مهران داوری بینا

This study was conducted to examine the effect of asynchronous computer-mediated condition on L2 learners' speaking ability, speaking apprehension, L2 self-confidence, and willingness to communicate. The participants of this study included 40 intermediate undergraduate students of English language teaching at an Iranian university. The participants were assigned to two experimental (asynchronous computer-mediated) and control (face-to-face) conditions randomly. In the experimental group, the participants practiced speaking in an asynchronous online environment, and in the control group, the students spent a part of their class time accomplishing monologue tasks. Using questionnaires, the participants' speaking ability, speaking apprehension, L2 self-confidence, and willingness to communicate were measured at the beginning and at the end of the term. The findings showed that the monologue speaking ability mean score of those in the computer-mediated group improved significantly more than that of the face-to-face group. Another finding of this study was the superiority of the computer-mediated condition with regard to the participants' speaking self-confidence, speaking apprehension, and willingness to communicate. Overall, the results suggest that asynchronous computer-mediated condition can provide learners with a less-threatening condition that can improve the chances of their L2 monologue speaking ability.

Graphic organizers have been employed to facilitate second language learners' vocabulary knowledge development; however, the examination of the effects of these graphic organizer options on learners' collocation knowledge development has remained unexplored. This research investigated the effects of using teacher-generated, individually-generated, and cooperatively generated graphic organizers on Iranian English language learners' collocation knowledge. The present study examined these effects by studying 80 intermediate second language learners who were selected based on convenience sampling. The participants were assigned to four groups randomly. The collocations were provided on the board in the control group, and explanations were provided orally. In the teacher graphic organizer group, the teacher provided the learners with pre-filled graphic organizers with collocations. In the individually-generated group, the teacher provided the learners with a list of words in groups, and they had some minutes to generate their graphic organizers. In the cooperatively-generated group, the participants had some minutes to generate their graphic organizers cooperatively with their peers. Using a pre-test, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test, the researchers examined the effects of these conditions on learners' collocation knowledge. The findings showed that all graphic organizer groups were more successful than the control group in developing learners' collocation knowledge. In addition, the mean value of the participants’ scores in the cooperative group was significantly more than that of the teacher-generated and individually-generated groups, and there was no significant difference between the mean scores of the teacher and individual-generated graphic organizer groups.  

Although previous studies have shown the benefits of graphic organizers in improving learners' vocabulary knowledge, scant attention has been paid to the possible differences in the effect of individually-developed, cooperatively-developed, and teacher-developed graphic organizers on intermediate L2 learners' vocabulary knowledge. The present study addressed this topic by examining 80 intermediate language learners. The participants were selected based on convenience sampling procedure and studied English in four classes. The learners in the conventional group received the translation/definition of the lexical items. Those in the teacher-generated were provided with the graphic organizers prepared by their teacher, and the participants in the other two groups made the graphic organizers either individually or cooperatively. The researchers employed Vocabulary Knowledge Scale as the pre-test, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test to examine the participants' vocabulary knowledge. The findings of this study indicated that the mean scores of the control group in the immediate and delayed post-tests were significantly lower than those of all graphic organizer groups. In addition, the cooperatively-generated graphic organizer group was significantly more successful than learner and teacher-generated graphic organizer groups, but there was no difference between the learner and teacher-generated groups.

The increasing call for learning English as a foreign language has dramatically heightened the necessity to recruit effective English teachers. This is mainly because teachers have a key role in the success or otherwise of an educational program. Nevertheless, a comprehensive review of the related literature confirms the paucity of research studies on teacher characteristics which can influence their job satisfaction. The present research set out to investigate the association among EFL teachers’ self-efficacy, reflective thinking, and job satisfaction. Two-hundred and twelve Iranian EFL teachers from language institutes, schools, and universities participated in the study. They were asked to answer Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, Reflective Thinking Scale and The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, as the main data collection instruments. The questionnaires were presented in three different ways: social networks, email, and in person. Structural Equation Modeling was employed to examine the hypothesized model of relationships. This model was confirmed following the application of the modification indices proposed by the software (Normal chi-square = 3.6; RMSEA =.03; RMR =.02; GFI =.93; AGFI =.90; NFI =.92; CFI =.93; IFI =.93). The results revealed that there were significant internal correlations between all the latent variables and their sub-scales. Moreover, results of multiple regression analysis represented that self-efficacy and reflective thinking positively predicted job satisfaction, with self-efficacy exerting more predictive power compared to reflective thinking. Pedagogical implications of the findings have been discussed.