Browsing by Author "Dikilitas, Kenan"

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The Impact of Early Academic Experiences on EAP Teachers' Perceptions and Practice of Teaching Writing in Higher Education
(Springer, 2026) Mumford, Simon; Dikilitas, Kenan
This research focuses on two key issues in areas in tertiary education, academic literacies theory, a key theory influencing directions in writing in higher education, and EMI contexts, which provide education in English in countries where English is not the first language, a fast growing, but understudied area of higher education globally. This study focuses on writing teachers' perceptions of academic literacy(s) and the influence of early formal writing experiences in an EMI university. Data analysis revealed that a teacher with an academic background in education exhibited perspectives closer to the concept of academic literacies across three emerging themes: collaboration, creativity, and social situatedness, compared with two colleagues with non-social science undergraduate degrees. This teacher was initiated into an academic community as an undergraduate, unlike those with backgrounds in physical sciences. Our study highlights the role of prior experiences in shaping pedagogical perspectives, and the potential challenges associated with altering these. The study provides an approach to operationalising academic literacies theory in terms of the three themes: collaboration, creativity, and social-situatedness, categories which may be used to promote academic literacies awareness, not only within EAP teacher education, but more widely across other disciplines.
Citation - WoS: 52
Citation - Scopus: 91
Pre-Service Language Teachers Reflection Development Through Online Interaction in a Hybrid Learning Course
(Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd, 2020) Mumford, Simon; Dikilitas, Kenan
This case study investigates the growth of reflective thinking skills in three pre-service English language teachers in Turkey. The participants were attending a hybrid course focusing on reflection development through mainly online engagement with a practicum Teacher Research project, guided by the teacher educator. An exploratory approach is taken, based on interviews with pre-service teachers, observations of their contributions to online lessons, and their reflective papers. Of the three, only one teacher reached higher levels of reflection. The discussion focuses on implications for online learning, particularly for synchronous written interaction in pre-service teacher education, and highlights the importance of, and the difficulties in the establishment of a social presence in online interaction. Implications for the relationship between reflection, technology for teaching, and technology for teacher learning are discussed, and the need to prepare pre-service teachers for online interaction.
Citation - WoS: 14
Citation - Scopus: 17
Preschool English Teachers Gaining Bilingual Competencies in a Monolingual Context
(Elsevier Sci Ltd, 2020) Dikilitas, Kenan; Mumford, Simon
This study examines three preschool teachers' developmental journeys from Foreign Language to Bilingual English teachers who participated in an in-service training over the course of nine months set in preschool education in Turkey. The data were teachers' logs, two written interviews and observation notes. The research questions addressed the evidence for a developmental growth into bilingual teacher roles and examined how such development might influence these teachers. Adopting a longitudinal design, our study is informed by Benson's (2004) categories of BE teacher competencies but modified to fit an EFL context with no history of heritage/colonial language. The findings indicate teachers' roles of pedagogue, interactive communicator, and a previously uninduced role, trans-languaging facilitator. In addition, we argue that these categories influence each other, because the theoretical pedagogical aspects and the practical language aspects inform each other. The evidence of growth into new bilingual teacher roles could offer implications for similar contexts, particularly by showing that kindergarten school teachers need to embrace and develop roles other than foreign language teacher. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 1
A Review of the Literature on Language Teacher Researcher Identity: Tensions and Their Resolutions
(Sage Publications Ltd, 2025) Mumford, Simon; Dikilitas, Kenan
The resolution of identity tensions has become an important theme in language teacher identity development, but an identity tension approach to language teacher researcher identity is missing from the literature. This systematic literature review examines the inherent tensions and conflicts in teacher researcher identity development. A search across multiple academic databases yielded studies that problematize identity conflicts and tensions. We reviewed a total of 25 studies published between 2008 and 2024 and analysed how challenges related to teachers' engagement in research shape the experiences of teachers who engage in various forms of research. After compiling a list of tensions across studies, the authors used thematic analysis to determine three categories of tensions: those relating to the research itself, teacher researchers, and institutions. The review highlights the contextualized nature of tensions, which depend on factors such as the type of institution, teacher profile, and the purpose of the teacher research (TR) (e.g. formal or informal teacher education), and underlines that tensions can interact in complex ways, across the three levels. Further analysis revealed sub-categories with each level and found important sub-themes of conceptual tensions relating to teachers, and values-related and resource-related tensions associated with institutions. The review points to the relationship between these key sub-themes, and the role of the institution in providing the practical and motivational support to counteract the cognitive dissonance caused by challenges, and enable teachers to take on researcher identities. The review also underlines a need for a partnership between teachers and institutions, and a three-point strategy is proposed, setting out the responsibilities of each side.
Citation - WoS: 9
Citation - Scopus: 21
Supporting the Writing Up of Teacher Research: Peer and Mentor Roles
(Oxford Univ Press, 2016) Dikilitas, Kenan; Mumford, Simon E.
This study focuses specifically on the writing up process of relatively inexperienced teacher researchers. The data consist of interviews with 11 teacher researchers at a private university in Turkey. There was evidence that mentor-supported collaboration created a socio-constructivist learning environment, leading to the development of academic writing skills. This was achieved by research partners sharing responsibility and negotiating the writing process and content. The data suggest that this process led to the teacher researchers experiencing longer term learning and greater autonomy as writers, although not all benefitted from collaboration, possibly because of conflict due to perceived differences in commitment. The study's implications highlight the importance of participant commitment, and, in particular, a supportive institutional environment. In the current study, the mentor played a key role in supporting the intrinsic motivation of the teacher researchers, but also in providing the essential instrumental motivations of conference presentation and publication opportunities.
Citation - WoS: 26
Citation - Scopus: 47
Teacher Autonomy Development Through Reading Teacher Research: Agency, Motivation and Identity
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2019) Dikilitas, Kenan; Mumford, Simon
This study highlights the need to promote more personal and informal processes in Teacher Autonomy and focuses on university Language Teachers' processes in reading Teacher Research (TR) in order to understand how this impacts their autonomy development processes. In particular, it addresses teachers' interactions with TR articles during the reading process, and aims to gain insights into autonomy development from the teachers' reflection during the process. This study uses two well-known research tools, Think Aloud Protocol (TAP) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) for an innovative purpose: to fulfil both research and teacher education purposes, thus exemplifying a particular way to promote and investigate critical reading in teacher education. The analysis of the TAPs, and follow-up focus group discussions reveal the key theme of autonomy. Three autonomy-related sub-themes emerged: gaining agency, developing motivation and gaining awareness of a more democratic form of teacher development. 11 participants undertook a task that allowed a highly personalized interpretation of all aspects of the text. It is argued that conditions for autonomy development were created by offering freedom to choose and interpret a text that is comprehensible and relevant. Teachers were entirely free to interpret their texts, and responsible for their learning from it. Teachers interpreted the articles in a variety of ways, and differed according to their emphasis on the particular aspects: motivation, agency and identity. The study concludes that the task provided an opportunity for autonomy to emerge according to the developmental needs of the individual.