درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present study aimed to explore whether there is any significant relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ traits in terms of personality type and their classroom management orientation. To this end, 130 EFL teachers from private language institutes and schools participated in this study. Three data collection instruments were used: a) personal demographic questionnaire, b) Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control inventory, and c) Five Factor Model personality questionnaire. The results showed that, out of five factors of personality trait and three factors of classroom management orientation, there were two significant relationships; there was a significant relationship between conscientiousness personality trait and instructional classroom management orientation, and there was also a significant relationship between conscientiousness and behavioral classroom management. No other significant relationship was found between other factors of personality and classroom management. The findings of this research can help raise awareness of teachers and teacher trainers alike of teacher personality traits and their possible relationship with classroom management orientation (of teachers).

One of the controversial issues in learning English is the appropriate use of formulaic sequences as one of the effective factors in pragmatic production. Not merely the language proficiency level, but also the individual’s capability to adapt to a new culture plays a significant role in the appropriate use of formulaic sequences. First, this study intends to find the relationship between cultural intelligence and the use of formulaic sequences. Second, it seeks to identify whether there is a significant difference between the second language learners with different proficiency levels in the appropriate use of formulaic sequences. From the Universiti Sains Malaysia, a total of 50 Malaysian students participated in the study. First, the participants completed an oral Discourse Completion Task (DCT) test, and then they were required to fill a Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS). The statistical analysis revealed a significant correlation between the level of proficiency and the production of formulaic sequences. However, no relationship was found between the level of cultural intelligence and the production of formulaic sequences among the participants. The results obtained from this research would benefit the curriculum designers by boosting the communication skills of ESL learners. However, more studies should be conducted with different instruments and methodology to ensure more accurate results.

Since an effective technique to assess the level of thinking ability is to identify the types of questions one generates, the present research by employing a hybrid question framework, intended to investigate the status of thinking ability among Iranian EFL students in two majors of TEFL and English Literature in M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. To this end, through convenience sampling, a group of 51 students was asked to read two simple short texts and make any type of question(s) that would spring to their minds in essay-type format. Then, using purposeful sampling, 15 participants out of 51 were selected for a semi-structured interview. The findings revealed that nearly half of the participants did not generate thought-provoking questions, which might imply that beyond-routine thinking is not well attended to in the related context. Moreover, as the English Literature students were more capable of producing thought-provoking questions than the TEFL students, it can be inferred that an academic major can be considered an essential factor impacting one’s way of thinking. Furthermore, since the students of English Literature/TEFL in Ph.D. degree outperformed those in M.A. degree, it can be concluded that the academic degree can be accounted as an aiding factor influencing the level of thinking ability as well. Furthermore, in searching for the reasons affecting (non-) production of thought-provoking questions, several factors were discovered and categorized into impeding and promoting ones.

Performance testing including the use of rating scales has become widespread in the evaluation of second/foreign oral language assessment. However, no study has used Multifaceted Rasch Measurement (MFRM) including the facets of test takers’ ability, raters’ severity, group expertise, and scale category, in one study. 20 EFL teachers scored the speaking performance of 200 test-takers prior and subsequent to a rater training program using an analytic rating scale consisting of fluency, grammar, vocabulary, intelligibility, cohesion, and comprehension categories. The outcome demonstrated that the categories were at different levels of difficulty even after the training program. However, this outcome by no means indicated the uselessness of the training program since data analysis reflected the constructive influence of training in providing enough consistency in raters’ rating of each category of the rating scale at the post-training phase. Such an outcome indicated that raters could discriminate the various categories of the rating scale. The outcomes also indicated that MFRM can result in enhancement in rater training and functionality validation of the rating scale descriptors. The training helped raters use the descriptors of the rating scale more efficiently of its various band descriptors resulting in a reduced halo effect. The findings conveyed that stakeholders had better establish training programs to assist raters in better use of the rating scale categories of various levels of difficulty in an appropriate way. Further research could be done to make a comparative analysis between the outcome of this study and the one using a holistic rating scale in oral assessment.

Dynamic assessment (DA), premised on Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory (SCT), constitutes a valuable venue for language teachers to promote the dialectical praxis and awareness of language assessment and teaching in the EFL context. In spite of the surge of interest in the importance of DA in assessing the dynamically emergent abilities , little has been written down regarding EFL teachers' attitudes toward DA. The current study attempted to fill that void by unearthing Iranian EFL teachers' beliefs about DA and also to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between university and language institute teachers' attitudes with regard to DA. To this end, forty Iranian EFL teachers in the two contexts (i.e., universities and language institutes) were selected through purposive and snowball sampling procedures. Adopting an exploratory design, the researchers collected the data through an Email interview. The results of the Chi-square tests indicated that there is no significant difference in the attitudes of university and language institute teachers toward DA, and both groups held a positive attitude toward it. In addition, the content analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of three major themes namely, teachers' classroom assessment practices, EFL teacher's attitudes toward DA, and impediments to applying DA principles in EFL classes. The findings of this study cater for implications for teachers to voice their concerns about the edifice of language testing and assessment in Iran.

This study examines intergenerational transmission of Chinese Foochow in Sarawak, Malaysia by exploring a connection between family language policy and language-ethnicity dimensions. The specific aspects examined were: (a) family language practices; (b) family language ideology in defining characteristics of being a Foochow; and (c) family language attitudes towards heritage language management. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with nine Foochow ethnic families (29 participants) from urban Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings showed the Foochow dialect was mainly spoken at the highest level of the family hierarchy with the lowest level shifting to use standard languages (Mandarin and/or English). The nine families held strong beliefs regarding their ethnic identity being passed down by birth, blood, and descent and thus, not being able to speak Foochow did not subtract from their Foochow ethnicity. Some participants defined themselves as Foochow because they practised Foochow customs and ate Foochow food, indicative of the phenomenological dimension of the language-ethnicity link. As the dialect is predicted to lose its role and status in urban settings, various strategies for managing Foochow which attributed agency to others were provided by the participants. The findings suggested that attributing ethnic identity to paternity and not patrimony will lead to potential loss of Foochow from the linguistic repertoire of the youngest generation in urban localities in Malaysia.

The current study aimed to find the relationship between personality traits and learning styles of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students across high, intermediate, and low levels of reading proficiency in online courses. To this purpose, 50 male and 50 female BA students were selected through convenient sampling from the executive management department at Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran. Their age range was 20 to 26 years. They were divided into three groups of high, intermediate, and low reading proficiency based on a simulated TOEFL CBT reading test. Their learning style and personality type were assessed through Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)-Form M and the Learning Style Inventory-3 (LSI3), respectively. Upon collecting the data from the MBTI, the LSI3, and the reading tests, the researchers coded the scores and used path analysis. The results showed that there were significant relationships among a number of the variables under investigation; especially extroversion was found to be an important personality trait affecting online reading proficiency and other variables. The results also showed that the extroversion trait had a positive significant relationship with high reading proficiency, while the thinking dimension resulted in low reading proficiency. Moreover, The participants who had the objective experience trait possessed a high ability in reading, and those who had the reflective observation trait were less proficient in reading.

Language education, among most other aspects of life, has been affected by the ever-advancing technology. To be most efficient, educators need to know the affordances technology brings to the teaching and learning process. Augmented Reality is a recent technology that can be accessed through the Internet and mobile phones and brings several advantages to the language classroom. This mixed-methods study aims to examine the effect of Augmented Reality on adult language learners’ attitudes and motivation. To this end, data were obtained through a questionnaire administered to 40 adult EFL learners in Iran of different ages and educational levels who participated in a pre-test post-test design, followed by a semi-structured interview. Results confirmed that adult learners, disregarding their age and educational background, benefit from AR in the sense that it enhances their attitudes and motivation towards learning the language. The themes revealed in the interviews clarified that this enhancement is because AR is exciting to learners since it gets them engaged in the learning process and attracts them through gamification. Results of the current study have implications for language specialists and teachers to design and incorporate AR-infused materials in teaching to increase learners’ motivation, and consequently, their learning.

Interaction has always been viewed as a key element in developing the knowledge of an L2 and establishing dynamic communicative episodes. However, it is not always materialized in foreign language learning contexts where access to English speakers is limited. Hence, this study investigated the effects of employing interactive and individual performance tasks on Iranian male EFL learners’ speaking ability. The participants were 32 homogeneous upper-intermediate EFL learners in two intact classes, randomly assigned to two experimental groups. The first experimental group performed problem-solving, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap tasks individually, and the second group employed problem-solving, reasoning-gap, and information-gap tasks through team-work for 16 sessions. Two speaking pre- and post-tests were administered to evaluate the participants’ oral performance before and after the treatment. The statistical analysis of the data showed no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the two groups on the speaking post-test, indicating that neither form of performance was superior to the other in the process of developing L2 oral proficiency. However, the results of two paired samples t-tests demonstrated that the learners’ speaking skill had significantly improved in both groups at the end of the experiment. Therefore, the researchers concluded that a careful execution of individual performance tasks in the absence of interaction could also contribute to developing speaking an L2.