THE EFFECT OF CLUSTERING TECHNIQUE ON EXPLORATION, PLANNING AND EXPRESSION SKILLS IN WRITING

KÜMELEME (CLUSTER) TEKNİĞİNİN YAZILI ANLATIMDA BULUŞ, PLANLAMA VE ANLATIM BECERİLERİNE ETKİSİ

Abstract

The development of writing skills in language teaching occurs later than other skills. On the basis of this are the form-focused teacher approaches and the fact that students do not like to create standard texts that are bound to rules through fixed words, away from creativity. Moving from brain research, the clustering technique, which supports the creative functions of the right brain apart from the conventional text forming of left brain, can provide important contributions to the development of writing skills. This research was carried out in order to determine the effect of Cluster technique on the invention, planning and narration skills in written expressions of university first grade students taking Turkish I: Written Expression course. Experimental design with control group based on pre-test and post-test measurements was used in the research. The experimental group of the study consisted of 45 students who study in the Preschool Teacher Department of Atatürk University Kâzım Karabekir Education Faculty and the control group consisted of 48 students in the Psychological Counseling and Guidance Department. As a data collection tool, The "Composition Evaluation Scale" developed by Konedralı and Özder (2007) and composed of materials measuring invention, planning and expression skills was used at the beginning and end of the experimental process for both groups. The SPSS program was used for the statistical analysis of the obtained data; It has been found that there is a significant difference in favor of the test group in terms of invention, planning and expression ability among the groups which are initially similar to each other in the result of the study. At the end of the research, the results of similar studies were also compared and various suggestions were made in this direction Writing, one of the skills expressing feelings, thoughts, dreams, and fictions in the context of a specific plan and language rules, is described as "the writing of structured information in the brain" (Güneş, 2007: 159). However, "writing ability is the last ring of the four basic language skill chains and should be perceived as a critical thinking process, not mechanical" (Demirel and Sahinel, 2006: 111). Evans (2001: 1) states that writing is a complex, multi-faceted process that requires many subskills. Writing practices that are carried out at schools are often far from being creative (Kıbrıs, 2008: 358), very focused on content (Oral, 2008: 8) and also cause students to develop negative attitudes towards writing (Ataman, 2009: 101, Güner, 2004: 229 ). Clustering, one of the techniques developed to overcome these drawbacks and make it easier for the student to express himself / herself and creativity, supports all the functions necessary to increase the success of written expression. "The clustering method can be described as a creative writing method that is designed to improve the creative writing abilities of individuals' innate talent. This method was developed by art educator Gabriele L. Rico and published for the first time in 1985 with the name 'Writing The Natural Way' "(Anılan, 2005: 38). Every word, every idiom, has a power that allows us to think imaginatively ... ... imaginary thinking can activate perceptions about the outside world, relationships between these perceptions, memories and dreams (Durukafa, 1992: 89). "Clustering, by branching relations between links, in fact, allows mapping and exposition of information, which in turn helps to understand and remember new information" (Rico, 2000: 12). The clustering strategy allows the individual to acquire some powers while activating mental processes. These are: flexibility, freedom, applicability, association and time saving (İnal, 2008: 61). In this research, the effect of clustering technique on invention, planning and narration skills in written expression was tried to be determined experimentally. In this context, the following research questions were searched: 1. Is there a statistically significant difference in written expresion skills before and after the experiment between the students in the experimental group in which the clustering technique was applied and the students in the control group in which traditional writing practices were conducted? 2. What is the change within the experimental and control group according to the skill sub-dimensions (invention, planning and narration) of the written skills of the students before and after the experiment? Method This study was carried out with experimental design with pre-testpost-test control group. The total number of the participants who took part in the study is 93 and The experimental group of the study consisted of 45 students studying in Atatürk University Kâzım Karabekir Education Faculty Preschool Teaching Department during 2014-2015 academic year and control group of the study consisted of 48 students studying in Psychological Counseling and Guidance Department. The "Composition Evaluation Scale" developed by Konedralı and Özder (2007) was used as data collection tool in the research. A scale consisting of 25 items measuring the skills of writing (5 items), planning (8 items) and narration (12 items) is used to examine the goals of written expression and critical skills and it was applied at the beginning and at the end of the study for both groups. The application process for experimental and control groups is as follows:1. In Turkish I: Written Expression lessons, both groups were given free writing task at the beginning of the experimental process in order to determine the written expression levels of the groups and the papers were evaluated with Composition Evaluation Scale (CES). 2. There was no significant difference in the ability of written expression between two groups, and randomly one was determined as experiment group and the other as control group. 3. Following the group identification process, practical strategy training was given to the experimental

Özet

Dil öğretiminde yazma becerisinin gelişimi, diğer becerilere oranla daha geç gerçekleşmektedir. Bunun temelinde, şekle odaklanan öğretmen yaklaşımları ve öğrencilerin yaratıcılıktan uzak, sabit özlü sözler üzerinden kurallara bağlı, standart metinler oluşturmayı sevmemeleri yatmaktadır. Beyin araştırmalarından hareketle, sol beynin alışılagelmiş metin oluşturma yaklaşımından ziyade sağ beynin yaratıcı fonksiyonlarını destekleyen kümeleme (cluster) tekniği, yazma becerilerinin gelişimine önemli katkılar sağlayabilir Bu araştırma, Türkçe I: Yazılı Anlatım dersini alan üniversite birinci sınıf öğrencilerinin yazılı anlatımlarında, kümeleme tekniğinin, buluş, planlama ve anlatım becerilerine etkisini belirlemek amacıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada, ön test-son test ölçümlerine dayalı kontrol gruplu deneysel desen kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın deney grubunu Atatürk Üniversitesi Kâzım Karabekir Eğitim Fakültesi Okul Öncesi Öğretmenliği Bölümünde öğrenim gören 45, kontrol grubunu ise Psikolojik Danışmanlık ve Rehberlik Bölümünde öğrenim gören 48 öğrenci oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplama aracı olarak Konedralı ve Özder (2007) tarafından geliştirilen ve buluş, plânlama ve anlatım becerilerini ölçen maddelerden oluşan "Kompozisyon Değerlendirme Ölçeği", her iki grup için de deneysel işlemin başında ve sonunda kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin istatistiksel çözümlenmesinde SPSS programından yararlanılmış; çalışma sonucunda, başlangıçta birbirine benzer yeterlilikte olan gruplar arasında, buluş, planlama ve anlatım becerileri bakımından deney grubu lehine anlamlı bir fark olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca araştırma sonunda benzer çalışmaların sonuçları ile de karşılaştırma yapılmış, bu doğrultuda çeşitli önerilerde bulunulmuştur.