Learning communities in homework practices: an action research in an 8th grade efl classroom

Download

index.pdf

Date

2020

Author

Ayık Şora, Eslem

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

281
views

263
downloads

Homework has always been in dispute among the authorities of foreign language education as there are numerous opinions about the characteristics of homework practices in language classes. According to the most studies, homework is helpful for learning in foreign language classes, however; there are only a few studies in Turkey about homework models and their effects on students’ performance. This study is an action research that aimed to enhance the homework performance in 8th grade English classes by generating the understanding of Learning Communities in a middle school setting. The study took place a semester and twenty-four 8th graders from the same class in the 2018-2019 education year and three English teachers participated in the study. As it is an action research, the teacher took part in the research both as a teacher and researcher. Data were acquired through teacher observations and teacher diary, student reflection reports, interviews with teachers and students, and student focus-group interviews. Written documents from the first and second semester were also utilized as data. The data were analysed through content analysis based on emerging themes and codes and shaped with respect to research questions. The improvement of students in terms of homework performance and academic success were assessed through presentatios, exam results and homework checklists. All data were triangulated and the results revealed that Learning Communities based homework contributed to students’ homework performance and English development. Based on the findings, it is believed that the study will demonstrate the importance of improving homework model and promote building communities in education.

Subject Keywords

Foreign language teaching, Homework Practice, Learning Communities, Foreign Language Development, Action Research, English Class

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12624900/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/45460

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Gender representations and gender bias in elt textbooks published in the Middle East : a case study of elt textbooks published in Turkey and Iran Skliar, Olga S; Eröz Tuğa, Betil; Department of English Language Teaching (2007) In addition to general knowledge on the official curriculum subjects, including the English language, schools convey multiple cultural and ideological meanings, playing a significant role in the processes of socialization and cultural reproduction. The function of school textbooks as powerful agents of socialization is realized through the texts and visuals in the content. Locally issued ELT materials, written in English by local authors, comprise a combination of local and foreign social meanings. Positive...
Challenges of English Language Teaching in High Schools in Turkey and Possible Suggestions to Overcome Them Demir Ayaz, Aycan; ÖZTURAN, TUBA (2019-01-01) The English language curriculum prepared by the Ministry of National Education for high schools in Turkey seems to be satisfactory in theory, but the related studies about the attitudes of actual practitioners towards English classes in high schools are not detailed and comprehensive enough. This study aims to fill this gap. To do so, qualitative research was conducted with 13 English language teachers and 55 high school students from different parts of Turkey. They were asked for their opinions, applicatio...
Intercultural Competence in the Eyes of State School English Language Teachers in Turkey Bal, Nur Gedik; Savaş, Perihan (2020-01-01) Equipping students with intercultural competence (hereafter IC) is a critical aim of English foreign language classrooms nowadays, and EFL teachers have emerged as essential players for accomplishing this. These teachers should essentially be competent in their intercultural skills so that they can pass these on to their students in order to foster interculturally competent language learners. However, teachers' perceptions regarding IC remain uncertain, particularly in the Turkish context. Thus, before aski...
Foreign language medium instruction and bilingualism the analysis of a myth Kırkıcı, Bilal (2004-01-01) The present study discusses the potential effects of learning and using more than one language (i.e., bilingualism) on the bilingual child in relation to the prevailing discussion on foreign language-medium instruction in Turkey. It is shown that, in contrast to popular beliefs in the society and findings obtained in the early stages of the 20th century, bilingualism does not appear to be an obstacle to the bilingual child, but may act as a facilitating trait in many respects, including the bilingual child'...
Foreign Language Teacher Education: The Polish Case Akar, Hanife (2009-01-01) Foreign Language Teacher Training Colleges (FLTTC) were established in Poland as an answer to the need for drastic changes in education in 1992. By the year 2001, FLTTC had managed to graduate the number of teachers the market demanded, yet the quality of these programs was questioned. This paper presents an in-depth understanding of the impact of FLTTC on teacher candidates' learning and development, as described by the participants, and the challenges that FLTTC faced during its early development process....

Citation Formats

E. Ayık Şora, “Learning communities in homework practices: an action research in an 8th grade efl classroom,” Thesis (M.S.) -- Graduate School of Social Sciences. Curriculum and Instruction., Middle East Technical University, 2020.