Conference programme

Plenary Talks Sustaining the experience of action research Professor Anne Burns (University of New South Wales) It is common for teachers to undertake action research as part of a project or program of research, often facilitated by a teacher trainer or university partner. But what happens when the program is finished and the teacher is no longer supported by the group or the facilitator?  How is the experience of doing action research sustained over time? In this talk, I will first consider what is meant by sustainability and will look at some key features of sustainable education that are related to introducing and implementing change and innovation. I will then consider how action research aligns with the idea of sustainability. I will illustrate the talk with examples of the kind of impact action research has had on teachers I have worked with in Australia. Many of these teachers say that action research has enabled them to go beyond the specific enquiries they undertook in their classrooms to sustain them as lifelong learners as well as lifelong teachers.

What might Research AS Practice look like? Integrating Research into Language Teaching and Learning through Exploratory Practice. Dr Judith Hanks (University of Leeds) It is often suggested that language teachers should engage in research, but as busy practitioners with heavy workloads it is difficult to see how this might be achieved. One form of practitioner research, known as Exploratory Practice (EP), suggests integrating research and pedagogy by using normal pedagogic practices as investigative tools. But how might research be integrated into pedagogic practice? And what challenges and rewards might we expect to find, if we try it out ourselves? In this paper I critically examine the principles of EP to explore these questions. In contrast to many other forms of practitioner research, EP places working for understanding before attempting to solve problems, and encourages language teachers and learners to work together to investigate what puzzles them, thus putting their agenda(s) first for research. Drawing on data gathered from participants engaging in EP for the first time, I discuss the challenges and rewards that this brings, and provide some examples of what research-AS-practice might look like. I end by suggesting that EP offers an original way to integrate research and pedagogy; by including learners as well as teachers we can conduct research that is entirely relevant to our language teaching (and learning) lives.

Engaging language teachers in research: achieving psychological and educational benefits Dr Mark Wyatt (University of Portsmouth) It is increasingly recognized that while various contextual factors can make it difficult for language teachers to research their own classrooms, it can be highly beneficial if they can overcome the challenges and so engage in classroom research. Outcomes might include greater awareness of aspects of the teaching / learning process, the development of various dimensions of researcher knowledge, and the growth of positive self-beliefs, including self-efficacy and self-esteem. Such outcomes may be linked to greater enthusiasm for teaching, deeper appreciation for the needs of learners, and more flexible and autonomous classroom behaviour. Using examples from the local Turkish context, this plenary explores how such benefits have been achieved through the encouragement of research engagement as a tool for professional development with the support of workshops, mentoring, peer collaboration and international partnerships. Broader implications are discussed.

Invited Speakers’ Talks

Lesson Study as a Tool for Pedagogic Development in the Language Classroom Dr Julie Norton & Dr Wasyl Cajkler, (University of Leicester) Lesson study is a collaborative approach to teachers’ professional learning and the improvement of teaching, first developed in Japan (‘jugyou kenkyuu’, meaning lesson study). It shares many similarities with action research, but has to be collaborative (ideally, groups of 3 to 4 teachers) and focused on addressing a learning challenge (rather than a specific teaching method). Tsui and Law (2007, 1294) describe it as ‘a systematic investigation of classroom pedagogy conducted collectively by a group of teachers rather than by individuals, with the aim of improving the quality of teaching and learning’. As such, it lies at the heart of teacher development (Lewis, 2000). This presentation will demonstrate how lesson study is conducted in a range of settings, drawing on research conducted by the Lesson Study Research Group at the University of Leicester, UK. Groups of teachers identify a specific learning challenge (e.g. the learning of present perfect tense) encountered by their students. Collectively, they plan a ‘research lesson’ to address the challenge. This is taught by a member of the team while others observe the learning of a small number of case students. The choice of case students is related to the particular learning challenge identified and observations of the case students are used as the focus for critical discussion in post-lesson evaluations. The cycle is then repeated and evaluated. One of the principal features that distinguishes lesson study from other forms of professional learning is the focus on classroom observation of students’ learning during research lessons not the individual performance of a teacher. Its collaborative nature means that the object of the observation is the effect on learning of the jointly planned lesson, in which both the teacher and observers share the ownership. While extensively used in the Far East and North America, lesson study has rarely been used in ELT settings (Tsui and Law, 2007, being one exception). This presentation will explore the evidence supporting the use of lesson study as a vehicle for pedagogic development examine the challenges of implementing lesson study as tool for teacher learning, both pre and in-service highlight where it has been used to support English language teaching suggest a set of enabling conditions that facilitate the use of lesson study for professional development.

Action Research at Gediz University Dr Kenan Dikilitaş (Hasan Kalyoncu University) This presentation will focus on the process of facilitating teacher research in Turkish context, particularly at Gediz University. I will elaborate on the challenges and developmental experiences the teacher researchers have had with special emphasis on the teachers' development of new beliefs, knowledge and skills. It will be shown how this discovered knowledge has helped them understand the dynamics of their own teaching from multiple instructional perspectives. The researchers’ responses to the interviews will also exemplify the process of engagement in research to construct a full picture of the story from the initial stages on. The talk will end by my self-reflection of how I will continue to support teacher research in different contexts.

The Abstracts of the Presentations

The Role of Gender and Language Learning Lale Barçın Aka (Gediz University)

This study investigated the relationship between beliefs about language learning and gender. 20 (11 male, 9 female) students from Gediz University English Preparatory School participated in the study. At the time of the study all the participants were in the same proficiency level (A2).Results indicate that overall males and females held similar beliefs about language learning, While males relate language learning with job opportunities, females accept language as a tool for socialising.

Smartboard not Smart and Bored - Teacher and Student Perceptions and Experiences with the Hitachi Starboard Chris Hughes (Gediz University)

Impressions from both Gediz and the world at large as well as detailed analysis of the technical nature of the Hitachi Starboard.

EFL Students Use of Subject-Verb Agreement: A Study through Error Analysis Zeynep Aksel Altındağ & Pelin Özmen (Gediz University)

The purpose of this research on the acquisition of subject-verb agreement error analysis is to investigate the most common written grammatical errors made by A1 and A2 level EFL students who study at a Prep School in Turkey. The participants aged 17-21 are 30 beginner EFL students who are studying English at the Prep School of Gediz University and who will be taught completely or partly in English in their departments next year. The learners receive 28 hours of English weekly and they are at two different classes which are both considered as ‘less successful’ as a result of the Placement test. The data instrument is two different paragraphs written by each participant. The paragraphs are written in one class hour of forty minutes. After four hours of writing classes during which they deal with the paragraph organization, grammar learning, and new vocabulary every week. Thus, the data is collected over 5 weeks. The topics learners write are given by the instructor each time. Data analysis will have three steps whose first one is collection of data. The subsequent steps are identification and description of errors. We predict that the longer distance between subject-verb, the more likely the students are to show low performance.

Student and Teacher Perceptions of English Central as a C.A.L.L Device Koray Akyazi & Tuğçe Karaulutas & Semra Değirmenci Mutlu (Gediz University & Izmir Institute of Technology & Izmir University)

Teaching pronunciation has been a controversial issue for instructors teaching in an EFL context. It could be said that while some instructors pay special attention to teaching pronunciation and have separate lessons focusing only on pronunciation, some other instructors prefer to include pronunciation in main course lessons without putting emphasis on it. Additionally, it must be admitted that students give great importance to pronunciation; in fact, most of them learn English in order to be able to speak the language with a good accent. However, based on our observations, we can say that students make a lot of pronunciation errors. As their instructors, we correct them but because of the high frequency of mistakes, after some time they lose their motivation. Therefore, a good question comes to our minds, which is how to develop pronunciation of students in and outside the classroom. In order to find a good solution to this problem, it would not be too wrong to use technology, which is an indispensable part of our lives, for pronunciation as well. With this point of view, our school, İzmir University School of Foreign Languages has decided to direct our attention to English Central

The Effectiveness of Using WebQuests on Improving Paragraph Writing Canan Onal & Elif Başak Günbay & Ilknur Kurtulmuş (Gediz University)

In the world of 21st century, learners are surrounded by technology in every aspect of their lives. It is only natural that the learners expect to be involved in technology in their learning process, too. The trend to integrate technology into language classrooms is growing to be very common these days, and it is favored both by the teachers and students. In order to keep up with this trend, educators need to shape their instruction in a way that appeals to learners’ needs and expectations. Various tools have been developed to meet this demand in the field of education and WebQuest is one favorable example. WebQuest is an inquiry oriented in activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet optionally supplemented with video conferencing (Dodge, 1997). It requires students to use higher order thinking skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving and consensus building. As writing classes are mostly perceived as unappealing both by the students and the instructors due to the nature of writing itself, using WebQuest in writing instruction is a good idea since it provides a more supporting learning environment with its cooperative and inquiry based nature. The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of WebQuest in writing instruction of 80 Turkish A2 level EFL learners in Preparatory program at Gediz University. Through this study, we aimed to discover the students’ performance and their perceptions to web source integrated language learning in writing classes. The findings showed that although there was not a significant increase in the student grades, WebQuest proved to be an effective way to support writing instruction as it was confirmed by researchers and the participants.

Oral Error Correction in Grammar Lessons Gülşah Tercan (Gediz University)

One of the biggest problems in language learning is the students’ unable to talk accurately although they have learnt a great amount of grammatical knowledge and vocabulary. The students have many errors that hinder them from producing the target language properly. Yang (2010) defined a language error as ‘an unsuccessful part of language’. In the second language teaching and learning process the error has always been regarded as something negative which must be avoided (Maicusi et al., 1999-2000). In the light of many studies that come up with the same thought error correction has been studied by researchers for years on the realm of language teaching due to the importance of it for second language acquisition (SLA). This study was conducted in the Preparatory at Gediz University in Izmir with the purpose of detecting which kinds of corrective feedback the teacher uses, how the teacher corrects the errors, what the preferences of students are related to the feedback types and how the teacher develops herself in accordance with the results. A total of 49 A2 level preparatory class students, (27 Female, 22 male) voluntarily participated in the study. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used and a self-designed questionnaire as a data collection method was used to find out the preferences of students related to corrective feedback strategies.

How to Reduce Teacher Talk and Increase Student Talk Effectively Fahriye Nur Demirel (Gediz University)

In an ideal language learning environment, students should be given enough opportunities to speak in class. Therefore, the quantity of the student talking time plays a significant role in ELT classes. However, the role of the teacher talk should not be underestimated during the class. The key question to search about and answer is “How can teachers reduce TTT to increase STT effectively?” In this respect, the characteristics of TTT and STT must be explored to understand how and what aspects teachers should reduce while speaking in class. To develop the students’ speaking skills, the teacher should not dominate the talking time and provide tasks to increase the student talking time. Communication either between teacher to student or student to student improves students’ confidence and facilitates learning process. Thus, this research focuses on reducing teacher talking time in class by using certain strategies and tasks with the aim of increasing student talking time. Through voice recording in several lessons and a written survey answered by students, the effectiveness of the strategies and tasks are discussed for further implications in teaching.

Interaction Patterns in Asynchronous and Synchronous Small Discussion Groups Using Wikis and Google Hangout Text-based Chat Sezen Savaş & Gamze Taşlı & Merve Babiker (Gediz University)

The purpose of this study is to examine the differences between asynchronous and synchronous student interaction patterns through computer-mediated collaborative writing tasks. It takes a look at asynchronous wiki-mediated collaborative writing tasks, and synchronous chat-mediated collaborative writing tasks. The results of the study suggest that synchronous communication helps learners to develop their critical thinking skills and is more preferable among students due to its immediacy.

A Heap of Rules and Structures: Do We Really Need to Teach Them? Ayca Deniz & Nilufer Tuncay (Gediz University)

The purpose of this research is to identify the efficiency and preferability of implicit and explicit grammar teaching methods at a closer inspection and share the outcomes. The first phase of the study involves teaching “Passive Voice” to 36 A2 level learners in two different classes by using explicit and implicit methods by two different instructors at a time. The second phase on the other hand involves post-tests containing both explicit and implicit grammar questions to assess the quality of learning. The final phase involves a questionnaire with open ended questions that aims to perceive what the learners have experienced during the learning process and how they feel about learning or ignoring the rules while learning a new grammatical structure. It is also aimed to identify whether being exposed to the structure without learning the rules would be sufficient for learners to acquire the target grammar topic effectively.

A Novel Approach to Enhancing Listening and Speaking Skills: Podcasts Esin Yuksel (Gediz University)

The use of mobile devices such as smartphones and portable media players has increased and this has brought with it exciting new ways for people to improve their listening skills in their second language. MP3/MP4 players are no longer only a medium for music but also an aid for learners wanting to enhance their aural and oral skills. Due to audio publishing online, a novel approach to perfecting listening skills which is known as “podcasting” (a portmanteau of the words iPod and broadcasting) has emerged (Kavaliauskienė & Anusienė 2009:28). This study examines in what ways podcasts can aid language learners’ listening and speaking skills. In order to find out whether podcasts would help them, a group was opened on Facebook and native speakers’ podcasts were uploaded there each week. Students first listened to them and then they created their own podcast about the topic they had listened to. After that, they commented on them. The data revealed that the podcast project was perceived positively by students.

Promoting Students’ Knowledge of Derivational Morpheme through Productive Online Tasks on Facebook Savaş Geylanioğlu & Ahmet Karaslan & Eyüp Harun Selek (Gediz University)

Options for acquiring a new language have a lot of ways nowadays and students have the flexibility of selections and diverse methods in hand to learn a new language. One of them is CALL and its environment serves with its technological tools which makes the learning easier. The aim of this study is to explore how students learn on FACEBOOK (henceforth FB) and to observe how it helps their developmental progresses with an increased participation while they learn through in their daily education atmosphere in prep classes at a private Turkish University. The tasks given on the FB platform were on the production of the derivational morphemes (prefix and suffix formulations of adjectives). Quantitative method was conducted in this study. Along with their lessons, the target is to see the rapport between teacher and students and to monitor the responds for daily grammatical tasks given on FB. By using their technological tools like mobile phones, the study sub aimed to see how they would react for answering the questions in their most convenient time during the same day. The results highlighted that the students favoured using such a tool (FB) for their SLA period. In addition, further experimental research could be ideal to be done in this area.

Fostering Speaking: A Text-based Syllabus Approach Rukiye Eryılmaz (Gediz University)

Given that students mostly feel less self-confident when it comes to speaking, it is highly important that we, as teachers, encourage them to speak and provide them with the authentic materials they may need. Therefore, this action research aims to give a glimpse of how students view authentic speaking by using text-based speaking activities. The purpose is to see how further we can go in speaking activities by using speaking texts and how students would react to them. Helping students understand the nature of spoken interaction is the ultimate goal of the research, which has been carried out in several of my classes at different times throughout the year.