درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The field of ELT is constantly witnessing the introduction of new instructional approaches: one such perhaps recent initiative is critical discourse analysis (CDA). Accordingly, the present study was an attempt to investigate the impact of CDA instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ descriptive and argumentative writing ability. To fulfill the aforementioned purpose, a sample TOEFL was primarily piloted among a group of 30 upper intermediate EFL learners by the researchers; with the acceptable reliability and item analysis indices achieved, then the researchers administered the test among another group of 90 upper intermediate learners. Ultimately, those 60 learners whose scores fell one standard deviation above and below the mean were chosen as the participants of the study and were randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group with 30 participants in each. Both of these groups underwent the same amount of teaching time during 20 sessions which included a treatment of CDA instruction based on Jank’s (2005) set of 14 features for the experimental group. A posttest was administered at the end of the instruction to both groups and their mean scores on the test were compared through a multivariate analysis of variance. The result (F = 14.41 and p = 0.000 < 0.05) led to the rejection of the two null hypotheses raised in this study, thereby demonstrating that the learners in the experimental group benefited significantly more than those in the control group in terms of improving their descriptive and argumentative writing ability. Hence, the major pedagogical implication of this study is that CDA instruction can be effectively used to assist EFL learners improve their argumentative and descriptive writing ability.

As the main part of a large-scale project, the present study investigated the relationship among reflective thinking, listening anxiety, and listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners with regard to their proficiency level. To this end, 223 (106 intermediate and 117 advanced) adult male and female Iranian EFL learners from a private language institute took part in the study by completing the Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ) developed by Kember et al., (2000), the Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (FLLAS) developed by Kim (2000) and a listening comprehension test selected from the listening part of IELTS. Using factor analysis and Chronbach’s Alpha, the questionnaires were revalidated and their reliability was re-estimated. The results of Pearson product moment correlations indicated there was a statistically significant: (a) positive association between reflective thinking and listening comprehension, (b) reverse correlation between listening anxiety and listening comprehension, and (c) reverse relationship between reflective thinking and listening anxiety of Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, the results of multiple regression analysis indicated listening anxiety, compared to reflective thinking, was a significantly stronger predictor of listening comprehension. Additionally, the results of MANOVA revealed there was a significant difference between intermediate and advanced EFL learners with respect to their reflective thinking and listening anxiety. In the light of the findings of the study, foreign language education policy makers in general and EFL teachers in particular are thus recommended to introduce ways to enhance reflective thinking of the students and decrease their listening anxiety if they are to improve their listening comprehension. The results and implications of the study are discussed in more detail in the paper.

Given the fact that developing an intimate relationship between teacher and students creates a safe learning environment (Harran, 2006), and because teacher immediacy is proved to increase students’ motivation for learning (Velez & Cano, 2008), this study was an attempt to explore the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ perceived teacher immediacy and their willingness to communicate (WTC). To this end, first, a new WTC questionnaire, specific to EFL settings, was developed, piloted, factor analyzed, and then administered on 90 intermediate EFL learners. In the second phase, the participants were required to complete Gorham’s (1988) Verbal Immediacy Measure (VIM) and McCroskey et al.’s (1996) Revised Nonverbal Immediacy Measure (RNIM). The findings revealed that there are 7 factors underlying EFL learners’ WTC, one of which is teacher immediacy. Further analyses showed that there is a positive relationship between both verbal and nonverbal teacher immediacy behaviors and EFL learners’ WTC in EFL classes. It can be concluded that teacher immediacy is one of the constituents of EFL learners’ WTC and that their WTC is likely to increase when teachers demonstrate immediacy behaviors while teaching. The present study has implications for language practitioners as well as teacher trainers.

Cognitive linguistics gives the most inclusive, consistent description of how language is organized, used and learned to date. Cognitive linguistics contains a great number of concepts that are useful to second language learners. If-clauses in English, on the other hand, remain intriguing for foreign language learners to struggle with, due to their intrinsic intricacies. EFL grammar books are paying focal attention to present explanations of if-clauses in terms of their form not meaning, hence not giving attention to their contextual meaning usage. Cognitive linguistic insights on if-clauses discuss their complexity in such a way that could be very beneficial for L2 learners. This study aims to investigate the effect of two different ways of teaching (cognitively-oriented and task-oriented) on learning English if-clauses. A sample of 60 non-English postgraduate students in three groups, two experimental groups (cognitively-oriented and task-oriented) and one control group participated in our study. The results indicated that participants from the cognitively-oriented group performed better than those in task-oriented and control groups and proved a higher degree of comprehending English if-clauses in different contexts. The findings have implications for curriculum and materials developers, as well as the English language teachers in incorporating insights from cognitive linguistics in second language materials.

در این پژوهش به بررسی تاثیر فناوری های جدید اطلاع رسانی و ارتباطی در آموزش بر بهبود توانش های دستوری و آگاهی فراشناختی در دستور نزد معلمان آینده زبان فرانسه در دانشکده تعلیم و تربیت دانشگاه تانتا، پرداخته می شود. به نظر می رسد که استفاده از فناوری های اطلاع رسانی و ارتباطی در آموزش نه تنها عملکرد دستوری زبان آموزان بلکه آگاهی فراشناختی آنها را نیز می-تواند بهبود بخشد. آگاهی فراشناختی تاثیر زیادی بر فراگیری زبان فرانسه دارد. تحقیقات زیادی مانند عبدالغنی (2009 و 2010) نشان دادند که زمانیکه فراگیران به عملکردهایشان آگاه باشند چگونه مرتکب این یا آن خطا می شوند و چگونه آنها می توانند با استفاده از فناوری های اطلاع رسانی و ارتباطی در آموزش، عملکرد زبانی شان را بهبود بخشند. از منابع مجازی بر خط مانند Franc-parler.org (پایگاه جهانی معلمان زبان فرانسه به عنوان زبان خارجی) و غیره استفاده شد تا تاثیر آنها بر آموزش دستور و رشد آگاهی فراشناختی در دستور نزد معلمان آینده زبان فرانسه در مصر بررسی شود.

طراحی تکالیف با سطح پیچیدگی شناختی معقول همیشه ازدیدگاه برنامه ریزان درسی, معلمان , و محققین حائز اهمیت بوده است چرا که تغییر تکالیف (از لحاظ پیچیدگی) می تواند منجر به نتایج متفاوتی در زمینه تولیدات شفاهی گردد. این تحقیق تلاشی در جهت بررسی تاثیر تغییر درتکالیف بر اساس 3 مورد (نیاز به برهان, تعداد عناصر, و موقعیت ""اینجا و اکنون"" در مقابل"" آنجا و سپس"" ) از مدل resource-directing , مطرح شده توسط رابینسون, بر روی نقل داستان از روی تصایر است. این تحقیق شامل 30 زبان آموز ایرانی در رنج سنی 20 تا 34 سال بود. همه این افراد موظف به انجام هردو مدل تکلیف (پیچیده و ساده) برای نقل داستان از روی تصایر بودند. داده های صوتی ضبط و سپس تست پارامتریک MANOVA برروی آن انجام گردید. نتایج نشان داد که افزایش پیچیدگی شناختی در تکالیف منجر به افزایش صحت و پیچیدگی زبانی گردید. یافته های این تحقیق می تواند بینش عمیقی برای تدوین کنندگان مطالب درسی در خصوص تدارک تکالیف و زبان آموزان در راستای سنجش پیشرفت فراهم آورد.

The role of teachers in the educational context could go beyond simply teaching the subject matter. It is not uncommon for some students to be greatly influenced by certain teachers and even consider them as their role models. An interesting and novel way of inferring the impact a teacher has on the students is through revealing the status of the teacher as perceived by the students. The present study pursued two goals: first, to construct and validate a teacher status scale (TSS); and second, to reveal the relative status of English language teachers as compared to other school teachers in students’ perceptions. Regarding the first goal, an 18-item teacher status scale was designed and, using the data collected from 200 students, its construct validity was substantiated through Rasch model. As for the second goal, 650 junior high school students rated their 300 teachers. The data was then analyzed using Chi-square test. In addition, 135 students participated in short interviews and a total of 530 minutes of recorded interviews constituted the qualitative data. Based on the results, English teachers were found to have the highest status of all school teachers as perceived by the students. Finally, statistical results were discussed, and implications were provided for English language teaching in the formal context of education.

این مقاله گزارش پژوهشی است درباره رابطه میان هوش هیجانی گروهی از فراگیرندگان زبان انگلیسی ایران و انسجام نوشته های آنها. در راستاس این پژوهش یک آزمون توانش زبانی که شامل 40 پرسش چهار گزینه ای مربط به دستور زبان، لغت و درک متون انگلیسی بود و از پایایی با کرونباخ آلفای 742. برخوردار بود به تعدادی از فراگیرندگان زبان انگلیسی داده شد تا آن هایی که توانایی تولید متون نوشتاری معنادار را داشتند مشخص شوند. پس از آن مقیاس هوش هیجانی شات (شامل 33 پرسش) به شرکت کنندگان در پژوهش داده شد و نیز از آن ها خواسته شد تا مقاله ای کوتاه در مورد موضوعی مشخص بنویسند. از 110 نفری که آزمون توانش زبانی، پرسشنامه هوش هیجانی و تکلیف مقاله نویسی را گرفتند، 79 نفر به هر سه پاسخ دادند. 45 نفر از 79 نفر توانستند به بیش از 23 پرسش از 40 پرسش آزمون توانایی زبانی پاسخ دهند و از این رو پاسخ های آن ها به پرسشنامه هوش هیجانی و نوشته های آنها مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. برای ارزیابی عینی نوشته ها، از مقیاس انسجام متن کل نگر بامبرگ (1984) استفاده شد که دارای 5 درجه، از کاملا منسجم (4 امتیاز) تا غیرقابل نمره دادن (صفر امتیاز)، است. برای مشخص کردن ارتباط میان انسجام نوشته ها و هوش هیجانی نویسندگان از آزمون اسپیرمن استفاده شد. اما برخلاف انتظار پژوهشگران، رابطه میان دو متغیر مورد بررسی قوی و معنادار نبود.

این تحقیق، با استفاده از یک برنامه ی چندرسانه ای رایانه ای، به بررسی تاثیر زیرنویس متون بر درک شنیداری ویادگیری واژگان در زبان خارجی پرداخته است. علاوه براین، تاثیر ترتیب ارائه ی زیرنویس (درمرتبه اول یا دوم) و تعامل آن با سطح دانش زبانی فراگیران زبان را درعملکرد درک شنیداری و واژگان آنان بررسی کرده است. به منظور نیل به این اهداف، یک نرم افزاری رایانه ای طراحی شد و از 200 نفر از فراگیران زبان خارجی ( 100 نفر سطح متوسط-بالا و 100 نفر سطح متوسط -پایین) خواسته شد که در این تحقیق شرکت کنند. شرکت کنندکان به طور تصادفی به چهار گروه تقسیم شدند: گروه زیرنویس (با دومرتبه گوش دادن به متون همراه با زیرنویس)، گروه بدون زیرنویس (با دومرتبه گوش دادن به متون بدون زیرنویس)، گروه اول زیرنویس (با گوش دادن به متون مرتبه ی اول همراه با زیرنویس و مرتبه-ی دوم بدون زیرنویس)، گروه دوم زیرنویس (با گوش دادن به متون مرتبه ی اول بدون زیرنویس و مرتبه ی دوم همراه با زیرنویس). آنان دومرتبه به چهار متن شنیداری (داستان کوتاه) گوش دادند و به آزمون های درک شنیداری و واژگان ازطریق نرم افزار و رایانه پاسخ دادند. نتایج بدست آمده ازآزمون تی و تحلیل واریانس دوسویه نشانگر این مسئله بود که عملکرد زبان آموزان درداستان های زیرنویس شده موثرتر بود، ولی ترتیب ارایه ی زیرنویس تاثیر معنا داری درعملکرد آنها در درک شنیداری و واژگان نداشت. بالاخره، تعامل معنا داری بین ترتیب ارایه ی زیرنویس و سطح دانش زبانی در دو گروه مشاهده نگردید.

Academic writing ability is an important goal that learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) try to attain. While ESL students’ academic writings have been widely explored, owing to few studies investigating appraisal resources in EFL students’ argumentative writing, the gap still exists about EFL students’ academic writing. This study aimed to see how Kurdish-speaking learners of English employ appraisal resources in their writings. It further aimed to explore whether the appraisal framework can be utilized as an assessment scale for evaluating the students’ argumentative writing. To this end, the study investigated the argumentative essays written by 15 bilingual Kurdish-Iranian graduates of English within the framework of the appraisal theory. The instruments applied in this study consisted of a modified rating scale for assessing the essays in terms of the macrostructures exploited in them and the framework for the analysis of appraisal resources. Quantitative findings revealed high-graded essays employ more attitudinal items and fewer monoglossic resources than low-graded ones. Qualitatively, the high-graded essays articulated attitudinal values in nominal forms and sometimes in a backgrounded manner while these values were mostly presented by surge of feelings and in a foregrounded way in the low-graded essays. Regarding engagement, unlike the high-graded essays, the low-graded ones were poor in recognizing other voices and alternative positions. Inspired by the strength of the appraisal model evaluating writing, results suggest that high-graded essays are successful in positioning readers attitudinally and clarifying the ethical message to readers.

The present study was aimed at examining concerns about the social effects of EFL learning, a challenging area of research which has not been discussed sufficiently. It tried to investigate the relationship between EFL learning and national identity. In addition, attempt was made to find a relationship between language motivation types and national identity. Furthermore, the role of two demographic variables, gender and age was examined. To this end, a sample consisting of 350 undergraduates studying at Allameh Tabataba'i University in Tehran took part in the study. A questionnaire on national identity and another one on language motivation types followed by an interview were the instruments used. The questionnaires had already been developed. However, there were some major modifications for the former which consisted of 30 items measuring national identity for all participants. The latter contained 42 items measuring language motivation types for only EFL learners. The Regression analysis, independent samples t-tests and a one-way ANOVA were run. The results revealed that claims over the harmful social effects of EFL learning were not arguably significant and it was found that among the eight language motivation types, going abroad and social responsibility were correlated with national identity. Furthermore, gender and age indicated significant differences among the participants' tendencies. The findings indicated that the social concerns about EFL learning are too pessimistic. So, materials developers, syllabus designers and teachers might consider the potentiality of some social elementsand demographic variables for the development of EFL learning.

Language and culture are now deemed to be co-constitutive; hence English language teaching (ELT) textbooks should incorporate cultural aspects and promote intercultural competence. However, careful decisions should be made as regards to the cultural content of materials and the ways in which culture is represented. This study was an attempt to deconstruct the patterns of cultural representation and intercultural interactions in Interchange textbooks, an ELT textbook series taught to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Iran. Using content analysis of texts and images and with the focus on nationality, gender and race, it examined how different cultures were reflected in Interchange 1, Interchange 2, Interchange 3, and whether cultural bias or inequality was present. The quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that the white male group was dominant in all three textbooks. And, to use Kachru’s (1985) terms, inner, outer and expanding circle nationalities were represented in the textbooks, with the expanding circle constituting the major nationality, but American culture of inner circle was predominant. Additionally, the interactions were mainly limited to superficial aspects of the target culture although these textbooks sought to show various intercultural interactions. Dominance of male and white characters and the US culture indicated inequality in race and gender, and the superficial treatment of culture in the textbooks. Less attention to the hybrid culture and deeper level of intercultural aspects, i.e. critical reflections, in the textbooks suggests that the materials be supplemented by EFL teachers’ constructive discussion of the cultures that interact.