Relationships between Foreign Language Teachers’ Cognitions and Actions: Evidence from Instructors at Tertiary-level

Abstract

Teacher cognition and teacher action are two interrelated concepts of teaching and thus ought to be studied together in-depth to understand the nature of teaching and its effect on educational achievement. Examining the relationship between language teachers’ cognitions and their actions has the potential to inform and guide current and future instructional practices in language teaching settings. From this point forth, this correlational study aims to answer in what way language teachers’ language learning cognitions may predict their language teaching practices. The data were collected from 606 instructors teaching English in various higher education institutions in Turkey by means of a cross-sectional inventory and then analyzed primarily through canonical correlation analysis. During the data analysis process, multivariate normality; linearity (among variables and linear composites); homoscedasticity; and multicollinearity were also evaluated. The general results indicated that the participants having competence-oriented approaches and executive learner preferences would exhibit adherence to traditional (conservative) pedagogy, but divergence from communicative practices in instructional planning and error correction. Similarly, the participants disfavoring legislative learners would tend to diverge from communicative practices in instructional planning and error correction; on the contrary they would reflect a tendency towards traditional (conservative) pedagogy.

Keywords

• Teacher cognition,teacher action,language teaching,language learning,higher education

Yabancı Dil Öğretmenlerinin Bilişleri ile Eylemleri Arasındaki İlişkiler: Üniversite Öğretim Elemanlarından Bulgular

Abstract

Öğretmen bilişi ve öğretmen eylemi, öğretimin birbiriyle ilişkili iki temel kavramıdır ve bu nedenle öğretimin doğasını ve başarı üzerindeki etkisini anlayabilmek için birlikte ve derinlemesine incelenmeleri gerekir. Dil öğretmenlerinin bilişleri ve eylemleri arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek, dilin öğretildiği ortamlarda yürütülen mevcut ve gelecekteki uygulamaları bilgilendirme ve yönlendirme potansiyelini taşır. Bu noktadan hareketle, bu ilişkisel çalışma, dil öğretmenlerinin dil öğrenmeye dair bilişlerinin dil öğretim uygulamalarını hangi biçimlerde yordayabileceğini araştırmayı amaçlamıştır. Veriler, Türkiye’nin çeşitli yükseköğretim kurumlarında görevli 606 öğretim elemanından, kesitsel tarama envanteri kullanılarak toplanmış, kanonik korelasyon yöntemi ile analiz edilmiştir. Verilerin analizi aşamasında çok değişkenli normallik, doğrusallık (değişkenler ve doğrusal bileşenler arasında), eş varyanslık ve çoklu doğrusal bağlantı boyutları da test edilmiştir. Çalışmanın genel sonuçları, dil öğrenmede öncelikler konusunda edinç odaklı bir yaklaşım benimseyen ve önceden belirlenmiş kuralları söylendiği gibi uygulayan yürütücü öğrencileri tercih eden katılımcıların, geleneksel eğitim anlayışına daha yatkın olabileceğini ve öğretimi planlama ve yanlış düzeltme konusunda iletişimsel uygulamalardan uzaklaşabileceğini ortaya koymuştur. Benzer şekilde, kendi önceliklerine karar verebilen kural koyucu öğrencileri tercih etmeyen katılımcıların da öğretimi planlama ve yanlış düzeltme konusunda iletişimsel uygulamalardan uzaklaşabileceği ve geleneksel eğitim anlayışına daha yatkın olabileceği gözlenmiştir.

Keywords

• Öğretmen bilişi,öğretmen eylemi,dil öğretimi,dil öğrenme,yükseköğretim

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