Cem Alptekin

Field Dependence-Independence and Hemisphericity as Variables in L2 Achievement.

Following an extensive review of the literature, this study explores the relationship between L2 achievement and two learner characteristics - field dependence-independence and hemisphericity. Sixty-nine Turkish students of 11 to 12 years of age in an intensive EFL programme were administered the GEFT, the CLEM, and tests of L2 achievement. Significant positive correlations were observed between the GEFT scores and scores on L2 achievement tests. As expected, field independent learners performed better on the discrete-point and cloze tests. Hemisphericity, however, was not found to be related to L2 achievement. These results are evaluated critically and their implications for further research are discussed.

The Explicit/Implicit Knowledge Distinction and Working Memory: Implications for Second-Language Reading Comprehension.

Following an extensive overview of the subject, this study explores the relationships between second-language (L2) explicit/implicit knowledge sources, embedded in the declarative/procedural memory systems, and L2 working memory (WM) capacity. It further examines the relationships between L2 reading comprehension and L2 WM capacity as well as those between L2 reading comprehension and L2 explicit/implicit knowledge sources. Participants were late adult learners of English as an L2, with a relatively advanced level of English proficiency. They completed tests measuring their WM capacity, explicit knowledge, implicit knowledge, and L2 reading comprehension. Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between L2 WM capacity and both explicit and implicit L2 knowledge. Exploratory factor analysis showed that explicit knowledge, WM capacity, and L2 reading comprehension loaded on a single factor whereas implicit L2 knowledge formed an independent factor with no relationship to L2 reading. The results suggest that L2 WM is able to manipulate and store both explicit and implicit L2 input through controlled and automatic processes. They also suggest that L2 explicit knowledge, connected with the control processes of the declarative systems lexical/semantic features, and L2 WM, reflecting attentional resource capacity/allocation associated with control processes, play an important role in L2 reading comprehension.

Research on foreign language teaching and learning in Turkey (2005-2009)

This is an overview of research on applied linguistics and foreign language education in Turkey, surveying nearly 130 studies from the period 2005–2009. Following a brief presentation of the history and current sociopolitical situation of foreign language education in Turkey, the article focuses on research that characterizes the most common interests of academics and practitioners in the following areas: foreign language teaching and teachers, foreign language learning and learners, foreign language teacher education, the four language skills, measurement and evaluation, and the relationship between language and culture. Our discussion of each area is based on information extracted from local professional journals, conference proceedings and papers and Ph.D. dissertations. The studies examined reveal that, in general, practical concerns assume priority over theoretical issues, a substantial proportion of research being conducted on EFL learning and teaching.

English as a lingua franca through a usage-based perspective: merging the social and the cognitive in language use

The focus on English as a lingua franca (ELF) has changed from one on form to one on function, with the interest shifting from the observed regularities of the code to multiple ELF uses in intercultural contexts. This article criticises both form- and function-oriented views on ELF for relegating an unprecedented linguistic phenomenon to the narrow confines of surface-level grammatical descriptions or pragmatically oriented strategic competencies. It offers instead a usage-based perspective which takes grammar as the cognitive (re-)organisation of the language users experience with English in sociocultural contexts of intercultural communication. ELF interactants use the language to mediate cognition, with recurring commonalities in forms and functions leading to transitions from variation to variety through grammaticalisation processes. The emerging variety is unique because, unlike native language competence, it rests primarily on an explicit knowledge of English operationalised through controlled processes of cognition subserving its use. Nevertheless, the possibility exists for explicit knowledge to become implicit in time, with contextually guided ‘usage events’ bringing about the gradual mapping of sociocognition onto the grammar of an emerging variety of English, namely, ELF.