درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This study was an investigation of the washback impacts of task-based assessment on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary learning and grammatical ability at the intermediate level. For this purpose, 184 male and female students who were in their third year of school were chosen from 12 schools of (X) (X). This election was done via a multistage cluster random sampling technique using the Cambridge Placement Test (2010). All of the sessions were divided into two parts, 20 minutes were considered for teaching grammar and 20 minutes were for teaching vocabulary. The components of this study were Oxford Practice Grammar Intermediate Diagnostic Test and a standard vocabulary test extracted from TOEFL exams between 2017-2020. The researchers prepared a test for every two groups at the end of every three sessions. It was found that by removing the pre-test factor, the covariance, the task-based evaluation’s washback impact makes the grammatical and vocabulary learning of students better. Considering the reality that every academic endeavor contains planned testing and evaluation techniques to maximize academic achievement and progress, the findings hint that TBLA as an academic measurement device can nicely replace the traditional evaluation techniques.

This study examined the effects of EFL teachers' behavior on intermediate L2 learners’ WTC in English. To this end, a proficiency test was administered to 150 female learners, and 98 intermediate learners aged 16 to 26 were recruited as the participants. Subsequently, a WTC questionnaire was distributed among them to measure their level of WTC. Moreover, interviews were carried out with 30 volunteers who agreed to participate in this phase of the study. The results of the analysis of the WTC questionnaire showed that the WTC level of the learners could be rated as above-average. Besides, the results of the interviews revealed that different kinds of teachers’ behavior affected learners’ WTC both positively and negatively: teachers’ sense of humor and rapport could positively affect learners’ WTC; on the other hand, teachers’ methods of error correction while learners’ speaking and teachers’ lack of support could negatively affect learners’ WTC. Additionally, according to learners’ perspectives, there were a number of ways through which a language teacher could increase the learners’ WTC in English such as encouraging learners to read extra-curricular topics and highlighting learners’ strengths instead of their weaknesses. Several implications were proffered at the end of the study to heighten the awareness of L2 teachers, teacher-trainers, and language institute managers regarding the issue under investigation.

Within the realm of lexis, the area of collocation is of prime importance to producing natural-sounding language for anyone learning a foreign language. This study aimed at investigating the effects of two modes of sentence writing versus multiple-choice test practice manipulation on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ lexical collocation learning. For this purpose, to ensure the homogeneity of the participants, Preliminary English Test (PET) was administered to 87 students studying English at two English institutes of Ofoghhaye Nour and Nourmahdi in Roudsar, Guilan, through which 60 students were selected as the target participants. They were intermediate students with the age range between 17 and 23. They were then divided into two equal comparison groups: Sentence-writing Group (SRG) and Multiple-choice Group (MCG). A piloted pretest of lexical collocation was administered to both groups. Then both groups underwent a 7-session treatment. SRG was treated by the virtue of sentence-writing practice for the target collocations, and MCG was instructed through recognition practice, here multiple-choice practice. After the treatment period, the same version of lexical collocation test was administered to both groups as posttest to examine the effectiveness of the treatments. The results of paired-samples and independent samples t-tests indicated that both groups had collocation gains but the effectiveness of multiple-choice test manipulation on learners’ lexical collocation outweighed that of the sentence-writing mode of test practice manipulation. The implications and recommendations were also presented.

Online education, as a type of distance education, has attracted the attentions of administrators, instructors, and students in recent decades. In the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic, online education has become an unavoidable need. Students' participation in such programs may have an impact on their learning and achievement. The current study looked at the link between engagement and achievement in online classrooms. As a result, the study used a correlational design to address the research questions using Dixon's Online Student Engagement Scale and a researcher-created achievement exam. The questionnaire was developed in 2015 and comprises four categories and 19 items on a seven-point Likert scale. In 2020, the questionnaire was modified with Google Form and distributed to 297 students enrolled in general English courses via a university LMS. The second instrument was a 40-item test of reading comprehension developed by the researcher. The examination was created on the basis of reading theories and was given as a final exam. The one-sample t-test findings indicated that students’ achievement and engagement levels are adequate. Quantile regression revealed a strong link between top achievers’ engagement and achievement. However, bivariate correlation revealed no statistically significant link between typical students’ engagement and achievement. However, students’ level of engagement perception was satisfactory. The concept of engagement applies to high achievers but not to ordinary or low performers, making measurement error possible.

This study aimed at identifying the most frequent test-taking strategies used by successful Iranian male and female university entrance exam EFL applicants. To this end, 150 English major male and female freshman students who got admission to three reputable state universities of Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tehran were selected conveniently and purposively. The model used in this study was developed by Barati (2005) consisting of planning, monitoring, evaluation, and test-wiseness strategies. After selecting the participants, the modified questionnaire developed based on Barati’s test-taking strategy taxonomy was distributed among the participants. Based on the analysis of results, it was revealed that the EFL learners made frequent use of planning, monitoring, evaluation, and test-wiseness strategies, but only the level of use of planning and monitoring strategies reached statistical significance. Moreover, male and female EFL learners were only significantly different in their use of evaluation strategies, but in terms of using planning, monitoring, and test-wiseness strategies, males and females were not significantly different from one another. The findings of the study bear useful implications for EFL learners, teachers, materials designers, and test constructors.

The present study was aimed at investigating intermediate Iranian EFL learners’ feedback preferences on their L2 writing and examining the possible differences between learners with entity and incremental language mindsets with respect to their feedback preferences. To this end, 150 EFL learners were recruited from several language institutes in Isfahan, Iran, and their language proficiency level was measured through a proficiency test. The learners were then given the Language Mindsets Questionnaire and the Feedback Preferences Scale to fill out. Frequency counts, mean scores, and chi-square for independence were employed to analyze the collected data. The results of the study indicated that teacher-student conferencing, self-correction, peer correction, and correction using prompts were the types of feedback that the learners preferred to receive, and the difference between entity and incremental mindset holders reached statistical significance for teacher correction with comments, self-correction, and teacher-student conferencing. Regarding the strategies the learners utilized to handle feedback, the two groups of learners were significantly different just in terms of asking for teacher explanation. Finally, thinking prompts received priority in the following order, L1/L2, word, and rule, while goal and fit were not favored by the learners; thinking prompt did not turn out to cause significantly different preferences in the EFL learners with entity or incremental mindsets. The significance of the obtained results are discussed and the implications of the study are then proffered

The present study was carried out with the purpose of examining the role of metaphorical language in the critical discourse analysis (CDA) of political texts based on a modern framework postulated by Kövecses (2015). The corpus of the study consisted of thirty-thousand words chosen as a textual sample to see which source conceptual domains are used and what generic/discursive attributes emerge upon the analysis. It was prepared through systematic random sampling from different editorial articles in Western political magazines on the relations between Iran and the West in the time span of 2010-2019. Then, Critical Metaphor Analysis was used to explain the trend and patterns in the political articles, mostly lending support to previous research by authority figures in critical and political metaphor analysis that metaphors are used in shaping political thinking, in aiding political persuasion, and in steering cognitive scenarios and models towards the shaping of interpretations of the nations as person or body metaphors. Finally, the study lent ample support to this latter view in its textual findings of the conceptual metaphors used. The findings of the study provide foreign language education in general and the EFL classrooms in particular, with some implications for further research.

The present study was an attempt to explore the ‘washback effect’ of task-based assessment (TBLA) on EFL Iranian learners’ pragmatic development. To this end, through conducting KET (Key English Test), 60 out of 120 EFL Iranian learners studying in an English language school, were randomly selected. They were assigned to treatment group (N=30), and control group (N=30). The treatment group was assessed through TBLA and the control group was assessed via non-task based assessment for 20 ninety-minute sessions. The class sessions were held twice a week. The obtained data was examined through independent sample t-test. The findings implied that TBLA as a pedagogical measurement tool can well replace the classic assessment procedures, since all educational efforts including testing and assessment procedures are planned to maximize the educational gains and developments.

Almost all language schools in Iran enforce teacher supervision with the purpose of promoting good teaching practices and higher standards of quality education. Despite its widespread practice, the body of research on language teacher supervision in Iranian EFL setting is scant. The present qualitative study explored language school managers’ attitudes toward EFL teacher supervision in Iranian language schools. Based on a researcher-developed protocol, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven language school managers from Tehran and Karaj, Iran, whose managing experiences ranged from 5 to 18 years, with the purpose of identifying their attitudes, experiences, and challenges regarding supervision. The interviews drew upon emergent methodology to categorize the interviewees’ value-laden comments into five major attitudinal themes of becoming a supervisor, the requirements and responsibilities of a teacher-supervisor, evaluating a supervisor’s performance, challenges regarding teacher supervision, and supporting supervisors. The findings revealed that there are not any transparent criteria and rubrics for language school managers to draw upon to select teacher-supervisors, and supervisors are mostly selected based on their teaching potentials, experience, and merits. Moreover, the findings demonstrated that apart from observing classes and providing feedback, too many other responsibilities are assigned to supervisors in Iranian language schools. To improve the ongoing supervisory practices, the interviewees suggested the need for the development of transparent criteria and rubrics for supervisor selection.

The present study investigated the TEFL Ph.D. candidates’ conception (TPCs) of professional identity development (PID) during doctoral program. To this end, under a mixed-method design, two instruments were used to collect data: a four-point Likert-scale researcher-made questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. First, the questionnaire was mailed to 80 Iranian Ph.D. students selected through simple random sampling. Then, to yield an in-depth understanding of how they develop their professional identity, 10 participants with more than 10 years of teaching experience were asked to take part in the interview. The results obtained from the analysis of the elicited data indicated that majority of the participants believed that lack of practical professional development courses, lack of scholarship, lack of employer support, the high cost of Ph.D. opportunities, and trivial increase in job satisfaction and security were among the hurdles of to their professional identity development. Regarding the factors influencing some participants’ withdrawal from Ph.D. studies, the results revealed that feeling of isolation and lack of dissertation writing groups were the most significant reasons. The findings of the study can have some pedagogical implications for teacher education programs in that they can be used to emphasize their strengths, eliminate their weaknesses, and to provide stakeholders with ample opportunities to improve the quality of doctoral education.

The relationship between identity and language learning has attracted the scholars` attention in the fields of second language acquisition (SLA) with considerable focus on social and cultural dimensions of language learning. However, relatively little research has been devoted to examining the identity construction of language learners in virtual communities of practice despite the global trend of foreign language instruction. Consequently, the current mixed methods classroom-based study investigated whether the implementation of intercultural movie clips in virtual communities of practice could contribute to social and cultural identity improvement of participants in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context. To achieve this goal, two intact classes in an institute were assigned to experimental and control group, each containing thirty EFL learners. This study was implemented on the pre-test post-test equivalent-group design. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative analysis, using two questionnaires, and a semi-structured interview, the results indicated that positive changes took place in social and cultural identity of the participants. Moreover, by getting access to new social, cultural and linguistic resources and as a result the adoption of new identities, some special features such as fewer psychological barriers to understanding others, increasing courage to accept new norms, and feelings of unity and equity were obtained by the learners.   

Teacher immunity as a novel construct, acts as a defense against the demands placed on teachers and the distressing experiences faced which result in emotional burnout. The main aim of this study was to draw attention to this overlooked dimension of teacher motivation and professional identity through exploring the immunity levels of the student-teachers at teacher education universities in Iran. Accordingly, a mixed method study was designed to which 175 Iranian student-teachers (98 males and 77 females) majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) were randomly invited to this study. Language Teachers Immunity Questionnaire (LTIQ) was used to collect quantitative data on teachers' immunity levels and a semi-structured interview was conducted to collect the qualitative data. After conducting coding and content analyses using MAXQDA and running one-way ANOVA and independent samples t-test, both qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed. The results led to the identification of three immunity types, namely, negative (maladaptive), neutral and positive (productive) types. The results indicated that positive or productive immunity type was dominant among the student teachers. In addition the results of the study indicated that unlike gender, the years of education was a significant factor in terms of determining the immunity levels of the student teachers. Furthermore, the results of the study indicated that teacher immunity is a transient, dynamic and organic construct which fluctuates according to the reinforcement or deficiency of its comprising components such as efficacy and attitude, among others.

ELT coursebooks are the fertile soil for the transmission of cultural perspectives and also strong tools for shaping L2 learners' behaviors and expectations. This study investigated the existence of covert/ hidden curriculum in two of the widely used ELT coursebook series-- Top Notch and English File . To do so, the content of the series was analyzed via Moran's (2001) model of dimensions of culture and Chao’s (2011) main categories of culture . The results indicated that the series, along with covering different dimensions of culture, are biased mainly in favor of the western products, persons and perspectives, and that despite their global EFL/EIL audience, they vividly base their dialogues, reading and listening on the norms and values of the English-speaking countries, with almost no attention to the local, especially Asian values. The study, discussing the implications of such culture- related covert curricula in the ELT coursebooks, makes relevant suggestions for the design of ELT coursebooks in the present global village.

Given that reformulation is an integral component of scientific texts in which the explanation of terms and ideas is prevalent (Candel, 1984; Thoiron & Bejoint, 1991), this study aims at examining the form, frequency, and function of reformulation markers in three sub-corpora, namely, L1 English, L2 English, and L1 Persian research articles of psychology. The study is based on a corpus of 60 research articles amounting to a total size of 1,105,433 words. Drawing on the list of reformulation markers provided in Hyland (2005) in the case of English sub-corpora and a list of Persian reformulation markers prepared by three experts in the Persian language, we searched the corpus automatically for all the instances of reformulation markers. In the next step, all the instances were examined in their textual context in order to identify their function. The results indicated that L1 English sub-corpus contains the highest frequency of reformulation markers followed by L2 English and finally L1 Persian. There were also differences with regard to forms and functions, as well as parenthetical uses of reformulation markers across the three sub-corpora, specifically between L1 English and L1 Persian, suggesting the existence of intercultural variation in the use of reformulation. Besides, Iranian researchers writing in L2 English tend to adapt their writing style to the norms and conventions of English at least as far as reformulation is concerned. The study concludes with some implications for EAP writing and teaching.

It is widely acknowledged that collocations play a crucial role in second or foreign language learning by enabling learners to know more about language chunks and lexical strings. Although many studies have examined L2 learners’ collocational competence, comparatively less research has been carried out to probe into the effective instruction and exercises for enhancing the acquisition, retention, and production of lexical (e.g. make a mistake ) vs. grammatical ( on purpose ) collocations. Therefore, the present study attempted to explore the effect of L2 definitions, fill-in-the-blanks, and sentence writing exercises on the acquisition, retention, and production of lexical vs. grammatical collocations. The data were collected from 66 EFL participants who were studying English at a private language institute. First, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was given to homogenize the learners. Then, the participants were divided into three groups, each receiving one of the three different types of exercises including definitions, fill-in-the-blanks, and sentence writing exercises. Data analysis using multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA) indicated that learners who received the sentence writing treatment significantly outperformed those learners who received definition and fill-in-the-blank exercises in the acquisition, retention, and production of lexical vs. grammatical collocations. Moreover, fill-in-the-blanks could help the participants learn, retain, and remember both types of collocations significantly better than the L2 definitions. These findings have some pedagogical implications for learning and teaching lexical and grammatical collocations.

Television can be considered a rich, helpful, and valuable source to expose L2 learners to huge amounts of comprehensible input so that they can improve their L2 knowledge and, in particular, their L2 vocabulary knowledge. This study aimed to discover how effective sustainable and extensive TV viewing can be in L2 vocabulary learning, considering the language of the on-screen text (L1 or L2) and instruction type (preteaching L2 items or not). Eighty L2 learners (58 female and 22 male), who had an intermediate English proficiency and were divided into four groups, participated in the intervention over an academic term in a language institute. Participants viewed 14 episodes of a TV series under four experimental conditions: (1) captions and preteaching, (2) captions without preteaching, (3) subtitles and preteaching, and (4) subtitles without preteaching. A pre/posttest design to examine the gains regarding both L2 vocabulary meaning and form was adopted. Results suggested that extensive exposure to TV series positively affected the participants’ L2 vocabulary learning, both in terms of meaning and form. Participants exposed to L2 captions outperformed those who had received L1 subtitles, concerning both L2 vocabulary meaning and form. Finally, the analyses showed that, overall, the groups that had undergone preteaching performed better, regardless of the language of the on-screen texts.