Throughout this study technology and especially mobile phones was utilized in EFL classrooms in order to see whether it can influence the process of vocabulary formative assessment and consequently improve vocabulary learning of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners or not. Two groups of pre-intermediate EFL learners participated in this study. Regarding the first group (FMA) the vocabulary learning of learners was assessed formatively during ten sessions using Socrative mobile application. The vocabulary learning of the second group (FPA) was also assessed formatively but paper and pen were the instruments used by instructor and students to take the tests. After applying quasi-experimental research design including pretest, treatment and posttest and after running independent sample t tests to posttest scores, the results showed that those pre-intermediate EFL learners attending in the group where vocabulary gain was assessed formatively using mobile application named Socrative performed significantly better in posttest than group assessed formatively based on paper and pen (Sig=0.03<0.05). The analysis of attitude questionnaire distributed among participants of the group assessed formatively using mobile phone exhibited that they possessed a positive attitude towards mobile based testing.Keywords: Formative assessment, mobile based assessment, paper based assessment, attitude, vocabulary, pre-intermediate EFL learnersNowadays, because of their flexibility, size and capacities, mobile phones are beginning to replace computers. Consequently, many researchers believe that mobile phones are not only able to support formal and informal

The present study aimed to explore the metalinguistic awareness of Persian- and Persian-Baluchi-speaking students who were in the process of learning English as their second and third languages, respectively. In order to study learners’ metalinguistic awareness in error identification, correction and explanation they were asked to complete a syntactic awareness test. Findings demonstrated that Baluch respondents noted and corrected a greater proportion of grammatical errors than Persian respondents in English. Moreover, Baluch participants had a more grammar-oriented approach in correcting the errors they noted than the Persian participants, whose approaches were relatively content-oriented for some errors. As for error explanation, Baluch participants produced a greater proportion of error explanations and had a more grammar-oriented approach than did the Persian participants, however, their differences in this case were not statistically significant. These differences were observed on the dimensions that were both similar and dissimilar across the three languages (Persian, Baluchi, and English).

No abstract

Classroom-based, teacher-directed language learning has been dominant in language teaching and learning for decades; however, the notion of autonomy is not novel to language teachers. Since the publication of Holec’s book, Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning (1981), autonomy in language learning has been a significant issue for discussion in relation to language learning practices and language teaching principles. Many ESL researchers have turned their attention to learner autonomy in classroom settings; however, learner autonomy in the Iranian context within self-access settings, classroom settings, and school curriculum has not been adequately addressed in the literature. To fill the research gap mentioned above, the present study aims to determine: 1. if Betts’s Autonomous Learner Model (Betts & Kercher, 1999) has any significant effect in terms of students’ self-directed learning readiness, and 2. if Betts’s Autonomous Learner Model has any significant effect on students’ English language proficiency. Adopting a quasi-experimental design, the study involved a comparison between the experimental and the control group. Two instruments were used: Gugliemino’s (1977) Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS); and standardized TOEFL test. 30 students (group A) were taught English based on a pedagogical model, which blended Betts’s ALM with classroom instruction and 30 students (group B) were taught through a traditional teacher-directed method. Finally, after six months of treatment, TOEFL test and SDLRS test were administered as the post-test and the results were analyzed by means of SPSS software. The results showed that ALM can work with Iranian students as evidenced by generally average performance on SDLRS and TOEFL post-tests.

No abstract