i-manager's Journal on English Language Teaching (JELT)


Volume 10 Issue 1 January - March 2020

Research Paper

Understanding and Dealing with Academic Procrastination

Ahmet Erdost Yastibas*
English Language Instructor, Atlim University, Ankara, Turkey.
Yastibas, A. E. (2020). Understanding and Dealing with Academic Procrastination. i-manager's Journal on English Language Teaching, 10(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.10.1.16559

Abstract

Academic procrastination is a commonly experienced issue among university students, which generally affects their academic performances negatively. In the researcher's English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classes, his students faced procrastination problems in the formative assessment tasks. Therefore, the researcher decided to conduct an exploratory action research to help them deal with academic procrastination. This study applied experimental research design. 64 students in three EAP classes participated into the research. Two interventions were used in two Experiment Groups (EG). The Academic Procrastination Scale – Short Form with open-ended questions, the students' time management checklists, and researcher's field notes were used to collect data. Though the results indicated that the interventions did not lead to any statistically significant difference in the perceived levels of the participants in the EGs, the second - main intervention could reduce the observed academic procrastination of the participants in the 2EG. Also, most of the participants thought the checklist-based interventions could help them to develop time management awareness, organize their time, and do their tasks in an organized way.

Research Paper

Tracing Intercultural Approach in EFL Coursebooks

Emrah Ekmekci* , Rabia Irem Demirci **
* Department of English Language Teacher Education Program, Ondokuz Mayis University, Turkey.
** Department of English Language Teaching, Ondokuz Mayis University, Turkey.
Ekmekci, E., and Demirci, R. I. (2020). Tracing Intercultural Approach in EFL Coursebooks. i-manager's Journal on English Language Teaching, 10(1), 17-29. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.10.1.16567

Abstract

It is well-known that foreign language education is a cultural education in a sense; therefore, it is of great importance for language learners to learn native and international cultural elements along with the target culture items and to develop their communication skills at the international level. The current study explores what target, native, and foreign culture- specific elements are represented and whether intercultural approach is followed to present these elements in the selected EFL coursebooks. To this end, thirteen English 9th, 10th, and 11th grades coursebooks approved by the Ministry of Education of Turkey were examined in the context of intercultural approach. Employing descriptive content analysis method, we determined native, target and international cultural elements under fourteen categories. The results of the study revealed that the use of intercultural approach was quite restricted in the selected EFL coursebooks. Only four out of thirteen books were identified as having the most basic characteristics of intercultural approach. Based on the findings of the study, we also made some recommendations for the culture-specific elements that are missing in the coursebooks.

Research Paper

A Comparison over Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency in a Task Supported Language Teaching Setting

Nalan Ercin* , Mehmet Altay **
* Department of Languages, Literatures, Cultures, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
** Department of English Language Teaching, Kocaeli, Turkey.
Ercin, N., and Altay, M. (2020). A Comparison over Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency in a Task Supported Language Teaching Setting. i-manager's Journal on English Language Teaching, 10(1), 30-44. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.10.1.16490

Abstract

The axis of task research has shifted from task design to task planning, and rehearsal as a pre-task planning has been less touched upon throughout the history of the Second Language Acquisition (SLA); therefore, the current research was set around task rehearsal after Present-Practise-Product (PPP) model instruction in the task-supported language setting. This quasi-experimental study reported in this paper aims to explore EFL learners' task performance in a task-supported language teaching setting across the eight weeks by comparing their productive skills with that of their native counterparts. The study took place in the preparatory school at Kocaeli University. The in-class tasks were a rehearsal of the task assignments and their essentials. In the aim of attaining the goals of the study, EFL learners' linguistic outcomes of task performance were compared with native norms with the use of SPSS. The results of this study imply that task-supported language teaching is partially effective in increasing task performance.

Research Paper

Views of EFL Instructors and Learners on Political Compounds in EFL Textbooks

Dincay Koksal * , Omer Gokhan Ulum **
* Department of English Language Teaching, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey.
** Department of English Language Teaching, Mersin University, Turkey.
Koksal, D., and Ulum, O. G. (2020). Views of EFL Instructors and Learners on Political Compounds in EFL Textbooks. i-manager's Journal on English Language Teaching, 10(1), 45-56. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.10.1.16573

Abstract

Language ideologies are the practices of culturally, socially, and historically shaped views, images, and attitudes toward language. The political characteristic of English is certainly a sort of cultural hegemony, embodying the use of the target language into experiences, interpretations, and reciprocally confirmed assumptions. This study aims to discover the views of Turkish students and teachers on the inclusion of political compounds in English as Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks. One who studies phenomenological issues may inquire how an experience is like for those who experience it. Accordingly, this study is based on a phenomenological research design which supplies consciousness of phenomenon or facts by making individuals get closer to the world around. The results of the study show that users of the related textbooks bear negative views on the representation of political issues in both global and local EFL textbooks. Further, textbook users need to be involved in the preparation of curriculum and have the freedom and right to express their ideas on the content of textbooks and curriculum. Thus, teachers, lecturers and policy makers should develop new policies on the representation of political topics in both EFL and ESL settings.

Research Paper

A Study on Cohesion in the Writing of EFL Undergraduate Students

Rizwana Wahid* , Anjum Wahid **
* Department of English, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
** Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Wahid, R., and Wahid, A. (2020). A Study on Cohesion in the Writing of EFL Undergraduate Students. i-manager's Journal on English Language Teaching, 10(1), 57-68. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.10.1.16591

Abstract

This empirical study attempts to examine the use of cohesive devices in the written discourse of EFL undergraduate students and seeks to find how the use of incorrect and repetitive cohesive ties affects the effectiveness of academic writing. Halliday and Hasan's (1976) list of cohesive devices was employed to analyze the cohesion in the descriptive, process analysis, and argumentative essay writing of the Saudi students. The researchers investigated the quantity of various cohesive ties and its effect and relation on the quality of writing. The data were collected from fifteen EFL students of the second year pursuing B.A. For data collection, the instruments were five descriptive, five narrative, and five argumentative essays. These essays were analyzed in terms of grammatical cohesion-reference, substitution, ellipsis, lexical-reiteration, collocation, and lexico-grammatical cohesion-conjunction. The results indicated that learners made ample use of cohesive ties with the overuse of reference particularly pronouns and reiteration, especially repetition of words while ignoring or underusing other cohesive devices, such as substitution, ellipsis, synonymy, antonymy, collocation, and conjunction, thereby implying the inappropriate use of linkers in their writing. Sometimes they provide a linker that is not needed, and other times, they use them in abundance without being required in the text. The inappropriate occurrence and excessive frequency of pronouns and repetition of the same lexical items lead to non-cohesive writing affecting its structure and meaning. The researchers recommended some suggestions based on the findings to imply in the pedagogy of writing.