This correlational survey study aimed to investigate whether the Turkish prep-class students' foreign language classroom anxiety levels and foreign language achievement significantly differ in terms of such variables as their gender, their experience abroad, perceived level of income and any third language (other than Turkish and English) they knew. Moreover, the study also tried to identify whether the sub-dimensions of the foreign language classroom anxiety scalespeaking anxiety in language class, interest towards language class and anxiety of talking with native speakersignificantly differ in terms of the independent variables afore-mentioned. And the last aim of the study was to understand whether there is any significant correlation between the foreign language classroom anxiety and foreign language achievement. The participants of the study was consisted of 683 students who, having been registered to study at various engineering departments of Fırat University, were receiving compulsory English preparatory education at the School of Foreign Languages during the academic year of 2013-2014. In order to measure the students' foreign language classroom anxiety, the scale developed by Horwitz, Horwitz& Cope (1986) and adapted into Turkish by Gürsu (2011) was used. The grades of the students were taken from the School of Foreign Languages. For data analysis, such statistical tests as percentage, frequency, t-test, ANOVA, eta-squared and Pearson's Correlation were employed. As a result, it was understood that there is a negative correlation between foreign language classroom anxiety and foreign language achievement.

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This study was carried out in order to identify to what extent the Turkish students' English classroom anxiety affects their academic achievement in English language. In this quantitative descriptive study, a correlational survey model was employed, and the convenience sampling was done. In order to collect data, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale developed by Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) was used. The latest validity-reliability of this scale was conducted by Gürsu (2011), in which the three-factor structure of the scale was confirmed. The test-retest correlation of the scale was found as .85. This study was conducted with 271 university engineering students receiving compulsory prep-class education at Fırat University during the academic year of 2012-2013. The data of the study were analyzed with the logistic regression analysis. According to the findings, the foreign language anxiety at the beginning of the prep-class education was not effective as the predictor of the academic achievement. On the other hand, it was observed that the students' anxiety, at the end of the education, accounted for the academic failure with its speaking anxiety in language class dimension, and predicted academic achievement with its interest towards language class dimension. This study revealed that the students' anxiety evolving and ever-increasing during their English prep-education powerfully predicted their academic performance. Whatever its source may be, anxiety in learning environments is mostly an unwanted situation. Therefore, it has always been underlined in the literature that in order to facilitate learners' language learning process, the effect of anxiety should be minimized.

Yunus Doğan 1 Öz Günümüzde çoğu üniversitede lisans ve lisansüstü dersler, eğitimde kalite ve çeşitliliği artırma, üniversiteler arası etkileşimi daha verimli hâle getirme, daha fazla öğrenciye ulaşma ve ekonomik maliyetleri azaltma gibi çeşitli nedenlerle çevrimiçi verilmektedir. Bu bağlamda Fırat Üniversitesi, ön lisans, lisans ve yüksek lisans düzeyinde bazı dersleri uzaktan öğretim yöntemiyle yürütmekte olan üniversitelerden biridir. Lisans ve ön-lisans bölümlerinde okutulmakta olan zorunlu yabancı dil İngilizce dersleri de 2017-2018 eğitim-öğretim yılından itibaren uzaktan öğretim yoluyla verilen dersler arasındadır. Ancak yabancı dil derslerinin, dil yeterliliği için gerekli beceri ve bilgilerin karmaşık yapısı dolayısıyla, uzaktan öğretim yoluyla öğrenilmesi en zor derslerden olduğu düşünülmektedir. Bu açıdan nicel desenli bu betimsel çalışmada, Fırat Üniversitesi Spor Fakültesi öğrencilerinin Uzaktan Öğretim İngilizce I dersine yönelik görüşlerinin değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Spor fakültesinin çeşitli bölümlerinde okuyan ve İngilizce dersini alan 476 öğrenci üzerinde gerçekleştirilen çalışmada araştırmacı tarafından geliştirilen Çevrimiçi Yabancı Dil Öğrenmeyi Değerlendirme Ölçeği kullanılarak araştırma verileri toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde aritmetik ortalama, standart sapma, yüzde, frekans, t-Testi ve Anova gibi istatistiksel yöntemler kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, öğrencilerin büyük çoğunluğunun uzaktan çevrimiçi ortamda yabancı dil öğrenme konusunda kararsıza yakın olumsuz görüş belirttikleri, öğrencilerin görüşleri arasında cinsiyet ve bölüm değişkenlerine göre istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farkların olduğu anlaşılmıştır. Çalışma sonuçları ilgili alan yazın eşliğinde tartışılmış ve önerilerde bulunulmuştur.

Background We investigated potential predictive factors for mortality and disease severity from demographic and clinical data, comorbidities, and laboratory findings in patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were consecutively admitted to our tertiary hospital. Methods In this retrospective, single-center, observational study, we enrolled consecutive 540 adult patients who had COVID-19 confirmed by a molecular method. Patients were categorized into three groups based on disease severity. Patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics, mortality rates, and mortality-associated factors were analyzed. Results The overall mortality rate was 4.3% (23/540). Disease severity was mild in 40.9% (n = 221), severe in 53.7% (n = 290), and critical in 5.4% (n = 29) of the patients. There were significant differences among groups in terms of median white blood cell (WBC), hemoglobin, neutrophil, lymphocyte, and thrombocyte counts, as well as C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatinine, albumin, D-dimer, ferritin, troponin, and fibrinogen levels. Furthermore, there were significant differences between surviving and non-surviving patient groups in terms of median WBC, hemoglobin, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts, as well as CRP, procalcitonin, LDH, creatinine, albumin, D-dimer, and ferritin levels. CRP level (odds ratio [OR]: 1.020, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.009–1.032; p < 0.001), and CURB-65 score (OR: 4.004, 95% CI: 1,288–12,447; p = 0.017) were independently associated with disease severity and mortality. Conclusion On admission, WBC, neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelet counts can be used to predict disease severity in patients with COVID-19. CRP, ferritin, LDH, creatinine, troponin, D-dimer, fibrinogen, and albumin levels can also be used to predict disease severity in these patients. Finally, elevated CRP level and high CURB-65 score were predictors of disease severity and mortality.