Browsing by Author "Kasap, S."

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Impact of Bilingualism and the Difficulties of Having Minority-Specific Names in Another Dominant Society: Turkish Context for Minority Kurdish Society
(Mega Publishing House, 2021) Kasap, S.
This article is concerned with the issue of bilingualism and minority societies. Obviously, due to the vastness of the topic, not all the cases worldwide can be covered. Hence the study focused on the Turkish context. Namely, the study examined the Kurdish minority group in dominant Turkish society and the related aspects. In so doing, the paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with what bilingualism is. As discussed in the paper, some people benefit from the use of more than one language when they communicate with the people with different ethnic or cultural backgrounds, yet the paper argues that the use of bilingualism also faces difficulties and assimilation in the countries where the hegemonic ideologies and cultures prohibit the use of more than one native language with fear of losing unity and native language. Secondly, the paper examines the difficulties Kurdish people face when they want to have Kurdish-specific names in a predominantly Turkish society. Hence the paper analyses the controversy over Kurdish naming in Turkey through a qualitative research design, in which semi-structured interviews with seven participants were used. The results show that the participants had to go through many hardships with their names written in Kurdish letters. Therefore, they have negatively been influenced nearly in almost all aspects of their lives because of having names that have got odd meanings or became meaningless at all in Turkish. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
A Psycholinguistic Study of the Bouba-Kiki Phenomenon: Exploring Associations Between Sounds and Shapes
(Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University, 2024) Kasap, S.; Ünsal, F.
This study investigates the cognitive phenomenon known as the bouba-kiki effect among English Language Teaching (ELT) students at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University in Turkey. The research aims to contribute to understanding how individuals intuitively associate specific sounds with abstract shapes, shedding light on the underlying cognitive processes of language perception. Participants (N=164) were presented with two abstract shapes and asked to match them with the pseudowords 'bouba' and 'kiki'. Results revealed a significant preference (87.2%) associating the rounded shape with 'bouba' and the spiky shape with 'kiki'. Additionally, participants were tasked with creating brand designs for 'Kiki' and 'Bouba', with 87.2% aligning their designs with their initial shape associations. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and a chi-square test, confirming a strong association between shape preferences and pseudoword assignment (χ2=132.05 p < .001). These findings underscore the robustness of the bouba-kiki effect across different cultural and linguistic contexts. This research contributes to interdisciplinary studies linking linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience, offering implications for language teaching methodologies and cognitive processing theories. By elucidating these associations, educators can enhance language learning strategies based on intuitive perceptual mechanisms. © Kasap, Süleyman; Ünsal, Firat, 2024.