International Journal of Research in English Education
Volume:4 Issue: 3, Sep 2019

This study is aimed to investigate the relationship between teacher emotional intelligence, emotional support, and classroom leadership. To this end, three instruments consisting of emotional intelligence with three dimensions (appraisal and expression of emotion, the regulation of emotion, and the utilization of emotion),  teacher emotional support scale with four dimensions (positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, and regards for student perspective), and teacher classroom leadership scale with seven dimensions (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, contingent reward, active management, and passive management), were administered to 321 EFL Iranian teachers in Ilam, Iran. Bivariate correlation analysis indicated significant correlations among all three variables. Not only were all of the subscales correlated with their scales but also significant correlations were found among them and other scales and subscales of the study. Moreover, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach was applied in order to confirm the hypothetical model. The following results obtained from SEM confirmed the hypothetical model (chi- squared=1/637, (p < .001), PGFI =0.693(>0.50), and PNFI =0.785 (>0.50), IFI =0.981(>0.90), CFI=0.981 (>0.90), SRMR =0.031(<0.05), GFI=0.947(>0.90), and RMSEA =0.041 (< 0.05). The results showed that being aware of emotional skills and leadership behaviors, teachers and student teachers could better develop effective leadership skills in the class. The results of the present study have valuable implications for EFL teachers and other practitioners in the field.

Assessment has been taken to demonstrate that learning is aligned with external standards which is almost related to students’ goals in a curriculum in English language teaching and it plays an integral role in the success of language learning program that is following by so many EFL teachers. Consistency in scoring (mid-term and final exams) highly depends on the way of conducting paper assessment, validation of the process, reliability, experience of teachers, and different interpretation of assessors to make justified decision. Hence, the present study was an attempt to probe Iranian EFL learners’ perceptions toward paper assessment in mid-term and final exams in a language institute. To this end, a total of 100 participants (50 males and 50 females) between ages of 15 to 28 at intermediate level, were selected based on Nelson Proficiency Test. Data were collected through scores of two sequential semesters and a Likert scale questionnaire. The findings of this study indicated that there is a direct positive relation between learners’ viewpoints on paper assessment and their progress. Generally speaking, paper assessment in both formative and summative assessment would be a great progress among female and male English language learners.

The present study sought to investigate the differential effect of using native-accent and non-native accent materials on the Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ listening comprehension. To this purpose, 60 primary EFL Iranian learners participated in the study. The participants were randomly divided into a control group (N=30) and an experimental group (N=30). First, a Quick Placement Test which consisted of vocabulary, grammar, and reading items was administered in order to ensure the homogeneity of participants. As the intervention of the study, the control group was provided with the listening materials accompanied by the use of their native-accent audio files, whereas the experimental group was exposed to the same listening tasks and materials which were pronounced by the non-native teacher. The experimental intervention lasted for six forty-minute sessions. To collect the data, the listening component of Pearson Test of English General (PTE General) was used as the pre-test and the post-test to measure listening comprehension of the participants. The results indicated that using non-native accent listening materials was more effective than using native-accent materials in enhancing listening comprehension of the EFL learners. These findings were discussed in the light of English as an International Language (EIL) debate and the theory of inter-language speech intelligibility benefit.

Nowadays, English has become an international language and is used for communication and interaction among different countries and cultures across the world. So, the ability to communicate in a comprehensive way is one of the major goals of any second language educational setting. The aims of the present research were to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ social intelligence (SI) and their willingness to communicate (WTC) across gender, as well as to find out any possible difference between male and female learners in SI and their WTC relationship. To this end, 240 male and female EFL learners from different institutions were selected as the participants of the study with different age ranges based on convenient sampling. Then two standardized questionnaires, i.e., SI and WTC, were administered for all participants to answer. After collecting the required data and its analysis, the findings revealed a positive and significant correlation between male and female SI and their WTC. In addition, further statistical analysis using  formula showed no difference between learners’ SI and WTC relationship across gender. The findings of the present research could be applicable for EFL learners, teachers, and material developers.

The present study set out to investigate if informed Peer Dynamic Assessment (P-DA), as an alternative to Dynamic Assessment (DA), can cultivate grammar learning of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To accomplish the objectives, two intact classes including 15 female students, aged from 16 to 20, were selected and randomly assigned into two groups, namely, experimental and control at Iran Language Institute in Khorram Abad City, Lorestan Province. The experimental group was trained on principles and procedures of P-DA during two sessions to make sure that the participants know how to provide their peers with graduated feedback appropriately. Next, they were teamed up in groups of three in order to work on a number of grammatical structures embedded in their course book for ten sessions. In contrast, the control group worked on the same grammatical structures according to traditional approaches wherein feedback was given unsystematically by the teacher. Furthermore, three parallel grammar tests, designed and developed by a panel of well-experienced EFL teachers, were administered as pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test to measure the participants’ grammar knowledge prior and after the instructions. The collected data were analyzed using ANCOVA test. Results revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of gain scores on the post-test. In addition, the findings indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the delayed post-test. In light with the findings, some pedagogical implications were presented for EFL teachers and learners.

The study analyzed a corpus of 40 emails of requests composed by Vietnamese students to their university lecturers. The study purpose was to identify politeness strategies composed by Vietnamese students using Brown and Levinson’s model and Blum-Kulka, House and Kasper’s framework as guidelines. To obtain the results, a discourse analysis was implemented. The AnConc software was used as a research tool for the study. 40 emails from 80 students were collected and divided into three types of requestive emails: assistance, confirmation and consideration, and recommendation for data analysis. Syntactical and lexical modifiers were examined and politeness markers were identified manually by the assistance of the AnConc software. The results indicated that Vietnamese students often used status-stating, deferent and solidary politeness strategies to approach their professors for personal requests. While using these three strategies, the target students had to use syntactical and lexical devices such as modals, interrogatives, please, and hedges as speech acts or supportive moves to gain their requestive purposes. The study also identified a common pattern that Vietnamese students liked to use the email corpus in the direction of salutation, self-introduction, requests, reasons for request, and thank compliments. The study has pedagogical implications for language teachers and learners; e.g. email writing should be taught to students, especially ESP students as these students do not know the format and the appropriate language they should use in email composition. Language students should also pay attention to the correct formal form and cultural differences when composing requestive emails delivered to their professors.
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Vocabulary plays a pivotal role in second language learning and development. Concordance-based methods are considered as new techniques for improving teaching materials and motivating learners to improve their language ability with authentic texts. To this end, the present study aims to enhance the effect of Innovative Concordancing Instruction (ICI) on vocabulary knowledge by integrating principled instructional approaches. The participants included 90 university students at undergraduate level in Islamic Azad University in Tehran, Iran. First, after giving a proficiency test, the students were divided into innovative concordancing, traditional concordancing and control group. The participants in both experimental groups were given eight-week vocabulary instruction, while no special vocabulary instruction was considered for the sample in the control group. Based on the results, ICI had both better immediate and delayed instructional effects on increasing receptive and productive knowledge although the students in instructional groups improved in terms of receptive and productive knowledge. The present study could present some implications for teaching vocabulary when designing vocabulary curricula and developing materials for EFL learners and teachers.