درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present study was conducted to investigate Indonesian English language education department learners’ L2 pronunciation anxiety (PA) and whether the duration of their study in the department as well as their gender impacted their PA. This cross-sectional study employed an online survey using a Google Form questionnaire as the method of collecting data with convenience sampling. To this end, 101 learners participated in this study. The study found that in general learners experienced a moderate level of PA. This anxiety was related to interlocutors and peer comparison, learners' perception of competence, and their perception of being English as Foreign Language (EFL) speakers. Furthermore, it was found that PA did not significantly differ across learners from different study years and female learners reported a significantly higher level of PA than their male counterparts. Considering the little influence of the study duration of PA, pedagogical implications include the need to revisit English education curricula regarding pronunciation learning encompassing such aspects as learning materials and activities, teaching methods, assessment, and evaluation, as well as learning objectives.        

In the context of the rapid dissemination of information, scaffolding the readability of online content is critical. This study introduces the brainling model as a novel approach to measuring readability, which heeds readers’ cognition, senses, emotions, and cultural background in conjunction with language. To achieve the aims, two texts covering a general topic were selected, both possessing the same readability level according to the Flesch Reading Ease scale. However, one of the texts was modified in accordance with the brainling components (i.e., cogling, emoling, sensoling, and cultuling). Following each reading text, five multiple-choice comprehension questions, a 10- item Likert scale for readability, and a scale for the text’s difficulty level scale were designed. The Google Form was used to collect responses from 209 individuals with intermediate language proficiency at an educational institution in Oman. After verifying the reliability and validity of the questions and scales, significantly higher mean scores were observed for the readability scale components of clarity and engagement in the brainling-based modified text, compared to the unmodified text. Moreover, the results obtained from the text difficulty scale, readers rated the brainling-based text as easier to comprehend. Furthermore, based on the reading comprehension test, participants achieved higher scores when reading the brainling-based text. These findings demonstrate that modifying a text based on the brainling model, which integrates both brain and linguistic structures, significantly enhances clarity, engagement, text difficulty, and reading comprehension scores. Adopting the brainling approach can be a solution for fostering mutual understanding and collaboration among culturally diverse members and alleviating challenges such as misunderstanding, that may hinder goal achievement. 

Despite its role in achieving the frontiers of knowledge and interacting with the international community, English does not have its proper place in the Iranian General Education system, resulting in poor English education in school, hence, students’ poor command of English. This study explores the feasibility of outsourcing English teaching and entrusting this enterprise to the private sector. To this end, a questionnaire was developed from expert interviews to canvass 376 English teachers, students, and parents, as primary stakeholders, across the country. An exploration of respondents’ attitudes toward outsourcing English teaching indicated the agreement of the majority of the respondents with this idea of English education privatization. Moreover, political and ideological perspectives imply that a shift from school to institute is needed if we expect effective communication-based language teaching and learning. This may necessitate a radical reform in the language policy of the country and may even lead to the decentralization of English education due to regional and cultural needs. The study has implications regarding possible fundamental changes in language planning in the formal education system of the country.    

Concern about the Iranian EFL learners’ dissatisfaction with their learning achievement motivated this qualitative study. While the importance of teacher feedback in English as a foreign language (EFL) and its correlation with self-directed learning (SDL) of EFL learners is recognized in the literature, there seems to be a gap specifically regarding the role of Iranian EFL teachers' productive feedback features in fostering EFL learners' SDL. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the teachers' self-reported productive feedback perception and practices in support of Iranian EFL learners’ SDL to fill in the gap. For this aim, fourteen Iranian EFL teachers were interviewed, and the data obtained from the semi-structured individual interviews were analysed through content analysis. According to the findings, the participating EFL teachers unanimously comprehended the benefits of productive feedback in the classroom in support of learners’ SDL. These benefits, emerging from the analyzed data based on teachers’ insights, may contribute to learners’ self-awareness, freedom, effective learning, and a stress-free learning environment. However, the presence of lack of time, teachers’ shortage of knowledge, and the top-down approach to the education system of Iran prevented Iranian EFL teachers from actually implementing these productive feedback features supporting learners’ SDL.

The pluricentricity of English language has led to the appearance of new trends in English language education. This is especially important in Expanding Circle (EC) countries to develop intercultural communication among learners. The current study attempted to investigate the views of Iranian Englishteachers towards the relevancy of English as an international language (EIL) to their practice of English language teaching and the influence of teacher education on shaping their attitudes. To this end, a mixed method sequential research design was used to collect data, sing a questionnaire delivered to115 EC teachers who, at the time, were taking an online teacher education workshop held in a Language Institute in Tehran regarding EIL and varieties of English. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 34 teachers who had expressed their agreement to be interviewed. The analysis of the data showed that although the EC teachers had mostly expressed positive perceptions about EIL and varieties of English, their perceptions misaligned with their practices in ELT classes. The mismatch between teachers’ conception of EIL and its relevance to their context of teaching seemed to have undermined their self-confidence in applying this concept to practice. They seemed to have taken it for granted that American English is the sole variety to be practiced in Iran, as it is considered the most desirable target language variety. Implications of the results for educators and policy-makers on bridging the gap between theory and practice in ELT classes are presented.

The mushrooming of private bilingual schools (PBSs) in large cities of Iran highlights the importance of equipping English teachers in these schools with the required knowledge to hold high-quality English classes. In the absence of publications on the status of English language teaching (ELT) and hence English language teacher education (ELTE) practices in PBSs of Iran, the present inquiry was initiated to explore these neglected aspects in five PBSs in Tehran. In-depth semi-structured interviews with two principals, four English supervisors, and 16 English teachers were used for data collection. Thematic analysis of the data revealed how topics such as teaching methods, materials development, religious values, native and foreign cultures, technological literacy, English accents, use of mother tongue, and teacher reflection were perceived in teacher education practices of the selected schools. This finding can provide policymakers, school principals, English supervisors, and teachers with insights into the value of ELTE programs and the areas needing refinement.   

While second language acquisition can be a complex and time-consuming process, developing efficient approaches that are less demanding on the part of the learner can greatly enhance the learning outcomes. The present study was an attempt to explore the potential application of priming as an approach to enhance the production of motion phrasal verbs. Ninety students were divided into intermediate and upper-intermediate groups based on their proficiency levels. The participants were required to narrate a silent movie as a baseline written production task. In the next stage, for the purpose of priming, they were required to read a storybook containing instances of motion events expressed in phrasal verbs. Immediately afterward, the participants were asked to narrate a second silent movie. The researchers also administered a working memory test to investigate its potential impact on the learning outcomes. The results indicated that only the upper-intermediate group benefited from the priming mechanism. Additionally, the results suggested that working memory did not show a significant predictive role in implicit learning within the specific context of motion phrasal verbs. These findings are in line with the processability hypothesis, which posits that developmental readiness plays a significant role in language learning.

Our planet faces major environmental issues that must be addressed through ecological initiatives, education, and awareness raising. In language education, ecolinguistics has grown substantially during the last decade and has taken a cognitive step toward fostering and improving people’s ecological awareness; however, there was no mention of pedagogical practices of ecolinguistics rooted in theories of second language teaching and learning. Thus, the present study sought to apply a framework of English teaching based on the Activity Theory to raise EFL learners’ ecological critical language awareness. The researchers of the current quasi-experimental study employed a non-equivalent pretest and posttest control-group design to assess the effectiveness of using an AT-based framework in EFL classes to foster learners’ critical language awareness of ecological issues. An experimental group (n=45) and a control group (n=45) with intermediate-level members selected through convenience sampling took part in the study. The experimental group was taught with the AT-based framework, while the control group was not. The result of the independent samples t-test indicated that the ECLA of the experimental group had risen significantly compared to the control group. Also, the results of a series of paired samples t-tests comparing the pretest and posttest of the experimental group’s score on each domain of the ECLA showed that the learners’ awareness of all six domains had significantly improved. The study suggests that implementing the AT-based framework to teach ecolinguistics in language classes can be a promising way to raise learners’ ECLA.

Comment peut-on intégrer les collocations dans l’enseignement-apprentissage du lexique de la langue française en Iran ? Telle est la problématique qu’on se propose de traiter dans cet article, en mettant en perspective la place des collocations dans des productions écrites et orales d’un groupe d’étudiants en langue et littérature françaises. Cette recherche est fondée sur l’analyse d’un corpus composé des productions des étudiants participants, de l’observation de leurs cours et des discours de ces étudiants sur les collocations, recueillis lors des entretiens semi-directifs. Les résultats montrent que les collocations sont actuellement très peu utilisées par les apprenants du FLE en Iran. Les collocations les plus utilisées dans les productions des étudiants sont du type V + N (Verbe +Nom avec article). Les résultats retenus de l’analyse qualitative des réponses des étudiants aux questions de l’entretien montrent que leur statut dans les programmes de l’enseignement du français et dans les contenus des cours dans les filières du français en Iran est loin d’être clair. Nous avons également essayé de donner quelques pistes d’après les résultats obtenus, permettant d’améliorer l’enseignement du lexique en FLE, et en particulier celui de collocations.