مهری جلالی

The importance of input has been a broadly documented concept in the field of second or foreign language acquisition. However, kinds of input and ways of its presentation are among the controversial issues in L2 classroom research. Therefore, this study was designed to compare the effects of three kinds of input-based instruction on intake and acquisition of the English causative structures by Iranian EFL learners. A total of 105 university students in four intact classes were randomly assigned to four different conditions: processing instruction (PI), textual input enhancement (TE), consciousness-raising (C-R), and control (CO). A pretest/posttest (immediate and delayed) design was used, where participants’ ability to interpret and produce the target structure was assessed through administering a multiple choice interpretation test and a sentence-level production test. Moreover, a grammaticality judgment test was run to assess the amount of intake. Results revealed that learners in the PI group significantly outperformed learners in the other groups on both immediate/delayed production posttests. The findings also indicated that, C-R group could not retain the significant effect of instruction on delayed production posttest and TE tasks were not effective in improving the learners’ production of the target structure. Moreover, the PI group outperformed the other groups on grammaticality judgment test too. Based on these findings, we can conclude that PI which encompasses the most outstanding features of both focus on form and meaning instruction might be a more effective approach in helping EFL learners to acquire the target grammatical forms.

Applying technologies has recently caused language education to undertake influential modifications. Hence, this study tried to investigate the impact of using technology in form of multimedia on improving grammar knowledge of Iranian high school students and also examined their attitudes toward multimedia-based mode of instruction. To do so, three intact classes of lower intermediate students were randomly divided into three groups: multimedia, multimedia + textbook, and control group. After homogenizing the groups regarding their proficiency level, the pre-test was run and results indicated no significant difference. Treatment lasted for 8 sessions, during which the first experimental group was taught through using multimedia elements like cartoons, texts, and Power Point Presentation. The second group had their textbook besides multimedia, while the control group was instructed traditionally by means of the textbook. Comparing the groups’ scores on the post-test revealed the superiority of multimedia + textbook group over the other groups in their grammar test performance. The questionnaire outcomes also showed more positive tendency of the students in this group in comparison to the multimedia only group toward application of multimedia programs. Findings of this study might open a novel way to assist EFL learners to increase their grammar knowledge more successfully.

Although the importance of intercultural competence (IC) training has been increasingly recognized in recent scholarly reviews, home-based approaches invite further investigation in this paradigm. This study aims to make a contribution by exposing a domestic context to assess IC development through using qualitative and quantitative methods. To do so, sixty two undergraduate EFL student-teachers were guided to conduct two either on-line or face to face reflective ethnographic interviews over a sixteen-week course of cross-cultural communication. The quantitative findings obtained from the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) questionnaire showed significant increase in participants’ Perceived Orientation (PO) and Developmental Orientation (DO) after the course. Qualitative findings also revealed significant growth, provoking some new perceptions, and emphasizing the student-teachers’ positive responses to both IDI assessment and the intercultural interactions. The exploratory analysis of the participants’ reports on the ethnographic interviews resulted in seven emerged themes which conceptually matched the traditional IC model. Therefore, the study shows that using reflective ethnographic interviews in a mixed methods design is helpful in developing and assessing student-teachers’ IC.

Quality of teaching plays an important role in students’ achievement which is the main goal of education. So far, teacher education has witnessed widespread reforms to improve this quality with no clear evidence to uphold the claim that experienced teachers are more competent than beginning teachers. This study attempted to investigate whether years of teaching experience can make any significant difference in EFL teachers’ quality of teaching. For this purpose, classroom interactions of 90 teachers who were teaching English to 7th-grade students were observed by using Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Findings showed better teaching quality in terms of instructional and emotional support for beginning teachers (0-3 years of teaching experience), but this dimension declined for transitioning (4-5) and experienced teachers (more than 5 years) with no evidence of a significant difference between them. The only superiority of experienced teachers was having better classroom management compared to other teachers with beginning teachers in the lowest position. These findings suggest that directed professional development programs and evidence-based learning can be beneficial for all teachers regardless of their years of teaching experience.