محبوبه مرتضوی

The present study set out to delineate to what extentfive intermediate learners engaged in structuring and problematizing scaffolding in two writing tasks. The study aimed at illuminating how the participants engaged with structuring and problematizing scaffolds cognitively, behaviorally, and affectively.  Learners’ written essays, think-aloud protocols, and interviews shaped the data sources which were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Modifications made in the final drafts were quantitatively analyzed to provide insight into the behavioral engagement of participants with scaffolds. The profundity of cognitive engagement was gauged by the interview questions designed to elicit the depth of processing and illuminate whether participants had merely noticed the existence of a problem or they had understood what was required to be done. Researcher also compared the use of cognitive and metacognitive operations after learners were presented with structuring and problematizing scaffolds through the analysis of think-aloud protocols generated in final drafts each session. Finally, attitudinal and affective engagement was gauged qualitatively through interviews.  The results indicated that structuring scaffolds engaged learners more behaviorally, cognitively, and affectively compared to problematizing scaffolds. Implications for instructors and material developers are discussed.

This study investigated the quality of metacognition at its inter-individual level, i.e., socially-shared metacognition, across two collaborative writing tasks of different difficulty levels among a cohort of Iranian EFL learners. Moreover, it examined the correlation between the individual and the social modes of metacognition in writing. The analysis of think-aloud protocols of a number of pre-intermediate and advanced EFL learners revealed instances of episodes in which peers used metacognitive activities at pair level. Besides, comparing think-aloud protocols of tasks indicated more frequent and longer use of socially-shared metacognitive episodes in more difficult writing tasks. The study also found high correlation between the social mode of metacognition in L2 writing and learners’ individual metacognition. The pedagogical implications include the provision of learning opportunities in which learners are challenged to exploit metacognitive strategies, such as planning, monitoring, and self-evaluating.

Planning, monitoring, and evaluating one’s performance constitute individuals’ metacognitive strategies. Recently, metacognition has been conceptualized not only at the individual level but also at pair and group levels. The concept of socially-shared metacognition has arisen based on the idea that group members observe, control, evaluate, and regulate each other’s actions to promote the group’s problem-solving. This article investigated the impact of motivational scaffolds on a group of Iranian EFL learners’ individual and socially-shared metacognition. Two groups of 30 female intermediate learners participated in this study. In the experimental group, the participants received the teacher’s motivational scaffolds as she provided instructions and feedback throughout individual and collaborative oral and written tasks. On the other hand, the participants in the control group were asked to take part in the routine oral and written classroom activities. The participants’ think-aloud protocols in individual and pair activities were analyzed, and instances of metacognitive activities were identified. The data were analyzed through two Mann-Whitney U tests, and the results indicated that motivational scaffolds statistically significantly enhanced the use of metacognitive strategies at both inter and intra-individual levels. Implications for classrooms are discussed

هدف تحقیق حاضربررسی تاثیر سه روش متفاوت نگارش دفتر تفکرات انتقادی به صورت انفرادی، مشارکتی با همگروه و به صورت مشارکتی با معلم بر روی مهارت خودسازماندهی زبان آموزان ایرانی میباشد. در ابتدا صد و پنجاه زبان آموز ایرانی سطح فوق متوسط مونث که در یک موسسه زبان مشغول فراگیری زبان انگلیسی بودند به سوالات پرسشنامه مقیاس سنجش خودسازماندهی تحصیلی پاسخ دادند. از بین این صد و پنجاه نفر، تعداد شصت زبان آموز که نمره آنها در این آزمون در محدوده یک انحراف معیار بالاتر و یا پایین تراز میانگین بود، انتخاب و به صورت تصادفی به چهار گروه تقسیم شدند. پس از استفاده از روش نگارش دفاتر تفکرات انتقادی برای یک ترم چهل و دو ساعته از شرکت کنندگان خواسته شد مجددﺍ به سوالات پرسشنامه خودسازماندهی تحصیلی پاسخ دهند. نتایج تحلیل پراکنش آزمون مرحله دوم نشان داد که نگارش افکار و وقایع انتقادی به صورت مشارکتی با همگروه یا معلم که فرصت استفاده از بازخورد همگروه و یا معلم را فراهم می آورد می تواند مهارت خودسازماندهی زبان آموزان را به صورت به صورت معنا داری افزایش دهد. زبان آموزانی که از روش نگارش تفکرات و وقایع استفاده کردند اما از بازخورد همگروهان و یا معلم بهره نبردند نیز نسبت به زبان آموزانی که این روش را به کار نبردند نمرات بهتری کسب کردند. بنابراین، نتایج این تحقیق نشانگر نقش موثر نگارش تفکرات انتقادی به صورت انفرادی در بالابردن مهارت خودسازماندهی می باشد.