Teachers’ perceptions of the role of parental involvement in teaching English to young learners

Abstract

The role that parents’ involvement play in young learners’ English learning process has been investigated in various contexts from different perspectives. This study aims to explore English language teachers’ perceptions about the role of parental involvement in young learners’ English language learning process. For this purpose, data were collected through a questionnaire which has 5 open-ended questions. The questionnaire was sent to 25 English language teachers working at three different private primary schools in Ankara. The collected data are then analyzed by adopting inductive content analysis. Five themes emerged based on the answers provided by the teachers which include: (1) factors influencing students’ achievement, (2) significance of parental involvement, (3) parents’ way of involvement in English language teaching/learning process, (4) strategies that parents use to encourage parental involvement, and (5) teachers’ need for further training on parental involvement. The results indicate that the teachers are aware of the importance of parental involvement, yet they do not use any specific strategy to foster parental involvement. Also, teachers view themselves as the lead and main figures in young learners’ English language development whereas they regard the parents only as one of the factors that assist young learners in learning English.

Keywords: parental involvement, teachers’ perception, teaching English to young learners, English language teachers, content analysis