درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

How language teachers talk is a key factor in organizing and facilitating learning specifically in language classrooms where the medium of instruction is also the subject matter. This study aimed to examine the extent and ways of teacher talk adaptation to students’ proficiency levels in the Iranian EFL context. Two EFL teachers who were teaching three different proficiency levels were observed and recorded. They were also interviewed to see if they would make any conscious effort to adapt to their students’ proficiency level. Furthermore, the students of the same classes were interviewed for the comprehensibility of their teachers’ talk. Data were analyzed for four major areas of adaptation including speech rate, vocabulary, syntax, and discourse. The results showed that teachers’ adaptation to students’ level does happen clearly for elementary students, but the adaptation boundary between the intermediate and advanced levels is fuzzy. The findings also indicated that in spite of what they think, teachers’ talk is not tuned to elementary students’ understanding.

A long-standing debate among the vocabulary researchers is the depth of processing to learn vocabulary. This paper is a quantitative research which considers a revision in the “involvement load hypothesis” proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn in 2001. It investigates the role of proficiency and evaluation in this hypothesis in order to better reveal its potential contribution to vocabulary learning. It was based on task-induced involvementthat comparesdifferent tasks in incidental vocabulary acquisition in EFL context. The participants were 66 learners fromtwo different English institutes who were classified into two major high and low proficient groups based on Nelson Proficiency Test. The participants in each group were randomly assigned to three tasks prepared to compare“moderate”, “strong”, and “no evaluation” in involvement load hypothesis.The “strong evaluation”subgroup (making original sentences) in low proficiency supported Laufer and Hulstijn’s hypothesis and yielded better retention of the target words. The study suggests that the level of proficiency and evaluation in task induced involvementneeds reconsideration. The results have implications for language teachers, materials developers, and syllabus designers.

Second or foreign language (L2) learners’ development of interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) competence to understand and properly interpret utterances under certain social and cultural circumstances plays a pivotal role in the achievement of communicative competence. The current study was designed to explore the effects of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) and asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) course modules delivered through social media networks (SMN) on the development of the Iranian L2 learners’ comprehension of implicatures. The participants of the study were 90 English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) undergraduate students attending three intact classes. The classes were randomly assigned to one control and two experimental (SCMC and ACMC) groups. An open-ended implicature comprehension test was used to assess students’ ILP development in this pretest-posttest comparison-group study. The control group received the traditional teacher-fronted instruction, and the S/ACMC groups received instruction via synchronous and asynchronous modules of SMNs for 4 months, respectively. Students’ attitudes towards the CMC-based courses were also sought. Split-plot ANOVA results indicated that both experimental groups developed significant ILP ability to comprehend and interpret L2 implicatures after the instruction; however, by comparison, the ACMC group improved more considerably. It is concluded that, first, comprehending L2 implicatures is not impervious to computer-mediated instruction and, second, different CMC affordances may result in differential ILP developmental effects in teaching L2 pragmatics. The findings can help L2 teachers decide how to use CMC affordances and SMN modules to raise L2 learners’ pragmatic awareness

هدف ازاین پژوهش بررسی تاثیردرسکارهای تصمیمی وجورچین بر تقویت توانایی های شنیداری و گفتاری زبان اموزان ایرانی درسطح متوسط بود. بدین منظور از میان 75 زبان آموز دختر ایرانی 60 نفر به عنوان گروه همگون از نظر تئانایی زبانی بر اساس آزمون نلسون انتخاب شدند. جهت سنجش توانایی های شنیداری وگفتاری زبان اموزان قبل وبعد از اموزش ازبخش های شنیداری وگفتاری ازمون PET استفاده شد. به منظور بررسی نقش درسکارهای جورچین وتصمیم گیری برتوانایی های شنیداری وگفتاری، شرکت کنندگان به دوگروه ازمایشی A و B تقسیم شدند. گروه ازمایش A براساس درسکارتصمیم گیری وگروه ازمایش B براساس درس کارجورچین درمعرض اموزش مهارتهای شنیداری و گفتاری به مدت 12 جلسه 45 دقیقه ای قرارگرفتند. به منظور تجزیه و تحلیل اطلاعات، امارتوصیفی واستنباطی محاسبه شد. نتایج نشان داد زبان اموزانی که درس کار شنیداری وگفتاری جورچین را تجربه کرده بودند بهتر از انهایی که براساس درس کار تصمیم گیری اموزش دیده بودند عمل کردند. یافته های این پژوهش ضمن تایید نقش آموزش درسکتر محور، موید نقش متمایز نوع درسکار در تقویت مطلوب مهارت زبانی مورد نظر می باشد.

This study aimed at gaining insights into students’ attitudes in the learning English using the Smart Board or Interactive White Board (IWB) technology in EFL classrooms. The main goal of this paper is to evaluate students’ attitudes towards the use of Smart Board as an instructional tool on student motivation, participation, interaction and retention for learning English in Iranian schools. To achieve this aim, an observation was carried out during lessons in the classroom by the researcher. A questionnaire consisting of 20 questions was also developed by the researcher based on an extensive literature review as well as related instructional theories. The researcher also conducted an interview to find the effect of Smart Boards on student motivation, participation, interaction and retention of information in English classrooms. Analysis of these three instruments yielded patterns of responses concerning how Smart Board or IWB technology can motivate the students and increase their participation in classroom. The results of this study also indicate that students interact more in classrooms where technology is used effectively. Finally, it was found that Smart Boards enhance students' retention of information and learning process in EFL classrooms. The findings of the study will carry important implications for students, language instructors, and administrators as well.