Elham Yazdanmehr; Ramin Akbari
Volume 7, Issue 15 , May 2015, , Pages 157-180
Abstract
The present paper seeks to investigate the cognitive abilities of expert EFL teachers. To this aim, the existing literature was examined and ten cognitive themes were derived which were further investigated through interviews conducted with ten academics, teacher trainers and exemplary teachers of the ...
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The present paper seeks to investigate the cognitive abilities of expert EFL teachers. To this aim, the existing literature was examined and ten cognitive themes were derived which were further investigated through interviews conducted with ten academics, teacher trainers and exemplary teachers of the field in the Iranian context. The ten extracted themes were attested by interviewees’ comments. They include: fast pattern recognition, selective attention, holistic perception, superior memory, fast information encoding, anticipation power, perception of teacher’s role, awareness of situation-specific class events, awareness of their knowledge, linking prior and new knowledge. These themes are further explained and discussed along with extracts of the actual interviews. It is recurrently reminded that these cognitive issues are just one aspect of teaching expertise in ELT and the whole idea is part of a model of expertise being constructed which consists of 8 factors only one of which is teacher cognition.
Zia Tajeddin; Elham Yazdanmehr
Volume 4, Issue 10 , March 2013, , Pages 27-51
Abstract
This study aims to delve into the unobservable dimensions of deciding and acting in a pragmatically significant speech event. Utilizing a Discourse Completion Test questionnaire, it seeks to find out the structure and pragmatic functions that lie behind EFL learners’ choice of specific wording ...
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This study aims to delve into the unobservable dimensions of deciding and acting in a pragmatically significant speech event. Utilizing a Discourse Completion Test questionnaire, it seeks to find out the structure and pragmatic functions that lie behind EFL learners’ choice of specific wording while engaged in performing a recurrent speech act in Iran i.e. compliments. To this aim, 30 EFL learners were requested to self-assess their performance in a number of presumed situations in which they were required to make compliments to different addressees. The participants were adult intermediate EFL learners in 18-35 range of age. They were of both sexes and studied English between 1.5 to 5 years. To complete the tasks, they both made notes of their responses and uttered out simultaneously why they complimented in a certain way. Their responses along with transcriptions of their recorded think-aloud protocols were subsequently analyzed in this paper as for their structures and pragmatic functions according to Manes & Wolfson (1981), and Brown & Levinson (1987).
Ramin Akbari; Elham Yazdanmehr
Volume 3, Issue 8 , December 2011, , Pages 29-51
Abstract
The critical role and effect of teacher assessment in ELT has been ratified by researchers among whom are Darling-Hammond (2000); Knox (2002); Bailey (2006); Davison & Cummins (2007); and Blum (2009).Taking this issue into account, this exploratory study seeks to investigate the underlying criteria ...
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The critical role and effect of teacher assessment in ELT has been ratified by researchers among whom are Darling-Hammond (2000); Knox (2002); Bailey (2006); Davison & Cummins (2007); and Blum (2009).Taking this issue into account, this exploratory study seeks to investigate the underlying criteria of both recruiting and assessing in-service EFL teachers in private language institutes of Iran. To this aim, five of the most well-known and expanded language institutes in this country were selected. Their procedures for employing teacher applicants and later on assessing their in-service performance have been obtained, analyzed and discussed in this study. Interviews with the supervisors along with analysis of application forms, observation sheets and other relevant documents illuminated the procedures and criteria of teacher entry and assessment in the target setting. Findings are presented more in depth in the Results and discussion section.
Mohammad reza Hashemi; Ebrahim Khodadadi; Elham Yazdanmehr
Volume 1, Issue 212 , December 2008, , Pages 77-106
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to analyze EFL writing tasks in the most popular ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) exam preparation courses in Iran: IELTS, TOEFL, FCE and CAE. Having collected the criteria of writing task appropriateness in light of the process-oriented approach to writing ...
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The purpose of this research was to analyze EFL writing tasks in the most popular ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) exam preparation courses in Iran: IELTS, TOEFL, FCE and CAE. Having collected the criteria of writing task appropriateness in light of the process-oriented approach to writing instruction, 114 learner participants were asked to rate EFL writing tasks based on a checklist previously gathered and validated. An observation process was conducted of the task performance followed by an interview with teachers about the nature of these courses and learners’ motivation. According to the learners’ primary needs and goals, the four types of courses were initially divided into two groups: Group-1 (IELTS/TOEFL) and Group-2 (FCE/CAE). The independent-sample t-test was employed to compare the mean scores of ratings for all items of the checklist once between IELTS and TOEFL courses in Group 1 and once between FCE and CAE in Group 2. Significant differences were obtained especially related to the quality of writing procedures .
