درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of learner autonomy; however, the roles of teachers and language materials in fostering in have not received due attention. This mixed methods study investigated the association between what Iranian teachers perceived of LA and what they thought about the role of textbooks in fostering EFL learners’ LA, and to what extent they believed the principles of LA in their classrooms. The participating teachers were 200 male and female teachers that taught Iranian tenth-grade EFL textbook in senior high schools of Qom, Arak, and Karaj. The first instrument was a questionnaire developed by Borg and Al-Busaidi (2012), which primarily focused on the teachers’ perspectives and opinions about LA. The second questionnaire was used to investigate how Iranian EFL teachers think the EFL textbook Vision 1 helps foster LA. The questionnaire was developed based on the LA principles (Fenner & Newby, 2000). The last instrument was an interview protocol that was developed by the researcher to gain a deeper understanding of teachers’ promoting LA in their teaching. The interview protocol also was based on Fenner and Newbys’ (2000) principles. For this study, the questionnaire data were collected through two questionnaires. Moreover, an interview protocol was used to gather qualitative data from 12 teachers, who participated in the interviews (i.e., 2 face-to-face and 10 online interviews). The result of the bivariate correlation test showed that there was a significant relationship between teachers’ perception of learner autonomy and their opinions about the LA-fostering role of the Iranian 10th-grade EFL textbook. The results of the interview analysis showed that the principles of learner autonomy were largely approved of by the interviewees. The study has some implications for textbook developers, teachers trainers, and teachers.

As a possible and influential factor in academic success, student growth mindset has recently received attention. However, the number of the studies concerning the effects of growth mindset on language skills in the context of Iran is not considerable and no study has specifically examined the influence of growth mindset on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary development. To fill this gap, this study was conducted in order to investigate if the intervention has any significant effects on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary development compared to those who do not receive such intervention. A quasi-experimental design in the form of pre- and posttest was used in this study. To homogenize the participants in terms of their proficiency, OQPT was used. Subsequently, out of 78 learners, sixty Iranian intermediate language learners were randomly assigned into two groups of control group receiving conventional vocabulary training and experimental group receiving a growth mindset intervention besides the conventional method for vocabulary learning. Vocabulary knowledge of the students was tested with the help of a vocabulary knowledge test that was specifically prepared and developed by researchers. To investigate if using growth mindset intervention had positive effects on learning English vocabulary by the learners in each control and experimental groups, two sets of paired-samples t-test were conducted. Afterwards, to explore which method had been more effective, the mean scores of the posttests of the control and experimental groups were compared by executing an independent two-sample t-test. The results revealed that implementing growth mindset intervention had positive effects on vocabulary development of EFL learners. Accordingly, this study has pedagogical implications for EFL teachers and students, as well as material designers.

This research sought to investigate IELTS test-takers' perceptions of obtaining scaffolded MOOC-based training. To accomplish this purpose, 50 IELTS candidates were chosen through convenient sampling and assigned to one of two groups: a MOOC-based teaching group (MG, n = 25) and a face-to-face instruction group (F2FG, n = 25). The MG test-takers were exposed to FutureLearn, while the F2FG test-takers were given identical materials in person. Scaffolding took the form of visual aids, pre-teaching the necessary terminology, drawing on the participants' past knowledge of a subject, modeling what they were requested to write, and providing them with the sentence patterns needed to complete the IELTS Writing Task 2. The writing pre-test and post-test scores of the two groups were examined using a one-way ANCOVA, which revealed that the MG learners outperformed their F2FG counterparts significantly. The perception questionnaire results revealed that MG students liked MOOC-based education for their writing courses. The implications and applications of the current study's results are provided at the end of the research

The global education landscape is witnessing a rise in teacher accountability, where educators bear a heightened responsibility for demonstrably achieving student learning outcomes. In response, teachers are engaged in a continuous quest to enhance their pedagogical effectiveness, seeking strategies and methodologies to optimize their classroom practice. The present study investigates the relationship between Continuous Professional Development (CPD) practices and teacher success in the Iranian context. A sample of 364 EFL teachers from junior and senior high schools self-reported on their CPD engagement, while 422 of their students provided their perceptions of teacher success. Findings revealed the substantial potential of CPD to elevate teacher success through interconnected processes of knowledge updating, reflective practice, collaborative learning, and refined decision-making skills. Notably, updating knowledge strongly influenced both collaboration and reflection, while reflection moderately stimulated collaboration, and collaboration exerted a robust influence on effective decision-making. However, the study unexpectedly uncovered a negative direct association between teacher decision-making and professional success within the specific Iranian context. Additionally, no significant gender-based differences in teacher success were observed. The negative association between teacher decision-making and professional success in the Iranian context warrants further investigation. This suggests that factors specific to the Iranian educational system or cultural context might influence the relationship between these two variables. Understanding these factors is crucial for developing contextually relevant CPD programs.

Possible selves represent individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become and what they are afraid of becoming. This paper, using a mixed method design, probes the possible teaching selves of 108 pre-service and 41 in-service Iranian EFL teachers to explore their professional fears and hopes. Data were collected via Possible Language Teacher Self Questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the qualitative data using MAXQDA demonstrated the fears and hopes of the teachers in terms of professionalism, instructional strategies, classroom management and professional interpersonal relationship. Moreover, both fears and hopes were found to be rooted in personal (cognitive and affective) and social (mostly organizational) sources. Further, analysis of quantitative data via ANOVA, independent-samples T-test also revealed that the pre-service teachers and their in-service counterparts are similar in terms of their feared and ideal to selves whereas their ought self has a determining role in justifying the observable variations in their possible self. In addition, pre-service teachers' year of education was also found to be a significant factor affecting their possible selves; that is, it was shown that first-year, second-year and third-year pre-service teachers' ought self is significantly different from that of in-service teachers. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference between fourth-year-pre-service teachers and in-service teachers in terms of their ought self.