درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Flipped classroom establishes a framework for personalized education tailored to students’ individual needs by incorporating simple technologies of audio/video recordings into instruction. Considering the challenges General English (GE) students and instructors face such as time limitation, students’ low motivation and diverse learning preferences, there seems to be an urgent need for studies on flipped learning. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of flipped classrooms on Iranian EFL learners’ learning outcome in a GE course. As such, fifty students of engineering majors in two intact classes participated in the study and were assigned to a control (n=25) and an experimental (n=25) group. The experimental group received instruction in line with the principles of flipped learning while the control group was taught using the conventional method. The participants’ level of learning outcome was measured before and after the treatment by an achievement test consisting of two parts: grammar and vocabulary. The data were analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The results revealed a significant difference between the two groups’ performance on the achievement post-test in general and in its two sections (grammar and vocabulary) in favor of the experimental group. Further analysis showed that the effect size for the intervention was large (ηp 2=.19>.14) for general learning outcome; however, as for the components of the achievement test, the effect size was found to be large for vocabulary section (ηp 2=.16>.14) and middle for the grammar section (ηp 2=.134<.14), respectively. Possible interpretations of the findings are discussed and certain implications and applications for GE instructors and materials developers are suggested.      

Iran Language Institute (ILI) plays a crucial role in teaching English in Iran and offers a comprehensive Teacher Training Course (TTC) for the teachers before their being employed. Still, these teachers encounter difficulties in different areas, but there are few studies investigating the teaching challenges of EFL teachers teaching at ILI. Thus, this study investigated the teaching challenges of newly-hired and experienced teachers, teaching at different age levels. The data were gathered data through 100 classroom observation forms belonging to 18 kids’ teachers, 47 young-adults’ teachers, and 35 adults’ teachers (69 experienced and 31 newly-hired). We also interviewed with 5 kids’ teachers, 5 young-adults’ teachers, and 6 adults’ teachers. It was revealed that young-adults’ teachers faced fewer challenges than kids’ and adults’ teachers. Besides, experienced teachers encountered fewer problems than newly-hired teachers. The results of the observation forms were different from the interviews. However, time management was the only problem which was mentioned in the interviews, observation forms, and different age levels. According to the teachers, the reason behind these challenges was the intensive syllabus, old books and videos, and teachers’ having to follow a series of fixed teaching steps.

The learners’ ability to write a well-organized argumentative essay has gained prominence within the last decades. The multiple intelligences play a significant role in enhancing the precision of both language and thought during the writing process. The current study aimed at investigating the possible relationship between linguistic and logical intelligences and the frequency of informal fallacies and evidence types in Iranian EFL learners’ argumentative essays. To the end, a total of 110 upper-intermediate EFL learners were asked to respond to the relevant items of Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scale (MIDAS) and to write an argumentative essay. The informal fallacies and four categories of evidence were identified using two models of argumentation. Among several categories of informal fallacies and evidence, only statistical evidence was absent in argumentative essays. The results of Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient revealed a significant relationship between the participants’ linguistic and logical intelligences and the frequency of informal fallacies and evidence types in their argumentation. However, no significant difference was found between male and female EFL learners in terms of the frequency of informal fallacies and evidence types in their argumentative essays. The findings contribute to enhancing the efficiency of writing materials and courses by considering the learners’ individual differences.

Academic literacy is a transformative approach to EAP studies that highlight the backgrounds and needs of the EAP learners in order to empower them by participating in the social practices of the international research community. From this perspective, EAP textbook development research aims to find how textbooks could empower EAP learners though considering their real needs. Accordingly , this study aims to find how EAP textbooks match/mismatch with the EAP learners’ needs. The sample of the study included 40 participants who were selected through purposeful homogeneous sampling. All participants who had passed ‘English for the Students of Science (ESS)’ as the main textbook of the EAP course completed a structured interview questionnaire that its findings were gone under content analysis and a nonparametric test of rankings themes, i.e. Friedman test. Then textbook was evaluated in terms of the established frameworks. Finally, identified themes of the interviews were compared with the content of the textbook evaluation. Findings of the study showed that EAP learners prioritized reading, writing, listening, and speaking English language skills respectively as the main language needs in the EAP community of practice. The study also found that although the design of the EAP textbook matched learners’ needs at the macro-level of needs analysis, there was little enough evidence in the content of the book that could support and match these EAP learners’ needs. The findings might have many implications for EAP textbook developers, learners, and teachers. 

در این مطالعه، محققان قصد داشتند تا دیدگاه های فراگیران زبان انگلیسی را براساس چهار زمینه ارتباطی از جمله اعضای خانواده، زبان آموزان انگلیسی، همکلاسی ها و بهترین دوستان شان به نمایش بگذارند. برای این منظور گروهی از نوجوانان ایرانی (38 نفر) با دامنه سنی 12 تا 16 سال (مرد 24، زن 24) به صورت تصادفی از سه موسسه آموزش زبان انگلیسی در شهرستان سبزوار، خراسان رضوی انتخاب شدند. محققان با استفاده از پرسشنامه معتبر تیلور (2010)، یک نسخه اصلاح شده از پرسشنامه تیلور رابا تاکید بر مدل های بررسی هویت جهت پی گیری اهداف تحقیق حاضر شامل 1) نواسانات ادراکی فراگیران ایرانی برای یادگیری زبان انگلیسی با توجه به چهار زمینه ارتباطی در فوق و 2) بینش آنها نسبت به دو نوع هویت درک شده ( عمومی و تحمیلی) در دو زیر شاخه ی "در حال حاضر و آینده" و3) جهت گیری ارتباط میان این دو نوع هویت و عملکرد کلی فراگیران در یادگیری زبان انگلیسی بررسی نمودند. یافته های اولیه نشان داد که در تعریف های متنوعی از انواع شخصیت در میان فراگیران، در خصوص ترجیحات مربوط به "اعضای خانواده" در فرایندهای یادگیری و عملکرد آینده، نقش اعضای خانواده در عملکرد یادگیری پررنگ بود. با توجه به ترجیحات پاسخ دهندگان نسبت به دستیابی به اهداف خود در یادگیری زبان انگلیسی بر اساس هویت (عمومی و تحمیلی)، مشخص شد که سطح اعمال "معلمان زبان" و "خانواده ها" بر فراگیری زبان آموزان تقریبا یکسان بود گرچه دسته بندی های مربوط به هویت تحمیلی در حال حاضر و آینده و در جامعه خود، اعضای خانواده دوباره امتیاز بیشتری داشتند. در نهایت، نتایج حاصل از تجزیه و تحلیل بعدی داده ها در مورد رابطه بین دو جنبه هویت (تحمیلی در مقابل عمومی) و شاخص خودگزارشی عملکرد در زبان انگلیسی نشان دهنده ارتباط معنی دار تنها با شاخص های هویت تحمیلی بود. در نهایت، تحلیل و تفسیر نتایج به منظور شناخت کلی افراد مرتبط با فرایند یادگیری زبان مورد بحث قرار گرفت.

AbstractA paradigm shift in education has led to implementing learner-centered pedagogy (LCP) which considers learners as the central element of the learning process, and it is progressively being encouraged in higher education. Examining the implementation of learner-centered pedagogy in English language teaching (ELT) context is important. While this paradigm of teaching has long been introduced to education in general and language teaching in particular, it is claimed that scant attention has been given to its implementation in Iranian EFL context. The present study was to compare the implementation of learner-centered pedagogy in assessment procedures at different Iranian universities. Therefore, using convenience sampling technique, 378 TEFL students from both genders and different ages (mostly 20 to 35 years old) were selected. To gather data, a reliable, valid researcher made LCP questionnaire was distributed among the participants. Gathered data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. The results of the data analysis demonstrated that there was a significant difference between the performance of state university and Islamic Azad and non-state university, while no significant difference was observed between the performance of Islamic Azad and non-state university students. The outcomes can provide insights into considering learner-centered pedagogy in teaching to improve teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) program. Moreover, they can be practical for teachers, material developers, as well as syllabus designers.

The present study aimed at discovering the practices and strategies autonomous EFL learners pursue in their endeavor to master English. It thus set out in the Iranian context, with 60 EFL learners, both autonomous and non-autonomous, as participants. The gathered data through a questionnaire and an interview were subjected to content and descriptive analysis. The results showed that both autonomous and non-autonomous learners preferred to apply receptive activities rather than productive ones. However, autonomous learners practiced more productive activities such as composing emails, writing articles, chatting with native speakers and their friends, as compared with non-autonomous learners. Regarding the use of strategies, autonomous learners used more metacognitive strategies, while non-autonomous learners preferred social strategies.

Knowing how to think about the language learning process is conducive to effective learning especially in the case of grammar structures. Metacognition, a concept derived from cognitive psychology, can assist learners in this case. With regard to young adolescents at lower proficiency levels, there is a long-standing debate on whether to use L1 for teaching metacognitive strategies since learners might not be efficient enough in terms of understanding the concept of metacognition. Therefore, this small-scale experimental study focused on the effect of grammar instruction through the metacognitive intervention delivered in L1 on the EFL pre-intermediate learners' grammatical performance in English and investigated their attitudes towards grammar instruction delivered in L1. To fulfill these purposes, a homogenous group of 20 language learners was randomly divided into an experimental group ( n =10 ), which received grammar instruction through the metacognitive intervention delivered in L1, and a control group ( n =10 ), which received the instruction only in English without grammar instruction through the metacognitive intervention delivered in L1. The results of the independent samples t -test indicated that the experimental group did not outperform the control group in terms of all four English grammar points, namely present perfect, simple past tense, comparative and superlative adjectives, and past progressive . In addition, the findings obtained from the five-point Likert scale questionnaire which was distributed among the learners suggested that they had positive attitudes towards the use of L1 (Persian) in teaching English grammar. We argue that low working memory capacity, overreliance on translation, and less-cognitively activated L2 processes may account for the low performance of the experimental group learners in the grammar tests. The implication is that the L1 use in an L2 classroom can be helpful in teaching L2 grammar through the metacognitive intervention, but future studies need to examine how and to what extent L1 should be used to yield more effective results in the case of lower-proficiency learners in an EFL context.

Problem-based Learning (PBL) as one of the newest teaching methods in the area of language teaching in second and foreign contexts, has been used by teachers in the last two decades in different institutes. In the current study, attempts were made to find out the effect of the two PBL subcategories, i.e. Hybrid Problem-based Learning (H-PBL) and Pure Problem-based Learning (PPBL) in comparison to a traditional lecture-based method, on Iranian EFL university learners’ speaking skill and their self-confidence, by implementing these two methods in the EFL classroom using eight teacher-made real-world problems. To this purpose, 56 undergraduate participants of Payam Noor university (PNU) in Abadan, Iran, were randomly selected, divided into a control group and two treatment HPBL and PPBL groups. The statistical analysis of the obtained results of the participants’ pretest-posttest scores, through one-way ANCOVA and Man-Whitney U test, revealed that the treatment groups outperformed the control group in speaking skill and self-confidence The findings of the study might bear implications for teachers and university curriculum designers to take more proper approaches towards the instructing university participants.

Since its inception in 1949, over 1,500 studies have investigated the validity of the GRE General Test to predict its performance criteria in higher education (Klieger, Bridgeman, Tannenbaum, & Cline, 2016). The present review paper sought to examine the predictive validity of the GRE General Test. Factors affecting the predictive validity (e.g., range restriction, compensatory selection, criterion unreliability, substantive and artifactual moderators, bias in testing, coaching effects, socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and a host of other intervening factors such as motivation, communication skills, etc.) have been discussed. A brief overview of GRE revised General Test format is also presented. After an account of the related review of the literature, a critical commentary on the predictive validity of the GRE General Test has been discussed with an emphasis on the role of criterion unreliability and SES factor effects. Keywords: Predictive validity, Graduate Record Examination (GRE), criterion unreliability, range restriction, compensatory selection