ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
A Descriptive Study on in-Service English Language Teachers&apos; Perceptions of the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL) in Turkish Setting
Author: Önal, Ahmet
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Teachers,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,College Faculty,Likert Scales,Goodness of Fit

This article aims to arrive at an understanding of in-service language teachers' perceptions of the EPOSTL self assessment descriptors in relation to Turkish Foreign Language Education context. More specifically, the researcher aims to reveal the categories of the EPOSTL self-assessment descriptors that have been regarded more important by in-service English language teachers who work for primary, secondary and tertiary level institutions as well as reviewing the suitability and applicability of the EPOSTL self-assessment descriptors for the Turkish context. Adopting a quantitative and quasi-qualitative research design, this study utilized the 195 self-assessment descriptors of the EPOSTL as the items of the questionnaire in the form of a '5 point Likert-type scale' and an open-ended question has been added as the 196th item to collect qualitative data. The means of the in-service English language teachers' answers have been computed for the whole document and for the categories of the self assessment descriptors via descriptive statistics involving mean and frequency analyses. As a second step, the distribution of the data has been analyzed via 'Kolmogorov-Smirnov Goodness-of-Fit Test'. As the distribution of the data is not normal, a non-parametric test, rather than a parametric test, has been employed in order to find out the level of differences between and among the groups of in-service English language teachers. Additionally, 'Kruskal-Wallis H Test' has been conducted and 'pairwise comparisons' have been performed as a last step in order to reveal the self-assessment descriptors of the EPOSTL that have been attached meaningfully different importance by in-service English language teachers working for different levels of institutions. The findings of this study indicate that the self-assessment descriptors of the EPOSTL have largely been welcomed by in-service language teachers in Turkish context.
A Study on Turkish EFL Teachers&apos; Beliefs about Assessment and Its Different Uses in Teaching English
Author: Önalan, Okan
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Formative Evaluation,Summative Evaluation,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Teacher Improvement,Teacher Competencies,College Faculty,Teacher Role,Evaluation Methods,Feedback (Response)

Teacher cognition research, which primarily focuses on identifying what teachers think, know and believe, is crucial to understanding teachers' perceptional structure as it relates to their instructional practices. Thus, teachers' cognition on assessment constitutes a significant research field not only in order to understand the foreign language teachers' beliefs and practices, but also to account for their needs with regards to the assessment element. The current study categorizes the purposes of assessment in English as a Foreign Language classes under four main domains: (a) formative assessment, (b) summative assessment, (c) self-assessment of students, and (d) assessment to improve teachers' instruction. Based on this framework, this study aims to find out EFL teachers' beliefs about the uses of assessment in teaching English and how their reported beliefs relate to their undergraduate departments and teaching experience. 70 Turkish EFL teachers who work at the Prep Class of a state university participated in the study. A 20-item 5-Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect the data. The results of this study reveal that the participants' beliefs on assessment are strong on using assessment for formative purposes. Self-assessment procedures are given the next highest importance. Neither do participant teachers' undergraduate departments nor do their years of experience have an effect on participants' assessment preferences. Besides the significant findings it has produced, the data collection tool of the current study is a significant contribution to the literature.
A Study on English Preparatory Class Students&apos; Assessment Preferences and Test Anxieties
Author: Sarisu(Tas), Bahar
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Test Anxiety,Language of Instruction,Turkish,Grading,Preferences,Student Attitudes,Private Colleges,College Students,Language Tests,Evaluation Methods,Foreign Countries

This study aims to determine English preparatory class students' assessment preferences and test anxieties and whether there is a relationship between these two dependent variables or not. It also aims to see whether or not there is a significant difference between nationalities in terms of assessment preferences and test anxiety, and also to learn the reasons behind these differences if there are any. 147 university students who will study in English-medium departments at a private university participated in this study. In this study, a mixed method was adopted that integrated quantitative and qualitative data, which were collected through two inventories and one interview. The results present a report of students' assessment preferences and also reveal that there are significant differences regarding nationality. The results have also shown that there is a significant difference in Turkish and foreign students assessment type preferences, grading and reporting preferences, and general test taking anxieties.
A Language Learning Adventure of a Person Succeeded the Language Training
Author: Özden, Mehtap
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Native Language,Language Acquisition,Elementary Secondary Education,Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Teaching Methods,Turkish,Interviews,College Faculty,Teacher Attitudes,Multilingualism

Language learning is a process that probably starts even while in the womb and lasts lifelong. This process begins with the acquisitions of the mother tongue, diversifies with academic needs in the following years and continues with foreign language learning besides the mother tongue. Language learning; can be defined as the communication process acquired or learned by physical, psychological and mental maturation, with the stimuli surrounding it. While native tongue acquisition is a spontaneous process in its natural environment; foreign language learning is a conscious and planned process that arises with the desire or need of the person. Foreign language education in Turkey covers 9 years training that includes the first year of undergraduate education and starts at primary school; however the level of success in learning a foreign language is very low. In the study, the contribution of the foreign language training experiences of a person who has succeeded in learning a foreign language, to the teaching of a foreign language or a mother tongue has been evaluated. Data; was collected and interpreted by narrative research design from qualitative research methods. As a result of the study, it was concluded that language learning occurs effectively in the early ages, in the classrooms with a small number of learners, with the support of the family, training of each language skills separately and by adding a new knowledge on a previously learned one.
Service-Learning: A Case Study of Student Outcomes
Author: Harkins, Debra A.
Date: 2018-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Service Learning,Outcomes of Education,Student Attitudes,College Students,College Faculty,Critical Theory,School Community Relationship,Community Involvement

With origins as a critical pedagogy, service-learning has potential to facilitate students' development as active citizens. However, whether critical service-learning occurs in practice still remains unclear. In this study, we explored service-learning practice by examining students' perceived outcomes within at a midsize urban university in New England. The number of service-learning hours completed, course professor, and primary service site significantly associated with both academic and civic student outcomes. A narrative analysis found only a third of student responded from a critical learning frame. While students demonstrate perceived benefits of traditional service-learning, its efficacy as critical pedagogy remains unclear.
Measuring Impact While Making a Difference: A Financial Literacy Service-Learning Project as Participatory Action Research
Author: Jones, Ray
Date: 2018-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Participatory Research,Action Research,Money Management,Service Learning,Undergraduate Students,Business Administration Education,High School Students,Ethics,Teaching Methods,Program Descriptions,Student Leadership

The growth of service-learning as an educational approach in colleges and universities has led to the use of more advanced pedagogical techniques in service-learning programs. This article describes a financial literacy service-learning program that a team of undergraduate business students completed while following a participatory action research perspective in the planning, implementation and measurement of a financial literacy event for high school students. This approach fits in the literature on ethics, financial literacy and service-learning and provides an illustrative example of how to incorporate this participatory action research perspective into future financial literacy service-learning initiatives.
Promotion of Service Leadership: An Evaluation of a Service-Learning Subject in Hong Kong
Author: Ma, Cecilia
Date: 2018-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Students,Service Learning,Special Needs Students,Course Evaluation,Course Descriptions,Student Leadership,Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries

In 2014-2015, a total of 88 university students enrolled in a course entitled &quot;Service Leadership through Serving Children and Families with Special Needs&quot;. To evaluate the effectiveness of this course, students were asked to complete a subjective evaluation form at the end of the course. Consistent with prior findings, students perceived the subject positively and found this subject to be beneficial for their personal growth. The present study showed how university students' leadership qualities could be promoted through service-learning.
Do Older Bilinguals Tell Better Stories?
Author: Yüksel, H. Gülru
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Bilingualism,Age Differences,Story Telling,Connected Discourse,Monolingualism,Children,Adults,Older Adults,English (Second Language),Case Studies,Language Fluency,Contrastive Linguistics,Native Language,Females

Efforts to understand changes in language development and variations in language production across lifespan have increased considerably in the past several decades (Sankoff, 2017). In narrative discourse production, although several studies have reported age-related differences, the findings are not consistent. Additionally, previous research has investigated age-related changes in discourse production either with monolingual participants or with bilingual participants cross-linguistically in their first and second languages. This case study attempts to investigate age-related changes in narrative speech produced by 6 bilinguals aged between 6 and 53 years in L3-English. The narratives produced by the participants were analyzed with respect to quantity, informative content and narrative cohesion. The findings obtained on each of the measures showed increase in fluency and informative content, yet a fluctuation in cohesion across age.
An Examination of Psycholinguistic Variables among Learners of Turkish
Author: Soruc, Adem
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Psycholinguistics,Turkish,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Learning Motivation,College Students,Student Attitudes,Foreign Students

This article describes a study into the multiple interacting factors which motivate learners of Turkish, the demand for which has been steadily increasing given the geo-political realities of the region at this time. A questionnaire was used which examined motivation, investment, beliefs and autonomy on a rating scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). In addition, a qualitative dimension was added by asking respondents to comment on their reasons for their ratings and to give examples where they could. The participants were 402 students of Turkish at the TÖMER center at a Turkish university. The highest ratings were for motivation and the belief that Turkish is a good language to learn (median rating=5). All of the other items of the questionnaire were given a median rating of 4 (agree). Reasons given for the ratings included personal, educational or economic advancement, conflict avoidance, and a wide range of examples was also provided. The findings are discussed and compared with existing literature, and implications are proposed. Possibilities for further research are also suggested to follow up some of the interesting questions raised by the study.
Digital Storytelling: A Multimodal Narrative Writing Genre
Author: Balaman, Sevda
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Story Telling,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Writing Skills,Majors (Students),Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Pretests Posttests,Writing Instruction,Writing Improvement,Language Proficiency,Student Needs,College Students,Video Technology,Teaching Methods

This study explored the impact of a digital storytelling (DS)-integrated methodology on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' (narrative) writing skills. This current study was conducted at School of Foreign Languages, Cumhuriyet University with the participation of 43 EFL English-major-students. Because it was an experimental research study, two groups (one experimental and one control) were chosen for this study randomly; the former was exposed to DS-integrated (narrative) writing instruction, the latter was taught through traditional (narrative) writing practices. The experimental phase lasted for 14 weeks. Before the experimental phase, a pretest was given to both groups in order to determine their writing proficiency levels and at the end of this experimental phase, the same test was re-administered to both groups in order to see if there were any changes in their (narrative) writing proficiency. The results showed that both instruction types namely, DS-integrated writing instruction and traditional paper-based writing practices were effective in developing learners' (narrative) writing skills. But the quantitative data also showed that the experimental group students scored significantly higher than the control group students at the posttest as a result of the participation into the DS-integrated instruction process, suggesting the superiority of DS over traditional writing applications. Overall, the results of this study can help educators who are willing to meet today's students' needs and expectations in the 21st century composition classes by opening up a new channel for them to express themselves in different modalities.
National and Universal Values Specific to Mathematics Education from the Perspective of Prospective Mathematics Teachers
Author: Hacisalihoglu Karadeniz, Mihriban
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mathematics Education,Preservice Teachers,Mathematics Teachers,Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Values

The purpose of this study is to reveal opinions of prospective teachers about national and universal values specific to mathematics education. 230 prospective teachers attending 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year Mathematics Teaching Program, Faculty of Education, Giresun University during fall semester of 2015-2016 academic year. The study utilizes the qualitative research approach. The data were analyzed via the descriptive and content analysis methods. Themes were obtained as a result of the data analysis: love and value, righteousness, protecting cultural heritage, placing importance on aesthetics, fairness, patriotism, humility, leadership, creativity and success, sharing, independent and free thinking. It was found as a result of the study that prospective teachers sufficiently internalized national and universal values specific to mathematics education. In conclusion, it is expected that prospective teachers, who will be implementers of the curriculum in near future, possess values specific to mathematics education.
English Language Assessment and Evaluation Practices in the 4th Grade Classes at Mainstream Schools
Author: Sarigöz, Iskender Hakki
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Student Evaluation,Assignments,Writing Skills,Vocabulary Development,Elementary School Students

Young language learners (YLLs) have a pivotal role in constructing their English language learning by making sense of their own environment. For that reason, assessing and evaluating young learners in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom setting require the administration of appropriate and tailor-made measurement tools and techniques. In this respect, it is necessary to become familiar with YLLs' characteristics and classroom-based experiences. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the existing language assessment practices in the 4th grade classroom in MoNE (Ministry of National Education) and to examine the relationship between curricular underpinnings and real-life practices. To this end, classroom-based observation and interviews were conducted to collect in-depth data about young learners' language assessment process. The basic findings show that EFL teachers carry out English language assessment and evaluation at the 4th grade with mainly formative purposes. As language skills, writing and vocabulary are more commonly assessed. In addition, written exams and assignments are extensively administered in YLLs' classrooms. It is regarded that objectivity is the major strength of the current language assessment program whereas the allotted time for language assessment and evaluation may not be enough to assess young learners comprehensively. This research attempts to provide information on the theoretical and practical implementation of curricular requirements in English language assessment and evaluation process at the 4th grade at state primary schools.
Form-Meaning-Use Framework in Grammar Teaching: Research on Noun Clauses in Writing Skills
Author: Yilmaz, Adnan
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,Teaching Methods,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Guidelines,Pretests Posttests,Phrase Structure,Writing Skills,Nouns,English (Second Language),College Students,Knowledge Level,Foreign Countries,Writing Instruction

Based on Larsen-Freeman's (2001) three-dimensional (form-meaning-use) framework of grammar teaching, this study aimed to investigate which type of clause (noun, adjective or adverbial) was the most challenging for second/foreign language (L2) learners in writing skills. Depending on the results of a diagnostic test prepared in accordance with the form-meaning-use triangulation, Noun Clauses (NCs) were found to be the most challenging type for students studying in the Department of English Language Teaching at a state university in Turkey. Determining NCs as the most challenging type, a NCs test grounded on the same framework was given to the students as the pretest to examine their available knowledge of NCs. After the pretest, the students went through a nine-hour intensive treatment phase consisting of three sessions to instruct NCs with regard to the form-meaning-use framework. The treatment stage was followed by the posttest to examine the progress that students had made during the treatment phase. The quantitative analysis of the obtained data revealed a remarkable improvement in the students' knowledge of NCs in writing skills. Based on this finding, it can be concluded that the form-meaning-use framework enables effective and efficient instruction in the language classroom.
From Students&apos; Viewpoint: Integrating Contextual Micro-Grammar Revision with Contextual Vocabulary Teaching Consistent with Constructivism
Author: Tosun, Bahadir
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,Student Attitudes,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Undergraduate Students,Individual Differences,Age Differences,Vocabulary Development,Constructivism (Learning),English (Second Language),Departments,Oral Language,Teaching Methods,Gender Differences,Foreign Countries

The present study is a quantitative research that attempts to scrutinize the place of students' views on integrating contextual micro-grammar revision with contextual vocabulary teaching consistent with Constructivism. Therefore, the study investigates the first and the second-year students' attitudes towards a new technique that attempts to consolidate these two techniques into one while taking their individual differences and age factor into account. In compliance with the purpose of the study, a case-specific scale was developed to provide a better projection. It was applied to the first and second year university students at the English Language and Literature Department of a state University in Grammar II and Oral Communication II courses simultaneously. As the results of the data were analyzed through both descriptive and inferential statistics, also in light of the previous studies in the literature, the technique turned out to be sound and promising for the interests of the field of foreign language teaching.
The Social Media Addiction among Turkish University Students
Author: Altin, Mehmet
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Media,Addictive Behavior,College Students,Gender Differences,Family Income,Foreign Countries,Educational Background,Parent Background,Age Differences,Internet,Role,Social Status,Cultural Influences

The objective of this study is to examine the place and importance of social media in the lives of university students according to several demographic variables. 323 Turkish students in total, 186 of whom were males and 137 of whom were females, studying in different departments at Selçuk University, participated in the study. A personal information form was used to obtain the socio-demographical information of the students, while &quot;Social Media Addiction Scale&quot; (SMAS), developed by Tutgun Ünal (2015), was implemented to determine the media addiction levels. Although no differences were observed concerning the age factor among the students; statistically significant differences were found among the averages of social media addiction with regards to sex, income, educational background of the parents, the means to access the internet, the number of years of access and the number of hours of access (p&lt;0.05; p&lt;0.01). Statistically significant variances were also found in all the dimensions of social media addiction concerning the time and the hours the students spend on social media (p&lt;0.05; p&lt;0.01). Based on the findings of this study, it can be said that the social media addiction levels of the male students are higher compared to that of the female students; this situation is caused by the social roles imposed on men and women depending on social status and responsibilities and the cultural structure; and as the number of days and hours spent on social media increase, so does the addiction to social media.