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.

This experimental study attempts to see whether incorporating supplemental podcasts into the blended module of second language (L2) vocabulary teaching and learning leads to better learning outcomes in comparison with other common teaching and learning methods as self-study and conventional. To that end, undergraduate students from Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences were summoned up via an announcement to take part in the study. Volunteers were homogenized via Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) and were then randomly divided into three groups to learn English vocabulary items via three different scenarios during 32 sessions. The collected data from the participants’ answers to the attitude questionnaire and interview as well as the data from assessing their performance throughout the course were analyzed both descriptively and inferentially. The analysis of the data revealed that the podcast-mediated blended L2 learning scenario appeared as the most successful scenario in L2 vocabulary learning. Consequently, it could be concluded that providing miscellaneous practicing opportunities for students would facilitate learning process and contribute to learning improvement.

مطالعه حاضر به بررسی میزان تمایل به انگلیسی صحبت کردن و ارتباط آن با ویژگی های فردی و محیطی در بین ٣٧٢ زبان آموز ایرانی می پردازد. داده های لازم به وسیله ی پرسشنامه جمع آوری شد. از نرم افزار اس پی اس اس جهت اجرای آمار توصیفی و از نرم افزار آموس، با حداکثر میزان برآورد، جهت طراحی و تست مدل جدید روانشناسیِ آموزشِ زبان استفاده شد. نتایج معادلات ساختاری نشان داد که اعتماد به نفس، دیدگاه بین المللی و انگیزه پیش بینی کننده های معنادارِ تمایل به انگلیسی صحبت کردن هستند. نتایج همچنین نشان دادند که اضطراب از صحبت کردن، انگیزه و ویژگی شخصیتیِ موافق بودن و رفتار استاد می -تواند به صورت غیر مستقیم بر متغیر تمایل به انگلیسی صحبت کردن تاثیر بگذارد. رفتار استاد و شخصیت موافق به صورت معناداری هم دیدگاه بین المللی و هم اضطراب از صحبت کردن را در بین زبان آموزان پیش بینی می کند. نتایج بر اساس سیستم و بافت اجتماعی-آموزشی زبان انگلیسی در ایران مورد بحث قرار گرفت و مضامین تحقیق مشخص شد.