درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Children need to start learning English from a very young age in this fast globalizing world. The knowledge of the English language can assist in providing several opportunities for them in the future. It is also essential to know how very young children acquire a foreign language and which content and activities should be selected for their age. This study aimed to observe and describe the procedure of the language development of very young children. Researchers employed a descriptive case study design to portray and assess foreign language learning of two three-year-old twins’ grammar acquisition, vocabulary gains, and fluency in the early years of life (3-4/5). Besides the methods firmly associated with qualitative study and case studies, there were four sources of data collection: observation, audio-video recordings, and diary records. The central unit of the twins’ language development analysis was their utterances. The findings supported using a naturalistic environment where very young children could be exposed to the English language informally in everyday contexts and activities. This research can share its findings with education communities and very young children’s teachers to promote a new professional development model for fostering language development in very young learners’ classrooms, assessments, and curricula.

Despite a strong background in education and human resources, teachers’ Individual Development Planning (IDP), as a reflective tool for further learning, has remained untouched in the domain of ELT. Therefore, the current study is an attempt to investigate EFL teachers’ IDP in light of the grounded theory approach in an Iranian context. To do so, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 17 expert participants selected through purposive sampling in the field of IDP from all over Iran. Interviews were transcribed and labeled as open, axial, and selective codes. The results led to 9 main categories of EFL teachers’ IDP: identifying EFL teachers’ current status, identifying EFL teachers’ duties, tasks, and educational needs, school and teachers’ mutual agreement, setting goals, providing resources, planning for an IDP, implementing an IDP, self-evaluation, and reformative acts. Data also unveiled the causal, contextual, and intervening conditions in the way of developing and implementing an IDP. The findings of the study can have theoretical and practical implications for EFL teachers, school principals, and educational policymakers.

The newly demanded language learning methodologies can exhibit their maximum efficiency if they are monitored meticulously and regularly in their particular contexts of application. The prerequisite would be putting educational programs in the spotlight and identifying the decisive elements of each learning context. Accordingly, based on the solicited responses from 638 students, in this study, a scale was developed and validated to inquire into the participants’ perceptions about the extent to which classroom interaction, learner needs, learner autonomy, pedagogical scaffolding, and learner identity could regulate learning activities in Iranian academic contexts. Importing the survey results to AMOS 22, we tested and validated a hypothetical model of the addressed variables. The validated model supported the interwoven relationships of the study variables and the pivotal role of interaction in regulating, predicting, shaping, and explaining the behaviors of other variables. The results can raise awareness of the sociocultural manifestations of classroom interaction, learner needs, learner autonomy, pedagogical scaffolding, and learner identity in Iranian TEFL programs and encourage highly positive developments and generally accepted practices to improve the status quo. Decision-makers and stakeholders can also gain a detailed insight into how sociocultural variables interrelate and accordingly coordinate their social and educational policies and measures.

As a dominant genre of academic writing, research papers can be considered as the locus of reproduction concerning asymmetrical power relations and dominance. Through a purposive sampling consisting of the analysis and evaluation of an argument, the purpose of this study was to divulge the power and ideology latent in the discussion section of the research articles to raise second language learners’ awareness of the epistemological foundations and methodological goals and values of the ideologies behind the texts as social structures. By using a practical reasoning framework as an evaluative tool to analyze a text presented in the discussion part of arguments published in research articles, the analysis revealed that the scientific viewpoints exhibit themselves as the premises of these arguments. These world views maintain the dominance of the papers on global academic and social discourses. Understanding the ideological purpose of the article genre is crucial for promoting democratic and equitable education. This assertion highlights the importance of recognizing this function.

The use of educational technology (Ed-Tech) and the Internet in acquiring foreign language skills has led to an increased interest in alternative teaching strategies such as flipped and blended learning. This study investigates the effects of flipped, blended, and traditional face-to-face teaching methods on the utilization of cohesive devices in paragraph writing among EFL learners. From a pool of 110 junior EFL students, 90 participants were selected. Afterwards, they were randomly divided into three groups: flipped, blended, or face-to-face. To evaluate their paragraph writing abilities, a pretest was conducted prior to the treatment. The first comparative group received instruction using the flipped teaching method, while the second group experienced a blended learning environment (combining face-to-face and online classes). The control group received traditional face-to-face instruction. Following the treatment sessions, all groups completed a posttest on paragraph writing. The findings indicated that both the flipped and blended groups demonstrated significantly better performance compared to the control group. These results provide valuable insights for EFL teachers, curriculum designers, and learners.

Known as what educational contexts do not teach, null curriculum has been considered one of the most significant types of curricula due to its absence, being left out or overlooked. This non-existent curriculum brings an important theoretical tool to the field of curriculum development for the idea that something which is not offered to students has an educational significance and effect. To follow the purpose of the study which is teachers' perspectives on the null curriculum at the BA level, 300 university instructors were selected to participate in this study. To answer the research questions various statistical methods (one-way ANOVA, independent sample t-test, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Scheffe’s test) have been utilized. Results of this quantitative study revealed that among the sub-constructs of the 21 st century, critical thinking, collaboration skills, creativity and innovation skills, self-direction skills, technological literacy, global and local connection skills, economic and financial literacy, business and entrepreneurial literacy and media literacy should be considered as aspects of the null curriculum in TEFL curriculum in BA level in Iran, and they should be added to the present curriculum; however, communication skills are not regarded as aspects of null. In addition, Iranian EFL university instructors’ ratings on different components of 21 st -century skills as one aspect of the null curriculum significantly differed. Finally, a model was proposed to describe the relationship between the ratings of the components of 21st-century skills as one aspect of the null curriculum by Iranian EFL university instructors. The findings of the present study can help to a better understanding of the ELT curriculum, aspects of the null curriculum, and 21 st -century skills in the Iranian context.

English as a First Language (EFL) and English as an Additional Language (The results indicated that both EFL and EAL students used a diverse array of linguistic features to express their ideas in academic prose, with the prospective categories being the most commonly used.

The present study addressed the effects of cognitive styles on answer-switching practices across online and traditional tests. After completing Ehrman and Leaver’s (2003) cognitive style questionnaire, a sample of upper intermediate students took pen-paper and online versions (59 test-takers each) of an already validated teacher-developed test of English. The data from think-aloud and erasure analyses revealed significantly more frequent total and right-to-wrong changes in the traditional and online tests, respectively. Multiple regression values explained more than 50% of right/wrong-to-wrong, wrong-to-right, and overall answer-changing variance based on cognitive styles in the pen-paper exam. However, the regression results from online performance analyses could not prove the power of thinking styles in predicting answer-changing strategies. Fisher’s exact tests showed significantly different answer-changing strategies adopted by field-dependent, leveler, analog, concrete, and impulsive individuals in the traditional test but no significant differences between the behaviors of individuals with different cognitive styles in the online exam. Based on the present findings, online and pen-paper platforms may require different test-taking strategies. Language instructors and test developers can use these findings to align their instructional and assessment practices with various cognitive styles and testing environments.

Many studies have advocated the importance of teaching critical thinking (CT) skills, and have also provided some suggestions for its effective pedagogy. However, there is a dearth of research examining the efficacy of such instruction. This quantitative(quasi-experimental) and qualitative study aimed to investigate the impact of explicit instruction of critical thinking (CT) on university students’ critical thinking skills measured through the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) used as both pre- and post-test. The participants comprised four groups of 15-16 students each. The groups received different CT treatments: Critical Linguistics (CL) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (group 1), 11 Questions (group 2), CL and CDA followed by Peer Evaluation (group 3), and a control group (group 4) that only read about CT without practicing it. After receiving instruction on CT, the three treatment groups (1-3) critically analyzed 33 texts over 11 sessions. The results of the study indicated that Group 3 (CT & CDA followed by PE) had the highest improvement in their WGCTA scores from pre-to post-test, followed by Groups 2 and 1, while the control group showed no significant gain. The findings imply that reflecting critically on language learning materials can reveal hidden cultural and ideological elements within the texts. This can significantly enhance learners' advanced thinking skills, as well as support them in resisting cultural imperialism.      

This study investigates the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of Iraqi English teachers in public and private high schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also examines the potential impact of gender and school type on participants’ TPACK perceptions. The results, derived from a TPACK survey (Baser et al., 2015), indicate significant differences between public and private school Iraqi English teachers in terms of overall TPACK scores and perceptions of individual TPACK constructs of technological knowledge, technological content knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, and technological pedagogical content knowledge. However, no significant differences were observed in the constructs of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge. Additionally, the study found no significant disparities between male and female Iraqi EFL teachers in overall TPACK scores or perceptions of individual TPACK constructs. These findings offer insights into TPACK in Iraqi public and private high schools and shed light on how male and female Iraqi EFL teachers perceive their competencies when utilizing information and communication technology in English language instruction. Considering these findings, it is recommended to implement training and professional development programs to support teachers in effectively integrating technology into language education, especially within their classrooms.

EFL teachers’ conceptions of Alternative Assessment (AA) strategies in English language classrooms are of significance since they can affect the teachers’ overall performance in the classroom. This study aimed to explore Iranian EFL teachers’ conceptions of AA strategies. In so doing, a sequential mixed methods design was used. The participants of the study consisted of 30 (15 males and 15 females) Iranian EFL teachers with MA and Ph.D. degrees in English language teaching (ELT) who were selected through convenience sampling. To collect the required data, the Teachers’ Perceptions of Alternative Assessment Questionnaire (Elharrar) was used as an open-ended questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted through qualitative thematic analysis and presenting the extracted themes in frequency and percentage formats. It was found that most of the teachers perceived the positive influences of AA. Additionally, it was revealed that the teachers attached some advantages to AA that help them provide a more quality teaching environment. The findings of this study may render implications for EFL teachers, teacher trainers, and administrators.