Nihat Polat
Biographic Data
| ID | 4011965 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nihat Polat |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nihat |
| FAMILY NAME | Polat |
| SIGNATURE | POLAT N |
| AFFILIATIONS | Duquesne University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6657-4985 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
‘Teachers’ thinking and deciding fast and slow: A systems framework application’
This theoretical paper applies Kahneman’s (2011) Systems framework to teaching and teacher education. This framework conceptualises thinking in two forms: System 1 and System 2. System 1, thinking fast, relies on feelings, emotions, biases, and intuitions, acting as the autopilot in most routine decision-making, whereas System 2, thinking slow, is deliberate, measured, and reflective. We use the Systems framework to elucidate teachers’ habits of …
Bilingual Education Research in the U.S.
Current research on the gentrification of bilingual programs thoroughly describes how racial inequalities are exacerbated by neoliberal ideologies. Consistent with broader patterns of opportunity hoarding in the making and maintenance of ‘White&s; educational space, neoliberal ideologies conspire with various forms of oppression to limit racially and linguistically minoritized communities&s; access to such programs. This chapter sheds light on ho…
Professionalising teaching and combating teacher shortages: The case of the State of Maryland
Maryland’s persistent teacher shortage, despite decades of professionalisation efforts, highlights the complexity of staffing public schools in the state. At the beginning of the 2022–2023 school year, Maryland reported over 2,000 teacher vacancies, with shortages most pronounced in high-demand areas such as special education, STEM, and world languages, particularly in rural and urban schools. Factors like high turnovers, increasing retirements, …
Effects of playback speed and language proficiency on listening comprehension of multilingual English learners
For multilingual English as an additional language learners (EALLs), listening is a critical skill that they must master. This quasi-experimental study examined if playback speed, overall English proficiency, and listening sub-scores affected the listening comprehension of EALLs. It also addressed if any of these effects were moderated by certain background and experiential factors. Data sources included a survey, listening comprehension sub-scor…
Critical language awareness in teacher education: An experiment at the intersection of language, identity, and ideologies
The recent push to ban the teaching of critical perspectives in K-12 schools in the US has highlighted the need to equip future teachers with views that emphasise the inseparable connections among identity, language, and equity and the roles they have in supporting an inclusive and just society. This study explores possible effects of a critical language awareness (CLA) experiment on preservice teachers’ perceptions about seven measures, includin…
Bilingual/ESL preservice teachers’ heritage language and language identity: Evidence from multimodal literacy autobiographies
The impact of captioning and playback speed on listening comprehension of multilingual English learners at varying proficiency levels
A cross-cultural comparison in pedagogical beliefs about oral corrective feedback: The case of English language teachers in China versus the U.S
Oral corrective feedback (OCF) has been a trending topic in additional language education research in the last three decades. In light of current foci on socio-cultural particularities and calls for comparative work on international teacher education, there is increasing need for explorations of teachers’ beliefs about OCF in different settings. To explore possible effects of socio-cultural differences on teachers’ beliefs about OCF, this study a…
Institutional and Faculty Readiness for Teaching Linguistically Diverse International Students in Educator Preparation Programs in U.S. Universities
Despite the steadily increasing number of linguistically diverse international students (LDISs) in higher education in the U.S, many universities still mostly use curriculum and instruction that are based on monolingual norms (Ginther & Yan, 2018). Thus, the current system fails to accommodate the particular needs of LDISs, which, in addition to further developing their academic language proficiency, includes navigating multicultural perspectives…
Change in preservice teacher beliefs about inclusion, responsibility, and culturally responsive pedagogy for English learners
This study examines the effectiveness of a specially designed intervention in changing preservice teacher beliefs about the education of linguistically diverse students. The experiment involved a semester-long online letter exchange with English learner (EL) pen pal partners from two public schools. The research questions included: What effect did participation in an E-Pal exchange program have on content-area preservice K–12 teachers’ beliefs ab…
An Investigation of Native and Nonnative English Speakers’ Levels of Written Syntactic Complexity in Asynchronous Online Discussions
This manuscript reports on a corpus-based comparison of native and nonnative graduate students’ language production in an asynchronous learning environment. Using 486 discussion board postings from a five-year period (2009–2013), we analyzed the extent to which native and nonnative university students’ writing differed in 10 measures of syntactic complexity targeting the length of production unit, amount of subordination, amount of coordination, …
An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol as an Evaluation Tool to Measure Teaching Effectiveness
To narrow the achievement gap between English language learners ( ELL s) and their native‐speaking peers in K–12 settings in the United States, effective instructional models must be identified. However, identifying valid observation protocols that can measure the effectiveness of specially designed instructional practices is not an easy task. This study examines the factorial validity of the widely used sheltered instruction observation protocol…
Kurdish adolescents acquiring Turkish: Their self-determined motivation and identification with L1 and L2 communities as predictors of L2 accent attainment
In this study, we address the particularly charged question of why young adolescent Kurds living and attending school in Turkey, where their education is conducted entirely in Turkish, acquire the accent of the regional Turkish spoken at school and in society to different degrees of native-likeness. We have chosen to study accent because previous sociolinguistic research and social views of L2 attainment have suggested accent to be the strongest …
Nature and Content of L2 Socialization Patterns and Attainment of a Turkish Accent by Kurds
Studies have shown that learners with high degrees of socialization with the target language community acquire the target language better (Lybeck, 2002 Lybeck, K. E. 2002. The role of acculturation and social networks in the acquisition of second language pronunciation Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation) [Google Scholar]; Schumann, 1978 Schumann, J. H. 1978. “Social and psychological factors in second la…
Gender Differences in Identity and Acculturation Patterns and L2 Accent Attainment
Addressing the influence of sociocultural theory, current views of second language acquisition situate language learning in a much broader context than the isolated box of the classroom. There is need to consider second language (L2) acquisition practices more broadly. This study addresses differences between girls and boys of Kurdish ethnic background as they acquired Turkish, the language of the dominant society. Data were collected from 56 gir…
A comparative analysis of pre-and in-service teacher beliefs about readiness and self-competency: Revisiting teacher education for ELLs
Matches in Beliefs Between Teachers and Students, and Success in L2 Attainment: The Georgian Example
This study addresses matches in beliefs between Georgian English learners and teachers and relationships among beliefs and overall language and grammar achievement, exploring the underlying reasons behind beliefs. Utilizing a mixed‐method design, the researcher collected data through student/teacher questionnaires, evaluation inventories, observations, interviews, and course‐book analyses. Participants included 30 teachers and 40 students. Findin…
Kurdish adolescents acquiring Turkish: Their self-determined motivation and identification with L1 and L2 communities as predictors of L2 accent attainment
In this study, we address the particularly charged question of why young adolescent Kurds living and attending school in Turkey, where their education is conducted entirely in Turkish, acquire the accent of the regional Turkish spoken at school and in society to different degrees of native-likeness. We have chosen to study accent because previous sociolinguistic research and social views of L2 attainment have suggested accent to be the strongest …
A comparative analysis of pre-and in-service teacher beliefs about readiness and self-competency: Revisiting teacher education for ELLs
Matches in Beliefs Between Teachers and Students, and Success in L2 Attainment: The Georgian Example
This study addresses matches in beliefs between Georgian English learners and teachers and relationships among beliefs and overall language and grammar achievement, exploring the underlying reasons behind beliefs. Utilizing a mixed‐method design, the researcher collected data through student/teacher questionnaires, evaluation inventories, observations, interviews, and course‐book analyses. Participants included 30 teachers and 40 students. Findin…
Bilingual/ESL preservice teachers’ heritage language and language identity: Evidence from multimodal literacy autobiographies
The impact of captioning and playback speed on listening comprehension of multilingual English learners at varying proficiency levels
Gender Differences in Identity and Acculturation Patterns and L2 Accent Attainment
Addressing the influence of sociocultural theory, current views of second language acquisition situate language learning in a much broader context than the isolated box of the classroom. There is need to consider second language (L2) acquisition practices more broadly. This study addresses differences between girls and boys of Kurdish ethnic background as they acquired Turkish, the language of the dominant society. Data were collected from 56 gir…
Critical language awareness in teacher education: An experiment at the intersection of language, identity, and ideologies
The recent push to ban the teaching of critical perspectives in K-12 schools in the US has highlighted the need to equip future teachers with views that emphasise the inseparable connections among identity, language, and equity and the roles they have in supporting an inclusive and just society. This study explores possible effects of a critical language awareness (CLA) experiment on preservice teachers’ perceptions about seven measures, includin…
Matches in Beliefs Between Teachers and Students, and Success in L2 Attainment: The Georgian Example
This study addresses matches in beliefs between Georgian English learners and teachers and relationships among beliefs and overall language and grammar achievement, exploring the underlying reasons behind beliefs. Utilizing a mixed‐method design, the researcher collected data through student/teacher questionnaires, evaluation inventories, observations, interviews, and course‐book analyses. Participants included 30 teachers and 40 students. Findin…
Gender Differences in Identity and Acculturation Patterns and L2 Accent Attainment
Addressing the influence of sociocultural theory, current views of second language acquisition situate language learning in a much broader context than the isolated box of the classroom. There is need to consider second language (L2) acquisition practices more broadly. This study addresses differences between girls and boys of Kurdish ethnic background as they acquired Turkish, the language of the dominant society. Data were collected from 56 gir…
A comparative analysis of pre-and in-service teacher beliefs about readiness and self-competency: Revisiting teacher education for ELLs
Nature and Content of L2 Socialization Patterns and Attainment of a Turkish Accent by Kurds
Studies have shown that learners with high degrees of socialization with the target language community acquire the target language better (Lybeck, 2002 Lybeck, K. E. 2002. The role of acculturation and social networks in the acquisition of second language pronunciation Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation) [Google Scholar]; Schumann, 1978 Schumann, J. H. 1978. “Social and psychological factors in second la…
Kurdish adolescents acquiring Turkish: Their self-determined motivation and identification with L1 and L2 communities as predictors of L2 accent attainment
In this study, we address the particularly charged question of why young adolescent Kurds living and attending school in Turkey, where their education is conducted entirely in Turkish, acquire the accent of the regional Turkish spoken at school and in society to different degrees of native-likeness. We have chosen to study accent because previous sociolinguistic research and social views of L2 attainment have suggested accent to be the strongest …
An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol as an Evaluation Tool to Measure Teaching Effectiveness
To narrow the achievement gap between English language learners ( ELL s) and their native‐speaking peers in K–12 settings in the United States, effective instructional models must be identified. However, identifying valid observation protocols that can measure the effectiveness of specially designed instructional practices is not an easy task. This study examines the factorial validity of the widely used sheltered instruction observation protocol…
An Investigation of Native and Nonnative English Speakers’ Levels of Written Syntactic Complexity in Asynchronous Online Discussions
This manuscript reports on a corpus-based comparison of native and nonnative graduate students’ language production in an asynchronous learning environment. Using 486 discussion board postings from a five-year period (2009–2013), we analyzed the extent to which native and nonnative university students’ writing differed in 10 measures of syntactic complexity targeting the length of production unit, amount of subordination, amount of coordination, …
Change in preservice teacher beliefs about inclusion, responsibility, and culturally responsive pedagogy for English learners
This study examines the effectiveness of a specially designed intervention in changing preservice teacher beliefs about the education of linguistically diverse students. The experiment involved a semester-long online letter exchange with English learner (EL) pen pal partners from two public schools. The research questions included: What effect did participation in an E-Pal exchange program have on content-area preservice K–12 teachers’ beliefs ab…
Institutional and Faculty Readiness for Teaching Linguistically Diverse International Students in Educator Preparation Programs in U.S. Universities
Despite the steadily increasing number of linguistically diverse international students (LDISs) in higher education in the U.S, many universities still mostly use curriculum and instruction that are based on monolingual norms (Ginther & Yan, 2018). Thus, the current system fails to accommodate the particular needs of LDISs, which, in addition to further developing their academic language proficiency, includes navigating multicultural perspectives…
A cross-cultural comparison in pedagogical beliefs about oral corrective feedback: The case of English language teachers in China versus the U.S
Oral corrective feedback (OCF) has been a trending topic in additional language education research in the last three decades. In light of current foci on socio-cultural particularities and calls for comparative work on international teacher education, there is increasing need for explorations of teachers’ beliefs about OCF in different settings. To explore possible effects of socio-cultural differences on teachers’ beliefs about OCF, this study a…
The impact of captioning and playback speed on listening comprehension of multilingual English learners at varying proficiency levels
Bilingual/ESL preservice teachers’ heritage language and language identity: Evidence from multimodal literacy autobiographies
Bilingual Education Research in the U.S.
Current research on the gentrification of bilingual programs thoroughly describes how racial inequalities are exacerbated by neoliberal ideologies. Consistent with broader patterns of opportunity hoarding in the making and maintenance of ‘White&s; educational space, neoliberal ideologies conspire with various forms of oppression to limit racially and linguistically minoritized communities&s; access to such programs. This chapter sheds light on ho…
Professionalising teaching and combating teacher shortages: The case of the State of Maryland
Maryland’s persistent teacher shortage, despite decades of professionalisation efforts, highlights the complexity of staffing public schools in the state. At the beginning of the 2022–2023 school year, Maryland reported over 2,000 teacher vacancies, with shortages most pronounced in high-demand areas such as special education, STEM, and world languages, particularly in rural and urban schools. Factors like high turnovers, increasing retirements, …
Effects of playback speed and language proficiency on listening comprehension of multilingual English learners
For multilingual English as an additional language learners (EALLs), listening is a critical skill that they must master. This quasi-experimental study examined if playback speed, overall English proficiency, and listening sub-scores affected the listening comprehension of EALLs. It also addressed if any of these effects were moderated by certain background and experiential factors. Data sources included a survey, listening comprehension sub-scor…
Critical language awareness in teacher education: An experiment at the intersection of language, identity, and ideologies
The recent push to ban the teaching of critical perspectives in K-12 schools in the US has highlighted the need to equip future teachers with views that emphasise the inseparable connections among identity, language, and equity and the roles they have in supporting an inclusive and just society. This study explores possible effects of a critical language awareness (CLA) experiment on preservice teachers’ perceptions about seven measures, includin…
‘Teachers’ thinking and deciding fast and slow: A systems framework application’
This theoretical paper applies Kahneman’s (2011) Systems framework to teaching and teacher education. This framework conceptualises thinking in two forms: System 1 and System 2. System 1, thinking fast, relies on feelings, emotions, biases, and intuitions, acting as the autopilot in most routine decision-making, whereas System 2, thinking slow, is deliberate, measured, and reflective. We use the Systems framework to elucidate teachers’ habits of …
Psychology (15 works) · Mathematics education (12 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (9 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (9 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (9 works) · Linguistics (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Pedagogy (6 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Medicine (4 works)