Mixed methods studies in English language teaching

Autonomous learning is a study skill that may be challenging not only to learners with a dependent learning style but also to teachers used to teacher-oriented methodology. However, the considerable shift in the teaching and learning paradigm especially after the 2020 pandemic has made autonomous learning a must-gain skill. This research aimed to explore EFL teachers' perceptions of learner autonomy (LA), their actual practices, and the challenges of LA promotion at Omani secondary schools. It also investigated possible associations between teachers' beliefs about promoting LA and their academic level, gender, and years of experience. Within a convergent mixed-method parallel design, thirty Omani EFL school teachers were selected through convenience sampling to participate in the study. The instruments included teachers’ perceptions questionnaire, classroom observation data, and interviews with teachers. Frequency counts, ordinal regression analysis, and grounded theory were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data. The results revealed that although EFL teachers at Omani secondary schools practice some strategies that promote learner autonomy, these practices are not intentionally and exclusively implemented for LA purposes. Moreover, the results showed some discrepancies between teachers’ beliefs and their actual practices of LA due to some constraints and challenges such as the intensive English curriculum, teachers being overloaded with numerous school tasks besides teaching, learners' limited exposure to English outside the classroom, and teachers' inadequate professional background in the concept, principles, and practices of learner autonomy. No significant association was found between the teachers' general beliefs about LA and their particulars. It may be argued that the concept of autonomous learning and strategies to promote LA should be included as a core component of teacher training programs. By the same token, more self-study and self-assessment practices may be added to the English course materials in schools to help learners develop this essential skill for their higher education.

With the emergence of new online technologies and computer-mediated language teaching, many recent studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of online peer assessment. The present mixed methods study examined the effect of online peer assessment on Iranian intermediate-level EFL students` writing accuracy. In the quantitative phase of the study, 28 EFL learners studying in an English institute were randomly assigned to two groups and were taught for 14 sessions. The experimental group attended online peer assessment on Wiki as a forum for out-of-classroom discussions regarding English writing, and the control group attended face-to-face peer assessment. To analyze the numerical data collected through a pretest and a posttest, an independent sample t-test was used to investigate the difference between the two group scores before and after the assessments. The results showed that the difference between the posttest means of the experimental group and the control group was significant. Moreover, the results of analyzing the qualitative data, gathered through focus-group interviews, also confirmed the quantitative results, revealing the positive opinions of the interviewees about the role of technology in language learning. Therefore, online peer assessment seems to have benefits that make it worthwhile despite all the difficulties and extra effort of introducing and teaching it to students. The findings may have implications for material designers, language teachers, and language learners.

The growing popularity of language-learning apps among language learners has highlighted the need for rigorous evaluation of their efficacy in second language acquisition (SLA). This study combined quantitative measures to comprehensively understand the effectiveness of the Busuu app in improving the productive vocabulary of Iranian intermediate EFL learners with qualitative data from in-depth interviews to explore their perceptions and experiences while using the app. Forty-three learners (17 males and 26 females with a mean age of 27.53) were selected to assess the effectiveness of the Busuu app on learners’ productive vocabulary knowledge. Among them,15 participants (all female with a mean age of 29.40) agreed to be interviewed after the Busuu study to gain insights into learners’ perceptions and experiences with app-based learning. A pretest-posttest design using the LEX30 task, a standardized productive vocabulary assessment tool, was conducted before and after the Busuu study to evaluate participants’ productive vocabulary knowledge. Paired samples t-tests revealed no significant improvement in participants’ productive vocabulary knowledge. Nonetheless, the number of responses produced in the posttest was higher than in the pretest. According to the interview data, users rated vocabulary as the most favored feature of the app, while restricted access to premium content was noted as the least favored. Most participants acknowledged that the app exceeded their initial expectations before installing it. Additionally, improving vocabulary knowledge was the users’ primary expectation from utilizing the app. Furthermore, approximately all participants found the app beneficial for language learning. However, most of them reported low levels of enjoyment during app usage. The results can contribute to understanding what needs to be done to upgrade the quality and potential of the Bussu app, how the app can better support EFL learners in effectively activating their lexical knowledge, and what the users’ experiences and expectations from a language-learning app are.

The effects of task-based language teaching (TBLT) on reading comprehension of EAP students has not received due attention in the literature. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research examines whether TBLT improves reading comprehension more effectively compared to traditional English for academic purposes methodologies. In this study, a sample of 100 intermediate-level Iranian university students was selected through convenience sampling and randomly divided into four groups of 25 participants each (comprising two control groups and two experimental groups). The experimental groups, one in psychology and one in accounting, were instructed using TBLT, while the control groups, also in psychology and accounting, followed traditional EAP instruction as dictated by the curriculum and course instructor. Initially, all groups completed a piloted, researcher-developed reading comprehension pretest. In the experimental groups, the syllabus was co-constructed through negotiation, reflecting the students' needs and rights. In contrast, the control groups were taught using textbooks predetermined by the curriculum. Upon the completion of the treatment sessions, all participants took a posttest. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that TBLT significantly enhanced the reading comprehension skills of Iranian university students compared to traditional EAP methods. Additionally, the study found that the field of study did not influence the effectiveness of the instructional method (TBLT or EAP). These findings provide valuable insights for English for specific purposes (ESP) teachers and material developers, emphasizing the potential benefits of incorporating TBLT into EAP instruction.

The paradigm shift from traditional language curricula to communicative ones necessitates the (re)evaluation of language materials from the perspective of learner-centered pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to compare two English coursebooks (i.e., Interchange 2 and Four Corners 2) in terms of learner-centeredness based on the criteria of the existing theories. For the purpose of this mixed methods study, a directed content analysis (DCA) was initially done to develop a framework based on the related theories for evaluating learner-centeredness of the activities and tasks in language materials, involving six subcategories (i.e., information gap, open-endedness, contextualization, authenticity, discursivity, and skill integration). Moreover, fourteen types of learner-centered activities and tasks were identified from different theoretical sources, which fell under the six categories of the learner-centeredness framework. To validate the framework, it was expert-wised. It was found that the directed approach to content analysis supported and extended the existing theories of learner-centeredness using the contextual aspects of the phenomenon. In the second phase of the study, the types of tasks and activities in the two coursebooks were identified and analyzed through summative content analysis using the researcher-developed framework. Finally, the quantitative data gathered after coding the corpus were statistically analyzed to check whether there was any significant difference between the two coursebooks in terms of the learner-centeredness of their tasks and activities. The result of Mann-Whitney Test showed that there was no significant difference between the frequency of the learner-centered activities and tasks in Interchange 2 and Four Corners 2. The findings of this study may carry implications for the language instructors, learners, and material developers.

The growing interest in learning English language as an international language through international textbooks has necessitated the need for the evaluation of the cultural content embedded in English coursebooks. With regard to the close interrelation of language and culture, this study investigated the extent to which cultural aspects are represented in two international EFL textbooks. To this end, content analysis was used to analyze two commercial coursebooks (i.e., Summit 1a and Viewpoint 1), which are used in Iranian language institutes. The results of the directed content analysis revealed that two subcategories emerged from the content analysis (i.e., technology and environment), which were coded as an off-list category. Therefore, it was found that the reevaluation and extension of Stern’s (1993) framework for culture is necessary. Moreover, the results of the quantitative content analysis showed that there was not a balanced representation of cultural aspects in the selected coursebooks and the most frequent element was individual values in life. In addition, it was found that there was significant variation between the two coursebooks in the representation of culture. The study concluded that more in-depth investigation of cultural content is needed to develop cultural awareness of language learners. This study has implications for language material developers, language teachers, and language learners.