The aim of this study was to investigate the discourse markers used by 104 elementary-level prep class students studying at Namık Kemal University in Turkey. Students were required to write a paragraph with 80-100 words as part of their mid-term exam in the academic year of 2013-2014. A small-size corpus was constructed by using these writings. The corpus was analyzed via a software program called as AntConc 3.2.4. in order to find out the types and frequency of discourse markers. It was revealed that 180 discourse markers were used by elementary-level students: 'and' was used 98 times, but occurred 51 times, 'because' was written 18 times and other discourse markers of 'then', 'so', 'also', 'too' and 'still' were used 7, 2, 2, 1, 1 times respectively. Furthermore, according to Fraser's (1999) taxonomy of discourse markers, 180 discourse markers were grouped into four categories. It was found out that 101 markers were elaborative markers, 52 were contrastive markers, 18 were causative markers and 9 were inferential markers. Keywords: Corpus based study, Discourse markers, Writings of Turkish students, Foreign language, English ÖzBu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye'deki Namık Kemal Üniversitesi'nde hazırlık okuyan başlangıç seviyede bulunan 104 öğrencinin söylem belirleyici kullanımlarını araştırmaktır. 2013-2014 akademik yılı vize sınavlarının bir parçası olarak öğrencilerden 80-100 kelimelik bir paragraf yazmaları istenildi. Bu kompozisyonlar kullanılarak küçük ölçüde bir derlem oluşturuldu. Derlem, bir bilgisayar programı olan Ant Conc 3.2.4. kullanılarak söylem belirleyicilerin çeşit ve sıklığını bulmak için analiz edildi. Başlangıç seviyede bulunan öğrenciler tarafından 180 tane söylem belirleyicinin kullanıldığı belirlendi. Ve 'and' 98 defa kullanılmıştır, ama 'but' 51 kez bulunmuştur, çünkü 'because' 18 defa yazılmıştır ve diğer söylem belirleyiciler sonra 'then', bu yüzden 'so', bunun yanı sıra 'also', de, da 'too' ve hâlâ 'still' ise sırasıyla 7, 2, 2, 1, 1 şeklinde kullanılmıştır. Dahası, Fraser (1999) tarafından yapılan söylem belirleyici sınıflandırmasına göre 180 söylem belirleyici dört kategoriye ayrılmıştır. Bunlardan 101'i detay veren söylem belirleyici, 52'i karşılaştırma sağlayan söylem belirleyici, 18'i neden gösteren söylem belirleyici ve dokuzu çıkarımsal söylem belirleyici olarak bulunmuştur.
In this study, the main aim was to reveal English language needs of tourism students for their future profession. Regarding the obtained needs from students, graduates, content experts and employers in tourism sector, goals and objectives of Vocational English Course were set. The data were collected through needs analysis questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. 70 students in the school where the researcher works, 112 graduates of Tourism and Hotel Management program, 9 content experts and 51 employers working in tourism sector answered the questionnaire. 8 students, 11 graduates, 2 content experts and 5 employers took part in semi-structured interviews voluntarily. After the questionnaire was administered to four groups of participants, the obtained data were analyzed through SPSS 20. On the other hand, while analyzing the qualitative data, the recordings were transcribed for the analysis of data by the researcher. Then, a list of codes developed by Wen (2010) was drawn on for coding. The results indicated that 4 language skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) were important for tourism students, but particularly listening and speaking language skills for their future profession were emphasized.
The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of placement test, pop-quizzes and portfolio assessment on class attendance and language achievement. The study also encompasses gender and faculty as other independent variables that affect the students' class attendance and language achievement. The data gathered from a total of 307 students studying English in the elective preparatory class of a state university in Turkey are analysed through SPSS 25. In the study, descriptive and inferential statistics are implemented. Descriptive analyses such as frequency and percentage are applied in order to reveal information about participants. Independent Sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, post hoc tests and regression analyses are also performed to determine the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The findings in the study show that portfolio tasks are the most important factors for students' class attendance and language achievement, which demonstrates that authentic assessment is an important factor. It is found that males do not attend the classes more than females but females are more successful than males. In addition, the faculty as another independent variable does not have a significant effect on class attendance but engineering faculty has a significant impact on language achievement rather than economics faculty.
Definition of 'language' has been changed throughout the years. Accordingly, the scope of linguistics and the ways of language teaching have also changed. The language was previously studied in a structural view. In other words, language learning referred to knowing the grammatical rules and having linguistic knowledge. However, learners were unable to use the language, namely unable to communicate. Being able to communicate requires more than mastering linguistic structures (Hymes, 1972 andCanale &Swain, 1980). For these reasons, communicative language teaching approach revealed as the product of educators who were dissatisfied with the grammar translation and audiolingual methods. In this respect, "Communicative Language Teaching", a kind of introduction book, can be a guide for researchers, teachers, under-graduate and post graduate students.
Writing is one of the productive skills and it is very important. However, it is a very difficult skill to develop even in the native language. In other words, knowing the grammar rules and vocabulary do not create a perfect writing. Using discourse markers between the sentences to relate them with one another makes it more coherent. Therefore, in this study it was aimed to scrutinize the use of discourse markers (DMs) in the paragraphs of high-scored students and low-scored students. In the final exam paper, students were asked to write a story about one of three pictures they chose. They were expected to narrate a story with 100-120 words as they were intermediate level students (B1). After two instructors evaluated each of the students’ writing exams based on the non-academic criteria with the following sub-criteria: “accuracy of vocabulary, variety of vocabulary, accuracy of grammar, variety of grammar, paragraph structure, quality and relevance of ideas, linking words, punctuation and capitalization, and spelling mistakes”, the writings of students who sent their consents were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively in this current study. 10 papers for each category (low-scored students’ and high-scored students’ paragraphs) were examined. Results showed that high-scored students used more DMs than low scored-students. Furthermore, misuse of DMs and overused DMs, which result in redundancy in the texts, make the writings disorganized and incomprehensible. Finally, there was a positive relationship between advanced uses and writing scores. As an implication of the study, it should be noted that students should be equipped with the semantically and functionally correct use of DMs. Therefore, teachers should attempt to use different methods or ways to teach them in the classroom.
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