درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The aim of present study was to explore the comparative effect of direct corrective feedback and recast on EFL learners’ reading comprehension in a critical thinking (CT) context. Sixty female EFL learners were selected from a larger group of 85 learners through convenience sampling and were given a Preliminary English Test (PET) to assess their proficiency levels. As the next step, the participants formed two random experimental groups. The reading comprehension abilities of both groups were measured before and after the treatment through administration of reading section of two separate versions of PET. Both groups received 12 sessions of the treatment. Two paired samples t-tests were utilized, both of which proved significant improvement for both groups from pretest to posttest. Then, the posttest scores of the two groups using an independent samples t-test were compared. Based on the results, the difference between the two groups turned out to be significant indicating superiority of the effect of the recast. This study can have important implications for the stakeholders in foreign language (FL) education.

Grammatical accuracy has been controversial in L2 writing, and the utility of different types of corrective feedback has been enigmatic. Therefore, the present study attempted to explicate the impact of intensive versus extensive recasts through grammar-focused tasks on Iranian EFL learners’ grammatical accuracy in writing. To do so, 60 Iranian male and female EFL learners were assigned into two experimental groups (i.e., intensive and extensive groups) and one control group. After taking the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), the experimental groups received intended corrective feedback, while the control group did not receive any feedback. Then, the data was analyzed deploying both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed the outperformance of experimental groups compared to the control group in the writing post-test. Also, it was concluded that extensive recast can improve EFL learners’ writing performance much better than intensive recast. The findings have some fruitful pedagogical implications for both teachers and materials developers.

The current study aimed to measure the validity and reliability of the three-factor questionnaire of media didactica of Persian language teachers. Two groups participated in the study: specialists in the fields related to media Didactica and high school teachers in Tehran. The group of experts was recruited by convenience sampling method, and a Cluster method was used to select teachers. The participants included 17 experts and 185 teachers. First, the three-factor media didactica questionnaire of Simmons (2017) was translated into Farsi, and in the next step, it was given to a group of experts to assess its validity, and after confirming its validity, it was given to teachers to assess its reliability. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model was compatible with three factors including media, media understanding and social development. Using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, it was found that the coefficient value of subscales ranged between 0.71 and 0.79. The results showed that the Persian media questionnaire was a valid instrument with good reliability and validity for measuring the media didactica of Persian language teachers.

Several investigations in the psychology domain, educational psychology, and other related subjects have examined the inner voice. However, it has not been used as much in teaching foreign languages, particularly in developing learning materials. This study aimed to develop new English learning materials based on Tomlinson’s text-driven approach to enhance learners’ inner voice through instruction using the newly developed materials. The participants in this study were 40 intermediate female EFL learners, aged 20-35. All participants were selected through convenience sampling and were native speakers of Persian. The researchers then assigned the participants randomly into two experimental and control groups, each including 20 participants. Data were collected through an inner voice questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods to align with the study’s objectives, participant characteristics, and research questions. The quantitative data were statistically analyzed using SPSS (version 22), revealing that learners demonstrated a moderately high engagement with their inner voice after instruction with the newly developed materials. Qualitative insights emphasized key themes, including the natural use of English in internal thought processes, more frequent internal dialogues, and deeper mental engagement with the language. The study suggests that textbook developers and curriculum designers should consider new approaches to meet EFL learners’ psychological and cognitive needs, particularly in fostering inner voice processing for deeper engagement.

This research tried to probe the effects of incorporating learners’ preferred learning styles in instructions on their narrative writing development and their mental patterns and imagination. 74 homogeneous secondary EFL learners were divided into three groups based on their sensory styles of visual, auditory and tactile. The learners in the three groups were provided with instructions anchored to their learning styles. In the meantime, they were required to produce narrative writings on a number of topics in accordance with their course book. Prior to narrating, they had to think loudly and record their voices to reveal the approach and pattern they utilize for performing the required activities. Their voices were transcribed and later analyzed by the researchers for further investigations. The obtained results displayed a significant improvement in their writings as well as an ongoing progress of their thinking patterns. Furthermore, the data revealed the dominant mental approaches of top-down, considering the whole plot of the topic in advance, and bottom-up, considering the details prior to the entire story, used by the students. The study also displayed the positive impact of instruction on the improvement of learners’ narrative writing revealing their self-imaging of the plot with which they could narrate the given topics in accordance with their own life experiences and understanding.

Studying a foreign language in a rewarding and motivating atmosphere will create a perfect setting to enhance language proficiency. It appears that course books and class activities are crucial in this context. This experimental research aimed to find the efficacy of supplementary materials designed based on multiple intelligences on learners' attitudes towards classroom activities (enjoyment, engagement, choice, and challenge). To that end, a two-phase study was planned. First, the researchers developed tasks for each lesson of Vision series, the book taught in the high schools of Iran. Then, the experimental groups (N=60) were exposed to the designed tasks and the course book while the control group (N=60) were exposed just to the course book for four months The Babel proficiency test, along with the translated edition of the Students’ Perceptions of Classroom Activities Scale was given to the experimental and control group participants as the pretest and posttest to examine the impact of the developed tasks on their perceptions of classroom activities. The results of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that the designed tasks had positive and significant effect on the students’ interests, challenge, choice, and joy.