The main aim of this study was to examine the nature of literary discussions in an advanced level English literature class in a Turkish EFL (English as a Foreign Language)setting. The focus of the study was the discursive features of a foreign language literature course offered in a Turkish university. Natural and systematic video recordings of the class sessions for one semester, field notes taken as a non-participant observer and semi-structured interviews constituted the primary data sources. In this study, the following research questions have been addressed: (1) What is the nature of literary discussions in an advanced level literature course in a Turkish EFL setting based on the analyses of (a) discursive structure of the discussion, (b) types of the questions, (c) learner uptake, and (d) revoicing move of the teacher? (2) How do the issues of teacher control and features of teacher' and students' roles emerge in the analysis of the above mentioned constructs and interview data? Based on the findings of the study, it was difficult to claim that literary discussions in this course reached high levels of student engagement and students freely discussed any topic in their minds, as it was not fair to say students spoke too little and did not find any chance to elaborate their ideas because of tight teacher control. Overall interpretations were parallel with Akyel and Yalcin's (1990) comments about the place of literature in English education in the Turkish context: The Turkish educational system was "wavering between modern and traditional practices" (p. 174). Other than some methodological limitations that most other qualitative studies have to face, the effects of camera on the teacher and students, and difficulties in coding were acknowledged as limitations. Prolonged engagement and utilizing outside raters, respectively, were the measure taken to tackle with these limitations. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Middle and Secondary Education in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2007. / Date of Defense: April 20, 2007. / Turkish Higher Education, Classroom Discourse, Bakhtin, Vygotsky / Includes bibliographical references. / Deborah J. Hasson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Alysia Roehrig-Bice, Outside Committee Member; Jeffrey Brooks, Committee Member; Pamela S. Carroll, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_169167 |
| Contributors | Yuksel, Dogan (authoraut), Hasson, Deborah J. (professor directing dissertation), Roehrig-Bice, Alysia (outside committee member), Brooks, Jeffrey (committee member), Carroll, Pamela S. (committee member), Department of Middle and Secondary Education (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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