Mohammad Reza Anani Sarab

The global spread of English and its role as a lingua franca has created a great demand for learning English worldwide. Up to the present time, this demand has been mostly met by major international publishers of English-speaking countries such as the United States and Britain. However, the promotion of Anglo-American cultural content and ideology through international coursebooks has long been criticized in the EFL settings in which they are used. The current study investigated the cultural appropriacy of these coursebooks for the Iranian context. The main instruments were four researcher-made questionnaires. The questionnaires were first piloted and then administered among 197 teachers and 186 students who were selected based on availability and willingness to cooperate. Next, a one-sample t-test was run on the data and the results showed that the coursebooks spread the hegemony of English. Also, it was found that the coursebooks promote a concept of gender equality which is in co...

... meaning, they obtain comprehensible input and feedback and generate comprehensible output, all of ... stand of many SLA theories from Corder's (1967) claims to Krashen's Input Hypothesis (1981 ... language teachers to accord paired or group reading a more expanded role in the ...

Pragmatic competence consists of both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic components. The choice of pragmalinguistic strategies aligned with sociopragmatic norms may vary based on situational, cultural, and individual variables. The relationship between these important aspects of second language pragmatic competence, however, is underdeveloped in the literature. To fill this gap, the present paper is aimed at investigating the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic variations of the Iranian EFL learners from different proficiency levels. A written discourse completion task (WDCT) was adopted for collecting data. Data were analyzed using the coding categories for apologies developed in the previous benchmark studies. The findings of the study provided evidence showing both sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic development across the levels of language proficiency. The findings can be used for the development of pragmatics-focused materials in L2 and pragmatics instruction.

The present study investigated the use of L2 private speech by English foreign language (EFL) learners in regulating their mental activities. Thirty intermediate adult EFL learners took a test of solving challenging English riddles while their voices were being recorded. Following, instances of the produced private speech were analyzed in terms of form, content, and function. Numerous instances of reading aloud and repetition as well as self explanations and reviewing show how important they are in cognitive regulation of EFL learners. In addition, the results indicate the beneficial functions of private speech such as planning, managing the thought, self-orientation, motivating, and controlling anxiety among many others. The paper emphasizes the training of private speech and calls for patience in the face of silent periods produced by language learners.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is advocated by many applied linguists as a common vehicle to curriculum innovation in many ELT contexts. It represents a change of focus in language teaching from linguistic structures to learners' need for developing communication skills. In recent years, the Iranian Ministry of Education has introduced the development of a new English curriculum for secondary schools with the aim of establishing the use of communicative activities in language classes. The present study was an attempt to investigate Iranian teachers' perception of CLT principles and practices through a survey of 75 secondary school teachers in the context of the newly introduced English language curriculum developed based on CLT principles. Based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data using a semi-structured questionnaire supplemented with interviews with a smaller group of teachers, the results of the survey revealed that a change in classroom arrangeme...

The present study investigated the characteristics of the new ELT program in Iran from the perspective of its most direct implementers both qualitatively and quantitatively. To this end, 19 teachers implementing the new program were interviewed to describe the newly introduced change through their perception of its attributes such as its complexity, explicitness and practicality. After conducting content analysis on the transcribed interviews, the emerged themes were used to survey 255 lower and higher secondary teachers by means of a 5-point Likert-type questionnaire across the nation. The results show that, although the program implementers felt more satisfied with the new program due to the perceived advantages of the change over the previous one , the lack of crucial factors such as giving due attention to the oral skills, adjustability of the change to the needs of a wide range of users, training teachers to improve their skills in making use of methods and techniques compatibl...

In recent years, language learning research has been paying more attention to the factors that may  affect  the  choice  by  language  learners  of  language  learning  strategies  in  general  and writing strategies in particular to enhance their own learning. Given the socio-cognitive nature of  the  act  of  writing,  as  Roca  de  Larios  et  al.  (2002)  note,  both  writer-internal  and  -external factors have been reported to influence the deployment of writing strategies. Personality type, as one of the influential internal factors among others, is the focus of the present study, which intended to investigate English language learners’ writing strategies with reference to their personality types at different universities in Iran. To this end, a writing strategy questionnaire was  employed  to  tap  into  the  memory,  cognitive,  compensation,  metacognitive,  social,  and affective  strategies  of  210  participants.  The  Myers-Briggs  Type  Indicator  questionnaire  was u...

Reflective teaching, which has gained the status of an integral element of teacher pedagogy, is still an elusive concept, probably because it is merely attainable when teachers are provided with opportunities for building professional knowledge and for showing reflective teaching practices. The present study aimed at examining the English language teachers’ perception of their level of reflection and the way their perceptions were realized in practice. Adopting a multi-method design, the study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, data were elicited form 60 EFL teachers using a questionnaire (Akbari, Behzadpoor & Dadvand, 2010). In the second phase, six teachers were randomly selected from among the surveyed teachers and their teaching practices were observed.  The record of the observations was, then, analyzed using the seating chart technique to find patterns in the observed teachers’ questioning practice as a sign of their degree of reflectivity. The results revealed a...

在過去十年中，語言的語用面向已引起相關領域研究者之廣泛關注。研究所產生已逐漸轉移至探究最合宜的教學法和作法，以提高語言學習者對語用特性的掌握。本研究探討以英語為外語之伊朗學習者經過連續性教學法之訓練後，針對道歉此項言語行為上在理解及表達兩方面之語用發展。評量工具以書寫及選擇題之篇章測驗，分別探測學習者言語行為之表達與理解程度。統計結果顯示，進行連續性教學法前，兩組表現相當。然而，後測發現兩組於理解及表達上有顯著差異。整體而言，本研究結果證實連續性教學之必要性，及其對波斯的英語學習者在語用發展的正面影響。

ABSTRACT With the advancement of Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA) and the pertinent statistical models, different domains of large-scale testing and assessment have been examined for the sake of reporting more diagnostic information. Applying the generalized deterministic input, noisy, “and” gate (G-DINA) model, the current study analyzed a high-stakes L2 reading comprehension test as an integral section of the PhD degree’s entrance exam in Iran. It aimed at examining the reading comprehension attributes underlying this high stakes test in an attempt to check the capability of CDA models, (in this case G-DINA), in providing diagnostic information for test developers and users. The items’ response data were analyzed in R, “GDINA” package, version 1.4.2. With data collected from multiple sources including the current literature on the sub-skills of reading comprehension, test specifications, test-takers’ think-aloud verbal protocols, and expert panel’s judgments, an initial Q-matrix, including five sub-skills, was developed and then validated. Data analysis, using the validated version of Q-matrix, showed the sub-skill (attribute) prevalence and its difficulty. Code-related sub-skills were the easiest and the most prevalent ones and the connecting/synthesizing sub-skills were the most difficult and the least prevalent ones for the test-takers. Skill mastery profile results verified the relationship among the sub-skills of reading skill and also the prominence of some of these sub-skills over others.

Abstract Research suggests that a host of cognitive, affective, and perceptual variables are at work when individuals go about the task of second or foreign language learning. Among these variables are learning styles that are habitual ways of perceiving, processing, and storing information. This study was conducted as a response to Isemonger and Sheppard's (2003) call for more context-specific research into the relationship between learning styles and background variables due to the inconsistencies existing in the field. The study aimed at exploring the pattern of graduate learners' perceptual learning style preferences and its possible relationship with their gender, age, discipline, and self-rated proficiency level. The participants were 138 graduate students at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. They were randomly selected based on a two-stage sampling procedure and responded to the Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire. The questionnaire was translated, piloted, and slightly modified before the study proper. The results revealed that the participants favored kinesthetic and tactile modalities and disfavored group learning style. As for the background variables, some significant differences were detected. The findings and their implications are also discussed.

Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA) is a type of educational assessment that is designed to measure specific knowledge structures and processing skills in students so as to provide information about their cognitive strengths and weaknesses (Leighton & Gierl, 2007). CDA has been instrumental in turning the attention of practitioners to more diagnostic, descriptive, and fine-grained levels of feedback. Different statistical, psychometric models, called Cognitive Diagnostic Models (CDMs), have been proposed to extract this kind of information from both diagnostically and non-diagnostically designed tests. These models provide two sets of information to the test users: information on mastery/non-mastery patterns of sub-skills for testtakers and information on the diagnostic power of test items. Due to its novelty and relative complexity of its procedures, cognitive diagnostic assessment is still far from achieving its proper place in educational assessment. This paper aims at providin...

The present study investigated the characteristics of the new ELT program in Iran from the perspective of its most direct implementers both qualitatively and quantitatively. To this end, 19 teachers implementing the new program were interviewed to describe the newly introduced change through their perception of its attributes such as its complexity, explicitness and practicality. After conducting content analysis on the transcribed interviews, the emerged themes were used to survey 256 lower and higher secondary teachers by means of a 5-point Likert-type questionnaire across the nation. The results show that, although the program implementers felt more satisfied with the new program due to the perceived advantages of the change over the previous one, the lack of crucial factors such as giving due attention to the oral skills, adjustability of the change to the needs of a wide range of users, training teachers to improve their skills in making use of methods and techniques compatible...

In spite of the highly beneficial applications of corpus linguistics in language pedagogy, it has not found its way into mainstream EFL. The major reasons seem to be the teachers’ lack of training and the unavailability of resources, especially computers in language classes. Phrasal verbs have been shown to be a problematic area of learning English as a foreign language due to their semantic opacity and structural differences between English and learners’ first languages. To examine the pedagogic potentiality of the use of corpus linguistics in the context of EFL, the present study aimed at comparing the effect of paper-based data-driven learning (DDL) activities, as a substitute for online DDL activities, with the activities designed based on dictionary entries in terms of their effect on learning phrasal verbs in both short and long run. To this end, the study adopted a quasi-experimental pretest posttest control group design. The analysis of the data collected through an immediat...

In the last decades, the study of pragmatic aspects of language has attracted the attention of copious researchers in the field. The results yielded by these studies have firmly established the necessity of pragmatic instruction in language pedagogy (Taguchi, 2011). Over the years, the focus of inquiry in pragmatic studies has gradually shifted to the most optimal instructional methods and practices to enhance language learners' gains of pragmatic features. As an attempt in this direction, the present study explored the impact of a sequential method of instruction on pragmatic development of Iranian EFL learners in recognition and production of the speech act of apology. The data were elicited through written and multiple-choice DCTs to measure learners' production and recognition of the target speech act. While the results of statistical measures prior to instruction evinced parallel performance across the two groups, in the post-test, participant groups differed in their a...

In this commentary, we begin with the discussion on a brief history of academic wordlists. Adopting a comparative perspective, then, the merits and demerits of the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) and its competing counterpart the Academic Vocabulary List (AVL) (Gardner & Davies, 2014) are presented. We also explore whether the AWL can still be considered as “the best list” (Nation, 2001, p. 12) for improving academic words, or whether its counterpart is reasonably “the most current, accurate, and comprehensive list” (Gardner & Davies, 2014, p. 325). The comparison was made in terms of twelve aspects: corpus size, types of corpus texts, sources of corpus texts, text balance, disciplines included, counting unit, wordlist items, method for excluding highfrequency words, minimum frequency, method for excluding technical words, sequence of list items and lexical coverage. The comparison reveals that the AVL is far from complete and cannot replace the AWL. The results of the comp...

Somewhere between technical and general vocabulary are located those words which are used in formal academic contexts with a high frequency across scientific disciplines (Farrell 1990). These are referred to as academic vocabulary. Recent findings do not support the adequacy of a single academic wordlist which can equally meet the needs of students of all disciplines (Durrant 2016), and this has inspired researchers to develop wordlists specific to each discipline. Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics is a discipline which often embraces a high number of non-English speaking students for whom it is a demanding task to engage in academic communication without having access to a ready-made resource. In the present study, a 10,781,188-word corpus based on textbooks taught in thirteen subject areas of this field was compiled. The corpus was characterized by a specified genre and time-span, and a large representative scope. It was used to draw up a list of academic words (= terminol...

This case study relates to my PhD research which I undertook at the University of Leeds between 1998 and 2003 to examine classroom interaction in second/foreign language classes. The aim was to analyze teacher and student talk to find out how communication takes place between a native speaker/non-native speaker teacher and limited proficiency language learners. As this type of asymmetrical interaction was the focus of two strands of research—the study of communication strategies used by learners to compensate for their linguistic problems in production and the study of discourse level interactional modifications used in meaning negotiation between native and non-native speakers—my first and foremost challenge was to integrate these two strands of research empirically. The case unravels the methodological complexities of integrating an exploratory qualitative phase intended to categorize the phenomenon under study with a quantitative phase to validate the category system. This case presentation shows the potential of mixed-methods research in extending the researcher's outlook and toolkit in capturing and authenticating classroom interaction categories considered critical in integrating pedagogy and communication consistent with instructional goals.

ABSTRACT There has always been a great deal of controversy over grammar and error correction in language teaching. Furthermore, teachers and students might have their own specific views on these controversial issues, which makes the need for various investigations in this regard even more evident. Following the same line of research done by Schulz (1996; 2001), the present study primarily aimed at comparing teachers' and their students' opinions on the role of grammar and error correction in language learning. For this purpose, a 15-item questionnaire (an adaptation of Schulz's original questionnaire) was distributed among 440 students together with their 76 teachers in Tehran. A comparison of standard deviations revealed that students and teachers were almost equally consistent in their attitudes toward both grammar and corrective feedback; however, the chi-square results indicated that there was a discrepancy between teachers' and their students' perceptions of grammar and, especially, error correction, which could reduce the pedagogical face validity and in effect the effectiveness of the learning process. Another general finding of the study was that the students, as compared with their teachers, held more strongly positive attitudes toward grammar and error correction. The results further showed that female students were generally more in favor of error correction as compared with their male counterparts. Among the most significant pedagogical implications of the study is the need to consider the teachers' and students' perceptions of grammar and error correction and the possibility of discrepancy between the two before organizing instruction. Introduction Teacher cognition has been defined and approached in various ways; however, all these different ways fall under the broader category of unobservable cognitive dimension of teaching. It could, in general terms, be defined as what teachers know, believe, and think. According to Borg (2006), this area of research can be viewed from two perspectives: themes and subject matter. The perspective of themes is further classified into the three categories of teacher's language learning experience, teacher education, and classroom practice. The subject matter perspective is divided into two sections of literacy and grammar teaching. The perspective of subject matter can be generally categorized into two sections: literacy and grammar teaching. The latter, which deals with teachers' knowledge of grammar, their practices in grammar teaching, and their beliefs about teaching grammar form the focus of this area of research. A number of studies (e.g., Williamson & Hardman, 1995) focusing on teachers' knowledge of grammar have emphasized the insufficiency of this type of knowledge among both pre-service and in-service language teachers. Others (e.g., Andrews, 1999) have compared the explicit knowledge of grammar or grammatical terminology of native speaker versus non-native speaker teachers. The conclusions almost agree on the point that native speaker teachers are less

Investigations into the application of foreign language to mediate psychological activity have produced contradictory results. The present paper reports two experiments designed to examine the influence of L1 and L2 on cognitive regulation and private speech production. Results indicate the important role that L1 plays in cognitive reasoning of the participants. Advanced participants, however, had significantly better performance when they used L2 for mental activity. The language used for self-regulation though, did not seem to relate to the amount of private speech produced. More proficient participants, on the other hand, seemed to produce qualitatively different kinds of L2 private speech. These findings indicate that it is necessary to consider quality, not just quantity, when studying constructs such as cognitive regulation, private speech production and the relations between them. In addition, findings have important practical implications for both language learners and instructors in creating more constructive language learning environments.

With the advancement of Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA) and the pertinent statistical models, different domains of large-scale testing and assessment have been examined for the sake of reporting more diagnostic information. Applying the generalized deterministic input, noisy, “and” gate (G-DINA) model, the current study analyzed a high-stakes L2 reading comprehension test as an integral section of the PhD degree’s entrance exam in Iran. It aimed at examining the reading comprehension attributes underlying this high stakes test in an attempt to check the capability of CDA models, (in this case G-DINA), in providing diagnostic information for test developers and users. The items’ response data were analyzed in R, “GDINA” package, version 1.4.2. With data collected from multiple sources including the current literature on the sub-skills of reading comprehension, test specifications, test-takers’ think-aloud verbal protocols, and expert panel’s judgments, an initial Q-matrix, including five sub-skills, was developed and then validated. Data analysis, using the validated version of Q-matrix, showed the sub-skill (attribute) prevalence and its difficulty. Code-related sub-skills were the easiest and the most prevalent ones and the connecting/ synthesizing sub-skills were the most difficult and the least prevalent ones for the test-takers. Skill mastery profile results verified the relationship among the sub-skills of reading skill and also the prominence of some of these sub-skills over others.

This case study relates to my PhD research which I undertook at the University of Leeds between 1998 and 2003 to examine classroom interaction in second/foreign language classes. The aim was to analyze teacher and student talk to find out how communication takes place between a native speaker/non-native speaker teacher and limited proficiency language learners. As this type of asymmetrical interaction was the focus of two strands of research—the study of communication strategies used by learners to compensate for their linguistic problems in production and the study of discourse level interactional modifications used in meaning negotiation between native and non-native speakers—my first and foremost challenge was to integrate these two strands of research empirically. The case unravels the methodological complexities of integrating an exploratory qualitative phase intended to categorize the phenomenon under study with a quantitative phase to validate the category system. This case presentation shows the potential of mixed-methods research in extending the researcher's outlook and toolkit in capturing and authenticating classroom interaction categories considered critical in integrating pedagogy and communication consistent with instructional goals.

Brown, J. D. (2014). Mixed methods research for TESOL. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press. 268 pp. £19.99 (paperback). IBSN 978-0748646388.

Reviewed by: Mohammad Reza Anani Sarab, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran; Mohammad Amini Farsani, Kharazmi University, Iran