Iranian English As A Foreign Language Teachers Research Articles

ONLINE COLLABORATIVE ACTION RESEARCH IN AN EFL CONTEXT: THE EFFECT ON TEACHERS’ REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Technology can be integrated in teacher education and, hence, be used to empower teachers to extend learning beyond their classrooms. Therefore, the present study was an attempt to investigate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions of action research and explore the impact of their collaborative action research in an online discussion group on their reflective practice. In addition, we were interested to know how online collaborative research action research contributes to their promotion of reflective thinking.The participants of this study were 23 Iranian EFL teachers who were recruited based on convenience sampling. The design of the study was a pre-test post-test design. As such, two questionnaires were given to the participants at the beginning and end of the study. As the next step, the participants took part in online discussion groups for 10 sessions in which they read and watched some essays and videos, wrote about some topics, and shared their ideas and experiences. To consolidate the findings, semi-structured interviews were held with 12 participants. The result of the study indicated that most of the participants of the study had optimistic views regarding action research. In addition, participating in online discussion groups enabled them to think more about their teaching practice and gain higher levels of reflectivity. The results of the qualitative phase indicated that the online courses had effect on the teachers’ practice and reflectivity in different ways. Despite all studies conducted on action research in Iran, contradictory results have been found regarding teachers’ perception of action research. In addition, to the researchers’ knowledge, no study has investigated the use of online collaborative action research on teachers’ reflection. As such, it seemed necessary to conduct a study to explore the role of action research as a framework for improving reflective practice.

Interplay of psychological reactance, burnout, and spiritual intelligence: A case of Iranian EFL teachers

Despite the fact that teaching has been construed as a profoundly emotional activity, scant information is revealed regarding the adverse emotional demands encountered by teachers or how these affect teachers’ well-being. The present study aimed to examine the relationship among teacher burnout, psychological reactance, and the mediating role of spiritual intelligence in a sample of 270 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Three scales were employed to measure the aforementioned constructs. It was revealed that there was a positive association at the individual level between burnout and reactance, and negative associations between spiritual intelligence with burnout and reactance. Further, results of bootstrapping resampling procedure revealed that spiritual intelligence mediated the relationship between burnout and reactance. It seems that paying attention to the areas of spirituality is of particular significance; perchance, there is a sense of requirement for teachers to enhance spiritual intelligence for abstaining burnout. Findings accentuate the need for teacher training courses to raise awareness of emotional demands and implement strategies to promote emotion regulation skills in both experienced and recently qualified teachers.

Iranian English as a foreign language teachers’ personality types and classroom management orientations: A correlational study

Language learners’ achievement relies to a great extent on what goes on inside the classroom. The teacher personality types (PTs) and their classroom management orientations (CMOs) play a critical role. The present study intended to explore Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ major PTs and CMOs. Sixty EFL teachers were chosen through the convenience sampling method from foreign language institutes in Isfahan, Iran. They were asked to complete two questionnaires including the Myers–Briggs type indicator and the Behaviour and Instructional Management Scale. Descriptive analysis and Fisher’s exact test were conducted to answer the research questions. The results showed that the extroverted–sensing–thinking–judging (ESTJ) type was the most frequent PT and the interactionalist approach was the major CMO among Iranian EFL teachers teaching at language institutes. The results enhance the understanding of EFL teachers and directors of language institutes on the PT as one crucial factor related to EFL teachers’ behaviour management approaches.
 
 Keywords: Classroom orientations, EFL, Iranian teachers, personality types, management orientations.

Novice Non-Native English Language Teachers’ Imaginary and Actual Decision Making and Pedagogical Reasoning: Student and Personal Features (Research Article)

Two of the central concepts in teaching skills are decision making and pedagogical reasoning. Taking benefit from the dearth of studies on teachers’ actual or real-world decisions, this study aimed to respond to this invitation by keeping track of novice Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ decisions in two different times using six research-oriented teaching scenarios reflecting the student and personal features. Furthermore, their pedagogical reasoning was also attended to once through their responses to imaginary teaching scenarios and once through their actual classroom decisions. The participants comprised of ten novice Iranian EFL (six female and four male) teachers with an age range of 19 to 25 and a male experienced teacher, aged 30, who acted as a researcher-as-participant and was only accountable for the novices’ real-world reasoning. The data were collected through utilizing a total of six teaching scenarios, classroom observation, and video stimulated recalls. The findings, obtained through conversation analysis and pertinent vignettes and excerpts, revealed that the participants underwent a change in their decisions in two of the three scenarios reflecting the student features, while an approximate conformity could be observed in all scenarios mirroring personal features. It was revealed that whenever the teachers’ reasoning changed, their decisions underwent some changes as well. In addition, the findings showed that the flow of conversation in the classroom could be strongly influenced by the teachers’ decisions. A number of implications and recommendations for further research are also pinpointed.

‘Should textbook images be merely decorative?’: Cultural representations in the Iranian EFL national textbook from the semiotic approach perspective

Studies examining culture representation in language textbooks have rarely adopted the semiotic approach, despite its potential for presenting and (re)creating cultural meanings at their various levels (i.e. cultural, intercultural, multicultural, and transcultural) in the co-instantiations of texts, tasks, and images. To address this issue, a qualitative analysis, embarking on the Peircean semiotic theory, was applied on the text-image-task semiotic relationship. It explored its potential for constructing and reconstructing cultural meanings relative to the Iranian national English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook, Vision 1, from the perspectives of Iranian EFL students, teachers, and teacher educators. Content and thematic analyses of the interview records revealed three themes: first, the co-instantiation of the image and text was indexical, cultural awareness and connotations were almost untouched; second, the textual and visual components driving intercultural meanings and interpretations were not in accordance with the tasks; and, third, some alternative more culturally engaging images were provided by the interviewees. On the whole, the findings confirmed the previous findings that the discourse of this brand-new Iranian localized EFL textbook leaves little space to raise cultural awareness for its users. Based on the findings, a dynamic model for evaluating cultural representations in textbooks is suggested, hoping to show how EFL textbooks can be developed, implemented, and received more effectively in instructional settings.

Iranian EFL teachers’ receptive and productive metalinguistic knowledge: Does teaching context matter?

The purpose of this study was twofold. Firstly, it explored Iranian EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ receptive and productive metalinguistic knowledge as a function of educational cont...

A Study on the Relationship Between Burnout and Job Satisfaction of Iranian EFL Teachers Working in Universities and Schools

A teacher plays an important role in the development of the students’ potential and helps to form their future. This research intends to study the degree of burnout and job satisfaction in English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers of universities and Schools in Iran, as well as their association with demographic characteristics. To measure teachers’ burnout, Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire was applied, which has also been validated by experienced teachers for the Iranian population and the Employee Satisfaction Inventory questionnaire, prepared for the Iranian population, was applied to estimate job satisfaction. Questionnaires were answered completely by 159 teachers, who work at universities and schools in Iran. After data analysis, the findings showed a negative correlation between teachers’ burnout and their job satisfaction; their experience relatively moderate burnout levels, and their job satisfaction level is high. The findings also represented that the type of workplace influences satisfaction regarding the factor “job conditions”. The study was for the first time that Iranian EFL teachers’ burnout and job satisfaction in universities and schools were investigated and the findings showed that by increasing the level of job satisfaction, the perceived burnout decreases, where burnout and job satisfaction presented medium to high negative correlation.

Effects of teacher’s personality traits on EFL learners’ foreign language enjoyment

Corresponding with the field of positive psychology and broaden-and-build theory, foreign language enjoyment (FLE) refers to the development of positive emotions in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms and encouraging EFL learners to utilize their potential to learn English. The present study investigated the role of Big Five personality traits of EFL teachers in developing learners’ FLE. To this end, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 and Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale were used to collect data from 107 Iranian EFL teachers and 1209 EFL learners, respectively. Results of the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that the teachers’ openness, extroversion, and agreeableness had a significant positive effect on the learners’ FLE. However, their conscientiousness and neuroticism did not significantly predict the same. Therefore, it was concluded that the EFL teachers’ personality traits could affect the learners’ FLE. The results of this study could help expand the theories on positive psychology dealing with EFL learning. The findings of this study can benefit educational institutes, teacher-training centers, policymakers, and other stakeholders in the educational sector to consider EFL teachers’ personality traits and their positive influence on language learning.

Investigating a Structural Model of Self-Efficacy, Collective Efficacy, and Psychological Well-Being among Iranian EFL Teachers

Due to the significance of teachers’ beliefs and individual variables, a bulk of studies has focused on teacher characteristics over the past two decades. As an attempt to further clarify the interplay between teacher-related constructs in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, the present study set out to explore the structural model hypothesizing the predictive role of teachers’ self-efficacy and collective teacher efficacy in affecting the psychological well-being of teachers in Iranian EFL context. In so doing, a sample of 179 English teachers was given the three self-report scales measuring the variables under investigation. As for the statistical analysis, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the fit of the hypothesized model. The results indicated that teacher self-efficacy accounted for 19.8% of the variance while collective teacher efficacy amounted to 11.3% of the variance in psychological well-being. In addition, it was revealed that although both predictors had a unique effect on psychological well-being, teacher self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of psychological well-being than collective teacher efficacy. The results and implications are finally elaborated.

The Relationship Between Burnout and Self-Efficacy among Iranian Male and Female EFL Teachers

Teaching is a job marked by high levels of burnout. Teacher burnout has been extinsively studied in connection with other important psychological qualities, such as perceived self-efficacy. However, little research has examined this relationship among teachers in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context. In this light, this mixed-method study was intended to a) investigate the relationship between the degree of perceived self-efficacy by Iranian EFL teachers and their professional burnout level, and b) see whether gender could make a significant difference in the teachers’ burnout level. To these ends, 80 male and female Iranian EFL teachers from several high schools in Isfahan, selected through convenience sampling, participated in the study and responded to the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator’s Survey (MBI-ES) and a modified version of Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES). To triangulate the data, a semi-structured interview was also conducted with 15 teachers. Correlational and t-test data analysis showed that there was a strong significant correlation between the participants’ perceived self-efficacy and their burnout level in a negative direction. The gender variable also had a modifying effect on the teachers’ burnout. Female teachers, in fact, had a lower burnout level. The follow-up interview further confirmed the relationship and revealed the three main themes of mental fatigue, contact avoidance, and stress in explaining teacher burnout. The implications for school administrators and teacher educators are discussed.

The Influence of EFL Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Job Satisfaction and Reflective Thinking on their Professional Development: A Structural Equation Modeling

This research intended to examine the influence of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and reflective thinking on their professional development. Two-hundred and twelve Iranian EFL teachers from different universities, language institutes, and schools participated in the research. They were requested to answer Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, Reflective Thinking Scale, and Professional Development Questionnaire as the main data collection instruments. The questionnaires were submitted in three different ways: email, social networks and in person. Structural Equation Modeling on SPSS AMOS version 24 was employed to examine the hypothesized model of relationships. This model was confirmed following the application of the modification indices suggested by the software (Normal chi-square=3.6; RMSEA=.03; RMR=.02; GFI =.93; AGFI=.90; NFI=.92; CFI=.93; IFI=.93). The findings showed significant internal correlations between all the latent variables along with their sub-scales. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis showed that self-efficacy and job satisfaction positively predicted professional development, with self-efficacy exerting more predictive power compared to job satisfaction. It was further found that not only did reflective thinking not predict professional development, but, conversely, it was partly predicted by professional development. Pedagogical implications of the study have been discussed.

An investigation of Iranian EFL teachers and learners’ attitudes towards using language learning strategies

Language learning strategies (LLS) refer to the processes and actions that are consciously deployed by language learners to help them to learn or use a languagemore effectively. Considering the importance of LLS, insufficient studies have been carried out on understanding both teachers and learners’ opinions towards using LLS in Iranian educational context. Therefore, in this project, Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and learners’ opinions towards using LLS have been investigated. To fulfill this objective, 20 teachers and 20 learners filled out a questionnaire. After gathering the data and analyzing them, the findings revealed that the Iranian EFL Teachers and learners’ opinions towards using LLS was significantly positive. Eventually, the researchers concluded with some suggestions for educators to adopt the flipped classroom technology to create better learning environments for their students and to reach better learning consequences. The results of this paper provide strong support learning strategies are very useful and helpful in learning English as a foreign language. Keywords: Iranian EFL teachers and learners, teachers and learners’ opinions, language learning strategies (LLS)

The differences between Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions and their instructional practices regarding the cooperative learning

Nowadays, writing is considered a challenging task in many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educational contexts. The purpose of the current study is to investigate Iranian EFL teachers’ percept...

EFL teacher burnout and self-assessed language proficiency: exploring possible relationships

Although teacher burnout has drawn the attention of many researchers, there is little empirical evidence for the contribution of non-native English language teachers’ language proficiency level to their experience of burnout. To address this significant gap, the present study examined the relationship between English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ self-assessed language proficiency and their experience of burnout. Research has indicated that personal resources of teachers can function as protectors against their experience of burnout. Thus, it was assumed that investigating how EFL teachers’ level of burnout can be reduced through language proficiency as a personal resource can cast a new light on the role of personal resources in reducing teachers’ experience of burnout. To this end, data were collected from 110 Iranian EFL teachers who were teaching in private language institutes through the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Educator Survey and Iranian EFL Teacher Self-Reported Language Proficiency Scale. The correlational analysis revealed that language proficiency had a significant negative relationship with the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization dimensions and a significant positive relationship with the personal accomplishment dimension of burnout. The results of regression analysis also indicated that, except for the reading subskill, all the other proficiency subskills were the best predictors of the different dimensions of burnout. Based on the findings of the current study, some pedagogical implications and research suggestions were also proposed.

Examining the psychometric features of the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale in the English-as-a-foreign-language teaching context

Though the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) is widely used with English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers, these teachers constitute a cohort left out from the widespread project to validate the scale in different fields of education. In addition, the previous validation studies have mostly applied factor analysis for this purpose, which leaves some aspects of validity untouched. Thus, through factor and Rasch analysis of the data from 435 Iranian EFL teachers, the present study was undertaken to provide evidence on the validity of using the TSES with EFL teachers. Both confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch modeling confirmed the claimed three-factor structure of the TSES; however, Rasch analysis identified a misfitting item and frequent problems with the functioning of the response categories. In search of an alternative rating scale for the TSES, Rasch analysis supported the validity of a revised rating scale with five categories. Both traditional reliability and Rasch-specific indices showed that the revised rating scale was very similar to the original rating scale of the TSES in terms of measurement precision.

Discursive Construction of Identity Boundaries : Non-native English Teachers’ Positionality in Relation to Learners

A concern with identity has become remarkably widespread since the 1990s. An immense amount of research has been carried out to investigate the construct of identity, but few studies have been done to explore the construct of identity boundary, even less on the discursive construction of identity boundary. To fill this gap, this study explored how Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers construct identity boundaries between themselves and learners discursively. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 58 Iranian EFL teachers (31 male and 27 female) to identify how they demarcate the boundaries between themselves and learners. Five significant themes emerged from the data analysis: teachers’ knowledge and power as indicators of their identity, setting boundaries by drawing up classroom rules, creating boundaries and not walls, demarcating boundaries both discursively and non-discursively, and establishing boundaries more implicitly than explicitly. The findings indicate that four categories could be conceivable with regard to teachers’ identity boundary setting: discursive, explicit; discursive, implicit; non-discursive, explicit; and non-discursive, implicit. As the majority of the teachers in this study reported that they tended to demarcate their identity boundaries more implicitly and non-discursively, the implication might be that Iranian EFL teachers prefer to create the identity boundaries more indirectly so as not to cause any negative affective influences on their students.

The Impact of Computer-assisted Language Learning Training on Teachers’ Practices

This study investigated and identified the common computer-assisted language learning (CALL) teacher training types in the Iranian private language schools (PLSs), and their effectiveness in shaping and encouraging teachers’ use of new technologies. An exploratory mixed method approach was employed, and a total of 86 Iranian EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers participated in this study. The results indicated that teachers were primarily self-trained, in the absence of comprehensive CALL training provided by either PLSs or teacher training courses offered at university level. It was concluded that self-training had resulted in subsequent sporadic and non-systematic use of CALL by teachers.

English in an EFL Context: Teachers’ and Learners’ Motivations for English Language Learning

The present study explores the ways in which English is used in public discourse in Tehran-Iran and the motivations of Iranian - English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and teachers towards English language learning. The paper begins with an overview of different places in which English is used in Iran, such as media, public signs, traffic signs, advertisements, products, people’s ordinary lives, and education. A cohort of 327 participants, including 168 Iranian EFL learners (male and female) and 159 experienced Iranian EFL teachers (male and female) responded to an English language motivation questionnaire. The results revealed that there is an active presence of English in Iran. In addition, the majority of Iranian EFL learners and teachers involved in the study regard English as an important part of their lives for many and various reasons such as being up-to-date, love, education, learning a new skill, being promoted, having a better and more highly qualified job and increased life chances.

Designing and validating a potential formative evaluation inventory for teacher competences

BackgroundInadequacy of authority-based defensive teaching and summative and product-based evaluation such as certification and observation measures in providing information about the actual teaching teachers do was an inspiration in this study to design an inventory for formative and process-based evaluation of teacher competences. This study aimed at designing an inventory for formative and process-based evaluation of teacher competences.MethodsTo this end, teacher competences were theoretically defined and the indicators of competence in practice were derived and operationalized through Competency Framework for Teachers proposed by department of education and training in Australia (2004) by a panel of five EFL (English as a foreign language) teaching experts through focused group discussion. The resulting inventory was 65 items on four teacher competences including critical, clinical, personal and technical competences from three perspectives of student, departmental, learning and growth measured on 5 point likert scale.ResultsTesting the inventory with 216 Iranian EFL teachers indicated that there were high Cronbach’s alpha reliability indices for the three main perspectives and their dimensions. This implies that the inventory enjoyed appropriate internal consistency. The results of exploratory factors analysis indicated that there was no construct irrelevant factor and all the indicators were loaded in the related teacher competence and perspective dimension. Four separate structural equation models (SEM) were tested in order to probe the trait structure of the inventory. The first three SEM models targeted the three perspectives individually, while the last model explored the structure of the total data. The results indicated that all items had significant contributions to their respective dimensions.ConclusionsThe potential application of this inventory in teacher education programs and the factors that limit its applicability were discussed.

The Relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Efficacy among Iranian EFL Teachers

Owing to the importance of teacher’s impact on the students’ motivation, achievement, and academic success, this study is an attempt to explore the relationship between EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ spiritual intelligence and their level of efficacy. To this end, two questionnaires, the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (SIRI-24) (King, 2008), and the ELT Teacher Efficacy Instrument (ELTEI) (Akbari& Tavassoli, 2014), were distributed among 148 male and female EFL teachers working at different contexts including university, school, and private language institute in Mashad, Quchan, Shirvan, and Qaemshahr, Iran. Pearson product-moment correlation and an independent T-test were used for analysis of the data. The findings of the study revealed that there was a positive significant relationship between teacher spiritual intelligence and teacher efficacy. Moreover, there is a significant difference between male and female teachers regarding their personal meaning production.