فرنوش آهنگران

The present study investigated the role of male and female EFL learners’ reflection, autonomy, grit, and Foreign Language Engagement (FLE) in the prediction of their Emotional Beliefs (EBs) in their Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) courses. In addition, it strived to determine the difference between male and female learners’ EBs. Accordingly, first, the researchers used convenience sampling to select 109 male and 125 female intermediate-level EFL learners at a language institute in Urmia (Iran) as the participants based on their results on a proficiency test. Second, they used Google Forms to administer the EB, reflection, autonomy, grit, and FLE questionnaires of the study to the participants in a five-week period. Third, the researchers used SPSS 25 to perform the statistical data analysis of the study and to answer the raised research questions. The results showed that male learners’ reflection and grit and female learners’ autonomy and FLE were the main factors in their EBs. Moreover, based on the results, female learners’ EBs were more satisfactory than that of male learners in their CALL courses. The results are likely to provide EFL teacher education course-developer, syllabus designers, and teachers with guidelines on the management of learners’ EBs in CALL courses.

Although processing instruction (PI) has been a very popular grammar teaching method over the last years, there are, however, very limited if any attempts to explore different proficiency learners’ achievements using this approach. This study was, therefore, an attempt to investigate the role of PI in possibly bringing about enhanced acquisition of three grammatical structures: regular past tense, causatives and relative clauses. In addition, it sought learner’s attitudes towards PI as it is believed that the success of an approach is highly dependent upon the viewpoints of its practitioners and the students being exposed to it. Three proficiency groups of elementary (n = 42), intermediate (n = 38) and advanced (n = 40) EFL learners were compared. The results of a set of independent samples t-tests revealed significant effects for the use of PI in all the groups except for a lack of improvement for elementary learners’ production of the regular past tense structure. The analysis of the attitude questionnaire and learners’ further ideas on the effectiveness of PI revealed their appreciation of the integration of this instructional practice in their target language courses. The results are discussed in relation to effective grammar and writing pedagogy.