International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
The questionnaire was divided into four sections – the type of school previously attended, the number of years of
previous language study, the importance of the four basic language learning skills, and the helpfulness of
specific language learning activities. And here are the findings:
a) Type of school
The results showed that more than half of students at technical faculties had studied at vocational/technical
schools and also more than half of students studying economics at the Economic Faculty come from business
academies. (See Table 4).
Table 4 Type of study and corresponding secondary school in figures and percentage.
Source: The Questionnaire in Appendix 3
Faculty Total From a business academy From other types of school
Economic 67 37 (55.2%) 30 (44.8%)
Total From a technical school From other types of schools
Technical Faculty 133 74 (55.6%) 59 (44.4%)
It also showed that there were not any students from conservatories or other types of education institutes not
indicated by the questionnaire, and that all but 5 students came from state-funded schools. Although many
technical students came from some type of vocational/technical school (with such specializations as fire-fighting,
chemistry, metallurgy and electrical engineering), there were also a large number of students coming from
gymnasia without specializations and from business academies. The specializations of the 9 students who studied
at specialized gymnasia included languages, IT, sport and agriculture. (See Table 5)
Table 5. The type of school attended before university.
Source: The Questionnaire in Appendix 3
Number of students %
Specialized gymnasium 9 4.5
Non- specialized gymnasium 64 32
Conservatory - -
Technical/Vocational School 75 37.5
Business Academy 52 26
b) Years of study
According to the years of study of a foreign language before entering university almost 60% of students had
studied English from 10-12 years. About 37% had had language study 9 years or less. The two extremes were 2
years for one student from a technical secondary school and 20 years for a student who studied at a private
school specialized in the English language (see Table 6)
Table 6: Years of language study before entering university in figures and percentage
Source: The Questionnaire in Appendix 3
4 years or less 5-6 years 7-9 years 10-12 years 13 or more years
18 (9%) 5 (2.5%) 50 (25%) 118 (59%) 9 (4.5%)
c) The four basic skills
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