Feedback is one of the crucial elements in language learning and teaching. In second language writing context, the effectiveness of feedback becomes even more important as it has an impact on the whole process of language learning. To increase the effectiveness of feedback, a teacher is expected to use any possible mean(s) available to suit learners' needs and concerns (Hamp-Lyons, 2001;Hyland, 2010). In this respect, rather than framing the feedback process based on the premises put forward in other teaching situations, the study attempts to bring into view the students' perceptions and preferences on feedback in their writing classes to be able to shape the feedback process based on a specific teaching context. The data for the study were gathered utilizing a Likert-Type questionnaire and a semi-structured interview from students (n = 457) at preparatory level studying English at a state university in Turkey. The data were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS 17.0 and qualitatively following content analysis. The results of the study are meant to bring in-depth insights to students' opinions regarding the scope of feedback in writing classes and to provide guidance to shape the process of giving feedback.However, in second language instruction, identifying the scope and the format of providing feedback for learners' writings has always been controversial. The ongoing debate is multifaceted. While educators' views display divergent implications for the feedback process in writing classes, the studies conducted on students' opinions and attitudes also present disparate results. www.ccsenet.org/elt English

Learners who are exposed to a new and different culture in the context of foreign language learning are viewed as reflective agents in the continuous process of identity reformation (Pavlenko and Lantolf, 2000). Course books, which are one of the main sources of target language and culture input, have a great impact in the formation of pragmatic competence and the development of relational identity. However, in the process of cultural transfer throughout course books in foreign language learning, the imposition of gender stereotyping may accompany other pragmatic traits of the target culture and interfere with the formation of relational identity. In this respect, the aim of this study is to identify implicit indications of gender role stereotyping in English teaching course books texts used for Turkish learners. The data gathered from four widely used English language course books and was analyzed using detailed textual analysis (Fairclough, 2003) so as to identify and categorize stereotyped roles for females and males. The findings depict the implicit gender roles in course books and outline the relationship between the elements of linguistic features of texts and the way they function in reinforcing gender stereotyping. IntroductionThe need for a more social and critical linguistics which focuses on language use and language as action and communication in social and cultural contexts was one of the main factors in the emergence of pragmatics. Unlike Chomskyan linguistic view, pragmatic point of view perceives language as situated in relation to its users who are "more than producers of linguistic forms" (Duranti, 2001, p.5). Pragmatics addresses language users from a broad perspective including specific societal factors such as schools, families, which are considered to have fundamental impact on the speakers. Languages are created by human interaction, and thus should be referred in relation to its users' contexts (Mey, 2001;Delen and Tavil, 2010). These social and cultural contexts of use are not static but dynamic and meshed in the continually changing surroundings where speakers live and interact (Mey, 2001).Situating language in its users' contexts encompasses the forms of language and the forms associated with the dominant and, at the same time, subordinate social categories. Philips (2004) emphasizes the creation and reproduction of inequality through language. The author suggests four key areas in this development: "language use and the regulations of turns in bureaucratic settings, including classrooms, courtrooms, clinics; gender and language, with a focus on the inequalities created through men's greater involvement in public genres of discourse; language and political economy and inequalities created by lack of prestige amongst the economically disadvantaged; language and colonialism and the impact of colonial cultural systems on the language and the culture of the colonized" (p.476). The reflection of gender identityGender identity, as one of the components of individual identity, determines 'f...

The increasing interest in foreign language education for promoting self-regulated learning (SRL) needs special consideration at teachers' level. In order to equip higher education learners with self-regulated learning strategies, teachers need to adapt a support system where learners are provided autonomy and responsibility in their learning process. Since SRL is rather a complex process with multiple inter-related factors, learners need to be given systematic and continuous guidance by teachers. Considering the key role that teachers have in language teaching, the study attempts to identify foreign language teachers' opinions about the importance and the level of use of self-regulated language learning strategies in their classes while identifying the major impediments in its promotion. The qualitative data was gathered via semistructured interviews with twenty English instructors teaching at school of foreign languages at a state university. The results of the analyses revealed that promotion of SRL strategies remained at very low levels with limited number of methods applied. The findings highlight the need to incorporate methods of SRL instruction at both in-service and pre-service teacher education on the way to promote self-regulated autonomous language learners.

No abstract