درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Since teachers’ perceptions of work engagement can strongly shape their engagement level, it is imperative to explore how teachers perceive this construct and its associated dimensions. With this in mind, some researchers have evaluated teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards this notion.  Notwithstanding this, to the authors’ knowledge, no study has examined language teachers’ viewpoints on this variable and its significance in online EFL classes. To bridge these gaps, this phenomenological study explored Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions and experiences of work engagement and its value in online English courses. To this aim, using the purposive sampling strategy, a total of 21 EFL teachers were chosen from different state, private, and non-profit universities in Iran. To obtain the required data, all participants were invited to complete an open-ended questionnaire. To reach more comprehensive data, from among the 21 participants, nine willingly took part in a 20-minute interview session. Results obtained from content analysis revealed that Iranian EFL teachers considered work engagement as a complex variable with four related dimensions of emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social engagement. The results also indicated that Iranian teachers perceived work engagement as an important professional behavior that results in increased academic achievements, professional advancement, improved teaching quality, and strong teacher-student rapport. Hence, education leaders and teacher educators should support Iranian EFL teachers in enhancing work engagement dimensions to improve professional growth and teaching quality.

The present study aimed to create a diverse curriculum model for teaching English in high schools in Iran. Utilizing an exploratory mixed-methods design to collect the desired data, the study enlisted the participation of 38 Iranian curriculum designers, with a gender distribution of 26 males and 12 females. To evaluate the model, a questionnaire was developed, and its reliability was gauged using Cronbach's Alpha. The validity of the curriculum model was established through Exploratory Factor Analysis employing principle component analysis (PCA). In qualitative phase, the analysis of the data uncovered several key components of the multicultural curriculum, including multicultural education, cultural diversity, and equity pedagogy, social, gender, and educational equality, prejudice reduction, upholding the intrinsic dignity, equity pedagogy, empowering school culture. Furthermore, the proposed model encompassed four essential elements: objectives, content and learning activities, methods, and evaluation. The results of quantitative phase of the study indicated that the multicultural curriculum model was deemed valid by designers in the field of curriculum development. As a result, it is recommended for adoption by English language educators in Iranian high schools.

The goal of this study was to explore English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ and learners’ beliefs and classroom practices in relation to task rehearsal as an operationalization of repeating a task, which entails learners’ awareness of the repeated performance before they do a task for the first time. Five intact EFL classes with five teachers and 32 learners were recruited. The teachers asked the learners to perform a task that was included in the textbook twice with an interval of one week, while they made the learners aware of the second iteration prior to their first performance. Data were collected through observing the two sessions of each class and interviewing both the teachers and the learners immediately after the second task occasion. Results indicated that the participants (both teachers and learners) believed that task rehearsal was beneficial for facilitating task implementation and task performance. Findings also showed that task rehearsal led the participants to show changes in their classroom behaviors related to this practice from the first to the second session, which clearly reflected their beliefs. Implications of these results for L2 task implementation and teacher education are discussed.

This research study aims to investigate the motivation behind Iranian EFL learners' desire to learn English, with a specific focus on the political and socio-economic factors that influence them. The study takes into account the changing political and social landscape in Iran, which has been shaped by globalization and advancements in information and communication technology (ICT). In order to gain a deeper understanding of the driving forces behind Iranian EFL learners' English language acquisition, the researcher conducted interviews with thirty participants who had been studying English for approximately 3 to 6 years. The interviews were transcribed and the data was then analyzed using a systematic approach, including open, axial, and selective coding. The resulting model identified seven factors and twenty-seven categories that contribute to language motivation. These seven factors were a) The government’s foreign and economic policy, b) Transfer of religious and national ideology and patriotism, c) Academic and occupational aspirations, d) Improving social life, e) Fear of failure, f) International posture, and g) IT advancements. This model can serve as a valuable resource for informing future educational policies and curriculum development in Iran.

Although intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has been foregrounded in L2 pedagogy, the status of intercultural pedagogy in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) education in terms of policymaking and planning stages has remained under-represented. Against this backdrop, the present study used interviews as a data source to explore the intercultural beliefs, knowledge, and planning of language institute managers and supervisors as micro-level policymakers. The findings revealed that, in general, participants were in favor of intercultural pedagogy and held positive views; yet, they lacked sufficient knowledge and neglected ICC in most aspects of their educational decisions and planning. In addition, their preference for considering learners’ L1 culture and the existence of restrictive macro-level language policies were among the factors that hindered intercultural practice. Overall, the findings can enhance our understanding of ICC practice in language institutes and policymaking for ICC pedagogy.  

Teachers’ engagement in continuing professional development activities plays an essential role in the design, implementation, and effectiveness of in-service teacher training (INSET) programs. Understanding multidimensional orientations of teacher engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) activities, albeit fluctuations and deceptive images, may provide implications for the rate and pace of their professional development. To address this issue, the present study aims to understand teachers’ engagement orientations, namely cognitive, behavioral, and affective; as well as the levels, i.e. authenticity or fakeness of their engagement. In doing so, this study further aims to analyze how the participants with different engagement orientations revealed signs of fake and/or genuine engagement. The data collected from the observations of a six-week-long CPD course and semi-structured interviews conducted after the completion of the course indicated that teachers with different engagement orientations demonstrated various ways of genuine and/or fake participation in the CPD course. Pedagogical implications highlight an assortment of courses of action to maximize authentic teacher engagement.

This study aims to explore the strategies Indonesian students employ in writing comparative Indonesian-English literary criticism within the context of EFL students. A qualitative approach was utilized, and data collection techniques included questionnaires and interviews. The data analysis technique used the identification, classification, reduction, and exposure stages. This study used four phases, namely the screening phase, the reading process phase, the interpretation phase, and the reflection phase. The results showed that in the screening phase, 14.1% of participants expressed a liking for English, while 85.9% remained neutral; the mean score of English obtained by the participants was 45.1% very good, 45.1% good, 8.5% sufficient, 1.3% insufficient; and regarding the English courses attended by participants, 62% never attended, and 38% had taken English courses. In the reading process phase, 74% of the participants searched for translated novels on Google, 7% translated English novels using Google Translate, 3.5% engaged in skimmed reading, 2.5% translated English novels using translators, and other reading strategies were below 3%. Participants who responded with ‘loved’ were 71%, participants who responded with ‘liked’ were 19%, participants who responded with ‘neutral’ were 7%, and those who responded with ‘disliked’ were 3%.  

Multilingualism and its tangled relationship with culture have been the center of debate for many years. It still sparkles various conceptual arguments and day by day, more academic research is circulating on this subject. The concept of multilingualism and the arguments around this discourse roots in the language itself. To fully grasp the notion of cultural multilingualism, first, we need to perceive how and where language and culture are interlinked. The study of culture has the originality of studying history itself. The first studies on both language and culture date back to the earliest time human attempted to analyze and perceive history. The globalization of multilingualism has led scientists and experts to analyze multilingualism through a cultural lens. It's only in a few decades that perceiving and understanding multilingualism through cultural perspectives has opened the eyes of experts to new horizons. Concerning this fact, this study has evaluated Never Let Me Go, a 2005 Nobel-winning novel by the Japanese-British novelist and screenwriter, Kazuo Ishiguro according to cultural multilingual values. Additionally, this study questions the concept of cultural multilingualism, together with its significance in shaping one's identity and self as the main key in Ishiguro's novel. Proven by the given facts, the current study illustrates how cultural multilingualism forms the author's writing style and mindset as a multilingual individual.

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, language teachers are presented with new possibilities for addressing challenges in language education. This intervention study aimed to investigate views from ESL teachers on the benefits and challenges of integrating ChatGPT, An artificial intelligence (AI) language model created by OpenAI in 2023, into ESL classrooms for personalized language learning. The study carried out in two upper-secondary schools, combines teacher questionnaires and interviews with a personalized learning intervention based on ChatGPT. The primary focus was on understanding the effect of ChatGPT-based personalized learning assignments on learners’ grammatical knowledge in a local classroom setting. Through the questionnaire, initial teacher concerns regarding the precision, dependability, and helpful application of AI tools were investigated. Despite these reservations, the intervention demonstrated a notable decrease in grammatical errors in student writing. Subsequent interviews revealed a positive shift in teacher perceptions, indicating increased receptivity to AI-based approaches after witnessing positive outcomes. The study highlights the importance of teacher training and hands-on experience in overcoming initial hesitations associated with AI tool adoption in pedagogical practices. Moreover, the promising results suggest that AI-powered instruments, like ChatGPT, have the potential to enhance personalized language learning. This underscored the significance of educators cultivating their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) to overcome hesitations and effectively harness the potential of ChatGPT for augmenting individualized learning. The study’s findings provided evidence supporting the utilization of ChatGPT-based personalized learning assignments to meet the specific requirements of the schools in question.

Stance has been examined extensively in the past few decades. However, the majority of the studies have been synchronic, with the few exceptions being snapshot diachronic studies without trend-related inferential statistics. This study adopted a trend-related inferential statistical measure and a more continuous diachronic dataset to examine the changes in using stance in the research articles of English applied linguistics from 2000 to 2020. To this end, 416 articles were randomly selected from 10 applied linguistics journals indexed in the first quartile of Scopus and probed using LancsBox for normalized frequency of Hyland’s (2005b) list of stance markers. Results were then analyzed for trends using the Jonckheere-Terpstra test. The results showed significant decreases for the overall stance markers (J=37168, z= -2.85, d= -.28, p= .004)), hedges (J=37014, z= -2.96, d= -.293, p=0.003), boosters (J=36298, z= -3.47, d= -.345, p=.001), and attitude markers (J=36647, z= -3.22, d= -.32, p=0.001), while self-mention markers were found to have experienced a slight, non-significant increase (J=42527.5, z= .94, d= .096, p=0.349). The functional analysis of the selected excerpts showed that the quantitative decrease in the use of stance markers has been compensated for, with an increase in the modification range and strength of the used stance markers as the two ways we could discover. After discussing the findings, the paper ends with some suggestions for further research.