Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Yabancı Dilde Yazılmış Metinleri Anlama Becerilerinin Sınanmasında Özet Yazma Tekniğinin Kullanılması

The use of multiple choice questions in testing students' reading comprehension of foreign language texts has become a widespread practice. However, not only does this technique ignore and/or override most of the reading skills that we train our students in but it also establishes in them the habit o f reading not for total comprehension but only enough to answer the questions in the test. The validity of any test will be achieved only to the degree that it tests our students' ability in the manner it has been taught in the classroom, not to mention that it will reflect on what is taught and how it is taught in the classroom (backwash effect). Considering the fact that reading ability consists of certain strategies and sub-skills which interact with each other, we need to use a testing technique which can capture the complexity of the process. As an example of such a technique, summarization was used with university students following their reading of two texts - expository and narrative - and results from this technique were correlated with scores gained from a multiple choice test constructed for the same two texts. Based on the results of the study, we conclude that summarization can be a reliable way of testing reading comprehension, and to use this technique more effectively it is suggested that students receive prior training in summarization.Yabancı dilde okuma-anlama becerisinin sınanmasında kullanılan çoktan seçmeli tekniğinin kullanımı fazlasıyla yaygınlaşmasına karşın, bu teknik okuma-anlama sürecinde öğrencide geliştirilmesi amaçlanan becerilerin birçoğunu ölçmenıekle birlikte, öğrenciyi okuduğunu tümüyle anlamaya değil de soruyu cevaplamaya yönelten bir okuma alışkanlığını yerleştiriyor. Kullandığımız test tekniğinin geçerliliği öğrenciye kazandırmak istediğimiz becerileri ölçmesi oranında sağlanacaktır ve ayın zamanda bu teknik öğretim programlarının içeriğini belirlemede etkili olacaktır. Okuma-anlama becerisinin birçok strateji ve alt becerilerin karşılıklı iletişiminden oluşması nedeniyle, bunu sınavlara yansıtabilecek bir sınama tekniği olarak özet çıkarma üniversite öğrencileri üzerinde iki ayrı türde "öykü ve düzyazı" okuma parçası kullanılarak denendi ve sonuçlar aynı okuma parçaları için geliştirilmiş çoktan seçmeli sınav sonuçları ile karşılaştırıldı. Toplanan verilerden elde edilen sonuçlar özet yazmanın okuma-anlamayı ölçmeye yönelik kullanılabilirliğine ve bu tekniğin daha verimli kullanılabilmesi için öğrencilerin bu yönde eğitilmelerinin gerekliliğine dikkat çekmektedir

An analysis of subjects' ability to read in English as a foreign language eith regard to reader- related and task- related factors

TEZ1760Tez (Doktora) -- Çukurova Üniversitesi, Adana, 1994.Kaynakça (s. 297-313) var.xiv, 314 s. ; 30 cm.

Investigation of Cross-cultural Communication between Native English-speaking Lecturers and their Students in Turkish Tertiary Education

Cultural diversity between students and teachers may be a source of “miscommunication” that compromises the learning/teaching environment. In such cases, students may be accused of poor performance or teachers may be blamed for inadequate methodology. This comparative study aims to examine the education culture in two Turkish universities involving native teachers, English speaking foreign teachers and their Turkish students in an attempt to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges faced by both students and teachers. Four versions of the questionnaire were administered to 15 teachers and 228 students. All four versions focused on classroom management and examination procedures, pedagogy, and other affective factors. The authors aimed to investigate students’ and teachers’ mutual beliefs, perceptions and expectations of each other within the educational context and whether any differences could be accounted for by cultural differences between the two parties. This study was designed by both a Turkish academic and a native English speaking instructor, a collaboration which serves to temper cultural biases inherent to any culturally based inquiry. We hoped to maximize the effectiveness of cross-cultural classrooms as well as to suggest directions for further researc

The Significance of Using Authentic Tasks and Texts in Language Teaching Materials: Study of a Course Book

As a result of examining an English course book developed for sixth graders and promoted by the Ministry of Education, “Quick Step 6”, the general observation of the present authors has been that the mentioned book fails to meet the standards established by research in the field of language teaching and materials development, as well as the needs of the students it aims to serve. This book has given priority to texts and tasks which have been artificially designed with very narrow pedagogical concerns. The contents of the texts and tasks ignore elements of the target culture and do not carry the features of authentic language use. Such simplified texts are deprived of their natural context and rich language variety, making language learning a difficult and demotivating task. There is a great need for books which takes into consideration the intelligence level and interest areas of learners in constructing studentscentered and student-initiated activities. This article starts with a summary of the basic principles to follow in developing language teaching materials, and continues with definitions of authentic texts and authentic tasks. Lastly, Quick Step 6 is examined with a view to the authenticity of its texts and task

The Relationship between General Motivation and Situation-Specific Attitudes and Beliefs Related to Learning English for Academic Purposes: It’s Impact on Academic Success

The present study aims to document students’ perceptions of their learning experiences in an English-medium university, how certain situation-specific and learner-related variables are active in shaping these attitudes, and finally what is the impact of these variables on participants’ academic success. Participants’ Englishlearning background starting with secondary education as a variable yielded significant and positive associations with their academic success and their attitudes toward English-medium instruction. Positive attitudes that loaded on several factors correlated significantly and positively with each other and negatively so with factors of demotivated attitudes. Learner variables also proved to have a significant impact on participants’ attitudes. The article concludes by making suggestions to policy makers in the ministry of education and concerned universities