سعیده سادات حسینی

The present quantitative study examined the role of a set of socially-mediated personal attributes that might intervene in the speaking performance of Iranian EFL learners. The possible relationship between three factors (namely, Willingness to communicate (WTC) in L2, L2 communication confidence, and Beliefs about L2 group work in L2 speaking), which are hypothesized to influence learners’ oral performance, was investigated. In fact, a model reflecting the hypothesis that these three variables would influence the learners’ speaking performance was constructed and tested by collecting data from a convenient sample of 100 B.A. university students in Iran. In order to collect the required data on the above-mentioned variables, a comprehensive questionnaire developed by Fushino (2010) and IELTS speaking test module 1 were utilized. The structural equation modeling confirmed that these three variables were very good predictors of performance of Iranian EFL learners on speaking skill. In other words, the measurement model of this study was approved and the conceptual model of research had an acceptable level of fit index. In addition, the result of multiple regressions indicated that L2 communicative confidence made a higher level of contribution in explaining the L2 speaking performance of the learners, which corroborates the association of these two constructs. The findings of present study also implied that increasing EFL learners’ WTC, communication confidence and beliefs about L2 group work is likely to help to improve their speaking ability and learners who have higher levels of L2 WTC and confidence are likely to achieve higher scores on their speaking performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of problem solving on preschool children 's maladaptive behavior. Methodology: The method of this study was practical and quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with control group. The statistical population of this study was preschool children of Kermanshah kindergartens. Twenty-four of these eligible volunteer children were selected using available sampling method and were assigned to experimental and control groups. Gresham & Elliott (1990) Social Skills Rating Scale was used to collect the data. Pre-test was administered to both groups, then the experimental group received 16 sessions of problem-solving skills training Intervention sessions were held 3 times a week with the presence of a trainer and an assistant for 45 minutes. The control group did not receive targeted intervention. Then, post-test was performed on both groups. After four months, follow-up tests were performed for both groups to evaluate the reliability of the results over time. Data analysis was performed using multivariate analysis of covariance at the significant level 0.05 and Spss24 software. Findings: The results showed that there was a significant difference between preschool children in maladaptive behavior (internal and external behavior) (P<0/01). Conclusion: Maladaptive behavior in preschool age is a normal behavior and a developmental characteristic that many parents consider this behavioral model to be age-appropriate and thus does not form a cycle of maladaptive behaviors in parents and children