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The current study's purpose is twofold. It attempts to investigate how frequently oral corrective feedback (reactive focus on form) is used in communicative-based classes and also examines the role of teachers’ gender in provision of corrective feedback that leads to learners’ uptake of different linguistic features. For this purpose, all teacher-learner moves in the error correction sequences were identified and transcribed from the audio-recordings. In order to obtain data on the amount of learners’ uptake from error correction and teachers’ awareness about error correction, the researchers used an introspective measure (self-report) and a semi-structured interview. Given the results obtained, the study concludes that there is a need to highlight the necessity of raising EFL teachers’ attention to make informed decisions in using reactive focus on form. Also analysis showed that female teachers use more corrective feedback moves rather than male ones, but uptake happens more for male learners rather than female ones.

WOS: 000425963200010 The aim of this study is to determine students' use of plural in speaking in an EFL context. To this end, 48 students' speaking exams, which were recorded during the oral exams in 2014-2015 academic year, were transcribed by the researchers and the students' use of plural was analyzed. It is important to note that not all the input was obtained from only one exam, but rather a progressive use of plural in English was analyzed with the data obtained from three different exams. As a result of the analysis, it was found that while students can use the plural appropriately with high-frequency words, they were found to use the singular form of an item in contexts where the plural form would be more appropriate. Considering the issue from a progressive perspective, it was found that this tendency did not persist in the long-run. While students from the ELT department were found to use plural appropriately, early level students were found to use plural "s" inappropriately. It was concluded that students' L1 (Turkish) and overgeneralization of rules in L2 might interfere with their use of plural in the early level, but the effect of L1 diminishes in the upper levels. (C) 2017 EJAL & the Authors. Published by Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics (EJAL).

Second language learners have the most difficulty in acquiring the third person –s morpheme. Ironically, however, this morpheme continued to occupy the beginning stages of language learning until very recently. Our interest in studying the third person –s morpheme is not only because it creates complexity for learners but also as much of the prior research is descriptive. In this research we wished to unearth whether or not this difficulty also applied to Turkish language learners of English, and if so, we would make an attempt to explain why it was so. We additionally wanted to see what factors, if any, cause this intricacy for Turkish learners of English. Another significance of this study lies in the fact that although the related literature abounds in research on the acquisition of 3rd person singular morpheme, there is little research particularly focusing on Turkish EFL learners. The existing few research on this issue taps on Turkish learners’ acquisition of inflectional morphemes in general, not specifically the third person –s.

International Conference on Teaching and Learning English as an Additional Language (GlobELT) -- APR 14-17, 2016 -- Antalya, TURKEY WOS: 000387499800024 Due to the popularity of foreign language learning (FLL) and using the language meaningfully, the pedagogy of language learning has recently regarded the importance of willingness to communicate (WTC) in second and FLL and communication. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the Turkish preparatory class students' WTC levels and the effects of individual differences on their WTC levels. 73 students, who are studying English as a foreign language (EFL) in the preparatory class in the foreign language department in Amasya University, serve as the participants of the study. The scale prepared by McCroskey (1992) is utilized to measure the students' WTC and some demographic information of students are gathered to make contributions to the relationship between their WTC and the other demographic variables such as proficiency level, length of studying, being abroad, and communicating with foreigners. Moreover, the students' WTC levels are related to their overall speaking skills defined by a 5 point likert-type scale ranged from "1= weak", "2=adequate", "3=good", "4=excellent" and "5=No idea because I didn't do such an activity.", filled by the speaking course instructors. In the statistical procedure, a series of independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were applied to provide the answers to the related research questions. The results show that preparatory class students have mostly weak and adequate overall speaking skills which can be related with the activities the instructors and the curriculum include for the course content or the ability of instructors' material adaptation. The importance of the present study lies in its theoretical contributions to the WTC research and the pedagogical implications for both teaching and learning process in EFL context. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

This paper draws on the conclusions of previous studies (Boers 2011) and some aspects of a larger research study into the use of conceptual metaphors as primary criteria in choosing which idioms should ultimately be taught to EFL/ESL learners. A hypothesis is set forth which argues that Croatian and English idioms that stem from shared conceptual metaphors are examples of idiomatic expressions that should take precedence in EFL/ESL curricula since they are likely to be learned with greater ease and may facilitate the retention of other instances of L2 vocabulary. A list of 24 English idioms was formed and grouped according to the nature of their underlying motivation (metaphor-based or culturally-based). Idioms unknown to the participants (university level EFL learners) were identified by means of a two-part questionnaire (Part 1) and their definitions were attempted by the same participants when the idiomatic examples were provided in context (Part 2). The results were then cross-compared with the conceptual status of each idiom yielding the results which are in favor of accepting the hypothesis on the facilitative effect of conceptual metaphor on idiom learning.

Proceedings of the 1st GlobELT Conference on Teaching and Learning English as an Additional Language -- APR 16-19, 2015 -- Antalya, TURKEY WOS: 000380512200077 The aim of this study is to determine the effects of vocabulary size and vocabulary depth on reading performance in EFL context. To this end, Vocabulary Size Test by Nation and Beglar (2007), Words Associate Test by Read (1998), and a reading performance test, the reliability of which was found to be 381 were administered to 361 university students. In the analysis of the data, linear regression and Pearson correlation statistics were used. The results showed that vocabulary size and vocabulary depth were both significantly correlated to reading performance, but vocabulary depth predicted reading performance better. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Introduction. With regard to the interal/external frame of reference model of academic self-concept development the present study aimed at testing its theoretical assumptions within the verbal domain – namely to analyze the relations between achievement and self-concept in the native language German (L1) and the foreign language English (L2). Due to inconsistent re-search findings in this field the focus of analyses was on identifying differential patterns of dimensional comparison processes as they might depend on students’ achievement level in both subject areas and on students’ gender.Method. Data were gathered in a sample of 256 ninth grade students from German innercity grammar schools. For measuring students’ self-concepts two subject-specific scales were used. For measuring their achievement in each language subject latest grades as well as teacher competency ratings were used. Relations among constructs were analyzed by means of a structural equation modeling approach including multiple group comparisons between the female and male subsample.Results. No dimensional comparison effects could be demonstrated. Neither negative contrasting nor positive assimilation effects across both language subjects occured. Furthermore, multiple group comparisons of structural equation analyses lent strong support for the invariance model. Thus, despite significantly apparent achievement and self-concept differences between female and male learners in the L1 German gender did not moderate the relations between achievement and self-concept variables across both language subjects.Discussion. In the female as well as in the male subsample self-concept formation in both language subjects appears to be mainly affected by social comparison effects. This finding not only confirms previous research results in the field, but also contributes to clarify the role of gender in the internal/external frame of reference model – concerning the issue of dimensional comparison within the verbal domain, at least.

The purpose of this study is to identify whether writing performance in students of English as a foreign language (EFL) is related to writing apprehension, self-efficacy in writing, and/or attitudes towards writing. The subjects were tertiary-level EFL188 students at Çukurova University School for Foreign Languages (YADIM) in Turkey. Three instruments were used to collect data: a writing apprehension test (WAT), a self-efficacy in writing scale (SWS), and a questionnaire on attitudes towards writing (WAQ). The study was carried out in two phases. The first phase involved adapting the WAT and WAQ so these would be tailored to our study population. In the second phase, all subjects were tested with all three instruments in a 2-hour period on the same day. WAT, SWS and WAQ were administered in the first hour, and students were then given 45 minutes to write a composition on a given topic. The compositions were graded and these marks were taken to indicate students' overall writing performance points. The results of the study suggest that, in these tertiary-level EFL students, writing apprehension and writing performance are negatively correlated, writing apprehension and writing self-efficacy are negatively correlated, and writing apprehension and attitude towards writing are positively correlated. Writing apprehension and writing attitude are supposed to be negatively correlated but although WAQ was devised to test attitude, it has subscales that measure apprehension, too. That is why the result regarding the relationship between writing apprehension and attitude towards writing is surprising.

Having used an integrated approach comprising language-based approaches and stylistics as a pedagogical framework, the present paper serves to illustrate the impact of the proposed way of literature teaching in the Turkish EFL context. The main focus of the paper is to investigate and reflect the responses of Turkish undergraduates to the proposed teaching approach which is hoped to encourage students to experience literary texts directly as a part of a process of meaning-creation. The study groups involved in the research consisted of two comparable groups; an experimental group and a control group. However, only the experimental group students were exposed to the proposed teaching approach. The students in the control group, on the other hand, kept undergoing the teaching process they were used to having. In order to reveal the students’ responses to teaching methodologies employed in their classes, qualitative and quantitative investigations of the data gathered through interviews, questionnaires and field notes both in the experimental group and control group were compared and contrasted. The analyses of the data revealed significant differences in the nature of the students’ responses to the teaching approaches they received in their control and experimental groups. It was observed that there was a significant relation between the teaching methodologies employed in both classes, and levels of motivation, involvement and appreciation of the literary texts under study. The findings suggested that application of the proposed teaching approach significantly increased levels of students’ involvement and changed the classroom dynamics in a positive way Le présent travail a pour but d’exposer quelles sont les influences d’une méthode d’enseignement de littérature, composé de “language-based” et “stylistics”, que l’on applique dans un cadre pédagogique dans des classes “Turkish EFL”. La focalisation de la présente étude est d’étudier et de révéler les réactions des étudiants de licence turcs envers cette méthode qui vise à les encourager à considérer les textes littéraires comme une partie du processus direct de la création de signification. Le groupe d’enquête sur lequel on travaille est divisé en deux groupes comparables tels que le groupe expérimen tal et celui de contrôle. Mais, c’est seulement les étudiants du groupe expérimental qui ont subi cette méthode proposée. Ceux du groupe de contrôle ont suivi la méthode traditionnelle. Pour révéler les réactions des étudiants sur les méthodes appliquées dans leurs classes, les données qualitatives et quantitatives, obtenues par des interviews, des questionnaires et des notes d’observation, ont été comparées les unes avec les autres. Les analyses des données obtenues ont montré que les réactions des étudiants de deux différents groupes sont, elles-aussi, différentes. Les motivations et les participations des étudiants sont directement liées à la méthode appliquée dans la classe. Selon les suites de ce travail, il est clair que la méthode proposée a augmenté considérablement le niveau de motivation et de participation des étudiants.

The main focus of the present paper is creative use of language in various texts, and potential language awareness strategies that English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher may employ in his/her classes. To this end, the paper dwells on the relevance of using representational material in EFL classes, and argues on the importance of the recognition that it takes imagination and an ability to be aware of language use to learn a foreign language. Throughout the paper, it is also emphasised that when creatively employed, representational materials can lead to a move beyond the traditional four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing to the utilisation of the crucial but often ignored or taken for granted fifth skill: thinking.