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An NLP-based teacher development program for enhancing efl teachers' communication skills
This qualitative study was conducted with the voluntary participation of five non-native EFL teachers at a state secondary school in Adana/Turkey during the second term of 2009-2010 academic year. The NLP-TD program was conducted on weekly basis, amounting to a total of 16 sessions.The aim of this study is three fold. First it aims to explore in depth the nature of secondary school EFL teachers? personal theories of effective communication. Second, it aims to investigate the impact of Neuro Linguistic Programming based teacher development (NLP-TD) program to see if there are any changes in the development of EFL teachers? personal theories of communication skills. Third, based on the results of the teachers? reflection, this qualitative study attempts to provide EFL teachers with a framework for a new teacher development program based on NLP techniques.Drawing on Kelly?s (1955) Personal Construct Theory, this study used the repertory grid technique as pre and post diagnostic tool. The data elicited from the teachers were analyzed by utilizing the Rep Grid 2 Computer program. In order to find out the structure of participant teachers? constructs, each of the repertory grid data obtained from the teachers was subjected to FOCUS analysis separately. The two grids obtained from the participant teachers at the beginning and end of the study were also subjected to Exchange Grid Analysis to explore the patterns of the changes in the content and structure of teachers? personal theories. The nature of the participant teachers? construction of ?self? as teacher and ?ideal? teacher were also investigated. Follow-up interviews were employed to confirm the data taken from the repertory grid constructs.Throughout the NLP-TD program, reflection sheets were employed for process evaluation. As a third data collection tool, a Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ) was used to triangulate the findings. By means of the CEQ and reflections sheets, participant teachers? views and feedback were obtained to shed light for future implications of the NLP-TD program.The findings of this study indicate that teachers have their own personal theories in terms of their perception of effective communication. In particular, the findings point to positive responses as regards the effectiveness of the NLP-TD program in terms of enhancing the communication skills of the participant teachers. In the light of the Repertory Grid, findings suggest that participant teachers? personal theories displayed change both in the content and structure.In conclusion, the NLP-TD program may be suggested as a new framework of a teacher development program for enhancing non-native EFL teachers? communication skills.
The effects of reading strategies on the improvement of inferential skills
The aim of this study is to reveal whether in reading comprehension, Gazi University Faculty of Education English Language Teaching Department first year students have the necessary knowledge sources and strategies and whether they use them appropriately and strategically in reading comprehension.In in the fall semester of 2006?2007 academic year, the first year students were first administered a 50 item Likert type scale in order to determine the knowledge sources and strategies they utilize. The students scored quite high points on the scale. Thus, although they, as stated in the scale, agreed that they were supposed to have the knowledge sources and strategies and to read the text by using appropriate reading strategies, it was revealed that they are quite poor at basic reading skills and general and inferential reading skills by the results of the pre-test administered soon after the scale.Following the pre-test, each student was applied the Think-alould method to reveal to what extent he uses the knowledge sources and strategies. By the results of the analysis, a parallel result emerged to that in the pre-test; that is, the students cannot benefit from the necessary knowledge sources, and cognitive and metacognitive strategies and they cannot use them appropriately.Thus, based on the results of these three instruments, the students were given strategy instruction in the fall semester of 2007 ? 2008 academic year in order to improve all the aspects of their reading performance. After the strategies instruction, a post-test was administered. Thus, it was revealed how much the students benefited from the reading strategies instruction. As a result, they improved their poor reading performance, and advanced these qualities to a further level. Based on the results, some suggestions were made regarding some aspects of reading comprehension and comprehension instruction.Key Words: Theories of reading comprehension, knowledge sources, stratejic reading, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, inference and theories of inference, reading comprehension instruction, role of L1 and L2 in reading, and good and poor readers.
Student anxiety and the identification of its effect in the speaking compenent of a proficiency test
The aim of the current study is to investigate whether the preparatory school students at a university may have speaking test anxiety. Additionally, it was examined whether there are differences in anxiety levels among students according to gender and the students' departments. To collect data, 126 preparatory school students were given a GEPT (General English Proficiency Test) Scale consisting 3 categories. The 36 items in the questionnaire were subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to determine the sub-categories of the scale. Moreover, 33 students were interviewed to get their opinions on how to overcome speaking test anxiety. Both quantitative and qualitative method design was applied to be able to answer the research questions. The data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS), version 17.0. The results showed that, preparatory school students were anxious during the speaking test. Also, it was found out that male students were much more relaxed during the speaking test comparing to female students. As for the departments, students in law department were more worried comparing to others. Students also believe they can overcome the speaking anxiety by doing speaking activities, making foreign friends, talking to their native teachers and going abroad. Those results were discussed within the context of relevant literature. Key words: English speaking anxiety, English speaking test anxiety
Comparision of computer adaptive individual video tutoring with whole class video lessons
The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to examine the recent developments in the field of computer assisted language learning/testing and to investigate how these developments can be best integrated with video utilization techniques in a language classroom. The special reason for trying to combine these developments with the use of video for language teaching was that; from the point of communicative approach, video is a motivating and meaningful teaching material which offers more clues to meaning and which can make learning in the classroom more like what occurs outside the classroom. The second purpose of this study -with the light of information gathered and on the basis of students? perspective on video and computers- is to suggest a new model of video tutoring, named as Computer Adaptive Individual Video Tutoring. A software was developed to integrate computer assisted language testing principles with the use of video in language teaching so that video lessons take place as an interactive and student centered learning process based on the principles of Communicative and Cognitive approaches. In order to reveal the effectiveness and pedagogic value of the software, a contrastive study was conducted. Lesson plans, classroom observations, four achievement tests and a questionnaire were used to reveal the difference between traditional whole class video lessons and the computer adaptive individual video lessons.The data collected indicated that computer adaptive video tutoring might have a great positive impact on enhancing learning and retention of knowledge as well as dramatically increasing student motivation, participation and engagement.
The role of formulaic sequences in speaking fluency in intermediate English as a foreign language classes
This study investigates whether the students at preparatory classes at Foreign Language Teaching, Implementation and Research Center (FLTIRC) at Gazi University are taught formulaic sequences (FSs) or not. Also, it explores the role of the conversation gambits, a type of FSs, in speaking fluency of the students at FLTIRC preparatory classes at Gazi University.The data were obtained from the questionnaire results given to 93 students (75 of them were composed of the ELT Preparatory Classes (ELTPC) and 18 of them were from General Preparatory Classes (GPC)) at FLTIRC and from the results of pre and post oral tests. The oral tests were applied to 20 GPC students; ten of them comprised the experimental group and the other ten ? the control group. The objective of the study was to explore the role of conversation gambits in improving speaking fluency. The results of the pretests of both groups were recorded in order then to compare with the posttest with regard to changes. The list of 38 useful conversation gambits and activities containing these gambits were prepared. The students of experimental group took treatment lessons, which were based on these activities containing conversation gambits. After a month, the oral posttest was conducted. The fluency of the students was measured according to 6 variables picked up from the previous studies in the literature. As a result of the measurement it was found that the students in both groups improved their performances in almost all of the variables, but the students of experimental group seemed to have improved more than those of the control group.It was concluded that explicit teaching of conversation gambits, if applied more often and longer periods, can provide students with confidence and can enhance their speaking fluency.
An EFL coursebook evaluation study for vocabulary teaching in reading texts a case study: New Bridge To Success
The study was conducted with 21 English teachers and 185 students from 7 different Anatolian High Schools in Ankara during March 2009. Two sets of data were used for this study. First, a questionnaire was distributed to185 students and to the 21 teachers of the 9th grades of 7 Anatolian High Schools in Ankara, who follow the NBS as the only coursebook. Then, the correspondences and discrepancies between the teachers? and students? reports were determined and the coursebook is investigated according to these findings. In the questionnaires how the students and the teachers evaluate the coursebook according to reading skill, how they evaluate the reading texts according to vocabulary teaching aspect, the techniques the teachers use to teach vocabulary while reading, the techniques the students use when they meet an unknown word and the techniques the students use to learn new vocabulary are investigated. The data in the questionnaires was analyzed by calculating the mean scores, percentages and frequencies. Flesch-Kincaid readability test was administered to randomly selected seven reading texts in terms of determining the readability.The results revealed that both the teachers and the students felt negative about the most of the characteristics of the reading texts and vocabulary aspects of the coursebook. Majority of the teachers mentioned that the reading passages needed to be simplified in terms of both vocabulary load and structures. It was also mentioned that the book needs revision and during revision special attention should be paid to the vocabulary teaching/learning aspect.Key words: Textbook Evaluation, Teaching/learning Vocabulary, Reading skill and vocabulary, New Bridge to Success (Elementary)
A case study on oral communicative skills while teaching English on the basis of "Lingua Franca" term at university preparatory schools
The high spread of English around the world as an international means of communication has brought about the need to explore the current orientations in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT).The assumption that the teaching of a global language should be different from that any other second language serves as the main point of departure of this study.Lingua Franca interactions in English- those exclusively involving non-native speakers- are mostly common, everyday occurrences worldwide. By examining the naturally-occurring, work-related talk of management personnel communicating in ?lingua franca? English, this paper explores a range of issues surrounding the applicability of conversation analytic methodology to lingua franca talk-data.This study is conducted at preparatory school students and instructors in different universities such as; Marmara University, Başkent University, Osmangazi University, METU, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Pamukkale University. The participants consist of 138 preparatory class students and 43 instructors working at these schools. Students? group fill out A Grammar Test consisting of grammatically wrong sentences, A questionnaire analyzing of speaking classes at preparatory classes, and A Likert Type Attitude Questionnaire. Instructors? group is also given the questionnaires except from grammar test which were prepared in a parallel way to the students? questionnaires. The results of both groups were compared and the findings are interpreted statistically and verbally.Analyses of data indicated that students benefit from lingua franca English in oral communicative skills. The degree of their developmental progress differed depending upon their level of English and motivation respectively.
Expectations of young learners and teenagers in terms of language teaching materials
This study analyses the material expectations of young learners and teenagersin English lessons. When the characteristics of each age group are identified, theimportance of choosing right activity types for each group is highlighted as well. Ifthe activity types and choice of materials appeal to age groups appropriately,language learning will become an enjoyable, memorable and interesting experience.The work is composed of five chapters and the first chapter aims to give thepurpose of the study. However, the second chapter informs readers about the relatedstudies made in the field. After identifying young learners, the ideas of philosophersand educational psychologists are presented chronologically about how childrenlearn. Then, teenagers and the way they learn are defined. Finally, language teachingmaterials and their characteristics are introduced in detail.In chapter three, methodology, data collection and analysis techniques aredescribed. Pre- test results gathered from both groups are analyzed and sample lessonplans which are followed by post- tests analysis of students and observers areexemplified. This chapter ends with a conclusion section.Chapter four consists of suggested activity types and materials for younglearners and teenagers.The last chapter includes conclusions which are derived from the findings.The study has six appendices; full version of the questionnaire so called pre-test -one in Turkish and one in English, the post test with English and Turkish translationand finally the one for observers which is in English and in Turkish again.
Reflective foreign language teacher development: A case study
This dissertation describes a piece of action research conducted with three English Language Teaching university instructors looking for a way to develop themselves professionally while continuing with their normal workload. The data, which consisted of the transcribed post-observation conferences held between pairs of participants and the entries in the personal reflective journals, were coded by the researcher; and the sections relevant to the research questions were analysed statistically to find how the reflective codes identified by the researcher clustered around the variables of role and context of reflection. There were three types of findings that emerged from this study: those of the qualitative analysis, those of the statistical analysis, and those of the action research process. The qualitative analysis produced a list of reflective modes that each participant was engaged in, and a list of categories that describe the content of their reflection. The findings of the statistical analysis show that certain reflective categories occurred more frequently in particular contexts, that each participant had different patterns of reflection, and that there was no linear relationship between their private and collaborative reflections. The findings of the action research process shows that each participant achieved change mostly at the level of awareness, although one participant noticeably changed. The findings are significant in that they show how and on what aspects of their practice instructors reflect; that collaborative reflection can provide alternative reflection patterns to private reflection; and that they present a simple framework for instructors to engage in self and collaborative development.
An analysis of the awareness levels of the state school efl teachers on reflective teaching:a case study
The aim of this study is to identify the awareness levels of the state school EFL teachers on Reflective Teaching and whether they prefer using reflective teaching in their profession or not. The study consists of five chapters. These are introduction to the study, literature review part, the methodology of the study, data analysis and interpretation, conclusion and suggestions. Chapter 1 consists of introduction, the problem, aim and scope of the study, methodology and assumptions. Chapter 2 consists of the literature review section. In this chapter, models of reflective teaching; the background of reflective teaching, the definition of reflective teaching, types of reflection, forms of reflective teaching practice, strengths and pitfalls of reflective teaching are intoduced. Chapter 3 contains the methodology of the study. The introduction to the methodology is introduced in a detailed way.The subjects, materials and procedure of the study are described in the third chapter Chapter 4 contains data analysis, interpretations, result and discussion. Chapter 5 includes the overall conclusion of the study, teacher training and development, and suggestions to improve teacher development are introduced.
The cognitive and cultural aspects of metaphor in the comprehension of columns
This study aims to find out whether metaphors are culture specific and the typesof reading strategies students use while reading texts, also whether there is one-to-one correspondence between the meaning of metaphors assigned by languages.Chapter 1 presents the background to the study, problem, aim of the study, themethod and the assumptions of the study.Chapter 2 presents the review of literature which consists three parts.The first part presents reading comprehension.The second part presents everything about metaphor.The fird part presents what culture is and shows how culture and metaphors areconnected.In chapter 3, the methodology that the present study makes use of is explainedwith reference to the subjects that participated in the study, the instruments used, andhow data are collected.Chapter 4 includes the analysis and the interpretation of data collected from thestudents.Chapter 5, which is the conclusion part of this study, summarizes the study,further highlights the importance of metaphor in reading and discusses the importanceof metaphor understanding and interpretations for foreign language teaching.
Promoting learner autonomy through activities at Gazi University preparatory school
The aim of this study is to promote learner autonomy through the activities to beexploited at Gazi University, Preparatory School. Since the prep school education is vital forthe learners who have just commenced their education in terms of acquiring several aspectswhich will aid them in their future education, this study focused on this point.In order to reach this aim, two classes, the former of which was the experimentalgroup and the latter of which was the control group, were appointed randomly. They were thelearners studying English from various faculties at Gazi University. Prior to theimplementation phase, Learner Autonomy Questionnaire, consisting of three parts abackground questionnaire, LAQ 1 and LAQ 2, was administered to the learners in bothgroups so as to reveal how much autonomy each group possessedWhereas the experimental group was instructed with the autonomy implementation,the control group continued their education with no change. After the 12-weekimplementation stage, the same questionnaire was administered to both groups one more time.The results from both groups were gathered and analyzed by the use of student t-test andpaired sample t-test so as to reveal whether any change would exist between the groups.At the end of this process, the statistics results were commented on. The resultsdisplay that the learners in the experimental group scored higher than those in the controlgroup, and showed more autonomy than the control group with a few exceptions. Moreover,the results from the experimental group were compared with those from the control groupitem by item. Total results were statistically shown in the tables.In the following chapter of the study, the conclusion and summary of the study wasmade with pedagogical implications and suggestions for further studies included
Vocabulary teaching to the second year cadets in the army academy to improve listening and reading skills within the framework of MI theory, in Turkey
Bahaeddin Özkişi who was born in İstanbul in 1928, to taked part in 20. centuryTurkısh Literature with his stories and novels; he succeeded to capture to a stylespecial to him with his expression and choosed subjects.The writer, used a comprehensible and net expressions, to loaded impressivemeanings to details that we eve neglected usually and he dealed with the eventspsychologaclly. Bahaeddin Özkişi who grewn with comprehensive Sufism culture,reflected this to his works. So, his works ?novels and stories- is like his mirror.Bahaeddin Özkişi is a writer and however he is an artist who signed to differentbusiness. He made the models of old İstanbul houses? and he gilded on the glass.
The relationship between learning strategy choice in reading comprehension and academic success
ABSTRACT Considerable research has been done on foreign language learning process in recent years. Accordingly, more and more importance has been given to the improvement of the quality of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching and learning. Students learning a foreign language approach the language learning task in different ways. And it is a fact that some students are more successful than others. There comes the question "What makes a good language learner?" It is impossible to claim that one single method, technique, book or type of teacher is the cause of achievement in language learning because the reasons for varying learner performance cannot be explained only as a direct result of the factors such as teaching methods, instructional tecniques, classroom environments or teachers. Learner success is also dependent on learner based factors. Self-direction is essential in the active development of learners' abilities in learning. It is especially important for language learners to be self-directed since it is impossible to give them direct guidance or instruction when they use the language outside the classroom. It is obvious that learners need to be empowered with a wide range of learning strategies to achieve competence and autonomy in learning the target language. In this study it is aimed to find out whether there is a relationship between learning strategy choice in reading comprehension and academic success or not. In order to prove that such a relationship exists a questionnaire was applied to two groups of students consisting of 1 5 students who are at the same level of English profiency and were attending to a nine-month English course at Air Force Language School at the time of the study. The questionnaire was applied for the first time at the beginning of the study and it proved that all the students' have alow level of frequency of language learning strategy use and their results were nearly the same because of their being unware of the learning strategies. Then a six-week training on language learning strategies was given to the second group of the study. After this training the questionnaire was applied for the second time to both of the groups in order to find out whether there is a change in the students' frequency of language learning strategy use. It was discovered that the frequency of language strategy use of the students of the second group was higher than the students of the other group. After that, both groups of students were asked to take an achievement test of reading comprehension which is compulsory for the couse. The students of the second group were successful than the students of the other group in their achievement test. To sum up, both students and teachers should be aware of the importance of the language learning strategies both in learning and teaching. It can be said that after a certain amount of practice and use, students will know how and when to use learning strategies and their use of language learning strategies will effect their success positively.
A study on metacognitive strategy needs of Gülhane Military Medicine Academy students on reading medical texts
11 ABSTRACT This study aims to determine the metacognitive strategy needs of a group of Turkish medicine academy students in reading medical texts. The study is composed of six chapters. The first chapter offers a background to the study. The aim and scope of the study are given in this chapter along with the method and assumptions. The second chapter presents literature review. This chapter provides a brief history of reading skill and mentions strategies for reading comprehension. It then discusses the position of reading skill in learning a foreign language, and informs about reading models and reading strategies. Chapter three deals with the research methodology, whereas chapter four presents the data analysis and discussion of the results. Chapter five includes suggestions, pedagogical implications and a sample lesson plan. Chapter six, the conclusion, provides a brief summary of the study and the results.
Handling the problems in mixed-ability classes
in ABSTRACT This study aims to shade light on the difficulties in a mixed-ability class and to suggest solutions for how to manage them. The study has five chapters. The first cahapter presents the introduction part, background to the study, the problem, aim and scope of the study, the method and the assumptions of the study. In chapter II, the rewiew of literature is presented including three theories related to diversity of students, the classification of learner styles and their impact on education. In chapter HI, the analysis of the data collected from the students through an inventory and from the lecturers through an interview is stated. Also, this chapter gives information how the data is collected, analyzed and interpreted in detail. Chapter IV suggests lesson plans which include activities based on learner styles and levels. Chapter V, which is the conclusion part of the study, summarizes the study.
Drama as a compulsory course in education faculties
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a need to programme drama as a compulsory course in education faculties. For this purpose, four fields of teaching: English Language Teaching; Primary School Teaching; Pre school Teaching; and Mathematics Teaching were chosen. Data were collected from these fields by means of interviews.In addition, the academicians from the education faculties were interviewed. The data gathered from the interviews were analysed and compared with the findings of the interviews with the academicians. The points where the teachers, students and academicians became similar and became different were analysed as meaningful points. This study has two major results. The first result of this study is the need to programme drama as a compulsory course in education faculties. Participation in drama process leads to personel development and this is the second major result of this study.
The impact of personalization on the lexical competence acquisition
People learn a language to understand the others and to be understood by other people. As a result of this, communicative competence of the learners must be developed. In communicative competence, there are other kinds of competences such as grammatical, lexical, strategic, sociocultural competence, etc. The most important of them is lexical competence, which is the ability to use words and phrases correctly in the suitable context.Without words, meaning cannot be conveyed. As both teachers and learners are aware of this fact, they put an emphasis on the lexical items. Teachers use various techniques for the presentation of them. However, this is not adequate for the learners. Practice is highly necessary because it shows whether they have comprehended the target lexical items or not. Moreover, learners can learn to use the lexical items in the correct context while practicing.Personalization is a kind of lexical practice technique which requires to make a connection with your life and the meaning of the lexical item. In the present study, the aim is to find out the impact of personalization on the lexical competence acquisition. The study was designed as quasi-experimental. The participants were 60 senior students from the English Language Teaching Department at Dokuz Eylul University. Before the treatment, they did the lexical achievement test to see whether they had known 30 target lexical items or not. The intervention and control groups were chosen randomly. For 4 weeks, the same techniques were used for the presentation, but the practice part was different. While the intervention group practiced the target items through personalization, the control group practiced by answering the general questions. Two weeks later, the post-test was conducted on them to find out their achievement levels. According to the comparison of pre- and post-test results, it is seen that each group developed their lexical competence. However, the comparison of post-test results showed that there was not a significant difference between the groups. The effect of personalization was also investigated in terms of gender, the cumulative GPA and the high school type. Nevertheless, no significant effect was found. Three weeks after the post-test, the delayed post-test was conducted on the participants to investigate the long term effects of personalization. There was a decrease in the retention of the lexical items in the control group. However, the groups did not outperform the other according to the delayed post-test results. Keywords: personalization, lexical acquisition competence, communicative language teaching Keywords: personalization, lexical acquisition competence, communicative language teaching
Education in utopia and anti-Utopia
The essence of mankind is optimism. Therefore, he has always dreamed of a better future and a better world since the existence of humanity. Utopias are the establishment of this ideal society and order created by human consciousness. However, as being creations of a perfect place, not only do they reflect our desires and hopes about the future, but also criticize the periods and therefore the societies in which they are written. On the other hand, anti-utopias are literary works depicting a society or a place which is much worse than the existing one. Therefore, by portraying a darker future, they satirize the existing conditions and unlike utopians they express their fears and try to warn the reader about the dangers awaiting them.One common point shared by all utopian and anti-utopian works is that they have a message to send. The writers of both types, as citizens of their society, are influenced by the events that surround them. Thus, they base their works on various themes such as education which is a central concern to many utopian and anti-utopian writers. In their works they describe the features of an ideal educational system and emphasize the importance of such education in the creation and maintenance of a desired society and a perfect life. Anti-utopians, on the other hand, indicate the wrongdoings in education and serve as a caution for people to avoid these actions which would result in a worse life and a worse world.In this dissertation utopian and anti-utopian works written in different centuries and which deal specifically with the subject of education have been chosen: Thomas More?s `Utopia? (1516), Jonathan Swift?s `Gulliver?s Travels? (1726), Samuel Butler?s `Erewhon? (1872) and Aldous Huxley?s `Island? (1962) have been studied in terms of aims and principles of education, education of children and adult education. The aim has been to analyze the similarities and differences in the studies of these works written during different periods and an effort has been exerted to analyze their views on education.Key Words: Utopia, Anti-utopia, Education.
Boş zaman etkinliklerinin okuduğunu anlama ve okumaya yönelik tutumlar üzerindeki etkililiği
Yabancı dil hazırlık öğrencilerinin boş zaman etkinliklerine katılım sıklığına göre İngilizce okumaya yönelik tutumları ve okuduğunu anlama başarılarının karşılaştırmalı olarak incelendiği bu araştırmada amaç, çeşitli boş zaman etkinliklerinin okuduğunu anlama ve okumaya yönelik tutumlar üzerindeki etkililiğini tanımlamaya çalışmaktır.Çalışma, öğrencilerinin boş zaman etkinliklerine katılım sıklıklarına göre İngilizce okumaya yönelik tutumları ve okuduğunu anlama başarılarını betimlemeyi amaçladığından araştırma betimsel bir araştırmadır. Araştırmanın örneklemi Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Yabancı Diller Yüksekokulu İngilizce Hazırlık programına devam eden orta düzey lisans öğrencileri arasından oranlı örnekleme yöntemiyle seçilmiştir. Örnekleme seçilen öğrenci sayısı 306'dır.Araştırmanın verileri Boş Zaman Etkinlikleri Anketi, İngilizce Okuduğunu Anlama Testi ve İngilizce Okumaya Yönelik Tutum Ölçeği ile toplanmış, elde edilen verilerin çözümlenmesinde ise ortalama, standart sapma, t testi, varyans analizi ve Scheffé testi kullanılmıştır.Araştırmanın sonucunda, öğrencilerin İngilizce okumaya yönelik tutumlarının ve okuduğunu anlama başarılarının cinsiyetlerine, mezun oldukları lise türlerine, devam edecekleri fakülte türlerine ve birinci ya da ikinci öğretim öğrencisi olmalarına göre anlamlı farklılık göstermediği saptanmıştır. Diğer yandan, sıklıkla kitap okuduğunu, sanatsal etkinliklerle ilgilendiğini, internette İngilizce sitelerden yararlandığını, interneti İngilizce okumayı geliştirmek amaçlı kullandığını ve orijinal seslendirmeli ve altyazısız yabancı filmleri, İngilizce yayın yapan televizyon kanallarını tercih ettiğini belirten öğrencilerin İngilizce okumaya yönelik tutumları diğerlerinden daha yüksek bulunmuştur. Bunun yanında, sıklıkla gazete okuduğunu, bilimsel bir dergiyi takip ettiğini, Türkçe seslendirmeli yabancı filmleri tercih ettiğini ve üniversite veya üniversite dışında düzenlenen bilimsel toplantı, seminer, panel ve konferans gibi etkinliklere katıldığını belirten öğrencilerin İngilizce okuduğunu anlama başarıları diğerlerinden daha düşük bulunmuştur. Son olarak, kahvehaneye gitmediğini belirten öğrencilerin hem İngilizce okumaya yönelik tutumlarının hem de okuduğunu anlama başarılarının diğerlerinden daha yüksek olduğu bulgusuna ulaşılmıştır.
A comparative postcolonial discourse in The God of Small Things By A. Roy and Things Fall Apart By C. Achebe and its incorporation in elt multicultural literature curriculum
This dissertation examines the transcultural forms, the colonial heritage, and language in the postcolonial India and Nigeria depicted in Arundhati Roy?s The God of Small Things and Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart. Roy?s and Achebe?s portrayal of the covert and overt ways on transcultural forms, colonial heritage, and language and their impact on the characters? lives will be a major focus in constituting a hybrid identity in postcolonial discourse. This study aims to do a postcolonial discourse on these two different texts in order to find the different methods chosen by each author in his or her representations of the space in which the colonial subject develops and his or her reaction to the changes brought by colonization.The dissertation consists of seven main parts. The introduction overviews the world of each text in terms of the transcultural forms, the colonial heritage, and language. The first chapter examines postcolonial theory and its reflection in literature. The second chapter looks at the life and works of the two selected authors. The third and forth chapters consists of a textual analysis of selected novels which will be an analysis of the interaction between indigenous people and their colonizers as well as the struggle between tradition and modernity. The fifth chapter explores the need and the ways of incorporating postcolonial texts in the curriculum of ELT Departments. The conclusion compares and overviews the process of colonization portrayed in the two texts resulting in cultural and linguistic hybridization.
Türkiye'de bir devlet üniversitesinde ingilizce'yi yabancı dil olarak öğrenen öğrencilerin yabancı dil haz ve yabancı dil kaygılarının araştırılması
This study was carried out to measure the levels of Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) of Turkish learners of English studying at a state university in Turkiye. Finding out the relationship between these two widespread emotions and the primary sources behing these emotions were the other purposes of the study. In order to attain these goals, Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (FLES) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) were administered to discover the levels of these emotions and the link between them. Also, semi-structured interviews were held with both the instructors and the learners to discover the sources of these two emotions. A total number of 184 students took part in the first stage, and 12 learners and 8 volunteer instructors participated in the second stage. The study demonstrated that EFL learners studying at a tertiary level had a high level of enjoyment and a moderate level of anxiety. Besides, a weak-to-moderate relationship was found between these emotions. Regarding the sources of FLE, it was discovered that participants had enjoyment thanks to positive classroom atmosphere, positive teacher attitudes, enjoyable and novel activities, and self-realization of progress. With respect to FLA, the study uncovered that learners felt anxious due to not being capable of speaking English, fear of failure, test anxiety, fear of mispronunciation, scarcity of grammatical knowledge and failure to progress. The study offered some pedagogical implications in the end.
Yabancı dil olarak İngilizce sınıflarında öğretmen-öğrenci bireyler arası ilişkilerinin öngörücüsü olarak öğretmen iyi oluşu
This study aimed to explore the impacts of teacher wellbeing on teacher student relationships. In this respect, the study investigated how the wellbeing of Turkish teachers is reflected in their verbal immediacy behavior while interacting with learners and the classroom climate in relation to the verbal immediacy in tertiary level language classrooms in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting. Five themes were focused on in terms of teacher verbal immediacy behavior: sharing personal examples and experiences, asking questions, use of humor, praise, and criticism. The researcher collected data through a questionnaire, classroom observation, interviews, and an inventory. Teacher Wellbeing Questionnaire adapted from Collie, Shapka, Perry & Martin (2015) was conducted with 43 teachers and the researcher selected four teachers who scored highest and four teachers who scored lowest to observe their lessons. A Verbal Immediacy Framework was developed based on Gorham's (1988) Verbal Immediacy Items to be used during observation. After the observations, the students of eight participant teachers were asked to complete a Classroom Climate Inventory (CCI) adapted from Fraser, Treagust, and Dennis (1986) and Mcber (2000). Finally, follow-up interviews were conducted with the eight participant teachers in order to supplement the data gathered from the classroom observations and CCI. Data obtained through three instruments were triangulated. The qualitative data collected from classroom observations and interviews were analyzed according to Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis whereas the data coming from CCI were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS. The findings revealed differences between two groups of teachers in three of the pre-determined aspects of verbal immediacy and classroom climate. The data analysis indicated that teachers who are at a more positive wellbeing level tend to use more personal examples and experiences, use more humor, and praise their students more frequently while interacting with their students in the classroom compared to those with negative wellbeing. However, there was no significant difference between the numbers and types of the open questions asked by the two groups of teachers and the criticism used by participants. These findings helped draw the conclusion that teacher wellbeing has a role in establishing immediacy, which leads to a positive or negative influence on interpersonal relationships between teachers and students as well as the classroom climate. Therefore, the study implied that the wellbeing of language teachers can be considered as the predictor of interpersonal relationships between teachers and language learners in EFL classrooms.
A Needs assessment of teachers and students from engineering and tourism departments for designing a communicative ELT curriculum
/53Keyword: Mühendislik = Engineering ; Turizm = Tourism ; Yabancı dil öğretimi = Foreign language teaching ; Üniversiteler = Universities ; İngilizce = English
Türkiye'deki üniversite hazırlık sınıfı öğrencilerinin geçmiş yabancı dil öğrenim deneyimleri ile yabancı dil kaygıları arasındaki ilişki
This study mainly investigated the relationship between past language learning experiences and the foreign language anxiety levels of university EFL learners. It also aimed to find out the extent to which language learning background factors have an impact on foreign language anxiety. The study was conducted in the English preparatory programs at Bilkent and Pamukkale Universities, with the participation of 285 students from three proficiency levels (pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate).Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire administered to students included two main sections. In the first section, demographic information about the participants was collected. In the second section, the translation of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) questionnaire by Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986 was given to the participants. Questionnaires were analyzed by using t-tests and ANOVA tests. Afterwards, using the results of the analyses involved in the quantitative part, participants who demonstrated high and low levels of anxiety were selected for participation in the qualitative phase. Through the use of in-depth interviews, actual accounts of past language learning experiences and university students? current anxiety levels were explored.The analysis of the quantitative data revealed that students? prior history of visiting countries, having had a native teacher, having studied another language besides English were all related to the prediction of foreign language anxiety.The interview results showed that for both high and low anxiety students the role of previous language learning experiences has an impact on forming their current anxiety levels.
Türkiye'deki üniversite hazırlık okullarındaki portfolyo uygulamaları ve öğretmenlerin portfolyoyu algılamaları ve portfolyo uygulamalarında yaşanan problemler
This study seeks to investigate portfolio implementation at Turkish university preparatory schools and the reported aims of portfolio use as targeted by these schools. The study further examines teachers? perceptions of portfolio use, specifically, the problems they experience with portfolio use, possible sources of these problems and their suggestions on how portfolio use can be improved.The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, data on portfolio use and aims of its use were collected through a questionnaire administered at seven university preparatory schools. In the second phase, data on teachers? perceptions were gathered through a second questionnaire administered to 126 teachers at five of the seven preparatory schools.The results reached in the first phase of the study revealed that portfolios are mainly used for the writing component of the preparatory programs. The analyses of the data also revealed that certain key features of portfolios, such as student participation in the selection of portfolio content, self assessment, and student reflection, are not generally included in portfolios at preparatory programs. Regarding the aims of portfolio use targeted by schools, the results indicate that in order to achieve the intended aims, the missing key elements of portfolios should be included.The results reached in the second phase of the study indicate that teachers perceive portfolios as an appropriate tool for assessment purposes. When the results regarding teachers? experiences with portfolio use are examined, the outcomes indicate that the problems experienced with portfolio use are in large part felt to be related to students? attitudes towards portfolios, which are themselves caused by students? study habits and previous educational backgrounds. It was also revealed that problems related to portfolio entries and institutional practices create some challenges in portfolio implementation at schools.
İngilizce öğrenen Türk üniversite öğrencilerinin motivasyonlarıyla ilişkili olarak eğitsel aktivitelere karşı tercihleri
This study investigates a) the components of motivation that Turkish university EFL students hold, b) their preferences for instructional activities, c) how these two concepts relate to each other, and d) whether the proficiency level affects responses toward motivation and instructional activity types.The study was conducted at Hacettepe University, School of Foreign Languages, with the participation of 343 students from three different proficiency levels (pre-intermediate, intermediate, and upper-intermediate). The data were collected using a 81-item questionnaire related to motivation and instructional activity types.Factor analysis was conducted for the collected data and the factors found formed the basis of the scales used in the subsequent analysis. In the motivation section, nine factors were determined which formed the internal structure of motivation. Among these factors, instrumental motivation, which had the highest median score, was found the most important motivation type in this population. The anxiety factor had the lowest median score.In the instructional activity section, four factors were found. While the communicative focus factor had the highest median score, the traditional approach factor had the lowest score. This study also indicated that there is a relationship between preferences for activity types in relation to students? motivation. In fact, significant correlations were found between almost all motivation styles and communicative and challenging activities.But, the effect sizes of the correlations were not the same with all activity types in each motivation style. Some of the correlations were much stronger than the others. This result shows that even though there was not a clear-cut difference between students? preferences for activity types in relation to motivational styles, some activity types were favored more than the others in each motivation style.This finding revealed a variation across the groups and thus confirmed this possible link between motivation and instructional activity types. Additionally, the results in this study indicated that there were large differences in motivation and activity type preferences among different language proficiency levels.
Türkiye'deki hazırlık sınıfı öğrencilerinin duygusal zeka ve yabancı dil kaygısı arasındaki ilişki
It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the rising trend of emotional intelligence in education. So far, however, there has been very little discussion about the relationship between emotional intelligence and foreign language anxiety. The main objectives of the this study were a) to give a general picture of the emotional intelligence and foreign language anxiety levels of Turkish EFL students at university level; b) to investigate the effects of gender and success level on both emotional intelligence and foreign language anxiety; c) explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and foreign language anxiety; and d) to examine the relationships between the five sub-skills of emotional intelligence (adaptability, stress management, mood, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) and foreign language anxiety.
Koya Üniversitesi EFL öğrencilerinin dışa dönüklük-içe dönüklük ve sözlü performansları
This study explores the relationship between the extraversion-introversion personality type tendencies of Iraqi college students and their oral proficiency in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In this regard, the present study aims to reinvestigate the correlation between extraversion-introversion and EFL students' oral proficiency represented by fluency, accuracy, complexity, pronunciation, and global impression. So far, the findings in previous studies examining the correlation between extraversion-introversion and oral performance are contradictory.ivIn order to address this contradiction, the participants were 40 non-native speakers of English who were studying EFL at Koya University's College of languages located in Northern Iraq. They were administered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and interview sessions in which an oral elicitation task was used. During interviewing the participants' speeches were taped and then scored in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity. Meanwhile, two PhD non-native speakers of English instructors at the same institution scored the participants pronunciation accuracy and global impression (overall oral production) using 6-point checklists for each. In the analysis, the participants have scores indicating their tendencies towards either extraversion or introversion, and scores for each oral performance components.The results suggest that there was not a significant correlation between extraversion-introversion and EFL oral performance components, fluency, accuracy, complexity, pronunciation, and global impression. In addition, the correlation coefficient values reveal that there is no relationship between the two variables. These findings are discussed with respect to the previous findings in the same research field.
Müziğin ingilizce dil öğrencilerinin konuşma akıcılığı ve motivasyon/ilgi düzeylerine etkisi
Music has, so far, been noted to be beneficial in education. There have been some experimental studies that look at the effects of music on reading, vocabulary, and conversational skills in teaching foreign languages. However, there have been no studies searching for the effects of music in the arena of learners? speaking fluency as well as their motivation/interest level. In this respect, several questions arose: Can music be a salient factor in the teaching of language skills, particularly speaking? Can music be a tool to enhance students? capacity for speaking fluency? On a less direct but arguably even more important level for second language learning, can music play a role in improving students? motivation/interest in language learning contexts?The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the above questions and, based on their answers, to guide English language teachers in their thinking about the use of songs in the classroom, both as a means of enhancing learners? abilities to speak fluently and as a motivating tool.The data used in this study were obtained from 46 pre-intermediate level students studying at the School of Basic English (SOBE) at Karadeniz Technical University (KTU). The major instruments in the research were the tests that were used to measure the students? speaking fluency, and the questionnaire given to assess the students? motivation/interest levels for learning English. An interview with the teacher who taught both groups was another instrument. The reflections from the participants in the treatment group were also used for evaluating their thoughts with respect to the contributions of music to their speaking lessons. The data collected from the questionnaire and the oral assessments were analyzed using t-tests. Both the data gathered from the interview and the reflections from the students were analyzed based on the approaches of qualitative data analysis. In this study, descriptive analysis was also used for analyzing both the data collected from the interview and the students? reflections.According to the results of the pre-test scores for oral assessment, the speaking fluency level of the contrast group was higher than the treatment group (6.83-5.27) whereas the motivation/interest level of both groups was approximately the same. After the treatment, although both groups? motivation/interest scores actually decreased, the decrease in motivation/interest levels of the treatment group was observed to be significantly less than that of the contrast group. Post-test results for the oral assessment scores of both groups again showed those of the contrast group remaining slightly higher than those of the treatment group, but no longer significantly higher (7.92-7.42).Key words: Music, language skills, speaking fluency, motivation/interest level
Çalışma arkadaşı geri bildiriminde birinci ve ikinci dil kullanımının eleştirel düşünme üzerine etkisi
This study investigated (a) quantitative and (b) qualitative differences between the critical thinking displayed in L1 and L2 in peer feedback discussions of Turkish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. High-proficiency EFL learners participated in the study on a voluntary basis after a critical thinking test. With eight high-scorer students of the test, two groups were formed with four students in each group. These students had previously taken advanced writing courses and practiced peer feedback in these courses. Still, they were given a simple feedback guide sheet and training. The participants were asked to write two argumentative essays on two different topics one week before the discussion meeting. Focusing on those essays, each group had feedback discussions in L1 (Turkish) and L2 (English), in different orders. The researcher made no interventions. The discussions were audio- and video-recorded, and transcribed for a detailed analysis. The transcriptions were coded according to a critical thinking framework that was prepared by the researcher by adapting and combining items from previously used frameworks. The findings were analyzed for the quantitative and qualitative differences between the critical thinking expressed in the two languages.The data analysis showed that critical thinking was displayed significantly more in the L1. This finding, however, is affected by the fact that participants? total amount of talk in L1 was also more than L2 talk, therefore the quantitative difference appears to have caused by the surplus amount of total talk in the L1. The study also revealed that there were qualitative differences between the languages that critical thinking was displayed. It was speculated that the qualitative differences resulted from the ease of using the native language as well as the safety provided by the pragmatic knowledge that made communication and interaction clearer in the L1. Suggestions were made for further support to students to express their thoughts in spoken L2 more effectively, which could include more practice on giving effective peer feedback, focusing on the necessary discourse and pragmatic skills, and providing students with other discussion tasks and subject matters that invites critical thinking.
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.
Sesli kitapların yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğrenen farklı yeterlik seviyesindeki üniversite öğrencilerinin okudukları metinleri anlamalarına olan etkisi
This study mainly investigated the effectiveness of audio books on the reading comprehension of selected texts by university EFL students. This study also aimed to find out whether a difference in students? reading comprehension as a result of exposure to audio books emerges based on their proficiency levels. Lastly, students? attitudes toward audio books were also investigated in the study.This study was conducted over three weeks, with the participation of 82 students from four classes at elementary and intermediate levels at Anadolu University School of Foreign Languages. One of the classes at each level was selected as the control group and the other class was designated as the experimental group. The control group students were assigned to read three graded readers, one book per-week, while the experimental group students were assigned to read the same books and listen to the accompanying audio CDs outside the classroom.In order to investigate the effectiveness of audio books on the reading comprehension of university EFL students, reading comprehension tests, which were prepared for each book separately, were administered to the control and the experimental group students after each one-week reading period. In order to address the first research question, the mean values and standard deviations were calculated and compared between the control and experimental groups. The test results of the elementary and the intermediate level students were compared to explore any difference in the effectiveness of audio books on reading comprehension according to their proficiency levels. Following each reading comprehension test, the experimental group students were administered a questionnaire with the intent to find out their attitudes toward using audio books.Analysis of the test data revealed that audio books are effective in the text comprehension of university EFL students, and they appeared to have a greater effect on students at intermediate level than they did at elementary level. The results from the questionnaire showed that the experimental group students had positive attitudes toward their experience with audio books. Finally, the study emphasizes the importance of audio books, suggesting that teachers can incorporate them as an alternative approach to traditional extensive reading implementation.Key Words: Audio book, reading comprehension, extensive reading, attitude, proficiency level, effectiveness
Sözlü mülakat sınavlarında konuşmacının davranışları
This study investigated interlocutor behaviors during oral assessment interviews. The study was conducted at Karadeniz Teknik University, with the participation of 272 students and twenty instructors assigned to conduct oral interviews in the Department of Basic English.Data were collected through questionnaires and the analysis of video-recordings. Students ranked each of the interviewers separately. The analysis of the quantitative data revealed that while students generally perceived their interlocutors? behaviors more positively, there were important differences among the behaviors. The analysis of the video-recordings also showed that the interlocutors generally displayed positive behaviors during oral assessment interviews but showed variation in their behaviors.Key words: Oral assessment interview, interlocutor behavior
İngilizce yazma dersi sınıflarında yazma öncesi tartışma aktivitelerinde anadil ve yabancı dil kullanımı ve öğrencilerin yazma öncesi tartışma aktivitelerinde anadil ve yabancı dil kullanımına yönelik tutumları
This study investigated the effectiveness of the use of L1 and L2 in prewriting discussion on EFL students? writing quality. The study also examined students? attitudes towards prewriting discussions in general, and having prewriting discussions in L1 and L2 in particular.Data were collected in three phases with 30 sophomore Kurdish native speaker students in the English Language Department at Koya University in the north of Iraq. In the first phase, the students wrote four essays after prewriting discussions in either their native language (Kurdish) or their second language (English). In the study, the students wrote two essays in the first and fourth week after L1 discussions and they also wrote two essays in the second and third weeks after having L2 discussions. In the second step, data were collected through a questionnaire which focused on the students? attitudes towards prewriting discussion in general and the use of L1 and L2 in particular. Then, according to their writing test scores, four participants were chosen (two with the highest and two with the lowest scores) and interviewed in order to know their in-depth feelings and attitudes towards prewriting discussions and using L1 and L2 in prewriting discussions in EFL writing classes.The findings showed that the participants wrote better essays after the L2 prewriting discussions than after the L1 discussions. The findings also showed that the students generally responded positively to prewriting discussions as an effective technique in EFL writing classes; however they had mixed feelings about some points relating to the language choice in prewriting discussions. In other words, some of the participants believed that L2 use was more useful for English major students as they need to learn English, while other participants believed that the language choice in prewriting discussions should be determined according to students? level of second language proficiency. In brief, the results indicated that English language students should use the second language in all speaking class activities in all levels in order to help them learn English better, but lower level students should be allowed to use their native language when they cannot fully express their ideas in English.Finally, this study presents some pedagogical recommendations such as using prewriting discussions together with other techniques in the second language writing process. It also recommends that the use of L1 alongside L2 in prewriting discussions should be allowed among EFL students, especially lower level students, in order to help them participate in class activities and make them feel less anxious while expressing their ideas, and also to help them to better understand the topics and improve their writing performance.Key words: prewriting discussions, English as a foreign language, Kurdish, student attitudes, writing process.
Yaygın olarak kullanılan bir ders kitabındaki görevlerin öğrenciler açısından motive edici yanları
The main objective of this study is to investigate students? motivation levels as a response to five different task types ? group work, group discussion, interview, role play and information-gap tasks ? in a commonly used EFL course book and their motivating characteristics from students' perceptions at the Foreign Languages Center of İstanbul Kültür University.The data gathered from a motivation questionnaire were submitted to quantitative analysis while the data collected from semi-structured interviews and students' journals were submitted to qualitative analysis. In order to measure students' motivation levels towards five different task types, the mean values and standard deviations for each task in each class and for all tasks from all proficiency levels were calculated. Additionally, an ANOVA test was run to compare the motivation levels of all students to similar task types and different classes towards different task types. In order to analyze the qualitative data, recurring patterns about the motivating characteristics of tasks were found both in the interviews and student journals. Then similar comments that were recurring in the data from these two instruments were matched to describe both motivating and demotivating aspects of tasks from students? perceptions.Results revealed that students found the tasks from a commonly used course book motivating on a scale between "some" and much". They preferred the group work task due to its motivating characteristics. The group discussion task was evaluated as the second most motivating activity, while the interview task was labeled as the third motivating task by the participants of the present study. On the other hand, students evaluated role play and information gap tasks as only partially motivating, as they recognized both motivating and demotivating aspects of these task types, which led to a statistical difference at a significant level in the upper-intermediate level.The results from the present study may call teachers' attention to students? perceptions of motivating and demotivating characteristics of course book tasks, so that teachers can exploit course book tasks more efficiently.Key words: Task, motivation, task-specific motivation, motivating and demotivating features of course book tasks.
Farklı uluslardan İngilizce öğretmenlerinin İngilizcenin uluslararası bir dil olarak kullanılmasına yönelik görüşleri üzerine bir çalışma
English as an International Language (EIL) and its implications for ELT have been keenly debated throughout the last two decades. Many researchers have in some depth elaborated on the issues of identity and voice, linguistic imperialism, and the importance of non-native speakers and their use of English. However, most of these studies have overlooked other aspects of language including grammar, and the social functions of any particular language such as to project self-image and to develop local voice and culture.The present study is conducted in order to occupy the above stated niche. The thesis presents an explorative and contrastive study in order to examine the extent to which English teachers from different contexts accept EIL for their classroom practices with reference to pronunciation, grammar, and culture and the extent to which English teachers from the Expanding, Outer and Inner Circle countries differ in their attitudes towards EIL. To this end an online survey and 14 semi-structured interviews are conducted to investigate the attitudes of 448 English teachers from 71 different countries.The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed that native speaker pronunciation is clearly not the ultimate goal for teachers from various contexts; however, the native speaker goal is more popular for grammar than pronunciation. The majority of teachers prefer content that deals with the life and culture of various countries around the world although there is support for the inclusion of local culture. There is a high degree of awareness of the issues raised by the increasingly international use of English. Accordingly, a clear majority of teachers believe that changing patterns of English use should influence what we teach.The results of this study are hoped to be beneficial to the professionals of ELT, particularly teachers and material/curriculum designers, and to serve as a guide to all of them to revise their attachment to native speaker norms and their conceptions of EIL.
Okuma eğitiminde parçaların ana fikir yapılarını yansıtan grafik organizatörlerin kullanımı
This study investigated the effectiveness of discourse structure-based graphic organizers on intermediate level EFL students? reading comprehension of selected texts. The purpose of the study was to determine whether students who used discourse structure-based graphic organizers as a post-reading activity would perform better on post-test summaries compared to those who were involved in a discussion as a post-reading activity. This study also explored the attitudes of students towards the use of discourse structure-based graphic organizers in reading instruction.Two intact intermediate-level EFL classes at Uludağ University School of Foreign Languages participated in the study. The data were collected through the administration of four post-test summaries and a questionnaire that was in a Likert-scale format.The statistical analysis of the post-test scores revealed that the students who completed discourse structure-based graphic organizers as a post-reading activity performed significantly better in the post-test summaries of the four selected texts than the students who participated in discussion as a post-reading activity. The analysis of the participant students? responses to the attitude questionnaire showed that the students had mixed attitudes towards the utilization of discourse structure-based graphic organizers in reading instruction.
Bir öğretmenin ve öğrencilerinin öğrencilerin okuma becerilerini geliştirmede internet kaynaklarını kullanmaya karşı olan tutumları
This study investigated students? and the teacher?s attitudes towards the benefits and challenges of using Internet sources to develop students? English reading skills. The data was collected through questionnaires distributed to 42 students, interviews conducted with a teacher and 12 students in the Preparatory School at Cumhuriyet University and a journal kept by the teacher.Student questionnaires and interviews investigated students? and the teacher?s general attitudes towards the benefits and challenges of using Internet sources to develop reading skills and their opinions about three different Internet-based reading tasks: teacher-centred, teacher-facilitated and learner-determined. The teacher journal aimed to provide in-depth information about the teacher?s perceptions on each Internet based reading task and her observations of the students.The data gathered from all instruments were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings revealed that both students and the teacher have positive attitudes towards using Internet sources to improve reading skills. In addition, the teacher and the students believe that reading skills can be developed by means of Internet sources. The data gathered from both qualitative and quantitative analysis showed that students have positive attitudes towards doing all types of Internet-based reading tasks. With regard to the teacher?s attitudes, although she has positive attitudes towards using teacher-determined and learner-determined tasks in her classes, she has negative attitudes towards using teacher facilitated task. Both the teacher and the students think that the most challenging task among all the Internet-based reading tasks is the teacher-facilitated one. However, although both the teacher and students found it challenging, they think that it is beneficial to developing students? reading skills.Key terms: teacher-determined, teacher-facilitated, learner-determined Internet based reading tasks.
Bir Türk devlet üniversitesinde tükenmişlik ve bireysel ve kolektif öğretmen yeterliği üzerine bir araştırma
The importance of the relationship between burnout and teacher efficacy has been widely known in the literature especially in the last decade. However, the relationship between teacher efficacy and collective teacher efficacy has been the focus of a limited number of studies, and the interrelationship among burnout and individual and collective teacher efficacy has not been specifically investigated in an EFL setting. Taking this gap as an impetus, this study explored the experiences of burnout and perceptions of individual and collective teacher efficacy among EFL teachers. The study also examined the direct interrelationship among burnout and individual and collective teacher efficacy. This study gathered data from 123 EFL teachers in an intensive English language education program at a Turkish state university. The data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Later, the data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by using descriptive statistics and correlation tests.Analysis of the data revealed that the feeling of emotional exhaustion was more frequent than depersonalization and the feeling of personal accomplishment was the most frequent feeling. In the interviews, it was also revealed that work-related factors, work environment, and administrative issues were the major sources of burnout among the participants. In addition, analysis of the perceptions of teacher efficacy showed that teachers? sense of personal teaching efficacy was stronger than general teaching efficacy. The qualitative data from the interviews suggested that work environment and work-related factors were the major sources of efficacy beliefs among the teachers who participated in the study. Moreover, it was seen that the participants? sense of collective teacher efficacy was lower than their sense of personal teaching efficacy, but higher than general teaching efficacy. Again, it was revealed that work-related factors, work environment, and administrative issues were the major sources of collective efficacy beliefs among the participants. It was also seen that personal teaching efficacy was positively correlated with personal accomplishment, but negatively with depersonalization. However, it did not correlate with emotional exhaustion. Likewise, general teaching efficacy did not correlate with any dimension of burnout. The findings also showed that individual and collective teacher efficacy were positively correlated. Moreover, collective teacher efficacy correlated positively with personal accomplishment, but negatively with depersonalization and emotional exhaustion.This study implied that in order to cope with burnout and increase teacher effectiveness, teachers? working conditions should be improved and specific intervention programs should be designed to meet the needs of the participants. Furthermore, the study also revealed the need for a more carefully plannedcurriculum renewal workshop by paying more attention to the teachers? views and provision of a higher number of academic development and in-service training opportunities to increase the instructional efficacy in the setting of the study.
Oyunların kullanımı ile ergenlere dil öğretimi
ABSTRACTSibel ATAÖVERMaster?s ThesisForeign Language EducationDepartment of English Language TeachingSupervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Muhsin KARAŞOctober, 2005, 93 pagesAnecdotal reports from English teachers suggest that playing games during theclass hours may rise the learner?s interest and motivation leading towards a better grammaroutcome. The main concern of this study is to find out the effect of playing grammar gameson the students? level of learning when compared with traditional way of teaching language .This study reports the results of a research study which has been designed to observewhether playing games could help learning. It has been hypothesized that playing only gamesin the classroom increases students?s grammar scores compared to instructing in thetraditional way.The first step in this study was to examine definition, theory of games that arepresented in the proffesional literature. Next step was to choose the most suitable gamesaccording to the level of language, age and social characteristics of the students. Afterapplying the test, with the help of which their starting score was determined, the students ofexperimental group were exposed to the intervension. After the intervension, the studentswere presented with the test again in order to find out the level of difference in the scores oftwo tests. The same study was conducted a year later for the second time with the same groupof students for the same reason.The results indicate that students who are taught only with games do not gain higherscores in the tests when compared with the students who did not receive the treatment andfollowed traditional type of teaching. Another significant point to be mentioned is the ideas ofthe students related with games which were gained with the help of the reflection paperswritten by the experimental group students. From what they remarked in these papers weconcluded that students had nice time in class and enjoyed the games they played.Limitations of that study can be mentioned as the students? not being accustomed tothat type of teaching process and the constraint on the duration of time allocated for games.Another constraint might be the age of the students as it is accepted as the problematic one.Future research studies could be conducted based on same study alloting further time andapplying it to the different age groups.Keywords: game, grammar teaching, adolescents, types of games
Açık ve imalı yollu dönük düzeltmenin çoçukların yabancı dil gelişimleri üzerindeki etkileri
This study examines the differential effects of implicit and explicit corrective feedback (CF) during task-based interaction on language development of young learners of English as foreign language. The data are drawn from 75 learners of English at a public primary school in Kadıköy/Istanbul. A pretest, an immediate posttest and a delayed posttest quasi-experimental design was used in order to demonstrate the sustained or unsustained effects of both feedback types. The learners were divided into two treatment groups that received a different type of feedback, implicit and explicit, and a third group was used as the control group who did not receive any CF. Child learners interacted in dyads with the researcher and language development in terms of question forms was investigated. The results demonstrated that young foreign language learners who participated in interaction with CF showed a greater increase in production of developmentally more advanced structures than the learners who participated in interaction without provision of CF. Explicit CF group showed a greater increase than the implicit CF group in the immediate posttest. Hovewer, delayed posttest results revealed that explicit CF group could not sustain this increase. Implicit CF group, on the other hand, sustained their developmental level in the delayed posttest too. Control group did not show any developmental level increase in the immediate and delayed posttests. The study confirms the results of previous studies which supported the claims concerning a link between CF and language development. The study also contends that explicit CF during interaction facilitates language development of young foreign language learners in short term, but this increase is not sustained in a longer term.
İngiltere Sussex Üniversitesi ve Türkiye Abant İzzzet Baysal Üniversitesi hazırlık sınıfı öğrencilerinin İngilizce derslerinde yürütülen telaffuz çalışmalarına karşı tutumları
The key role of acquiring English pronounciation in a proper way to keep the communication more effective is underestimated in most of the schools; providing EFL/ESL education in countries where English is the non-native language, also in English-speaking countries where students from other countries gather to acquire English proficiency in specially organized language classrooms. There are some prejudicial beliefs underlying this problem, one of which is that pronounciation is often simplified to mean the articulation of phonetic/phonemic sounds of English. As Madden-Moore concluded, both teachers and students assume that mastering pronounciation is simply a matter of perfecting the production of an inventory of consonants and vowels. Moreover, so few teachers have the necessary capability of handling pronounciation activities in class, which proves that pronounciation is still of little account in language proficiency.This study aims at investigating English learners? beliefs about the acquisition of the phonetic component of English by focusing on their awareness of the difficulty and value of English pronunciation as well as their beliefs about influential factors in the acquisition of pronunciation and their attitudes towards English accents. It also aims at examining the differences in phonetic awareness, beliefs, and attitudes between learners of English with various first languages. All the subjects were asked to complete several questionnaires, including a background questionnaire and a specific questionnaire on awareness, beliefs and attitudes. The study found slight differences across groups of students, but found in general that students attached importance to pronounciation as a very important part of instruction; they asked more correction to their pronounciation in and out of the classroom.
Kavramsal eğretileme kuramı ışığında öğretilen öbek eylemlerin içselleştirilerek kazanımı: Üniversite hazırlık sınıfı öğrencileri örneği
The major concern of this study is to describe the attempt to explicitly teach phrasal verb constructions in the light of conceptual metaphor theory, focusing on the metaphorical orientations of particles as well as to investigate the relationship between such an explicit phrasal verb instruction and implicit phrasal verb knowledge gains. It is a within group pretest/posttest design experimental research carried out with 60 Turkish EFL learners enrolled in the School of Foreign Languages in Kütahya Dumlupınar University in Kütahya, Turkey. The analysis was conducted in terms of three dimensions; which are achievement and retention of receptive and productive PV knowledge, subconscious lexical recognition and processing and semantic lexical processing. For the analysis of first dimension, a multiple-choice test to evaluate receptive PV knowledge as well as a c-test to measure controlled productive PV knowledge were administered as pretest, immediate posttest and delayed posttest. To investigate the subconscious lexical recognition and processing, a masked repetition priming lexical decision task and to examine semantic lexical processing a self-paced task were applied to the participants. The results of the study found out that explicitly presented PV knowledge in the light of conceptual metaphors significantly influences not only the achievement and retention of receptive and productive PV knowledge, but also the subconscious lexical recognition and processing as well as semantic priming of PV knowledge, validating a strong interface position in terms of lexical aspect of language learning.
Ortaokul ve lise öğrencilerinin ders dışı ingilizce öğrenme ortam ve deneyimleri
Formal schools and private courses have been assuming the main responsibility of teaching foreign languages in Turkey so far. English, on the other hand, like in many other countries, is the most common language that is taught and learned as a foreign language (EFL) via these institutions throughout the country. Despite its prominence in the country, however, how effective English is learned through mainstream ways has always been negotiable due to reasons that have not found satisfactory answers, yet. On the other hand, we live in an age that allows us to go far beyond the walls of the classrooms when it comes to learning a foreign language, especially, thanks to the advancement in technology in recent years. Therefore, out-of-class language learning (OCLL) has a great role in a way that could make learning English a much easier and effortless activity, as well as a joyful engagement in addition to mainstream language learning routines. For this reason, the present study aimed to investigate how frequently students at secondary and high schools engaged in what type of out-of-class language learning activities (OCLLAs) in order to find a solution for a better language learning to take place. To do this, a questionnaire was administered on a total of 253 secondary and high school students to see what type OCLLAs they carry out in their free time. These questions aimed to see what listening, reading, writing, and speaking activities were carried out in English. The questionnaire also included a section about the frequency of using technological devices and social media platforms for the purpose of learning English. The survey was analyzed via SPSS program. T-test and ANOVA test was used to analyze the data while open-ended questions were analyzed via descriptive methods. The results showed that the most frequently preferred activities in English were listening to music and watching movies. The least frequently preferred activities were writing activities such as keeping diaries in English and reading newspapers in English, and talking to family members in English. As for the overall order of four basic skills in terms of frequency, listening is by far the most frequent skill followed by reading, speaking, and writing, respectively. The study also showed that playing video games in English is the second most preferred activity after listening and watching activities. The research, also, found that female students did more OCLLAs than male students on the whole. But, no significant difference was detected between secondary and high school students; they nearly carried out the same amount of out-of-class language learning activities. Furthermore, ANOVA test results showed that 10th and 9th grades engaged in OCLLAs the most frequently. On the other hand, the 12th, 6th and 5th grades, respectively, did the least amount of OCLLAs. As for students' comments on open-ended questions, the research revealed that they mostly wanted direct exposure to spoken language in real life settings.
Hafızaya dayalı strateji eğitiminin Avusturya orta okulu öğrencilerinin kelime gelişimi üzerine etkisi
This current paper presents the phases of a research about the effects of strategy training on vocabulary development with 26 students studying in an Austrian Public Secondary School located in the Lower part of Austria. In order to be able to measure the effect of the memory strategy training on students? vocabulary development an achievement test and a questionnaire were conducted as pre, post and long-term retention tests. Results indicated that using memory strategies as a vocabulary learning technique is more effective than using word lists to improve vocabulary level.Keywords: Language Learning Strategies, Memory-based Strategies, Vocabulary Development in Foreign Language
Strateji eğitiminin kelime öğrenimine etkileri üzerine deneyse bir çalışma
This study investigated whether and to what extent instruction on one of thevocabulary learning strategies, namely, dictionary use had an effect on students? dictionary skills and vocabulary learning. It also sought to find out the relationship between dictionary use and gender.The study was conducted with the participation of two B1 level English preparatory classes at Abant Izzet Baysal University Preparatory School and their instructors. The participants received 5-week strategy instruction on dictionary use. Quantitative data necessary for this research were collected by the researcher.The analysis of quantitative data revealed that strategy instruction on dictionary use had a positive impact, but it did not lead to any significant difference between control and experimental group regarding using dictionary use strategy.The results of this study indicated that students? training regarding dictionary use is beneficial, and that giving students instruction in the dictionary use enhanced students? vocabulary learning.Key Words: Vocabulary Learning Strategies, Strategy Instruction, Dictionary Use Strategy.
Hizmet içi İngilizce öğretmenlerinin teknoloji entegrasyonuyla ilgili öz-yeterlilik inanışları: Fatih Projesinden alıntılar
The present study aimed to explore the self-efficacy beliefs of in-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers for technology integration. This study has also examined teachers? perceived English language proficiency, the factors influencing the integration of technology and the difference between actual practices for technology integration and perceived self-efficacy for technology integration. This study employed an explanatory mixed method design, and the quantitative and qualitative data were collected in two phases. 114 in-service English language teachers working in the Fatih project pilot study high schools of Sakarya participated in the quantitative phase of the study. The quantitative survey data were gathered through a scale designed to measure self-efficacy for technology integration. In the qualitative phase, structured interviews were conducted with 12 volunteer teachers of English, and then classroom observations of 3 teachers? classes were implemented via semi structured observation guide. The findings of the study revealed that the participants reported high levels of perceived self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration, and their perceived level of English proficiency was also high. Concerning demographic variables, one-way ANOVA indicated significant differences for gender and computer use in self-efficacy for technology integration. In addition, there was a strong and positive correlation between English language proficiency and self-efficacy for technology integration. With respect to interview results, external/environmental and personal factors explored affecting teachers? technology integration practices. The last finding of the study indicated a mismatch between perceived self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration and actual classroom practices of in-service English language teachers. Several crucial implications for the implementation of Fatih project were proposed. Keywords: Self-efficacy Beliefs, Teacher Self-efficacy, Technology Integration, Fatih Project
Yabancı dil olarak İngilizce öğreten öğretmenlerin ve öğrencilerinin mesleki öğretmen kimliği kavramına ilişkin imgelerinin metafor analizi yöntemi ile incelenmesi
The growing outstanding appeal of the notion of identity across a broad diversity of fields over the past years has been reflected in an intense focus recently in the body of literature on the concept of "professional teacher identity" which plays a crucial role in the classroom practices of language teachers. The current dissertation intended to investigate the consonance and dissonance between how foreign language instructors view themselves as "teachers" and how they are viewed by their students. In the present study, data were collected both from 10 Turkish language teachers instructing English as a foreign language at Düzce University and their 200 students by means of semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using metaphor analysis, which is a qualitative research methodology related to content analysis, to unveil the teachers' and their students' perceptions towards teachers' professional identity. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers basing their metaphors on different entailments depicted their professional identities under 6 distinct categories named "teacher as neophyte", "teacher as entertainer", "teacher as interest arouser", "teacher as expert", "teacher as guide", and "teacher as nurturer". Also, the analysis of the 200 metaphorical expressions of students gave rise to the emergence of 14 major themes named "teacher as agency of patience", "teacher as authority", "teacher as eager beaver", "teacher as entertainer", "teacher as expert", "teacher as guide", "teacher as Jekyll and Hyde", "teacher as interest arouser", "teacher as knowledge provider", "teacher as mystery", "teacher as neophyte", "teacher as nurturer", "teacher as patchwork", and "teacher as trier to patience". Moreover, it was revealed that although some metaphors of teachers overlapped completely with the ones given by their students, there were some mismatches between the metaphorical expressions proposed by the teachers and their students. However, as teachers' behaviours and actions were formed through interaction between and among students, most of the teachers strongly believed that it would be beneficial to make a thorough review of their practices in the light of the feedback they got from their students.
Arayüz hipotezinin araştırılması: Anadili Türkçe olan İngilizce konuşucularının özne ve tanım edatı edinimi
This thesis aims to expand the testing grounds of the Interface Hypothesis (IH) by investigating the acquisition of English subjects operating with pure syntax and article uses of (in)definiteness and genericity in English governed with external and internal interfaces respectively by L1-Turkish learners. Fifty-eight sophomore students who have been studying in the Department of Foreign Language Education of a state university in central Turkey were asked to complete a Grammaticality Judgement, a Discourse Completion and a Forced-Choice Elicitation Task subsequently. By doing so, the aim was to understand whether proficient Turkish learners of English interpret and use subjects and articles accurately in English and whether the IH can account for the results. To this end, upon analyzing the data, the relationship between the participants' performances were discussed in relation to the IH. The findings highlighted that narrow syntactic properties are acquired with the least difficulty. The properties at an interface domain, on the other hand, present more difficulty regardless of the type of the interface. Additionally, the IH was found partially accountable for the participants' performances. It could explain why the participants have done significantly better in subject realization than the articles, whereas it could not account for the lack of statistically significant difference between the (in)definite and generic uses of articles. To build upon the present study, adding tasks measuring language processing might be of great value to gain a better understanding into the reason why more errors are committed when interface structures are involved.