Abstract-This study basically aimed at identifying the problems of teaching and learning English in the high schools of Isfahan, Iran. The data needed for the study were extracted from the standardized questionnaires given to 200 randomly selected students from the high schools of Isfahan and their English teachers constituting the two groups of participants in this study. The instruments used to gather the data were two closed questionnaires, one for the students and the other one for the teachers. The questions included in the questionnaires covered some major problems on the part of the students, teachers, textbooks, teaching methods, and the tests. To analyze the data and specify the problems, the chi-square test was applied. The test was performed to see if the differences among the proportions of the participants who chose different responses to the same questions were significant. Through the statistical analysis of the results, numerous problems regarding the teachers, the learners, the textbooks and the methods were revealed, such as: teachers do not use teaching aids during teaching, school libraries are not well equipped to be of service for the learners of English, classrooms are poor in terms of facilities and physical conditions, the teachers do not teach in English, the English textbooks are not suitable for the students' level of proficiency, and the Ministry of Education does not honor the hard-working teachers, and many more. To remove the problems to the extent possible, some suggestions were provided.Index Terms-City of Isfahan, high schools, Iran, problems of teaching and learning English
One of the most significant current discussions in L2 classroom research has been related to the necessity of vocabulary in language learning.Undoubtedly, EFL learners with high levels of lexical knowledge perform better in writing and oral tasks. Accordingly, the present study sought to investigate the efficacy of Task-induced Involvement in Incidental Lexical Development of Iranian Senior EFL Students. For this purpose, based on the scores obtained from an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) administered to the population of senior EFL students at Khorasgan University, six samples, twenty five each, were selected and assigned to work with a list of English words by utilizing six different tasks. Each task was gauged by applying a different involvement load. Subsequently, a receptive and a productive vocabulary tests were administered as post-tests to specify the degree of learners acquisition of target words, through the role of incidental Task-induced involvement load. The results revealed that the group doing the task with the highest degree of involvement load obtained the best results on the vocabulary tests. Afterwards, the retention of unfamiliar words was claimed to be conditional upon the amount of involvement while processing these words.
All communication takes place in the matrix of culture; therefore difference in culture is the primary obstacle to intercultural communication. When we look at the major aspect of intercultural communication competence, we notice that intercultural sensitivity has gained increasing attention in different disciplines. Accordingly, the present study sought to evaluate the intercultural sensitivity of Iranian EFL learners. For this purpose, 60 participants from different professions and age groups completed an instrument comprising 5 factors with 24 items developed in the United States, by Chen and Starosta for measuring intercultural sensitivity. Subsequently, in this study Chen and Starosta's instrument was tested in an Iranian sample by using confirmatory factor analysis. Overall, the results showed that the instrument holds satisfactorily. Although the results also suggested that the operationalization of the concepts in the instrument can be further improved, the instrument as a whole is a valid one through which a culture-free scale for measuring intercultural sensitivity can be developed.
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