Pragmatic Competence as an Integral Part of EFL Teaching

In many recent studies teachers and other professional educators in EFL circles highlight the importance of teaching pragmatic competence as a vital part of language teaching curriculum. This probably was the result of generations of learners of English language who completed their studies in the foreign language with a relatively good general language proficiency but weaker skills to interpret the messages and intentions that are conveyed in conversations, correctly. This particular competence is referred to as pragmatic competence. This paper aims to overview most widely used techniques to teach pragmatic competence in an EFL classroom as well as provide theoretical background for the concept and closely related notions such as speech acts and politeness strategies

Principals’ Leadership Styles and Strategies Employed to Motivate Teachers in Ronaki Hawler Educational Institutions, Erbil, Iraq

Effective management is one of the determining factors that play a critical role in teacher motivation. It is also the main factor behind a successful educational institution. Moreover, effective management is necessary to motivate people into action and propel an institution to reach its established objectives. In an educational institution, where managerial structure fails to function well, teachers obviously lose their motivation to teach as well as their commitment to the organization. Therefore, administrators’ leadership styles can affect teacher motivation which will eventually affect learners’ performance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the administrators’ leadership styles, their awareness of teacher motivation peculiarities and strategies they use to motivate the teaching staff at Ronaki Educational Institutions in Erbil, Iraq. It further aims to investigate what makes an effective administrator. To achieve the research goal, the study firstly uses the theoretical analysis of the scientific and methodological literature on the research problem and makes use of a semi-structured interview with Ronaki Hawler Educational Institutions’ administrators. In the interview with 24 administrators, the information on organizational practices and their frequencies, employed by administrators, was obtained. It included elements such as; whether/how often advancement opportunities, promotion, autonomy, bonuses were granted to the teaching staff, what sort of responsibility they possessed, how their recognition as teachers was expressed, and how secure they felt their jobs were. The findings were analyzed and discussed in the discussion part of this research study

Classroom Management and School Science Labs: A Review of Literature on Classroom Management Strategies

Effective learning refers to the extent to which educational institutions are effective in achieving their educational objectives. Effective teaching/learning cannot simply happen in a classroom where teachers fail to manage classrooms effectively. Therefore, classroom management happens in a positive classroom environment where positive teacher-student rapport is established. As for science laboratory, learning in the labs has been long considered as a crucial part of science education. Effective management strategies not only in the classrooms, but also in science labs support and enhance effective teaching and learning. Classroom management in science labs is a standout amongst the most central roles played by teachers because it determines the achievements of students. Effective science teachers are the ones who understand the peculiarities of students’ behavior in science labs and use preventive and reactive classroom management strategies to prevent or react to problem behavior of students. Emphasizing the knowledge and the practice of classroom management strategies, this study will illuminate effective techniques for management in the classrooms and consider this from the perspective of teacher effectiveness, particularly in science labs, and consequently suggest some implications for practice

Motivational Strategies in EFL Classrooms And their Feasibility in Iraqi Context

Teachers are seen as the major determinant sources of motivation for language learners. Moreover, teachers are expected to enhance learners’ motivation for better language learning since the positive effect of this relationship on the students’ achievement has been proved in many studies. Thus, the effect of motivation is crucial to students’ achievements because even people with the required knowledge, skills, and abilities will perform poorly if they are not motivated to devote their time and effort to work (Harris in Milapo, 2001:29). The purpose of the study is to explore researches and theories concerning EFL/ESL learners’ motivation, the role of teachers in students’ motivation; how they can initiate and maintain it. Moreover, this study aims to identify strategies obtained from the literature on motivation and suggest motivational techniques appropriate to be used by teachers in Iraq

Analyzing EFL Teachers’ Initial Job Motivation and Factors Effecting Their Motivation in Fezalar Educational Institutions in Iraq

Teacher motivation is one of the primary variables of students’ high performance. It is experienced that students whose teachers are highly motivated are more engaged in the learning process. Therefore, it’s mostly the teacher who determines the level of success or failure in achieving institution’s goal in the educational process. Thus, teachers are expected to demonstrate a high job motivation performance by administrations. However, some teachers seem naturally enthusiastic about teaching while others need to be stimulated, inspired and challenged. There are several factors that provide teachers with necessary motivation driven by which they can work effectively. These factors can be emotional, financial, physical or academic. This study is an attempt to find out what motivates teachers to enter this profession, since the reasons of entering this job has significant influence on their commitment to the job, investigate factors which are responsible for high or low motivation of language teachers in Fezalar Educational Institutions (FEI), which is a Turkish private institution that operates in Iraq, and ascertain the degree to which intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors impact teachers in their work situation. Based on the review of the recent researches of motivation, in general, and of language teacher motivation, in particular, and relying on the qualitative and quantitative study of the issue, a detailed analysis of some aspects of foreign language teacher motivation is presented in the article.Keywords: teacher motivation, job satisfaction, foreign language teaching, L2 teacher motivation

Analyzing EFL Teachers’ Initial Job Motivation and Factors Effecting Their Motivation in Fezalar Educational Institutions in Iraq

Teacher motivation is one of the primary variables of students’ high performance. It is experienced that students whose teachers are highly motivated are more engaged in the learning process. Therefore, it’s mostly the teacher who determines the level of success or failure in achieving institution’s goal in the educational process. Thus, teachers are expected to demonstrate a high job motivation performance by administrations. However, some teachers seem naturally enthusiastic about teaching while others need to be stimulated, inspired and challenged. There are several factors that provide teachers with necessary motivation driven by which they can work effectively. These factors can be emotional, financial, physical or academic. This study is an attempt to find out what motivates teachers to enter this profession, since the reasons of entering this job has significant influence on their commitment to the job, investigate factors which are responsible for high or low motivation of language teachers in Fezalar Educational Institutions (FEI), which is a Turkish private institution that operates in Iraq, and ascertain the degree to which intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors impact teachers in their work situation. Based on the review of the recent researches of motivation, in general, and of language teacher motivation, in particular, and relying on the qualitative and quantitative study of the issue, a detailed analysis of some aspects of foreign language teacher motivation is presented in the article.Keywords: teacher motivation, job satisfaction, foreign language teaching, L2 teacher motivation