Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies
Volume:6 Issue: 3, Summer 2019

The idea of encouraging awareness in classrooms is not new, but research into awareness is beginning to encourage those involved in language teaching to think more systematically about how language presentation facilitate language awareness. Awareness can be promoted through focus on form activities as it triggers important cognitive processes in L2 acquisition. The effectiveness of various input- and output-based focus on form instructions on the acquisition of different grammatical structures and the role of awareness in each type is a matter for debate. The present study qualitatively investigated the effects of Processing instruction, Textual enhancement, and Text editing on L2 learners’ cognitive processes and the relationship between the learners’ level of awareness and their abilities to interpret English inversion structures. To do this, learners’ think-aloud verbalizations during instruction were recorded, transcribed, and coded. Criteria to decide which level of awareness they would fall into were slightly adapted from Leow, Hsieh, and Moreno (2008) to fit with the type of tasks employed in the study. Pretest-posttests design was also employed to measure learners’ interpretive abilities. The findings indicated that each instructional technique promoted different levels of awareness and depth of processing. The findings also provided explanations for the non-significant differences in performances between the Processing instruction and Text editing groups on an immediate posttest and outperformance of the Processing instruction group on a delayed posttest. Given the benefits that Processing instruction and Text editing brought about in the present study, both might be incorporated into a curriculum and serve as complementary tools for language teachers.

Previous research has shown that raters’ personality characteristics exert an influence on their ratings, skewing the results and invalidating the decisions made about students’ future life. Although the exact mechanism of these factors, their precise effect on ratings, and the interaction between the traits and ratings are yet to be empirically demonstrated, anecdotal evidence coupled with research findings suggests raters’ ratings do not necessarily reflect students’ abilities and may be affected by other construct-irrelevant variances, including personality traits. The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to examine the extent to which some selected personality traits would predict the ratings awarded by the raters to students’ written performance. To that end, teacher raters rated students’ essays on 13 assessment criteria using a 5-point analytic rating scale. Big five inventory and student essays were used to measure teacher raters’ personality traits and to collect data. Data were computed and analysed using SPSS (version 25). Results from linear regression showed that extroversion, agreeableness, openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness did not significantly contribute to the ratings. The findings suggest that such personality factors may not account for the ratings, and rater variability should be explained in terms of other personality variables. The implications of the study are discussed.

The present research was conducted to examine the effect of different input modality interaction in L2 on listening fatigue. Eighty-six intermediate Iranian EFL learners selected through random sampling, after administering a paper-based TOEFL among an initial sample of 120 BA learners majoring in English language translation, took part in the study and were randomly assigned into three experimental groups. Three types of input modality treatments were given in the first phase. Group one received audio treatment (A), group two received video treatment (V) and group three was taught listening through audio-video-caption (AVC) treatment. A TOEFL listening test and a researcher-made validated listening fatigue questionnaire were utilized as pretest and posttest. Afterwards, during the qualitative phase, oral interviews were employed to elect 30 % of the participant’s’ attitudes about the effect of the received treatment on their listening fatigue. Using Two-way ANCOVA revealed that input modality had a very strong significant effect on listening fatigue reduction. Audio group had the best performance and AVC group had the least significant performance. These findings were also supported by a small qualitative phase and learners gave their positive support and attitude to audio input modality as the best. These findings have some pedagogical implications for teaching and learning an L2, the most important of which is finding the best match between input modality intervention and its sensory mode match to assist EFL learners both enhance their L2 listening comprehension and at the same time reduce their debilitative listening fatigue.

A teacher’s self-perception and identity are shaped by the test accountability context where they teach. Although research on washback effect and teacher-related factors is not an uncharted territory, investigating the nexus of high-stakes tests and teachers’ professional identity has been kept at the margins. In response to this gap, the present study examined the washback effect of IELTS examination on Iranian EFL instructors’ professional identity. To this end, at the beginning of the study, a professional identity questionnaire was administered on 120 IELTS instructors to determine the relationship between EFL teachers’ IELTS Related Experiences and their Professional Identity. Likewise, 15 IELTS instructors were closely examined at the outset of their IELTS course and at its end to examine the change in their perceptions. Regarding the qualitative phase, the researchers carried out a semi-structured interview with all 15 instructors. The results of t-test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test indicated there was no statistically significant improvement in IELTS instructors’ Professional Identity total scores from pretest to posttest (p>.05). However, the results of Spearman rho indicated a positive and significant relationship between instructors’ professional identity and their past IELTS related experiences. Likewise, the interview results indicated that Iranian instructors’ professional identity has been extensively affected by IELTS examination in that they had no option but to work for the test rather than developing genuine literacy skills. The participants further argued that to survive in such a score-polluted context, they have had no choice but to use tips and tricks, test-taking strategies, and past papers.

Some EFL teachers have tragically fossilized in their career and have reluctantly participated in teachers' in-service classes. Teachers Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is an indispensable part of teaching career. Accordingly, the current study was to design, develop, and validate items for an effective scale for CPD programs in Iranian English foreign language context. In fact, factor analysis was the main concern in this study. Initially, the tentative model with 55 items was piloted and tested through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 400 English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers. This level resulted in the removal of 8 items in the sample loaded and led to the final CPD inventory with 47 items. Convergent validity of the CPD variable was derived from the output of confirmatory factor analysis in the Lisrel Software. The significant score of all model parameters was larger than 1.96. Therefore, the validity of the construct of measuring the relevant variables was substantiated and confirmed at a significant level of 0.05. Furthermore, the result indicated that the research model was in the domain of acceptance. Also, convergent validity was confirmed and validated. The fitting indexes of the model also revealed that the measurement models were substantiated in terms of external validity. The findings of this study can offer pedagogical implications to English teaching and learning stakeholders, educational policy makers, officials, and those involved in second language teacher education as well as English language teachers in EFL contexts.

The present research was an attempt to posit a model of classroom management strategies for Iranian EFL learners to provide a better interpretation of qualitative findings. Hence, in line with the components of the previous model, a 33-item questionnaire was considered in the design of the classroom management questionnaire. A 42 item researcher-made questionnaire was piloted with 180 EFL learners and its reliability and the related validates were checked. As a result, EFA findings corroborated a 3- component classroom management questionnaire. Finally, the 33-item questionnaire of classroom management was distributed to 360 EFL learners. Then, the initial structure of the model was tested using CFA to come up with the final model of classroom management strategy. The results substantiated the initial structure of EFA with 3 factors and 33 items. The findings suggest EFL teachers not only pay attention to classroom practices, but also work on building up rapport and encouragement with their students. Also, the results can be presented to student teachers in teacher education programs to make them aware of the nuances of classroom management and the concerns of EFL learners in Iran. Further, these results can be at the disposal of any teacher to effectively plan, manage, develop interpersonal relationships and run their classes.