درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Mind mapping has increasingly been acknowledged for its ability to improve learning outcomes, especially within language education. This research compared virtual and traditional mind mapping techniques for improving writing performance and motivation in Iranian EFL learners. The initial pool comprised 120 Iranian EFL students at the pre-intermediate level, selected based on their KET exam results. From this group, 90 participants were randomly divided into three cohorts: two experimental groups and one control group. Before the intervention, all groups completed a writing assessment designed by the instructor, along with a motivation survey. The first experimental group was taught using virtual mind mapping tools, while the second experimental group utilized conventional, paper-based mind maps. The control group received standard writing instruction without the use of mind mapping. After the instructional period, the motivation questionnaire and writing tests were re-administered to all participants. Statistical analysis demonstrated that both mind mapping groups achieved significantly higher scores in writing and motivation compared to the control group. Furthermore, an independent samples t-test comparing the two experimental groups revealed that the virtual mind mapping cohort outperformed the non-virtual group slightly in both writing achievement and motivational measures. Insights from semi-structured interviews showed that most learners held favorable views toward the use of virtual mind mapping in their English writing classes. These results highlight the benefits of incorporating virtual mind mapping into EFL teaching practices to boost writing skills and learner motivation.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of Dialogue Journals (DJs) on EFL learners' paragraph writing skills, focusing on principles of paragraph writing, comparison and contrast, across synchronous and asynchronous online communication. Following the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), 40 homogenized participants were selected and divided into two groups. Participants, aged 13 to 18, attended classes twice a week for 90 minutes each. Pre-test and post-test paragraph writing assessments were administered and scored analytically using a rubric by Soleimani et al. (2008). Both groups followed Peyton's (2000) suggestions for DJ writing, with experimental group one using face-to-face instruction (synchronous online communication) and experimental group two utilizing the WhatsApp application (asynchronous online communication) over a 6-session study period. Results indicated significant improvements in paragraph writing skills for both synchronous and asynchronous groups, with no significant difference between the two modes of communication. This research can provide various advantages for all language teaching and learning participants. In addition, the students can benefit from the results as they face problems in various stages of writing, including preparation, drafting, editing, and final revision.

Through academic self-regulation, learners use affective, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral feedback to adjust their strategies and behaviors to attain their goals. The present study utilized a correlational research design to explore how EFL intermediate learners’ self-reported self-regulation ability would predict their attitude toward EFL reading. The participants were 91 Iranian EFL learners in some English language institutes. They were put in the intermediate classes at the beginning of their program on the basis of their scores on the Preliminary English Test (PET). They were assigned the L2 Reading Attitude Questionnaire and the Self-Regulated Foreign Language Learning Strategy Questionnaire (SRFLLSQ). The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that the metacognitive factor played the most strongly predicted attitude toward EFL reading, followed by cognitive, meta-affective, and meta-sociocultural-interactive factors. The sociocultural-interactive factor, albeit still relevant, was the weakest predictor of attitude toward EFL reading. The findings underline the different aspects of attitude toward EFL reading and self-regulation, with implications for EFL reading teachers and curriculum designers.

Teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and identities are regarded as the key elements in boosting their effectiveness in improving their learners’ performance. Professional identity as a quality of a teacher can be evolved in a constant and continuous process. It is usually shaped in educational and social contexts. Among the teacher characteristics which influence teachers’ performance, professional identity and self-efficacy are considered to be vital characteristics. The current study was set to explore the association between Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ professional identity and self-efficacy. Therefore, in order to gather the data required for the aims of this research, 92 English language teachers were chosen as the participants of this research study. Two questionnaires were utilized to gather the data. The data collected was analyzed via Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The results revealed a positive bond between Iranian EFL teachers’ professional identity and self-efficacy. The findings of this study can be of help for teacher educators and English language teachers.

Human beings employ different forms of linguistic politeness to ease communication and reduce the likelihood of conflict. With the rise of technology and social media platforms such as Email, Telegram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, the concept of politeness has faced new challenges. The present study focused on Instagram comments and analyzed politeness strategies based on Leech’s grand strategy of politeness. The study examined a 20043-word corpus developed based on 696 posts across various topics on Instagram. The results revealed that Instagram users predominantly utilized negative politeness strategies (63.3%). Among the positive strategies, agreement constraints were the most frequently employed (32.7%), while tact constraint violations (32.1%) were the most common within negative strategies. The study utilized repeated measures of ANOVA and Tukey post hoc analysis via SPSS to examine differences among various constraints and their violations. Significant differences were found among most constraints, except for tact and modesty, generosity, and feeling reticence. In terms of constraint violations, no significant differences were observed between approbation and obligation of the speaker to others constraint violation, between agreement constraint violation and generosity constraint violation, between agreement and obligation of others to a speaker constraint violation, between agreement constraint violation and opinion reticence constraint violation, between sympathy and modesty constraint violation, between sympathy and feeling reticence constraint violation. The findings underscore the importance of analyzing language in specific media, providing insights into politeness and impoliteness in a specific medium. The results can enhance students' pragmatic skills and improve their online communication, prompting materials developers to consider such pragmatic dimensions.

Given the cognitive demands of consecutive interpreting and the psychological pressures faced by novice interpreters, the present quantitative study aims to identify the most frequently occurring disfluencies in the output of English-Persian interpreter trainees and to explore how interpreting anxiety influences different types of disfluencies. A total of 23 translation trainee students were selected based on convenience sampling. Data were gathered through the Interpreting Classroom Anxiety Scale and a CI exam. After classifying the disfluencies =, it was revealed that hesitation, silent pauses, and prolongation are the predominant disfluency features. These types of disfluencies indicate cognitive overload and failures in language planning. Statistical analyses showed a significant correlation between high levels of anxiety and an increased frequency of these disfluencies; however, no meaningful relationship was found between interpreting anxiety and disfluency in general. This suggests that anxiety adversely affects fluency and overall interpreting performance. This study highlights the critical role of psychological factors, particularly anxiety, in interpreter performance and training. The findings call for the inclusion of anxiety-reduction techniques in interpreter education and suggest future research on experience-based disfluency patterns and Persian-specific disfluency classification.

This study aimed to investigate the foreign language learning needs of undergraduate engineering students enrolled in the faculties of architecture and electrical in Iran. A total of 133 undergraduate students aged between 20-25 years, along with 30 subject-specific instructors from Azad and State universities of Yazd, Iran, participated in the study. The study was conducted using a qualitative-quantitative survey design, which involved questionnaires and interviews. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with 20 subject-specific instructors and ten undergraduate students in their eighth semesters. The analysis of qualitative and statistical data revealed that most students needed to master the English language before they attended their specialized courses. Over one-third of the students expressed dissatisfaction with the teaching methodology, evaluation methods, amount of foreign culture taught in class, and content of the textbook. The subject-specific instructors also expressed dissatisfaction with their students’ language skills. It can be concluded that in Iran, the English for Specific Purpose (ESP) course does not fully prepare the students to embark on their studies, as it does not sufficiently take into account their learning needs, present level of foreign language proficiency, objectives of the course, resources available in terms of staff, materials, equipment, finances, and time constraint, as well as the skill of the teachers and the teacher’s knowledge of the specific area.

The importance of teachers in promoting reading comprehension skills among learners is crucial in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. This study aims to explore how teachers utilize social, discursive, and textual methods to enhance the development of reading comprehension skills in EFL learners. A total of 160 translation-majoring learners enrolled in a Reading Comprehension Course at Applied Scientific University (Rad) in Tehran were purposefully selected and divided into three experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups received instruction based on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which included social, discursive, and textual strategies to enhance their reading comprehension skills in the EFL classroom. To evaluate the effectiveness of the CDA-based instruction, pre- and post-tests on reading comprehension were conducted using a quasi-experimental design. The data obtained from these tests were analyzed using a one-way analysis of covariance (one-way ANCOVA). The results showed a significant improvement in reading comprehension among learners who were exposed to the CDA-based treatments, highlighting its essential role in promoting critical interaction with texts and enhancing overall language proficiency, while no significant improvement was observed in the control group. Additionally, social practice was found to be more effective than discursive and textual practices; however, no significant differences were observed between discursive and textual practices. The findings have implications for EFL teachers, learners, and curriculum planners, which can ultimately help make reading comprehension easier in EFL contexts.

Cet article présent, nous ne projetons en aucune façon d'établir ou de définir ce qu'est l'art, dont l'œuvre d'art en ontologie. Ce n'est pas notre préoccupation aujourd'hui, et non plus davantage de la plupart des artistes contemporains. À la recherche d'une ontologie bien particulière sur l’œuvre d’art contemporain, Roger Pouivet, le philosophe contemporain français, l'appelle « l'ontologie appliquée ». Il s’agit de considérer l'œuvre en tant que telle, sans se préoccuper des catégories fondamentales qui la possèdent. À ce stade, il paraît nécessaire de parler du changement de paradigme dans le champ d’arts plastiques, qui résulte de l'apparition des œuvres des textes écrits ou oraux.  En ce qui concerne le concept de « Zugganzes » de ’Heidegger, il faut bien comprendre, quoi qu'il en soit, le cumul des éléments nécessaires jusqu’à ce que l’établissement d’un système s’achève. Cela veut dire que pour un processus de créer une œuvre d'art contemporain il explique qu’à la fois chaque élément a son rôle clé, même indispensable, et une mission pour compléter le rôle des autres éléments. Au fur et à mesure de cet article, nous répondrons aux questions de recherche : 1) Comment peut-on mettre en avant un processus de détermination d'une œuvre d'art qui s'enrichit des textes écrits ou oraux, en époque contemporaine ? 2.) Pourquoi et pour quelle raison a-t-on choisi de mettre en lien les deux concepts de « Zugganzes » et de l'hypothèse de « l'ontologie appliquée » dans ce travail de recherche ? Cette recherche essaye de nous montrer que: les œuvres d'art contemporaines qui sont considérées comme des textes visuels enrichissent des textes écrits ou oraux. En effet, cet acte vise à attirer l'attention des spectateurs en tout temps et en tous lieux. À la fin, on comprendra qu’il est possible de créer visuellement des textes symboliques en pratiquant simultanément les textes écrits ou oraux comme des éléments visuels et en profitant de leurs contextes.   

Although Sociocultural Theory (SCT) was introduced to English Language Teaching (ELT) almost three decades ago, it has not yet started to find its way into the epistemological and practical aspects of English Language Teacher Education (LTE) programs in Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) language institutions context. Not having met the needs of English teachers, teacher educators, and academic and non-academic teaching programs and feeling a pressing need for innovative approaches in language teacher education, the time is ripe for LTE programs to present a curriculum that is globally driven and locally appropriate. To this end, this paper aimed to develop a sociocultural language teacher education (SLTE) curriculum model as an alternative to the LTE programs in the Iranian EFL context. The researchers applied Vygotskian principles and extensions of SCT pedagogy to construct a curriculum model that draws on Graves’ framework of LTE curriculum design and Richards’ model of teacher education that collectively incorporate different aspects, namely context analysis, needs analysis, approach, content, process, teacher educator’s roles, student teachers’ roles, and program evaluation. To present an  innovative LTE program, the researchers extracted and put together the tenets, extensions, and categories of SCT comprehensively and presented them through a complementary curriculum model that is a combination of Graves’ framework and Richards’ model of teacher education. This tentative but dynamic curriculum model might help teachers, teacher educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders to reconceptualize and restructure their mentalities and use the findings when designing small-scale and large-scale LTE programs.

The ability to write from sources or integrated writing is considered an essential competency in academic and professional settings. This study investigated the possible interactions between motivation regulation strategies, integrated writing strategy use, and integrated reading-listening-to-write (RL2W) performance of Iranian EFL learners. A convenient sample of 31 learners from an EFL essay writing course participated in the study. The required data were collected based on the learners' performance in an integrated writing task and their responses to motivation regulation and integrated writing strategies questionnaires. The correlation analysis indicated a positive moderate relationship between motivation regulation strategy use and integrated writing performance of the learners, while integrated writing strategy use showed a low relationship with these constructs. Multiple regression analysis also indicated that among the subscales of motivation regulation strategy use in writing, interest enhancement had a significant contributory power to account for the integrated writing performance of the learners. MANOVA results also pointed to the superiority of high writing proficiency learners in motivation regulation strategy use compared to their less competent counterparts, but there were no significant differences between high and low groups in integrated writing strategy use, which confirmed the importance of quality of strategy use to mere quantity. As a subsidiary aim, the challenges learners encountered in the integrated writing process were identified by analyzing their responses to a reflection question and examination of their written essays. They were identified as linguistic, psycholinguist, and academic skill problems.

Speaking test anxiety is a pervasive challenge for adult English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly in contexts where English proficiency is tied to academic and professional advancement. This empirical research study investigates the causes, contributing factors, and potential strategies to cope with speaking test anxiety among adult EFL learners in Saudi Arabia. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative survey data with qualitative interpretations to provide a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. Sixty-eight undergraduate male students, selected through purposive sampling method, participated in this research. The data were collected via standardized instruments (a modified FLCAS, and another survey instrument prepared by the researcher). Research findings reveal that cultural expectations, fear of negative evaluation, less frequency of speaking tests, and limited speaking practice contribute significantly to “the participants' speaking test” anxiety. The study bears significance in Saudi Arabian contexts as it identifies the causes of English speaking and test anxiety among adult learners and also suggests test-taking strategies to cope with test stress and related anxiety. The study concludes with pedagogical recommendations to mitigate anxiety and enhance speaking performance.

In this research, the problems that English teachers face in teaching speaking and writing skills to young learners were examined from the perspective of pre-service and in-service teachers. The related challenges and strategies were explored to gain a better insight into teaching productive skills in language education.   The authors adopted a case study research design and interviewed six English (three pre-service and three in-service) teachers. The pre-service teachers were selected from a university, and the in-service teachers were chosen from instructors who had been teaching English to young learners at elementary proficiency levels. For data collection, in-depth interviews and class observations were conducted to triangulate the data. The problems highlighted by the teachers were a lack of motivation, autonomy, a lack of positive attitude toward language learning, and an insufficient tendency to participate in learning English in classes. The challenges also included pronunciation problems, managing class, poor role model teachers, a lack of confidence-building in learning English, a lack of appropriate technology in classes, and a lack of appropriate and entertaining materials. This research has implications for language teaching to young learners in Iran.

The use of portfolios as a tool for assessment in educational settings has attracted significant attention in recent years due to its potential to capture multifaceted aspects of student learning. This study investigates students' perceptions of portfolios as an assessment tool, examining their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs towards its effectiveness in assessing their learning progress and achievements. Additionally, the study explores the influence of factors such as prior exposure to portfolio assessment, instructional support, and personal learning styles on students' perceptions. The research examined students’ responses to portfolio-based assessments over three academic years, from 2020 to 2023. The respondents were third-year elementary education students enrolled in the Faculty of Education at the public University of Gjakova, Kosovo, where the research was conducted. Additionally, the study incorporated a focus group consisting of five English language teachers to examine both the advantages and disadvantages of portfolio assessment, as well as the challenges associated with evaluating students through this method. A qualitative research approach was employed, utilizing qualitative analysis for the questionnaire responses and a descriptive approach for the data collected from teachers. The analysis of student outcomes yields several insights into portfolio-based assessment. The findings suggest that this assessment method enables a more convenient preparation process, as students have ample time, a supportive environment—such as their homes—and the flexibility to engage in learning according to their unique preferences and styles. According to teachers, the portfolio is perceived as straightforward in its appearance, yet it presents significant complexities in terms of implementation and assessment. The integration of portfolio assessment in curriculum design and the provision of structured guidelines and support could be underlined as practical implications and recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of assessment-based portfolios in educational settings.