Nature of Discussions in a Foreign Language Literature Class

| February 1, 2009
Title
Nature of Discussions in a Foreign Language Literature Class

Keywords: Use of literature, classroom discourse, teacher questions, EFL

Authors
Dogan Yuksel
Kocaeli University, Turkey
doganyuksel@yahoo.com

Bio Data
Dr. Dogan Yuksel, currently an Assistant Professor at Kocaeli University’s Department of Foreign Languages, teaches courses on ELT Research and Methodology in the English Education program. He received his PhD from Florida State University’s Multilingual Multicultural Education program in 2007. His research interests include classroom discourse, literary discussions, and Vygotskyan Sociocultural Theory.

Abstract
Use of literature in foreign language teaching has been viewed as one of the traditional ways of teaching for centuries. However, the research about the use of literature is quite limited compared to the popularity of its use. In this study, I analyzed the discursive structure of classroom talk both academically and socially to identify the nature of literary discussions. A foreign language literature class in Turkey was observed for one semester and qualitative analyses were conducted following a discourse analysis method. The findings of the study revealed mixed results. Possible reasons of the findings were explained with educational implications.
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See pages: 27-45

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Category: Monthly Editions, Volume 34