Vision: Journal for Language and Foreign Language Learning
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The Comparison of Language Learning Strategies between Iranian and Iraqi EFL Learners Based on 1990 Oxford's Model
Full text linkThe present study investigates the comparison of language learning strategies between Iraqi and Iranian EFL learners based on Oxford's model. To accomplish this, 60 BA-level participants—30 Iraqi and 30 Iranian EFL learners—from the Public University in Babylon, Iraq, and the Islamic Azad University in Shiraz, Iran—were given the 5-point Likert scale of 50 questions from Oxford's Strategies Inventory of Language Learning (SILL). They were between the ages of nineteen and twenty-eight. This quantitative and survey study used frequencies, means, standard deviations, and t-scores to quantify the dimensions of language learning strategies (LLS) and compare LLS between Iranian and Iraqi EFL learners. According to descriptive data, all LLSs among Iraqi EFL learners fell into the medium range. However, Iranian EFL students exhibited metacognitive and memory strategies more frequently and moderately. The results also distinguished Iranian and Iraqi EFL students' language learning approaches. According to the study, Iranian learners used different English learning strategies than Iraqi students. To this end, this research can also serve as a reference in language learning strategies and specify the dimensions of LLS used by Iraqi and Iranian EFL learners. The important implication of this research is that if EFL learners and teachers get aware of language learning strategies, they may develop their learning and teaching more easily and successfully
The Effect of Gamified Flipped Classroom on the Improvement of Vocabulary Learning of Iranian Pre-Intermediate EFL Learners
Full text linkThe current study aimed to improve vocabulary learning by using gamification in the flipped classroom context. To this end, all of the study’s population comprised high school learners at two high schools in Roodan, a city in Hormozgan, Iran. The participants were divided into three classes, class A consisting of 40 students, class B comprising 40 students, and class C consisting of thirty learners. All learners were female. In order to ensure that the learners were homogeneous, the Preliminary English Test (PET) was applied. Class A was chosen as the experimental group (gamified flipped classroom), whereas classes B and C were chosen as the control groups. Data were collected through the vocabulary and placement tests. Results indicate that gamification in the flipped context could have a significant effect on vocabulary improvement. This study suggests certain implications for English teachers, policymakers, and material developers. As a new teaching model, it offers a new method of vocabulary teaching
Instrumental and Integrative Orientations in Second Language Learning among Sudanese Students
Full text linkMotivation is one of the most influential factors in second/ foreign language learning. It has been traditionally classified into two types, namely instrumental motivation and integrative motivation. The latter has been claimed to have a more positive impact on the language learning process than instrumental orientations. This study sought to investigate the nature of motivational orientations among Sudanese learners of English and German. The study involved 221 Sudanese undergraduate students studying English and German, respectively. The results of the empirical investigation demonstrated that Sudanese students were more instrumentally motivated to learn English in comparison to German. On the other hand, the students in the German department had more positive attitudes towards the German community and culture in comparison to the students of the English department. Gender differences have also been identified in the department of English only, where female students had a significantly higher level of motivation and were rather integratively motivated to learn English than their male counterparts. The study concluded that both instrumental and integrative constructs are complementary and that attention should be shifted towards motivational intensity in language learning
Rural EFL Teachers’ Emotions and Agency in Online Language Teaching: I Will Survive
Full text linkThis article explores rural English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ emotions and agency in online language teaching. Based on Hargreaves’s emotional geography framework, teachers’ emotions and teacher agency are both captured through teachers’ narration about their feelings, salient challenges that they encountered, and their coping strategies. Research data were collected using semi-structured interviews with two English teachers working in rural upper secondary schools in Nunukan, Indonesia. The collected data were analyzed with an inductive approach. The findings portray how rural EFL teachers experience various emotions which are mainly caused by physical and sociocultural distance, how agency helps these teachers with abilities to reflect on their feelings and to take crucial actions, and to what extend the need for immediate professional development programs to develop online teaching skills is
North Bali Students’ Online Learning Self-Efficacy, Engagement, and Satisfaction
Full text linkThis study aimed to investigate the relationship among online learning self-efficacy, engagement, and students’ satisfaction in online learning. The design of this study was mixed-method research through surveys and open-ended interview with the purposive sampling technique. The quantitative data were analyzed using multiple regression. The respondents were 24 postgraduate students from North Bali, Indonesia. The quantitative data were analyzed using correlation and regression techniques, and an open-ended interview was conducted. The research results showed a positive correlation between online learning self-efficacy, engagement, and students’ satisfaction. The study concludes that students’ satisfaction can be enhanced by increasing students’ online learning self-efficacy and engagement either individually or simultaneously. The implication of this study revealed that strategies in self-efficacy and engagement during learning-related emotions could play a mediating role in academic satisfaction. Additionally, learning-related emotion impacts the metacognitive learning procedures, which thus intervene the impact of satisfaction in online learning
Online Communication versus Face-to-Face Interaction: the Effect of Chatting Communication on Iranian EFL Learners' Oral Performance
Full text linkThis study aimed to investigate the impact of chatting communication on Iranian EFL learners' oral performance. To this end, the author randomly selected fifty 17-to-18-year-old male Iranian EFL learners attending Top Notch communicative classes in language institutes in Shiraz. First, they applied the Oxford Placement Test as a proficiency test to homogenize learners, and then the learners were divided into experimental and control groups (n = 25 in each group). Both groups had a pretest to estimate their oral performance before applying treatment. The experimental group received instruction and materials via online context as treatment. However, the participants in the control group just received instruction via traditional teaching methods in the class. Finally, both groups had a post-test to measure the effect of treatment on their oral performance. The mean and standard deviation were calculated for two groups In the data collection and analysis, a paired samples t-test was conducted. Based on the results, between the two groups, there was a substantial disparity in terms of oral presentation skills., and the experimental group learners outperformed the control group's learners. The findings can be helpful for teachers to find practical ways to develop students' skills and their incentives
Beliefs and Practices of EFL Instructors in Teaching Pronunciation
Full text linkPronunciation teaching and learning have stimulated a renewed interest among second language acquisition (SLA) researchers in the past few years. To pursue this line of inquiry, this study set out to investigate the beliefs and practices of Iranian EFL teachers on pronunciation teaching. Convenience sampling was employed to recruit 74 participants who completed a pronunciation teaching and learning questionnaire. Interviews were also conducted with volunteered participants. The results revealed that 57% of the respondent teachers mostly worked on suffixes such as the -ed and -s endings always or often in their classrooms. The second most frequently taught feature was word stress (54%), followed by syllable structure, which 53% of the teachers often or always taught. Drama and role-play were the most common strategies often or always used by 49% of the teachers in teaching pronunciation. In addition, interviews with participant teachers revealed that the most common classroom activities were imitation and repetition. Finally, although most participants emphasized the need to teach pronunciation, they did not consider themselves highly qualified. They indicated an insatiable desire for more pronunciation training in teacher education programs to use opportunistic teaching and integrated phases to teach pronunciation. Most of the teachers did not teach pronunciation as a separate lesson since the school curriculum, the pre-specified book, and the time limitation did not let them focus on pronunciation as a separate lesson
An Analysis of the Persian Translation of the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Based on Juliane House’s (1997) Quality Assessment Model of Translation
Full text linkAs quality is one of the most important aspects of translation studies, the researchers aim at analyzing the quality of the Persian translation of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, which is one of the best-selling novels in the world based on House’s (1997) model of translation quality assessment. As it was time-consuming to apply this model to the whole book, twenty sections out of forty-five sections of the English version were selected randomly. In this qualitative-descriptive research, both source text and target text were compared in tables regarding quality. The study revealed that the translator had translated the text overtly, confirming House’s idea, who noted that literary texts should be translated overtly. However, the cultural filter was applied to some parts of the text that were not acceptable in the target culture. Therefore, covert translation was acceptable in some parts. According to the analysis based on House’s model, the Persian translation was almost of good quality. The register, as well as the related sub-branches, was observed well in most parts of the target text. The text, in respect of textual means, was also cohesive and coherent; however, the lexical choice in some parts needed improvement. The researchers also found out that some part of the source text information was not transferred to the target text without any particular reasons. Thus, it was illustrated that although House’s translation quality assessment model is the best translation quality assessment model among other models, it needs improvement. House’s model was not able to analyze the text in respect of information transfer. Therefore, this could be a weak point in House’s model. In short, the translated text was not of high quality as it needs improvement in respect of information transfer and lexical choice
Generating Creativity in Elementary School Teaching: A Case Study of Teacher Professional Development in Indonesia
Full text linkCreativity plays an important role in education for both students and teachers. In this study, the researchers aim to investigate how teachers generate elementary students’ creativity in the classroom. The study involved ten elementary school English teachers from ten schools in Sintang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. This descriptive qualitative study employed snowball sampling by which the researchers invited one teacher to participate in this study and later the teacher suggested other potential participants that could be considered as the research samples. In gathering the data, the researchers identified teachers’ perspectives in generating creativity using questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaires results were in the form of a Likert Scale and a diagram was employed to display the overall tendency. Further, interviews were descriptively analysed to support the results of the questionnaires. The results of this study demonstrated that in generating creativity in the classroom, the following criteria should be fulfilled: (1) students’ mistakes should be welcomed and accepted as important part of learning; (2) students are expected to perform not only by constructing novel ideas, but also creating a product (outcome) that facilitates their creativity in the classroom. Other results close to the previous two main points are related to open-ended and real-life (authentic) tasks, resources availability, the atmosphere of care, and the teachers as a guide. In this study, the researchers provide data about how elementary school teachers generate creativity for elementary school students. It is suggested that further research should nurture and provide an atmosphere of care and physical environment to generate creativity
The Impact of Genre-Based Instruction on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Writing Skills
Full text linkThe teaching of writing skills includes different methods and approaches. English language learners should be equipped with genre-based pedagogy to be able to write for specific settings. However, the idea of using Genre-based instruction of writing in non-native English-speaking countries has empirically received inadequate attention. This study aimed to investigate the impact of GBI on writing skills. Genres are Argumentative, Discussion, Explanation, and Exposition. This study used a quasi-experimental design. Fifty-one male students majoring in aviation courses in civil aviation technology of Tehran with an intermediate level of proficiency were assigned to experimental and control groups. The author examined their proficiency by Michigan English language assessment Battery (MELAB test) and tested their writing skills by administering a writing test of TOEFL iBT 2008. The control group took part in the traditional teaching of writing, and the experimental group was taught explicitly through the GBI method based on a lesson plan proposal. Four pre-and post-tests were taken by two groups to check the writing GBI progress. Independent sample t-tests revealed that the writing GBI could significantly improve the coherence, cohesion, and organization of writing. This study can benefit EFL practitioners by shedding light on how we can implement GBI of writing in an authentic classroom situation