Browsing by Subject "strategy training"

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Open Access
The effect of explicit instruction in contextual inferencing strategies on students' attitudes towards reading
(2011) Kulaç, Demet
This experimental study investigated pre-intermediate level Turkish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners‟ attitudes towards reading in English, the effect of their attitudes towards unknown words in reading texts on their attitudes towards reading in English in general and the effect of explicit strategy instruction in contextual inferencing strategies on pre-intermediate level EFL students‟ attitudes towards reading in English. The study was carried out at Zonguldak Karaelmas University Foreign Languages Compulsory Preparatory School, with the participation of 82 pre-intermediate level EFL learners and two instructors. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews in two phases: pre- and posttreatment. An “Attitudes towards Reading in English” questionnaire was used to find out the students‟ pre-training attitudes towards reading. Data from the prequestionnaire and pre-interviews provided information about the effect of the students‟ attitudes towards unknown words in reading texts on their attitudes to reading in English. After a three-week explicit strategy training period and a twoweek interval, the students were given the same questionnaire and interviews were held. The analyses of the pre-training data revealed that the students‟ attitudes towards reading in English were neutral, and their negative attitudes towards unknown words in reading texts had a negative impact on their attitudes towards reading in English. The comparison of the pre- and post-treatment data indicated that explicit instruction in contextual inferencing strategies had a positive effect on the low attitude students‟ attitudes towards reading.
Open Access
The effect of socio-affective language learning strategies and emotional intelligence training on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' foreign language anxiety in speaking classes
(2013) Gürman-Kahraman, Fatma
The study aims to explore the possible effects of socio-affective language learning strategies (LLSs) and emotional intelligence (EI) training on EFL students‟ foreign language anxiety (FLA) in speaking courses. With this aim, the study was carried out with 50 elementary level EFL learners and three speaking skills teachers at a state university in Turkey. The participating students had a five-week training based on the socioaffective LLSs suggested by Oxford (1990) and the skills in Bar-On‟s (2000) EI model in their speaking skills lessons. Before and after the interval, all the participating students were administered both the “Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale” (FLCAS) and the “Socio-Affective Strategy Inventory of Language Learning” (SASILL), which served as pre- and post-questionnaires. In addition, students were asked to fill in perception cards in each training week, and six students and the three teachers who gave the training were interviewed in order to collect qualitative data related to the participants‟ attitudes towards individual strategies/skill and the treatment in general. As a result, quantitative data analysis from the pre- and post-FLCAS indicated that there was a statistically significant decrease in the participating students‟ overall anxiety levels. However, the students‟ perceptions on the socioaffective strategies did not differ much after the training. Only two affective strategies were observed to have a significant increase in their uses: “rewarding yourself” and “lowering your anxiety”. The results of the content analysis of the perception cards revealed that the students mostly liked the training activity Give and Receive Compliments, which aimed to teach the “interpersonal relationship” competence of EI and the social LLS of “cooperating with others”. On the other hand, the activity that the students enjoyed the least was Use the System of ABCD, which aimed to address the affective LLS of “lowering your anxiety” and the EI skill of “impulse control”. Furthermore, the thematic analysis of student and teacher interviews demonstrated that the training was enjoyable, beneficial in general, and useful in diagnosing the feeling of foreign language anxiety; nevertheless, that some strategies and skills were difficult to apply and some training activities were mechanical and unattractive were the other reported common ideas.