Teaching English Language
Volume:17 Issue: 39, Winter and Spring 2023

The effects of class size on teaching and learning in EFL classrooms have been through an argumentative debate among researchers for a long time. Some scholars, researchers, and teachers claim that large classes result in negative effects while others see large classes as opportunities. Hence, the main aim of this paper is to explore the attitudes of students regarding the negative effects of large classes on EFL learning at Kandahar University in Afghanistan. This research is a quantitative study, which applied the survey design. The questionnaire of the study was adapted from Donkoh and Antwi (2015). The researchers distributed 150 questionnaires to freshman, sophomore, junior and senior students in the Department of English Language and Literature, and collected back 130 questionnaires properly filled in. The study found that in the instructional domain, practical works, exercises, and communicative activities were seriously missing and the teachers were dedicating most of the class time to classroom management and attendance; in the psychological domain, students were passive and felt neglected; in the social domain, there was an emotional gap between teacher and students. Lastly, the findings of the research are in line with the studies carried out in the EFL context in other countries. Moreover, the study presents some implications and recommendations to cope with the problems of large classes for future application in teaching EFL students.

The current study explored the effect of value-based reading instruction on EFL learners' attitudes towards human social values and etiquette. Seventy-three university students were randomly assigned to Select Readings Group (SRG, n = 37) and value-based reading group (VRG, n = 36). Participants were assessed through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires in terms of their attitudes towards values and awareness of etiquette, prior and successive to the treatment. The instructional materials used for the experimental group were reading comprehension passages based on human values, and passages with etiquette topics. The results of two-way ANCOVA showed a significant difference between SRG and VRG in terms of their attitudes towards values and awareness of etiquette. Furthermore, gender was found not to have a significant effect on the treatment results. The results also confirmed an increase in learners’ interest in etiquette and value-based topics in reading comprehension courses. Findings are discussed in relation to the incorporation of values in the contents of English textbooks and EFL classrooms to enhance positive attitudes towards values.

In comparison with the four main language skills, the writing skill has revealed that students are struggling with writing problems mainly due to ineffective feedback. Under the insights of Vygotsky's Socio-cultural Theory (SCT), DA intended to combine instruction and assessment and warrant both instruction and feedback quality. The present quasi-experimental study tried to investigate the effectiveness of the interventionist DA modalities (i.e., authoritative and facilitative) in developing the writing revision types of a sample of 120 advanced Iranian EFL learners in the form of two experimental and one control group. They produced sample essays for both diagnostic and achievement purposes; but in the interim, each experimental group was exposed to specific DA-oriented interventions while the control group received its conventional non-dynamic mainstream of teaching writing revision types. Parametric statistical analyses (MANOVA and one-way ANOVA) run forurposes revealed interesting findings 1) significant differences among the three groups in favor of DA-interventions; 2) significant difference of facilitative-DA modality over authoritative-DA modality; 3) significant differences with regard to Addition Deletion, and Substitution, 4) but no differences between the control group and the experimental groups in ‘Permutation’ were detected.

Raising English language teachers and learners’ awareness of pragmatics and pragmalinguistics has been of much concern to applied linguists since a couple of years ago. However, the number of studies on the impact of video-based pragmatic tests on EFL learners' pragmatics awareness, incidental pragmalinguistic learning, and speaking ability is scanty. The present study investigated the effect of video-based pragmatic tests on EFL learners’ pragmatic awareness and pragmalinguistic learning, and speaking ability. Participants of this study were 38 male and female language learners who were selected through convenience sampling. The participants were randomly divided into two control and experimental groups. In the experimental group, video-based pragmatic tests were used along with the usual instructional materials; while in the control group the material was taught in the conventional method, without using video-based pragmatic tests. A pretest/posttest control-experimental research design was used. a placement test, two Multiple-choice Discourse Completion Tests, and two speaking ability tests were used to assess the participants’ pragmatic awareness, incidental pragmalinguistic learning, and speaking ability before and after the treatment. Independent samples-t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for analyzing the data. The results of the study indicated a high level of pragmatic awareness and pragmalinguistic learning improvement in the experimental group. Further, the findings revealed that video-based pragmatic tests affected the learners' speaking proficiency. The findings have theoretical and pedagogical implications for applied linguists, English language teachers, and learners.

Inspired by Fulcher's Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) framework, this study focuses on two central concerns: first, the current components of LAL; and second, the needed components of LAL from the Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) head teachers' point of view. To this end, 147 EFL head teachers working at the Ministry of Education were selected. Semi-structured interviews, including demographic information and assessment-related issues, were used as the data collection method for this qualitative study. Moreover, Fulcher’s assessment literacy framework was drawn on as the analytic model guiding the study. Based on the findings, knowing and understanding LAL basics, principles and processes such as knowledge of reliability and validity, assessment models and frameworks, washback, ethical issues, rubric development, interactiveness, test formats, design of receptive and productive skills and assessment process were among the current components of LAL. Further, the effects and consequences of LAL on learners such as social, political, educational, economical and psychological consequences, were identified as the needed components for the future. The implications of the study for teachers' Continuing Professional Development programs were also noted.

Reflective teaching (RT) and emotion regulation (ER) empowers teachers to observe and evaluate themselves. Despite the long history of RT and ER, little is known about how they can influence teacher work engagement (WE). Thereby, the current research aimed at examining a structural model of English as a Foreign Language university professors’ RT, ER, and WE. In so doing, the researchers administered the English Language Teacher Reflective Inventory, The Language Teacher Emotion Regulation Inventory, and The Engaged Teacher Scale to 341 EFL university professors. They used a Structural Equation Modelling to analyze the collected data. Findings reflected that university professors with higher reflective teaching practices were more engaged in job duties. Moreover, the findings documented that the participants who were more reflective in their teaching had higher emotion regulation. The findings offer some implications for different stakeholders.

Instruction of essential skills and strategies is critical in increasing reading comprehension. Amongst them, independent reading is a necessary skill for learners at any stage of learning. This research examined the efficacy of strategy training in enhancing reading achievement in autonomy-supportive environments. To this end, an explanatory mixed-methods research was designed. Fifty sophomores in two groups majoring in TEFL participated in the study after taking a Preliminary English Test. They were randomly assigned to two treatment conditions. The learners' performance on the reading section of PET was scored separately as a pretest, indicating that the two groups had the same reading ability level at the onset. The study examined two different methods, practicing strategies through the Intensive-Extensive Reading Method (I-ERM, n=26) and the CALL-based Reciprocal Collaborative Reading Method (RCRM, n=24), followed by a post-test. Participants also filled in a questionnaire about cognitive and metacognitive strategies before and after the semester. Eight learners from each group participated in semi-structured interviews about different aspects of their instruction. Independent samples t-tests and content analysis were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data. The results indicated significant reading achievement after the intervention in both groups. Interviews also verified that the participants were positive regarding the efficacy of instructions which resulted in promoting reading and other language skills. They perceived the instructions as significant, compelling, and convincing.

Productive intelligibility strategies used by EFL learners to make themselves understood in reciprocal interactions with their teacher and peers are essential for success in online English learning courses. This qualitative study aimed to identify Iranian basic-level EFL learners' reactions to online misconceptions by identifying their productive intelligibility strategies, which involve manipulating their linguistic productions and taking social and cultural norms into account. Content analysis and critical discourse analysis were applied to the interactional discourse of 50 learners with their instructor and classmates during a three-month online English course. The students used phonological, lexical, and grammatical efficient intelligibility techniques to target online misconceptions of their teacher and classmates. Nonetheless, due to the specific affordances   of the online learning context, learners' self-confidence, and the gravity of the misunderstood linguistic elements, discrepancies emerge in the subcategories of efficient intelligibility strategies. Furthermore, Iranian basic level EFL learners’ low level of language proficiency did not lead to their avoidance of reacting to misconceptions. They strategically reproduced power relations and recontextualized Islamic culture in targeting their teachers’ misconceptions in online context through a flow of dynamic interactions. The findings uncovered the potentials of online learning in shaping the linguistic and discursive aspects of learners' strategic productions.

The traditional metric of interpreting quality is a score given by human professional judges focusing on the interpreters’ performance. However, there is a poor agreement on what constitutes an acceptable interpretation. This study investigates the objective assessment of interpreter trainees’ performance. Two groups of 15 student interpreters were formed. Participants were assigned to groups at random, but with equal division between genders (seven males in each group). The control group was taught interpreting skills by the routine curriculum, while the experimental group spent part of the time instead on theoretical explanation and practical exercises emphasizing prosodic differences between Persian and English. Three raters assessed the quality of the interpreter trainees’ performance in a post-test. Then the interpreting performance of the students was assessed objectively through Praat software. The results show that the intersubjective ratings of the students’ interpreting performance can be adequately predicted from objective measures through multiple linear regression. These results have implications for designers of curricula for training interpreters, and material producers in interpreting education.

Because of the importance of the second or foreign language (L2) identity and its role in L2 development on one hand and the significance of the identity processing styles, examining the under-researched relationship between these two dimensions of identity is a highly valuable for the SLA literature. Therefore, the current study investigated how identity processing styles were related to various dimensions of L2 identity among L2 learners. Following a purposive snowball sampling, 1,018 Iranian EFL learners took part in this study. A validated Multidimensional L2 Identity Questionnaire (MLIQ) and Identity Processing Style Inventory (IPSI-4) were filled out to explore the predictive power of the learners' identity processing styles (informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant styles) at the personal level on seven dichotomized L2 identity dimensions. The data analysis using multiple regression showed that identity processing styles significantly predicted learners’ L2 identity dimensions. The normative style was a strong predictor of aspects of the L2 identity, the diffuse-avoidant style was a moderate predictor of four L2 identity dimensions and the informational style was a weak predictor of two different dimensions of L2 identity. Building upon these socio-cognitive identity styles, EFL learners can utilize the maximum information coming from different potential sources to develop their L2 identities more systematically.

This study examined whether utilizing Video Inclusive Portfolios (VIP) as teachers' feedback had significantly impacted the reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners and whether utilizing VIP makes a noticeable variation in the reading comprehension abilities of Iranian men and women who are learning EFL. Moreover, the study explored the Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions of VIP as teachers' feedback to develop a fitting model for the Iranian EFL contexts. The study favored a quantitative-qualitative design. To this end, 120 male and female Iranian EFL learners were selected randomly based on the NTC's TOEFL test rubrics. In addition to the learners, 15 EFL teachers were also selected for the qualitative stage. Three computer applications, NTC's TOEFL Test, and interviews were the research instruments. Statistical procedures were utilized to analyze the quantitative data presented and for the qualitative part, a theme-based approach using MAXQDA was followed. The findings revealed that VIP significantly impacted the reading comprehension of learners studying EFL. Furthermore, the study did not find any significant difference among the participants of the study regarding their reading comprehension across the two genders.  The findings also indicated although some problems were mentioned by the participants, the teachers had a positive perception toward utilizing VIP in language learning/teaching of the reading comprehension skill. Finally, the results showed that a fitting model for the Iranian EFL contexts had some specific features, such as its multimodality, novelty, and strategies for improving and utilizing VIP, thereby receiving better correction than other types of feedback.

As English translation ability is a process and cannot be developed overnight, it needs continuous control of teachers at its initial stages. Thus, the researchers decided to explore the impact of dynamic assessment on Iranian English Translation students’ translation quality. The study was performed on 49 male and female English Translation students from two intact classes at Islamic Azad University – Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran. On a random basis, one of the classes was taken as the control and the other as the experimental group. The participants in both groups took the translation pre-test and translated texts from English into Farsi. During instructional sessions, the control group was taught based on traditional methods whereas the experimental group was taught and assessed according to the principles of DA. At last, the post-test was administered in both groups. Analysis of Covariance was run on the collected data, the results of which revealed a significant difference between the groups and the experimental group, who experienced DA, outperformed the control group. The findings of the study could prove useful for translation teachers, students, textbook designers, and material developers in paving the way for the development of skillful and independent translators.