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Öğe “Teaching grammar is not my main responsibility”: exploring efl teacher beliefs about grammer teaching(2019) Toprak Yıldız, Tuğba ElifThis mixed-methods study investigated a hundred university EFL teachers’ beliefs aboutseveral issues in grammar teaching. Teachers’ beliefs about these issues such as the explicitand implicit teaching of grammar, its integration with other language skills, and the role of ateacher in grammar teaching were elicited by means of a questionnaire. Furthermore, semistructuredinterviews were conducted with ten volunteer teachers to obtain more in-depthinformation about teachers’ reported beliefs. These results were analyzed by using thedescriptive statistics and in-vivo coding. The findings of the study demonstrated that mostteachers believed in the centrality of grammar instruction to helping language learners attain asubstantial proficiency in English. Moreover, it was found that most teachers favored aninductive, integrative and communicative approach to grammar teaching. Although teachers’reported beliefs were, overall, in harmony with the literature on grammar teaching, there wereno hints suggesting that teachers were aware of grammar theories or their beliefs were basedon SLA/grammar literature. The findings indicated that the distinction between pedagogicaldichotomies proposed in the literature seemed to blur in the practice since teachers frequentlyreferred to personal and contextual features as the main factors shaping their beliefs andpractices.Öğe Connectionism, artificial neural networks and reading(2018) Toprak, Tuğba ElifConnectionism, which is a novel approach to human intellectual abilities, has challenged the basicassumptions and tenets of top-down and interactive approaches of the 1960s and 1970s to humancognitive processing and reading. Connectionism has specifically dealt with reading in order tounderstand and model the cognitive processes and intellectual properties underlying this significantskill. It has also embraced a more bottom-up approach to reading, an orientation which attaches greatimportance to pattern recognition governed by parameters, weights, connections and constraints inlieu of rules and symbols. Although the great majority of studies which applied connectionism haveconcentrated on how words are recognized, a considerable amount of scholarly work also has targetedat understanding syntactic parsing and pronouncing words. To date, connectionism has contributedto the understanding and modeling human reading and attracted the attention of researchers workingin various fields such as linguistics, psychology, and artificial intelligence to a considerable extent.This paper aims to provide fundamental information about the connectionist approaches and neuralnetwork modeling that suggest an alternative to the classical theory of the mind while accounting forthe cognitive processes that underlie human reading. The paper also compares the connectionistapproaches to traditional approaches to reading, such as bottom-up, top-down and interactiveapproaches. Finally, it reviews several connectionist models that have proved to be highly influentialin the relevant literature.Öğe Analysis of differences between groups The t-test and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) in language assessment(Taylor and Francis, 2019) Toprak Tuğba ElifLanguage testers may need to examine the differences between two or more groups as a result of differing conditions and determine whether these differences are meaningful. Since there could be variability when measuring constructs, researchers use statistical techniques to determine whether the variability extends beyond differences among participants and measurement error. There are two statistical techniques that could be employed to examine such relationships: the t-test for examining the differences between two groups and analysis of variance (ANOVA) for capturing the differences between more than two groups. This chapter provides an introduction to the t-test, ANOVA, their special cases, and non-parametric equivalents. Moreover, it illustrates how these techniques can be used by reporting on two studies conducted in an operational setting. The first study investigates the impact of an alternative treatment for listening and pronunciation on examinees’ test performances by using the Mann-Whitney U test, the non-parametric equivalent of the t-test. The second study utilizes ANOVA procedures to examine meaningful differences between the performances of four groups of examinees on a reading test. © 2019 selection and editorial matter, Vahid Aryadoust and Michelle Raquel.Öğe Multimodal technology-mediated feedback in second language writing classes through screencasting(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2022) Savaşçı Merve; Akçor GizemBeing one of the most potent influences on writing improvement and language learning, providing feedback is a common yet relatively complicated practice. Although it is often assumed that providing feedback presumably ends up with learners’ immediate self-correction and improvement, it does not necessarily guarantee learners’ understanding of feedback because even the type of feedback and the way it is conveyed could be distinctively effective. Given that lack of clarity and feedback misinterpretation are among the common problems affecting feedback processes, the advent of digital tools in the 21st century has been attempting to compensate for such problems and promote writing competencies. To this end, different feedback norms and conventions offered by technology, such as electronic feedback, have replaced traditional feedback conventions in recent years. Earlier studies have revealed that technology-enhanced (e.g., audio or video-enhanced) instructional feedback is effective, yet providing second language writing feedback in diverse, technology-mediated and multimodal ways continues to be underexplored and limited. Thus, alternative updated tools and practices to promote second language writing (SLW) competencies deserve more attention. Being one of these tools, screencast combines text-based and audio feedback through screencast software programs, allowing to capture the computer screen and annotate a written work while recording voiced comments. Screencast-mediated feedback practices might promote SLW competencies by helping teachers deliver more concise, in-depth, and clear feedback, which in turn might better engage and motivate students in SLW classes. Thus, this chapter offers a theoretical and practical understanding of screencasting as a novel way of providing EFL learners with multimodal technology-mediated feedback in SLW classes. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Öğe Addressing intercultural competence in BELF (English as a lingua franca in business) contexts(2019) Yıldız, Tuğba Elif ToprakIn line with the new definition of competent language user, the 21st-century second/foreign languagelearners are expected to acquire and develop not only linguistic competence but also interculturalcompetence. Intercultural competence is assumed to enable foreign/second language learners tocommunicate effectively in the modern era which increasingly calls for engaging in interculturalcommunication. Thus, within the last few decades, the notion of interculturally competent languagelearner has gained considerable attention particularly in English as a lingua franca in business(BELF) contexts where individuals and organizations establish and maintain internationalcommunication. Although fundamental linguistic and work-related features of BELF have beenscrutinized in the relevant literature, the notion of intercultural competence in the BELF context hasnot been addressed thoroughly. Given the centrality of intercultural competence to establishingeffective communication, this article discusses how intercultural competence can be enhanced inBELF classes to promote intercultural awareness, knowledge and skills and how dispositions oflanguage learners toward intercultural learning can be fostered. It elaborates on the possible meansof achieving these goals and tasks that can be used to hone intercultural skills of English languagelearners. Moreover, it provides curriculum designers, material developers, BELF teachers andEnglish language learners with practical implications that could stimulate intercultural competence.Öğe Emergent trends and research topics in language testing and assessment(2019) Yıldız, Tuğba Elif ToprakThis study, which is of descriptive nature, aims to explore the emergent trends and research topics inlanguage testing and assessment that have attracted increasing attention of language testing and assessmentresearchers. To this end, 300 articles published within the last seven years (2012-2018) in two leading journals ofthe field were analyzed by using thematic analysis method. Overall, the results demonstrated that the assessmentof language skills still constitute the backbone of language testing and assessment research. While the termcommunicative has become the established norm in language testing and assessment, the field has grown moreinterested in professionalization, understanding the dynamics that underlie test performance and validation.Moreover, the results revealed that even though the latest advancements in the fields of computer, cognitivesciences and information/communication technologies seem to make their way into language testing andassessment, more research is needed to make the most of these advancements and keep up with the rapidlychanging nature of communication and literacy in the 21st century. The results are discussed and theimplications are made.Öğe Understanding tertiary level EFL instructors' codeswitching behavior(Peter Lang AG, 2020) Köylü, Zeynep[No abstract available]Öğe Predicting achievement in distance language learning: a structural equation model(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2021) Kızıl, Ayşel ŞahinGetting increasingly common in many settings in higher education, distance language courses have become a vigorous area of research which requires sustained focus. Although the relevant literature has documented well various aspects of distance language learning, the factors affecting academic achievement have remained underresearched. This study investigates the predictive power of the sense of community, perceived learning and learner satisfaction as the possible factors having an influence on academic achievement. Data for this study come from a series of surveys administered to a total of 156 EFL learners and participants' final grades. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to analyse the data. Results indicated acceptable values of the goodness of fit indices for structural model (TLI =.96; CFI =.98; NFI =.95; RMSEA =.06 and SRMR =.04). Analysis of path coefficients revealed that two components of sense of community (i.e. teaching presence and cognitive presence), perceived learning and satisfaction are the significant predictors of academic achievement. The research findings bear implications for the design of distance language courses.Öğe A review of challenges and recommendations for novice EFL teachers in Turkey(2020) Akçor, Gizem; Savaşçı, MerveThis qualitative systematic review synthesizes the challenges and recommendations fornovice English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in the Turkish context. To this end, this studyreviewed the studies which investigated the challenges encountered by novice EFL teachers and therecommendations for dealing with these challenges. Empirical studies published between 2010 and2020 and those that appeared in locally and internationally peer-reviewed indexed journals as well astheses and/or dissertations were searched thoroughly in the literature. Adhering to the steps of thesystematic review process, nine studies which fit the predefined inclusion criteria were selected andmeticulously examined. As a result of the analysis, the data were categorized under two main themesas challenges and recommendations. Specifically speaking, the analysis yielded two major themesrelated to common challenges novices face: professional and social adaptation challenges. Also, theoverall analysis indicated recommendations in relation to pre-service teacher education and in-serviceteacher training. In the final section of the study, this review not only offers a discussion of challengesthat novice EFL teachers experience but also provides future directions and implications for noviceEFL teachers as well as all the stakeholders including mentors, teacher trainers, and schooladministrators.
