BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience , 2016
The present paper attempted to investigate whether there is any significant relationship between ... more The present paper attempted to investigate whether there is any significant relationship between participants' brain laterality and L2 proficiency level. To carry out the experiment, 30 participants administered in the present study. Fifteen of them did not have any English language learning experience and were at the start of language learning, while the rest had attended L2 learning classes for about 2 years in a popular English language center, located in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. Finally, the researchers concluded that the activity of the right hemisphere went up by the increase in language proficiency among bilinguals. Thereupon, the result of the paper was at variance with Albert and Obler's (1978) early work on hemispheric differentiation, which indicated that bilinguals were less hemispheric dominant than monolinguals.
With the growing understanding of the process of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), more and more... more With the growing understanding of the process of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), more and more emphasis has been put on the learner factors that affect the success or otherwise of SLA. These factors have come to be studied under the general title of " Individual Differences " (ID) (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015). These factors determine not only the success of an individual second language learner but also the inter-individual variation in second language acquisition. This study is an attempt to shed more light on the relationships among L2 motivation, visual learning style, mental imagery, ideal L2 self, and L2 learning experience in the Iranian context. Exploratory factor analysis was run to ascertain the validity of the questionnaire which was used for data collection. The results revealed that visual learning had its highest correlation with L2 motivation. On the other hand, it had only small to moderate correlations with ideal L2 self, mental imagery, and L2 learning experience. In addition, from among the variables investigated in this study, L2 motivation had the largest correlation with L2 learning experience. Furthermore, the ideal L2 self had the second highest positive correlation with L2 motivation. Finally, mental imagery had the lowest correlation with L2 motivation. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed accordingly. Keywords: individual differences, L2 motivation, English as a foreign language 1. Introducation With the growing understanding of the process of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), more and more emphasis has been put on the learner factors that affect the success or otherwise of SLA. These factors have come to be studied under the general title of " Individual Differences " (ID) (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015). These factors determine not only the success of an individual second language learner but also the inter-individual variation in second language acquisition. It has been argued that language teaching should take into account individual differences and that language teachers must tailor their teaching to the particular needs and characteristics of his/her students (Lightbown, & Spada, 2013). Hence, it seems that rigorous research should be conducted into these factors and how they affect language learning. This study was conducted to examine the relationship among a number of ID factors. In the next section, some background is provided for the various factors examined in this study. Then, the main problems addressed in the study and its significance will be explained in detail. 2. Review of the related literature A plethora of factors have been identified as having an influence on learning a second language. Undoubtedly, motivation can be considered as one of the critical elements of successful second language learning. Thus, the concept of motivation and what would influence the students' motivation has received much attention in the area of second language learning. Although different theories have been tried to explain motivation, only some aspects of motivation have been fully investigated and there are a lot of untapped aspects. In fact, no single theory can explain all human motivation because human beings are very complex creatures with various and complex desires and needs. With respect to students, no learning or even little learning can take place without motivation. In the same line of argumentation Dornyei (1998) " Motivation provides the primary impetus to initiate learning foreign language and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process " (p.117). In fact, no long term purposes and sustainable learning and teaching can occur. On the other hand, high motivation can make up for deficiencies and limitations in one's language aptitude and learning conditions. Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Framed in a cognitive approach to task-supported L2 vocabulary learning, the present study used a... more Framed in a cognitive approach to task-supported L2 vocabulary learning, the present study used a pedagogical approach to investigate the relative effectiveness of tasks with different involvement loads on the vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners. The goal was to investigate the way that the construct of involvement load is related to the Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1985) and the Output Hypothesis (Swain, 1996) to see whether the involvement load or input/output-orientation of tasks is the determining factor in task effectiveness. The participants were 127 university students from four General English classes at the Islamic Azad University, Mobarakeh Branch, who were assigned to four instructional groups. Contrary to the predictions of the Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001), the results of the study indicated that involvement load is not the only determining factor in task effectiveness, but input/output-orientation of tasks is also a decisive parameter in task effectiveness. While Laufer and Hulstijn's proposal is the first valuable step towards building a theory of vocabulary learning, the results of the study indicated that involvement index may well not function independently of the task type, i.e., input or output orientation of a word-focused task.
This paper is a state of art on the spread of English language around the world resulting in diff... more This paper is a state of art on the spread of English language around the world resulting in different varieties known as World Englishes (WE) with the review of its origins and states of change until the neo-colonial era. When considering the growth of English, the imperial power of some countries having English as an imperial language is considered influential (Pennycook, 2007). Also, a number of models for the varieties of English, the most significant of which is Kachru's, are discussed in this paper. The last part of the paper reviews the implications of WEs in ELT. INTRODUCTION English language has expanded dramatically around the globe during the past decades. When considering the growth of English, the imperial power of England and more recently the US, English as an imperial language itself, and decolonization must be taken into account (Pennycook, 2007). Each of these issues will be reviewed in this paper.
BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience , 2016
The present paper attempted to investigate whether there is any significant relationship between ... more The present paper attempted to investigate whether there is any significant relationship between participants' brain laterality and L2 proficiency level. To carry out the experiment, 30 participants administered in the present study. Fifteen of them did not have any English language learning experience and were at the start of language learning, while the rest had attended L2 learning classes for about 2 years in a popular English language center, located in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. Finally, the researchers concluded that the activity of the right hemisphere went up by the increase in language proficiency among bilinguals. Thereupon, the result of the paper was at variance with Albert and Obler's (1978) early work on hemispheric differentiation, which indicated that bilinguals were less hemispheric dominant than monolinguals.
With the growing understanding of the process of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), more and more... more With the growing understanding of the process of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), more and more emphasis has been put on the learner factors that affect the success or otherwise of SLA. These factors have come to be studied under the general title of " Individual Differences " (ID) (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015). These factors determine not only the success of an individual second language learner but also the inter-individual variation in second language acquisition. This study is an attempt to shed more light on the relationships among L2 motivation, visual learning style, mental imagery, ideal L2 self, and L2 learning experience in the Iranian context. Exploratory factor analysis was run to ascertain the validity of the questionnaire which was used for data collection. The results revealed that visual learning had its highest correlation with L2 motivation. On the other hand, it had only small to moderate correlations with ideal L2 self, mental imagery, and L2 learning experience. In addition, from among the variables investigated in this study, L2 motivation had the largest correlation with L2 learning experience. Furthermore, the ideal L2 self had the second highest positive correlation with L2 motivation. Finally, mental imagery had the lowest correlation with L2 motivation. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are discussed accordingly. Keywords: individual differences, L2 motivation, English as a foreign language 1. Introducation With the growing understanding of the process of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), more and more emphasis has been put on the learner factors that affect the success or otherwise of SLA. These factors have come to be studied under the general title of " Individual Differences " (ID) (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015). These factors determine not only the success of an individual second language learner but also the inter-individual variation in second language acquisition. It has been argued that language teaching should take into account individual differences and that language teachers must tailor their teaching to the particular needs and characteristics of his/her students (Lightbown, & Spada, 2013). Hence, it seems that rigorous research should be conducted into these factors and how they affect language learning. This study was conducted to examine the relationship among a number of ID factors. In the next section, some background is provided for the various factors examined in this study. Then, the main problems addressed in the study and its significance will be explained in detail. 2. Review of the related literature A plethora of factors have been identified as having an influence on learning a second language. Undoubtedly, motivation can be considered as one of the critical elements of successful second language learning. Thus, the concept of motivation and what would influence the students' motivation has received much attention in the area of second language learning. Although different theories have been tried to explain motivation, only some aspects of motivation have been fully investigated and there are a lot of untapped aspects. In fact, no single theory can explain all human motivation because human beings are very complex creatures with various and complex desires and needs. With respect to students, no learning or even little learning can take place without motivation. In the same line of argumentation Dornyei (1998) " Motivation provides the primary impetus to initiate learning foreign language and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process " (p.117). In fact, no long term purposes and sustainable learning and teaching can occur. On the other hand, high motivation can make up for deficiencies and limitations in one's language aptitude and learning conditions. Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Framed in a cognitive approach to task-supported L2 vocabulary learning, the present study used a... more Framed in a cognitive approach to task-supported L2 vocabulary learning, the present study used a pedagogical approach to investigate the relative effectiveness of tasks with different involvement loads on the vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners. The goal was to investigate the way that the construct of involvement load is related to the Input Hypothesis (Krashen, 1985) and the Output Hypothesis (Swain, 1996) to see whether the involvement load or input/output-orientation of tasks is the determining factor in task effectiveness. The participants were 127 university students from four General English classes at the Islamic Azad University, Mobarakeh Branch, who were assigned to four instructional groups. Contrary to the predictions of the Involvement Load Hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001), the results of the study indicated that involvement load is not the only determining factor in task effectiveness, but input/output-orientation of tasks is also a decisive parameter in task effectiveness. While Laufer and Hulstijn's proposal is the first valuable step towards building a theory of vocabulary learning, the results of the study indicated that involvement index may well not function independently of the task type, i.e., input or output orientation of a word-focused task.
This paper is a state of art on the spread of English language around the world resulting in diff... more This paper is a state of art on the spread of English language around the world resulting in different varieties known as World Englishes (WE) with the review of its origins and states of change until the neo-colonial era. When considering the growth of English, the imperial power of some countries having English as an imperial language is considered influential (Pennycook, 2007). Also, a number of models for the varieties of English, the most significant of which is Kachru's, are discussed in this paper. The last part of the paper reviews the implications of WEs in ELT. INTRODUCTION English language has expanded dramatically around the globe during the past decades. When considering the growth of English, the imperial power of England and more recently the US, English as an imperial language itself, and decolonization must be taken into account (Pennycook, 2007). Each of these issues will be reviewed in this paper.
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