درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Lexical inferencing has been recognized as an effective learning strategy in SLA. The present study investigated Iranian EFL learners’ development of reading comprehension as a result of exposure to lexical inferencing strategy instruction. To do so, 45 female participants studying in Simin Language Institute in Rasht, Iran were selected from among 60 students based on the results of a sample of Oxford quick Placement (OQP) test, who scored from 40 to 47. They were in two intact classes, assigned to one experimental (n=24) and one control group (n=21). The experimental group underwent the teaching of reading comprehension through lexical inferencing strategy to help learners infer the meaning of unknown words and promote their understanding of the text. However, the control group received the traditional instruction of reading comprehension concentrating on the translation of new words. The results of the pre- and post-tests of reading comprehension revealed the significant outperformance of the treatment group over the control group’s reading comprehension ability. It was concluded that lexical inferencing strategy teaching could develop the learners’ potential to improve their cognitive capacities in inferring the meaning of unknown words, which might be facilitative in their reading comprehension.

The aim of this study was to provide evidence on the construct validity of the ‘What is Happening in this Class’ (WIHIC) questionnaire in the context of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Iran. The field of language teaching has made a number of claims about the role of language learning environments (particularly the classroom) in L2 acquisition and use, but it does not provide teachers and researchers with reliable and valid instruments to assess the accuracy of these claims. To serve the purpose of the study, a sample of 607 Iranian EFL learners from both university and institute contexts was requested to complete the WIHIC questionnaire, and the obtained data were then submitted to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis for construct validation. The results indicated that the deletion of one dimension and several items from the original WIHIC questionnaire enhanced its psychometric properties, thus confirming the validity of the questionnaire with six factors. In addition, the psychometric properties of the validated questionnaire were found to be invariant across the teaching context (i.e., university versus institute contexts). The implications of these findings for research on language learning environments are discussed, and some suggestions are made for further validation studies.

This study examines the effect of video recording in Google Drive as the self-assessing E-portfolio on high school EFL learners’ speaking fluency. To that end, a quasi-experimental comparison group research was implemented in which thirty Iranian high school EFL students were assigned either to e-portfolio or comparison groups. While the e-portfolio group assessed their own performance by keeping electronic portfolios in Google Drive, their counterparts in the comparison group presented their performance in the class. The students’ speaking fluency was assessed through both pre- and post-tests. A speaking rubric was used to get the students’ scores. The results of the independent sample t test showed that taking advantage of self-assessment through video-based e-portfolios improved the learners’ speaking fluency. The study had relevant implications for both material designers and language teachers not only to promote student speaking skills, but also to enhance students’ lifelong learning.

This study sought to examine the type and frequency of tasks in the Iranian high school English course books (Prospect 1, 2, 3 & English Book 1, 2, 3). The corpus was analyzed based on Nunan’s (1999) framework composed of five main task types, namely cognitive, interpersonal, linguistics, affective, and creative. To this end, the whole content of the aforementioned course books went through content analysis separately and accordingly descriptive and inferential results were reported regarding the frequency of each task type. The results showed that the linguistic tasks were the most recurrent type, whereas some task types (e.g., affective and creative) were totally absent. Furthermore, based on the results of Chi Square test, a significant difference was observed in the frequency of task types. While, according to communicative approach, communicative competence necessitates the inclusion of grammatical, discourse, sociolinguistic, and strategic competencies, the findings of the current study revealed that linguistic competence was overemphasized in these course books. This fact may lead to learners who are competent in producing linguistically appropriate utterances, which may at the same time be inappropriate with regard to context. The findings can have significant implications for EFL teachers and materials developers in making them conscious of the fact that the application of different types of tasks in textbooks is an important standard leading to more competent language users, especially in an EFL context like Iran.

In an attempt to profile the effect of two methods of teaching Second Language (L2) idioms, Etymological vs. Literal, a group of English Language learners (n= 14) were selected to participate in this study. It was a within-subjects study and the chosen idioms were taught in 6 sessions regarding the two methods to the same group (each method in three sessions). In the first three sessions, 30 idioms were taught literally. In the next three sessions, 30 other idioms were taught etymologically. Then, their post-tests were performed immediately after instruction. Finally, a delayed posttest was conducted after one-week interval to find out the amount of retention of idioms’ constituents. The results indicated no significant effect in the retention and later production of L2 idioms and their constituents in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Following either of these methods regarding time and goals of instruction can be considered as an implication of this study.

The present study set out to determine the effect of implementing exploratory-cumulative talk in comparison to disputational talk on cognitive (meaning development and organization of thought as well as problem solving ability) dependency of intermediate level students in translation studies. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a quasi-experimental-pretest-posttest-statistical study was conducted in which 63 linguistically homogeneous B.A students in translation studies at the IAU-Shahreza branch, in experimental and control groups were the participants. Administering cognitive dependency questionnaire before and after implementing the treatment, exploratory-cumulative talk, helps the researcher to find out the possible effect of it against the control group, disputational talk, in translator training courses. The results of the data analysis indicate that the difference between the posttest mean scores of the experimental and control groups do not reach statistical significance. However, by conventional criteria, the difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group was considered statistically significant by large effect size. The application of the present study findings in translator training courses may pave the way for translation teachers and translation students to follow more fruitful approaches.

Over the years, teachers are considered as one of the most influential factors, which play an important role in pedagogical and educational settings. Numerous research studies have been done about teachers and their performance in the classrooms. Among the investigated factors motivation, anxiety, burnout can be considered as having higher importance concerning related literature. Therefore, the present study sheds light on their interaction and relationship with Iranian language teachers’ performance. To this purpose, 80 male and female English teachers with at least 10 years of teaching experiences were selected in Neyshabur, and their motivation, anxiety, and burnout were examined through filling out the related questionnaires. The design of the study was correlational, focusing on the correlation between each two variables. The data analysis showed that there is a significant correlation between teachers’ burnout and the research factors such as their motivation and anxiety. Finally, some pedagogical implications of the study concerning the improvement of teachers’ performance at schools are presented. The findings of the present study put much emphasis on designing and administrating teacher-training programs with especial regard to psychological traits such as language teachers’ motivation and anxiety to reduce the probable great burnout, which the majority of language teachers may feel after several years of teaching experiences.