درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This study examined the effects of cooperative learning techniques (CLT) on vocabulary achievement of reflective/impulsive Iranian EFL Learners. From among 130 students at Fajr institute in Dehdasht, Kohkiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province, Iran, 90 participants were selected based on their performance on the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The participants were then divided into two experimental groups (comprising reflective learners and impulsive learners) and one control group labeled as conventional instruction (CI) group. The instrument used to divide the participants into reflective and impulsive groups was the Eysenck’s (1990) Impulsivity Questionnaire. The experimental groups were taught with the student team achievement division (STAD) technique, while the control group was taught through the traditional method for ten weeks. To measure the vocabulary knowledge of the learners in different groups at the beginning and at the end of the experiment, a pretest and a posttest, each consisting of 40 items on new English words based on their book were used. Independent-Samples and paired-samples t tests were used to determine whether there were significant inter- and intra-group differences. The statistical analysis of the results showed that the experimental groups (reflective and impulsive) performed better on vocabulary achievement posttest than the control group (CI), and also it was revealed that reflective learners performed better on vocabulary achievement than impulsive learners. In sum, cooperative learning enhanced learners’ vocabulary performance, especially the reflective ones.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of weblog task assessment on Iranian EFL learners’ reading ability. To this purpose, a group of 30 English language students (both male and female) in Rozaneh Language Institute in Najafabad were selected based on their performance on the OPT. The researchers tried to select a homogeneous sample in terms of age factor and proficiency level. The homogeneous students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. With the exception of the control group, both experimental groups received treatment. Group A received journalist tasks and group B received mystery tasks. The experimental groups were treated through a weblog designed by the present researchers. Before performing the treatment, all participants were tested to estimate their reading ability. At the end of the experiment, the participants took another test on reading comprehension. The scores of the tests were analyzed and interpreted using ANOVA. The findings revealed that the journalist and mystery tasks groups outperformed the control group. However, the mystery task proved more effective. The findings of the study can be very beneficial for the teachers of English who wish to improve Iranian EFL learners’ reading ability. Actually, blogs enable us to exploit learning as a natural part of everyday life.

Planning, monitoring, and evaluating one’s performance constitute individuals’ metacognitive strategies. Recently, metacognition has been conceptualized not only at the individual level but also at pair and group levels. The concept of socially-shared metacognition has arisen based on the idea that group members observe, control, evaluate, and regulate each other’s actions to promote the group’s problem-solving. This article investigated the impact of motivational scaffolds on a group of Iranian EFL learners’ individual and socially-shared metacognition. Two groups of 30 female intermediate learners participated in this study. In the experimental group, the participants received the teacher’s motivational scaffolds as she provided instructions and feedback throughout individual and collaborative oral and written tasks. On the other hand, the participants in the control group were asked to take part in the routine oral and written classroom activities. The participants’ think-aloud protocols in individual and pair activities were analyzed, and instances of metacognitive activities were identified. The data were analyzed through two Mann-Whitney U tests, and the results indicated that motivational scaffolds statistically significantly enhanced the use of metacognitive strategies at both inter and intra-individual levels. Implications for classrooms are discussed

Despite the increasing popularity of error treatment as a research subject, the effect of age as a potential learner-internal factor affecting choice of feedback is largely undertreated. Characterized by being at early stages of self-empowerment, young language learners are considerably vulnerable and in need of particular language input to meet their age-appropriate psychological demands. This study is one of the early attempts to detect the appropriate corrective feedback for children’s linguistic (grammar uptake) and personality (willingness to communicate) development. Thirty-seven young language learners ( mean age = 10.32) at two pre-intermediate classes in a non-profit language institute took part in this study. Following intact group design, they were divided into two groups of recasts and explicit feedback. Whereas in the recast group, all or part of an erroneous utterance was reformulated by teacher, correct forms were directly and explicitly provided in the explicit group in the course of a semester ( 19 sessions ´ 50 min=950 mins). A structured willingness to communicate (WTC) scale and two parallel grammaticality judgment tests were administered at pre- and post-intervention conditions; this stage was accompanied by the teacher’s formative observations using an unstructured WTC checklist and a tally chart worksheet. The results of the quantitative phase revealed higher grammar uptake for the recast group. Besides, students in the implicit group showed more WTC in both quantitative and qualitative investigations. These findings indicate that for young learners the use of a less direct way might be more effective in both raising their unconscious L2 knowledge and willingness to participate in classroom activities.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of meaning-focused versus form-focused input-oriented and output-oriented task-based instruction on elementary level Iranian EFL Learners’ vocabulary comprehension and recall. For this purpose, a sample of 120 male students from a private school in Tehran was selected through convenience sampling and based on availability. The participants were divided into four groups, and each group was given a different treatment. The first group was taught through meaning-focused input-oriented vocabulary tasks; the second group was instructed through meaning-focused output-oriented tasks; the third group received form-focused input-oriented vocabulary tasks, and the fourth group received form-focused output-oriented vocabulary instruction. At the end of the treatment, the participants in all the four groups were given a vocabulary comprehension and a vocabulary recall posttest. The results indicated that meaning-focused tasks were more effective than form-focused tasks on both vocabulary comprehension and recall. At the same time, input-oriented tasks turned out to be more effective than output-oriented tasks on only vocabulary comprehension. In vocabulary recall, input-oriented tasks were more effective when they were form-focused, while output-oriented tasks were more effective when they were meaning-focused. The results of this study can have implications for teachers, learners, and curriculum designers.

مدرسین زبان انگلیسی از گذشته تا کنون از مقیاس هایی جهت ارزشیابی زبان آموزان بهره گرفته اند که حاصل نظرات و تجربیات شخصی و شهودی متخصصین حوزه آموزش زبان بوده است. از آنجایی که این مقیاس ها از مبنای علمی و تجربی لازم برخوردار نیستند، نمرات و نیز تصمیماتی که در نتیجه استفاده از این مقیاس ها حاصل می شود پایایی و اعتبار لازم را ندارند. با توجه به اهمیت گونه نگارش توصیفی و نظر به این نکته که ادبیات تحقیقی موجود هیچ مقیاس نمره دهی تحلیلی مناسبی جهت ارزشیابی این نوع نگارش ارائه نکرده است، نویسندگان این مقاله از طریق انجام مطالعه ای تلفیقی شامل ۳ فاز اقدام به ایجاد مقیاسی تحلیلی جهت ارزشیابی نگارش توصیفی زبان آموزان کردند. این مطالعه در فاز اول (فاز کمی) اقدام به آنالیز فاکتورهای مربوط به تحلیل ۱۷۲ کارشناس آموزش زبان از گونه نگارش توصیفی و در فازهای دوم و سوم (فازهای کیفی) اقدام به تحلیل محتوای ۲۰ متن توصیفی نوشته شده توسط کارشناسان آموزش زبان و نیز تحلیل محتوای۳۰متن توصیفی نوشته شده توسط زبان آموزان کرد. در نتیجه دو استنباط کلی که در طی این مطالعه صورت گرفت، مقیاس نمره دهی تحلیلی برای ارزشیابی نگارش توصیفی زبان آموزان ایجاد شد. امید است بهره گیری از این مقیاس در آینده منجر به دستیابی به نمرات و همچنین اتخاذ تصمیماتی در مورد زبان آموزان گردد که از پایایی و اعتبار بیشتری نسبت به گذشته برخوردارند.

Lexical bundles are known as important elements of coherent discourse that have been the subject of much research. While the previous research has been mainly concerned with exploring variations in the use of these word sequences across different registers and disciplines, very few studies have addressed the use of some particular groups of lexical bundles within some types of academic writing. To probe in to the possible generic variations, this research focused on anticipatory it bundles as a particular structural group of these word sequences. More specifically, this study chose to investigate range, frequency, and function of these word clusters in applied linguistics published and unpublished writings. Through the use of two big corpora and text analysis programs, this study found that it bundles were used relatively frequently in both published and unpublished writings. Functional analysis also showed that it bundles served a wide variety of functions in both types of writings. Notwithstanding these findings, this study also revealed that some it bundles commonly used in unpublished writing did not count as bundles in published writing.

هدف این تحقیق مقایسه موردی و مقابله ای تاثیر فعایتهای نوشتاری مشترک بر کیفیت نوشتار فردی دانشجویان ایرانی و مالزیایی می باشد. برای این منظور هشت نفر دانشجوی سال اولی (چهار نفر دانشجوی ایرانی و چهار نفر دانشجوی مالزیایی چینی تبار در یک دانشگاه غیردولتی در شهر کوالالامپور) که بر اساس مولفه های سن، جنس، سطح دانش انگلیسی مشابه و رشته دانشگاهی مشترک انتخاب شده بودند در قالب چهار گروه دو نفری تقسیم بندی شدند (دو گروه ایرانی و دو گروه مالزیایی). در مدت زمان تقریبی دو ماه و درطی پانزده جلسه هرکدام از گروها تعداد پانزده متن مربوط به قسمت 1 نوشتار آکادمیک آزمون آیلتس را بصورت مشترک (دو نفره) با هم انجام دادند. پانزده جلسه مزبور در واقع شامل پنج سیکل متوالی و مجزا بودند به طوری که در هر سیکل متعاقب هر سه جلسه نوشتار مشترک یک جلسه نوشتار انفرادی وجود داشت. پر واضح است که در پایان جلسه پانزده (یا سیکل 5) هر کدام از شرکت کنندگان تحقیق پنج نوشتار انفرادی تولید کرده بود. تمامی نوشته های انفرادی هشت نفر شرکت کننده به تبعیت و با استفاده از باروم نمره دهی استاندارد آزمون آیلتس بر اساس چهار مولفه ""میزان کفایت توضیحی متن"" (Task Achievement) ""میزان انسجام و پیوستگی متن"" (Cohesion and Coherence) ""میزان غنای دستوری و صحت گرامری متن ""(Grammatical Rang and Accuracy) و"" میزان غنای واژگانی متن ""(Lexical Resources) مورد ارزیابی و سنجش کیفی قرار گرفتند. نتایج حاصله نشان دادند که بیشترین تاثیرکیفی مثبت که در طول مدت مطالعه در نوشته های انفرادی همه دانشجویان مشهود بود به ترتیب مربوط به پارامترهای ""کفایت توضیحی متن"" و ""انسجام و پیوستگی متن"" بودند در حالیکه بهبود واژگانی خیلی جزیی و صرفا محدود به نوشته های سه نفر از دانشجویان مالزیایی می شد و نوشته های هیچکدام از دانشجویان در بعد دستوری پیشرفت قابل اعتنایی نداشتند. شایان توجه اینکه پیشرفت ها و پسرفتهای متناوبی در کیفیت نوشته های انفرادی در طول مدت تجقیق قابل مشاهده بودند. نتایج متنوع حاصله در این مطالعه را می توان در ارتباط با اصول پارادایم فرهنگی-اجتماعی ،نظریه آشوب ، تیپولوژی متن های مورد تمرین و همچنین سطح دانش زبانی دانشجویان شرکت کننده در تحقیق توضیح داد.