Maryam Azizi; Hossein Heidari Tabrizi; Ahmadreza Lotfi
Abstract
Despite its enrichment, the literature on teacher self-efficacy lacks evidential data on the changes in both hidden and observable variables underlying this multifaceted construct. To compensate for this substantial gap, the current study compared patterns of cognition, metacognition, emotion, and behavior ...
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Despite its enrichment, the literature on teacher self-efficacy lacks evidential data on the changes in both hidden and observable variables underlying this multifaceted construct. To compensate for this substantial gap, the current study compared patterns of cognition, metacognition, emotion, and behavior across three groups of Iranian EFL teachers with scant, moderate, and considerable teaching experience. 382 Iranian EFL teachers participated in the current study, filling out five well-established survey instruments targeted at measuring pedagogical knowledge, teaching reflection, motivational needs satisfaction, teaching styles use, and work engagement. The survey data were compared across the three groups based on a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). According to the results, the groups differed significantly on a linear combination of the five variables. The discriminant function analysis (DFA) results showed that pedagogical knowledge and motivational needs satisfaction acted as a concordant pair and explained the heaviest load of the overall between-group differences. The significantly higher levels of pedagogical knowledge and motivational needs satisfaction among the moderately experienced teachers, compared to those of their less and more experienced counterparts, suggested that Iranian EFL teachers’ sense of efficacy reaches its peak in the middle years of teaching life. The findings may provide new insights into the ways of setting English teachers of various experiential backgrounds on the road to optimum efficacy.
Samira Abbasi; Azizeh Chalak; Hossein Heidari Tabrizi
Abstract
Enhancing speaking ability is an important component of the acquirement of a language. The present study focused on improving speaking ability through online strategy-based instruction. The innovation aspect of this study is applying the Moodle course management system as an instructional platform. To ...
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Enhancing speaking ability is an important component of the acquirement of a language. The present study focused on improving speaking ability through online strategy-based instruction. The innovation aspect of this study is applying the Moodle course management system as an instructional platform. To this end, a group of 80 Iranian female and male students at the intermediate level participated in the treatment. Participants of the study were divided into four groups of 20. The subjects in experimental groups benefited from two particular instructional focuses of this study include social and affective strategies. In order to assess the effect of the treatment pre and posttests design were utilized. Consequently, the data were analyzed through One-Way ANOVAs and t-tests. The findings revealed that strategy treatment was successful in improving the participants’ speaking ability. However, there was no significant difference between the performance of male and female treatment groups. Therefore, the findings suggest that online strategy-based instruction can positively influence the speaking ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. This study may have pedagogical implications for material practitioners, CALL package designers and distance learning planners to include strategy instruction in English courses.Keywords: Moodle, Online learning, Social and affective strategies, Speaking ability, Strategy instruction
Mohammad Nabi Ranjbari; Hossein Heidari Tabrizi; Akbar Afghary
Abstract
The student's success at school greatly depends on quality teacher and this has led to the governments' growing focus on the quality of teacher education programs and production of quality teachers. This study explored the key stakeholders' views of the pre-service teachers' professional preparation ...
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The student's success at school greatly depends on quality teacher and this has led to the governments' growing focus on the quality of teacher education programs and production of quality teachers. This study explored the key stakeholders' views of the pre-service teachers' professional preparation in the latest teacher education program.The participants were 257 BA students in TEFL and 40 teacher educators. Data were collected through an adapted version of the Survey of Teacher Education Programs (STEP) (Williams-Pettway, 2005) and semi-structured interview. After analyzing data by employing descriptive and inferential statistics, the findings indicated that the participants positively evaluated the components in the program and found it effective in preparation of prospective teachers. However, some participants pointed to some drawbacks as the requirement of more input on language proficiency and knowledge of English language learners, more effective use of technology, more teaching practice opportunities as a means of experiential learning, and sufficient support from supervising teachers and teacher educators during teaching practicum courses for student teachers. The findings from this study may help the tomorrow’s educational leaders and syllabus designers to equip themselves with a visionary perspective and begin to form ideas for future change and direction in line with social influences.
