Mohammad Zeinali; Manoochehr Jafarigohar; Mahmood Reza Atai; Hassan Soliemani
Abstract
The empirically-validated link between teachers’ professional role identity and explicit manifestations of teacher efficacy has resulted in a burgeoning literature on educational programs/settings influential in teacher identity formation. In an attempt to expand on this strand of research, the ...
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The empirically-validated link between teachers’ professional role identity and explicit manifestations of teacher efficacy has resulted in a burgeoning literature on educational programs/settings influential in teacher identity formation. In an attempt to expand on this strand of research, the present study explored how taking part in an academic multi-faceted teaching practicum may contribute to professional role identity construction/reconstruction among Iranian EFL student teachers. To this end, 45 third-year undergraduates majoring in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) were traced throughout a two-year (four-semester) teaching practicum held by Farhangian University, Iran. Based on a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design, the participants’ identity was gauged at five different time points: At the outset of the practicum and after every practicum semester. The quantitative data were gathered through the repetitive administration of a standard Likert-scale questionnaire developed based on Farrell’s (2011) tripartite model of professional role identity. Coincident with the surveying process, the qualitative data were gathered through a semi-structured interview held at the beginning of the practicum and four integrative reports developed by the participants at the end of every practicum semester. Within-group comparison of the survey data in tandem with content analysis of the qualitative data based on the focus framework revealed that the multi-faceted practicum helped the student teachers strike a balance in their identity as a manager and a professional. Additionally, the results called into question the contribution of the practicum to acculturator identity development. The influential role of a multi-faceted practicum in promoting professional role identity among student teachers calls for an investment of cost and time to exploit the full potential of practicums of the same quality.
Mahsa Shaqaqi; Hassan Soliemani
Abstract
Although L2 researchers agree that written corrective feedback (WCF) improves L2 learners' grammatical accuracy, few systematic studies have investigated the effect of computer-mediated feedback on improving L2 learners' grammatical accuracy. This study was an attempt to investigate the comparative effects ...
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Although L2 researchers agree that written corrective feedback (WCF) improves L2 learners' grammatical accuracy, few systematic studies have investigated the effect of computer-mediated feedback on improving L2 learners' grammatical accuracy. This study was an attempt to investigate the comparative effects of two types of WCF (asynchronous computer-mediated and conventional paper-and-pen metalinguistic feedback on intermediate L2 learners' use of verb tense. The participants were 49 L2 learners chosen via convenience sampling whose ages ranged from 18-25. They were in 3 intact settings in Simin Institute in Tehran. They were assigned into 3 groups: 2 experimental and 1 control. To measure the participants' knowledge of verb tense before treatment, a pretest was administered. In the next step, the experimental groups received metalinguistic feedback in separate settings whereas the control group did not receive any treatment. Finally, a posttest was used to measure the participants' knowledge of verb tense after the treatment. Though the ANOVA findings suggested that both types of WCF resulted in the improvement of the participants' verb tense accuracy, the effect of computer-mediated asynchronous feedback on the use of verb tense was more profound. In a conclusion, WCF had a significant effect on the verb tense accuracy of intermediate L2 learners.
