Akram Bagheri; Masood Siyyari; Mojgan Rashtchi
Abstract
The psychological constructs of teachers have become the focus of a growing line of research in numerous studies in both mainstream and second language teacher education over the recent decades. Many studies have addressed the relationship between teacher commitment and other variables; however, its ...
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The psychological constructs of teachers have become the focus of a growing line of research in numerous studies in both mainstream and second language teacher education over the recent decades. Many studies have addressed the relationship between teacher commitment and other variables; however, its interaction with teacher burnout and school climate has not received much attention in EFL contexts. The present study investigated the mediating role of teacher burnout and school climate in predicting teacher commitment among Iranian high school EFL teachers. In doing so, 417 teachers completed three measuring instruments: English Language Teacher Commitment Questionnaire, Revised School Level Environment Questionnaire, and Maslach Burnout Inventory. The results of hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that teacher burnout and school climate could predict teachers’ commitment to their profession. Although both variables had a unique effect on teacher commitment, school climate was a stronger predictor of teacher commitment. The results can offer implications for EFL teachers, school principals, educators, and teacher education programs.
Maryam Mahmoudi; Mojgan Rashtchi; Gholam-Reza Abbasian
Abstract
Teachers’ knowledge base refers to what teachers should know and be able to implement in their classes. This study investigated to what extent in-service education and training (INSET) courses were influential in developing teachers’ knowledge base. From different models, the researchers ...
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Teachers’ knowledge base refers to what teachers should know and be able to implement in their classes. This study investigated to what extent in-service education and training (INSET) courses were influential in developing teachers’ knowledge base. From different models, the researchers selected Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) model that assumes an interrelationship between the components of teachers’ knowledge base. Thus, an exploratory sequential mixed methods study was designed in three phases. In the first phase, the questionnaire of English Language Teacher’s Knowledge Base (ELTKB) was developed and validated with 335 randomly selected EFL teachers from Guilan province. In the second phase, the quantitative follow-up phase, twenty-nine 11th grade EFL teachers’ knowledge base improvement was examined after attending online INSET classes. The results of the paired sample t-tests revealed statistically significant differences between the participants’ knowledge base components before and after the courses. In the third phase, semi-structured interviews explored the participants’ viewpoints concerning the content of the INSET courses. The teachers’ perceptions declared in interview sessions were not in complete conformity with the results obtained from the second phase of the study. The teachers had some complaints about the content of the courses and provided some suggestions. The findings of this study can benefit teacher educators, policymakers, INSET programmers, and English teachers. Also, the ELTKB can be employed by researchers as a valid tool for measuring TPACK that is an essential concept for explaining the relationship between teachers’ content, pedagogy, and technology-related knowledge.
Samaneh Khodabakhsh; Gholam-Reza Abbasian; Mojgan Rashtchi
Abstract
Dynamic Assessment (DA) has become a growing trend in education in general and language education in particular. The present mixed-methods study aimed at implementing two different models of DA known as the interventionist and the interactionist models regarding developing EFL learners’ level of ...
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Dynamic Assessment (DA) has become a growing trend in education in general and language education in particular. The present mixed-methods study aimed at implementing two different models of DA known as the interventionist and the interactionist models regarding developing EFL learners’ level of language awareness (LA) and metacognitive strategy use (MSU) in the process of writing instruction. The participants of the study included 60 Iranian undergraduate students majoring in English Translation Studies. Quantitative analysis of the data revealed that the participants in the experimental groups were able to gain higher levels of LA than their control group counterparts; however, both interventionist and interactionist models of DA entailed relatively similar effects. In the case of MSU, the results showed that neither the interventionist nor the interactionist models of DA of writing resulted in higher levels of MSU. Nevertheless, during the qualitative phase (i.e., interviews analysis) most of the participants in the experimental groups reported some changes in their LA and MSU as a result of DA. The results of the study can shed light on some aspects of integrating DA in English as a foreign language (EFL) education in terms of not only skill development but also cognitive and personality changes.The findings can bear lucrative insights for various practitioners ranged from classroom teachers and EFL researchers to those who are involved in strategic education.
