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The study aimed to investigate the disciplinary variations and the structural/functional features of recurrent expressions in the introduction and literature sections of the Master of Arts (MA) theses in two corpora. It is significant since the bundles fulfil specific functions in the form of formulaic language. The sampling of the study was Turkish and British academic writers. Their essays mainly based on academic argumentative topics were selected as analysis data. Data collection included compilation and categorization of the computerized corpora for possible differences and similarities. Sketch Engine, an online text analysis tool, was used for the analysis. Exploring the usage patterns of recurrent expressions among the native and non-native corpora, we also analysed the four-word recurrent expressions and featured the existing variations of functional and structural aspects. Cross-linguistic analysis revealed that Turkish writers distinguish some features of recurrent expressions more than others. Structural expressions encompassed the verb-based, noun and propositional structures. The research, text, and participant oriented recurrent expressions built up the functional groups. The most frequently used functional categories were location and description in research-oriented recurrent expressions. The findings also indicated a positive role of recurrent expressions in the learning of the disciplinary features. Structural similarities were also found, indicating strong functional features for constructing discourse in research writing. The implication is that creating appropriate academic discursive practices with a focus on the properties of the recurrent expressions can be better analysed by employing several online corpus tools.

This study aims at a rediscovery of the extent to which a Data Driven Learning (DDL)-based intervention could become instrumental in facilitating grammar instruction with a specific focus on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and learner autonomy in a preparatory program comprised mostly of Turkish-L1 learners. It provides a context-restricted longitudinal depiction of the effectiveness of a DDL-based grammar instruction endorsed by teacher mentorship across groups asynchronously, thus re-testing the limits of DDL-oriented corpus pedagogy in contexts where a control group is not available. To this end, a corpus was compiled out of the existing reading and listening materials in use ad hoc as the Alternative Corpus of Academic Texts (ACAT), and a total of 19 grammar lessons covering topics in the curriculum of the second level of the grammar course were developed using the ACAT. Blind pre- and post-test procedures were administered with all four experimental groups independent of each other to gradually build up an understanding of the governing pattern of learner achievement through DDL and corpus-based teacher-prepared materials. The analysis demonstrated a rise in student achievement across all groups despite the lack of a teacher disseminating knowledge to students DDL-enhanced teaching. With the design being unorthodox, this study shows that the triple powers of DDL, self-discovery, occasional teacher supervision, in class in the traditional sense, thus showing that a sense of autonomy could be fostered through and corpus-based teaching materials, could help learners survive autonomously no matter how hectic the curriculum run at an institution is. Further research is needed to deepen this insight so that this sort of DDL practice could be implemented at an institutional level.

Many theories, techniques and strategies are concerned with the development of an ideal educational setting that enables learners to demonstrate growth and improvement. Research to date mostly envisaged the classroom setting as an external aspect of the educational medium and discussed it in terms of social interaction, communicative requirements, physical structure and services. The learner's spatial experience, however, needs to be explored from different perspectives such as spatial interaction and memory reconstruction. Moreover, the educational setting has undergone a critical change after COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The significance of this study is that it explores the recollections of individual learners from the pre-COVID-19 classroom setting following their virtual setting (Adobe-Connect) experience. The study focuses on the learners' personal (subjective) memories rather than the objective description of the medium and draws on the critical difference between educational "setting" and educational "space". It raises questions as to the role of the classroom setting and spatial experience in learning and memory. The study also aims to examine the participants? recollections of the pre-COVID-19 classroom experience about the setting elements and objects as well as explores to what extent the classroom setting turns into an experiential space before and after COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative measures were used within the scope of narrative inquiry to collect data in order to validate and confer the findings. The participants were two senior BA students at a Department of English Language and Literature (ELL) in Turkey. Their spatial experiences were explored through the participants' small narrative accounts about the pre-COVID-19 classroom and online virtual classroom. The results were discussed according to the spatial practice conceptualized within the theory of postromantic education, which argues that unless educational "setting" is transformed into educational "space", there would be no ground for experience and learning. The study revealed that the participants were both narrators and focalizers when they were talking about conventional classroom settings and treating the objects as carriers of emotions and stories. The participants reported that classroom objects were still vivid in mind, restored in the memory, and reconstructed in the imagination, which showed that the participants under consideration had a spatial experience and the classroom was transformed from setting to space. As regards the Adobe Connect virtual classrooms, the participant narrators were rarely focalisers, and the small narratives changed into narrative fragments, which shows that online virtual classroom is questionable in terms of spatial experience. The study concludes that the participants' small narratives are punctuated with the references to setting elements and objects in the form of emotive spatial experience and positive episodic memories. The indicators and verbal elements were loaded with psychological and experiential implications. The study presents the implications for applied linguistics and classroom research and makes suggestions for further studies.

English contains a considerable number of lexical combinations with various forms and labels, making it an interesting field of inquiry for researchers. The significance and popularity of support verb constructions (SVC) is that they are used largely by native speakers and include some of the most common words in English but seem to be problematic even for advanced learners. In this study, the British National Corpus (BNC) was used to investigate SVC patterns through sociolinguistic variables. The rationale in doing so is that using sociolinguistics variables through substantive corpus data may give us a better sense and understanding of the nature of the combinations. Whether there are any predictable tendencies between the SVCs and sociolinguistic dimensions was investigated to bring empirical evidence to the areas that merely defy simple generalizations. In total, 39 SVCs were examined, and they displayed similar frequencies for register categories in written and spoken parts. Male speakers and writers use a wider variety of SVCs and more frequently than the females, and SVCs were used more by people 60 years old and older and less frequently by people between the ages of 6 to 14. SVCs were used predominantly by male writers who were writing for mixed audiences, and there was a positive correlation between the age and SVC usage. A sharp increase was observed for SVCs as the age of the target audience increased. Finally, "years of experience," "exposure and previous education" and "familiarity" were found to be other contributing factors for the SVC usage.

Concerns about the purpose of developing communicative skills in English teaching and approaches to overcome these concerns have always had an important place in language teaching. In this context, besides the fact that teachers' roles are important, their beliefs about the approach have a profound influence on their professional achievement. In this regard, the aim of the present study was to determine Turkish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers' beliefs about developing their communicative skills with the communicative approach in Turkish context. The data obtained through Pre-Service Teacher Beliefs Questionnaire, in which 445 participants took part, and focus group interviews with 28 participants at several times and places were analysed by quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods respectively. As a result of the analysis, it was found that EFL student teachers generally had positive attitudes towards improving communicative skills of their prospective students with communicative approach; however, it was difficult for this approach to work properly in Turkey and in Turkish education system due to various reasons. In addition, it was found that EFL student teachers' self- efficacy beliefs were correlated with their attitudes towards the approach, and that many sub-factors such as second language proficiency also had an influence on the attitudes. Lastly, these findings were found to be significantly different according to the departments (ELL, ELT) rather than age and gender.

Gratitude strategies used by EFL speakers have always been the focus of interest by researchers who observed the presence of pragmatic transfer strategies by which speakers express their gratitude. We have seen that several adapted versions of Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs) by Eisenstein and Bodman (1986) are constructed based on the original version and largely applied to the participants from various backgrounds. A similar methodology is used in this study and we investigated the gratitude strategies of participants, including 80 EFL learners in Turkey and 70 non-native European speakers of English at tertiary-level. We also interviewed with 44 Turkish speaking participants and used two sampling methodologies to identify the participants that could promote the data obtained from the DCTs. Our research entailed quantitative and qualitative data examined through content analysis. Primary findings indicated strong divergences and weak similarities between both speaker groups who resorted to the speech act of thanking compared to non-native European speakers who also differed in thanking strategies. Finally, we have been provided with valuable indications for the constituent parts of the language teaching that neglect the instructional side on the pragmatic use of language for gratitude and other speech acts.