درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

A bulk of research has revealed that emotions play a crucial role in different aspects of second/foreign language (L2) education. However, the emotions that English as a foreign language (EFL) students experience during assessment have been neglected, so far. Against this backdrop, this qualitative study intended to unveil the typologies, antecedents, and outcomes of assessment-related emotions of 24 Iranian EFL undergraduate students studying applied linguistics. To this end, a semi-structured interview and a narrative frame were employed. The results of the thematic analysis demonstrated that undergraduate EFL students experienced different positive and negative emotions before, during, and after assessment practices at the university. Furthermore, it was found that “teacher”, “tasks”, and “textbook” were the most frequent causes of the participants’ perceived emotions in assessment. Concerning the outcomes of assessment-induced emotions, the results demonstrated that “burnout”, “frustration”, “demotivation”, “stress”, and “self-doubt” were the most frequent negative outcomes, while “motivation”, “learning”, “pride”, and “excitement” were repeatedly posited as positive outcomes. Finally, the study enumerates some implications for L2 educators and researchers concerning the role of emotions in assessment processes and practices.

The increasing use of technology in different parts of the world has inevitably led to the borrowing of a sizeable number of English words by many languages, including Farsi. This study was carried out with the aim of determining the extent to which a group of undergraduate Iranian EFL students studying at Sheikhbahaee University could accurately pronounce ten commonly-used technology-associated loan words with regard to two criteria: the placement of word stress and the pronunciation of words’ sounds. To this end, 50 students were randomly drawn from among the foregoing university’s students. Each student was given the chance to pronounce each of the ten loan words in and out of context. The students’ oral performance was recorded and then was subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis. The quantitative analysis revealed that the errors’ frequencies were relatively high with respect to most words and very high with regard to two words. The qualitative analysis, which was done utilizing the literature of contrastive phonetics and pronunciation systems of Farsi and English, helped partly explaining many of the students’ errors and highlighting the need for the devotion of more pedagogical and research attention to the problems confronting Farsi-speakers in the area of the pronunciation of loan words.

Dans la présente recherche, notre objectif est de savoir comment l’emploi de la langue maternelle en cours de FLE, peut simplifier et influencer l’apprentissage du français chez les apprenants iraniens, dans les universités et dans les instituts de langue. Selon les observations qui ont été faites dans les instituts de langues étrangères, l’utilisation de la langue maternelle dans l’enseignement du français, est considérée comme sévèrement nuisible et à bannir, tandis que les professeurs d’universités se montrent en général plus tolérants. La nouveauté de cette étude consiste à étudier les besoins pédagogiques des apprenants iraniens du FLE, en ce qui concerne l’emploi de la langue maternelle en classe de langue. À cet égard, nous avons élaboré un questionnaire contenant quinze questions, en tenant compte des éléments différents comme le sexe, la situation maritale, l’âge et le niveau d’études des apprenants, qui a été soumis à 61 étudiants en français. Après avoir analysé les réponses, à partir du test de Kolmogorov-Smirnov et du test T, l’importance de la langue maternelle en classe de FLE, a été validée, autrement dit, l’emploi de la langue maternelle en classe de FLE, a été reconnu comme un élément accélérateur et simplifiant pour les apprenants iraniens..

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of CALL on intermediate EFL learners’ vocabulary learning and comparing it with traditional teaching method. To this end, a quasi-experimental design was used in which 80 students were chosen based on their performance in an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), and were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Six reading comprehension passages consisting of 72 new words were selected from the book “504 essential words” and used as the pretest of the study. Then, the experimental group received twelve sessions of treatment which was teaching vocabulary through different tools in the computer such as related pictures, video, textual highlights, PowerPoint slides, or Narsis software while the control group received the traditional way of teaching such as providing oral pronunciation of words, explaining their parts of speech, and offering a direct translation of words in Persian. Afterward, both groups attended the post-test of vocabulary at the end of the study. The scores of learners in pretest and posttest were analyzed statistically via running independent T-test. The findings revealed that CALL instruction was more effective in enhancing learners’ vocabulary learning in comparison to the traditional vocabulary instruction. The findings indicated that the experimental group had a better performance than that of the control group, and the learners in the CALL group learned more vocabulary than the learners in the traditional group. The findings of this research have implications for teachers and learners as teachers can use CALL in EFL classes to help them be independent learners, and make vocabulary learning more attractive and enjoyable to learners. The findings can help material developers and syllabus designers to consider the importance of CALL while planning textbooks and materials.

A sustained, school-based approach that offers in-service EFL teachers opportunities for collaboration in creating an environment that promotes their capacity-building and instructional growth is necessary for their professional growth. This study aimed to contribute to the growing body of research on the effect of distributed leadership in teacher professional learning. Specifically, this study scrutinized the connection between distributed leadership and professional learning of teachers, focusing on the mediating role of teacher agency. A cross-sectional survey design was applied, collecting data from 458 teachers in Iran. Teacher Professional Learning Scale, Teacher Agency Scale, and Distributed Leadership Scale were completed by them. Structural equation modelling was run to analyze the relationship between variables. The findings revealed a minimal direct relationship between distributed leadership and the professional learning of teachers, with teacher agency acting as a major mediating factor. These results contribute to existing research by suggesting that distributed leadership may not have a substantial direct effect on teacher learning, but rather indirectly improves teacher agency.

Abstract Formative assessment has been often encouraged recently as a pivot component in the methodology of evaluation but the student's view of how this affects the improvement of language learning in some countries is disregarded in a way. Therefore, the following study investigates the experiences of students (pre-service teachers) in formative assessment and the tools used for its implementation. Teaching and evaluation are based on learning outcomes and students' approach to the activities that students are liable to convey in the course of English for teachers in the Department of Education. The study analyzed students' perceptions and their approach to formative assessment utilization. The Formative Assessment appears as a dignified way to raise the quality of learning, and as a result, the students achieve their goal to pass the exam successfully and get high grades. To acquaint their perspectives, 85 students as study respondents took part in the research in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The quantitative research data from the questionnaire were analyzed through the SPSS platform, while the qualitative research data extracted from the focus group are presented through descriptive analysis, in the form of quotations. The findings of the questionnaires evinced the students' views on formative assessment and further, data from focus group discussions validated the reasonableness of what the students perceived in the questionnaire. Implications recommended that in addition to the tiresome work of continuously preparing during the teaching, EFL teachers are able to meet the individual needs of the students depending on the differences they have among themselves.

The present study investigated the university practitioners’ attitudes towards using computer assisted language learning (CALL) in teaching English language at Islamic Azad universities of Khuzestan Province. This study was also to examine the English as foreign language (EFL) MA and PhD teachers’ computer literacy and its effects on using CALL facilities in English classrooms. The participants of this study were 135 university teachers at the Islamic Azad Universities (i.e., 12 Branches). The research instrument was a questionnaire extracted from Shin and Son (2007) in 5-point Likert scale. Findings showed that that there was lack of technological equipment for using CALL.