Yucel Yilmaz: Cognitive Science Program: Indiana University Bloomington
Field of study
- Second language studies; Second language instruction; negative feedback; computer-mediated communication and instruction; task-based language teaching; individual differences in second language acquisition; explicit and implicit learning processes
Education
- Ph.D. in Multilingual/Multicultural Education, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 2008
- Ms. Ed. in TESOL, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2004
- B.A. in American Culture and Literature, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey, 2000
Research interests
- My research has focused on the effects of different instructional conditions, as well as on various factors that may moderate such effects. More specifically, my research has addressed topics such as implicit and explicit learning conditions, task-based language teaching, computer-mediated communication and instruction, and individual differences in second language acquisition. In my dissertation, I investigated whether dyads of learners carrying out computer-mediated language tasks displayed any differences in the way they paid attention to formal aspects of language as a function of task type. The research program that I started to pursue after my dissertation focused on the role of a specific instructional technique, i.e., negative feedback. Using experimental designs, I have investigated questions such as whether the effectiveness of feedback depends on communication mode or linguistic structure, and whether different feedback types differentially affect acquisition. I have also been interested in the question of whether there is a relationship between learners' cognitive abilities and the extent to which they benefit from feedback. Currently, I am carrying out a pilot study comparing the extent to which learners benefit from two feedback types: feedback on their own errors and feedback on their peers' errors.