29.3200, Review: Language Acquisition: Inozu, Sahinkarakas (2017)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-3200. Sat Aug 18 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.3200, Review: Language Acquisition: Inozu, Sahinkarakas (2017)

Moderator: linguist at linguistlist.org (Malgorzata E. Cavar)
Reviews: reviews at linguistlist.org (Helen Aristar-Dry, Robert Coté)
Homepage: https://linguistlist.org

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Jeremy Coburn <jecoburn at linguistlist.org>
================================================================


Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2018 12:50:19
From: Hiromi Takayama [hiromi-takayama at uiowa.edu]
Subject: The Role of the Self in Language Learning

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36360157


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-3477.html

EDITOR: Sehnaz  Sahinkarakas
EDITOR: Jülide  Inozu
TITLE: The Role of the Self in Language Learning
PUBLISHER: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
YEAR: 2017

REVIEWER: Hiromi Takayama, University of Iowa

SUMMARY

“The role of the self in language learning,” edited by Sehnaz Sahinkarakas and
Jülide Inozu, is a collection of research on the concept of “self” as a key
role in foreign language learning contexts. This book aims to analyze,
psychologically and pedagogically, how foreign language learners’ role of
“self” influences their language learning development from different
perspectives. 

This book opens with a foreword, containing an overview and a summary of each
chapter. Following that, the book introduces its contributors and a list of
abbreviations.

Chapter One presents an introduction of the concept of self by Sehnaz
Sahinkarakas, Jülide Inozu, and Dinesh Ramoo. In this chapter, they describe
the investigation of self-concept and its effects on the field of foreign
language education.

In Chapter Two, entitled “The relationship between EFL learners’ future L2
self-guides, vision, and language-learning motivation,” Aycan Demir Ayaz and
Ismail Hakki Erten interrogate the relationship between vision, ideal L2 self,
perceptual learning styles, and L2 motivation using a survey of university EFL
students in Turkey. The results reveal that L2 motivation, actual L2 self, and
vision are strong predictors of ideal L2 self. The researchers suggest that L2
learners should develop a positive self-concept to enhance their ideal L2
self. Additionally, improving learners’ vision of their L2 self significantly
helps to build effective L2 learning behavior .   

Chapter Three, “An investigation into foreign-language anxiety and its
relation to self-efficacy in oral performance,” describes Senem Zaimoğlu’s
research on how college EFL students’ foreign language anxiety relates to
their self-efficacy in oral performance in Turkey. From the correlation
analysis exploring the relationship between EFL students’ levels of anxiety
and self-efficacy in oral performance, the researcher concludes that there is
a moderately negative correlation between the two psychological factors. This
research reveals that students who have higher foreign language anxiety tend
to have lower self-efficacy beliefs, whereas students who have higher
self-efficacy beliefs tend to have lower foreign language anxiety in oral
performance. This result is consistent with previous studies. The researcher
suggests that teachers should motivate students with engaging activities and
create a relaxing classroom atmosphere to enhance students’ self-efficacy
beliefs and decrease their language learning anxiety.

Chapter Four, “Exploring experiences of the bilingual self,” demonstrates
Adnan Demir’s phenomenological inquiry, exploring the developmental process of
participants’ forming  first- and second-language identities as bilinguals.
Even though Kurdish and Arabic are the participants’ first languages, they are
not confident speaking these languages because they have not used the
languages in formal education in Turkey. Furthermore, if they start learning
their first language sooner than other languages, their first language is more
emotionally attached, whereas if they start learning their first and second
languages at the same time, their emotional attachment is equal.

In Chapter Five, entitled “Exploring the willingness to communicate (WTC) in
the language classroom,” Aysun Dağtaş explains which environmental factors
influence English language learners’ perceptions of their WTC at a university
in Turkey. From the quantitative data analysis, the researcher finds teachers,
classmates, and classroom activities lead to a positive classroom environment.
>From the interviews, participants report that their peers, teachers, types of
activities, and classroom atmosphere are factors that influence their WTC in
the foreign language classroom. The researcher concludes that teachers are the
most significant factor for learners’ WTC because their experience in class
depends on teachers’ decision making in creating an effective classroom
atmosphere and choosing activity topics.

Chapter Six, “Corrective feedback in writing classes: individual variations,”
describes Eda Kahyalar and Figen Yilmaz’s conclusion that research on
corrective feedback (CF) should be investigated by considering learners’ 
uniqueness rather than comparing groups of students based on their
performance. This study is a single-case study, showing that Bora, chosen from
among eight students from the experimental study, outperforms the other
participants due to his higher level of retention. The factors affecting
Bora’s retention are similar to those of other participants with lower levels
of retention. However, the sole difference is that Bora self-studies for
additional reading and writing outside of the classroom and shows motivation
to improve his writing. These results connect the researchers’ argument that
it is more effective to focus on individual learners’ approaches to CF rather
than to observe their writing performance as a group.  

Chapter Seven, “Investigating the role of learners’ selves in language-learner
motivation,” examines Simla Course’s research question. The question explores
EFL teachers’ role in motivational self-systems for learning foreign
languages. In questionnaires and interviews, participants point out that the
most important role for learning English is the ideal self, which reinforces
their high level of motivation. In contrast, due to the lack of strong images
of selves and future self-guides for learning additional foreign languages,
such as Russian, German, Turkish, Swedish, Japanese, Dutch, and Korean, none
of the participants continue learning them.

In Chapter Eight, entitled “The establishment of self in pronunciation and
intonation in teacher training: a demonstration by computer via the PRAATS
program,” Mehmet Demirezen explains types of selves, such as real self, ideal
self, ought-to self, feared-teacher self, professional-teacher self, and pitch
as acoustic and biological foundations of self. It explains how pitch
influences foreign language learners’ identity related to their foreign
language learning experiences. The author recommends using PRAAT, a speech
visualizing analysis program, to enhance non-native English speakers’
pronunciation. 

Chapter Nine, “Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of English teachers as
mediators,” describes Deniz Elcin’s research on English teachers’ perceptions
of their roles and students’ perceptions of the characteristics of ideal
English teachers. This study includes three phases: a questionnaire of 130
teachers, a written report of ideal English teachers’ characteristics by 50
students, and an interview with a randomly selected 50 teachers out of the
initial 130. Both teachers and students bring their perceptions and beliefs to
language teaching and learning based on their identities, cultures, lives, and
backgrounds. Therefore, it is important to understand language teachers’ roles
as mediators despite their challenges, standardized tests and curricula, which
they cannot control. 

EVALUATION

There are two admirable points to this book. The topics of each chapter are
coherent, focusing on a broad sense of self, and the content compiled in the
book is diverse while remaining interesting. Most of the topics are related to
individual learners’ psychological notions of language teaching and learning,
such as self-concept, language learning anxiety, self-efficacy, first- and
second-language identities, language learners’ perceptions of willingness to
communicate, language learners’ role of motivational self-systems, and
teachers’ and learners’ perceptions of roles. Chapters Six and Eight are
different from others because these chapters are based on corrective feedback
and pronunciation research. However, in Chapter Six, the authors conclude that
corrective feedback should consider learners’ individual differences rather
than their performance as groups. Similarly, although Chapter Eight closely
examines pitch and intonation, the researchers demonstrate the relationship
between pronunciation and language learners’ identity. Hence, these chapters
focus on individual learners, despite their discussion of seemingly unrelated
topics. 

The major weakness of this text is that the research context of all the
chapters is limited to language education in Turkey. Although issues of EFL
education in Turkey can be applied to other EFL countries, it is true that the
educational system is a product of social and cultural norms in each country.
Thus, this book is meaningful for language learners and educators in Turkey;
yet some findings from small-scale studies may not be applied to other
countries’ contexts. For example, in Chapter Four, the participants’ first-
and second-language emotional attachment depends on the Turkish language
policy; this result can be influenced by each country’s language planning.
This is a great book for language teachers and researchers in Turkey; however,
if this edited volume had collected studies from different EFL countries, it
could have been applied to various contexts and could have appealed to a
broader audience.  

The rigor of some of the research methodologies in this book is questionable.
For instance, in Chapter Three, the result section includes correlation
analysis, yet most of the data is based on the investigation of descriptive
statistics, such as percentages, means, and standard deviations. Similarly, in
Chapter Five, most of the quantitative data depends on descriptive statistics
by displaying means and standard deviations with a few sentences to explain a
correlation. These findings are helpful only to understand similar
populations. In contrast, Chapter Two contains correlation and regression
analyses shown by organized tables after brief explanations of means and
standard deviations. This chapter provides correlation and regression analyses
between variables, and readers can consider the results persuasive due to the
investigation of each variable’s relationship. As for the qualitative study in
Chapter Four, it is difficult to determine whether the researcher’s
interpretation is accurate or not due to a lack of interview data. Rigorous
findings corroborated by reliable data are absent from this chapter.

Despite these reservations, this book presents diverse EFL learners’ issues
from various perspectives, which achieves the editors’ goal. Specifically,
this edited volume is meaningful for those who are interested in exploring EFL
teaching and researching in a Turkish context. This book provides consistent
topics related to Turkish language learners’ characteristics in an absorbing
way.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Hiromi Takayama received her Ph.D. in Foreign Language and ESL Education from
the University of Iowa in 2015. Her research interests include teacher
education, specifically for teacher efficacy and teacher identity, cultural
influence on language teaching and learning, and grammar pedagogy.





------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*****************    LINGUIST List Support    *****************
Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:

              The IU Foundation Crowd Funding site:
       https://iufoundation.fundly.com/the-linguist-list

               The LINGUIST List FundDrive Page:
            https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/
 


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-29-3200	
----------------------------------------------------------