شیرین آبادی خواه

Interlanguage pragmatics has attracted considerable attention in recent years. One strand of interlanguage pragmatics research includes studies comparing the effectiveness of implicit versus explicit teaching on the development of pragmatics. Many studies, although inconclusively, have shown the superior effect of explicit teaching of pragmatics, but few have focused on finding ways to improve the implicit teaching of pragmatics. The present study attempted to unfold the effect of collaborative dialogue on the quality of implicit teaching of request (head act and preparator). To this end, 28 participants (19 to 33 years old, intermediate) majoring in English (freshman and junior) were divided into two groups. The experimental group (n=14) had the opportunity to complete the tasks collaboratively and the control group (n=14) were not provided with any specific pragmatic instruction. The instructional procedure included four successive sessions of teaching request in situations where the sociological parameters were systematically varied. For the purpose of data collection, the classes were audio-recorded and a pretest-posttest design for discourse completion task (DCT) was adopted. For the purpose of data analysis, target request head acts and preparators were scored and also the audio recordings of classes were transcribed and the process of learning during treatment was checked in detail. The findings indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in producing target preparators and head acts. And evidence of noticing the pragmatic forms namely noticing unnoticed forms, noticing the gap, and negotiation of form was observed during the collaborative task. This study suggests that teachers may need to provide learners with the opportunities for collaborative tasks along with input enhancement tasks in order to improve the pragmatic knowledge of the learners.

Learning English proficiently specially in English as a foreign language (EFL) context needs developing proficiency in all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Knowing four language skills helps language learners to learn the language faster and more fundamentally. Teachers and textbooks as the important sources of materials in EFL education play vital roles to improve students' language skills. Improving language skills need learners' active participation. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) as an important concept in language teaching method is very helpful to develop learners' integrated language skills. In this study, a descriptive qualitative approach, using content analysis of the textbook, was used to evaluate Iranian tenth-grade senior high school English textbook Vision1 in terms of four language skills activities based on Willis' (1996) task-based lesson plan model. A questionnaire adapted from Wuttisrisiriporn and Usaha's (2019) was also administered to 107 (51 males and 56 females) first-grade senior high school English teachers to evaluate their perceptions towards four language skills activities in the textbook. Findings regarding the textbook analysis indicated that it does not adequately include four language skills activities. Considering teachers' perceptions towards Vision 1 skills activities, the findings revealed that most of the teachers disagreed with the adequacy of the four language skills activities. Based on the findings, it is suggested that appropriate language skills activities should be included in Iranian tenth-grade English textbook to enable learners to interact accurately and fluently. In this regard, the study provides some helpful guidance which might be useful for Iranian English language material developers and teachers of tenth-grade senior high school to reconsider the textbook content

  MMetadiscourse as a self-reflective linguistic device plays an important role in both making a coherent academic text and interacting with readers. Using a sequential mixed method design, the present study investigated the use of metadiscourse markers in the abstract section of 70 master thesis abstracts written by Iranian TEFL students at the University of Mazandaran. The study further examined TEFL graduated students’ (n=7) perspectives on the employment of these markers in their thesis abstracts. Based on Hyland’s (2005) model, the interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers were identified in the data. Next, the whole corpus was carefully examined word by word to report on the frequency of metadiscourse marker use. The findings revealed that interactive metadiscourse markers were used three times more than interactional metadiscourse markers. Moreover, transitions and hedges were more frequently employed while evidentials, boosters and self-mentions were less frequently used. Findings from the qualitative data collected through conducting email interviews with graduated TEFL students suggested that they had positive perspectives towards the use of interactive metadiscourse markers in contrast with the use of interactional metadiscourse markers in their thesis abstracts. The results of this study can offer a number of pedagogical implications for explicit instruction of metadiscourse markers in thesis abstracts.

The timing of corrective feedback (CF) provision has been a controversial issue in SLA research. Despite widespread research, there is still disagreement on whether the erroneous structures should be addressed immediately or at a delayed time after task completion. This study investigates the comparative effects of immediate and delayed feedback on developing subject-verb (s-v) agreement by Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 28 university students were divided into immediate (n=14) and delayed (n=14) CF groups after the administration of the Oxford Placement Test. The study involved a pre-test, three treatment sessions and a post-test. The two feedback groups received treatments followed by either immediate feedback provided after task completion or delayed feedback delivered after 3 days of task completion. The tests and treatments contained various activities including multiple-choice, cloze, fill-in-the-blanks and picture description task. The results of the analysis of test scores on the pre- and post-tests were indicative of the outperformance of the immediate CF group, implying that the immediate feedback may be more beneficial for developing s-v agreement accuracy than delayed feedback. The findings of this investigation can bear efficient implications for language teachers and researchers.

The current study was conducted to examine Iranian EFL students’ listening comprehension and writing performance after receiving auditory and audiovisual input. With a quasi-experimental test-retest design, a listening comprehension test was administered in auditory and audiovisual formats to 51 intermediate EFL students from two intact classes. The results indicated that the students’ mean scores in the audiovisual listening test were significantly higher than that in the auditory test administered after a six-week interval; however, no significant difference was found in the accuracy and fluency of summary writing. The analysis of the participants’ responses to the questionnaire indicated that 75% of the students preferred the video format of the test and only 22% found it distracting. Most participants believed that visual input helped them remember details for a longer period and stay more concentrated, engaged and interested in the topic. To conclude, in addition to auditory input, audiovisual material is recommended as a preferred instrument to assess learners’ listening comprehension.