Tanju Deveci

Antalya Bilim University · School of Foreign Languages

The COVID-19 pandemic served as a disjuncture causing individuals to seek various learning opportunities, including intentional informal learning (IIL). This study investigated 190 Turkey-based civil engineers’ IIL experiences influenced by the pandemic. Data were collected using a survey with close- and open-ended questions. Results revealed that...

Engineering programs have to develop students' teamwork skills. However, the onus on content specialists to teach teamwork skills may be challenging partly because of students' negative attitudes towards and experiences with teamwork. This study investigated 295 engineering students' thoughts on teamwork and the strategies they used to solve proble...

For effective communication, interlocutors must be cognizant of lingua-cultural aspects in context-dependent situations. Among others, they include culturally and linguistically diverse university settings where students are tempted to complain about grades to teachers and request grade changes. To reduce the negative impact of these speech acts, s...

Background: Context plays a significant role in effective communication. Among various aspects of context, culture is particularly important since it necessitates that language be used effectively so that a specific purpose can be achieved successfully. One key element of such communication is the effective use of speech acts including compliment a...

Students’ academic performance is greatly affected by their communication skills, a significant one of which is email writing. Due to technological advances and the distance education imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a great deal of communication between students and professors is in the form of email communication. Students’ inattention to the ru...

While an abundance of fossil fuels has helped Gulf Arab countries develop rapidly over the past several decades, governments in the region have invested heavily in education, science, and technology relatively recently as a means to diversify their economies in order to ensure their continued growth. In the process, English, as the perceived langua...

This study has been shaped to cover two objectives. The first of these is to describe in detail the use of dialogic teaching in the field of Turkish reading comprehension, and the second is to determine the effect of dialogic teaching practices on reading comprehension success. The mixed-method design known as convergent design was used in this stu...

In tertiary education, lifelong learning (LL) skills alongside technical skills need to be prioritized. Is it, however, correct to assume that all university students are familiar with LL? Even so, might some students believe that LL is a source of tension? One way to understand these aspects is through metaphors, commonly used to convey the meanin...

Forcing education institutions to rely on online learning exclusively, the recent pandemic has brought lifelong learning (LLL) to the forefront. The effects of the recent education approaches on students’ LLL skills merit investigation. First-year students may be at a greater risk because of their limited tertiary education experience and universit...

Lexical competence plays a key role in learning a foreign language. This requires language teachers to pay particular attention to helping learners develop their mental lexicons. Considering the breadth of the English language vocabulary, developing one’s mental lexicon can be a rather challenging task. The situation is often exacerbated because of...

In tertiary education, lifelong learning (LL) skills alongside technical skills need to be prioritized. Is it, however, correct to assume that all university students are familiar with LL? Even so, might some students believe that LL is a source of tension? One way to understand these aspects is through metaphors, commonly used to convey the meanin...

Purpose This study investigated the effects of an intercultural communication (IC) course on Emirati university students' intercultural sensitivity (IS). Design/methodology/approach The participants were 89 Emirati students. The course required student involvement in a variety of tasks and activities, both inside and outside the classroom. The dev...

Intrapersonal communication (IC) is inescapable; we constantly engage in self-talk. IC is surprisingly under-researched, but its quality affects students’ reflective skills, impacting their academic success. This implies that students’ IC skills need to be developed systematically. Our small-scale qualitative study explores first-year university st...

Keywords Language is often the determining factor in authors' success in publishing their papers. Among various language features authors utilize is adjectives. There is a lack of consensus about their use in academic writing. This study investigated qualitative adjective use in research articles in one sub-discipline of educational sciences. The c...

Qualitative adjectives are often used in expressive writing, including refl ective writing. They express and (de)intensify feelings and emotions, thereby expressing stance. This study investigates the adjective profi les of 60 fi rst-year EFL students’ refl ective essays and compares male and female university students’ utilization of qualitative a...

Qualitative adjectives are often used in expressive writing, including reflective writing. They express and (de)intensify feelings and emotions, thereby expressing stance. This study investigates the adjective profiles of 60 first-year EFL students’ reflective essays and compares male and female university students’ utilization of qualitative adjec...

Effective communication between people from different cultures requires not only the ability to speak a common language but also an awareness of sociocultural rules and sociolinguistics features, an important one being speech acts the realization of which realization by Emirati non-native speakers of English has not been studied sufficiently. This...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the opinions of first-year Emirati students in a writing-intensive English program regarding the extent to which they found themselves creative and the ways in which they expressed creativity in general. The other aim was to identify the ways in which they tended to make their writing creative. The s...

Deveci underscores the role of publications in scholars’ striving for success in academia. It is noted that becoming a published author can be particularly challenging for emerging scholars based on not only their limited academic literacy skills but also a variety of factors embedded in the course of their lives. Considering both of these, Deveci...

Readers’ decisions about the relevance and significance of research presented in a journal article are often influenced by the introduction section. Several factors contribute to authors’ writing of effective introductions. This descriptive study aimed to explore strategies used by English and Turkish authors in the introduction section of educatio...

Members of a scientific discourse community can use a variety of stylistic features to share their research with others in a clear fashion. One such feature is sentence length. Although there has been much discussion about how long the average sentence length in scientific writing should be, limited attention has been given to the ways in which edu...

While a common refrain among some educators is that many young adults lack personal responsibility for learning, little empirical research exists that examines how tertiary students perceive or operationalize this construct. This research investigated how 124 freshman engineering students perceive responsibility in terms of what responsibility mean...

There appears to be no consensus among educators and students alike about the value of homework. Although some argue that it is essential for reinforcing learning, others say that it is irrelevant in most cases and detrimental to one's desire for overall learning. Geared towards the latter, this paper advocates a shift away from homework to home-le...

An indicator of learners' language proficiency is the breadth of their vocabulary. Given the volume of vocabulary in English, it may be intimidating for those required to publish academic research articles. Despite possessing a wealth of knowledge in their disciplines, without guidance these people may suffer from limited opportunities to have thei...

Language used to report research findings and put forward arguments is at the heart of effective communication with readers. To this end, scholars use a variety of stylistic features. One of these is variety in language, which includes structures, lexis, and organization markers. Although much research has been conducted on these aspects, a particu...

The idea that learning continues throughout life, and cannot be confined to a particular age or place is a fact. This has led to the argument that individuals need to be active agents of their own learning. This has caused learning to be viewed as an individual attainment, with little attention to the role of interpersonal communication in advancin...

Once a privilege for the members of the elite, writing is now a staple of everyday life accessible to the masses. Despite its significance for individuals’ economic, psychological, and educational well-being, it may not always be utilized to its full capacity. This is partly due to reductionist approaches to writing without full consideration of it...

The action-oriented approach in language teaching as adopted by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and developed in detail by Puren (2004a, 2009b, 2011d, 2013, 2014a, 2014b, 2016, 2017g), has a dual aim, unlike the communicative approach, of both proposing a framework for teaching languages and educating democratic citi...

Listening plays a significant role in learning. Speaking, reading and writing skills normally proceed listening. The importance of listening in formal educational contexts has resulted in much discussion on how students' learning can be facilitated through effective listening practices. However, its place in informal learning contexts throughout li...

In this exploratory study, we present our approach to understanding the way 'subjectivity' and 'objectivity' are operationalized in written reports of scholarship and research. We initially assume that the authors' (implicit) understanding of so-called 'objectivity' is one aspect of a belief system that may be inferable from a text analysis. Much o...

Not all first-year university students possess the academic self-concept necessary for an effective transition from high school to university. This may impact their aptitude for learning so negatively that their engagement in lifelong learning (LLL), a prerequisite for success at and beyond university, may be limited. Therefore, the relationship be...

Adults’ psychological well-being is greatly influenced by the meaning they attain in life. A lack of an established meaning in life may cause distress, and urge individuals to indulge in activities assisting in their quest for meaning. Immigration, be it a reason for or a result of the quest for meaning, may seriously affect people’s psychological...

This paper considers the use of first-person voice in scientific journal papers in relation to transitivity choices. We selected a sample of 10 papers from the journal Nature and conducted an analysis of each paper classifying the main verb of each clause into three categories: active voice, passive voice and be/have as main verb (i.e., neither act...

University students ought to read extensively in order to succeed in their studies. Despite this, not all students have the necessary skills to be efficient readers. The situation can be even more serious for students pursuing a college degree in a foreign language. A variety of instructional activities can help students acquire reading skills esse...

The traditional view that writing is an individual activity often translates into the teaching of it as an individual task. Rarely do students engage in extensive dialogue with their peers when writing. However, much writing in the workplace takes place in collaboration with others. Although, on the surface, many authors may not seem to write with...

Studies have often focused on words that should be learned, and investigations have been conducted on the lexical profiles of texts. Although there has been some interest in collocations, investigations have often concerned academic research articles. The academic texts freshman students normally read have been relatively understudied. This study a...

Job advertisements are normally the first contact between recruiters and job seekers. Descriptions of the job and individual specifications are key to job seekers’ decision whether or not to apply. With the abundance of English language job listings, English language teachers seem to be quite fortunate in opportunities for landing a job. However, a...

Engineering is a discipline that requires its practitioners to learn and use a variety of soft-skills, which include academic and non-academic written and spoken communication, inter-and intrapersonal communication skills, critical thinking ability, an ability to work in teams and an ability to analyze, interpret and synthesize interdisciplinary in...

Today’s digital natives enthuse educators to consider the impact of technology on learning and plan proper instruction, involving the use of laptop along with other technologies. However, implementing laptop use in classrooms without adequate support from administration, IT and faculty can have limited benefits. This article presents the results of...

A common refrain among many educators is that freshman university students, especially those involved with project-based learning, lack empathy and are mainly concerned with their own well-being. Unfortunately , it is often assumed that students, once put on teams, will acquire, through personal responsibility, the essential interpersonal skills ne...

For authors to publish their research papers in peer-reviewed journals, it is important to provide a clear rationale for their study, have a strong methodology, interpret their findings effectively, and highlight the contribution of their study to existing literature. However strong these aspects of content may be, it is nonetheless authors’ langua...

Today’s digital natives enthuse educators to consider the impact of technology on learning and plan proper instruction, involving the use of laptop along with other technologies. However, implementing laptop use in classrooms without adequate support from administration, IT and faculty can have limited benefits. This article presents the results...

The nature of the current academic job market engages many PhD holders in continuous search for employment. The competitive job market created by this causes recruitment committees to review an overwhelming number of materials submitted by each candidate. It is often the case that applicants are not alerted if their applications are not successful,...

English language preparatory programs’ focus on academic vocabulary provides university students with the threshold of lexical competence to embark on their freshman studies. However, a lack of interest in a systematic approach to increasing students’ lexical competence can result in limited academic development and cause frustration and boredom am...

This paper provides a comparison of andragogical and pedagogical orientations to learning, and argues that andragogy needs to be viewed as a principle for lifelong learning. Andragogical and lifelong learning assumptions are discussed from the perspective of engineering education in general and project-based learning in particular. The paper also p...

University freshman students' critical thinking (CT) and lifelong learning (LLL) skills are often taken for granted. This can lead to tertiary education that is built on a weak foundation. In this paper, results of a small-scale study conducted to identify freshman students' CT and LLL readiness levels and the correlation between them are explored....

Freshman university students often face challenges adjusting academically due to a number of complex factors, including increased academic demands and changes to their social environment. Universities, mindful of the financial and academic costs of attrition, seek effective initiatives to increase retention rates. One such initiative, called the Fr...

Advancements in materials production and materials science education accelerate innovations in many engineering fields. Therefore, strong Materials Science education is extremely important for quality part development and efficient designs. Comfort, safety, and cost requirements can be met utilizing technology and knowledge base advancements. This...

Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all education levels including college. However, today " s younger " digital-native " generation may often take their computer skills for granted, which impacts their interaction patterns with university professors who often encourage electronic communicat...

Boredom is often believed to be one of the main factors contributing to students' disengagement in learning. Emotional and intellectual disengagement in students caused by boredom can pose a threat to teachers' job performance too, further risking their students' academic success. However, students' boredom can go unnoticed, and therefore be left u...

It is no longer argued that technical skills alone are sufficient to be a successful engineer; certain softskills are also now considered to be essential. Engineers are expected to possess interpersonal skills and be able to work efficiently in teams. This is facilitated by their intrapersonal communication competencies, one of which is skillful us...

In this paper, we outline and illustrate ten principles of critical reasoning and argumentation within a project-based learning approach to teaching academic literacy. We discuss project-based learning from a practical and theoretical perspective, outlining our view that some kind of holistic approach is needed to provide adequate coverage of the b...

It is generally accepted that grammatical competence is not a sufficient indicator of language competence, and lexis plays a significant role as well. In the case of students learning English for academic purposes (EAP), the significance of lexis becomes even more evident but also more challenging because of the increased number of words necessary...

Acquiring a foreign language may be a lifelong endeavor, and this requires one to approach it from a lifelong learning perspective. However, learners may not always be ready for such an approach. It is important to know where learners stand in their orientations toward learning and consider this when planning educational activities. Therefore, it i...

Dissatisfied with their marks for assignments, some university students may visit their professors to make a complaint. However, the speech act of complaint, as an aspect of pragmatic competence, has not received as much attention as other speech acts from researchers. The face-threatening nature of this speech act requires special attention in mul...

Advancements in materials production and materials science education accelerate innovations in many engineering fields. Therefore, strong Materials Science education is extremely important for quality part development and efficient designs. Comfort, safety, and cost requirements can be met utilizing technology and knowledge base advancements. This...

In this paper, we examine the use of the first person plural forms “we”, “us” and “our” when used to refer to single authors. For this purpose, we conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses on two master’s theses and one PhD dissertation written by Turkish authors in their local context of the Middle East Technical University, Turkey. The resu...

This study investigated demographic characteristics of adults learning English, their reasons for participation and opinions about the andragogical applications based on the Communicative Teaching Method (CTM). Participants included 321 learners. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Pearson's chi-square test was used to compare the...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the complaint speech act set used by Turkish EFL learners speaking to a commiserating and contradicting teacher. For this purpose, four kinds of data sources were used: twenty native English speakers’ role-plays, twenty five Turkish native speakers’ role-plays, forty students’ role-plays and two native sp...

This study aimed to study the andragogical and pedagogical orientations of adults learning English as a foreign language. The Turkish version of the Educational Orientation Questionnaire (Christian, 1983) was used. Sixty adults at evening classes in Turkey were included in the study. The results of the study revealed that the subjects were more and...