Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners Research Articles

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Dear Reader,
 
 Thank you for showing interest in the Volume 11, Number 4 publication of the Contemporary Educational Researches Journal. As a renowned journal, this issue aims to uphold our previous standard in publishing high-standard articles. As such, this publication consists of thoroughly reviewed research articles from seasoned researchers from around the world.
 The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic is still being felt around the world and this issue addresses some of the major concerns on Educational research amidst the global pandemic. Some of the topics addressed in this issue include: Flipped learning – Pedagogic dilemmas; The vocabulary learning strategy use of Iranian elementary EFL learners; The relationship between the anxiety level of Iranian elementary EFL learners and their vocabulary learning strategies; Learning styles and vocabulary learning by Iranian undergraduate EFL learners; Prospects, challenges and evaluation of the BSc in EEE programme for diploma in engineering holders; Determining the influencing factors affecting the digital competencies of colleges students in blended teaching.
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Empathy as a Predictor of Pronunciation Mastery: The Case of Female Iranian EFL Learners’ Pronunciation Errors

The present study set out to identify the problematic areas of pronunciation among Iranian female EFL learners. Further, this study investigated the relationship between empathy and authentic pronunciation, along with gender as a moderator variable. Comparing segmental features and phonological processes of both languages helped teachers to predict the target errors. To reach such a goal, a total of 69 Iranian undergraduate EFL learners were recruited from the Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, majoring in English literature and translation studies participated in the study. The subjects were conveniently sampled and were taking the course Conversation I. After administrating the Basic Empathy Scale (BES: Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006), the students were assigned to two groups: high-empathic group and low-empathic group. Both groups participated in an oral interview twice (before and after segmental form-focused instruction). The data were collected through taping participants’ pronunciation of some words. Two raters analyzed students’ pronunciation in terms of segmental features. The results demonstrated that the absence of some phonemes in the Farsi sound system and some phonological differences between the two languages caused difficulties for EFL learners. Furthermore, it was witnessed that those in the high-level group (i.e., more empathic learners) were more successful in acquiring authentic pronunciation than those in the low-level group.

An Empirical Examination of the Association between Individual Differences Variables and Writing Performance of Iranian EFL Learners

The present study was designed to initially test a model of the role of a set of cognitive (namely, aptitude and working memory) and motivational (namely, language learning goals, self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulation strategy use) individual differences variables in writing performance of a group of Iranian undergraduate EFL learners and, subsequently, to identify the possible differences in the writing quality and composing behavior of learners with different individual characteristics. A convenient sample of 125 BA level students of English Language Teaching and Literature from three state universities in Iran took part in the study. As for the data collection procedure, these participants, in various time intervals, wrote an argumentative essay, responded to the composing process scale, completed the aptitude and working memory measures and filled in the questionnaires exploring their motivational propensities, self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulatory strategy use in writing. The collected data were analyzed by using Path Analysis and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Due to some problems like small sample size and idiosyncratic nature of the data, the model did not give satisfactory fit indexes. However, it was found that cognitive variables were more strongly correlated with the writing competence of the learners than the motivational ones. More specifically, the construct of foreign language aptitude had the highest potential to account for the writing competence of the learners and the learners having different levels of this construct were different from each other in terms of writing quality and composing processes employed while writing.

Investigating Difficulty Order of Certain English Grammar Features in an Iranian EFL Setting

<p>The English grammar is usually taught to undergraduate EFL learners in Iran during the first academic year. It may be supposed that they have acquired a good mastery of the English grammar as they are on the verge of graduation. At the same time, it may be assumed that some English grammar features are more difficult/less difficult than others for the EFL learners to master. This study, therefore, attempts to find out which English grammar features are more difficult/less difficult than others for Iranian undergraduate EFL learners. 125 Iranian undergraduate senior EFL learners took part in this study and responded to the English grammar test. Moreover, some experienced English instructors were asked to rate the difficulty of the given English grammar features. The data were collected and analyzed which revealed that some English grammar features were more difficult and some were less difficult than others for the EFL learners. The obtained difficulty order determined by the EFL learners and the one obtained according to the instructors’ perceptions were compared. Some similarities/overlaps and differences were found to exist in the rank orders of the features for the two groups. The findings of the study may be beneficial to syllabus designers, material developers, instructors and EFL learners.</p>

Exploring EFL Learners' Preferences, Perceived Needs, and Perceptions about Language Learning Strategies

This study was to investigate the impact of language experience and academic level on the perceived needs of Iranian undergraduate EFL learners. Two groups of Iranian TEFL female students (freshmen and senior) were compared regarding their preferences, perceived needs and perceptions of different activity types about language learning. To collect data, Sihong's (2007) needs analysis questionnaire for English language needs was utilized. Thirty two freshman and twenty nine senior MA students with the age range of 25-35 were considered as the subject of this study. They were asked to fill out the questionnaire through email and they were given the confidence that the collected data would remain anonymous. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between freshman and senior EFL learners in their preferences, needs and opinions about various types of activities, and various aspects of language education. The findings also revealed that freshmen students required more practice in grammar and pronunciation than vocabulary for them. The most difficult components of language were pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar respectively; however, the senior students reported that vocabulary and grammar were the most difficult component of language skill and pronunciation was the least one.

A Comparative Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Employed by Iranian Undergraduate and Postgraduate EFL Learners with a Focus on Motivation

Vocabulary is viewed as a major part of language proficiency as it allows learners to use four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The present study was carried out to compare Iranian undergraduate and postgraduate EFL learners’ use of vocabulary learning strategies. After that the study tried to see if there was any difference between highly-motivated and low-motivated learners with regard to vocabulary use. Finally, it aimed at investigating the differences between the Iranian EFL male and female learners’ use of vocabulary learning strategies. A group of 150 Iranian undergraduate and postgraduate EFL learners (75 males and 75 females) both at BA and MA levels from Zahedan universities were selected randomly. The participants’ ages ranged between18 to 42. The data were obtained through two questionnaires: Taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning Strategies developed by Schmitt (1997) and Gardner’s (1985) Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). The findings of the study showed that there was a significant difference between undergraduate and postgraduate EFL learners’ use of vocabulary learning strategies. Also, there was a difference between highly-motivated learners and low-motivated learners’ use of vocabulary learning strategies. Moreover, the results showed that the interaction between the learners’ gender and motivation was significant. The results are theoretically and pedagogically significant for EFL teachers and applied linguists

An Investigation into the Individual Differences Correlates of Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners’ Writing Competence: A Mixed Methods Approach

An Investigation into the Individual Differences Correlates of Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners’ Writing Competence: A Mixed Methods Approach

A Macro-level Error Analysis of Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners’ Performance on Writing Tasks

<p>Writing in a foreign language is a highly complex activity and creating an accurate and fluent text demands the dedication of effort and acquisition of expertise in different aspects of writing. Many EFL students are not competent enough in this skill and it is natural to see some instances of errors and deficiencies in their written texts and it is expected that writing instructors be equipped with the essential knowledge and tools to respond to these problems. Accordingly, the present study incorporated insights from the practices of error analysis and the principles of feedback and effective written commentaries in examining a semester-long corpus of a group of Iranian undergraduate EFL learners’ written texts in a paragraph writing course. The study identified and analyzed the instances of errors in different aspects of writing (namely, content and organization, support and development, cohesion and coherence, structure, vocabulary and mechanics), and explored the instructor’s feedback and written commentary on these aspects. The study introduces a flexible, analytic, comprehensive and context-sensitive feedback providing rubric to EFL writing. </p>

Examining the Effects of Strategy-Based Instruction of Reading Passages to Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners

The present study aimed at exploring the possible effects of strategy-based instruction of reading passages to undergraduate Iranian EFL learners. The study particularly explored the effects of using SQR3 and TPS reading strategies on learners’ reading performance. To this end, 60 EFL learners were selected and participated in this study. After homogenizing the learners, they were randomly divided to three groups; two experimental and a control group. Learners in the first experimental group (SQR3) surveyed, questioned, read, reviewed and recited the reading passages while learners in the second experimental group (TPS) group thought about reading passages and shared their comprehensions with the classmates. However, learners in the control group followed the traditional method of translating reading passages to Persian for comprehension. The reading section of IELTS Test, as an internationally validated test, was applied as the pre- and the post-test of the study to further check learners’ reading comprehension. The paired-samples t-test and ANOVA analysis of learners’ performances indicated that SQR3 and TPS learners significantly outperformed on their post-tests compared with their peers in the control group. The results certified the efficacy of strategy-based approach of teaching reading passages, namely SQR3 and TPS, in promoting learners’ reading comprehension in academic Iranian EFL context.

A Qualitative Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Applied by Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners in Real Learning Setting

This study tries to investigate real use of vocabulary learning strategies by Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this goal, the researcher applied a pure qualitative research method in which frequency of all strategies counted and then classified. To select participants for the current study, the researcher used cluster sampling and fish ball approach to select participants. Through this sampling procedure, 238 students were selected as the random samples. They were asked to write journals for six weeks based on what they did daily in vocabulary learning. Transcribing and analyzing the written journals revealed the most frequently used strategies as memory, determination, cognitive, metacognitive and social strategies respectively. Moreover, one cognitive strategy (make list of new words) and one metacognitive strategies (use English language media) were found as the most frequently used strategies when investigating sub-categories while one of metacognitive strategies (pay attention to English words when somebody is speaking English) and one of social strategies (ask teacher to check my definition) were identified as the least frequently used strategies.

Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Learners’ and Teachers’ Beliefs toward FLL: A Case Study of Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners

This study was an attempt to determine the beliefs of undergraduate female and male EFL learners at Shahreza University, Isfahan, Iran, about foreign language classroom anxiety, and compare students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward FLL. For this purpose sixty linguistically homogeneous female and male students were selected after administering the QPT, and were given BALLI and FLCAS questionnaires designed by Horwitz (1987). Fifteen EFL instructors were selected to answer the BALLI questionnaire, and then the data from the two questionnaires were statistically analyzed with correlational analysist-tests. The findings revealed hat, first, there was a positive and statistically significant correlation between Iranian university students’ beliefs about FLL and their level of class anxiety; second, that teachers and students hold mostly different beliefs about FLL, despite some similar beliefs; and finally, male and female participants did not hold the same ideas regarding class anxiety and beliefs about FLL. The results of this study confirmed previous research findings in this area.

On the Impacts of Perceptual Learning Style and Gender on Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners’ Choice of Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Students’ learning styles and vocabulary learning strategies are among the main factors that help determine how students learn second language vocabulary. This work examined the extent to which choice of vocabulary learning strategies is affected by students’ perceptual learning style. In this research, the participants were 54 EFL learners atTarbiatMoallemUniversity majoring in English literature, ranging in age from 20 to 22, and they consisted of both males and females. TOEFL test, Schmitt’s (1997) vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire including 5 categories (Determination, Social, Memory, Cognitive, Metacognitive), and Joy Reid’s (1987) perceptual learning style preference questionnaire were used in present study. After collecting the data, a number of descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted on the data. The findings of the study revealed there was a relationship between learners’ perceptual style and vocabulary learning strategies they use so that learners’ perceptual styles make statistically significant contribution to the prediction of vocabulary learning strategies. The results showed that specific learning styles correlated with specific vocabulary learning strategies. Descriptive statistical analyses showed that the most frequent learning style was visual style. Kinesthetic and auditory styles ranked the second and third styles. Also it was shown that group style with the average of 16.0741 was the least frequent. Moreover, it was indicated that the most preferred vocabulary learning strategy category of all was related to metacognitive strategies. Determination strategies ranked the second. Cognitive, memory and the social strategies ranked the third to the fifth. Concerning the gender differences in both vocabulary learning strategies, and perceptual learning styles of the participants, an independent samples t-test was conducted, and the results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the vocabulary strategy preferences or learning styles of the two genders. The research emphasized assessing styles and vocabulary learning strategies in the L2 classroom, attuning L2 instruction and vocabulary learning strategy instruction to learners’ style preferences, and remembering that no single L2 instructional methodology fits all students.

The Effectiveness of Psychotypology-reduced L2 Teaching on Three Linguistically different Groups of Iranian Undergraduate EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Skill

Three decades have passed since Kellerman (1978) introduced the concept of “psychotypology” within the realm of psycholinguistic studies. He defines it as “the proximity between the L1 and the L2 sensed by the L2 learners” exerting a limiting role on the extent to which the L2 learners would be able to make the best advantage of their language transfer potentials. However, psychotypological studies have not been paid the due attention they merit. The present article attempted to shed more light on the concept of psychotypology and the effect of psychotypoloy-reduced English teaching on reading comprehension of linguistically distinct adult L2 learners. Furthermore, a further attempt was made to delve into surveying the interactional effect of subjects’ motivational and attitudinal profiles on their psychotypology-reduced reading comprehension. The final results supported the main effect of psychotypology-reduced L2 teaching; however, the interactional effects did not meet the significance level.