Prof. Dr. Gül Durmuşoğlu Köse danışmanlığındaki tezler
34 tez · Anadolu University
The noun phrase accessibility hierarchy (NPAH) in the acquisition of English restrictive relative clauses by Turkish adult learners of English
While learning a language, the importance of the target language syntax cannot be denied. However, how this syntax is formed and developed in the learners' interlanguage has undergone many different explanations. Markedness is thought to play a role in learners' selection of syntactic items in the learning process; that is, it is claimed that students learn unmarked structures earlier and with a higher rate of accuracy than marked structures. This study aims at investigating this claim by studying Restrictive Relative Clauses in English within the framework of the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy (NPAH). It tries to find answers to three main questions: a) Do Turkish adult learners of English follow the NPAH while acquiring Restrictive Relative Clauses?, b) If not, what is the order of acquisition in Restrictive Relative Clauses for these learners?, and c) Do lower-intermediate and upper-intermediate students exhibit the same learning order while learning Restrictive Relative Clauses? To answer the research questions, 80 subjects (40 lower-intermediate and 40 upper-intermediate students) have been given three different tasks eliciting the five relative clause types on the NPAH. These included Grammaticality Judgement Test, Sentence Combining Task, and Translation Task. The findings suggest that the Genitive construction seems to violate the otherwise existing hierarchy, and thus neither of the groups follow the NPAH while learning English Restrictive Relative Clauses. Instead, the error rates refer to an order starting with Subject relativization, followed by Direct Object relativization, and Indirect Object or Oblique relativization.
Oral peer feedback in process approach implemented EFL writing classes
As a reflection of the co-operative learning theory and the process approach, peer feedback is used in process approach implemented writing classroom. By this, teachers aim at helping student writers to develop a sense of audience, to move from writer-based prose to reader- based prose, and to motivate for revision. Despite this, classroom experiences are not very encouraging about using peer feedback, and teachers have reservations about the effectiveness of it. These initiated several classroom oriented studies, and researchers started to investigate different factors, such as stances readers adopt during peer feedback sessions and their attitudes towards peer feedback, that influence peer feedback. Based on the review of empirical studies, the purpose of this study is to investigate the stances adopted by EFL readers, function and content categories used by readers in different stances, their attitudes towards peer feedback and finally to investigate the relation between the reader's stance and writer's attitude. For this purpose, proficient EFL writers were selected and two sets of data were collected for analysis. First one consisted of the peer feedback interactions of the sixteen pairs and the other was the journals in which the subjects expressed their attitudes towards peer feedback. The qualitative analysis of the data indicated that Turkish readers in the study adopted four different stances towards the writer and the text. The observed stances are authoritative, interpretive, probing, and collaborative. The quantitative analysis indicated that there were differences between stances in terms of content and function categories used by these readers. Analysis of the journals indicated that subjects could be divided into four categories according to their attitudes towards peer feedback. These attitudes were positive, negative, mixed and prefer teacher feedback. The subjects also expressed the positive effects of peer feedback on content, and organization and style. On the other hand, their comments focused on limitations of students as critics and limitations of peer review task. Investigation of the relation between the reader's stance and the writer's attitude indicated no significant relation between these two variables.
Computer assisted vocabulary learning: A study with Turkish 4th grade efl learners
In recent years, computer assisted language learning has come to fore in language learning. Indeed, it can help learners to study language individually at their own pace in a motivated atmosphere with a high level of interactivity. Computer assisted vocabulary learning has been considered to be one of the most common applications of CALL. This research paper aims to determine whether learning and retaining of foreign language vocabulary would prove to be profitable for students who study vocabulary instruction in a computer environment when compared to students who study the same vocabulary instruction material in a classroom environment under the guidance of their teacher. The subjects of this research consisted of 68 fourth grade students who enrolled in M.Akif Ersoy primary school in Eskişehir. The students were equally assigned to a computer assisted vocabulary instruction (CAVI) group and a teacher-led group. The CAVI group studied target words by using `Word Bird?s Land? CD in a computer lab whereas the teacher-led instruction group was instructed the same words by their teacher in the classroom. Both groups participated in two implementation sessions which were conducted in two subsequent weeks in the first semester of 2007-2008 academic year. Totally, they studied 40 words at the end of the two implementations. After each implementation, both groups were evaluated on recognition or production tests. The same tests were also assigned two weeks and one month after each implementation session in order to determine vocabulary retention. The results of mean scores were interpreted by using independent-sample t-test. The outcome of the research indicated that the CAVI group performed better on both immediate and delayed tests when compared to the teacher-led instruction group. The statiscal analysis also revealed that while there were significant differences between the CAVI and teacher-led group in both immediate and delayed recognition posttests, the only significant difference occured in the immediate production posttest. Conversely, there were no significant differences between the groups on delayed production tests. This indicates that by practicing with CAVI, students learned more receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary.
Effects of input flood and negative evidence on learning of make/do collocations: A study with seventh grade Turkish EFL students
The verbs `make? and `do? are often confused by most of the Turkish EFL learners since they have the same meaning in Turkish and it is difficult to decide which one to use. The EFL students at the beginning of their learning of English generally tend to use `make? and `do? instead of one another. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of input flood and negative evidence on 7th grade Turkish EFL students? learning of make/do collocations. Totally ninety-one 7th grade Turkish EFL students from three classes were included in the study. These classes were randomly assigned to input flood, negative evidence, and control groups.Data were collected through pretest, immediate posttest and delayed posttest. Recognition level and production levels were measured by four tests designed by the researcher. While students? performances at the production level were checked by Translation Test and Cloze Test, students? performances at the recognition level were checked by Grouping Test and Correct/Incorrect Test. Data were analyzed within group to examine the improvement due to the treatments and between groups to compare the effects of treatments with the control group. As a result of within-group analysis, it was found that both input flood and negative evidence helped students expand their knowledge of make/do collocations at the production and recognition level. The results of between-group comparisons showed that input flood was significantly superior to the control group at the production level in the short term, but it had similar effects with the control group at the recognition level. However, negative evidence was significantly superior to the control group both at the production and recognition levels. When we looked at the long-term effect of the treatments, it was found that both treatments had significant decreases in the delayed posttest applied at the end of three weeks. Yet, it was found that the effects of input flood and negative evidence still remained and both had significant differences with the control group at the production and recognition levels. In the light of these findings, it is concluded that input flood and negative evidence can be preferred in order to improve students? knowledge of make/do collocations at the production and recognition levels. However, it is thought that input flood and negative evidence need to be supported with additional implementations which take place in/outside the classroom or they need to be used together in order to get more long-lasting benefit from the techniques.
Motion event descriptions in English by Turkish EFL instructors
Son yirmi yılda, devinim eylemleri ve farklı dillerdeki tanımlanmaları alanında yapılan çalışmalara yönelik ilgi giderek artmıştır. Bu ilgi, dilleri, belli bir anlamsal yapıyı dilbilimsel ve sözcük açısından bölümlere ayırırken, ana içeriği nasıl vurguladıklarına göre diller arası değişkenlikler açısından Uydu-Yönelik (Satellite-framed) ve Fiil-Yönelik (Verb-framed) olarak gruplayan Leonard Talmy`nin (1985, 2000) çalışmaları ve dilbilimsel gruplamalarından doğmuştur. Talmy`nin gruplamalarına gore, bir devinim eyleminin anlamsal ögeleri olan ?devinim (motion)? ve ?tarz (manner)?, uydu yönelik bir dilde fiil kökünde ifade edilirken, ?yön (path)? bilgisi fiil dışında oluşturulan yan yapılanmalarla ifade edilir. Fiil yönelik dillerde ise yön bilgisi ana devinim eyleminde belirtilirken, tarz ifadesi genellikle ek fiiller ya da fiilimsilerle ifade edilir. Bu bağlamda, Slobin (2000) ?Thinking for Speaking? hipotezini ortaya atmış ve sözcük yapılarının dili kullanan kişinin devinim eylemlerini ifade etmesi sırasında etkili olduğunu iddia etmiştir. Slobin`e göre kişinin dili kullanırken seçtiği dilbilimsel yapılar diller arasındaki tipolojik değişkenliklerden etkilenmektedir.Talmy`nin gruplamaları ve Slobin`in hipotezinin de ortaya koyduğu gibi, değişik diller devinim eylemlerini farklı şekillerde ifade etmektedirler. Yapılan dilbilimsel çalışmalar, Türkçe`yle İngilizce arasında da devinim eylemlerinin tarz, yön, uydu ve fiilimsi kullanımları açısından farklılıklar olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Bu görüşten yola çıkılarak oluşturulan bu çalışmanın amacı, bu farklılığın ikinci dil edinimine nasıl yansıdığını incelemektir. Bu amacı gerçekleştirmek için, ileri düzeyde İngilizce bilen Türk grubunun, İngilizce ve Türkçe`de devinim eylemlerini nasıl ifade ettiklerine bakılmıştırAtılım Üniversitesi Hazırlık Okulu`nda görev yapmakta olan 30 İngilizce okutmanı bu çalışmaya katılmıştır. Veri toplamak için Yu`nun (1996) çalışmasından alınan ve bu çalışmaya uyarlanan resim tanımlama, öykü anlatımı ve çeviri olmak üzere 3 ayrı araç kullanılmıştır. Ek olarak, katılımcılar hakkında gerekli ön bilgiyi elde etmek üzere bir de bilgi anketi dağıtılmıştır.Verilerin istatistiksel değerlendirmesi; ileri düzeyde İngilizce bilen Türk okutmanlarının, İngilizce ve Türkçe üretiminde devinim eylemlerinin ifade edilmesi konusunda önemli farklılıklar gösterdiğini ortaya çıkarmıştır. Katılımcıların İngilizce tanımlamalarında daha çok tarz fiili kullanılırken; Türkçe tanımlamalarında devinim eylemleri yön bilgisini vurgulamaktadır.Ek olarak, istatistiksel veriler katılımcıların fiilimsi kullanımı açısından da değişkenlik gösterdiğini ortaya çıkarmıştır. Okutmanlar devinim eylemlerini Türkçe ifade ederken, yön bilgisini ana fiil yapısında, tarz kısmını ise fiilimsilerle verme eğilimindedirler. İngilizce ifade sürecinde ise yön bilgisinin ana fiil dışında uydu yapılarıyla sunulması konusunda katılımcıların daha baskın bir tercih gösterdiği görülmüştür.Bu çalışmada elde edilen sonuçlar yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğrenen Türk öğrencilerin, devinim eylemlerinin ifadesi sürecinde karşılaştıkları problemleri belirlemek açısından yol gösterici olacaktır. Bunların yanısıra, elde edilen sonuçlar dil öğreten kişilere, öğrencilerin hatalarının arkasındaki nedenleri anlama ve onları daha iyi yönlendirebilmeleri konusunda kullanabilecekleri aktivite ve strateji geliştirmelerine yardımcı olabilir. Genel olarak bakıldığında, sonuçların yabancı dil öğretimi ve ikinci dil edinimi alanlarında büyük katkıları olacaktır.
Motivational strategies used by EFL teachers working in Turkish State primary school setting: A study in Afyonkarahisar schools
Motivation plays a vital role in terms of both a language learner and teacher. It is a key concept in foreign language teaching especially for young language learners. As long as a pupil who has just started to learn English is motivated, he or she can develop interest for the target language. In Turkish state school setting the students begin to learn English as a foreign language at the age of nine at 4th grade and their English learning continues at 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. If these students are kept motivated, their tendency to learn the target language increases in every grade of their school life.In order to investigate the usage of motivational strategies by English language teachers, this study aimed at finding out the usage of motivational strategies by 87 Turkish EFL Teachers working in Afyonkarahisar in Turkish State Primary Schools. These teachers were given a motivational strategies questionnaire prepared by Zolton Dörnyei (2001b). After the implementation of the questionnaire, 12 teachers chosen from this group were first applied a semi-structured interview and then (the same group) were observed through a video camera by the researcher herself in their classrooms.To analyze the quantitative data (questionnaire results) in this study, The Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS 18) was used. In order to analyse the interview data, The Qualitative Data Analysis Programme for Social Sciences (NVivo 9) was preferred. In addition, the qualitative data which was obtained from the observation were analyzed through categorization according to items in the questionnaire. While the analyzed data of the questionnaire revealed that no significant differences existed among the teachers in using motivational strategies and they generally tended to make use of these strategies, the data from both the interview and observation showed that these teachers were even unaware of some of the motivational strategies and they couldn?t use them because of the physical conditions of the schools and their students? socioeconomic status.
An explanatory investigation on the Turkish EFL teachers' tpack and their attitudes toward the use of interactive whiteboards
The present study aimed to investigate (a) TPACK of Turkish EFL in-service teachers; (b) the attitudes of the in-service Turkish EFL teachers towards the use of Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) in their classes; (c) the relationship between TPACK and teachers' attitude toward IWB use; (d) the relationship between gender of the participants and their TPACK levels; (e) the relationship between gender of the participants and their attitude toward IWB use; (f) the relationship between teaching experience and TPACK; and (g) the relationship between teaching experience and attitude toward IWB use. The research was carried out in the contexts of 24 Anatolian High Schools in Gebze, Darıca and Çayırova municipalities of Kocaeli at the beginning of the second term of 2014/2015 academic year. A total of 106 in-service EFL teachers from these schools responded to all of the questions in the instruments. Data was collected through two main instruments: (1) Attitude questionnaire; (2) ELT-TPACK questionnaire gathering information combining technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. Additionally, teachers' demographic characteristics were also used in order to detect the participants profile in detail and to get information for investigating the relationships between the results of questionnaires and some of these variables. Quantitative data were analysed by descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation, correlation analysis, and regression methods. The findings of the analysis of descriptive statistics indicated high levels of TPACK of the Turkish EFL in-service teachers. Additionally, the participants reported positive attitudes toward Interactive Whiteboard use in their classes. Furthermore, correlation analysis demonstrated a statistically meaningful positive relationship between the TPACK levels and attitudes of the teachers. In terms of the effect of gender and teaching experience on TPACK and attitude, further analysis were conducted. The results showed no meaningful relationship between gender and TPACK and similarly between gender and attitude. On the other hand, the analysis of the relationship between teaching experience and TPACK and teaching experience and attitude showed statistically meaningful relationships. As it was carried out to investigate the TPACK levels of the Turkish EFL in-service teachers in a certain geographical area and the attitude of the teachers' towards using IWB in their classes, and additionally exploring the effect of gender and teaching experience on TPACK and attitude for the first time, this study proved to have valuable contributions in getting a complete picture of TPACK levels of EFL teachers in a certain area and revealing the attitudes of these teachers towards using this technology in their classes. At the end of the study, there are some implications for educators, educational authorities and educational researchers.
The relationship between vocabulary size, lexical diversity, lexical density and efl writing scores: A cross-sectional study
Vocabulary is an important aspect of language learning. Many studies were carried on vocabulary, vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary instruction, vocabulary learning and since 1990s the focus of the studies have shifted on the effects of vocabulary on second language (L2) learning. For Nation (2000) knowing a word includes form, meaning and use. The role of vocabulary knowledge in receptive and productive L2 skills cannot be ignored as it is used in predicting the learners' competence. It is obvious that this would affect L2 learners in expressing their thoughts through productive skills. The aim of the study is to find out the vocabulary size, lexical density and lexical diversity in argumentative essays of Turkish ELT students and to compare these with their writing scores. It is assumed that high vocabulary size, lexical density, and lexical diversity may lead to higher scores. The data, including 309 argumentative essays written by 165 first year and 144 fourth year students, were collected from Anadolu University ELT Department. In order to analyze the data and find answers to the research questions the LFP was used to obtain an estimate productive vocabulary size of the students, the vocd-D was used for lexical diversity of the essays, and the lexical density formula was used. According to the results, among other variables, only lexical diversity was found to have a significant correlation with 1st year students' essay scores and it significantly explained 7.8% of the 1st year essay scores. For the 4th year essays, no significant effect of the variables was found. Moreover, the results also demonstrated that while the variables accounted for 8.7% of the vocabulary scores in the 1st year essays, they did not yield a significant explanation for the 4th year essays vocabulary scores. Therefore, considering the results of the study, it can be concluded that lexical features are not the only factors effecting writing scores. Key Words: Vocabulary size, Lexical diversity, Lexical density, EFL writing, Turkish ELT students.
Lexical bundle use of Turkish and native English writers: A corpus-based study
In recent decades, English has been the lingua franca of the academic and students and scholars are expected to produce written works in this global language. However, this creates a pressure on non-native students and scholars since they need to have a native- like proficiency to be able to fulfill their studies and publish their work, and moreover they need to be familiar with the distinguishing features of academic discourse such as words or multi-word combinations. In this sense, many studies have been conducted to identify such type of combinations, one of which is the recurring multi-word expressions, mostly referred to as lexical bundles. Being composed of three or more words, lexical bundles such as on the other hand and as a result of are extremely common and important in shaping academic discourse. Moreover, lexical bundles vary across different disciplines meaning that successful use of lexical bundles typical of a specific academic discipline is important for writers and the absence of such bundles may not sound fluent and native-like. Recent studies (e.g. Adel & Erman, 2012; Chen & Baker, 2010) have revealed that non-native writers produce not only fewer types of lexical bundles, but also less varied ones. Furthermore, they also overuse a restricted number of bundles in their writing. However, they should have a successful and native-like control over the lexical bundles which are commonly used in their discipline. In this regard, there is a need for studies identifying the frequent lexical bundles in a particular discipline and examining non-native writers' texts to see to what extent they approximate native writers in terms of lexical bundle use. The primary aim of this study was to investigate Turkish and native English postgraduate students' and native scholars' use of lexical bundles in a specific academic discipline, that is foreign language teaching, in terms of frequency, functions and structures of bundles. For this aim, a corpus of 150 texts was collected containing Turkish and native English students' MA and PhD theses along with native scholars' published research articles. Four-word combinations occurring 25 times per million words and appearing in at least 5 texts or more were identified as lexical bundles. WordSmith Tools 6 was used to retrieve the lexical bundles in the research corpus. The results revealed that Turkish postgraduate students used far more lexical bundles in their texts compared to both native students and scholars. However, there was a redundancy in Turkish students' texts when the token frequencies were examined, meaning that Turkish students overused most of the lexical bundles. On the other hand, statistical analysis of the bundle lists revealed that Turkish postgraduate students employed different bundles from their native peers and scholars. Finally, the structural and functional categories did not show any statistically significant differences. Keywords: Lexical bundles, English academic discourse, Turkish postgraduate students, native English postgraduate student, native scholars
Online support application for oral communication skills course: A case study
The purpose of this research study is to explore how first year candidate teachers of English made use of online asynchronous speaking and listening activities outside the classroom as an online support to their EFL oral communication courses. In relation with the purpose of the study, a case study research paradigm was conducted. There were three research questions posed for the study. The first research question explored how the participants used the online support. The data for this research question came from the learning logs and researcher's logs. The second research question targeted at revealing the opinions of the participants. The last research question examined the factors that prevented the participants from using the online support. The study lasted for one whole semester and a total of 21 first year candidate teachers of English participated the study. The findings of the study suggest that the online support has potentials as a supplementary independent study tool to support oral communication courses. Those who used the online support found it useful and necessary to support the oral communication skills course. They reported gains in language proficiency, fluency, and confidence to speak in English. Especially, the feedback they received helped them to realize their weaknesses in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. They also believed that the activities in the online support helped them to make spontaneous speech and prepared them for unrehearsed speech. Half of the participants thought it helped them to develop their pronunciation, whereas the other half disagreed. Similarly, half thought completing the speaking activities helped them to reduce their anxiety, whereas the other half disagreed. The participants used the activities in the online support mainly to expand the learning that takes place in the classroom and to revise the relevant content. Previewing was another reason to use the activities; however, it was not as common as the other two purposes. However, participants' effective use of the online support depends on availability of internet connectivity and finding suitable study environments. Furthermore, personal factors, such as disinclination, the presence of other required course work and poor time-management, also have a role in participants' effective use of the online support. One last factor that affects participants' decision to use the online support is attitudes towards computer mediated asynchronous communication. Participants who have negative attitudes towards computer mediated asynchronous communication decide not to use the online support from the beginning. Others, who are neutral prior to the implementation, may develop negative feelings towards computer mediated communication in the course of implementation and decide not to use the online support.
The effect of extensive reading on the development of reading and writing skills of english preparatory class students
Language is considered to be learnt effectively in its native environment. However, another useful way is suggested to be reading extensively in that language. Extensive reading has been regarded as a good way of obtaining language proficiency as a supportive activity of language learning process as well. Recent studies (e.g. Davis, 1995; Mason & Krashen, 1997; Bell, 2001; Krashen, 2004; Eskey, 2005; Horst, 2005; Pigada and Schmitt, 2006) have shown that extensive reading is very useful in developing language proficiency and is an effective way of compensation for target language environment in foreign language context. Therefore, extensive reading can be used as an extracurricular activity to meet the need for authentic language input in foreign language teaching. English is taught as a foreign language in Turkey and extensive reading can be a useful way of practicing and developing foreign language skills in Turkey. The main aims of this study were to find the effect of extensive reading on the development of reading and writing skills, to reveal attitudes and perceptions of English preparatory class students and to uncover attitudes of preparatory class main course teachers about an extensive reading project carried out in a high school. Participants of the study were 141 preparatory class students and 6 English main course teachers. Reading logs and Preliminary English Test (PET) scores of the students were compared to find out the effects of extensive reading on reading and writing skills; two questionnaires were applied to the students and interviews were conducted with students and teachers to find out their attitudes and perceptions about extensive reading. The results of the study showed that there was a moderate positive relationship between extensive reading and the development of reading and writing skills of the students. It was revealed that the total number of pages read by the students did not have any significant effect on their reading or writing proficiency. However, there was significant positive relationship between extensive reading and test scores of the students when the results of the top level and lowest level students in PET exams were compared in overall language proficiency. It was also seen that students and teachers believed that extensive reading was beneficial to improve language proficiency, it was motivating and encouraging for students to learn English and improve their language proficiency and extensive reading was an effective way to compensate for the lack of target language environment.
The impact of vocabulary knowledge on reading, writing and proficiency scores of b2.2 level Turkish students: A study with Anadolu University English Prep-School students
This study is an attempt to clarify the incremental and multidimensional nature of foreign language vocabulary development and its relation to the participants' reading and writing performance and general language ability of English as a foreign language (EFL). With this principle aim, the current study investigated the relationship between the receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge, the relationship between receptive vocabulary knowledge and reading performance and the relationship between productive vocabulary knowledge and writing performance using their scores on vocabulary knowledge tests, a reading exam and a writing exam. Additionally, the lexical level of the compositions written by the participants and its relation to their productive vocabulary knowledge and the impact of both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge on the participants' general language ability of EFL were also examined. 175 B2.2 level prep-school students studying at Anadolu University School of Foreign Languages, Eskişehir, Turkey participated in the study. The results revealed that the students' receptive vocabulary knowledge was larger than their productive vocabulary knowledge. It was also found that the contribution of vocabulary knowledge to the foreign language performances of reading, writing and proficiency was significant. Moreover, according to the Lexical Frequency Profile results, the lexical level of the student essays and the students' productive vocabulary knowledge were significantly related. Hence, by looking at the overall results of the present study, it might be suggested that vocabulary awareness should be created for foreign language students in their language learning process. Keywords: receptive vocabulary knowledge, productive vocabulary knowledge, lexical level, lexical frequency profile, reading, writing, proficiency
Expression of epistemic modality in argumentative writing: A study based on learner corpora
This thesis investigates into how Turkish student writers employ epistemic modality devices in order to make argumentation in their writing. The research concentrates on understanding the ways in which the use of epistemic modality devices by Turkish student writers compare with the use of these same rhetorical features by American student writers in argumentative writing. The study also attempted to investigate how the degrees of epistemic strength differ (in terms of weak, medium and strong categories) between and among the student writers. With regard to the aims of this study, three sets of databases (one for the American students, the other two for the Turkish students) were analyzed in order to compare the epistemic modality features between and across the three groups of student writers in terms of frequency of use, diversity of use, grammatical categories of epistemic devices, co-occurrence patterns of notable epistemic devices and degrees of epistemic strength or commitment. The quantitative aspects of the study were mainly based on frequency counts of epistemic devices, Log-likelihood tests to determine significant differences of epistemic modality use between and across the three groups of student writers. The qualitative aspects relied mainly on a close examination of concordance lines to make comparisons between and across the three databases. Findings of the study revealed that the Turkish student writers are slightly more restricted in their choice of epistemic devices. It was found out that they use smaller set of epistemic devices than the American student writers do. Another striking finding is that this smaller set of epistemic devices is used with higher frequency compared with the American students. This is obvious especially in the case of epistemic lexical verbs, where the Turkish student writers rely frequently on the 'I think' expression. Concerning the distribution of epistemic devices across grammatical categories, it was observed that the Turkish student writers principally use lexical verbs and adverbs in their expression of epistemic modality, but the American student writers appear to prefer modal auxiliary verbs more frequently. The Turkish student writers' preferences of particular modal verbs are also different from those of the American student writers. The Turkish students use will in relatively higher frequencies than would, but the American students use would more frequently than will. Furthermore, the Turkish student writers prefer a more personal style of argumentation than the American student writers. In view of the high frequency of expressions such as I think (that) and the frequent use of of course and maybe, it might be assumed that the Turkish student writers exhibit a more personal and straightforward writing style. Another interesting finding concerns the use of epistemic adverbs 'perhaps' and 'certainly'. These adverbs are not detected in the AELT database by the Turkish student writers while they are frequently used by the American student writers in the US-ARG database. Lastly, it has been observed that the American student writers prefer to use more number of epistemic devices indicating medium and weak level of epistemic strength, while the Turkish students in both databases tend to prefer more number of epistemic devices expressing strong level of epistemic commitment. Keywords: Epistemic modality, Epistemic devices, Argumentative writing, Epistemic strength, Degrees of commitment/ strength
Implementation and outcome evaluation of the Turkish primary school English language teaching program
The present study was designed (1) to reveal the views of the state primary school EFL teachers about their present textbooks and (2) question whether the 4th grade students have reached the goals defined by MoNE in 2013 ELTP in terms of listening skill. The research was carried out in Sincan in Ankara including 50 EFL teachers in 22 primary schools who were asked to reply 46-item Material Evaluation Form to evaluate their textbooks and 10 teachers in 7 schools were interviewed. Then, 20-item listening test prepared by the researcher was given to 650 4th grade students in 5 schools. The results of the teacher questionnaire indicated that the teachers were not satisfied with the textbooks in terms of their general appearance, layout and design, methodology, activities, language skills, language and topic content, teachability and flexibility, and assessment except for a few points. That is to say, they find the font size and type of the book suitable for the students, and think that the methodology implemented in the books is up-to-date. Furthermore, the participants tend to believe that the activities encourage meaningful language use and embody individual, pair and group work. Also, listening activities are thought to be well-recorded and the unit topics draw young learners' attention. This study was carried out to see the outcomes of 2013 ELTP via evaluating the textbooks and 4th grade students' listening skills in a certain geographical area, so it enabled to realize the strong and weak points of the program. At the end of the study, there are some implications for educators, educational authorities and educational researchers. Keywords: Program Evaluation, Outcome Evaluation, ELTPs.
The development of a technical word list and self-study material for aircraft maintenance students
Vocabulary teaching is an important and complex part of ESP research (Coxhead, 2013). Many studies have been carried out focusing on ESP vocabulary ranging from teaching and learning it, the needs of students, academic vocabulary to technical vocabulary (Nation, 2013; Parohinog and Meesri, 2015; Coxhead, 2001). Among various aspects of ESP vocabulary, aviation English holds a significant part dealing with the English for the people in the aviation industry. The importance of aviation English is closely associated with the public safety (Moder,2012), and the role of English is vital for aircraft maintenance technicians alongside with pilots and air traffic controllers. For aircraft maintenance, the relationship between ESP and vocabulary relies on technical vocabulary. Therefore, the aim of this study is to create a technical vocabulary list for aircraft maintenance students, to build a self-study material, and to evaluate the efficiency of this self-study material. So as to construct the technical vocabulary list, a corpus including 93,290 tokens was compiled from aircraft characteristics manuals. The target corpus was analyzed via AntWordProfiler and by experts to create the aircraft maintenance technical vocabulary list with 103 words. The analysis revealed that the words that are not included in the GSL and AWL constitute a large part (31%) of the target corpus. This generated technical vocabulary list was administered to 56 students as a pre-test to determine both the level of their vocabulary knowledge and the words to be incorporated into self-study material. After eliminating the words known by at least 50% of the students, the remaining 80 words constituted the self-study material content. The students studied the self-study material for four weeks. Consequent to their study, a post-test was administered to measure the effect of the four-week study. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test results. This study is an attempt to show the necessity of building a field-specific technical vocabulary list for aircraft maintenance students to help them expand their vocabulary knowledge in their field as these words comprise a large part of what they will encounter. Keywords: Word list, Technical vocabulary list, Self-study material, ESP vocabulary
Teacher efficacy beliefs of Turkish EFL teachers: A study with Turkish EFL teachers working at state primary schools
The present study aims to assess the level of efficacy perceptions of EFL teachers working at state primary schools in Turkey and investigate whether there are any differences between three dimensions of teacher efficacy as defined by Tschannen and Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001), namely, efficacy in student engagement, efficacy in using instructional strategies, and efficacy in classroom management. Another aim of the present study constitutes the difference between socio-demographic factors, namely gender, experience year in the profession and teacher efficacy. Finally, the relationship between perceived English proficiency and teacher efficacy is explored.Both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were used in the present study. The data sources of the present study included a) Teachers? Background Questionnaire developed by the researcher, b) English Teachers? Sense of Efficacy Scale (ESTES) (Chacon, 2005), and c)semi-structured interviews. The participants of the present study were 144 English language teachers working at state primary schools. The semi structured interviews,on the other hand were conducted with 11 of these teachers.Findings revealed that the EFL teachers reported a great deal of overall efficacy for teaching English. As to differences in the three dimensions of teacher efficacy, the means computed for each sub-scales showed that teachers reported to be more assured of their efficacy for classroom management and using instructional strategies than efficacy for engaging students in the learning process. Results obtained from the interviews indicated that there appears to be three possible reasons for the relatively low efficacy for student engagement as reported by EFL teachers. The first possiblity is identified as curricula, standardized tests, and predetermined teaching methods affect teachers in a negative way while trying to engage students in the learning process. The second posibility can be the uncooperative school environment. The final possibility may be students? profile these teachers work with. Furthermore, it was found out that teacher efficacy perceptions did not change according to the year of experience in the profession and gender. Correlation analysis showed that there was a meaningful relationship between the Turkish EFL teachers? teacher efficacy and the perceived language proficiency in English.Finally, the findings of the study have provided insights into teacher efficacy in Turkish primary school context. This study provides implications for professional development programs and also makes suggestions for further research in the field.
The effect of language games on learning irregular past tense verbs: A study with 9th grade Turkish students
Learning irregular verbs is a challenging and difficult process for Turkish EFL learners. Due to their complex and unpredictable form and dissimilarity to Turkish rule-governed morpheme system, Turkish EFL learners have always trouble with them. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of language games as a learning tool in order to increase irregular verbs retention among 9th grade Turkish English foreign language students.For this purpose, a study which endured 47 days, consisting pretest-posttest-delayed posttests stages was designed. The subjects consists of 72 9th grade students, from an Anatolian Technical High School whose English is at elementary level participated the study. The subjects were assigned to two experimental groups, namely game group and traditional group, and a control group. At the beginning of the study, a pretest on English irregular verbs was applied to all students in order to determine target twenty unknown irregular verb. These irregular verbs were instructed in four training sessions to game and traditional groups. A remedial teaching was applied to these groups to reinforce the retention of these irregular verbs. The game group practiced the relearned irregular past tense verbs through language games while the traditional group practiced them through traditional structural drills. The control group did not receive a remedial teaching process; they learned irregular verbs from their course book with their teacher.Data were collected via tests and analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Shefee test to see the effectiveness of language games while learning irregular verbs in short and long term. The statistical analysis of the data revealed that the game group who received remedial teaching through language games for irregular verbs outperformed the traditional group who relearned the irregular verbs through traditional exercises and the control group who did not receive any remedial teaching in both short and long term. For the game group, no significant decrease was observed on the scores of posttests applied at the end of three weeks and six weeks. On the other hand, significant decrease was observed on the traditional and control group in long term process. The study showed that language games are an effective tool while learning irregular verbs.
Eskişehir il merkezinde çalışan İngilizce öğretmenlerinin internet kullanımları
Internet has become an indispensable key for everyone in many fields in the twenty-first century. In the field of education, internet has enabled students and teachers from all over the world to communicate with each other and has created new ways of learning and teaching ESL/EFL. In spite of widespread internet connections and it is, only a limited number of studies have been conducted on the use of the internet for instructional purposes by ESL teachers so far. Turkey is one of the countries which very few studies has been done on teachers beliefs and practices about the internet use as an instructional tool in EFL classes. However, it is especially important to understand teachers' attitudes toward the internet and their willingness or unwillingness to use it in their classrooms.This study investigated the level of Internet use, especially for instructional purposes, among EFL teachers at High Schools in Eskişehir, their attitudes towards the internet use for instructional purposes and the factors that may affect their internet use for their lessons. A dominant quantitative approach was followed; through which data was gathered by an instrument. The less dominant qualitative method consisted of interviews with a random sample of 15 EFL teachers from the State High Schools in Eskişehir.The results from the data gathered by both quantitative and qualitative methods showed that EFL teachers at state high schools in Eskişehir reported a high level of internet use. This means their internet use is not rare or occasional, they often use the internet. However, they use the internet for instructional purposes less frequently than Professional and personal purposes. The findings also suggest that the participants have high levels of internet use for mainstream Internet applications, while they reported low levels of internet use for more specialized applications.According to the findings EFL teachers at high schools in Eskişehir generally had a moderate access to the internet. Their access to the internet more frequently at their homes and in teachers? rooms at schools than classrooms, computer labs and internet cafés. The participants stated that they did not use internet in their lessons because they did not have computers or internet connections in the classrooms and they rarely access to the internet in the computer labs because too many people use these places.Although findings from both the survey data and the interviews suggest that the participants generally had positive perceptions of the Internet as a tool for EFL instruction, they do not use internet for their lessons. They complained about some factors limiting their internet use for their lessons such as lack of technical resources and support from the directors and lack of time; their needs for more knowledge about how to adapt internet into their lessons and what kind of activities can be done via internet.Therefore, EFL teachers' use of the internet should be promoted and developed by establishing opportunities for teachers to have sufficient training and expertise with the Internet use for their lessons and adequate access for equipment and internet service should be offered.
Explicit and incidental teaching of english verb-noun collocations in an efl context
The study examined the efficacy of explicit (collocation-focused) and incidental (meaning-focused) teaching of the formal and semantic aspects of L2 collocations. Three instructional conditions were created in the study to reveal the extent to which eight previously unknown verb + noun collocations were learned by Turkish adult intermediate learners as they were exposed to collocations in; (1) an explicit teaching condition, (2) an incidental teaching condition and (3) an incidental teaching condition + higher encounter frequency. Learning gains from the three types of instruction were measured with an immediate test and a delayed post-test with four sub-sections, i.e. (i) two form recognition tests, (i) a meaning recognition test (iii) a reading cloze test. The scores of the three groups were compared using ANOVA and post hoc tests. To measure attrition of learning gains, scores from the immediate test and the delayed post-test were compared using t-tests. Also, repeated ANOVA was used to compare the three groups in terms of their retention profiles. The analysis of the three groups? scores revealed that explicit collocation instruction was more effective than the two incidental teaching conditions in terms of learners? performance in the four test sections. It was also found that knowledge of collocations acquired in the explicit teaching condition was not prone to attrition as revealed by the delayed post-test mean scores of the three groups. The analysis of the mean scores of the two incidental teaching groups demonstrated that both incidental learning conditions in the study can lead to some learning gains. Especially, the incidental teaching condition involving higher frequency of encounter was found to result in higher learning gains than the other incidental teaching condition which did not involve higher encounter frequency.
The effects of captioning on EFL learners' listening comprehension: An investigative study with intermediate level university prep-school students
This study was designed to investigate the effects of using captions with an English language film on the listening comprehension of intermediate level university students learning English as a Foreign Language. Two classes previously constructed by the administration of Foreign Languages School participated as experimental and control groups in this study. These intact groups included a total of 66 preparatory school students of English Language Teaching department in Akdeniz University. In order to confirm that all the subjects had the same level of listening proficiency at the onset of the study, a standardised listening proficiency test ? a sample First Certificate in English test prepared by Cambridge University Press ? was administered to the subjects, and according to the results of independent samples t-test on subjects? scores on this test, it was found that all the subjects in both experimental group and control group had the same level of listening proficiency. First 24-min segment of the film `Matchstick Men? was captured and employed as the research material. Experimental group subjects (n=32) watched the film segment with captions, whereas the subjects in control group (n=34) watched the same segment without captions. The English language dependent measure consisted of a 16-item content-specific multiple-choice listening comprehension test devised by the researcher. The results of independent samples t-test procedures revealed that the students in the experimental group outperformed their peers in the control group. As a result, it was concluded that captions yielded highly positive effects on intermediate level EFL students? listening comprehension of a film segment. Moreover, subjects? perceptions of captioned film as an instructional material were examined by utilizing a questionnaire. According to the results of qualitative data, it was assumed that this multi-sensory (to view the video action, hear the spoken word, and see the printed text) presentation was perceived as a helpful and entertaining instructional material by the subjects. Furthermore, so as to find out if there were any factors which might have an effect on subjects? listening comprehension scores, two representative groups from the experimental group and control group ? four of the subjects having the highest scores and four having the lowest scores in each group (totally 16) ? were interviewed about their English language backgrounds and habits. Nevertheless, none of the factors investigated through the interview demonstrated a relation with subjects? listening comprehension scores. On the whole, these outcomes indicated that captioned films might offer an invaluable experience to intermediate level EFL students in terms of listening comprehension.Key words: authentic materials, films, captioning, listening comprehension, EFL, intermediate learners
Yabancı dil olarak İngilizce okuma anlamada sessiz okuma ve okurken dinleme tekniklerinin karşılaştırılması: 8.sınıf Türk öğrencileriyle bir çalışma
To be able to read in a foreign language is an indispensible skill of language learning. Most of the research conducted on reading dwells on understanding the nature of it and improving reading comprehension process. This particular research attempts to investigate the effectiveness of two different techniques on the reading comprehension of 8th grade EFL students in a state primary school. One of them is sustained silent reading (SSR) and the other is reading while listening (RWL). The participants in the study are 45 elementary level students at Yusuf Köstem Primary School in Bursa. They are assigned into three different groups; two experimental groups and a control group. The materials used in the study are twelve different reading texts for the implementation of the techniques, a pre-test which is also given as post test-1 and post-test-2, and a questionnaire. During a six week period, all the students in the experimental groups read the texts silently, or read and listen to them simultaneously and answer the follow up questions. They were given post test-1 after three weeks of silent reading / reading while listening, and post test-2 at the end of six weeks. The study was completed over nine weeks, including the reading procedure, implementing pre and post-tests, and the questionnaire in the first semester of 2010 - 2011 academic year. The scores of the groups are compared using one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) for independent samples, post hoc Scheffé tests for multiple comparison, t-test for independent samples, and paired samples t-tests using SPSS 16.0 version. The outcomes of the statistical analyses revealed that SSR and RWL sessions led to similar gain scores in the short-term, after three weeks on post-test-1; whereas RWL group students outperformed SSR and control group students on post-test-2, at the end of six-week period. Results of within group analyses showed that students in one of the experimental groups improved their scores after SSR and RWL sessions, while students in the other experimental group were able to do that only after RWL. In addition, SSR and RWL group students performed much better on both tests than the control group students who didn?t participate in the reading / listening sessions. The findings of the research provided evidence that the amount of exposure to reading played an important role on improving students? reading comprehension, listening to the audio recordings of texts was helpful to support reading, SSR and RWL sessions resulted in positive changes on the students? opinions and increased their awareness in reading in English. As a conclusion, it is suggested that an integrated practice of silent reading and reading while listening should be used in the lessons in order to enhance the reading comprehension development of EFL learners.Key words: Reading, Reading comprehension in EFL, Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), Reading- While- Listening (RWL).
Cross-sectional evaluation of Turkish ELT majors' general and academic lexical competence and performance
The aim of this study was to evaluate the general and academic lexical competence and performance of Turkish ELT majors at Education Faculty at Anadolu University. On this purpose, building on the collective strengths of theoretical and empirical studies in literature, a tentative dimensional framework of second language general and academic lexical competence and performance was developed for the present study, incorporating the receptive (i.e. size; how many words they know, depth; how well they know) and productive vocabulary knowledge measures (lexical use and lexical diversity).Through multiple test approach, the general and academic lexical competence and performance of 371 students attending to 1st year first semester, 1st year second semester, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year were investigated in a cross-sectional design. A battery of tests was used for general and academic vocabulary knowledge; Vocabulary Level Test, developed by Schmitt et al (2001) was used to measure the participants? receptive general and academic vocabulary size. Additionally, Word Associates Test (Read, 2000) was given to examine the participants? depth of vocabulary knowledge. To determine the participants? general and academic lexical performance, Vocabprofile and WordSmith Tools analyses were employed on the participants? argumentative essays and the lexical frequency profiles and lexical diversity were obtained. In addition, a Test of Academic Vocabulary was developed on the basis of Academic Word List for further analysis on receptive and productive academic vocabulary.As a result of descriptive analyses, it was found that the ELT majors in this study had large general and academic vocabulary size and depth, which significantly differed in terms of years. However, this vocabulary knowledge appeared to be considerably less in production so it was observed that they could not reflect their receptive vocabulary knowledge in their free production tasks; essay writing.In terms of developmental patterns, the results confirmed the incremental nature of vocabulary learning due to differing developmental routes of each dimension. Some fluctuation in the size, lexical use and diversity were observed owing to the effect of word frequency level (i.e. high, low frequent and academic) and year of education. The sharp increases from the 1st year first semester to 2nd year indicated the effect of their education on the participants? lexical competence and performance. Additionally, the fluctuations at the participants? lexical competence and performance in terms of high and low frequent vocabulary showed the effect of word frequency levels.In the further analysis on the participants? academic lexical competence and performance, it was found that there was a kind of linear development in the size and production of academic vocabulary. Furthermore, the correlation analyses on the sub-dimensions showed that all were interrelated and interdependent. Thus, these results denoted the interdependent developments of the different dimensions of lexical competence and performance.Consequently, Turkish ELT majors? general and academic vocabulary knowledge differed incrementally across the years and their lexical competence (i.e. receptive dimensions) and performance (i.e. productive dimensions) did not follow the same developmental tracks in this study.
Orta düzey yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğrenen Türk öğrencilerin yazdıkları metinlerinde sözcük gelişimi: Bir açıklayıcı araştırma
The aim of this study is to analyze vocabulary development of Turkish EFL learners via the features of lexical density, lexical diversity, and lexical profile, their impact on the overall writing scores, the accuracy of certain academic words, and learners' and teachers' ideas on vocabulary development. An explanatory sequential mixed method research design was adopted, in which first quantitative data were collected through learners' essays and analyzed using Textalyser, Coh-Metrix, and Range, and qualitative data collection followed up via semi-structured interviews. The participants were eighty-seven first-year ELT students, and eight of these participants were selected thorough extreme sampling for qualitative data collection. The findings reveal that lexical density, lexical diversity, and lexical profile exhibit fluctuating patterns, and only lexical diversity and academic vocabulary have a statistically significant relationship with overall writing scores, as lexical diversity and Academic Word List (AWL) vocabulary predict 14.3% and 11% of the variance in writing scores respectively. The study also reveal that academic words selected showcase problematic recurring uses. Additionally, the interview results provide insights into vocabulary development and possible reasons of observed increase and decrease, revealing the impact of especially learning environment, resource integration, in-class experience and outside activities on fluctuating pattern on vocabulary development. Overall, the study highlights the significance of vocabulary development and use in the context of language education, discusses the potential factors contributing the fluctuations by offering valuable insights for educators and learners alike.
Açık yabancı dil bilgisi ve bu bilginin İngilizce Öğretmenliği Programı birinci ve dördüncü sınıf öğrencilerin yabancı dilde okuma ve yazma becerilerine yansımasının incelenmesi
The current explanatory research study investigates the relationship between L2 explicit knowledge and reading and writing performances of first- and fourth-year ELT majors studying at a large-scale state university in Turkey. L2 explicit knowledge consists of analyzed knowledge and metalinguistic knowledge. Analyzed knowledge refers to "the knowledge about L2 items and structures of which the learners are aware but not necessarily conscious", while metalinguistic knowledge is the knowledge of "the language used to analyze or describe a language (Richards, Platt & Weber). A total of 233 Turkish EFL learners (120 first-year and 113 fourth-year students) majoring at ELT department participated in the present study. Instruments for the present study comprised three tests designed to measure explicit L2 knowledge: an untimed grammaticality judgment test (UGJT), a language analysis test (LAT) and a metalinguistic knowledge test (MKT); a standardized reading comprehension test of English (IELTS) and a writing task designed to assess general L2 writing proficiency (IELTS). Several statistical procedures were employed to analyze the data gathered, and the following findings were found. First, fourth-year Turkish EFL learners majoring at ELT have better explicit knowledge of English language than the first-year learners do. Second, Turkish EFL learners majoring at ELT, regardless of their year of study, have a lot more analyzed knowledge than metalinguistic knowledge. Furthermore, stronger correlations were found between analyzed knowledge and L2 proficiency than between metalinguistic knowledge and L2 proficiency. It was also found that analyzed knowledge and metalinguistic knowledge altogether explain 7.2 percent of the variance in reading, and 10.2 percent of the variance in writing among Turkish EFL learners majoring at ELT. The findings were discussed within the light of the literature reviewed and the findings of the previous research studies. Finally, some pedagogical implications were suggested for EFL learners and ELT practitioners.