درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present study aimed at exploring Iranian EFL teachers’ perception of professional development. To this end, 200 EFL teachers teaching at private language institutes in Iran were selected as the participants of the study. First, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 50 participants of the study based on which Professional Development Perception Questionnaire was developed and pilot-tested (i.e. subjected to exploratory factor analysis) with 82 similar EFL teachers. The questionnaire was then expert viewed and administered to all the 200 participants of the study and was subjected to another factor analysis to ensure its validity and reliability more comprehensively. The findings yielded a valid model or inventory for assessing EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development.  The results also revealed that the participants perceived professional development enhanced their pedagogical knowledge, improved students’ learning outcomes, and helped them understand their own pedagogical weak points and strong points and those of their colleagues. Furthermore, the results of chi-square analyses indicated that high-experienced teachers had significantly more positive perceptions of professional development than their low-experienced counterparts. The results of the current study yielded a valid and reliable model for measuring English teachers’ perception of professional development which can be adopted safely by other similar studies. The findings might also contribute to policymakers and managers of language institutes to establish proper professional development activities for their teachers which might consequently lead to learners’ improvement in learning.

In the present technology era, a new trend of using social media or social networking sites (SNSs) has been developed. Social media has a lot to offer when it comes to education in general and second language acquisition (SLA) in particular. This study aimed at investigating the impact of Telegram, as an available social network, on learning L2 vocabulary by Iranian EFL beginners. To achieve this aim, a quasi-experimental research design was used. Thirty one Iranian students, aged 10-14, were selected through the convenience sampling method. The teacher taught English vocabulary to the participants in two ways: for four weeks by using Telegram and for another four weeks through the traditional face-to-face classroom instruction. Comparison of the scores obtained from words taught through Telegram and the scores of the traditionally-taught lexical items gave rise to the conclusion that learning vocabulary through the social network was more effective than the traditional approach. This study could help the teachers and material developers to consider incorporation of technology and common applications in language classes for the purpose of L2 vocabulary acquisition.

The study explored the probable significant relationship among demotivating factors, gender, educational fields, and reading proficiency of Iranian EFL learners. The participants in this study were 96 Iranian high school students, learning English as a foreign language (EFL). They were high school female and male students between 16 to 18 years of age. There was the initial population of over 150 students. A stratified random sampling procedure was used to have three groups of 32 from the three educational fields. Each group comprised 16 females and 16 males. There was a Persian questionnaire, which surveyed participants’ judgment on each demotivating factor in the process of language learning. Another instrument used in this study was the reading section of Cambridge Test of English Proficiency. The ex post facto design was used in this study. The findings revealed a significant relationship between the participants’ reading proficiency and language learning demotivating factors. The findings also showed a significant relationship between the participants’ educational fields and the demotivating factors. No significant relationship was found between the participants’ gender and demotivating factors. The findings also revealed that the participants reduced self-confidence and lack of inadequate school facilities and teachers are the most salient demotivating factors. The findings of the study have some pedagogical implications to improve teacher-training programs and language teaching paradigms.

In countries where textbooks are considered as the main source of teaching/learning process, textbook evaluation seems to be inevitable and necessary. The current study aimed at evaluating the new English textbook entitled “Vision 1”, developed for the Iranian first grade high school students. To achieve this goal, two groups of participants took part in the study. They consisted of 30 teachers teaching this book in Baghmalek in Khuzestan province and 70 students studying in the first grade high school in the city mentioned. The quantitative data were collected through two questionnaires. The questionnaires were designed to evaluate the book in terms of seven criteria namely, practical considerations, layout and design, activities, skills, language type, subject and content and cultural considerations. The findings showed that teachers and students were interested in the book in all criteria except cultural considerations. The results also showed no significant difference between Iranian teachers' and students' perceptions towards the book. It can be concluded that the book needs to be modified to include some aspects of cultural values to open a window into learning about the target language culture.

This study investigated the relationship among Iranian English teachers’ adversity quotient, personal growth initiative, and pedagogical success. The participants comprised 28 male and female English teachers and a total of 336 male and female EFL learners who attended the abovementioned teachers’ classes (12 for each teacher). Stoltz’ (1997) Adversity Response Profile (ARP) and Robitscheck’s (1998) Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) were administered among the 28 teachers while Moafian and Pishghadam’s (2009) Characteristics of Successful Iranian EFL Teachers Questionnaire (SIETQ) was administered among the 336 students. To look into the relationship and the predictability of the three aforesaid constructs, a Pearson product-moment correlation and subsequently multiple regression analysis were run following all statistical prerequisites necessary for running these parametric tests. The results demonstrated that there was a significant correlation among the teachers’ scores on the ARP and SIETQ, and their PGIS and SIETQ. Also, there was a significant difference in the predictability of the teachers’ SIETQ by their ARP and PGIS.

Long’s Interactional Input Hypothesis and Smith’s Input Enhancement Hypothesis hold both foci on Zellig Harris's (1976) formalist approach. Accordingly, the pivotal role of learner’s attention as one of the subcomponents of focus-on-form approach may have confused instruction types. However, whether such learning theories on drawing learners' attention on target language forms suit all types of learners, has not been adequately investigated. Of interest were to explore the significant effect of the two input types as interactionally modified input (IM) and textual input enhancement (TIE) and the interactional effect of learning styles of either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (VAK) style on knowledge gain of causative constructions. A hundred and twenty female subjects were selected as a homogenous sample out of the 300-member population based on the TOEFL test. A pretest and two posttests were conducted immediately and about one month after the instructional interventions based on either IM technique or TIE technique. To address research questions, two paired samples t-tests and a two-way ANOVA were conducted. Considering the learner’s VAK learning style, the results revealed TIE and IM techniques positively facilitated the development of knowledge of the target features immediately after the instructional interventions. The results, however, failed to indicate the merging effect of the two input types of the study with the leaner’s VAK learning style and the learner’s gain of target grammar knowledge marginally decreased over time. The findings may contribute to the understanding of the integration of learning styles and input-based instructional programs in foreign language education policy.

This study explored the EFL teachers’ written corrective feedback (CF) techniques and their EFL students’ ability to integrate the CF while revising their texts. A total of 72 EFL students and 4 EFL teachers participated in this study. The data were collected through explicitation interviews administered to teachers and students, as well as through students’ written productions. A content analysis was carried out employing three pre-established categories: types of students’ errors (Guénette & Lyster, 2013), types of teachers’ feedback (Guénette, 2010), and types of students’ revisions (Ferris, 2006). Results showed that error identification with error code was the most frequent type of written CF used by the two teachers in the pre intermediate groups and one of the teachers in the upper intermediate group; whereas, the other teacher in the upper intermediate group used mainly direct error correction without comment when providing feedback. In addition, results showed that although students from different levels undertook revisions of their errors in different ways, most were ultimately able to correct their errors.

Researchers and scholars have been attracted by the idea of using integrated writing task along with independent writing task to best assess the EFL learners’ writing competence. This study was conducted to compare the writing performance of EFL students in integrated and independent writing tasks. It also aimed to find out if writing performance varies with task types. A number of thirty Iranian EFL students participated in this study, and each student wrote on two writing tasks of IELTS Academic module. The written essays were rated by three experienced raters using IELTS rubrics. Paired sample t-tests revealed that test takers performances did not differ significantly across these two tasks. Besides, two one-way ANOVAs indicated the difference between the raters in rating integrated writing task while they were not performed differently in rating independent task. The results are followed by a number of suggestions with the aim of improving the EFL students’ performance in writing skill.

Although there have been several previous investigations on the role of auditory training for the development of auditory processing skills, it still remains unknown whether children with auditory processing difficulties can get improved auditory skills after exposure to a multi-modal training experience comprising both visual and tactile stimuli. The present study, therefore, attempted to use electronic game applications to foster the auditory processing skills of children who suffer from deficits in their listening abilities. For this purpose, the Listening Inventory for Education (LIFE) questionnaire was administered to the potential number of learners and those learners scoring below the mean were selected as the participants. Children were then assigned to one of two experimental groups: bottom-up (n = 15) and top-down (n = 15). Each group was required to complete a training program on an iPad, using the Auditory Workout app for top-down training and Auditory Processing Studio app for bottom-up auditory training. Their progress was recorded through their responses to the LIFE questionnaire. Results were then analyzed quantitatively through the use of an independent samples t test. Findings revealed the significant effectiveness of both bottom-up and top-down approaches in bring about enhanced auditory skills; results are further discussed with respect to the existing literature.

This study investigated the effect of role-play and simulation approach on Malaysian Polytechnic engineering students’ ESL oral communication skills. In addition, the study examined the students’ perceptions of the effect of the role-play and simulation on their oral communication skills. A mixed method design was employed, using both quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches. The quantitative data were collected from the quasi-experimental study (n=100). The data were collected using a set of questionnaires, a pre and post-test. The data from the questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics (percentages and means). The results showed that there was a significant difference between the pre-test and the post-test scores of the role-play and simulation group compared to the traditional group. The findings indicated that the students in the role-play and simulation group had performed better in the post-test compared to the pre-test after the exposure to the role-play and simulation approach in the ESL oral communication skills classes. An implication of the study is that role-play and simulation approach can serve as a possible strategy to improve students’ ESL oral communication skills.