Date of Award

1-1-2010

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Education Theory and Practice

Program

Curriculum and Instruction

Content Description

1 online resource (x, 303 pages) : PDF file, illustrations (some color)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Carla J. Meskill

Committee Members

Jane M. Agee, Robert Summers

Keywords

EFL instruction, Language aptitude, Language learning potential, Learner reciprocity, Sociocultural theory, Transcendence, English language, Second language acquisition, Language and culture

Subject Categories

Education | Language and Literacy Education

Abstract

Close scrutiny of the research on language aptitude reveals that it has been considered a quintessentially cognitive construct. No studies, to the researcher's knowledge, have examined language learning ability from a sociocultural perspective. Therefore, this study seeks to reconceptualize the cognitively oriented concept of language aptitude by looking at it through a sociocultural lens. This reconceptualization is achieved first, by reframing language aptitude and offering a new term, language learning potential, and second, by analyzing the dialogic interactions between an EFL teacher (i.e., the author of this dissertation) and two adult learners in a foreign language context in Turkey.

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