Parisa Arabloo; Fatemeh Hemmati; Afsar Rouhi; Farzaneh Khodabandeh
Abstract
The present study sought to explore whether the incorporation of the integration of technology and project-based learning into the mainstream English teaching classrooms contributes to the development of critical thinking and problem solving, as two skills essential for 21st century English learning. ...
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The present study sought to explore whether the incorporation of the integration of technology and project-based learning into the mainstream English teaching classrooms contributes to the development of critical thinking and problem solving, as two skills essential for 21st century English learning. To accomplish such an objective, 35 Iranian learners of English were assigned to an experimental and a control group in a quasi-experimental study. Along with benefiting from a multi-skill textbook-oriented language instruction, which was the conventional teaching method of the class, the participants in the experimental group dealt with a variety of small- and large-scale technology-aided projects. The control group’s participants, on the other hand, received a multi-skill textbook-oriented language instruction in the absence of any technology-aided projects. The comparative analysis of the control and experimental groups’ performance on the critical thinking and problem solving pre- and post-treatment measures revealed a significant impact for the study treatment in improving the participants’ critical thinking and problem solving in English learning classes.The findings of the current study may be beneficial to those interested in exploring the contribution of technology to the modern educational system. Material developers and syllabus designers could also use the results of the study to augment their instructional packages for technology-assisted project based English learning.
Manoochehr Jafarigohar; Afsar Rouhi; Shirin Rahimi Kazerooni
Abstract
The use of paired speaking tasks for the assessment of interactional competence has recently attracted the attention of many scholars in language learning research. The present study aimed at investigating whether task type has any effect on promoting language learners’ interactional competence ...
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The use of paired speaking tasks for the assessment of interactional competence has recently attracted the attention of many scholars in language learning research. The present study aimed at investigating whether task type has any effect on promoting language learners’ interactional competence measured by means of multi-factor qualitative coding of paired speaking tasks. The performances of 92 dyads of conveniently-selected intermediate Iranian EFL learners on four paired speaking tasks were assessed using a rubric developed based on recent models for the scoring of interactional competence. To reveal the factors contributing to interactional competence, confirmatory factor analysis was run rendering the four-factor rubric developed in the present study as a valid measure of interactional competence through paired speaking tasks. In addition, to check the effect of different task types on interactional competence, the researchers calculated ANOVA estimates. Mean difference statistics computed indicated that some significant effect with large effect size existed for task type. Post-hoc comparisons carried out made it clear that from among the four tasks (i.e., Spot-the-difference, Story-completion, Decision-making, and Free-discussion) only the Story-completion task was the source of variability in the scores of interactional competence. The findings are of significance in that they point to the centrality of task type in assessing speaking through paired tasks. The study has certain theoretical and practical implications for foreign language teaching/testing researchers and practitioners.
