2024-03-29T15:30:10Z
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/?_action=export&rf=summon&issue=5277
Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes
IJEAP
2476-3187
2476-3187
2016
5
1
An Investigation of Iranian High School English Language Teachers' Perceptions of Pedagogical Competence (Research Paper)
Ghasem
Aghajanzadeh Kiasi
Parviz
Maftoon
Parviz
Birjandi
Effective pedagogical practice promotes the achievement of students and builds up confidence of the teachers in teaching. The major cause for the gap in pedagogical practices can be attributed to the lack of pedagogical competence. The present study employed a mixed method research approach to examine Iranian high school English Language teachers’ perception of pedagogical competence in two phases. A 53-item questionnaire of pedagogical competence was, first, administered to 365 high school English teachers of 415 teachers practicing teaching in Guilan Province, Iran, through probability sampling method (stage cluster sampling). The teachers’ age, gender, fields of study, university degrees, and years of teaching were taken into account. Second, to complement the findings of the questionnaire, a semi-structured interview based on the seven constructs was conducted to 84 high school English teachers selected through stage cluster sampling in Guilan's high schools. The results of MANOVA and interview analyses revealed that teachers with different demographic features generally had positive perceptions of pedagogical competence despite some opposing views they had on pedagogical competence regarding their age and experience. The findings would be practically used by teachers, schools, and education administration.
English language teachers
high school
pedagogical competence
student achievements
education system
2016
04
01
1
25
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/article_73637_14ad2d7057a7a919cf6dbd6bcdbe3671.pdf
Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes
IJEAP
2476-3187
2476-3187
2016
5
1
Paradigmatic Influences on Metadiscourse Features in Medical Research Articles (Research Paper)
Hamid
Allami
Mohammad
Mozayyan
For the recent decades, scholars have examined the use of metadiscourse markers (MDMs) paradigmatically through several comparative studies across varying languages and cultures. No study to date, however, has investigated a comprehensive, full-fledged comparison of the possible disparities among the native English writers (NEW), Iranian English writers (IEW), and Iranian Persian writers (IPW) in crafting disciplinary research articles (RAs) in the academic field of medicine. By drawing on Hyland's (2005) metadiscourse taxonomy, the present research thus embarked on this comparison through the random selection of 240 medical research articles (RAs), 120 quantitative and 120 qualitative ones. The results could espouse the perspective that medical RA genre is less impacted by the inevitable language differences thereby giving rise to the greater importance of consensually-acknowledged disciplinary epistemology underlying medical sciences. It is then suggested that ESP classes as well as the article writing workshops held in L2 make every effort to include the interactional phase of the discourse as well.
Metadiscourse
Medical RAs
Interactive
Interactional
Post-method section
2016
04
01
26
51
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/article_73636_0c0c123d6726d55f8b51176d98d89b0e.pdf
Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes
IJEAP
2476-3187
2476-3187
2016
5
1
Collocational Processing in Two Languages: A psycholinguistic comparison of monolinguals and bilinguals (Research Paper)
Parastoo
Harati Mokhtari
Reza
Ghafar Samar
Gholam Reza
Kiany
With the renewed interest in the field of second language learning for the knowledge of collocating words, research findings in favour of holistic processing of formulaic language could support the idea that these language units facilitate efficient language processing. This study investigated the difference between processing of a first language (L1) and a second language (L2) of congruent collocations. A read-aloud task was administered to monolinguals (Persian) and advanced bilinguals (Persian-English) to assess their reaction time (RT) to collocations in comparison to non-collocations. With respect to the frequency-based approaches to the study of collocations, a list of high frequency items and a second list of non-collocations were compiled. It was hypothesised that when bilinguals are at advanced levels of proficiency their processing rate should not differ significantly from monolinguals. The study also examined the assumptions of dual-route system model (Wray, 2002). The data was analysed using linear mixed-effects modelling. The results suggested no advantage for processing of collocations over non-collocations, whereas collocational processing displayed higher response rate for monolinguals in comparison to bilinguals which contradicted our hypotheses and is in line with dual-route model assumptions.
collocations
formulaic language
holistic processing
linear mixed-effects modelling (LMM)
psycholinguistics
2016
04
01
52
69
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/article_73642_9a955c90297860a759f23aedc9b7f6d4.pdf
Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes
IJEAP
2476-3187
2476-3187
2016
5
1
Evaluating an English teacher training course for Iranian institutes' language teachers (Research Paper)
Mansoor
Ganji
Saeed
Ketabi
Mohammadtaghi
Shahnazari
This paper reports on a mixed-methods study that utilized questionnaires, open-ended questions, and texts to evaluate the English teacher training courses held in Iranian private language institutes. Data were gathered from 60 teacher applicants applying for and 94 teacher trainees who took these courses in three private language institutes. Descriptive statistics and content analysis techniques were employed to analyze the data. The findings indicate that while teacher applicants need training most in teaching language skills and components, general teaching skills, and classroom management, they need no training in using classroom resources, language learning and language testing theories. Furthermore, they expected the course to follow a specific syllabus and set of objectives, give them opportunities for teaching practice, observation of experienced teachers' classes, and the confidence and ability to manage classes and organize interesting language learning activities. Finally, it was found that although Iranian teacher training courses enjoy good planning, they suffer from a number of limitations at implementations and evaluation stages. Iranian teacher training course were revealed to focus on received versus experiential knowledge of the trainees, to offer scant opportunity for teaching practice and classroom observation, and little training with regard to classroom management skills.
teacher training course
private language institutes
evaluation
English teacher
2016
04
01
70
90
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/article_73693_90e75f2c6a754f7b6e1d30520cd1511c.pdf
Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes
IJEAP
2476-3187
2476-3187
2016
5
1
Role of Monolingualism/Bilingualism on Pragmatic Awareness and Production of Apology Speech Act of English as a Second and Third Language (Research Paper)
Masoud
Rahimi Domakani
Mahmood
Hashemian
The present study investigated the pragmatic awareness and production of Iranian Turkish and Persian EFL learners in the speech act of apology. Sixty-eight learners of English studying at several universities in Iran were selected based on simple random sampling as the monolingual and bilingual participants. Data were elicited by means of a written discourse self-assessment/completion test (WDSACT) with 10 situations asking the participants to evaluate the appropriateness of the given acts on a 5-point Likert scale. Participants were also required to produce the appropriate acts for the described situations when evaluated as being inappropriate. Native speakers evaluated as being inappropriate for the given situations. Alternatives were coded. Results provided almost insignificant differences between the 2 groups in terms of their perceptions of the appropriate and inappropriate acts and illustrated the monolingual/bilingual learners’ tendency towards using all superstrategies of apology, except for the case of “Responsibility Expressions” and “Promises of Forbearance.” Lack of cultural awareness and literacy in the Turkish language, the case of subtractive bilingualism in Iran, and insufficient pragmatic input may be sources of pragmatic failure on the part of the bilinguals.
Pragmatic awareness
Pragmatic competence
Bilingualism
Apology
Monolingualism
2016
04
01
91
113
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/article_73629_cb6b2ba8103b55424102deea10e188a4.pdf
Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes
IJEAP
2476-3187
2476-3187
2016
5
1
A SWOT Analysis of e- TEFL Curriculum: A Case Study (Research Paper)
Jaleh
Hassaskhah
It is the vision of all universities which offer e-learning to be competitive in this market. Therefore, evaluating the e-learning curricula to address the needs, and meet the demands is inevitable for any institutions. This study employs SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities, Threats) analysis as the tool to identify and prioritize the gaps of the current curriculum of e-TEFL (Electronic Teaching English as a Foreign Language) against the stakeholders' vision, strategy, and objectives. To illustrate its possibilities, SWOT analysis is applied to the e-TEFL at the University of Guilan, as the case for this study. In order to collect the required data on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the e-TEFL in this research context, a SWOT questionnaire was administered to 50 students and 15 experts. The results of the responses to the questionnaire led to ten major statements for each part of the SWOT whose statistical analyses revealed that although e-TEFL has a certain degree of achievement in this university, there are still a number of significant areas in need of improvement. In particular, the scores of external and internal factors (2.32 and 2.74 respectively) indicated that the strategies employed so far have only been partially effective in exploiting opportunities or defending against threats. Suggestions are made on how its strategies may be improved to take advantage of the opportunities. The study implies that the information obtained through SWOT analysis is valuable for the e-TEFL curriculum designers who constantly seek ways to overcome weaknesses and minimize threats.
E-learning
SWOT Analysis
e-TEFL
2016
04
01
114
132
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/article_73627_e6c8524790b24bee4b6b8ff9707a0c18.pdf
Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes
IJEAP
2476-3187
2476-3187
2016
5
1
The EFL Pre-Service Teacher Training in Iran: Is it Adequate or not? (Research Paper)
Amin
Khanjani
Fereidoon
Vahdany
Manoochehr
Jafarigohar
Teacher training programs should provide evidence that they are preparing teacher trainees for their teaching career. However, the literature contains few evaluation reports of the layout of the pre-service EFL teacher training program in Iranian EFL context, a gap which this study tries to fill. The participants of the study were high school EFL teachers (n = 346), teacher trainees (n = 97) and teacher trainers (n = 20) from Guilan Province. This study utilized a concurrent mixed-method design to evaluate the adequacy of the program. Different components of the program, including needs analysis, objectives specification, instructional materials, teaching activities, and assessment procedures were evaluated in this study. The results of the questionnaire and observation checklist were analyzed quantitatively. For interview results, both quantitative (percentages) and qualitative analyses were deployed. The results revealed that the program had not been adequately laid-out. Finally, some practical solutions for the improvement of the program are suggested.
Teacher Training
Layout
EFL
evaluation
2016
04
01
133
155
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/article_73638_e0f7dd697435090c909c175b673dc7cb.pdf
Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes
IJEAP
2476-3187
2476-3187
2016
5
1
The Effect of Conceptual Metaphor Awareness on Learning Phrasal Verbs by Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners (Research Paper)
Hossein
Ghorbanian
Mahdi
Safaei Ghalati
َAlireza
Amini
The ability to comprehend and produce phrasal verbs, as lexical chunks or groups of words which are commonly found together, is an important part of language learning. This study investigates the effect of Conceptual Metaphor Awareness, as a newly developed technique in Cognitive Linguistics, on learning phrasal verbs by Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To meet this objective, two groups of Iranian intermediate EFL learners were included. In the control group, the phrasal verbs were presented with traditional methods of repetition and memorization without giving any explicit explanation about the metaphorical nature of the meaning of phrasal verbs. In the experimental group, the phrasal verbs were presented with an explicit emphasis on the metaphorical nature of the meanings of phrasal verbs contributed by their particles. Both groups took a comprehensive pre-test; another comprehensive test was given to the subjects at the end of the study, in order to investigate the performance of the subjects in the two groups in terms of guessing the meanings of the phrasal verbs based on the instructional methods they had been provided with. The results showed that the experimental group had significantly outperformed the control group; accordingly the outcome of this study let out positive results on teaching phrasal verbs with cognitively oriented methods like conceptual metaphor awareness.
Cognitive Linguistics
Conceptual Metaphor
phrasal verbs
awareness
2016
04
01
156
170
https://journalscmu.sinaweb.net/article_73625_d8aee84efb245bac125f0d36343676b8.pdf