تحقیقات کاربردی زبان انگلیسی - Applied Research on English Language

Whether acknowledged or neglected by educators, the hidden curriculum is present in every institute. Therefore, studying the hidden curriculum is essential to understand how it functions within an English language institute’s setting and among those within it. The purpose of this study was to design and validate a scale to measure language teachers’ perspectives on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) hidden curriculum by the application of the Rasch model. The review of the literature indicated the lack of sufficient research on the investigation of EFL hidden curriculum components in the view of EFL teachers. To fill the existing gap in the literature, a 40-item questionnaire was devised and validated, then 164 Iranian EFL teachers, teaching at different language institutes were asked to reply to the questionnaire. In this study, hidden curriculum components were based on Saylor, Alexander, and Lewis’ (1981) perspectives. Accordingly, items were classified into three different constructs, namely the social atmosphere (including 15 items), the organizational structure of the English Language Institute (consisting of 14 items), and the interaction between teachers and learners (including 11 items). The results showed that the questionnaire items fitted the Rasch model after removing six items from the scale. Moreover, it was confirmed that the scale enjoyed suitable reliability. This proposes that the questionnaire is potentially valid and can be used as a measure of EFL hidden curriculum. One of the study implications is that the questionnaire designed and validated in this study can be used as a research tool in future research to assist policymakers and material designers, institutions’ administrators, and language teachers to be considered for future decision making, and designing materials. It also can be used as a research tool to measure the relationship between EFL hidden curriculum and other variables in future research.

This study represents an investigation into the interplay of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher burnout and such teacher-related variables as emotional intelligence, personality traits, teaching experience, self-efficacy, school type, gender, academic degree and age. This is a research report of a study on 124 secondary school EFL teachers with BA, MA, and PHD academic degrees. Findings of correlation and sequential multiple regression analyses suggest that EFL teacher burnout is likely to result from several factors with emotional intelligence being by far the strongest predictor of them. It was also found that emotional intelligence and self-efficacy have a negative moderate correlation with teacher burnout. Strong correlations were also found between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy, age and self-efficacy, and age and experience. No significant relationship was found between burnout and age, experience or personality. Some critical points are raised for the education system in Iran and practical implications are suggested.

Teacher immunity as a novel construct, acts as a defense against the demands placed on teachers and the distressing experiences faced which result in emotional burnout. The main aim of this study was to draw attention to this overlooked dimension of teacher motivation and professional identity through exploring the immunity levels of the student-teachers at teacher education universities in Iran. Accordingly, a mixed method study was designed to which 175 Iranian student-teachers (98 males and 77 females) majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) were randomly invited to this study. Language Teachers Immunity Questionnaire (LTIQ) was used to collect quantitative data on teachers' immunity levels and a semi-structured interview was conducted to collect the qualitative data. After conducting coding and content analyses using MAXQDA and running one-way ANOVA and independent samples t-test, both qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed. The results led to the identification of three immunity types, namely, negative (maladaptive), neutral and positive (productive) types. The results indicated that positive or productive immunity type was dominant among the student teachers. In addition the results of the study indicated that unlike gender, the years of education was a significant factor in terms of determining the immunity levels of the student teachers. Furthermore, the results of the study indicated that teacher immunity is a transient, dynamic and organic construct which fluctuates according to the reinforcement or deficiency of its comprising components such as efficacy and attitude, among others.

The Persian translation of the emotion regulation strategies inventory (Gross & John, 2003) was validated among Iranian EFL teachers. The predictive power of variables, i.e. educational background, working experience, gender, and age was also appraised. To do so, 250 EFL teachers with at least five-year teaching experience at the universities of two states, Isfahan and Fars, were invited to take part in the study. The non-random convenient sampling technique was then adopted. Filling out the inventory was done after the class time. The results of the principal component analysis (varimax rotation) verified the original two-factor model. The multiple regression analysis done by AMOS software also revealed that demographic variables could significantly affect teachers’ emotion regulation, though their effect in the present sample was small (R2=0.08 and R2=0.02). The results also suggested that the teachers disagreed about the use of expressive suppression in their classes (m=3.28) and were rather undecided as to the use of cognitive reappraisal in their teaching (m=4.49).

ELT coursebooks are the fertile soil for the transmission of cultural perspectives and also strong tools for shaping L2 learners' behaviors and expectations. This study investigated the existence of covert/ hidden curriculum in two of the widely used ELT coursebook series-- Top Notch and English File . To do so, the content of the series was analyzed via Moran's (2001) model of dimensions of culture and Chao’s (2011) main categories of culture . The results indicated that the series, along with covering different dimensions of culture, are biased mainly in favor of the western products, persons and perspectives, and that despite their global EFL/EIL audience, they vividly base their dialogues, reading and listening on the norms and values of the English-speaking countries, with almost no attention to the local, especially Asian values. The study, discussing the implications of such culture- related covert curricula in the ELT coursebooks, makes relevant suggestions for the design of ELT coursebooks in the present global village.

Task-based language teaching is defined as learning by doing or self-motivated learning. Instances regarding TBLT capabilities include team work,workshops, and constructivism . The current research is an attempt to scrutinize the upshots of EFL teachers and learners' mind-sets for classroom assignments in the form of writing skills in terms of structure and content. Due to this, 60 Iranian EFL learners were decided on from a language institute in Isfahan, Iran via convenience sampling. An Oxford Placement Test, the Oxford Attitude Questionnaire , and the Assignment Questionnaire were employed to amass data and firm up participants' levels. To categorize the assignments, learners were demanded to write a text on the submitted topics. The assignments were divided into three sets as per learners' opinions: The assignments deemed appropriate by the learners, by teachers and by no one special (control group) .Afterward, the topics separately chosen by the learners and the teachers were imparted to the participants in distinct groups. Besides, the control group was given a distinctive group of topics. Then, the completed assignments were corrected via Liao and Wang scoring scale and the results were evaluated through one-way analysis of variance. The results revealed a significant difference between the performance of learners in the three groups in terms of writing proficiency. This means that the group who received their assignments based on the teachers' attitude, outperformed the other two groups. Research applications are postulated at the end of the article.