ESP in-service teacher training programs: Do they change Iranian teachers' beliefs, classroom practices and students' achievements?

Dudley-Evans y St John (1998) acuñaron el término �practicante� para referirse a los profesores de inglés con fines específicos (IFE) en el entendimiento de que un instructor de IFE debía asumir muchos papeles centrales como diseñadores de cursos, elaboradores de materiales, investigadores, evaluadores y docentes en el aula. Esta es la razón por la que la enseñanza de IFE requiere un enfoque especial para la formación de profesores que habrán de enseñar una lengua a través de unos contenidos. Este trabajo tiene por objetivo investigar los efectos subyacentes a los programas de formación de profesorado de IFE en activo por lo que respecta a las creencias y las prácticas en la instrucción de los profesores iraníes de IFE así como los logros alcanzados por los estudiantes. 423 profesores de IFE en Irán respondieron a través de un cuestionario sobre sus creencias y prácticas docentes en el aula. Seguidamente se seleccionaron 120 profesores que fueron divididos entre dos grupos experimentales y dos grupos de control. Los profesores de los grupos experimentales participaron en un programa de formación de diez semanas para profesores en activo de IFE. Los resultados de las diversas pruebas y su interpretación estadística pusieron de manifiesto claramente la repercusión del programa de formación así como su influencia constructiva sobre las creencias de los profesores de IFE y sus prácticas docentes. Asimismo, en el estudio se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los logros alcanzados por los estudiantes que habían contado con profesores que habían recibido la formación y los que habían contado con profesores que no habían recibido dicha formación.Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) coined the term �practitioner� for ESP teachers since, they claimed, many pivotal roles such as course designers, materials developers, researchers, evaluators, and classroom teachers should be taken on by an ESP instructor. That is why teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) requires a special approach to the training of the teachers who are supposed to teach English through content. The present study aimed at investigating the underlying effects of an ESP in-service teacher training program on the beliefs and instructional practices of Iranian ESP teachers as well as students� achievements. A population of 423 Iranian ESP teachers responded to a survey questionnaire on teachers� beliefs and classroom practices. This was followed by selecting 120 teachers and assigning them into two experimental and two control groups. The experimental groups participated in a ten week ESP in-service teacher training program. The outcomes of Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests clearly revealed the influential and constructive role of the training program on the beliefs and classroom practices of ESP teachers. The study also found significant difference between the achievements of students who enjoyed trained ESP instructors in comparison to those who received untrained ESP instructors

Stability analysis and selection of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) genotypes using AMMI, BLUP, GGE biplot and MTSI

Abstract The methods utilized to analyze genotype by environment interaction (GEI) and assess the stability and adaptability of genotypes are constantly changing and developing. In this regard, often instead of depending on a single analysis, it is better to use a combination of several methods to measure the nature of the GEI from various dimensions. In this study, the GEI was investigated using different methods. For this purpose, 18 sugar beet genotypes were evaluated in randomized complete block design in five research stations over 2 years. The additive effects analysis of the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model showed that the effects of genotype, environment and GEI were significant for root yield (RY), white sugar yield (WSY), sugar content (SC), and extraction coefficient of sugar (ECS). The multiplicative effect's analysis of AMMI into interaction principal components (IPCs) showed that the number of significant components varies from one to four in the studied traits. According to the biplot of the mean yield against the weighted average of absolute scores (WAAS) of the IPCs, G2 and G16 for RY, G16 and G2 for WSY, G6, G4, and G1 for SC and G8, G10 and G15 for ECS were identified as stable genotypes with optimum performance. The likelihood ratio test showed that the effects of genotype and GEI was significant for all studied traits. In terms of RY and WSY, G3 and G4 had high mean values of the best linear unbiased predictions (BLUP), so they were identified as suitable genotypes. However, in terms of SC and ECS, G15 obtained high mean values of the BLUP. The GGE biplot method classified environments into four (RY and ECS) and three (WSY and SC) mega-environments (MEs). Based on the multi-trait stability index (MTSI), G15, G10, G6, and G1 were the most ideal genotypes

Psychordrama Effect on Social Skills and Self Esteem of Schizophrenic Patients

Objective: Social skills disturbance is the characteristic feature of schizophrenic patients. This study mainly aims to assess the effect of psychodrama on social skills and self-esteem increase of patients with schizophrenia (types I and II). Materials & Methods: This is an experimental study. Statistical population included all male patients with schizophrenia whom were hospitalized within first half of 2005 in the psychiatric wards of Ardabil’s Isar hospital. Eighty persons from among them were randomly selected and assigned into four groups by balanced randomized method (20 persons in each group). For data collection, epidemiological information questionnaire, social skills inventory for schizophrenic patients and Rosenberg's self esteem questionnaire were applied. The accomplishment of psychodrama programs were done for experimental groups three time a week in 9 weeks time. Data were analyzed by Independent T test and two-factor ANOVA. Results: There were significant differences between case and control groups of total patients, in mean scores difference of pretest and post test in social skills (P<0.001) and self esteem (P=0.005). There were significant differences between type I and type II experimental groups in the mean scores of social skills pretest (P=0.003) & post test (P<0.001) and their difference (P=0.009). Also there were significant differences between them in the mean scores of self-esteem pretest (P=0.005) and post test (P<0.001) and their difference (p=0.035). Difference of pretest and post test scores of social skills (P<0.001) and self steem (P<0.001) showed significant difference between experimental and control group of type I schizophrenic patients. Also there were these differences between experimental and control group of type II schizophrenic patients (P=0.01 & 0.03). Conclusion: Execution of psychodrama significantly affects social skills and self-esteem of patients with schizophrenia. This is significantly higher in the patients of type I in comparison with type II