There is growing interest in integrating scaffolding in educational decisions everywhere including Iran. Drawing on sociocultural theory, this quasi-experimental study was aimed to determine the effect of technology-, motivational-, and metacognitive-based scaffolding on improving Iranian adult advanced EFL learners’ speaking. A sample of 90 advanced EFL learners was selected non-randomly based on their performance on Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) from two language institutes in Tehran, Iran during the summer and autumn semesters of 2019. The selected participants were randomly assigned to three equal groups. IELTS was used to compare their language proficiency at the beginning and the end of the study. Scaffolding provided conditions for learners to highly engage in speaking activities. The results of paired-sample t-tests revealed a significant improvement in the speaking scores of the three study groups. The results of the one-way ANOVA and Scheffe post-hoc tests indicated that motivational-based scaffolding was more conducive to enhance Iranian EFL learners’ speaking. The results of this study showed the positive impacts of integrating scaffolding into different language learning strategies, and this may carry pedagogical implications for both language teachers and learners. Manuscript profile

This research study aimed at investigating whether using peer-provided feedbacks rather than teacher-provided comments would result in any significance difference in Iranian English undergraduate students’ ability in writing. In so doing, based on a pretest (an OPT & a writing exam), 40 subjects were assigned to two homogeneous groups of equal number the subjects in the control group received more traditional form of feedback i.e., Teacher’s Written Comments (TW) and those in the experimental group who received the alternative: Peers’ Written Comments (PW). The students were required to write ten paragraphs, five pairs, on each topic, one before receiving feedback and another, the revised version, after the feedback. The analyses of the data revealed that peer feedback--in its general sense--affects students’ writing performances, which in turn means that the students do incorporate suggestions made by their teacher and/or peers while revising their drafts. In sum, Peer-reviews in the form of comments and suggestions given by the students on one another’s drafts proved beneficial. Manuscript profile

این پژوهش شبه آزمایشی در سال 1392 با هدف پاسخ به این پرسش شکل گرفت که تا چه میزان ارتقایدانش زبان انگلیسی مادران ایرانی به کمک تکنولوژی اطلاعات و ارتباطات می تواند در سطح جهانی در جهتاهداف فرزند پروری مؤثر واقع شود. در این راستا، با روش نمونه گیری غیر تصادفی 182 نفر از مادران ایرانی در38 سال و با مدارک تحصیلی کاردانی و کارشناسی از رشته های مختلف انتخاب - شهر اصفهان از رده سنی 26و به شکل تصادفی به دو گروه 91 نفری تقسیم شدند. آن ها از سطح متوسط پایین مهارت زبان انگلیسیبرخوردار بودند. با تلفیق تکنولوژی ارتباطات سیار با حوزه یاددهی و یادگیری، گروه اول از مادران به شیوهآموزش عادی و گروه دوم به شیوه آموزش گونه -مدار، مهارت های خواندن و نوشتن زبان انگلیسی را در 21جلسه مجازی فرا گرفتند. علاوه بر انجام آزمون بسندگی و آزمون های مستمر یادگیری، با کاربرد پرسشنامه،پیمایشی نیز به منظور اطلاع از نگرش این مادران به کاربرد ارتباطات سیار در یاددهی و یادگیری صورتپذیرفت. نتایج جمع آوری شده از عمل کرد و روی کرد آزمودنی ها از تأثیر معنادار آموزش گونه -مدار زبانانگلیسی به عنوان زبان رابط بین المللی از طریق تکنولوژی ارتباطات سیار در ارتقای توان تعاملی مادران ایرانیدر برقراری ارتباط آسان با فرزندان، ترغیب آن ها به سمت مسیر صحیح یادگیری و اعتلای سطوحسرمایه های فرهنگی آن ها حکایت داشت. از این رو کاربرد شیوه های نوین یاددهی و یادگیری همپآیبه کارگیری تکنولوژی های نوین در حوزه یاددهی و یادگیری زبان انگلیسی اجتناب ناپذیر است. Manuscript profile

This study intended to investigate critical thinking-based teaching strategies EFL teachers of Iranian high schools integrate into their teaching. To this purpose, the inter-relationship between the teachers' frequency of use of critical thinking-based teaching strategies and their teaching experience, their attendance at critical thinking in-service training courses, and their higher university degree were explored through a survey questionnaire. To analyze the collected data, means, frequencies, standard deviations, percentages, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation coefficient, and five-point Likert scale were utilized. The obtained results showed that teaching experience was negatively correlated with the frequency of strategy use, and that no significant relationship was found between the frequency of strategy use and teachers’ higher university degree. The results further showed a significant relationship between the frequency of strategy use and critical thinking in-service training courses attended by teachers. The findings of this study imply that critical thinking should be reinforced in Iranian education system as well as in high school teaching schedule. Manuscript profile