International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research
Volume:9 Issue: 38, Autumn 2021

Delving into the sources of foreign language writing problems is usually neglected. This necessitates more scrutiny of finding out where these problems originate from. To this end, the present study sought to follow a two-fold aim finding the roots of the Iranian EFL learners’ writing problems, and discovering how these roots are interconnected with each other and come up with a corresponding model. In the qualitative part of the study, a phenomenological research tradition was adopted and 20 EFL learners were selected through purposive sampling. In the quantitative part, through convenience sampling 120 language learners from an English language school in Gorgan, Iran, were selected to be the participants of the study. A semi-structured interview and a researcher-developed questionnaire were used as the instruments for data collection. The results obtained from the analysis of data revealed that writing problems originate from various sources, mainly linguistic, personal, epistemological and ecological, and enjoy a model in which epistemological, linguistic and ecological sources have direct effects and personal source has indirect effect on writing problems. Recognition of epistemological and ecological sources as a novel finding can make teachers revisit their view of these less-approached issues.

Processability Theory (PT) is regarded as one of the prominent theory of second language acquisition (SLA) developed to illuminate the developmental sequences in SLA as well as some other linguistic phenomena (Pienemann, 1998a; 2011).Since 1990s, Processability has been at the center of attention in second language acquisition research. Within the framework of Processability theory and through analyzing the written performance of Iranian EFL learners, the present research focused on the acquisition of “Copula inversion” and “Negation” across five proficiency levels, from elementary to advanced and compared it with the stage-like development model of morpho-syntactic structures proposed by Pienemann (1998a, 2011). The study followed a descriptive method of research and the data was collected from 350 participants in five different proficiency levels from elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate, upper-intermediate and advanced. The participants were asked to provide samples of their written performance on different tasks such as introduction task, habitual action task, story retelling task, audio-video-retelling task, picture description task, composition, communication task. The data in this research was analyzed both qualitatively, in order to identify and classify the type and order of the morpho-syntactic structures; and quantitatively, by calculating means. The results of Kruskal-Wallis test revealed that “Negation” emerged at the elementary level of the language learners’ performance and “copula inversion” emerged at the intermediate level. Just the same, the competence of the learner grows stronger in concern with these variables through the higher proficiency levels. These findings imply that PT is valid for Iranian EFL learners, as well.

The primary aim of this study was to shed light on the impact of a new instruction model, reflective reciprocal teaching (RRT), on English as a foreign language learners' (EFL) reading comprehension ability. Its mode of inquiry was a mixed-method, and it took on a quasi-experimental design, including a pretest, treatment, and posttest paradigm. The sampling techniques were both convenience and random sampling by which 100 EFL freshman learners were selected and assigned into three groups of reflective reciprocal teaching (RRT), reciprocal teaching (RT), and control. Two tests, namely Oxford Quick Placement Test and Michigan English Language Assessment Battery, were used to measure EFL learners' proficiency level and reading comprehension ability in its quantitative phase. ANOVA was utilized to analyze the collected data. Also, during the next step, which aimed to explore the learners' perceptions of RRT instruction, semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data. The results indicated that the RRT group outperformed the control group regarding their reading comprehension ability; however, the RT instruction did not significantly impact this issue. Accordingly, the qualitative data analysis findings indicated that self-regulated learning, perceived competence, metacognitive awareness, confidence, and intrinsic motivation were the significant results of the RRT instruction model, contributing to the learners' reading comprehension ability.

Flipped classroom establishes a framework for personalized education tailored to students’ individual needs by incorporating simple technologies of audio/video recordings into instruction. Considering the challenges General English (GE) students and instructors face such as time limitation, students’ low motivation and diverse learning preferences, there seems to be an urgent need for studies on flipped learning. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of flipped classrooms on Iranian EFL learners’ learning outcome in a GE course. As such, fifty students of engineering majors in two intact classes participated in the study and were assigned to a control (n=25) and an experimental (n=25) group. The experimental group received instruction in line with the principles of flipped learning while the control group was taught using the conventional method. The participants’ level of learning outcome was measured before and after the treatment by an achievement test consisting of two parts: grammar and vocabulary. The data were analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The results revealed a significant difference between the two groups’ performance on the achievement post-test in general and in its two sections (grammar and vocabulary) in favor of the experimental group. Further analysis showed that the effect size for the intervention was large (ηp 2=.19>.14) for general learning outcome; however, as for the components of the achievement test, the effect size was found to be large for vocabulary section (ηp 2=.16>.14) and middle for the grammar section (ηp 2=.134<.14), respectively. Possible interpretations of the findings are discussed and certain implications and applications for GE instructors and materials developers are suggested.

This study sought to investigate translation strategies in translation of culture-specific items (CSIs) in Persian translation of ‘The Egyptian’ novel by Mika Waltari. To this end, it benefited from corpus-based comparative content analysis design within a qualitative approach. The corpus of this study consisted of 150 pages of the novel ‘The Egyptian’ by Mika Waltari along with their Persian translations by Zabihollah Mansouri, which were selected through simple random sampling. Data analysis included parallel comparison of the source text and its translation in terms of the occurrence of different types of translation strategies used in the translations. Furthermore, statistical procedures which were conducted consisted of calculation of frequency and percentage of different translation strategies (to identify the most and least frequent strategies) and chi-square test (to see if there is a significant difference between the frequencies of different strategies used by the translator). The results of data analysis showed that the translator has used the following translation strategies: Calque, equivalence, adaptation, literal translation, modulation and omission. Moreover, it was found that the most frequent strategy was calque. Furthermore, the lowest frequency belonged to modulation and omission. In addition, a significant difference was revealed between the frequencies of different translation strategies. The findings have some implications for translation students, translation teachers, and translators.

This study aimed to investigate the syntactic errors that the Iranian deaf and hearing-impaired (DHI) make in their L2 writings. To this purpose, 60 male and female Iranian DHI students with different social status were selected, through convenience sampling procedure, as participants from among the students of a deaf community in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Their general writing performance was assessed through a proficiency test (pre-test) before they received a six-week writing instruction, in which they were provided with model written utterances and common syntactic points such as sentence order, word order, subject/verb agreement, etc. At the end of the treatment, they were given two topics and asked to write short paragraphs (post-test). Then, different syntactic errors were spotted, analyzed and categorized based on Keshavarz’s linguistic taxonomy of errors. The obtained results indicated that the writing quality of the participants improved from pre-test to post-test. It was also found that majority of the participants committed more syntactic omission errors than syntactic addition errors and syntactic substitution errors. It was further found that syntactic errors in written language were not affected by the gender and social class of the participants. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence for teaching syntactic order to deaf and hearing-impaired students in order to enhance their L2 writing performance.

This study intended to explore Iranian EFL teachers’ life satisfaction as well as their empathy levels. Furthermore, the relationship between Iranian EFL teacher’s life satisfaction and their empathy was investigated. To achieve these objectives, a group of 245 male and female Iranian EFL teachers with the age range of 20 to 55 years old participated. Data were collected through Life Satisfaction and Empathy Questionnaires. Results revealed that EFL teachers were satisfied with their life and were empathic teachers. Moreover, a significant relationship was found between these two variables. The main conclusion is that life satisfaction can have positive impacts on certain aspects of life; hence, it is recommended that proper conditions be provided for the EFL teachers. Additionally, having empathy with students may create happiness in both students and the teacher. Such happiness can presumably make the student bear a positive perspective towards language learning, thereby making them more motivated to learn English.

This study was an attempt to evaluate the attitude of Iranian conference participants regarding the effect of ELT conferences on their professional development and teaching practices. To this end, an appropriate questionnaire was administered to 192 conference participants selected through convenience sampling. The collected data was statistically analyzed, and the obtained results revealed that the participants believed that ELT conferences in Iran have positive effects on the participants' professional development and teaching practices in terms of familiarity with the existing trends in the ELT, motivation for conducting further studies and application of conference materials in their teaching. The results also showed that the participants noted a number of drawbacks in such events, including the low quality of papers and presentations, attendance just for the sake of getting a certificate, and theoretical rather than practical orientation, which might be the cause of demotivation for teachers to attend upcoming conferences. To remove these drawbacks, the participants offered some suggestions such as providing guidelines for presentations and double-blind review papers, holding more workshops, internationalizing the conferences, and attracting more keynote speakers and foreign presenters.

Reflection is a key component of teacher development by which teachers can gain an understanding of the teaching knowledge, connect theory to practice and develop teaching skills. This study aimed to investigate the underlying structure of the items that make up ‘reflection-for-action’ in an Iranian EFL context. To present a framework for research and highlight the components of reflection-for-action, this study developed and validated a teacher reflection-for-action questionnaire. To this end, ten components were identified after undertaking a comprehensive review of the literature and conducting interviews with domain experts on Reflection. Then a draft version of the Reflection questionnaire, consisting of 49 items, was pilot tested with 200 teacher evaluators, who were working for various English language institutes and universities in Iran. The results, using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), led to a 38-item questionnaire with strong estimates of reliability and validity. The results also demonstrated that the questionnaire consisted of a seven-factor structure of collaboration, motivation, perception, experience, academic qualification, professional development, and efficacy. Consequently, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was carried out with another 200 Iranian EFL teachers to check the fitness of the proposed model. The result of CFA indicated that the model enjoyed a satisfactory level of goodness of fit, showing that the seven-factor were not the result of random variance in the learners’ responses. Finally, statistical results are discussed and implications are provided.

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is so fraught with real-life experiences that the reader is unsure about recognizing any single character as the villain. Since the events in the novel take place in the Victorian era, and the attitude of the Victorian English towards the racial “other” was that of a vindictive better towards their slaves, this paper attempts to examine the role of villainy in the novel. Despite the general viewpoint that considers Heathcliff as the sole source of malice in the novel, this paper looks to build on a social approach in identifying the villain(s) of the novel. Drawing on Bhabha’s (2012) theories, such as “hybridity”, “mimicry” and “third-space”, which will serve as the main source of investigation, we will organize the argument so as to identify the villain(s) in Wuthering Heights. The purpose of such an investigation, therefore, will be to explain why and how a colonial "other", that is Heathcliff, becomes a villain in a society whose practitioners consider themselves righteous.

Understanding the relationship between job stressors and burnout among English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher using the Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model in Iran is under-researched. Through a cross-sectional research design, the study aimed at investigating the EFL teachers’ burnout using the variables in ERI model. To this aim, 105 EFL teachers filled in ERI questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory Educators Survey (MBI-ES). The quantitative data were analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient analysis to examine the relationship between variables in ERI model and burnout dimension. The results indicated that there was a positive significant relationship between effort and overcommitment and all three burnout dimensions but a negative relationship between reward subscale and depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. The multiple regression analysis was also used to identify ERI subscales as predictors of burnout dimensions. The results revealed that ERI model variables had a moderate amount of variation in depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment and a small amount of variation in emotional exhaustion.

This study investigated the impact of cooperative learning on Iranian high schoolEFL learners’ critical thinking and motivation. To this end, 142 EFL students were selected based on their performance on the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT), and divided into two heterogeneous experimental groups (EG) receiving treatment through STAD model of cooperative learning, and two control groups (CG) without any treatment. To recognize the entry behaviors of the participants, pretests were run. Then, the same educational content was taught to both groups during an educational term. Furthermore, in order to disclose the effect of treatment, a critical thinking post-test similar to the pretest but in rearranged order in options and items, and a motivation post-test were administered at the end of the instruction. The results obtained from the statistical analysis of the scores showed that cooperative learning has a significant effect on the critical thinking and motivation of the participants. The findings of the study are beneficial for EFL learners to improve their small group capabilities.

The current mixed method study investigated the use of synchronous/asynchronous computer-mediated communication as a method of L2 pronunciation achievement among medical students during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. In so doing, the study utilized an experimental comparative design with two groups of 17 participants. There were two types of tests in this study: word stress test, and a semi-structured interview. The results showed the positive effect of computer mediated communication in pronunciation development among students of medicine. Moreover, the findings revealed more positive effect of synchronous computer mediated communication-oriented instruction compared with asynchronous computer mediated communication-oriented instruction on medical students' English language pronunciation development. It can be concluded that computer mediated communication especially synchronous mode is effective for pronunciation development of medical students since technology provides the opportunities through which medical students can notice the gaps in their current English language and thus produce modified output.

Preparing proper activities in classroom setting and providing learners with them will lead to their success particularly in listening and speaking skills. This study aimed at exploring the learners’ perceptions of applying Multiple Intelligence-Based Activities (MIBAs) to improve these two skills. To this end, 30 Iranian intermediate EFL learners were selected and they were taught using some appropriate activities based on the definition of eight types of Gardner’s intelligence. The treatment period lasted for 10 weeks, three sessions of 60 minutes per week. After the treatment, two English perception questionnaires for speaking and listening with the same content based on the MIBAs were developed, validated, and administered. The data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, item mean scores, and one-sample t test to get the learners’ perceptions of using these activities in their classes and their effects on improving listening and speaking skills. A semi-structured interview was also conducted to gain and support the data obtained from the participants. It could thus be concluded that all respondents had positive perceptions about the application of MIBAs for the purpose of L2 listening and speaking; moreover, this positivity was confirmed via the results of semi structured interviews. The findings may offer some implications for the fields of teaching, material preparation, and curriculum designing. Additionally, the findings can make optimal changes for assessment methods.

The current study was an effort to investigate the impact of strategy-based instruction (SBI) on Iranian tertiary learners’ perception of autonomy. To this purpose, forty-eight English Translation students in a reading comprehension course at Islamic Azan University, Islamshahr, Iran, were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Then, a package of nine 90-minute strategy-based instruction sessions was integrated into the experimental group, and the conventional method of reading was applied for the control group. After the intervention, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 12 learners of the experimental group. The results obtained from statistical data analysis revealed that SBI had a significant impact on Iranian learners’ perception of autonomy. However, this impact was only observed in the Activities component of Learner Autonomy. The results of the interview indicated that the non-significant values of the other two components of Learner Autonomy could be explained by the culture-bound and context-dependent nature of Learner Autonomy. The results also showed that integrating SBI in English language classes raises learners’ awareness and fosters their autonomy. The findings of this study highly recommend the development of more strategy-based courses in universities and the integration of SBI in various ELT classes in order to raise learners’ awareness and foster Learner Autonomy.