Benefits of Film Adaptations of Literary Works for English Language Learning

Despite their potential in language learning, films have not been covered adequately in academic research except some attempts to develop strategies. One of these strategies has been to compare film scripts and their translations, to identify chunks, technical terms, and creative language examples and to list them with their translations, and to do creative dialogue writing activities especially by modeling these scripts where chunks are used extensively. Believing in the importance of evaluating the film scripts with their translations, this study aims to investigate the processes the researcher/teacher's high school students went through in learning and using the target language starting with the use of the film adaptations of the literary works, writing their scripts modeling the film scripts, acting their own scripts, and shooting their performances. The mixed method research design was used with the triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative data. The 68 high school students' views were investigated with Likert scale (1-5) questionnaire along with their comments about the items.

Boosting L2 Listening Comprehension Through Web-Based Listening Activities on Reduced Forms

In the field of second language (L2) perception, there is a common adherence to quantitative methods to examine reduced forms (RFs). This chapter extends the field by reporting on an investigation that analyzed L2 listeners' perceptions of RFs in English from a qualitative perspective. RFs instruction through web-based activities was delivered to a total of 80 learners of English of varying proficiency for five weeks. Twenty participants reflected on their performance on RFs listening tasks and provided justifications for their perceptions of the target RFs. Qualitative analysis revealed that the RFs that influenced L2 learners' perceptions of RFs were linking, pause phenomena, and assimilation. The results of using such qualitative methodology highlights the important role that RFs plays in perception judgements in syllable-timed languages such as Turkish, a factor which has not always been given much prominence in previous L2 fluency quantitative research.

An Instructional Design Model for Design and Development of Adaptive Hypermedia Listening Environments

The design and development of adaptive hypermedia (AH) listening environments consist of different stages. Each stage in design and development of AH listening applications is vital in the design and development process so that cost-effective AH listening software can be designed and developed in a true sense. Pedagogically, epistemologically, and technically, a wide range of design principles and guidelines have to be heeded at each design and development stage so that effective and efficient AH listening environments can be designed and developed.

The Effect of Audio and Video Modality on Perception of Reduced Forms

Reduced forms (RFs) spoken by native English speakers have been challenging on the part of the second language (L2) learners. This chapter aims to address suprasegmental features to Turkish preparatory language school students in relation to L2 listening comprehension. Considering the limited research on RFs in learning English as a L2 context, this pre-test post-test control group design study aimed to explore whether the instruction of five RFs in sentential level results in any difference in listening comprehension test performance. The five forms entail contraction, assimilation, flap, elision, and linking. A total of 343 were recruited, and RFs instruction was delivered through the web page designated for the study for five weeks, and the performance of the eight groups was measured twice throughout the study. The findings indicated that sentence level of RFs instruction through web-based learning facilitates the listening comprehension of RFs.

How Best to Use Audio/Subtitle Combinations in the Use of Films for Nonnative Learners of English

Use of movies and TV shows for foreign language learning purposes pervades informal settings where viewers enjoy the multiplicity of soundtracks and of subtitles. However, this is not an integral part of formal language education policies. Hoping to inform policy making processes, this study aimed to investigate the most efficient use of audio/subtitle combinations for specific purposes. As a result, reversed subtitling was found to be effective for vocabulary learning whereas, generally, bimodal subtitling was considered to benefit accent-related problems. The participants self-reported preferrence for non-subtitled version in case of listening comprehension in general, which was due to the subtitle effect in the case of students at lower levels. Considering that mostly interlingual subtitled content is the only version in most platforms, these findings make it necessary to prefer a platform presenting a variety of alternative combinations in terms of soundtrack and subtitles.

The Effect of Using Technology in L2 Listening

Due to the nature of listening, multiple media tools have been utilized in second language (L2) listening instruction for a long time. This chapter recruited the most recently published empirical studies in addition to the meta-analysis conducted in 2015 (Kang) and analyzed available evidence on the effects of different multiple media tools on L2 listening comprehension. The results revealed a medium-to-large effect of multiple media tools on listening comprehension in between-group designs (Cohen's d = .70), which was almost identical to the result observed five years ago. The effects of individual multiple media tools have also been statistically synthesized. Moderator analysis could help L2 educators and test developers make decisions on applying different multiple media tools in the fields of L2 instruction and assessment. Specifically, subtitles, captions, as well as self-regulated listening and slow speed were recommended to teachers and test developers as a means to improve learners' listening comprehension.

Exploring Teachers' Beliefs About Listening in a Foreign Language

There is a substantial amount of research in the field of language teacher cognition reiterating that teachers' beliefs influence their classroom practices; however, teacher beliefs and practices do not always correspond because of the differences in both researchers' and teachers' conceptualization of beliefs and practices. This study aims to investigate the beliefs and practices of 96 language teachers in Turkey. A mixed-method research design was employed to answer the questions to what extent teachers' beliefs and practices reflect the issues stated in the literature on second language listening, what their beliefs and listening instructional practices are, whether their beliefs and practices converge, and if so, what factors underpin them.

Significance of Transcript Availability for Viewing TV Coverage of US Elections

With its engaging spectacle and discussion of key issues, the US presidential election debates draw high viewership of not only Americans but also people of other nationalities through not only US-based television channels but also other mainstream channels around the world. Since many of the viewers are likely to be the learners of English as the most widely used Lingua Franca, who listen for as well as to the content, they should be helped with their processing of what they listen to, given the listening comprehension challenges. The demanding factors of speech rate and vocabulary necessitate the use of transcripts as an aid for listening comprehension. Transcripts facilitate the required vocabulary buildup and allow for semantic mapping through frequency counts of recurrent key words or word strings uncovering linguistic patterns and laying foundation for the enriching listening practices. Therefore, this chapter focuses on using transcripts accordingly.

The Impact of Online and Face-to-Face Peer Feedback on Pre-Service Teachers in EFL Academic Writing

This mixed-method 14-week case study investigated the impact of peer feedback on Turkish English as a foreign language (EFL) prospective teachers' attitudes to and performance in a blended academic writing course in the tertiary setting. The peer feedback provision process involved online and face-to-face written peer feedback on weblogs, enhanced with a six-hour training phase for peer feedback. Weekly student journals, group feedback conferences, the end-of-the-semester survey, and the pre- and post-writing tests were used in the data collection. The qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis and the quantitative data via descriptive statistics and an independent paired sample t-test. The study indicated that the use of face-to-face and online peer feedback together was perceived as beneficial and effective by EFL pre-service teachers and that it led to a relatively successful performance in academic writing. It is suggested that participants unfamiliar with peer revision be provided with training and continuous scaffolding/guidance to ensure the effectiveness of the process.

Quality Indicators for Designing English Learning Podcasts

Podcasts, one type of mobile-assisted language learning, have been promoted as promising tools in second language (L2) learning. Yet, quality indicators of podcast programs have not been generalized. Applying previous empirical results on predictors of listening comprehension, the purpose of this chapter was to identify English language learning podcast programs in iTunes that were preferred by language learners and teachers and build up a list of the indicators that can be considered for selecting and designing high-quality English language learning podcasts. Participants were 26 intermediate English as second language (ESL) learners at a southwestern American university and two of their listening and speaking teachers. The results revealed that the ESL students and their teachers both preferred podcasts that had interesting topics, natural speed, and clear pronunciation.