Browsing by Subject "Second language acquisition."

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Open Access
American cultural values as seen through a film and their application to a Turkish classroom
(1999) Bunk, Aylin
Although EFL classrooms are very suitable places to examine cultural aspects of a language, this part of classroom learning is widely neglected because of the attention given to language skills. In many classrooms, students’ exposure to the target culture is far from being systematic; it can be somewhat random. In addition, since the language is taught in the learners' own environment, learners may lack opportunities to be exposed to the target culture. As a result, they may have little or no awareness of the target culture and are likely to experience difficulties in adjustment if they enter a target culture environment. Therefore, language teachers should expose students to cross-cultural contexts that will help them to understand the target culture better and clarify misconceptions; this should also enhance crosscultural communication. On the basis of these views, this study investigated underlying cultural differences between Turkish and American people by examining their perceptions of themes and issues raised in an American film. It also examined which of these insights might be useful in a cross-cultural communication class in Turkey, and for what reasons. Data were collected from two different groups of participants through questionnaires and discussions after watching the film Grand Canyon. One of the groups included six Turkish teachers of English who worked in different universities in Turkey. The other one was a group of five Americans who were teachers at Bilkent University. Both groups viewed the film separately and noted the major themes and issues that they observed. After viewing, the groups discussed the film. Theme discussions were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed through discourse analysis techniques. The data gathered from the transcriptions were categorized for the most part according to American values as presented by Robert Kohls (1984). The results of the study indicated that there are differences between the discussions of Turkish and the American groups, and these can be related to underlying values concerning fate, equality, individualism, work orientation, directness and openness in human and family relationships, materialism, public behavior, efficiency in service, and power. The findings lay ground work for an examination of cultural differences in an EFL class, especially for students who plan to further their study in the target culture
Open Access
An analysis of medical students' English language needs
(2007) Taşçı, Çağla
This study aimed at finding out the academic and professional English language needs of medical students in an EFL context, from the perspectives of administrators, currently enrolled students, and academicians, in order to contribute to the process of English for medical purposes curriculum development. Data were collected via questionnaires which were designed to compare the perceptions of the currently enrolled students and the academicians at the medical faculty of a Turkish-medium university. An interview was held with the Dean of the Medical Faculty to better obtain information about perceptions of the administration towards the English language needs of the medical students and their expectations from the English classes. The questionnaire data were analyzed quantitatively, and the interview data were analyzed qualitatively. The main results of the study revealed that medical students studying in Turkish-medium contexts primarily need to improve their English reading skills in order to do research for their problem-based learning classes. In addition to English reading skills, medical students regard speaking skills and an interactive way of learning English in groups as very important. This finding indicates a changing trend in the students’ perceptions of their foreign language needs in comparison with the previous needs analyses of English language needs in medical contexts. The overall findings of this study revealed that there is a need to increase the class hours, provide technological equipment, and appoint trained instructors for the efficient teaching of medical English.
Open Access
An analysis of the English language needs of the students at the Maritime Faculty of Istanbul Technical University
(1995) Dengiz, Ayşe Aydan
Abstract: This needs analysis study investigated the English language needs of the students at the Maritime Faculty of Istanbul Technical University where prospective deck ofiicers and marine engineers are educated to work both on cargo and passenger ships. The lack of a curriculum, the need to identify the objectives and means of the language instruction, and the shortcomings of the current language program at the faculty necessitated a needs analysis study to meet the specific purposes of the maritime students. The participants were 35 prep students, 77 junior students, 10 graduates, 7 language teachers, 8 content course teachers, 3 faculty administrators, and 3 employers from the maritime sector. Semi-structured questionnaires and interviews were used to gather data for this descriptive study. The researcher sought an answer for a major question: What are the English language needs of the students at the Maritime Faculty both for their future careers and their studies? The sub-questions aimed at discovering the proficiency level of English required for deck officers and marine engineers during their studies and professions; the language skills and sub-skills they will need in their work domain and faculties; the suitable teaching approach to be followed; and the shortcomings of the present English language program. The results obtained from the study revealed that maritime students should know English at an advanced or at least intermediate level. The English language skills deck officers and marine engineers will need in their profession were determined as listening and speaking, whereas marine engineers will need reading most. Writing followed these skills for both departments. The following subskills were also considered as important for seamen: writing reports, formal letters, and logbooks; reading instruction manuals, trade books, and professional journals; listening and responding to radio-telephone messages, instructions, and participating in conversations with foreign colleagues. The shortcomings of the current language program are reported to be inappropriate teaching methods, lack of coordination between teachers, inappropriate content of courses, underemphasis of oral/aural skills, and unsuitable regulations. The researcher suggested that an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) approach with appropriate methodology should be followed in teaching English to maritime students and emphasized the urgency of the development of a curriculum that will meet the specific needs of the students at the Maritime Faculty as expressed in this study.
Open Access
An Analysis of the English language needs of veterinary medicine students at Selçuk University
(1994) Elkılıç, Gencer
This study attempted to determine the English language needs of the students of veterinary medicine at Selcuk University. English language courses in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine are taught by using the grammar-translation method without taking the language needs of the students into consideration. Although students need English in order to read journals, magazines, and research papers published in English, they are not taught to develop skills required to do so. This is due to the fact that the English language teachers offer English courses to students who are specializing in physics, geography, engineering, biology and so forth. Thus, teachers are not very well aware of the special needs of students in each specialized area. In order to carry out this study, 67 students, 15 subject professors, and 5 English language teachers were given questionnaires which were designed to elicit information on students' language needs. Students' version of the questionnaire consisted of 22 items, subject professors' version 16, and language teachers' 17. All groups were requested to rank the four language skills according to importance. Reading was unanimously selected as the most important skill. There were mixed opinions concerning the importance of the other three skills. Listening, however, was considered to be the second most important. The students, subject professors, and language teachers also stated that reading was important in order to be able to understand scholarly journals, magazines, and reports as well as to be able to translate materials from English into Turkish. Based on these results, the researcher made recommendations for improving the present English language curriculum at Selcuk University.
Open Access
A Comparison of computer-assisted vocabulary instruction and teacher-led vocabulary instruction
(2005) Tokaç, Ayşe
This study aims to determine whether the learning of foreign language vocabulary would be better for students who study and revise the vocabulary instruction material in a computer environment compared to students who learn and revise the same vocabulary instruction material in a classroom environment with their teachers. Additionally, the study explored the strengths and weaknesses of the computer-assisted vocabulary instruction. Three groups of students participated in this study. One group was the control group, other groups were the teacher-led vocabulary instruction group and the computer-assisted vocabulary instruction group. The teacher-led group learned and revised the target words using spaced repetition via teacher instruction, the computer group learned and revised the target words using spaced repetition via computers, and the control group learned the target words via teacher instruction while they revised vocabulary massively at one time and did not use spaced repetition.
Open Access
A critical examination of imperialism and language teaching in Turkey
(1998) Tarhan, H. Nüvit
This study aimed to answer the following question: what relations are there between the teaching of English in Turkey and Turkish socio-economic and political life? Socio-economic and political relationships between the Turkish governments and Western nations are considered as the background for the study. To determine the relationships between foreign language teaching and Turkish socio-economic and political life, data concerning the promotion of foreign languages and cultures in Turkey since the Second World War were obtained. The main sources of data were statistics produced by State Statistical Institute and from interviews with the administrators of the Ministry of National Education, and representatives of the United States Information Service. Textbooks and syllabi used in state schools to check the language teaching methodologies in light of changing socioeconomic and political relationships between Turkey and Western nations were also examined. The above data were compared to the results of 1500 questionnaires given to the graduates of both private English medium schools and non-English medium state schools.The findings of this study show strong relationships between general trends in Turkish economic, social and pohtical history; the teaching of foreign languages; and the lifestyles of graduates of Enghsh medium secondary schools.
Open Access
English language needs assessment of the students of the Medical Faculty of Cumhuriyet University
(1994) Kıymazarslan Alagözlü, Nuray
Needs assessment contributes to curriculum planning and helps teachers and syllabus designers offer more efficient services to students. Needs assessment is a very important basis for determining objectives of the curriculum and organizing its content. It is also a strategy by which problems can be focused on and recommendations concerning those problems can be made (Selvadurai & Krashinsky, 1989). English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is one of the educational areas which most benefits from needs assessment. Because ESP views the learner as central to the learning and teaching process, it takes learners' needs as a starting point in teaching language. The main concern of the study was to reveal the English language needs of fourth year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine of Cumhuriyet University. Student-perceived English language needs, teachers' perceptions of their students' needs, and perceptions of students' needs according to the administrators were investigated. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews, and the perceptions of these people were compared. The four major results of this study were as follows: First, reading and translation are the most required language skills for medical students because of the large proportion of medicine-related readings available only in English. Both medical students and language teachers agreed that medical terminology should be taught and that understanding reading passages in detail is the most important reading subskill. These suggest that medical students need to be taught reading strategies along with medical terminology. Second, the instructional materials are not suitable, which implies a revision of instructional materials in use. Third, a need for inservice training in teaching ESP was revealed. A great number of students and language teachers concur that language teachers who teach ESP are competent in general English, but not in medical English. Finally, it was seen that the focus in English language classes and the perceived needs of the students by medical students, language teachers, and administrators do not match. Thus, medical students' needs are not being fully met by the present curriculum. Based on these results, recommendations were made as to what elements of the present curriculum should be changed and what a new curriculum should include.
Open Access
English-language needs in the probable work situations of the students of the Radio, Television, and Film Department at Ankara University
(1994) Şahin, Z. Zeynep
This study was designed to investigate the fututre work-related English language needs of the students of the Radio, Television, and Film Department (RTFD) at the Faculty of Communication (FC) at Ankara University (AU). With this purpose, a needs analysis was conducted at Turkish Radio Television Corporation (TRT) which is the major probable future work place of this specific group of students. Although it is accepted by many professionals such as Clark (1987), Hutchinson (1986), and Richards (1990) that in language teaching, needs assessment is a very important basis for determining the objectives of the curriculum and organizing the content of the programs especially in English for Specific Purposes (ESP), this kind of analysis had not yet been conducted at the FC at AU. Two types of instruments were used in data collection: a questionnaire and an interview. The questionnaire was distributed to 47 employees from different units at TRT where English is widely used, and the interviews were conducted with 3 managers at TRT. In the questionnaire, employees were asked about the level of proficiency required and the frequency of the use of five major skills (reading, writing, speaking listening, and translation) and their subskills in various situations and with various materials. The categories of frequency levels that subjects responded to were never, rarely, often, always. There were two open-ended questions. In one, subjects were asked to indicate additional uses of English not covered in earlier items, and in the other, they were asked to make suggestions that might be useful in reorganizing the English language instruction at the faculties related to their field. In the interviews, four open-ended questions were directed to 3 managers from different units at TRT. The interviewees were asked to talk about the tasks related to the use of English in their units, any deficiencies in the English skills of the current employees, and any future changes that were expected in the types of tasks that would be likely to affect the use of English in these units. The major findings were as follows: 1.An advanced level of English is needed at TRT. 2. Reading is the most frequently used skill, which is followed by translation and writing. 3.Whereas speaking and listening skills are not as frequently needed, it is observed that these two skills are also considerably used. 4. A high level of proficiency is required for whatever skill is used in the workplace. 5. Correspondence and professional material are the most frequent among the different sub-skills and materials. 6. Some forms of specific English are used at TRT.
Open Access
Factors that promote effective listening
(1989) Sencan, Nilgün
Open Access
A needs assessment of the students of the Department of Tourism and Administration and Hotel Management at Balıkesir University
(1994) Üstünlüoğlu, Evrim
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses should be organized and planned according to the needs of the learners because ESP courses prepare learners for their future careers (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987). In ESP courses, needs, a gap between a current state of affairs and a desired future state, is the basic concept which differentiates them from General English courses. Needs assessment is a systematic way of determining needs (Smith, 1990). The target domain (learners' future work field) is one of the starting points to collect data necessary for needs assessment. Present situation analysis identifies the current proficiency level of the students. A comparison of a target situation analysis (TSA) and a present situation analysis (PSA) identifies the gaps between the current situation and the desired level (Robinson, 1991). This study investigated the target needs of the students (skills and subskills required in the work domain) along with the learning needs of the students (the processes by which people learn these skills and subskills) and whether the curriculum followed in the Department of Tourism Administration and Hotel Management at Balikesir University (BAU) meets the English language needs of the students. One hundred students (50 graduate and 50 undergraduate) and 5 hotel managers were included in the study. A structured questionnaire was administered to students and a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to hotel managers. A comparison of the frequency of the skills practiced in the classroom and the frequency of use in the target domain identified the gaps between the current teaching situation and the target domain. The questionnaire also identified activities which students believed were important for the classroom. Students also expressed their ideas about shortcomings of the English language program in an open-ended question. The results of the student questionnaire indicated that the needs of the students are not fully met by the current curriculum followed at BAU, considering the needs of the target domain and the learning needs of the students. A large majority of students indicated that the required proficiency level of English in the target domain is advanced and that speaking and listening are the most used skills. However, translation, reading, and writing are the most taught skills in the classroom. The answers to the open-ended question revealed that many students believe the content of the English courses is not relevant and skills required in the target domain are not taught in the classroom. Students also reported that there are too few class hours a week in the second, third, and fourth years, and that teaching methods along with materials are inappropriate. Results derived from a questionnaire administered to the hotel managers indicated that students cannot express themselves correctly and that activities to improve speaking and understanding as well should be emphasized in the classroom. The results can be helpful in improving the curriculum and in selecting more relevant books and materials as well as appropriate methodology in English teaching at BAU.
Open Access
Students' and teachers' perceptions of interaction types
(2007) Kaya, Özlem
This thesis investigated the perceptions of students at various proficiency levels and their teachers toward interaction types used in language classes, exploring students’ and teachers’ affective reactions to interaction types, along with their impressions of these interaction types’ effectiveness as learning tools. The study was conducted with the participation of 238 students from various proficiency levels (two classes from each level), and their Speaking-Listening course teachers at Anadolu University, School of Foreign Languages in the spring semester of 2007. The data were gathered through perception questionnaires and interviews. The analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data revealed that students and their teachers perceived group work as a more effective learning tool, and they had more have positive affective reactions to this interaction type than whole-class teaching, which suggested that students and their teachers had tendencies towards iv learner-centered learning. Moreover, there was no significant difference of perception across the proficiency levels, and opinions of students did not clash with those of their teachers to a great extent. This study implied that group work is an effective and enjoyable interaction type, which should be employed more frequently in addition to whole-class teaching in language classes. Further, it suggested that group work can become more effectively and smoothly implemented at all levels if students receive strategy training on group work.