ESP & EAP
Mohammadreza Afshari; Seyed Reza Beh-Afarin; Jahanbkhsh Nikoopour
Abstract
Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) is a widely adopted pedagogical approach that emphasizes real-world tasks to enhance second language acquisition. In a bid to empirically assess TBLT effectiveness, this study focused on the extent to which TBLT functions in the development of EAP students' pragmatic ...
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Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) is a widely adopted pedagogical approach that emphasizes real-world tasks to enhance second language acquisition. In a bid to empirically assess TBLT effectiveness, this study focused on the extent to which TBLT functions in the development of EAP students' pragmatic competence. To this end, 150 adult undergraduate Iranian students from various majors participated in this study. Also, three authentic role play tasks were designed based on a needs analysis, focusing on scenarios relevant to an EAP setting. Given the data nature, parametric statistical approach in the form of MANOVA of both pre-and post-test data was run to measure the students’ pragmatic competence prior to the intervention and following it. The pretest data-based MANOVA revealed no significant differences among the four groups not only in their overall pragmatic competence but also in the target sub-competences of it including instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, explanation, share knowledge, and imagination competences; thereby indicating groups homogeneity prior to the treatments. However, the post-test data analysis in the light of MANOVA resulted in an exactly opposite direction in that significant differences were reported in all six sub-competences, underscoring the effectiveness of task-based assessment methods in enhancing pragmatic competence in general. Post hoc analysis also confirmed the post-test data-based MANOVA. So, the findings underscore that authentic task-based assessment effectively enhances students' pragmatic competence, fostering their ability to use the language appropriately and confidently in real-life communication situations. This study underscores the significance of methodological rigor in evaluating pragmatic competence in educational contexts.
Teacher Education
Seyed Reza Beh-Afarin; Mohammad Shakerkhoshroudi; Jahanbakhsh Nikoopour
Abstract
Classroom management constraints and how English teachers cope with or remove them effectively have significantly impacted both EFL teachers and teacher educators. However, the coping strategies employed by teachers with high and low levels of expertise have not been thoroughly explored yet. To this ...
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Classroom management constraints and how English teachers cope with or remove them effectively have significantly impacted both EFL teachers and teacher educators. However, the coping strategies employed by teachers with high and low levels of expertise have not been thoroughly explored yet. To this end, first 22 teachers in one language institute in Tehran were interviewed and their main coping strategies were extracted through qualitative analysis of the interviews. Then, the extracted strategies were worded into items carefully. The questionnaire of EFL teachers’ coping strategies was validated for the purpose of the study. The findings revealed that the participants used twenty-three coping strategies under two sub-constructs: problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, based on exploratory factor analysis. One hundred EFL teachers with high and low levels of expertise (fifty in the high and fifty in the low group) responded to the items in the coping strategy questionnaire. The results revealed that highly expert teachers used the extracted coping strategies more frequently. Furthermore, the researchers confirmed that teachers need in-service training courses on coping strategies to manage their classes effectively. The results have some implications for stakeholders, namely English language teachers, teacher educators, language institutes, education departments, and EFL curriculum developers.