درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This study attempted to evaluate and compare language learning apps and the related traditional books on the same subject. The apps included Murphy’s English Grammar and Cambridge Discovery Readers and the traditional materials were English Grammar in Use and Developing Reading Skills. The study, thus, aimed to do a comparative analysis between traditional ELT materials and the digital versions. In doing so, it aimed to evaluate ELT mobile apps and consider their effectiveness for English language learning. The analysis was conducted based on the frameworks adapted from Hubbard (2006) and Reinders and Pegrum (2015). Based on these frameworks, the overall features and functions of the selected applications were analyzed in terms of three categories: ‘content and design’, ‘L2 approaches’ and ‘technology’. The analysis demonstrated that these ELT apps seemed to be effective in that they could provide a personal and learner-centered learning opportunity for learners as they would make them independent from any time and any place. Needless to say, by realizing mobility as a more situated, field-dependent and collaborative form of learning, the effective design and use of ELT mobile applications should continue to be studied in order to suggest the right direction to effective MALL.

This mixed-methods study sought to examine any significant impact of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' collaboration in rating speaking tests and brainstorming theoretical concepts of language assessment (LA) on their literacy, perceptions, and practices of speaking assessment. Forty-one Iranian EFL teachers selected through purposeful sampling were asked to fill out a questionnaire, including 20 components of LA, so as to measure their knowledge and perceptions of LA components. Then, 21 of the teachers volunteered to score the video-projected speaking performance of 12 international students in the Key English Test (KET) using KET speaking rating scales. Having received six in-service speaking assessment training sessions based on their collaboration, the 21 participating teachers completed the same questionnaire and scored the same videos again. An ANCOVA was used to compare the quantitative data from the questionnaire and teachers’ scoring of KET speaking tests before and after the treatment and also to investigate any significant differences between the novice and experienced Iranian EFL teachers in terms of their knowledge and perception of LA, and the assessment of KET speaking tests. Moreover, the 21 volunteered teachers were interviewed to further discover their perceptions about the in-service speaking assessment training course they attended. The findings revealed that the collaboration of the Iranian EFL teachers in rating speaking tests and brainstorming theoretical concepts of LA significantly impacted their knowledge, perceptions, and practices of LA. However, the effects were unequal and different for novice and experienced EFL teachers.

Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) have recently become very popular both for research purposes and for real testing endeavors for student assessment. A plethora of DCM models give researchers and practitioners a wide range of options for student diagnosis and classification. One intriguing option that some DCM models offer is the possibility of examining the nature of the interactions among the attributes underlying a skill. Attributes in second/foreign language (L2) may interact with each other in a compensatory/non-compensatory manner. Subskill/attribute relationship has been studied using diagnostic classification models. The present study provides a mini review of the DCM studies on the attribute relationships in L2 reading, listening, and writing. The criteria based on which interaction between the attributes have been inferred are reviewed. The results showed that the majority of DCM studies have investigated reading comprehension and more studies are required on the productive skills of writing and speaking. Furthermore, suggestions for future studies are provided.

همچنان عدم قطعیت های زیادی در خصوص نقش محتمل عوامل میانجی فراوان نظیر زمینه زبانی و قومیت در فرایند بازخود اصلاحی وجود دارد. در پاسخ به این موضوع، مطالعه حاضر بر روی 79 زبان آموز فارس و 79 زبان آموز دوزبانه ترکمن با سن 13 تا 18 سال در دو موسسه آموزش زبان استان گلستان صورت گرفت. شرکت کنندگان به سه گروه تیمار و یک گروه کنترل تقسیم شدند. دو پیش آزمون، اشتباهات گرامری زبان آموزان را نشان داد که براساس آن سه راهبرد بازخورد اصلاحی فرازبانی شفاهی، کتبی و تلفیقی تنظیم گردید و بر روی 5 اشتباه گرامری پرتکرار زبان آموزان اعمال شد. گروه کنترل تیماری دریافت نکرد. آزمون کروسکال والیس نشان دهنده تفاوت معنی دار گروه ها پیش و پس از تیمار بود که براساس آن، پس-آزمون مقایسه زوجی کانوور انجام شد. نتایج نشان داد که در فارس ها و ترکمن ها تیمارها به شکل معنی داری بر روی کاهش اشتباهات گرامری اثر گذاشته است. راهبردهای اصلاحی فرازبانی شفاهی و تلفیقی برای فارس ها و هر سه راهبرد برای ترکمن ها بر روی کاهش اشتباهات اثر معنی دار داشتند. رتبه راهبردها به کمک روش نزدیکی به راه حل ایده آل (تاپسیس) با وزن برابر اشتباهات بررسی شد که برای فارس ها، روش شفاهی و برای ترکمن ها روش کتبی را به عنوان بهترین نشان داد. روش تاپسیس با تغییر وزن ها به میزان 50 درصد به میزان 10000 بار تکرار شد که نشان دهنده ثبات رتبه بندی به دست آمده بود. نتایج این پژوهش می تواند برای فراگیران زبان انگلیسی به عنوان زبان خارجی، آموزگاران زبان به فراگیران دوزبانه، طراحان سرفصل دروس و مواد آموزشی کمک نماید و هم زمان درهای جدیدی به سوی پژوهش های مرتبط بگشاید.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate speech acts performed by Iranian EFL learners on the social network of Facebook in their interaction with their teacher and with their peers in response to divergent and evaluative questions. A page was constructed for the students in order to provide the opportunity for their answering divergent and evaluative questions posed by the researchers. A total of 240 comments including 1680 speech acts were collected from five EFL students during an academic semester. Content analysis of the collected data revealed that participants primarily used expressive speech acts in response to divergent questions and directive speech acts in response to evaluative questions. The results also revealed differences in using emoticons regarding the difference in power relations between the teacher and students. Further findings and implications are discussed in the paper.