Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Summer 2015

Although some piecemeal efforts have been made to investigate the validity and use of the Iranian PhD exam¡ no systematic project has been specifically carried out in this regard. The current study¡ hence¡ tried to attend to this void. As such¡ to ensure a balanced focus on test interpretation and test consequence¡ and to track evidence derived from a mixed–method study on the validity of Iranian PhD entrance exam of TEFL (IPEET)¡ this study drew on a hybrid of two argument-based structures: Kane''s (1992) argument model and Bennett''s (2010) theory of action. Resting on the network of inferences and assumptions borrowed from the hybridized framework¡ the study investigated the extent to which the proposed assumptions would be supported by empirical evidence. It also examined the unintended consequences that may possibly be revealed through this validity investigation. Three sources of data informed the present study: (a) Test score data from about 1000 PhD applicants'' taking IPEET test administered in 2014¡ (b) questionnaires completed by university professors and PhD students of TEFL¡ and finally¡ (c) telephone and focus-group interviews with university professors and PhD students of TEFL¡ respectively. The results from the analysis of mixed-method data indicated that all the inferences proposed for this study were rebutted¡ suggesting that some unintended consequences have happened to the technical as well as the decision quality of this test¡ hence its invalidity. Findings also provided valuable insights and suggestions for the betterment of the present content and current policy of IPEET in Iran.

The present study investigated EFL teachers’ beliefs about oral corrective feedback (CF)¡ their CF-provision practices across elementary and intermediate levels¡ and their beliefs-practices correspondence. To this end¡ the researchers conducted a semi-structured interview with the teachers and went on an overall forty-hour observation of their classrooms across both levels. The findings revealed that there was a significant difference in the teachers’ employment of CF strategies across the two levels with more frequent presence of explicit correction¡ elicitation¡ metalinguistic clues¡ clarification request¡ and repetition at elementary level. Moreover¡ it was demonstrated that the teachers did not differentiate in their focus on morpho-syntactic¡ phonological¡ and lexical errors at both levels. The results further highlighted some areas of belief-practice mismatch in teachers’ sensitivity to students’ errors¡ their employment of different CF strategies¡ use of explicit and implicit CF¡ application of immediate and delayed CF¡ correction of global and local errors¡ focus on different linguistic targets¡ and reliance on self¡ peer¡ and teacher correction. The paper concludes with some pedagogical implications.

Summary writing is associated with lots of cognitive and metacognitive complexities that necessitates instruction (Hirvela & Du¡ 2013). Contrary to majority of studies carried out on summarization instruction¡ the present study addressed the underlying processes or microgenetic developments of the Iranian EFL learners’ summary writing. To this end¡ 41 male and female undergraduate students received instruction on summary writing for eight weeks. They were required to write five summaries during the first¡ second¡ fourth¡ sixth¡ and eighth sessions. The participants’ summaries were analyzed holistically by the TOEFL-iBT scoring guidelines and in terms of the number of instances of deletion¡ sentence combination¡ topic sentence selection¡ syntactic transformation¡ paraphrasing¡ generalization¡ invention¡ minor verbatim copying¡ and major verbatim copying. The findings revealed that some summarization strategies like invention¡ syntactic transformation¡ and generalization are more problematic and develop at later stages. The participants gave up major verbatim copying as they obtained a full appreciation of the conventions of authorship. However¡ many of them still used minor verbatim copying and patchwriting in their summary writing. The results imply that the students’ lack of awareness of the consequences of plagiarism as well as their insufficient general English and summary writing knowledge culminates in plagiarism.

This paper investigates learner-initiated responses to English language teachers’ referential questions and learner initiatives after teachers’ feedback moves in meaning-focused question-answer sequences to analyze how interactional practices of language teachers¡ their initiation and feedback moves¡ facilitate learner initiatives. Classroom discourse research has largely neglected learner initiative in this pedagogically crucial arena. Addressing this pedagogical issue and drawing on sociocultural theory and situated learning theory¡ this qualitative study focuses on meaning-focused question-answer sequences to understand whether unfolding sequences¡ as structured by teachers¡ solicit learner-initiated participation. The data come from 10 videotaped and transcribed lessons from seven English teachers and their intermediate level students¡ at four private language institutes in Iran¡ which were analyzed within conversation analysis framework. Based on detailed analysis of classroom episodes¡ a very small number of learner initiatives was uncovered. The analysis revealed that several interactional practices by teachers (addressing the whole class¡ extending wait-time¡ encouraging student-student interaction¡ acknowledging response¡ giving positive feedback¡ and using continuers) tend to prompt learners’ initiation and learners can also create learning opportunities for themselves (following silence or following their own or other initiation). To characterize the findings¡ a typology of interactional acts that prompt solicited and unsolicited learner initiation is also provided. Some episodes are analyzed and the implications for teachers and teacher educators are also discussed.

The present study was conducted to investigate the impact of using computer-aided argument mapping (CAAM) on the improvement of Iranian learners’ writing self-regulation. To this end¡ 90 participants out of 127 senior university students in English translation were selected after administrating language proficiency test¡ as well as an essay writing test for the purpose of homogenizing the learners. Then all participants completed the self-regulation questionnaire in writing skill. As the homogeneity of responses was checked¡ the participants were randomly categorized into three equal groups as control¡ experimental 1¡ and experimental 2. During the course¡ as the participants in the experimental groups accomplished their writing assignments via CAAM software (in person and in pairs)¡ the participants in the control group did their assignments traditionally. At the end of the course¡ all participants completed the same writing self-regulation questionnaire again. Using SPSS 21¡ the one-way ANOVA statistical procedure was utilized to determine the effectiveness of CAAM on writing self-regulation. The findings revealed that using CAAM in writing classes improved learners’ self-regulation. Moreover¡ the Post-Hoc statistical procedure between two experimental groups showed that collaborative learning in a computer hands-on learning environment led to higher writing self-regulation.

Teachers can influence the complex process of learning in education¡ in general¡ and in second/foreign language (L2) learning in particular. In this light¡ understanding the factors influencing teachers’ pedagogical success can help L2 teachers achieve more effective teaching. This study then investigated the role of spiritual intelligence (SI) in L2 teachers’ pedagogical success. In so doing¡ it explored the relationship between teachers’ SI and their L2 pedagogical success assessed by students. Additionally¡ it examined the extent to which SI could contribute to L2 teachers’ pedagogical success. To these ends¡ following a sequential mixed-methods design¡ quantitative data were gathered through Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire (SIQ) and Characteristics of Successful Teachers’ Questionnaire (CSTQ) from a sample of 130 EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers and 780 EFL learners respectively. Semi-structured interviews with 45 EFL teachers¡ classroom observation¡ and syllabus analysis were also used to triangulate the qualitative data. The results of Pearson product correlation coefficients revealed a significant and positive relationship between SI and L2 teachers’ pedagogical success. Also¡ multiple regression indicated a unique and moderately high contribution of three components of SI (transcendent self-realization¡ spiritual experiences¡ and patience) to the teachers ‘pedagogical success. Moreover¡ follow-up qualitative analysis indicated that the more spiritually intelligent teachers were more responsible¡ courageous¡ creative¡ confident and conscious; they were better at interpersonal relationship and less anxious about pursuing their educational goals. Such findings imply that high level of SI can help L2 teachers promote their success and¡ in turn¡ improve their students’ L2 achievement in classroom.