Research Paper
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 ...
Read More
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.
Research Paper
Houman Bijani
Abstract
The current popularity of second/foreign language oral performance assessment has led to a growing interest in tasks as a tool for assessing language learners’ oral abilities. However, most oral assessment studies so far have investigated tasks separately; therefore, any possible relationship among ...
Read More
The current popularity of second/foreign language oral performance assessment has led to a growing interest in tasks as a tool for assessing language learners’ oral abilities. However, most oral assessment studies so far have investigated tasks separately; therefore, any possible relationship among them has remained unexplored. Twenty English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers rated the oral performances produced by 200 EFL learners before and after a rater training program using description, narration, summarizing, role-play, and exposition tasks. The findings demonstrated the usefulness of multifaceted Rasch measurement (MFRM) in detecting rater effects and demonstrating the consistency and variability in rater behavior aiming to evaluate the quality of rating. The outcomes indicated that test difficulty identification is complex, difficult, and at the same time multidimensional. On the other hand test takers’ ability is a more determining factor in their score variation than other intervening variables. The outcomes displayed no relationship between task difficulty and raters’ interrater reliability measures. The findings suggest that tasks have various effects on oral performance assessment tests and most importantly, performance conditions in estimating the oral ability of test takers. Since various groups of raters have biases to different tasks in use, the findings indicated that training programs can reduce raters’ biases and increase their consistency measures. The findings imply that decision makers had better not be concerned about raters’ expertise in oral assessment, whereas they should establish better rater training programs for raters to increase assessment reliability.
Research Paper
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 ...
Read More
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.
Research Paper
Mohammad Amini Farsani; Esmat Babaii
Abstract
We have recently witnessed a growing awareness of methodological research issues in the field of applied linguistics, which led to what Plonsky (2017) has referred to as “methodological awareness” (p. 517). To make a positive contribution to this nascent movement, this study, drawing on synthetic ...
Read More
We have recently witnessed a growing awareness of methodological research issues in the field of applied linguistics, which led to what Plonsky (2017) has referred to as “methodological awareness” (p. 517). To make a positive contribution to this nascent movement, this study, drawing on synthetic techniques, sought to describe the cumulative and developmental status of research paradigms and substantive/topical issues in an EFL context. As such, we analyzed a sample of 663 unpublished applied linguistics MA theses which were distributed over a 30-year period. The cumulative results revealed the distribution of the studies in a good range of substantive issues with “researching language classroom issues” as the most frequent topic in the data set and “research methods or researching research methodology”, “psycholinguistics”, and “sociolinguistics” as the least frequent issues across a wide range of age groups, proficiency levels, and time span. As for the cumulative analysis of research approaches, the results revealed that about 72% of the included MA theses were quantitative; around 18% of the studies employed mixed methods research; and a smaller percentage of the studies (11%, n=72) used a qualitative research approach. Chronologically, a clear increasing pattern of research paradigms was notable across time. Implications for the research consumers (e.g., supervisors, journal reviewers, postgraduate students, and material developer) are discussed.
Research Paper
Ehsan Narimani Vahedi; Mahnaz Saeidi; Nasrin Hadidi Tamjid
Abstract
The role of corrective feedback (CF) in language learning has recently gained prominence; however, ignoring the interwoven relationship between cognitive/affective factors, along with individual differences, may not lead to efficient results. This mixed methods research examined high/low emotional intelligence ...
Read More
The role of corrective feedback (CF) in language learning has recently gained prominence; however, ignoring the interwoven relationship between cognitive/affective factors, along with individual differences, may not lead to efficient results. This mixed methods research examined high/low emotional intelligence (EI) Iranian EFL learners’ CF preferences. This study was grounded in the Chaos Complexity Theory of Larsen-Freeman (1997). Considering complexity theory, learners’ modified outputs were examined to find the related EI components in teacher-learner matched/mismatched conditions. First, using Bar-on Emotional Quotient Inventory,12 teachers and 223 learners were grouped as having high/low EI. Second, learners’ CF preferences were determined through Students’ Preferences Elicitation Questionnaire, including both closed and open-ended questions. Third, utilizing an observation checklist, teachers’ CF practices and learners’ modified outputs in summery telling activity were examined to find the associations among EI components and modified output in teacher-learner matched/mismatched conditions. The quantitative analysis using a number of Chi-square tests and the complementary qualitative data analyses revealed that the high/low EI learners preferred the different CF types. The most frequent successful modified output was associated with certain EI components in the mismatched conditions of EI and CF.The findings provide pertinent implications for practitioners regarding feedback implementation and successful modified output. Furthermore, the findings refer to the necessity of future studies in this area which are discussed in the article.
Research Paper
Fatemeh Hemmati; Elaheh Sotoudehnama; Mahboobeh Morshedian
Abstract
Self-regulation is the ability to regulate one’s actions, behaviors and thoughts to achieve goals. In the same line, self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to plans and behaviors to reach one’s learning goals. Therefore, this research probed into the effect of training English as a Foreign ...
Read More
Self-regulation is the ability to regulate one’s actions, behaviors and thoughts to achieve goals. In the same line, self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to plans and behaviors to reach one’s learning goals. Therefore, this research probed into the effect of training English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners according to Zimmerman and Moylan’s self-regulated learning (SRL) model when directed at reading on their motivation for EFL reading. Moreover, the moderating role of the learners’ proficiency level was investigated, as well. Self-regulation strategies which can be used while reading were taught to two experimental groups; they were trained to implement the three phases of Zimmerman and Moylan’s cyclic SRL model while trying to make sense of the reading sections of their textbook. Meanwhile, two control groups received the traditional, routine reading instruction. The data of the study were collected through Mori’s questionnaire of motivation for EFL reading before and after the treatment. A two-way analysis of covariance showed that self-regulation training, when directed at EFL reading, could significantly enhance the participants’ motivation for EFL reading, but their level of proficiency did not have any moderating role in the outcome of self-regulation training. These findings can encourage teachers to train EFL learners in self-regulation strategies with the purpose of improving their motivation for reading.
