Exploring ELT Students’ Perception of Mobile Phone through Figurative Language

Year 2016, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 9 - 25, 12.07.2016

Müfit Şenel

https://doi.org/10.19126/suje.92706

Cited By: 1

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate, analyze and evaluate the mobile phone perceptions of ELT students by the help of figurative language. The participants of this study are Grade 3 and Grade 4 students of ELT Department at Samsun 19 Mayıs University, Faculty of Education, involving 139 students in total. In this research students were asked to use “simile” as a figurative language and complete the sentence “Mobile phone is as ……as…….”  in the target language.  According to content analysis, the results showed that only 119 of 139 students produced valid sentences, completing sentences considering their social environments and their daily lives. According to the classification of the sentences depending upon the responses of the students, five conceptual categories were identified. At the end of the study, students were found to have both positive and negative concepts about mobile phones; for instance25.2% developed figurative language for ‘part of life’, 18.5% for ‘addiction’, 17.6% for ‘entertainment’, 31.1% for ‘useful device’ and 7.6% for ‘dangerous factor’ categories. Implications are given and suggestions made for language teachers at the end. Most of these results indicate that students’ preferences change depending upon whether they benefit from the use of mobile phones.

Keywords

ELT, simile, figurative language, mobile phone perception.

through Figurative Language

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı İngiliz Dili Eğitimi lisans öğrencilerinin cep telefonlarına ilişkin algılarını incelemektir. Çalışmanın katılımcı grubunu Samsun Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi İngiliz Dili Eğitimi Anabilim Dalı’nda eğitim gören 3. ve 4. sınıflardan toplam 139 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma kapsamında katılımcılardan “benzetme” söz sanatını kullanarak “Cep telefonu ……….. gibidir” cümlesini hedef dilde tamamlamaları istenmiştir. Yapılan içerik analizinin sonuçlarına göre 139 öğrenciden 119’u çalışma için geçerli veri üretmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular öğrencilerin cep telefonu algılarına ilişkin hem olumlu hem de olumsuz görüşler ortaya koyduğunu göstermektedir; örneğin, %25.2’si cep telefonunu ‘hayatın parçası’, %18.5’i ‘bağımlılık’, %17.6’sı ‘eğlence’, %31.1’i ‘faydalı bir gereç’ ve %7.6’sı ‘tehlikeli bir etken’ olarak değerlendirmiştir. Çalışmanın son kısmında elde edilen bulguların pratik yansımaları ve İngilizce öğretmenleri için bazı öneriler sunulmuştur

Keywords

İngiliz dili eğitimi, benzetme, söz sanatları, cep telefonu algısı

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