درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Lexical inferencing is one of the most important strategies in vocabulary learning and it plays an important role in dealing with unknown words in a text. In this regard, the aim of this study was to determine the lexical inferencing strategies used by Iranian EFL learners when they encounter unknown words at both text and sentence levels. To this end, forty lower intermediate students were divided into two groups. For the first group, a text with 10 underlined words was given and for the second group, the same underlined words were given in separate sentences. The students were supposed to read the text and the sentences and to guess the meaning of the underlined words. Then some lexical inferencing strategies were given to them to determine which strategies they used in guessing the meaning of unknown words. The results showed that they used different strategies like using local context and word association in lexical inferencing and also they were more successful at the text level than the sentence one. The results also indicated that they were strategic learners using their own strategies including translation and cultural background knowledge to guess the meaning of the unknown words.

Investigating the “knowing”, a module of the KARDS model proposed by Kumaravadivelu (2012) for teacher education, of Iranian teachers of learner autonomy, this study is an attempt to illuminate some of the yet unexplored areas of teachers’ various types of knowledge of learner autonomy. Furthermore, it attempts to illustrate how Iranian Non-EFL teachers’ knowing affects their practices with regard to learner autonomy and how this could differ from that of Iranian EFL teachers. To that end 112 EFL and Non-EFL teachers were purposefully cluster-sampled. Based on convenient sampling but only after data saturation was reached were 12 teachers interviewed. Based on the result of the interviews and the data gleaned from the literature a questionnaire was developed. The sample were asked to complete the questionnaire and then through negative case analysis some were interviewed. The questionnaire tapped into the social, political, psychological and personal aspects of learner autonomy. The results indicated the informants, be it EFL or non-EFL, found learner autonomy to be a psychological construct, which can be traced back to their personal knowledge. Finally, with regard to the feasibility and desirability of learner autonomy implementation in the education system, the informants see learner autonomy as more of a desirable concept than feasible. It is hoped that teachers and teacher educators find the results as well as the suggestions-for-action made at the end of the study helpful and that the results have tangible implications for the Iranian education system when fed into professional development activities and strategic planning.

This study sought to examine the relationship between the use of formative -efficacy. Moreover, this study investigated the relationships and interactions between the EFL use of formative assessment strategies, their gender, level of experience, and sense of self-efficacy. This is a descriptive ex post facto design study which employed a three- assessment strategies f self-efficacy. In order to collect data, sixty-one EFL teachers, including thirty-one female and thirty male participants who were selected through convenience sampling, completed the questionnaire. Multiple statistical strategies were employed to analyze the research questions of the study. The use of formative assessment strategies was positively correlated with their sense of self-efficacy. However, the results of eta correlation coefficients revealed that there formative assessment strategies and two other variables of gender and level of experience. Finally, the results of a three way factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) evinced that there was no statistically significant interaction between the strategies -efficacy, their gender, and level of experience. Therefore, when the teachers become more aware of the ways to implement formative assessment strategies to inform instruction, their sense of self-efficacy can increase. This study has some implications in language testing, English pedagogy, and syllabus design and materials development.

Fossilization has become the focus of many L2 studies since its introduction in 1972 as many learners fail to achieve native-speaker competence. Researchers have tried to unravel the causes of fossilization, among which noticing has been claimed to be of great importance. This study aimed to explore the effect of noticing on fossilization. To achieve this aim, a mixed methods approach was utilized. Sixty advanced L1 Persian learners of English studying in Iran were chosen to perform two written and three spoken tasks twice. Qualitative data included the content analysis of the participants’ performance on the written and spoken tasks while the quantitative data included percentages of noticed errors and recurrent erroneous forms. The errors observed in both performances were counted and classified. Six main categories named Grammatical Errors, Lexical Errors, and Cohesive Errors were identified. The observed errors were further classified into 61 subcategories. When learners’ ability in noticing their errors was investigated, it was found that they could notice 37.4% of the 3,796 fossilized forms they had produced. Most of the errors observed were categorized in the category of grammatical errors. Noticing affected the number of errors produced. It can be concluded that becoming aware of ones fossilized forms, one will produce fewer fossilized forms. The results of the current study have implications for English language teachers and learners. By being informed of the errors learners make while learning a language and how their noticing affects fossilization, teachers can improve their teaching practice which in turn enhances learning.

مطالعه حاضر به بررسی نمود تخصص در تدریس معلمان انگلیسی در محیطهای رسمی آموزشی ایران پرداخته است. به طور خاص این تحقیق با این هدف شکل گرفت که نشان دهد چطور معلمان زبان انگلیسی در دبیرستانها و اساتید زبان عمومی در یک دانشگاه دولتی ایران خصوصیات تخصص در تدریس را آشکار میسازند. این تحقیق همچنین به مقایسه خصوصیات تخصص در تدریس معلمان و اساتید تازه کار و باتجربه در دبیرستان و دانشگاه پرداخته است. به این منظور طی یک تحقیق کیفی، 10 معلم دبیرستان و 10 استاد دانشگاه به صورت هدفمند برای مشاهده و مصاحبه انتخاب شدند. هر گروه شامل 5 معلم تازه کار و 5 معلم با تجربه بود. بعد از 3-2 جلسه مشاهده کلاس درس معلمان (به عنوان منبع اصلی داده ها) و یک جلسه مصاحبه با همه شرکت کنندگان، همه موارد و نمونه های تخصص در تدریس معلمان استخراج شد. این نمونه ها بعدا به صورت 6 نوع تخصص در تدریس طبقه بندی شدند: تخصص در مدیریت، تخصص در ایجاد انگیزه و ارائه راهنمایی و بازخورد، تخصص آموزشی، تخصص در شناخت مفاهیم، تخصص در ایجاد ارتباط بین موضوعات مختلف درسی و تخصص در مدیریت چالش ها. سپس جدولی طراحی شد که شامل همه انواع تخصص در تدریس و نمونه ها و مثالهای هر کدام بود (که از گزارشات مشاهدات و هم چنین از ادبیات موضوع استخراج شده بود). داده ها برای هر کدام از معلمان دوباره به صورت دقیق مورد بررسی قرار گرفت و مواردی که در تدریس عملی آنها وجود داشت در جدول علامت گذاری گردید. قدم بعدی مطالعه دقیق الگوهای تخصص در تدریس برای هر گروه از معلمان بود. تحلیل داده های جمع آوری شده نشان داد که تخصص در تدریس به صورت تقریبا مشابهی در تدریس عملی معلمان 4 گروه نمود پیدا کرده بود. سه گروه یعنی معلمان با تجربه دبیرستان و اساتید تازه کار و با تجربه دانشگاه موفقیت 100 درصدی را در حداقل یکی از انواع تخصص در تدریس نشان دادند که مربوط به ایجاد ارتباط در بین موضوعات درسی بود. این نوع تخصص تدریس برای معلمان تازه کار دبیرستان تنها 60 درصد بود. اساتید با تجربه دانشگاه تنها گروهی بودند که در دو نوع از تخصص یعنی تخصص در شناخت مفاهیم و ایجاد ارتباط بین موضوعات درسی به موفقیت کامل (100 درصدی) رسیدند. و معلمان تازه کار دبیرستان تنها گروهی بودند که در هیچ کدام از انواع تخصص در تدریس موفقیت کامل 100 درصدی را به دست نیاوردند.

The primary purpose of the present study was to explore whether there was any significant relationship between attitude, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction of Iranian EFL teachers on the one hand, and their choice of teaching strategies. Strategies mostly used by participants of the study with low, mid, and high levels of self-efficacy comprised another purpose of the study. To this end, a questionnaire was developed, piloted, validated, and its reliability was estimated for collecting the required data. Subsequently, based on cluster sampling, 420 male and female teachers from three different educational districts of Tehran responded to the questionnaire. Three separate MANOVAs were run to investigate the effect of teachers’ attitudes on strategies they employed for teaching grammar, vocabulary, and reading. This was followed by the same approach to study the effect of teachers’ self-efficacy and job-satisfaction levels, as well. The results revealed a significant relationship between three factors (attitude, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction) and teachers’ choice of teaching strategies. Moreover, based on the scores obtained from the answers to the questionnaire, participants were classified into three levels of low, mid, and high which corresponded with their degrees of attitude, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction. Accordingly, it was shown that high level of attitude, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction strongly affected teachers’ use of vocabulary teaching strategies; mid to high level of attitude and efficacy affected use of reading and grammar strategies. Also, it appeared that strategies for teaching vocabulary are used more frequently among teachers than grammar and reading.

Multiple Choice tests are utilized widely in educational assessment because of their objectivity, ease of scoring, and reliability. This study aimed to compare IF and ID of MC vocabulary test items and attempted to find whether these indices are affected by the number of options. To this end, four 20 item stem equivalent vocabulary tests (3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-option MC) were administered to 194 (106 male and 88 female) pre-intermediate students. Besides, an attitude questionnaire was utilized to examine the attitudes of test takers towards MC test format. Results of one-way ANOVA showed that altering number of options in MC tests does not affect Item Discrimination (ID); however, there were significant differences between Item Facility (IF) of 3-, 5-, and 6-option and 4-, 5-, and 6-option MC test but not between 3- and 4-option MC test, suggesting that 6-option test is the most difficult test. Also, the results of questionnaire revealed test takers’ preference towards the use of 3-option MC. Findings demonstrated that increasing the number of options makes a test more difficult and that choosing the right number of option for MC tests is controversial. Testers are recommended to consider various factors while choosing the right number of options.

This study was conducted in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) context to explore Iranian teachers' perceptions of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and their sense of professional identity (PI) as well as to scrutinize how their cognitions were practiced in EAP classes. To this end, two ELT teachers and two content instructors (i.e. subject experts who teach EAP courses in addition to their specialized field of study) from a university in Tehran participated in the study and their classes were observed for a full academic semester. To thoroughly probe the teachers' cognitions, semi-structured interviews were also conducted. The results of content analysis indicated some commonalities but major discrepancies in the cognitions and practices of the two pairs of teachers with regard to their PCK. Teachers of both camps claimed to have interactive EAP classes where group work is highly appreciated and students' questions are welcomed. Attending to their discrepancies, the content instructors seemed to adhere to 'transformative' education by reflecting on their teaching, hearing learners' voice, being responsive to their learning needs, and encouraging teacher-learner collaboration. On the other hand, the ELT teachers reflected a more 'traditional' approach, leaving behind issues of flexibility and innovation in their teaching methods. As far as the EAP teachers' PI is concerned, the study came up with eight factors as the underlying constituents of their PI. It was also found that pedagogical content knowledge and professional identity are interrelated attributes of EAP teachers. The findings provide implications for syllabus designers as well as EAP teacher education.

This research aimed to screen 'essay writing' difficulties that non-native university students at postgraduate levels usually experience regarding scholarly publication in mainstream, English journals. Two sets of variables including written literacy competencies in Persian and English languages were mapped over language uses (General vs. Academic). Initial screenings from one hundred Iranian students at PhD and MA levels with publication experiences in both Persian and English languages gave rise to some fifty-five participants randomly selected from different university disciplines (Humanities, Engineering, Medicine and Basic Sciences) and diverse university settings (Public and Private) across the country and classified via stratified sampling. A validated questionnaire from a large-scale project called ENEIDA (Moreno, 2011) was used for collecting the required data. Two measures were used to assess written literacy competencies across language uses: 1) participants' assumed, self-reported written literacy competencies in using English and Persian languages for General and Academic purposes were denoted as 'perceived' measures and 2) further supported by actual measures: mostly received comments from reviewers in the mainstream, English journals by the target group above. Findings were discussed in the light of recent lines of enquiries in Academic Literacy (AL) trends.