Journal of New Trends in English Language Learning
Volume:2 Issue: 1, Jan 2023

The present study investigated the effectiveness of Flipped Language Classroom (FLC) in EFL learners’ reading course and their views. In doing so, a total number of 30 pre-intermediate students was selected based on the convenience sampling. A pre-test was administered to the participants at the beginning of the term to ensure that they had the same language background. Then, they were randomly assigned as experimental and control group (15 students in each group). FLC was implemented in 12 sessions with the experimental group, while the control group received traditional method of teaching reading skill. At the end of the experiment, a posttest of reading was assigned to both groups to determine the positive effect of FLC on the EFL learners' reading achievement. In addition, a related questionnaire was administered among the experimental group to explore their views on the mentioned method. By conducting this study, it was found that FLC had positive effect on the students' reading performance. The experimental study has also indicated the positive students’ views toward this communicative teaching method. On the whole, the participants’ overall satisfaction towards FCI method was achieved by this study. It is worthy to note that findings of the present work can provide the students and teachers with evidence that flipped classroom instruction could be used to improve EFL learners' reading comprehension skill.

Since writing is characterized with a cognitive nature, one practical approach to improve EFL learners' writing skill is to resort to inquiry-based learning approaches such as problem-based learning (PBL) which is characterized with a high cognitive demand and often contribute to high retention of knowledge. This study aimed at exploring Iranian EFL learners’ perceptions of problem-based learning. In so doing, a content analysis design was used within the qualitative paradigm. The participants consisted of 15 (8 females and 7 males) advanced EFL learners who participated in the study through purposive sampling from different language institutes in Tehran. The data were gathered through a semi-structured interview. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis. Based on the interview data, the following themes were extracted: Engagement, collaboration, personal preferences, sharing knowledge, novelty, less supportive teachers, joyful learning process, and use of adequate technologies, time requirements, affecting vocabulary learning, changing students' perception about the learning process and the teachers' role. The results have some implications for EFL teachers and learners, and curriculum planners. Key Words: Collaboration, Engagement, Writing, Problem-based Learning.

The present mixed-methods study investigated the relationship between learners’ achievement goals and academic performance. It also explored the goal motives of English language learners. The research, a cross-sectional survey, studied 372 BA University English language learners majoring in English language teaching, translation studies, and English literature at Islamic Azad University, Kerman and Zahedan branches. To collect the data, the learners’ Achievement Goal Questionnaire (Elliot et al., 2011) was submitted to English language learners either in person or via email. Their academic achievement was calculated based on the university report including both theoretical and practical courses. In addition, a semi-structured interview was used to explore the learners’ reflections concerning the orientations of their achievement goals. Correlations showed that achievement goals correlated positively with academic performance among English language learners. And among learners’ achievement goals, task-avoidance goals, other-approach goals, and other-avoidance goals could predict learners’ academic performance meaningfully. Besides, the qualitative findings revealed that English language learners’ goals are motivated by prior experience, personality, academic achievements, and interests. In brief, the study of the academic goals of students can facilitate the identification of their goal orientations and therefore can become a support tool for teachers when selecting materials and adapting the contents of the curricular program accordingly.

Reading is one of the English skills that Iranian students need to be good for a variety of reasons. Also, no individual can underestimate the role of vocabulary in mastering English language. Integration multimodal technology in instructing vocabulary is a new era in ELT which has not been studied enough in Iran. Therefore, the study investigated the effect of multimodal and audio-visual vocabulary input in a MALL environment on Iranian EFL learners' Motivation and reading comprehension ability. In order to carry out this study, the current paper used a quantitative design. The researcher in an experimental design, examined the effect of two types of input, namely, multimodal and audio visual on reading ability and motivation of intermediate EFL learners. The participants were 80 EFL students at intermediate level that had 10 sessions of treatment. They were divided into two experimental groups and pretest was assigned to them. After receiving the inputs (treatment), the participants took part in reading comprehension test again as their posttest, and MRP-R reading survey to measure any changes in their motivation. The results revealed that the treatments (audio-visual vocabulary input & multimodal vocabulary input) of the study were effective, and the second group (Multimodal input group) had better results. Another result was the effectiveness of MALL environment in conducting such treatments. Findings can help the related literature to add the knowledge about the pedagogical methods of multimodality. In addition, teachers will be aware of the effects of multimodality on students’ vocabulary knowledge and reading skill.

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Explicit Oral Feedback (EOF) in the form of Metalinguistic Feedback (Explanation) on Iranian high school students’ retention of grammatical structures. For this to achieve, the performance of the learners as a result of Explicit Oral Feedback, was studied. Sixty homogeneous Iranian EFL female high school students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Afterward, a grammar test was administered to see the effect of corrective feedback. The statistical techniques employed to measure such effects, were a series of independent samples t-tests and two one-way ANOVAs. The results indicated a significant effect of oral metalinguistic feedback on grammar retention over time. It is hoped that this study can help teachers to use corrective feedback strategies effectively in the process of instruction for correcting EFL learners’ grammatical errors as well as retaining grammatical structures overtime.Implications of using this kind of feedback in EFL classes and avenues for further research are discussed.

This study examined the effect of spacing on lexical development focusing on the Iranian EFL learners’ proficiency levels. Participants were 120 EFL learners from 22 to 26 of age who were studying at several English institutes in Isfahan. Three tests were used to collect the required data. First, OQPT was employed to place the learners with similar language abilities in an experimental group and a control group. Based on the OQPT results, each group was divided into two sub-groups including 30 high and 30 low proficiency learners. Then a pretest was conducted to evaluate the EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge. Learners in both control and experimental groups received the same lexicon but in different ways. Experimental groups were taught new words through spaced instruction, while control groups received through massed instruction. The spacing classes were held once a week in seven weeks while massed classes were held in one session in the eights week. During the posttest, the researcher devised an achievement test, administered it after the treatment; the results were compared and analyzed in order to determine the extent of the participants' vocabulary improvement. Findings of this research showed that using spaced instruction caused high proficiency learners to significantly outweigh the low proficiency ones. Since spacing has been widely known to have a positive effect on learning and long-term memory (Cepeda et al., 2006), therefore it can be found useful for curriculum developers and syllabus designers in deciding where to put the new vocabulary in a course or a book

This study aimed to explore the impact of consciousness-raising via vocabulary input flooding on Iranian intermediate learners’ writing fluency. To this purpose, 80 EFL learners were selected as intermediate participants through a language proficiency test (OPT), and randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group, each including 40 intermediate male and female learners. The treatment for the experimental group lasted 13 two-hour sessions in which the participants were exposed to consciousness-raising tasks via vocabulary input flooding. the control group received no treatment and just followed the conventional teaching procedures. At the end of the treatment, a writing test was administered for both groups, and the collected data was analyzed using paired-samples t-test The results of data analysis showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in writing fluency. This finding might have theoretical and pedagogical implications for language teachers/learners, curriculum designers, ELT and policy-makers, and stakeholders.

This research is an endeavor to shed light on the issues about mechanism of power and its sociological implications in David Mamet’s Boston Marriage based on Michel Foucault’s views. Power circulates everywhere, or rather as something functioning in the form of a chain so that it is not repressive; rather it is productive and described as biopower. Furthermore, an individual’s identity is constructed through social relations over which he/she has less control. In this regard, the center of the discussion is on the concepts of power and identity, subjectivity and relational freedom. Therefore, Mamet’s characters live in a special social, cultural system with which mould their identities. The research demonstrates how Foucault’s views about sexuality as an instrument for biopower are shown in Mamet’s work to control and regulate individuals. The result shows that individuals attempt to put up much resistance against the authorities via the techniques and practices of self. However, their relational freedom is particularly determined by cultural constraints that are in the discursive regime of truth. Mamet’s characters are the products of the regime not a pre-given entity. Thus, the disciplinary control over their bodies and souls both subjugates individuals and constructs their subjectivities.