Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101Exploring Autonomography: The Development of a Self-directed Writing Self-rating Scale12212063010.30466/ijltr.2019.120630ENJako OlivierFaculty of Education Sciences,
North-West University,
South Africa0000-0002-5860-6027Journal Article20180501Writing involves a number of skills and being self-directed in the process would contribute to greater effectivity. The concept of autonomography, or being self-directed in terms of writing, draws from the literature on self-directed learning and specifically self-directed writing, where concepts such as self-regulation and learner autonomy are relevant in the language learning process. This study entailed the development of a self-directed writing questionnaire through a thorough overview of the pertinent literature and a consultative process with language experts in order to explore the nature of autonomography among a selected Afrikaans-speaking university student population. The statistical factor analyses confirm that autonomography involves a writer's self-directedness, voice and self-involvement, self-assessment and problem-solving, preference for own and expressive language, sensitivity towards other languages and language varieties, metacognitive skills, approach to self-directed writing on computer as well as editing and problem-solving on computer. These factors provide measures but also key areas of development in writing instruction. In addition, the level of autonomography was also explored in terms of preference for creative writing as opposed to a more functional writing.Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101The Perceptions of Iranian Policymakers as Articulated in Iran’s Foreign Language Policy Document: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach234212063110.30466/ijltr.2019.120631ENNasser RashidiShiraz UniversitySeyyed Ali HosseiniShiraz UniversityJournal Article20171211The present study was an attempt to investigate the perceptions of the Iranian foreign language policy makers as articulated in Iran’s foreign language policy document using a systemic functional linguistics approach. To this end, the type of processes and participants who have been used in Iran’s foreign language policy document were identified and interpreted in light of the assumptions of systemic functional linguistics and the related literature. The findings point out that the foreign language education policy document is heavily influenced by and draws on well-entrenched ideological, historical, religious, and political discourses. Further interpretations show that the FLEP document is heavily influenced by what is referred to as the Islamic ideology and discourse. In addition, applying a systemic functional linguistics approach to the document also offers a host of other interesting information about the Iranian foreign language teaching policymakers underlying perceptions about foreign language teaching and issues of globalization and imperialism. The concept of agency and how it is deemed by the Iranian foreign language practitioners was another identified topic. An investigation of the National Document of Education that includes the FLEP document as one of its subsections further showed that teachers have been appropriately described as autonomous individuals who possess the required agency to conduct and direct the classroom learning and teaching processes. Investigations also provide information on the perceptions of the Iranian foreign language education policymakers about the age that students must begin the learning of a foreign language at school.Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101Learner Identity and Learners’ Investment in EFL Learning: A Multiple Case Study436012063210.30466/ijltr.2019.120632ENMark FengTengDepartment of Education Studies, Hong Kong Baptist UniversityJournal Article20180122Existing research on learner identity stresses a need to explore how the way one perceives oneself as an EFL learner has impacts on his or her investment in the endeavor to learn English. Likewise, examining the factors that influence identity and investment in EFL learning is also essential. In the present study, data were triangulated to explore the way three Chinese college English major students negotiated and navigated identity in the process of English learning. The findings indicated that the learners displayed identity flux within and across various communities. Learner identity shaped their investment in English learning, and vice versa. Learner identity, which can be negotiated and constructed over time, is complex and dynamic, involving at least four factors, which include learners’ cognitive awareness/ideology; perceptions of affordances in English learning community; learners’ sense of agency; and mismatches between the practiced community and the imagined community. Pedagogical implications and areas for ongoing research are discussed.Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101Interest-based Language Teaching: Enhancing Students’ Interest and Achievement in L2 Reading617512063310.30466/ijltr.2019.120633ENMajid AsgariDepartment of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of IsfahanSaeed KetabiDepartment of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of IsfahanZahra AmirianDepartment of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of IsfahanJournal Article20180110This study reports the findings of the research conducted on the effects of Interest-Based Language Teaching (IBLT) on Persian students’ interest in L2 learning, and their achievement in reading comprehension. With the aim of improving L2 learning in the university level, the study investigated whether selecting instructional materials based on learners’ interest areas could impact their interest in language learning. Furthermore, it examined whether selecting instructional materials based on interest would have any influence on learners’ performance in L2 reading. It also examined any significant differences between the learners with high and low L2 reading levels in terms of interest. The participants were sixty first-year nursing students in a nursing college. Both questionnaires and tests were employed to collect the data. The collected data were closely examined and analyzed using independent-samples t-test. The results revealed that (1) personalizing the materials could make a significant contribution to the development and enhancement of students' interest level in L2 learning; (2) selecting the instructional materials based on learners’ interest areas could improve their performance in L2 reading comprehension; and (3) in using IBLT, there was no significant difference between learners with different levels of reading proficiency in learning the course materials.Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101On the Relationship between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Burnout and Motivation: A Mixed Methods Study779912063410.30466/ijltr.2019.120634ENAli RoohaniEnglish Department, Shahrekord UniversityKhadijeh DayeriEnglish Department, Shahrekord UniversityJournal Article20180125Burnout is a persistent, negative, work-related state which involves mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion. Teacher burnout has been a major concern in mainstream education in recent years. However, it has been less examined among EFL teachers. Therefore, this study adopted a mixed methods sequential design to fill the gap by (a) identifying some Iranian EFL teachers’ burnout and motivation profiles, (b) examining the (possible) relationship between their burnout and motivation to teach, and (c) investigating motivational factors which would predict teacher burnout. To these ends, 115 EFL teachers from language schools in southwest Iran took part in this study. To collect the data, Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey, developed by Maslach and Jackson (1986), Motivation to Teach Questionnaire, developed by Soenens, Sierens, Vansteenkiste, Dochy, and Goossens (2012), and a follow-up semi-structured interview with 15 participants were employed. Descriptive statistics showed that the EFL teachers had low levels of burnout and were autonomously motivated in their teaching. Correlation analysis also revealed negative relationship between autonomous forms of motivation (i.e., intrinsic and identified (and burnout. Moreover, multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the autonomous forms of motivation and external regulation could be better predictors of EFL teachers’ burnout. The qualitative data from the interviews provided further insight into the quantitative results and explained some person- and work-related factors in relation to teacher burnout. Some implications are finally provided for decision-makers in the area of EFL pedagogy to improve EFL teachers’ autonomous motivation to reduce their burnout experience.Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101Rhetorical Structure Variations in Abstracts and Introductions of Applied Linguistics Master’s Theses by Iraqi and International Students10111712063510.30466/ijltr.2019.120635ENSaman EbadiRazi University, IranAhmed Rawdhan SalmanRazi University, IranThi Thuy Loan NguyenDepartment of English, Faculty of Education and Educational Innovation, Kalasin University0000-0003-0247-013XHiwa WeisiRazi University, Iran0000-0002-1678-2508Journal Article20180316Writing a Master of Arts (MA) thesis is a challenging task for postgraduate students. This complexity is of great significance when one is writing in his/her second language. From this perspective, genre-centered approaches help non-natives enhance their understanding of academic and scientific texts. This study is intended to comparatively investigate the rhetorical differences/similarities existing in the abstracts and introduction sections of MA theses produced by Iraqi and international students in the field of Applied Linguistics (AL). To achieve this goal, two groups of MA theses (30 theses each) were randomly selected. Hyland’s (2000) proposed model and Chen and Kuo’s (2012) framework were utilized in order to categorize the rhetorical structures in abstract and introduction sections, respectively. The findings showed that Iraqi university students included the steps of (a) <em>Research hypotheses</em> and (b) <em>Outlining thesis structures</em> in their abstracts while these rhetorical features were absent in their international counterparts. Iraqi students also discussed results in the abstracts more frequently than international MA students. Furthermore, although both Iraqi and international MA students utilized the moves with similar frequencies in their introduction chapters, international students utilized various steps for the realization of Move 1 and Move 3. The findings call for a genre-based approach in teaching academic writing to raise the students’ awareness of these schematic organizations in MA thesis writing classes in EFL contexts. Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101Stances in Student -Teachers’ Spoken Reflection: An Exploratory Linguistic Study to Enhance a Reflection Inventory11913912063610.30466/ijltr.2019.120636ENLeonardo O.MunalimPhilippine Women’s University, PhilippinesGina O.GonongPhilippine National Research Center for Teacher Quality Philippine Normal University, PhilippinesJournal Article20180721Reflective Teaching as a relatively new approach toward teaching and education can be traced back to Dewey’s (1933) assertion of reflective action. To date, methodologies remain almost recursive. Arguably, the modality of written genres may tempt the teachers to produce cursory reflective writings. This exploratory paper presents the sorts of linguistic stance resources such as boosters, hedges and attitude markers culled from one-hour case of spoken, peer reflection with three English practice teachers. Themes were analysed from these linguistic stance resources. Overall, the student-teachers’ reflection is enthused with a seesaw between force and conviction; mitigation, apprehensions, and misgivings of teaching-learning practices. Arguably, this pendulum results in the unstable positive and negative affective attitude about the teaching-learning process. Based on the themes, indicators for reflective practices were added to the reflective inventory designed by Akbari, Behzadpoor, and Dadvand (2010). Limitations, linguistic research trajectories and implications for mentoring are offered accordingly.Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101BOOK REVIEW: Written Corrective Feedback for L2 Development14014212063710.30466/ijltr.2019.120637ENHongbo YiHumanities Department, Anhui Technical College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, ChinaJournal Article20181230Written corrective feedback (CF) is a traditionally ubiquitous pedagogical practice in L2 teaching, but its contribution to L2 development has been relatively ignored. Since Truscott (1996) claimed that written CF is ineffective in L2 development and should be abandoned, a lot of researchers and practitioners have extensively investigated its role within the framework of second language acquisition and L2 writing (Ene & Kosobucki, 2016). However, no conclusive results have been obtained. <em>Written corrective feedback for L2 development</em> comprehensively reviews available studies on written CF from cognitive and sociocultural perspectives and outlines the directions of future research.Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101BOOK REVIEW: English for Research: Usage, Style, and Grammar14314612063810.30466/ijltr.2019.120638ENShahrooz JavidiUrmia University, IranJournal Article20181230English for Research, a book on various aspects of English language, is organized into 28 chapters. On the whole, the book can be divided into two sections. The first section (chapters 1-15) is an endeavor to tackle grammatical issues as related to research papers. In this part only those issues closely related to writing are the major concerns of the author. Consequently, one should not expect to find answers to his problems for instance with ‘wish sentences’, ‘if sentences’, ‘reported speech’, and so forth. In the second section of the book (chapters 16-28), the writer highlights sensitive aspects of writing and beautifully illustrates them via examples. He only emphasizes those aspects that are typically problematic and are generally found in research papers, for instance definite and indefinite articles. He also brings into light the delicate differences between present simple and past simple in presenting the results of any given research project. It is worth mentioning that the illustrative examples used have been taken from actual common mistakes made in real papers. Each chapter enjoys subdivisions and this makes it very convenient for the reader to have a vivid picture of the issues connected to the main grammatical item. In subdivisions, one can find numbered guidelines or rules that are sequentially presented, in logical order, from more to less important. Examples are also offered in sentences under Yes and No columns. The examples in ‘Yes’ column are taken from native speakers; but those in ‘No’ column are cases violating the respective rules. In addition to an index of grammatical terms, there are two appendices: a glossary and a list of problematic prepositions.Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101INTERVIEW: An Interview with Professor Henry Widdowson and Professor Barbara Seidlhofer14715112063910.30466/ijltr.2019.120639ENFarzad SalahshourShahid Madani University of Azerbaijan, IranJournal Article20181230Urmia UniversityIranian Journal of Language Teaching Research2322-12917120190101Abstracts in Persian152156120640ENJournal Article20181230