Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies
Volume:11 Issue: 2, Spring 2024

This qualitative study aimed to explore Iranian EFL teachers’ cognition of corrective feedback as one of the elements of classroom management in the EFL context of Iran’s language institutes. Participants of the study were 12 in-service Iranian EFL teachers who taught adult EFL learners. The participants were selected through purposeful sampling, and the sample size was determined based on saturation. The main instrument of the study was a semi-structured one-to-one in-person interview, which aimed to elicit the participants’ cognition of corrective feedback. These individual interviews were audio-recorded and then they were transcribed. Thematic analysis of the data indicated that the participants considered corrective feedback an important element of classroom management in EFL classes. Moreover, the participants believed that corrective feedback should be provided for common errors and errors related to lesson objectives. They classified EFL learners’ errors in terms of the purpose of activities (communication vs. form, and fluency vs. accuracy). In addition, they knew about different timings for the provision of corrective feedback (delayed vs. immediate/on-the-spot). Furthermore, they highlighted the inclusion of teacher correction, peer correction, and self-correction for sufficiently providing corrective feedback in EFL classes. They also foregrounded EFL learners’ proficiency level and their affective factors for appropriate provision of corrective feedback. On the whole, the participants had a sound cognition of corrective feedback as one of the elements of classroom management in EFL classes in Iran. The findings of the present study have implications for language teacher educators, EFL teachers, and language institute supervisors.

Academics have generally accepted that teachers' interpersonal communication techniques and strategies—specifically, teachers' self-disclosure—are excellent instructional tools. The exploration of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' perceptions regarding their self-disclosure practice and its relationship with demographic factors, which can also significantly contribute to the variation of the teachers' self-disclosure in EFL contexts, has been largely neglected in the Iranian EFL context despite the growing body of research in this area. To close this gap, the present research distributed a five-point Likert scale to the participants to gather their perceptions on self-disclosure as Iranian EFL instructors. The inferential statistical analyses revealed a high extent of self-disclosure is practiced by Iranian EFL teachers. Moreover, Hierarchical Multiple regression indicated that among degree, experience, age, and gender as demographic factors, all, except gender, are associated with EFL teachers’ self-disclosure, and could predict teachers’ self-disclosure significantly. The study provides implications for stakeholders in the EFL community.

Professional identity is considered as one of the main components of each educational system. This study was conducted with the main aim of qualitative and quantitative modeling EFL teachers’ professional identity. In so doing, it benefited from a sequential mixed methods design. As the study sample, three groups of the participants were selected in the study. The first group consisted of 50 male and female (25 novice and 25 experienced) EFL teachers who were interviewed in the qualitative phase of the study for the purpose of model development. The second group included 100 male and female (50 novice and 50 experienced) EFL teachers who participated in the quantitative phase of the study (i.e., exploratory factor analysis). The third group included 300 male and female (150 novice and 150 experienced) EFL teachers who participated in the quantitative phase of the study (i.e., confirmatory factor analysis). All the three groups were selected through available sampling. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview and a researcher-made questionnaire were used. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) (using exploratory confirmatory factor analysis), and Cronbach's alpha test. The results of data analysis led to proposition of a qualitative and a quantitative model of professional identity of Iranian EFL novice and experienced teachers. As shown by the results, the proposed qualitative and quantitative models consist of two main categories, each composed of some sub-categories. Moreover, the results showed that the proposed models enjoy an acceptable level of validity and reliability.

Considering the appreciated role that lexis plays in learning an additional language, research studies addressing vocabulary knowledge have attracted the attention of language teachers and researchers. The study of vocabulary learning strategies and how they relate to language learners’ vocabulary knowledge, therefore, is of immediate pedagogical as well as theoretical relevance. This study investigates the relationship between Iranian EFL learners' vocabulary learning strategies and their breadth (meaning recall and meaning recognition) and depth of vocabulary knowledge. To collect data, the Vocabulary Learning Strategies Survey, Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Test, Meaning Recall Task and Vocabulary Level Test were given to two hundred and thirty (56 male and 144 female) English majors. Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to analyze the data and test the hypothesized model. Results indicated that strategies associated with direct individualized attempts (determination strategies) were significant predictors of both vocabulary breadth and depth knowledge and that mnemonic/memory strategies significantly predicted vocabulary breadth positively but depth negatively. Other strategies seemed to have different effects on various dimensions of vocabulary knowledge. The study has pedagogical implications for vocabulary learning and teaching.

The significance of positive psychology constructs in second language learning and teaching is currently being emphasized by many L2 scholars. Accordingly, the present study intended to investigate the relationship between a set of positive psychology variables (namely, critical thinking, academic resilience and grit) and argumentative writing performance of 48 Iranian EFL learners. The necessary data were collected based on the students' responses to an argumentative essay writing prompt and the instruments measuring their status in critical thinking, academic resilience and grit. The coefficient of correlation indexes indicated rather low associations between argumentative writing performance and these constructs. Multiple regression pointed to the superiority of subscales targeting affective aspects and emotion regulation in accounting for the argumentative writing performance of the learners. Nevertheless, despite the superiority of high-skilled writers compared to moderately-skilled and less-skilled writers in critical thinking, academic resilience and grit, MANOVA results indicated no statistically significant differences among these groups of learners in these variables. Finally, it was concluded that since these positive psychology constructs are responsive and amenable to instruction, some appropriate pedagogical interventions, materials, and activities must be designed to improve the students' competence in these constructs which, in turn, can positively influence their performance on rather challenging academic tasks.

Within recent advancement, teachers are required to be able to implement effective assessment in the classroom context. This is applicable by in-service professional development programs that assist teachers to improve and provide them with opportunities to enhance their knowledge and to use it practically, especially their knowledge regarding assessment and its concepts and components. Therefore, the present study, which was a quasi-experimental study, was designed to explore the effect of an in-service professional course on teachers` language assessment knowledge (LAK). To this end, a number of 76 EFL teachers, working at private institutes in Sanandaj, Iran, were selected through convenience sampling on the basis of availability to fill in the Language Assessment Knowledge questionnaire developed by Farhady and Tavassoli (2018) in order to estimate their current level of LAK. Then, a three-day workshop was held for the participants on the components and skills of language assessment. The instruction of each session took 6 hours. After 6 weeks, teachers` ALK was tested again after the treatment. The results of the paired T-test and repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the in-service professional development course had a significant effect on teachers` LAK. The participants claimed that their knowledge of different concepts and key terms in assessment was enhanced. Also, based on the findings of data analyses, the course treatment resulted in improving teachers' knowledge of how to design standard tests and use alternative assessment techniques. Details of the findings and implications are discussed.

Teachers’ sense of efficacy have an influence on how teachers teach their subjects to students. This article studies secondary school English language teachers’ level of sense of efficacy in teaching reading skill and their perceived reading skill proficiency. Besides, the study investigates the relationship between secondary school English language teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching reading and their perceived reading skill proficiency. The researchers employed a descriptive and correlational design and used questionnaires to collect data among the participants. One hundred twelve teachers from secondary schools participated in filling the questionnaires. The two questionnaires are Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale and Teachers’ Perceived Reading Skills Proficiency. The collected data from the questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient. The result revealed that secondary school English language teachers had a moderate level of self-efficacy beliefs in teaching reading skills. It also found that teachers' perceived reading skill proficiency was high. Furthermore, the study found a significant positive correlation between teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching reading and their perceived reading skill proficiency. This implies that efforts to enhance teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching reading may lead to improved reading skill proficiency. The study also highlights the importance of providing professional development opportunities for teachers to improve their sense of efficacy.

The present research responds to the call for implementing diagnostic assessment through learner involvement. This study followed two aims first, examining the distinctive effects of diagnostic self- and peer - assessments on EFL learners’ reading comprehension; second, exploring students’ diagnostic rating accuracy in various reading genres. To achieve this, a number of diagnostic reading comprehension tests and a checklist were developed, the construction of which were based on the learners’ challenging reading subskills. The participants include 60 English translation university students. During 12 weeks of instruction, the rating accuracy of the subjects’ diagnostic self- and peer- assessments were investigated while the instructor ratings were taken as the yardstick. Data analysis, using T-test and MANOVA confirmed that the two groups had improvement in reading comprehension but there was no significant difference between the two groups’ gain. In addition, no statistically significant difference was detected among the accuracy of diagnostic self-, peer- and instructor- ratings except for the assessment of main idea and supporting details subskill in descriptive genre and cause and effect subskill in narrative genre. This study can offer evidence for conducting diagnostic assessment through learner engagement to provide students with appropriate feedback and remedial instruction.