Language learning and achievement are related to the skills teachers practice and the presence of expert capability such as teachers’ reflectivity. The objective of the present study was to search the extent to which EFL teachers are involved in reflective instruction and test the level of growing teachers’ awareness of reflective teaching which leads to students’ language achievement. Data were collected by the following instruments: a) a TOEFL test administered to 350 Iranian EFL students, b) reflective journals written by 120 Iranian EFL teachers, and c) a Reflective Teaching Inventory. For the qualitative stage, 120 male and female EFL teachers from two language institutes in Kerman, the center of Iran, were selected through convenient sampling and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. After completing the treatment, a reflective teaching inventory as a post-test was given to the two groups to test the impact of the treatment. The results of the t-test indicated that the experimental group outdid the control group in taking advantage of reflective teaching components. This finding raises provocative questions regarding reflective teaching and teaching skills. پرونده مقاله

This study intended to develop a model of motivating factors to learn English among Iranian Kurdish and Azerbaijani EFL learners. For this purpose, at first, an endeavor was made to discover motivation factors and validate a model. Therefore, in the qualitative phase, a semi-structured interview was done with 18 Azerbaijani interviewees (in the Azerbaijan University of Tabriz) and 18 Kurdish ones (in the Kurdistan University of Sanandaj) and 6 participants of focus group from each ethnic group to brainstorm their ideas. After discovering seven EFL motivating factors with 29 categories, a questionnaire was made which reflected the factors. In the quantitative phase, the 80-item questionnaire underwent an exploratory factor analysis to test validity, and after the confirmation of its validity and reliability through a pilot study with 234 participants, the questionnaire was distributed among 320 EFL participants. To corroborate the validity of the proposed model, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis was used with LISREL 8.8. Eventually, confirmatory factor analysis was run and the model of motivating factors was developed with three factors related more to Azerbaijani students leading to integrative motivation and four for Kurdish students making instrumental motivation. The emerged model is helpful for policymakers of education and teachers caring about better English instruction. پرونده مقاله

This study explores the motivating and demotivating factors among Kurdish and Azerbaijani EFL freshmen students in Iranian Kurdistan and Azerbaijan universities. The motive behind extracting motivating and demotivating factors was discovering the causes of their failureinEnglish learning and offering solutions. Collecting qualitative data was in accord with grounded theory, a three-session semi-structured interview running with 18 interviewees and a focus group with six from each university separately to brainstorm their ideas. The researchers then transcribed and codified the data according to Corbin and Strauss’s (2015) systematic steps of open, axial, and selective coding. For validation, one of the researchers interviewed the same number of students in Payameh Noor universities of Mahabad (with Kurdish students) and Miyandoab (Azerbaijanic students). Subsequently, in line with the body of literature and the data, six joint demotivating factors and 30 categories were obtained for both ethnic groups. In addition, seven motivational factors together with 29 categories were discovered, out of which three were related to Azerbaijani students leading to an integrative type of motivation, and four for Kurdish students making instrumental motivation. The proposed models are helpful for policymakers of education and those who care about better English instruction. پرونده مقاله