Research in English Language Pedagogy
Volume:6 Issue: 1, Winter-Spring 2018

This study was aimed at recognizing constraints on the way of some Iranian language teacher's utilization of self-developed, localized, English language teaching resources. To this aim, three sets of teacher variables on pedagogical and personal accounts were examined including Language teacher's experience (novice/experienced), their educational level (BA/MA/PhD) and their gender. Data were collected in two phases. In the first phase, through stratified sampling, some eighty-three volunteering, English language teachers (Male and Female), who were indulged in the Iranian Ministry of Education (MoE), university settings (public and private) and language institutes were randomly selected. Teachers’ responses to a validated researcher-made questionnaire on language teacher curriculum autonomy revealed an overall significant Multiple R with F (3, 80) =.88, (0.04) but each individual above-cited predictors could not significantly predict teacher curriculum autonomy score. In the second phase for triangulation aims, three above-cited teacher variables were mapped over the insights gained through written interview sessions with some fourteen English language teachers. Language teacher's self-reported 'challenge's and 'opportunitie's for using self-developed language teaching resources for class use were content analyzed. It became evident that teaching experience was mystified in some respects in terms of its influence over interviewed teachers since diverse intentions on the part of the language teachers in this research might have deterred them not to use their full potential over using their own materials in class. Possible reasons for this situation have been fully discussed in the end.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between intelligence and learning English in general, and learning grammar and reading comprehension in particular. Participants were teenage Iranian learners from Kerman high schools in second grade. The tests were administered at the end of the year to two mixed classes of 60 learners whose ages ranged from 15 to 19. Standardized tests were employed to assess learner's performance in reading comprehension, grammar and intelligence (both verbal and nonverbal). The correlation between the two variables was determined through Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient. Results of the investigation showed that unlike first language acquisition, there was a positive correlation between verbal and nonverbal intelligence and learner's English language development. Data analysis showed that the relationship between intelligence scores and those of comprehension and grammar scores was significant across all the groups. The results of this research prove that intelligence is one of the important factors in acquisition of English as a foreign language, but it is not the only factor.

The present study investigated the effect of two types of attention drawing techniques (i.e., choice and underlining) on the learner's intake of English connectors. The design of the study was a quasi-experimental research. Participants took a homogeneity test and were assigned to two experimental and a control group in Kalam Language Institute of Shoush. Then, sixtynine learners were divided into three groups. The two experimental groups used attention drawing techniques to choose or underline the correct connectors in the texts. The control group, however, was simply exposed to read the text and exercise the drills of grammar in their text. Results indicated that both attention drawing techniques had a significant effect on the intake of the targeted forms of connectors. Implications of the study for practical teaching suggest that the attention drawing techniques can enhance learning connectors and they may be effective in teaching grammar to the pre- intermediate learners.

Journal writing is believed to be a significant tool to promote reflection. Some studies have been carried out to test that, most of which have been solely concerned with the participants’ perceptions, leaving the actual application of reflective practice in EFL teaching practice untouched. Hence, to fill this gap in the literature, the researchers initiated this study. The participants were 24 EFL teacher trainees at a teacher training center in Guilan province. A questionnaire, including closed- and open-ended items, and an observation checklist were utilized. The researchers conducted matched t tests to investigate the possible differences between the perceptions and application of reflective practice before and after treatment. The questionnaire and checklist data were analyzed quantitatively and descriptive analyses were run. A qualitative content analysis was also employed for the open-ended item of the questionnaire. The results indicated that journal writing had a significant effect on promoting reflective practice in teacher trainees. There was also a significant difference between participants’ perceptions and application of reflective practice before and after treatment.

A key issue in language teacher education is what teachers need to learn in language teacher programs and how this learning impacts their language teaching practices. The seeds for teacher professionalism are planted and nourished during teacher education program to develop independently after graduation from pre-service teacher educations. The purpose of this study was to investigate English teacher education programs and their effects on novice/experienced English language teacher's professionalism in Iran. The researchers used purposeful sampling to select 150 participants from five Farhangian University Branches in Iran (2016-2017). For this purpose, a computerized questionnaire was constructed and validated. A one-way ANOVA indicated that out of the four dimensions of professionalism-- professional development, reflection, responsibility, and ethics-- only two-- professional development and reflection-- were statistically significant for both novice and experienced teachers. The programs had positive impact on teacher's professional development and reflection. The study has implications for teacher educators, developers of instructional materials, and syllabus designers in the context of Iran.

Writing is a demanding, complicated, and fundamental skill which is highly noticeable in the process of learning a foreign language. Thus, it is so important to teach English as a foreign language (EFL) learners how to write effectively in English through effective strategies and instructions and prompt their reflective thinking during EFL learning. This study investigated the effectiveness of using self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) instruction in improving Iranian EFL learner's descriptive writing and reflective thinking skills and compared the effectiveness of such instruction with nonstrategic-based (i.e., traditional) instruction. To these ends, 30 Iranian advanced EFL learners were selected to participate in the two (experimental and control) groups. To collect data, two descriptive essays and a reflective thinking questionnaire were used as the pretest and posttest. The analysis of covariance on the descriptive essay and reflective thinking scores in the control and experimental groups showed that both SRSD and non-SRSD instructions had a positive impact on the EFL participant's descriptive writing skill but, the participants in the SRSD group achieved better outcomes in their descriptive writing; the SRSD instruction was effective in improving the completeness, length, and overall quality of the EFL learner's descriptive writing performance. Also, SRSD instruction improved the learner's reflective thinking more than the non-SRSD instruction by making them metacognitively aware of their cognitive processes and monitoring, analyzing, and evaluating their descriptive writing performance. The findings draw attention to the importance of using SRSD as a possible way for moving EFL learners away from traditional instructions to process-oriented strategies in writing courses.

Language teacher’s professional successes has become a very important topic in SLA specially after the introduction of post-method era. Furthermore, L2 teacher’s professional successes can be influenced by some traits of the teachers including self-efficacy and way of teaching. The present study, therefore, was an attempt to investigate whether Iranian EFL teachers’ reflective teaching and their self-efficacy can predict their professional success. Twenty-eight male and female EFL teachers were asked to fill out the questionnaires of Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale and Reflective Teaching Questionnaire. Then, 168 male and female EFL learners with the age range of 18-32 from three branches of Safir language institute in Tehran were randomly selected out of the teachers’ students. This initial sample included more than 400 EFL students. In the next step, the selected learners were asked to fill out the Teachers’ Professional Success Survey. The data analysis using multiple regression revealed that both self-efficacy and reflective teaching could relatively predict EFL teachers’ professional success. Secondly, the results revealed that there was not any significant difference between the prediction ability of the two variables aforementioned in predicting teachers’ success from the point of view of their students. The findings of the present suggest that EFL teachers should enhance their self-efficacy and reflective teaching to increase their professional success.

This study aimed at investigating the effect of using Telegram stickers on EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. To this end, 60 Iranian intermediate EFL learners (30 males, 30 females) at Islamic Azad University, Shahreza Branch studying in the second semester of the academic year 2016-2017 were selected through the convenience sampling method. They were then assigned randomly to the experimental and control groups. Then, a pretest was administrated to measure the learners’ vocabulary knowledge in both groups. The experimental group took their lessons via Telegram while the control group experienced the conventional teaching techniques. After the intervention period, an approved post-test was administered to both groups in order to check the participants’ possible progress. The statistical analysis of the scores indicated that teaching vocabulary through Telegram stickers could lead to outstanding advantages for the learners. In other words, social networking had a positive impact on learning new vocabulary items among Iranian EFL learners. Findings have illuminative implications for language learners and teachers as well as materials developers.