فهرست مطالب

Teaching English Language
Volume:15 Issue: 35, Winter and Spring 2021

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1399/12/11
  • تعداد عناوین: 12
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  • Pardis Davoudian Dehkordi, Mahmood Hashemian *, Javad Alipour Pages 1-28

    This study employed 2 theories of motivation (i.e., the regulatory focus and the regulatory fit) to examine how L2 students with different motivational compositions perform L2 oral tasks, especially in terms of accuracy and fluency. The researchers asked 52 intermediate students of a higher education center in Shahrekord (Iran) to partake in an experiment in which they were, first, categorized into 2 groups of either prevention-oriented or promotion-oriented based on their dominant motivational composition. Afterward, the research was conducted in 2 stages: the first one with a conditionally neutral speaking task (regulatory focus) and the second one with 2 conditionally charged speaking tasks, each designed to either induce prevention condition or promotion condition in the mind of the test takers, to see how task condition and motivational orientation of the participants tended to interact (regulatory fit). Results did not reveal any significant causal relationship between the participants' motivational orientation/task condition and their fluency and accuracy. We postulated that the predictions of these 2 theories were not realized because of the interference of extraneous factors such as curriculum design and learning experience.

    Keywords: Motivation, Regulatory fit, Regulatory focus, L2 Task condition, L2 oral task performance
  • Samira Mousavi *, Saeed Ketabi Pages 29-49

    Given the significance of Critical Pedagogy (CP) as a transformative educational practice in empowering and enabling learners in terms of enhancing their voice, this study aimed to examine the effectiveness of participatory critical pedagogy intervention on the development of Iranian female EFL learners in terms of enhancing their voice and class participation. Female learners were selected as the population of the study as gender is a social category reconstructed and negotiated in ELT classroom context entailing the exercise of power. Adopting Hart's (1992) Ladder of Participation framework, this case study was conducted using qualitative strategies fused with the components of experimental design, known as the qualitative experiment design. Accordingly, the in-depth experience of a group of 15 participants during treatment sessions of CP were evaluated through interview, structured non-participant observation, and reflective journals. Findings pointed to the positive and transformative impact of CP in practice on female learners' engagement in and enjoyment of classroom activities in Iran. Moreover, CP in practice resulted in the development of female learners in terms of taking an active role in the process of learning EFL in Iran. However, the development was not statistically significant.

    Keywords: Critical Pedagogy, Engagement, Female EFL Learners, Participation, Participatory Critical Pedagogy
  • Hamid Allami *, Mohsen Ramezanian Pages 51-76
    This study was an attempt to discover the variation in lived narratives of Iranian EFL learners in terms of narrative evaluation in oral and written experienced stories. To this end, 125 oral and written narratives as told by Iranian EFL learners were elicited. Fifty narratives were collected in the classroom, 25 were extracted on the interview, and the other 50 were elicited through a written task. Qualitative analysis was utilized to scrutinize the collected data. The study mostly relied on the Labovian model of evaluative categories to compare oral and written stories. The findings of the study indicated that the differences between the written and oral stories were due to the medium of narratives; both types of stories were similar in terms of evaluative pattern. It was reckoned that the differences between EFL stories and English native narratives were mostly affected by the participants' English language proficiency.
    Keywords: EFL Narratives, Qualitative analysis, evaluation, Proficiency, Interview, stories
  • Ghasem Vadipoor, MohammadBagher Shabani *, Rajab Esfandiari Pages 77-106

    This study examined conceptual metaphor theory lunched by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) within a cognitive writing framework proposed by Flower and Hayes (1980). The main objectives of the study were improving Iranian EFL learners' writing proficiency, reducing their apprehension of English language writing, and moving from the traditional model of writing to the cognitive one through establishing an interaction between the learner's conceptual system and the natural experiences that form the framework of a text. To do that, a total of 120 EFL Bachelor-of-Arts (BA) students whose age ranged from 22 to 35 volunteered to participate in the study. The participants were first divided into two equal groups and then took part in particular training programs entitled traditional and cognitive writing courses. Using a two-way ANCOVA, the researchers, then, compared and evaluated the posttest results of both groups. The results of analysis revealed that the cognitive group experienced a remarkable growth in their posttest scores compared to the traditional one. The results indicated a fundamental change in the writing style for the cognitive group, their success in moving towards native-like writing proficiency, and a significant reduction in their apprehension of writing in English language. Using conceptual metaphors in writing provides teachers with feedback to incorporate idea generation, meaning construction and rhetorical writing in the writing courses. Findings suggest that conceptual metaphors may be worthy of teaching at universities as an effective tool in solving writing challenges, in particular apprehension of weakness in idea development.

    Keywords: Process Approach, Cognitive Writing Model, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Writing Apprehension
  • Mehran Mohammadi Moghadam, Alireza Ahmadi * Pages 107-135

    The study investigated the effect of mediation on the development of an experienced teacher using the Vygotskian sociocultural view of learning. The effects of the transformation of the teacher on the development of the learners' emotions and practices were investigated as well. To reach these ends, an experienced teacher with 15 years of experience teaching general English at one of the universities in Iran was selected. To observe the teacher's practices, she was first observed in the first five sessions. To analyze her feelings and attitudes towards teaching before the mediation, she was also asked to narrate orally what she had done and felt during her practices. As some of her practices were based on the traditional techniques like over-reliance on translation and deductive teaching of grammar, the mediator offered the mediations and hints in a face-to-face interaction after the fifth to the twentieth session to help the teacher reshape and recontextualize her practices. Analysis of the findings showed that the teacher could internalize some of the mediations like increasing the students' participation in the class activities. The study concludes with some pedagogical implications like paying attention to the emotions of teachers and learners in different teaching contexts.

    Keywords: Experienced Teacher Learning, Mediation, Sociocultural Theory, teacher education
  • Seyed Farzad Kalali Sani, Khalil Motallebzadeh *, Hossein Khodabakhshzadeh, Mitra Zeraatpisheh Pages 137-160
    Teachers' professional identity has been defined as a developing and dynamic characteristic of teachers affecting social and personal aspects. Regarding Teacher Professional Identity (TPI), both personal and the professional dimensions of being and empowering a teacher should be investigated. Achievement goal theory concerns that individuals do their best for learning, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. This study investigated the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers' professional identity and their goal orientation. To this end, TPI and goal-orientation questionnaires were distributed via the google form links being shared among 380 male and female EFL teachers in Telegram and WhatsApp groups in which EFL teachers were the members, and 371 of them returned the questionnaires. To analyze the data, Pearson correlation and multiple regression were used and the results revealed that there was a positive and significant relationship between TPI and goal orientation (GO). To investigate the subscales' predictability power, personal teaching efficacy proved to have the highest predicting power for TPI. The findings may be fruitful for EFL teachers who may not be aware of different dimensions of their PI and how they can control the influencing factors and develop PI in different domains by exploring their orientations.
    Keywords: Professional Identity, goal orientation, Personal Teaching Efficacy, Iranian EFL Teachers
  • Yalda Rezaee Danesh, Masood Khoshsaligheh *, Mahboobeh Moghaddas Pages 161-188
    This qualitative study is an attempt to gain insights into the competence and sub-competencies required for a successful English and Persian translation teacher in the context of undergraduate education in Iran. To this end, 95 senior graduate and undergraduate students of English translation and 13 experienced translation teachers in Iranian universities were invited to participate in the study. Using focus-group and in-depth interviews, two sets of qualitative data were collected and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding procedures of Grounded Theory. According to the students, translation teaching competence includes the components of pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and psychological-personality competence, while the teachers believed in pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and mental-personality competence as the underlying constructs. Whereas content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge are mainly common in the views of the students and teachers, psychological-personality and mental-personality sub-competences are the factors which are not shared by the two groups.
    Keywords: Translator Education, Translator Training, Translation Teaching Competence, Translation Students, translation teachers, English-Persian Translation
  • Mohsen Zare, Hamed Barjesteh *, Reza Biria Pages 189-214

    This study aimed to explore the possible effect of critical thinking-oriented dynamic assessment (CT-DA) on learners' reading comprehension performances. 21 Iranian language learners, who were homogenized in terms of their language proficiency, reading comprehension and critical thinking abilities, participated in this study. Learners were divided into three groups of CT-DA (n=7), dynamic assessment (DA) (n=7) and Control group (n=7). While learners in CT-DA received mediation loaded with critical thinking, learners in DA received dynamic assessment mediation, and learners in the control group did not receive any mediation. A paired sample t-test, effect size and ANOVA were run. The results of analyses revealed that CT-DA and DA groups outperformed the control group. The results signified the efficacy of the type of mediation, which was presented through dynamic assessment procedure on enhancing the learners' reading achievement. Moreover, comparing the results of critical thinking-oriented dynamic assessment and dynamic assessment revealed no statistical difference (p >.05), which indicates that both types of mediations (i.e., CT-DA and DA) had a similar impact on the learners' reading achievement. The article concludes with suggestions for further research on dynamic assessment and critical thinking in second/foreign language development.

    Keywords: critical thinking, Dynamic assessment, Mediation, Reading, ZPD
  • Shiva Azizpour, Parviz Alavinia Pages 215-249

    Grammar instruction is a crucial topic of debate in foreign language development. This study aimed at investigating the impact of focus on form (FonF) and focus on forms (FonFs) instruction on grammar acquisition of the subjunctive by Iranian advanced EFL learners. To this end, 40 Iranian advanced EFL learners were selected within the age range of 16-20 from a language school in Karaj, Iran. Initially, the Preliminary English Test was run to ensure that the students were homogenous with respect to their language proficiency. Before any treatment, a pretest was administered to determine the participants’ knowledge of the subjunctive. Afterwards, the researchers taught the subjunctive to one group through FonF instruction and the second group received FonFs instruction. After five weeks of instruction, the researchers administered a posttest to investigate the effectiveness of FonF and FonFs instruction. Then, paired samples statistics, the independent samples t-test, and Mann Whitney U test were run to test the null hypotheses. The findings revealed that although FonF and FonFs instruction have significant positive impacts on grammar acquisition of the subjunctive by Iranian advanced EFL learners, the students who were taught through FonFs instruction significantly outperformed the ones who received FonF instruction.

    Keywords: Focus on Form, Focus on Forms, Form-Focused Instruction, Teaching Grammar, The Subjunctive
  • MahmoodReza Moradian*, Akram Ramezanzadeh, Neda Rostamian Pages 251-280

    This study endeavored to investigate into teacher vs. student languaging in response to Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) and its effect on promoting writing accuracy. To this end, 45 pre-intermediate Iranian English learners were selected based on their performance on an Oxford Placement Test and were randomly assigned into the three groups of Student-Generated Languaging (SGL), Teacher-Generated languaging (TWCF), and Non-generated Languaging (NGL). The groups were invited to write a composition with the same topic based on the written prompts in their textbook as the pretest while they revised the composition on the final session as the posttest. During 14 sessions of treatment, each group was provided with direct WCF on the erroneous parts of their compositions differing from each other in that the SGL group was requested to language about the reasons behind the erroneous items; the TWCF group received direct languaging by the teacher while the NGL group received direct WCF without any languaging. The results of the ANOVA revealed that the SGWL group significantly outperformed the other two groups in writing accuracy on the posttest. It came to light that direct WCF followed by written languaging by the learners led to increased gains in English learners' writing accuracy.

    Keywords: Teacher, Student Languaging, Sociocultural Theory, Writing Accuracy, Written Corrective Feedback
  • Li Li Pages 281-311

    This paper explores the relationships between students' language use and group dynamics in a Chinese project-oriented CALL (PrOCALL) classroom. The study reveals that PrOCALL does not necessarily create more target language use and that L1 performs multiple functions through descriptive statistics and fine-grained microanalysis of group interaction. The results also highlight how group dynamics develop and evolve. From a sociocultural perspective, the study demonstrates the first language can be a powerful tool in boosting the potential for collaborative language learning. This paper argues for the need for more qualitative study on interaction at the computer.

    Keywords: Peer-peer Interaction, Sociocultural Perspective, PrOCALL, Collaborative Language Learning, Secondary Classroom, EFL, GroupDynamic
  • Mohammad Mehdi Soleimani *, Parviz Birjandi, Parviz Maftoon Pages 313-344

    Instructed Interlanguage Pragmatics (IILP) is a subset of Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP) that addresses how classroom language learners acquire pragmatic features in a second language (L2). For this study, 90 university students participated in an experimental study that incorporated a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest observation to identify the effect of instruction on the acquisition of request speech act. For this purpose, a random sampling was used for the selection and assignment of participants into the experimental (EG) and comparison groups (CG). The two EGs received two types of form-focused instruction (FFI), namely task-oriented focus on form and focus on forms to help identify whether the type of instruction was a significant factor in the acquisition of the selected L2 pragmatic feature. The results of the study indicated an overall increase in the ability of the learners in the instructed group (IG) to produce request speech act. The study also indicated that the effect of instruction was not transient as the observed improvement was evident in the delayed posttest observation. The effect of instruction was also evident in the type of strategies that IGs used to make request proper after receiving the experimental treatments.

    Keywords: Interlanguage Pragmatics, Form-focused Instruction