Participation and language learning opportunities: a case study of two adult Iranian English learners from a positioning theory perspective

Peer assessment known as an effective technique in improving English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' achievement as well as their autonomy has taken a new form thanks to the employment of electronic applications and web-based tools. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of employing electronic peer assessment on Iranian EFL learners’ writing ability and autonomy. To achieve the goals of the study a sample including 48 Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners were selected from among 90 female learners studying English in a language institute in Kashmar, Khorasan Razavi, according to their scores in Quick Placement Test (QPT), Version1. These participants were randomly assigned to control (N=24) and experimental (N=24) groups. Both groups took writing pretest and Learner Autonomy Questionnaire developed by Zhang and Li (2004). Throughout the experiment which lasted for 12 sessions, the experimental group benefited from the treatment, electronic peer assessment. However, the control group received the same treatment but peer assessment technique was carried out without any electronic interventions. Finally, both groups sat for the posttest being the same as the pretest. In addition, a semi-structured interview was conducted to the participants in the experimental group. Results of data analysis indicated the experimental group's outperformance in both writing and autonomy scale administered at the end of the study. Results of qualitative data (interview), also, showed that these participants had positive beliefs about employing electronic peer assessment. Pedagogically, the present findings support the employment of the treatment in EFL settings.

One of the purposes of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) is to be able to communicate. The Students must have communicative competence that does not only consist of linguistic competencies, but also socio-cultural ones. This paper aims to analyse the cultural themes of politeness strategies in EFL Classroom. The research in this paper focused on directive and expressive speech acts in EFL classroom. The participants of this study are three lecturers and the students of three English classes. The data are gathered by video audio by recording the lecturers’ utterances and students’ compliances to the lecturer, in order to find the politeness strategies and the cultural values in EFL classroom. The results show that; 1) There are seven kinds of cultural values of politeness strategies in EFL classroom, such as glorifying God, agreement, apologising, questioning, delivering praise, delivering thank you, and praying for others, 2) The lecturers and students dominantly use agreement and questioning in EFL Classroom. Thereby, this issue is relevant to EFL classes focusing on the improvement of both lecturers and students’ language and cultural skill. The analytical tool refers to the theories of Brown and Levinson’s positive and negative politeness, and the ethnography of communication method. The findings of this study will probably give insights into the pragmatic and conversational rules of EFL. The last part of this paper aims at summarizing that the implications that this paper are relevant to the strategies of teaching English as a Foreign Language.

This case study research explores the integration of religious moderation within setting of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms, specifically in an Islamic Junior High School. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the religious moderation integration into the educational process and to capture the perspectives of both teachers and students. The study employed qualitative approach particularly case study research design which was conducted within one of Islamic junior high school in East Java. Ten students and four English teachers were selected using purposive sampling to participate in the study. Data was collected through interviews, documentation, and observation. The results indicate that religious moderation has been effectively integrated into the teaching and learning process, including lesson planning and thematic material, by the teachers. Tolerance, anti-violence, accommodating to tradition/culture, cultural sensitivity, and open mindedness were the aspect of religious moderation found in EFL classroom.The perception of the teachers on the integration of religious moderation in EFL classrooms are linked to their roles as educators, the act of students, and the diverse backgrounds of the students. Students have reported that the integration of religious moderation has allowed them to gain insights into both appropriate and inappropriate aspects of another culture as they learnt English.

The current study explored graduate student end-of-term satisfaction with group learning, compared with traditional instructor-led instruction in EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom. Participants were 74 graduate students, including 33 males and 41 females from a normal university in southern China. The study was carried out with two classes by different teaching methodologies respectively, one was group-based (n/35) with nine groups, and the other was instructor-led class (n/39). Students were assigned randomly to the two types of classes ahead of the formal lessons and taught by the same instructor during the period of an academic term. At the end of the term, a questionnaire survey was administered to all the students of the two classes to measure their satisfaction with English class learning. The results showed students with group-based instruction were more satisfied than those who took the course under the instructor-led format. Also, no significant differences existed between groups with respect to satisfaction. The results of the analysis were discussed and directions for further study were suggested. The significance of the present study lies in the fact that it was able to explore the difference in student satisfaction between group-learning and instructor-led settings in EFL class, and both instructor(s) and students should shift their focus “from what is being taught to what is being learned” in EFL classroom.

Using literature in young learners’ EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom can be a motivating medium for language teaching and learning. Although with some difficulties in the application of literary texts in English language teaching, literature may contribute to the improvement of students’ motivation for learning and could bring to more effective English language instruction. In line with the previously said, the paper will give an outline of how, when and why literature should be incorporated in EFL curriculum with the purpose of emphasizing the use of literature as a popular technique for teaching both basic language skills (i.e. reading, writing, listening and speaking) and language areas (i.e. vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation). This theoretical research aims at answering the following questions: 1) What is the role of literature in teaching and learning English as a foreign language?, 2) What are the approaches a language teacher can use online when teaching literary texts in young learners’ EFL classroom? and 3) What are the benefits of using different genres of literature in teaching English online? As a conclusion, the paper will provide useful ideas and activities for creative English language teaching in online surrounding by using literature as a tool rather than an end in teaching English to young learners.

Vocabulary is an important part of language which is central to all language skills and meaningful communication. One way through which vocabulary learning can be facilitated is by the use of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS). VLSs can empower language learners to be more self-directed, regulated, and autonomous. Also, they can help language learners to discover and consolidate the meaning of the words more effectively. Teachers’ and students’ behavior, functioning, and learning are, however, controlled by their thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions. The present study was an effort to explore the Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ and teachers’ beliefs about the usefulness of different types of VLSs. To that end, a VLS questionnaire developed for this purpose was given to 392 EFL teachers and learners. Based on the results of the study, the Iranian EFL learners and teachers believed that strategies such as paying attention to vocabulary forms, functions, and semantic relations; guessing the meaning of new words from the context; and using monolingual dictionaries can be very useful in discovering and consolidating the meaning of new words. They, nevertheless, expressed hesitancy to use L1, bilingual dictionaries, and mnemonic devices. The results of Kruskal–Wallis Test also showed that the preference for a few strategies differed across levels of education.

Gender differences are pivotal in EFL (English as A Foreign Language) classroom. The aims of this anthropological linguistic study are to figure out the extent of female and male learners’ differences in EFL classroom, the factors which affect the gender differences in the EFL learners’ language use, and the effects that learners’ gender differences in language use bring to the EFL classroom. Having been designed as a conceptual study, several research findings were scrutinized to answer the research questions. It can be wrapped up that both male and female are distinctive in using English as an international language due to the reasons in communication. Further, it was revealed that multiple factors affect gender differences in using language within the EFL classes; such as: classroom environment, cultural, and social impacts. Finally, the findings definitely convey positive impacts towards the future EFL teaching and learning process.

A resourceful English language teacher equipped with eclecticism is desirable in English as a foreign language classroom. The challenges of classroom instruction increases when prescribed English as a Foreign Language (EFL) course books (textbooks) are constituted with too many interactive language proficiency activities. Most importantly, it has become a common phenomenon to integrate language textbooks with audio and video as additional or supplementary resources for classroom language learning activities. A study was conducted on the usefulness of audio-visual aids in EFL classroom at undergraduate level at Aljouf University, Saudi Arabia. Findings of the study give insights on EFL students’ approach to using technological aids. EFL textbooks with technological aids are often viewed to be an inspiration and to provide motivation in classroom instruction. However, a close examination of classroom teaching aids and resources unveil many issues in EFL teaching and learning contexts. Insights, issues and implications presented in the paper are useful to English language educators, administrators, curriculum designers and English teachers in English as a Foreign Language setting.

Limited scholarly knowledge exists on various aspects of language learning in the case of learners with visual impairment. This study aims to investigate the effect of vocal music on English listening comprehension of Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners with visual impairment. In this study, ten 14- to 18-year-old completely and partially visually impaired (VI) learners from Tehran were selected as the participants. The sampling method was non-random availability sampling, as there was no access to other VI learners. This study adopted a pre–post study design. Because of some limitations in finding more VI learners at pre-intermediate level, this study was run without a control group. The homogeneity of the learners’ English proficiency at pre-intermediate level was determined through Preliminary English Test (PET) administration. Seven out of 10 students were completely VI, and just 3 of them were partially VI. The teaching instruments used in this study were the textbook ( Solutions Intermediate , 3rd Edition published by Oxford University Press) and 10 selected English songs related to the content of that textbook, and the only instrument used for evaluating their performance was the PET test in two stages, pre-test and post-test. The VI learners in this study expressed enthusiasm for participating in the course and appeared to be more engaged in listening during the 10 sessions of playing songs in the EFL classroom. Furthermore, the students expressed their increased satisfaction with this new teaching approach. According to the study’s results, there was a significant improvement in the listening comprehension of students with visual impairment, comparing the pre-test and the post-tests, and the students also performed better when the songs were used in their classes. Therefore, using English songs may be advantageous for both completely and partially VI EFL students and their teachers. This pioneering study on students with visual impairment has implications for policy makers, textbook writers and teachers involved in educating people with disability.

This study investigated the Relationship between Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge and Semantic Set in Iranian EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Used in Writing. The purpose of this study was to see the role of depth of vocabulary knowledge in making appropriate choices among words in a semantic set in EFL learners’ writing performance. 70 lower-intermediate and upper-intermediate learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) from the language learners of English institute in Bandar Abbas, Iran participated in this study. Instruments for the data collection include Word Association Test (WAT), Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS), and four writing tests. In the first phase, using MANOVA statistical procedure for data analysis, the role of depth of vocabulary knowledge in writing performance and appropriate use of words in a semantic set in overall writing quality was investigated. The second part of the study attempted to explore the role of appropriate use of words in a semantic set in the participants’ overall writing performance using independent sample t-test. Finally, attempts were made to identify the role of depth of vocabulary knowledge and appropriate use of words in a semantic set in the overall use of words in the participants’ writings using a two-way ANOVA as the data analysis technique. The results of the data analysis provided empirical evidence supporting that: a) depth of vocabulary knowledge played a fundamental role in appropriate use of words in a semantic set in lower-intermediate level but not in upper-intermediate level, b) depth of vocabulary knowledge has a significant role in overall writing performance only in upper-intermediate level, c) using words appropriately in a semantic set played a significant role in writing performance of the lower-intermediate participants, while the opposite was revealed for the upper-intermediate group, d) the upper-intermediate learners could benefit from their knowledge of depth of vocabulary in using words, in general, correctly and appropriately. The findings promise some pedagogical implications for vocabulary and writing curriculum development, material development, and course designing.

Code-switching (CS) is a complex linguistic phenomenon in bilingual environments, such as English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL). In recent years, CS has been viewed as a meaningful linguistic phenomenon in ESL and EFL contexts. This research investigates EFL teachers' and learners' perceptions of the use of CS in Saudi universities. Also, this research aims to investigate the relationship between learners' perceptions of CS and their L2 proficiency levels. A quantitative approach is utilised in this research to collect data from 40 Saudi EFL teachers and 50 Saudi undergraduate EFL learners to investigate their perceptions of CS used in their EFL classrooms. Further, the researcher uses two modified Likert-type questionnaires adopted from Alkhudair (2019) to elicit teachers' and learners' perceptions of CS used in their EFL classrooms. In addition, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to determine the frequencies, percentages, and mean scores. The learners took Oxford Online Placement Tests to investigate the role of L1 in EFL classrooms. Also, SPSS was used to calculate the Pearson Correlation Coefficient to investigate a correlation between learners' L2 proficiency levels and their perceptions of using L1 in EFL classrooms. As a result, both teachers and learners showed positive attitudes towards CS in EFL classrooms. Moreover, upon investigating the relationship between learners' English language proficiency level and their perceptions of L1 use, the results suggest positive and negative correlations.

IntroductionTeaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students is regarded as a major challenge.The aim of the study is to examine the perspectives of DHH students regarding their experiences in the EFL classroom.MethodsUtilizing a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 former DHH students who learned English at German schools for the DHH.ResultsThe findings reveal various language combinations within the EFL classroom, which entirely depend on the teacher. Several critical aspects of the EFL classes were highlighted, including the insufficient foreign sign language competences of teachers, the juxtaposition of German Sign Language (DGS) signs and spoken English, and the lack of Deaf cultural content and awareness in the teaching. Additionally, the absence of interactive engagement in the EFL classroom was noted as a significant issue. Based on the DHH students’ EFL learning experiences, both English and American Sign Language (ASL) served as foreign languages for young DHH individuals, particularly in the context of international communication and social media engagement.DiscussionThis study underscores the importance of integrating ASL into EFL classrooms to better support DHH students’ language learning needs. The findings highlight the critical role of teacher training in ASL and the necessity for standardized approaches to EFL instruction. By aligning teaching practices with students’ lived experiences and incorporating sign language, educators can foster more inclusive, effective learning environments that not only enhance academic success but also affirm students’ identities and rights.

Studying and applying English as a foreign language in Kurdistan Region has been used in academic and non-academic fields. The use of the first language (L1) in Learning English in a nation where it is not the primary language is known as English as a foreign language (EFL). For instance, since English isn't the Nation's official language, students in Iraq studying it are categorized as EFL students. Sessions are a source of ongoing debate among professionals and academics throughout the globe, especially whether it helps or hinders English teaching. The researcher wants to see whether the Kurdish language helps teach English in academic places. Two institute students were selected randomly. This research focused on classroom dynamics regarding the amount of L1 usage in English lecture halls in Kurdistan. This study aimed to show instructors' and students' opinions and attitudes on using first-language and second-language classrooms. The two teachers and two high and two low-achiever students were interviewed, and the lessons were watched and videotaped for six sessions. The results revealed that using Kurdish too often can demotivate learners. Thus, the students who were questioned expressed their displeasure with the inappropriate usage and use of L1 in L2 lessons. This study examines applying the first language in EFL Iraqi Kurdistan institutes. Scholars and EFL instructors throughout the globe have discussed how utilizing L1 in EFL classrooms may be an aid or a burden, depending on how we look at it.

The present study was implemented to investigate the possible relationship between introversion/extroversion and the listening ability of intermediate Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners by taking into account their gender, age, and grades of study. A total of 120 Intermediate learners (62 males and 58 females) studying at Shokoh-e-Andishe Language Institute in Sardasht participated in the current study. The subjects were asked to fill the EPQ (Esyneck Personality Questionnaire) to be categorized as either introvert or extrovert. To test the research hypotheses set forth in the present study, Pearson correlation coefficient and two-way analysis of variance were run as the main statistical analyses. The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between listening ability of subjects and the personality characteristic in question, i.e. extroversion vs. introversion. The scores of listening ability had a positive relationship with the introversion of subjects, that is, the more introvert the subjects, the better their performance on listening. However, as the findings revealed, no significant interaction relationship was found between gender and introversion/extroversion on the one hand and listening ability of subjects on the other; yet, there was a significant interaction relationship between introversion/extroversion and the participants’ age and grades of study, on the one hand and their listening ability, on the other.

This study aimed to explore the effectiveness and challenges in integrating Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. CRT had been recognized as an effective approach to addressing the diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds of learners in EFL classrooms. However, integrating CRT strategies in language teaching remained a challenge due to curriculum constraints, teacher preparedness, and classroom dynamics. This study used a mixed-methods approach, applying both qualitative and quantitative methods with a case study design. The participants included EFL teachers and learners. Data were collected through Google Forms, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis related to teaching practices. This study involved 27 EFL students and 2 teachers using a mixed-methods approach, including pre- and post-tests, interviews, and observations. Quantitative results analyzed via paired-sample t-tests showed significant improvement (p = 0.001) in language proficiency after implementing CRT. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to identify patterns regarding effectiveness and thematic analysis to explore the challenges of implementing CRT in EFL classrooms.