Research Paper
Second Language Acquisition (SLA)
Sepideh Mehraein; Hamideh Marefat
Abstract
Extensive research exists on the effects of task design features on measuring L2 learners’ implicit and explicit knowledge. However, the role of structure difficulty has received limited attention. Additionally, the use of fine-grained measures of implicit knowledge has remained underexplored. ...
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Extensive research exists on the effects of task design features on measuring L2 learners’ implicit and explicit knowledge. However, the role of structure difficulty has received limited attention. Additionally, the use of fine-grained measures of implicit knowledge has remained underexplored. To address these gaps, utilizing objective criteria to select easy (plural -s) and difficult (third-person -s) structures, a total of 256 experimental items, equally divided into grammatical and ungrammatical, as well as easy and difficult structures, were developed and administered to 32 advanced L2 learners. A word monitoring task (WMT) assessed their implicit knowledge through reaction time (RT) and grammaticality sensitivity index (GSI), while a timed grammaticality judgment test (TGJT) measured their automatized explicit knowledge through accuracy scores. The WMT results showed longer RTs for ungrammatical items and larger GSI for the plural -s items, revealing participants’ more implicit knowledge of the easy structure. The results of the TGJT revealed that L2 learners judged grammatical items more accurately than ungrammatical ones and the plural -s items more accurately than third-person -s ones, showing participants’ more automatized explicit knowledge of the easy and grammatical structures. The findings highlight the influence of grammaticality and structure difficulty on knowledge retrieval and suggest that advanced L2 learners exhibit stronger implicit and automatized explicit knowledge of the easy structure. These findings underscore the need for tailored instructional approaches to address difficult structures and emphasize the importance of using real-time psycholinguistic measures to examine L2 learners’ implicit knowledge.
Research Paper
Second Language Acquisition (SLA)
Hamed Abbasi Mojdehi; Abbas Ali Zarei; Rajab Esfandiari
Abstract
Grammatical accuracy has always been a concern for most Iranian EFL learners. This grammatical variability is more visible in the writing of Iranian IELTS candidates. In this study, the impacts of (distributed, peer and reciprocal scaffolding on IELTS learners' horizontal grammatical variability were ...
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Grammatical accuracy has always been a concern for most Iranian EFL learners. This grammatical variability is more visible in the writing of Iranian IELTS candidates. In this study, the impacts of (distributed, peer and reciprocal scaffolding on IELTS learners' horizontal grammatical variability were investigated. An explanatory mixed design was employed to measure the differences among scaffolding types and to develop a better understanding of teachers' and learners' perception toward them. 120 IELTS candidates were randomly selected from a pool of 367 candidates, and they were put in three experimental groups and a control group. Each scaffolding type was used in one of the experimental groups as the treatment. Five different essay topics were given to each student before the course and after the course. Two official IELTS mock examiners rated the writing performances according to the details of IELTS criteria about grammar accuracy and variability. Next, using an ANCOVA procedure, the data were analyzed. Moreover, the data collected in the qualitative phase were content analyzed. The findings showed that in distributed and reciprocal scaffolding classes, the differences were significant. The qualitative findings showed that although there was a discrepancy between the teachers' and the learners' attitude toward the possible success of the treatments, at the end, both parties confirmed that they can be beneficial. Due to the fact that 'time' has always been a precious parameter in IELTS preparatory classes, these findings can be of help to IELTS teachers and candidates.
Research Paper
Applied Linguistics
Majid Ghorbani; Shokouh Rashvand Semiyari
Abstract
The current study undertook to explore the interplay of motivational/attitudinal variables and second language (L2) learners’ motivated behavior through the lens of a revised model of L2 self-guides. This new model reconceptualizes Dornyei’s (2005, 2009) original motivational self-system ...
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The current study undertook to explore the interplay of motivational/attitudinal variables and second language (L2) learners’ motivated behavior through the lens of a revised model of L2 self-guides. This new model reconceptualizes Dornyei’s (2005, 2009) original motivational self-system into a five-factor model consisting of the bifurcated ideal and ought-to L2 selves (i.e., ideal L2 self/own, ideal L2 self/other, ought L2 self/own and ought L2 self/other) and L2 learning experience. In addition, two important antecedents of L2 self-guides (i.e., instrumentality-promotion and instrumentality-prevention) were also included in the new model. Data were collected from 856 students of English as a foreign language (EFL) at six Iranian universities. Fitness of the new model was supported by structural equation modeling (SEM) and all the paths were shown to be significant. Furthermore, SEM results indicated that ideal L2 self/own was the strongest factor predicting motivated behavior (considering its total effects). L2 learning experience and ought-to L2 self/own were the second and third predicting factors in terms of the magnitude of their effects respectively. The study provides a more nuanced understanding of learners’ motivational self system in foreign or second language learning.
Research Paper
Testing
Elham Banisaeed; Mohammad Hashamdar; Kobra Tavassoli
Abstract
Classroom-based assessment (CBA) as one of the constructs of formative assessment has been considered highly significant in recent years. Consequently, various tools have been designed to investigate teachers` CBA needs and deficiencies ignoring different levels of teachers` CBA literacy. Thus, the present ...
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Classroom-based assessment (CBA) as one of the constructs of formative assessment has been considered highly significant in recent years. Consequently, various tools have been designed to investigate teachers` CBA needs and deficiencies ignoring different levels of teachers` CBA literacy. Thus, the present study researchers developed and validated a classroom-based assessment literacy questionnaire (CALQ) to determine teachers` levels of CBAL. To do so, an inclusive review of the literature was accomplished to retrieve major themes and components of CBAL, and then a series of interviews were conducted with five assessment experts and 13 experienced EFL teachers in accordance with Pill and Harding’s (2013) Model of LAL, Hill and McNamara’s (2012) scope and dimensions of CBA in addition to teachers’ assessment literacy beliefs. Accordingly, a questionnaire (CALQ) including 41 items was developed. To inquire the reliability and validity of the CALQ, 318 EFL teachers were selected through non-probability convenience sampling and asked to answer the questionnaire. The outcomes of the Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated a proper reliability index, and factor analysis products clarified that items loaded on six factors named as illiteracy (6 items); nominal literacy (11 items); functional literacy (6 items); procedural and conceptual literacy (6 items); multidimensional literacy (6 items); and assessment literacy beliefs (6 items). Besides, CALQ is considered advantageous in assessing teachers’ CBAL and facilitating materials preparation to design instructional courses and develop EFL teachers’ CBAL, based on the conclusions of structural equation modeling (SEM), which proved that the Model enjoyed good psychometric features.