درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The primary objective of this research was to explore how the mindsets and perseverance of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Iran impact their well-being. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), data from 375 EFL teachers, selected through convenience sampling, were analyzed. The results revealed a direct and positive correlation between a teacher's growth mindset and their well-being. Additionally, the study found that the relationship between a teacher's growth mindset and well-being was influenced by their level of grit. These findings suggest that educators can significantly contribute to fostering growth mindsets and perseverance among EFL teachers, thus improving their well-being. Ultimately, this research underscores the importance of these teacher characteristics in enhancing the well-being of EFL instructors and offers practical guidance for educators aiming to support them.  

This study sought to identify the challenges and needs of TOEFL iBT candidates in achieving C1 level scores in the speaking and writing sections of the exam. To this end, the researcher employed a mixed-method approach to collect data from a population of 46 students, both male and female, between the ages of 22 to 30. The participants were enrolled in two TOEFL preparation classes at Universidad Nacional de Educación. The data were collected through a survey, class observations, and TOEFL speaking and writing mock tests, and were subsequently analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings indicated that the participants encountered challenges in discussing unfamiliar topics fluently, struggled with producing language at the C1 level while employing a variety of grammar and vocabulary, and demonstrated reduced accuracy due to influences from their first language (L1). To address these challenges, it is recommended to offer a bridging course prior to exam preparation courses wherein the primary focus is devoted to enhancing candidates’ accuracy and communicative competence in discussing unfamiliar topics through corrective feedback. The findings of this study could offer valuable insights to TOEFL iBT test preparation instructors, enabling them to better understand the challenges students face and plan strategies to address these challenges effectively within preparation courses.

This study investigated the effects of corrective feedback (CF) and the Flipped Teaching Model (FTM) on English language learners’ overall and categorical grammar accuracy. The study was conducted at Payame-Nour University (PNU) of Mahabad, Iran. A total of 80 Iranian EFL learners participated in the study. The participants were randomly assigned into two flipped and two non-flipped groups of 20: one in each pair of groups receiving explicit and the other implicit CF. Data were collected across two time periods (pre-intervention and post-intervention). Two measures of Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) were conducted. The results revealed no significant differences in the effect of CF type in the flipped classes, and both led to the learners’ higher level of overall grammar accuracy. However, the explicit group outperformed the implicit one in the non-flipped classes. Explicit feedback in flipped and non-flipped classes led to the learners’ outperformance in acquiring specific grammatical structures, such as adjective/reduced adjective clauses, but not in others, like comparative/superlative adjectives, gerund/infinitive, word forms, word order, and apposition. These findings have implications for language educators seeking to enhance learners’ grammatical accuracy in both flipped and non-flipped classrooms, particularly in relation to the use of explicit feedback for certain types of grammatical structures.

Studies in literary religious discourses, including recent Quranic studies, suggest that speech act theory provides the researchers with variable pragmatic tools to interpret meanings that are constructed upon the intention of the speaker. This study draws upon speech act theory (SAT) to analyse the two ubiquitous speech acts of promise and threat in the Holy Quran. Employing the speech acts of promise and threat in the Quran to the detailed analysis of felicity conditions, this study, while arguing for the compatibility of SAT to the language of Quran, concludes that the main impetus behind the speech acts of promise and threat is creating the motivation in the addressees to conduct good and avoid evil deeds; therefore, the rules and conditions that drive the illocutionary force of promise and threat perfectly align with the motivational language of the Holy Quran.

The presented study examined the effect of applying software technology, (i.e., WhiteSmoke Writing Software (TM 2020), on the improvement of EFL learners' writing skills. To do so, 55 EFL learners ranged in age from 20 to 22 who were studying English as a Foreign Language in Bahar Institute of Higher Education, Iran were invited to participate in the research. During the study, the participants who were already studying Passages coursebook were informed that for 7 weeks the class orientation and focus will change to writing instruction, which was most welcome by them. One class was considered as an experimental group of 26 students, while the other one was a control group of 29 students. Based on the prior completion of the course, all were considered intermediate. Control group students worked conventionally on the book and received feedback on their performance from the teacher while the learners in the experimental group worked with WhiteSmoke Writing Software which is the most comprehensive grammar checker. At the end of the study, the comparison of the pretest and posttest demonstrated that the participants in the experimental group outperformed the control group subjects at a 0.05 significant level. The outcomes of the current study approved that the application of software technology in the classroom context was treasured. Also, the utilization of software made the learners be in charge of their own learning process, which can be a great advantage on the part of online teaching and learning.

Despite widespread studies on language assessment literacy (LAL), there are still many unexplored areas about LAL (Gan & Lam, 2022). One of these areas is identifying various aspects of LAL regarding different language skills and scrutinizing the English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ involvement with these aspects. Accordingly, this study attempted to (a) explore Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions, preferences, and difficulties of oral/aural skills LAL and (b) develop a scale to measure these teachers’ oral/aural skills LAL. The study was carried out in two phases. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 Iranian EFL teachers to identify their perceptions, preferences, and difficulties of oral/aural skills LAL. Second, the researchers developed a questionnaire based on a review of the literature on assessing oral/aural skills and the results of interviews. The questionnaire was reviewed by experts, revised accordingly, and administered to 150 Iranian EFL teachers who were selected through convenience sampling. The reliability of the questionnaire and its construct validity were then checked. The results of both phases of the study were compatible. The outcomes showed that almost all teachers represented dissatisfaction about their oral/aural skills LAL and they were enthusiastic to participate in assessment training courses. Furthermore, it was found that due to their lack of knowledge about oral/aural skills assessment, traditional techniques of assessment were widely used by Iranian EFL teachers.

Speaking is one important skill in language learning. EFL students are sometimes faced with problems, while speaking to their interlocutors due to the lack of sufficient linguistic knowledge, and they have to quit the conversation. This study examines the use of speaking strategies by some Iranian male and female EFL university students .The use of these strategies was examined in relation to the EFL university students’ gender and their proficiency level based on which, they were classified as low, intermediate and high-proficient groups .A sample of 100 Iranian EFL students was randomly selected .The sample consisted of students with different gender and proficiency levels. The questionnaire of communication strategies use was administered. It included five main categories in 30 items for speaking. The results showed no differences related to the use of speaking strategies by EFL students and their gender. In relation to the use of speaking strategies by EFL students and their proficiency levels, no differences were observed, either. The implications of this study are discussed in this article.

Language placement tests (LPTs) are used to assess students’ proficiency in a progressive manner in the target language. Based on their performance, students are assigned to stepped language courses. These tests are usually considered low stakes because they do not have significant consequences in students’ lives, which is perhaps the reason why studies conducted with LPTs are scarce. Nevertheless, tests should be regularly examined, and statistical analysis should be conducted to assess their functioning, particularly when they have a medium or high-stakes impact. In the case of LPTs administered on a large-scale, the logistic and administrative consequences of an ill-defined test may lead to an economic burden and unnecessary use of human resources which can also affect students negatively. This study was undertaken at one of the largest public institutions in Latin America. Nearly 1700 students sit an English LPT every academic semester. A diagnostic statistical analysis revealed a need for revision. To retrofit the test, a new test architecture and blueprints were designed in adherence to the new curriculum, and new items were developed and tried out gradually in several pilot studies. Item Response Theory (IRT) was used to examine the functioning of the new test items. The aim of this study is to show how the test was retrofitted, and to compare the functioning of the retrofitted version of the English LPT with the previous one. The results show that the quality of items was higher than that of the former English LPT.

This study examined the possible effects of orthographic/phonologic priming techniques on the receptive language skills of Iranian EFL learners with different proficiency levels. From an initial pool of 700 EFL learners from a language learning institute, two hundred and seventy learners from both genders were selected based on their performance on an English proficiency test and classified into six experimental and three control groups. After gaining certitude about the participants’ English proficiency levels, the semantic and orthographic/phonologic priming phase was conducted, and consequently, the participants’ contextualized comprehension of the primed words was assessed via a set of reading and listening comprehension tasks. The performances of the participants on the designed tasks indicated that semantic primes were more efficient for improving both comprehension skills compared with the orthographic-phonologic primes. Moreover, based on the results, language proficiency affected the success of the primes on both reading and listening comprehension tasks; advanced learners showed a greater improvement than the beginners and the intermediates under the influence of the priming techniques. Orthographic-phonologic primes were found to be more efficient for beginners, whereas the advanced learners showed an enhanced performance with regard to semantic primes. Overall, semantic primes showed more facilitative effects across various comprehension tasks due to their activation of deeper cognitive processing. Orthographic-phonologic primes were also successful. However, they were more efficient in the early stages of language learning, where visual recognition played a more critical role.

The present study aimed at realizing and developing a scale and a model of English language teachers’ pedagogical competence (ELTPC). By reviewing the related literature and adapting Thomas’s (1987) langugae teacher competence, TESOL (2010) standards of professional EFL teachers, and teaching skills and model of pedagogical competence developed by Olsson, Martensson, and Roxa (2010) resulted in a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire consisting of seven constructs, namely preparation, management, teaching, subject mastery, assessment, attitude, and belief with 87 variables. The questionnaire underwent the scrutiny of experts’ opinion and reliability estimates, which resulted in an instrument of 60 variables for the constructs. Next, the constructs were validated with 320 high school English teachers through a principal components analysis carried out via exploratory factor analysis. The result showed the constructs enjoyed high factor loadings, and with seven variables removed from the questionnaire, a 53-variable scale was developed. Finally, a model was developed based on the seven-construct questionnaire of ELTPC. The researcher hopes that English teachers and the educational system monitor, assess, and improve the quality of teaching based on the developed scale and model of ELTPC