Guessing vocabulary from context in reading texts
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GUESSING VOCABULARY FROM CONTEXT IN READING TEXTS A Master’s Thesis by İ LKSEN BÜYÜKDURMUŞ SELÇUK Department of Teaching English as a Foreign Language Bilkent University Ankara July 2006 To my first and best teachers, my parents my angel, Gültekin my fairy, Füsun … GUESSING VOCABULARY FROM CONTEXT IN READING TEXTS The Graduate School of Education of Bilkent University by İ LKSEN BÜYÜKDURMUŞ SELÇUK In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA July 2006 BİLKENT UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION MA THESIS EXAMINATION RESULT FORM July 31, 2006 The examining committee appointed by the Graduate School of Education for the thesis examination of the MA TEFL student İ lksen Büyükdurmuş Selçuk has read the thesis of the student. The committee has decided that the thesis of the student is satisfactory. Thesis title : Guessing Vocabulary from Context in Reading Texts Thesis Advisor : Assist. Prof. Dr. Johannes Eckerth Bilkent University, MA TEFL Program Committee Members : Dr. Bill Snyder Hanyang University, Hanyang-Oregon TESOL Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arif Altun Hacettepe University, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Teaching English as a Second Language. Assist. Prof. Dr. Johannes Eckerth (Advisor) I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Teaching English as a Second Language. Dr. Bill Snyder (Examining Committee Member) I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Teaching English as a Second Language. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arif Altun (Examining Committee Member) Approval of the Graduate School of Education Prof. Dr. Margaret Sands (Director) iii ABSTRACT GUESSING VOCABULARY FROM CONTEXT IN READING TEXTS Büyükdurmuş Selçuk, İlksen MA, Department of Teaching English as a Foreign Language Advisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Johannes Eckerth July 2006 This study investigated contextual guessing strategies employed by pre- intermediate students at Hacettepe University, Department of Basic English, and the different strategies used by successful and unsuccessful guessers when dealing with unknown vocabulary. Data were collected through an in-class reading task, think- aloud protocols (TAPs) and retrospective interviews (RIs). The in-class reading task was administered to select three successful and three unsuccessful guessers. TAPs and RIs were conducted with the selected guessers to gather data on their strategy use. Transcribed TAPs and RIs were coded, and a contextual guessing strategies taxonomy was constructed. Frequencies and percentages for each strategy in the taxonomy and percentages for the participants’ guessing success in the in-class and TAP reading tasks were calculated. Findings of the study indicated that various strategies were employed to guess word meanings, and although both successful and unsuccessful guessers employed iv the same strategies, successful guessers used them less frequently. However, successful guessers’ arriving at more correct guesses provided evidence that they were more effective users of lexical inferencing strategies. Another finding illustrated that context and knowledge of the native language were the major sources for word guessing. Key words: Guessing vocabulary from context, lexical inferencing strategies, successful and unsuccessful guessers, think-aloud protocols, retrospective interviews. v ÖZET OKUMA PARÇALARINDA KELİMELERİ BAĞLAMDAN TAHMİN ETME Büyükdurmuş Selçuk, İlksen Yüksek Lisans, Yabancı Dil Olarak İngilizce Öğretimi Bölümü Tez Danışmanı: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Johannes Eckerth Temmuz 2006 Bu çalışmada, Hacettepe Üniversitesi, İngilizce Hazırlık Birimindeki orta düzey öğrencilerin kullandıkları bağlamdan tahmin stratejileri ve başarılı ve başarısız tahmincilerin bilinmeyen kelimelerle başa çıkmak için kullandıkları farklı stratejiler araştırılmıştır.Veri toplamak için, bir sınıf içi okuma çalışması, sesli- düşünme protokolleri ve geçmişe dayalı mülakatlar kullanılmıştır. Sınıf içi okuma çalışması, üç başarılı ve üç başarısız tahminci seçmek için uygulandı. Sesli-düşünme protokolleri ve geçmişe dayalı mülakatlar, seçilen tahmincilerle, onların strateji kullanımları hakkında veri toplamak amacıyla yürütüldü. Yazıya dökülen sesli-düşünme protokolleri ve geçmişe dayalı mülakatlar kodlandı ve bağlamdan tahmin stratejileri sınıflandırma tablosu yapıldı. Bu sınıflandırma tablosundaki her bir strateji için frekanslar ve yüzdeler ile katılımcıların sınıf içi ve sesli-düşünme protokolü okuma çalışmalarındaki tahmin başarı yüzdeleri hesaplandı. vi Bu çalışmanın bulguları; bilinmeyen kelimelerin anlamlarını tahmin etmek için çeşitli stratejiler kullanıldığını, ve başarılı ve başarısız tahmincilerin aynı stratejileri kullanmalarına rağmen, başarılı tahmincilerin stratejileri daha seyrek uyguladıklarını göstermiştir. Bununla birlikte, başarılı tahmincilerin daha çok doğru tahmin yapmaları, onların daha etkin sözcük tahmin stratejileri kullanıcıları olduğunu ispatlamaktadır. Bir başka bulgu, bağlamın ve anadil bilgisinin kelime tahmin etmede ana kaynaklar olduğunu göstermiştir. Anahtar kelimeler: Kelimeleri bağlamdan tahmin etme, sözcük tahmin etme stratejileri, başarılı ve başarısız tahminciler, sesli-düşünme protokolleri, geçmişe dayalı mülakatlar. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Johannes Eckerth, for his invaluable suggestions, deep interest, continuous support and motivating attitude throughout the study. I would also like to thank Dr. Charlotte Basham, Lynn Basham, Dr. Theodore S. Rodgers, Dr. Bill Snyder, and Dr. Arif Altun for their supportive assistance and useful comments throughout my studies. I am gratefully indebted to Prof. Dr. Sibel Bozbeyoğlu, Head of the School of Foreign Languages, Hacettepe University and Prof. Dr. Güray König, former Head of the School of Foreign Languages, Hacettepe University, for they gave me permission to attend the MA TEFL program. I owe special thanks to my dear colleagues Melike Güral and Melda Atalık Çalışkan, who let their students participate in my study and Derya Korkmaz, who gave me the inspiration to decide on the topic of this thesis. Thanks are also to the Download 0.63 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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