جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « تکلیف » در نشریات گروه « ادبیات و زبان ها »

In the last few decades, tasks as the basic unit in syllabus designing process, and the cognitive complexity of tasks as a fundamental criterion in task sequencing, have attracted the attention of language researchers. At the same time, collaborative task performance has been encouraged due to the researchers' focus on the sociocultural theory proposed by Vygotsky (1978). The present study aimed to investigate the effect of task cognitive complexity on Iranian EFL learners' individual and collaborative written task performance regarding complexity, accuracy, and fluency. To fulfill such a purpose, 70 male and female Iranian intermediate EFL learners were selected as the participants through Oxford Placement Test, from among the undergraduate students of Islamic Azad University of Arak, who had passed two general English grammar courses in two succeeding semesters and were participating in Advanced Writing Course at the time of conducting this research. They were asked to perform some writing tasks both individually and collaboratively, while the cognitive complexity of the tasks (i.e. the reasoning demands and prior planning) was evaluated by the researcher. The analysis of their written productions revealed that when writing individually, with no planning time available, Iranian intermediate EFL learners created more complex texts in their complex tasks and more fluent texts in their simple tasks, and when writing collaboratively, with some planning time available, they produced more fluent texts in their complex tasks.

This study sought to investigate the relationship among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ ratings of willingness to communicate (WTC) in English and their task-based speech production and self-monitoring behavior. To accomplish this objective, methodological triangulation was adopted using a questionnaire, stimulated recall data, and quantitative measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) to answer two questions: (1) how learners’ ratings of their WTC related to the CAF of their oral output, and (2) how learners’ ratings of their WTC related to the frequency and type of their self-corrections in terms of A-, D-, and E-repairs. Fifty Iranian intermediate EFL learners participated in the study. WTC scale was used to measure the participants’ perception of their desire to initiate communication in English. In addition, to collect samples of their L2 speech, they were asked to perform a narrative task. Following their task performance, participants were asked to retrospectively comment on the type of error correction they engaged in while performing the task. The results showed the positive correlation coefficients among learners’ perceptions of their WTC and measures of fluency, A- and D-repairs to be statistically significant. The WTC also negatively correlated with accuracy and E-repairs. In the end, the theoretical as well as practical implications of the results for instructed L2 acquisition were discussed.

The primary purpose of this research was to present a task-based framework for developing the reading course materials to teach Persian to speakers of other languages. The base of this framework was Nunan’s (2004) task-based framework and the reading comprehension strategies of Lai (1997), and also the realistic strategies of Thompson and Rubin (1982), which have been determined for language learners and teachers. Nunan’s (2004) framework is distinct from other frameworks because it considers the teacher’s and learner’s roles (Nunan, 2004). According to Nunan (2004), teacher and learner roles are two sides of a coin. Giving the learners a more active role in the classroom requires the teacher to adopt a different role. Considering the role of the teacher and learner in the process of developing and carrying out the tasks helps to educate active, autonomous, and reflective learners. Goals, input, procedure, and settings are other components of Nunan’s framework that make the learner experience the real world of language use in the classroom. According to this model, seven reading tasks were provided. Reading texts were selected based on Lai's strategies. The reading goals were matched with these strategies.. Texts written and translated by native speakers were selected. These texts were supposed to increase the general knowledge of the reader or to entertain them. They were at the level of the target learners and could be matched with the intended strategies. The level of the chosen texts was determined by one of the teachers and authors of Persian language teaching textbooks at Dehkhoda International Institute. These texts were reviewed by her. They were also given to advanced-level learners to determine their readability.. After confirming the appropriateness of the texts for this level of language learners, the proposed framework for developing reading tasks out of the readers was implemented. The results indicated that if these approaches are integrated, richer texts could be provided that might improve the reading comprehension of language learners and train independent language learners. Extended Abstract: The content of educational materials in language teaching plays an important role in the learning process. Accordingly, educational content should be developed based on effective and efficient frameworks. From the past to the present, various frameworks for foreign language teaching materials development have been proposed, and their effectiveness has been investigated in various studies (Prabho, 1987, Nunan, 2004, Elis, 2004). Meanwhile, the task-based framework, which is relatively new, has received more attention due to real opportunities for language learning. On the other hand, researchers have concluded that material development as an academic discipline is critical both theoretically and practically. It is essential that the developers of materials, prepare educational materials based on research, principles, and observations. In recent years, instructors and curriculum developers have become more inclined to use a task-based approach, because task-based teaching facilitates the learning process. In this regard, studies have been conducted to examine the theoretical foundations employed in the development of Persian language teaching contents to speakers of other languages. A study has been conducted based on developing materials including books and syllabus design in teaching Persian to speakers of other languages (Sahraei,2012). This study shows that as the content of these materials is developed based on the personal experience of the authors, they have their style and context. The literature reviewed for the present study shows that in teaching Persian to speakers of other languages, regarding material development based on a task-based approach, there is a lack of research studies. The main purpose of this research was to offer a task-based framework for developing reading course materials in Persian language teaching texts based on Nunan's (2004) framework, the reading skills strategies adapted from Lai (1997) by Nunan (2004), and the roles provided by Thomson and Rubin (1982) for the successful learners and teachers. Nunan (2004) considers the components of the task as goals, inputs, and procedures. These components are supported by the role of the teacher and learner and the settings in which the task is performed. The study made an effort to integrate Nunan's (2004) task-based framework and Lai's (1997) reading skills strategies and the roles suggested by Thomson and Rubin (1982) to offer a framework for developing reading course materials. After integrating the intended frameworks, tasks were prepared to examine the application of this framework in the preparation of content for reading skills and comprehension. In this study, real sources were used to prepare these texts. Brado (2006) argues that real sources for producing authentic texts are unlimited. Newspapers, magazines, television programs, movies, songs, and literary texts are the most common instances of these texts. One of the most useful and widely used resources is Internet. In this study, texts were selected that were written or translated by native speakers. These texts were supposed to increase the general knowledge of the readers or entertain them. Texts that were at the level of learners and could be matched with the intended strategies were selected. Lai (1997) believes that if the text matches the strategies and goals of reading skills, it significantly increases the speed of reading and comprehension. Considering the role of the teacher and learner in the materials helps to educate active, autonomous, and reflective learners. The data employed for developing the tasks in this study were at the advanced language level. Efforts were made to choose texts relevant to the learners' language level and appropriate for adult learners and in line with reading skills strategies and goals. The texts were selected according to the strategies and goals of reading skills by searching various internet sites that contained various scientific and educational articles. According to Clark and Silberstein (1977), if the goal is to strengthen the learner's skills in finding the main idea of the text and the intended strategy of scanning, texts should be selected whose first sentence contains the main idea of the whole paragraph and supports the details of the text. The strategies used in this study were the strategies proposed by Lai (1997) for reading skills. The level of the chosen texts was determined by one of the teachers and authors of Persian language teaching textbooks at Dehkhoda International Institute. These texts were reviewed by her. They were also given to advanced-level learners to determine their readability. After confirming the appropriateness of the texts for this level of language learners, the proposed framework for developing reading tasks out of the texts was implemented. The results indicated that if these approaches are integrated, richer texts could be provided that might improve the reading comprehension of language learners and train independent language learners.