Individual learning

Inspired by Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (SCT), the current study intended to investigate the effect of summary training (i.e., oral and written) on intermediate EFL learners’ reading comprehension in different conditions (i.e., individual and collaborative). Data collection tools and procedures encompassed PET test, First Certificate in English (FCE) reading pre-test, and post-test. First, to ensure that the instruments, scoring, as well as summary training procedures were reliable, the researchers conducted a pilot test. During the main study, 120 Iranian EFL intermediate male and female learners aged from 16-18 were considered as the main participants. Learners were divided into 6 groups (i.e., three individual and three collaborative conditions). Furthermore, each condition included three groups with oral summary, written summary groups, and no summary group. A post-test followed the treatment that lasted for 6 sessions. A series of ANOVA with follow up pair-wise comparisons and a series of independent-samples t-tests indicated that: (1) summary training, especially the oral one, was more effective in enhancing the EFL learners’ reading comprehension, and (2) members of the collaborative groups outperformed the members of the individual groups regarding their reading comprehension development. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed concerning enhancing the EFL learners’ reading comprehension.

Learner autonomy has become the area of interest by many researchers of foreign language learning in the recent years. However, few studies have been done concerning the case of Kurdish learners` autonomy in learning languages. For this reason, the current study addresses this gap. It intends to investigate to what extent Kurdish learners are autonomous in learning English language. The study is significant in that it gives a broader understanding of the concept of autonomy to Kurdish learners and their language teachers to maintain how important autonomy is in promoting effective English language learning. The research adapts qualitative method in order to examine the views of Kurdish students who are currently studying at Salahaddin University in Kurdistan and their major field is English language learning. It involves six participants from various stages of undergraduate level to have the opportunity to examine autonomy according to different levels of learners` ability of using English language. The results of the study highlight that fortunately the participants showed a great degree of control over their learning. It was indicated that they were able to self asses their learning and design their own learning plans. Exploring their language learning autonomy experiences provide Kurdish learners and academics with a better understanding of how to challenge traditional methods of learning and what strategies to adopt to make learners more independent in the learning process.

Purpose: Today, the quality of training plays an important role in improving the performance of organizations. Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of individual learning on improving the quality of training of the staff of Eghtesad Novin Bank. Methodology: This research in terms of purpose was applied and in terms of implementation method was descriptive from type of correlation. The research population was all the staff of Eghtesad Novin Bank of Tehran city with number 937 people. The sample size based on the Krejcie and Morgan table was determined 272 people who were selected by cluster random sampling method. The research tool was researcher-made questionnaires of individual learning (8 questions) and quality of training (23 questions), which its face validity was confirmed by the opinion of experts and its reliability was estimated above 0.70 by Cronbach's alpha method. Data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling in SPSS and LISREL software. Findings: The findings showed that the factor loading of all items was above 0.40 and individual learning had two components of intrapersonal factors and interpersonal factors and the quality of training had only one component. The average variance extracted of the components was above 0.50 and their reliability was above 0.80 by Cronbach alpha and combined methods. Also, the model of the effect of individual learning on improving the quality of training of the staff of Eghtesad Novin Bank had a good fit and individual learning had a positive and significant effect on the quality of training (P<0.001). Conclusion: Considering the effect of individual learning on the improvement the quality of training of the staff of Eghtesad Novin Bank, the planners of this bank can improve the quality of training through individual training and learning.