NEAR EAST UNIVERSITY

Application Form for Ethical Approval

1. Title of the study

A needs analysis of Azerbaijani high school students’ English speaking and listening skills

2. Primary applicant
Notes: Please note that by entering your full name below, you will be considered as signing
this form.

Full Name and Signature Elvir Isayev Ilgar

Graduate School Institute of graduate studies (MA)

Department English Language Teaching

Contact e-mail & phone elvir_isayev@yahoo.com

number 0533 842 53 93

3. Research Team
Notes: If there are other researches included in this study (including supervisors), their
names, titles, affiliations, emails and roles in the project should be provided. Please note
that by entering your full name below, you will be considered as signing this form. Please
add as many people as required by adding new rows below.

Ass.Prof.Dr.Nuket Gunduz
Full Name and Signature:

Supervisor
Role:

Email: nuket.gunduz@neu.edu.tr

4. Funding Body
Notes: Please provide the details of the funding body if your research received funding
from a funding body.

Name of the Funding No

Body
Contact Person No
Contact e-mail address & No
phone number

5. Proposed Dates of Research

Research start date 20/02/2023

Research end date 25/10/2023

6. Briefly describe the purpose of your research.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the speaking and listening needs of Azerbaijani
High School students at a secondary state school. Moreover, the purpose of this study is to
analyze the students´ speaking and listening needs, wants, and lacks. Moreover, the
perception of the teachers regarding the strategies and approaches they use to teach the two
skills as well as their viewpoints towards the facilities to teach the skills will be
investigated.

7. Briefly describe the method and procedures to be followed during data collection.
Please enclose any relevant materials (including interview questions where possible,
participant information sheet(s) and participant consent form(s) where applicable).
Notes: Please make sure that your explanations cover the answers to the following
questions.

A: What kind of data will be collected from the participants? (E.g. qualitative data
about drug use, quantitative data about voting behaviour etc.)
My study will be analysed using a “Mixed method” as Descriptive Research based on
“Survey Research”. Descriptive research will be used to collect data in order to test
hypotheses and answer the research questions. The data will be collected through a
questionnaire and an interview.
In the first step, to investigate the needs of the learners, I will use a questionnaire and will
conduct a quantitative analysis. In the next step, to understand the perceptions of the
teachers regarding their teaching and the facilities of the institute, an open-ended interview
will be used and the results will be analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis.
B: What sort of data collection tools will be used? (e.g. Semi-structured
questionnaires, structured questionnaires, etc.)
For the quantitative stage, I plan to utilize a “Structured Questionnaire” – Closed-ended
questions in my research. The scaled questions (Likert-Scale) will be prepared based on
Curriculum Development in Language Teaching by “Gravatt, Richards, and Lewis 1997”
and "Personal Information Form". “Speaking and Listening” needs of EFL students will be
determined with 30 items on a five-point Likert scale obtained by (Richards, 1997).
For the qualitative stage, I will use an open-ended interview. The questions used in the
interview will be prepared based on Cáceres Miranda & Florez niño, 2020. In the
interview, teachers will be asked 11 questions about the problems they face in the
classroom.
C: When and where will the data be collected?
The collection of data will begin on 25 February 2023 and last until 25 April in a fully
secondary state school in Azerbaijan.

D: How long will data collection last?

Recordings will be kept by the researcher for 2 years after the completion of the study,
after which they will be deleted from all of my databases.

E: Who are the intended participants and how will they be selected/recruited? (e.g.
Age, Gender, intended sample size, representative sampling, convenience sampling
etc.)
The questionnaire will be distributed to the students (15-16 years old) studying at a
secondary state school in Azerbaijan in the 2023 academic year. The study group of the
research consists of high senior students (Grade 10 and Grade 11) studying at school. A
total of 40 students (Female n=25 and Male n=15) students will be included in the study.
Around 5 English teachers will take part in the interview. Research will be conducted using
a convenience sampling method based on primary data analysis. Google-forum will be
used to conduct the questionnaire, but Zoom will be used to conduct the interview. In order
to collect the data, the interview will be recorded via Zoom.
F: How do you plan to provide the participant information sheet(s) to participants?
Participant Information Sheet will be sent to the participants through the Google Forum.

8. Do you intend to collect data from any vulnerable groups (e.g. prisoners, minors,
socioeconomically disadvantaged, etc.)? If so, please provide details regarding how you
will be accessing these groups and how you intend to protect their rights within the
process of your research.

No

9. Does your research necessitate any deception? If so, please provide reasons for this
and also provide details of debriefing session you plan to do with the participants. If
information will be withheld from the participants at any stage during the research,
when and how will they be provided with full information?

No

10. Do you foresee any psychological or physical discomfort for the participants? If
so, how do you intend to minimise/overcome these?
No
11. Where and for how long do you plan to store the data? How will you make sure
that personal data will not be obtained by third parties?
Notes: Please describe all the measures you will be taking in terms of keeping the
participants’ data confidential and anonymous during the research process and after its
completion

In order to protect the privacy of my participants, the data that I collected will be stored for
two years in my email and hard drive.

12. Date of Application 23/01/2023

Note: Please attach all relevant data collection materials (List of Questions,
Participant Information Sheet(s) and Participant Consent Forms) to this application
form and make sure that you compile all documents into ONE PDF file before
submission.
 Appendix A. Consent form

Dear Participant,
You are asked to participate in a research study we are carrying out to know
your lacks, needs, and wants regarding speaking and listening skills. The data collected
through this study will be used to understand your speaking and listening problems as a high
senior student. If you agree to participate, we will distribute a close-ended (structured)
questionnaire (a 5 Likert-scale) to fill it that might take 45 minutes. This online survey which
is measured with a rating scale will be done via Google Forum by the researcher. During this
session, you will be asked to comment on the way you provided responses (Always, Often,
Sometimes, Never, N/A) to the questionnaire. During this interview, you will be asked to
give an answer to the questions that have been prepared based on Cáceres Miranda & Florez
niño, 2020. Each interview will last between 40- 50 minutes. All online interviews will be
recorded and these recordings will be kept by the research team for 2 years after the
completion of the study, after which they will be deleted from all of my databases. All
interviews will be transcribed by anonymising any identifying information.
Please note that your participation in the study is voluntary and whether you agree to
participate or not will have no impact on your work. The data collected during the course of
this study will be used for academic research purposes only and may be presented at
national/international academic meetings and/or publications. Your identity will not be
revealed in any case to third parties and pseudonyms will be used in the questionnaire data.
You may quit participating in this study at any time by contacting us. If you opt-out of the
study, your data will be deleted from our database and will not be included in any further
steps of the study. In case you have any questions or concerns, please contact us using the
information below.

Elvir Isayev Ilqar

English Language Teaching Department, Near East University

Tel: 0533 842 53 93

E-mail: elvir_isayev@yahoo.com

By singing below, you agree to take part in this study.

Full Name _____________________________________

Signature __________________
 Appendix B

Personal Information Form

Gender: Female ☐ Male ☐

Age: 10☐ 11☐ 12☐ 13☐ 14 and over ☐
Class: 8☐ 9☐ 10 11☐
 Appendix C

Needs Analysis Questionnaire for non -English -background students

Speaking and Listening skills

How often do the following happen to you?

Always Often Sometimes Never N/A

1 2 3 4 5
1. Receive low grades in
tasks involving class
participation
2. Have difficulty working 1 2 3 4 5
in small groups during
class.
3. Have difficulty working 1 2 3 4 5
with other students on
out-of-class projects.
4. Have trouble leading 1 2 3 4 5
class discussions.
5. Have difficulty 1 2 3 4 5
participating in large
group discussions or in
debates.
Always Often Sometimes Never N/A
6. Have difficulty 1 2 3 4 5
interacting
with student
demonstrators
in labs, tutorials,
etc.
7. Struggle with 1 2 3 4 5
out-of-class
assignments which require
interaction with native
speakers of English.
 Speaking skill
How often do the following happen to you?

Always Often Sometimes Never N/A

1. Have difficulty giving 1 1 2 3 4 5
oral presentations.

2. Have trouble wording 1 2 3 4 5

what you what to say
quickly enough.
3. Worry about saying 1 2 3 4 5
something in case you make
a mistake in your English.
4. Not knowing how to say 1 2 3 4 5
something in English.
5. Not knowing the best 1 2 3 4 5
way to say something in
English.

6. Have difficulty with your 1 2 3 4 5

pronunciation of words.
7 . Find it difficult to enter 1 2 3 4 5
the discussion.

Listening Skill
How often do the following happen to you?

Always Often Sometimes Never N/A

1. Have trouble 1 2 3 4 5
understanding lectures.

2. Have trouble taking 1 2 3 4 5

effective notes.
3. Have to ask staff questions 1 2 3 4 5
to clarify the material you
have been taught.
4. Have trouble 1 2 3 4 5
understanding lengthy
descriptions in English
5. Have trouble 1 2 3 4 5
understanding spoken
instruction
6. Have trouble 1 2 3 4 5
understanding informal
language.
7. Have trouble 1 2 3 4 5
understanding the subject
matter of a talk.
i.e., What is being talked
about
8. I also have difficulty with 1 2 3 4 5
(please specify)

I have problems understanding lecturers or other students because:

Always Often Sometimes Never N/A
9. They talk very fast 1 2 3 4 5
10. They talk very quietly. 1 2 3 4 5
11. Their accents or pronunciation are 1 2 3 4 5
different from what I am used to.
12. More than one person is speaking 1 2 3 4 5
e.g…in group discussions.

Appendix D

Open-ended Interview Questions for the teachers

1. How long have you been teaching English?

3. What strategies do you use in teaching English in EFL classes?
4. What are the students’ attitudes towards learning English?
5. What kind of problems do your students generally face in speaking and listening skills?
6. Do the students have difficulties with pronunciation and vocabulary?
7. What didactic resources do you use in EFL classes?
8. Do you use the four skills while teaching in your EFL classes?