The Transfer of Reading-Writing Skills from L1 To EFL

Language teachers have the chance of building upon their learners' schemata in both the social and cognitive contexts in language classrooms. Transfer of the knowledge present in the learners' schemata to a second/foreign language is of fundamental importance for their academic success. This study reflects on the transfer of skills and learning strategies, specifically reading and writing, in the Turkish EFL classroom. The findings of the study revealed that Turkish EFL learners at the specific Turkish secondary school are aware of their cognitive strategies and skills in L1 while they are unaware of their ability to transfer them to EFL. More specifically, the learners are particularly unable to transfer their reading skills, whereas the transfer of their writing skills is adequate. The study provided some low scale inferences for the teaching profession. Reading and writing skills are transferable in the Turkish EFL classroom provided that the learners retain certain cognitive skills if they are triggered off accordingly. However, cognitive skill transfer proceeds more effectively in writing as compared to the same phenomenon in reading.

Autorentext

Gulsun Korun received her BSc. in Linguistics from Georgetown University in 1986 and her MA in ELT in 1996 from Eastern Mediterranean University. She is currently waiting for her PhD defence. With 25 years of practice in the field of ELT, her main interests include immersion education, CBI, CLIL, skills transfer, and gender issues.

Klappentext

Language teachers have the chance of building upon their learners' schemata in both the social and cognitive contexts in language classrooms. Transfer of the knowledge present in the learners' schemata to a second/foreign language is of fundamental importance for their academic success. This study reflects on the transfer of skills and learning strategies, specifically reading and writing, in the Turkish EFL classroom. The findings of the study revealed that Turkish EFL learners at the specific Turkish secondary school are aware of their cognitive strategies and skills in L1 while they are unaware of their ability to transfer them to EFL. More specifically, the learners are particularly unable to transfer their reading skills, whereas the transfer of their writing skills is adequate. The study provided some low scale inferences for the teaching profession. Reading and writing skills are transferable in the Turkish EFL classroom provided that the learners retain certain cognitive skills if they are triggered off accordingly. However, cognitive skill transfer proceeds more effectively in writing as compared to the same phenomenon in reading.