درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Issues related to bilingualism and the effects which might have on language learners’ cognitive and meta-cognitive variables have attracted the attention of a couple of researchers in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA).Since a couple of decades ago, there has been a plethora of studies on cognitive and metacognitive differences between bilinguals and monolinguals. However, the impact of bilingualism on EFL learners’ WMC and verbal intelligence has not be explored yet. The present study aimed at comparing the WMC and verbal intelligence of bilingual and monolingual language learners. In so doing, 30 Baluch EFL learners and 30 Persian speaker EFL learners were selected through convenience sampling. The data of the study were collected through running WMC measure and verbal intelligence test. The data of the study were analyzed through running descriptive and inferential statistics tests (independent samples-t-tests). Results showed that bilingual language learners outperformed the monolingual language learners in both WMC measures and verbal intelligence test. Therefore, it could be concluded that bilingualism affects EFL learners’ WMC and verbal intelligence. The findings have theoretical implications for applied linguists and psycholinguists and practical implications for teachers and syllabus designers.    

Grounded in sociocultural theory (SCT), this study explored whether the hypothesized difference in task-induced involvement could affect the actual realization of evaluation, one of the cognitive dimensions of the Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH). A group of 24 Iranian EFL learners participated in the study. They were paired up to write a composition including ten unknown words in the first session and then completed a cloze task with another set of ten new words in the second one. Collaborative dialogues in both sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and micro-genetically analyzed to trace how the value of hypothesized evaluation could affect the manifestation of evaluation during collaborative dialogues. In line with the tenets of ILH, the results of the micro-genetic analysis demonstrated that using target words in the composition task could induce a higher degree of evaluation than using them in the cloze task. In light of the findings, researchers are suggested to look at issues from different standpoints rather than restricting themselves to one single theoretical perspective.

The present study was carried out to investigate the comparative effect of antonym in-text glosses and description in-text glosses on a group of Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension. To fulfill the purpose of this study, 60 female intermediate students between 18 and 19 years old were selected among a total number of 90 through their performance on a piloted PET. These 60 participants were non-randomly divided into two equally populated experimental groups. During the process of this study, in one of the experimental groups the participants were given reading texts with antonym in-text glosses and in the other group, the participants were given reading texts with description in-text glosses. A piloted reading comprehension posttest (derived from another sample of PET) was administered at the end of the treatment to both groups and their mean scores on the test were compared through an independent samples <em>t-test</em>. The result led to the rejection of the null hypothesis, thereby, demonstrating that the learners in the description in-text glosses group benefited significantly more than those in the antonym in-text glosses group in terms of improving their reading comprehension.  

Considering the benefits of preparation for writing in the pre-writing phase, this study attempted to examine the effects of different pre-task strategic planning activities (i.e., pre-task form-focus planning, content-focus planning, and no planning) on writing accuracy and motivation. To achieve the objectives of this study, sixty intermediate EFL learners were selected from an English language institute. They were randomly assigned into three groups, each of which included twenty participants. In order to measure the effect of strategic planning types, they were given a pretest and posttest in the form of narrative writing test and also the writing motivation questionnaire. One of the experimental groups received language focus activities, and the other one received content focus activities while the control group received no planning. After the twelve week intervention, all the groups were post tested. Results of the study based on ANCOVA showed that the form focus pre-task planning was the most effective in terms of its impact on the writing accuracy. However, it was found that there was no significant difference in the writing motivation of EFL learners who received different pre-task strategic planning activities. EFL teachers, curriculum developers and syllabus designers, and EFL learners can use the findings of this study in order to produce more accurate writings.  

The study explored the probable significant relationship among demotivating factors, gender, educational fields, and reading proficiency of Iranian EFL learners. The participants in this study were 96 Iranian high school students, learning English as a foreign language (EFL). They were high school female and male students between 16 to 18 years of age. There was the initial population of over 150 students. A stratified random sampling procedure was used to have three groups of 32 from the three educational fields. Each group comprised 16 females and 16 males. There was a Persian questionnaire, which surveyed participants’ judgment on each demotivating factor in the process of language learning. Another instrument used in this study was the reading section of Cambridge Test of English Proficiency. The ex post facto design was used in this study. The findings revealed a significant relationship between the participants’ reading proficiency and language learning demotivating factors. The findings also showed a significant relationship between the participants’ educational fields and the demotivating factors. No significant relationship was found between the participants’ gender and demotivating factors. The findings also revealed that the participants reduced self-confidence and lack of inadequate school facilities and teachers are the most salient demotivating factors. The findings of the study have some pedagogical implications to improve teacher-training programs and language teaching paradigms.

Multiple conceptualizations of the interrelation between assessment and learning yield three notions of assessment: assessment of learning, assessment for learning, and assessment as learning. This paper aims at uncovering roles and obstacles of assessment for learning and assessment as learning in English language classrooms in Hong Kong. Grounded upon the theory of constructivism and the notion of learner autonomy, assessment for learning and assessment as learning play vital roles in supporting students’ learning and nurturing autonomous learners in English language classrooms in Hong Kong, respectively. In particular, assessment for learning provides students with achievement targets prior to assessments, communicates assessment results with students by means of descriptive feedback, and guides teachers’ future lesson planning whilst assessment as learning equips students with abilities to set personal learning goals, monitor their own learning process, and conduct self-assessment in the course of learning. For all their desirability and perceived pedagogical efficacy, seldom are these two assessment practices operationalized in the implemented curriculum in English language classrooms, where assessment of learning prevails; such actualities can largely be attributable to local teachers’ lack of motivation to modify their existing assessment practices out of their conservative conceptualization of assessments, low metacognitive awareness as well as level of English proficiency of local students, and large class sizes in local classrooms, which are construed as local contextual factors hindering implementation of the two assessment practices. The aforementioned obstacles ought to be overcome so that the two assessment practices can be promoted and implemented in local English classrooms in distinct year levels for the sake of students’ language learning.

This study investigated the effect of role-play and simulation approach on Malaysian Polytechnic engineering students’ ESL oral communication skills. In addition, the study examined the students’ perceptions of the effect of the role-play and simulation on their oral communication skills. A mixed method design was employed, using both quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches. The quantitative data were collected from the quasi-experimental study (n=100). The data were collected using a set of questionnaires, a pre and post-test. The data from the questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics (percentages and means). The results showed that there was a significant difference between the pre-test and the post-test scores of the role-play and simulation group compared to the traditional group. The findings indicated that the students in the role-play and simulation group had performed better in the post-test compared to the pre-test after the exposure to the role-play and simulation approach in the ESL oral communication skills classes. An implication of the study is that role-play and simulation approach can serve as a possible strategy to improve students’ ESL oral communication skills.

Togetherness of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has been the subject of many recent studies in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) domain. Few studies, however, have addressed the impact of TBLT on ESP learners’ linguistic production. This study aimed at investigating the impact of task-based teaching on ESP learners’ speaking and writing. Furthermore, this study aimed to explore the ESP learners’ and instructors’ attitudes toward the nature of program and their perceived needs of tasks to be accomplished in the course. To fulfill this aim, 60 ESP students majoring in Law in 2 different classes at Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran, and 10 ESP instructors were selected as the participants of the study. Accordingly, the students in one of the two classes received a one-semester long instruction based on the principles of TBLT as the experimental group, while the students in the other class were taught according to the content of the textbook developed for such courses. After the instruction was over, the students were given a set of standardized and teacher-made tests. The results of the data analysis indicated that the experimental group showed a significant difference in terms of improvement in acquiring productive skills. It was also revealed that there were significant differences between the participants’ attitudes regarding the nature of the course and their perceived needs of tasks. The findings of this research could provide an insight into designing opportune syllabi for ESP courses.