جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه "efl learner" در نشریات گروه "ادبیات و زبان ها"

This study examined teachers' and EFL learners' perceptions of the internal and external factors influencing academic success. To achieve this, two scales measuring internal and external factors (IEAS) were developed and validated. The research primarily focused on internal factors like intelligence, self-esteem, introversion, and extraversion, as well as external factors such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and socio-cultural status. These factors were selected based on comprehensive frameworks by Dörnyei (2005), Ellis (1994), Horwitz (2000), and Segalowitz (1997). The validated IEAS scales were administered to 35 EFL students and 20 university instructors during their regular courses. The study aimed to identify which internal and external factors most significantly correlate with language acquisition success. The results underscored the importance of incorporating a range of factors, including intelligence, motivation, and socio-cultural status, in understanding the language learning process. Both teachers and learners identified self-esteem and socio-cultural status as particularly crucial for academic success. These findings suggest that fostering self-esteem and acknowledging socio-cultural factors can play a significant role in enhancing academic outcomes in EFL contexts.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of communication strategies (CSs) on Iranian female EFL learners’ speaking fluency. Secondly, the research attempted to clarify which of the employed CSs have been utilized by Iranian female EFL learners in this study more than other strategies in speaking in English. A quasi-experimental design was employed in this study. Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was used for selecting 50 homogenized female EFL learners from the lower-intermediate levels. After the pre-test interview, all the participants attended the classes for ten sessions to become familiar with CSs. After the classroom treatment, the participants participated in the post-test interview. The findings revealed that the EFL learners’ performance in speaking fluency had been affected by explicit instruction of CSs, and the participants’ speaking fluency had enhanced after the classroom treatment. Furthermore, it was found that the participants of this study used an appeal for help more than other strategies. Further findings showed that Iranian female EFL learners will have the chance to reach a productive and fluent level of speaking by developing their language knowledge, lexical competence, and use of functional methods in classroom settings. The findings suggest that EFL students respond to various CSs differently as they learn L2. Therefore, it is essential for EFL teachers to broaden and update their knowledge as well as try to identify and implement the teaching methods that are more effective and efficient in their classrooms. The findings of the study imply that pedagogical approaches to teaching speaking skill in Iran need special attention. The findings of this study reveal that Iranian EFL learners have different reactions to different CSs through learning L2. Thus, it is vital for EFL teachers to improve and update their knowledge and attempt to distinguish and employ more functional and fruitful strategies in their classrooms.

The present study was an attempt to investigate the impact of formal instruction as a facilitative tool to develop the ostensible and genuine pragmatic knowledge of Iranian EFL learners with a focus on the “speech act of invitation”. The participants of this study were 60 females Iranian EFL learners at the intermediate level who were divided into two different groups, control and experimental. The all went through the Interchange series which resulted in having a similar background in learning English. The participants’ level was assessed with both a pretest and a posttest in order to be homogenized considering their pragmatic knowledge in advance. The results of this study showed that the formal instruction affected the participants by giving them a higher level of proficiency in pragmatic knowledge.  The findings of the study would be helpful for language teachers and curriculum developers.

Testing has traditionally been a critical component of educational programmes. While there is a considerable amount of research on various dimensions of assessment, only a limited number of studies have explored learners’ perceptions of assessment practices, to date. Accordingly, this qualitative study is an attempt to examine a group of undergraduate university students’ perceptions of their past assessment practices. To this end, 30 Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) students who had just taken a course on Language Assessment were asked to compose narratives (of at least 2000 words) about their assessment experiences. The collected data were then analyzed thematically, and the results indicated that students mostly held negative feelings toward their previous language assessment practices. Moreover, most of the students did not assign any significance to assessment, considering it redundant. The study found that instilling more positive views toward assessment is required to improve self-regulatory learning and therefore better learning outcomes in students.

With the rapid development of technology, multimedia comes into English classes and positively improves learners’ language proficiency. The present study attempted to consider the use of animated infographics on the vocabulary gain and retention of Iranian intermediate EFL students. The classes were held online through the Jitsi meet website in the autumn of 2021. To this end, 60 EFL students were selected among 90 students through a homogeneity test. At the beginning of the treatment period, a pretest was administered to both groups, and then, the participants attended 13 sessions. In these sessions, the animated group (AG) was taught through animated infographics, while the control group (CG) was instructed conventionally. The posttest and delayed posttests were administered to test the student’s vocabulary gain and retention. The findings indicated that the AG outperformed the CG significantly in the posttest and delayed posttest. Therefore, the animated infographics proved to be more effective in learning English vocabulary for these students. The results could have implications for teachers because it heightens their understanding of using technologies in general and animated infographics in particular and leads to more effective teaching methodologies.

The present research was an endeavor to examine and compare the effects of digitally self-regulated and guided discovery learning instructions on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition. To this end, by conducting the Oxford Placement Test, 60 out of 140 Iranian EFL male and female learners from three language institutes in Isfahan, Iran, were randomly selected, and divided into three equal groups (i.e. two experimental groups and one control group). Prior to the instructions, a vocabulary pretest, designed and validated by the researchers, was conducted. Then, the experimental groups received two types of instruction, separately. The first experimental group was taught via digitally self-regulated learning (SRL) instruction based on Santangelo, Harris, and Graham’s (2008) six-stage model. The second experimental group was instructed via guided discovery learning instruction based on Brown and Campione’s (2011) stages. In contrast, the control group received the traditional method of teaching vocabulary such as word lists, dictionary use, and word translation. After conducting eight-session instructions, a posttest was administered. The data were analyzed via ANOVAs and post hoc analysis using the Tukey test. The findings of the study revealed that both digitally self-regulated and guided discovery promoted Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition. Additionally, the findings indicated that digitally self-regulated instruction was more effective than guided discovery instruction regarding vocabulary acquisition. Eventually, the theoretical and pedagogical implications regarding language learners, teachers, and curriculum designs are also provided.

Due to the importance of learners’ beliefs and learning strategies, a voluminous work has directed on Second Language (L2) learners over the last decades. As an endeavor to further pursue the nexus between learner-related variables in L2 learning, this study was set to probe the role of Self-regulated Learning Skills (SRLS) and Epistemological Beliefs (EBs) in predicting second language Writing Anxiety (L2WA) among Iranian EFL students. To this end, three validated scales measuring these constructs were administered to 240 male and female students. The scales were emailed to the target groups during the pandemic Covid 19. As for the data analysis, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was adopted to test the hypothesized model of the constructs. The results indicated that SRLS and EBs could account for 40% of the L2WA. Notably, SRLS could account for (-.246) and EBs could account for (.325) of the variance in L2WA. The result yields a significant change. Particularly, the analysis shows that EBs increases L2WA and SRLS reduces the L2WA (R2 EBs = .148; R2 WSE =.093). The findings suggest that L2 teachers and materials developers should train learners to promote their self-regulatory strategies.

This present study was carried out to investigate the effect of computer-based dynamic assessment (CBDA) on Iranian EFL learners’ performance in writing and their attitude towards CBDA. To do so, 60 intermediate EFL learners were chosen out of 120 EFL learners based on their performance on the Nelson Language Proficiency Test. Next, they were randomly divided into two equal groups; CBDA as the experimental group and a control group. Based on a pretest and posttest design, group-specific writing instruction followed by an attitude questionnaire was conducted. The experimental group underwent CBDA while the control group was exposed to the conventional writing skill instruction. The pertinent parametric and nonparametric statistical analyses indicated both significant differences between the CBDA and control groups on developing writing performance, on the one hand, and positive attitude towards CBDA, on the other. The study’s findings suggest that teaching and assessing writing skills through a computer can improve students’ performance in writing. Alongside its theoretical contributions to the field, it may assure the practitioners of the cognitive and emotive applicability and efficacy of CBDA in EFL settings in general and in teaching writing skills in particular.

Regarding problems with traditional models of instruction, EFL learners need to exercise innovative models of learning. For this purpose, flipped classroom instruction may render an effective learning environment. The purpose of this study was to determine how flipped instruction may increase learners’ engagement. Therefore, 100 Iranian EFL intermediate students, selected based on convenience sampling, participated in this study. The students were then randomly assigned to the experimental (n=50) and control group (n=50). Those in the experimental group were instructed by a flipped classroom model for 10 sessions, while the control group participants were instructed on traditional methods. Before and after treatment, all the participants filled out the “Classroom Engagement Inventory” by Wang, Bergin, and Bergin (2014) which served as the pre and post-tests. A repeated measures ANCOVA was conducted to analyze the pre and post-tests of the experimental and control groups. The results indicated that the students' level of engagement in the experimental group increased in comparison to the performance of the students in the control group. Moreover, a semi-structured interview was conducted to find out students' perceptions of this model. Thematic analysis of the interview indicated that the students had positive perceptions of the model; believed that classroom and home activities remarkably increased their engagement; and preferred the role of the teacher in a flipped classroom than in a traditional one.It can be implicated that educators need to focus on the innovative methods of instruction by utilizing different technological tools.

Vocabulary development seems to be the most significant and useful activity in any language class because learning the words of a language is undeniably an important part of a speaker’s command of that language. Therefore, teaching vocabulary is an essential component of standards-based curriculum alignment. In view of that, this study aimed to find out whether there is a significant relationship between Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge and their verbal and non-verbal fluid intelligence. To this aim, 201 English language intermediate students were asked to fill out three questionnaires including Vocabulary Level Test, Visual-Spatial Reasoning Test as a non-verbal fluid intelligence test, and the Persian adaptation of Baddeley’s 3-minute grammatical reasoning test as a verbal fluid intelligence test. The results of the study’s hypothesized model showed that vocabulary knowledge is predicted by both verbal and non-verbal fluid intelligence significantly, and non-verbal fluid intelligence is shown to be the stronger predictor of vocabulary knowledge than verbal fluid intelligence. Moreover, the results indicated that there is a significant difference in the level of EFL students’ vocabulary knowledge between male and female students while there is no significant difference in students’ verbal and non-verbal fluid intelligence regarding their gender.

The current study was conducted to investigate the effects of using Microsoft Office Word on Iranian EFL lecturers’ grammar knowledge and their attitudes towards using them to support their grammar knowledge. To this end, 14 Iranian EFL lecturers, who had M.A. degrees in TEFL, containing eight males and six females participated in this study. The participants were randomly divided into equal groups of control and experimental. The participants in the experimental group worked with Microsoft Word and the participants in the control group worked with pens and papers during the study. The participants were asked to write a text about a specific subject and express their opinions about that subject. The results were collected and perused by the help of the supervisor of the study who had a Ph.D. degree in TEFL for checking the possible grammatical errors or mistakes. The results indicated that Microsoft Word was indeed beneficial to the grammar of the participants of experimental group because they got significantly higher grammar scores than the participants of the control group did. The results of this study offer practical implications for applying computer for language teaching and improvement of EFL learners’ writing skill.

The Mnemosyne computer software is a flash-card aid, which optimizes learners’ learning process. The current study was conducted to evaluate the extent to which Mnemosyne can assist college-level Iranian EFL learners to improve their vocabulary learning by utilizing spaced repetition. For this purpose, 60 intermediate-level EFL learners were chosen based on their performance on a proficiency test. Then, they were divided into two equal-sized experimental and control groups, each consisting of 30 participants. The participants of the experimental group were asked to use Mnemosyne on their own computers, their cell phones or other devices. They had opportunity to use numerous numbers of free flashcards on various subjects and users could build their own on different topics. The control group received instructions through conventional teaching methodology. The posttest was given to the participants of both groups in order to check the students’ vocabulary learning. The results of independent sample t-test between the posttest scores of the two groups showed a significant difference between the scores of the experimental group and those of the control group. The results demonstrated that Mnemosyne significantly improved students’ performance in vocabulary learning.

The aim of the current study was to investigate whether Podcasts would have an effect on Iranian autonomous and non-autonomous EFL learners’ listening comprehension ability at pre-intermediate level. For this purpose, 60 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners at some Iranian institutes participated in the experiment of the study. Then they were divided into two groups based on an OPT and an autonomy questionnaire. The participants of each group were assigned randomly into two experimental groups (N=15) and two control groups (N=15). A pre-test was administered to the four groups of the study and then, the experimental groups received 5 sessions of teaching podcast. After the treatment, a posttest of L2 listening comprehension was administered to all groups of the study and finally the data were analyzed via a series of paired sample t-tests to see whether there is progress between the pretest and posttest scores of the groups, and a Two-way ANOVA was used to see the differences between posttests. The results revealed that Iranian autonomous and non-autonomous EFL learners’ listening comprehension ability got better after the treatment.

The present study investigated the effect of practicing domestic vs. foreign newspaper on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ reading comprehension ability. The main question this study tried to answer was whether or not practicing domestic vs. foreign newspaper has any effect on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ reading comprehension ability. To answer this question, 45 Iranian learners were selected via administering an OPT test with the criteria of at least 1 standard deviation below and above the mean of the Oral Proficiency Test (OPT). Reading section of Reading Practice Test was used as the OPT. It consists of 19 items. It takes approximately 25 minutes to complete the reading test. Learners were studying in three intermediate classes in Simin Institute of Ramsar, Iran. The participants were all female and ranged in age from 17 to 19. They were divided into three groups of 15 (N=15)ː two experimental groups and a control group. A pretest of reading comprehension was administered to the three groups. The first experimental group was treated by teaching reading comprehension plus domestic newspaper; the second experimental group was treated by teaching reading comprehension plus foreign newspaper and the control group was treated by a placebo. Finally; after 10 sessions, a posttest of reading comprehension was administered to three groups. One-Way ANOVA and Paired Sample were used to analyze the obtained data. The results of One-Way ANOVA and Paired Sample indicated that the participants’ practicing domestic vs. foreign newspaper had effect on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ reading comprehension ability.

This study attempted to investigate the relationship among learning strategy, autonomy and language proficiency of Chinese university EFL students. To achieve this objective, purposive sampling and cluster sampling methods were used to select 422 non-English major students as participants in three universities, Henan province, China. Oxford’s (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and Xu’s (2004) Learner Autonomy Questionnaire (LAQ) were adopted to investigate the participants’ strategy use and learner autonomy, respectively. The participants’ language proficiency was measured by their CET-4 scores. Results of the Pearson correlation analysis indicated that there existed interrelationships among the three variables: learning strategy and learner autonomy were significantly and positively correlated with each other, and both of them had significant positive relationships with language proficiency. Multiple Regressions Analysis results suggested that learner autonomy could best predict the variance in language proficiency. Pedagogical suggestions are offered to English language teachers in assisting their students with regards to the improvement of language proficiency.

The aim of the current study was to investigate whether L2 minimal pairs practice would have an effect on Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ pronunciation accuracy. For this purpose, 30 Iranian intermediate EFL learners at Simin institute participated in the experiment of the study. The selection of subjects was done from among 150 EFL learners at intermediate level. In order to make subjects homogenized an SPT was used, then they divided into two groups of 15 who were assigned to experimental and control group randomly. A pre-test of pronunciation accuracy was administered to both groups, then the experimental group received 5 sessions of teaching L2 pronunciation as well as minimal pairs practice (MPP) while the control group received a placebo, in other words, teaching L2 pronunciation via the existing method. After the treatment again the same test was administered as posttest to both groups of the study. The data obtained from the tests were analyzed via independent samples T-test between the posttest scores of experimental and control group to see whether there is a difference between performance of the groups and the paired-sample T-tests was used between the pretest and the posttest of each group to show the progress. The results revealed that Iranian EFL learners in the experimental group performed better and received higher score in pronunciation test after 5 session of treatment.

The present study investigated school general English achievement and group work among Iranian junior high school students. The main question this study tried to answer was whether group work could enhance a higher general English achievement among junior high school students. To answer this question¡ 60 female learners were divided into experimental and control group randomly with 30 members in each after administering a general English test to 100 Junior high school females to release qualified intermediate learners. Then¡ the experimental group was broken into 6 groups including 4 learners in each to work cooperatively while the control group went on working conventionally. Firstly¡ each group received general English test such as reading¡ listening¡ writing¡ and speaking as pretest to figure out their current level. Then as treatment¡ experimental group took practices in all skills in group while the control group received a placebo. The students were asked to do the posttest. The average was taken to indicate students overall English language achievement of method of instruction in the general English course. By analyzing the scores of each single group on their posttest (Independent samples T-test) and also analyzing pretest to posttest scores of experimental and control group (Paired sample T-test)¡ the null hypothesis of the study was rejected. It meant that the group work had a better performance in terms of the general English posttest.

This study aimed to investigate how Iranian EFL learners performed in producing sentences containing idioms and whether they had any problems in producing such sentences. This query, subsequently, raised the question of whether idioms influenced the participants’ grammaticality judgment on idiom-containing sentences. For this purpose, firstly, the writings of 24 learners were investigated for a period of one term and the problematic features of idioms were detected; proportionately, grammatical errors outnumbered the others. Secondly, 35 participants were tested on a 40-item grammaticality judgment test containing 10 items for each sentence type – with-idiom grammatical, with-idiom ungrammatical, withoutidiom grammatical, and without-idiom ungrammatical sentences. Comparing the mean scores and the results of the paired-samples ttests indicated that idiomaticity might influence the grammaticality judgment of EFL learners. Some implications of the research results are provided at the end.