The present study investigated the effect of online peer feedback through blogs on Turkish EFL students' writing performance and their perceptions. Data were collected by using: a) Turkish EFL Students' Background Survey, b) interviews at the beginning and end of the term, c) first and revised drafts, and d) end-of-semester Questionnaire. The control group (15 students, classroom-based) attended in-class writing activities and utilized face-to-face oral discussions for peer feedback. The experimental group (15 students, blog-based) attended classes in the computer laboratory and integrated blog peer feedback into their process oriented writing classes. The results of mixed factorial analysis of variances (ANOVA) revealed that the students in both the control and experimental group improved their writing in their revised drafts. However, those in the experimental group showed higher performance in revised drafts. Finally, the analysis of interviews and endof-semester questionnaires indicated positive perceptions on the use of blogs in their writing classes.

This study aimed to scrutinize Information and Communication Technology (ICT) competence of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors in Turkey and their professional development (PD) needs in ICT in relation to the variables of gender, institution, teaching experience, and their past PD experience. This study also explored the types of training sources EFL instructors preferred to further their PD in ICT. The data were collected by administering a questionnaire of ICT competence and PD needs of teachers. The participants were 193 EFL instructors teaching at various universities in Turkey. The data were analyzed by using IBM SPSS Statistics (i.e. Mean, Standard Deviation, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test). The results indicated that EFL instructors perceived their current ICT competence as low in the seven major areas. However, gender and previous PD experience in ICT played a role in their perceived ICT competence. The study also revealed that regardless of gender, type of institution, previous PD experience in ICT, and teaching experience, EFL instructors reported a medium and higher amount of ICT training needs. The most preferred modes of PD in ICT were immersion or internship activities while the least preferred modes of PD were workshops/conferences/seminars. The implications of the study are also presented.

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This study presents a synthesis of empirical research reporting on learners' perceptions about the effectiveness of CMC in EFL/ESL writing classes. Conducting a multi-stage systematic review, we analyzed 52 scholarly research articles published between 2000 and 2016. Our findings indicate that while learners perceive linguistic benefits from interacting with different interlocutors in mainly blog- and wiki-mediated writing activities, they also report challenges with respect to task demands and the quality of feedback. Learners perceive CMC-integrated writing to be authentic and interactive, thereby developing their motivation, autonomy, and identity as writers. Finally, the implications of this review and the directions for future research in the domain of CMC and EFL/ESL writing are discussed.

AbstractStance plays a salient role in communicating interpersonal meaning through language use. Understanding stance as co-constructed within dialogic interaction uncovers subtleties of how interlocutors use language to express their subjectivities and thus, negotiate their interpersonal relationship. The notion of face and facework, or relational work (Locher 2004), is therefore relevant to the understanding of stance in interaction. Drawing on Du Bois’ (2007) stance triangle, our study analyzes oppositional stance in a single, extended interaction and shows how two interlocutors in an academic setting jointly construct oppositional stance, each by drawing on their own interpretations. Our analysis indicates that this co-constructed oppositional stance is enacted throughout three broader stages, which we call initiation, negotiation, and resolution. We also demonstrate that expressing oppositional stance is a complex process where interlocutors employ various discourse strategies to express pessimistic evaluation, shifting positionings, and (dis)alignment. Meanwhile, instances of oppositional stance become face-maintaining and face-challenging at different stages in which directness and indirectness are variably employed.