۱.
When students study in synchronous online classes, they decide on a preferred mode(s) of communicating with the teacher. This small-scale qualitative research study aimed to explore student preferred modes of communicating with the teacher during synchronous online classes. The researchers used an online questionnaire to acquire data from three different groups of students, each containing three participants. Two groups were university students in China and South Korea, and one group consisted of adult learners in Somalia. All participants were studying English language development courses in synchronous online classes with the researchers. The study found that while most participants were willing to use their cameras, they preferred using the chat box and microphone without using the camera to communicate with the teacher. Additional findings revealed that most participants opposed having a mandatory camera usage policy and for camera usage to affect their grades or marks in the course.
۲.
How easily people are able to initially learn foreign language vocabulary depends on a number of different factors including effective variables such as motivation, anxiety, the cognitive processes involved in utilizing different strategies, and most relevant to the present study, linguistic features of the words themselves which is also known as mental lexicon. Thus, one of the major problems learners face in language learning either in EFL or ESL settings is the issue of vocabulary or the mental lexicon that has been changing constantly over time. Therefore, the current study aimed to find out if EFL learners’ crystallized intelligence can significantly correlate with their mental lexicon. To this aim, 80 EFL learners were asked to fill out a C-test which is a reliable instrument to measure crystallized intelligence, and the Lex30 word association test to measure their mental lexicon. Moreover, the study aimed at finding any significant differences between male and female EFL learners concerning their mental lexicon and crystallized intelligence. To analyze the data, Pearson Correlation and Independent sample T-Test were run. The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between crystallized intelligence and mental lexicon with no significant differences between males and females. This research has some implications for teachers, supervisors, as well as syllabus designers in a way to achieve better language acquisition.
۳.
The study intended to investigate the impact of task involvement loads on Iranian EFL learnersˈ collocation knowledge and their level of motivation. To achieve these goals, a sample of 78 intermediate learners were selected based on Solutions Placement Test. The participants were divided into three experimental groups of 26 learners assigned to one of the experimental conditions, namely tasks with involvement load 3 (multiple-choice, MC), and involvement load 2 (Fill-in-the-blanks, FB), and 4 (sentence formation, SF). Before running pretest to the groups, their familiarity with the targeted collocations were tested. Over the treatment course, learners in MC were provided with the collocations requiring them to recognize the right collocations in the multiple-choice format tests. The learners in FB group were provided with the same collocations but were required to complete sentences with appropriate collocations given at the end of the text. Finally, the learners in SF group were asked to make their own sentences using the given collocations. At the end, a learning motivation questionnaire was administered to the learners to determine the possible association(s) of task involvement loads with the learners’ learning motivation. The results of a one-way ANOVA indicated the three groups showed different results on the posttests. However, the SF difference with MC and FB was the highest indicating the highest impact of SF on the learners’ L2 collocations. The results of a multiple regression analysis also indicated different associations between the involvement loads and learners’ motivation. The findings can have pedagogical and theoretical implications for EFL teachers, learners, and researchers.
۴.
This study was carried out to explore the effects of a mobile application on the learning of L2 grammar and vocabulary among Iranian intermediate EFL learners. In this research study, the target population comprised 30 male and female EFL learners who were identified at the intermediate level of language proficiency based on their performance scores on a sample copy of the Oxford Solutions Placement Test (OSPT). The participants were selected from among 40 learners who were studying EFL at Talk English Institute in Rasht, Iran. Using a digital randomizer called Super Cool Random Number Generator, the final pool of qualified participants was randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control, each consisting of 15 learners. Next, the experimental group received treatment on their English vocabulary and grammar during a four-week period where they were assigned to learn 20 grammar and 20 vocabulary items by playing games through a mobile educational game called Elevate. The control group, on the other hand, received treatment on the same L2 grammar and vocabulary items through a conventional method (i.e., teacher-fronted instruction). Analysis of the scores obtained on a post-intervention measure of L2 grammar and vocabulary knowledge revealed that both groups made significant progress over the course of the experiment; however, the experimental group performed significantly better than those who were trained using the conventional method. The results carry the implications that mobile applications provide a more felicitous condition for expanding learners’ L2 grammar and vocabulary repertoire.
۵.
Since 2012, the ELT experts of Iran’s Ministry of Education have developed and published series titled ‘ Prospect ’ which includes three successive textbooks designed for teaching English to the students of grades 7th, 8th and 9th of junior high schools of Iran. It is a fact that the key components of all educational programs are the textbooks, the efficiency of which contributes to the accomplishment of the pedagogical goals of the curriculum. With the goal of helping Iranian materials developers modify ‘ Prospect ’ series and improve the overall quality of the very textbooks, this study aimed to conduct evaluation over one of the series namely ‘ Prospect 1 ’ through screening EFL teachers' perception who have been incorporating the textbook in their online and conventional classrooms at least during the last five years. By emulating a model provided by McDonough and Shaw (1993) on the basis of external and internal evaluation of textbooks, a 55-five-point Likert scale questionnaire was adapted by the researchers and the required data were gathered from 46 female and 58 male English teachers in urban and rural junior high schools of Gilan and Mazandaran provinces of Iran. The findings revealed that EFL teachers were relatively dissatisfied with some important facets of ‘ Prospect 1. ’ Our respondents believed that the textbook is really poor in printing quality, and it lacks attractive and motivating pictures and illustrations. Moreover, not incorporating variant dialects and authentic language, not using modern techniques such as typography and perceptual saliency, and not considering the needs of the learners or different learning styles, are among other shortcomings that seem to be in dire need of modification.
۶.
In the field of foreign language education, self-directed learning and personal self-concept are essential as t h ey can empower students to attain optimal success in language learning by engaging students to express their ideas confidently, think reflectively, and make use of language learning strategies. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of self-directed learning and personal self-concept in reading comprehension. Moreover, the current study aimed to determine that whether self-directed learning and personal self-concept help to increase students’ scores in reading comprehension. The participants in this study were 170 EFL intermediate-level EFL students in two foreign language institutes named Diplomat and Safir in Tehran and Karaj. Gõni’s personal self-concept questionnaire and self-directed learning questionnaire were used and the students' reading skills were measured with the standard PET test. The obtained data were analyzed by multiple linear regression in SPSS software. Results of the study showed that there was a significant correlation between students’ comprehension scores and learners’ self-directed learning, but there was a little correlation between their self-concept and reading comprehension scores. Based on the research findings, it was concluded that self-directed learning has an important role in students’ comprehension, but not personal self-concept. It is possible to make students more successful in acquiring language skills by guiding students towards using self-directed strategies.
۷.
The present study sets to explore whether using peer feedback through Google Docs improves English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ classroom engagement. It also investigated the extent to which peer feedback through Google Docs improves EFL students’ writing achievement. Three groups of EFL students were involved in the study, namely control (N=23), experimental 1(N= 24), and experimental 2 (N=22). The control group received the treatment through the conventional writing course and the teacher read the writing task and provided feedback regarding the content, grammar, vocabulary, or punctuations. In addition to their regular in-class writing instruction, each student in the first experimental group was asked to choose a partner and email their drafts to them and the peers were required to provide feedback. In the second experimental group, the pairs provided the feedback through the Google Docs. One Way ANOVA was run to find any possible differences between the groups. Based on the findings, the second experimental group outperformed the other groups in their classroom engagement and writing achievement. The findings have implications for pedagogy as well as further research.
