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oz ORTA SEVİYEDE İNGİLİZCE ÜNİVERSİTE Ö?RENCİLERİNİN ELEŞTİREL DÜŞÜNCE YETENEKLERİNİN ARTIRILMASI Özçınar,H. Nazan Yüksek Lisans Tezi, İngiliz Dili Eğitimi Anabilim Dalı Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Deniz Zeyrek Ocak 1996, 130 sayfa Kurgusu deneysel araştırma çerçevesinde gerçekleştirilen bu çalışma öğrencilerin konuşma, okuma ve yazma becerilerini edinir ve kullanırken çeşitli düzeylerde karar verici konumda olduklarını varsaymakta ve problem çözümü, mantıklı düşünme, yaratıcılık ve hayal gücü gibi eleştirel düşüncenin sözü edilen beceriler üzerinde etkilerini belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Hazırlık sınıflarından aynı düzeydeki öğrencilerinden oluşan deney ve kontrol gruplarından sadece deney grubu eleştirel düşünceyi geliştireceği varsayılan sekiz haftalık bir aktiviteler paketi. İle özel eğitimden geçirilmiştir. Program sonunda her iki gruba gerçek hayat problem testi verilmiştir. Öğrencilerin okuma ve yazma becerileri dönem sonu sınavında karşılaştınlmıştır. T-testi yoluyla yapılan karşılaştırmada özel eğitimden geçirilen deneklerin karşılaştıkları problemlere eleştirel yaklaştıkları ve yaratıcılık ve haya gücü ölçütlerinde daha yüksek performansa ulaştıkları saptanmıştır. Bunun yanısıra bölümün hazırladığı sınavda deneklerin okuma becerilerinin yazma becerilerinden daha iyi olduğu gözlenmiştir iv ABSTRACT ENHANCING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS OF PREPARATORY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Özçınar, H. Nazan. M. A. in English Language Teaching Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Deniz Zeyrek January 1996, 130 pages This thesis aims to determine whether or not the incorporation of additional critical thinking strategies such as problem solving, decision making, reasoning, creativity and imagination integrated into reading and writing activities help the students do better in reading and writing in English. An experiment was made to see students' performance after a training period of eight weeks. The experiment was conducted at the English Preparatory School at Hacettepe University. An experimental and a control group participated in the experiment. Both groups were tested by a teacher-made test at the end of eight weeks. The students' performance in reading and writing in an end-of-term departmental exam were also included in the experiment. By means of a t-test, it was shown that the students in the experimental group after getting training, made use of creativity and imagination to a larger extent, and that they did better in reading rather than writing in the departmental exam. m 130

ÖZET Yüksek Lisans Tezi Ovidius'un Amores adlı yapıtında rhetorik sanatı öğelerinin kullanımı Ü. Fafo TELATAR Danışman : Doç. Dr. Mehmet ÖZAKTÜRK 1995, 141 + IH sayfa Bu çalışmada Publius Ovidius Naso'nun elegeia şiir türünün geleneksel konularını işlediği Amores adlı yapıtında kullandığı rhetorica sanat öğeleri örneklerle açıklanmıştır. Giriş bölümünde önce rhetorica 'nın kısaca tanımı ve gelişmesi anlatılmış, sonra Ovidius'un rhetorica öğrenciliği sırasında gösterdiği beceri ve başarı konusunda Seneca 'nın Controversiae adlı yapında verdiği bilgiler Türkçeye çevrilerek sunulmuştur. Quintilianus'un İnstitutio Oratoria adlı yapıtında rhetorica sanat öğelerinin kullanımlarıyla ilgili açıklamaları Latinceden Türkçeye çevrilerek verilmiştir. Çalışmanın ikinci bölümünde Quintilianus'un açıklamaları gözönünde tutularak Ovidius'un rhetorica sanat öğelerini nasıl kullandığı Amores adlı yapıtından örneklerle açıklanmıştır. Böylece bu çalışmada ozanın ilk yapıtı Amores'de rhetorica okulunda öğrendiği teknik kuralları ustaca sergilediği gösterilmiştir. Ozanın okul çağında almış olduğu rhetorica eğitiminin, sonradan kamu, siyasal ve hukuk alanında kullanmasa da boşa gitmediği, şiirlerinde bol bol kullanıp yapıtlarına can, güç, renk, etkileyicilik, inandırıcılık gibi birçok özellikler kazandırdığı kanısına varılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Amores, Retorik sanat öğeleri ABSTRACT Master Thesis Ovid's Use of the Rhetorical Figures in the Amores Ü. Fafo TELATAR Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet ÖZAKTÜRK 1995, 141 + in pages The purpose of this theses is to throv light on Ovid's use of the rhetorical figures and some of the figures of speech in the Amores, which treats of mainly traditional themes. In the introduction first some necessary information concerning the historical development of the rhetorics both in Greece and Rome has been given, then a passage of Seneca's Controversiae proving Ovid's talent of, tendence to, success in rhetorics and declamation (during his school days) has been given in translation. Also the part of Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria (VIII. 6. 1-47) dealing vith the figures of rhetorics at length has been given in traslations in order to shov the Roman's concept of the subject. The main part of this theses deals vith Ovid's use of the rhetorical figures(in accordance vith information Quintilian gives about the subject) and figures of speech by giving examples as many as possible from the Amores. Finally it is concluded that Ovid veil adopted the rules and techniques of figures of rhetorics, vhich he praticed in his rhetorical school under Porcius Latro and Arellius Fuscus to his earliest poems in Amores; although he did not make use of the rhetorics in public life, his previous study of the rhetorics has not been lost entirely: he embelished his poems viht the figures of rhetorics and speech, thus gave them an air of liveliness, a ting of color, a chain of reasoning and a pover of persuasiveness. Key Words: Amores, Rhetorical figures. 141

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Title: Graduate and undergraduate students1 attitudes towards various aspects of communicative classrooms Author: Serap Topuz Thesis Chairperson: Dr. Phyllis L. Lim, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program Thesis Committee Members: Ms. Patricia J. Brenner, Dr. Arlene Clachar, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program Although the Communicative Approach has been a major focus of language teaching and learning in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms for some time, little attention has been paid to the attitudes of students towards communicative activities. A common focus of many researchers is that it is necessary to attend to students' views and attitudes towards activities, whether they believe these activities are helpful for them as language learners (e.g., Green, 1993). The results of previous research indicate differences in the attitudes of student populations in English as a second language (ESL) and differences in learning style preferences in native speaking (NS) settings (Peck, 1991; Reid, 1987). It has been seen that attitudes varied according to variables such as age, status, educational background, home and community environment. These differences in attitudes of students of various ages towards activities and the differences in learning styles, of graduate and undergraduate students (Peck, 1991; Reid, 1987) inspired this researcher to investigate whether these differences exist in a Turkish EFL setting. Therefore, the basic focus of this research was to investigate graduate and undergraduate students'attitudes towards various aspects of communicative classrooms, specifically activities, by means of a survey at Çukurova University preparatory school, Adana, Turkey. In order to gather data on attitudes of graduate (G) and undergraduate (UG) students towards communicative classrooms, a 25-item questionnaire of communicative and noncommunicative statements was administered to 60 graduate and 60 undergraduate students in the preparatory program. In responding to the items on the questionnaire, the subjects were asked to indicate their responses for each statement on a 5-point scale, from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). In analyzing the data, the frequencies of responses falling into different categories were calculated for each item. The means for each of the 25 items were calculated separately for both G and UG students. In order to test the significance of differences between the groups, 25 it- tests of independent samples were done. Significant differences (p_

Tez (yüksek lisans) - Anadolu Üniversitesi, Anadolu Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Eğitim Bilimleri Anabilim Dalı, Kayıt no: 109633, Bu araştırmada, yabancı dil eğitiminde söyleyiş becerisinin kazandırılmasında geleneksel öğretim yöntemi ile mikroöğretim yönteminden hangisinin öğrenci başarısı bakımından daha etkili olduğu ortaya konmaya çalışılmıştır. Araştırma, 1993-1994 Öğretim Yılı'nda, örnekleme alınan Süleyman Çakır Lisesi I-K sınıfındaki 40 öğrenci ile gerçekleştirilmiştir ve İngilizce I Programı ile sınırlıdır. Bu çalışma gerçek deneme modellerinden olan Solomon Dört Grup Modeli'ne göre desenlenmiştir. Verilerin toplanmasında, denkleştirme anketi, değerlendirme formu, öntest ve sontest olarak kullanılan söyleşi becerisi testi kullanılmıştır. Verilerin çözümlenmesinde t testi ile varyans analizinden yararlanılmış ve anlamlılık düzeyi .05 alınmıştır. Verilerin çözümlenmesi ile ''liselerde yabancı dil eğitiminde söyleyiş becerisinin kazandırılmasında mikroöğretim yönteminin geleneksel yöntemden daha etkili olduğu'' sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular ışığında ''Ortaöğretim düzeyinde yabancı dil eğitiminde söyleyiş becerisinin kazandırılmasında mikroöğretim yömteminden yararlanılabilir'' önerisi getirilmiştir.

Titles An investigation of Turkish speakers' of English and native English speakers ' recognition of the writing of Turkish speakers of English and native English speakers. Author: Pamela Holmes Thesis Chairperson: Dr. Linda Laube, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program Thesis Committee Members: Dr. Ruth A. Yontz, Ms. Patricia Brenner, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program This study investigated whether or not Turkish non-native English speakers and native English speakers would recognize the writing of advanced Turkish speakers of English and the writing of native English speakers. It was hypothesized that there were features of the non-natives ' writing that made it recognizable as non-native; features which gave the Turkish non-native English speakers' writing the quality of having a `written foreign accent. ` The study attempted to determine if both Turkish non-native speakers of English and native English speakers would perceive differences in the writing of these two linguistic groups and be able to distinguish between non-native and native writing. It was also hypothesized that native English speakers would make the distinction more frequently and more readily than Turkish non-native English speakers, because of a native English speaker's intuitive sense about what `sounds like English.` Essays were collected from Turkish non-native English speakers and native English speakers. The essays were then read by both non-natives and natives, who were asked to indicate whether they thought the essays were written by Turkish non- native English speakers or by native English speakers. The readers were also asked to indicate the reasons for their decisions.The study provided data on some of the features of non- native and native writing that the readers used to distinguish between the writing from these two linguistic groups. A serious linguistic analysis of these perceived differences was not a part of this study since the aim of the study was merely to determine if readers were able to recognize non-native and native writing. Following this, the data showed that these perceived differences were recognizable to natives and to non-natives as well. This data proved the second hypothesis wrong: natives were not able to recognize Turkish non-native English speakers ' writing more frequently and more readily than non-natives could do so. 68

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This study was carried out to reveal some of the shortcomings of the English Language Teaching System in Turkish High Schools and to supply model dialogues and communicative activities the first of which can be used to clarify the usage of grammatical structures while the activities can be employed to improve the students' language skills. The introduction chapter explains in detail the aim and scope of the study. The second chapter mainly gives a summary of and exemplifies the importance or neglect of dialogues in various language teaching methods and approaches. The third chapter deals with the nature of dialogues and focuses on the main factors that enable speech events to take place. The fourth chapter concentrates on the weaknesses in the construction of the selected dialogues in the English coursebooks presently used in State High Schools, and proposes alternative dialogues with numerous communicative activities based on them to give students a chance to practise their language skills. Some suggestions on how to immediately supply State High School students with realistic dialogues and communicative activities are made in the conclusion chapter. The present study has two appendices the first of which is the translation of the questionnaire given to students at different grades of different State High Schools. Finally, the second appendix includes the translation of the questionnaire given to the English teachers in various State High Schools. ii 199

Title : The relationship between learning strategies and oral performance of Turkish EFL graduate science students in preparatory programs Author: Sedat Özseven Thesis Chairperson: Ms. Patricia Brenner, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program Thesis Committee Members: Dr. Linda Laube, Dr. Dan Tannacito, Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program This study investigated the possible relationship between learning strategies and oral performance of Turkish graduate science students. A total of 62 EFL graduate science students participated in the study. The participants were given a questionnaire which identified their learning strategy preferences. Rebecca Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) Version 7.0 was used as the questionnaire. After students filled out the questionnaire they were interviewed so that they could be given a score for their oral performances, evaluated with the John Test, an oral proficiency test developed by ESL teachers at City University of New York. Finally, learning strategy scores and oral performance scores of the participants were compared through simple linear regression. This statis tical procedure was found appropriate since the researcher had sought a possible relationship between the dependent variable (oral performance) and the independent variables (learning strategies). The study had two hypotheses and two research questions. The first hypothesis was that among EFL learners those who apply more strategies to their learning have higher oral performances than those learners employing fewer strategies. Analysis of the data rejected the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis was that students who demonstrate use of more direct strategies have higher oral performances than those who use more indirect strategies. Analysis of the data confirmed this hypothesis and it was found that cognitive and compensation strategies correlated positively with higher oral performance than metacognitive, memory, or affective strategies. The p_ value for cognitive strategies was p_ < 0.005 and for compensation strategy it was p < 0.025. The first research question was about learning strategy preferences of EFL graduate science students. Analysis of the data revealed that students used compensation, metacognitive, and social strategies with a62 students, 16 reported using compensation strategies, 29 metacognitive strategies, and 12 social strategies. The second research question investigated the relationship between learning strategies and oral performances of EFL learners. Statistical analysis of the study indicated that there was not a direct relationship between the frequency of the use of learning strategies and oral perform ance. 46

Ankara : The Faculty of Letters and the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University, 1992. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1992. Includes bibliographical references leaves 62-64. In most EFL classrooms, the speaking skills are practised in the classroom but are frequently not tested for practical reasons related to the subjective nature of the scoring and the time required. Consequently, students do not concentrate on the speaking skills and consider the time spent on practising these skills to be useless since they will be assessed neither in the periodic tests nor in the final examination. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the speaking skills should be assessed in language testing. In this study, the relationship between the evaluation of the speaking skills and learners' performance and attitudes towards those skills was examined. In addition, the study investigated whether gains in learners' oral performance was related to their proficiency in grammar. The subjects consisted of 20 students studying at the Department of Basic English at the Middle East Technical University. Subjects were administered a "Paired Communication" pre- and post-test and an "Interest and Value" Questionnaire. The pre- and posttests were role-play tests in which two students were required to carry on a conversation based on the instructions given on the situation cards. The Interest and Value Questionnaire measured the subjects attitudes towards specific speaking activities at the beginning and the end of the study. The pretest scores were used to assign students to the experimental and control groups by matching with random sampling. The experimental group was subjected to frequent testing (once every two weeks) and students were informed of their grades. On the other hand, the control group received no speaking quizzes. To compare the performance of the subjects in the experimental group with that of the subjects in the control group post-test scores were used. The data was analyzed using a matched pairs t-test. The analysis revealed significant differences (p

ÖZ ORTA DÜZEYDEKİ İNGİLİZCE ÖĞRENCİLERİNE İLAVETEN ÖZGÜN İŞLEVSEL ETKİNLİKLER VERİLEREK İNGİLİZCE KONUŞMA YETENEKLERİNİN GELİŞTİRİLMESİ: BİR ÇALIŞMA TOLON, Ayla Yüksek Lisans Tezi, İngiliz Dili Eğitimi Anabilim Dalı Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Ünal NORMAN Eylül 1991, 135 Sayfa Bu çalışma, ODTÜ Temel İngilizce Bölümünde orta düzeyde İngilizce eğitimi gören öğrencilere normal ders programına ilaveten özgün işlevsel etkinlikler verilerek onların toplumdaki karşılıklı konuşmalarında yetenekli olmalarını amaçlar. Aşağıdaki çalışmada İngilizceleri orta düzeyde olan 34 Hazırlık Okulu öğrencisi ile deney uygulaması yapılmıştır. Bunlardan ders programına ilaveten işlevsel etkinlikler verilen 17 öğrenci Deney Gurubunu ve diğer 17 ise de Kontrol Grubu meydana getirmiştir. Başlangıçta Deney ve Kontrol Grubun her ikisine de hem Hughes (1981) ve Brown (1983) 'm CCT test yöntemine göre ön sınav verilmiş hem de öğrenciler videodan 7 öğretim görevlisinin ön sözel değerlendirmelerine tabi tutulmuşlardır. Daha sonra Deney grubuna 3 hafta süreyle işlevsel etkinlikler verilmiştir. Bu deneyleri takiben bütün öğrencilere CCT vesözel video değerlendirmeleri ile tekrar sınav verilmiştir. Sonuçlar üzerinde istatistiksel analizler yapılmıştır, ön testlerde deneysel ve kontrol grupların ortalama değerlerinin arasında fark olmamasına rağmen öğrencilerin sözel yetenekleri açısından deneysel grup son testlerde gelişme göstermiştir, ön test ve son testlerde CCT ile sözel video değerlendirmeleri arasındaki korelasyon yüksek bulunarak sonuçların uyumluluğu kanıtlanmıştır. Böylece ilave işlevsel etkinliklerle öğrencilerin konuşma yeteneğinin geliştirilmesine yardımcı olma amacı bu çalışma ile ispatlanmıştır. Anahtar Sözcükler: İngilizce Dil Eğitimi, konuşma, işlevsel etkinlikler, deney, kontrol gruplar, CCT, sözel video test. Bilim Dalı Sayısal Kodu: 224 09 01 vı ABSTRACT IMPROVING. ORAL SKILLS OF INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS OF ENGLISH THROUGH ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES: A CASE STUDY TOLON, Ayla M. A. in English Language Teaching Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Unal NORMAN September, 1991, 135 Pages This study aims at getting the METU Intermediate Prep. School students orally skillful in social interaction by providing them with authentic functional activities in addition to their regular classwork. In the following study 34 intermediate Prep. School students were experimented on. 17 of those students who performed some speech activities as supplement to their classwork made up the experimental group and the other 17 the control group. At the beginning both the experimental and the control group of students were pretested by CCT after Hughes (1981) and Brown's (1983) testing procedures, as well as by oral Video Assessments of the 7 teachers. Later, the functional activities were given to the experimental group for a period of 3 weeks. Then all the students were posttested by CCT and Oral Video Assessments. The results were tabulated and statistically analyzed. While there was no difference between the mean values of the experimental and control i i igroups at pretesting as far as the students' oral abilities are concerned the experimental group displayed some improvement at posttesting. The correlation values of the pre and post CCT and Video Assessments were found to be high, verifying the consistency of the results. Consequently the aim of the study in improving the speaking skill of the students by extra functional activities was achieved. Key Words : ELT Speaking, Functional Activities Experimental, Control gps, CCT, Video Assessments Science code: 224 09 01 IV 135

This stdudy aims at designing1 a 2 year course in which games, songs, rhymes and other activities used for starting English with 7-8 year old children in the primary school. There are two hypotheses to be proved. First, using games, songs, rhymes and other activities increases motivation and second it improves listening and speaking skills. The data have been collected from the experimental studies done in özel İlkem İlkokulu. In Chapter l,aim and scope of the study are clarified. The hypotheses, the limitations and the assumptions are stated. Chapter 2 includes a review of literature. In Chapter 3, the method of data collection is presented and a model for using games, songs, rhymes and other activities in class for ELT is suggested. In Chapter 4, a 2 year course design for 7-8 year-old children in the primary school is given and the introductory unit and the first four units of the course are presented. Chapter 5 deals with the role of games, songs and rhymes and other activities in an EFL class of young learners are considered and some practical points in using them are given. Chapter 6 includes the application of the suggested model, the experimental group, the materials used in the control group and the structured interview. The last chapter, Chapter 7, gives summary of the study and the conclusion. i i i 138

Speaking is considered as one of the most essential means of effective communication. Teaching English-speaking skills to elementary level students at university is especially challenging. The most demanding issue for teachers is how to assist students to apply the knowledge learned in the class to real-life situations. The biggest problem with low-level proficiency students is that they lack motivation and confidence when they speak. They are usually very silent and passive. They hesitate to answer any question or take self-initiative when needed to participate in class activities. Second, most students lack the vocabulary. Students are not able to bring their ideas and also comprehend the information well because they have very limited vocabulary and are not able to pronounce the words well. In many studies, students⿿ speaking competences have been shown to be influenced by their exposure to the target language. Having this in mind, teachers should create and use activities that will be authentic, up-to-date, that will be fun and motivate students, so that they can actively be engaged in the learning process. One of the speaking activities that promotes communication competences is Information Gap activities. In these activities, students have to use the target vocabulary to share the information. This paper aims at examining the methodological strategies that Information Gap technique provides and its effectiveness to increase speaking competence. The paper will describe the implementation of Information Gap activities to the elementary level students and its impact to the students⿿ speaking performance. The Information Gap techniques are activities that are designed practicing on specific items of language and short sentences. The research results revealed that the use of Information Gap activities helped students improve their speaking skills. After the implementation of these activities, students felt more confident to speak in English; they were enthusiastic in doing the activities; and their motivation for learning and using the language improved.

A body of research indicates that Arab EFL learners are incompetent in oral communication. This has been the case of the Libyan EFL learners who encounter great difficulties in speaking skills. Despite spending years in learning English, and building good linguistic knowledge, they fail to employ that knowledge in real communicative situations. This might be the outcome of inadequate teaching approaches that are employed by Libyan EFL teachers. Their overreliance on traditional methods that emphasize extensive linguistic input rather than communicative output result in what Wolff (2010) calls ⿿mute English learners⿿, who can only read and write but are unable to speak. This paper aimed to investigate the Libyan EFL learners⿿ speaking difficulties and the factors underlying this problem. Total 125 students, from Sebha University, Libya participated in the study. Questionnaires and interviews were deployed for gathering data. The questionnaires and interviews were designed to elicit information about the participants⿿ learning experience, the way they were taught English and speaking difficulties. Data were analysed using SPSS and content analysis. The study revealed that Libyan learners face difficulties in oral communication due to linguistic and psychological barriers. The results also showed that insufficient exposure to the target language and frequent use of Arabic, inside and outside the classroom, were the main factors contributing to the Libyan EFL learners⿿ speaking difficulties. Lack of speaking activities and overemphasis on accuracy at the expense of fluency by the teachers were other contributing factors.

Bir devlet üniversitesinin hazırlık okulunda okuyan 124 öğrenci ile yapılan bu yarı-deneysel çalışma, dijital hikâye anlatımının öğrencilerin konuşma İngilizcesindeki yeterliklerini artırıp artıramayacağını ve dijital hikâye anlatımının öğrencilerin konuşma becerisine olan tutumlarına etkisi olup olmayacağını araştırmayı hedeflemiştir. Çalışma ayrıca katılımcı öğrenci ve öğretmenlerin dijital hikâye anlatımını konuşma becerisini uygulamada bir teknik olarak nasıl değerlendirdiklerini ele almıştır. Çalışmadaki bulgular, dijital hikâye anlatımının öğrencilerin konuşma becerisindeki performanslarına bilfiil katkıda bulunduğunu ve öğrencilerin müdahale ile birlikte konuşma becerisine karşı daha olumlu bir tutum geliştirdiklerini ortaya çıkarmıştır. Ayrıca katılımcı öğrenciler dijital hikâye anlatımını konuşma pratiği için etkili bir teknik olarak görmüşlerdir ve yine katılımcı öğretmenler de dijital hikâye anlatımını başarılı bir öğrenme materyali olarak bulmuşlardır. This quasi experimental study, done with 124 prep school students at a state university, aimed at examining if digital storytelling activities could boost these learners' competency in spoken English, and if digital storytelling had any effects on the learner attitude towards speaking. The study also evaluated the participant students and the teachers' attitude towards digital storytelling as a technique to practice speaking. The findings in the study revealed that digital storytelling actually contributed to learners' spoken performances, and students seemed to have a more positive attitude towards speaking skill with the intervention. Also, the learners regarded digital storytelling as an effective technique to practice speaking, and the teachers perceived digital storytelling tasks as successful learning material. 120

18th International Conference, HCI International 2016 Toronto, Canada, July 17–22, 2016 This study investigates the potential of using the humanoid robot, NAO, as a playful tool for assessing the listening and speaking skills of seven hearing-impaired students who use cochlear implant(s) and sign language as their main communication modality. NAO does not have a human mouth and therefore, students cannot do lip-reading; we considered this to be a unique characteristic of the technology that can help make the assessment of listening and speaking skills efficient and accurate. Three game-like applications were designed and deployed on NAO for the purpose of this study. Results demonstrated how NAO was successfully used in this context. Our results, although preliminary, should encourage future research in the area of listening and speaking assessment for hearing impaired children, as well as speech enhancement via play with social robots.