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هدف ازاین پژوهش بررسی تاثیردرسکارهای تصمیمی وجورچین بر تقویت توانایی های شنیداری و گفتاری زبان اموزان ایرانی درسطح متوسط بود. بدین منظور از میان 75 زبان آموز دختر ایرانی 60 نفر به عنوان گروه همگون از نظر تئانایی زبانی بر اساس آزمون نلسون انتخاب شدند. جهت سنجش توانایی های شنیداری وگفتاری زبان اموزان قبل وبعد از اموزش ازبخش های شنیداری وگفتاری ازمون PET استفاده شد. به منظور بررسی نقش درسکارهای جورچین وتصمیم گیری برتوانایی های شنیداری وگفتاری، شرکت کنندگان به دوگروه ازمایشی A و B تقسیم شدند. گروه ازمایش A براساس درسکارتصمیم گیری وگروه ازمایش B براساس درس کارجورچین درمعرض اموزش مهارتهای شنیداری و گفتاری به مدت 12 جلسه 45 دقیقه ای قرارگرفتند. به منظور تجزیه و تحلیل اطلاعات، امارتوصیفی واستنباطی محاسبه شد. نتایج نشان داد زبان اموزانی که درس کار شنیداری وگفتاری جورچین را تجربه کرده بودند بهتر از انهایی که براساس درس کار تصمیم گیری اموزش دیده بودند عمل کردند. یافته های این پژوهش ضمن تایید نقش آموزش درسکتر محور، موید نقش متمایز نوع درسکار در تقویت مطلوب مهارت زبانی مورد نظر می باشد.

The present study investigated the possible difference between EFL teachers’ beliefs and their actual classroom practices. To this end, 210 Iranian EFL teachers (103 teachers from high schools and 107 from language institutes) participated in the study. The 45-item Likert-scale Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) developed originally by Horwitz, (1985) and validated by Kasraee Nejad (2014) for the context of Iran and an observation checklist, devised and validated by the researchers, comprised the data collection instruments adopted in the current study. The results of paired t-test revealed statistically significant differences between beliefs of Iranian EFL teachers and their actual classroom practices. Moreover, the results of Independent Samples t-test indicated that the two groups of high school and language institute teachers were significantly different with regard to their beliefs on language learning. In addition, the results of Chi-square analysis demonstrated 43 out of 45 teachers’ specific beliefs were significantly different from their actual classroom practices. In the light of the findings of the present study, educational policy makers and managers in both high schools and language institutes are recommended to introduce ways to raise EFL teachers’ awareness of their beliefs to enhance their efficiency in their actual classroom practices.

A key component of any educational program is the “textbook”, the efficiency of which greatly contributes to the accomplishment of the pedagogical goals of the program. The grave significance of the textbook necessitates its rigorous evaluation (Tomlinson, 2008). This study aimed to investigate EFL teachers’ and students’ perspectives on a recently developed Iranian EFL junior high school textbook entitled “Prospect 3”. The participants were 218 third-grade junior high school students and 103 EFL teachers conveniently selected from different junior high schools of Khuzestan, Golestan, Hamedan, and Qom provinces. The evaluation of the textbook was carried out quantitatively through a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The analyses revealed that EFL teachers were partially satisfied with Prospect 3; however, EFL students were rather neutral. For the teachers ,                                                                       “Vocabulary and Grammar” was the most meritorious aspect, while “ Language Type ” was the least acceptable dimension. From the students’ perspective, the most meritorious aspect of the text was “ Vocabulary and Grammar” ,  while “ Layout and Physical Appearance ” was viewed as the least satisfactory dimension. The findings of this work might be of interest to Iranian EFL teachers, syllabus designers, materials developers, and the stakeholders involved in the materials preparation Bureaus of the Iranian Ministry of General Education.  

The present study investigated whether word learning and retention in a second language are contingent upon a task's involvement load, i.e., the amount of need, search, and evaluation the task imposes. Laufer and Hulstijn (2001) contend that tasks with higher degrees of these three components induce higher involvement load, and are, therefore, more effective for word learning. To test this claim, 64 Iranian intermediate EFL learners were selected based on their performance on the Preliminary English Test (PET). The participants were randomly assigned to two equal groups. Each group completed different vocabulary learning tasks that varied in the amount of involvement they induced. The tasks were jigsaw task (Group A) and information gap task (Group B). During the ten treatment sessions, recall and retention of the 100 unfamiliar target words were tested through immediate and delayed posttest. Data were analyzed using repeated measure ANOVA. The results indicated that learners benefited more from jigsaw task with higher involvement load. This study supported the Involvement Load Hypothesis, suggesting that higher involvement induced by the task resulted in more effective recall; however, no significant difference was observed between the two tasks in the retention of the unknown words.

Due to the lack of paralinguistic information, politeness gains a considerable significance in telephone conversations (TCs). The use of politeness strategies can help interlocutors promote and/or maintain social harmony in telephone interactions. Using the Rapport Management Model proposed by Spencer-Oatey (2008), this study intended to primarily investigate the fundamental closing structures of TCs in Persian and English. Furthermore, it examined the effect of two contextual variables and time availability on the closing pattern sand length of TCs. To this aim, 30 English natives, 30 Persian natives, and 30 Persian EFL learners were selected. A Discourse Completion Test (DCT) of 12 scenarios was developed considering contextual variables and time limitation. The obtained results demonstrated that the CPT (closing implicative environment + preclosing + terminal components) closing pattern may not be applicable in every context. Furthermore, telephone conversers change the pattern and length of TC closing part to maintain their rapport based on the aforementioned variables. The findings of the present study can guide the researcher to follow more complete and perfect politeness models.

With the current availability of state-of-the-art technology, particularly the Internet, people have expanded their channels of communication. This has similarly led to many people utilizing technology to learn second/foreign languages. Nevertheless, many current computer-assisted language learning (CALL) programs still appear to be lacking in interactivity and what is termed social presence, which is in turn an obstacle to the learners assuming active roles in their online experience of L2 learning. Consequently, the existing CALL programs do not seem to have updated themselves from the obsolete behavioristic and communicative genres to reach for the integrative one to yield optimum interactivity. The present study has attempted to cast light on the prospect of creating an online learning community that could optimize the patterns of interaction among the students and the teacher with the intention of creating online social presence. Using a qualitative research based on grounded theory, the researchers attempted to collect and analyze the data vis-à-vis the participants’ feedback on the research questions that were cyclically obtained from 42 English students of the first researcher’s weblog through 41 semi-structured interviews at the end of each virtual class on Skype and Discord over one year. The results suggested that content-based instruction (CBI) in which the students can opt for and create the content of the course through engaging in asynchronous activities and performing peer-assessment in the comment forms and discussion boards before practicing negotiation of meaning in each synchronous class could maximize the level of student-student interactivity and social presence among the L2 learners.

Simultaneous with the emergence of numerous new concerns and techniques in carrying out research in English language teaching (ELT) contexts, conducting ELT research has turned into a multi-dimensional process, and ELT researchers seem to require advanced research skills in order to address different pedagogical issues. Focusing on quantitative research, the present study was undertaken to develop and validate a quantitative research literacy (QRL) instrument for English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher training context. To this objective, a four-component model of QRL, encompassing developing research topic knowledge, research design knowledge, procedural knowledge, and data analysis knowledge was developed based on experts’ opinion and an extensive review of the related literature. Testing of the tentative model through exploratory and confirmatory data analyses on a sample of 1180 EFL teachers across three education levels indicated that a 4-factor model of QRL with 9 sub-factors and 50 items could best explain QRL.

Much interest has recently been directed toward the knowledge of collocations in the field of second language learning since they have been asserted to improve fluency. The current study was intended to examine the effect of verbal and visuospatial working memory spans on the processing of collocations using a Self-Pace Reading Task (SPRT) and relevant working memory tasks. To this end, participants were divided into two distinct groups (high vs. low) based on their scores in the verbal and visuospatial memory tasks. The results of the analyses revealed that there was not a statistically significant difference between high and low verbal memory groups in the processing of collocations. However, a significant difference was witnessed between high and low visuospatial memory groups in their reaction time. These results have important implications for the multi-word processing models and the way collocations should be taught in the classroom.