درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

In case not enough caution is exercised in the assessment of second or foreign language learners’ writing performance, one cannot trust the accuracy of decisions made accordingly. As experts or trained raters are often not available or it is not cost-effective to employ them in most educational contexts, writing assessment is often carried out by language instructors, who may not enjoy an adequate competence in teaching and assessing L2 writing. This makes the investigation of the accuracy of ratings done by language teachers a must. In so doing, 30 language teachers in three groups, each with a different background in teaching English and L2 writing, were selected, and their ratings of 30 IELTS samples were compared against those of expert raters using One-Way ANOVA tests. A statistically significant difference was found among the raters for the total writing score as well as the four components, with the L2 writing teachers demonstrating the closest performance to that of the expert rater and with language teachers with no or very little background in teaching L2 writing demonstrating the lowest accuracy. Moreover, the only significant correlations were found between the ratings done by the writing teachers and those of the expert rater, indicating that only they could interpret the scoring criteria not significantly different from the expert rater. The results demonstrate that language teachers are not generally suitable writing raters as they are affected by their own teaching background and understanding of the rating criteria.

Incremental intelligence plays an important role in self-regulating and enhancing writing performance among language learners. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship among variables of the incremental theory of intelligence, self-regulatory writing strategies, implicit theory of writing, and writing performance in EFL learners. To do so, 320 Iranian IELTS candidates were invited to participate in the study. Three questionnaires, namely incremental intelligence, self-regulatory writing strategy, and implicit theory of writing, were utilized. The participants included male and female IELTS candidates aged 19-27 years with a minimum band score of 6.5 in their writing skill. Furthermore, their educational qualifications included BA and MA degrees. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and structural equation modeling (SEM). The correlation analysis showed that the incremental theory of intelligence had a significant relationship with self-regulatory writing strategy, implicit theory of writing, and writing performance. Moreover, the obtained results of SEM confirmed the findings of the correlational analysis, indicating statistically significant positive correlations among the variables of the study. The findings revealed that a growth-oriented mindset could affect students’ use of four types of self-regulatory writing strategies. Self-regulatory writing strategies also played a pivotal role in guiding, stimulating, motivating, and sustaining learners’ efforts, thus predicting writing performance. The results of this study can help EFL learners learn how to regulate and manage themselves in writing skills. Learners can assess the extent of their professionalism and endeavor to identify their weaknesses in the learning process.

The present mixed-method study examines the effect of Iranian EFL teachers’ teaching experience and academic degree on five dimensions of reflective teaching. In this line, a 29-item Likert scale Reflective Teaching Questionnaire composed of practical, metacognitive, critical, cognitive, and affective dimensions was administered to a convenient sample of 142 male/female B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. EFL teachers with 4-30 years of teaching experience. Moreover, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 16 EFL teachers yielding more in-depth triangulated data on their reflection levels and the related problems. The MANOVA results indicated the significant effect of teachers’ experience and academic degree on their reflective teaching with the least effect reported on the affective dimension. The results indicated significant interaction of the two research variables with the dimensions of reflective teaching. Moreover, the interview results indicated that lack of time, prescribed syllabi, and ineffective teacher training programs were the main obstacles of reflective teaching. The findings may bear implications for Iranian curriculum developers, materials writers, teacher trainers, administrators, and EFL instructors.

Vocabulary learning is at the heart of language learning and language use. It is what makes the essence of a language. Having it in mind, most of the students always complain about lexical problems, and unfortunately, they are unaware of the different tools, which can help the students to learn vocabulary and improve vocabulary retention. A useful tool for learning and teaching vocabulary is a tool that uses authentic samples to enhance comprehension. Concordancing software is one of these digital tools that enable learners to explore billions of real-world materials. In this regard, the present study was conducted to investigate the actual effect of using this software on vocabulary retention. To gain this purpose, a sample of 54 intermediate female EFL students took part in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to two equal experimental and control groups. Before starting the treatment, the researcher gave the pretest to both groups. Then the treatment sessions were started for both groups, which lasted 12 sessions (4weeks); ten vocabularies were taught in each session and during this time the vocabulary of each lesson was taught by using concordancing software to the experimental group and by using a list of vocabulary to the control group. After the treatment sessions, the posttest was administered to both groups. The results of this comparison proved that the use of concordancing software improved learners' vocabulary knowledge. The outcomes have the potential to affect language learners' performance and teachers' beliefs about the effectiveness of using CALL programs, especially concordancing programs.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of a gamification-enhanced language classroom within the context of Moodle in promoting extrinsic and intrinsic motivational attributes of language learners. A total of 220 language learners from different universities in Iran were recruited as the participants and randomly assigned to the gamification-enhanced (n= 114) and control groups (n= 106). Over the eight weeks of treatment, the experimental group members were taught using various gamified tasks and activities through the gamified Moodle LMS. A motivational orientation scale was administered before and after the intervention. The results of ANCOVAs demonstrated a significant boost in the extrinsic motivation of language learners, including external, introjected, and identified regulation. Furthermore, the study confirmed that the integration of gamification has resulted in a higher level of intrinsic motivation for the participants in the areas of knowledge, accomplishment, and stimulation. The relevant pedagogical implications and directions for future studies are discussed.