Theses supervised by Yrd. Doç. Dr. Philip Durrant
10 theses · İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University
Yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğrenen-öğreten Türk üniversite öğrencileri ve öğretmenlerinin iyi yabancı dil (İngilizce) öğretmeni kavramı üzerine görüşleri
The objective of this study is to investigate Turkish University EFL students? and instructors? views on the characteristics of a good (English) foreign language teacher. Additionally, the study attempts to explore whether cultural and contextual differences lead to different views of what constitutes a good (English) foreign language teacher with reference to the related literature.The participants of the study were 300 students of upper intermediate, intermediate and pre-intermediate classes and 56 instructors from Erciyes University School of Foreign Languages (EU SFL), in the spring term of 2008-2009 academic year. In order to gather the necessary data from the participants, a Likert type questionnaire developed by the researcher was used as an instrument.Quantitative data analysis techniques were used to analyze the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics both for the scales and the items in each scale of the given questionnaire were used in order to explore both students? and instructors? views on the qualities of a good (English) foreign language teacher.It is found that all aspects of good teaching were considered important by both groups, including personal qualities, socio-affective skills, academic qualities and teaching qualities. The only significant difference between the students? and the instructors? views was seen in good language teacher?s socio-affective skills. Compared to the instructors, the students endorsed this aspect more.The findings of the study may be beneficial for (English) foreign language teachers, language teacher education programs and trainers to improve effective foreign language teaching.
Türk üniversitelerindeki hazırlık sınıfı öğrencilerinin yabancı dilde dinlediğini anlama problemlerinin ve algısal öğrenme stillerinin araştırması
Listening is a skill that many Turkish EFL learners have constant problems with and perceptual learning styles of the students is a factor that plays an important role in students? learning a foreign language. This study aimed to find out (a) the most and the least frequent listening comprehension problems of the students, (b) the difference in listening comprehension problems in terms of proficiency levels and gender, (c) common perceptual learning styles among the Turkish university students, and (d) the relationship between students perceptual learning styles and listening comprehension problems. The study was conducted at Gazi University, School of Foreign Languages, with the participation of 295 students from three different proficiency levels (pre-intermediate, intermediate, and advanced). The data were collected through two questionnaires, both of which consisted of 30 items.The quantitative data analysis showed that Turkish EFL students had listener related listening comprehension problems most frequently and task related listening comprehension problems least frequently. The advanced level students reported having more listening comprehension problems than other proficiency levels. In addition, there was difference in the types of listening comprehension problems reported by females and males. The results also indicated that the most prominent perceptual learning style was visual, followed by auditory, and then kinesthetic. However, the further analysis showed that students? perceptual learning style preferences changed according to their gender and proficiency level. Finally, it was found that students who preferred visual learning style more than the other perceptual learning styles reported having more listener and speaker related problems.Key words: Listening, listening comprehension problems, and perceptual learning styles.
Koya Üniversitesindeki yöneticilerin, öğretmenlerin ve öğrencilerin teknoloji destekli dil öğreniminin faydaları ve zorluklarına yönelik algıları
This study examined the feelings and viewpoints of administrators, EFL teachers and EFL students on the benefits of and barriers to technology-enhanced language learning (TELL). This study has been conducted in an English Department at a state university in the north of Iraq. The purpose of this study was to understand the attitudes of teachers and students who infrequently use technology for educational purposes towards the use of technology for language teaching and learning. Moreover, this study aimed to find out the participants? level of technology use. Finally, barriers that administrators, teachers and students encounter were examined.Questionnaires and interviews were administered in order to collect data. The first questionnaire was distributed to 124 EFL students whose educational grades were freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. The second questionnaire was administered to nine EFL teachers at the same university whose educational degrees were PhD, MA and MA candidate. Moreover, three administrators, three teachers and four students were interviewed in order to get further information.The findings showed that despite their positive attitudes towards technology integration in education, the teachers and students were infrequently incorporating technology into their education. The infrequent use of technology is due to several barriers. Deficiency of technological instruments, financial problem and lack of electricity are challenges that prevent teachers and students from integrating technology into their language teaching and learning. In addition, the results indicated that lack of proficiency in using technology and lack of technology-training courses are also barriers that students suffer from.Finally, this study presented several pedagogical suggestions such as providing sufficient funding for technological instruments, training courses and electricity in order to increase technology integration in education.Key Words: Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL). Attitudes towards TELL. Benefits of TELL. Barriers to TELL. Levels of technology use.
Mobil tabanlı dil öğreniminin İngiliz dili öğretimi ders kitaplarına destek materyali olarak etkililiği
This study was conducted (a) to investigate the effectiveness of mobile assisted language learning (MALL) applications in supplementing ELT coursebooks, and (b) to explore the attitudes of the students towards MALL supplementation.Four pre-intermediate level preparatory classes with a total of 100 students participated in this study. During the eight weeks of experimental process, 50 students in the experimental group were sent supplementary SMS and MMS messages in addition to regular in-class learning whereas those 50 in the control group used conventional supplementary materials. In the fourth and the eighth weeks of the study, achievement test scores of the groups were analyzed and compared to measure the effects of MALL supplementation on students' achievement scores. Additionally, a post-questionnaire was employed to elicit the attitudes towards MALL supplementation for ELT coursebooks and the findings were quantitatively analyzed.The findings of the study revealed that MALL supplementation had positive effects on students? achievement scores especially if the students read the messages regularly. Questionnaire data also suggested that the students had positive attitudes towards this new language learning application as a supplementary material for ELT coursebooks.Key words: Mobile assisted language learning, mobile phones, supplementary messages, attitude
İngilizce'nin yabancı dil olarak öğrenildiği ortamlarda, ana-dili İngilizce olmayan kişilerin kültürel kimliği ve telaffuzu arasındaki ilişki
Many factors are known to influence the pronunciation of English by speakersof other languages, including: the speaker?s L1, age of beginning English, length ofstudy, gender, motivation, aptitude, and personality. Other socio-cultural factors, suchas ethnic group affiliation and desire of the speaker to identify themselves throughtheir accent are also believed to influence a speaker?s pronunciation. However, thereis at present a lack of research into the relationship between the degree of a speaker?sself-identification with their own culture and that speaker?s pronunciation accuracy inan EFL context.This study addresses the following two questions: 1) What are therelationships among cultural identity, the degree of accentedness, and attitudes towardpronunciation of non-native speakers of English in an EFL context? and 2) What arethe attitudes of non-native speakers of English in an EFL context toward theirpronunciation of English? The participants of the study were advanced Turkishspeakers of English at two English-medium universities in Ankara, Turkey. Theparticipants responded to a questionnaire about cultural identity, attitudes towardpronunciation, and language background. Then a selection of participants who hadcompleted the questionnaire provided a pronunciation sample based on three tasks,which were then scored for degree of accent by five native speakers of English. Thequestionnaire, and the pronunciation ratings provided by the native speaker judgeswere analyzed for reliability. The language background information factors andattitude ratings were compared individually with the identity and pronunciation scoresto determine which factors were related to each. It was found that age of beginningEnglish study and residence of three or more months abroad were significantly relatedto both the identity and pronunciation scores; therefore, these factors were controlledfor in the partial correlation analysis of the relationship between cultural identity andpronunciation.The results of the study did not reveal a direct relationship between culturalidentity and degree of accentedness. Moreover, the qualitative data revealed that themajority of participants did not believe that their pronunciation was related to theircultural identity. However, the data did reveal a significant relationship betweencultural identity and how important native-like pronunciation of English wasperceived to be. For this reason, it is felt that more research into the relationshipsbetween cultural identity, pronunciation attainment and attitudes toward native-likepronunciation is needed. It can be concluded, based on the attitudes expressed by theparticipants, that native-like pronunciation of English should not be ruled out as agoal for learners, especially in that most did not feel that this would be a threat to theircultural identity. Individual preferences and goals need to be taken into considerationin pronunciation instruction, but it should by no means be neglected on the basis ofthe claim that trying to change pronunciation is interfering with identity.Key words: pronunciation ability, cultural identity, attitudes to pronunciation
Türkiye'deki transit mülteciler ve dil edinimleri: Sivas'taki afganlar hakkında bir örnek olay incelemesi
This work characterizes the sociological and sociolinguistic situation faced byrefugees and asylum seekers living temporarily in Turkey. Despite the fact that suchinformation could be of direct use to refugee aid organizations and refugee-receivingcountries, there has been no serious attempt to research the ways in which theseparticular transit refugees obtain education. This study is an initial attempt to addressthis research gap, in particular with regard to language learning.The study has three main components: First, it characterizes the linguisticchallenges faced by refugees both while living in Turkey and after they have resettledto a third country. Second, it gives an overview of the opportunities currently availableto refuges and asylum seekers to learn Turkish and English, either privately or throughformal instruction, while living in Turkey. The final component gives informedspeculation on what sorts of systematic changes, either to the Turkish legal system or to the aid programs offered by non-governmental organizations, might amelioratesome of the problems present in the current system. The study is based on a series ofinterviews with refugees and representatives of various aid organizations.The results of the study indicate that there are a variety of traditional andnon-traditional forms of refugee language learning going on in Turkey, but that theseare viewed as grossly insufficient both by aid organizations and refugees themselves.Afghan refugees interviewed in Sivas, for instance, consistently spoke of languageacquisition as one of the biggest challenges they face, and a crucial aspect of how theyspend their time in Turkey. Interviewees were acutely aware of the fact that they wouldneed English in order to lead successful lives after resettlement, while aidorganizations generally saw the need for new educational structures, but had not beenable to offer broad support outside of Istanbul and Ankara.In the analysis portion of this study, some of the main difficulties faced by aidorganizations interested in providing language support are addressed, and suggestionsare made concerning how future aid projects might sensibly be implemented.
Çıkartmalı sınavların üniversite düzeyindeki yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğrenen öğrencilerin konuşma ve yazma becerilerini ölçme konusundaki etkinliği
This study investigated the effectiveness of cloze tests in assessing the speaking and writing skill levels of Manisa Celal Bayar University Preparatory School students. The study also tried to find out whether there are differences in the success levels of such tests in assessing speaking and writing skill levels when the conditions are changed. It examined different text selection, deletion methods and scoring methods to determine whether there are any differences in the success levels.The study was conducted in Celal Bayar University Preparatory School with 60 intermediate (+) students from three different classes. The students were tested using six different cloze tests. The cloze tests differed in text selection and deletion methods. These cloze tests were then scored using two different scoring methods. The scores were correlated with the speaking and writing scores of the students to check whether there is a correlation between the cloze test results and the students? writing/speaking scores. The correlations were also compared to each other to find if there are differences in the success levels of the tests? ability to assess the different skills.The results pointed out a possible use of cloze tests in testing speaking/writing. Although strong correlation was found between writing/speaking tests and cloze tests, the numbers indicate that the cloze tests might not be adequate measuring tools for the productive skills on their own. This suggests a supportive use of cloze tests. The differing correlations also suggested a careful use of such tests. In conclusion, cloze tests can be valuable tools, if used correctly, to help assess speaking and writing skills.These results mostly mean that more studies should be conducted on the subject. The differences between the correlations of different preparation and scoring methods suggest that there might be some chance to further refine the cloze tests to make them more appropriate as alternative testing methods.
Bilgisayar destekli ve yüzyüze yapılan konuşma sınavlarının karşılaştırması: Performans, algılar, kaygı, ve bilgisayar tutumları
Computer technology has long been applied to language testing as a time and cost efficient way to conveniently assess the proficiency of large numbers of students. Thus, a good deal of research have focused on the effect and efficiency of computer assisted (semi-direct) assessment in evaluating different constructs of the language. Nonetheless, little research has been conducted to compare computer assisted and face-to-face (direct) formats to find whether the two modes yield similar results in oral assessment and whether one is advantageous over the other. Even less investigated were the possible outcomes of administration of computer-assessited speaking tests on a local basis, as achievement tests.The purpose of this exploratory study is to fill the abovementioned gap via examining the relationships between a number of variables. Presented in the thesis are the relationships between test scores obtained in two different test modes at two different proficiency levels, the students? perceptions of the test modes, and their anxiety levels with regard to speaking in a foreign language, speaking tests, and using computers. Data were collected through four computer assisted and four face-to-face speaking assessments, a questionnaire on Computer Asssisted Speaking Assesment (CASA) perceptions and another on Face-to-face Speaking Assessment (FTFsa) perceptions, a speaking test and speaking anxiety questionnaire, and a computer familiarity questionnaire. A total of 66 learners of English at tertiary level and four instructors of English participated in the study which was conducted at Uludağ University School of Foreign Languages.The quantitative and qualitative data analyses revealed that the two test modes give very different rankings to the students, and the students? perceptions of the test modes, which have been found to be more positive about the FTFsa at both proficiency levels, are not strongly related to their performance in the speaking tests. The relationship between different types of anxiety mentioned above and test scores are only weakly related to the test scores and the degree of the relationships vary depending on the proficiency level.The results of this study are hoped to be beneficial to the language assessors, instructors, and institutions and researchers that are into language assessment.Key words: Computer assisted oral assessment, speaking assessment, face-to-face, speaking, speaking test, computer attitudes, anxiety
Öğrencilerin İngilizce yeterliliğini etkileyen faktörler
This study was conducted to explore the relationship between language achievement and starting age of learning English as a foreign language, type of high school, languages known by the learners and spoken in their home environment and learners? attitudes towards language learning, and also to clarify other possible factors affecting language achievement. The participants of the study were the students of Medicine, Engineering and Law Faculties at Dicle University. To explore the effects of the mentioned factors on language achievement, a questionnaire was completed by 105 participants and the data to clarify the other possible factors affecting language achievement were obtained through interviews with twelve of the participants. The data derived from the questionnaires were analyzed with SPSS and the data obtained from the interviews were analyzed in a qualitative way.The findings obtained from the quantitative analysis present the following results. The results showed that starting to learn English as a foreign language at an early age does not have many advantages on learning. Type of high school is very important for English proficiency, because the students of Anatolian/Science High School have much higher proficiency in English. Knowing more than one language and being in a family environment where more than one language is spoken do not have a significant effect on English proficiency. There is not a correlation between attitudes towards language learning and language proficiency.As the results of qualitative analysis, it was seen that practicing what is learnt in the classroom and having a connection with the foreign language out of the classroom (listening to English songs, watching English movies) are very important to gain a high proficiency in language. On the other hand, grammar-based instruction, experiencing the same teaching styles during the whole learning process, lack of environment to practice foreign language and a high anxiety level cause problems in the learning process.
Öğretmenlerin ve öğrencilerin sınıf temelli konuşma sınavlarına ve onların öğretim üzerine olan etkisine bakış açısı
Testing is an indispensible part of the teaching and learning processes. Since testing, teaching, and learning are closely related, it is inevitable for them to have an influence on each other. Tests are thought to affect teaching and learning positively or negatively. Direct testing is seen to have greater effect on productive and receptive skills than other tests do. Speaking skills is one of the English language skills which is tested through direct tests. While the washback effect of worldwide or nationwide tests has been studied to a great extent, the washback effect of speaking tests has received little attention from researchers. As for the washback effect of classroom-based speaking tests, the researcher has not been able to find one.This present study mainly aimed to investigate teachers? and students? perceptions of the washback effects of classroom-based speaking tests. In addition, since the subject is closely related to teachers' and students' attitudes towards and beliefs about teaching and testing speaking, these issues were also addressed.The study was conducted at Akdeniz University School of Foreign Languages in Antalya, Turkey with 307 preparatory class intermediate level students and 45 instructors of English. The data were collected through teacher and student questionnaires and teacher and student interviews.The results revealed that teachers stated that they are not influenced by the speaking tests in terms of what they do in classes, but they have positive attitudes towards teaching and testing speaking and they believe that speaking tests have a positive effect on their students? speaking ability. Teachers and students believe that getting ready for speaking tests improves the general speaking skills of students. Students are also quite positive towards teaching and testing speaking and speaking tests? positive effects. The students and instructors think that these speaking tests should remain as a component of all the exams. Moreover, the students think that speaking tests? weight should be increased. The curriculum development department and testing office of Akdeniz University School of Foreign Languages can utilize the results of the current study in order to create more positive washback.