Processing of English idioms with body part components by native speakers of Turkish learning English with intermediate level of proficiency

Download
2012
Abdramanova, Saule
The thesis examines the comprehension of English idioms with body part components by Turkish learners, i.e., the strategies they use when guessing the meaning of idioms. Fifteen English idioms are taken from the British National Corpus and are selected to meet the criteria of the width of range and the frequency of usage; also idioms with a bigger amount of representation, as well as idioms having and not having Turkish analogues and equivalents are included. The research is mainly based on the assumptions of the theory of Conceptual metaphors (Lakoff & Johnson, 2003; Lakoff, 1987) which emphasizes an extensive role of metaphors in humans’ life. The study is conducted among first-year students from different departments of Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. Retrospective data collection method is applied; the validity and reliability of data in the present study is achieved by the application of three research methods: questionnaires, interviews, and think-aloud protocols. The obtained data are analyzed, and it is found out that Turkish learners prefer to comprehend English idioms through associations rather than concepts and universals.

Suggestions

Facilitating english as a foreign language learners’ vocabulary learning, task completion and contextual vocabulary exploration processes in a mobile supported situated learning environment
Uz Bilgin, Çiğdem; Tokel, Saniye Tuğba; Yalçın, Şenöm Tuğba; Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology (2016)
The aim of this study was to investigate how vocabulary learning, task completion, and contextual vocabulary exploration processes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners can be facilitated in a mobile supported situated learning environment. METU Science and Technology Museum which is a large, open space populated with interactive science exhibits was chosen as an authentic learning environment. Mobile system which includes instructions of the experiments and also provides dictionary and visual def...
The Effect of english opinion essay writing instruction on Turkish essay writing : a case of university preparatory school students
Kaya, Seyithan; Sağın Şimşek, Sultan Çiğdem; Department of English Language Teaching (2013)
This study investigates the effects of instructions for English One-Body opinion essay on Turkish essay writing. Data were collected in five steps: (1) Pre-Test in Turkish; (2) Introduction to Essay, and One-Body Opinion essay writing instruction in English; (3) English Essay; (4, 5) Post/Delayed Post-Test in Turkish. The essays were collected from 39 students having started school as beginners and reached pre-intermediate level of English at the time of data collection at the university preparatory school....
Code-switching in EFL classrooms : a case study on discourse functions, switch types, initiation patterns, and perceptions
Horasan, Seçil; Seferoğlu, Gölge; Department of English Language Teaching (2013)
This case study aimed to investigate the amount of code-switching used by students and teachers in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms at the School of Languages at a state university in terms of switch types, initiation patterns, and the discourse functions of code-switching, as well as the perceptions of the participants. Four classrooms consisting of 92 students and 8 teachers took part in the study. 16 lessons in total were observed and video-recorded. The recordings were transcribed along wi...
Common pronunciation errors of seventh grade EFL learners : a case from Turkey
Aktuğ, Besime; Savaş, Perihan; Department of English Language Teaching (2015)
This thesis analyses the common English pronunciation errors of the seventh grade Turkish students. Since the vocabulary of subjects are limited due to their age and curriculum, a specific rubric compatible with the official curriculum was designed to test the different qualities of the non-native pronunciation such as vowel, consonant and word stress. More than 2400 sentences uttered by more than 80 seventh grade students were digitally recorded and two non-native professional evaluators and a native evalu...
A cross-cultural study on dissertation acknowledgments written in english by native speakers of Turkish and American English
Karakaş, Özlem; Hatipoğlu, Çiler; Department of English Language Teaching (2010)
The aim of this thesis is to compare and contrast the ways in which native speakers of Turkish (NST) and native speakers of American English (NSAE) write the acknowledgment sections of their MA and PhD dissertations. The analysis in the study focuses on the pragmatic and discourse strategies used by the authors in the texts written in English. First, the study uncovers the organization of the dissertation acknowledgments and the thanking strategies employed in the acknowledgment sections written in English ...
Citation Formats
S. Abdramanova, “Processing of English idioms with body part components by native speakers of Turkish learning English with intermediate level of proficiency,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2012.