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Phonological awareness has been defined as the speaker’s sensitivity to the phonological characteristics of a language. The present study is aimed at exploring the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ explicit phonological awareness, their foreign accentedness and speech comprehensibility as perceived by native and non-native English-speaking EFL teachers. To determine the relationships, the researchers used a set of tasks that measured 34 EFL learners’ phonological awareness in five domains of rhyming, alliteration or onset, segmenting, blending, and manipulation. They also asked the participants to read a short text which was recorded and later rated for accentedness and comprehensibility on a 9-point scale. Results indicated that there was a significant correlation between the learners’ phonological awareness and perception of foreign accentedness. The same was true about the correlation between phonological awareness and speech comprehensibility. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation was found between foreign accentedness and comprehensibility, suggesting that foreign accentedness could affect comprehensibility of L2 speech. The findings suggest that pedagogical strategies that highlight formal properties of language be employed in second language classrooms to reduce learners’ foreign accent and increase their speech comprehensibility. 

Iran's National curriculum standards represent the guiding blueprints which provide direction for instruction and assessment nationwide. Iran's official university curriculum standards were designed by Iran's Ministry of Sciences, Research and Technologyto provide a frame of reference and guidance for the instructional materials used and decisions made by university instructors. Using a widely accepted measure of describing cognitive processes, that is,Bloom's revised taxonomy of educational objectives, thispaper aims at comparatively investigatingIran's B.A. official curriculum standards of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and ET (English translation). Thestandardspertaining to TEFL and ET fieldswerecontent analyzed in terms of Bloom's revised taxonomyby using a detailed checklist developedbased on the respective classification of cognitive objectives.The findings showed slight differences between both fields in terms of critical thinking skills and that lower-order cognitive skills were more prevalent than higher-order ones. Furthermore, the English translation standards pertained to critical cognitive skills in general and evaluation and creation in particular to a larger extent. Results of this study have implications for policy makers, curriculum designers, materials developers and instructors involved in language education.

The study investigated EFL teachers’ current level of critical consciousness as well as their beliefs about the educational context where they taught. The study also explored how gender, teaching experience, workplace, and academic degree differentiated the participants with regard to their critical consciousness. Drawing upon the related literature and the existing questionnaires in the field, we designed and validated a questionnaire applying technical statistical procedures (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis). The questionnaire was then completed by 310 English teachers teaching in different language institutions across the country. The findings revealed that, in general, EFL teachers’ current level of critical consciousness was above average. However, they believed that the educational context did not encourage and cultivate in them critical consciousness. It was also found that, contrary to expectations, the academic degree did not differentiate teachers in this regard. Moreover, male and female teachers were found not to be significantly different in their critical consciousness. The theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed in the paper.

The present exploratory study aimed to provide a more tangible and comprehensive picture of the construct of investment in language learning through investigating the issue from a quantitative perspective. To this end, the present researchers followed three main phases. First, a hypothesized model of investment in language learning with six components was developed for the Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners based on the extensive readings of the literature on investment, consultations with a panel of experts, three university professors in the relevant fields, and interviews with 20 language learners. Second, a questionnaire was developed and validated based on the proposed model to represent its components. Finally, the data collected through this questionnaire were fed into the model to see to what extent the model fitted the data. The participants were male and female English language learners belonging to different age groups and English language proficiency levels.The initial results showed poor values; however, the model was trimmed by removing one item from the questionnaire, and final statistical indices showed that the model fitted the data.

Many factors may be involved in determining why some students are more and some are less proficient in language. This study tried to explore the factors affecting Iranian EFL learners’ proficiency. 221 students at second, third and fourth year of university, including 50 male and 171 female were selected randomly to participate in the study. A researcher-made questionnaire and a proficiency test comprised the data collection instruments. The researchers were able to identify three factors affecting language proficiency. They were classified as social factors, cultural factors and linguistic factors, Then a model was developed to represent the relationship among these factors and language proficiency. In line with Bourdieu’s (1986), the results of data analysis indicated that social factors are among the most dominant factors affecting the learners’ language proficincy.

Classroom management constraints and how English teachers cope with or remove them effectively have significantly impacted both EFL teachers and teacher educators. However, the coping strategies employed by teachers with high and low levels of expertise have not been thoroughly explored yet. To this end, first 22 teachers in one language institute in Tehran were interviewed and their main coping strategies were extracted through qualitative analysis of the interviews. Then, the extracted strategies were worded into items carefully. The questionnaire of EFL teachers’ coping strategies was validated for the purpose of the study. The findings revealed that the participants used twenty-three coping strategies under two sub-constructs: problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, based on exploratory factor analysis. One hundred EFL teachers with high and low levels of expertise (fifty in the high and fifty in the low group) responded to the items in the coping strategy questionnaire. The results revealed that highly expert teachers used the extracted coping strategies more frequently. Furthermore, the researchers confirmed that teachers need in-service training courses on coping strategies to manage their classes effectively. The results have some implications for stakeholders, namely English language teachers, teacher educators, language institutes, education departments, and EFL curriculum developers.

Lexical bundles are known as important elements of coherent discourse that have been the subject of much research. While the previous research has been mainly concerned with exploring variations in the use of these word sequences across different registers and disciplines, very few studies have addressed the use of some particular groups of lexical bundles within some types of academic writing. To probe in to the possible generic variations, this research focused on anticipatory it bundles as a particular structural group of these word sequences. More specifically, this study chose to investigate range, frequency, and function of these word clusters in applied linguistics published and unpublished writings. Through the use of two big corpora and text analysis programs, this study found that it bundles were used relatively frequently in both published and unpublished writings. Functional analysis also showed that it bundles served a wide variety of functions in both types of writings. Notwithstanding these findings, this study also revealed that some it bundles commonly used in unpublished writing did not count as bundles in published writing.

Though learner-centered paradigm of education has long been introduced to pedagogy in general and language teaching in particular, it seems that scant heed has been given to its implementation as well as the restrictions and challenges on its way. In an attempt to shed more light on the status of learner-centered instruction in Iranian language schools, particularly as regards the impediments hindering its proper application, the current researchers selected a cohort of 240 teachers and 450 students for the questionnaire phase through convenience sampling, as well as 29 male and female language school learners and 30 EFL teachers for interview. Due to its mostly qualitative nature, the study made use of data gathered via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. As the findings revealed, students referred to resource constraints and teachers’ tendency toward applying traditional practices as the two overriding barriers restricting proper LCE implementation. The other two prominent factors singled out by the findings obtained out of students’ attitudes were lack of clear definition of LCE and lack of familiarity resulting from improper training. As regards teachers’ perspectives of impediments, however, poor motivation on the part of teachers and parents’ lack of receptivity for LCE were identified as the most prominent barriers. Finally, in line with the interview findings, all three categories of teacher-induced, learner-induced, and context-relevant factors were reported to be responsible for limiting LCE implementation with variable degrees of influence. The study findings are thought to have practical implications for English language pedagogy in the Iranian context.

Teacher supervision plays a pivotal role in the improvement of education system and the way in which teachers and student teachers perceive it. Consequently language teacher supervisors can utilize appropriate supervisory models to keep teachers update and promote them professionally. The present study investigated the role of language teacher supervisors in student teachers and in-service teachers’ professional development in Iran. To have a representative sample, some 210 EFL teachers practicing in the secondary schools and a total of 215EFL student teachers studying English at some Iranian state and Azad universities participated in the study. A 43-item questionnaire regarding EFL teachers’ attitudes about the impact of supervisory practice on their professional development with a format of a 5-point Likert-type was distributed among them. Also, ten percent of the participants were interviewed. Then the frequencies related to each item were calculated and a Chi-Square was used. Subsequently, qualitative data were transcribed. The results indicated that in-service and pre-service teachers have the same perceptions towards the role of their supervisors in their professional development. However, according to the findings it was concluded that the models of language teacher supervision in language teacher education are different from the models practiced in in-service classes where mostly traditional models are common.

این مقاله به بررسی استفاده از روش متن متقابل (تقابل با متن)، برای آموزش خلاصه نویسی و تفسیر به دانشجویان دکتری رشته های زبان می پردازد. در این پژوهش انواع واکنش های روانی خواننده (چه محتوایی و چه نسبیتی) به متن نوشتار، در شیوه کلی مکالمه محور تدریس زبان روسی به غیر روسی زبان ها بررسی می شود. در کنار ارزیابی ها و نظرات شخصی که ازجمله متداول ترین واکنش ها به شمار می روند، واکنش های دیگری نیز تحلیل می شوند؛ واکنش هایی نظیر استدلال، پاسخ آزاد، تعیین جهت سخن، تصدیق، پیچیده سازی، نتیجه گیری، تعمیم، تصویرسازی، ترجمه، بیان متن با جملات دیگر، تجسم، تثبیت، فرض، بینامتنیت، پیش بینی و جایگزین سازی معنا. گاهی اوقات ارزیابی و تفسیر پدیده ای که در نوشتار ارائه می شود، همانند واکنش های شخصی و روانی متنوع به آن، دشواری هایی را طی دوره آموزشی زبان روسی برای زبان آموزان خارجی ایجاد می کند. به همین دلیل، واکنش های گفته شده، به گفتار روزمره آن ها وارد می شود. مبنای این مسئله رشد به اصطلاح تفکر تداعی گرا (که به مفهوم توانایی برقراری ارتباط بین واقعیت های نزدیک و یا کاملاً دور از ذهن است) در دو بستر منطق و دستور است. در این مقاله نمونه ای از تمرینات معین که زبان آموز را به سوی این هدف رهنمون می سازند و همچنین موادی جهت ساخت متن متقابل به پیوست ارائه می شوند.