DETERMINATION OF THE PROBLEMS THAT 3RD AND 4TH GRADE TEACHERS ENCOUNTER IN TEACHING LISTENING: A QUALITATIVE STUDY?1

Basic aim of Turkish education is to make students improve and achieve main skills of language. Listening which is based on comprehension has got a very special place among the other skills as successful communication is based on successful listening (Nunan,1989, p. 32). The aim of the research is to find out the problems that 3rd and 4th grade teachers encounter in teaching listening according to their views. Data was collected through interview with teachers of 3rd and 4th grade in state primary schools in some of the central districts (Seyhan, Çukurova) of Adana and Çankaya district of Ankara, Turkey. The workgroup were determined through sampling criteria for purposeful sampling. The collected data was analyzed with content analysis technique. Results showed that all teachers had problems in teaching listening and thought that the reasons for these problems were not related with themselves. This study has been conducted on teaching listening in Turkey. As language education is offered all over the world, similar studies can be conducted in the other countries. Additionally, the problems encountered in teaching listening or other language skills in all educational institutions can be investigated.