بهزاد قنسولی

This study tried to investigate the impact of task-based instruction (TBI) on the enhancement of Iranian EFL learners’ speaking skill. The study also tried to scrutinize the impact of TBI on learners’ emotional intelligence. To meet these ends, 60 students were randomly divided into two groups, the experimental group and the control group. At the very first session of the term, two speaking examinations were conducted for both experimental and control group. After the speaking examinations, the participants were asked to answer Bar-On’s emotional intelligence questionnaire. The experimental group was instructed through task-based approach and the control group received instruction through present-practice-produce (PPP) approach. The scores obtained by two raters from the interview post-tests were analyzed through non-parametric tests, and the data obtained from EQ questionnaires were analyzed through t-tests. Results of the statistical analysis revealed that the experimental group performed significantly better on the speaking post-test than the control group. Furthermore, the findings also indicated that the learners in the experimental group became more emotionally intelligent than those in the control group.

A number of studies have accounted the integral role of foreign/second language learning and learner strategy use. However, a few of these studies have considered the relationships between strategic competence and its use and foreign language performance (FLP). This study applied structural equation modeling to deeply investigate the relationships between test takers’ strategy use and their performance on foreign language tests. For this purpose, 147 EFL learners from three well-known branches of a private language institute in Tehran, Iran were chosen. These participants also responded to an 80-item Cognitive and Metacognitive strategy questionnaire and took an 81-item Key English Test (KET). Consequently the hypothesized model of strategic competence vis-à-vis FL test appeared with following findings. First, metacognitive processing (MP) had no direct effect on FLP but a significant, direct influence on cognitive processing (CP), which supports the interaction notion of Bachman and Palmer’s (1996) communicative competence . Second, due to the Iranian EFL context in which Iranian students and teachers show more tendencies toward memorizing vocabulary and analyzing grammar, practicing naturalistically was insignificant and deleted while the translating variable was added, which was highly significant. Third, CP had no significant effect on listening ability which shows that listening ability is much more dependent on contextual factors rather than background knowledge and strategic competence.

In a broad dichotomy, cultures are divided into collectivists and individualists. This difference between cultures is manifested in educational settings and the way students and teachers approach educational tasks and activities (Hofstede, 1986). This study investigated the way the dominant culture can affect the cognitive and affective load of classrooms and eventually account for the development of students` moral judgment. To this end, 400 Iranian university students majoring in English language and literature were asked to complete FAMC test (Javadi mehr et al., 2015a). This test measures the role of four factors of "focus, sharing, challenge and support" in the development of moral competency. The results revealed that there was a growth in the pattern of affective and cognitive factors from the first to the last year of studying in this major. The results also indicated that challenge was the least attended cognitive factor but support was always the most prevalent factor in all academic years. The findings are then discussed by taking into account the findings of other related studies conducted in individualist and collectivist societies.

Learning in every context is influenced by the social factors such as the people with whom the learners are communicating in that specific learning environment. As the role that social factors can potentially play in the process of education seems not to have been explored comprehensively in the field of English language teaching, in general, and in the Iranian educational context, in particular, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of both social goals and achievement goals on emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement, in an academic context. The participants of the study consisted of 302 undergraduate students (88 females, 206 males, 8 unspecified), majoring in English literature at two state universities and two private universities in Iran. The data were collected through one questionnaire consisting of items relating to different types of social goals and various types of engagement. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Regression Analysis were conducted to analyze the data. The results of CFA confirmed the validity of such goals in our context. Also, regression analysis showed that mastery goals, social status goals, and social concern goals predicted variance in different facets of engagement.

همچنان عدم قطعیت های زیادی در خصوص نقش محتمل عوامل میانجی فراوان نظیر زمینه زبانی و قومیت در فرایند بازخود اصلاحی وجود دارد. در پاسخ به این موضوع، مطالعه حاضر بر روی 79 زبان آموز فارس و 79 زبان آموز دوزبانه ترکمن با سن 13 تا 18 سال در دو موسسه آموزش زبان استان گلستان صورت گرفت. شرکت کنندگان به سه گروه تیمار و یک گروه کنترل تقسیم شدند. دو پیش آزمون، اشتباهات گرامری زبان آموزان را نشان داد که براساس آن سه راهبرد بازخورد اصلاحی فرازبانی شفاهی، کتبی و تلفیقی تنظیم گردید و بر روی 5 اشتباه گرامری پرتکرار زبان آموزان اعمال شد. گروه کنترل تیماری دریافت نکرد. آزمون کروسکال والیس نشان دهنده تفاوت معنی دار گروه ها پیش و پس از تیمار بود که براساس آن، پس-آزمون مقایسه زوجی کانوور انجام شد. نتایج نشان داد که در فارس ها و ترکمن ها تیمارها به شکل معنی داری بر روی کاهش اشتباهات گرامری اثر گذاشته است. راهبردهای اصلاحی فرازبانی شفاهی و تلفیقی برای فارس ها و هر سه راهبرد برای ترکمن ها بر روی کاهش اشتباهات اثر معنی دار داشتند. رتبه راهبردها به کمک روش نزدیکی به راه حل ایده آل (تاپسیس) با وزن برابر اشتباهات بررسی شد که برای فارس ها، روش شفاهی و برای ترکمن ها روش کتبی را به عنوان بهترین نشان داد. روش تاپسیس با تغییر وزن ها به میزان 50 درصد به میزان 10000 بار تکرار شد که نشان دهنده ثبات رتبه بندی به دست آمده بود. نتایج این پژوهش می تواند برای فراگیران زبان انگلیسی به عنوان زبان خارجی، آموزگاران زبان به فراگیران دوزبانه، طراحان سرفصل دروس و مواد آموزشی کمک نماید و هم زمان درهای جدیدی به سوی پژوهش های مرتبط بگشاید.

Game-based learning and the use of Artificial Intelligence in education is a powerful way to enhance learning and provide content that has been underrated in the Iranian context. This study designed an educational video game under the name of Lost p to improve learners’ writing ability based on a process based-approach within Dynamic Assessment context. Thus, the researcher employed experimental design and used the designed video game as a medium of instruction for the experimental group. The control group received a teacher-oriented method and both groups received feedback and corrections based on the Aljaafreh & Lantolf (1994) self-regulatory scale. The result of the study shows that the experimental group outperformed learners in the control class. We found that teaching paragraph writing rules, such as drafting, getting idea techniques, topic sentence development, and integrating them with the elements of the game were entertaining for the gamified group. To explore players’ attitudes toward the game, a semi-structured interview was conducted that showed differences between gamified and non-gamified writing tasks in the post-test phase of the research since the experimental group’s writing scores were enhanced in the second phase of the study. Moreover, this study suggests L2 learners and teachers can adapt game thinking and elements of games to their educational practice.

Cognitive appraisal of individuals directs to the creation of an emotional response, which is related to emotional intelligence. The present study shows the presence of induced emotions as an unrelated factor on the construct of a TOEFL iBT reading test which can interplay with emotional intelligence for regulating the induced emotions towards reading passages. The present participants were 393 Iranian EFL TOEFL iBT candidates. The present researchers detected induced emotions based on PANAS before and after reading the three selected passages of a TOEFL iBT reading section. Also, emotional intelligence was detected by Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test after reading the selected passages. Our results confirmed this hypothesis statistically by reporting that induced emotion from the passages of the selected TOEFL iBT test has a significant effect on emotional intelligence. This study found that if test developers provide a condition for test-takers to activate their emotional intelligence, they might control the induced emotion as the construct-irrelevant variable during reading.

This study aimed at identifying the ethical challenges encountered when developing a language education virtual environment that acts as a smart platform for managing reading comprehension instruction for EFL/ESL learners. Since Reading Instruction Management System (RIMS) is going to observe, monitor, and supervise the learners' out-of-class activities and help teachers improve their teaching quality, it has to seriously handle humane elements which have not been seriously debated in the related literature on language education software development so far. To this end, this study has devised a qualitative study to further explore the aspects of ethical considerations that have to be considered when developing technological aid. Accordingly, 14 teachers and 14 students were selected based on the purposive sampling method concerning the condition that they will be among the teachers and learners who will use RIMS when it is officially launched in the institution. They were asked to take part in interviews which were held on a one-on-one basis and in Persian, the participants' mother tongue. The data were codded and the emerged ones were then classified under four themes including the challenges related to the teachers, learners, and institutions. Each of these has several aspects which are discussed, accordingly.

Cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) have received sustained attention in educational settings because they can be used to operationalize formative assessment to provide diagnostic feedback and inform instruction. A large number of CDMs have been developed over the past few years. An important component of all CDMs is a Q-matrix that specifies a particular hypothesis about the relationship between each test item and its required attributes. The purpose of this study was to construct and validate a Q-matrix for the reading comprehension section of the Islamic Azad University English Proficiency Test (IAUEPT), as an advanced English placement test designed to measure language ability of Ph.D. candidates who tend to pursue their studies in the IAU. To achieve this, using item responses of 1152 candidates to twenty items of the reading section of the test, an initial Q-matrix was constructed based on theories and models of second/foreign language (L2) reading comprehension, previous applications of CDMs on L2 reading comprehension, and brainstorming and consensus of five content experts. Then, the initial Q-matrix was empirically validated using the method proposed by de la Torre and Chiu (2016) and checking mesa plots, and heatmap plot. Five attributes were derived for the reading comprehension section: vocabulary, grammar, making an inference, understanding specific information, and identifying explicit information. Finally, the analysis of the Generalized Deterministic Inputs, Noisy “and” Gate (GDINA) regarding absolute fit at item- and test-level as well as three residual-based statistics showed the accuracy of the Q-matrix and a perfect model-data fit.

Error analysis is considered as an invaluable pedagogical tool in teaching English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL). Despite abundant research, there are still lacunae in studies investigating the written grammatical errors among monolingual and bilingual male and female Persian and Turkmen EFL learners. To fill the gap, 158 Persian and Turkmen EFL learners from Golestan Province wrote two descriptive scripts that were examined for their most recurrent written grammatical errors. The errors were then analyzed and compared based on the framework of the study. Statistical analyses indicated significant relationships between Persian and Turkmens’ written grammatical errors and their gender. The frequency of monolingual Persians’ errors was significantly lower than that of bilingual Turkmens. These findings might interest EFL teachers, syllabus designers, and materials developers. Moreover, they could be a prerequisite to corrective feedback research while opening doors to further pertinent studies.

The purpose of this study was to compare the functioning of five restrictive CDMs, including DINA, DINO, A-CDM, LLM, and RRUM, against the G-DINA model to identify the best-fitting CDM which can better explain the interaction underlying the attributes of the reading comprehension section of an Iranian high-stakes language proficiency test. To achieve this aim, item responses of 1152 examinees to the items of the test were examined. The six CDMs were initially compared in terms of relative and absolute fit statistics at test-level to choose the best model. It was found that the G-DINA model outperformed compared to the restrictive models; thus, it was selected for the second phase of the study. Concerning the second purpose of the study, the G-DINA was used to identify strengths and weaknesses of the examinees. The results revealed that making an inference and vocabulary are the hardest attributes for examinees of the test, and understanding the specific information is the easiest attribute. Finally, the models were also compared at item-level. The presence of a combination of L2 reading attributes was found.

The present study attempted to look deeply into how Iranian English teachers defined morality and if there was any significant difference with respect to gender and years of teaching experience. The study followed a mixed-methods design including a semi-structured interview and a multiple choice single-item questionnaire. The results revealed that while the main concern for the participants in different decades of teaching was choosing right over wrong, the prevailing theme for male and female teachers differed in that the male teachers moved towards less personalized and more agentic conceptions, whereas female teachers were more concerned with the context and society as their experience increased. The analysis of the quantitative data also illustrated there was a significant difference between female and male teachers in the 2nd and 3rd decades of teaching. Moreover, the differences between participants based on their level of experience were statistically significant