حسن سودمند افشار

Despite its recognized importance in preparing prospective teachers for the realities of the classroom, the practicum in Iranian TEFL programs faces several challenges that can significantly impact its effectiveness and hinder the development of competent and confident TEFL teachers in the country. This study, characterized as a comprehensive nationwide triangulated project, aimed at exploring and comparing the perception of the Iranian TEFL Preservice Teachers (PSTs) and the corresponding stakeholders on major issues, problems and challenges of the practicum program at Farhangian University. To these ends, a researcher-made practicum evaluation questionnaire was distributed among the participants (including 230 PSTs and 215 stakeholders) whose answers were analyzed through factor analysis. Based on factor loadings, nine major extracted factors in the two participant groups were compared through Independent Samples t-tests. The results showed that PSTs and stakeholders shared common perceptions on six factors while they held different perceptions only on three other factors. A semi-structured interview was additionally designed and conducted with 15 PSTs and 15 stakeholders. Finally, 10 practicum courses were observed to obtain an accurate understanding of the current situation of ELT PSTs’ internship education in Iran. The findings uncovered major issues and challenges with regard to ELT practicum including (a) limited adaptability and innovation in instructional approaches, resources, and materials utilized by the cooperating teachers who served as a role model for PSTs, (b) insufficient collaboration between educational institutions and universities, (c) lack of proper supervision by university advisors, d) insufficiency of time allotted to PSTs for teaching,  and e) huge gap between theoretical concepts related to the practicum principles studied in university courses with the practical realities faced by PSTs in the school environment, to name a few. The findings of the study might firstly give some insight to universities and schools in developing and implementing high-quality practicum programs that might contribute to the advancement of ELT teacher education programs. Moreover, the study can contribute to our understanding of the extent to which PSTs can integrate theoretical knowledge into their teaching practices.

Abstract The present study developed a model of L2 speaking proficiency investigating how lexical sophistication, lexical diversity, syntactic sophistication, syntactic complexity, and cohesion are associated with holistic scores of L2 speaking proficiency employing structural equation modeling (SEM). A corpus of 419 monologues delivered by Iranian EFL learners was compiled and rated to develop the model. Based on the overall scores, the corpus was divided into independent (B1 and B2) and proficient (C1 and C2) users. The results of SEM analysis revealed that the developed L2 speaking proficiency model had an acceptable fit, with partial generalizability across independent and proficient users. Structural regression analysis showed that lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, syntactic sophistication, cohesion, and the indirect effect of syntactic complexity through lexical sophistication explained 34% of the variance in L2 speaking proficiency in descending order of importance. However, their relative importance changed depending on proficiency level. Based on the results, while lexical, syntactic, and cohesive features are sound predictors of L2 speaking proficiency, they function differently across proficiency groups. These findings offer valuable insights for improving speaking proficiency assessment by showing that lexical sophistication, lexical diversity, syntactic sophistication, syntactic complexity, and cohesion do not contribute equally to overall L2 speaking proficiency, and their order of importance varies across proficiency levels. Therefore, prioritizing indicators of L2 speaking proficiency in assessment frameworks based on their importance in each proficiency level can add to the validity and reliability of speaking assessments.

The present study attempted to comparatively investigate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teachers’ beliefs about language learning and teaching and their distinctive characteristics. To this end, 150 EFL and ESP teachers, selected randomly from various universities in Iran, were asked to fill out two pilot-tested validated five-point Likert-scale questionnaires, one on beliefs (including 45 items) and the other on characteristics (comprising 16 items). To do multiple-level analysis and triangulate the data for validation purposes, 25 teachers, selected randomly from among the study participants, were also interviewed. The results of (Quantitative data analysis such as Independent Samples t-tests, Chi-Square and Pearson product-moment correlation analyses, as well as qualitative content analysis of interviews) found no significant mismatch between ESP teachers and EFL teachers’ beliefs overall; however, significant differences were found between characteristics of ESP teachers and EFL teachers overall as well as between the specific beliefs and also between specific characteristics of the two groups of the teachers. The results are discussed in detail in the paper, and the implications, which are significant for the field of language education and ESP, and the pertinent implications are presented.