1,720,960 research outputs found
Prescribed pedagogy: An autoethnographic analysis of coursebook constraints, teacher identity, and power dynamics in Iran through Foucault’s lens
No full textThis study uses Critical Autoethnographic Narrative (CAN) to explore the influence of standardized coursebooks on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching in Iran. Drawing on over ten years of experience as an English teacher and supervisor, the research highlights how these coursebooks act as tools of control, constraining teacher autonomy and creativity. While existing literature focuses on technical aspects of coursebooks, this study fills a gap by examining their impact on pedagogical flexibility and teacher identity. Through a reflexive analysis guided by Foucault’s theories of power and discipline, key themes such as "pedagogical constraints," "reduced autonomy," and "professional satisfaction" are identified. The findings reveal significant limitations imposed by standardized materials, suggesting a need for more flexible and culturally responsive teaching approaches. This study contributes to understanding the socio-political dimensions of EFL education in Iran and offers insights for enhancing teacher autonomy and curriculum development
Applying Galperin model to teacher professional development: A qualitative case study of a peer coaching program
Full text link[ArticleInPress]The present study is an attempt to apply Galperin spiral model to implement and analyze a peer coaching program. To do so, six teachers (three coaches and three protégés), who attended a 3-month peer coaching program in which protégés received help from their more experienced peers (coaches), completed narrative frames about the program and participated in individual semistructured interviews. After the transcription of the interviews, the thematic analysis was conducted on the gathered data. The results of the study revealed that although there are evidential obstacles to doing the program including inter alia, cultural schema, teacher financial well-being and discontinuity of it, the employed model could provide additional aid and critical look for implementing peer coaching programs in educational contexts. Teachers and teacher educators can benefit from the findings by applying the proposed model in peer coaching programs
Teachers' personality types and their attitude toward receiving and employing postobservation feedback
Full text linkClassroom observation has been long considered a power-ful tool for evaluating and monitoring teachers' perform-ance and progress. Teachers can benefit from the feedbackduring the postobservation conference but giving feedbackis not a simple skill and needs knowledge and training.Research on tackling postobservation problems remainsemerging and the aim of this study is to explore the rolethat a teacher's personality type–based on DiSC personal-ity test?might play in postobservation conferences andreaction to receiving feedback from the supervisor. Togather data, 20 nonnative EFL teachers were asked to takethe DiSC personality test to have their personality typesidentified, then they were observed three times, and eachtime they received feedback on their classroom manage-ment techniques. Results indicate that teachers withdifferent personality types act differently during thepostobservation conferences. While D and i styles areactive and tend to employ feedback moderately andstrongly in their classes, S and C styles are mostly passivewith the tendency of employing feedback moderately andweakly. The findings contribute to a better understandingof the role of personality types in teachers' tolerance ofcriticism and their tendency to apply the received feedbackin their future classes
Collaborative reflection as a means to improve teachers’ reflective skills: A community of practice perspective
Full text linkThis study aims at using collaborative reflection to see how itimpacts teachers’ breadth and depth of reflection on teachingpractice. To do so, as a part of an in-house professional develop-ment program of two schools of languages in Iran, eight teachersattended four sessions of collaborative reflection in which theyfocused on teacher talk. In these sessions, they wrote a reflectivenote about a teaching session they had observed for 20 minutes,engaged in a discussion with their peers for an additional 30minutes, and wrote another reflective note after the sessions inanother 20 minutes. Their reflective notes were compared to findpossible differences. To corroborate the data, the teachers all com-pleted narrative frames and attended semi-structured interviews inwhich they discussed any changes in their thoughts and the rea-sons for the changes. The gathered data were analyzed using in-depth thematic analysis, which involved iterative coding and themeidentification to uncover differences in reflective depth and diver-sity. The findings indicated that collaborative reflection significantlyenhanced teachers’ reflective skills, leading to more practical, andmore diverse reflections. This study suggested that incorporatingcollaborative reflection in professional development programs canfoster critical thinking and continuous improvement among lan-guage teachers
Examining the interplay of teacher emotional intelligence and feedback responsiveness in post-observation conferences: Voices from Iran
Full text linkThis study attempted to investigate the impact of teachers’ Emotional Intelligence (EI) on how they respond to post-observation feedback. To do so, 11 Iranian EFL teachers were selected and divided into two groups of high and low EI based on their EI test results. Based on their observed classes, post-observation conferences were held between the teacher and the observer. A thorough thematic analysis of the data unveiled three pre dominant themes: (1) maintaining positive moods and coping with stressful situations, (2) accepting negative feedback and justifying one’s performance, and (3) accepting negative feedback and becoming defensive. The findings of the study suggested that there were obvious differences in the way the teachers reacted to feedback from their observers. High EI teachers remained more confident after the negative feedback, were willing to listen to the observer, were active listeners, were open to criticism, and reflected on their performance. Low EI teachers, however, became agitated, failed to control their stress, tried to justify their performance, did not tend to accept the negative feedback, became defensive, responded immediately, and used discourse boosters frequently after the nega tive feedback. The study urges updated teacher education programs informed by teachers’ EI, particularly in providing feedback on their performance
AI-assisted vocabulary instruction for IELTS candidates: A mixed-methods exploration
No full textThis explanatory sequential mixed-methods study investigates the effectiveness of AI-assisted vocabulary instruction in improving the lexical range of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) candidates. Despite growing interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for educational purposes, research into its application within specific exam preparation contexts, such as IELTS, remains limited. Furthermore, there is insufficient exploration of AI’s impact on learners’ lexical range within short timeframes. To address these gaps, this study involved 40 IELTS candidates (aged 18–35, with band scores between 5.0 and 5.5) divided into experimental and control groups. Through a Vocabulary Size Test (VST) for pre-test and posttest, participants were assessed and quantitative data were gathered. The quantitative analysis revealed significant improvement in the experimental group. Descriptive statistics indicated a mean increase in vocabulary scores, with pre-test scores (M = 43.10, SD = 7.41) rising to posttest scores (M = 57.85, SD = 7.47). Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews identified three key themes: (1) perceived improvement in vocabulary, (2) increased engagement and motivation, and (3) challenges faced with AI tools. The findings demonstrate that AI-assisted vocabulary instruction can effectively enhance vocabulary development and motivate IELTS candidates, particularly those at low and intermediate proficiency levels. The study highlights both pedagogical implications for IELTS preparation and limitations related to sample size, instrument scope, and the role of teacher mediation
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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