The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a Creative Drama Based Perception of Self-sufficiency Skills Training Program on 2nd grade bachelor degree students’ (who are attending a preschool teacher training program) perception of self-sufficiency. This is a quasi-experimental study. Totally 50 students were equally divided into two groups as they are experimental group and control group. Experimental group has attended to 24 sessions of a course as creative drama based training program. The training program was performed by involve in four elements of Bandura’s self-sufficiency as they are; performance success, indirect experiences, verbal persuasion and emotional states. It has been prepared to promote students’ perception of self-sufficiency skills. Perception of Self-sufficiency Towards Using Creative Drama Technique (PSCDT) has been offered as pre-test and post-test to both groups in order to obtain the data. It has been found that there was significance on behalf of experimental group in the end of this study (p< ,05).

This study investigated the effects of competitive and cooperative teaching techniques on Iranian adult EFL learners’ use of direct strategies. To this end, a sample of 88 non-English major university students at Sohrevardi Nonprofit College in Qazvin were assigned to two groups, and each group received instruction under one of the treatment conditions including cooperative and competitive teaching techniques. To collect data, the Persian translation of a modified version of the subsection of Oxford’s Strategy Inventory of Language Learning pertaining to direct strategy use was administered before and after the treatment. The obtained data were analyzed using an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) procedure. The result of data analysis showed no significant difference between the effects of competitive and cooperative teaching techniques on direct strategy use of Iranian adult EFL learners. The findings of the present study may have implications for learners, teachers, and syllabus designers.

Although wealth of empirical researches have covered the impact of crucial, indispensable role reading skills play in the development of individuals’ mental faculties through the acquisition of knowledge in a particular language, scientific works on the assessment of the relationship(s) between pre-reading activities (consisting of games, puzzle solving, match making) and reading skills achievement remain depressingly scanty in Ghana. This study in the light of foregoing atmosphere explored how pre-reading activities facilitate pre-reading and reading skills among preschoolers with the use of randomized experimental control groups design which adopted pre and post-test of two classes, as well as observation guides to diagnose the problem of reading among the KG children in the two groups (control and treatment groups). The findings from these experimentations clearly portrayed the significant influence that pre-reading activities exert on the level of preschoolers reading skills achievements. Upon thorough analysis, and discussions predicated on the research outcome, it has been recommended that preschool educators incorporate levelappropriate pre-reading activities to enrich Preschool Education in Ghana.

The paper presents an educative experience organized in a postgraduate course in a faculty of education with the aim of facilitating students’ “affective self-understanding”. Affective self-understanding is a reflective practice that allows people to comprehend their own emotions in order to gain awareness of them. Students were spontaneously engaged in a laboratory, where they were invited to reflect on their emotional lives. The educative experience was subdivided into different phases requiring writing and analysis tasks. At the end of the experience, students were asked what they thought they had learned, what had been difficult, and what had been the most important phase for learning. Students’ answers were analyzed on the basis of grounded theory through an inductive process of analysis. The theoretical framework of the research is the cognitive theory of emotions. According to this theory, an emotional education is possible because we can understand emotions by identifying their cognitive component and the actions they induce.

Facilitating effective mathematics learning and higher mathematics achievement have long been recognized as a key to the scientific and technological advancement of the African continent. While the central role that language proficiency plays in mathematics teaching and learning has received an overwhelming research attention in the literature over the past two decades, this is not the case among African policy-makers and political leaders. Drawing mainly from our professional experiences as mathematics educators and from the international research literature, our primary intent in this paper is to answer this question: How does the learning of mathematics in English at the basic school level help or hinder students’ mathematical proficiency? To answer this question, the paper is organized as follows. The first part, the introduction, gives a brief overview of the language of learning and teaching in Africa. The second part describes the method and conceptual framework undergirding the research. In the third section, we have analyzed the effects of mathematics learning and teaching through English for basic students whose mother tongue is a Ghanaian language. The conclusion offers four recommendations for developing and improving the mathematics proficiency of students in basic schools.

The aim of this study was to determine mental models of 334 pre-school children concerning school. Children in the city center of Kastamonu in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey were included. Content analysis was conducted on pictures drawn by the children, and the models were split into two groups, scientific and nonscientific. The scientific group was split into three types; the nonscientific group, into four. About 40% of the children had a scientificbased school perception, while 60% were nonscientific. No significant difference was found between the mental models of females and males. Few studies have investigated mental models, so this study fills a gap, but further studies would aid the understanding of the relevant pedagogic architecture.

This study presented a secondary analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) dataset. The paper explored the differences between fourth grade reading scores by examining (1) how often the fourth graders discuss their school work at home with family and (2) how often the fourth graders discuss what they were reading with friends. The results by NAEP Data Explorer indicate that the average scale score (M=214, SD=36) of students who report “never or hardly ever” talking about studies at home was significantly (p <0.001) lower than all other groups. The results of how often they talked to their friends about what they were reading were mixed: Students reporting talk with friends once or twice a month (M=228, SD=35) had significantly (p<0.001) higher average scale scores than those in the never or hardly ever and almost every day groups and slightly lower than those talking once or twice a week.

This study aims to review the impact of the interactive story reading method on 48-72 month children’s vocabulary based on receptive and expressive language. The study group is 52 children in the 48-72 months age group at the nurseries of primary schools at Ankara province. The research employed a combined pattern analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data. The data were collected via "General Information Form" ,"Expressive and Receptive Language Test in Turkish (TIFALDI)" developed under the leadership of Gul Guven and Berument The "Teacher Observation Form", the "Teacher Interview Form" and the "Family Interview Form". In conclusion of the study, a significant difference in favor of the experiment group in the posttest was observed with respect to average posttest scores of experiment and control groups, following the implementation of the Interactive Story Reading Program. The comparison of the follow-up test and pretest score averages revealed a significantly high value in favor of the total for the follow-up test for the children in the experiment group. The agreement among the forms filled out by two observers with reference to the results of the observation and video analysis regarding the implementation of the "Interactive Story Reading Method" by the teachers, was assessed to be good/very good agreement. In the light of these results it can be said that the interactive story reading method have a fundamental impact on receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge of 48-72 months old children.

This study aims to present the design and pilot testing procedures of the two specific self-report questionnaires were used to measure the two key aspects of reading motivation, self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation in the field of literary (narrative) reading, and the partial factors that jointly shape them. These instruments were outlined in advance, tested on a small scale and finally administered in a pre-post (quasi)experimental-control group research study, in order to investigate the effect of an intervention reading program to 6 graders. The measurement tools have good validity and reliability evidence, but further construct validity analysis should be done.

This study examines the subjects and concepts in biology perceived to be difficult to learn and teach by 759 pre-service biology teachers registered in the pedagogical formation program at Uludag University Faculty of Education in the academic year of 2005-2016, as well as the associations that word “biology” first calls to their mind. The study was designed as a survey model, and a questionnaire of three scaled questions was used as a data collection tool. The data were classified into 10 different categories based on different branches of biology: Anatomy-Morphology, Biotechnology, Ecology, Evolution, Physiology, Genetics, Histology, Cytology, Systematics and Reproduction and Development. Following the classification, the data were analyzed using frequency and percentages. The subjects and concepts perceived to be difficult to learn by the pre-service teachers are respectively as follows: photosynthesis and its stages, genetics, circulatory system, aerobic respiration, respiratory system, anaerobic respiration, protein synthesis, phanerogams, DNA structure and function, cryptogams, mitosis, plant systematics, endocrine system, meiosis, ETC, urinary system, plant physiology, taxonomy, evolution and digestive system. The subjects and concepts perceived to be difficult to teach by the pre-service teachers are respectively as follows: photosynthesis and its stages, protein synthesis, circulatory system, endocrine system, meiosis, plant systematics, evolution, mitosis, reproduction, genetic crossing over problems, Latinization of names, urinary system, genetics, ecology, aerobic respiration, DNA structure and function, plant tissues, glycolysis and anaerobic respiration. These findings confirm the need for developing undergraduate programs in biology and promoting the research culture at the secondary education level.

The first person to learn Turkish as a foreign language is a Chinese woman writing Turkish love letters for her exiled husband in the 4th century. However, we do not know much about how this woman learned Turkish. The known history of teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language goes back to the first concrete material produced for this process. They are usually bilingual dictionaries and the oldest one was written in the 11th century. It is therefore more accurate to say that teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language has a history of nearly a thousand years. The changing educational paradigm since the 20th century has deeply influenced the teaching of language, which was previously carried out in accordance with the grammar – translation method. And, dictionaries ceased to be the main device for language teaching and became a source of complementary materials in learning environment, which has necessitated their re-regulation. Yet, Turkish dictionary authors continue to maintain old habits and produce classical bilingual dictionaries. The bilingual dictionaries, proven to be more helpful on second language teaching, have been used across the world from the 1980s onwards. In this paper, the history of the teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language is briefly explained by taking into consideration the resources used in the second language teaching and then answers are given to the questions "Why should bilingualized dictionaries be used in the teaching Turkish as a Foreign Language" and "How should two bilingual dictionaries be prepared?".

The purpose of the study is to reveal the effect of cooperative learning on language skills in an English course. The study was carried out for 5 weeks with 66 students studying at the 10th grade at an Anatolian high school in the district of Karadeniz Eregli in Zonguldak during the fall term of the 2015-2016 academic year. The design of the study was ‘nonequivalent control groups pre-test post-test’ which is one of quasi-experimental designs. Data were gathered using an achievement test measuring students’ vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, reading comprehension and listening skills. Results showed that cooperative learning had a larger effect on vocabulary knowledge, grammar, listening and reading skills compared to traditional method.

In this work, we have analyzed the opinions of teacher candidates of French as a foreign language on the method that should be used in the teaching of reading-comprehension, one of the main linguistic skills. At the end of the Fall Semester of the 2011-2012 academic year, a survey constituted of three open-ended questions was carried out among teacher candidates studying at the French Language Teaching Programme of the Faculty of Education of Uludag University. Among the 120 students enrolled in the Programme, 64 have participated in the survey voluntarily and expressed their opinions. Students have been priorly informed about the study and the link of the survey prepared via Google Docs has been sent to them through an e-mail where they were asked to fill in the study in Turkish. In the scope of the present work, only student opinions relating to option b of the study's second question -i.e. on the method that should be used in the teaching of the reading skill in French- have been taken into consideration. In this qualitative work based on a case study pattern, opinions have first been sorted out through the content analysis method and have been classified; then, they have been compared with and discussed in the light of opinions and suggestions that already exist in literature. Lastly, findings have been interpreted and presented as a determination.

The purpose of this study is to determine the attitude towards Turkish Course and reveal the perception of students towards Turkish Course and teacher. In this context, a personal information form and Attitude Towards Turkish Course (ATTC) Scale were applied to 419 students who receive education in the center of Kirsehir province, in Turkey. In addition to that, the metaphors of students towards Turkish teacher and course were compiled by means of semi-structured interview form. The students were also required to draw pictures that express their feelings towards Turkish Course. The results can be summarized as follows: it was seen that Turkish teachers were likened to an “angel”, “cotton” and “panda”, and happy emojis and heart figures were drawn towards Turkish Course. It was understood that the attitudes of- female students in comparison to male students, the ones who possess a phone to the ones who do not, the ones who have a higher literacy level to the ones with lower literacy level, the ones with more social media followers to the ones with less followers and the ones who spend more extracurricular time with to the ones who do not- have been developed more positively.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between Turkish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ self-efficacy level and their use of compensatory strategies (CSs). The study further searched into the most and the least frequently used CSs by Turkish EFL learners. The participants of the study were fifty university students enrolled in the department of English Language Teaching at a private university in Istanbul, Turkey.  Results indicated that the level of self-efficacy among Turkish learners of EFL was high. The top two most frequently used CSs by the learners were concluded to be the use of non-verbal signals (i.e., mime, gesture, facial expression) and circumlocution (i.e., describing an object or idea with a definition). In addition, the two least frequently used strategies were word coinage (i.e., creating a non-existent second language word based on a supposed rule) and avoidance (i.e., avoiding a topic, concept, grammatical construction, or phonological element that poses difficulty). The findings also revealed that the participants’ strategy use was not related to their degree of self-confidence.

Self-regulation is an active and constructive process in which students regulate and observe their own behaviour, motivations and cognition by setting their own goals during their learning process. In this study, the aim is to investigate the effects of biology laboratory practices that are supported by self-regulated learning strategies on students’ readiness for self-directed learning and their attitudes towards science experiments in laboratory settings. This study, which was undertaken as a quasi-experimental study in accordance with the pretest-posttest design with a control group, was implemented. Second year students who studied science teaching in the faculty of education at a state university in Konya in the academic year of 2018-2019 made up the sample of this study. There were two groups in the study which were “The Control Group” and “The Experimental Group”. In order to measure the students’ self-directed learning readiness levels, “Scale of Self-Directed Learning Readiness in Laboratory” was used and to measure attitudes towards science experiments “Scale of Attitudes towards Science Experiments” was utilized. Both scales were implemented as pre-tests before the study and as post-tests after the completion of the implementation process. The analysis of the data was conducted via SPSS 18. Independent samples t test was conducted to understand whether biology laboratory practices supported with self-regulated learning strategies have any effect on students’ readiness for self-directed learning and their attitudes towards science experiments in laboratories. According to the findings of the study, biology laboratory practices supported with self-regulated learning strategies were observed to make a significant difference in favour of the experimental group considering their self-directed learning readiness and their attitudes towards science experiments.

This study aims to evaluate the academic outcomes of the flipped classroom approach in the teaching of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Furthermore, it aims to activate the role of the teacher through encouraging both teachers and students to engage in active learning styles, while acknowledging individual differences. Participants consisted of 12 female undergraduates with hearing disabilities in a 251 CI course (applications of ICT in teaching and learning) at the College of Education, King Saud University. The study was applied throughout a semester on the contents of the course. The content material and pre-class assigned work (e.g. instructional videos and tasks) were delivered through Blackboard (learning management system), while active learning activities were carried out in class. Using mixed methods, students’ perceptions of their new learning environment were explored through a post-term questionnaire distributed at the end of the semester, in addition to writing a reflective report. Furthermore, participants were requested to write a reflective journal at the end of each lecture. Results indicated the effectiveness of the flipped classroom strategy for students. Moreover, the data indicate a positive impact on students' content learning and improved skills (e.g. collaboration and interaction). The content material which was developed for the specific course (251 CI) could be utilized for the remaining students enrolled in this course. The researcher recommends using the flipped classroom teaching strategy for courses in higher education, as the methodology can be extended and implemented through following a similar framework applied in this study.

The purpose of this research is to examine the correlation between the attitude towards reading and the perception of creative reading. The sample group of the study, in which the correlational survey model among the qualitative research designs was conducted, consists of 319 students studying at fourth grade in primary schools. The scale for the perception of creative reading generated by Yurdakal and Susar Kirmizi and the scale for the attitude towards reading formed by Yurdakal and Susar Kirmizi were applied in collecting data for the research. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Analysis and Simple and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis were implemented for the analysis of data in the study. When the data obtained from the analyses were examined, it was observed that there was a positive and high correlation between the attitude scale towards reading and its sub-dimensions. Likewise, a positive and high correlation was determined between the perception of creative reading scale and its sub-dimensions. As the attitude towards reading increases, the perception of creative reading decreases. This finding is similar for all the sub-dimensions in the scales. It was also comprehended that the attitude towards reading was a predictor of the perception of creative reading and that there were significant correlations between the perception of creative reading and the sub-dimensions of contributions, meaning, activities, and process of reading. Along with these variables, the attitude towards reading explains the perception of creative reading at a total level of 13%.

Pragmatic competence is an indispensable dimension of overall language ability, and proper interpretation of implied meanings is a major constituent of pragmatic competence. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate the efficiency of a film-based instruction program devised to facilitate the interpretation of implied meanings in English. It was conducted with a quasi-experimental design. First, a multiple-choice discourse completion test was given to 144 English language teacher trainees with 77 people in the experimental group and 67 in the control group. After the 5-week instruction given to the experimental group, the test was administered to both groups again. The results revealed significant differences in favor of the experimental group. This makes the program a promising one as it made the participants, who were also prospective English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers responsible for helping their own students have pragmatic competence too, significantly more equipped about processing implied meanings as a major constituent of pragmatic competence.

The aim of this study is to present pre-service biology teachers with reading texts about the research of Van Helmont and Joseph Priestley relate to the subject of photosynthesis, for their familiarization with the processual and contextual aspects of science and their understanding of the nature of science, and to reveal the extent to which these texts contribute to the teacher candidates. The study was carried out by “action research method”.  The sample consisted of 66 biology pre-service teachers studying at Karadeniz Technical University between the years of 2016 to 2018. In this study, two separate reading texts were prepared in order to increase pre-service teachers’ processual and contextual understanding, and after the teacher candidates had read the texts, they were asked to answer the related questions. Percentage and frequency values were determined by grouping the answers as “correct, partially correct, incorrect and unanswered”. The fact that in this study, only 47% of the pre-service teachers were able to form a correct hypothesis means that their skills in this regard are in need of development. Candidates experienced some difficulty in interpreting statements that were not given explicitly in the text. The candidates' level of critical thinking is at a good level. It has been determined that they have post-modern view as epistemological belief. There is a need for designing instructional materials covering conceptual, processual, contextual dimensions of science in different subjects at university level and presenting them to biology teachers in book format.