ESP and EAP
Leyli Nouraei Yeganeh; Majid Nemati
Abstract
This quasi-experimental study investigated the integration of Flipped Learning (FL) with Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) strategies to enhance argumentative writing (AW) skills among 240 intermediate English-proficient medical students at an Iranian university during Fall 2023. The study aimed to determine ...
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This quasi-experimental study investigated the integration of Flipped Learning (FL) with Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) strategies to enhance argumentative writing (AW) skills among 240 intermediate English-proficient medical students at an Iranian university during Fall 2023. The study aimed to determine whether embedding SRL strategies into FL environments would lead to greater improvements in AW proficiency compared to FL alone. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (FL with SRL) or a control group (FL without SRL). In the experimental group, digital tools such as Google Docs, EdPuzzle, and Padlet were aligned with SRL phases to facilitate goal-setting, pre-class preparation, and reflective critique. Results indicated that while both groups improved, students who engaged with SRL-enhanced FL instruction demonstrated greater gains in AW and self-regulatory skills. These findings suggest that integrating SRL strategies into FL models can foster more effective writing development and learner autonomy in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) contexts, offering a scalable instructional approach for medical education. The instructional design and digital tool alignment proposed in this study can be adapted to support writing development and learner autonomy across various global ESP programs and diverse educational contexts.
Majid Nemati; Seyed Reza Dashtestani; Ahmad Izadi
Abstract
Due to its significance in language teaching and learning, research on teachers’ classroom interactional competence (CIC) is well-visited in L2 classroom research; however, exploring EFL teachers’ beliefs about CIC and their actual instructional practices is a completely under-researched ...
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Due to its significance in language teaching and learning, research on teachers’ classroom interactional competence (CIC) is well-visited in L2 classroom research; however, exploring EFL teachers’ beliefs about CIC and their actual instructional practices is a completely under-researched area. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore this belief-practice relationship in light of the role of teaching experience. To this end, 258 novice and experienced English teachers filled out a questionnaire about CIC. Then six teachers (three per group) were observed for 4 sessions, and the observed classes were video-recorded for following stimulated recall sessions. The results of the quantitative data analysis showed that novice and experienced teachers had significantly different beliefs with regard to maximizing interactional space, effective use of gestures, and increased awareness of unwillingness to participate (UTP). On the other hand, the results of the classroom observations and stimulated recall sessions indicated that although the two groups’ pedagogical practices were different from each other, the relationship between their beliefs and practices was not straightforward, and their practices were affected by internal and external factors at micro and macro levels including contextual factors, educational system, and constraints. The paper finally discusses implications for second language teachers and teacher educators by highlighting the significance of teachers’ reflective practice and their participation in CIC development workshops.
Sayyed Mohammad Alavi; Majid Nemati; Sedigheh Karimpour
Abstract
The last decade has seen an increasing attention given to the notion of genre-based instruction, its application and efficacy in language teaching and learning. Regarding the benefits of genre-based instruction in second language acquisition, there have been ongoing debates in pedagogical treatments ...
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The last decade has seen an increasing attention given to the notion of genre-based instruction, its application and efficacy in language teaching and learning. Regarding the benefits of genre-based instruction in second language acquisition, there have been ongoing debates in pedagogical treatments associated with genre-based instruction in various educational contexts. The purpose of the current study was to examine how three genre-based instruction treatments affected medical students’ use of key features of the medical case report. A group of 150 subjects were selected from EFL medical students in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Both male and female students were invited to this study. These students did not previously receive any genre-based instruction before the study. The participants were assigned to the “Experimental Group One”, “Experimental Group Two” and “Control” groups. The scores from the students’ pre -and post -essays were used to find out whether the students improved their writing from the pre- to post- tests. The groups were taught for one academic semester which consisted of 15 weeks. The analysis of pre- and post-essays showed that there was a significant difference in the writing qualities of explicit and implicit genre-based instruction groups. The students in the experimental groups actually outperformed on most genre move categories assessed in the posttests. Researchers and educators could benefit from an experimental study of the development of genre awareness through models with explicit and implicit writing instruction.
Valiollah Yousefi; Majid Nemati
Abstract
This study aims at investigating the effect of writing strategy-based instruction (WSBI) on the use of metasocial and social strategies in Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ essay writing. Using Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) diagnostic test, 60 homogeneous subjects ...
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This study aims at investigating the effect of writing strategy-based instruction (WSBI) on the use of metasocial and social strategies in Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ essay writing. Using Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) diagnostic test, 60 homogeneous subjects were selected in two groups of 30 each. Prior to treatment, all subjects wrote an essay writing task for a bar chart description as a pre-test and filled out a writing strategies questionnaire, too. During an academic term-long intervention the groups were taught to apply metasocial and social writing strategies adapted from Oxford’s (2011) strategic self-regulation (S2R) model in their essays through writing strategies-based instruction (WSBI) for experimental group and process writing instruction (PWI) for control group. Following the treatment, the participants of both groups wrote a second essay on another bar chart description as a posttest followed by the administration of the same questionnaire. The essays were evaluated by two raters using the IELTS writing marking scheme. The results of independent samples t-test revealed a significant difference in experimental learners’ writing performance favoring more metasocial strategies than social strategies. The findings also stressed the usefulness of WSBI for EFL learners’ writing, requiring that teachers, material developers, and syllabus writers consider the prominent potentials of metasocial and also social strategies for the development of EFL learners' essay writing.
Masoud Azizi; Majid Nemati
Abstract
One may not comment on the effectiveness of teacher corrective feedback (CF) before first ensuring learners’ attendance. The majority of the studies carried out on teacher CF have mistakenly presupposed learners’ attendance to and noticing of teacher feedback without any attempt to check ...
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One may not comment on the effectiveness of teacher corrective feedback (CF) before first ensuring learners’ attendance. The majority of the studies carried out on teacher CF have mistakenly presupposed learners’ attendance to and noticing of teacher feedback without any attempt to check or ensure them. The present study was an attempt to examine the effect of CF on learners’ writing ability when it is accompanied by Draft Specific Scoring, a technique designed to maximize learners’ motivation to attend to teacher feedback while minimizing the negative effect grading might have on learners’ attention (Azizi, 2013; Nemati & Azizi, 2013). In so doing, 57 intermediate students of English Language Literature at University of Tehran, in the form of two groups with one receiving CF and the other one receiving CF plus Draft-Specific Scoring (DSS), were studied. The results of the Split-plot ANOVA between the two groups’ pretest and posttest indicated that the treatment group could significantly outperform the control group in overall writing proficiency as well as the four components assessed in IELTS writing task 2. In addition, learners’ motivation, attendance, and attitudes were explored into using a questionnaire and a written interview. The participants experiencing DSS reported a high level of motivation and attendance. They also held a very positive attitude toward the technique they had undergone. The results indicate that it is possible to make teacher corrective feedback work if the intervening variables, more particularly motivation, are taken care of.
Shiva Kaivanpanah; Majid Nemati; Asadollah Sharifi
Volume 1, Issue 1 , March 2014, , Pages 19-35
