BOOK OF ABSTRACTS - 2011

Yunus Emre Akbana

A Corpus Based Study On L2 English Conditional Adverbial Clauses

(Granger, 2009) defines learner corpus (LC) studies being situated at the crossroads of four interrelated subjects: corpus linguistics, linguistic theory, second language acquisition, and foreign language teaching (p. 12). She also stresses the significance of learner corpus in the field: ‘using main principles, tools and methods from corpus linguistics, it aims to provide improved descriptions of learner language used for a wide range of purposes in foreign/second language acquisiton research and also to improve foreign language teaching’ (2002, p. 4). A LC, like International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE), contributes to these fields with the abundance of hands-on material enabling the researchers to examine various variables that could affect English interlanguage (Can, 2010, p. 16). Dependent clauses consisting of three main structural clauses - relative clauses, adverbial clauses and complement clauses - is one of the types of linguistic complexity in grammatical variation studies. These structural clauses have their sub-divisions, in this study, ‘adverbial clauses’ is the main theme which has three major meaning domains as conditional (if), causative (because), and other clauses (e.g., after, before, while, until, as, since, so that) (Biber, 2006, p. 77 ). The ultimate prupose of the study is to reveal any possible effects of interlanguage by the over and/ or underuse of conditional clauses in argumentative essays of Turkish students written both in Turkish Language and English Language by native speakers of English and EFL Turkish students, native speakers of Turkish in the light of three corpora: Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS), International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) and Turkish International Corpus of Learner English (TICLE).

Key Words: Learner Corpus, Interlanguage, Conditional Clauses, LOCNESS, ICLE, TICLE

References:

Biber, D. (2006). University Language: A corpus-based study of spoken and written registers. Amsterdam: John Benjamins (Pp. 77)

Can, C. (2010), A Turkish Learner Corpus of English in Second Language Acquisition Studies: TICLE as A Subcorpus of ICLE, (pp. 16), Language Journal, Sayı: 144 Nisan-Mayıs-Haziran 2010. Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi

Granger, S. (2002): A bird's-eye view of learner corpus research. In: Granger, Sylviane; Hung, Joseph & Petch-Tyson, Stephanie (eds), Pp. 4.

Granger, S. (2009). The Contribution of Learner Corpora to Second Language Acquisition and Foreign language Teaching. In K. Aijmer, Corpora and language Teaching (pp.13). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Hasan Bedir, Grażyna Kiliańska-Przybyło

Pre service teachers in Turkey and Poland: A comparison of teachers’ self-efficacy

Researchers on self efficacy have revealed that individuals’ belief about their personal efficacy plays a crucial role in shaping their self-knowledge (Henson, 2002; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2007; Woolfolk Hoy, Davis, & Pape, 2006). Bandura (1997) states that “people’s beliefs of personal efficacy affect almost everything they do; how they think; motivate themselves, feel and have” (p. 19). This is derived from a mechanism of personal agency which greatly contributes to individuals’ psychological functioning. The more people believe themselves to be successful, the more willing they make things happen. According to Pajares, (2002) self-efficacy is the root of the acquisition of new skills and the performance of previously learned skills.

Teaching, on the other hand, is considered to be a complex activity. Thus, it is essential that teacher education programmes be sophisticated enough to enable their prospective teacher to develop such skills and strategies as motivating students to learn, creating a climate for teaching, using a variety of teaching skills, maintaining classroom discipline, diagnosing student difficulties and adapting instruction to meet individual needs. Gorrell and Capron, (1990) suggest that "it is important to instil a sense of efficacy in those who are being prepared to ensure that they have the confidence to attempt to apply their knowledge when the appropriate time comes"(p. 15).

However, few studies have been conducted which compare pre-service teachers from different countries on the variable of teacher self efficacy. Thus, this study aims to compare both the issue of pre service teacher education in Turkey and Poland and the teacher self efficacy of Turkish pre service teachers and that of Polish pre service teachers.

References:

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

Gorrell, J. & Capron, E.W. (1990). Cognitive modelling and self-efficacy: Effects on pre-service teachers' learning of teaching strategies. Journal of Teacher Education, 41(50), 15-22.

Henson, R. K. (2001). The effects of participation in teacher research on teacher efficacy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 819-836.

Pajares, M. F. (2002). Overview of social cognitive theory and of self-efficacy. Retrieved from http://www.des.emory.edu/ mfp/eff.html on March 1, 2011.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2007). The different antecedents of self efficacy beliefs of novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 944-956.

Woolfolk Hoy, A., Davis, H., & Pape, S. (2006). Teacher knowledge, beliefs, and thinking. In P. A. Alexander & P. H. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (2nd ed. pp. 709-725). Mahwah, NJ: Macmillan.

Adriana Biedroń

Personality Factors According to the Five Factor Model in Accomplished Multilinguals

The purpose of the study reported herein was to analyze personality factors defined according to the “Five Factor Model” (McCrae & Costa, 2003) in accomplished multilinguals. The factors include: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. An instrument used in the study was The Revised NEO-FFI Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae 1992) - a Polish adaptation by Zawadzki et al. (1998). The results of 44 accomplished multilinguals were compared to the results of 37 mainstream first-year English philology students. The analysis revealed that the factor of Openness to experience was significantly higher in the accomplished multilinguals than in the mainstream L2 learners. The other factors, that is Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Extraversion and Conscientiousness did not reveal statistically significant differences between the samples. Openness is a relatively stable and the most genetically determined factor of all the Five Factors. It includes a cognitive aspect, which means that people who score high on general cognitive ability tend to display openness to new experience and intellectual curiosity and flexibility (Corno et al. 2002). A suggestion that openness to experience is a good predictor of foreign language learning outcome is discussed.

Anna D. Biedrzyńska

Foreign Language maintenance in the teaching context

The primary focus of this paper is on factors which influence FL teachers’ motivation to maintain the FL in school contexts. The discussion of the topic commences with aspects of FL development and maintenance by teacher trainees. It continues with the presentation of FL maintenance efforts by FL teachers at primary to secondary educational levels. Finally, it draws attention to affective factors which shape the FL maintenance effort, especially affective feedback received from the school environment, attitudes to the teaching profession and self-perceived needs for professional development.

Joanna Bielska

In search for a relationship between belief and reality: predicting EFL teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs

Self-efficacy beliefs are appraisals of our ability “to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (Bandura 1997:3). Teacher’s sense of efficacy is concerned with teachers’ confidence in their competencies to affect students’ performance and foster students’ learning and engagement. Teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching has been observed to correlate with student and teacher achievement. It has also been found to be a significant determinant of affective commitment and job satisfaction for teachers (e.g., Caprara et al. 2003, Bielska, in press). This paper presents a quantitative study designed to investigate the sources of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, with special focus on the relationship between belief and reality, which, as noted by Pajares (2002), are seldom perfectly matched. Are teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs systematically related to their occupational skills? Do they correlate with their (perceived) proficiency level in English? What is the role of self-appraisal accuracy? The correlation patterns revealed are discussed and interpreted from the perspective of Bandura’s self-efficacy theory.

Ewa Bogdanowska-Jakubowska

Student paper presentation – an analysis of face-related issues

Paper presentation is a face-threatening situation for the presenter. It is also stressful, especially for students for whom such a situation is quite new. The paper is to deal with paper-presentations in the classroom situation (MA seminar), which involves three parties: the student-presenter, the MA thesis supervisor and the student-audience. Due to the presence of the two types of audience, the supervisor and the fellow students, self-presentation turns out to be a “tricky” task, and its realization may pose a threat to the presenter’s face. I will analyse this type of situations in terms of self-presentation strategies employed and potential face-threats.

References:

Baumeister, R.F. 1982. A self-presentational view of social phenomena. Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 91, No 1: 3-26.

Bogdanowska-Jakubowska, E. 2010. FACE. An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego.

Goffman, E. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday.

Leary, M. 2005. Wywieranie Wrażenia na Innych. O Sztuce Autoprezentacji. Trans. by A. Kacmajor and M. Kacmajor. Gdańsk: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.

Leary, M.R. and R.M. Kowalski 1990. Impression management: A literature review and two-component model. Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 107, No. 1: 34-47.

Schlenker, B.R. 2003. Self-presentation. In: M.R. Leary i J. Prince Tangney (red.) Handbook of self and identity, 492-518. New York/London: The Guilford Press.

Schlenker, B.R. i B.A. Pontari. 2000. The strategic control of information: Impression management and self- presentation in daily life. In A. Tesser, R.B. Felson, i J.M. Suls (red.) Psychological perspectives on self and identity, 199-232. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Elly Brosig

The Three Components of Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning

From a psychological view second language acquisition and second language learning, as practically all learning, are promoted by three components: a cognitive, an affective, and a conative component.

The cognitive component consists of conscious active learning. The affective one is composed of an emotional state (positive, for example, wanting to communicate with a nice person, or negative, e.g. an insult which later can be repeated in court literally) or need (being hungry or wanting to find the way to the station); in short: the motivation to learn. It is the task of the teacher to create such an emotional state and motivation in students.

The conative component is the disposition and act to react physically by muscular activity, in this case by speaking using the foreign language. Frequent use and repetition of a FL has long been known to be most effective in FL learning.

In the case of SLA, the affective and conative components are prevalent, the younger the person the more. In this case, if motivation is there by emotion or need, the conative reaction comes almost automatically by imitation. Imitation plays a great role in the learning of young children.

Thus, FL teachers and instructors should always consider all three components , especially in regard to the age of their students.

Cem Can

Modal Verbs in Stance Markers in Argumentative Essays of Turkish Advanced Learners of English as a Foreign Language

Although relatively new in scientific inquiry, studies in computer learner corpora have proven to reveal a wealth of information identifying particular difficulties of language learners and consequently advised the developers of pedagogical materials to address these problem areas. A learner corpus is a collection of the writing or speech samples produced by learners of a second or foreign language. The first computer learner corpus is the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE). ICLE consists of the argumentative essays written by advanced learners of English representing 16 different mother tongue backgrounds. This study examines Modal Verbs in Stance Markers in Turkish subcorpus of ICLE (TICLE) and the comparable Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS).

Keywords: Corpus, Linguistics, Learner Corpus, Modal Verbs in Stance Markers, ICLE, LOCNESS, TICLE

Cem Can, Grażyna Kiliańska-Przybyło, Hasan Bedir

“When a foreign language learner becomes a foreign language teacher…” – A cross-cultural study into the affective domain of teaching

Learning to teach requires the change of perspective from that of a learner into that of a foreign language teacher, which in practical terms means the need to reconceptualize, restructure and redefine one’s self as a teacher. Current research into foreign language education stresses the role of emotion in stimulating cognitive change (Borg, 2006; Golombek and Johnson 2004, Folsom 2005). According to Golombek and Johnson (2004: 322-4), emotions are a driving factor in teacher development, as they promote self-analysis and self-inquiry. Additionally, emotions may facilitate understanding of one’s personal teaching theory and enrich teacher’s personal interpretative framework. The aim of this paper is to characterize the emotions and attitudes that Polish and Turkish students bring to the teaching training courses. In particular, the study is supposed to shed some light on how the initial attitudes and emotions influence Polish and Turkish trainees’ perception and understanding of teaching as well as affect their motivation to become teachers. The data collected for the study involve: verbal association tasks and narratives produced by Turkish and Polish teacher trainees.

References:

Borg, S. 2006. Teacher Cognition and Language Education. Research and Practice. London: Continuum.

Golombek, P.R. & Johnson, K.E.2004. Narrative inquiry as a mediational space: examining emotional and cognitive dissonance in second-language teachers’ development. Teachers and Teaching, 10, 307- 328.

Folsom, Ch. 2005. Exploring a New Pedagogy: Teaching for Intellectual and Emotional Learning (TIEL), Issues in Teacher Education, Sept. 22, 2005;

Mustafa Çoban

The use of Relative clauses with the Relative pronoun which in Turkish university students' written English

Learner Corpus has become a growing research field providing the chance of comparing and contrasting native and non-native speakers of a language in comparable materials. Can (2010) states that A Learner Corpus, like International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE), contributes to these fields with the abundance of hands-on material enabling the researchers to examine various variables that could affect English interlanguage (p.16). Granger (1998) suggests that native language and interlanguage comparisons aim to uncover the features of non-nativeness of learner language. At all levels of proficiency, but especially at the most advanced ones, these features will not only involve plain errors, but differences in the frequency of use of certain words, phrases or structures, some being overused, others underused (p. 12-13). Dependent clauses are often considered to be a type of linguistic complexity and as a result they have been associated with writing rather than speech. In the types of dependent clauses, relative clauses are much more common in the written texts. According to Biber (2006) Relative clauses have two primary functions: to specify the reference of the head noun, or to provide elaborating information. However, in many situations the relative clauses with the relative pronoun which serves both functions (p. 76-77). This present study aims at examining the use of relative clauses with the relative pronoun which in Turkish EFL learners’ written English and comparing it with the use in comparable type of native English writing. The study will address the questions of whether Turkish learners use the relative pronoun which to the same extent as native English students as regards to the frequency of overuse and underuse.