Theses supervised by Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Zehra Köroğlu
12 theses · Çağ University
The effect of explicit instruction on the english preparatory class students: an analysis of request realization patterns
Speech acts are considered to be one of the principal components of pragmatic competence. The need for language learners to use speech act of request that involves a series of strategies is the significance of the study. The participants of the study were 60 Turkish EFL students (30 experimental / 30 control group) studying at the English Preparatory School of Munzur University, Tunceli, Turkey. The data were collected through Written Discourse Completion Task (WDCT) and analysed based on the framework of Taguchi (2006) and the Cross Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP) conducted by Blum-Kulka et al. (1987) by using descriptive statistics. Findings of the current study revealed that even though both groups used most of the strategies proposed by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) in the CCSARP Coding Manual, the distribution of the strategies differed across the two groups.
The use of short stories to teach vocabulary in English language classes
The purpose of the study is to emphasize the use of literature, especially 'short story' for teaching language and vocabulary. The short story has lots of benefits for the students to create a difference in their learning style and learning desires. According to some instructors, literature is a confusing material for the students. In this study, the researcher realized that idea of using literary genres are suitable to teach language. This idea was improved by using short story in fifth grade students to teach language. Short stories help students learn and develop knowledge of vocabulary and language areas. In addition to this, short stories affect students positively to develop their world of thought, cultural awareness and personal growth. The short story is one of the best materials to provide different and authentic activities. The benefits of short story are mentioned in the study. It is understood that short story has a power to create an exciting class atmosphere for learning.
A corpus-based study in the usage of connectors in between the dissertations of the native speakers of English and Turkish speakers of English
In this research, it is aimed to determine the use of connectors in the doctoral dissertations of Turkish speakers (TSs) of English and native speakers (NSs) of English. The present study will be limited to identifying the use of connectors in the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) dissertations written by the NSs of English and the TSs of English in the field of ELT; between the years of 2009-2018. It will also be limited to the abstract, the introduction, and the conclusion sections of the Ph.D. dissertations. Furthermore, it will be limited to 50 TSs dissertations and 50 NSs dissertations.In this study, with the help of Key Word In Context (KWIC) Concordance programme, the usage of connectors was analyzed according to their frequency per 1,000 words. Besides the frequency analysis, log-likelihood (LL) calculation was also used as a statistical analysis. At the end of the study, it was found out that the LL frequency of the connectors indicated an underuse in the abstract section, an overuse in the introduction section and again an overuse in the conclusion section for the Ph.D. dissertations of the Turkish speakers (TSs) of English and there was a significant difference in the frequency of the connectors between the dissertations of the TSs of English and the NSs of English.
The use of prepositions in the ma theses written by the native speakers of English and the Turkish speakers of English in the interdisciplinary departments: A corpus-based study
Corpus-based studies had a long way through the history. However, for a big part of its lifetime, it was declined and kept in the background until technology came up with new advances that support corpus-based research heavily in many terms. The amount of the studies was increased with the development of technology. These studies had various point of views and narrowed their scope of focus down to very specific parts of the language. They attempted to look at different parts of the language by comparing different cultures or contexts, or types of speakers. In the current study, the aim was to focus specifically on prepositions and their natural usage in an acamedic writing environment and compare the frequencies of them in the abstract, the introduction, and the conclusion sections of these texts. The study also tried to investigate which sections used more prepositions and defended possible reasons for doing it. To fulfill the purpose of the study, academic texts were selected as MA theses written between 2008-2018 in the randomly selected interdisciplinary departments, such as Business Administration, History, International Relations, Psychology and Sociology. 50 theses written by the Turkish speakers (TSs) of English, and 50 theses written by the native speakers (NSs) of English were selected. This total of 100 theses formed the corpus data for this particular study. The frequency of the prepositions were analyzed through a software called Keyword In Context, which also provides concordance lists to help the researcher confirm the prepositional nature of the prepositions. Additionally, log-likelihood calculation was applied to find the overuse and underuse values by comparing two types of speakers. The results of the study indicated that the Turkish speakers (TSs) of English had a bigger corpus size. However, TSs showed a significant underuse of the prepositions in the abstract and the introduction sections, and a significant overuse in the conclusion sections when they were compared to the NSs. The possible reasons why specific parts had such results were also discussed. According to the results, it is observed that each section had its own specific reasons related to the nature of the section itself, and the interdisciplinary field of the study. Briefly, the abstract sections used the prepositions in less amount compared to the other sections due to its corpus size, and the most used prepositions were "about" to express the meaning of purpose, "between" to express the meaning of a comparison. The introduction parts had different corpus sizes depending on the interdisciplinary department. For instance, history theses had much bigger corpus size and used high amount of prepositions to express place and time many times while pyschology theses kept the section short and did not use a high population of prepositions. Eventually, for the conclusion part, it was observed that Psychology theses had the biggest corpus size with the most prepositions due to the necessity of giving detailed explanations and making comparisons, while all other sections had a similar population of words as prepositions and corpora size.
A corpus-based study on the conjunction types in the ma theses of the Turkish speakers and the native speakers of English in the field of elt
The aim of this study is to examine the similarities and the differences of conjunction types between the Turkish speakers (TSs) of English and the Native speakers (NSs) of English in the field of ELT. This study focuses on the question of whether the types of conjunctions in the introduction and conclusion sections of the MA theses written by the Turkish speakers (TSs) of English and the Native speakers (NSs) of English indicate any difference in the field of ELT. On the other hand, the primary goal of the present corpus-based study is to investigate the frequencies of the English conjunctions in the non-native corpora and the native corpora. Key Word in Context (KWIC) and Log-likelihood (LL) programmes are used to analyse the collected data. In this study conjunction types are analysed as percentage and frequency of occurrence per 1,000 words and also these conjunction types are interpreted by calculating probability levels to discover whether there is any frequency–based difference between the Turkish speakers (TSs) of English and the Native speakers (NSs) of English MA theses, and if so, to analyse the nature of these differences. Also, the second phase of the study aims at categorizing conjunctions used by both groups. According to the results of this present study NSs generally overuse conjunction types in their MA theses. It was found that, cohesive devices are underused by TSs in writing.
The types of prepositions in the articles prepared by the Turkish and native speakers of English in the field of English language teaching: A corpus-based study
Studies on corpus, which means a collection of a text that can be worked on, go back to early history. However, as a scientific field, corpus linguistics has gained much importance and improved greatly as a result of the developments in computer technology especially over the last six decades. Actively using computer technology, it is now easy to collect and analyze large volumes of texts in a specific or different languages either in a specific field or various fields, find the most frequently used words or the least used words, and evaluate sentences in terms of their lengths. This technology also allows researchers to compare two or more languages in terms of their linguistic characteristics and carry out several related works for different purposes on different texts that were collected. Analyzing authentic language data provides implications about how the specific elements in a language are used. Corpus studies are also used in English language teaching (ELT) and learning, and today most of the users of a language benefit from corpus reference sources such as grammar books and dictionaries. Prepositions have a significant place in English in terms of their types, and they have different characteristics compared to some other languages including Turkish. This study aims to examine the frequency of some types of prepositions such as the prepositions of space and movement, prepositions of time, prepositions that show logical relationship and participial prepositions, in the articles in the field of ELT prepared by Turkish speakers (TSs) of English and the native speakers (NSs) of English. In the present corpus study, the data were collected from a total of 100 randomly selected articles in the field of ELT, 50 by the TSs and 50 by the NSs. The preposition types that were used only in the abstract and introduction sections were analyzed. The data were evaluated using Keyword in Context (KWIC) and Log-likelihood (LL) which are installed or browser-based programs that analyze frequency and log-likelihood of the prepositions in each type. The results of the study also showed the distribution of preposition types that the TSs of English and the NSs of English used in their articles. The study found that although there was a significant difference between the TSs and the NSs in terms of their corpus size, which was bigger in the former, prepositions that show logical relationship were the most salient type in the abstract and introduction sections of the articles of both groups of writers. Among these prepositions, "of" was with the highest frequency in both groups.
The use of adjectives in between male students and female students: A corpus-based analysis
This research is a corpus study conducted to analyze and evaluate the adjective usage of 8th grade students according to gender. It is aimed to determine the frequency of adjectives and adjectives that are most frequently used by gender in the essays and exams written by the male students and the female students in the 8th grade at Mehmet Bayır Imam Hatip Secondary School, which is a public school in Karatay, Konya. The research enables to understand the importance of adjectives and to understand whether there is any difference in the use of adjectives in between genders. Key Word in Context (KWIC) was used to analyze the frequency of adjective use in the texts written by the students. Log-Likelihood (LL) was used to determine whether there was a significant difference in terms of adjective usage of the male students and the female students, and overuse, underuse values. As a result, it was determined that the frequencies of the adjectives and adjectives used by the male students and the female students in essays and exams were relatively different. In addition, it was indicated that the most used adjectives were "bad, best, good".
The usage of definite and indefinite articles in the PhD dissertations by the male and female writers: A corpus based study
In this research, it was aimed to determine the usage of definite and indefinite articles in the doctoral dissertations (PhD) of the male writers (MWs) of the English Language and the female writers (FWs) of English. This study was limited to identifying the usage of articles in the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) dissertations written by the male writers (MWs) of English and the female writers (FWs) of English in the field of ELT and Applied Linguistics; between the years of 2010-2019. It was also be limited to the abstract, the methodology, and the conclusion sections of the PhD dissertations. Furthermore, it was limited to 50 MWs dissertations and 50 FWs dissertations. In this study, with the help of the Key Word in Context (KWIC) Concordance programme, the usage of articles was analyzed according to their frequency per 1,000 words. Besides the frequency analysis, log-likelihood (LL) calculation was also used as a statistical analysis. At the end of the study, it was found out that the LL frequency of the articles indicated an underuse in the three sections for the Ph.D. dissertations of the male writers (MWs) of English and the female writers (FWs) of English, and there was a significant difference in the frequency of the definite and indefinite articles between the dissertations of the MWs of English and the FWs of English.
An interdisciplinary corpus-based gender analysis in the use of indefinite adjectives
This study had been carried out in order to compare the usage of the indefinite adjectives (INAs) of Turkish speakers (TSs) of English and native speakers (NSs) of English in between ELT and Psychology departments regarding gender. The study also aimed to obtain the results by limiting the comparison with the randomly selected MA theses' findings and the conclusion sections between the years 2016-2020. In order to provide equality in the determination of master's theses, there were 60 native and 60 Turkish writers, each consisting of 30 ELT and 30 Psychology departments, with three female writers and three male writers each year in both fields. A qualitative and descriptive analysis had been done to evaluate the results of the study. Key Word in Context (KWIC) Concordance programme had been used to analyze the collected data. INAs were analyzed in terms of percentages, frequencies per 1,000 words. The significant difference in the INAs usage was calculated by the log-likelihood (LL) value. According to the final results, although the corpus size was almost equal to each other in the findings section, the female writers in the ELT department demonstrated overuse compared to the Psychology department. On the other hand, the conclusion section results differed from the findings section. In the usage of the INAs, a significant difference in the Psychology department was observed. The general comment was that the gender analysis did not make a significant difference in either section.
Turkish students' perception of blended learning in EFL and higher education context
The technology has been integrated into the classroom environment and has introduced a rapid reform in education sector, especially at university setting. Blended learning (BL) is an example of these improvements in the approaches to education in higher education. Within this framework, this study basically aimed to explore the students' perception of blended learning in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and higher education context. It also attempted to investigate the students' views about both use and content of the BL components - traditional face-to-face learning and online learning platform. In addition, it tried to discover the opinions of the students as to the evaluation of BL exercises, and as to the advantages and disadvantages of BL to their English language learning. In this mixed-methods study, a 5-point Likert Scale questionnaire and eight open-ended interview questions were utilized as a tool of data gathering. In this research, 160 Turkish EFL beginner-level university students participated to reply the online questionnaire and interview questions; and the data from the questionnaire were analyzed with SPSS Software, and the data from the interview were analyzed through the Content Analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative findings of the study showed that students' perception of blended learning (BL) was generally neutral concerning the online learning platform use and content, traditional face-to-face learning practice and content, assessment of BL activities and tasks, and advantages and disadvantages of BL. Even though students partially agreed about the use of BL approach, they still favoured traditional face-to-face learning over online learning through learning management system (LMS) in blended instruction environment. Finally, some pedagogical implications for teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) as well as some recommendations for further research on the main topic were offered in brief.
An interdisciplinary corpus based analysis on the use of the first-person pronouns in the academic articles regarding gender
Within the scope of this study, the use of the first-person pronouns "I" and "We" in interdisciplinary academic articles by female writers (FWs) of English and male writers (MWs) of English was analyzed as a whole. The academic articles from social sciences were arbitrarily selected between 2016 and 2020. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of use of the first-person pronouns "I" and "We" in the interdisciplinary academic articles written in English by female writers (FWs) and male writers (MWs) in the departments of sociology, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy at universities in the United States of America. Additionally, it was restricted to the abstract, methodology, and conclusion parts of academic articles rather than the entire article owing to the reliability of the analysis as a whole. Furthermore, the study was limited to 50 academic articles written by female writers and 50 academic articles written by male writers. The frequency of the first-person pronouns was determined in this study using the Key Word in Context (KWIC) Concordance program, which was used to assess the usage of the pronouns in 1,000 words. Apart from the frequency analysis, log-likelihood (LL) calculation was employed for statistical analysis. At the conclusion of the study, it was determined that the LL frequency of the first-person pronouns demonstrated an overuse in the academic articles written by the female writers of English compared to the male writers of English between the years 2016 and 2019. However, it was revealed that first-person pronouns were underused in the academic articles written by the FWs of English compared to male writers in 2020. The findings were statistically significant in the academic articles written by the FWs of English and the MWs of English between 2019-2020.
A comparative corpus-based analysis of complement '-Ing' clauses used in the BNC and the coursebooks
In Turkey, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers have been using the coursebooks in their classrooms as a material. Despite the significance of the coursebooks in the EFL setting, it is contentious that the coursebooks administered by the Ministry of National Education are able to consist of authentic language and prepare learners for real life. Corpora, consisting of written and spoken data gathered from real lives of native speakers, can provide EFL learners and teachers with authentic language. It is possible that complement '-ing' clauses, containing the semantic domains, have an important part in real life. In this regard, this study tried to compare the coursebooks and the British National Corpus (BNC) in the use of complement '-ing' clauses in order to see the frequency, possible overuse and underuse of complement '-ing' clauses in the coursebooks and to understand whether the coursebooks could reflect the language the English use in their real life. The coursebooks were turned into a plain text and compiled by using Key Word in Context (KWIC) software, and Sketch Engine was used to reach the BNC. In an attempt to understand whether there was a statistically significant difference between the corpus of the coursebooks and the BNC and whether there was an overuse or an underuse of complement '-ing' clauses, the log-likelihood (LL) values were utilized. The results revealed that considering the overall frequency, there was a statistically significant difference between the coursebooks and the BNC in the use of complement '-ing' clause. It was also understood that the coursebooks had the absence of lexical diversity although complement '-ing' clauses were overused in overall frequency. This study helps better understand the importance of the use of complement '-ing' clauses and authentic language in the coursebooks. Moreover, it can provide a perspective in the use of complement '-ing' clause for the designers of the coursebooks and the syllabi in Turkey.