Cultural Understanding of Controversial Issues in Class and Teacher Credibility: Introducing the Concept of Envolvement

Given the prominence of initiating and maintaining the discussion of the controversial issues in the second language (L2) classrooms and settings and its probable effects on teacher credibility, the present study intends to explore the relationship between envolvement of the students in the controversial issues and teacher credibility in light of the emotioncy hierarchies (avolvement, exvolvement, and involvement). To this end, a total of 228 undergraduate students of English were asked to take the envolvement of the controversial issues scale (ECIS) along with the teacher credibility questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to substantiate the construct validity of the ECIS. Subsequently, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine whether the sub-constructs of the ECIS have any possible relationships with teacher credibility. The findings demonstrated that students’ avolvement with regard to the controversial issues could bring about teacher credibility, while exvolvement and involvement bear no significant relationship with teacher credibility. Finally, the pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed and some suggestions are made for the future studies within the realm of L2 education and the classroom discussions

Probing Language Teachers’ Stroking and Credibility in Relation to Their Success in Class

Given the significance of teacher success in the adequacy of teaching and learning, the present study aims to examine the role of two factors, namely teacher stroking (teacher attention) and teacher credibility in relation to teacher success. To do so, a total of 301 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners completed three survey instruments: the Student Stroke Scale, the Source Credibility Scale, and the Characteristics of Successful Teachers Questionnaire. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), first the construct validity of the Source Credibility Scale was substantiated, and then the associations among all three scales were examined. The results of CFA and correlation analyses revealed that teacher effectiveness correlated significantly and positively with both the components of stroke and that of teacher credibility. We conclude with a discussion of the results and implications for teaching and learning.Compte tenu de la signification de la réussite des enseignants dans l’efficacité de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage, la présente étude a comme objectif d’examiner le rôle que jouent deux facteurs, l’encadrement personnalisé par l’enseignant et la crédibilité des enseignants. Nos données proviennent de trois outils de sondage (échelle d’encadrement personnalisé; échelle de crédibilité de la source; questionnaire sur les caractéristiques des enseignants efficaces) auprès de 301 étudiants d’anglais langue étrangère (ALE). Une analyse factorielle confirmatoire a établi la validité conceptuelle et les liens entre les trois échelles ont ensuite été étudiés. Les résultats de l’analyse factorielle confirmatoire et des analyses de corrélation ont révélé une corrélation significative et positive entre l’efficacité des enseignants d’une part et l’encadrement personnalisé et la crédibilité d’autre part. Nous concluons par une discussion des résultats et la présentation de leur impact sur l’enseignement et l’apprentissage.

Parents’ Conceptual Involvement in Their Children’s Education: An Assessment-Oriented View

Parents’ underlying beliefs concerning pedagogical issues may be an indispensable key to understanding the diverse activities that parents engage in with their children. Assessment, as a multifunctional educational mechanism, has long engaged the minds of not only teachers and students but also their parents. Thus, this study sought to delve into parents’ conceptions of their children’s assessment with respect to external variables including gender, major, and degree. In doing so, Parents’ Conceptions of Assessment (PCoA) was administered to a subset of 180 parents. The construct validity of the inventory was substantiated via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Analyzing the data, it was found that ‘Improvement’ was the parents’ dominant view toward assessment. Moreover, running MANOVA, parents’ educational degree played a significant role in the assessment-related conceptions of ‘Relevance’ and ‘Affect’. The results are discussed and implications are provided in the context of education.   Les croyances des parents relatives à certains enjeux pédagogiques pourraient s’avérer être des indications indispensables pour comprendre les activités diverses qu’ils entreprennent avec leurs enfants. L’évaluation, ce mécanisme pédagogique multifonctionnel, préoccupe depuis longtemps non seulement les enseignants et les étudiants mais également les parents. Nous nous sommes donc penchés sur les conceptions qu’ont les parents de l’évaluation de leurs enfants par rapport à des variables externes, y compris le sexe, le domaine de spécialisation et le diplôme. Un échantillon de 180 parents ont passé un questionnaire sur leur conceptions de l’évaluation. La validité conceptuelle du répertoire a été appuyée par la modélisation par équation structurelle. L’analyse des données a révélé que le concept de « l’amélioration » résumait le point de vue dominant des parents quant à l’évaluation. De plus, selon une analyse multivariée de variance, la scolarisation des parents a joué un rôle important dans leurs conceptions d’éléments liés à l’évaluation, notamment la « pertinence» et « l’influence ». Nous discutons des résultats et évoquons des incidences pour le domaine de l’éducation.

Contextualization-Emotionalization Interface: A Case of Teacher Effectiveness

Given the prominence of cognitive and affective factors in teacher effectiveness, this study intends to look at the issue from a different perspective and examine the roles of contextualization and emotionalization in teacher success. In so doing, 305 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners rated their English teachers to determine the extent to which they contextualize and emotionalize their instructions. During the first phase of the study, a pair of scales were constructed and substantiated via Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to serve the abovementioned purpose. As for the second phase, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to shed light on any probable relationships among the independent variables and teacher success. The results indicated that, teachers who contextualize and emotionalize their instructional practices, enjoy an enhanced level of success. Moreover, it was revealed that, in the close competition between contextualization and emotionalization, contextualization was identified as a slightly better predictor of teacher success. Building upon the rather strong links between the sub-construct of contextualization and emotionalization, it was further inferred that, mutual juxtaposition of the two concepts contribute to teacher success. In the end, the results were discussed in the realm of English language education

El papel de las emociones sensoriales en el aumento de la voluntad de leer en los aprendices de inglés como lengua extranjera

It seems that one of the factors contributing to language learners’ interest in reading comprehension texts is the sensory emotions they may have for reading topics. In this study, the association between language learners’ sensory emotions towards some topics and their willingness to read (WTR) about them was examined. To do so, 201 intermediate and upper-intermediate English as a foreign langauge (EFL) learners were asked to complete a newly-deigned scale measuring their sensory emotions, frequency of exposure, and WTR regarding 18 topics from various fields. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to analyze the data. Moreover, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants regarding their emotions and WTR towards topics. The results showed that the higher the level of sensory emotions towards a topic, the higher the WTR. In the end, the findings were discussed in the context of language education and implications were provided.Parece que uno de los factores que contribuyen al interés de los estudiantes de idiomas en los textos de comprensión de lectura son las emociones sensoriales que pueden tener para leer temas. En este estudio, se examina la asociación entre las emociones sensoriales de los estudiantes de idiomas hacia algunos temas y su disposición a leer (WTR) sobre ellos. Para ello, se ha solicitado a 201 estudiantes de inglés intermedio y de nivel intermedio superior (EFL) que completen una escala recientemente diseñada que mide sus emociones sensoriales, la frecuencia de exposición y el WTR en relación con 18 temas de diversos campos. Se emplean modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) y análisis de varianza (ANOVA) para analizar los datos. Además, se han realizado entrevistas semiestructuradas con 21 participantes con respecto a sus emociones y WTR hacia temas. Los resultados han mostrado que cuanto más alto es el nivel de las emociones sensoriales hacia un tema, más alto es el WTR. Al final, los hallazgos se han discutido en el contexto de la educación lingüística y se han proporcionado implicaciones

Persuasive Strategies among Iranian EFL Learners

This study aimed to investigate the application of persuasive strategies among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language. To this end, 150 Iranian English learners took part in this study. The data were collected by means of a discourse completion test (DCT) consisting of 6 questions similar to real life persuasive situations. The Chi-square test was applied to compare the frequencies of persuasion strategies’ application among Iranian EFL learners. Moreover, the influence of gender on the preference of persuasive strategies by respondents was discussed. Results demonstrated some differences and similarities inutilization of this speech act by male and female Iranian learners. Finally, the results were discussed in the context of language teaching and learning.Key words: Interlanguage pragmatics; Speech act; Persuasion strategies; Iranian EFL leaner

A Chronotopic Analysis of Cover Letters in Persian and English

Abstract The concept of chronotope was originally used by Bakhtin (1981) in literature and literary criticism. But this concept seems to have great potential to be employed in other contexts as well. In English for Specific Purposes (ESP), for example, it can function as a useful tool to better inform L2 writers of the spatial and temporal conventions expected by the L1 genre community. Taking advantage of this capability, the present study used the chronotope in a move-based genre analysis of cover letters in Persian and English. To this end, a corpus of English and Persian cover letters was examined. In this study, the chronotope of each move of a cover letter was determined in the letters of both languages, and then through a contrastive analysis their similarities and differences were discussed. Finally, the important implications of the findings in language instruction were presented. Key words: Chronotope; Bakhtin; Letter writing; Cover letter; Persian; English Résumé Le concept de chronotope a été initialement utilisé par Bakhtine (1981) dans la littérature et la critique littéraire. Mais ce concept semble avoir un grand potentiel d'être employé dans d'autres contextes. En anglais à des fins spécifiques (ESP), par exemple, il peut fonctionner comme un outil utile pour mieux informer les écrivains L2 des conventions spatiales et temporelles attendues par la communauté Genre L1. Profitant de cette capacité, la présente étude a utilisé le chronotope dans un mouvement basé sur l'analyse genre de lettres de motivation en persan et en anglais. À cette fin, un corpus de lettres de motivation en anglais et en persan a été examiné. Dans cette étude, le chronotope de chaque déménagement d'une lettre de motivation a été déterminée dans les lettres des deux langues, puis à travers une analyse contrastive de leurs similitudes et les différences ont été discutées. Enfin, l'importance des implications des résultats dans l'enseignement des langues ont été présentés. Mots-clés: Chronotope; Bakhtine; Ecriture de lettre; Lettre de motivation; Persan; Anglai

A Contrastive Study into the Realization of Suggestion Speech Act: Persain vs English

This study intends to conduct a contrastive analysis between English and Persian with regard to suggestion speech act. To this end, some Iranian university students were asked to complete a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) consisting of six situations in which their suggestion act was explored. The research data was analyzed using percentage and Chi-square test. The study findings were compared with the previous research carried out by Jiang (2006) exploring natives’ use of suggestion act in order to detect the similarities and variations between cultures. The results revealed the variations in almost most of the suggestion types. Furthermore, gender proved to be a significant factor in the production of suggestion strategies. Finally, pedagogical implications were discussed in the context of second language learning.Key words: Culture; Pragmatic competence; Speech act; Suggestion actRésumé: Cette étude vise à effectuer une analyse contrastive entre l'anglais et le persain à l'égard de l'acte de parole suggestion. A cette fin, certains étudiants universitaires iraniens ont été invités à remplir une tâche d'achèvement du discours (DCT), composé de six situations dans lesquelles leur acte suggestion a été explorée. les données de recherche a été analysée à l'aide de pourcentage et de test du chi carré. les résultats de l'étude ont été comparés avec les recherches antérieures effectuées par Jiang (2006) explore indigènes utilisation de la suggestion agir afin de détecter les similitudes et les différences entre les deux cultures. les résultats a révélé des variations dans la plupart des types presque suggestion. Par ailleurs, le genre s'est révélée être un facteur important dans la production de stratégies de suggestion. Enfin, les implications pédagogiques ont été discutés dans le contexte de l'apprentissage des langues secondes.Mots clés: Culture; Compétence pragmatique; Acte de parole; Agitationde suggestio

Life-wise Language Learning Textbooks: Construction and Validation of an Emotional Abilities Scale through Rasch Modeling

Underlying the recently developed notions of applied ELT and life syllabus is the idea that language classes should give precedence to learners’ life qualities, for instance emotional intelligence (EI), over and above their language skills. By so doing, ELT is ascribed an autonomous status and ELT classes can lavish their full potentials to the learners. With that in mind, this study aimed to design and validate a scale for appraising the current English language learning textbooks with respect to EI competencies. Having used several psychological models of EI, the authors developed a 44-item scale. The scale was then disseminated to in-service EFL teachers at non-profit language institutes in Iran. Rasch rating scale model was utilized to substantiate the construct validity of the scale. Three items, two representing impulse control and one pertaining to adaptability, misfitted the model, requiring to be pruned. The results also showed that the 6-point Likert scale functioned effectively. The scale is therefore a unidimensional and valid instrument with considerable implications for language teachers, syllabus designers, and materials developers