Journal Of English Language and Literature Teaching

Based on the integrated and Distinctive view of Miyak et al. (2000), Executive Functions are a set of related and distinct structures that allow individuals to strive for self-regulation, thoughts, and actions towards the goal of Special help. Self-regulation as metacognitive knowledge as defined by Flavell (1979) and follows Dornyei’s (2005) call to focus on the psychological perspectives of language learning. This study aimed to explore the relationship between a deficiency in the executive function of the brain and writing skills through the mediation of self-regulatory strategies. In this study, 150 Iranian EFL university students were selected. Using Simple random sampling of a population of 630 .they were asked to fill out a self-regulatory strategy questioner by Wang and Bai (2013) and a questionnaire of efficacy in the executive function of the brain by Barkley (2011) and during the course, students were asked to write 7 pieces of writing in the General genre. The study Method was a Descriptive type of correlation. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data. The research model had a good fit and the factor structure considered acceptable. The results of the study showed that there was a correlation among research variables at the level of 0.01. Considering individual differences, including executive function of the brain, and improving these differences by applying English language learning strategies can be effective in increasing writing skills

This essay examines the appropriation of Anton Chekhov’s short story “Misery” (1886) by Simin Daneshvar in her “Be ki salam konam” (Whom Shall I Greet?” 1980). Daneshvar appropriates the Russian short story for her feminist agenda in the new Iranian context. Such a transnational transposition can be studied in light of Harold Bloom’s notion of “anxiety of influence”. More specifically, the comparison between these two short stories, in addition to throwing into relief the poetics of adaptation and influence, problematizes the supposed gender freeness of Bloom’s theory. Having described the many similarities (formal and thematic) between the two short stories, it is argued that Bloom’s theory needs a gendered and transnational revision. Daneshvar hybridizes the Russian text. From the perspective of Bloom’s theory of anxiety of influence, we can say that in the absence of a feminine tradition (at least in the realm of prose fiction), Daneshvar creates a feminist Chekhov in her misreading of the Russian author. Yet the problem with Bloom’s theory is its male-centeredness, that is, the paternal precursor. In a sense, Daneshvar’s creative misreading (in the Bloomian sense) replaces the paternal structure with a maternal metaphor. Also, the intercultural dialogue between the Russian and Iranian authors redefines anxiety as transnational. Accordingly, we might call Daneshvar’s story a gendered revisionist appropriation.

Individual and collaborative assessments have engaged all researchers' attention over the last century. This study explored the probable improvement in Iranian EFL learners' writing with respect to individual and collaborative self-assessment training as well as examining the effect of gender on assessment training. The participants in this study were 80 (40 males, 40 females) English learners in a language institute. This sample was divided into four equal groups. Two groups worked on assessment individually, and two groups performed assessment collaboratively. Data were collected from a self-assessment questionnaire and writing scores based on IELTS task 1 writing band score descriptors and Magoosh Essay Rubric for the GRE and GMAT. Results revealed the positive effect of collaborative assessment training on writing. Additionally, the Two-Way Analysis of Variance (Two-Way ANOVA) indicated that the female participants in the collaborative group outperformed males in the same group. The study provides implications for teachers and institutional policymakers in how to improve English learners’ writing proficiency.

The active participation of several pre-service EFL teachers in discourse socialization practices facilitated learning in a collaborative learning community. The participants shared their personal practical experiences, scaffolded their peers and engaged with assigned academic texts. Their engagement in collegial discussions and with academic texts developed their professional identity in several aspects. Through involvement in discourse practices, the participants underwent the process of identity construction as a legitimate member of their discourse community. As a non-stop process, the identity construction of the participants was continuously influenced by their prior learning and teaching experiences, knowledge from disciplinary materials and fieldwork experiences as pre-service English teachers. The influence of the discourse practices was overwhelming as they experienced a shift of professional identity to feel like relative experts. The participants reconstructed their identity. They felt more committed to their EFL local community and they saw themselves as members who could be more contributing to their local community. The group discussions provided enough chances for the participants to feel like a community member and voice their professional identity through participating in discussions.

Abstract The current study aimed to demonstrate the influence of computer-assisted activities on the improvement of Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary and their self-efficacy. Furthermore, it attempted to explore the relationship between technology-supported vocabulary learning and EFL students’ self-efficacy. A number of 120 EFL students participated in the research who were categorized into two groups of control and experimental. They were asked to answer the self-efficacy-beliefs questionnaire and vocabulary pre- and post-test at the outset and the end of the study after ten treatment sessions. The experimental group experienced vocabulary learning by using computer-assisted learning activities and the control group went through traditional instruction. The findings demonstrated that the participants of the experimental group who experienced technology-based instruction outperformed in the vocabulary test. On the other hand, there was no significant relationship between self-efficacy and vocabulary learning. Finally, the pedagogical implications of this study for L2 teachers and learners were presented.

Using an open-ended questionnaire to illicit the Iranian EFL state school teachers’ experiences and perceptions about teaching in communicative language teaching (CLT) and teacher interviews as qualitative research procedures, the present study sought to examine how effective CLT approach might be in the critical years of the major curriculum innovation in Iran. To this end, we first asked 26 junior high school Iranian teachers to express their perceptions and teaching experiences in CLT. We then conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 of the teachers. The in-depth analyses of the survey and interview participants’ perspectives towards and teaching experiences in CLT identified both macro and micro structural difficulties. Moreover, the study brought to attention, interalia, the need to provide teachers with constant teacher training support, to equip schools with instructional resources required by the particular curriculum innovation, to systematically seek the teachers’ viewpoints in developing new textbooks embodying the new curriculum reform.

In this study we try to investigate the extent to which Multiple Intelligences Theory (MI),is reflected in the designed ESP textbooks for high school students.For this aim, a Multiple Intelligences checklist developed by Razmjoo and Jozhaghi (2010),was used to calculate the frequencies and percentages of occurrence of each type of intelligences reflected through various activities in these selected ESP textbooks. And also Christison’s (1996,1999) young adults’ questionnaire was chosen for determining MI profile of 12th grade ESP learners who, those textbooks that are going to be studied in this research,were determined for them at school.The results of careful analysis of these textbooks’ tasks revealed that they mostly provided activities in the light of verbal/linguistic and visual/spatial intelligences.The least dominant intelligences were intrapersonal and naturalist intelligence types and no example of the naturalist intelligence was found in these course books’ activities.The results of the study also revealed variation of students’ and course books’ MI profiles. As contrasted with the course books’ MI profile,a balanced distribution of all types of intelligences with varying degrees, were perceived among the students.Verbal intelligence was represented in most activities which is the least preferred by the students,which is followed by logical intelligence.While Bodily/Kinesthetic, Natural and Musical intelligence were neglected that are the most favorable in the MI profiles of students.The findings of the study highlight the fact that, ESP curriculum designers, for high school students, need to consider the necessity of applying all intelligence types, also regarding the field of study, in designing the ESP textbooks.

Abstract: Linguoculturology is a new field of linguistic research dealing with manifestation of culture of different nations that are reflected in ELT situations. Accordingly, the aim of the present investigation was to examine if teaching English in EFL Iranian secondary high schools can make a change in their linguocultural competence and to empirically test the extent to which teaching EFL Iranian secondary high school students in a linguocultural context was likely to impact their speaking skills. To achieve this goal, the study was carried out in an Iranian secondary high school, in Dezful, Iran. In the first phase of the research, to assess 100 female participants’ knowledge of the Iranian linguocultural context and to increase the participants, linguocultural awareness and their subsequent linguocultural competence a standard checklist was employed. A pretest-treatment-posttest design was used in the respective linguocultural situation with 50 of the students participating in the real instruction to verify their probable speaking promotion. The study was conducted over a four-month time period. The data gathered from filling out a standard checklist and from the students’ performance on pre-posttests was analyzed using SPSS software. Results indicated that, at least for the participants in the current experiment, the type of instruction embedded in the Iranian linguocultural context was significantly effective in promoting the learners’ linguocultural competence and their speaking abilities, respectively. Recommendations for ELT in comparable circumstances were given. Key words: linguacultural competence, EFL Learners, Speaking Performance

This study attempted to find the relationship between teacher-student interactions and self-regulated learning strategies among EFL learners. The population of the study comprised of 50 Iranian EFL female learners. The participants ,with an age range of 18 to 25, studied English at language institutes located in the city of Genaveh. They were selected as a homogenous sample based on their performance on English language proficiency test of Oxford Placement Test. Then the Questionnaire on Teacher-Student Interaction (QTI) and the Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ) (Brown, Miller, & Lawendowski, 1999) were given to the learners to collect the data. Findings showed that there is a significant relationship between teacher-student interaction, and self-regulated learning strategies A multiple regression analysis was run to predict self-regulated learning strategies by using teacher-student interaction and its subscales. The results showed that Responsibility subscale (.β=.369, P=.003) and Admonish subscale (β=.415, P=.000) could positively and significantly predict learners self-regulated learning strategies.