درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Gaining insights into the learners’ individual characteristics such as beliefs about language learning and their relationship with learning strategies is essential for planning effective language instruction. Thus, the present study investigated the relationship between beliefs about language learning and learning strategy use in Iranian high school students. This study also compared the correlation of the two variables between males and females and monolingual and bilingual students. The strategy inventory for language learning (SILL) and the beliefs about language learning inventory (BALLI) were used to collect data from four hundred and sixty-two high school students from different cities of the country. Descriptive analyses, Pearson r correlation, and the Fisher z-transformation test, were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that the students used metacognitive strategies most and compensation and affective strategies least. Also, they held strong motivational beliefs about English language learning. Significant positive correlations were found between beliefs and strategy categories. The strongest correlation was found between the students’ metacognitive strategies and their motivation and expectations. The findings revealed no significant difference between the correlation coefficients of monolinguals and bilinguals, and males and females in terms of their language learning beliefs and strategies. Regarding the pedagogical implications of the results, it is discussed that knowledge of students’ language learning beliefs and their preferred strategies can lead teachers and educational authorities toward more informed instructional choices.

Materials evaluation studies have constantly demonstrated that there is no one fixed procedure for conducting textbook evaluation studies. Instead, the criteria must be selected according to the needs and objectives of the context in which evaluation takes place. The speaking skill as part of the communicative competence has been emphasized as an important objective in language teaching. The present study explored the core units of spoken grammar inherent in four widely-used ELT textbooks following McCarthy and Carter’s (2002) classification. A coding scheme was developed to make it possible for the researchers to use the classification in codifying the data. The data were then analyzed to detect the units of spoken grammar inherent in the target textbooks. Results from codification of dialogues and transcripts of audio recordings showed that the units of spoken grammar are not evenly distributed in these ELT textbooks. In addition, a significant difference was found between the textbooks in their inclusion of different categories of the spoken grammar.

گرچه بررسی های متعددی جهت ارزیابی تاثیر مؤلفه های پیچیدگی شناختی فعالیت ها بر اساس متغیرهای متمرکزکننده قوای ذهنی ( رابینسون، 2001) انجام شده است، تحقیق کمتری برای بررسی همین تاثیر در راستای متغیرهای پراکنده کننده قوای ذهنی انجام شده است. علاوه بر این، بررسی اثرات تقابلی این متغیرها و شرایط فعالیت بر تولید زبانی زبان اموزان بررسی نشده است. همچنین در بررسی این متغیرها، زبان آموزان کمتر در انجام فعالیت های شفاهی مورد توجه قرار گرفته اند. تحقیق حاضر، به بررسی متغیرهای پراکنده کننده قوای ذهنی بر اساس فرضیه شناختی رابینسون (2001) بر پیچیدگی تولید زبانی زبان­آموزان می پردازد. پس از قرار دادن زبان آموزان در دو گروه بالا و پایین از نظر توانش زبانی، از دو گروه دو نفره خواسته شد که چهار فعالیت زبانی که دارای کمترین تا بیشترین پیچیدگی شناختی بود انجام دهند و در همان حال تعامل زبانی آنان ضبط می شد. بررسی آماری داده ها نشان داد که افزایش پیچیدگی شناختی فعالیتها لزوماً همواره منجر به پیچیدگی کمتر تولید زبانی بین گروهها آنطور که رابینسون ادعا کرده است نمی شود.

The process of globalization entails the acquisition of a construct, cultural intelligence, with which EFL students can function appropriately in intercultural situations. This study was, first, intended to find the relationship between cultural intelligence and the use of expressions of gratitude by Iranian EFL learners. Second, it sought to determine whether there were any significant differences between low and high culturally intelligent EFL learners in the way they used expressions of gratitude in English. To this end, 118 intermediate learners were selected through convenient sampling, with their proficiency level being controlled. A discourse completion test (DCT) for the expressions of gratitude and a cultural intelligence scale were given to the participants of the study. Learners’ DCT responses were rated on a five-point Likert scale and then analyzed. Statistical tests including Pearson Correlation Coefficient and t-test were used to investigate the research questions. The results of the analysis revealed that there was not a significant relationship, either positive or negative, between cultural intelligence and use of expressions of gratitude. Furthermore, no difference was found between the two groups, high and low culturally intelligent, in the way they used English expressions of gratitude. These findings have implications for the instruction of pragmatic competence.

Although explicit and implicit knowledge of language learners are essential to theoretical and pedagogical debates in second language acquisition (SLA), little research has addressed the effects of instructional interventions on the two knowledge types (R. Ellis, 2005).This study examined the relative effectiveness of explicit and implicit types of form-focused instruction (FFI) on the acquisition of four morphosyntactic features by four measures of explicit and implicit language knowledge. The measures included: oral elicited imitation, timed and untimed grammaticality judgment, and metalinguistic knowledge tests. A pretest and two posttests were conducted immediately and three weeks after the instructional interventions. Durable effects of FFI on low intermediate Iranian learners were found for the target language forms.In particular, explicit and implicit FFI positively facilitated the development of explicit and implicit knowledge of the target features, both immediately after the instructional interventions and, marginally decreasing, over time. Also, explicit FFI was more effective than implicit FFI as measured by both explicit and implicit knowledge tests. The findings may contribute to understanding of the efficacy of explicit and implicit FFI on L2 learners’ controlled (explicit) and spontaneous (implicit) use of morphosyntactic forms at relatively early stages of L2 acquisition.

این تحقیق تاثیر آموزش توسعه راهبردهای خودتنظیمی را بر نگارش ایجابی و خود کارایی فراگیران ایرانی زبان انگلیسی بررسی کرده و میزان تاثیر این نوع آموزش راهبردی را با آموزش غیرراهبردی (سنتی) مقایسه نموده است. در این تحقیق از مدل توسعه ی راهبردهای خودتنظیمی شامل نمودار کمک حافظه و جدول واژگان انتقالی، مقاله های نمونه ایجابی و سازمان دهنده تصویری استفاده شده است. برای بررسی اهداف تحقیق، 60 فراگیر ایرانی زبان انگلیسی در مقطع لیسانس از دو دانشگاه در این تحقیق شرکت کردند و از شیوه ی نیمه تجربی پیش آزمون-پس آزمون با گروه شاهد استفاده شد. تجزیه و تحلیل کوواریانس نشان داد که هر دو نوع آموزش راهبردی خودتنظیمی و آموزش غیرراهبردی تاثیر مثبتی بر نگارش ایجابی فراگیران داشت، لیکن تاثیر راهبردهای خودتنظیمی، بر توانش نگارش ایجابی فراگیران زبان انگلیسی در زمینه های فرم و محتوای نگارش، سازماندهی و انسجام، ساختار جمله و واژگان در مهارت نگارش به مراتب بیشتر و به لحاظ آماری معنادار بود. هم چنین خودکارایی فراگیرانی که آموزش توسعه راهبردهای خودتنظیمی داشتند در نگارش بهبود یافت، ولیکن عملکرد بهتر آن ها نسبت به فراگیرانی که آموزش غیرراهبردی داشتند در پس آزمون به لحاظ آماری چندان معناداری نشان نداد. نتایج این تحقیق توجه مدرسان زبان را به بعد آگاهی فراشناختی نگارش و اهمیت تدریس راهبردهای خود تنظیمی به عنوان راهی برای کسب خود مختاری و خود کارایی در مهارت نگارش معطوف می دارد.

Underlying the recently developed notions of applied ELT and life syllabus is the idea that language classes should give precedence to learners’ life qualities, for instance emotional intelligence (EI), over and above their language skills. By so doing, ELT is ascribed an autonomous status and ELT classes can lavish their full potentials to the learners. With that in mind, this study aimed to design and validate a scale for appraising the current English language learning textbooks with respect to EI competencies. Having used several psychological models of EI, the authors developed a 44-item scale. The scale was then disseminated to in-service EFL teachers at non-profit language institutes in Iran. Rasch rating scale model was utilized to substantiate the construct validity of the scale. Three items, two representing impulse control and one pertaining to adaptability, misfitted the model, requiring to be pruned. The results also showed that the 6-point Likert scale functioned effectively. The scale is therefore a unidimensional and valid instrument with considerable implications for language teachers, syllabus designers, and materials developers.

The present study seeks to investigate the potentiality of the translation task as a testing method for measuring reading comprehension. To achieve this objective, two types of translation tests, open-ended and multiple-choice tests, and two types of reading comprehension tests, multiple-choice reading comprehension and open-ended cloze tests were developed in this study. The reliability of the tests was computed in order to estimate which translation test was more reliable and valid. Correlation coefficients were run in order to investigate whether translation tests worked as reliable and valid measures of reading comprehension, and to examine the relationship between proficiency in reading comprehension and proficiency in translation. The results indicate that the open-ended translation test is more reliable and valid than the multiple-choice one; translation has a high potentiality to work as a reliable and valid tool to assess reading comprehension; and there exists a high positive correlation between the participants’ proficiency in reading comprehension and their proficiency in translation. The findings of this study might have pedagogical implications for instructors. They may be justified to highlight the role of translation tests and benefit from them in their reading comprehension classes.

دراین مطالعه شبه طولی از دو روش خطای معمول و بازخورد اصلاحی جهت بررسی ثبات غلط (فسیل شدگی) میان زبانی استفاده شد. خطاهای نوشتاری در مقالات استدلالی 76 زبان آموز ایرانی در سه سطح زبانی متفاوت با استفاده از مدل ارائه شده توسط گس و سلینکر(1994) شناسایی و طبقه بندی شدند. این خطاها برای باراول با بازخورد ضمنی و برای باردوم با بازخورد صریح تصحیح شدند تا بررسی شود که آیا این دو نوع بازخورد باعث بهبود درنوشتار می شوند، و آیا خطاهائی وجود دارند که در برابر تصحیح مقاومت کنند. نتایج نشان داد که خطاهای مربوط به ""انتخاب کلمه ، جمع، شکل کلمه و حرف تعریف the"" جزوشایع ترین خطاهای این زبان آموزان بودند، که ""انتخاب کلمه"" در صدرفهرست قرار دارد. نتایج همچنین نشان داد که اگرچه هر دو نوع بازخورد می تواند منجر به کاهش خطاها شود، ارائه بازخورد صریح ومستقیم برای فراگیران روشی موثر تر میباشد. با این حال نتایج آزمون تی نشان داد که تاثیر کوتاه مدت بازخورد نمی تواند در طول زمان پایداربماند و این تایید کننده گفته کسانی ازقبیل ترواسکات (2007) است که اثر تصحیح خطا را زیر سوال برده اند. علاوه بر این، یافته ها نشان می دهند که خطاهای مربوط به ""ضمیر، ترتیب کلمات، مجهول و مالکیت"" را احتمالآ می توان جزو خطاهائی برشمرد که فسیل شده اند، زیرا اگر چه برای تمام انواع خطاهای دیگر بازخورد ضمنی توانست مفید باشد، این چهار خطا در برابر تصحیح مقاومت نشان دادند و تنها بازخورد صریح توانست موجب کاهش معنادار آنها شود.

Vocabulary is an important component of language proficiency which provides the basis for learners’ performance in other skills. But, since vocabulary learning seems to be so demanding, learners tend to forget newly-learnt words quite soon. In order to identify vocabulary learning conditions which can produce a more lasting effect, this study investigated the effect of three kinds of gloss conditions, that is traditional non-CALL marginal gloss, audio gloss, and extended audio gloss, on vocabulary gain of EFL learners. To this end, three experimental and one control groups, each comprising 15 participants, took part in the current study. In order to ensure that the participants were from the right proficiency level, KET (Key English Test) was used as the homogenizing tool. Participants in each group read two unseen passages under one of the three mentioned conditions for experimental groups, with no gloss offered for control group. They all completed one pre-test, one reading session, one post-test, and one delayed post-test of vocabulary. The data were analyzed using t-tests and one-way ANOVAs for both immediate and delayed post-tests. Statistical analyses of the results revealed that the audio gloss group, who were provided with the voice of a speaker to read the meaning of the target word, and extended audio gloss group, who had access to audio gloss as well as L2 English example, both significantly outperformed the other groups in terms of vocabulary acquisition in both the immediate retention and in the delayed retention of key words. Further results and implications are discussed in the paper.

Literature has already confirmed that student engagement as an external or multidimensional construct may contribute to the academic success of college students. However, very few studies have tried to examine the contributions the more ""internal forms of engagement"" (cognitive and affective) might make in this regard, and how the engagement patterns may change over the academic years. To fill the gap, this study was carried out to answer two research questions: (1) what is the relationship between the internal forms of engagement (cognitive-affective) and students’ academic success (represented by Grade Point Average--GPA)? ; (2) How does the pattern of the relationship change across years of study? To do so, a 40-item Cognitive-Affective Engagement Questionnaire (CAEQ) was developed, validated (α=.91), and administered to a sample of 312 undergraduate English major students (222 females and 90 males). The results indicated while cognitive engagement and academic success are positively correlated throughout years of study, the relationship reaches its peak for the affective engagement in the second year and then gradually diminishes. The findings have implications for curriculum and materials developers, as well as the English language teachers who seek programs which can consistently challenge and satisfy students throughout their studies.