افشین رضایی

Although Dynamic Assessment (DA), rooted in Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) notion, has been extensively researched in teaching English as a foreign language, it has remained largely unexplored in teaching Arabic as a foreign language. To bridge this long-lasting gap, this study purports to investigate the effects of DA on improving Iranian Quran learners’ recitation performance. For this purpose, two intact grade 7 classes were selected at a public high school in Borujerd city, Iran, and were assigned randomly as DA group (n=21) and non-DA group (n=23). Later, they went through a pre-test, intervention (offered based on the principles and procedures of DA for the DA group and held in 15 sessions), immediate post-test, and delayed post-test. The collected data were analyzed through a one-way ANCOVA. Findings documented that the DA group outperformed the non-DA group on the immediate post-test. Additionally, the results evidenced that the DA group outweighed the control group on the delayed post-test. The study ends with proposing some implications in consistent with the tenets of Sociocultural theory.

The contributions of computer self-efficacy (CSE) to university students’ learning anxiety (LA) in online classes (OCs) has largely remained unexplored in the higher education context of Iran. Thus, this mixed-methods study aims to inspect the correlation between Iranian university students’ CSE and LA from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. For this purpose, a total of 290 undergraduate students, including male students (n = 64) and female students (n = 226) for the quantitative part and a sample of 18 undergraduate students, consisting of male students (n = 7) and female students (n = 11) for the qualitative part were chosen through a random sampling method at Ayatollah Borujerdi University, Iran. The participants were asked to fill out a Computer Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, an Anxiety in Online Classes Questionnaire, and a reflective written statement. The collected data were analyzed using a Pearson correlation coefficient test, a multiple regression analysis test, and a thematic coding approach. Findings documented that the participants’ CSE and LA were negatively correlated in OCs. Additionally, the results indicated that the participants’ LA was mainly affected by advanced and beginning factors of CSE. Furthermore, the qualitative findings yielded five overarching themes, including ‘high CSE leads to more risk-taking’, ‘high CSE leads to increased motivation’, ‘high CSE leads to useful experiences’, ‘high CSE leads to accessing additional knowledge sources’, and ‘high CSE leads to increased self-regulation’. The study concludes by offering some implications for pertinent stakeholders.

Though many studies have been conducted on the effects of self-assessment on L2 learning over the last decade, none has investigated how self-assessment reports lead to improving L2 learning. Thus, this study aims to disclose how self-assessment reports improve Iranian high school students' writing skills and their perceptions of the effectiveness of self-assessment reports in cultivating writing skills. For this purpose, the researchers selected o ne intact grade 11 class (n = 21) at Shahed public high school in Borujerd, Iran. During the instruction lasting 15 sessions held twice a week, a self-assessment report was designed based on Nunan's (2004) template and given to the students to assess their writings weekly. Then, a focus group interview was run with six students. Findings documented a significant improvement in the students' writing skills in terms of content, language, organization, and task requirements. Additionally, the focus group interview results yielded four themes: raising students' awareness of evaluation criteria, making students more self-regulated, letting students have a voice in their academic destiny, and increasing students' motivation to write. In light of the findings, a number of conclusions are drawn, and several implications are put forward.

Purpose: Considering rich theoretical underpinnings of positive psychology (PP), the current study aimed to investigate the effects of an extra educational curriculum on the basis of PP on distress and attainment of Iranian high school students who are living in dormitories in boarding schools. Methodology: This is an empirical study with a post-test only control group design in which a sample of 346 male students were selected through convenience sampling from two boarding schools in Qom city during 2018-2019. A translated and validated version of K10 distress questionnaire (Kessler et al, 2010) was administered to them and 67 students with high distress symptoms were identified and randomly allocated to a control group (N=23), experimental group one (N= 22) and experimental group two (N=22). First, the experimental group underwent 16 sessions (twice a week for 90 minutes) of PP curriculum integrated with religious counseling. Employing a post-test only control-group design, the group’s performance on a distress scale (Goldberg, 1981) and their mean scores were compared after the intervention. Kruskal-Wallis and ANOVA tests were used to compare differences between the groups. Findings: Findings revealed that positive curriculum alleviated distress symptoms of the experimental groups vis-à-vis the control (χ2 (2) = 52.851, p ≤ 0.001). Also, to investigate the effect of the intervention on educational attainment, their semester mean scores were analyzed through ANOVA (F = 8.244(2, 66), p≤0.001) where promising results were obtained. Conclusion: It was concluded that both interventions exerted meaningful effects on the attainment and distress of dorm-living students. Also, follow-up studies added proof on the permanence of the effects.

With the abrupt emergence and development of the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face classes have been replaced with online classes (OCs) on an unprecedented scale in Iran. To improve the quality of OCs, it is quite essential to examine to what extent students are satisfied with them. With this aim, the current mixed-methods study purported to examine university students’ learning satisfaction with OCs at Ayatollah Borujerdi University. For the quantitative part, a total of 509 university students, including males (N=34) and females (N=475) filled out a modified version of the Satisfaction with Online Classes Survey (SWOCS) developed and validated by Bolliger and Martindale (2004). For the qualitative part, a sample of 20 students, consisting of males (N=9) and females (N=11) completed a reflective written statement disclosing their perceptions of OCs. Findings evidenced that the participants are moderately satisfied with OCs. In addition, the results of Friedman test documented that all the sub-factors of SWOCS played an important role in the participants’ learning satisfaction with OCs. Complementary with the quantitative findings, the qualitative results yielded five overarching themes: “instructors are a critical factor for students’ learning satisfaction’, ‘familiarity with technology affects students’ learning satisfaction’, ‘course set-up shapes students’ learning satisfaction’, ‘interactions with others are vital’, and ‘students’ learning satisfaction is closely correlated with outcomes’ Finally, a range of implications is proposed for different stakeholders.

With the abrupt emergence and dissemination of the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional face-to-face classes were replaced by online classes in Iran. This quick shift has put great demands on finding and practicing new methods to teach and learn English in high schools. Owing to this urgent call, the present study follows a two-fold purpose. Firstly, it purports to disclose the effects of online portfolio assessment (PA) on developing Iranian high school students’ English writing skills. Secondly, it aims to excavate the Iranian high school students’ perceptions about the merits of online PA in cultivating their writing skills. To meet the aims, an intact second-grade class, including female students (n = 25), was chosen in Shahed public high school in Borujerd City. The class received online instruction (sixteen sessions lasting 90 minutes) based on the tenets of PA (e.g., collection, selection, and reflection). Then, a focus group interview was conducted with five of the active participants. Findings evidenced a significant improvement in the participants’ writing skills owing to the instruction. Additionally, the results of the focus group interview yielded some themes about the benefits of PA as perceived by Iranian high school students: ‘developing students’ autonomy’; ‘fostering a sense of belonging to classroom community’; ‘providing a comprehensive analysis of students’ writing proficiency’; ‘collecting empirical evidence on students’ gradual improvement in writing’; ‘training self-regulated students’; and ‘making classes student-centered by teachers-as-advisors’. Finally, a range of implications is presented to various stakeholders.

Arabic, as the only medium of performing religious rituals, is a widely used language in Islamic communities. Amongst uses of Arabic, reading and recitation of the Holy Qur’an enjoy a critical position. Accordingly, many religious schools have invested in teaching Qur’an and its required skills. Research findings have shown that Qur’anic teaching follows a traditional procedure in theory and practice. Considering the importance of conducting applied linguistics studies on teaching Qur’anic reading, the current research was an attempt to investigate the effect of semantic-structural elaboration of Qur’anic reading efficiency, encompassing reading reaction time, fluency, and comprehension. To this aim, an intact group of intermediate Qur’anic learners was selected through non-random convenience sampling and an experimental (pretest/intervention/posttest) design was employed in which the group underwent three different experiments. After raising awareness on five frequent Qur’anic roots and their derivations that occurred in different Qur’anic verses, tests were administered and parametric data were collected and analyzed through SPSS. Research findings revealed that intervention adversely affected reaction time by a significant increase (t (24) = -12.067, p < 0.000.) while promoting reading fluency and reading comprehension (t (24) = -9.643, p < 0.000, and t (24) = -6.914, p < 0.000, respectively). It was suggested that, though semantic-structural elaboration significantly increases learners’ knowledge of semantic, syntax, and morphology and promotes language skills, form-focused instruction is cognitively demanding and must be done with due caution. These findings could have implications for Qur’anic teachers, learners, and applied linguists in general.

Although Task-Based Instruction (TBI) has received large attention on the part of English practitioners throughout the world, it seems that there is yet a huge gap between the Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions and practices in implementing it in real classes. Hence, this study set out to unearth the possible sources of difficulties in using TBI in EFL classes. To meet the goals, a total of 120 male and female EFL teachers were selected through stratified random sampling from Iran language institute (ILI) branches in Tehran, Iran. After critically reviewing the literature and using a flow chart technique, a questionnaire including 20 items was developed, piloted, and distributed among the participants. Then, the collected data were analyzed through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Results indicated that three main factors, namely lack of appropriate assessment methods , cultural difference , and efficacy of the method received the utmost significance from the EFL teachers’ perspectives that have led to not using TBI. In the end, the implications of the findings were discussed for different stakeholders.

The present study set out to investigate if informed Peer Dynamic Assessment (P-DA), as an alternative to Dynamic Assessment (DA), can cultivate grammar learning of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To accomplish the objectives, two intact classes including 15 female students, aged from 16 to 20, were selected and randomly assigned into two groups, namely, experimental and control at Iran Language Institute in Khorram Abad City, Lorestan Province. The experimental group was trained on principles and procedures of P-DA during two sessions to make sure that the participants know how to provide their peers with graduated feedback appropriately. Next, they were teamed up in groups of three in order to work on a number of grammatical structures embedded in their course book for ten sessions. In contrast, the control group worked on the same grammatical structures according to traditional approaches wherein feedback was given unsystematically by the teacher. Furthermore, three parallel grammar tests, designed and developed by a panel of well-experienced EFL teachers, were administered as pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test to measure the participants’ grammar knowledge prior and after the instructions. The collected data were analyzed using ANCOVA test. Results revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of gain scores on the post-test. In addition, the findings indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the delayed post-test. In light with the findings, some pedagogical implications were presented for EFL teachers and learners.