درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Language teaching and language training are integral parts of the educational curriculum in every language centers around the world. Offices, companies, and educational centers should update themselves to keep the current progression and try to help their employees to refresh their minds based on educational development. Hence, this study explored the effectiveness of different in-service training programs on EFL teachers' empowerment concerning two factors: self-efficacy and innovation and creativity held in Khuzestan- Iran. To this end, 30 EFL teachers were selected through convenient sampling related to their experiences in each of the programs- E-learning, Class-based, and Blended ones. The participants were divided into three groups of 10 – Class-based, group A., E-learning, group B., and the experiences of the two classes (A & B), group C.  An interview with 8 open-ended questions was conducted. First, all interviews were transcribed, summarized, categorized, and analyzed. Then, the derived themes were coded and analyzed through content analysis. The findings uncovered that about 80% of the participants leaned to participate in Traditional in-service class (class-based) since it had a great impact on teachers to develop and fortify their educational empowerment. Therefore, policymakers and educational centers should raise their awareness on the notion of teachers' empowerment while emphasizing on, at least, Traditional programs instead of the current E-learning and the blended ones.

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of CALL on intermediate EFL learners’ vocabulary learning and comparing it with traditional teaching method. To this end, a quasi-experimental design was used in which 80 students were chosen based on their performance in an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), and were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Six reading comprehension passages consisting of 72 new words were selected from the book “504 essential words” and used as the pretest of the study. Then, the experimental group received twelve sessions of treatment which was teaching vocabulary through different tools in the computer such as related pictures, video, textual highlights, PowerPoint slides, or Narsis software while the control group received the traditional way of teaching such as providing oral pronunciation of words, explaining their parts of speech, and offering a direct translation of words in Persian. Afterward, both groups attended the post-test of vocabulary at the end of the study. The scores of learners in pretest and posttest were analyzed statistically via running independent T-test. The findings revealed that CALL instruction was more effective in enhancing learners’ vocabulary learning in comparison to the traditional vocabulary instruction. The findings indicated that the experimental group had a better performance than that of the control group, and the learners in the CALL group learned more vocabulary than the learners in the traditional group. The findings of this research have implications for teachers and learners as teachers can use CALL in EFL classes to help them be independent learners, and make vocabulary learning more attractive and enjoyable to learners. The findings can help material developers and syllabus designers to consider the importance of CALL while planning textbooks and materials.

The traditional face-to-face language school has been replaced with online schooling by virtue of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, recent studies have significantly covered teachers’ emotional attitudes toward online education. What is not yet clear is their cognitive attitudes toward online language education, particularly during the recent pandemic. To fill the current gap, researchers selected Innovation diffusion theory (IDT) as the main theoretical framework and explored 11 Iranian EFL teachers’ attitudes through semi-unstructured interviews. The findings of the deductive content analysis revealed that teachers had positive attitudes toward compatibility features of online education; however, they had negative attitudes toward complexity stemming from Computer Assisted Language Learning) CALL (illiteracy, power cut, and low internet speed. Furthermore, teachers prioritize traditional language learning over online ones. Among many pedagogical implications, this study suggests that pedagogical experts should run some teacher training programs and workshops for English teachers to escalate their pedagogical and professional needs to teach both receptive and productive skills through online platforms. Additionally, English teachers should escalate their CALL literacy to efficiently manipulate their online classrooms, culminating in integrating more online tools in their language classes and placing a premium on online teaching rather than traditional ones.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, universities around the world faced closure because of social distancing and lockdown, therefore, unprecedently, education had to move online and universities in Iran were not exceptional. This sudden and abrupt shift required teachers to rethink their attitudes and beliefs. This study has been conducted to explore English Language Teachers’ attitudes toward their practices concerning the effects of social distancing and the maximized use of technology in the teaching profession. Having adopted a qualitative method to investigate teachers’ experiences, the data of this study were collected through interviews with nine English language university teachers, and their reflective journals. Generally, the results communicate considerable appreciation for integrating technology in English language courses. To be more detailed, this study revealed three main categories for positive attitudes (pedagogical innovation, instructional support, and professional identity formation) each with some subcategories. Also, the analysis highlights three concerns (technology-related challenges, classroom management, and inflexibility in behavior) for online teaching. The implications of the study mainly provide a welcoming environment for utilizing technology in teaching, especially in English language teaching.

There are two different trends for the study of metadiscourse, including interactive and reflexive. The reflexive model suggested by (Mauranen, 1993) and (Ädel, 2010) cares about reflexivity in language. As reflexivity plays a pivotal role in spoken genres, this study aimed to study the frequency and functions of reflexive metadiscourse markers in academic interviews. Hence, this study focused on a corpus of three academic interviews carried out in English native academic context that was taken from “The Michigan Corpus of Academe Spoken English” (MICASE). The corpus was analyzed using the model by Ädel that includes four functional categories of metalinguistic comments, discourse organization, speech act labels, and references to the audiences . The results showed that about one-quarter of the personal pronouns were metadiscourse. Besides, among the personal pronouns that perform metadiscourse function, singular first-person pronoun was the most frequent while plural first-person pronoun was very rare. It was also found that among the four functions, the interviewees and interviewers paid more attention to metalinguistic comments and references to the audience . The results of this study could add to the knowledge of those participating in interviews in general and in the academic context in particular.

Developing textbook material is a crucial component of any curriculum, which should be based on sound and systematic techniques. In a detailed view, considering the importance of knowing English not only as an international language but as the language of commerce, tech and science, English course needs to be programmed efficiently to provide a suitable circumstance of learning for learners. In this regard, the present study is to develop a new English textbook for Iranian Senior High Schools to provide an opportunity for high school students as well as teachers to be actively engaged in the text, questions, and images of the textbook based on William Rummy’s Technique to keep up with the developments of the field. The results of the study demonstrate demonstrates that the involvement index is appropriate enough to actively engage the learners in the newly developed English textbook. That is, the texts, questions, and images within the textbook are suitably developed to engage the students actively.

Intercultural competence and intercultural sensitivity have drawn the attention of a myriad of scholars in the fields of language teaching, communication, culture, gender, and ethnicity. This is the rationale behind the current research aiming at investigating EFL teachers’ beliefs concerning the concepts of intercultural communication competence (ICC) and intercultural sensitivity (IS) and how such concepts are promoted in their real practices in English classes. To this end, utilizing a qualitative design, a sample of 20 EFL teachers (11 experienced and 9 novice teachers) from different language institutes in West Azerbaijan province were selected. A semi-structured interview and a three-session observation were conducted as data-gathering tools. The results of the data analysis indicated that even though Iranian EFL teachers were familiar with the concepts of IS and ICC and they knew that language and culture are not isolated terms, they ignored culture in the classes due to some regularities imposed on them by society. As a matter of fact, for teachers, the concept of language is the top priority while culture plays a second fiddle. The study has some pedagogical implications for EFL teachers and learners in overcoming cultural differences to improve the level of language proficiency.

This study aims to report on the literature related to the barriers to ICT (Information Communications Technology) integration into ESP (English for Specific Purposes) instruction that hinder promoting ESP instruction through this integration. The literature review has also shed light upon ways of addressing these barriers. To meet this end, the paper begins with discussing a review of some of the important Iranian and international studies on barriers to ICT integration in ESP instruction and then the paper highlights a number of first-order, second-order barriers, and ways of addressing them to help in promoting and changing traditional ESP instruction and materials. It is suggested that this review could be useful for those who make decisions about the ESP courses, for ESP material developers, and for ESP teachers to change from traditional ESP instruction, which is teacher-centered and text-based, to a new ESP instruction through ICT integration. This review has also implications for practice. Change is mostly challenging; reporting a review of previous studies on barriers to ICT integration at the tertiary level and proposing ways of addressing them may help defeat the barriers and may enhance acceptance of new ESP teaching and learning methods.

The present study aimed to explore whether there is any significant relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ traits in terms of personality type and their classroom management orientation. To this end, 130 EFL teachers from private language institutes and schools participated in this study. Three data collection instruments were used: a) personal demographic questionnaire, b) Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control inventory, and c) Five Factor Model personality questionnaire. The results showed that, out of five factors of personality trait and three factors of classroom management orientation, there were two significant relationships; there was a significant relationship between conscientiousness personality trait and instructional classroom management orientation, and there was also a significant relationship between conscientiousness and behavioral classroom management. No other significant relationship was found between other factors of personality and classroom management. The findings of this research can help raise awareness of teachers and teacher trainers alike of teacher personality traits and their possible relationship with classroom management orientation (of teachers).

The epistemological tenets of sociocultural theory view teacher professional development as a continuous and reflective analysis of pedagogical practices and learner development. Accordingly, inquiry-based approaches to teacher professional development and specifically reflective journals can be an asset for teachers, in their endeavor for self-empowerment, by creating a mediational space in which they can exercise their agency and achieve more productive instructional practices. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate the professional development of ten Iranian EFL student teachers through narrative inquiry, “which is conducted for and by the teacher” during one year of attending practicum. To this end, 100 reflective writings of 10 EFL student teachers, which were written during one year, were analyzed based on three functions of narratives as “externalization”, “verbalization” and “systematic examination” (Johnson & Golombek, 2011). The results indicated the importance of narrative inquiry in the development of the professional identity of student teachers. The results also implied the value of responsive mediation in L2 teacher education. 

Assessment literacy refers to the knowledge teachers have about definitions of testing and the employment of this knowledge to classroom practices. This study inspected the extent to which high school teachers of English, mathematics, science, and social studies utilize assessment literacy and instructional improvement practices in their classrooms and the probable relationship between these two factors. To this end, ninety-seven teachers from sixty high schools across Zanjan province in Iran were selected based on convenient sampling. The instrument used was a 32-item questionnaire designed by researchers and validated by experts. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was also conducted in order to validate the factor structure of the questionnaire. The results showed a strong positive relationship between assessment literacy and instructional improvement practices in all four subject areas through correlations. This suggests that showing an understanding of assessment literacy results in a greater understanding of instructional improvement in the classroom. Moreover, a one-way ANOVA was performed in order to determine if there is a significant difference in the use of assessment literacy practices and instructional improvement among different subject areas. The data revealed no statistically significant differences between neither assessment literacy nor instructional improvement scores by subject area. The study can be beneficial to school districts and teachers since the review of existing teaching practices and an increase in ongoing professional development in assessment literacy theories and practices may improve instructional improvement in all subject areas.

This study investigated the relationships between Iranian EFL teachers’ conceptions of assessment and their self-efficacy. For this purpose, 154 Iranian EFL teachers were selected through purposeful sampling and completed the 27-item teachers’ conceptions of assessment scale (TCoA) (Brown, 2006), and the 24-item teachers’ self-efficacy scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). Multiple regression analysis and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The results showed that teachers considered assessment as a tool to determine how much have their students learned from instruction, assessment results can be used to modify teaching practices and assessment processes may be inaccurate. Moreover, they argued that assessment is an indicator of school performance and, at the same time, assessment results should be treated cautiously. In addition, the results showed that Iranian EFL teachers had a high level of self-efficacy, were good at asking appropriate questions and answering students’ difficult questions, can assess students’ learning, and provide alternative explanations and examples when learners are confused. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that school accountability and irrelevance predicted students’ engagement, students’ accountability predicted classroom management and improvement predicted instructional strategies. These results may have some implications for EFL teachers' professional development.

English language teachers’ assessment ability to assess all areas of pupils’ learning is important for comprehending how learners advance across the curriculum and guiding them in their development (Livingston & Hutchinson, 2016). The educational system of Iran decided to shift from traditional teaching methodologies toward communicative approaches. This conversion would not turn into reality unless teachers could apply it in practice. However, teachers have certain needs such as expanding and broadening contextual-related knowledge, cooperating with their colleagues, and developing their assessment literacy (Coombe, Vafadar, & Mohebbi, 2020). To identify the teachers’ understandings of, practices in, and challenges of assessment, 15 English language headteachers (English language teachers who are responsible for moderating the group of the teachers’ activities) participated in the interviews of this study, followed by questionnaires for exploring teachers’ needs. The interviews were coded and content analyzed independently by the researcher and an expert in assessment. The main themes and needs were derived from the interview analyses and are presented in eight pivots. The findings of the questionnaires manifested the priorities that teachers felt concerning assessment literacy and classroom-based assessment needs. The paper will discuss the findings concerning assisting teachers’ professional development in assessment literacy. Implications are also provided.

Translation Studies (TS) moved away from the focus on literary translation and linguistic approaches to new types of translation called Audiovisual translation (AVT). Technological advancements affected the development of AVT. Technology created a situation in the world of moving pictures within which subtitling and dubbing take an important role in optimizing communication. Despite the growing interest in AVT, song subtitling and dubbing remain on the periphery of TS. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the differences that may exist between the strategies used for subtitling and dubbing the songs on some special musical animations from English into Persian based on Schioldager et al.’s (2008) twelve micro-strategies. The corpus of this study consisted of three musical animations which are Strange Magic, Moana , and Frozen 2 . This study focused on nine songs in each animation. The songs had meaningful lyrics, established the character(s), aided in the narrative, and made the audience relate to the character or the story. Hence, in the selected animations 27 songs were selected. The data were analyzed using a chi-squared test. The results indicated a statistically significant difference between six out of 12 strategies for dubbing and subtitling the animation’s songs. The differences were related to “Direct Translation”, “Oblique translation”, “Adaption”, “Addition”, “Substitution”, and “Deletion”. The results revealed the most frequent micro strategies used by Iranian translators in dubbing songs were “Oblique Translation”, “Deletion”, “Substitution”, and “Adaptation”. However, “Direct Translation” and “Addition” were the most used strategies in subtitling songs in animations. Thus, it was revealed that the translator in dubbing not only transferred the dialogue from the source text but also considered the source text idea. The findings offered a pedagogical implication for translation students, subtitlers, and dubbers to recognize better the subtitling and dubbing strategies that were being used by translators in the Iranian context.

Instagram is considered one of the most famous virtual social networks among all ages of human beings. Nowadays, the extensive popularity of social networking websites such as Instagram has made new chances for Iranian English teachers and learners. Accordingly, the present study tries to investigate whether Instagram would be a useful learning instrument of vocabulary for Iranian male EFL learners at the pre-intermediate at Shokouh Enghelab English Academy in Babol, Mazandaran, Iran. The participants in this study were 50 male EFL learners, ranging from 8-15 years old, selected randomly from 100 cases. After checking the homogeneity of the participants, they were divided into two groups. The participants in the experimental group were learning English vocabulary through ten Instagram pages for four weeks (12 sessions and 25 minutes per session). But the participants in the control group were only taught by the teacher. Pretest and posttest were applied to evaluate learners' knowledge about vocabulary during the session. Based on the research data, Instagram learning brings valuable technological and pedagogical advantages for Iranian EFL learners despite the popularity of social networks. It has a significantly positive effect on the development of  vocabulary learning. The findings of this paper can be helpful in the English methodology issue.