احمدرضا اقتصادی رودی

Flipped learning is one of the recent teaching methods in which teaching takes place outside the classroom, and class time is reserved for practicing and consolidating learning under the supervision of the teacher. Various studies in the world and Iran have examined the effectiveness of flipped learning in teaching English, but these studies have been conducted either in the context of schools and private language institutes, or with English language college students. This study examines the performance of 182 general English students at Farhangian University of Mashhad. Based on the results of paired and independent t-tests and repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance, flipped learning improves students' learning in a general English course. In addition, personality traits and tolerance of ambiguity do not affect the effectiveness of flipped learning. Moreover, the willingness to communicate, although statistically significant, does not meaningfully influence the effectiveness of flipped learning due to the small effect size which is around 3%. The findings imply that flipped learning can be one of the ways to increase the effectiveness of general language teaching regardless of learner characteristics such as personality, ambiguity tolerance, and willingness to communicate.

Flipped classroom is one of the relatively new teaching methods in which teaching takes place outside the classroom and class time is devoted to practice, and learning is established under the supervision of the teacher. Various studies in the world and in Iran have examined the effectiveness of flipped learning in teaching English, but these studies have been done either in the context of schools and institutes or with English language college students. This study examines students’ attitudes towards the flipped classroom, and the effectiveness of flipped learning in General English courses at Farhangian University. Findings show that students are satisfied with the flipped classroom and prefer it to traditional classes. Based on the results of paired and independent t-tests, flipped learning improves studentschr('39') learning in General English courses. In addition, gender can affect the effectiveness of flipped learning, but studentschr('39') field of study does not have such a role. Based on the findings of this study, flipped learning can used to increase the effectiveness of General English courses in face-to-face and virtual classes.

Task-based method of teaching is a type of communicative approach to language teaching all over the world. However, the success of its use depends on teachers’ awareness and approach, and the curriculum in use. To explore these factors in Iran, wherein the curriculum was recently changed, a group of English teachers from schools and centers for language learning was given a questionnaire both before and after the curriculum change. Data analyses revealed that with the old curriculum there was a significant difference between teachers’ knowledge and use of task-based approach. However, at both stages, school teachers considered shortage of time, crowded classrooms, uneven level of language knowledge among learners, and the weaknesses of both teachers and textbooks as the main impediments on the way of using the task-based approach. In other words, although the improvements in textbooks following the curriculum change has led to better understanding of teachers, many other factors remain to be addressed before the use of this approach would bear the desired fruit.

With the shift of research attention from human malfunctioning to human optimal functioning in the workplace, job engagement which is regarded the opposite of job burnout has attracted researchers’ attention in organizational psychology. This exploratory study aimed to investigate the predictive role of emotional intelligence (EI) as a personal resource in determining levels of job engagement among Iranian English language teachers within job demands-resources model (JD-R). To this end, 442 English language teachers who were teaching in both public and private contexts were selected through non-probability convenience sampling and were surveyed regarding their demographic information, the perception of their levels of job engagement and emotional intelligence through a demographic questionnaire, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), and emotional intelligence scale. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that after controlling for the effect of demographic variables, there were significant positive predicting relationships between two emotional intelligence subscales of management of own emotions (MOE) and management of others’ emotions (MTE) and job engagement components of vigor, dedication, and absorption. The results imply that training teachers to improve their emotional intelligence can be a strategy to boost their job engagement.

In all countries, teaching is among highly important jobs and for this reason, motivations to become a teacher have received various research attention. To provide a systematic framework for studying teaching motivations based on expectancy-value theory, Watt and Richardson developed the FIT-Choice model and scale. In this study, after examining the reliability and construct validity of this scale, motivations and perceptions of 175 of freshmen at Shahid Beheshti Campus of Mashhad were studied. Results showed holiness of teaching which has not been taken into account in FIT-Choice model had the highest mean and it was followed by social utility values including making social contribution, shape future of children/adolescents, and intrinsic career value, ability, and prior teaching and learning experiences. Personal utility value of job security was also among the important motivations, but other personal utility values such as time for family were at lower levels. Moreover, although students viewed teaching a difficult, ill-paid job, which requires expertise, they were satisfied with their choice of teaching. Results also show that the motivations and perceptions of Iranian student teachers are similar to the motivations of student and novice teachers in other countries where FIT-Choice model has been used. Another finding was that students of science majors had lower motivations and perceptions compared to the students of humanities. The results indicate the necessity of maintaining and improving the motivations of student teachers and planning so that motivations of science and math high school students for becoming teachers are also improved.