Açık yabancı dil bilgisi ve bu bilginin İngilizce Öğretmenliği Programı birinci ve dördüncü sınıf öğrencilerin yabancı dilde okuma ve yazma becerilerine yansımasının incelenmesi

The current explanatory research study investigates the relationship between L2 explicit knowledge and reading and writing performances of first- and fourth-year ELT majors studying at a large-scale state university in Turkey. L2 explicit knowledge consists of analyzed knowledge and metalinguistic knowledge. Analyzed knowledge refers to "the knowledge about L2 items and structures of which the learners are aware but not necessarily conscious", while metalinguistic knowledge is the knowledge of "the language used to analyze or describe a language (Richards, Platt & Weber). A total of 233 Turkish EFL learners (120 first-year and 113 fourth-year students) majoring at ELT department participated in the present study. Instruments for the present study comprised three tests designed to measure explicit L2 knowledge: an untimed grammaticality judgment test (UGJT), a language analysis test (LAT) and a metalinguistic knowledge test (MKT); a standardized reading comprehension test of English (IELTS) and a writing task designed to assess general L2 writing proficiency (IELTS). Several statistical procedures were employed to analyze the data gathered, and the following findings were found. First, fourth-year Turkish EFL learners majoring at ELT have better explicit knowledge of English language than the first-year learners do. Second, Turkish EFL learners majoring at ELT, regardless of their year of study, have a lot more analyzed knowledge than metalinguistic knowledge. Furthermore, stronger correlations were found between analyzed knowledge and L2 proficiency than between metalinguistic knowledge and L2 proficiency. It was also found that analyzed knowledge and metalinguistic knowledge altogether explain 7.2 percent of the variance in reading, and 10.2 percent of the variance in writing among Turkish EFL learners majoring at ELT. The findings were discussed within the light of the literature reviewed and the findings of the previous research studies. Finally, some pedagogical implications were suggested for EFL learners and ELT practitioners.