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This study assessed the effect of using English songs on Iranian pre-school students’ speaking proficiency in Kerman. The study was conducted at Novin pre-school, in total, fifty pre-school students aged 5-6 participated in the study. At the beginning of the study, a pre-test of speaking was administered to the participants of the study. Then, they were assigned into two groups, 25 students were in the control group and 25 students were in the experimental group. English songs were used to expand the students' speaking proficiency in the experimental group and the participants of the control group utilized conventional methods of teaching speaking skills. After the treatment, a speaking post-test was administered to the participants of both groups to assess the effect of treatments on their speaking ability. The results were analyzed using the independent samples t-test and paired samples t-test. The results of the study indicated that English songs had a significant effect on the speaking ability of Iranian pre-school students in Kerman. Finally, the findings of the study assist the pre-school instructors to attract their students to learn a foreign language by using a song-based strategy.

This study was an attempt to explore the process of professional identity construction of 49 male and female pre-service English language teachers of Isfahan Farhangian university Through a Vygotskian sociocultural lens. Since the construction of identity can be considered both personally and socially (Beachup & Thomas, 2009; Beijaard et al., 2004), this study took a social constructivism and Vygotskian sociocultural approach as its theoretical basis. This mixed method study was conducted through reflective journals, semi-structured interviews, and a five items Likert-type questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS ver.19 and ANOVA for comparing the means of the quantitative data. Thematic analysis was used for analyzing the qualitative data. The results showed that the construction of student-teachers’ professional identity is a dynamic and unstable process which is affected by different factors such as personal and sociocultural factors, self-image, learning environment, and practicum experiences and mentor teachers. The results of the current study can be used by educational policy makers, teacher educators, and evaluators for making better decisions about teachers to make educational progress.

Contemporary literature in English language teaching shows some impacts of oral narrations on learners’ speaking competence and phonological processing. However, little research has explored the relationship between this methodological practice and young learners’ L2 reading comprehension. This paper investigates the effect which story retelling has on young English learners’comprehension of reading. The researchers employed quantitative and qualitative approaches. Forty children were chosen from two different classes of a comparable level of proficiency and assigned into two groups for a two-month treatment. The results show that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the reading comprehension posttest. The questionnaire and observation data also indicated that the children responded positively to story retelling and that story retelling brought about excitement in the reading class, motivated young learners to read as well as shaped young learners’ behaviours and attitudes. This study suggests using story retelling more often in L2 language programs for young learners.

Decision making and pedagogical reasoning are regarded as two of the important concepts underlying teaching skills. This study aimed to first identify the novice Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ initial decision making and pedagogical reasoning in terms of managerial mode. More importantly, it sought to inform the teachers’ decisions and reasoning through some one-to-one feedback sessions, which were interactively held between every novice teacher and an experienced teacher. The participants were one experienced (male) and five novice (four females and one male) teachers. To collect the data, a number of teaching scenarios, classroom observations, stimulated recalls, and the Self-Evaluation of Teacher Talk (SETT) framework were used. The analysis of the data using conversation analysis showed that the novice teachers benefited from their negotiated interactions with the experienced teacher and applied the points regarding all five pedagogic goals of managerial mode in the framework. After the feedback sessions, the teachers could confidently defend their decisions pedagogically when enquired for reasons. The findings showed that modifying the teachers’ decision would not be successfully ensured until they reached the “aha” of the moment or a new understanding, which is the last stage in reforming one’s pedagogical reasoning. One way to achieve this moment is through raising the teachers’ awareness of the essential metalanguage. It is thus suggested that officials in charge and institute managers provide such learning opportunities for teachers so that they take more serious steps toward their own professional development through such frameworks as SETT

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.

Written corrective feedback (WCF) refers to the feedback given by writing instructors and tutors on novice writers’ performances. Although extensive importance has been attached to the implications of WCF for improving writing skill in L2 writing studies, there is a paucity of research into research on whether student writers benefit differently from elaborated and evaluative feedback. Having this in mind, the aim of this research was to examine the effect of teacher’s text-specific and rubber-stamped comments on Iranian EFL learners’ writing ability at intermediate level. Quick Placement Test was employed to select 40 pre-intermediate EFL learners as the participants of this research. Then, they were randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups. Prior to the treatment, the participants of both groups were given a pretest to disclose their initial writing ability. After administering the rubber-stamped comments to the experimental group and text specific to the control group, a posttest was administered to seek the effect of two types of instruments. An independent samples t-test was used to see if the treatment was effective. Paired samples t-test was also employed to determine the amount of progression between pretest and posttest of the experimental group. The results of the study revealed that rubber-stamped comments improved the learners’ writing ability. Implicationally, instructors can use rubber-stamped comments to help learners improve their writing ability.

The present study intended to address the impact of the socio-economic status (SES) on the Iranian EFL learners’ language achievement and identity processing styles. To attain this goal, 148 students studying General English were designated on the base of purposive sampling from Yasuj University of Medical Sciences (YUMS). At the first step, questions related to social, cultural, and financial background was asked of 20 participants (sample) by an interview. Then, a the researcher constructed a questionnaire from the information attained from the interview, regarding the factors related to the social, cultural, and financial factors (variables) and was distributed among the population (148 students) of the study. The participants’ English University Entrance Exam Score (Achievement test) scores were obtained from the Education Office of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences. Afterward, Berzonsky’s forty item revised version of the identity style inventory (ISI3) (Berzonsky, 1992) assessed the identity style of each participant. Examination of the results indicated that the structural relationship between the variables of identity processing style and language skills was 0.84 and its standard value was equal to 0.345. This value indicated a positive and average relationship between the two structures. That is, with the change of identity processing style, the language skills of the participants have changed.

Given the complexity of spoken interaction, acquiring conversation skills has been difficult for most EFL learners, and as EFL classrooms largely depend on hypothetical scripted material, learners lack explicit exposure to naturally occurring language essential for real - life interaction . This paper reports on a quasi - experimental study aiming at assessing the impact of conversation analysis- ( CA ) informed language - in -( natural )- talk log assignments on the development of Thai EFL learners ’ conversation skills . Eighty - eight second - year undergraduates at a university in southern Thailand took part in the study . As part of a monitored self - study task, the participants completed ten language - in - talk log assignments with self - selective use of audiovisuals available online . The quantitative data was collected using pre - and post - test role - plays . The qualitative data was assessed through completed log assignments, close analysis of the role - plays, and written interview for data triangulation . The findings suggested that the log assignment intervention significantly enhance participants ’ conversation abilities, including turn construction, turn delivery , and the sequential organization of turn - taking . The qualitative results also show that via CA - informed requirements of the log assignment, students became more aware of conversation mechanisms and language use in real - life interaction . This paper recommends that language - in - talk log assignments be incorporated into existing EFL conversation lessons .

The major purpose of the present study was to uncover if the structural complexity of type I and type II conditionals can greatly be mitigated by applying the sandwich format of dynamic assessment (DA). More specifically, this study aimed at investigating the contributory role of DA in improving intermediate EFL learners’ acquisition of conditional structures. To this end, a quasi-experimental pretest- posttest design was utilized. From the target population of students studying English at one of language institutes in Isfahan, two intact classes were selected based on a convenient sampling method. The age of the participants was between 19 and 24. Subsequently, they were randomly assigned to two equal groups receiving their instruction through the present, practice, produce (PPP) method, and the treatment group members were exposed to the sandwich format of DA. The findings revealed that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group on the immediate and delayed post-test. The results indicated that interaction, mediation, and feedback were important factors helping EFL students overcome the challenging task of learning conditionals. Notably, the findings may have important implications for EFL, learners, teachers, and materials developers.

Empirical studies examining the effects of language learning have largely focused on linguistic changes in learners. Regrettably, this has left the non-linguistic changes under-researched. To address this, the current study examined what self-identity changes Chinese university EFL learners experienced and how individual characteristics (i.e., gender, starting age of study, and university major) may have affected these changes. To do so, a self-identity change questionnaire was administered online to 416 Chinese university students using a convenience sampling strategy. Seven identity change variables were measured by the survey: changes in (1) positive self-confidence, (2) negative self-confidence, (3) productive identity change, (4) additive identity change, (5) zero change, (6) subtractive change, and (7) split change. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the items on the questionnaire measured their intended identity change variable. Descriptive statistics showed that participants experienced changes in self-confidence, additive identity, and productive identity, but did not experience subtractive or split change. The results also showed that the participants were unaware that they had experienced any changes. Multiple analysis of variance results showed that the individual characteristics contributed to some variation in the identity changes. The findings support theories suggesting that language learning contributes to non-linguistic changes within learners. متن کامل [PDF 731 kb] (101 دریافت) نوع مقاله: مقاله تحقیق | موضوع مقاله: زبان انگلیسی انتشار: 1400/9/10 ارسال نظر درباره این مقاله : نام کاربری یا پست الکترونیک شما: ارسال پیام به نویسنده مسئول بازنشر اطلاعات این مقاله تحت شرایط Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License قابل بازنشر است.

Metaphor is practised in all languages worldwide. Over the last two decades, investigation on metaphor has relied on some perspectives, such as lexical-constructional, critical, conceptual, axiological, cognitive theory or underlined aspects, as well as semantic and cultural pragmatic as the least of all. This qualitative study focused on how semantic component and cultural pragmatic were used to study the meaning and function of Balinese women metaphor. The purposive sampling method was to collect data from various sources and triangulated it into key informants. The results showed two classifications of Balinese women's metaphors, namely physical perspective as a concrete metaphor that depicts their body parts and personality perspective as an abstract, which emphasizes their ideal role. The pragmatic cultural interpretation involved the cognitive process of declarative analogy that referred to the similarity of values. Meanwhile, the personality perspective metaphor produced higher emotive values than the physical one. Hence, this type of metaphor is used by the Balinese people to advice women.

Previous evidence suggests that teachers’ practices are invariably inconsistent with their beliefs. Different factors have been cited as responsible for such a lack of correspondence. To advance the accumulated scholarship, the current study examined the correspondence/non-correspondence between English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ cognitive and behavioral manifestations of pedagogical beliefs and the extent that teacher grit, as a personal variable, impacts the connection between these two manifestations. An initial group of 70 EFL teachers responded to L2 Teacher Grit Scale and Pedagogical Beliefs Questionnaire. Based on their performance on the Grit Scale, two sub-groups of fifteen teachers (with high and low levels of teacher grit) were selected to examine the alignment/non-alignment of their pedagogical beliefs and practices. Two instructional sessions per teacher were observed by means of an observation checklist designed based on the Pedagogical Beliefs Questionnaire. Comparisons across the teachers showed that whereas the two groups valued pedagogical beliefs roughly equally, only the teachers with high grit levels showed strong evidence of correspondence between their beliefs and actual instructional practices. Based on the findings, it can be implied that teacher grit can serve a prominent role in the correlation between EFL teachers' self-reported pedagogical beliefs and their actual practices.

This quasi-experimental research aimed at investigating the effects of two different modes of worksheets on the vocabulary learning of Iranian young EFL learners. Some 20 male and female learners enrolled in a language institute in Chabahar agreed to participate in this study. Then, they were randomly divided into two experimental groups, and a vocabulary test was administered before the treatment as the pre-test. This pre-test was administered to determine the learners’ vocabulary knowledge and check their homogeneity. During the treatment, learners in Paper Worksheet Group (PWG) learned new words via paper worksheets, while the learners in Online Worksheet Group (OWG) learned vocabulary items via online worksheets. At the end, all the participants took a vocabulary post-test, which was the same as the pre-test. A paired sample t-test and an independent sample t-test were run, the results of which revealed that the PWG outperformed the OWG. More precisely, paper worksheets had a significant impact on young EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. Using worksheets, teachers can create a relaxed, challenging, and fun atmosphere so that young EFL learners can learn complex vocabulary items through active and multi-dimensional learning.