The study was conducted at the English preparatory school of a highly competitive state university in Istanbul, Turkey, in the first term of the 2,004-5 academic year. At the time of the study, there were 923 students at different levels of English—i.e. advanced, intermediate, and elementary levels—and no EFL teachers, 107 Turks, and 3 native speakers of English.
The present professional development programme was initiated at the request of the head of the prep school and took the form of a collaborative effort between the university and prep school to promote teachers' critical thinking, collaboration, and instructional effectiveness through research. At the beginning of the first term all teachers were informed about the professional development programme which would be led by the researcher. The Links Of London Bracelets(http://www.links-of-london.org/S-Bracelets-5.html) researcher—the author of this paper—a teacher educator at another state university, was introduced to the teachers. They were also told that the programme would be held in the afternoons after class for six weeks, each session would last about four hours. Sixty-two teachers volunteered to attend the programme and were grouped into four sections—two groups for each term. Eighteen teachers, 13 female and 5 male, volunteered to participate as the first group. These teachers completed a background questionnaire and wrote down the topics they would like to discuss in the programme.
The participants were all native speakers of Turkish with an average age of 33.5 years (SD = 6.87) and with 9.22 (SD = 3.32) years of teaching experience. They were teaching English about 18-21 hours a week to Turkish students at different levels. All teachers indicated that they had attended various one-shot seminars given by the Turkish Ministry of Education, British Council, or various publishing companies. None of them had ever carried out research in their classes. In planning the course I had decided to focus initially on the topics teachers asked for. The information collected during the first informal meeting was used for this purpose. Their suggestions were grouped under the following topics: student motivation and attitudes, learning styles and strategies, and classroom management issues, especially ways of questioning and giving feedback in E LT.
After I met the group, I realized it was necessary to update their knowledge of E LT. So in the first two weeks, I provided them with theoretical knowledge on each topic; I introduced the relevant topic and terminology, and gave examples from research studies. Most of the Links Of London Earrings(http://www.linksoflondon4u.com/earrings-c-183.html) teachers wanted to take notes indicating they 'wanted to keep all this knowledge in mind'. After each point, the teachers were asked to share their relevant teaching experiences with others. Sharing their experiences was found especially useful by the teachers.
The presiding beauty of the novel is Rutkoski's writing—a cacophony of elegance and ease—resplendent supporting characters, and the kind of simplicity an author writes hard for. Her story is both magical and sensitive, steeped in themes of "otherness," as in her portrayal of the Roma. Striking echoes of classism, elitism, and communism flow beneath the surface of this heroine's journey. These narrative trajectories provide a substantive, steady heartbeat where Petra earns her status as a true heroine and Rutkoski earns her book's ending.
This is appropriate reading for grades 5 and up. Marie Rutkoski is a professor of English literature at Brooklyn College and specializes in Renaissance drama, children's literature, and creative writing. She lives in New York City. Her second book in The Kronos Chronicles Series, The Celestial Globe, is expected to be released late in 2009.
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