Dogan Yuksel

Effects of communication mode and salience on recasts : A first exposure study

This article reports on a study that investigated whether the extent to which learners benefit from recasts on two Turkish morphemes differ depending on communication mode — i.e. Face-to-Face Communication (F2FC) and text-based Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication (SCMC) — and/or the salience of the target structure (i.e. salient and non-salient). In this first exposure study, 24 native speakers of English with no Turkish background studied 51 Turkish words by completing a series of vocabulary learning tasks. Participants who scored at or above a criterion level of 60% on a screening test met with the researcher and carried out two communicative tasks. In each task, learners received recasts on one of the target structures through one of the communication modes. The order of the tasks was counterbalanced across four subgroups of learners. Two oral production tasks were used as a posttest in order to measure learners’ performance on the two target structures. Results revealed that learners scored statistically significantly higher on receiving recasts through text-based SCMC than recasts through F2FC. However, results showed no difference between the salient and the non-salient morpheme in benefiting from recasts.

The effects of communication mode on negotiation of meaning and its noticing

This study examined the effects of communication mode ( i.e. , face to face versus computer mediated communication) on the instances of negotiation of meaning (NofM) and its level of noticing by learners. Sixty-four participants (32 dyads) completed two jigsaw tasks in two different mediums (one in each) and four days after the tasks they were asked to identify the instances where they had communication breakdowns in a stimulated recall protocol. The findings of the study revealed that the average number of the NofM exchanges and durations of the tasks were higher in face to face mode (F2F) but the participants of the synchronous computer mediated communication (SCMC) group noticed a higher average of NofM instances ( M =10.72) compared to the F2F group ( M =9.13) and the difference was significant. Based on these results, we can argue that F2F promotes a better context for the production of NofM, but the SCMC environment leads to more instances of noticing.

Technology Use in Reflective Teaching: A Practicum Research Project

Abstract The aim of this study is to combine the practice of reflective teaching and technology. With the help of a group created on Facebook which was accessible only to the group members taking part in the reflective teaching process, an interactive discussion environment was created and the student teachers commented on each others’ performances based on the diaries prepared after each practice. After analyzing the student teachers’ diaries and their peers’ comments in terms of their focus and issues discussed, it was observed that the student teachers could recognize the problems they encountered quite easily and they could identify the difficulties their peers experienced while teaching; however their evaluations of the reflective practice were not comprehensive or remedial.

Teachers’ treatment of different types of student questions

This study examined how two experienced instructors of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) literature treated questions posed by students during classroom discussions. Data came from two semester-long college-level classes in Turkey. Video recordings of the classes in one semester, field notes taken during the observations, and interviews with both instructors and six students from each class provided the data for this study. We identified the categories of student questions and analysed how each instructor treated them. This was an important step as the later analysis demonstrated that teachers’ treatment of student questions, such as providing a direct answer or using a counter-question, had some relationship with the question type. Findings of the study revealed that generally, both instructors preferred to give direct answers to most of the student questions. However, they utilised a balanced approach of supplying direct answers and asking counter-questions proportionately to respond to some specific question types. Our study concludes with practical educational implications.