مطالب

In modern education, teachers are regarded as a central and focal part of educational systems and are responsible in the development of education. It should be mentioned that teachers have an influential role in planning and offering an effective and significant educational program. The significant role of teacher-related variables in affecting teachers’ performance and learning outcomes of students has been widely acknowledged in various educational contexts. Therefore, the investigation of teacher variables has received research attention in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. To contribute to this line of research, the current study was set to investigate the role of teacher reflection and self-efficacy in predicting burnout among Iranian EFL teachers. To this end, three validated scales measuring these variables were administered to a number of 171 male and female teachers. As for the data analysis, Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to test the hypothesized model of the constructs. The results indicated that teacher reflection accounted for 12.1% of the variance, and teacher self-efficacy accounted for 25.2% of the variance in burnout. Although both variables had a unique effect on teaching burnout, teacher self-efficacy turned out to be a stronger predictor of burnout. Concerning the implications, teacher education programs may pay more serious attention to teacher self-efficacy and reflection as they proved to play a significant role in reducing teacher burnout.

Abstract<br />This study aimed to explore any type and level of association between Iranian EFL learners’ proficiency level and their intercultural sensitivity on the one hand, and the possible relation between vocabulary knowledge and sensitivity to cultural differences on the other. To this end, Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was administered to 220 EFL leaners. Based on the results of this test, a homogenized sample of 150 EFL learners (70 male and 80 female) at intermediate and upper-intermediate levels was selected. Afterwards, the participants took Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) developed by Nation, and validated by Webb, Sasao, and Balance. Finally, Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) by Chen & Starosta was administered. The results of Pearson correlation analyses revealed a statistically significant correlation between the participants' proficiency level and their intercultural sensitivity. The results of regression analyses also indicated that language proficiency contributes as much as 55.4 percent to the prediction of level of intercultural sensitivity. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was detected between EFL learners’ L2 vocabulary knowledge and their intercultural sensitivity level. Further, the results revealed that Iranian EFL learners’ L2 vocabulary knowledge can offer contributions up to 17.3 percent to the prediction of intercultural sensitivity level. These findings can offer prominent implications for all practitioners, material developers, and EFL instructors who are primarily preoccupied with linguistic competence. The results can motivate them to consider intercultural sensitivity as a complementary element to EFL learners’ linguistic knowledge, as well as their communicative commands.

The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of two cognitive factors, namely, personality traits and narrative writing intelligence (NWI) in L2 writing. The total of 416 English learners participated in this study in two different phases.<br /> For the purpose of this study, a narrative writing intelligence scale (NWIS) was designed and used to score the writings of the first group of participants which included 200 Iranian learners of English in an EFL institute. The first writing task, which was a film recounting, contributed to designing this scale. Randall’s (1999) definition of narrative intelligence was the guideline to design the primary draft of NWIS. All 200 written film recounting were scored by this scale. The scores were transferred to SPSS 18.0. and Exploratory Factor Analysis was run. NWIS’ construct validity and reliability were confirmed. Moreover, the underlying dimensions causing correlation among the observed variables were reduced in three factors which account for 57.47% of the variance of the scale. The factors were named as Unity of the plot, Identification (of characters, objects, and ideas), and Voice and Rhetoric. <br /> The second group, who were female university students of EFL, were given two tasks, namely, writing a memory and filling Big-Five Personality test. Their writings were evaluated twice; once by employing the NWIS and once by a tailor-made writing scoring guide taken from Weigle’s (2002) guideline. Transferring all scores to Amos. 20, a SEM model was proposed by the researchers. The result shows the proposed model has good fit indices.

This study investigated the effects of blog-mediated instruction on English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing performance and anxiety. In addition, it aimed to probe into the EFL learners’ attitudes towards blog-mediated writing instruction. The participants of the study included forty-six Iranian EFL learners from two intact university classes, who were randomly assigned to the Control Group (N = 21) and the Experimental Group (N = 25). Over a 16-week university semester, the Control Group was taught using traditional writing instruction while the Experimental Group was taught using a blog-mediated writing course. The data were collected through two timed writing tasks, Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (Cheng, 2004), and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that, although both groups benefited from their writing sessions, there was a significant difference in the positive effects of blog-mediated and traditional writing instruction on L2 writing performance, showing that the Experimental Group had a better performance on the posttest writing performance task than the Control Group. The results also revealed that the blog-mediated course reduced the participants’ L2 writing anxiety in the Experimental Group while traditional instruction did not have positive effects on reducing L2 writing anxiety in the Control Group. The data from semi-structures interviews indicated that the interviewees from the Experimental Group were generally positive about the blog-mediated writing course, with little skepticism and negativism echoed about the course. The findings offer significant implications for theory and practice on L2 writing instruction.

Reading comprehension has recently been reconceptualized in EFL reading instruction to foreground the importance of putting a social perspective on learning. Developed as a crucial aspect of Vygotskian sociocultural theory, activity theory views reading as a socially-mediated activity, for which the prerequisite cognitive processes are distributed among teacher, individual reader, other students, and artifacts (Cole & Engeström, 1993). Given that cooperation and division of labor are the central tenets of activity theory, this study aimed at investigating whether assessing cooperative learning had a decisive effect on the reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 60 sophomores majoring in English translation at Islamic Azad University, Tehran Central Branch, were selected as the participants of the study. The reading instruction was geared to cooperative learning based on the elements of activity theory. Over the course of 12 weeks, both the process and products of cooperative reading were self-, peer-, and instructor-assessed. The findings indicated that assessing cooperative reading through the lens of activity theory had a significant effect on the participants’ reading comprehension. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference between the products of cooperative reading in predicting the participants’ reading comprehension posttest scores. Furthermore, the results showed that the participants held favorable perception toward activity theory-based cooperative assessment. The findings are hoped to shine a light on collective reading and highlight the need for more innovative constructivist approaches to EFL reading in Iran.

The studies conducted so far on the effectiveness of resolution methods including the discussion method in resolving discrepancies in rating have yielded mixed results. What is left unnoticed in the literature is the potential of discussion to be used as a training tool rather than a resolution method. The present study addresses this research gap by exploring the data coming from rating behaviors of 5 Iranian raters of English. Qualitative analysis of the data indicated that the discussion method can serve the function of training raters. It helped raters rate more easily, quickly and confidently. Furthermore, it helped them improve their understanding and application of the rating criteria and enabled them justify their scoring decisions. Many-faceted Rasch analysis also supported the beneficial effects of discussion in terms of improvement in raters’ severity, consistency in scoring, and the use of scale categories. The findings provide insight into the potential of discussion to be used as a training tool especially in EFL contexts in which lack of access to expert raters can be an obstacle to holding training programs. The author argues for future studies to focus on how discussion may function depending on the rating scale used.