Abstract-This study sought to investigate the relationship between Language Learning Strategies (LLS) andForeign Language Anxiety among Iranian university students. The instruments used in the study consist of: (a) the SILL (a questionnaire on language learning strategies developed by Oxford, 1990), and (b) the FLCAS (a questionnaire to measure the amount of anxiety English language learners experience while taking part in English classes, developed by Horwitz, 1986). The participants of the study were 85 students studying English at Islamic Azad University in Khorramabad, Iran. The results of this study revealed that generally language learning strategies correlate meaningfully and significantly with language anxiety. This correlation was negative (r = -0.33) which means that the higher use of LLS is related to less amount of English Language Classroom Anxiety (ELCA). On the other hand, cognitive, compensation, and social strategies correlated meaningfully with language anxiety, while metacognitive, memory, and affective strategies did not correlate significantly with ELCA. After calculating the homogeneity of variances, a t-test was run to find whether there is a meaningful difference between high and low LLS users in terms of their ELCA. The results of the t-test analysis showed that a significant and meaningful difference exists between the two groups. High LLS users had a relatively lower ELCA than low LLS users.
<p>Regarding the fundamental role of speaking in language skills, this study intended to investigate the effects of speaking portfolio as an alternative form of assessment for assessing Iranian EFL learners’ speaking ability at the intermediate and advanced proficiency levels and also its impact on their attitudes. Accordingly, from the population of 72 students studying at Kowsar Language Institute in Esfahan, a sample of 64 male and female intermediate and advanced students were randomly selected based on their scores on an OPT test and they were assigned to 4 groups: intermediate and advanced experimental groups and intermediate and advanced control groups. In order to collect the data, a pretest and a posttest as well as a questionnaire were employed. To analyze the data, an ANOVA and a series of Chi-square were run in the study and the findings indicated that the experimental groups using speaking portfolios performed better than the control groups in terms of speaking ability. Moreover, the result shed light on the advantages of speaking portfolios such as self-assessment, peer-feedback, and improvement of speaking skill. This study provides instructors, administrators, and test developers with alternative ways to improve and assess speaking skill through speaking portfolios.</p>
Students' disengagement in class activities is usually interpreted from the instructors' viewpoints, disregarding students' perceived causes of the phenomenon. This study investigated instructors and students' perceptions on writing reluctance, aiming at exploring possible convergence and divergence between the participants' ideas. Twelve instructors and thirty seven students completed a questionnaire developed by the researchers. It includes linguistic factors (e.g. task difficulty, linguistic competence and content knowledge), psychological factors (e.g. readership, self-confidence, anxiety, and motivation), methodological factors (e.g. strategy training, feedback, and L1 writing experience) and interpersonal factors (e.g. warmth, enthusiasm, and vigor). The mean scores of the participants were then calculated and compared. Results indicated that the participants' perceptions on reluctance to writing diverge to a large extent. 'Task difficulty' was reported by the instructors as the most influential factor in academic writing reluctance. From the learners' point of view, however, 'lack of readership' was considered as the most important factor in this regard.
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