Ph.D. Theses
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Item Reading fluency and comprehension in a transparent orthography: Evidence from Turkish children(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Özata, Hatice.; Haznedar, Belma.This study was designed to explore the concurrent relationships of reading skills (i.e., word-level reading fluency and comprehension) with cognitive and linguistic variables (i.e., rapid-automatized naming [RAN], phonological awareness [PA], phonological memory [PM], morphological awareness [MA], orthographic knowledge [OK]), processing speed [PS], and vocabulary), along with parental education level. The interplay among these variables was also investigated. A total of 92 Turkish-speaking children in grades 2 and 4 were administered a battery of tests to measure their performance with respect to reading skills and linguistic and cognitive variables. A preliminary model of reading that illustrated the proposed direct and indirect (i.e., mediating) relationships among the variables was developed. The model was then tested using a classical path analysis which relied on a series of simultaneous multiple regression. The results revealed that alphanumeric RAN and OK remained the strongest and most persistent predictors of fluent word reading at both grade levels. Other variables, namely PA, PM, MA, OK, PS, vocabulary, and parents’ education level, made no significant direct or unique contribution to word reading fluency. PA and PS indirectly influenced second graders’ fluent word recognition through OK. However, only PS made an indirect contribution to word reading fluency via OK in grade 4. As for the reading comprehension skill, fluent word recognition, vocabulary, and parental education level were identified as independent precursors across grades. In addition, the mediating roles of vocabulary and fluent word recognition were emphasized in reading comprehension.Item Annotation and working memory in second language reading, incidental vocabulary learning, and perceived cognitive load(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2017., 2017.) Varol, Burcu.; Erçetin, Naciye Gülcan.This study attempts to explore the role of annotations and working memory capacity (WM capacity) in reading comprehension, incidental vocabulary learning, and the perceived cognitive load (CL) through a between groups design. The independent variables investigated in this study were annotation type (lexical versus topic-level) and annotation location (pop-up window versus separate window). One hundred twenty high proficiency level second language learners were assigned to one of the four treatment conditions and were asked to read an electronic text wherein a built-in tracking software recorded their interactions. Upon reading, they were given free recall, multiple choice comprehension, vocabulary recognition, and vocabulary production tasks. Findings showed that the effects of annotation type changed according to the task used to gauge comprehension while lexical annotations were found to be the consistent determinant of short-term vocabulary learning. The effect of annotation location was less clear-cut as it produced different results in conjunction with different annotation types for different measures. WM capacity played a major role in reading comprehension, and especially when combined with the effect of pop-up window glossing conditions, it led to the best results. As for the results on CL, no significant effects were observed in the self-ratings and only a significant gloss type effect was detected in terms of the recorded annotation use. Implications drawn from this study can inform instructional designers as to the facilitative effects of annotation use that would not overload limited capacities of readers.Item Second language acquisition of nominal inflection in Turkish(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Efeoğlu, Gülümser.; Gürel, Ayşe.This study aims to investigate second language (L2) acquisition of Turkish nominal inflectional morphemes by L2 learners with typologically distinct L1s, namely Russian, Japanese, English and Chinese. Two experimental tasks were used to collect data from a total of 90 participants (72 L2 learners and 18 native speakers of Turkish). The first task was a timed oral production task where participants were required to produce grammatical sentences using pictures with relevant lexical items. A total of 95 pictures, each depicting a specific event, were presented via DMDX. Thirty of these were used to elicit target morphemes (Ablative, Accusative, Dative, Locative Case and Plural suffix), 60 were used as fillers, and there were five trial items. The second task was a written forced elicitation task consisting of 40 multiple-choice items. The participants were asked to choose the option that best completes a given sentence. In addition to the experimental tasks, a cloze test was used to gather information about participants’ L2 Turkish proficiency. The most noticeable difference between the native and non-native groups was in the use of Accusative Case. Furthermore, as predicted by the L1 transfer view, while L2 learners with L1 Russian outperformed all other L2 groups in both tasks, L1 Chinese learners were the least accurate. Across the groups, Locative and Ablative Case morphemes were found to be used more accurately than Plural and Accusative Case in both tasks. The findings imply an accuracy order across L2 groups, governed mostly by L1 morphological features.Item The processing of morphology in adult second language acquisition(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2017., 2017.) Kutlay, Nesrin.; Gürel, Ayşe.This study examines, via two masked priming experiments, the processing of inflectional and derivational morphology to identify whether first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers of Turkish demonstrate comparable processing patterns (e.g., decomposition, full listing or a dual route) in these two types of morphological processes. The target verbs were the same and the primes were presented in four prime conditions in both experiments: i) Identity (ver, ‘give’ – VER, ‘give’); (ii) Inflected Test (verdi, ‘give’ + past tense suffix’ – VER, ‘give’); Derived Test (vergi,‘tax’: ‘give’ + noun-forming derivational suffix’– VER, ‘give’; (iii) Orthographically-related (verem, ‘tuberculosis’–VER, ‘give’), and (iv) Unrelated (bak,‘look’ – VER ‘give’). The items were matched in terms of frequency and length. High and low frequency primes were matched with high and low frequency bare target roots in four conditions (HL, HH, LH and LL). The reaction times (RTs) for each prime condition were compared and the effects of root and surface frequency were analyzed across L1 and L2 groups. The findings revealed that L1 speakers employed decompositional pattern in processing inflectional morphology but not derivational morphology. L2 speakers, on the other hand, did not display any facilitation effects either with inflected or derived primes. No clear frequency effects were observed in either group. Findings suggest that L2 learners diverge from L1 speakers in processing inflectional morphology but not derivational morphology. In addition, the processing difference between inflectional and derivational morphemes implies L1 speakers’ access to dual routes in Turkish.Item An odyssey of discovery: Critical literacy in an English preparatory class(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2016., 2016.) Derince, Zeynep Mine.; Bayyurt, Yasemin.This thesis explores the experiences of two English language teachers and eighteen students through Critical Literacy (CL) in a class at a School of Foreign Languages in Turkey. CL focuses on social change through education. In the context of English language teaching (ELT), it pursues personal and social transformation through foreign language education. CL in ELT is an under-investigated subject in the relevant literature, which makes this thesis a significant case, especially in Turkey. The findings provide implications for both CL and ELT practices and research. This research is an interpretative qualitative study which consists of an indepth data collection from multiple sources of information, including questionnaires, field notes, observations, documents and interviews. Thematic data analysis is employed. The themes that emerged from the analysis are how teachers implemented CL in their English classrooms; what the potential and contribution of CL to English language teaching and learning is; and finally what kind of social transformations and awarenesses occurred during the implementation of CL in ELT. The pedagogical contributions of the study are manifold. When these teachers followed CL in their teaching practice, they ensured that students’ experiences were valued and they sought to negotiate, redefine and co-construct knowledge with their students. Language learning was enhanced because students were given the chance to analyze broader social issues that are relevant to their lives and to wider contexts. The students and the teachers became aware of how dominant ideologies position them via the textbooks and how issues are normalized through the voice of the author, visuals and texts. Students encountered multiple realities and observed their own dilemmas and challenges and they were involved in their ideas, projects and studies in a broader and deeper level with multiple perspectives.Item Integrating ELF awareness into pre-service teacher education: Insights from theory and practical experience(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2017., 2017.) Kemaloğlu, Elif.; Bayyurt, Yasemin.; Sifakis, Nicos.This qualitative case study presents an in-depth analysis of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)-related reflections and teaching practices of ten pre-service teachers in an ELFaware teacher education course. The course consists of theory- and practice-based phases and aims to raise awareness of the ELF concept and the pedagogy of ELF through intensive theoretical training, continuous critical reflection, reflective interactions and active teaching practices. The study is significant since it is the first of its kind to design and investigate a sample process of ELF-aware pre-service teacher education. The data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, observations, audio and video recordings of lessons, responses to reflection questions based on the readings of the course and documents. According to the findings, participants’ ELF conceptualizations underwent substantial changes during the training: ELF was first defined as a global concept. At the end of the theoretical phase, it was defined as nonnative speakers’ use of English for communication characterized by intelligibility, their ownership of English and communicative advantages such as an increase in selfconfidence. At the end of the practice-based phase, ELF was perceived as a perspective that accepts the non-native use and users of English with their own variability. The participants integrated ELF into English lessons in explicit and implicit ways and reported both advantages and hindrances to ELF-aware pedagogy. Overall, they were found to be content with the program and all of them stated they were planning to incorporate ELF into their future teaching practices.Item Decoding and reading comprehension in Turkish :|a comparison of Turkish monolingual and Kurdish-Turkish bilingual children(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Kurt, Serhat.; Haznedar, Belma.This study investigated the longitudinal contributions of phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological memory (PM), listening comprehension (LC) and vocabulary to Turkish decoding and reading comprehension among Turkish monolinguals (N=46) and Kurdish-Turkish bilinguals (N=50). In addition, it explored whether there was any performance difference between monolinguals and bilinguals in the development of these cognitive and linguistic components from kindergarten to Grade 1. The participants were individually tested at three times: at the beginning, at the end of the kindergarten, and at the end of Grade 1. The findings revealed a developmental pattern in PA, RAN, PM, LC and vocabulary performances across the groups from kindergarten to Grade 1. Separate mixed ANOVAs were conducted for each component to observe any performance differences among monolingual and bilingual children across the times. The monolinguals outperformed the bilinguals in all tests except for PA tests. That is, the bilingual children scored better on PA tests than their monolingual counterparts at the beginning of the kindergarten. However, this performance difference was faded in the later times, especially at Grade 1. On the other hand, monolinguals statistically did better than bilinguals especially in LC and vocabulary tests. The resuls of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that PA and RAN were significant predictors of decoding. As to reading comprehension, LC and vocabulary appeared to be the best predictors of reading comprehension. Similarly, decoding significantly contributed to reading comprehension.Item Identity construction and negotiation among EFL learners :|a case study(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Şentürk, Hakan.; Bayyurt, Yasemin.The aim of this study was to give an elaborate description of the relationship between L2 language learning and identity construction at the English Preparatory Program of a private university in Istanbul, Turkey. This instrumental multiple case study was based on the narrative accounts of five English Preparatory School students collected via interviews, classroom observations, audio recordings and learning diary entries during their English learning studies for over a year including online education during the COVID19 pandemic. The results of the data analysis show that the participants’ construction of L2 learner identities during their language learning journey at the school/home was marked with instances consisting of multiple and dynamic negotiations and mediations of identities from past and present learning experiences. The participants’ search for a community of practice both face-to-face and online, the fluid nature of their learner/user/speaker positionalities as L2 learners and speakers, their imagined identities before and after starting their L2 learning journey, and their L2 investments are discussed in detail. The results show how the study of L2 identity constructions during the language learning process has implications in the field of applied linguistics and English language teaching and learning in general. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations for further studies and practices in the field of English language teaching and learning are made.Item Interrelationships among L2 linguistic knowledge, working memory functions, and L2 reading(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2015., 2015.) Çeçen Besimoğlu, Sevdeğer.; Erçetin, Naciye Gülcan.The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationships between processing/storage functions of working memory (WM) and explicit/implicit second language (L2) knowledge as well as the contributions of these variables to L2 reading comprehension. Participants were 84 moderately proficient late adult learners of English. WM capacity was measured through reading span tasks administered in L1 and L2 and an operation span task. An untimed grammaticality judgment test (GJT) and a metalinguistic knowledge test were administered to measure explicit linguistic knowledge in the L2 while a timed GJT and an elicited oral imitation test were used to measure implicit linguistic knowledge. Reading comprehension scores were obtained from a retired paper-based TOEFL. Results suggest that WM’s storage function is language independent and it is not affected by the type of secondary task employed. The findings also suggest that WM's processing function is not task-dependent. Furthermore, results corroborate previous studies arguing against a trade-off between the processing and storage functions of WM. Based on the findings regarding the relationship between linguistic knowledge and WM capacity, it can be argued that the type of knowledge assessed by the so called implicit knowledge tests could actually be automatized explicit linguistic knowledge resulting from large amounts of practice in late adults learners of advanced proficiency in an instructional context. This automatized and primarily explicit L2 linguistic knowledge and WM's processing function are the best predictors of L2 reading comprehension, demonstrating the dominant role of automatized knowledge in efficient L2 reading comprehension for instructed L2 learners.Item ELF in international higher education institutions in Turkey :|learner and instructor perspectives(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Kurt, Yavuz.; Bayyurt, Yasemin.This study explores the potential ways of integrating English as a lingua franca (ELF) awareness into the curriculum of English preparatory schools of universities where the medium of instruction is English. ELF awareness consists of fundamental changes in how the English language is conceptualized and the aims of English education are defined. Therefore, in order to investigate the possibilities of merging ELF awareness with the existing English language teaching (ELT) practices, this study has multiple foci including prep school students’ attitudes towards ELF and their language learning aims in that respect, prep school instructors’ conceptualization of the relationship between ELF and ELT, their ELF-aware teaching preferences in the classroom, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the process by both groups. To gather data, the study makes use of - among other things - questionnaires, semi-structured and focus-group interviews, a teacher training module on ELF, classroom observations, and lesson artefacts. While the instructors are involved in teacher training and lesson planning, delivery and evaluation processes, the students are involved in surveys and evaluation of the lessons they attended. A mix of quantitative and qualitative techniques are used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that the students are aware of the global role the English language plays, and they have various linguistic needs in relation to ELF. Furthermore, the evidence also suggests that the instructors can design ELF-aware lessons using a variety of methods, focusing on various aspects of the ELF concept, and merging these with different linguistic skills. The critical evaluation of the lessons by the students and the instructors themselves reveals the effective aspects of classroom implementations. Based on the findings, an eight-component blueprint for action is suggested regarding the ELT practices in language prep schools of universities.Item Dynamic interaction of factors influencing university students’ academic writing practices in English: a case study in Turkey(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2015., 2015.) Altınmakas, Derya.; Bayyurt, Yasemin.The study investigates the dynamic interaction of educational and contextual factors influencing Turkish university students’ academic writing practices. The main participants of the study were twelve freshman year and seven senior year students studying English as a major at a foundation university in Turkey. Qualitative research design and data collection methodologies were employed for the purposes of the study. The main data of the study was obtained from multiple sources: (1) background questionnaire, (2) semi-structured interviews, (3) elicited narratives and stimulated recall interviews, and (4) document analysis. The secondary participants of the study were three English language teachers and six faculty members from the context of the study. Four semi-structured interviews and one focus group interview were conducted with the teacher participants. To draw a more comprehensive picture of the writing situation, the main findings of the study were cross-analyzed with the results obtained from the interviews conducted with teacher participants. The findings suggest that Turkish university students’ academic writing practices are influenced by an array of multiple interrelating factors: (1) past L1 and L2 writing knowledge and experience, (2) teachers’ attitudes toward writing, (3) students’ perceptions about academic writing and disciplinary-specific text genres, (4) prolonged engagement with the academic context and discourse, and (5) expectations of faculty members. The insights gained from the study have important implications for the writing situation in Turkey and for similar cases in other EFL contexts.Item Development and evaluation of an online mentor training program in pre-service teacher education(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Gülbak, Gizem Mutlu.; Akcan, Sumru.The present study aims to design, implement and evaluate an online mentor training program in a pre-service language teacher education program. To this end, it consists of three phases. In the first phase, the expectations of university supervisors, mentors and student teachers from mentoring were investigated through questionnaires and interviews, which informed the content and design of the online mentor training program. In the second phase, the training program was implemented for a total of eight mentor teachers in the experimental group, whereas seven other mentors in the control group were engaged in usual practicum practices. The impact of program was investigated through the comparison of pre- and post-training interviews and surveys with two groups of mentors and their student teachers. In the third phase, the experimental group of mentors was asked to evaluate the designed training program for further improvement. The analysis and comparison of the responses given by the mentors and their student teachers showed that the online mentor training program made positive changes in mentors’ understanding of their roles and especially in their observation and feedback practices. In addition, the mentors who participated in the training program were contented with the presented content and tasks and made suggestions related to the timing of implementation as well as the delivery mode of the training.Item Everyday interactions between local and refugee women in a Turkish town :|identity construction and negotiation(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Saygı, Hasret.; Bayyurt, Yasemin.; Erduyan, Işıl.This doctoral project investigates the dynamics of everyday interaction between refugee and local women residing in a mid-size Turkish city. Focusing on social gatherings of local and Iraqi Turkmen refugee women in domestic spaces for one year, the linguistic ethnographic study undertaken in this project explores the dialogical processes through which these women construct and negotiate their stances and identity positions. Regular field observations were supplemented by a total of 70-hour of audio-recordings of spontaneous interactions in Turkish in informal social gatherings, interviews, and home visits. Findings reveal how these interactions were observed to be normative and stance-saturated, and the hegemonic nationalist, religious and patriarchal discourses were all-pervasive. They also show that while the Iraqi Turkmen women’s efforts to capitalise on the shared identities resulted in the emergence of “brief moments of tight but temporary and ephemeral groupness” (Blommaert, 2017, p. 35), in the long run, their refugee identity overshadowed other identities which they claimed for themselves.Item The effect of EFL teachers’ language awareness on students’ grammar knowledge :|an exploratory analysis(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Taheri, Ali Akbar.; Tatar, Sibel.; Akcan, Sumru.The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Iranian EFL teachers’ language awareness on Iranian EFL learners’ grammar knowledge. To this end, it drew upon theoretical foundations of teacher language awareness. Three hundred and twenty-two EFL learners and fourteen EFL teachers participated in the study. To fulfill the purpose of the study, all the required instruments were carefully selected, designed, piloted and validated. At the beginning of the study, a placement test was administered to the EFL students to determine their homogeneity regarding their general language proficiency and their grammar knowledge specifically. This test served as a pre-test. Then utilizing a reliable and valid test of language awareness, EFL teachers were categorized as high, middle, and low-language-aware based on their scores. Moreover, two questionnaires to explore learners’ and teachers’ grammar perception were also administered. In the second phase of the study, EFL learners were randomly assigned to experimental groups according to their EFL teachers’ language awareness scores. After the completion of the instructional treatment (sixteen sessions), two other reliable and valid achievement tests were administered as the post-test and delayed post-test. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and three-way ANOVA were the data analysis techniques performed. The findings of the study indicated that learners’ performance depended on their grammar perception and their EFL teachers’ language awareness levels. Overall, the major outcome of the study was the confirmation of the learner-centered philosophy in foreign language grammar learning.Item Predictors of reading skills in Turkish-speaking fourth grade children(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) Candan, Ecehan.; Erçetin, Naciye Gülcan.; Babür, Fatma Nalan.The present study aimed to investigate the concurrent contributions of phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), vocabulary, morphological awareness (MA), processing speed (PS), working memory (WM), and inhibitory control (IC) to reading skills in Turkish. It also examined the complex network of relationships among the variables by focusing on RAN, text reading fluency (TRF) and reading comprehension (RC). In the data collection process, a variety of cognitive and linguistic measures were administered to 112 Turkish-speaking Grade 4 children. Based on previous research, a preliminary model of reading was developed and tested through multiple regression analyses as part of a classical path analysis. The results showed that IC was the strongest predictor of RAN, followed by PS. In the next layer of the analysis, RAN explained the largest amount of variance in TRF, followed by MA and PS. In the ultimate model, MA was the most powerful predictor of RC, followed by PA, TRF and vocabulary. MA also explained a considerable amount of variance in vocabulary, which highlighted the interface between morphological and semantic processes involved in RC. Additional analyses revealed that the predictor variables also made a multitude of indirect contributions to RAN, TRF and RC in the highly agglutinative and morphologically rich structure of Turkish.Item Literacy development in Turkish-Arabic speaking bilingual children(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) İlerten, Ferda.; Erçetin, Naciye Gülcan.; Babür, Fatma Nalan.; Ph.D. Program in English Language Education.This study explored the role of cognitive and linguistic variables in the development of word reading and reading comprehension in Turkish-Arabic bilingual children. Ninety-two 2nd grade Turkish-Arabic simultaneous bilingual and thirty-five Turkish monolingual children participated in the study. The performance of both groups in phonological awareness (PA), phonological memory (PM), rapid automatized naming (RAN), morphosyntactic awareness (MA), morphological awareness test time (MATT), processing speed (PS) and vocabulary knowledge (VK) was examined and compared through independent samples t-test with bootstrapping function. Bilingual children outperformed monolingual children in PA and PS. The performance of both groups was similar in other tasks. The predictors of reading skills were investigated separately for both groups of participants through stepwise regression analyses. The results revealed that while MATT and RAN predicted word reading efficiency in the bilingual group, MATT and PA were the significant predictors of word reading in the Turkish monolingual group. As for reading comprehension, the groups displayed different patterns. While WRead, VK and PM were the most powerful indicators of comprehension in the Turkish-Arabic bilingual group, MA was the only significant precursor of reading comprehension in the Turkish monolingual children. These differences indicated that the reliance of the monolingual and bilingual children on linguistic and cognitive mechanisms ranged in word reading and reading comprehension.Item Teaching EFL through English or content : implications for foreign language learning(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute of Social Sciences, 1999., 1999.) Işık, Ali.; Alptekin, Cem.This study investigates which type of instruction affects false-beginner Turkish EFL learners' language skills more positively, teaching EFL through English or content. More specifically the study aims at answering the following research questions: 1) Will content-based instruction (CBI) students who are exposed to listening and speaking skills in the L2 through content improve better in these skills more than general EFL students? 2) Will CBI students improve four skills in the L2 as much as general EFL students? One experimental and one control group, each containing 50 false-beginner Turkish EFL students, formed the target population of the study. The students in the experimental group received content-based instruction; whereas the students in the control group received general EFL instruction. After 90 hours ofinstructiQn both groups were given the Key English Test (KET) to see the effects of the two different types of instruction on their English language skills and their cumulative scores. The results indicated that the students in the experimental group were more successful in listening and speaking skills in comparison to the students in the control group. In terms of reading and writing skills, there was not significant difference between the two groups. However, when the cumulative scores of both groups were compared, it was observed that the experimental group obtained significantly higher scores in comparison to the control group. Hence, the results indicated that content-based instruction is an efficient program of instruction in helping students improve their EFL skills.