Shiva Kaivanpanah; Abbas Ali Rezaee; Morteza Neamatollahi
Volume 4, Issue 2 , April 2017, , Pages 107-89
Abstract
Different from one-way provision of knowledge in transmission-based approaches, recent approaches to teacher education consider learning as a consequence of teachers’ active engagement in social practices. Prior studies have provided important insights into how sociocultural theory (SCT) works ...
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Different from one-way provision of knowledge in transmission-based approaches, recent approaches to teacher education consider learning as a consequence of teachers’ active engagement in social practices. Prior studies have provided important insights into how sociocultural theory (SCT) works in L2 teacher education. However, issues remain about the content and effectiveness of teacher education programs informed by the tenets of SCT on novice teachers’ learning. Addressing this gap, the present study set out to investigate the microgentic development of four novice EFL teachers during dialogic mediations with a teacher educator in some one-to-one development sessions based on samples of their actual teaching practices. Mediations were dialogic, graduated, and tailored to the needs of the teachers (i.e., from implicit to explicit) within each individual’s zone of proximal teacher development (ZPTD). A total of four hours of video-recorded teacher-teacher educator post-observation talk was analyzed. Results proposed a highly dialogic interaction with an approximately equal participatory role. Findings demonstrated that novice teachers’ agency and externalization of their thoughts in a supportive and interactive environment can result in their development. Finally, teacher educators were asked to include strategic mediation in teacher education programs and provide teachers with graduated assistance within their ZPTD.
Abbas Ali Rezaee; Yoones Taase; Zahra Alishahi
Volume 3, Issue 4 , November 2016, , Pages 61-47
Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the reflection of critical thinking in ESAP textbooks developed by SAMT in Iran. To this end, three textbooks including English for Students of Veterinary Medicine (Medical Sciences), English for Students of Psychology (Soft Sciences) and English for Students ...
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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the reflection of critical thinking in ESAP textbooks developed by SAMT in Iran. To this end, three textbooks including English for Students of Veterinary Medicine (Medical Sciences), English for Students of Psychology (Soft Sciences) and English for Students of Сivil Engineering (Hard Sciences) were analyzed based on Peterson’s model to identify the frequency of different types of critical reading questions. Moreover, 153 students of these majors filled out a critical thinking questionnaire. The results showed that approximately half of the exercises reflect general reading questions not critical reading questions in ESAP textbooks. The results of Chi-Square tests showed that while there is not any significant difference between the applications of critical reading questions in the ESAP textbooks, there is a significant difference between different types of critical reading questions in ESAP textbooks. In addition, the results of the one-way ANOVA showed that there is not any significant difference between critical thinking of students of the three majors.
