درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Long’s Interactional Input Hypothesis and Smith’s Input Enhancement Hypothesis hold both foci on Zellig Harris's (1976) formalist approach. Accordingly, the pivotal role of learner’s attention as one of the subcomponents of focus-on-form approach may have confused instruction types. However, whether such learning theories on drawing learners' attention on target language forms suit all types of learners, has not been adequately investigated. Of interest were to explore the significant effect of the two input types as interactionally modified input (IM) and textual input enhancement (TIE) and the interactional effect of learning styles of either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (VAK) style on knowledge gain of causative constructions. A hundred and twenty female subjects were selected as a homogenous sample out of the 300-member population based on the TOEFL test. A pretest and two posttests were conducted immediately and about one month after the instructional interventions based on either IM technique or TIE technique. To address research questions, two paired samples t-tests and a two-way ANOVA were conducted. Considering the learner’s VAK learning style, the results revealed TIE and IM techniques positively facilitated the development of knowledge of the target features immediately after the instructional interventions. The results, however, failed to indicate the merging effect of the two input types of the study with the leaner’s VAK learning style and the learner’s gain of target grammar knowledge marginally decreased over time. The findings may contribute to the understanding of the integration of learning styles and input-based instructional programs in foreign language education policy.

Teacher Evaluation (TE) is a critical and controversial process in the teaching profession and formal education system. Effective TE requires both sound policy implementation and efficient processes, affecting the efficiency of the education system. To present a framework for research and highlight the constructs of TE, this study developed and validated a teacher evaluation questionnaire. To this end, seven TE components were identified after undertaking a comprehensive review of the literature and conducting interviews with domain experts on TE. Then a draft version of the TE questionnaire, consisting of 105 items, was pilot tested with 330 teacher evaluators, who were working for various English language institutes in Iran. The results, using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), led to a 90-item questionnaire with strong estimates of reliability and validity. The results also demonstrated that the questionnaire consisted of a six-factor structure of perception, method, system, content, purpose, and outcome of TE. The subsequent Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the data from another 360 Iranian teacher evaluators, selected through convenience sampling, indicated that the six-factor structure of the questionnaire was statistically supported, meaning that the questionnaire’s detected constructs were not the result of random variance in the participants’ responses. The results of the study have presented a framework for research and highlighted the principles of teacher evaluation.

This study investigated the relationship among Iranian English teachers’ adversity quotient, personal growth initiative, and pedagogical success. The participants comprised 28 male and female English teachers and a total of 336 male and female EFL learners who attended the abovementioned teachers’ classes (12 for each teacher). Stoltz’ (1997) Adversity Response Profile (ARP) and Robitscheck’s (1998) Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) were administered among the 28 teachers while Moafian and Pishghadam’s (2009) Characteristics of Successful Iranian EFL Teachers Questionnaire (SIETQ) was administered among the 336 students. To look into the relationship and the predictability of the three aforesaid constructs, a Pearson product-moment correlation and subsequently multiple regression analysis were run following all statistical prerequisites necessary for running these parametric tests. The results demonstrated that there was a significant correlation among the teachers’ scores on the ARP and SIETQ, and their PGIS and SIETQ. Also, there was a significant difference in the predictability of the teachers’ SIETQ by their ARP and PGIS.

Drawing on Norton Peirce's (1995) theory of investment and Darvin and Norton's (2015) expanded the model of investment, the present study aims to research investment in second language (L2) learning among Iranian English language learners. The participants included 852 male and female English language learners belonging to different age groups and English language proficiency levels. A 42-item questionnaire, developed and validated by the present authors (forthcoming), was administered online and by hand. The results showed that Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners moderately invested to learn English language and that there were significant differences in the extent of investment between male and female participants and different language proficiency levels (low- and high-proficiency learners). Moreover, the results of the study demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the extent of investment between different age groups (teenage and adult ones). The study concludes with suggestions for future research on investment in L2 learning and a discussion of how such research can impact language education policy in EFL contexts.

Scholarly mails apparently display stable conventional principles as an emerging genre. Thus, contributors should structure their electronic mails appropriately when writing for purposes of discussing professional topics. However, this requirement plunges many a scholar in dilemma as to how to go about this vital undertaking without written structural norms in electronic mail communication. This raises the question: what is the generic structure of the scholarly electronic mail? The aim of this paper therefore is to uncover the organizational structure of the scholarly electronic mail as an emerging genre of computer mediated discourse. A qualitative approach is adopted in the description of the generic structure. Through purposive and stratified sampling, twenty scholarly electronic mails were selected and closely studied based on the basic electronic schema model by Herring (1996) with a view to extracting the features of the genre. Findings revealed that the scholarly electronic mail has a generic structure which is signalled by typical linguistic elements. The paper recommends a genre-based approach to guiding upcoming scholars on how to construct a scholarly electronic mail that fulfils its communicative purposes.

Argument maps as schematic representations of arguments and their logical and evidential relationships are effective diagrams for instruction in education as well as in L2 development. However, their use for teaching L2 writing in EFL contexts has not been adequately studied. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of argument mapping instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ writing achievement and writing components, including grammar, coherence, cohesion, and task accomplishment in expository and descriptive essays. The participants were 60 intermediate EFL learners at Fadak language institute in Tehran. The selected participants were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental and a control group, each including 30 participants. Materials, coursebooks, and the teacher were the same for the study groups. However, the participants in the experimental group received specific instruction about the use of argument maps before and during their writing. After 10 sessions of treatment, the learners in the two groups were asked to write a descriptive and an expository paragraph. The paragraphs were rated by two raters and the final score was the average of the scores given by the two raters. The results of the data analysis revealed that argument mapping strategies had significant improvement impact on expository and descriptive writing tasks and could improve participants’ writing in terms of grammar, coherence, cohesion, and task achievement. However, argument mapping was not beneficial in improving the vocabulary of study participants’ writing. Findings of the study suggest that EFL language instructors and learners can use argument maps for teaching descriptive and expository writing.

In the present technology era, a new trend of using social media or social networking sites (SNSs) has been developed. Social media has a lot to offer when it comes to education in general and second language acquisition (SLA) in particular. This study aimed at investigating the impact of Telegram, as an available social network, on learning L2 vocabulary by Iranian EFL beginners. To achieve this aim, a quasi-experimental research design was used. Thirty one Iranian students, aged 10-14, were selected through the convenience sampling method. The teacher taught English vocabulary to the participants in two ways: for four weeks by using Telegram and for another four weeks through the traditional face-to-face classroom instruction. Comparison of the scores obtained from words taught through Telegram and the scores of the traditionally-taught lexical items gave rise to the conclusion that learning vocabulary through the social network was more effective than the traditional approach. This study could help the teachers and material developers to consider incorporation of technology and common applications in language classes for the purpose of L2 vocabulary acquisition.

Despite the importance of author engagement in the literature review of academic articles, many writers fail to publish their academic articles due to being incompetent in using conventional engagement resources. In view of this problem, the present study aimed to study linguistic representation of engagement as a dimension of evaluation in academic articles published in international and Iranian local journals. To do so, the literature review section of eighty psychology and applied linguistics articles as representatives of humanities and mechanical engineering and medicine articles as representatives of hard science articles published between 2008 and 2017 in the international and Iranian local journals formed the corpus of the study and were analyzed on the basis of the engagement resources proposed by Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal Theory The findings indicated that monoglossic resources were used more frequently in articles published in local journals than those published in international ones. Regarding heteroglossic resources, intra-vocalizing resources (countering, denial, pronouncement, and entertainment) were found more frequently in articles published in international journals. However, extra-vocalizing resources (endorsement and attribution resources) used in local journals outnumbered those used in international ones. The findings can provide insights for teaching academic writing in EFL contexts.