Saniye D. Gokcora
Associate Professor
Academic Literacy and Linguistics
EMAIL: sgokcora@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: N-482
Office Hours:
Phone: +1 (212) 776 7011
Prof. Gokcora is an Assistant Professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Upon receiving a Fulbright scholarship, she came to the U.S. and completed an M.A. degree in Teaching English as a Second Language and a Ph.D. degree in Second Languages and Cultures Education at the University of Minnesota. She worked as a faculty developer at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA and as an Assessment Coordinator at the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) of the University of Minnesota. She also worked as an ESL instructor in many colleges and universities in New Jersey and is very glad to be at BMCC since she has a great passion to teach beginning Freshman and ESL students. She also taught Methodology, Teaching Grammar, Freshman Composition, Practicum to undergraduates in the department of English Language Teaching at Bosphorus University in Istanbul, Turkey.
She has been teaching online ESL and linguistics courses using collaborative online international learning (COIL) at BMCC.
Expertise
Her research interests are Second language reading in terms of using constant quizzes and writing, use of technology in second language learning, experiences and beliefs of faculty in community colleges, faculty development, assessment in second language, especially concerning international teaching assistants.
Degrees
- B.A. Hacettepe University, Ankara. Turkey, English Language and Literature,1983
- M.A. University of Minnesota, Mpls, MN, Teaching English as a Second Language,1987
- Ph.D. University of Minnesota, Mpls, MN, Second Languages and Cultures Education ,1994
- M.A. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Near Eastern Civilizations and Cultures,1997
Courses Taught
- This course is designed to improve the reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills of beginning and low-intermediate level students. It is obligatory for one semester for all incoming ESL students whose placement shows a need for instruction at this level.
Corequisite: ESL 49 - This course will introduce the student to the study of Language and Culture. The course will introduce related topics, such as bilingual/bidialectal families and bilingual education, language and gender, literacy in a changing, technological society, child language acquisition, and different dialects and registers of English. The readings will draw on works in linguistics, literature and related fields. Students will work on critical reading and produce writing based on the readings in connections with their own experiences and backgrounds.
- This course combines Language and Culture (LIN 100) with the highest level of ESL. This course will introduce the student to the study of Language and Culture. The course will introduce related topics, such as bilingual/bidialectal families and bilingual education, language and gender, literacy in a changing, technological society, child language acquisition, and different dialects and registers of English. The readings will draw on works in linguistics, literature and related fields. Students will work on critical reading and produce writing based on the readings in connections with their own experiences and backgrounds.
While studying Linguistics, ESL students will also study advanced level reading and writing to master and apply a full range of college-level reading and writing skills including critical comprehension, flexible rates of reading, essay organization, paragraph development, sentence structure, vocabulary and word choice, content, and study strategies. Students read and respond to a variety of texts and use argumentation, narrative, and description as modes of developing ideas in writing.
Students will receive an earned grade in LIN 100.6 that is equivalent to a grade earned in LIN 100.
This is an accelerated course that combines credit-bearing and developmental content. Passing LIN 100.6 meets the reading and writing proficiency milestone requirements. Students who pass LIN 100.6 are exempt from further ESL reading and writing courses. LIN 100.6 may not be taken by students who have passed LIN 100 or are exempt from reading and writing.
Please note: Tuition for this corequisite course is charged by the equated credit (hours) not per credit.
Research and Projects
- Quizzes and Student Improvement of Reading: A Pilot Study in a Community College Setting
The current research project examines the effect of frequent quizzes given at a remedial academic reading class at an urban-serving higher education institution. The current frequent quizzes research has implications as a teaching tool and a motivation. - Student Perceptions of Using DIIGO and improvement of their reading skills.
- Community College Faculty Members’ Experiences and Needs at Different Stages of Tenure. This study, based on a survey and semi-structured interviews, aims to explore the experiences and needs across different discipline areas of pre-tenure faculty who has been teaching one to three years, four to six years, and those faculty who has more ten years of teaching experience.
- Integrating “Global Competencies” in the writing ESL curriculum and asking the right questions:
- ESL Students’ Perceptions of Group Work and the Improvement of Writing in an Intensive Writing Course in a Community College.
Publications
- Oenbring, R. & Gokcora, D. (Under Review). Using Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) to Initiate Transcultural and Translingual Exchange in a Diverse Monoculture
- Gokcora, D. (Under Review). Integrating Global Competencies into a Developmental Intensive Writing Course. (Teaching English in the Two-Year College – TETYC)
- Gokcora, D. (2021). Benefits of Collaborative Online International Learning Projects. Academia
Letters, Article 202. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL202. - Gokcora, D. (Fall, 2018). Restructuring A Basic Writing ESL Course at a Community College: Asking the Right Question, Inquirer, 25, 24-29.
- Vorobel, O., Voorhees, T., & Gokcora, D. (2018). ESL students’ perceptions of using a social bookmarking tool for the development of reading in L2. JALT CALL Journal, 14 (3), 191-210.
- Gokcora, D., & DePaulo, D. (2018). Frequent quizzes and student improvement of reading: A pilot study in a community college setting. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018782580
- Gokcora, D. (2016). Motivating Community College Students When Teaching Argumentative Rhetorical Style Using a Documentary: Devil’s Playground, Vol.6, 1 (43-51), Journal of Journalism and Mass Communication
- Gokcora, D. (2013, Fall). Diigo as a Research Tool for Creating a community of researchers in the classroom. BMCC Faculty Focus, Retrieved from www.bmcc.cuny.edu/faculty/focus/
- Gokcora, D. (2011). Teaching Assistants From China and US Undergraduates: Perceptions of Teaching and Teachers. Saarbrucken, Germany: LAP LAMBERT. ,
- Gokcora, D. (2011). Arabic Instructors’ Attitudes on Communicate Language Teaching: Perspectives from an Intensive Language Program. Germany: LA LAMBERT.
- Gökçora, D. (2005) CARLA and the Virtual Item Bank for LCTLs. Language Testing Update, 36.
- Gokcora, D. (2004) Arabic Instructors’ Attitudes on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Journal of National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, 1, 137-176.,
- Gökçora, D. (1998). Humanities in the Internet: From Byzantion to Istanbul. Türkiye Second International Distance Education Symposium Papers, (302-307). Ankara, Turkey: Zincir Agency Publishing.
- Gökçora, D. (1998). Contrastive Analysis of Expressions of Gratitude and Apologies in Turkish, Uzbek, and English. Linguistics Conference Papers. Mersin, Turkey.
- Gokcora, D. (1996). Teaching Assistants from People’s Republic of China and U.S. Undergraduates: Perceptions of Teaching and Teachers. International Journal of Academic Development, 2, 34-42.
- Gökçora, D. (1992). The SPEAK Test: International Teaching Assistants’ and Instructors’ Affective Reactions. Twin Cities: University of Minnesota. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 351 731)
- Gökçora, D. (1989). A Descriptive Study of Communication and Teaching Strategies Used by Two Types of International Teaching Assistants at the University of Minnesota,and Their Cultural Perceptions Toward Teaching and Teachers. Twin Cities: University of Minnesota. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 351 730).
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
- Fulbright Scholarship, United States (Univ. of Minnesota)- 1985 -1987
- Pew Teaching Leadership Award, 1989 & 1993 (University of Minnesota)
- Marquis Who’s Who, 2007 ed.
- Steward Travel Award, 2018, 2019 (CUNY)
