درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present study was an attempt to provide a psycholinguistic account of cognitive processes underlying responding and questioning. It also strived to identify the potential differences between responding and questioning cognitive processes in Target Language Use Situation tasks. To accomplish the objectives, 65 Iranian general IELTS applicants from two foreign language learning institutes in Shiraz, with two different language proficiency levels (intermediate and advanced), were randomly selected. They were administered a normal responding and a reverse questioning IELTS oral tasks. Two seven-point Likert scale questionnaires were also used to measure the task difficulty and mental effort that the applicants perceived while doing the tasks. Additionally, the applicants’ recorded voices in tasks were transcribed and analyzed to assess the number of grammatical errors and pause lengths. The analysis of the numerical data through descriptive statistics and paired-samples t-tests indicated that, in general, the cognitive processes underlying oral responding and questioning are significantly different in terms of mental effort, task difficulty, length of pauses, and the number of grammatical errors. More specifically, the results suggested that the applicants took more mental effort and perceived more task difficulty while constructing the questions for given responses irrespective of their proficiency levels. Both groups also paused significantly longer and committed significantly more grammatical errors when completing the questioning tasks. The paper discusses the study implications for second language teachers and assessors.

This study investigated the relationship between Iranian high school students’ Universal Grammar knowledge and their performance on such standardized general English proficiency tests as PET and FCE internationally administered by Cambridge University. To this end, 108 students were randomly chosen from some high schools located in Malayer from Hamedan. Since this study was correlational in nature, and descriptive and hypothesis-testing by definition, the research participants were given no treatment. Three tests were administered to them instead. To measure UG knowledge, a researcher-made UG test was given to all participants. This test which was made both reliable and valid included pied-piping and preposition stranding principle, binding principle, pro-drop parameter, that-trace effect, projection principle, resumptive pronoun and subjacency principle. To assess the participants’ general English proficiency, PET and FCE tests were run. All participants took the three tests consecutively at two-week intervals after they were given clear and detailed instructions. The findings were manifold. Firstly, there was a significant relationship between UG knowledge and performance on the proficiency tests. Secondly, there existed no significant difference between the proficiency tests as far as the UG test was concerned. Finally, the UG test scores were, through the Cubic regression model, proved to predict the scores gained on both proficiency tests. Most importantly, this study led to some suggestions regarding the learner variables and the under-explored issue of integration of generative SLA and language testing, more specifically standardized general English proficiency tests.

The current study sought to explore the impact of SFL-oriented register instruction on Iranian EFL learner’ writing performance with a central focus on their English proficiency level. As its secondary aim, the study delved deeply into the learners’ perception of the register-based instruction. To these ends, 50 intermediate and 50 advanced Iranian EFL learners were selected randomly and assigned to four groups: two experimental and two control groups. Employing an experimental pretest/posttest design, the learners of the two experimental groups received instruction on the three components of register; that is, field, tenor, and mode along with the implementation of a three-phase teaching/learning cycle, whereas the learners in the control groups were exposed to a conventional writing instruction. Quantitative analysis of the learners’ writing performance on the pre- and posttest measures revealed the contributory role of register instruction in improving Iranian EFL learners’ writing performance, regardless of their English proficiency level. Furthermore, having been surveyed through a researcher-made questionnaire, the advanced and intermediate learners expressed their positive attitude towards the instruction. The findings highlighted the necessity of superseding the traditional linguistic-based writing instruction by a contextual and situational teaching methodology similar to what has been implemented in the current study.

L2 written corrective feedback has been investigated from different perspectives in SLA research (e.g. Ahmadian & Tajabadi, 2015; Bitchener & Knoch, 2010; Ferris, 2006). Taking the cognitive and sociocultural paradigms into account, the aims of the current study are twofold: Firstly, it attempts to find if corrective feedback is effective in improving the linguistic accuracy of L2 learners' tense/aspect use in writing. Secondly, it tries to measure which feedback type (direct, indirect, and negotiated) has a more significant effect on the mentioned linguistic structures. Seventy-five pre-intermediate university EFL learners were selected and asked to participate in the study; they were randomly divided into direct, indirect, negotiated feedback groups, and a control group. During six-week sessions of providing feedback on tenses/aspects, the participants were required to write diary journals on their academic life. The direct and indirect groups received feedback on their diaries, having 10 minutes time in the class to observe the feedback. The negotiated feedback group received 10 minutes one-to-one contingent feedback on the errors. After comparing the four groups, the results showed that all the treatment groups did outperform the control group which indicated that feedback was effective. Moreover, the findings showed no significant difference among the feedback types. This implies that teachers can provide any of the feedback types for learners so far as tense/aspect errors are concerned in their writing.

Assessment has been taken to demonstrate that learning is aligned with external standards which is almost related to students’ goals in a curriculum in English language teaching and it plays an integral role in the success of language learning program that is following by so many EFL teachers. Consistency in scoring (mid-term and final exams) highly depends on the way of conducting paper assessment, validation of the process, reliability, experience of teachers, and different interpretation of assessors to make justified decision. Hence, the present study was an attempt to probe Iranian EFL learners’ perceptions toward paper assessment in mid-term and final exams in a language institute. To this end, a total of 100 participants (50 males and 50 females) between ages of 15 to 28 at intermediate level, were selected based on Nelson Proficiency Test. Data were collected through scores of two sequential semesters and a Likert scale questionnaire. The findings of this study indicated that there is a direct positive relation between learners’ viewpoints on paper assessment and their progress. Generally speaking, paper assessment in both formative and summative assessment would be a great progress among female and male English language learners.

One essential yet often-ignored factor in pronunciation teaching is learners’ beliefs towards teaching and learning of pronunciation. Awareness of this factor can help both learners and teachers achieve their language learning and teaching objectives. The current study investigated 195 Iranian EFL learners’ beliefs and perceptions about various aspects of pronunciation teaching and learning. The learners answered a 30-item Likert-scale online questionnaire which inquired about their views regarding the overall importance of pronunciation instruction, the type of syllabus, the design of classes devoted to pronunciation, the introduction of pronunciation features, the ways of practicing these features, and the role of error correction. To enhance the findings from the questionnaire, the researchers interviewed a subsample of the participants about various pronunciation dimensions specified in the questionnaire. Results revealed that the majority of the participants believed teaching and learning pronunciation was of paramount importance in EFL contexts as it helped them achieve their communicative goals more effectively. The learners also largely preferred a structural over a task-based syllabus for pronunciation instruction but differed regarding whether pronunciation features should be taught in isolation or in communicative contexts, and whether correction of their pronunciation errors should be done by the teacher or peers. Findings of this study can inform the mainstream pronunciation teaching and learning practices and materials designs.

Despite a fairly long emergence of critical approaches to language teaching, there still seems to be a dearth of practitioner inquiries narrating experiences of implementing Critical Language Awareness (CLA) in English as Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. Prompted, the present study narrates the measures taken by an Iranian language teacher for encouraging learners to analyze and examine language deployment in the world around them. The participants of this semester-long study were a community of twenty young female students studying English Literature at a state university in Tehran, Iran who were engaged in a series of reading events including reflective reading of advertisements and TV commercials, and critical analysis of literary works, news and journalistic writings, inter alia. The analysis of classroom records plus reflective journals written by the students display the ways through which the students practiced standing back from texts, questioning the biased ideas, developing reasoned position, and responding in their own voices.