Research in English Language Pedagogy
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Winter-Spring 2019

This study investigated the effects of using sentence order techniques on learning adverbs (i.e., frequency, manner, time, and place) among Iranian pre-intermediate students. To perform this study, 30 pre-intermediate participants were non-randomly selected and divided into two equal groups of control and experimental. Then, they took a teacher-made pretest of grammar in order to determine how well they knew the adverbs of frequency, manner, time, and place before the treatment. The experimental group was taught the grammatical patterns of sentence order techniques like the use of form and functions of adverbs and their positions in the sentences. The control group received the traditional method of teaching adverbs including exercising of grammar, pattern practice, etc. Finally, the participants took the posttest. Independent and paired samples t-tests were used to compare the means of the pretest and the posttest in both groups. The findings revealed that the experimental group significantly improved in the posttest. Implications of the study suggest that using new technology, especially sentence order techniques, may enhance learners' learning regarding adverbs at the pre-intermediate level.

Accuracy in writing is one of the important characteristics of a good writer, which raises concerns about how to improve it and which type of feedback can effectively contribute to its development. This quasi-experimental study, within the theoretical framework of Focus on Form (FoF), investigated the effects of metalinguistic clues in dictogloss tasks on the accurate use of conditional sentences in writing discourse. Participants were 56 female EFL learners at the intermediate level, comprising two groups of experimental (N = 28) and comparison (N = 28) in a language institute in Tabriz. After checking the homogeneity of the participants by a proficiency test, they were pre-tested. In the experimental group, participants received metalinguistic clues in dictogloss tasks, while in the comparison group, participants received dictogloss tasks, without any meta-linguistic feedback. After the treatment, two groups were post-tested. ANCOVA data analysis revealed that the experimental group outperformed the comparison group in the accurate use of conditional sentences in their writing performance. The results of this study will be a valuable contribution in how to enhance students’ accuracy in written discourse by giving feedback through metalinguistic clues.

This study explored teachers’ practices and students’ preferences regarding grammar-centered written corrective feedback (WCF) in an Iranian EFL context. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 14 teachers and 15 students, teaching and taking English at different proficiency levels. The data analysis identified three thematic categories in the interview responses: error correctors, amount of WCF, and WCF methods. The findings showed that the teachers mostly provided teacher-generated grammar feedback since they believed that their students preferred this type of correction. Additionally, the students preferred teacher-generated feedback. Also, the teachers mostly gave comprehensive feedback on the grammatical errors, because they thought comprehensive correction was perceived positively by their students. This, similarly, was preferred by the students. Moreover, the teachers stated that their students liked direct grammar feedback; the students also reported their preference for direct WCF. Overall, the teachers were aware of their students’ preferences, so they provided the kind of feedback their students were most likely to effectively engage with.

Substantial claims have been made that Formative Assessment (FA), if practiced effectively, improves learning. This study aimed at exploring the effect of FA on EFL learners’ academic achievement. The population included high school teachers and their students in Khorramabad, Lorestan, Iran. The sample included 40 teachers and their students (n=651) who were randomly selected and assigned to two groups of experimental and control. Teachers in the experimental group participated in a workshop on FA before the treatment. However, teachers in the control group followed the usual syllabus based on Iran’s educational system. The students’ academic achievement was measured in both groups by an achievement test before the treatment. Trained observers attended the classes in the experimental group and completed Formative Assessment Observation Report, which reports teachers’ practice of FA. After the treatment, posttests on students’ achievement in both groups were conducted. To analyze the data, ANCOVA was used. The results indicated that effective implementation of FA enhances students’ academic achievement. However, gender was not a determining factor. Moreover, among FA components, clarifying learning targets was the most and monitoring was the least frequent strategy used by teachers.

This paper, anchored in interlanguage pragmatics, studied the effects of individual differences such as language proficiency, gender, and age on the production of speech act of requests in institutional discourse. To this end, 187 Persian EFL university students at three academic levels (undergraduates, postgraduates and PhD students) participated in this study. Triangulation was undertaken to collect and analyze the data in three phases. In phase one, through convenience sampling, the Oxford Placement Test was employed to identify the proficiency level of the students. In phase two, a three way ANOVA between subject analyses showed quantitative differences among the three groups. In the third phase, in-depth qualitative analyses of test items and retrospective verbal reports (RVRs) revealed developmental information about the cognitive and individual traits followed in pragmatic awareness. Results showed that sociocultural, socio-psychological, and socio-affective aspects of the discourse situations influenced not only students’ pragmalinguistic and sociolinguistic choices but also their negotiation of lexical and grammatical forms in planning the requests. One significant implication is that not only linguistic competence is essential for the EFL learner, acquiring pragmatic competence is also important.

This study investigated the effect of first language (L1) metalinguistic comments on Iranian EFL learners’ acquisition of third person /-s/ as measured by the learners’ performance on a grammaticality judgment test. Accordingly, two intact university classes- randomly assigned to experimental and comparison groups- were homogenized based on their scores on language proficiency and grammatically judgment tests. During 6 hours of task-based instructions, the experimental group was treated by L1 metalinguistic comments and the comparison group through L2 metalinguistic comments. Using ANCOVA and t-test to compare the groups’ scores, the results indicated that although the mean accuracy scores of both groups were improved on the immediate posttest, the experimental group outperformed the comparison group on the delayed posttest.  It can be postulated that L1 metalinguistic comments lead to more durable gains than L2 metalinguistic comments in EFL classrooms. The findings suggest that L1 use may aid language learners to become more cognitively conscious of L2 grammar features.

Learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in an enjoyable and challenging environment can make an appropriate context for promoting language achievement. It seems textbooks play a pivotal role in this regard. This study aimed at examining the impact of the supplementary materials on learners' emotional stance and their perceptions of classroom activities (interest, challenge, joy, and choice). To do so, a three-phase study was designed:  in phase 1, to evaluate Prospect series (textbook taught in Iranian junior high schools) based on emotional factors, a questionnaire measuring the emotional side of the series was utilized. In the second phase, taking into account the obtained results of the first phase and according to Mortiboy’s (2005) guidelines for teaching with emotional intelligence, supplementary materials were designed. In the third phase, the designed tasks and activities were implemented in a class (experimental group).  The results of t-test and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that the designed tasks had a positive and significant effect on learners' emotional facet, perceptions of class activity, and language achievement.

This study explored the effect of timing of feedback (i.e., immediate vs. delayed) and learners’ age (adolescent vs. adult) on the development of English regular past tense structure. Two intermediate classes of adolescent and adult learners were selected as the participants. Participants were asked to carry out two narrative tasks which set the context for the provision of corrective feedback. The selected target structure was the regular past tense –ed feature. The untimed grammaticality judgment test was used to measure explicit knowledge development and elicited imitation test was employed for the measurement of implicit learning. These tests were administered at the beginning of the study as pre-test, immediately after the provision of immediate feedback and again immediately after the provision of delayed corrective feedback. The results demonstrated that whereas both adolescent and adult learners improved their implicit knowledge after the delayed feedback, explicit knowledge was improved in adult learners after both immediate and delayed feedback but in delayed feedback in adolescent learners. The implications of the findings are discussed in light of theories of second language acquisition.