Educational Policy Analysis and Strategic Research (EPASR - E-Journal)
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Translating the CEFR Companion Volume (2020) into Turkish%253A The Real Experience Unraveled
No full textThe Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is one of the most widely consulted reference works that define international standards for the learning, teaching, and assessment of languages. Since its appearance in 2001, the CEFR has been translated into more than 40 languages, including Turkish, making it the second most-translated document of the Council of Europe (CoE) after the European Convention of Human Rights. The CEFR was complemented by the Companion Volume with New Descriptors in 2018. This provisional version was later replaced by the CEFR Companion Volume (CV) in 2020, which includes added descriptors for mediation, online interaction, plurilingual%252Fpluricultural competence, and sign language competences, ensuring modality-inclusive formulations in adapted illustrative descriptors for sign languages and gender-neutrality in all descriptors. The CEFR CV has already been translated into French, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish, and translations to several other languages are underway and expected to become available shortly. The Turkish translation was completed in October 2021 by a committed team of scholars with the initiative and coordination of the Turkish Ministry of National Education (MoNE) in cooperation with the CoE. The translation of the CEFR Companion Volume into Turkish is an excellent example of how hard work and perseverance pay off. The translation team and others who have contributed to the work have demonstrated a fine example of sheer dedication, patience, and multidisciplinary collaboration to create a reader-friendly text to guide anyone involved in language teaching and testingmdash%253Bfrom teachers, learners, and material developers to educational institutions, researchers, and employers. This paper uncovers the background story, events, and actions behind this text for users to better understand its intricacies, nuances, and complexities. It is anticipated that the backstage information shared here will provide insights for prospective translators of the CEFR CV into other languages
Syllabus Design in the Action-oriented Curriculum
Full text linkThe Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) introduces a new goal for language teaching, that of training social actors rather than mere communicators. Thus, social action as a new reference action corresponding to this new reference goal in English language teaching necessitates a departure from taking interaction or communication as the ultimate goal in an ELT curriculum. This paper argues that mini-projects, which are the best models of social action compatible with the constraints of school education, should be the basic units in an action-oriented curriculum. Syllabus in such an action-oriented curriculum functions primarily as linguistic resources needed by the students to be able to carry out the proposed mini-projects. Thus, the task of the syllabus designer is to select and grade the language content according to the mini-projects proposed in an action-oriented curriculum, even in a second phase, a posteriori control of this content and its progression must be carried out, which may lead, in a third phase, to modify the mini-projects or even their chronological order
Self-Efficacy Perceptions of Instructors Who Teach Turkish as a Foreign Language on Web 2.0 Rapid Content Development for Educational Purposes
Full text linkThis study aims to examine the self-efficacy of instructors who teach Turkish as a foreign language for educational Web 2.0 rapid content development in terms of various variables. The study consists of 155 instructors who teach Turkish in various institutions. This study, which was designed according to the scanning model, is descriptive field research. The scale developed by Birişçi, Kul, Aksu, Akaslan, and Çelik (2018) was used to determine the self-efficacy of the trainers for Web 2.0 rapid content development for educational purposes. Analysis results indicated no significant differences between the variables of gender, technology use in language teaching before COVID-19, the continuation of distance Turkish teaching after COVID-19, and self-efficacy. A significant difference was detected between the education level of the study group, their experience in the field, distance education experience before Covid-19, and their self-efficacy for Web 2.0 rapid content development. The Covid-19 process raised important awareness in terms of teaching Turkish to foreigners remotely. In the information age, it is very important to increase the awareness and experience of teachers who teach Turkish to foreigners remotely about teaching a foreign language with digital tools
Determining Secondary School Students Knowledge Levels on Ecosystem, Biodiversity, and Environmental Problems
Full text linkThe present study aimed to determine the knowledge levels secondary school students have on ecosystem, biodiversity, and environmental problems within the context of a science class and to identify the relationship between their knowledge levels on these subjects according to gender and science course grades. The study applied the survey design, a quantitative research method. The participants for the study included 400 eighth-grade students from a public secondary school in Ankara, Turkey during the 2018ndash%253B2019 academic year. The Ecosystem, Biodiversity, and Environmental Problems Achievement Test (EBET) was used to collect the study data, and SPPS 17 software was used for data analysis. The students responses to EBET were evaluated based on Blooms Original taxonomy. The results revealed that the students had no difficulty in answering knowledge and comprehension questions, partial difficulty in answering application questions, and great difficulty in answering analysis questions. There was a positive, moderately significant relationship between the students science course grades and their scores on the knowledge and comprehension questions%253B however, no significant relationship was found between their science course grades and their scores on application and analysis questions. Regression analysis was performed to determine the predictive value of science course grades on the knowledge levels of ecosystem, biodiversity and environmental problems. The students knowledge and comprehension scores varied significantly by gender in favor of the female students, whereas their application and analysis scores did not vary significantly by gender
Challenges and Solutions of Syrian Refugee Children in the Process of Acquiring Basic Language Skills
Full text linkThe aim of this study is to determine the problems experienced by Syrian refugee children in the 1st grade primary school in the process of acquiring basic Turkish language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and the solutions to these problems according to the views of teachers, parents and students. Since the most Syrian refugees in the world are in Turkey, this study was based on basic language skills in Turkish. This research was designed as a survey model. The study group of the research consists of 126 classroom teachers, 15 parents and 15 students. In the research, criterion sampling method was used to determine the participants to be surveyed, and snowball sampling method was used to determine the participants to be interviewed. The research data were collected with the data collection tool titled quot%253BTeachers%252339%253B Opinions on Basic Language Skillsquot%253B developed by the researcher and a semi-structured interview form. Frequency (f) and percentages (%25) were used in the analysis of quantitative data, and descriptive analysis technique was used in the analysis of qualitative data. It has been concluded that Syrian refugee children have problems in describing the text they listen to determining the subject of what they listen, and answering questions about what they listen. In the study, it was determined that Syrian refugee children had severe problems related to the acquisition and use of basic Turkish language skills. It has been concluded that these children can be solved by providing basic Turkish language skills with contemporary approaches, methods and techniques enriched with appropriate materials and supported by technology and cultural elements
The Relationship Between Academic Risk-Taking Behaviours and Writing Concerns of Middle School Students
Full text linkIn this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between middle school students%252339%253B academic risk-taking behaviours and writing anxiety. This relational survey type research was carried out in the 2020-2021 academic year. The sample of the study consists of 493 middle school students in a city in Turkey. The data of the study were obtained from the quot%253BAcademic Risk-Taking Scalequot%253B and the quot%253BWriting Anxiety Scalequot%253B. Correlation Analysis tests were used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the research, it was found that there is a moderately significant negative correlation between the academic risk-taking behaviours of middle school students and their writing anxiety. While there was no significant difference in the academic risk-taking behaviours of the students in terms of school type, grade level, number of pages in reading books and academic achievement scores in the mother tongue course, a significant difference was found in terms of the variables determined in writing anxiety
Determination of Cognitive Structures in Concepts Related to Writing Education With the Word Association Test
Full text linkThis research was conducted as a case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods, to determine how prospective Turkish teachers explain the concepts in their minds about writing skills. The study group consists of 60 3rd-grade prospective teachers studying at the Department of Turkish Language Education of Hatay Mustafa Kemal University in the 2018-2019 academic year. Research data were collected through a word association test. In order to reach the concepts that best describe the writing skill, first of all, ten concepts were determined by the researcher within the scope of the relevant course. Then, the test prepared with these concepts was presented to the expert opinion, and the word association test was designed with the remaining six concepts (writing, text, text types, narrative text, informative text, and argumentative text). In the data analysis, the answers of the prospective teachers to the word test were examined in detail and independently with an expert to ensure reliability. Frequency distribution was created with the frequency of repetition of the concepts related to key concepts. According to the frequency of the concepts, the breakpoint technique (Bahar, Johnstone amp%253B Sutcliffe, 1999) was used. In this study, breakpoint points between 20 concepts and above, 15-19 concepts, 10-14 concepts, and 5-9 concepts were applied. Concept networks were created separately according to the pre-test and post-test. According to the data obtained, the concept in the pre-test (f %253D1.636) increased to (f%253D1.732) in the last test. While the least increase was observed in the writing key concept (f%253D299-302), the highest increase was found in the text concept (f%253D263-292). The number of sentences containing academic information about key concepts increased from pre-test to post-test (f%253D116%253B f%253D179). The number of sentences without academic information (f%253D189-f%253D115) decreased. Moreover, the decrease in sentences containing misconceptions (f%253D29- f%253D13) supports this situation. When the sentences were examined in terms of including scientific information, it was found that academic expressions were used more accurately, and misconceptions were reduced
The Effect of Direct Instruction Model on Teaching Musical Play (Round) Skills to Children with Intellectual Disabilities
Full text linkPlay is a very effective tool in the development of the child%252339%253Bs personality, cognitive skills, social-emotional structure, communication and interaction skills. In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of teaching with the Direct Instruction Model on the teaching of musical play (round) skills in students with moderate intellectual disability. The study was designed with the multiple probe model with probe phase between subjects five girls and four boys with intellectually disabled, aged between 9-11, participated in this study. The research findings show that the Direct Instruction Model, which was used to a limited extent in teaching play skills to children with intellectual disabilities, was effective in teaching butterfly round play skills to students with moderate intellectual disabilities. It is undestood that the participants continued their butterfly round play skills 7, 14, and 21 days after the end of the instruction. It also showed that all of the participants were able to generalize their round play skills to different environments, times and people. In addition, the teachers of the students included in the study also expressed positive opinions about the teaching model used in the research and the changes on their students
An Analysis of Secondary School Students Empathy Skills in terms of Student- and School-Related Variables
Full text linkThis study aims to examine the empathy skills of secondary school students in terms of some selected variables at the student and school levels. The study group of the research, which was structured as a correlational survey, consisted of 1010 eighth-grade students attending 29 schools selected by random sampling in the province of Uşak during the 2021-2022 school year. The HLM 8 student version was used in the analysis of the data collected via Google Form. 80%25 of the difference in empathy scores was found to stem from the student-related variables and 20%25 from the school-level variables. A positive and significant relationship between the number of books read and gender variable and empathy scores was also identified, and it was concluded that as the number of books read by students increased, their empathy scores increased as well, and the girls had higher empathy scores than the boys. In addition, a negative significant relationship was found between the duration of daily internet use and empathy scores. While no significant relationship between school type and empathy was identified, students at secondary schools located in city centers were observed to have higher empathy scores than those located in small towns
Written Expression Skills of Both Monoliterate, and Emergent Bilingual Primary School Students%253A A Comparison with Monolingual Students
Full text linkMany students learn Turkish as a second language in Turkey. These students, whose first language is Kurdish, learn Turkish at a certain level before starting school. As a result, these students become emergent bilinguals along with school life. On the other hand, some of these students almost do not use Kurdish in their lives and wholly turn to Turkish. Ultimately, all students whose first language is Kurdish continue their education in the same environment with students whose first language is Turkish. As a result, these children lag behind students whose first language is Turkish in many respects. They even lag behind students whose dominant language is Turkish and Kurdish as their first language. This research it is aimed to reveal the differences between the two student groups in the context of written expression skills. The effect of the dominant language difference, preschool education status and socioeconomic level on the written expression skills of primary school students were examined. The research group of 428 primary school fourth-grade students (girl%253A 201, boy%253A227) was determined by criterion sampling method. As a result of the research, it was revealed that the written expression skills of the students whose dominant language is Kurdish remained at a deficient level, and they made more spelling mistake