A Rhetorical Move Analysis of TEFL Thesis Abstracts: The Case of Allameh Tabataba’i University

Abstract in every research paper has always been functioning as an attention-grabber which can encourage readers to keep reading the research or to dissuade it. Although abstracts are believed to play an important role in distributing the research findings, few studies have been done to evaluate the rhetorical organization of thesis abstracts, especially in the field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Thus, the purpose of the present study was to analyze the rhetorical moves of the MA thesis abstracts written from 1988 to 2015 in the field of TEFL in Allameh Tabataba’i University (ATU), an Iranian university. To this end, 300 MA thesis abstracts were analyzed based on Hyland’s (2000) rhetorical move framework. To track the rhetorical move trends of the thesis abstracts and for the ease of analysis, they were analyzed in three time intervals. The results revealed that while in the first interval (1988-1997) the most frequent rhetorical moves were the “Purpose”, “Method”, and “Product”, in the other two intervals (1998-2007 and 2008-2015) the “Purpose” was the most used rhetorical move. In addition, the least frequent rhetorical moves were the “Introduction” and “Conclusion” for the three intervals. The findings, on top of these, indicated that the rhetorical move patterns of thesis abstracts moved from Purpose-Method-Product (P-M-Pr) to Introduction-Purpose-Method-Product-Conclusion (I-P-M-Pr-C). That said, it can be concluded that in the examined thesis abstracts, the highest average of information was provided on the “Purpose” of the study, while the other moves, especially the conclusion move, was not deemed important; moreover, an increasing rate of information provision was detected on the “Method” and “Product” moves. This research bears some implications for L2 learners to better know their community of practice and writing instructors to prepare genre-based writing materials

The Construct of Willingness to Communicate and Its Relationship with EFL Learners’ Perceived Verbal and Nonverbal Teacher Immediacy

Given the fact that developing an intimate relationship between teacher and students creates a safe learning environment (Harran, 2006), and because teacher immediacy is proved to increase students’ motivation for learning (Velez & Cano, 2008), this study was an attempt to explore the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ perceived teacher immediacy and their willingness to communicate (WTC). To this end, first, a new WTC questionnaire, specific to EFL settings, was developed, piloted, factor analyzed, and then administered on 90 intermediate EFL learners. In the second phase, the participants were required to complete Gorham’s (1988) Verbal Immediacy Measure (VIM) and McCroskey et al.’s (1996) Revised Nonverbal Immediacy Measure (RNIM). The findings revealed that there are 7 factors underlying EFL learners’ WTC, one of which is teacher immediacy. Further analyses showed that there is a positive relationship between both verbal and nonverbal teacher immediacy behaviors and EFL learners’ WTC in EFL classes. It can be concluded that teacher immediacy is one of the constituents of EFL learners’ WTC and that their WTC is likely to increase when teachers demonstrate immediacy behaviors while teaching. The present study has implications for language practitioners as well as teacher trainers

Exploring the English Language Needs of EAP Students of Humanities and Social Sciences in Iran: A Triangulated Approach

Given the fact that few studies have investigated the English language needs of EAP students in Iran, the present study was an attempt to analyze the needs of Iranian EAP learners of Humanities and Social Sciences. To this end, 114 EAP learners at different educational levels (BA, MA, and PhD) and with different English proficiency levels (elementary, intermediate, and advanced) were asked to provide their responses to a questionnaire. Moreover, ten EAP learners and eight EAP instructors were asked to write narratives about their experiences in EAP courses. Their narratives were then analyzed based on Strauss and Corbin's (1998) systematic approach. The results revealed that the EAP courses did not pay the deserved attention to writing, speaking, and listening skills, while the coverage of the sub-skills (grammar and vocabulary) was successful. Moreover, it was revealed that the EAP textbooks were insufficient in terms of the inclusion of language skills, community-specific cultural issues and conventions, and the topical knowledge. The analysis of the EAP learners’ needs also showed that not all interaction types happened in the EAP courses. Furthermore, the analysis of the narratives of EAP learners and EAP instructors indicated that the EAP curriculum, EAP textbooks and also EAP assessment should include the four language skills, provide a communicative venue for EAP learners to practice their disciplinary issues, and design communicative materials. It can be concluded that the current EAP curriculum needs revision to fulfill the EAP learners’ present and target situation needs

Developing a Competency Model for EAP Teachers: Insights from Internationalization of Higher Education

The teachers' competencies in the process of internationalization of higher education (IHE) are of vital importance (Brandenburg & Federkeil, 2007; van der Werf, 2012). The extent of IHE in a university is in a close relationship with the teachers' competencies (Harari, 1981). However, the required competencies of teachers in IHE are not a well-studied topic. Similarly, the "dearth of literature on EAP professional development" (Blaj-Ward, 2014, p. 113) has complicated exploring the EAP teachers' competencies. The absence of a competency model addressing the needs of EAP teachers to effectively engage in the education fitting the IHE objectives and policies gave impetus to this study. In line with this objective, an instrument measuring EAP teachers' competencies was designed and validated. The following steps were taken to develop the instrument: the theme extraction and item generation phase, the piloting phase, and the validation phase. The extensive review of the literature and interviews with IHE experts and EAP teachers yielded 8 competencies. This initial framework led to the development of the preliminary version of a 22-item questionnaire. The piloting phase resulted in 23 items. 74 EAP teachers from both camps (language and content) participated in the final administration. Various factor analyses, internal consistency, and correlation of all of the items were performed. The data obtained confirmed a sufficiently reliable and valid scale, consisting of 6 components (with the same underlying themes of 8 competencies extracted earlier) and 23 items for measuring the EAP teachers' competencies

A Contrastive Generic Analysis of Thesis Abstracts of TEFL and TPSOL

The notion of genre and its application in language teaching and learning has been given increasing attention in the past decades. Abstracts are an important area of inquiry in genre analysis. Therefore, identification and mastery of textual and rhetorical structures of abstracts can be beneficial. The present study sought to analyze the rhetorical structure of thesis abstracts in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and TPSOL (Teaching Persian to Speakers of Other Languages). To this end, 80 abstracts from the two disciplines (40 abstracts from each discipline) were chosen from among the theses submitted between the years 2008 to 2013 at Allameh Tabataba"i University. Following Hyland"s (2000) five-move model, the textual organization and rhetorical structure of each abstract were analyzed. The findings revealed generic variations across the two disciplines, indicating the obligatory and common moves in the structure of abstracts. TPSOL abstracts displayed a stronger tendency to omit the conclusion move (M5) in contrast to TEFL abstracts in which M5 was considered a fundamental and significant move. Another striking difference emerged in terms of patterns of reordering and repetition of some moves which appeared among some TPSOL abstracts only. It can be concluded that TEFL abstracts are more consistent with the international norms and genre of academic writing. The findings have pedagogical implications for students, ESP instructors, materials developers, and syllabus designers, and provide suggestions for further research

TEFL teachers’ and non-TEFL teachers’ perceptions on the relationship between SLA research and language pedagogy

This study explores TEFL teachers’ and non-TEFL teachers’ perceptions about the relationship between second language acquisition (SLA) research and language pedagogy with regard to familiarity, involvement, accessibility, consultation, relevance, and usefulness of SLA research in L2 pedagogy. To this end, 83 teachers, 40 TEFL teachers and 43 non-TEFL teachers, participated in this study. They filled out a questionnaire addressing their perceptions about SLA research and language pedagogy. The results revealed that the majority of TEFL teachers involved in doing research, at least as their educational term projects, while mostly no contribution was reported by non-TEFL teachers. In addition, TEFL teachers insisted that L2 teachers need to be involved in SLA research to be successful in their teaching career, while non-TEFL teachers were of the opposite opinion. Moreover, it was revealed that TEFL teachers considered the knowledge gained from research studies relevant and useful to their classroom actions, whereas non-TEFL teachers saw their experience more important for managing their classroom actions. Although both groups had contradictory perceptions of the relationship between SLA research and language pedagogy, they showed some common points in this regard. That is, both groups reported on their difficulty in having access to the research materials; they also expressed their willingness to do research

A Review of Discourse in English Language Education

The main theme of this volume is to discuss discourse analysis and familiarize the readers, especially undergraduate students of TESOL and Education, with the main topics in discourse studies. According to Flowerdew, one of the features of this book is its focus on a wide range of approaches to discourse and discourse analysis, namely Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Register, Speech Act Theory, the Cooperative Principle and Politeness, Conversation Analysis, Genre Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), and Corpus Linguistics. However, what distinguishes this book from others books of discourse, and probably from other similar books on discourse and language teaching, is its practical view toward discourse and discourse analysis, i.e., it is clearly shown, by referring to real-life examples, how every discourse topic, issue, or feature can be analyzed and then taught in a language class. In fact, Floweredew’s attempt in this volume is to familiarize the readers with how discourse analysis can inform the practice of English language teaching. Thus, the book utilizes research findings and suggests guidelines, models, and approaches to language teachers as to how discourse studies can be insightful in language teaching methodology, materials development, and evaluation

Gender, Scaffolding Mechanism and Output Complexity in Task-based Language Learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of gender in Iranian EFL learners’ output complexity and scaffolding mechanism as they were performing the tasks. The participants were 18 intermediate learners from both genders who were selected based on a proficiency test and an interview. They were placed into three groups based on their gender. They were also assigned into nine different collaborative pairs and were required to perform four tasks while being tape-recorded for 36 sessions. The audio-recorded dialogues were then transcribed and divided into AS-units. Ohta’s (2001) seven types of scaffolding methods were used as a framework to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the interlocutors in female-female pairs scaffolded their struggling partners more than the other pairs and produced a more complex output; however, the interlocutors in male-male pairs underperformed the other groups. It can be concluded that gender plays an important role in EFL learners’ output complexity and scaffolding mechanisms they employ.