on Difficulties in English Language Learning in terms of Some Variables

Abstract

This study aimed at determining the opinions of high school students on difficulties they faced as they were learning English and examining these opinions within the framework of some variables. It is a fact that some factors can affect the level and type of difficulty that are experienced. Thus, it was searched that if the factors of gender, grade and parents’ education level was related to the difficulties that English learners encountered. A descriptive survey study was conducted. The participants of the study were 305 high school students who enrolled in different high schools in Turkey. In order to collect data, English Language Learning Difficulties Scale (ELLDS), which was developed by Mehdiyev, Uğurlu and Usta (2017 was used. Data analysis was performed on an R program. The total score of ELLDS and its sub-factors of Interest-Willingness (IW), Practice (P), Setting-Material (SM) and Social Opportunities (SO) were dependent variables, while gender, grade level, mother's education and father's education were independent variables. The findings showed that the difficulties did not show significant differences according to gender and fathers’ education level. On the other hand, grade level of students and mothers’ education level were found to be related with the difficulties that the high school students encountered in English language learning.