Iranian Learners Research Articles

The Impact of Product and Process Approach on Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing Ability and Their Attitudes toward Writing Skill

The purpose of the current study was twofold; its first aim was to determine the effect of using of two approaches namely; product and process on developing the fluency, accuracy, and using discourse markers (DMs) of EFL learners’ writing performance. Secondly, it attempted to investigate the effect of mentioned approaches on EFL learners’ attitude toward writing skill. The participants in this study were 60 Iranian learners who were divided into three groups; control and two experimental groups. The control group received no treatment and only received explicit recast feedback toward their writing performance. However, every experimental group received treatment through differential approaches. The findings of the study based on one-way ANOVA revealed that process approach significantly affected on EFL learners’ writing performance. Additionally, the results manifested the positive effect of process approach on EFL learners’ attitude toward writing skill. The current study suggested that in order to develop the EFL learners’ writing skill, the EFL instructors can insert the process based approach in syllabus design.

The Effects of Task Type on the Quality of Resolving Language‐Related Episodes and Vocabulary Learning

This study examined how task type can affect the ways in which learners resolve lexical language‐related episodes (LREs) and consequently how their vocabulary learning in the LREs is influenced. An intact class of Iranian learners (N = 24) of English as a foreign language were paired up to write a composition and complete a cloze task. The researchers recorded all collaborative dialogues and transcribed and analyzed them to detect lexical LREs. The LREs were divided into cognitive conflict episodes (CCEs) and non‐CCEs on the basis of how they were resolved and engaged the learners. The results indicate a higher number of CCEs, entailing elaborate engagement, in the collaborative dialogues over the composition. The results also reveal that vocabulary gains were greater in composition. The authors suggest that language teachers develop tasks inducing higher cognitive conflicts.

Social Trust and Types of Classroom Activities: Predictors of Language Learning Motivation

The present study examined the role of social trust and types of classroom activities as some probable significant predictors of language learning motivation on a sample of 200 Iranian EFL upper-intermediate learners who have been selected randomly. Consequently, the participants completed three questionnaires, Language Learning Motivation Inventory, Classroom and school Community Inventory, and Classroom Activities Inventory, the reliability and validity of each have been checked previously. After running Multiple Regression through SPSS Software, the results revealed that social trust and types of classroom activities accounted for 16.7% of the variance in language learning motivation. Although each of them had a unique impact on language learning motivation, "Deep Language Use" as one of the types of classroom activities had a greater contribution to English as a foreign language learning motivation (002< .05), outweighing social trust as a more important predictor, (.005 < .05). Finally, pedagogical implications along with suggestions for further studies are discussed.Keywords: Types of classroom activities, Social trust, Language learning motivation, EFL learners

The Effect of Podcasting on Iranian EFL Learners' Motivation and Attitude

The objective of this study was to identify the effect of podcasting on Iranian learner’s motivation and attitude. The participants consisted of 60 male students including 30 participants for the experimental group and 30 for the control group. All of them were studying in the second junior high school in Shahed school in Semnan, Iran. Their age ranged from 13 to14. The researchers randomly selected Shahed school from a list of all junior high schools inSemnan province. In addition, data were collected by using a questionnaire and an interview. In the present study, the researchers used Nelson’s proficiency test for homogenizing the learners.Moreover, theresearchers collected the data through one questionnaire and an interview as data gathering instruments and podcasts and ‘Prospect 2’ book as instructional materials. A 46-item motivation questionnaire focused on evaluating English learners’ beliefs and attitudes in Iran. A 7-item researcher-made interview was conducted with 10 participants. The main purpose of this interview was to investigate the effect of podcasting on the learners’ attitude.The results of data analysis revealed that the application of podcasts as a motivational teaching strategy significantly benefited the experimental group to show a higher mean on classroom motivation. It also revealed that the application of podcast changes the learners’ motivation positively.

The Effect of Symmetrical Scaffolding on the Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners

This study seeks to investigate the impact of symmetrical (S) scaffolding on advance students' reading comprehension. Twenty advance Iranian learners participated in this study. The participants were both male and female students with an average age of 21. They were taught by symmetrical scaffolding. Before administering a Pre-test was administered to them. At the end of the study, a Post-test was administered, and its results were analyzed through t-test. The results indicated that S scaffolding has significant effect on learners' performance in reading comprehension.

THE APPLICATION OF INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE TASK-BASED FORM-FOCUSED VS. TASK-SUPPORTED INSTRUCTION ON EFL LEARNERS’ WRITTEN TASK ACCURACY

Some second language acquisition researchers argue that the way the instructors provide form focused instructions is of great significance in SLA development . The aim of the present study was to investigate whether intensive and extensive form-focused instruction would be useful for Iranian EFL learners’ written task accuracy. To accomplish the purpose of this quasi-experimental study, 60 female elementary learners in four intact classes were randomly selected as, the control group (n=15), intensive focus on form group (n=15), extensive focus on form group (n=15), and traditional (PPP) group (n=15). All groups participated in 17 sessions of telling reading summary task. The intensive group received feedback on simple past tense errors only. The extensive group received feedback on all kinds of errors including grammatical, pronunciation and lexical errors. The PPP group was based on traditional method of presenting, practicing and producing and the control group didn’t receive any feedback on errors. To collect written data from the participants, a narrative task was employed. The written data was quantified regarding the accuracy measure introduced by Ellis (2012). The results of statistical analysis revealed that all form focused groups significantly outperformed the control group. It can also be concluded that the intensive focus on form was more effective in improving Iranian learners’ written accuracy.

Action control, L2 motivational self system, and motivated learning behavior in a foreign language learning context

Theoretical developments in second or foreign language motivation research have led to a better understanding of the convoluted nature of motivation in the process of language acquisition. Among these theories, action control theory has recently shown a good deal of explanatory power in second language learning contexts and in the presence of other motivation models. Despite this, the potential of this theory has not been seriously examined in foreign language contexts and its relevance to more recent motivation models has not been tested. Having this in mind, an effort was made in this study to evaluate a proposed model including three components of action control theory (hesitation, preoccupation, and volatility), three constituents of L2 motivational self system (ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and learning experience) and learners’ motivated behavior in an Iranian context. Five hundred ten Iranian high school students who studied English as a foreign language in three language institutes completed two questionnaires containing items on the dimensions of actions control theory (ACS-90), the components of L2 motivational self system and also learners’ motivated behavior. The final model demonstrated some negative impacts of hesitation, preoccupation, and volatility on learners’ motivated behavior and their L2 learning experience. Iranian learners’ ideal L2 self and L2 learning experience were found as the main motivators stimulating learners’ motivated behavior. Their ideal L2 self and volatility positively correlated with each other and there was a negative relationship between learners’ ought-to L2 self and hesitation. The study concludes with certain pedagogical implications.

An Investigation of Iranian Learners’ Utilization of Politeness Strategies and Power Relations in Refusal Speech Act across Different Communicative Situations

This study aimed to examine the L2 pragmatic knowledge of Iranian intermediate learners of English through the performance of the speech act of refusals in English across diverse situations. One hundred and twenty five Iranian learners whose language proficiency was at the intermediate level took part in this research. The required data were collected by mean of an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and a Written Discourse Completion Task (WDCT). The results showed that most respondents tended to use more indirect strategies (55.5%) to refuse another speaker’s suggestion or request either with higher or lower power or within different social distance. They utilized direct strategies with 24.1% and adjuncts to refusals with 18.9% respectively. The findings are illustrative of the fact that the variations in the use of different strategies are less seen in the data. In other words, learners employed almost the same semantic formulas or pragmalinguistic forms to refuse affairs in most of the situations. It can be said that learners might not have enough awareness or consciousness regarding the use of different pragmalinguistic forms in performing the refusal since they did not have sufficient understanding of context and contextual factors involved as well. Therefore, the results can suggest that the learners lack sufficient pragmatic knowledge in confronting different situations. The implication of this study is for Iranian language instructors to teach a variety of speech acts’ strategies, politeness strategies and draw learners’ their attention to the contextual features in opting out the appropriate strategy in a variety of situations.

Impact of Using Instructional Video Games on EFL Learners' Vocabulary Retention

This study aimed at investigating the impact of Instructional Video Games (IVGs) on the vocabulary retention of Iranian language learners. To do so, 32 male and 43 female, between the ages thirteen to thirty one years old, in Padideh Derakhshan Institute, Sahinshahr, Isfahan, Iran were selected as a whole population. First, the World English placement test was administered, and 60 learners were chosen as the participants of the study. Next, a test of novelty as a pretest of vocabulary was administered at the early stage of the study to ensure the novelty of to-be-instructed words and participants' unfamiliarity with those words. The experimental group members were treated with the new way of learning, IVGs, to practice the new words in each lesson, but control group members were treated with by memorizing the new words through a list. After four weeks both groups sat for vocabulary posttest, and about one month later they sat for delayed posttest. The results were compared statistically. The statistical analysis indicated significant difference in vocabulary retention on learners of the experimental group.

Inductive/Deductive Learning by Considering the Role of Gender—A Case Study of Iranian French-Learners

<p class="apa">This article defines the objective of discovering the first preferred styles of Iranian learners of French as a Foreign Language (FFL) as regards inductive or deductive learning; and secondly, the difference between gender-based learning tendencies. Considering these points as target variables, the questionnaire developed by Felder and Silverman in 1988 was applied to form the learning styles and consequently to associate them with inductive and deductive approaches. The results led the team to set the idea which is based on the choice of induction or deduction in language learning and the gender variable that follows different directions. Consequently, in terms of the inductive approach, we find ourselves facing a rather male solicitation. A proportion of the use of this approach is also associated with women whose motivation is seen rather noticeably. Moreover, the significance is relative rather than significant in all the relationships studied in this research: males and inductive (1)/deductive learning (2); females and inductive (3)/deductive learning (4); inductive (5)/deductive (6) among Iranians.</p>

Investigating the Washback Effects of Task-based Instruction on the Iranian EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Learning

<p>The current research was an attempt to explore the washback impact of task-based instruction (TBI) on EFL Iranian learners’ vocabulary development. To this end, conducting an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), 30 out of 72 EFL Iranian learners studying in an English language institute, were randomly selected. Then, they were assigned to experimental (N=15) group, and control group (N=15). The experimental group of the study was taught through TBLI and the control group of the study was instructed the vocabulary via conventional teaching instruction for 12 ninety-minute sessions. The class sessions were held twice a week. The data was examined through independent sample t-test. The findings revealed that there was significantly different between two groups’ performance in the posttest, thereby TBI had a significant effect on developing Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary development. Furthermore, some pedagogical implications for EFL instructors and learners as well as syllabus designers have been presented. <strong></strong></p>

On the Consideration of Environmental Factors and Social Milieu Effective in Iranian EFL Learners

It has been known that teaching and learning a language in an ESL context is by far easier than teaching and learning it in an EFL context and that learning a language must take place in a social context. Foreign language milieus are those in which students do not have enough opportunities for communication in the target language beyond their classroom settings whereas in second language contexts, the target language is readily available out there (Brown, 2001). Given the important role that language learning resources could potentially play in EFL contexts, in the present study an attempt is made to shed light on the environmental factors and resources which Iranian language learners rely on and to explore the possible resources which exist around them and of which not all of them are necessarily aware. To this end, a group of students studying in Iran Language Institute in Shiraz was chosen. The data of the study were gathered through a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The findings suggested that they rely on very few resources outside the classroom setting. In addition, it was revealed that in an EFL context, such as Iran, there is a range of resources which foreign language learners could rely on and which could present them with opportunities in all four language skills.

Calling Iranian learners of L2 English: effect of gloss type on lexical retention and reading performance under different learning conditions

This study sought to compare how three different gloss types (text–picture, text–audio and text–picture–audio) affected English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. The study also compared how results on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition differed across three learning conditions (i.e., incidental, intentional and explicit instruction). A between‐groups design was employed with four groups (N = 135) of Iranian university learners of L2 English. The participants (with upper‐intermediate proficiency level) read English texts. Written recall and multiple‐choice questions were used to measure reading comprehension; vocabulary knowledge scale (VKS) and contextualized vocabulary knowledge test (CVKT) were used to assess vocabulary acquisition. Results of statistical analyses revealed that while the text–picture–audio gloss type consistently resulted in better vocabulary learning and reading comprehension, the learning conditions varied in terms of their immediate and delayed effect on vocabulary and reading scores. This study suggests that learner performances across gloss types are condition specific and provides both pedagogical and theoretical implications.What is already known about this topic Electronic glosses foster reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. There are different positions about the effectiveness of form focused instruction in grammar, with the focus on forms approach having a higher acceptable rate in SLA. But, this issue has been rarely researched in vocabulary acquisition. What this paper adds This study supports the complementary nature of dual annotations in vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. This study extends the issue of form focused instruction to vocabulary learning by comparing the incidental, intentional and incidental–intentional learning orientations. This study evaluates the interaction between the multiple gloss types and the learning orientations. Implications for theory, policy or practice This study provides both pedagogical and theoretical implications.

Relationship between Multiple Intelligence, Reading Proficiency, and Implementing Motivational Strategies: A Study of Iranian Secondary Students

There exist many factors, affecting reading ability. Multiple intelligence and motivational strategies are among the factors that seem to make significant contribution to the reading process. Thus, the present study probed the probable significant relation between Iranian language learners' multiple intelligences and reading ability. The study also probed the effectiveness of implementing motivational strategies and language learners' reading ability. Finally, it probed the significant correlation with implementing certain motivational strategies and reading ability. The design of this study is correlational design since the relationship between dependent and independent variables were investigated through correlation coefficient. The participants were females in the final year of the secondary education level. Using treatment and the two questionnaires of motivational strategies and multiple intelligences, the findings demonstrated significant correlation between verbal/linguistic intelligence and reading ability as well as the significant correlation between implementing certain motivational strategies and reading ability. In addition, the essence of teaching motivational strategies was confirmed through the significant difference between the results of pretest and posttest as the result of teaching the participants certain motivational strategies by the researchers. The findings have pedagogical implications for language teachers to improve the reading ability of the students substantially. Keywords: Motivational strategies; reading ability; verbal intelligence; multiple intelligence

INVESTIGATING IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD TEACHERS’ CODE SWITCHING

Code switching is defined as change in language teaching to help learners understand the EFL points. Code switching can be enjoyed at different times in the EFL classes by the teachers and may be as a safe help to understand and comprehend the points and materials. The present paper is to analyze and study the Iranian learners’ attitudes toward teachers’ code switching in EFL classrooms. The researchers enjoyed a questionnaire adopted from a study done by Yao (2011). The questionnaire had 20 items in different topics. The learners’ attitudes toward the questionnaire’s items were stated in percentage form. The findings showed that most of the learners had a positive look toward code switching by their teachers because some EFL points are really difficult to understand and it is better to change the language of teaching and help learners achieve the EFL points.

Task type and incidental L2 vocabulary learning: Repetition versus task involvement load

This study investigated the effect of task type on incidental L2 vocabulary learning. The different tasks investigated in this study differed in terms of repetition of encounters and task involvement load. In a within-subjects design, 72 Iranian learners of English practised 18 target words in three exercise conditions: three multiple-choice exercises, three fill-in-the-blank exercises, and one sentence-making exercise. An unannounced receptive vocabulary recall post-test was used to measure the participants’ retention of the meaning of the target words. The results revealed that exercise condition had a significant effect on the mean scores for the three conditions, with words practised under the three multiple-choice and the three fill-in-the-blank exercises conditions being recalled significantly better than those practised under the one sentence-making condition. However, there was no significant difference between the three multiple-choice and the three fill-in-the-blank conditions. The results suggest that incidental vocabulary learning is more affected by repetition of encounters than by elaboration of meaning.

The Study of the Development of Writing Skill in the Textbooks of the Action-Oriented Approach, a Case of Iranian Learners of FFL

<p class="apa">This paper analyses the written competence and corpus of Iranian learners of French at two levels (A1 and A2). The data were collected in a quantified and qualified manner with auto evaluation grids and narrative text writing to analyze the action-oriented approach textbooks’ efficiency in writing. Basically the approach of the three manuals, <em>Alter ego, Echo and Connexions</em> advantaging of the implicit approach grammar teaching, calls into question their effectiveness regard to the written skill. The <em>Alter ego</em> manual is less effective in the teaching of writing skills and in return the Echo manual is more. This difference was especially remarkable about the Content of written productions of three groups of learners. In the Iranian context that we are the only inductive approach does not meet the student needs who are used to learn the traditional manner grammar.</p>

A Comparative Study of the Effectiveness of Two Strategies of Etymological Elaboration and Pictorial Elucidation on Idiom Learning: A Case of Young EFL Iranian Learners

<p>This study examined the effect of etymological elaboration, pictorial elucidation, and integration of these 2 strategies on idiom learning by L2 learners. A total number of 80 homogeneous intermediate learners studying English at 3 language institutes in Isfahan, Iran, were selected. The intermediate participants were selected as the result of administering an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) to them. Then, the participants were divided into 4 groups of equal size, that is, control, etymological, pictorial, and etymological/pictorial groups. Before the experiment, all the participants took a pretest to ensure their unfamiliarity with the idioms. The idioms that were known even by 1 participant were crossed out, and finally 30 idioms were chosen for instruction. Then, the experimental groups received their relevant treatments during 15 sessions, whereas the control group learners learned idioms through definitions and example sentences. After the implementation of the experiment, the 4 groups, once again, sat for a test (i.e., the immediate posttest) to see whether the treatments had improved idiom learning. Finally, the data were analyzed by an independent samples <em>t </em>test and one-way between-groups ANOVA. Results showed that all the 3 strategies significantly improved the participants’ idiom learning. Results also pointed to the fact that the etymological elaboration/pictorial elucidation strategy was the most effective strategy on idiom learning.</p>

Fluctuations in Foreign Language Motivation: An Investigation into Iranian Learners’ Motivational Change over Time

English is broadly used as the language of politics, commerce, communication, internet, tourism, etc., which necessitates a multidimentional motivation to learn it. At the time, scholars claim that considering motivation as a Complex Dynamic System (CDS) is the best apparatus to tap this multidimensionality. The present study was an attempt to examine the interplay of different motivational factors influencing a group of Iranian participants’ decision to start and continue an English as a foreign language course. Eight participants were interviewed in the beginning, middle, and end of the semester to better picture the dynamic and complex nature of motivation. The results of the study lent support to the dynamicity of motivation. The findings also showed that several major motivational themes were at work and there were positively or negatively directed motivations. Finally, the implications of the study were discussed.

An Investigation of the Interdependence between Writing in Persian as L1 and English as L2 on Female Intermediate Students: Language Problem or Writing Problem

English is the leading foreign language enjoying a prestigious position in many countries, including Iran. Many Iranian learners start learning English from first grade of junior high school; some other people send their children to English institutes as early as primary school or even pre-school, yet the problem is that most of them have problems in obtaining the satisfactory level of proficiency either in receptive skills (Listening and Reading) or productive skills (Speaking and Writing) or in both. Among the four skills, writing is of great importance. Hence, the current study examined the interdependence between writing in Persian (L1) and English (L2). For this purpose, 30 Iranian EFL learners majoring in English Translation at Islamic Azad University of Qaemshahr were selected. First of all, a TOEFL test was used to homogenize the learners. Then, the participants were asked to write English and Persian compositions on the same topic in narrative, descriptive and expository genres in two separate sessions, first L2 compositions then L1 composition after a two- week delay. These writings were scored according to the ESL Composition Profile (Jacobs et al. 1981) by two scorers for each language. Using Pearson product-moment correlation, the correlation between L2 proficiency and L1 writing to L2 writing was examined. The outcomes displayed large correlations between L2 proficiency and L2 writing but no correlation between L1 writing and L2 writing. The findings entail some pedagogical implications for improving EFL learners' L2 writing ability through getting more knowledge in English rather than focusing on Persian writing.