According to Montano and Kasprzyk (2008), attitude is determined by the individual's beliefs about outcomes or attributes of performing the behavior (behavioral beliefs), weighted by evaluations of those outcomes or attributes. This study examined Iranian EFL learners’ attitudes toward the Task-Based Language Assessment (TBLA) and the traditional assessment concerning their General English achievement. One hundred EFL students from Islamic Azad University of Zarghan, Fars Province with the age range of 20-35, participated in this study. The data were gathered using an attitude questionnaire. Frequency Analysis and chi-square were used to show the learners' attitudes towards the task-based assessment in General English ability. Regarding the attitude questionnaire, EFL learners had positive attitudes towards the TBLA utilization in improving their General English achievement and most of the students were satisfied with learning English through the TBLA. پرونده مقاله

The priming of different mindsets is expected to guide L2 students to pursue different achievement goals in language learning that direct them to respond differently in challenging situations.This study assessed a significant predictor variable(s) of goal orientation in mindset variables and a significant predictor variable(s) of responses to failure among mindsets and goal orientations.Thequestionnaires were distributed to 68 university students.Several semi-structured interviews with 10 university students were done.T-test, multiple hierarchical regression analyses,and thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. The results showed a significant difference between high and low proficient students regarding mindset and goal orientation. It showed that their mindset positively predicted their goal orientation, furthermore, mindset and goal orientation positively predicted responses to failure. Results of interviews showed that language learning mindset could be improved by hardworking.It was concluded that L2 studnets who held a growth mindset became more proficient; they were inspired to learn more and held more learning goals. The study may have implications forsyllabus designers and material developers. پرونده مقاله

The rise of attention in language pedagogy towards subject matter knowledge and its impact on teachers’ professionalism accentuates the role of language teachers' metalinguistic knowledge in L2 teaching. The present study focused on identifying the status of Iranian EFL teachers’ metalinguistic knowledge concerning their academic major. For this aim, a metalinguistic knowledge test entailing 2 modules of production and reception was administered to a total of 200 Iranian EFL teachers. To cross-validate the metalinguistic test results, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 of the target EFL teachers to explore their perspectives about the academic major and metalinguistic knowledge development. Based on the MANOVA results, the academic major was found to be a predictor for the productive and receptive mode of metalinguistic knowledge attained by the teachers. The interview results boring out those of the metalinguistic knowledge test revealed more facts about the teachers’ perspectives of different factors contributing to their metalinguistic knowledge development. The teachers complained about the deficiency that existed in their university curriculum which lacked enough courses referring to metalinguistic knowledge and provided some suggestions in this regard. The findings offer a number of pedagogical implications for language teachers and teacher educators and state some recommendations for further research directions. پرونده مقاله

Abstract: This study aimed to develop a language teaching aptitude scale for Iranian EFL teachers by using a qualitative thematic analysis approach. The participants of this study consisted of thirty (fifteen males and fifteen females) EFL experts who were Ph.D. holders in TEFL with more than twenty years of teaching EFL at different universities in Iran and at least one published paper on language teaching aptitude. They were selected through purposive sampling from different universities. To collect the required data, a semi-structured interview was used as well as the existing literature and documents on English language teaching aptitude. Data analysis was conducted using the thematic analysis approach. The following themes emerged as the components of the English language teaching aptitude scale: inter-personal relationship skill, motivation-making ability, time management ability, needs analysis ability, positive thinking skills, critical thinking ability, verbal intelligence, mastery over different teaching methods, evaluation skills, and English language proficiency. Based on the identified components, a scale consisting of 10 sub-scales including inter-personal relationship skills (16 items), motivation-making ability (4 items), time management ability (4 items), needs analysis ability (4 items), positive thinking skills (15 items), critical thinking ability (8 items), verbal intelligence (5 items), mastery over different teaching methods (13 items), evaluation skills (13 items), and English language proficiency (7 items) were developed for English language teaching aptitude for an Iranian EFL context. The scale included 90 five-point Likert items ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. پرونده مقاله

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different educational contexts (institutes and high schools) on Iranian teachers’ perceptions and implementation of task-based language teaching (TBLT). This mixed-methods research through quantitative and qualitative methodology tried to shed light on why TBLT was practiced or avoided. The data were gathered through questionnaires, interviews, and observation from 60 Iranian teachers working at some English language institutes and high schools. The participants were divided into two groups. The results of the study were examined using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics determined the central tendency of teachers’ answers to the questionnaire, and inferential statistics was employed as well to use an independent samples t-test to compare the mean scores of the two groups. Questionnaires were distributed among teachers and collected individually. The collected data was tabulated for analysis, assessing teachers' perceptions and implementation of TBLT. Ten teachers were randomly selected for interviews, exploring their reasons for adopting or avoiding TBLT and gaining insight into their practices and beliefs. The ten-minute individual interview sessions were recorded and evaluated by the researcher. The quantitative results of the study indicated that first, institute and school teachers had different perceptions about the TBLT method. Second, there was no significant difference between institute and school teachers’ attitudes toward implementing this language teaching method. Third, although there was no significant difference between institute and school teachers in applying this method, the results claimed that these two groups are significantly different in avoiding TBLT in their classes. In the qualitative study, the observation results indicated that the majority of institute teachers implemented all phases of TBLT. On the other hand, the instructors mostly avoided implementing TBLT in their junior and senior high school classes. Classroom size, lack of time, improper textbook materials, and students’ lack of prior knowledge as the hindrances of TBLT implementation were among the main reasons that teachers avoided TBLT. پرونده مقاله

Interlanguage pragmatics knowledge is significant since it enables second/foreign language users to communicate well with native and non-native users of English. The instruction of interlanguage pragmatics has been well-accepted as a measure to improve interlanguage pragmatics knowledge. This instruction can be affected by a range of variables. Several variables such as instruction approach, the language of instruction, and learners’ characteristics have already been examined; however, there are still niches in the literature that needs empirical studies to be occupied. One of these gaps that is addressed in this study deals with the effect of teachers’ gender on their use of techniques for teaching interlanguage pragmatics. This quantitative study employed a Likert-scale questionnaire to identify the possible similarities and differences between the techniques used by 211 Iranian English language teachers. The participants who were selected based on a quota sampling procedure expressed the techniques they use while teaching interlanguage pragmatics. The findings of this study indicated that female teachers used L1 in their instruction, films, language games, and pictures to teach interlanguage pragmatics more than male instructors; however, male teachers used email-exchanging activities to improve their learners’ L2 pragmatics significantly more than female participants. پرونده مقاله

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The researchers aim was to find out the potential effects of some maternal factors such as age, educational level, occupation as well as children’s birth order on the communicative performance of preschoolers in Iran. This study was conducted with 31 preschoolers selected from Bahar Language Institute in Shiraz, Iran. The required data about mothers and children were gathered through a questionnaire developed by the researchers and an interview done by two raters. Following the process of data collection, independent samples t-test was employed, the results of which indicated that there was a significant difference between the pronunciation of children based on their mothers’ education level (sig.=.03, p<.05). It was also found out that there was a significant difference (sig.=.019, p<.05) between the total communicative performances of working mothers’ children (M=85.94) and that of children whose mothers were unemployed housewives (M=80.82). However, the researchers found no significant difference between communicative performance of these two groups whose mothers belonged to different age groups, i.e. below 35 and above 35. Also, the results demonstrated a significant difference (sig.=.009, p<.05) in the pronunciation of first children compared to that of second kids. پرونده مقاله

Several studies of L2 learners’ interlanguage have addressed the complexity of the English adpositional system due to several reasons like L1 transfer, lack of knowledge in L2 and the strong collocational relations of prepositions with other elements of the English language. The major purpose of the present study is to evaluate the performance of Iranian students in dealing with three broad categories of spatial, non-spatial and idiomatic adpositions in English. To achieve the inclinations of the research project, 60 students majoring in TEFL at Roudehen University were selected. A paper-based TOEFL test of English Proficiency was administered to obtain some information about the participants’ general language proficiency. Three completion tasks with the division of spatial, non-spatial (nominal, adjectival and verbal) and idiomatic adpositions were administered. The obtained results represented the fact that the Iranian participants were considerably inclined to transfer their L1 adpositional patterns to their L2 production. The correlational analyses indicated that whereas the scores related to adposition task in general, non-spatial as well as the idiomatic subtests were strongly correlated with the scores obtained from the TOEFL test, there was a moderate correlation between the spatial subtest and the TOEFL one. The independent sample t-test results between the freshmen and sophomores dealing with spatial, nominal and adjectival subtests were considered to be significant. However, in reference to the verbal subtest, the difference between the two groups was not significant. The results obtained from the independent sample t-test indicated no significant differences between the freshmen and sophomores in their performance on idiomatic adpositions. Finally, the result of the correlation coefficients showed high correlation coefficients between the whole adposition test and the three subtests of spatial, non-spatial and idiomatic ones. Moreover, high and moderate correlations were reported among the three subtests with the highest correlation between the spatial and non-spatial subtests and the lowest between the idiomatic and spatial ones. پرونده مقاله

Language classrooms are occasionally anxiety-breeding situations. Foreign language classroom anxiety which negatively affects foreign language learning is typically associated with productive activities mainly speaking skill. To cope with the issue and overcome language learning difficulties, the present study was conducted to explore the impact of mobile-assisted language learning on enhancing EFL students’ oral proficiency and relieving their speaking anxiety. 60 sophomore female students whose ages ranged from 18 to 24 were selected from Zand University in Shiraz, Iran and randomly divided into two groups. Traditional instruction was adopted to teach both groups for two hours in a week for four months. Out of class, however, they did various speaking activities. The participants in the control group followed their course book speaking activities. But, the experimental group experienced mobile-assisted language learning to do their out-of-class speaking activities via a mobile application (Voice Thread). The Preliminary English Test and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale questionnaire were used to collect the required data. Paired samples t-test results indicated that Voice Thread experience significantly enhanced the participants’ oral proficiency and lowered their foreign language speaking anxiety.these findings provide experimental evidence that Voice Thread can be used as an educational tool to help EFL students to improve their oral proficiency and create their own individual less-threatening language learning environment. پرونده مقاله

Recent innovations in formative assessment have turned the spotlight on the implementation of assessment for learning in the classroom. Notwithstanding a considerable wealth of research on assessment for learning in mainstream education, few research studies in the field of language teaching thus far have touched upon assessment for learning. This quantitative study investigated Iranian English language teachers’ perceived monitoring and scaffolding practices in respect of their gender and class size. To achieve this purpose, 384 Iranian EFL teachers who were selected using convenience sampling completed a 28-item Likert scale questionnaire on assessment for learning entailing two main constructs, namely monitoring and scaffolding. Our findings revealed a statistically significant gender difference with regard to perceived scaffolding. Likewise, the results showed that EFL teachers’ perceived monitoring and scaffolding practices did not differ with respect to class size. The key implications of the findings for the application of scaffolding and monitoring practices in the classroom were also addressed. پرونده مقاله

This experimental study considered the effects of learning style variations on EFL learners’ performance in different question types of the reading skill and their strategies to get higher scores. To achieve such goals, ninety learners with different academic backgrounds from IELTS classes of Shukuh English Language Institute in Tehran, participated in this study. The researcher first utilized two questionnaires with regard to learning styles and strategy uses. According to the Kolb’s questionnaire it is believed that learners have Activist, Theorist, Pragmatist and Reflector learning styles. A majority of candidates were recognized as Reflector but activist candidates had a better performance in IELTS and also for strategy use. In considering learning style variation according to the results of the one-way analysis of variance, we were on the safe side to say that variation due to belonging to different style groups causes variation of performance for Yes, No, not given questions in reading skill. The most favorable learning strategy of the activist learners, who were the most successful students according to their band scores, was making summaries which had not only the highest frequency, but also the highest weighted sum. پرونده مقاله

This quantitative research explores the implicit and explicit instruction of reading strategies and its connection through the application of metacognitive strategies by Iranian EFL students. To this purpose, 100 Iranian university freshmen, aged 20-35, studying at the Marwdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, were selected as participants through a convenient sampling method, from a pool of 117 students. Then, the Key English Test (KET) was used to check their homogeneity. The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) was also used as a pre-test and post-test to specify the kind and occurrence sequence of learning strategies applied by the participants before and after the treatment. So, the participants were allotted to two experimental groups and received implicit and explicit instruction of reading strategies respectively. The results obtained from statistical data analysis showed that affective strategies were the very frequently-applied strategies, while memory strategies were the least frequently-applied strategies in the explicit group. It was also found that in the implicit group, cognitive strategies were the most frequently-applied strategies, while social strategies were the least frequently-applied strategies. These results have pedagogical implications for EFL teachers to use appropriate approaches in teaching reading strategies, that will ultimately help the students to develop more awareness and competence in reading comprehension. پرونده مقاله

This mixed-methods design study investigated Iranian TOEFL iBT and IELTS teachers’ views on thestructure of the TOEFL iBT and IELTS receptive and productive sections from the yardsticks of dynamicand static assessment. It also examined the conformity level of the receptive and productive sections ofTOEFL iBT and IELTS to dynamic assessment and static assessment standards. To achieve the objectivesof the study, 100 information-rich TOEFL iBT and IELTS teachers selected based on purposive andsnowball sampling completed two 8-item researcher-made questionnaires on the underlying features ofthese exams. To cross-validate the quantitative results, we performed semi-structured interviews with 10informed teachers selected through purposive sampling from among the questionnaire respondents. Thesemi-structured data were content analyzed using a researcher-made framework categorizing thedistinctive dynamic assessment and static assessment features. The results of the qualitative phasecorroborated those of the quantitative part revealing that these exams mainly conform to static assessmenttenets and that they enjoy only a few dynamic assessment features. The pedagogical implications of thefindings are also explicated. پرونده مقاله

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of explicit oral and explicit written corrective feedback on Iranian EFL learners’ correction of grammatical structures and their attitudes towards C.F.. For this to achieve, the performance of the learners as a result of two types of feedback, namely, Explicit Oral Feedback (EOF) and Explicit Written Feedback (EWF) in the form of metalinguistic feedback (error code and explanation), was studied. Sixty homogeneous Iranian EFL female high school students were randomly assigned to oral and written experimental groups. Afterwards, a grammar test was administered to see the effect of the two types of corrective feedback. The statistical techniques employed to measure such effects were a series of independent paired samples t-tests to analyze the data. The results indicated a significant impact of EOF and EWF groups on correcting grammatical structures, although the EOF outperformed the EWF group.Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with five randomly selected students from each experimental group to check their attitudes about the corrective feedback they had received. The students considered EOF more beneficial than EWF.Implications of using these kinds of feedback in EFL classes and avenues for further research are discussed. پرونده مقاله

This study investigated Iranian EFL Teachers’ attitudes towards instructional technology in their classroom and its impact on their job satisfaction. Data were collected using the Media Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale and Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire to examine teachers’ attitudes towards the use of instructional technology within the classroom and its effects on their job satisfaction. A sample of 80 teachers was asked to complete a survey detailing their job satisfaction and assessing attitudes towards technology integration in the classroom. Based on the present study’s findings, teachers’ job satisfaction slightly predicted the impacts of instructional technology. In addition, after analyzing the data using multiple regression analysis, it was further discovered that the use of a smartphone could highly predict the significant impacts of the use of integrated technology on teachers’ job satisfaction. The research suggested that teachers need support to better integrate the available technologies within the classroom. پرونده مقاله

The dualistic nature of the present study explored if there existed any relationship between organizational silence, job insecurity, job satisfaction, and burnout among EFL instructors and if job satisfaction me- diated the latent relationships among organizational silence, job insecurity, and burnout. To this end, 120 EFL instructors from different Azad University branches in the Fars province, Iran, chosen based on one- stage convenience cluster sampling filled out four questionnaires, i.e. questionnaire, Burnout Inventory, and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. To investigate any relationship between organizational silence, job insecurity, and burnout among EFL instructors, the researchers performed the Pearson Correlation coefficient. Additionally, to investigate if job satisfaction mediated the relationships between the three variables, the researchers ranpath analysis via Amos 21. The results revealed direct positive relationships between organizational silence, job insecurity, and burnout among EFL instructors and job satisfaction did not mediate these relationships indicating that organizational silence and job insecurity could directly cause burnout or affect the probable level of burnout among EFL instructors and their level of satisfaction did not intervenet he present study provides significant contributions to principals, managers, and organi- zational policymakers in educational settings by warning them of the important factors that cause job bur- nout among EFL instructors and affect their well-being and efficacy.The results also added some more insight about EFL instructors‟ affairs to the body of related literature. پرونده مقاله

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of explicit oral and explicit written corrective feedback on Iranian EFL learners’ correction of grammatical structures and their attitudes towards C.F.. For this to achieve, the performance of the learners as a result of two types of feedback, namely, Explicit Oral Feedback (EOF) and Explicit Written Feedback (EWF) in the form of metalinguistic feedback (error code and explanation), was studied. Sixty homogeneous Iranian EFL female high school students were randomly assigned to oral and written experimental groups. Afterwards, a grammar test was administered to see the effect of the two types of corrective feedback. The statistical techniques employed to measure such effects were a series of independent paired samples t-tests to analyze the data. The results indicated a significant impact of EOF and EWF groups on correcting grammatical structures, although the EOF outperformed the EWF group.Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with five randomly selected students from each experimental group to check their attitudes about the corrective feedback they had received. The students considered EOF more beneficial than EWF.Implications of using these kinds of feedback in EFL classes and avenues for further research are discussed. پرونده مقاله

One area that has not gotten much attention in the professional literature on teaching second languages is the function of teacher metalinguistic knowledge in the classroom. Because it has historically been associated with formal grammar teaching, metalinguistic knowledge has been disregarded or even abandoned as an essential part of pedagogical practice in many L2 classrooms. Nonetheless, new studies have shown how important it is to give form and meaning equal weight when teaching languages. This essay reviews studies on the value of teachers’ metalinguistic knowledge and how it relates to learners' improvement of language comprehension and proficiency. It also takes into account a number of potential benefits of possessing and using metalinguistic knowledge in L2 teaching especially teaching grammar in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. It is concluded based on this discussion that teachers' metalinguistic knowledge deserves a place in L2 classrooms. The study offers some implications for teachers and teacher educators, too. پرونده مقاله