Teaching English Language
Volume:11 Issue: 28, Summer and Autumn 2017

The task of shouldering the burden of fulfilling the expectations of students,parents,and principals and in a broader sense,the educational system,exposes teachers to highly stressful situations which are likely to bring about a host of mental disorders. The current study was intended to investigate the relationship between Iranian English and non-English teacher's mental disorder (i.e.,distress,anxiety,somatization,& depression),their job satisfaction and effectiveness. To this end,173 English and nonEnglish teachers working in English language centers and public high schools were conveniently selected. Umme Kulsum's Teacher Effectiveness Scale,Lester's Teacher Job Satisfaction and Terluin's Four Dimensional Symptom questionnaires were used to collect data. The findings revealed an inverse and significant correlation between Iranian English teacher's psychological disorder and their job satisfaction. However,for nonEnglish teachers,only depression subscale of mental disorder was found to be negatively correlated with their job satisfaction. Significant correlations were also found between both English and nonEnglish teacher's psychological disorder and their effectiveness. The results suggest important implications for policymakers and stakeholders in education to reduce the level of stress and job dissatisfaction among teachers through developing mentoring programs and identification of the sources of stress and dissatisfaction in teachers.

Corrective feedback (CF) has shown to be an effective way of developing learner's pragmatic awareness and subsequently pragmatic competence. However,one of the influential factors in the effectiveness of CF is teacher perceptions. On the other hand,teacher's perceptions are not always reflected in their teaching practices. Therefore,this study attempted to investigate the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher's perceptions of pragmatic corrective feedback and to compare their perception with their practice of pragmatic corrective feedback. To achieve this goal,a 44-item questionnaire was developed,piloted,and administered to 300 teachers and analyzed quantitatively in terms of the five components of the questionnaire which dealt with the teacher's perceptions of pragmatic corrective feedback. Furthermore,class recordings of 40 of these teachers were analyzed in terms of their ways of treating pragmatic errors. The findings revealed that the teachers had positive attitudes especially toward the significance of pragmatic corrective feedback,teacher's knowledge and agency about pragmatic corrective feedback and provider of CF,and the way pragmatic corrective feedback should be provided. The results,however,indicated that the teacher's instructional practice of pragmatic corrective feedback was not congruent with their perceptions toward it. The results of the study show the dissonance between teacher's perceptions and instructional practices and the need for teacher education courses for the enhancement of teacher's pragmatics instruction.

The efficacy of massed and spaced distribution instruction in second/foreign language learning is still an issue of debate. Moreover,few studies have probed the possible effect of spaced distribution practice on English as a foreign language (EFL) learner's recall and retention of grammatical structures. This study,therefore,aimed to examine this issue by recruiting 72 Iranian EFL junior high school students in a public school. The participants were randomly assigned to spaced distribution (n = 24),massed distribution (n = 23),and control (n = 25) groups. The massed distribution group had one intensive session on learning the target grammatical structures (i.e.,the simple present affirmative,negative,and interrogative forms); the spaced distribution group had three sessions at irregular time intervals; while the control group received no instruction. To collect data on the recall and retention of the target structures,an error correction test was administered to the participants three times as the pretest,immediate posttest and delayed posttest. The results of the repeated measures mixed ANOVAs,one-way ANOVAs,and post hoc Tukey tests revealed that the spaced distribution group significantly outperformed the other two groups on the delayed posttest. However,there was no significant difference between the spaced and massed distribution groups on the immediate posttest. The findings suggest that EFL practitioners can incorporate spacing as an instructional strategy into the curricula and educational materials to foster the recall and retention of English grammatical structures.

The increasing use and popularity of technology in educational SET tings and smart schooling makes it indispensable to explore the teacher's perceived obstacles in its successful implementation. This study inspected the status quo of information and communication technology (ICT) integration in Iranian high schools and investigated the obstacles,as perceived by teachers,and their proposed solutions toward using technologies. In so doing,311 English as foreign language teachers were requested to participate in this study. A researcher-made open-ended questionnaire was used to collect the data. Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic analysis and the results of study indicated that on the whole,Iranian EFL teachers do not usually integrate ICT in their classes and the obstacles in implementing ICT in language classrooms could be classified into eight main themes: Lack of confidence,lack of competence,resistance to change,lack of time,lack of effective training,lack of technical supports,and negative attitude. The findings revealed that even though teachers realize the benefits of ICT integration,most of them are reluctant in integrating technologies in their classes because of the above-mentioned reasons. The findings may help teachers,policy makers,and syllabus designers put more focus on ICT integration and teacher's needs for obtaining better results in teaching and learning process.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-efficacy, perfectionism, and English language achievement among Iranian English Foreign Language (EFL) learners. A sample of 400 third-grade high school students (females) was assessed for their levels of self-efficacy and perfectionism using Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SEQ) and Almost Prefect Scale-Revised (APS-R), respectively. Participant's scores on their final English test were also used as the measurement of their English achievement. In order to achieve the goals of the study, SPSS version 19 was used. With regard to the research questions addressed in the current study, two main questionnaires (i.e., SEQ and APS-R) were utilized and accordingly several data analytic approaches were used. Pearson Product Moment correlation was used to answer first and second questions to examine the relationship between learner self-efficacy and English achievement and the extent of the relationship between perfectionism and English achievement. The results revealed strong correlations between learner's self-efficacy and English achievement (r = .303, p

This study sought to investigate the variational use of nominalization in Physics and Applied Linguistics textbooks representing the hard and soft ends of the continuum of sciences, respectively. The study also aimed to compare and contrast the functions of nominalization used in the respective textbooks. To do so, 16 textbooks, eight in each discipline, suggested by experts in each field were selected; four of the textbooks in each discipline were the representatives of a higher level of linguistic difficulty and the other four exemplified a lower level. Analysis involved extracting nominal expressions and estimating nominalization density. The results showed that besides minor variations, we could identify little appreciable difference in the way nominal expression types are rendered in Physics and Applied Linguistics textbooks. It can also be concluded that nominalization is not regarded as characteristic of all academic disciplines but it might be possible to arrange disciplines on a cline of nominalization. This being so, one argument raises doubts over the use of nominalization as a rhetorical strategy to increase density or technicality at least in some, if not in many, disciplines. The idea appears premature, and thus further research might reveal more disciplinary tendencies and inclinations.

As part of a large-scale study, the study investigated the current professional development (PD) needs of Iranian English teachers through a validated questionnaire and semistructured interviews. The results showed that such traditional approaches as one-shot workshops and self-study are the dominant PD methods through which inservice courses are presented to Iranian English teachers. The results of the needs analysis indicated there was a discrepancy between the content of the inservice PD programs presented to the teachers and their actual PD needs because the content of the courses is often selected by those other than the teachers themselves. Furthermore, the results showed that whereas inservice PD programs presented to the teachers mainly followed traditional methods, the teachers preferred such interactive and collaborative PD methods as interactive workshops, teacher study group, online teacher learning, peer observation, and supervised teaching practice. Based on the results of the needs analysis, a combination of interactive PD activities was designed and implemented in various schools throughout a large city in the west of Iran. Finally, the findings bear some implications for foreign language education policymakers in general, and English teacher trainers and supervisors, in particular, which might be generalized to other similar contexts.

There is a fair chance that the learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at the upper intermediate level make no perceptible progress in the language learning process despite their efforts and practice. This research addressed the problems that EFL learners encounter when they reach the upper intermediate level (the learning plateau). In so doing,the process by which the plateau phenomenon occurs in an Iranian EFL SET ting was explored and also a theory on the language learning plateau was developed. Drawing on the grounded-theory study,31 EFL learners at the upper intermediate level of language proficiency were selected. They ranged in age from 14 to 24 years. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using open,axial,and selective coding procedures. To ensure credibility of the findings,the constant comparison method,teacher surveys,and member checking were used. The interview data analysis revealed a substantive theory of language learning plateau in which three major factors were identified to contribute to EFL plateau: Learner-related variables,Instruction-related variables,and Going through problems. Findings show that the factors are interrelated and also play a major role in language learning plateau. The implications of the theory are further discussed.