A SURVEY OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS OPINIONS ABOUT PROBLEMS IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE THE CASE OF VOCABULARY GRAMMAR AND L 1 USE IN LEARNING L 2 SKILLS
Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) is deemed to be a challenging task for Iranian adult learners of EFL. The difficulty in learning English might be attributed to numerous variables and factors. The purpose of this survey study was to address Iranian learners about the major sources of problem in learning English as a foreign language. A total of 90 adult non English major university students at intermediate level of proficiency were screened by Cambridge Placement test and selected as the respondents of the study. A 10 item Likert scale questionnaire written in respondents' L1 (Persian) was validated and used as the major source of data collection. The respondents' perceptions about vocabulary, grammar, and switching the code in learning grammar and vocabulary were surveyed. The data collected from the questionnaire was triangulated by a semi structured interview in which open ended questions were used to elicit explanatory data about their opinions about vocabulary, grammar and code switching. The results of the study revealed that Iranian intermediate EFL learners consider learning grammar as a significantly more challenging and less useful activity; in contrast, they regarded learning vocabulary as a more important and more useful aspect of L2; however, they maintained that learning grammar is of less use value in speaking and writing skills. Moreover, they argued those teachers' code switching and use of L1 while teaching the complicated aspects of grammar can have a positive impact on their learning.