Iranian Learners Of English Research Articles

An ecological perspective on the flow of compassion among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language

As a social-interactional positive behavior, the flow of compassion (i.e., self-compassion, compassion for others, and compassion from others), which refers to sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it, has yet to be investigated in a highly social-interactional context such as foreign language learning classrooms. Thus, the present study adopted an ecological perspective within Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1993) analytic nested ecosystems model to explore how the flow of compassion is rooted in such a context. Sixteen Iranian English as a foreign language learners took part in the current study, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Employing the framework of the nested ecosystems model, we identified both influential individual and environmental factors underlying the flow of compassion among the participants. The flow of compassion proved to be influenced differently at different ecosystemic levels by individual and environmental factors. At the individual level, negative and positive emotions, fears, non-judgmental attitudes, intimacy, well-being, improvement, motivation, and action were found as influential factors in emerging the flow of compassion. At the contextual level, the identified influential factors included past experiences outside of the classroom, extracurricular activities, institution policy and criteria, cultural and social values, as well as the use of technology and the internet. Limitations and implications of the present study are also discussed.

Promoting Iranian EFL learners’ intercultural competences in english classrooms: The use of pedagogical intercultural and critical incident tasks

A long-standing concern reverberating over the minds of intercultural scholars is how best to incorporate intercultural issues in English language education, an issue on which there has been little research in the Iranian EFL context. Anchored in Byram’s (1997) intercultural model, this paper explores the efficacy of employing pedagogical intercultural and critical incident tasks to promote Iranian English learners’ intercultural competency in Anzali, Guilan Province, Iran. Twenty-two English learners (12 females and 10 males, ages 21–30) consented to participate in the research. They then enrolled in eighteen sessions of intercultural instruction utilizing intercultural textbooks and accomplished fourteen tasks prior to and during the course to examine the participants’ probable changes as a consequence of course practices. The primary data comprised students’ pedagogical intercultural tasks, critical incident tasks and reflective entries. Adopting qualitative content analysis, the results underscore that the pedagogical intercultural and critical incident tasks as well as the utilization of a virtual forum as a zone for cross-cultural interaction and learning, boosted learners’ intercultural attitudes, knowledge and skills. Furthermore, three themes emerged from the reflective entries analysis. Implications for educational practice are provided for further implementing and practicing pedagogical intercultural and critical incident tasks.

Discourse markers in L2 learners' responses to teacher‐generated compliments during classroom interaction

AbstractThis study explores discourse markers (DMs) as they occur with compliment responses (CRs) in classroom interactions among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Using the tenets of conversation analysis, this paper draws on data from teacher–student interactions in several private language institutes in Iran. After audiorecording and transcription of the compliment–response exchanges, 148 DMs were identified within the responses. These sequences were analyzed to find out how DMs are combined with four distinct CR types; accept, mitigate, reject, and request interpretation. DMs were also identified and categorizedbased on their frequency of occurance and semantic features to allow comparison with previous findings. The results of this study revealed that Iranian EFL learners resorted to a limited number of DMs in responses to teacher‐generated compliments, with “linking” DMs being the most favorable type. Moreover, some DMs were accompanied by a specific CR type which helped the formation of an intended illocutionary force by the complimentee. It was also observed that a DM or a combination of these markers can stand alone as a legitimate and functional response to compliments, which further reveals that DMs can contribute to both semantic and pragmatic meaning. These findings clearly suggest that explicit teaching of DMs in English language classes should be taken into consideration, as these linguistic elements can provide learners with important tools to convey their intended meaning more smoothly and effectively.

Statistical learning of L2 lexical bundles through unimodal, bimodal, and multimodal stimuli

Given the fundamental contribution of formulaic sequences to the fluent, natural second/foreign language (L2) use and processing, finding effective ways of improving learners’ formulaic language has increasingly engaged the attention of L2 practitioners. Focusing on lexical bundles (LBs), as the most frequent formulaic-language strings, the current quasi-experimental study examined statistical learning of recurring 3-to-6-word LBs among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) receiving different types of distributional, narrative sensory stimuli. To this end, three intact classes received a recurring-theme narrative content in three different input modalities including only-auditory, audiovisual, and captioned audiovisual. To examine whether exposure to statistical, varied-modality input (or sensory stimuli) constituted profound knowledge of L2 lexical bundles, the three experimental groups’ performances on immediate and delayed posttests were compared with those of a control group which received no purposefully distributional, modality-based stimuli. ANOVA results revealed that all the frequency-based modality inputs led to more sizeable LB gains. Further, multiple (captioned) audiovisual sensory stimuli more effectively fostered retention and recalling of the target LBs over time than only-auditory input. The retention differences between the bimodal and multimodal inputs were insignificant. Overall, the findings supported combined statistical, formulaic advantages for processing, retention, and recalling of L2 LBs through distributional, multimodal stimuli.

The impact of altruism on the emotions and English summary writing skills of L2 learners: An intervention study in light of positive psychology

According to positive psychology (PP), positive emotions contribute to language learning by helping learners recognize their strengths and overcome obstacles. One form of PP is altruism (altruistic teaching), which requires teaching without self-focus. The present study aimed to investigate how altruism affects the emotions and second language (L2) summary writing skills of Iranian L2 learners, drawing on an experimental (comparison group, pretest–posttest) design within a sequential explanatory design. The participants of the study were 130 Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) with B1 general English language proficiency who were assigned to one intervention and one comparison group, and underwent the intervention and control intervention, respectively. Both the intervention and control intervention involved an instructional program of 12 sessions on summary writing with one teacher. What distinguished the intervention from the control intervention was that each student in the intervention group was supposed to teach for one hour one peer what they learned about English summary writing out of altruism. Analysis of the data showed that altruism has a positive instructional influence on the L2 summary writing skills of L2 learners by promoting their self-esteem, gratitude, connectedness and community, happiness, and compassion. The article ends with implications for research and practice in second language acquisition (SLA) and PP.

Investigating Iranian English Learners' Private Speech Across Proficiency Levels and Gender Based on Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory.

This study was an attempt to investigate Iranian EFL learners’ private speech across proficiency levels and gender while doing reading comprehension tasks. Moreover, it was an attempt to examine the different forms of private speech produced by Iranian English learners. Six forms of private speech were coded and analyzed: affective markers, sub-vocalization, switch from L2 to L1, repetition, unfinished sentences, and self-directed questions. It was a descriptive correlational research. The participants of this study were ninety female and male EFL learners at three levels of foreign language proficiency from two schools in Lahijan, Iran. They were selected from 110 students by administering an Oxford Quick Placement Test. Next, reading comprehension tests were administered to the participants. In order to gather data, each participant was equipped with a MP3 voice recorder to keep track of very low private speech markers while performing reading tasks. Pearson Chi-Square test was utilized to determine the probable relationship between the six forms of private speech and learners’ proficiency levels and gender. The results revealed that there was statistically significant relationship between the forms of private speech produced by Iranian EFL learners and their foreign language proficiency. However, the outcomes did not yield a significant correlation regarding gender and the forms of private speech. It can be concluded that private speech is responsible for both regulating mental ability in complex tasks and facilitating internalization of mental ability. In second /foreign language learning, externalized private speech functions not just as a self-regulatory mechanism aiding problem-solving but as a tool in learning and internalizing the L2.

The effects of pre-task explicit instruction on L2 oral self-repair behaviour

The present study examines the effects of pre-task explicit instruction on second language (L2) oral self-repair behaviour while controlling for the effects of working memory. The participants were 121 Iranian learners of English at incipient levels of language proficiency. Their working memory was measured using an operation span task and then they were randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group. Both groups performed a picture story-retelling task that was preceded by five minutes of planning time. During the planning time, the experimental group also received a grammar handout that explained English relative clauses. The instances of self-repairs were identified through stimulated recall interviews that immediately followed performance on the oral task. They were then classified into categories of global form repairs (FG-repairs), local form repairs (FL-repairs), and content repairs (C-repairs). A series of one-way ANCOVAs were run, the results of which indicated pre-task explicit instruction had significant and beneficial effects on FL-repairs and adverse effects on C-repairs. The covariate was only associated with repairing the target structure. The findings are discussed in light of the Extended Trade-off Hypothesis and confirm the view that pre-task explicit instruction tends to foster a focus on form at the expense of meaning.

Effects of Bilingualism on Reading Fluency: An Analysis of Pausing Patterns of Iranian Learners of English as a Third Language

Fluency is one of the most important components of oral proficiency, which can be affected by a number of variables including frequency, duration, and place of pause phenomena. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of bilingualism on learning a foreign language from the angle of fluency and pausing patterns by comparing the pausing patterns of monolingual (Persian speakers) and bilingual (Iranian Turkish speakers; L1: Turkish and L2: Persian) EFL learners. To this end, a sample of 40 male and female advanced EFL learners were selected from Yazd University and several English-language institutes. An English reading passage test was used to measure students’ fluency in terms of their pausing patterns in prepared mode of speech. As learners started to read the passage, their speeches were recorded. The collected data were analyzed by Praat software. The statistical analyses revealed a significant difference between monolingual and bilingual learners in the frequency, duration, and placement of the pauses they had produced while they were reading the English passage. The results showed that bilingual learners outperformed monolingual participants, suggesting the superiority of bilinguals in their pausing patterns. The implications are discussed.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Refusal Speech Act by Persian L2 Learners and American Native Speakers

Refusals are utterances spoken to perform the action of refusing. This face-threatening act has a significant function in societal interaction. This pragmatic study investigated Iranian English learners’ (IELs) behavior in realizing refusals on the basis of a cross-cultural comparison of American native speakers (ANSs) and Iranian Persian speakers (IPSs) in terms of production performance. Data came from 40 ANSs, 40 IPSs, and 40 IELs, elicited from a DCT varied with contextual factors of power and distance. Data were analyzed in terms of frequency and content of semantic formulas. Results indicated that, although all the groups employed a similar range of refusal strategies in responding to the refusals elicited by different initiation acts, cross-cultural variation was evident in the frequency and content of semantic formulas. In some cases, the IPSs and the IELs refused similarly in Persian and English, but differently from the ANSs, suggesting pragmatic transfer in the Persian groups. These differences in Persian and English refusals may cause pragmatic failure when Persian speakers rely on their L1 culture-specific refusal strategies in interacting with English native speakers. Thus, the development of L2 students’ pragmatic knowledge should become one of the priorities of the educational system.

A Contribution of Teacher vs. Student Languaging in Response to Direct Corrective Feedback to Iranian EFL Learners' Writing Accuracy

This study endeavored to investigate into teacher vs. student languaging in response to Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) and its effect on promoting writing accuracy. To this end, 45 pre-intermediate Iranian English learners were selected based on their performance on an Oxford Placement Test and were randomly assigned into the three groups of Student-Generated Languaging (SGL), Teacher-Generated languaging (TWCF), and Non-generated Languaging (NGL). The groups were invited to write a composition with the same topic based on the written prompts in their textbook as the pretest while they revised the composition on the final session as the posttest. During 14 sessions of treatment, each group was provided with direct WCF on the erroneous parts of their compositions differing from each other in that the SGL group was requested to language about the reasons behind the erroneous items; the TWCF group received direct languaging by the teacher while the NGL group received direct WCF without any languaging. The results of the ANOVA revealed that the SGWL group significantly outperformed the other two groups in writing accuracy on the posttest. It came to light that direct WCF followed by written languaging by the learners led to increased gains in English learners' writing accuracy.

Developing a Questionnaire for Assessing Iranian English Learners'/Teachers' World Englishes Conceptualization-Guilan Universities

The unprecedented growth of the number of World Englishes and needs of communication among experts calls for English language teaching programs to take into consideration the place and relevance of teachers' and learners' conceptualization of paradigm of WEs. The present research studies the global status of WEs and its conceptualization among Iranian English teachers and learners. It is presenting a thematic instrument to examine the extent to which Iranian EFL and ELIC-SP teachers' and learners' conceptualization of WEs can be effective in the fields of global communication, research, development and science. In the first phase of the present study a theoretical framework and its components were developed through reviewing the literature and conducting interviews with ELT experts and EFL and ESP learners. In the second phase, a questionnaire was developed and piloted with 300 participants who were available and willing to participate in the study. The 46 items of the newly-developed ‘WEs Con.' scale were subjected to principal component analysis which revealed the presence of four components, relevance of WEs Con. To EFL, ESP, Culture, Ownership of English and Standard English. These phases led to the development of a questionnaire with four components and 46 items.

The Effect of Prior Knowledge on the Contribution of Working Memory to L2 Reading Comprehension

Working memory is believed to interact with a second language (L2) learning at the cognitive level. The present study sought to explore the impact of L2 readers’ prior knowledge on the contribution of working memory to reading comprehension. Eighty Iranian English learners were divided into two groups of high and low by their scores on L2 knowledge and the topic knowledge tests. Their working memory spans, and reading comprehension abilities were measured via a working memory test and a reading comprehension test respectively. The results indicated that working memory significantly predicted L2 reading comprehension only when the readers had sufficient topic knowledge. The results also show that the learners’ comprehension was mostly determined by their L2 linguistic knowledge, even when they had considerable working memory capacity. The findings imply that readers’ prior knowledge could moderate the contribution of working memory in L2 reading comprehension. A certain level of knowledge in the target language and on the topic is required for L2 readers to help working memory work more efficiently.

An investigation into Iranian English learners’ use of cognitive strategies and writing performance across different language backgrounds and proficiency levels

Background : The significance of strategy use in writing is well established. However, particular strategy types which different learners can use in different contexts provides invaluable insights for the stakeholders. The current study examined the frequency of cognitive strategy use in writing as well as the quality of writing produced by language learners at different levels of proficiency (high or low) and from different language backgrounds (Turkish-Persian or Persian). Methods: For this study, 176 Iranian learners of English were divided into bilingual (n=91) and monolingual (n=85) categories and participants were placed at high (n=95) or low (n=81) proficiency levels based on their scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) administered for placement purposes. The research data was collected through writing cognitive strategy questionnaire and argumentative writing samples. Results: The results of ANOVA and Mann-Whitney tests revealed that (1) language background and proficiency level could jointly affect the frequency of cognitive strategy use, (2) could each influence the quality of the written products on its own, and (3) the strongest relationship between cognitive strategy use and writing quality existed among the bilingual participants with high language proficiency. Conclusion: Knowing a second language may increase learners’ use of writing cognitive strategies, thereby enhancing the quality of their writing. These findings could prove useful for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and content developers.

The effect of hands-on and hands-off data-driven learning on low-intermediate learners’ verb-preposition collocations

The present study compared the role of hands-on and hands-off data-driven learning (DDL) in learning verb-preposition collocations by Iranian learners of English. It also elicited learners’ attitudes towards DDL through a questionnaire. A total of 60 female pre-intermediate learners were randomly divided into a hands-on, a hands-off, and a control group. During the 10-session treatment, the hands-on group searched some verb-preposition collocations in concordancing, on the screen of the computer, while the hands-off DDL group received the same collocations on paper-based corpus. The experimental groups were provided with dialogue, i.e., teacher guidance, as to how to benefit from DDL in the first session of the treatment. The control group received the same collocations explicitly through traditional approaches. Results indicated that the experimental groups outperformed the control group in learning verb-preposition collocations on the immediate posttest with no significant difference between the experimental groups. However, the hands-on group maintained the gain into the delayed posttest significantly better than the hands-off group. The results of the questionnaire revealed that all learners had positive perception of DDL to learn collocations. Results of the current study suggest using both hands-on (followed by dialogue) and hands-off DDL to help pre-intermediate learners develop their collocational competence.

The Effect of Oral Feedback on Iranian EFL Learners’ Complexity and Accuracy in Speaking

The debate continues on what features of oral performance are influenced by oral feedback. The present study tries to provide an answer to this question in an EFL context. To this end the effect of six different modes of oral feedback on the features of oral complexity and accuracy was investigated using data from 66 Iranian EFL learners who were selected conveniently from the Iran Language Institute. The participants were divided into experimental and control groups at two different levels of elementary and pre-intermediate. The experimental groups were presented with six different types of oral feedback modes (recasts, clarification requests, metalinguistic, praising, elicitation, and repetition) and at the end of the research they were tested by an in-class oral test to measure their complexity and accuracy (CA). To compare the participants’ oral features, a Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and a Mann-Whitney U Test were run. The results indicated that complexity and accuracy significantly improved among the groups, moreover; there were significant differences in the post-tests between both elementary and pre-intermediate levels regarding CA. The results further indicated that Iranian learners of English would have fewer errors and would be more accurate when receiving oral feedback modes. The study highlights the complex relationship that exists between features of oral performance. The findings of the present study can have theoretical and practical implications for syllabus designers, teacher trainers, and testing researchers.

Lexical Complexity as a Function of Task Type and Proficiency Level in the Speech Monologs of Iranian EFL Learners

Despite the abundance of research evaluating the effects of task complexity, task types, and planning on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of the language produced by learners, most studies have focused on the syntactic aspect of complexity, with very few studies investigating the lexical part of complexity. Such studies explored the lexical performance of learners through using merely one measure of lexical complexity (namely diversity). The present study is an attempt to further explore the effects of task type and proficiency level on different aspects of lexical complexity of spontaneous speech monologs produced by intermediate and advanced Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 35 intermediate and advanced Iranian learners of English performed three different speaking tasks: an argumentation, a description and a narration task. The speech monologs were coded for three different aspects of lexical complexity: diversity, density, and sophistication. Two-way repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted to evaluate the main effects of task type (the within-subjects variable) and proficiency level (the between-subjects variable) on lexical complexity. The results showed that task type and proficiency level both significantly affect lexical complexity in the participants’ task performance. The argumentation task yielded the highest scores for diversity and density, while the highest sophistication score was obtained for the narration task. There was no interaction between task type and proficiency level for the diversity and sophistication scores, and the advanced learners consistently got higher diversity and sophistication scores for all the three tasks, while there was an interaction between the two variables for the density scores; the advanced learners got higher density scores for the description and narration tasks but not on the argumentation task.

Training planning in second language narrative writing

Abstract This study attempted to explore whether learners could be trained to use effective planning behaviours and whether this could affect their writing performance. A complete class of Iranian learners (n = 42) of English as a foreign language received training in effective pre-task planning based on a number of operating principles. Writing performance, prior to and after the training, was measured through written narrative tasks. Retrospective interviews were also used to examine what learners did during planning. Results revealed that the effective planning behaviours are learnable, with many learners reporting positive ideas about the training programme. The findings also indicated significant improvements in learners’ writing quality in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency. Based on these collective findings, it is suggested that L2 learners need to be guided towards using more helpful planning behaviours, particularly those that are not forgotten with time.

On the Role of Language Learners’ Psychological Reactance, Teacher Stroke, and Teacher Success in the Iranian Context

Given the importance of psychological reactance in social and educational interactions and its influence on language learning/teaching, the present study intended to investigate the relationship among stroke, psychological reactance, and teacher success. To this end, a total number of 300 Iranian English learners from different English language institutes filled out a newly developed scale on psychological reactance along with stroke and teacher success scales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was exerted to both develop and validate the new scale. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was, then, employed to examine the possible relationships. Results revealed that stroke was a positive predictor of teacher success. Moreover, a negative relationship was found between psychological reactance and teacher success. Findings are discussed and suggestions are provided to pay more attention to the role of psychological reactance in English language teaching/learning.

On the Role of Phraseological Units in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adult Learners

One of the challenges of learning English for Iranian learners is “native-like” production of speech rarely achieved by even the most advanced learners. Unfortunately, it is common belief among Iranian English learners that knowledge of individual lexical items is the key to communicative competence. But alas! The outcome has shown this is counterproductive. As an anglicist teaching ESP in general and EAP in particular in my country, I feel responsible for shedding light on this issue inasmuch as I experience the lapse in my everyday professional work. It should be noted that in this Global Village, in which English is considered the Lingua Franca of science and technology, focusing on phraseological units as a sub-branch of lexical proficiency seems to be of paramount importance to avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication. The present article makes an effort to highlight the role of contextual usages of these units in TEFL to help the learners reach the desired native-like production of English speech.

Second language pragmatics development through different instructional techniques

Abstract This study investigated the effectiveness of three types of instruction on learning the speech act of criticizing by 100 Iranian learners of English. For 10 weeks, the consciousness raising group (N = 27), input enhancement group (N = 23), and ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development)-sensitive group (N = 25) participated in the study. The three treatment groups were compared with a control group (N = 25) on pre-tests, immediate and delayed posttests performance of discourse completion test and role-play test. The results revealed that treatment groups significantly improved and outperformed the control group. They maintained their improvement in the delayed posttest. In addition, the results showed the superiority of ZPD-sensitive instruction in relation to two other methods, and better performance of consciousness raising instruction than input-enhancement method. Finally, by interviewing the participants, the researchers could understand the opinions of learners about the instructions they received. The findings and implications are discussed.