METAPHORICAL PERCEPTIONS OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TOWARDS SPEAKING ENGLISH / İNGİLİZCE ALAN DIŞI LİSANS ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN İNGİLİZCE KONUŞMA ÜZERİNE METAFORİK ALGILARI

Gülsüm Öztürk

Abstract


This study aims to determine non-English major university students’ metaphorical perceptions of speaking English at a state university in Istanbul, Turkey. This is a qualitative study with phenomenological design. Content analysis was used for interpreting and analysing the data. 31 non-English major pre-service teachers participated in the study and the data were collected from these participants through a semi-structured form by asking to complete a sentence of “speaking English is (like)… because……”. Since positive metaphorical perceptions of learners have a positive effect on speaking English, it is highly significant to determine the metaphorical perceptions of students. Through metaphor analysis, it is expected for students to provide an idea of how they perceive their experiences of speaking English and to demonstrate what kind of metaphorical perceptions they have towards speaking English. The participants of the study both developed a metaphor and explained why they used it. Students produced 30 metaphors for “Speaking English” and these metaphors were collected under 5 categories. One-third of participants produced positive metaphors and the concepts of which they mostly preferred to use were water, fun, being a new person. The study results reveal that students have mostly positive perceptions about speaking English. The study can be considered as a contribution to the literature since there is no study on the perceptions of non-English major students towards speaking English. The study findings can be implemented in language classrooms in order to understand how students interpret speaking English and some new ways can be tried to change their negative attitudes about speaking English. The study results may also help English teachers and curriculum developers to adjust their teaching practices by informing them about students’ perceptions of speaking English.

Bu çalışma, İstanbul, Türkiye'deki bir devlet üniversitesinde bölümü İngilizce olmayan lisans öğrencilerinin İngilizce konuşmaya yönelik metaforik algılarını belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu, fenomenolojik tasarıma sahip nitel bir çalışmadır. Çalışmaya 31 eğitim fakültesinde okuyan İngilizce alan dışı üniversite öğrencisi katılmış ve veriler bu katılımcılardan yarı-yapılandırılmış bir formda “İngilizce konuşmak…. gibidir, çünkü… ”komutunu tamamlamaları istenerek toplanmıştır. Öğrencilerin olumlu mecazi algılarının İngilizce konuşma üzerinde olumlu bir etkisi olduğundan, öğrencilerin mecazi algılarının belirlenmesi son derece önemlidir. Metafor analizi ile öğrencilerin İngilizce konuşma deneyimlerini nasıl algıladıklarını ve İngilizce konuşmaya yönelik ne tür mecazi algılamalar sergilediklerini belirlemek umut edilmektedir. Katılımcılar sadece bir metafor geliştirmekle kalmadı, aynı zamanda bu metaforu neden kullandıklarını da açıkladılar. Öğrenciler "İngilizce konuşmak" ile ilgili 30 metafor üretti ve bu metaforlar 5 kategoride toplandı. Öğrencilerin yaklaşık üçte biri olumlu metaforlar yarattı ve en sık bahsedilen kavramlar su, eğlence ve yeni bir insan olmak idi. Bu kavramlar incelendiğinde 5 tema başlığı tespit edilmiştir. Bu temalar: İngilizce konuşmak zordur, güç demektir, eğlencelidir, maceradır, zorunluluktur. Araştırma sonuçları öğrencilerin İngilizce konuşmayla ilgili daha çok olumlu algılara sahip olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Çalışma, literatürde anadal olmayan öğrencilerin İngilizce konuşma algıları üzerine bir çalışma olmadığı için literatüre bir katkı olarak düşünülebilir. Araştırmanın bulguları, öğrencilerin İngilizce konuşmayı nasıl gördüklerini daha iyi anlamak ve olumsuz tutumlarını değiştirmenin yeni yollarını denemek için dil sınıflarına uygulanabilir. Çalışmanın sonuçları ayrıca İngilizce öğretmenlerine öğrencilerin İngilizce konuşma algıları hakkında bilgi vererek rehberlik edebilir ve eğitim-öğretim faaliyetlerini düzenlemelerine yardımcı olabilir.

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Keywords


metaphor, perception, speaking English, non-English major university students / metafor, algı, İngilizce konuşmak, İngilizce alan dışı üniversite öğrencileri

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v5i3.3514

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