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This study explores the experiences of two high school students learning English in rural Vietnam through the lens of ecological systems theory. It also aims to gain in-depth insights into learners’ constructions of motivation within the nexus of personal and ecological elements. Data gathering spanned approximately ۱۸ months and was based primarily on interviews, observations, and written and visual reflections. The analytical procedures drew on deductive category application in which pre-formulated theoretical constructs were used for content analysis. Findings show that given the constraints of rural context, the learning experiences of the two participants were vividly unfolded through their dynamic role in perceiving and evaluating language resources, support and learning opportunities, and their ongoing interaction with elements within and across ecosystems. Such processes contributed to shaping the ways in which these learners constructed their L۲ motivation against the challenges in their lifeworld. The study reiterates the importance of examining motivation in context, incorporating both personal and ecological aspects underpinning language learning at both micro and macro levels. It calls for dialogues, discussions and negotiation among various educational stakeholders in creating language environments and opportunities for learners in rural settings . متن کامل [PDF 811 kb] (107 دریافت) نوع مقاله: مقاله تحقیق | موضوع مقاله: روان شناسی زبان انتشار: 1400/11/1 ارسال نظر درباره این مقاله : نام کاربری یا پست الکترونیک شما: ارسال پیام به نویسنده مسئول بازنشر اطلاعات این مقاله تحت شرایط Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License قابل بازنشر است.

This study examined the effect of rater training on promoting inter-rater reliability in oral language assessment. It also investigated whether rater training and the consideration of the examinees’ expectations by the examiners have any effect on test-takers’ perceptions of being fairly evaluated. To this end, four raters scored 31 Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ oral performance on the speaking module of the IELTS in two stages (i.e. pre- and post-training stage). Furthermore, following Kunnan’s (2004) Test Fairness Framework, a questionnaire on fairness in oral language assessment was developed, and after pilot testing and validating, it was administered to the examinees at both stages. The examinees’ expectations were taken into account in the second round of the speaking test. The results indicated that rater training is likely to promote inter-rater reliability and, in turn, enhances the fairness of the decisions made based on the test scores. It was also concluded that considering students’ expectations of a fair test would improve their overall perceptions of being fairly evaluated. The results of this study sought to provide second language teachers, oral test developers, and oral examiners and raters with useful insights into addressing fairness-related issues in oral assessment.

Classroom management constraints and how English teachers cope with or remove them effectively have significantly impacted both EFL teachers and teacher educators. However, the coping strategies employed by teachers with high and low levels of expertise have not been thoroughly explored yet. To this end, first 22 teachers in one language institute in Tehran were interviewed and their main coping strategies were extracted through qualitative analysis of the interviews. Then, the extracted strategies were worded into items carefully. The questionnaire of EFL teachers’ coping strategies was validated for the purpose of the study. The findings revealed that the participants used twenty-three coping strategies under two sub-constructs: problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, based on exploratory factor analysis. One hundred EFL teachers with high and low levels of expertise (fifty in the high and fifty in the low group) responded to the items in the coping strategy questionnaire. The results revealed that highly expert teachers used the extracted coping strategies more frequently. Furthermore, the researchers confirmed that teachers need in-service training courses on coping strategies to manage their classes effectively. The results have some implications for stakeholders, namely English language teachers, teacher educators, language institutes, education departments, and EFL curriculum developers.

Unlike Lexical Projections, Functional Projections (Extended Projections) are more of an ‘abstract’ in nature. Therefore, Functional Projections seem to be acquired later than Lexical Projections by the L2 learners. The present study investigates Iranian L2 learners’ acquisition of English Extended Projections taking into account their level of grammatical proficiency. Specifically, the aim is to identify the level of grammatical proficiency at which the acquisition of Extended Projections could occur in the process of learning English by the Iranian students. Two hundred and seventy Iranian female L2 learners of English participated in this study. Participants were administered three tests with a ten-day interval between each test. First, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was used to classify the participants’ level of grammatical proficiency. Second, a Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT) was administered in order to assess the learners’ ability to recognize grammatical problems in Extended Projections. Finally, a picture description task (PDT) was administered to examine the learners’ ability to produce grammatical Extended Projections. The results indicated that the learners are able to recognize and produce English Extended Projections even at lower levels of grammatical proficiency. The results also showed that the learner’s recognition and production of English Extended Projection improves with their increased level of grammatical proficiency.

Forty general English teachers at the university level attended three supervisory sessions. The qualitative data were collected through a triangulation of various techniques, including: pre/post-supervision semi-structured interviews, classroom observation checklists, reflective journals, field notes, and transcriptions of audio-recorded data from supervisory meetings. Thematic analysis was used to identify recurring themes at each layer of the onion model. The Chi-square analysis revealed a significant difference between teachers’ attitudes and strategies before and after the supervisory meetings. The results demonstrated that teachers experienced a process of growth with a developmental trajectory from the outer layers to the inner layers of the onion model fostering the core qualities of self-confidence, self-efficacy, self-awareness, and autonomy. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that the supervisor played a significant role in teachers’ development by using supervisory strategies such as: empathetic listening and accepting the problems, empowerment by activating core qualities, giving attention to inner obstacles, giving balanced attention to cognition, emotion, and motivation, and help to get autonomy in core reflection. The findings support making deliberate efforts to establish regular supervisory practicum meetings as part of academic professional culture, and the core reflection approach as a valuable strategy.

This study aimed at investigating the Persian human and machine (Google) renderings of The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini, through comparing and contrasting culture specific items (CSI) as well as the exploited translation strategies. Thus, the relevant problematic forms of the cultural differences were identified and the procedures suggested by Newmark (1988) were examined to see how they fit into the translation of cultural differences in English and Persian. The results of this qualitative study revealed that Literal Translation, Naturalization and Transposition strategies were used most frequently in both human and machine translations. However, machine translation could not present a comprehensible translation due to overuse of these strategies (75%). It was also revealed that the spirit of source text was kept intact in both renderings due to closeness of Iranian and Afghan cultures. It was further discovered that the human translated version carried the real beauty and creativities of the original work. In facty, the terms that were transformed and localized were able to carry over the flavor of the author’s work. Finally, it was shown that the regretful theme of the source text was reserved to a great extent in the human rendering of the novel, while machine translation failed to get it. Generally-speaking, based on the findings of this study, culture-specific terms make it difficult for machines to achieve complete word-for-word equivalence, and at the same time, human translator must have a broad knowledge of the literature and traditions of both the source and target languages to come up with a faithful translation in terms of both form and content.

Despite many studies on teacher autonomy (TA) and its connection with learner autonomy (LA), scant attention has been devoted to TA on its own and how it might contribute to teachers themselves. Against this backdrop, the current study set out to investigate novice English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ autonomy development in terms of their self-directed professional development (PD) and capacity for their self-directed PD, the two subcomponents of the multidimensional framework of TA. To this end, two novice EFL teachers’ audio diaries on the aforementioned subcomponents were collected for 10 months. Moreover, to complement the probable gaps in the diary phase, the teachers were interviewed in five terms. The thematic analysis of  the  collected diaries  and  diary-based  semi-structured interviews revealed that novice EFL teachers’ main activities for self-directed PD embraced peer observation, peer coaching, reading books, making use of technology, reflection, action research, and attending workshops. Additionally, the findings indicated that novice EFL teachers were equipped with both capacity and willingness to self-direct their PD. The constructive factors enabling  them  to  develop  such  capacity  included  experience,  reading  books,  and  external support. The findings bear implications for teacher educators to underline the value of PD strategies for teachers. Teachers should also be aware of the PD strategies they could employ for their self-direction. The findings suggest some implication for institute managers too.

The present study examined the comparative effects of Etherpad-based writing instruction and face-to-face writing instruction on EFL learners' writing quality and writing self-efficacy. It also aimed at finding the learners' attitude towards the influence of Etherpad and their reason for success/ failure in this writing course. To this end, ninety students were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to one of the two instruction groups. In addition to an IELTS writing task, Self-efficacy in Writing Scale (SWS) was administered. During the course, the students received instruction on writing an argumentative essay. After the treatment, the SWS and another IELTS writing task were given. Subsequently, a semi-structured interview was conducted with twenty Etherpad-based learners to find their attitudes towards the reason for their success/ failure and the effectiveness of Etherpad. The results revealed that the Etherpad-based group significantly outperformed the face-to-face group in the writing posttest and demonstrated a higher level of writing self-efficacy. The interview data showed that the students attributed their success to both internal and external factors. Whereas, they ascribed their failure to internal factors rather than external ones. It was also revealed that the students found Etherpad as a predictor of their success in writing performance.

Classrooms can be regarded as dynamic systems in which behaviors of teachers and students affect each other mutually and in a spiral manner. In this study it was intended to investigate differences in interpersonal behaviors of a more vs. a less favorable teacher at micro- and macro-levels. To analyze classroom interaction dynamically and in real-time, State Space Grid technique was applied. On the macro-level, teacher profiles were determined based on vector method. 211 students of six classes rated the behavior of their own teacher and an imaginary ideal one. One teacher who was closest to and one farthest from that ideal were identified and their classes were video-taped. Two raters coded behaviors with a joystick and then content and structure of interaction were analyzed. Differences on the micro-level were especially noticeable in the strength of attractors, not in their position. Structurally, the behavior of the more favorable teacher had higher variability and less predictability. On the macro-level, the more favorable teacher had Authoritative, and the less favorable one had Directive profiles. The results of this study can be used in promoting interactive ground of the class and in teacher education programs.

Decision making and pedagogical reasoning are regarded as two of the important concepts underlying teaching skills. This study aimed to first identify the novice Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ initial decision making and pedagogical reasoning in terms of managerial mode. More importantly, it sought to inform the teachers’ decisions and reasoning through some one-to-one feedback sessions, which were interactively held between every novice teacher and an experienced teacher. The participants were one experienced (male) and five novice (four females and one male) teachers. To collect the data, a number of teaching scenarios, classroom observations, stimulated recalls, and the Self-Evaluation of Teacher Talk (SETT) framework were used. The analysis of the data using conversation analysis showed that the novice teachers benefited from their negotiated interactions with the experienced teacher and applied the points regarding all five pedagogic goals of managerial mode in the framework. After the feedback sessions, the teachers could confidently defend their decisions pedagogically when enquired for reasons. The findings showed that modifying the teachers’ decision would not be successfully ensured until they reached the “aha” of the moment or a new understanding, which is the last stage in reforming one’s pedagogical reasoning. One way to achieve this moment is through raising the teachers’ awareness of the essential metalanguage. It is thus suggested that officials in charge and institute managers provide such learning opportunities for teachers so that they take more serious steps toward their own professional development through such frameworks as SETT

EFL teachers’ professional identity is a multi-dimensional and complicated concept. It is influenced by many other issues in the educational context such as reflective practice. This study intended to explore the relationship between professional identity and reflectivity of Iranian EFL teachers. It also aimed to examine how high and low reflective teachers perceive the professional identity components. The participants were 89 EFL teachers teaching at three universities in Shiraz, Iran. Their selection was based on convenience sampling. The participants were asked to fill out two questionnaires including teacher professional identity questionnaire (Liou, 2008) and teacher reflectivity questionnaire (Akbari et al., 2010). Pearson product correlation coefficient revealed that there was a positive relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and reflectivity. Furthermore, the findings of regression analysis indicated that reflectivity could predict EFL teachers’ professional identity. Furthermore, the participants were categorized into two high and low reflective groups. Two groups were interviewed to examine the professional identity perceptions used by high and low reflective teachers. The thematic analysis showed that high reflective teachers used and implemented much more professional identity components in their teaching practice in comparison to the low reflective teachers.