Psycholinguistics
shokouh Rashvand Semiyari; Majid Ghorbani
Abstract
Motivation and affect as two salient variables in L2 development are no longer seen as the stable individual difference factors they were once believed to be. Influenced by process-oriented approaches and by increasing understanding of how the complex dynamic system theory (CDST) works, researchers have ...
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Motivation and affect as two salient variables in L2 development are no longer seen as the stable individual difference factors they were once believed to be. Influenced by process-oriented approaches and by increasing understanding of how the complex dynamic system theory (CDST) works, researchers have been emphasizing the holistic, non-modular, dynamic and changeable nature of motivation and affect to-date. Accordingly, this study utilized the principles underlying the CDST perspective to examine the interrelationships between Iranian EFL learners’ motivational and affective factors mediated by working memory and gender over an academic semester. To this end, 445 pre-intermediate male and female students completed the motivation questionnaire and L2 Enjoyment Scale four times with one-month intervals during an academic semester and Working Memory Scale once in the beginning of the term. Relationships that emerged indicated both motivational and affective stability and fluctuation over a semester of instruction at one month intervals. The findings also illustrated how these factors are inseparable from students’ learning context. Implications of study and directions for further research were also discussed.
Psycholinguistics
Mohammad Saber Khaghaninejad; Mohammad Hadi Eal
Abstract
Much of the research on the comprehension of passive sentences has targeted healthy adults, L1 acquirers and people with aphasia. However, a topic that lacks evidence is the comprehension challenges of EFL learners facing different passive structure types. Consequently, this study investigated the comprehension ...
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Much of the research on the comprehension of passive sentences has targeted healthy adults, L1 acquirers and people with aphasia. However, a topic that lacks evidence is the comprehension challenges of EFL learners facing different passive structure types. Consequently, this study investigated the comprehension difficulty of different passive structures by 186 intermediate EFL learners. The participants’ task was to read a sentence and choose a corresponding answer in a multiple-choice format via a software application designed for this study. The answers were analyzed in terms of the comprehension accuracy and the reaction time. Compared with the passive sentences, the participants needed less time comprehending active sentences and had a higher success rate. The results suggested that different passive verb types (i.e., regular/irregular, action/state, double-object/single-object, negative/affirmative, and question/statement) imposed different degrees of comprehension challenge to EFL learners; passives with regular verbs (PR) were the least challenging and passives with double-object verbs (PDO) were the most demanding structures. It was also revealed that the participants’ comprehension of different passive structures was significantly different based on their reaction times. The study’s findings may be of insight for EFL instructors and material developers to possibly invest more time for the more challenging passive structures.
Psycholinguistics
Meisam Mirzaei Shojakhanlou; Raziyea Mahmoudi; Farahman Farrokhi
Abstract
Given that students’ personality traits can have a powerful role in language learning, this study sought to investigate how well L2 leaners’ communication apprehension and request speech act can be predicted through the components of the Big Five Personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, ...
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Given that students’ personality traits can have a powerful role in language learning, this study sought to investigate how well L2 leaners’ communication apprehension and request speech act can be predicted through the components of the Big Five Personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness). The study also examined which of these traits could be the best predictor of L2 learners’ communication apprehension (CA) and request speech act. One hundred and seventy-nine Iranian EFL learners at three universities in Shiraz, Iran were recruited. To single out the participants for the study, Oxford Placement Test was employed. To identify the learners’ personality traits, gauge their pragmatic competence of request speech act, and measure their communication apprehension, The Big-Five Inventory, Discourse Completion Task, and the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) were applied, respectively. Standard multiple regression was used and the results showed that the Big Five personality can predict L2 learners’ communication apprehension and request speech act ability. Moreover, the results evidenced that extraversion and neuroticism largely contributed to L2 learners’ request speech act ability and CA, respectively. The findings offer implications for EFL teachers in helping their students increase their speech act productions and managing their communication apprehension based on their personality traits.
Psycholinguistics
Saber Khooei-Oskooei; Saeideh Ahangari; Zohreh Seifoori
Abstract
In the long process of learning English as a foreign language, learners may become exhausted and, if not treated properly, decide to give up learning temporarily and even permanently. Therefore, it seems necessary to explore the reasons for their temporal delays and consider them appropriately to avoid ...
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In the long process of learning English as a foreign language, learners may become exhausted and, if not treated properly, decide to give up learning temporarily and even permanently. Therefore, it seems necessary to explore the reasons for their temporal delays and consider them appropriately to avoid permanent give-ups. As an attempt to determine the reasons for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ delays, the researchers in the present study explored their contributing factors through application of a classical grounded theory approach which led to the development of Language Learning Procrastination (LLP) theory. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 43 EFL learners in Tabriz, Iran, and were coded in open, selective, and theoretical coding stages through a Constant Comparative Method. The emerged theory involved a core category (i.e., Dilatory Behavior) indicating that EFL learners mostly procrastinate in five domains of doing exercises, preparation for exam, submitting projects, starting up speaking, and learning spelling. Furthermore, three major categories of Learners’ Characteristics, Environmental Conditions, and Task Features as the causes of Dilatory Behavior emerged during the iterative data collection and analysis procedures. The results of the study indicated that both EFL learners’ own characteristics and external factors related to the learning environment and language tasks are significant in shaping the EFL learners’ procrastination. The theory of LLP can be applied in EFL settings to recognize the learners’ sources of Dilatory Behavior and devise appropriate solutions for them.
Psycholinguistics
Zeinab Sazegar; Hamid Ashraf; Khalil Motallebzadeh
Abstract
Much of what educators address is the overt curriculum; however, there is a hidden curriculum that affects education in a very profound manner. In view of that, the purpose of the present study is to determine the relationship of EFL teachers’ perspectives on hidden curriculum components in the ...
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Much of what educators address is the overt curriculum; however, there is a hidden curriculum that affects education in a very profound manner. In view of that, the purpose of the present study is to determine the relationship of EFL teachers’ perspectives on hidden curriculum components in the Iranian institutional context with their students’ self-efficacy and national identity. More specifically, the present study surveyed the probable existence of any significant correlation between EFL teachers’ perspectives on the EFL hidden curriculum components, their students’ attitudes towards their own national identity, and self-efficacy. For this purpose, a model was suggested and tested using partial least squares variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), to examine EFL teachers’ perspectives on the EFL hidden curriculum components contributing to their students’ national identity and self-efficacy. A total of 164 institutional EFL teachers in Iran completed the EFL hidden curriculum questionnaire. Besides, 987 students (about eighty percent of their learners) were asked to fill in national identity and self-efficacy questionnaires. Based on this model, all the correlations between the latent variables were significant except for three latent variables including the relationships among EFL teachers’ perspectives on the EFL hidden curriculum components (social atmosphere, organizational structure, and interaction between teachers and learners) and their learners’ self-efficacy. In addition, the results depicted all the relationships between latent variables was positive relations; while, the relationship between EFL learners’ national identity and self-efficacy was proved to be negative.