درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The application of critical pedagogy in educational contexts has received adequate research attention over the last decades. The main focus of this strand of research has, however, been on raising awareness of the educators. Nevertheless, little is known about the consequences of the violation of critical pedagogy principles from EFL teacher trainers’ perspectives. To begin to address this gap in research, a qualitative (phenomenological) study was carried out to explore the main consequences of violating critical pedagogy in the higher education system of Iran. The participants were 15 faculty members of TEFL and English Literature at 10 Iranian state universities. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews and analyzed according to Radnor’s (2001) model. The results indicated that the main consequences of the violation of critical pedagogy were educational (related to teaching, learning, and testing), psychological, social, and ideological. Therefore, it was concluded that educators must follow the principles of CP in order to avoid the negative consequences and foster the learning and teaching processes more effectively.

هدف از پژوهش حاضر، بررسی چگونگی بهره مندی زبانآموزان ایرانی با سطوح متفاوت هوش هیجانی از آموزش مهارتهای تفکر انتقادی و تاثیر این آموزش بر استفاده آنها از راهبردهای یادگیری مناسب زبان میباشد. یکی دیگر از اهداف این پژوهش، بررسی ارتباط میان تفکر انتقادی، راهبردهای یادگیری زبان، و هوش هیجانی زبانآموزان ایرانی است. جهت انجام این پژوهش، به 88 زبانآموز از آموزشگاههای خصوصی زبان انگلیسی واقع در شهر شیراز، چهار ابزار جهت جمع آوری دادهها داده شد. این ابزارها عبارت بودند از آزمون تعیین سطح آکسفورد، آزمون مهارتهای تفکر انتقادی کالیفرنیا، پرسشنامهی هوش هیجانی بار - آن، و پرسشنامهی راهبردهای یادگیری زبان. نتایج حاصل از تجزیه و تحلیل آماری نشان داد که تدریس مهارتهای تفکر انتقادی تاثیر معناداری بر استفاده از راهبردهای یادگیری زبان در زبانآموزان با هوش هیجانی متفاوت دارد. همچنین این پژوهش نشان داد که هیچ تفاوت معناداری در میزان استفاده زبان آموزان با سطوح هوش هیجانی بالا و پایین از راهبردهای یادگیری زبان وجود ندارد. بعلاوه، ارتباط مثبت و معناداری بین تفکر انتقادی و هوش هیجانی، و تفکر انتقادی و راهبردهای یادگیری زبان بدست آمد. نتایج حاصل از این پژوهش می تواند به درک هرچه بیشتر معلمان زبان انگلیسی نسبت به مهارت های فکری مورد نیاز جهت استفادهی موفق از راهبردهای یادگیری زبان در زمینههای یادگیری زبان خارجی کمک کند

This paper elaborates on Persian and English orthographic shared aspects to study the effects of L1 Persian on learning English as a foreign language. While there are some examples of letter and sound mismatches in the orthographic system of both languages, those of English are more complex than Persian. In order to see the effect of the mismatch between orthography and transcription, 40 Persian EFL learners were divided into two proficiency groups i.e., advanced and elementary, and their performance was examined on comprehension and production tasks. The learners’ production skills were checked via a list of 76 pseudo words requiring the learners to read them while their voices were recorded. After one week time interval, a comprehension test consisted of 34 items was administered, requiring the learners to listen and choose among the orthographic forms presented to them. It was hypothesized that being educated in L1 Persian comprising semi-opaque orthography system, the learners would tackle the English opaque graphemes better on the mismatches. However, it was observed that both elementary and advanced groups had difficulty learning English orthography system, showing almost no positive effect from L1. Only in rare cases more proficient learners performed better due to more schooling education in English.

در این مقاله به بررسی این مسئله می پردازیم که آیا زبان آموزان ایرانی از گونه های مختلف زبان انگلیسی که در سراسر جهان صحبت می شوند آگاه بوده و به گونه خاصی از آن تمایل دارند یا خیر. همچنین به بررسی نگرش زبان آموزان ایرانی به گونه های بومی و غیر بومی زبان انگلیسی می پردازیم. بعلاوه تلاش می کنیم دریابیم که آیا این نگرش جنسیت محور هست یا خیر. بدین منظور 30 زبان آموز دختر و پسر با سطح متوسط زبان انگلیسی که سن آنها بین 22 تا 30 سال می باشد به عنوان نمونه انتخاب شدند و به سه پرسشنامه پاسخ دادند. سپس اطلاعات جمع آوری شده از طریق تحلیل واریانس یک طرفه با اندازه گیری های مکرر (one-way repeated measures ANOVA)، آزمون LSD post-hoc فیشر و آزمون t مستقل مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفت. نتیجه اصلی حاصل از این پژوهش این بود که زبان آموزان ایرانی دیگر به وجود یک گونه واحد از زبان انگلیسی اعتقاد نداشته و به تدریج به « انگلیسی های دنیا » معتقد شده اند. در حقیقت آنها از یک گونه انگلیسی کامل و واحد چشم پوشی کرده و برای برقراری ارتباط با دیگر افراد در سراسر جهان گونه های دیگری از انگلیسی را نیز می پذیرند. بعلاوه با وجود اینکه شرکت کنندگان در این پژوهش گونه های غیر بومی زبان انگلیسی را پذیرفته اند، گرایش داشتن آنها به گونه های آمریکایی و بریتانیایی نشان می دهد که آنها به یادگیری زبان نگرشی مثبت دارند

This study scrutinized the relationship between utilizing language learning strategies, academic fields, and reading ability in reading comprehension test performance of Iranian postgraduate EAP students. The participants were 947 students, who answered a reading comprehension test and a learning strategy questionnaire successively in one session. The gathered data were subjected to a set of parametric statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, Tukey HSD and Duncan tests. The findings manifested significant differences among the participants in different fields in employing overall, direct, and indirect strategies. A statistically positive relationship was found between the participants’ reading ability and use of overall, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, and affective strategies. The findings reflected that the actual ability of language learners was significantly influenced by some nonlinguistic factors, and the observed scores did not represent their true ability. The findings can provide an empirical evidence for Bachman’s (1990) as well as Bachman and Palmer's (1996, 2010) conceptual frameworks of language use due to the impact of nonlinguistic factors on language ability of L2 learners in test-taking process. The findings can help language teachers improve instructional reading programs, decrease error of measurement, and narrow the gap between more successful and less successful learners in different fields of study.

Veryfew attempts have been made in the past to develop instruments to measure pragmatic knowledge of second language (L2) learners. The absence of such instruments in the literature of English language teaching (ELT) underscores the need for the researchers to develop new tests that are specifically designed to assess this crucial but less explored aspect of language learners’ (LLs) knowledge. In line with this objective, the present study was conducted to develop and validate four tests of pragmatic knowledge that measured LLs’ knowledge of speech acts. The following steps were taken in this study to develop the written discourse completion tests (WDCTs) and the multiple-choice discourse completion tests (MCDCTs) that respectively measured the test takers’ ability to produce and comprehend request speech act. During the “prototype step” the researchers identified the content and the number of items for each designated test battery. At the “test construction step” the sociolinguistic variables of power (P), social distance (D), and absolute rank of imposition (R) were inserted into the content of the test items. Finally, at the “validation step” the reliability of the tests was examined. The finding of the study showed that the constructed test batteries were sufficiently reliable and valid for measuring pragmatic knowledge of L2 learners.

A community of practice may shape and reshape the identity of members of the community through providing them with situated learning or learning environment. This study, therefore, is to clarify the salient learning-based features of the language teaching community of practice that might formulate the identity of language teachers. To this end, the study examined how learning situations in two communities of practice (English and Arabic) developed the professional identity of language teachers. The results of the semi-structure interviews with 5 language teachers highlighted some differences between English and Arabic language teaching communities of practice in terms of the situated learning activities they provide for language teachers to develop their professional identity. Furthermore, since the community of practice can be considered a potential curriculum that may be learned by newcomers with legitimate peripheral access, it would be considered as a main source of identity formation of both English and Arabic language teachers. The findings of the study can be used to better understand the nature of being a professional language teacher in non-native contexts. They have implications for novice and experienced language teachers as well as for teacher educators to review the content of the teacher training courses

This experimental study attempts to see whether incorporating supplemental podcasts into the blended module of second language (L2) vocabulary teaching and learning leads to better learning outcomes in comparison with other common teaching and learning methods as self-study and conventional. To that end, undergraduate students from Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences were summoned up via an announcement to take part in the study. Volunteers were homogenized via Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) and were then randomly divided into three groups to learn English vocabulary items via three different scenarios during 32 sessions. The collected data from the participants’ answers to the attitude questionnaire and interview as well as the data from assessing their performance throughout the course were analyzed both descriptively and inferentially. The analysis of the data revealed that the podcast-mediated blended L2 learning scenario appeared as the most successful scenario in L2 vocabulary learning. Consequently, it could be concluded that providing miscellaneous practicing opportunities for students would facilitate learning process and contribute to learning improvement.

Cognitive linguistics gives the most inclusive, consistent description of how language is organized, used and learned to date. Cognitive linguistics contains a great number of concepts that are useful to second language learners. If-clauses in English, on the other hand, remain intriguing for foreign language learners to struggle with, due to their intrinsic intricacies. EFL grammar books are paying focal attention to present explanations of if-clauses in terms of their form not meaning, hence not giving attention to their contextual meaning usage. Cognitive linguistic insights on if-clauses discuss their complexity in such a way that could be very beneficial for L2 learners. This study aims to investigate the effect of two different ways of teaching (cognitively-oriented and task-oriented) on learning English if-clauses. A sample of 60 non-English postgraduate students in three groups, two experimental groups (cognitively-oriented and task-oriented) and one control group participated in our study. The results indicated that participants from the cognitively-oriented group performed better than those in task-oriented and control groups and proved a higher degree of comprehending English if-clauses in different contexts. The findings have implications for curriculum and materials developers, as well as the English language teachers in incorporating insights from cognitive linguistics in second language materials.

فراگیری لغات همواره یکی از دشوارترین قسمت های زبان آموزی برای همه ی فراگیران زبان انگلیسی خصوصا دانشجویان زبان تخصصی بوده است. این دانشجویان همواره گله مند هستند که تعداد لغات زبان انگلیسی بسیار زیاد بوده و به راحتی فراموش می شوند. جهت تسهیل یادگیری و یادآوری لغات و کمک به اینگونه دانشجویان، یادیارها که یک گروه از استراتژیهای ذهنی می- باشند معرفی گردیده اند. اما دانشجویان و دانش آموزان دارای تفاوت فردی می باشند و مدرسین می بایست از روش های متعددی استفاده نمایند تا کارایی کلاس افزایش یابد. به همین منظور در پژوهش حاضر روش چند یادیاری مورد استفاده و تحقیق قرار گرفت. دو گروه از دانشجویان در زبان تخصصی انتخاب گردیدند. در یکی از گروهها روش چند یادیاری استفاده شد، در حالیکه در گروه دیگر لغات آموزش داده شده و مرور شدند. نتایج نشان داد که گروهی که برای آنها شیوه چند یادیاری مورد استفاده قرار گرفت در یادگیری و یادآوری لغات موفق تر عمل کردند.

Systematic phonics instruction in first language education has recently received considerable research attention due to its critical role in facilitating phonological awareness and processing skills. However, little is known about the effects of systematic phonics instruction on foreign language reading and spelling in an EFL context. This study examined the effects of spelling-based phonics instruction on 9-12 year old Persian speaking learners’ reading and spelling English words. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups: a control group who received non-phonics instruction, and an experimental group who received spelling-based phonics instruction. CORE Phonics Survey (2003), a battery of diagnostic tests and tasks, was used to uncover the effects of phonics on oral reading and word spelling development of the learners. The results of independent-samples t-test revealed that after 10-weeks of instruction, the spelling-based phonics instruction had really significant effects on improving both young Iranian EFL learners’ oral reading and whole word spelling. In other words, the experimental group benefited from spelling-based phonics instruction compared to the group with non-phonics instruction.