Trainee English teachers' opinions about the topics of microlinguistics

Research Article

Abstract

The present study was carried out to find out the opinions of the students concerning the microlinguistic topics of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics, which are covered in the Linguistics I Course. Firstly, Questionnaire for Linguistics I Course was given to a total of 118 students who attended the course taught by the same instructor in the Fall Semesters of 2014-2015, 2013-2014, and 2012-2013. The questionnaire sought to elicit data on students’ opinions about the importance and the likeability of the microlinguistic topics. Secondly, a teaching technique was used in Fall 2014 to present the differences between finite clauses, and the technique was followed by a quiz and a short questionnaire about the technique. The results show that, as time passes, differences emerge in the opinions of students on microlinguistics, especially on the importance of the subfields of microlinguistics, and the likeability of subfields; and that there are some discrepancies between the students' quiz results and their perceptions about the effectiveness of the technique.