درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Flipped classrooms refer to teaching approaches that like usual teaching is not done inside the class. It means that before the class students watch videos that the teacher carefully chooses or prepared. The selected videos have to fulfill the required content that advances the abilities of the students in their learning. This study investigates the influence of online flipped classrooms on Iranian EFL high school students’ reading ability. To this aim, the study was done on 50 EFL 12th-grade and pre-intermediate level female students. The students were set into two groups experimental and control. A reading test was run on both groups as the pre-test, at the beginning of the study. Then, after 10 treatment sessions, the post-test was given to both groups. An independent samples t-test was run to compare the means. The outcomes illustrated the significant outperformance of the experimental group over the control group. In addition, to identify the EFL high school students’ attitudes toward the flipped classroom, the students were asked to answer an open-ended question. The results of students’ responses using thematic coding showed that most of the students had optimistic opinions regarding implementing the flipped classroom. Finally, the present study indicated that this model provides an opportunity for students to learn at their own pace and time. Therefore, it has some implications for teachers, students, and institutions which can increase student-teacher interaction in the teaching-learning process.

Subtitling, like all other types of audiovisual translation, has always been influenced by cultural factors, and in turn, subtitles have influenced their target readers. The relation between culture and language in interlingual subtitling might cause some problems in translating Culture References (CRs). The aim of the present study was to classify the samples of CRs in the “Harry Potter” movie series based on Klingberg’s (1986) model. It was also intended to investigate the strategies applied by Iranian translators in subtitling the (CRs) in “Harry Potter” movies from English into Persian based on Diaz Cintas's (2007) proposed strategies. To do so, instances of CRs were drawn from the two series of Harry Potter entitled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire (2005). The data analysis was carried out by descriptive statistics to indicate the frequency and percentages. The findings revealed that “Personal Names” and “Magical Objects”, were the most frequently used CRs in the two selected series of Harry Potter movies based on Klingberg’s (1986) model. Additionally, the results showed that “Loan” and “Calque” were the most frequently used strategies in subtitling the CRs. The findings of the present study may be useful for English translation students, subtitlers, and fansubbers who do subtitle English movies in the Iranian context

The preface which initiates textbooks is a significant convention in writing academic textbooks as it introduces the book, explains assumptions, clarifies expectations, and convinces the readers to read on. In the present study, using Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal framework, ninety textbook prefaces written by both native and nonnative writers, in both hard and soft sciences, were selected and analyzed aiming at exploring writers’ preferences for the type and frequency of appraisal resources. The statistical analysis of the data revealed that the writers plentifully used appraisal resources in the prefaces to express their attitudes, positions, and goals of the inclusion of various sections in the book. Attitude resources, in terms of frequency, are the most frequent, and Engagement elements are the least with Graduation items coming in the middle position. This is quite natural as all academic writing is to express opinions and positions, and prefaces, specifically, are less probable to indicate others’ attitudes and stances, but the authors’ positions and purposes behind the book. Based on the findings, it is concluded that native textbook writers are superior to nonnative writers in terms of communication power, establishing solidarity, and a convincing and forceful voice. The frequency of the subsystem of the main appraisals is also detailed in the article. This study can have implications for textbook writers, teachers, EFL learners, and materials developers.

In the long process of learning English as a foreign language, learners may become exhausted and, if not treated properly, decide to give up learning temporarily and even permanently. Therefore, it seems necessary to explore the reasons for their temporal delays and consider them appropriately to avoid permanent give-ups. As an attempt to determine the reasons for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ delays, the researchers in the present study explored their contributing factors through application of a classical grounded theory approach which led to the development of Language Learning Procrastination (LLP) theory. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 43 EFL learners in Tabriz, Iran, and were coded in open, selective, and theoretical coding stages through a Constant Comparative Method. The emerged theory involved a core category (i.e., Dilatory Behavior) indicating that EFL learners mostly procrastinate in five domains of doing exercises, preparation for exam, submitting projects, starting up speaking, and learning spelling. Furthermore, three major categories of Learners’ Characteristics, Environmental Conditions, and Task Features as the causes of Dilatory Behavior emerged during the iterative data collection and analysis procedures. The results of the study indicated that both EFL learners’ own characteristics and external factors related to the learning environment and language tasks are significant in shaping the EFL learners’ procrastination. The theory of LLP can be applied in EFL settings to recognize the learners’ sources of Dilatory Behavior and devise appropriate solutions for them.

Decision-making and pedagogical reasoning constitute the foundation of teacher professional practice. This qualitative study was conducted to explore novice Iranian EFL teachers’ professional decision-making and pedagogical reasoning in the three domains of (1) planning and preparation, (2) classroom management, and (3) professional responsibilities during the three phases of pre-active, interactive, and post-active teaching. Data from two sources including scenarios and audio journals revealed five novice teachers’ decisions in each domain and their relevant reasoning. Decisions in the first domain were discovered to embody teachers’ choices about materials, teaching methods, and assessment. In the second domain, teachers’ decisions were focused on management, flexibility, and accountability. In the third domain, their decisions were aimed at professional interaction and professional development. Moreover, a new decision domain, ‘dispositions’, was discovered, which comprised novice teachers’ choice of ethical conduct, care, and accountability. This led to the introduction of a new phase of teaching, beyond-active, which greatly influenced all other decision domains and teaching phases. Additionally, novice teachers’ pedagogical reasoning was uncovered to stem from their knowledge, skills, and personality attributes. These findings suggest that knowledge about teachers’ decisions and underlying reasoning provides insights into the scope of their professional knowledge and practice.

This study explored the syntactic acquisition by Persian monolingual and Kurdish-Persian bilingual learners of English as a second and third language and the effect of instruction on beginner learners' syntactic acquisition with reference to UG-based non-primary language learning theories. A group of EFL learners (23 Persian monolingual and 73 Kurdish-Persian bilingual learners) were selected. They were divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels based on their performance on the Oxford Placement Test. A grammaticality judgment test, a translation test and a functional test were used to collect data. ANOVA analyses indicated that Kurdish- Persian bilingual learners of L3 English and Persian monolingual learners of L2 English were able to reset the parametric variations related to the intended features at intermediate and advanced stages of L3 acquisition, but they failed to do so at the initial stage. The Direct Access (DA) hypothesis, the Full Transfer/Full Access (FTFA) hypothesis and the Modulated Structure Building Hypothesis (MSBH) were found to best explain the findings. Paired-samples t -test showed that instruction positively influenced the acquisition of the syntactic features by beginner-level learners after the treatment.

In recent years, the enrollment of English as a foreign language (EFL) has increased significantly in higher education. The aim of this study is investigating the impact of a group learning program which is implemented as online on learning motivation of English among Iranian university students. Forty four undergraduate university students (25 males and 19 females) with the age range of 18 to 30 participated in this study. The Dornyei theoretical framework (2005; 2009) was used to measure the three aspects of motivation (ideal L2 self, ought-to L2self, and L2 learning experience). A pre- and posttest survey and a semi-instructured interview were used as the main instruments. For identifying the differences of the scores of three aspects of motivation, a paired sample T-test was used. The findings showed that there was a significant difference in L2 learning experience prior to and after the program administration and no significant difference were observed regarding the two other aspects. The findings also showed the most motivating feature was interesting learning recourses and tools and the most demotivating feature was technology barriers. Moreover, the findings of the interviews showed that most of the students had positive experience of this project. With the increasing role of English in Iran in all aspects of teaching and learning as an international language, it is crucial for teachers and program developers to care about the motivational drives of learners due to the positive feedback of some programs as the project under the study.

The present study aimed at realizing and developing a scale and a model of English language teachers’ pedagogical competence (ELTPC). By reviewing the related literature and adapting Thomas’s (1987) langugae teacher competence, TESOL (2010) standards of professional EFL teachers, and teaching skills and model of pedagogical competence developed by Olsson, Martensson, and Roxa (2010) resulted in a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire consisting of seven constructs, namely preparation, management, teaching, subject mastery, assessment, attitude, and belief with 87 variables. The questionnaire underwent the scrutiny of experts’ opinion and reliability estimates, which resulted in an instrument of 60 variables for the constructs. Next, the constructs were validated with 320 high school English teachers through a principal components analysis carried out via exploratory factor analysis. The result showed the constructs enjoyed high factor loadings, and with seven variables removed from the questionnaire, a 53-variable scale was developed. Finally, a model was developed based on the seven-construct questionnaire of ELTPC. The researcher hopes that English teachers and the educational system monitor, assess, and improve the quality of teaching based on the developed scale and model of ELTPC