درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Conveying a strong message within a language stems from not only a linguistically appropriate utterance but also a pragmatically appropriate discourse. Broadly considering various facets of pragmatics, pragmatic assessment has not been potentially brought into perspective. To address this discourse gap, this study, guided by the principles of mixed-method design, pursued three purposes: to inspect the matches and mismatches, to explore rating variations, and to assess the rater consistency between the holistic and analytic rating methods of disagreement speech acts in L2 by non-native English teachers. As a result, 12 different pragmatic situations for disagreement DCTs accompanied by EFL learners' responses to each situation were rated by 50 non-native English teachers. Initially, they were asked to rate it holistically, incorporating both ratings and providing comments. The content analysis of raters' comments indicated sixteen disagreement criteria. The descriptive statistics also revealed variations across different situations. Moreover, the teachers were asked to rate it analytically based on the assessment rubrics adopted from Ishihara and Cohen (2010). The findings of intra-class correlations implied that respondents were more consistent in analytic rating. Moreover, the results indicated that there was a convergence between the two rating methods suggesting that the raters adopted the same level of leniency and severity in rating. Overall, the results accentuated the significance of pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic aspects of language for EFL raters. Finally, the results of the present study place a premium on the importance of pragmatic assessment training as well as cultural awareness.

In the present study, two different models of task complexity; namely, limited attentional capacity model and cognition hypothesis were examined. To this end, the manipulation of cognitive task complexity along +/- single task dimension on Iranian EFL learners’ production in terms of fluency was explored. Based on the results of the writing test of TOFEL (2004), 48 learners were selected as the participants of the study and were divided into two groups, simple task group (STG, n=24) and complex task group (CTG, n=24). The participants in the STG were given an eight-frame picture which had been arranged in the correct sequence before its administration (+ single task). The participants in the CTG were given all the eight frames which were not arranged in their correct order. These participants were required to order the frames in the right sequence first, before starting writing (- single task). Their output was encoded based on the measure of fluency. One independent sample t-tests was run.  The results indicated that the participants significantly generated more words in the complex task. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that in the Iranian context, the predictions of limited attentional capacity model were more accurate.

The main role and responsibility of second language writing teachers is to help learners to write with minimal errors. To do so, teachers need to provide students with appropriate types of feedback. In this research, the researchers examined the effect of post-text written corrective feedback on written grammatical accuracy of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. In the first phase, Nelson Proficiency Test was administered to 45 intermediate students studying in two different classes at Cambridge Language Institute in Sari. 35 students were selected. Then, they were randomly assigned to experimental and another groups. The research was carried out in 12 sessions. The experimental group received post-text feedback on their writing tasks while the control group received the conventional type. After collecting data, the researchers used paired and independent sample t-tests to analyze the data. The results indicated that those students who received post-text feedback outperformed the ones in the control group. It means that indirect corrective feedback is more beneficial to students than the direct one. Therefore, post-text feedback can be adopted by EFL instructors to promote students’ written grammatical ability.

The attitude one has towards language learning determines the success or failure of learning the language. To this effect, this study aimed to explore EFL learners’ attitudes towards communicative language learning and the relationship between learners’ attitudes and English language achievement. To address these objectives, the study adopted a survey research design. Two hundred seventeen grade 11 students were selected through simple random sampling technique. Attitude questionnaire, achievement test and interview were tools of data collection. In order to verify students’ attitudes towards communicative language learning, the mean score obtained from attitude scale and qualitative descriptions of the interview data were utilized. To address the relationship between students’ attitudes to communicative language learning and English language achievement, and to decide the predictive power of attitude on learners’ English language achievement, Pearson correlation and regression were applied respectively. In addition, t-test was used to investigate if gender caused attitude difference or not. The findings indicated positive attitude towards communicative language learning. In addition, it was found that attitude to communicative language learning significantly predicted achievement scores of the students. Furthermore, gender was not found to be a determining factor in the attitude towards communicative language learning.

Berzonsky (1990) conceptualized three social-cognitive components of the identity process: an informational or scientific style, normative or dogmatic style, and a diffuse or ad hoc style. Despite the importance of this concept, no previous studies have been conducted to develop and validate the IPS scale to measure this construct as it relates to the EFL settings. Accordingly, the present study aimed at developing and validating a measure that could assess IPS in the EFL context of Iran. To this end, a sequential mixed methods design was conducted in two phases. In the qualitative phase, the researchers reviewed related literature and conducted semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews with EFL teachers in order to seek out the EFL teachers' perspectives regarding what shapes their identity processing styles. Next, the researchers used the principles of data analysis of the grounded theory to analyze data. Then, seven sub-components were initially identified that constitute the Iranian version of identity processing styles model, namely, informational style (analytical/rational thinking), normative style (personal norm thinking, social norm thinking, and religious thinking), and diffuse-avoidant style (pessimistic thinking and optimistic thinking). Finally, to measure the EFL teachers’ identity processing styles, 42 five-point Likert scale items were developed. Then, the newly-developed instrument was completed by 203 EFL teachers in higher education contexts. In the quantitative phase, the IPS scale was tested through different statistical procedures included confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach alpha for reliability. Finally, statistical results were discussed and implications and applications of the study were explained.

Writing as one of the important skills needed for communication has always been the topic of research in English teaching contexts. To improve the writing of English students, teachers employ different methods. This study was designed to investigate the impact of the inquiry learning method on the grammatical accuracy of Iranian EFL learners’ writing. To do so, 90 intermediate EFL learners from Abadan Medical University were selected through the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and participated in a quasi-experimental study, and then they were randomly divided into experimental and control groups (EG & CG). Their ages ranged between 20 to 30. A pretest was administered to compare the results of their performance at the beginning of the study. The inquiry learning method was taught to the EG as the treatment, while the conventional method was employed for the CG. In the experimental class, the teacher did not teach everything directly, and the learners were expected to discover the knowledge and generate rules, but the presentation of materials in the CG was conventional without any discussion, and the students in the CG were mainly passive. After the instruction, a posttest was given to both groups to observe the impact of the inquiry learning method on the grammatical accuracy of their writings. The analysis of the data was accomplished through the application of a dependent sample t -test and an independent-samples t- test to compare the mean scores, and the results indicated that the inquiry learning method improved the EGs̕ writing, and they outperformed the CG. The findings of this study could have implications for the EFL learners, teachers, and material designers that may help them in EFL language learning and teaching.

Television can be considered a rich, helpful, and valuable source to expose L2 learners to huge amounts of comprehensible input so that they can improve their L2 knowledge and, in particular, their L2 vocabulary knowledge. This study aimed to discover how effective sustainable and extensive TV viewing can be in L2 vocabulary learning, considering the language of the on-screen text (L1 or L2) and instruction type (preteaching L2 items or not). Eighty L2 learners (58 female and 22 male), who had an intermediate English proficiency and were divided into four groups, participated in the intervention over an academic term in a language institute. Participants viewed 14 episodes of a TV series under four experimental conditions: (1) captions and preteaching, (2) captions without preteaching, (3) subtitles and preteaching, and (4) subtitles without preteaching. A pre/posttest design to examine the gains regarding both L2 vocabulary meaning and form was adopted. Results suggested that extensive exposure to TV series positively affected the participants’ L2 vocabulary learning, both in terms of meaning and form. Participants exposed to L2 captions outperformed those who had received L1 subtitles, concerning both L2 vocabulary meaning and form. Finally, the analyses showed that, overall, the groups that had undergone preteaching performed better, regardless of the language of the on-screen texts.

Instructional materials as a basic component of curriculums and a central constituent of standards-based programs play a provisional role in both setting the aims and leading the way. English textbooks in Iran’s public education are officially developed and used nationwide. One recently introduced English textbook series is Prospects (I-III) . It is intended for the the Iranian junior high schools and is normally supposed to guide teachers and provide students with the basic exposure to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. The textbooks, together with the lessons, have to be aligned in targeting educational objectives given the sequential nature of the intended grades and the serial contents of instruction. This study evaluated the vertical and horizontal alignment among the series’ textbooks and lessons drawing on Bloom’s revised taxonomy of educational objectives (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). The evaluation initially involved descriptive content analysis of the activities within and across the textbooks using a checklist developed based on the taxonomy. Then, the content matrixes were subjected to Porter et al.’s (2007) alignment index for the statistical assessment of lessons and textbooks’ alignment. The findings generally suggested that the lessons were tuned adequately, albeit accommodating mainly lower-order knowledge types and cognitive skills at the cost of discarding the higher-order ones. In addition, the statistically positive and significant PAIs of 0.93, 0.78, and 0.74 between Prospect I & II, Prospect I & III, and Prospect II & III, respectively pointed to a harmony in the series’ content. The paper discusses the findings and implications in the Iranian EFL context

This study aimed at determining the effect of teaching idiom strategies, that is, socializing learning and cognitive linguistic approach, on Iranian EFL learners' recognition and production of ambiguous idioms. To this end, 78 upper-intermediate students of Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Iran, formed the total population of the study. Then, Proficiency English Test (PET) was administered to ensure the homogeneity of the needed sample. Based on the results of this test, 60 students were selected as the final participants. They were randomly assigned to two experimental groups: WhatsApp socializing group and etymological elaboration group. A pretest was used to ensure the unfamiliarity of the idioms. The criteria for choosing ambiguous idioms were that all ambiguous idioms required to have etymology and could be illustrated using a picture Also, posttests for the recognition and production of ambiguous idioms were used to compare the performance of the two groups. The statistical analysis of results indicated that the etymological elaboration group outperformed the socializing group in both idiom recognition and production. The findings of this research have pedagogical implications for teachers, syllabus designers, and materials developers in using appropriate instructional methods for teaching idioms.