فهرست مطالب

Applied Research on English Language
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Apr 2018

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1396/10/11
  • تعداد عناوین: 6
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  • Seyed Fouad Khatib, Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri* Pages 111-138
    This qualitative study aimed to develop a model of classroom management strategy for Iranian English as a foreign language learners. To tap into this matter, some face to face and focus group interviews as well as real observations were performed. Twenty-six students including various proficiency levels from four different provinces participated in the face to face and focus group interviews. Also, 10 observations of the real classes wherein teachers were teaching conversation courses were made. Transcribing and codifying the data according to Corbin and Strauss's (2014) systematic steps of open, axial and selective coding, the findings revealed a model of classroom management strategy encompassing three main themes (management, quality of life and classroom practices), nine categories and 39 subcategories. The findings suggest EFL teachers notonly should pay attention to classroom practices, but they should also work onbuilding up rapport and encouraging their students in order to achieve a class in which students are wholeheartedly willing to learn the language.
    Keywords: Classroom management strategy, Rapport, Encouragement, Focus-group interview
  • Abutaleb Iranmehr*, Mahmood Reza Atai, Esmat Babaii Pages 139-161
    This study aimed to examine the policies in the Iranian English for Academic Purposes (EAP) education and the extent to which objectives match the policies and are materialized in practice. To this end, course descriptions in the syllabi for the EAP programs were evaluated through document analysis and triangulated with the experts’ perspectives through interviews to examine the current status of EAP policy-making and practice in Iran. Seven policy areas from Kaplan and Baldauf’s (2005) language-in-education planning were chosen as the framework of the study. Based on document analysis and interviews with the experts, the similarities and discrepancies in micro and macro levels were investigated. The results showed that EAP course descriptions do not include any comments on policy and there were discrepancies in policy and practice due to such factors as lack of communication channel between the EAP stakeholders and policy-makers. Finally, the study revealed that due to deficiencies in both policy and practice and in order to reach an acceptable status, EAP programs are in dire need for reconceptualizing policy-making and practice. The findings of this study have significant implications for EAP policies and practice in the academic system of Iran.
    Keywords: EAP, Language-in-education Planning, EAP Documents, Experts, Evaluation, Policy, ‎Practice.‎
  • Akram Ashraf Ganjouee, Behzad Ghonsooly* , Azar Hosseini Fatemi Pages 163-182
    This study tried to investigate the impact of task-based instruction (TBI) on the enhancement of Iranian EFL learners’ speaking skill. The study also tried to scrutinize the impact of TBI on learners’ emotional intelligence. To meet these ends, 60 students were randomly divided into two groups, the experimental group and the control group. At the very first session of the term, two speaking examinations were conducted for both experimental and control group. After the speaking examinations, the participants were asked to answer Bar-On’s emotional intelligence questionnaire. The experimental group was instructed through task-based approach and the control group received instruction through present-practice-produce (PPP) approach. The scores obtained by two raters from the interview post-tests were analyzed through non-parametric tests, and the data obtained from EQ questionnaires were analyzed through t-tests. Results of the statistical analysis revealed that the experimental group performed significantly better on the speaking post-test than the control group. Furthermore, the findings also indicated that the learners in the experimental group became more emotionally intelligent than those in the control group.
    Keywords: Speaking Skill, Task-Based Instruction, Emotional Intelligence, Communicative ‎Approaches
  • Leila Dobakhti*, Mohammad Zohrabi Pages 183-203
    It is now generally accepted that academic writing is a social activity by which the authors negotiate with their audience to gain community acceptance for their findings. One of the ways to achieve such an acceptance is by establishing intertextual links to prior research using citation. Despite a vast research on the topic and suggestion of typologies for the form and function of citation in academic writing, few studies have focused on the rhetorical functions of citations. Using Swales' (1990) and Samraj’s (2013) typologies and analyzing 45 research articles from five high impact factor journals in the field of Applied Linguistics, this paper aims to identity the forms and rhetorical functions of citations in the Discussion sections of these articles. The analysis of the forms shows an overwhelming tendency towards using non-integral citations. Studying the functions of citations indicates that citations are used with various rhetorical functions: to compare the findings; support the explanations; to support the interpretations; and to support the recommendations. It is concluded that by referring to literature, applied linguists contextualize their propositions and try to use it as a support for their research claims in order to persuade their audience of their research outcomes soundness. The findings can enhance our understanding of the reasons behind choosing citations in various parts of discussion section and can be turned into pedagogical materials and raise rhetorical consciousness through teaching those choices explicitly to ESL students
    Keywords: Applied Linguistics, Citation, Discussion Section, Research Article
  • Mahmood Rouhani*, A. Majid Hayati, AliReza Jalilifar Pages 205-240
    Language learners have frequently been classified according to individual difference variables such as aptitude, personality, cognitive style, and motivation. However, a language teacher’s view seems to have been missing from such classifications. This exploratory research investigated whether and by which criteria Iranian EFL teachers classify their students. Based on preliminary interviews with 29 high-expertise Iranian EFL teachers, 21 criteria were identified and included in a questionnaire that was completed by 175 Iranian EFL teachers. The respondents almost unanimously agreed that they did classify their students according to their understanding of the character type, behavior patterns, and achievement patterns of their students. Then they rated the 21 criteria on a scale from 0 to 4 according to how important each classification criterion was for them. Factor analysis of questionnaire responses revealed six major classification criteria. Subsequently, in a case study, 26 EFL students in a typical Iranian high school class were asked to rate their classmates according to the six major criteria. Only five of the criteria were found to predict English achievement and Grade Point Average (GPA). A cluster analysis of the students’ peer ratings using the five criteria generated three clusters. An ANOVA revealed that the three clusters were accurately differentiated not only on the clustering criteria but also on the two non-clustering variables: EFL Achievement and GPA.
    Keywords: Classification, Teachers’ Criteria, EFL Students, Student Types, Cluster Analysis.‎
  • Alireza Memari Hanjani Pages 273-292

    Research has provided conflicting findings regarding the benefits of paired and small-group peer scaffolding in EFL writing context. The present case study incorporated collective peer scaffolding technique in an EFL paragraph writing class and elicited learners’ reflections towards this activity. After some preliminary sessions which focused on writing process instruction and collective peer scaffolding training, the students were introduced to three writing genres. Each genre was discussed and practiced every other week and was followed by a collective peer scaffolding session. During collective scaffolding sessions, representative learners were asked to write their paragraphs on the board. Other students acted as collective, scaffolding solutions to the problems they noticed in the paragraphs written on the board. All of the students were also required to carefully listen to the scaffolds (comments) provided in class, use them to self-revise their first drafts (if applicable), and develop their second drafts. At the end of the term, eight volunteer students were invited to participate in a group interview and their reactions to this technique were elicited. In general, the experience was favored by the interviewees and the challenges reported in previous research regarding pair and small-group scaffolding/collaboration were not expressed by this cohort of EFL learners.

    Keywords: Collective Peer Scaffolding, Sociocultural Learning, Theory L2 Writing Learners’ Perceptions, Peer Feedback, EFL Writing