The Effect of Conversational Shadowing on Enhancing Iranian EFL Learners’ Oral Performance Based on Accuracy

The present study is an investigation of the extent to which conversational shadowing improve the level of accuracy of EFL learners during their oral performance. Participants in this study were consisted of 60 students studying English in an English institute at intermediate level in Tehran as an EFL context. The participants received conversational shadowing practice during their interaction with the instructor and peers. A general English proficiency test, pre-test and post-test of simple past tense were administered to them. Two intact classes were selected as a control and experimental group in this study. Experimental group were taught simple past tense based on conversational shadowing while the control group were taught as it had been demonstrated in their books. The results of the quantitative and qualitative studies, when integrated, supported this assumption by showing that oral repetition served as a scaffolding device that helped learners use correct form of simple past tense. Conversational shadowing was not perceived as enjoyable or useful in itself, but a few highly proficient students, who had utilized the pertinent technique in the service of more interesting activities, acknowledged that they had learned useful sentences and make fewer errors during their conversation. Therefore, conversational shadowing can be best utilized to help intermediate EFL students to perfect their correct use of grammar when they are interacting with their peers

The Impact of Leadership Style, Thinking Style and Job Satisfaction on Iranian EFL Teacher Retention

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among leadership style, job satisfaction, and teachers’ retention with their respective sub-scales. To this end, 356 (145 male and 221 female) Iranian EFL teachers participated in the study. Osborne & Reiman’s (2005) The Teacher Perception of success and teacher retention questionnaire, Fiedler & Garcia’s (1987) Leadership questionnaire, Sternberg’s Thinking Style Questionnaire (1991) and Smith’s Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (1969) were used to measure the variables. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis confirmed the hypothesized model of relationships among the study variables. The final model of the network of associations among variables also revealed significant correlations among various sub-scales of the study. The findings of this study can be used by language teachers and researchers in the field

The Impact of Leadership Style, Thinking Style and Job Satisfaction on Iranian EFL Teacher Retention

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among leadership style, job satisfaction, and teachers’ retention with their respective sub-scales. To this end, 356 (145 male and 221 female) Iranian EFL teachers participated in the study. Osborne & Reiman’s (2005) The Teacher Perception of success and teacher retention questionnaire, Fiedler & Garcia’s (1987) Leadership questionnaire, Sternberg’s Thinking Style Questionnaire (1991) and Smith’s Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (1969) were used to measure the variables. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis confirmed the hypothesized model of relationships among the study variables. The final model of the network of associations among variables also revealed significant correlations among various sub-scales of the study. The findings of this study can be used by language teachers and researchers in the field

The Relationship between Two Different Text Types and Reading Comprehension Strategy Use of Advanced EFL Learners

Reading is a basic and complementary skill in language learning. Second language students need to learn how to read for communication and to read greater quantities of authentic materials. The present study investigated the effect of two kinds of texts (expository and narrative) on reading comprehension among Iranian EFL learners. Participants in this study were consisted of 80 students studying English in Kish Air English institute at advanced level in Sirjan as an EFL context. They received two types of texts categorized into narrative, expository. A general English proficiency test, cognitive and metacognitive questionnaire were administered to them. Two classes were randomly selected as a control and experimental group in this study. To comprehend every kind of written texts; experimental group applied some specific strategies. After training and practicing sessions, the researcher distributed metacognitive reading questionnaire to both groups. To analyze the result, Levene’s test and descriptive statistics were used. The result showed that some cognitive and metacognitive strategies were used more frequently than others in the experimental and control group

The role of medical background knowledge on improving the translation quality among medical and translation students

The purpose of this research is to investigate systematically and dynamically the effect of medical background knowledge on enhancing the translation quality among medical and translation students. Participants in this study included 100 medical students and translation students in Islamic Azad University in Tehran, Iran. They had the mean age of 22 and there were 45 males and 55 females in the sample. In order to determine the level of proficiency of the participants in both groups, the same Nelson proficiency test was first administered to all of them. Students in both groups were asked to translate some medical texts from English into Persian . Outputs of the two groups were compared to assess the impact of medical background information. The quantity and quality of background information were also analyzed to examine their influence on the quality of translation. Results showed that those students having medical knowledge performed better in translating English texts related to medical science, in comparison to those learners who were not familiar well with medical knowledge. In other words, technical knowledge could play a significant role in enhancing the quality of medical translation from English into Persian

The Relationship between Two Different Text Types and Reading Comprehension Strategy Use of Advanced EFL Learners

Reading is a basic and complementary skill in language learning. Second language students need to learn how to read for communication and to read greater quantities of authentic materials. The present study investigated the effect of two kinds of texts (expository and narrative) on reading comprehension among Iranian EFL learners. Participants in this study were consisted of 80 students studying English in Kish Air English institute at advanced level in Sirjan as an EFL context. They received two types of texts categorized into narrative, expository. A general English proficiency test, cognitive and metacognitive questionnaire were administered to them. Two classes were randomly selected as a control and experimental group in this study. To comprehend every kind of written texts; experimental group applied some specific strategies. After training and practicing sessions, the researcher distributed metacognitive reading questionnaire to both groups. To analyze the result, Levene’s test and descriptive statistics were used. The result showed that some cognitive and metacognitive strategies were used more frequently than others in the experimental and control group

Teachers’ awareness of critical pedagogy: A case study of Iranian EFL teachers

The concept of critical pedagogy (CP) has been around for some time in education. However, not much research has been conducted on implementing the basic tenets of CP into the ELT classrooms. Acknowledging the significant role of teachers as the cornerstone of education system in every context, the main reason behind this study was to examine the extent to which Iranian EFL instructors in English institutes in Iran apply approaches and principles of critical pedagogy. This study investigated 200 Iranian EFL instructors’ points of view in English Institutes. The questionnaire developed by Azimi (2007) which examined teacher’s attitude in critical pedagogy with reference to their age, gender, educational level and work experience. Results revealed that there is a significant difference between age, gender, educational level and work experience. Compared to males, females had better mean in responding to critical pedagogy items in this study. Also, responses to critical pedagogy items represent a positive relationship with respondents’ age. Additionally, the higher the educational level, the bigger the mean for the responses toward critical pedagogy items was reported. Finally, the teachers with less experience had a lower level of agreement with the principles of critical pedagogy. The results of this study can also be regarded as an implication for policy makers in the field of TEFL to revise their policies related to the ELT issues

The Impact of Leadership Style, Thinking Style and Job Satisfaction on Iranian EFL Teacher Retention

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among leadership style, job satisfaction, and teachers’ retention with their respective sub-scales. To this end, 356 (145 male and 221 female) Iranian EFL teachers participated in the study. Osborne & Reiman’s (2005) The Teacher Perception of success and teacher retention questionnaire, Fiedler & Garcia’s (1987) Leadership questionnaire, Sternberg’s Thinking Style Questionnaire (1991) and Smith’s Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (1969) were used to measure the variables. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis confirmed the hypothesized model of relationships among the study variables. The final model of the network of associations among variables also revealed significant correlations among various sub-scales of the study. The findings of this study can be used by language teachers and researchers in the field

The Relationship between Two Different Text Types and Reading Comprehension Strategy Use of Advanced EFL Learners

Reading is a basic and complementary skill in language learning. Second language students need to learn how to read for communication and to read greater quantities of authentic materials. The present study investigated the effect of two kinds of texts (expository and narrative) on reading comprehension among Iranian EFL learners. Participants in this study were consisted of 80 students studying English in Kish Air English institute at advanced level in Sirjan as an EFL context. They received two types of texts categorized into narrative, expository. A general English proficiency test, cognitive and metacognitive questionnaire were administered to them. Two classes were randomly selected as a control and experimental group in this study. To comprehend every kind of written texts; experimental group applied some specific strategies. After training and practicing sessions, the researcher distributed metacognitive reading questionnaire to both groups. To analyze the result, Levene’s test and descriptive statistics were used. The result showed that some cognitive and metacognitive strategies were used more frequently than others in the experimental and control group

The role of medical background knowledge on improving the translation quality among medical and translation students

The purpose of this research is to investigate systematically and dynamically the effect of medical background knowledge on enhancing the translation quality among medical and translation students. Participants in this study included 100 medical students and translation students in Islamic Azad University in Tehran, Iran. They had the mean age of 22 and there were 45 males and 55 females in the sample. In order to determine the level of proficiency of the participants in both groups, the same Nelson proficiency test was first administered to all of them. Students in both groups were asked to translate some medical texts from English into Persian . Outputs of the two groups were compared to assess the impact of medical background information. The quantity and quality of background information were also analyzed to examine their influence on the quality of translation. Results showed that those students having medical knowledge performed better in translating English texts related to medical science, in comparison to those learners who were not familiar well with medical knowledge. In other words, technical knowledge could play a significant role in enhancing the quality of medical translation from English into Persian