درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of peer and teacher scaffolding through a process approach in a technology-enhanced environment on vocabulary learning among high and low self-regulated learners. Participants of the study were 120 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners who were selected based on their scores on a sample copy of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The participants were divided into three groups each consisting of 40 learners. One group of the participants received peer scaffolding; the second group was exposed to teacher scaffolding via the Telegram app based on process approach principles, while the third group served as the control group. The control group received conventional vocabulary teaching in such a way that the Telegram app was not employed. The learners in the control group were also provided with vocabulary exercises in the vocabulary book (English Vocabulary in Use). Data were collected through a sample copy of OPT, a vocabulary test, and a self-regulation questionnaire. The results of a one-way ANOVA revealed that both peer and teacher scaffolding significantly affected vocabulary learning. However, there was no significant difference between peer and teacher scaffolding in terms of their effects on vocabulary learning. The results of a two-way ANOVA indicated that the main effect of treatment on vocabulary learning was significant; however, there was no statistically significant difference between the effects of the two treatment modalities on students’ vocabulary learning.

The study examined the impact of high school English teachers’ awareness of pedagogical competence on student learning. A psychometric measurement instrument of English language teachers’ pedagogical competence (ELTPC) was first developed through factor analysis with 320 high school teachers in Guilan, northern Iran. Based on the developed instrument, 36 teachers were divided into two groups of aware and unaware teachers of pedagogical competence (PC) according to Contrasting Groups Method. Then, 160 high school third graders received instruction from the aware and unaware teachers for 7 weeks. Finally, a survey regarding the teachers’ implementation of pedagogical competence in classrooms was conducted with 30 students. The findings showed that the students in the aware teacher group outperformed the students in the unaware group of teachers. Although based on the survey results, the aware teachers were reported to act better with regard to the students’ learning achievements, they were not reported as highly practicing the pedagogical competence. The findings can be practically used by teachers, teacher educators, and education administrators.

Taking the significance of teacher motivation in professional practice and pedagogical achievements of teachers, students and their educational goals, this study aimed to investigate EFL teachers’ motivation affected by the introduction of the Fundamental Reform Document of Education in Iran. For the quantitative phase of the study, a researcher-made questionnaire developed based on the four aspects of motivation by Dornyei and Ushioda (2011) was distributed among 98 Iranian EFL teachers. Afterwards, to capture the salient factors of teachers’ motivation, a set of semi-structured interviews with 7 volunteer teachers were conducted. The results revealed that this reform has had a positive effect on teachers’ motivation yet it has not been that much comprehensive to take into account all the motivation factors except for the contextual ones.

In the area of teaching translation, investigating the effectiveness of technological solutions in developing translation skills is both timely and in demand. As the first step, one can try to explore feedback generated by machines compared to humans. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of electronic feedback provided by the designed translation software on the translation skills of Iranian EFL students compared to the feedback given by an expert human observer. To this end, 60 intermediate male and female students were selected as participants after the administration of Oxford Placement Test (OPT), followed by a translation skill test as pretest and posttest. The analysis of the pretest and posttest data revealed that after receiving the two types of feedback, both groups performed significantly better on posttest. Further analysis of the data, however, indicated that sustained electronic observer feedback was superior to human observer feedback in terms of developing translation skills. It can be discussed that taking advantage of an efficient electronic tool which enjoys the potential of providing some feedback would drive the focus away from the repetitive mistakes and frees up the time and focus on students’ personal problems. The findings may have implications for translation education, training, and practice.

This study investigated the relationship between five teaching styles and emotional intelligence among 102 Iranian English instructors from different universities in Tehran, Iran. To this end, the data were obtained through two phases of quantitative and qualitative data collection. To achieve quantitative data, the participants were asked to fill in two questionnaires, including the Teaching Styles Inventory (version 3.0) and the Emotional Intelligence Scale. The second phase of data collection was performed through collecting qualitative data by conducting a semi-structured interview on 10 English instructors. To analyze quantitative data, multiple regression analyses were run. Likewise, the qualitative data was analyzed through data reduction process in order to realize the instructors’ attitudes toward the different aspects of teaching styles and to find out to what extent their attitudes were similar to one another. The results demonstrated that among various teaching styles, including expert, formal authority, personal model, facilitator, and delegator, merely the delegator style had statistically significant association with emotional intelligence. Furthermore, the relationship between personal model style and emotional intelligence was considerable, though not statistically significant. The findings and their implications are fully discussed.