Browsing by Subject "ELT"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Open Access
Native English speaking teachers and non-native English speaking teachers in İstanbul : a perception analysis
(2005) Ezberci, Ebru
The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between the career perceptions of native English speaking teachers (NESTs) and non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) working at universities in Istanbul, and the two groups’ perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of NESTs and NNESTs. This study was conducted with 172 participants working in 10 different institutions in İstanbul. Data was collected through a questionnaire consisting of four parts. The questionnaire contained multiple-choice items, open-ended questions, and Likert-scale items. In addition, 15 participants were interviewed. Quantitative data analysis techniques were used to analyze the data from the questionnaires. To analyze the data, frequencies, percentages, means, correlations, and ttests were calculated. The data from the interviews was analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques. The results reveal that a great majority of the respondents view English language teaching (ELT) as a career or profession. When the two groups were compared, the percentage of the NNESTs who view ELT as a career or profession is higher than that of NESTs. While indicating similar viewpoints between NESTs and NNESTs regarding their views of ELT, the study found differences in the perceptions of the important qualifications of teachers, and the strengths and weaknesses of NESTs and NNESTs. Overall, the findings suggest that the ‘native speaker fallacy’ may still have validity even though both groups of participants refrained from publicly accepting it.
Open Access
The perceptions of ELT students about the use of Web 20 tools, particularly wikis, in their future language classrooms
(2013) Keleş, Ufuk
Computer and internet technologies have radically changed the way people communicate and process information in the past three decades. Such drastic advances have found their reflections in the field of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as part of language teaching. Today, Web 2.0 offers numerous merits to language teachers and learners. While language classrooms are transformed into student-centered learning environments, learners have found the opportunity to break out of the physical boundaries of the classroom walls. Therefore, teachers have been forced to make use of online tools in order to reinforce their teaching practice. Although such transition is unlikely to cease to exist, the amount of studies examining the effects of Web 2.0 tools is rather limited. Wikis are helpful tools for language teachers for they are easy to learn and simple to use. Despite the benefits they offer to language teachers, the present literature about the use of wikis in the language classroom is even less infrequent, and a great majority of the studies examining the use of wikis in language classrooms focuses on their use for the teaching and enhancement of the writing skill. Likewise, there is only one study concentration on the reading skill. However, there has not been a study that reveals whether wikis can be used for the teaching of grammar and vocabulary. This study investigated the perceptions of the ELT students about the use of Web 2.0 tools, particularly wikis, in their future classrooms. The research was conducted at a state university in Turkey with 12 ELT students who were trained to learn to use wikis in a four-hour workshop. Pre- and post-perception questionnaires were administered in order to collect qualitative data which were statistically analyzed after the training. Follow-up interviews were conducted with four students, and these data were qualitatively analyzed. The statistical analysis of data revealed that although these ELT students were digitally literate, and they made use of several Web 2.0 tools in their daily lives, but they believed that their formal education was not enough for their future careers. There was statistically significant difference in their perceptions when their formal education was concerned. Similarly, their perceptions changed significantly for the teaching of reading, writing, and grammar. On the whole, they initially had positively strong feelings towards the use of Web 2.0 tools in their future classrooms. This positive attitude slightly increased after the wiki training. When the qualitative data derived from the follow-up interviews were evaluated, it was found that although the participants of the wiki training (WPs) had perceived wikis as complex Web 2.0 tools at first, their perceptions changed after being introduced to wikis. This change in their perception about wikis helped them to reconsider their opinions and their prejudices were transformed into confidence that they could learn about the contemporary Web 2.0 tools in order to enhance their teaching abilities. While the relevant literature looked for an answer to the question whether wikis were effective tools for writing, this research study focused on finding new ways to improve language learning performance of the students through the employment of wikis. The findings of the study revealed that wikis could be employed in the field of ELT via integrating several other Web 2.0 tools into wikis for different purposes including the teaching of writing, reading, vocabulary and grammar.