eng
Allameh Tabataba’i University Press
Issues in Language Teaching
2322-3715
2476-6194
2013-06-01
2
1
1
26
1349
مقاله پژوهشی
Assessing Language Learners’ Knowledge of Speech Acts: A Test Validation Study
Assessing Language Learners’ Knowledge of Speech Acts: A Test Validation Study
Parviz Birjandi
pbirjand@yahoo.com
1
Mohammad Mehdi Soleimani
mmsoleimani@gmail.com
2
Professor of Applied Linguistics, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
Ph.D. Candidate, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research
Veryfew attempts have been made in the past to develop instruments to measure pragmatic knowledge of second language (L2) learners. The absence of such instruments in the literature of English language teaching (ELT) underscores the need for the researchers to develop new tests that are specifically designed to assess this crucial but less explored aspect of language learners’ (LLs) knowledge. In line with this objective, the present study was conducted to develop and validate four tests of pragmatic knowledge that measured LLs’ knowledge of speech acts. The following steps were taken in this study to develop the written discourse completion tests (WDCTs) and the multiple-choice discourse completion tests (MCDCTs) that respectively measured the test takers’ ability to produce and comprehend request speech act. During the “prototype step” the researchers identified the content and the number of items for each designated test battery. At the “test construction step” the sociolinguistic variables of power (P), social distance (D), and absolute rank of imposition (R) were inserted into the content of the test items. Finally, at the “validation step” the reliability of the tests was examined. The finding of the study showed that the constructed test batteries were sufficiently reliable and valid for measuring pragmatic knowledge of L2 learners.
https://ilt.atu.ac.ir/article_1349_264867b59718034adbc2c7642035429b.pdf
pragmatic competence
interlanguage pragmatics
test development
speech acts
eng
Allameh Tabataba’i University Press
Issues in Language Teaching
2322-3715
2476-6194
2013-06-01
2
1
27
54
1350
مقاله پژوهشی
EFL Teachers’ Reconstruction of Student-Writers’ Intentions in Erroneous Sentences: The Role of Context
EFL Teachers’ Reconstruction of Student-Writers’ Intentions in Erroneous Sentences:
The Role of Context
Maghsoud Alizadeh Salteh
alizadeh.maghsoud@ymail.com
1
Oktay Yağız
yoktay@atauni.edu.tr
2
Karim Sadeghi
ksadeghi03@gmail.com
3
Ph.D. Candidate, Ataturk University, Turkey
Assistant Professor of TEFL, Ataturk University, Turkey
Ph.D. in TEFL, Urmia University, Iran
Writing is an important skill and a valuable part of any language course, and feedback is an important aspect of teaching writing. Teachers customarily give feeedback, or write comments on the students’ papers to revise their writing, and, at times, they embark on reconstructing and providing the correct form of the segment of the discourse that they feel needs repairing. However, they have not been very successful in this undertaking. To find out the extent to which teachers correctly understand writers’ intended meaning when providing them with revision feedabck (as well the function of context in this process), this study employed nine university teachers who were given thirty nine context–bound erroneous sentences to reconstruct, taken from writing samples of thirteen students. In the second phase of the study, however, six teachers were given the same thirty nine context-free sentences to interpret. The aim was to measure the extent to which teachers can correctly unearth students’ intentions from the idiosyncractic utterances and, at the same time, to measure the effect of context in the meaning-discovery process. The results showed that approximately 60 % of teachers failed to reconstruct correctly the students’ erroneous sentences. The results also revealed that the role of context was downplayed in poorly-knitted discouse produced by students. Further findings are discussed in the paper.
https://ilt.atu.ac.ir/article_1350_4add38946c322b747e7d0996ed1cec06.pdf
Interpretation
plausible reconstruction
authoritative reconstruction
student writing
corrective feedback
eng
Allameh Tabataba’i University Press
Issues in Language Teaching
2322-3715
2476-6194
2013-06-01
2
1
55
82
1351
مقاله پژوهشی
On the Relationship between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Efficacy of Classroom Management, Reflective Thinking, and Transformational Leadership Style: A Structural Equation Modeling
On the Relationship between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Efficacy of Classroom Management, Reflective Thinking, and Transformational Leadership Style: A Structural Equation Modeling
Reza Khany
khani_reza@yahoo.com
1
Seyedeh Marzieh Ghoreyshi
marziehghoreyshi89@gmail.com
2
Ph.D. in TEFL, English Department, Ilam University, Iran
M.A. in TEFL, English Department, Ilam University, Iran
In spite of the significant role of teachers in the efficacy of classroom management particularly in teaching English as a Foreign Language, the issue has not been addressed sufficiently especially in relation with other individual variables. Hence, this study made an attempt to investigate the association between Iranian EFL teachers’ classroom management, reflective thinking and transformational leadership style. 247 English Foreign Language teachers took part in the study. To measure the variables of the study, Teachers Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001), Reflective Thinking Scale (Choy & Oo, 2012) and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire(Avolio, Bass & Jung, 1995) were used. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to test the hypothesized model of associations. After confirming the hypothesized model (= 1.275; RMSEA=.02; RMR =.03; GFI =.97; AGFI =.93; NFI =.97; CFI =.99; IFI =.99), the results revealed significant internal correlations among the main as well as the sub-scales of the study. Multiple regression analysis further confirmed the direction of the path model proposed for the study. Generally, it was concluded that reflective thinking and transformational leadership improve teachers' efficacy of classroom management which, in turn, facilitates teaching processes. Implications are discussed.
https://ilt.atu.ac.ir/article_1351_a072fd98ae14a26192def8ab8d57138c.pdf
efficacy of classroom management
reflective thinking
transformational leadership style
structural equation modeling
EFL context
eng
Allameh Tabataba’i University Press
Issues in Language Teaching
2322-3715
2476-6194
2013-06-01
2
1
83
100
1352
مقاله پژوهشی
Exploring Dialogism and Multivocality in L2 Classroom-Discourse Architecture in Iran
Exploring Dialogism and Multivocality in L2 Classroom-Discourse Architecture in Iran
Masoud Rahimi Domakani
rahimi@lit.sku.ac.ir
1
Azizullah Mirzaei
mirzaei-a@lit.sku.ac.ir
2
Assistant Professor, Shahrekord University, Iran
Assistant Professor, Shahrekord University, Iran
Critical pedagogy (CP), as a poststructuralist educational movement, challenges the asymmetrical, power-over nature of classroom discourse and seeks to accommodate multivocality in the classroom and in the society. This study probed the discourse architecture of EFL classrooms in Iran. Specifically, it aimed to explore to what extent Iranian EFL classrooms have stepped away from the teacher-dominant initiation-response-follow-up (IRF) discourse structure and welcomed CP-oriented dialogism and multivocality. To this end, a number of EFL classrooms in Isfahan and Shahrekord (Iran) were observed, and the running classroom discourse was audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. The results showed that discourse-construction opportunities were distributed unevenly in favor of teachers regarded as the sole authority in the classroom. Student-regulated symmetrical talks were seldom evidenced in the classrooms. The findings further demonstrated that the power-over IRF discourse architecture, despite its communicative inadequacies, still seems to be dominant in EFL classrooms in Iran. Finally, it is suggested that L2 practitioners should move towards transforming the status quo, include more elements of CP into L2 classrooms, and invest in dialogism and multivocality as essential mechanisms to de-silence the students.
https://ilt.atu.ac.ir/article_1352_da2213b89b05fd16900ef269a8c1dd83.pdf
critical pedagogy (CP)
initiation-response-follow-up (IRF) discourse architecture
dialogism
multivocality
transmission-oriented pedagogy
eng
Allameh Tabataba’i University Press
Issues in Language Teaching
2322-3715
2476-6194
2013-06-01
2
1
101
124
1353
مقاله پژوهشی
Iranian EFL Learners’ Motivation Construction: Integrative Motivation Revisited
Iranian EFL Learners’ Motivation Construction: Integrative Motivation Revisited
Nasser Rashidi
naser.rashidi@shirazu.ac.ir
1
Mohammad Rahimi
mrahimy@gmail.com
2
Zahra Alimorad
s.zalimorad@rose.shirazu.ac.ir
3
Associate Professor of TEFL at Shiraz University, Iran
Associate Professor of TEFL at Shiraz University, Iran
Assistant Professor of TEFL at Shiraz University, Iran
Although Gardner and his associates’ work was most influential in the field of L2 motivation, from the early 1990s onwards, their work has been criticized for several reasons. Some researchers claimed that integrative and instrumental orientations were no longer able to convey the complexity of the L2 motivation construct. To examine this complexity, the present study attempted to investigate the discursive construction of four (two males and two females) Iranian EFL learners’ motivation at Shiraz University, Iran. Employing van Leeuwen’s (2008) legitimation construction framework, the study revealed that depending on their future selves, each participant employed certain discursive strategies unique to him/her to (de)legitimize his/her future self. Therefore, what was observed was the use of strategies which were idiosyncratic to that particular person, in that particular context, for a specific purpose, and for that particular moment. Additionally, given the unique political conditions of Iran in the world, it was found that integrative and instrumental orientations can be best replaced by ideal and ought-to selves in this context. The study has some implications. Motivation researchers need to broaden the unit of analysis beyond the individual learner to the interaction between the individual and the multitude of factors in diverse social settings.
https://ilt.atu.ac.ir/article_1353_793f9fd23e77cfa3e2c6dd18b04dc788.pdf
discursive construction
ideal selves
integrative motivation and instrumental motivation
legitimation strategies
motivation
ought-to selves
self guides
eng
Allameh Tabataba’i University Press
Issues in Language Teaching
2322-3715
2476-6194
2013-06-01
2
1
125
148
1354
مقاله پژوهشی
Scaffolding Comprehension and Recall Gaps: Effects of Paratextual Advance Organizers
Scaffolding Comprehension and Recall Gaps: Effects of Paratextual Advance Organizers
Zia Tajeddin
zia_tajeddin@yahoo.com
1
Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran
Although filling the gap in reading comprehension gained momentum with the rise of the top-down approach, Vygotsky’ concept of scaffolding and the dual code theory provided a strong support for the use of paratext to enhance comprehension. Scaffolding is dependent on other-regulation, one type of which is object-regulation. From this vantage-point, various types of paratext can function as sources of object-regulation to scaffold the interaction between the reader and the text. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of three types of paratext (the picture, preface, and title) on the reading comprehension and recall of less proficient and more proficient EFL learners. The control groups in the two proficiency levels read a text with no paratext, whereas participants in the experimental groups read the same text accompanied by the three types of scaffolding paratext. Both groups were also given a recall test which required the recall of propositions from the original texts. The results showed the beneficial effect of paratext on reading comprehension among the more proficient experimental group. As to reading recall, neither less proficient nor more proficient group succeeded in manifesting better recall than the control groups. These findings have two implications. First, there is proficiency “short-circuit” for the scaffolding effect of paratext on reading comprehension. Second, short-circuit has a task-bound nature. As the results of this study show, the proficiency ceiling needed to move beyond the short-circuit effect of comprehension is different from that of recall because recall is a comparatively more demanding task.
https://ilt.atu.ac.ir/article_1354_b5d09e783f9d968922360ae8a910dd64.pdf
comprehension
Recall
scaffolding
paratext
prior knowledge