درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of students' learning styles on their performance in various question types of the listening section of IELTS examination as well as their strategy selection. To this aim, 90 Iranian IELTS candidates from IELTS courses of an English language institute in Tehran, took part in the study as the sampling method was based on availability. The participants of the study comprised of 35 males and 55 females, and they mostly aged between 20 to 27 years old. The researcher first used Kolb's questionnaire to recognize the individual learning styles of candidates, which were accordingly categorized into four classes as activists, theorists, pragmatists, and reflectors. The results obtained from the one-way ANOVA showed that the dissimilarity of the style groups causes different performance in some question types of the listening test. In the note completion, multiple choice, and matching question types, the findings indicated a statistically significant difference. Therefore, it could generally be argued that in these three types of questions in the listening comprehension module of the IELTS examination, variation in different learning styles groups causes variation of performance in different question types. The results of the present study also reveal that the style preferences affect the individual differences in selecting the learning strategies

This study aimed at designing a problem-based model of writing development for Iranian EFL learners. To this end, a qualitative content analysis method was used. The participants included EFL teachers (N=10) and learners (N=15) with teaching and learning experience in writing courses at different language institutes of Iran. They were selected through purposive sampling. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview was used. More particularly, initially, the respondents in this study were interviewed to find out what their views about PBL is. The researchers began the qualitative data collection procedure and continued until data was saturated. The semi-structured questions administered to the respondents dealt with various aspects of PBL including: searching for answers, collaborative learning, cognitive thinking, learner-centered learning, diminished rule of the teacher, feedback dynamics in PBL, synthesis of data, and application of findings. By using the views of participants with regards to PBL, a new PBL model for the writing skill were designed. The findings can have implications for EFL teachers, learners, and curriculum planners.

Collaborative dialogue (CD) in developing L2 skills known as ‘knowledge-building dialogue’, in spite of its momentum in foreign language acquisition, has rarely been conjoined and empirically investigated with a Task-based approach. To this end, the present research was conducted with a two-fold aim: firstly, investigating the effect of task-based collaborative dialogue on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ speaking ability, and secondly, exploring teachers’ and learners’ perceptions of the exercised treatment process. The participants of the study consisted of 100 Iranian B.A. TEFL and Translation Studies students were identified as relatively homogeneous with regard to their language proficiency through administering Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and ten Iranian EFL teachers. The experimental group was exposed to task-based collaborative dialogues, while the control group experienced conventional mainstream teaching the speaking skill. Upon completing the treatment, CD questionnaires were administered to the experimental group of learners and teachers to investigate their perceptions of implementing CDs in speaking classes. Subsequently, the teachers and 12 students from the experimental group attended the semi-structured interview sessions to explore their views regarding the efficiency of task-based CDs. The findings indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control one regarding speaking skill. The results of the questionnaires and the semi-structured interviews complemented each other and indicated that the teachers and the learners adopted positive views toward applying the task-based CD. The findings offer some implications for the stakeholders, including material developers, EFL learners, and teachers, to incorporate task-based collaborative dialogues in second language education.

As an inseparable part of teachers’ education career, practicum supervision can function as a double-edged sword that can generate pedagogical improvement or even make the worse worst in the class depending on the time and manner of its implementation. Given its significance and crucial role in EFL contexts, supervision has captured the attention of some scholars in this line of research. However, few studies (if any) have focused on EFL teachers’ beliefs about instructional supervision and its role in pedagogical development considering their experience level. To fill this lacuna, the current study examined the perceptions of 100 Iranian EFL teachers with different experience levels toward various supervisory practices and their contribution to teacher pedagogical growth using an Instructional Supervision Questionnaire (Kayaoglu, 2012). Furthermore, a semi-structured interview was carried out with 10 EFL teachers taken from the same sample. The results of analyses indicated that both novice and experienced teachers had a negative view concerning the existing supervision system in Iran. Additionally, no significant difference was found between the novice and experienced EFL teachers’ beliefs about classroom supervision (p > .05). The qualitative findings also revealed that both novice and experienced EFL teachers considered supervision as bureaucracy, fault-seeking, confidence-minimizing, and with little to no instructional worth. They also had similar beliefs as per the characteristics of an effective supervisory act. Moreover, supervision was perceived useful only when teachers were novice instructors, but ineffective as they became experienced.

This study intends to conduct a systematic qualitative meta-analysis that focuses on research studies into English Language Teaching (ELT) policy in Iran and Singapore. To identify and compare the main features of the studies and also to provide a contemporary picture of the field in Iran and Singapore, 13 articles published between 2010 and 2021 were included in this review. The analysis revealed that Singapore has employed a top-down language policy and utilized a holistic curriculum which has led to an English knowing society. The policies are well articulated and few mismatches were reported in the policies. In addition, the policies are positively perceived by stakeholders, leading to effective implementation of the policies. However, the findings showed that the Iranian top-down policy negatively framed ELT. Moreover, the policies are not well articulated and there are some inconsistencies between the policies and some mismatches between policy and practice. In addition, the analysis revealed that Iranian stakeholders negatively perceived the policies. They believed that the policies have marginalized the role of teachers and their professional judgment. Finally, research gaps for future research studies in ELT policy were highlighted and recommendations were offered.

The objective was threefold: (a) to investigate the difference among online teaching performance of EFL student teachers at Iran University of Science and Technology who received peer feedback, expert feedback, and reflected on their own teaching practice; (b) to examine the difference between rating scores given by student teachers and those by instructor to online teaching; and (c) to determine student teachers’ best experiences, challenges, and lessons they learnt from expert feedback, peer observation, and reflection. The results of this mixed methods experimental research revealed no statistically significant difference in the three group’s scores on their second teaching practice; however, there was statistically significant difference between the scores of the first and second practices for all three groups. The results also showed that student teachers mostly underrated their first teaching, while they overrated their second teaching. The findings also indicated that their best experiences were related to using technological tools, working with Adobe Connect, making interesting materials, and using games and songs. Their challenges included lack of face-to-face communication, engaging all participants, and preparing suitable materials, whereas teaching new vocabulary in context, simplifying songs by pre-teaching their unknown words, and using online games and websites were the lessons they learnt.

Simultaneous decoding and encoding of information substantiate the foundations of natural processing of language in translation. The present study analyzed two Persian translators’ pragmatic strategies in translating the Quranic temporal discourse marker thumma into Persian. The source text corpus consisted of 6 sections of the holy Quran and was selected randomly; and the target text corpus is comprised of two Persian translations of the same sections. Theoretical perspectives in discourse and translation studies were applied in approaching parallel corpora analysis in the study. The findings indicate that different types and combinations of Persian temporal discourse markers were applied in 53% of the cases by the translators. Moreover, in 47% of the instances, it was replaced with Persian elaborative, contrastive, and inferential discourse markers. This creative, flexible, and innovative discourse construction approach was substantiated on the basis of the recognition of differences between discourses, cultures, and languages. Consequently, this dynamic approach was employed in the construction of an appropriate discourse for the addressee. The bases, resources, and foundations of these dynamic and discourse sensitive translation strategies were discussed pragmatic awareness raising in explicit teaching of these elements, development of sensitivity to unsteady social contexts in language use, and utilizing the findings in lexicography, translation quality assessment, and syllabus design were suggested.    

While the bulk of literature repletes with studies on emotional intelligence and its effect on teachers' performance and students' academic achievement, few have been released as to the potency of the factors that can foster emotional intelligence inside classrooms. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the extent to which spiritual intelligence could be a predictor of emotional intelligence. The data were collected through a merger of the Brief Emotional Intelligence Scale (BEIS-10) and Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (SISRI).  The evolved 34-item questionnaire was translated into Persian to ensure maximum comprehension of participants. The sample of this study consisted of 847 undergraduate Iranian EFL learners from two provinces in Iran. Three phases were in this study. First, an exploratory factor analysis of SISRI-24 was performed. Second, confirmatory factor analysis of both inventories, individually, was done by IBM SPSS AMOS. This was followed by CFA of the 34-item questionnaire. Last, multiple regression analysis was modeled to find the predictive relationships. The results of PCA revealed a three-factor model of SISRI (18 statements). CFA also verified both inventories under investigation. The model fit estimated of the 34-item questionnaire was sufficiently adequate to approve the model. Multiple regression analysis also indicated that critical existential thinking could predict both appraisal and regulation of own emotions as well as utilization of emotions. Likewise, conscious state expansion could predict the utilization of emotions. It was also found that personal meaning production could predict the appraisal of other emotions. 

This study was an attempt to examine the relationship between the academic degree and teaching experience of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and their reliance on student engagement. To this end, eight EFL teachers (male and female) with different teaching experiences and academic degrees and a number of 40 students in their respective classes were selected through convenience sampling. First, the teachers and the students filled out consent forms, including their personal information, such as gender, age, academic degree, and years of teaching experience. Second, the students answered Skinner et al.'s (2008) 'Engagement vs. Disaffection with Learning: Student-report' Questionnaire, a valid scale for measuring language learners' engagement with teaching-learning tasks and their satisfaction with their learning activities. Then, Pearson's product-moment correlation between teachers' teaching experience and academic degree, as well as the students' self-expressed ratings of their engagement or disaffection with classroom learning activities, was calculated. The results showed significant positive correlations between teaching experience and behavioral and emotional engagement and significant negative correlations between teaching experience and behavioral and emotional disaffection.

Pragmatic comprehension is a central albeit under-researched dimension of pragmatic competence in which most EFL learners suffer from serious deficiencies; therefore, the current study was launched to compare the effects of the Non-Computer Mediated Instruction (NCMI) with Computer-Mediated Instruction (CMI), Multiuser Virtual Environments (MUVEs), and Mobile Augmented Reality Games (MARGs) on Iranian EFL learners’ comprehension of English speech-acts. Moreover, this study attempted to cross-compare the effects of the implicit, explicit, and balanced combination of explicit and implicit instruction and synchronous vs. asynchronous CMI impacts on learners' speech-act pragmatic comprehension. Seven equal size groups of 20 upper-intermediate EFL learners took part in this study. Three NCMI groups (implicit, explicit, and balanced explicit-implicit), two synchronous and asynchronous CMI groups (SCMI & ACMI), one MUVE group, and a MARG group were taught based on their assigned 10 two-hour sessions treatments. A validated listening pragmatic comprehension test was used as a pretest and post-test. Data analysis using one-way ANCOVA showed that the utilised MUVE (OpenSim) was more effective than other types of treatments on learners’ pragmatic comprehension development, and both CMI and NMCI were also better than the used MARGs (Batman Bat-Tech Edition and Harry Potter-Wizards Unite). Moreover, those explicit and balanced explicit-implicit interventions were significantly better than the implicit instruction. Finally, the SCMI could enhance L2 pragmatic comprehension significantly better than the ACMI. These findings pedagogically imply the use of MUVEs, SCMI, and balanced explicit-implicit interventions can strengthen L2speech-act pragmatic comprehension.

Over the last three decades, Second Language Teacher Cognition (SLTC) and the factors affecting teachers’ cognitive patterns have turned into one of the concerns within the realm of Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE). The inconsistency of the findings concerning the role of teacher education courses in bridging the gap between theory and practice has highlighted the need for exploring new techniques to encourage teacher reflection and cognitive development. In line with this perceived need, in the present qualitative study, seven researcher-designed Problem-Based Teaching Scenarios (PBTS) were assigned to seven TEFL students to explore the cognitive patterns recurring in their responses. Besides, their transformation while generating practical pedagogical solutions to the posed problems were traced over the course of study. The analysis of the data collected through the PBTSs and a structured electronic interview revealed a number of cognitive patterns including thinking within the boundaries of the prior language learning experience, educational culture, teaching experience, and pedagogical content knowledge. Furthermore, three main cognitive changes namely, moving from not fully grasping the problem to providing well-ordered solutions, from imitating to partially reflecting, and from prescribing to describing were observed. It is hoped that the findings have pedagogical and practical implications for SLTE instructors, curriculum designers, materials developers, and researchers.

Prosody is a fundamental aspect of speech communication through which (un)truthfulness and (in)sincerity of speech can be identified. The focus of the study is on the prosodic features of (in)sincere compliments among EFL learners. Twenty male and female EFL learners were selected through Oxford Quick Placement Test. The participants did role-plays based on situations on compliment topics and their voices were recorded in a recording studio. The produced compliments were transferred to Praat software for acoustic analysis. Also, two native speakers (one male and one female) were requested to read the produced compliments both in a sincere and insincere manner. Their voices were transferred to Praat software for acoustic analysis to establish the baseline of the study. The prosodic features of the participants’ voices were compared with those of native speakers to determine the (in)sincerity of the compliments on a 5-point scale. Results showed that sincere compliments are produced with a higher pitch. Concerning the gender of the participants, males were sincerer than females. Regarding the proficiency level of the participants, there was no significant prosodic feature in determining the sincerity of their compliments. Both intermediate and advanced groups were similar to native speakers in giving sincere compliments. The results of the study open up new horizons for the importance of vocal cues in evaluating sincerity in speech acts.