Papers by Isil Gunseli Kacar
The Impact of Online and Face-to-Face Peer Feedback on Pre-Service Teachers in EFL Academic Writing
IGI Global eBooks, 2021
This mixed-method 14-week case study investigated the impact of peer feedback on Turkish English ... more 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.
Turkish EFL Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes towards Multi-Media Enhanced Wiki-Mediated Blended Learning Environments
Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series, 2015
With a variety of changes taking place in the role of learners and teachers in the 21st century, ... more With a variety of changes taking place in the role of learners and teachers in the 21st century, learners are expected to be active participants in the learning process through interaction and collaboration, while teachers act as facilitators, creating learning opportunities for the former and monitoring the learning process. This chapter aims to highlight perceptions of Turkish pre-service teachers' of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) concerning a wiki project in a freshman contextual grammar course. Considering the limited research on wiki use in the Turkish teacher education context, this mixed method case study aimed to explore perceptions of pre-service English teachers' wiki learning experiences and investigate their critical appraisal of the project at a state university. The results indicated mainly favourable perceptions, pointing out the enhanced impact of wikis on group dynamics, pre-service EFL teachers' learning process, their creativity and autonomy, while revealing varying degrees of level of and satisfaction with collaborative work, and technical aspects.
Academic Knowledge Formation Through Blogs
Advances in linguistics and communication studies, 2021
Blogs are an integral component of blended learning environments in English as a second language ... more Blogs are an integral component of blended learning environments in English as a second language (ESL)/English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts. Although they are used in higher education to promote language learning, their impact on EFL preservice teachers' writer identity development in academic writing is underexplored. Utilizing Hyland's metadiscourse model, this qualitative case study in the Turkish higher education context investigated EFL preservice teachers' writer identity development on blogs. The data were collected via reflective journals, semi-structured interviews and reflective essays. Triangulation and corpus-based analysis of Hyland's metadiscourse markers were used in the data analysis. The findings revealed the EFL preservice teachers' multifaceted and even contradictory academic writer identities on blogs and numerous challenges they encountered regarding their identity displays. This study highlighted a blended and corpus-based futuristic perspective on the exploration of EFL writer identities.
Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, Apr 1, 2009
İngilizcenin ikinci / yabancı dil olarak öğretimi alanında yürütülen araştırmalar öğrencilerin ik... more İngilizcenin ikinci / yabancı dil olarak öğretimi alanında yürütülen araştırmalar öğrencilerin ikinci / yabancı dil öğrenmeye yönelik inançlarının bireysel özelliklerine göre farklılıklar gösterdiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Hem önceki dil öğrenme deneyimleri hem de sahip oldukları kültürel geçmişin ikinci / yabancı dil öğrencilerinin dil öğrenme ile ilgili inançlarını şekillendirmede önemli bir rol oynadığı belirtilmektedir. Bu değişkenlerin ikinci / yabancı dil öğrenmeyi önemli ölçüde etkilediği göz önüne alınırsa, bu uzun soluklu çalışma İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak öğrenen değişik seviyelerdeki Türk öğrencilerin dil öğrenmedeki öncelikleri, dil öğrenme amaçları, dil öğrenme yöntemleri ve dil kullanımı ile ilgili inançları arasındaki ilişkiye ışık tutmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bunun yanı sıra çalışmada farklı öğrenim seviyelerindeki öğrencilerin söz konusu değişkenlere karşı tutumundaki olası değişiklikler de saptanmaya çalışılmıştır. Araştırmadan edinilen sonuçların İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak öğrenenlerin inançları, uyguladıkları dil öğrenme yöntemleri, dil öğrenme amaçları ve öncelikleri arasındaki ilişkiyi aydınlatması ve öğretmenlerin ikinci / yabancı dil sınıflarında uygulayacakları öğretim yöntemlerinin seçiminde, ders programlarının oluşturulmasında ve ders materyallerinin hazırlanmasında kılavuz görevi görmesi hedeflenmektedir. Anahtar Sözcükler : İngilizcenin ikinci / yabancı dil olarak öğretimi, dil öğrenme amaçları, dil öğrenme yöntemleri, öğrencilerin dil öğrenme öncelikleri
Cultural Diversity and Critical Cultural Awareness
IGI Global eBooks, Jun 24, 2022
This case study investigated Dutch and Turkish pre-service teachers' pedagogical insights on ... more This case study investigated Dutch and Turkish pre-service teachers' pedagogical insights on cultural diversity and critical cultural awareness in a telecollaboration project integrated into practicum. The intercultural communicative competence framework and the positioning theory were the theoretical frameworks. Participants engaged in asynchronous video communication on cultural and critical issues. The data were collected via expectation papers, a reflective project evaluation journal, videotaped interactions, and semi-structured interviews. They were analyzed via content analysis. The findings revealed the favorable impact of participants' project engagement on their perceptions, cultural, diversity and critical cultural awareness. Despite the pre-service teachers' enhanced cultural diversity and critical cultural awareness, the limited duration of the study and the lack of synchronous interaction did not allow for an in-depth exploration of their diverse critical cultural perspectives. The study has implications for teacher educators conducting telecollaboration projects.
Pedagogical Insights into Emergency Remote Teaching: A Case Study of a Virtual Collaboration Project in the Turkish and Hungarian Pre-service Teacher Education Context
Springer eBooks, 2021
Conceptual Shifts and Contextualized Practices in Education for Glocal Interaction, 2017
The current chapter is grounded in a qualitative case study exploring the ways in which Turkish p... more The current chapter is grounded in a qualitative case study exploring the ways in which Turkish pre-service teachers of English at an English-medium state university construct their professional identities in reference to English as a lingua franca aware (ELF-aware) teaching practice they are involved in during their practicum. The study was conducted as a part of a larger ELF-aware teacher education project based on a transformative teacher education model proposed by Sifakis (2014) based on Mezirow's (1991) transformative learning theory. This model initially aimed at developing in-service teachers ELF awareness and asking them to question constructs such as nativeness/non-nativeness, ownership of English, intelligibility, and standard varieties of English (Bayyurt and Sifakis 2015a, b; Sifakis and Bayyurt 2017). Along these lines, in approaching ELF in the project, pre-service teachers are challenged to conceptualize, potentially problematize and attend to essentialized, native speaker-centric constructions of language learning, use, and instruction, in approaching their practice. Thus, these teachers are moving away from the abstract, idealized native speaker NS (Caucasian, Western, and largely male), and toward exploring who they are (beyond the NS construct), who they and their students might interact with, where, and for what purposes. This shift toward context may result in tensions in the classroom (or in professional development, in this case), as pre-service teachers and their students explore the individuals, ideas, and information involved in contextualized, glocal movement and interaction within and across borders, and in the process, confront dominant constructions of "Self" and "Other" in and beyond the society in which they live.
Blogging in an Autonomous, Constructivist and Blended Learning Environment: A Case Study of Turkish EFL Pre-service Teachers
This longitudinal case study highlights 40 Turkish English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-servic... more This longitudinal case study highlights 40 Turkish English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-service teachers’ perceptions regarding the impact of a collaborative blogging experience on their professional development from a constructivist and autonomy-inducing perspective in a Turkish blended learning environment. The data were collected via individual and group video reflections as well as via focus group interviews and analyzed through content analysis. Findings indicate numerous benefits of blogging in an interactive community of practice such as active learner engagement and co-construction of knowledge. The study also suggests that EFL teacher-educators need to monitor, scaffold and guide pre-service teachers throughout the blogging experience to raise constructivist, autonomous and reflective learning agents. Blogging was found to increase prospective teachers’ motivation for professional learning, while enhancing their cognitive and metacognitive skills development.
Erzincan Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 2018
A COMPARISON OF TURKISH AND ENGLISH L1 WRITERS’ CITATION PRACTICES IN DOCTORAL AND MASTER’S THESE... more A COMPARISON OF TURKISH AND ENGLISH L1 WRITERS’ CITATION PRACTICES IN DOCTORAL AND MASTER’S THESESCitation is one of the important components of academic writing in the aspects of providing justification for writers’ arguments and demonstrating the novelty of the writers’ position in the academia. This study investigates the citation practices of Turkish and English L1 writers in M.A. and PhD theses. This corpus-based study employed a qualitative approach. A corpus of 34 theses, 17 Turkish L1 writers’ theses consisting of 10 M.A. and 7 PhD theses and 17 English L1 writers’ theses including 10 M.A. theses and 7 PhD theses were selected. Based on the relevant literature, a rubric was prepared to analyse the 34 theses in the corpus by means of employing qualitative content analysis. Even though Turkish and English L1 writers’ citing tendencies appear to be parallel with writing norms and conventions in the field of ELT, Turkish L1 writers have more challenges regarding integrating cita...
International Journal for Educational Integrity, 2018
This study investigates the types of citation transformation preferred by both English L1 (native... more This study investigates the types of citation transformation preferred by both English L1 (native language) writers and Turkish writers who use English as a foreign language (L2). The corpus consists of 34 theses, 17 of which are Turkish writers' theses in English language including 10 M.A. and 7 PhD theses and 17 English L1 writers' theses comprised of 10 M.A. and 7 PhD theses. Based on the relevant literature, a rubric was prepared by the researchers in order to analyse the theses by means of qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that three forms of content integration consisting of direct quotation, patchwriting and critical evaluation were markedly different in English L1 and Turkish writers' theses. Turkish L1 writers' overuse of direct quotation and patchwriting attracted attention compared to English L1 writers.
The EuroCALL Review, 2017
This paper examined a group of Turkish EFL in-service teachers’ perceptions about a four-week onl... more This paper examined a group of Turkish EFL in-service teachers’ perceptions about a four-week online CALL training they received on a voluntary basis. The data were collected via a background questionnaire, interviews and reflection reports written by the participating teachers. Findings demonstrated that online CALL training was beneficial for the teachers since they gained familiarity with cutting-edge CALL technologies and developed ideas about how to use them in their classes. CALL learning in cyberspace, however, was found to be too challenging for some teachers devoid of the computer skills needed to manage the online experience. Most of the teachers also expected the CALL training to be situated in their classroom contexts providing them with ample opportunities to learn and apply CALL in their local teaching contexts. Taking the various needs of the teachers into consideration, the researcher came up with suggestions for future initiatives for in-service CALL teacher educati...
Internet-Based Text-Matching Software and EFL Preservice Teachers' Awareness of Academic Integrity
Redefining the Role of Language in a Globalized World, 2021
Having been investigated from different perspectives across a broad range of disciplines, plagiar... more Having been investigated from different perspectives across a broad range of disciplines, plagiarism in English as a Second Language (ESL)/English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts has not received much attention until very recently. This mixed-methods case study in the Turkish context is a critical analysis of EFL preservice teachers' perceptions, motives, knowledge of, and practices regarding plagiarism, as well as their academic integrity awareness and plagiarism detection ability in a freshman academic writing course at a state university. The quantitative data from the pre- and post-test questionnaires in the study were analyzed through descriptive statistics while the qualitative data from the questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the preservice teachers were analyzed via thematic analysis. Findings suggested the favorable impact of Turnitin on preservice teachers' self-discovery to overcome and reduce possible plagiarism attempts in the Turkish context.
Online Flipped Tasks and Universal Design for Learning: A Means to an Inclusive and Motivating EFL Learning Environment
Online flipped learning is an innovative pedagogical approach prioritizing an active, dynamic, an... more Online flipped learning is an innovative pedagogical approach prioritizing an active, dynamic, and interactive learning environment. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework enables the instructional design to effectively address diversity through differentiation and inclusive educational practices. However, the relationship between UDL and flipped learning is underexplored. Hence, this qualitative case study investigates four English as a Foreign Language (EFL) preservice teachers’ experiences regarding the online flipped task design for the pre-class and in-class phases and their task design challenges. Additionally, the alignment between the flipped tasks designed by preservice teachers and the UDL principles was scrutinized to discover the task features. The participants were engaged in designing and implementing flipped EFL grammar lessons for eighth graders at a private middle school in Ankara for ten weeks. The data were collected via teacher logs and flipped lesson plans and were analyzed through content analysis. The findings suggested that despite some pedagogical challenges regarding the online flipped task design, the preservice teachers indicated a boost in their teacher self-efficacy, agency, and autonomy, as well as enhanced pedagogical digital competence. The study also showed a considerable alignment between flipped tasks and UDL principles, which was conducive to learner engagement, differentiation, and inclusive classroom practices.
Designing a complementary e-mentoring program for pre-service ELT teachers: online co-mentoring project
Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, Apr 18, 2023
In this qualitative study, we designed an online mentoring program to complement school-based men... more In this qualitative study, we designed an online mentoring program to complement school-based mentoring to enrich the quality of existing mentoring experiences and explored the impact of this project on the professional development of 12 EFL pre-service teachers in an English-medium university in Turkey and six qualified English teachers. Pre-service teachers were assigned online co-mentors and asked to send them their lesson plans and teaching videos and several questions regarding their practicum, lesson plan preparation, delivery, assessment issues, as well as career-related concerns via e-mail to receive feedback. The data collected via semi-structured interviews before and after the project were analyzed through content analysis. The findings indicated a relatively high level of satisfaction among pre-service teachers regarding detailed feedback provision, the development of alternative viewpoints into teaching, enhanced teaching self-efficacy, reduced teaching anxiety, new insights into their career choices, and some challenges concerning the online nature of the study.
Pedagogika, Dec 30, 2022
Action research has shown that using the Flipped classroom method, students become more active an... more Action research has shown that using the Flipped classroom method, students become more active and engaged in educational activities. The Flipped classroom method, used in the activity study, revealed that students were more successful in communicating and cooperating, the process could be made easier by differentiating, playing, including intercultural aspects. This method made it possible to develop higher thinking abilities and increased motivation, and involvement in the educational process was observed.
Google Search Applications in Foreign Language Classes at Tertiary Level
Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design
Given that it is challenging for EFL teachers to create an input-rich learning environment with a... more Given that it is challenging for EFL teachers to create an input-rich learning environment with ample learning and practice/production opportunities, the integration of online resources into language classes has gained importance recently. Although the effective use of technology in educational settings is viewed as a 21st century skill, the issue of providing EFL learners with systematic training in the use of online search techniques in educational settings has not been explored sufficiently and many learners are not yet aware of how to utilize technological resources for educational purposes. Hence, this chapter aims to investigate how EFL majors in an English preparatory program at a public state university in the west of Turkey use Google searching skills receptively and productively in pedagogical tasks, to highlight how Google search tasks can be used to raise language awareness and to offer suggestions for effective integration of search techniques into teaching EFL at the t...
Online Flipped Tasks and Universal Design for Learning: A Means to an Inclusive and Motivating EFL Learning Environment
Handbook of CALL Teacher Education and Professional Development, 2023
Online flipped learning is an innovative pedagogical approach prioritizing an active, dynamic, an... more Online flipped learning is an innovative pedagogical approach prioritizing an active, dynamic, and interactive learning environment. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework enables the instructional design to effectively address diversity through differentiation and inclusive educational practices. However, the relationship between UDL and flipped learning is underexplored. Hence, this qualitative case study investigates four English as a Foreign Language (EFL) preservice teachers’ experiences regarding the online flipped task design for the pre-class and in-class phases and their task design challenges. Additionally, the alignment between the flipped tasks designed by preservice teachers and the UDL principles was scrutinized to discover the task features. The participants were engaged in designing and implementing flipped EFL grammar lessons for eighth graders at a private middle school in Ankara for ten weeks. The data were collected via teacher logs and flipped lesson plans and were analyzed through content analysis. The findings suggested that despite some pedagogical challenges regarding the online flipped task design, the preservice teachers indicated a boost in their teacher self-efficacy, agency, and autonomy, as well as enhanced pedagogical digital competence. The study also showed a considerable alignment between flipped tasks and UDL principles, which was conducive to learner engagement, differentiation, and inclusive classroom practices.
Designing a complementary e-mentoring program for pre-service ELT teachers: online co-mentoring project
Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning
In this qualitative study, we designed an online mentoring program to complement school-based men... more In this qualitative study, we designed an online mentoring program to complement school-based mentoring to enrich the quality of existing mentoring experiences and explored the impact of this project on the professional development of 12 EFL pre-service teachers in an English-medium university in Turkey and six qualified English teachers. Pre-service teachers were assigned online co-mentors and asked to send them their lesson plans and teaching videos and several questions regarding their practicum, lesson plan preparation, delivery, assessment issues, as well as career-related concerns via e-mail to receive feedback. The data collected via semi-structured interviews before and after the project were analyzed through content analysis. The findings indicated a relatively high level of satisfaction among pre-service teachers regarding detailed feedback provision, the development of alternative viewpoints into teaching, enhanced teaching self-efficacy, reduced teaching anxiety, new insights into their career choices, and some challenges concerning the online nature of the study.
Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2021
Study/Teach abroad experiences, are shown to impact prospective teachers' beliefs and values, off... more Study/Teach abroad experiences, are shown to impact prospective teachers' beliefs and values, offering exposure to diverse educational systems and teaching philosophies. This qualitative exploratory case study aimed to investigate the impact of the Comenius language assistantship program on the sociolinguistic perspectives and meaning schemes of Turkish pre-service teachers of English, in different intercultural educational contexts in Europe between 2011 and 2014. It incorporated both English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and World Englishes (WE) perspectives. The theoretical framework in the study is transformative learning theory. The data, collected via semi-structured interviews and reflective journals, were analyzed via content analysis. The findings indicated that although their social and educational backgrounds affected their interpretations of international teaching experiences, participants seemed to share an overarching sociolinguistic perspective. Changes emerged in four meaning schemes: inclusive pedagogical practices, teaching and learning English from the ELF-and WE-aware perspectives, creative and critical thinking activities, as well as intercultural awareness. The study underscored the necessity of integrating the following issues into pre-service language teacher education programs: intercultural awareness, competence, and communication, as well as linguistic and cultural diversity. The findings also emphasized the teacher educators' role as facilitators in terms of enhancing the transformative potential of the international teaching experiences.
Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2021
Study/Teach abroadexperiences, are shown to impact prospective teachers’ beliefs and values, off... more Study/Teach abroadexperiences, are shown to impact prospective teachers’ beliefs and values, offering exposure to diverse educational systems and teaching philosophies. This qualitative exploratory case study aimed to investigate the impact of the Comenius language assistantship program on the sociolinguistic perspectives and meaning schemes of Turkish pre-service teachers of English, in different intercultural educational contexts in Europe between 2011 and 2014. It incorporated both English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and World Englishes (WE) perspectives. The theoretical framework in the study is Mezirow’s (1991) transformative learning theory. The data, collected via semi-structured interviews and reflective journals, were analyzed via content analysis. The findings indicated that although their social and educational backgrounds affected their interpretations of international teaching experiences, participants seemed to share an overarching sociolinguistic perspective. Changes emerged in four meaning schemes: inclusive pedagogical practices, teaching and learning English from the ELF-and WE-aware perspectives, creative and critical thinking activities, as well as intercultural awareness. The study underscored the necessity of integrating the following issues into pre-servicelanguage teacher education programs: intercultural awareness, competence, and communication, as well as linguistic and cultural diversity. The findings also emphasized the teacher educators’ role as facilitators in terms of enhancing the transformative potential of the international teaching experiences