درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

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.

تحقیق حاضر تکرار طرح پژوهشی دیگری است برای پیدا کردن عوامل زیر بنایی خصوصیات موثر معلمان زبان انگلیسی (CEELT) بعد از انتخاب نمونه آماری همگونتر و نماینده تر. به این منظور پرسشنامه CEELT تالیف شده توسط معافیان و پیش قدم (2008) به 1469 زبان آموز ایرانی که انگلیسی را به عنوان زبان خارجی در مدارس دولتی و موسسات خصوصی مختلف در مشهد تحصیل می کردند داده شد تا سه فرضیه مرتبط با استحکام روابط بین خصوصیات، تعداد عوامل استخراج شده و خصوصیاتی که روی بیش از یک عامل لود می کنند مورد بررسی قرار گیرند. وقتی که از روش تحلیل عاملی برای استخراج عامل سازه ای استفاده شد چهل و هفت خصوصیت مورد مطالعه به دلیل داشتن همبستگی درونی زیاد با یکدیگر تنها روی پنج عامل برقراری ارتباط صمیمی، عادل بودن، صلاحیت شغلی، تسهیل و برگزاری امتحان لود کردند. نتایج حاضر بیانگر چندین التزام پژوهشی است. اول اینکه همبستگی بین متغیرها و آمار KMO که مبین کافی بودن نمونه گیری است بایدگزارش شوند. دوما نمونه آماری می بایستی شامل حداقل یک هزار شرکت کننده و ترجیحا دارای نسبت سی نفر برای هر خصوصیت مطرح شده باشد و بالاخره تمام خصوصیاتی که روی بیش از یک عامل لود می کنند می بایستی گزارش شوند. لودهای چند عاملی بیانگر ضرورت اتخاد نگرشی چند بعدی نسبت به آموزش زبان و برقراری ارتباط معنادار بین خصوصیات معلمان و توانایی هایی از قبیل پیشرفت تحصیلی و بسندگی هستند.

In spite of the highly beneficial applications of corpus linguistics in language pedagogy, it has not found its way into mainstream EFL. The major reasons seem to be the teachers’ lack of training and the unavailability of resources, especially computers in language classes. Phrasal verbs have been shown to be a problematic area of learning English as a foreign language due to their semantic opacity and structural differences between English and learners’ first languages. To examine the pedagogic potentiality of the use of corpus linguistics in the context of EFL, the present study aimed at comparing the effect of paper-based data-driven learning (DDL) activities, as a substitute for online DDL activities, with the activities designed based on dictionary entries in terms of their effect on learning phrasal verbs in both short and long run. To this end, the study adopted a quasi-experimental pretest posttest control group design. The analysis of the data collected through an immediate posttest as well as a delayed posttest showed that the DDL activities led to greater improvements by the participants. Based on the results of the study, it is argued that paper-based DDL activities can be used effectively in EFL classes to enhance learning and help learners to become more autonomous in their learning efforts.

This study tried to find out what factors underline the characteristics of acquisition of English language in EFL classrooms. To this end, the Characteristics of English Language Acquisition Scale (ELAS) consisting of 41 items was designed by the researchers of this study and administered to 388 pre University Iranian EFL students at various private and public schools in Neyshabour and Zebarkhan. Factor analysis was run to determine the number of factors underlying the scale. The application of Principle Axis Factoring and rotating the extracted factors showed that the characteristics loaded acceptably on twelve factors underlying the learners’ EFL acquisition, i.e., learning boosters, facilitation, determination, voluntary, teaching methodology, affective factors, attitudes toward foreign speakers and their culture, learner engagement, adjustment, enhancement, teachers' output and individual differences. The results are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.

Incidental vocabulary learning is often seen as superior to direct instruction on many occasions. Meanwhile, upon the emergence of the World Wide Web, second language (SL) learners have been introduced to 'podcasts' (recorded audio and video online broadcasts) which could be authentic sources of vocabulary learning. The relatively recent phenomenon of video podcast (vodcast) might be considered as a reliable complementary source of input to the written text or the audio track which are predominantly used to represent the platforms of SL instruction. To examine this assertion, three groups of Iranian EFL learners (n=63) were independently exposed to different modes of input (the reading text, audio track, and vodcast) during a series of classroom sessions under highly controlled circumstances. Immediate and delayed passive recall tests of vocabulary were administered to investigate their incidental gains. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that both dependent variables (immediate and delayed recall) were significantly affected by the input modes. The post-hoc tests indicated no significant difference between the written and the audio groups while the vodcast group significantly outperformed the other two. The rich contextual clues made available by this audiovisual source seem to account for its superiority