Comparative Activities

This study followed discussion-based techniques using mobile phone technologies in order to compare Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions with their practices in higher education. Applying Convergent Parallel Mixed-Method Design, 73 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) instructors, teaching technical English courses to Law students at Islamic Azad University (IAU), South Tehran, Qods and Eslamshahr branches, completed a questionnaire, assessing teachers’ perceptions versus practices on the use of mobile phone technologies in discussion-based classes. Through typical-case purposive sampling, out of 73 ESP instructors, eight instructors (four traditional and four communicative), extracted through the questionnaire, joined semi-structured interviews, and their classes were observed during the semester by two observers completing the observation scheme. Afterwards, applying the grounded-theory-instigated analytical framework of Onwuegbuzie and Teddlie (2003), the triangulated observation-interview data were thematically analyzed through open, axial, and selective codifications congruent with Mishra and Koehler’s (2008) TPACK model components, i.e., technology, pedagogy and content knowledge. The results demonstrated EFL teachers' interest in interactional mobile phone technologies and in the content constituent, i.e., the second component of the questionnaire as well as the third module of TRACK model. Additionally, the results signified EFL teachers’ use of comparative translation activities for the reading comprehension skills via collaborative/cooperative reading strategies. Finally, this research represents some pedagogical implications for administrative executives in the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology to revise Law students’ curriculum, and positively alters material providers’ and ESP instructors’ attitudes toward using mobile phone technologies in discussion-based classes.