When a textbook is developed and used for an English Language Teaching (ELT) context, its evaluation is even more important because its pedagogical value needs to be determined (Richards, 2007); however, ELT teachers’ perceptions regarding a particular textbook may differ based on their teaching experience or academic degree. Considering a model provided by McDonough and Shaw (1993) based on external and internal evaluation of textbooks, this study aims to evaluate ‘Prospect 2’, the main English textbook for 8th-grade of junior high-schools in Iran. In effect, 400 EFL teachers were randomly invited from three provinces of Iran (i.e., Mazandaran, Gilan, and Golestan) to participate in the study. The Participants were divided into two groups of 1) the seasoned teachers with over 10 years, and 2) the novice teachers with less than 10 years of teaching experience, in order to explore their perspectives on (non)alignment between their attitudes in teaching experience at ‘Prospect 2’. A 54-five-point Likert-scale questionnaire was adopted and submitted to both groups. Employing SPSS, the teacher-researchers analyzed the data, and it was revealed that the teaching experience does affect the perceptions of ELT teachers regarding the evaluation of a particular textbook. While seasoned teachers were not satisfied with some crucial aspects of ‘Prospect 2’, and believed it has not met its pedagogical objectives, the novice group revealed moderate satisfaction. However, a number of similar themes such as the lack of authentic language, variant dialects, motivating illustrations, and poor printing, to name but a few, were reported by both groups. تفاصيل المقالة

Teaching the English language involves not only the lexical and grammatical systems but also the implicatures, implied meanings, and the influence of context/culture on interpretation (Tanduk, 2023), which are invisible and hard to teach. In effect, the researchers aimed to investigate whether explicit and implicit instruction of compliment speech acts could help EFL learners achieve pragmatic appropriateness in authentic communication. The study comprised 60 intermediate EFL learners, 21 males, and 39 females, from a private English language institute in Amol. Participants were divided into two groups of 30 learners each - explicit and non-explicit. The teacher-researchers taught both groups how to give and respond to compliments, using explicit techniques for one group and implicit techniques for the other. Participants received a Written Discourse Completion Task (WDCT) before and after the intervention to evaluate their pragmatic competence. The obtained data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and a noteworthy disparity between the pre-test and post-test scores of both groups was revealed. Although both methods enhanced the pragmatic competence of EFL learners, the explicit group demonstrated more significant improvement compared to the implicit group. Findings testify that appropriate instruction can lead to better outcomes. تفاصيل المقالة

Teachers must be prepared to shift from face-to-face to online classes in emergencies like COVID-19. Fortunately, electronic learning made teaching a second or foreign language online possible. Online teaching requires EFL teachers to acquire new knowledge, skills, and competencies. Professional development (PD) is necessary to assist teachers in developing new pedagogies and competencies and coping with recent roles in online learning contexts. In effect, this study aimed to screen EFL teachers' main professional development needs for quality teaching in both face-to-face and online environments. By employing a theoretical sampling technique, the researchers conducted phenomenological research and interviewed 18 experienced EFL teachers who had practiced online teaching during Pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were held, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. The interviews were analysed using open, axial, and selective coding. Finally, it was manifested that EFL teachers have six PD needs for face-to-face classes namely pedagogical, language knowledge, classroom management, assessment, educational psychology, and material development needs. Moreover, findings revealed that EFL teachers' PD needs for online teaching could be classified into five main categories including pedagogical, content, designing and technological, communication and social skills, and classroom management needs. It is concluded that EFL teachers might feel uncomfortable teaching online courses because of the many roles and responsibilities. Therefore, it is necessary to determine EFL teachers' PD needs and competencies so that teacher educators and language institutes can design PD programs for online teachers. Findings have theoretical and practical implications for electronic learning experts, EFL teachers, teacher trainers, and language institutions. تفاصيل المقالة