چکیده پایان نامه ها

نام و نام خانوادگی:حسین خوشبخت
عنوان پایان نامه: A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Master of Arts in Teaching English as A Foreign Language (TEFL)
رشته تحصیلی:آموزش زبان انگلیسی
مقطع تحصیلی: کارشناسی ارشد ناپیوسته
استاد راهنما : دکتر احسان رضوانی
چکیده:

This study was an attempt to investigate whether using Inter-group peer online feedback through Edmodo has any significant impact on the EFL students` collaborative learning. To collect data to support or reject the hypotheses of the study, a total number of 40 Iranian intermediate male English Foreign Language (EFL) learners were selected based on their performance on Oxford Placement Test. Then, they were randomly assigned into two groups (20 as a control group and 20 as an experimental group). After that, the participants of both groups took a collaborative learning questionnaire pre-test adopted from Haythornthwaite’s (2000) study that aimed at investigating the learners’ perception of collaborative learning. Then, the treatment started. While the experimental group received its specific treatment, the control group experienced their conventional classroom. The experimental group was asked to practice writing through Edmodo twice a week for ten sessions.   In the end, a collaborative learning questionnaire post-test was administered to both groups. The same as the pre-test, all the participants completed the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of data provided information such as group’s means, standard deviations, normality, and frequency. Inferential statistics helped us to test the research hypothesis. For doing this, paired-samples t-test and independent-sample t-test were run to make comparisons between the experimental and the control groups’ test scores. The results showed that inter-group peer online feedback through Edmodo has a significant impact on Iranian EFL students` collaborative learning.  In other words, the experimental group made a considerably higher advancement as compared to the control group in the post-test of collaborative learning.

کلیدواژه: Inter-group peer online feedback, Edmodo, Collaborative learning

نام و نام خانوادگی:شیدا زنگنه پور
عنوان پایان نامه:Relationship between EFL Students and Teachers’ Perfectionism and Willingness to Communicate in EFL context
رشته تحصیلی:آموزش زبان انگلیسی
مقطع تحصیلی: کارشناسی ارشد ناپیوسته
استاد راهنما : دکتر امید طباطبائی
چکیده:

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ perfectionism and Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and learners’ perfectionism and WTC. To achieve this aim, 10 Iranian EFL teachers and 100 Iranian EFL learners whose level of proficiency was upper intermediate participated in the study. The learners’ general English knowledge was evaluated via Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). The instruments used by the researcher for the purpose of data collection were WTC Questionnaire and Perfectionism Questionnaire. The former was a seven-point Likert scale one and the latter was a five-point Likert scale one. As the first step, the OPT was given to the language learners to understand which ones were upper-intermediate learners to become the participants of the study. For selecting the teachers, the researcher asked more than 30 English teachers in Isfahan who had three or more years of teaching experience and 10 of them accepted to take part in the study. Then, the questionnaires were given to the both groups of the participants to evaluate the relationships between their perfectionism and their WTC. The results were gathered for statistical analysis. The findings of the study there was a negative and significant relationship between the teachers’ WTC and perfectionism (r = -.85) and a negative and significant relationship between the learners’ WTC and perfectionism (r = -.37). The current study provides useful implications for learners, teachers, and curriculum developers in the field of TEFL.

کلیدواژه:Learner, Perfectionism, Speaking, Teacher, Willingness to Communicate

نام و نام خانوادگی:سعیده رزاززاده
عنوان پایان نامه: On-line Instruction (Paused Task versus Cloze Activity) in Listening Task-based Instruction of Intermediate EFL Learners: a Focus on Learners’ Metacognitive Awareness
رشته تحصیلی:آموزش زبان انگلیسی
مقطع تحصیلی: کارشناسی ارشد ناپیوسته
استاد راهنما : دکتر شیلا خیرزاده
چکیده:

The effect of planning on task performance is one of the most important issue in SLA. Although some studies have been conducted on examining the influence of planning on task-based instruction, more studies are needed in order to inspect the effect of within-task planning, especially with regard to receptive skills like listening. In fact, listening is an important skill for L2 learners but because of the complicated features of its nature, studies which investigate this skill greatly are not adequate and more attention are required to be paid to it and its contributing factors in language learning studies. This classroom-based study was designed to examine the effect of on-line instruction in terms of paused task and cloze activity on listening comprehension and performance. The current study attempted to investigate whether there was any difference between paused task group and cloze activity group in improving listening comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Furthermore, this study inspected the difference between paused task and cloze activity in improving listening comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners considering learners’ metacognitive awareness. In doing so, 24intermediate L2 learners were selected from one private language institute in Isfahan, Iran. They were randomly assigned to a paused task group (n=12) and a cloze activity group (n=12).A pretest was administered to measure learners’ listening comprehension before treatment. The parallel test was repeated after treatment as the posttest in order to assess the effect of mentioned instructions. Two different instructional treatment with the same listening text was carried out for two groups. The paused task groups’ learners were taught using Pause and paraphrase instructions a set of materials and the cloze activity groups’ learners were taught using listening cloze instruction as a set of materials. The data were collected through five treatment sessions and one metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire (MALQ).Paired sample T-Tests, independent sample T-Tests, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. The results indicate that paused task could not significantly improve Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ listening comprehension whereas cloze activity could. Also, learners in cloze activity group outperformed learners in paused task group considering their metacognitive awareness.

کلیدواژه: Planning, Cloze Activity, Paused Task, Listening Task-Based Instruction, Metacognitive Awareness

نام و نام خانوادگی:النازسادات محمدیان اصفهانی
عنوان پایان نامه: Investigating the Transfer of Accuracy from Focused and Unfocused Direct Written Corrective Feedback to EFL Learners’ Oral Productions
رشته تحصیلی:آموزش زبان انگلیسی
مقطع تحصیلی: کارشناسی ارشد ناپیوسته
استاد راهنما : دکتر علیرضا نجفی
چکیده:

This study conducts an experimental research on transfer of learning, focused and unfocused direct written corrective feedback (WCF), and progress of learners’ speaking. It attempts to investigate transfer of accuracy from one English skill (writing) to another skill of English language (speaking), which was supported by peers’ focused and unfocused direct written corrective feedback (WCF). In fact, it surveys the effect of peers’ focused and unfocused direct WCF on oral productions of Iranian low-intermediate learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). To this end, a group of Iranian low-intermediate EFL learners from academic center for education, culture, and research (ACECR) institute of English language participated in this study. They were homogenized by the placement test of the institute, but to ensure the true level of learners they were given an Oxford placement test (OPT). Then, they were randomly divided into two experimental groups of study; in which one of the groups administered the focused direct WCF and the other group received unfocused direct WCF. Both groups were taught a storybook entitled a little princess and they were asked to write a summary of the story in a way that one experimental group received focused direct WCF and the other experimental group was provided with unfocused direct WCF by peers. Before and after the treatment sessions, a pretest and posttest were administered, each. of which was comprised of two tests; one test of writing and one test of speaking. The comparison between the pretest and posttest indicated several implications. The findings of this study revealed that there is not a significant difference in EFL learners’ speaking accuracy in both groups of focused and unfocused direct WCF, though unfocused writing correction outperformed learners’ speaking. Learners in UDWCF group are able to percept their errors in writing and try to use correct form of them in their speaking. Therefore, far transfer of accuracy from writing to speaking leads to a positive transfer. In contrary with unfocused correction, FDWCF leads to a negative transfer because WCF does not affect the speaking accuracy.

کلیدواژه:

Transfer of Learning, Accuracy, Focused Written Corrective Feedback, Unfocused Written Corrective Feedback, Direct Written Corrective Feedback, Peer Corrective Feedback

نام و نام خانوادگی:صفورا نجاریان
عنوان پایان نامه: The Impact of Pre-Task Planning on Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency of Speaking Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners
رشته تحصیلی:آموزش زبان انگلیسی
مقطع تحصیلی: کارشناسی ارشد ناپیوسته
استاد راهنما : دکتر امید طباطبائی
چکیده:

Despite the growing popularity of paired speaking tasks in task-based instruction, the effects of pre-task planning on performance in them are not yet well understood. The present study was aimed at examining the effect of planning on oral performance of English language learners in pairs in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency, while they were engaged in performing a decision making task. Sixty Iranian intermediate EFL learners of Jahad Daneshgahi Language Institute, Isfahan, Iran, took part in the study. The participants, including both male and female students, were randomly divided into thirty pairs. They were given a dialogic decision-making speaking task on four topics. For two of the topics, they were provided with planning time, and for the other two no planning time was given. Their task-induced performance was recorded, transcribed, and rated for data analysis using paired-samples t-test and repeated-measure ANOVA. The results showed that planning was effective in enhancing the participants’ complexity and fluency but not accuracy. It was also found that planning differentially affected the three measures in the speaking performance of the participants, with complexity being most affected and accuracy the least. The findings have significant implications for pedagogical practice and task-based research giving more evidence in support of the validity of task-based language teaching in promoting real language use..

کلیدواژه: paired speaking task, planning, oral performance, complexity, accuracy, fluency

نام و نام خانوادگی:مهری میرخانی
عنوان پایان نامه: Interrelationships between WTC, IdealL2 Self, Self-Concept, Teacher Credibility, and L2 Speaking Among Iranian EFL learners
رشته تحصیلی:آموزش زبان انگلیسی
مقطع تحصیلی: کارشناسی ارشد ناپیوسته
استاد راهنما : دکتر محمد امیریوسفی
چکیده:

The fascinating nature of willingness to communicate (WTC) in second/foreign language (L2) acquisition inspires various researchers to explore the contributing factors affecting the enhancement of WTC. In line with this tendency, this study investigated the interrelationships between WTC, ideal L2 self, self-concept, and teacher credibility among Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners, and tested how well two individual variables (ideal L2 self, academic self-concept) and one situational variable (teacher credibility) can predict WTC and L2 speaking. It also examined whether there are meaningful differences between EFL learners who have a higher level and those who have a lower level of L2 speaking in terms of WTC, self-concept, ideal L2 self, and teacher credibility. To these ends, a number of 130 high and advanced Iranian EFL learners participated in the study. A quantitative method using questionnaires was used to collect the data. The participants L2 speaking was measured by means of self-reported L2 speaking performance while WTC, academic self-concept, ideal L2 self and teacher credibility were measured through specifically developed questionnaires. The statistical analysis of the data revealed that except the correlation between ideal L2 self and teacher credibility, other understudied variables correlated positively with each other. Further, multiple regression analysis revealed that ideal L2 self and academic self-concept significantly predicted the participants WTC and L2 speaking while teacher credibility indirectly and through the mediation of self-concept affected WTC and L2 speaking. Finally, the participants in the high l2 speaking group reported a higher level of WTC, self-concept, and ideal L2 self. However, there was no significant difference between the high and low L2 speaking groups in terms of teacher credibility. The implications of the study were discussed.

کلیدواژه: Willingness to Communicate, Self-concept, Ideal L2 Self, Teacher Credibility, L2 Speaking.

نام و نام خانوادگی:زهرا لطیفی راد
عنوان پایان نامه: Effects of Pictorial Instruction vs. Textual Instruction of Phrasal Verbs in Iranian EAP Reading Classes
رشته تحصیلی:آموزش زبان انگلیسی
مقطع تحصیلی: کارشناسی ارشد ناپیوسته
استاد راهنما : دکتر احسان رضوانی
چکیده:

This study was an attempt to explore the effect of pictorial instruction and to compare it with textual glossing technique for teaching phrasal verbs in Iranian EAP reading context. First, 28 homogeneous students who had the same language proficiency, vocabulary and phrasal verbs knowledge were divided into two experimental groups. One group was assigned as pictorial group who received the picture instruction of phrasal verbs included in EAP reading text, while the other group was glossing group and the participants received the instruction of phrasal verbs of EAP reading text by glossing technique. The results indicated that the pictorial group had improvement and they got better results of treatment while there was not such a change in the glossing group. Furthermore, the comparison of these two groups showed that there was a significant difference between them and the pictorial group outperformed glossing group. The findings of the present study can help EFL language teachers and materials developers in teaching phrasal verbs.

کلیدواژه: Vocabulary, EAP Reading, Phrasal Verbs, Pictorial Instruction, Textual Glossing Technique