The Nexus between Iranian EFL Students’ Big Five Personality Traits and Foreign Language Speaking Confidence

This study sought to explore the extent to which Iranian EFL students’ personality traits influence their foreign language speaking confidence in the classrooms. To do so, Big Five Inventory questionnaire developed by John et al. (1991) and foreign language speaking confidence questionnaire, based on MacIntyre et al. (1998) heuristic model, designed by Apple (2011) were applied to collect the data. 217 Iranian EFL learners were invited to participate in the study. Multiple regression analysis revealed that learners’ foreign language speaking confidence is positively affected by their personality trait. Findings also indicated that favorable social conditions in the classrooms and classroom climate influenced learners’ speaking confidence. Concerning the relationship between gender and foreign language speaking confidence, statistically significant association was found. Various educational implications and recommendations for further works were proposed

The Nexus between Iranian EFL Students’ Big Five Personality Traits and Foreign Language Speaking Confidence

This study sought to explore the extent to which Iranian EFL students’ personality traits influence their foreign language speaking confidence in the classrooms. To do so, Big Five Inventory questionnaire developed by John et al. (1991) and foreign language speaking confidence questionnaire, based on MacIntyre et al. (1998) heuristic model, designed by Apple (2011) were applied to collect the data. 217 Iranian EFL learners were invited to participate in the study. Multiple regression analysis revealed that learners’ foreign language speaking confidence is positively affected by their personality trait. Findings also indicated that favorable social conditions in the classrooms and classroom climate influenced learners’ speaking confidence. Concerning the relationship between gender and foreign language speaking confidence, statistically significant association was found. Various educational implications and recommendations for further works were proposed

Iranian EFL Teachers' Familiarity, Attitudes and Willingness towards Different Internet Tools and their Applications

The purpose of this study was to explore the Iranian EFL teachers' familiarity, attitudes and willingness toward applying different internet tools in their classrooms. It also investigated the platform problems and teachers' main concerns towards integrating these tools. Accordingly, 263 EFL teachers who were randomly selected from different institutes in three Iranian provinces were asked to answer the researchers-made questionnaire. The results revealed that EFL teachers 1) are highly familiar with most of the internet tools; 2) have highly positive attitudes towards using and integrating internet tools in their classrooms; 3) are willing to use these technologies for developing certain language skills competency; and 4) are highly concerned about culturally inappropriate materials and students' internet dependability and autonomy. Furthermore, it was found that the results were affected by variables such as teachers' age and educational degree. Finally, it was concluded that in spite of the EFL teachers' positive attitudes and willingness towards these tools, still they are facing some challenging concerns about the application of the given tools due to some cultural and platform problems

On the Evaluation of Master of Arts Program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at Ilam University

Evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of a working program is usually made to determine its degree of success. Reviewing a large number of evaluation models, Stufflebeam's CIPP model (2002) was adopted as the theoretical framework to examine the current program for Master of Arts in TEFL at Ilam University. The participants of the study included 36 graduates of the given major from 2006 to 2012. The data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire and were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS.16). The findings revealed that most of the graduates believed that the current program was not as effective and efficient as it was expected and their actual needs were somehow ignored. They suggested that the administrators employ more proficient teachers, apply more practical courses and revise the educational objectives. Hence, the curriculum developers and faculty members are required to take the findings of the present research into account to make the essential revisions and modifications for future decision-makingin order to meet the students' needs and concerns

On the Evaluation of Master of Arts Program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at Ilam University

Evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of a working program is usually made to determine its degree of success. Reviewing a large number of evaluation models, Stufflebeam's CIPP model (2002) was adopted as the theoretical framework to examine the current program for Master of Arts in TEFL at Ilam University. The participants of the study included 36 graduates of the given major from 2006 to 2012. The data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire and were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS.16). The findings revealed that most of the graduates believed that the current program was not as effective and efficient as it was expected and their actual needs were somehow ignored. They suggested that the administrators employ more proficient teachers, apply more practical courses and revise the educational objectives. Hence, the curriculum developers and faculty members are required to take the findings of the present research into account to make the essential revisions and modifications for future decision-makingin order to meet the students' needs and concerns

Iranian EFL Teachers' Familiarity, Attitudes and Willingness towards Different Internet Tools and their Applications

The purpose of this study was to explore the Iranian EFL teachers' familiarity, attitudes and willingness toward applying different internet tools in their classrooms. It also investigated the platform problems and teachers' main concerns towards integrating these tools. Accordingly, 263 EFL teachers who were randomly selected from different institutes in three Iranian provinces were asked to answer the researchers-made questionnaire. The results revealed that EFL teachers 1) are highly familiar with most of the internet tools; 2) have highly positive attitudes towards using and integrating internet tools in their classrooms; 3) are willing to use these technologies for developing certain language skills competency; and 4) are highly concerned about culturally inappropriate materials and students' internet dependability and autonomy. Furthermore, it was found that the results were affected by variables such as teachers' age and educational degree. Finally, it was concluded that in spite of the EFL teachers' positive attitudes and willingness towards these tools, still they are facing some challenging concerns about the application of the given tools due to some cultural and platform problems

Iranian EFL Teachers' Familiarity, Attitudes and Willingness towards Different Internet Tools and their Applications

The purpose of this study was to explore the Iranian EFL teachers' familiarity, attitudes and willingness toward applying different internet tools in their classrooms. It also investigated the platform problems and teachers' main concerns towards integrating these tools. Accordingly, 263 EFL teachers who were randomly selected from different institutes in three Iranian provinces were asked to answer the researchers-made questionnaire. The results revealed that EFL teachers 1) are highly familiar with most of the internet tools; 2) have highly positive attitudes towards using and integrating internet tools in their classrooms; 3) are willing to use these technologies for developing certain language skills competency; and 4) are highly concerned about culturally inappropriate materials and students' internet dependability and autonomy. Furthermore, it was found that the results were affected by variables such as teachers' age and educational degree. Finally, it was concluded that in spite of the EFL teachers' positive attitudes and willingness towards these tools, still they are facing some challenging concerns about the application of the given tools due to some cultural and platform problems

The Nexus between Iranian EFL Students’ Big Five Personality Traits and Foreign Language Speaking Confidence

This study sought to explore the extent to which Iranian EFL students’ personality traits influence their foreign language speaking confidence in the classrooms. To do so, Big Five Inventory questionnaire developed by John et al. (1991) and foreign language speaking confidence questionnaire, based on MacIntyre et al. (1998) heuristic model, designed by Apple (2011) were applied to collect the data. 217 Iranian EFL learners were invited to participate in the study. Multiple regression analysis revealed that learners’ foreign language speaking confidence is positively affected by their personality trait. Findings also indicated that favorable social conditions in the classrooms and classroom climate influenced learners’ speaking confidence. Concerning the relationship between gender and foreign language speaking confidence, statistically significant association was found. Various educational implications and recommendations for further works were proposed

On the Evaluation of Master of Arts Program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at Ilam University

Evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of a working program is usually made to determine its degree of success. Reviewing a large number of evaluation models, Stufflebeam's CIPP model (2002) was adopted as the theoretical framework to examine the current program for Master of Arts in TEFL at Ilam University. The participants of the study included 36 graduates of the given major from 2006 to 2012. The data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire and were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS.16). The findings revealed that most of the graduates believed that the current program was not as effective and efficient as it was expected and their actual needs were somehow ignored. They suggested that the administrators employ more proficient teachers, apply more practical courses and revise the educational objectives. Hence, the curriculum developers and faculty members are required to take the findings of the present research into account to make the essential revisions and modifications for future decision-makingin order to meet the students' needs and concerns

The Effect of Explicit and Implicit Instruction on Monolingual Bilingual EFL learners and Acquisition of L2 Grammar

Under which conditions, implicit or explicit, the EFL learners are exposed to L2 inputs may strongly influence the learning processes. Tasks that are accompanied with instructions are one of the most influential tools for ELT teachers for manipulating learning conditions. Therefore, this study attempted to investigate the role of implicit and explicit instructions on acquisition of two grammatical structures (negative and placement adverb) and also the effect of monolingualism and bilingualism on learning grammar. 38 high intermediate learners, 10 monolingual and 28 bilingual, participated in present study. A general English proficiency test, pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test were administered. Then the scores on the pre-test and post-tests were compared to determine the possible effects. The data were analyzed by applying Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The findings revealed that: 1) there wasn’t a significant difference between explicit and implicit instructions and input on acquisition the grammatical rules and 2) for more complex structure, implicit instruction was recommended and 3) monolingual and bilingual learners did not differ in learning the grammar. Hence, the findings implies that in order to have an efficient L2 classrooms, ELT teachers should pay more attention on the interactions between these two types of instructions and the complexity of the L2 structures