درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

L2/FL writing ability, which per se includes many different types, is considered a major skill in academic settings. However, little research has been done in this area and even less has focused on the effectiveness of task-based writing instruction on the two specific kinds; namely, referential writing and expressive writing. To this end, 60 English Translation sophomores of both genders were selected and divided into two classes after ensuring their homogeneity through the Quick Placement Test (OQPT). For the pre- and post-tests, the participants were required to take IELTS writing tests requiring referential and expressive types of writing. As for the treatment of the study, all participants were instructed based on the same content materials of advanced writing and a task-based framework. The results of the statistical analysis indicated significant improvements in the participants’ writing abilities in referential and expressive written tasks. Besides, the effectiveness of task-based writing techniques was approved in terms of referential and expressive types of language functions in the academic writing of Iranian EFL learners.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of multifactorial socio-educational variables of the family in the structural model of predicting the academic achievement of EFL learners and the mediating roles of parents' involvement and perceived autonomy support. The population of the study comprised all the high school EFL students in Urmia, from which 492 students (262 males and 230 females) were selected as the participants through Cochran's formula and stratified random sampling method. The study was conducted with a correlational design, using structural equation modeling method, and the assessment tools were standard questionnaires. The results of data analysis showed that perceived parental autonomy support, parental socio-economic status, and parents' involvement in education are significantly related to language learners’ academic achievement. Based on this finding, it is claimed that to improve the academic achievement of language learners, these three variables should be taken into consideration and strengthened as facilitating mediators.

This study aimed at determining the effect of teaching idiom strategies, that is, socializing learning and cognitive linguistic approach, on Iranian EFL learners' recognition and production of ambiguous idioms. To this end, 78 upper-intermediate students of Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Iran, formed the total population of the study. Then, Proficiency English Test (PET) was administered to ensure the homogeneity of the needed sample. Based on the results of this test, 60 students were selected as the final participants. They were randomly assigned to two experimental groups: WhatsApp socializing group and etymological elaboration group. A pretest was used to ensure the unfamiliarity of the idioms. The criteria for choosing ambiguous idioms were that all ambiguous idioms required to have etymology and could be illustrated using a picture Also, posttests for the recognition and production of ambiguous idioms were used to compare the performance of the two groups. The statistical analysis of results indicated that the etymological elaboration group outperformed the socializing group in both idiom recognition and production. The findings of this research have pedagogical implications for teachers, syllabus designers, and materials developers in using appropriate instructional methods for teaching idioms.

Changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have tremendously affected different aspects of education and have shifted the traditional face-to-face approaches to online learning. As a non-innovative mode of learning, online teaching and learning have created a new cultural ambiance since teachers and students have to change shortly. The present study draws upon the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework combining teaching, social, and cognitive presences to explore students’ online learning experiences. It aims to assess the interrelationship among presences of CoI and find out which presence is a major factor influencing cognitive presence. A total of 207 university students participated in this study. Data was collected using the Community of Inquiry Survey Instrument and quantitatively analyzed through Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and descriptive statistics.The obtained results indicated that teaching, social, and cognitive presences are correlated, and social presence has a significant impact on students’ learning process. This has a wider implication for online teachers to create more activities and motivate the students to communicate and participate openly in social interaction.  

From the dawn of the third millennium, the utilization of state-of-the-art technology for educational purposes, especially computers and the Internet, has become prevalent across the globe. In this regard, flipping EFL classes appears to be an effective approach to practicing second/foreign languages through computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in order to extend the class time to asynchronous activities outside the class, and make the students more autonomous and actively engaged in the painstaking process of language learning. However, this question merits consideration why many current CALL programs run and taught through flipped learning do not seem to take full advantage of collaborative learning and peer-assessment, specifically taking place in asynchronous channels of communication, namely threaded comment forms and discussion boards. The present study investigates the prospect of realizing social presence as a shared feeling of community among the learners by restructuring and optimizing the existing methods for flipping language classes. Employing a qualitative research based on grounded theory and data triangulation, the researchers recorded, transcribed and analyzed 41 semi-structured group and individual interviews with 44 participants attending an online IELTS preparation course on the first researcher’s website for over one year. Additionally, the same interview questions were posed in an open-ended questionnaire accessible to the participants from the website. The obtained results suggested that learner-centered flipped classes in which asynchronous student-driven content development and out-of-class peer-assessment through commenting and replying are adequately practiced can tremendously increase student interactivity, thereby fulfilling the sense of social presence.

This study embarked on investigating the effectiveness of teaching ESP vocabulary via flipped classroom on improving Iranian students’ vocabulary learning. In addition, the attitudes of ESP learners towards the use of flipped classroom were investigated. In this study, a quantitative procedure was followed to collect and analyze data . In so doing, 60 ESP participants studying English in Payame Noor University were selected non-randomly based on their performance on Oxford quick placement test. All the participants were divided into two equal groups consisting of 30 participants and a pretest was administered. The participants of the experimental group received instruction through flipped classroom. The control group received vocabulary instruction through the conventional method that was popular in the university. A posttest was given to the participants of both groups in order to check the students’ vocabulary learning. To investigate the students’ attitudes towards using flipped classroom, a 10-item questionnaire was distributed among the participants after the treatment phase of the study. The results of one-way MANOVA showed that implementing flipped classrooms has significant effects on Iranian students' vocabulary learning in ESP courses. Furthermore, the participants of the experimental group acknowledged that implementing flipped classrooms has positive effect on their attitude in ESP courses. The findings regarding the effectiveness of flipped classroom and its prospected implications in developing vocabulary learning can pave the way for better communication in an ESP context and community.

This inquiry investigates the impact of Computer Concept-Mapping on Iranian EFL learners’ writing complexity and accuracy. To this end, a total of 30 intermediate EFL learners aged 14 to 16 years were non-randomly selected, homogenized in terms of general proficiency, and classified into two treatment and control groups. Also, a pretest and a posttest on the participants’ writing performance were administered at the beginning and the end of the study.. Further, the ESL Composition Profile developed by Jacobs et al. (1981) was used as a criterion for evaluating the participants’ writing accuracy and complexity. The treatment group received computer-based concept mapping instruction, while the control group was instructed through conventional writing techniques. Then, the data obtained from the two groups’ pre- and posttests were comparatively analyzed through appropriate statistical tools. Parametric paired-samples and independent-samples t-tests as well as Pearson Correlation were also used to assess the inter-rater reliability indices of the participants’ writing tests. The results of data analysis indicated that computer concept-mapping instruction entails significantly better writing performance. This finding has implications for teachers and EFL programmers to use the latest methods and tools of instruction

Giving corrective feedback (CF) is an essential part of the teaching and learning process, and the way it should beneficially be done has been the focus of attention for numerous researchers especially when traditional ways of CF provision are not possible, particularly in rare situations such as outbreaks of diseases. This study investigated how different ways of giving feedback; namely, through online chats and class discussions can help language learners in benefitting from their instructors’ CF provision. To this purpose, the effects of two ways of feedback provision were tested on the participants writing quality. Three hundred and seventeen Iranian EFL learners took a TOEFL test, 132 of them (53 males and 79 females) scoring between 477 and 510 were asked to deliver a 200-word writing task. Then, they were randomly put into 4 experimental and control groups to undergo different treatments, i.e. receiving CF through online chats and class discussions for 10 one-hour sessions. After the treatment, they were required to deliver another 200-word piece of writing. The results of statistical data analysis showed that the writing quality of the participants receiving CF through online chats was significantly higher than that of those who received CF through class discussions. The findings of this research have practical implications for Iranian educational system to update its instructional methods and for the nature of teaching and learning processes and practices.

The use of Web 2.0 technology in language education has received much research attention quite recently. In an attempt to shed more light on the use of Google Docs as a kind of Web 2.0 technology in language learning, the purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of online collaborative writing using Google Docs and collaborative writing in a face-to-face classroom on the writing performance and writing self-regulation of EFL learners. A sample of 38 homogeneous intermediate learners was recruited as the participants who were then randomly divided to an experimental group (N= 19) and a control group (N= 19). The participants of the experimental group received online collaborative writing using Google Docs while the control group received collaborative writing in the face-to-face classroom. Two timed-writing tasks and the Second Language Writing Self-regulation (SLWS) scale were administered to gather the data. The results obtained from performing paired-samples t-tests and ANCOVA revealed that collaborative writing both via using Google Docs and in the face-to-face classroom significantly enhanced the writing performance and writing self-regulation of the participants. However, the gains experienced by the experimental group were significantly higher than those experienced by the control group. Pedagogical implications for Google Docs supported collaborative writing are finally discussed.

This study aimed at proposing a framework based on Integrative Systemic Therapy (IST) for addressing foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA) among Iranian learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The effectiveness of the framework in reducing the levels of FLLA among language learners was investigated when implemented by a therapist as well as by learners independently. To this end, 30 intermediate EFL learners with high level of listening anxiety were selected as participants through convenience sampling. They were then randomly assigned into control group (n=10), therapist group (n=10), and self-therapy group (n=10). The therapist group met with an experienced therapist once a week for a month and self-therapy group was just instructed on how to use the framework independently during the same period. The control group received no treatment. The scale developed by Kim (2000) for measuring FLLA and an IELTS listening test were used to explore the effectiveness of the framework. The results of the study revealed that the proposed framework was effective in reducing the levels of FLLA both when implemented by the therapist and by EFL learners independently. The findings reflected the importance of personalization when selecting foreign language anxiety-reducing strategies to enhance the effectiveness of the foreign language anxiety management

This study was an attempt to examine the effect of using comic strips on improving grammar recognition and performance among Iranian young EFL learners. To this end, one experimental and one control groups were formed, each having 45 preintermediate participants chosen via convenience sampling. The researcher-made pretests of grammar and speaking assured the researchers that the participants did not know the grammatical points targeted in this study. In continuation, the experimental group received grammar instruction with the aid of comic strips, and the control group was taught the same grammar points through conventional methods of grammar teaching. After 16 sessions, both groups sat for a researcher-made grammar posttest and speaking test. Also, an interview was conducted to evaluate the extent to which the treatment for the experimental group and conventional instruction for the control group were effective. Data collected from the groups were, then, submitted for data analysis including ANOVA and t test. Results indicated that the implementation of comic strips could have a positive effect on grammatical competence and performance.

The study of lexical bundles, known as fixed phrases, chunks, clusters and multi-word expressions, has attracted considerable attention. While there has been much research on lexical bundles across different registers and a number of disciplines, their deployment in some special sections of research articles as the most high-stakes genre has not yet been well explored. Accordingly, the present study aimed at identifying 4-word lexical bundles by analyzing the data obtained from a collection of the abstract and conclusion sections of 1000 English research articles written by L1-persian and L1-English writers in AL and IT , as published between 2015 and 2019. The researchers used Antconc software to analyze the data composed of about 600,000 words; then, the functional analysis was carried out based on Hyland's (2008) framework. Overall, the analysis revealed that AL writers outweighed their IT counterparts in their use of lexical bundles. Also, L1-persian writers used more lexical bundles in the abstract section; despite this, both writers used the same number of bundles in the conclusion section. In addition, both AL and IT writers had a similar use of the three main functional categories; however, there were substantial differences and similarities in regard to these two parts of research articles. The findings of this study can help writing instructors to improve students' academic writing. They can enhance their abilities to better comprehend the role of lexical bundles in different genres and sub-genres.