International Journal of Language Academy

1-16

Authors: Ömer Gökhan ULUM

We are in a period in which education process is in various evolutions around the world. Recently, many countries are dealing with significant and worth having educational reforms, as in Turkey. As a result of globalization, the need of foreign language speaking emerged in most of the fields of the business world and in the daily lives of people, which caused Turkey to consider foreign language education more important. Regarding the education in Turkey, each government is within a persistent struggle for a more excellent education system starting from the early ages to the university. The Turkish Ministry of Education considers English more important and it carries out several reforms such as revising English curriculum, encouraging schools to carry out language projects with the schools in Europe and empowering teachers through various in-service development programs. The aims of this study are to figure out the EFL state school teachers’ perceptions on in-service teacher development programs, to determine the factors that force the EFL state school teachers to attend in-service development programs and to reveal the fields that need to be improved. The participants of the study were 100 EFL teachers working in state schools. The data was gathered through using a questionnaire. The gathered data was analyzed by using mean scores and standard deviation. The analysis of the obtained data has revealed that EFL state school teachers believe in-service development activities have beneficial contributions for their organizational and individual improvements. Furthermore, it has been seen that ‟scientific, technological and social developments” is the primary grounded factor that causes EFL state school teachers to get in-service development programs.

31-40

Authors: Mehmet Emin BARS

Manas Epic is national epic of Kyrgyz Turks. Manas Epic tells the interior struggle of Kyrgyz Turks and their battle with the enemies, Kalmuk and China. Epic involves the parts belong to historic heroes who leave impress in Kyrgyz history. Some Nogay and Kalmuk’s heroes’ sagas added later to this epic in A.D. XVI-XVII. centuries. Handwork can be seen the struggle of nomadic life and civilized city life. Description reserve an important place in the narration of epic among methods to make narration more understandable. Description provides to recognize environment, people, events better as well it takes attention to provide meeting for narrator of epic and audience. Description is making visible people, places, objects in the epic by taking advantage of art’s facility. Every language has own it’s rules and system of description which involves public’s life style, livelihood, custom and tradition, ideology. Description made in Manas Epic reflects the worldview of Kyrgyzs. Descriptions in the epics both give information about people and increase the aesthetic valve of text. Description is used to make narration more explicit, lively and striking. Existing and thinking entity is embodied and permanented by description. In this article, hero description in the Manas Epic will be tried to fix. By this means, came some outcomes related to faith and worth system, life style, livelihood, ideology of people who create narration.

55-62

Authors: Derya OĞUZ

The most important point in language teaching is develeopment of the four major skills, which are listening, speaking, reading and writing for effective communication. Recently, the teachers are avoding the use of translation. This is due to translation being confused with the Grammar Translation Method. However, the translation that we discuss here in refers to the translation actvity, which is foreseen to be used as an activitiy and a tool in foreign language lessons. Translation is unavoidable in the foreign language process. Integration of translation into foreign language lessons provides numerous contributions to the student in addition to having positive reflections on the teacher-student interaction. Use of translation provides language awareness and helps improvement of the vocabulary. Moreover, translation provides the opportunity for evaluation of what is learnt also. In this study, after pointing out the significance of the translation among the four major language skills we aimed to indicate how the translation can be integrated into classrooms. For this aim, at first we emphasized the importance of using the translation as an instrument in language teaching process. In the next step, we mentioned the constructivist approach which claims that the students need to stimulate their mind for a permanent learning. In this sense, we tried to show how to practice the translation with the examples taken from the students’ book.

73-91

Authors: Özgür KIYÇAK & Orhan KAPLAN

Many definitions of Divan poetry have been made throughout the history and many ideas have been declared on its style and content. Among these this poetic tradition has preceded the word and after a certain period it is a common understanding that it gave weight to the meaning. Nowadays it is seen as a settled perception of classical poetry. General characteristics of poetry when viewed within the framework of eloquence rules, the general lines of Islamic art and the poets’ sense of art the supposed issue is faced with an otherwise state. First and foremost, poetry is the relationship of word and meaning that both out of our reading of Divan Poetry we choose from different centuries and our encounter of emphasis of poets as well a sin theory it is possible to find its application in poetry. The Divan Poet is aware of this and highlights it from time to time between verses. This poetry tradition bears resemblance in words and meanings from the beginning to present day in the way it looks at poetry. Poetry is an art based on integration of word and meaning. Choice or preference of one over another is not necessary. One of the necessities of being a successful poet requires incorporating these two basic elements. This is the path to persistence and classical poetry owes its being classical to this fact.

107-125

Authors: Fatih KANA

Language teaching techniques which are based on argumentations are practiced by adapting “argumentation-based science teaching (ATBÖ)” approach into language teaching. By adapting ATBÖ approach into language teaching, the aim of this study is to determine -in the process of argumentation-based language teaching- the academic achievement, attitudes towards the courses, self-efficacy beliefs, critical thinking skills towards teaching profession of Turkish pre-service teachers. Accordingly, 28 weeks and 256 course hours of teaching practices were practiced in the course of ‘Special Teaching Methods I-II’. This research was designed by mixed-embedded experimental underpinning. This design was used as a first time when reviewed national researches and postgraduates ones in Turkish language teaching. In this study, pre- and post-test experimental design was adopted. The subjects of this study were composed of 3rd grade Turkish pre-service teachers studying in one of the westerns universities of Turkey. There are two groups in this study as experimental and control. In experimental group, the effects of ADE approach was investigated but in control group the conventional courses were practiced based on teacher-centred approach. In this study, as overall, four quantitative and six qualitative data collecting tools were addressed. The all process of the research was captured by a camera. The quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, repeated measurements, ANCOVA, and regression analysis. For qualitative data, descriptive and content analyses were addressed. The obtained data indicated that ADE approach has a primordial effect on students’ academic success, self-efficacy, attitude towards the courses. Qualitative data showed that students enjoyed the courses through ADE approach.

137-150

Authors: Füsun ŞAVLI & Özlem GÜLER

Today, knowing a foreign language has become almost requirement going beyond the ability or personal requests. However, the process of learning a foreign language is a period of very labor-intensive effort and in this sense, the errors made by students is a natural process of learning. Although the point of view towards the concept of error has been accepted many years as a negative situation and evaluated in this aspect. Particularly today, it is stated that the errors made in this process increases awareness of students about the errors and they benefit from their errors to learn correct form, at the same time making errors is accepted as an extremely common situation. The aim of this study is firstly identifying the errors made by students who learn French as a second foreign language and their causes and then proposing the solutions to minimize these problems. Our research was carried out with 30 students who studied in French Preparatory Classes of School of Foreign Languages at Marmara University. Qualitative research method was used in our research and a questionnaire consisting of three open-ended questions was applied to students to understand how the students evaluate the error concept. After that, the frequent errors and their causes were identified based on the answers of students. According to the findings, the most common errors that's done by the students can be grouped under two headings such as learning vocabulary knowledge and grammar rules. Lastly, solution suggestions were made for both students and teachers.

179-189

Authors: Zekerya BATUR & Tuğba Nur BEYRET

For all humanbeings the ability of talking is the source for expressing emotions, thoughts, wishes in all detail & language is – one of the mast important assistant for the life.Human learns the social rules by the way of his native language & has relationships with others.It is no doubt that using similarities in order to talk about a situation about an object, an image or a voice in nature makes the expression stronger. It is clearly seen in echo voices.Echo voices occur by the help of imitating the natural voices These words begin with the early childhood.Depending on some fundamentals of modern language Teaching it is significant that centuries Kaşgarlı Mahmud applied Modern LanguageTeaching Metheds by the use of echo voices succesfully.The truth that language Teaching is actually a culture Teaching is clearly seen in the work of Kaşgarlı Mahmud.There are some fundamentals seen in the work of Kaşgarlı Mahmud.The use of the Child's own language (purity) the use of daily language, recognizing the importance of texts, teaching that depends on examples (proverbs & poems) are examples of these fundamentals.Depending on some researches on documents about turkish language teaching in turkish history, in this research Divan-ı Lugatit Turk which is the first work in this field is examined for echo voices in language Teaching.

209-228

Authors: Yonca DENİZARSLANI

Since its discovery, the New World has had a lasting impact on Western mind. While the geographical explorations of fifteenth century were progressing as an outcome of economic and political competition in Western Europe, transatlantic voyages transformed the feudal darkness of the Middle Ages and the concept of borderline. Beginning with the thirteen colonies in the Eastern sea board of North America, the Anglo Saxon dominance started its course of expansionism with the foundation of the United States of America. In this era, frontiersmen’s diaries, pamphlets, works of literature, political articles and various other cultural products of folk and high art were highlighting American patriotism, which gained momentum within Westward expansion. This study aims to review the sense of place and border in nineteenth century narratives of American expansionism and trace back the historical imprints of today’s American notion of frontier with reference to John O’Sullivan’s essay “The Great Nation of Futurity” (1839), Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis “Significance of the Frontier” (1893), Washington Irving’s travel writing, A Tour on the Prairies (1835), Walt Whitman’s poem “A Passage to India” (1871); autobiography of William Apes, A Son of the Forest (1829), the paintings of Emmanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (1861) and Albert Bierstadt’s Valley of Yosemite (1865).

239-245

Authors: Kürşad KARA

Artistic work is an endeavour as old as mankind. Understanding and making sense of life and man himself throughout his life is an indispensable subject. This effort will continue through the life. The impressiv easpect of word puts poetry in a different place among artistic works. Poetry is a genre various definitions of which were done by poets and men of letters. Poetics written throughout the history of literature have made definitions of poetry and described the properties of it. Despite many studies, the mistery over poetry could not be completely removed. Up to now, efforts to identify poetry have been present. In this work we tried to bring out definitions of poet and poetry and contribute to the definitions made so far through the poems we examined. It was anticipated that the definitions of poets and poetry would be more permanent if not directly done but indirectly given in their poems. Definitions that exist in works will reappear to the reader. Imagesareitems put forwardtoexpressthedesirednotionbysimilaritiesandassociations. Many studies haveaimedto find theconnotations ofthe image which does not necessarily mean thatallimageswill be resolved. Special meaning of each image remains hidden in poet’s mind. One aspect of poetry’s mysteriousness is that every image cannot be gripped entirely. In this study, images in TacettinSimsek’s poems were identified to reach new definitions of poetry and poet. Also the images reached were presented bodily in a paragraph. The new definitions of poetry and poet achieved have the quality to bring new perspectives to us.