English language learning
Arezoo Nasimi; Mansour Tavakoli; Mohsen Rezazadeh
Abstract
Since the emphasis of the studies has shifted from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered one, researchers have discovered the significance of variables originating inside learners during the learning process. The present study was an attempt to focus on self-efficacy and strategy use as two ...
Read More
Since the emphasis of the studies has shifted from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered one, researchers have discovered the significance of variables originating inside learners during the learning process. The present study was an attempt to focus on self-efficacy and strategy use as two learners’ variables. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is any relationship between EFL learners’ self-efficacy, strategy use, and grammar performance. In addition, it aimed to find out whether there is any difference between high self-efficacious learners and low self-efficacious learners in strategy use and grammar performance. To conduct the study, a non-experimental correlational design was used and thirty-five participants consisting of males and females studying English language teaching were selected randomly out of all the sophomores. Two questionnaires and a test were the main instruments in gathering data. Based on the results of the questionnaire, they were divided into two groups of high and low by using a normal distribution curve. As a result of running several data analysis tests, the findings of the present study revealed a significant relationship between EFL learners’ self-efficacy, strategy use, and their performance on a grammar test. Furthermore, it was illustrated that high self-efficacious learners performed better than low self-efficacious ones on the grammar test and grammar strategy use questionnaire.
Parisa Riahipour; Mansoor Tavakoli; Abbas Eslami Rasekh
Abstract
Professional identity has been perpetually an underlying factor in teacher development. The maintenance of a strong professional identity is a key factor in teacher development which is ultimately a fundamental aspect in the prosperity or failure of any educational system. As a dynamic phenomenon, teachers’ ...
Read More
Professional identity has been perpetually an underlying factor in teacher development. The maintenance of a strong professional identity is a key factor in teacher development which is ultimately a fundamental aspect in the prosperity or failure of any educational system. As a dynamic phenomenon, teachers’ professional identity can be influenced by a variety of factors and particularly any type of educational reform. The present study with an explanatory mixed method design was used to investigate transitions in Iranian EFL teachers’ professional identity in the context of Fundamental Reform Document of Education (2012). For the quantitative phase of the study, a researcher-made questionnaire developed based on the four components of professional identity namely, self-image, self-esteem, job motivation and task perception proposed by Kelchtermans (1993) was distributed among 98 Iranian EFL teachers. Considering the ongoing nature of the professional identity, the questionnaire was assigned to the teachers during the pre-reform and post – reform era. In the qualitative phase, in order to capture a comprehensive picture of the salient factors of teachers’ professional identity and their underlying reasons, a set of semi-structured interviews with 7 volunteer teachers were conducted. The findings revealed that the introduction of the curriculum reform made no change in teachers’ professional identity in terms of self-esteem and task perception, but it slightly affected teachers’ self-image and job motivation. The findings also revealed a potential transition path in Iranian EFL teachers’ professional identity development. Finally, some implications for policy-makers and material developers and suggestions for future researchers were discussed.
Masood Esteki; Mansoor Tavakoli; Mohammad Amiryousefi
Abstract
This study sought to investigate the effects of Explicit Instruction in combination with Input Enhancement (EI+IE), Input Flood (IF), and Gap-fill (GF) tasks on receptive and productive knowledge of English formulaic sequences (FS) by Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Assigned to ...
Read More
This study sought to investigate the effects of Explicit Instruction in combination with Input Enhancement (EI+IE), Input Flood (IF), and Gap-fill (GF) tasks on receptive and productive knowledge of English formulaic sequences (FS) by Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Assigned to three experimental groups, the 110 participants took the receptive and productive knowledge pretests, posttests, and delayed posttests. Findings of within-group (repeated-measures ANOVAs) and between-group (ANCOVAs) tests showed that while IF could not promote learners' performance, both the EI+IE and the GF could improve learners’ receptive and productive knowledge of target FSs from pretests to posttests and retained the effects until the delayed posttests. Additionally, both EI+IE and GF groups significantly outperformed the IF group at the immediate posttests. That is, the results from EI+IE did not differ significantly from those of GF. Plausible accounts for the obtained results are provided and the implications are discussed.
Parisa Riahipour; Mansoor Tavakoli; Abbas Eslami Rasekh
Volume 11, Issue 23 , June 2019, , Pages 293-325
Abstract
Taking the significance of teacher motivation in professional practice and pedagogical achievements of teachers, students and their educational goals, this study aimed to investigate EFL teachers’ motivation affected by the introduction of the Fundamental Reform Document of Education in Iran. For ...
Read More
Taking the significance of teacher motivation in professional practice and pedagogical achievements of teachers, students and their educational goals, this study aimed to investigate EFL teachers’ motivation affected by the introduction of the Fundamental Reform Document of Education in Iran. For the quantitative phase of the study, a researcher-made questionnaire developed based on the four aspects of motivation by Dornyei and Ushioda (2011) was distributed among 98 Iranian EFL teachers. Afterwards, to capture the salient factors of teachers’ motivation, a set of semi-structured interviews with 7 volunteer teachers were conducted. The results revealed that this reform has had a positive effect on teachers’ motivation yet it has not been that much comprehensive to take into account all the motivation factors except for the contextual ones.
Mohsen Rezazadeh; Mansoor Tavakoli; Abbass Eslami Rasekh
Volume 7, Issue 16 , December 2015, , Pages 113-146
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of two types of written feedback – direct corrective feedback (DCF) and metalinguistic explanation (ME) - on Iranian EFL learners’ implicit and explicit knowledge of English definite and indefinite articles. Assigned to three groups of DCF, ME, and control ...
Read More
This study investigated the effects of two types of written feedback – direct corrective feedback (DCF) and metalinguistic explanation (ME) - on Iranian EFL learners’ implicit and explicit knowledge of English definite and indefinite articles. Assigned to three groups of DCF, ME, and control groups, the participants took four tests in three testing phases: pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. Four testing instruments measured the two knowledge types: narrative writings, speeded dictation, untimed grammaticality judgment, and error correction tests. Results indicated that both treatments were effective in the immediate posttests. However, the ME proved to have longer lasting effects than the DCF as the improvement of both knowledge types were sustained after a three week period in the ME group. According to the obtained findings, it is argued that the description of the rules and the examples given explicitly in a ME handout might be more beneficial in promoting learners’ implicit and explicit knowledge of English articles than the DCF.
Marzieh Rafiee; Hossein Vahid Dastjerdi; Mansoor Tavakoli
Volume 5, Issue 12 , December 2013, , Pages 93-108
Abstract
The efficacy of genre-based approach to teaching writing has been regarded as an influential practice in L2 writing pedagogy (Hyland, 2007). However, there is still gap between actual structures found in reading materials recommended as textbooks and discourse patterns recommended for L2 writing in EFL ...
Read More
The efficacy of genre-based approach to teaching writing has been regarded as an influential practice in L2 writing pedagogy (Hyland, 2007). However, there is still gap between actual structures found in reading materials recommended as textbooks and discourse patterns recommended for L2 writing in EFL contexts, the gap which would highlight the problems of genre and rhetorical patterns for teaching. The current study, therefore, is an attempt to explore the level of consistency between the rhetorical patterns found in reading textbooks and discourse pattern recommended for writing. For this purpose, a number of 22 essays selected from textbooks were analyzed to identify (1) the overall rhetorical structures, and (2) the location of main idea and opinion of writers. The results show that while some texts did not follow the three-part structure of introduction-body-conclusion, main idea was presented in the introductory parts of essays, illustrating a deductive rhetorical pattern recommended for English writing. Further research was suggested as well.
Mansoor Tavakoli; Leila Bahrami; Zahra Amirian
Volume 4, Issue 9 , December 2012, , Pages 129-164
Abstract
The present study investigated the use of interactive metadiscourse resources (IMRs) in terms of appropriacy during a process- based writing course by applying qualitative and exploratory methods. Moreover, learners' perception was investigated to find out how confident they ...
Read More
The present study investigated the use of interactive metadiscourse resources (IMRs) in terms of appropriacy during a process- based writing course by applying qualitative and exploratory methods. Moreover, learners' perception was investigated to find out how confident they felt as they were writing and rewriting the drafts. 30 intermediate EFL learners were chosen to participate in this study based on their performance on the OPT. The participants wrote essays on argumentative topics during the period of one semester. Each participant submitted three drafts on a topic, the first draft, the draft after revising and the draft after editing. Experts’ appropriacy judgments showed a clear improvement in the appropriate use of IMRs from the participants’ earlier drafts to their final drafts. Furthermore, analysis of the interviews’ data showed that most of the interviewees had positive views towards this kind of writing and stated that their level of confidence in using IMRs increased through the stages and they felt more confident towards the end of the course. The results of this study seem to have some implications for teachers and practitioners in EFL contexts and could be of major significance for classroom application.
