FACTORS CAUSING BURNOUT AMONG ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN TURKEY

This study aimed to explore the reasons behind English language teachers’ burnout in Turkey. To achieve this aim, qualitative research methodology was fallowed. In this respect, 102 comments from English teachers in Turkey in response to a post on Facebook were analyzed. After an investigation of the comments, 7 recurring themes were found by the researcher. In the order of frequency, these are: “Students, system, being a teacher, parents, colleagues, administrators and others”. Uninterested and disrespectful students are among the top reasons of teachers’ burnout. Noise in the classroom also drains teachers’ energy most in their classrooms. Another important reason for teacher burnout is that students are unwilling. Therefore, teachers believe that it is nearly impossible to teach English to such kind of students. These results were examined in detail and compared to the results of relevant studies in literature in the discussion part. In this respect, several important implications and suggestions were presented for both in-service and future teachers of English.