The Academic Writing Needs of Students: A Case Study on Stakeholder Perspectives

The international appeal of English has resulted in an expansion of courses adopting English-medium instruction, and many institutions require students to pursue their studies in programs with English medium. However, to what extent these programs meet the expectations is yet to be understood. Numerous studies have documented the effectiveness of EMI particularly in English as a foreign language contexts. However, perspectives of different stakeholders were not adequately captured. The present study attempts to fill this void by exploring students' needs of academic writing from the perspectives of different stakeholders. A total of 9 participants, namely, 5 students, a language instructor, and 3 teachers of content professors were selected using the snowball sampling method. All the participants were selected from a department offering English-medium instruction at a state university in Turkey. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The results show that students require more investment in academic writing courses to get familiar with the disciplinary register and fulfil the requirements of future English courses. The stakeholders’ perspectives are compared to have a better understanding of students’ needs, lacks and wants. The study suggests some implications to approach language education policies more critically

Student teaching from the perspectives of cooperating teachers and pupils

To facilitate student-teachers' transition from internship to permanent positions, they are advised to meticulously learn from real experiences of practicum process as it might form their future teaching practices. To help promote the effectiveness of this process, investigating student-teaching from stakeholder perspectives could be enriching. Research on the cooperating teacher has mainly dealt with the perspective of student- teachers; however, this study focuses on student teaching process from the perspective of both cooperating teachers and the pupils in student- teacher's classes of EFL in a Turkish teaching context. We administered open-ended questionnaires to 21 teachers and 114 pupils and carried out inductive qualitative content analysis to analyze the data. The study elaborates on the cooperating teachers' and pupils' perceptions of the student- teachers as well as the impact of their teaching. Results reveal that the arrival of student- teachers was highly welcomed by most of the students and some of the cooperating teachers even though some expectations from student- teachers were not met

Students’ Perceptions of Language Anxiety in Speaking Classes

Abstract A considerable number of foreign as well as second language learners suffer from language anxiety when they step into the language classroom. What makes language learning environments, particularly English language learning situations, anxiety provoking has been well-established in language anxiety literature and the learners’ perception of language anxiety deserve a special mention as they are one of the parties directly involved in learning process. To this end, this study aims at exploring learners’ perceptions of language anxiety in speaking classes at a north-eastern state university in Turkey. Through a purposive sampling procedure, 30 students from different proficiency levels were interviewed. Findings from the semi-structured interviews are discussed with reference to learners’ perceptions of learning English. Possible sources and manifestations of language anxiety from the learners’ perspectives are examined and their suggested ways to lower language anxiety are discussed

<b> English Major Students’ Perceptions of Academic Writing: A Struggle between Writing to Learn and Learning to Write</b>

English Major Students’ Perceptions of Academic Writing: A Struggle between Writing to Learn and Learning to Write Abstract Even though writing as a language skill takes a back seat especially with reference to the natural order hypothesis, appreciation of writing in academic settings propel learners to challenge the validity of this order. It is not surprising therefore that writing deserves a higher priority in academic settings due much to its immediate practical application in a variety of academic tasks such as examination questions, essays, research reports, dissertation thesis and so on. In line with this constant practice with writing, English majoring students are quite usually subject to production of texts in the academic essay genre and desire to position themselves in academic discourse community through following the desired academic conventions. However, a considerable number of students fail to achieve the desired proficiency; cultural variations intrude into the language classrooms and differences in meaning learners attach to the writing activities are evident, which makes it necessary to explore students’ perceptions from academic writing courses. To this end, questionnaires on students’ writing efficacy were distributed to the freshman students enrolled in Academic Writing class, and interviews were carried out to have a broader understanding of the expectations from the course. Data from the questionnaire were analyzed using the SPSS and content analysis was employed to analyze the interviews

Использование мобильных технологий в усвоении словарного запаса во время переводческих занятий - перспектива ученика

Der Band enthält die Abstracts ausschließlich in englischer Sprache.Rapid changes in technology are reflected into all walks of education as well as language learning and teaching situations. In line with these changes, studies into the integration of mobile phones into language learning contexts, particularly to facilitate vocabulary acquisition, have spawned. However, learners’ perceptions regarding the impact of the integration of mobile technologies are not fully explored. This study aims at discovering learners’ perceptions of mobile phone integration in translation classes. Twenty-seven learners studying at an English Language and Literature department in a north-western Turkish university were sent SMS text messages including the target words before, during and after the translation courses for 6 weeks. Nine students who were selected based on their frequency of response rate, 3 the most frequent respondents, 3 average respondents and the least 3 respondents respectively, were interviewed. A content analysis of the semi-structured interviews reveals information about the learners’ mobile telephone use and their perceptions of mobile phone use for language learning purposes. The findings reveal that learners in general hold a positive opinion of mobile phone integration although some hesitations have been voiced. A discussion of learners’ perspectives on the current and future use of mobile phones is provided.  Le numéro contient uniquement les résumés en anglais.Том не содержит аннотаций на английском языке