مژگان رشتچی

Children need to start learning English from a very young age in this fast globalizing world. The knowledge of the English language can assist in providing several opportunities for them in the future. It is also essential to know how very young children acquire a foreign language and which content and activities should be selected for their age. This study aimed to observe and describe the procedure of the language development of very young children. Researchers employed a descriptive case study design to portray and assess foreign language learning of two three-year-old twins’ grammar acquisition, vocabulary gains, and fluency in the early years of life (3-4/5). Besides the methods firmly associated with qualitative study and case studies, there were four sources of data collection: observation, audio-video recordings, and diary records. The central unit of the twins’ language development analysis was their utterances. The findings supported using a naturalistic environment where very young children could be exposed to the English language informally in everyday contexts and activities. This research can share its findings with education communities and very young children’s teachers to promote a new professional development model for fostering language development in very young learners’ classrooms, assessments, and curricula.

Our planet faces major environmental issues that must be addressed through ecological initiatives, education, and awareness raising. In language education, ecolinguistics has grown substantially during the last decade and has taken a cognitive step toward fostering and improving people’s ecological awareness; however, there was no mention of pedagogical practices of ecolinguistics rooted in theories of second language teaching and learning. Thus, the present study sought to apply a framework of English teaching based on the Activity Theory to raise EFL learners’ ecological critical language awareness. The researchers of the current quasi-experimental study employed a non-equivalent pretest and posttest control-group design to assess the effectiveness of using an AT-based framework in EFL classes to foster learners’ critical language awareness of ecological issues. An experimental group (n=45) and a control group (n=45) with intermediate-level members selected through convenience sampling took part in the study. The experimental group was taught with the AT-based framework, while the control group was not. The result of the independent samples t-test indicated that the ECLA of the experimental group had risen significantly compared to the control group. Also, the results of a series of paired samples t-tests comparing the pretest and posttest of the experimental group’s score on each domain of the ECLA showed that the learners’ awareness of all six domains had significantly improved. The study suggests that implementing the AT-based framework to teach ecolinguistics in language classes can be a promising way to raise learners’ ECLA.

Self-regulation equips learners with the expertise to continue and improve their studies throughout their life span. The current study investigated the impact of reflective learning using Kolb’s cyclical stages on EFL learners’ self-regulation. The participants were 61 Iranian EFL learners from two intact university classes randomly assigned to the Reflective (n=30) and Non-reflective (n=31) groups. During an eight-week instruction, the Reflective group experienced reflective practices, and the Non-reflective group was exposed to traditional teaching. The data were collected through Seker’s (2016) Self-Regulated Questionnaire, administered before and after the treatment and participants’ think-aloud protocols. The quantitative data analysis using ANCOVA and MANOVA revealed that the Reflective group significantly outperformed the Non-reflective group in all self-regulated learning components except for external and metacognitive self-regulation subscales. The protocol data analysis substantiated the quantitative findings, indicating that reflective learning significantly improved learners’ self-regulated skills. The results offer significant implications for language instructors and language learners.

Writing skill is a challenging and frequently-used activity in academic circles. This study investigated the effects of reflective writing on EFL learners’ writing performance. The participants were 61 Iranian EFL learners from two intact university classes randomly assigned to the non-reflective (n=31) and reflective (n=30) groups. Over sixteen sessions of instructions over eight weeks, the non-reflective group was taught using the traditional writing method; however, the reflective group was exposed to reflective writing instruction under Kolb’s Model. The data were collected through reflective writing compositions and the content analysis of think-aloud protocols. The quantitative data analysis revealed that the reflective group significantly outperformed the non-reflective group in writing compositions. The thematic analysis of think-aloud protocols substantiated the quantitative data findings, indicating that all participants went through the cognitive psychological processes of ‘planning, drafting, pausing and thinking, reading and reproducing, reviewing, editing and revising’ as they were engaged in reflective writing via Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle. The results offer significant implications for language instructors, curriculum planners, and course designers.

Dynamic assessment offers a holistic approach to evaluation by embedding assessment within instruction. Despite evidence suggesting the effectiveness of DA in language classrooms, there remains a reluctance among teachers to adopt DA practices. This reluctance stems from a lack of understanding of how DA models impact specific learning outcomes, particularly in speaking skills. One main contributing factor is the dominance of quantitative DA studies, which do not contextualize the differences between DA models. With an inductive thematic analysis design, this study explored the perceived effects of interactionist and interventionist DA models on speaking accuracy, fluency, and complexity among Iranian EFL students. Thirty undergraduate intermediate EFL learners from Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, were recruited through purposive sampling. Each participant had received one hundred hours of speaking lessons with one of the DA models embedded before participating in a semi-structured interview. The analysis of participants' perceptions and reflections revealed that both DA models were well-received for improving speaking skills but had different effects on subskills. Learners perceived the interactionist model as an effective teaching method that improved their speaking accuracy and complexity but reduced fluency, while the interventionist model favored fluency at the expense of grammatical accuracy and complexity.

The current study used a qualitative methodology to examine how Iranian EFL learners practically applied Metacognitive Reading Strategies (MRs) when reading narrative and expository English texts. The study also investigated the participants' perceptions of the impact of text type on using MRs while reading narrative and expository English passages. The researchers selected 40 intermediate EFL learners studying TEFL at Islamic Azad University and Farhangyan University using purposive sampling as focused participants. The instruments employed included the Oxford Placement Test, semi-structured interviews, and think-aloud protocols. The data analysis involved theme-based analysis. The think-aloud protocol analysis indicated that participants employed multiple strategies when engaging with the expository text compared to the narrative text. The finding suggested that text types affected readers` overall performance. The semi-structured interviews revealed that learner's perceptions of text type played a vital role in reading different text types. The practical implications of the study were also discussed.