MeTEFL

Modares
Educational Journal
in TEFL
L i c e n s e N O . 1 9 1 / 1 0 2 7 9 6
Winter 2013
Vol. 1 NO. 1
Tarbiat Modares University
Student-run Journal on Issues of
English Language Teaching and Learning
TARBIAT MODARES UNIVERSITY

Modares Educational Journal in TEFL
P a g e | 1
Modares Educational Journal in TEFL (MeTEFL)
Student-run Journal on Issues of English Language Teaching and Learning
Director:
Fatemeh Tabassi Mofrad
Editor-in-Chief:
Fatemeh Tabassi Mofrad
Assistant to the Editor:
Mohammad Tahernia
Editorial Board:
Behzadpour, Foad / Tarbiat Modares University
Momenian, Mohammad / Tarbiat Modares University
Rajabi, Omid Reza / Tarbiat Moallem University
Tabassi Mofrad, Fatemeh / Tarbiat Modares University
Tahernia, Mohammad / Tarbiat Modares University
Advisory Board:
Alibakhshi, Goodarz /
Hamavandi, Mehraban / Tarbiat Modares University
Jalali, Sara / Orumieh University
Karimi, Nabi /
Momenian, Mohammad / Tarbiat Modares University
MeTEFL, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Email: modarestefl@yahoo.com

2 | P a g e
A Note from Editor-in-Chief
In His Name
“Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more”
William Cowper
MeTEFL, a student-run, peer-reviewed journal, was established with the aim of providing
MA and PhD students of TEFL with an opportunity to share their research findings with
others in the broader community; so it seeks to offer an academic forum regarding issues in
English language teaching and learning.
This journal invites manuscripts on TEFL related topics from all scholars and students to be
submitted via modarestefl@yahoo.com for any consideration and revision by our reviewers.
Also, the Editorial Board will reserve the right to accept or reject manuscripts and to make all
editorial changes if deemed necessary.
Readers are besides welcomed to have their comments and suggestions to pave the way for
the improvements of this journal.
With the support and cooperation of all professors and experts in the field, we hope to
enhance MeTEFL's status to scientific-research in the near future.
In here, I would like to have the opportunity to express my gratitude to the respected faculty
members of the English Department of Tarbiat Modares University.
The establishment of this journal owes much to Dr. Ghafar Samar for his interest,
inspiration and dedication.
Special thanks go to Dr. Akbari, the head of English Department and also Dr. Kiany whose
encouragements and supports have accompanied this undertaking from the beginning.
In addition, I would like to thank the Editorial and Advisory Board for their considerable
amount of time and effort put into this academic endeavor.
Editor-in-Chief

P a g e | 3
Table of Contents
Articles
Metadiscourse Resources: Native vs. Non-Native Comparisons in Applied Linguistics
Journal Articles
(Reza Ghafar Samar, Fouad Behzadpour) ..............................................................................5
On the Learnability of three categories of Idioms by Iranian EFL learners
(Abbas Ali Zarei) ........................................................................................................ 27
An analysis of the English class discourse in the Iranian high schools
(Behzad Barekat, Saeedeh Mohammadi)............................................................................ 44
An Investigation of the Construction of English Learners’ Identities in Iranian EFL
Contexts: Schools and Institutes
(Marzieh Asadi) ......................................................................................................... 67
The Impact of Phrasal Verb Avoidance on the Writing Ability of the University EFL
Learners
(Behzad Barekat, Berjis Baniasady) .................................................................................. 96
Dissertations or Theses Abstracts
Developing an ELT Context-Specific Teacher Efficacy Instrument
(Kobra Tavassoli) ..................................................................................................... 126
An Ethnographic Study of English Teachers’ Institutional Identity in High Schools,
Language Institutes, and Universities
(Hadi Azimi) ........................................................................................................... 128
The power of critical literacy in mentoring: Iranian readers of English literature
(Maryam Hesabi) ..................................................................................................... 130
The Effect of Wikis' Collaborative Environment on the Improvement of Iranian EFL
Learners' Writing Skill
(Zahra Arabsarhangi) ................................................................................................ 131
The Effect of Training in Reading Self-assessment on EFL Learners’ Reading
Comprehension, Reading Motivation and Reading Strategies Awareness
(Mahnoosh Hamavandi)............................................................................................. 133
The Iranian English Language Learners’ Perceived Social Self-Efficacy and their Foreign
Language Classroom Anxiety
(Mohammad Amerian) .............................................................................................. 135

4 | P a g e
This page is intentionally left blank

P a g e | 5
Metadiscourse Resources: Native vs.
Non-Native Comparisons in Applied
Linguistics Journal Articles
Reza Ghafar Samar1
Fouad Behzadpour2
Tarbiat Modares University3
Abstract
Journal articles are veritable indicators of academic writing and constitute resourceful
communication tools. They play a key role in today’s contacts of the members of different discourse
communities all around the globe, and the discourse of applied linguistics is no exception in this
respect. Meanwhile, metadiscourse has gained in popularity in the discourse of discourse analysis
studies in general, and in academic writing discourse in particular. Metadiscourse is self-reflective
linguistic expressions referring to the evolving text, to the writer, and to the imagined readers of
that text, and is based on a view of writing as a social engagement and, in academic contexts, it
reveals the ways writers project themselves into their discourse to signal their attitudes and
commitments (Hyland, 2004). The present study, using Hyland’s (2005) model of metadiscourse,
made an attempt to investigate the metadiscourse present in the journal articles written in English
by English and Iranian writers in the field of Applied Linguistics to probe into the existing similarities
and differences among the authors in both groups. To this end, a corpus consisting of 40 articles
covering different topics were selected from different journals of the field. The articles were not the
same length, were from different journals, and from different issues and years of publication. The
metadiscourse present in the 40 articles were analyzed based on Hyland’s interpersonal taxonomy
of metadiscourse which is based on two major categories of ‘interactional’ and ‘interactive’
metadiscourse components. The results of the study indicate that, all in all, native speakers/writers
of English use more metadiscoursal forms and devices in their writings than do Iranian writers
writing in English. However, the difference between the two groups is not significant. Evidentials and
transitions are the most frequent metadiscoursal items employed by both groups. Furthermore, the
results obtained from the two corpora clearly show that the total number of interactive devices
outperforms that of interactional resources. Iranian writers, it is discussed and concluded, are well
aware of the conventions set and used by the international discourse community of Applied
Linguistics and are efficient users of the same metadiscoursal resources employed by native
speakers of English though with some degree of difference and varied preferences. Limitations of
studies of this kind along with implications and suggestions for further research are also discussed.
1
rgsamr@modares.ac.ir
2
fouad.behzadpour@gmail.com
3
Tehran, Iran.

6 | P a g e
Key Words: Metadiscourse; Applied Linguistics; Journal Articles; Native Writers, Non-Native
Writers
Introduction
Journal articles (JAs), as genuine signifiers of academic writing as well as
resourceful communication tools, are playing a pivotal role in today’s contacts
of the members of different discourse communities all around the globe
(Farrokhi & Ashrafi, 2009). Meanwhile, academic discourse explorations have
demonstrated that a great deal of variation can be witnessed when it comes to
interpersonal functions of language, i.e., academic discourse depicting various
fields of study, language codes, and text types/genres indicates discrepancies
in terms of the different ways via which authors establish interaction in
discourse (Burneikaite, 2008).
In today’s communications of different discourse communities in different
fields of study across the globe, the way members try to identify themselves
with a particular discourse community is undoubtedly influenced by elaborate
acquaintance and grasp of the courses going on in a given community on the
part of each and every member (Abdi, Rizi, & Tavakoli, 2010). Therefore,
discourse communities might establish, either explicitly or implicitly, certain
sets of communication strategies or conventions which, in their own right, lead
to a bundle of genres across these discourse communities (Swales, 1990).
What adds to this requirement is that it might be very difficult to get into such
discourse communities if one does not possess the required knowledge and
consciousness with regard to these conventions (Hyland & Hamp-Lyons, 2002).
The role of metadiscourse in this respect is, therefore, undeniable which
makes the issue a key one in discourse analysis discussions and writing
instruction, and other branches of applied linguistics. According to (Abdi, Rizi,
& Tavakoli, 2010):
Generally, it is assumed that the putatively different identities from diverse speech
communities would tend to (or have to) converge in communications within discourse
communities through the lingua franca. However, such convergence requires conscious
attempt on the part of the participants and is not easily achieved. Thus, there is a need
to provide explicit guidelines regarding the rhetorical features of various genres
extracted from authentic performance of competent writers, on the part of researchers,

P a g e | 7
and a need to consciously attend to them, on the part of newcomers to the discourse
community (p. 1670).
Metadiscourse has been extensively exploited in recent discourse analysis and
language education discussions (Hyland, 2004; Hyland, 2005), and deals with
“an interesting, and relatively new, approach to conceptualizing interactions
between text producers and their texts and between text producers and users”
(Hyland, 2005, p. 1). In the realm of academic writing, metadiscourse, in the
words of Toumi (2009) is of paramount significance and provides the writer
with useful tools to communicate with the reader in a very efficient way in
which the realization of different phenomena related to this communication
can be fostered greatly. He mentions that metadiscourse:
carries an essential social meaning by revealing the author’s personality and identity
and by indicating how s/he hopes his/her readers to respond to the ideational material
… It is also argued that the addition of metadiscoursal features can help writers
transform a dry text into a reader-friendly prose, and exhibit the ability of the author to
supply sufficient cues to secure an understanding and acceptance of the propositional
content … The use of metadiscourse has positive effects on readability, including:
improved comprehension of texts and recall, stimulating learning and interest among
students, and decision-making in a business setting (p. 64).
Another beneficial function of metadiscourse is increasing readers’ critical
thinking abilities where readers can analyze the text, make their own
assumptions and ideas, and then compare them with those of the authors
(Camiciottoli, 2003). To summarize, the both importance and benefit of the
notion of metadiscourse can be well realized in the following quote:
Metadiscourse thus offers a framework for understanding communication as social
engagement. It illuminates some aspects of how we project ourselves into our
discourses by signalling our attitude towards both the content and the audience of the
text. With the judicious addition of metadiscourse, a writer is able not only to
transform what might otherwise be a dry or difficult text into coherent, reader-friendly
prose, but also to relate it to a given context and convey his or her personality,
credibility, audience-sensitivity and relationship to the message (Hyland, 2005, p. 4).
Nowadays, the Iranian discourse community of Applied Linguistics is
contributing significantly to the whole profession particularly when it comes to
publishing JAs in both domestic and international journals of Applied
Linguistics. There has been also always the fear, on the part of Iranian writers
writing in English, that they might be, due to their being non-native,

8 | P a g e
misunderstood by the international readership of Applied Linguistics. Thus, the
present study, as its major goal, set out to investigate the possible similarities
and differences that exist among Iranian writers writing in English in the field
of Applied Linguistics and native writers of English academics in the same field
of study. The findings of the study can shed light on the fact whether Iranian
writers can communicate efficiently, meaningfully, and impressively with the
reader based on the conventions and regulations set, explicitly and implicitly,
by the international discourse community of Applied Linguistics, which are
mostly manifest in the metadiscoursal devices and items present in the JAs of
the field.
Theoretical Framework
Metadiscourse: Issues and Definitions
The philosophy behind the term metadiscourse is very well brought up by
Hyland (2005) as follows:
Essentially metadiscourse embodies the idea that communication is more than just the
exchange of information, goods or services, but also involves the personalities,
attitudes and assumptions of those who are communicating. Language is always a
consequence of interaction, of the differences between people which are expressed
verbally, and metadiscourse options are the ways we articulate and construct these
interactions. This, then, is a dynamic view of language as metadiscourse stresses the
fact that, as we speak or write, we negotiate with others, making decisions about the
kind of effects we are having on our listeners or readers (p. 3).
As mentioned previously, the concept has greatly found its way in the different
discussions of discourse analysis particularly in recent years. However, in the
literature dealing with discourse analysis the concept of metadiscourse has
received varied attention in terms of definition and conceptualization In other
words, metadiscourse, in spite of its increasing significance, appeal, and
rationale, has been defined and perceived of quite differently and has been
employed rather with variance to signify various facets of language functions
(Hyland, 2005). To begin with, Crismore (1983) describes metadiscourse as a
degree of discourse to the effect that “it is the author’s intrusion into the
ongoing discourse, and is used by the author to direct rather than inform the
reader” (cited in Toumi, 2009, p. 64). This broad variance also includes broad
definitions, such as ‘writing about writing’ (Williams, 1981) or ‘discourse about

P a g e | 9
discourse or communication about communication’ (Vande Kopple, 1985) on
the one hand, and more narrow ones, such as ‘writing about the evolving text
rather than referring to the subject matter’ (Swales 2004, 121) (cited in
Burneikaite, 2008, p. 38).
Another definition of metadiscourse has been provided by Adel (2006). He
defines metadiscourse as “text about the evolving text, or the writer’s explicit
commentary on her own ongoing discourse” (p. 20). She divides metadiscourse
to two major types of ‘metatext’ and ‘writer-reader interaction.’ In the former,
the reader is helped through the text, and the central points of guidance
include text wording, text structure, and discoursal actions. Instances of
metatext include ‘in the present study,’ ‘will be elaborated on in the following
section,’ ‘to summarize,’ ‘see Appendix I,’ ‘roughly speaking,’ ‘in brief’ etc. In
the latter, metadiscourse functions as a way in which the writer communicates
with the imagined reader via different ways that aim to establish and sustain
an interaction with the reader. This function also helps the author to have an
impact on the reader by directly speaking to him/her in different ways. Typical
examples of this function are ‘You will probably think that . . .;’ ‘Does this sound . . . to
you?;’ ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but . . .;’ ‘as you will see …;’ and ‘dear reader.’
Metadiscourse: The Scope
According to Hyland (2004 & 2005), the notion of metadiscourse is becoming
more and more significant in inquiries related to writing and composition
pedagogy, reading, structure and features of texts, participant interactions,
historical linguistics, cross-cultural variations, and rhetorical issues. He further
mentions that this increasing significance has been well reflected in works in
the following research areas: casual conversation, school textbooks, oral
narratives, science popularizations, undergraduate textbooks, postgraduate
dissertations, Darwin's Origin of Species, advertising slogans, company annual
reports, rhetorical differences in the texts written by different cultural groups,
medieval medical writing, scientific discourse from the late seventeenth,
effective comprehension, ESL and native-speaker student writing, and
persuasive and argumentative discourse.
Metadiscourse has been also around in spoken discourse. Spoken
metadiscourse, for instance, as “a set of rhetorically structured communicative
and interactional strategies used by speakers to signal, highlight, mitigate, or

10 | P a g e
cancel parts of their ongoing discourse and their varying relevance to different
addressees and/or audience members” has been used to analyze
parliamentary debates (Ilie, 2003, p. 71).
Metadiscourse, based on what has been previously mentioned above, has
been taken to be ‘discourse about discourse’ in general. Some scholars such as
Cheng and Steffenson (1996) have taken a different stance and have made a
distinction between discourse and metadiscourse to acknowledge the fact that
metadiscourse is not necessarily discourse about discourse, or talk about talk,
or text about text as frequently mentioned in discourse studies. These scholars
further argue that while writing two purposes are served. In the first place, a
writer enjoys an explicit aim of generating a written text which is realized on
the first level of ‘primary discourse’ which aims to broaden propositional
content about an issue. Second, there is an implicit purpose of communicating
with the reader. This goal is met through the second level entitled
‘metadiscourse’ which passes judgments on the written text itself and
addresses the reader with its remarks.
Within the past three decades the issue of metadiscourse has seen different
models/taxonomies (Vande Kopple,1985; Crismore and Farnsworth,1990;
Mauranen 1993, cited in Blagojevic, 2004, p. 62) all of which have worked
through a somehow similar theoretical framework (except for Adel’s (2006)
model which added further theoretical dimensions) with some slight
differences. In the present study, Hyland’s (2005) model of metadiscourse was
preferred over other ones at least for two good reasons:
1. It has broaden previously established models/taxonomies, and
2. It is uncomplicated, all-encompassing, more up to date, and
straightforward.
Hyland’s Model of Metadiscourse: An Interpersonal View
Hyland’s classification of metadiscourse is primarily based in the functional
approach which looks at metadiscourse as the conduit through which authors
allude to the reader, the author, or the text. The distinction made between
‘interactive’ and ‘interactional’ aids in the functional approach have been used
in this model to take into account the ‘organizational’ and ‘evaluative’

P a g e | 11
properties of discourse. The model also acknowledges ‘stance’ and
‘engagement’ properties, and adds to previously formulated models.
The Interactive Facet of the Model
According to Hyland (2005), this facet:
concerns the writer's awareness of a participating audience and the ways he or she
seeks to accommodate its probable knowledge, interests, rhetorical expectations and
processing abilities. The writer's purpose here is to shape and constrain a text to meet
the needs of particular readers, setting out arguments so that they will recover the
writer's preferred interpretations and goals. The use of resources in this category
therefore addresses ways of organizing discourse, rather than experience, and reveals
the extent to which the text is constructed with the readers' needs in mind (p. 49).
2. The Interactional Facet of the Model
On the other hand, interactional dimension of the interpersonal model of
metadiscourse deals with:
the ways writers conduct interaction by intruding and commenting on their message.
The writer's goal here is to make his or her views explicit and to involve readers by
allowing them to respond to the unfolding text. This is the writer's expression of a
textual 'voice', or community-recognized personality, and includes the ways he or she
conveys judgements and overtly aligns him- or herself with readers. Metadiscourse
here is essentially evaluative and engaging, expressing solidarity, anticipating
objections and responding to an imagined dialogue with others. It reveals the extent to
which the writer works to jointly construct the text with readers (p. 50).
These two facets are each further divided into five components called
‘metadiscourse resources’ which are briefly discussed here.
Interactive resources
Transition Markers. This subcategory primarily consists of adverbial phrases
and conjunctions that aid the reader in interpreting pragmatic features and
connections in discourse. The major function of this category is showing
addition (and, furthermore, moreover, by the way), comparison of both similar
(similarly, likewise, equally, in the same way, correspondingly) and different (in
contrast, however, but, on the contrary) arguments, and consequence
connections (thus, therefore, consequently, in conclusion, admittedly,
nevertheless, anyway, in any case, of course).
Frame Markers. Their main purpose is to make the text clear to the reader as
they function to sequence, label, predict, and shift arguments. The elements in

12 | P a g e
this category include additive connections (first, second, then, next, at the
same time), labeling different stages of discourse (in sum, by way of
introduction, to summarize), presenting goals of discourse (I argue here, my
purpose is, I hope to persuade), showing topic shifts (right, OK, well, let us
return to).
Endophoric Markers. They include items that direct the attention of the reader
to other sections of the text (see Figure 2, refer to the next section, as noted
above).
Evidentials. They include metadiscoursal tools and devices that represent
opinions, comments, judgments, etc. from other sources (Brown, 2001, p. 57).
As Hyland (2005) puts it, such items “Guide the reader's interpretation and
establish an authorial command of the subject” (p. 51).
Code Glosses. They provide the reader with additional information via
paraphrasing, elaborating, and exemplifying to guarantee that the audience
can recover and understand the meaning and interpretation intended by the
author. Examples include this is called, in other words, that is, this can be
defined as, for example.
Interactional Resources
Hedges. They include elements such as possible, might, and perhaps that
“indicate the writer's decision to recognize alternative voices and viewpoints
and so withhold complete commitment to a proposition” (Hyland, 2005, p. 52).
Boosters. In contrast to hedges, boosters include devices such as clearly,
obviously, and demonstrate to propose that the writer “recognizes potentially
diverse positions but has chosen to narrow this diversity rather than enlarge it,
confronting alternatives with a single, confident voice” (p. 53).
Attitude Markers. They signal the writer’s affective attitudes towards the facts
and propositions mentioned in the text. They include attitude verbs (agree,
prefer), sentence adverbs (unfortunately, hopefully) and adjectives
(appropriate, logical, remarkable).
Self-Mentions. They signal the author’s explicit present in discourse. Examples
include me, mine, exclusive we, our, ours.

P a g e | 13
Engagement Markers. They include devices that “explicitly address readers,
either to focus their attention or include them as discourse participants” (p.
53). Examples include you, your, inclusive we, interjections (by the way, you
may notice), imperatives such as see, note and consider, and obligation modals
such as should, must, have to.
The Study
Aim of the Study and Research Questions
As mentioned previously, metadiscourse and metadiscourse strategies play a
key role in academic writing particularly when it comes to productive, efficient,
and impressive communication between the writer and the reader. The first
and major purpose of the present study, thus, was to investigate the
similarities and differences that exist among the metadiscourse strategies used
by Iranian writers and those of English academics in the field of Applied
Linguistics.
Furthermore, based on the conception of ‘the writer’s responsibility for
effective communication’ adopted from Greenberg’s linguistic typology, it has
been shown that “English academic discourse relies on writer´s responsibility
for an effective communication, while for example, in Japanese, Korean and
Chinese discourses, it is the listener (reader) who is responsible for
understanding what the speaker (writer) intends to say” (Blagojevic, 2004, p.
61). The second purpose of the study, therefore, was to investigate the same
phenomenon among Iranian writers writng in English in Applied Linguistics
journals. What makes this area of reaearch more interesting and important is
the fact that Iranain scholars in the field of Applied Linguistics are contributing
to and publishing in, with an increasing rate, both Iranian and Non-Iranian
journals, hence the significance of the discourse they use in their academic
works. Therefore, the following research questions were formulated for the
present study:
1. Do Iranian academic writers in the field of Applied Linguistics, when
writing in English, employ the similar metadiscourse strategies to the
ones employed by native speakers of English writing JAs in the field of
Applied Linguistics?

14 | P a g e
2. 2. Does Iranian academic discourse community of Applied Linguistics
take the responsibility for effective communication when writing in
English?
Materials
The materials used in the present study consisted of 40 JAs written in English
by Iranian (native speakers of Persian) and English (native speakers of English)
authors in the field of Applied Linguistics, 20 of each. The articles were not the
same length. To overcome this problem, as will be mentioned later,
metadiscourse patterns have been also presented in percent to make the
frequencies uniform and comparable. The articles in the native English group
were randomly selected from different journals of the field published in
different years (1995-2010). JAs in the native Persian group were randomly
selected from different issues (years 2008-2010) of a prestigious journal
published in Iran, i.e., TELLSI (Journal of Teaching English Language and
Literature Society of Iran). The topics of the JAs in both groups covered a wide
range of issues in the field of Applied Linguistics including second language
acquisition, teacher education, sociolinguistics, language testing and
assessment, teaching and learning language skills, CALL, EIL (English as an
International Language), pragmatics, discourse analysis, ESP (English for
specific purposes)/EAP (English for academic purposes), psycholinguistics, etc.
For a complete list of the papers see the Appendix on page 17.
Method and Procedure
The corpora used for the purpose of the study were analyzed and probed into
through the identification and categorization of metadiscourse items following
Hyland’s interpersonal model of metadiscourse. A detailed description of the
model will be provided later. The study made use of a quantitative approach
for textual analysis using frequency counts and percentages. First of all the
total sentences of the articles in both corpora were counted. Quotations and
other types of text which were not directly mentioned by the author (s) were
not included in this analysis. Then the analysis was done by determining each
and every metadiscourse item and then labeling the item to its parallel
category (the corresponding metadiscourse resource). Since metadiscourse is
highly contextual by temperament (Hyland, 2004), the corpora were further
analyzed by another colleague to ensure that the metadiscoursal items had

P a g e | 15
been identified and labeled correctly. Subsequently, the labeled items were
tallied, and then the total number of items related to each category was
divided by the total number of sentences of its corresponding corpus such that
the final results could be also presented in percentage. This was done to
overcome the problem of the dissimilar length of the JAs of the corpora such
that based on the percentages the results could be compared with each other.
Therefore, 3 types of results could be obtained: the existing metadiscourse as a
whole in each corpus, the existing interactive and interactional metadiscourse
separately, and finally the metadiscourse present in each metadiscourse
resource. The following table shows Hyland’s interpersonal model of
metadiscourse which is primarily divided into two categories of interactive and
interactional metadiscourse.
Table 1: The Interpersonal Model of (Taken from Hyland, 2005, p. 49)
Category Function Example
Interactive
Help to guide the reader through the
text
Transitions
Express relations between main
clauses
In addition; but; thus; and
Frame markers
Refer to discourse acts, sequences or
stages
Finally; to conclude; my
purpose is
Endophoric
markers
Refer to information in other parts of
the text
Noted above; see figure; in
section 2
Evidentials
Refer to information from other
texts
According to X; Z states
Code glosses Elaborate propositional meaning
Namely; e.g.; such as; in other
words
Interactional Involve the reader in the text
Hedges
Withhold commitment and open
dialogue
Might; perhaps; possible;
about
Boosters
Emphasize certainty and close
dialogue
In fact; definitely; it is clear
that
Attitude markers
Expresses writers’ attitude to
proposition
Unfortunately; I agree;
surprisingly
Self-mentions Explicit reference to author(s) I; we; my; me; our
Engagement
markers
Explicitly build relationship with
reader
Consider; note; you can see
that
Categorization System and Terminology
The following abbreviations and orthographic conventions were used in the
study for the ease of analysis and reference.
JANE: Journal articles written in English by native speakers of English

16 | P a g e
JANP: Journal articles written in English by native speakers of Persian
NS: Number of sentences
Inv Fr: Frequency of interactive resources
Inl Fr: Frequency of interactional resources
%: Percentage
TM: Total metadiscourse
Results, Analysis, and Discussion
For the purpose of clarity and briefness, in this section solely representative
cases of the categories of interpersonal model of metadiscourse along with
their possible variants found in the two corpora have been included. The
native Persian corpora yielded 3612 sentences while the native English corpora
comprised of 4157 sentences totally.
Interactive Resources/Items in the JANP Corpus
a) Transition Markers, Code Glosses, and Evidentials
For the sake of comparison, the reliability estimates of TSES and its factors, i.e.
“efficacy in instructional strategies,” “efficacy in classroom management,” and
“efficacy in student engagement” were reported .94, .91, .90, and .87 respectively
(Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001).
b) Frame Markers
Summarizing the above aspects of teaching in relation to TOEFL iBT, the changes
produced by TOEFL iBT were seen to be superficial rather than substantial.
c) Endophoric Markers
According to Table 1, the number of textual themes was much more than the number of
interpersonal themes in both groups.
Interactional Resources/Items in the JANP Corpus
a) Hedges
One possible reason for this relationship may be that as learners achieve greater
autonomy, they become capable of adopting and using more efficient strategies, which
in turn, improve their reading comprehension ability.
b) Boosters
As is evident, there are no considerable differences between the means of the control
groups on the pre and post tests.
c) Attitude Markers
A surprising number of learners (i.e., 76.74%) expressed the belief that their listening
ability directly depend on their knowledge of words.
d) Self-Mentions

P a g e | 17
Therefore, we chose to check different factor solutions and found the 3-factor solution
as the most interpretable one.
e) Engagements
Now if we suppose that the construct can be defined and there is a universally-agreed
theory to support such a definition, then how can we solve the problem of
terminologies used in this definition?
Interactive Resources/Items in the JANE Corpus
a) Transition Markers
Nonetheless, recognition works here as a dynamic in accomplishing a particular
significance for teacher professional identity.
b) Frame Markers
The purpose of this paper is to consider further how the ZPD may be applied to
interlanguage pragmatics.
c) Endophoric Markers
A closer examination of the relationships between the subscales adds more intriguing
information (see Table 2).
d) Evidentials
Assistance in the ZPD may be called scaffolding (Wood et al., 1976), and the
accomplishments made with assistance may be termed assisted performance (Tharp
and Gallimore, 1991).
e) Code Glosses
In other words, these authors seem to differentiate identity and face in terms of
individualityversus relationship; in other words, they treat identity as situated within
an individual and they treat face as a relational phenomenon.
Interactional Resources/Items in the JANE Corpus
a) Hedges
We know that recasts do not often lead to learner uptake in oral production (Lyster,
1998), but, inChandler’s case, the rewriting activity made the recast salient because it
pushed students to‘‘repeat’’ it, which might explain why they were able to transfer this
knowledge to the next draft.
b) Boosters
Taken together, this body of research has demonstrated the need to account for
teachers’ professional identity experiences. Teachers’ talk about and experience of
professional identity is central to the beliefs, values, and practices that guide their
engagement, commitment, and actions in and out of the classroom.
c) Attitude Markers
In this relatively short turn, Avery laid out the theme that would shape the teachers’
identity talk for the next significant portion of the conversation: that learning in school

18 | P a g e
demands the ability to persist in the face of challenge, working through problems
rather than avoiding them.
d) Self-Mentions
The research evolved from the personal experience of my return to the foreign
language classroom as an adult. My first language is English, and I wished to learn
Spanish. I attended Spanish as a foreign language classes at two universities in Texas,
and although I made excellent grades, it was a disappointing, discouraging experience.
e) Engagements
As you will see in the following analysis, however, the identity work accomplished
through the genre of personal storytelling both encompassed and went beyond this
immediate purpose.
Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that Iranian writers in
the field of Applied Linguistics employ a remarkably high rate of
metadiscoursal items on the whole (144.43%), which is almost 10% lower than
the metadiscoursal items used by native writers of English (154.91%) who
write academic papers in the same field (see Table 2).
Table 2: Metadiscourse items in JANE and JANP corpora as a whole
Corpus NS Inv Fr % Inl Fr % TM %
JANP 3612 3719 102.96 1498 41.47 5217 144.43
JANE 4157 4475 107.64 1965 47.26 6440 154.91
Tables 2, 3, and 4 clearly show that writers in both groups have employed
more interactive than interactional items, and that evidentials and transitions
have been the most frequent forms followed by frame markers and code
glosses. This indicates that such metadiscourse devices are a significant
element in academic authorship. The high employment of transitions, which
show internal connections (Hyland, 2005), is obviously a remarkable property
of academic prose. The same results for transitions and evidentials have been
also reported by Hyland (2004 & 2005) based on the results obtained from
postgraduate (both master and PhD) writing. However, hedges and
engagement markers were also among the most frequent devices in his
analysis. The percentages concerning both the use of interactive and
interactional metadiscourse are higher in the English native speakers’ JAs, for
5% and 6%, respectively (see Table 2). A closer look at the metadiscoursal
forms within both interactive and interactional resources clearly shows that
the percentage deviations for most of the metadiscoursal devices are not
higher than 2%, except for the category of evidentials, based on which one

P a g e | 19
comes to the conclusion that Iranian authors are less inclined than English
writers to be so much preoccupied with establishing their academic
credentials. This might indicate that Iranian writers’ reviewing the related
literature, and their wish for showing their awareness of it, might be less
compelling. Therefore, there is a dire need of raising awareness in the Iranian
discourse community of Applied Linguistics about this important feature of
academic writing since citation, in the words of Hyland (2005), is:
central to the social context of persuasion, as it helps provide justification for
arguments and demonstrates the novelty of the writer's position, but it also allows
students to display an allegiance to a particular community and establish a credible
writer identity, showing a familiarity with the literature and with an ethos that values a
disciplinary research tradition (p. 56).
Table 3: Interactive resources and items present in JANE and JANP corpora
Corpus JANP % JANE %
Type of Interactive Resource
Transition Markers 936 25.91 1101 26.48
Frame Markers 765 21.17 852 20.49
Endophoric Markers 292 8.08 426 10.24
Evidentials 963 26.66 1294 31.12
Code Glosses 763 21.12 802 19.29
Total 3719 102.96 4475 107.64
When it comes to code glosses the whole situation is somehow different. That
is to say, Iranian writers have shown to use these items (21.12%) more than
their counterparts, i.e., native speakers of English do (19.29). This indicates
that Iranian writers have a higher tendency to predict their audience’s
knowledge base and to ensure that the audience is able to recover his/her
intended meaning. This might be due to the fact that Iranian writers have the
fear of being misunderstood, because of their being non-native speakers of
English, by their readers. As a result, they try to resort to devices and tools that
metadiscourse provides them with. This is a finding which has not been
reported in other similar studies and seems to be culture-specific, i.e., it is not
related to a particular discipline such as Applied Linguistics, but to the writer’s
native language conventions, attitudes, and style of writing.
Table 4: Interactional resources and items present in JANE and JANP corpora
Type of Interactional Resource
Hedges 441 12.20 584 14.04
Boosters 359 9.93 472 11.35

20 | P a g e
Attitude Markers 421 11.65 532 12.79
Self-mentions 156 4.31 243 5.84
Engagement Markers 121 3.34 134 3.22
Total 1498 41.47 1965 47.26
On the whole, the results of the study show that, in spite of some differences
that are present both in the frequency of items and in the preferences of the
two groups, both Iranian and native speakers of English writing in English and
publishing in different journals of Applied Linguistics take the responsibility of
establishing effective communication with their readers via using similar tools
of metadiscourse.
Conclusion
Based on the analyzed corpora and the information and data yielded from
them, and also according to the discussions advanced in this paper, it is
obvious that Iranian discourse community of Applied Linguistics is well aware
and has the knowledge of metadiscourse resources/strategies to a high degree
when writing JAs in English. This shows the fact that, in spite of some
differences and preferences present in the employment of metadiscourse
items in the Iranain authorship compared to those of the international
discourse community, Iranian discourse community of Applied Linguistics
follows and observes the conventions set, either explicitly or implicitly, by the
international discourse community of Applied Linguistics to promote effective
communication between writers and readers, hence being easily and
efficiently understood by the international discourse community and
readership. The model proposed by Hyland, in addition, proved very useful and
comprehensive in our study. One point, however, should be taken into account
when dealing with studies of the same type accomplished here. It should be
mentioned that writing, after all, is a phenomenon which might totally vary
from individual to individual. That is to say, idiosyncratic styles pertaining to
different writers might have a great impact on the way they write. This will
have remarkable implications for the application of the results of a study like
the present paper and other similar research papers. Having this point in mind,
other research studies can be run to explore other aspects of the
metadiscourse issue. An area which has the potential to be investigated is
gender-specific differences/similarities with respect to the use of

P a g e | 21
metadiscourse items in the same discipline or across different fields of study.
Furthermore, qualitative and quantitative studies can be accomplished to
investigate authors’ awareness and knowledge of metadiscourse strategies via
interviews, questionnaires, and think aloud protocol analyses.
References
Abdi, R., Rizi, M. T., & Tavakoli, M. (2009). Marking 'manner' metadiscursively: Conceptualizing
metadiscourse within the framework of cooperative principle. Iranian Journal of Language
Studies, 3(2), 143-152.
Abdi, R., Rizi, M. T., & Tavakoli, M. (2010). The cooperative principle in discourse communities and
genres: A framework for the use of metadiscourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 1669-1679.
Adel, A. (2006). Metadiscourse in L1 and L2 English. Philadelphia: John Benjamins B.V.
Blagojevic, S. (2004). Metadiscourse in Academic Prose: a Contrastive Study of Academic Articles
Written in English by English and Norwegian Native Speakers. STUDIES ABOUT LANGUAGES,
5, 60-67.
Brooks-Lewis, K. A. (2009). Adult Learners’ Perceptions of the Incorporation of their L1 in Foreign
Language Teaching and Learning. Applied Linguistics, 30(2), 216-235.
Brown, G. (2008). Selective listening. System, 1-12.
Burneikaite, N. (2008). Metadiscourse in Linguistics Master's Theses in English L1 and L2.
KALBOTYRA, 59(3), 38-47.
Camiciottoli, B. C. (2003). Metadiscourse and ESP reading comprehension: An exploratory study.
Reading in a Foreign Language, 15, 28-44.
Chai, C. (2006). Writing plan quality: Relevance to writing scores. Assessing Writing, 11, 198-223.
Cheng, X., & Steffenson, M. S. (1996). Metadiscourse: A technique for improving student writing.
Research in the Teaching of English, 30(2), 149-181.
Cohen, J. L. (2010). Getting recognised: Teachers negotiating professional identities as learners
through talk. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 473-481.
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal
of English for Academic Purposes, 6, 3-17.
Farrokhi, F., & Ashrafi, S. (2009). Textual Metadiscourse Resources in Research Articles. Journal of
English Language Teaching and Learning(212), 39-75.
Flege, J. E., Birdsong, D., Bialystok, E., Mack, M., Sung, H., & Tsukada, K. (2006). Degree of foreign
accent in English sentences produced by Korean children and adults. Journal of Phonetics,
34, 153-175.

22 | P a g e
Freese, A. R. (1999). The role of re#ection on preservice teachers' development in the context of a
professional development school. TEACHING AND TEACHER EDUCATION, 15, 895-909.
Fulcher, G. (1995). Variable competence in second language acquisition: A problem for research
methedology? System, 23(1), 25-33.
Gue´nette, D. (2007). Is feedback pedagogically correct? Research design issues in studies of
feedback on writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16, 40-53.
Harwood, N. (2002). Taking a lexical approach to teaching: principles and problems. International
Journal of Applied Linguistics, 12(2), 139-155.
Horwitz, E. K. (2000). Teachers and Students, Students and Teachers: An Ever-Evolving Partnership.
The Modern Language Journal, 84, 523-535.
Hyland, K. (2004). Disciplinary interactions: metadiscourse in L2 postgraduate writing. Journal of
Second Language Writing, 13, 133-151.
Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse. New york: Continuum.
Hyland, K., & Hamp-Lyons, L. (2002). EAP: Issues and directions. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes, 1, 1-12.
Ilie, C. (2003). Discourse and metadiscourse in parliamentary debates. Journal of Language and
Politics, 2, 71-92.
Lodge, K. (2003). Phonological translation and phonetic repertoire. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics, 13(2), 263-276.
Marquardt, T. P., & Gillam, R. B. (1999). Assessment in communication disorders: some observations
on current issues. Language Testing, 16(3), 249-269.
McKay, S. (2003). Teaching English as an International Language: The Chilean Context. ELT Journal,
57(2), 139-148.
MULLOCK, B. (2006). The Pedagogical Knowledge Base of Four TESOL Teachers. The Modern
Language Journal, 90, 48-66.
Ohta, A. S. (2005). Interlanguage pragmatics in the zone of proximal development. System, 33, 503-
517.
Seidlhofer, B. (2009). Common ground and different realities: world Englishes and English as a lingua
franca. World Englishes, 28(2), 236-245.
Shohamy, E., & Inbar, O. (2006). Assessment of Advanced Language Proficiency: Why Performance-
based Tasks? CPDD 0605. The Pennsylvania State University, Center for Advanced Language
Proficiency Education and Research.
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2007). Theories of identity and the analysis of face. Journal of Pragmatics, 39,
639-656.

P a g e | 23
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre Analysis: English for Specific Purpose in Academic and Research Setting.
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Toumi, N. (2009). A Model for the Investigation of Reflexive Metadiscourse in Research Articles.
LANGUAGE STUDIES WORKING PAPERS, 1, 64-73.
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. W. (2001). Teacher efficacy: capturing an elusive construct.
TEACHING AND TEACHER EDUCATION, 17, 783-805.
Appendix
Jornal Articles Used in the study for Analysis
A) Journal articles written in English by native speakers of Persian
Abbasian, G. (2009). ELT Educational Context, Teacher Intuition and Learner Hidden Agenda. TELLSI,
3(9), 65-99.
Aghagolzadeh, F., & Khosronejad, A. (2008). Gender on the Scope of Writen Text in Persian and
English Short Stories. TELLSI, 2(8), 53-93.
Ahmadian, M., & Tavakoli, M. (2009). The effects of different types of planning on the oral
production of morphosyntactic features. TELLSI, 3(11-12), 101-135.
Akbari, R., & Abednia, A. (2010). Second language teacher's sense of self-efficacy: A construct
validation. TELLSI, 4(1), 69-103.
Alavi, S., & Karami, H. (2010). Differential item functioning and ad hoc interpretations. TELLSI, 4(1),
1-19.
Babapour, S. (2009). The effect of peer-tutoring on Iranian elementary students' chievement in
listening, reading, and writing in English. TELLSI, 2009(11-12), 155-190.
Birjandi, P., & Lotfi, G. (2009). Exploring EFL learners' beliefs about listening comprehension
difficulties: A qualitative approach. TELLSI, 3(11-12), 1-33.
Hassaskhah, J., & Chavoshi, S. (2010). Interactional modifications in text-based online chat and EFL
question development. TELLSI, 4(1), 19-49.
Jahangard, A., Moinzadeh, A., & Tavakoli, M. (2010). Vocabulary learning and learners' ability to
transfer their knowledge into L2 reading comprehension: A case for translation. TELLSI, 4(1),
125-151.
Jalilifar, A. (2010). A contrastive discourse analysis of English newspaper headlines: Facing sysntactic
challenges in translation. TELLSI, 4(1), 49-69.
Khani, R., & Kamali, K. (2009). A comparative study of thematic progression and organization in
subdiscipline articles of applied linguistics in local and international journals. TELLSI, 3(11-
12), 61-81.

24 | P a g e
Kiany, G., Ghafar Samar, R., & Jafari, S. (2010). The effects of planning condition, task structure, and
gender on EFL learners' written performance. TELLSI, 4(1), 103-125.
Modarresi, G. (2009). Collocational errors of Iranian EFL learners in written English. TELLSI, 3(11-12),
135-155.
Nemati, M., & Ahmadi Shirazi , M. (2009). Writing Assessment Perspective: Too Simplistic or too
Sophisticated? TELLSI, 3(9), 27-65.
Rezaee, A. A., & Salehi, M. (2008). The Construct Validity of a Language Proficiency Test: A Multitrait
Multimethod Approach. TELLSI, 2(8), 93-111.
Riazi, A., & Bahrami, A. (2009). Iranian scholars and scientific publication in English: Attitudes,
problems, and strategies. TELLSI, 3(11-12), 33-61.
Sahragard, R., Rahimian, J., & Rahmani Anaraki, R. (2008). The effects of changing the deletion
direction and deletion ration on the validity and reliability of the C-test. TELLSI, 2(8), 23-53.
Tajeddin, Z., & Estaji, M. (2009). Examining Washback of Language Assessment within an Educational
Context: Voices from Teachers and Examiners. TELLSI, 3(9), 1-27.
Tavakoli, M. (2009). The Role of Motivation in ESP Reading Comprehension Test Performance.
TELLSI, 3(9), 99-117.
Zarei, A., & Ghahremani, K. (2009). On the relationship between learner autonomy and reading.
TELLSI, 3(11-12), 81-101.
B) Journal articles written in English by native speakers of English
Abdi, R., Rizi, M. T., & Tavakoli, M. (2009). Marking 'manner' metadiscursively: Conceptualizing
metadiscourse within the framework of cooperative principle. Iranian Journal of Language
Studies, 3(2), 143-152.
Abdi, R., Rizi, M. T., & Tavakoli, M. (2010). The cooperative principle in discourse communities and
genres: A framework for the use of metadiscourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 1669-1679.
Adel, A. (2006). Metadiscourse in L1 and L2 English. Philadelphia: John Benjamins B.V.
Blagojevic, S. (2004). Metadiscourse in Academic Prose: a Contrastive Study of Academic Articles
Written in English by English and Norwegian Native Speakers. STUDIES ABOUT LANGUAGES,
5, 60-67.
Brooks-Lewis, K. A. (2009). Adult Learners’ Perceptions of the Incorporation of their L1 in Foreign
Language Teaching and Learning. Applied Linguistics, 30(2), 216-235.
Brown, G. (2008). Selective listening. System, 1-12.
Burneikaite, N. (2008). Metadiscourse in Linguistics Master's Theses in English L1 and L2.
KALBOTYRA, 59(3), 38-47.
Camiciottoli, B. C. (2003). Metadiscourse and ESP reading comprehension: An exploratory study.
Reading in a Foreign Language, 15, 28-44.

P a g e | 25
Chai, C. (2006). Writing plan quality: Relevance to writing scores. Assessing Writing, 11, 198-223.
Cheng, X., & Steffenson, M. S. (1996). Metadiscourse: A technique for improving student writing.
Research in the Teaching of English, 30(2), 149-181.
Cohen, J. L. (2010). Getting recognised: Teachers negotiating professional identities as learners
through talk. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 473-481.
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal
of English for Academic Purposes, 6, 3-17.
Farrokhi, F., & Ashrafi, S. (2009). Textual Metadiscourse Resources in Research Articles. Journal of
English Language Teaching and Learning(212), 39-75.
Flege, J. E., Birdsong, D., Bialystok, E., Mack, M., Sung, H., & Tsukada, K. (2006). Degree of foreign
accent in English sentences produced by Korean children and adults. Journal of Phonetics,
34, 153-175.
Freese, A. R. (1999). The role of re#ection on preservice teachers' development in the context of a
professional development school. TEACHING AND TEACHER EDUCATION, 15, 895-909.
Fulcher, G. (1995). Variable competence in second language acquisition: A problem for research
methedology? System, 23(1), 25-33.
Gue´nette, D. (2007). Is feedback pedagogically correct? Research design issues in studies of
feedback on writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16, 40-53.
Harwood, N. (2002). Taking a lexical approach to teaching: principles and problems. International
Journal of Applied Linguistics, 12(2), 139-155.
Horwitz, E. K. (2000). Teachers and Students, Students and Teachers: An Ever-Evolving Partnership.
The Modern Language Journal, 84, 523-535.
Hyland, K. (2004). Disciplinary interactions: metadiscourse in L2 postgraduate writing. Journal of
Second Language Writing, 13, 133-151.
Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse. New york: Continuum.
Hyland, K., & Hamp-Lyons, L. (2002). EAP: Issues and directions. Journal of English for Academic
Purposes, 1, 1-12.
Ilie, C. (2003). Discourse and metadiscourse in parliamentary debates. Journal of Language and
Politics, 2, 71-92.
Lodge, K. (2003). Phonological translation and phonetic repertoire. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics, 13(2), 263-276.
Marquardt, T. P., & Gillam, R. B. (1999). Assessment in communication disorders: some observations
on current issues. Language Testing, 16(3), 249-269.

26 | P a g e
McKay, S. (2003). Teaching English as an International Language: The Chilean Context. ELT Journal,
57(2), 139-148.
MULLOCK, B. (2006). The Pedagogical Knowledge Base of Four TESOL Teachers. The Modern
Language Journal, 90, 48-66.
Ohta, A. S. (2005). Interlanguage pragmatics in the zone of proximal development. System, 33, 503-
517.
Seidlhofer, B. (2009). Common ground and different realities: world Englishes and English as a lingua
franca. World Englishes, 28(2), 236-245.
Shohamy, E., & Inbar, O. (2006). Assessment of Advanced Language Proficiency: Why Performance-
based Tasks? CPDD 0605. The Pennsylvania State University, Center for Advanced Language
Proficiency Education and Research.
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2007). Theories of identity and the analysis of face. Journal of Pragmatics, 39,
639-656.
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre Analysis: English for Specific Purpose in Academic and Research Setting.
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Toumi, N. (2009). A Model for the Investigation of Reflexive Metadiscourse in Research Articles.
LANGUAGE STUDIES WORKING PAPERS, 1, 64-73.
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. W. (2001). Teacher efficacy: capturing an elusive construct.
TEACHING AND TEACHER EDUCATION, 17, 783-805.

P a g e | 27
On the Learnability of three categories
of Idioms by Iranian EFL learners
Abbas Ali Zarei1
Imam Khomeini International University2
Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate the differences among the comprehension and production
of three categories of idioms (identical, similar, and different) by Iranian EFL learners. It also sought
to explore the effect of the knowledge of Persian idioms on the production of the corresponding
English Idioms. To this end, 60 male intermediate level learners of English participated in the study.
Two independent one-way ANOVA procedures and three separate paired-samples t-tests were used
to analyze the data. Results showed that both comprehension and production of identical and
similar idioms were easier than different idioms. Results also indicated that knowledge (awareness)
of Persian idioms influenced the production of identical idioms positively while it influenced the
production of different idioms negatively. Awareness of Persian idioms did not affect the production
of similar idioms in any meaningful way.3
Key Words: similar idioms, different idioms, identical idioms, idiom learning
Introduction
One of the observable phenomena in the process of second language learning
is the influence of the mother tongue. The influence of the mother tongue is
salient, especially in learning situations where students' exposure is limited to
only a few hours of formal classroom instruction. This influence is particularly
salient in areas such as idioms, the correct use of which requires a relatively
high level of L2 knowledge. Native speakers of English frequently employ
idioms in their daily conversations. It is believed that the use of idioms can
boost fluency and that "a strong knowledge of idioms will help students to be
better speakers and negotiators. And they will be in a much better position to
take advantage of the opportunities that come their way" (Abismara, 2002).
Cooper (1999) believes that idiomatic expressions are frequently encountered
1
aazarei@ikiu.ac.ir, aazarei@yahoo.com, Cell phone: 0912-2818077, Phone: +98281 3680507,
Correspondence address: Room 821, Faculty of humanities, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin,
Iran
2
Qazvin, Iran
3
‫از‬ ‫استفاده‬ ‫با‬ ‫پژوهش‬ ‫این‬‫شماره‬ ‫با‬ ‫قزوین‬ )‫(ره‬ ‫خمینی‬ ‫امام‬ ‫المللی‬ ‫بین‬ ‫دانشگاه‬ ‫پژوهشی‬ ‫اعتبار‬91-351413.‫است‬ ‫شده‬ ‫حمایت‬

28 | P a g e
in both oral and written discourse; therefore, they deserve special attention in
language programs and should not be relegated to a position of secondary
importance in the curriculum.
The relative paucity of research in the area of transfer in the learning of idioms
combined with the relative dearth of research in the area of the role of
transfer from Persian in the learning of identical, similar, and different idioms
warrants the present study, which aims at finding answers to the following
research questions:
1. Does idiom type influence the comprehension of idioms?
2. Does idiom type influence the production of idioms?
3. Does the knowledge of Persian idioms influence the production of
different kinds of English idioms?
Literature review
Among the many features of the English language that perform the dual
function of adding beauty to it and, at the same time, increasing the difficulty
level of learning it is the use of figurative expressions such as similes, proverbs,
metaphors, and idioms. Idioms – the focus of attention in the present study –
can be looked at from various perspectives. From one perspective, a general
distinction can be made between compositional and non-compositional
idioms. The meaning of a non-compositional idiom is not comprehended from
its individual parts (Mäntylä, 2004). In other words, their meanings are
arbitrary rather than figurative. The meaning of a compositional idiom relates
to the meaning of its components. A similar distinction is made by Dimitrova
(2005), who states that non-compositional idioms are those idioms which
cannot be analyzed. Compositional idioms, on the other hand, are those idioms
whose meaning can be deduced from the meaning of their constituents and,
therefore, they can be analyzed in a compositional way.
The compositionality of idioms can, in turn, partially account for idiomatic
variability. Idioms are not completely frozen; there can be minimal structural
variability. For example:
We will give him a taste of his own medicine

P a g e | 29
We are giving him a taste of his own medicine
We gave him a taste of his own medicine
We have given him a taste of his own medicine. (Ifill, 2002:7)
One of the factors that define whether idioms are frozen or not is the
compositionality of idiomatic expressions. For example, the idiom shoot the
breeze meaning to chat is a non-compositional idiom and has limited flexibility.
Yesterday I was shooting the breeze before you came back.
*The breeze was shot by me.
*We shot the interesting breeze.
The meaning of idiomatic expressions such as spill the bean meaning to reveal
a secret is derived form the meaning of its parts, spill meaning to reveal and
bean meaning a secret. These idioms are compositional and show a high level
of flexibility. In spill the bean, only topicalization and relativization are not
allowed, so it shows a high level of flexibility.
The beans were spilled.
He did not want to talk about his vocation but he spilled the bean.
*The beans on the cake he spilled.
*The beans that we kept so long were spilled.
Apart from syntactic variability, there can sometimes be a limited extent of
lexical flexibility in the use of idioms. In most sentences, a speaker can use
synonyms to make new sentences with the same meaning. But some idiomatic
expressions are fixed and their components are not replaceable with
synonyms. Consider the following two sentences:
(1) a. He kicked the bucket.
b.* He kicked the bin.
(2) a. We have had our ups and down.
b. * We have had our differentials in elevation.
The words in these two idioms are not changeable. These idioms are fixed and
their individual elements cannot be replaced by synonyms. (Gibbs, 1994).
However, there are a few idiomatic expressions that are flexible and their
components can be replaced by synonyms without losing their figurative
meanings. Ifill (2002) gives the following examples:
(1) floating/walking on the air
(2) won't budge/give an inch

30 | P a g e
(3) gets/jumps/leaps on the bandwagon
Although these idiomatic expressions are flexible, their flexibility is only limited
to a few synonyms. Thus, lexical flexibility in such idioms is limited. All of the
options for variability are semantically similar, but then not all semantically
similar words can be replaced.
Idioms and culture
Pinnavaia (2002) believes that the first thing about idioms that learners need
to be aware of is the culture and history of the people who generated them.
Pinnavaia further contends that idioms are not considered as a part of
language; they are considered as a part of culture. Because cultures are
localized, idioms are not usually very useful outside of that local context. One
specific instance is an Arabic idiom, Osman's shirt. Understanding this Arabic
idiom may be difficult for foreigners, because they do not know the history and
culture of Arab people. Transferring specific idioms to other languages creates
problems if the language learner is not familiar with the target language and
culture. However, some idioms can be more universally used than others; they
can be easily translated, and their metaphorical meaning can be more easily
deduced (Mahmoud, 2002).
Background knowledge and visual imagery also influence the understanding of
idioms. Idioms such as walking on the thin ice can be easily interpreted as
something dangerous. This interpretation is deduced by using visual imagery
and background knowledge about ice (Vicker, 2000). On the other hand,
understanding the meaning of idioms such as face the music is difficult because
the meaning is not deduced from visual imagery. Mahmoud (2002, P. 4) states
that "there are language specific idiomatic expressions in Arabic reflecting the
Arab culture and environment". This implies that having background is
necessary to learn certain types of idioms.
Taxonomy of Idioms
Fraser (1970) classifies idioms into three categories: transparent, semi-
transparent and opaque idioms. Transparent idioms are idioms in which there
is a close relationship between figurative and literal meanings. For instance, in
show/have green/red light, there is a direct translation equivalent in Persian.
Moreover, lexical and syntactical variability can be seen in the above example.
In semi-transparent idioms, literal and figurative meanings are linked by one of

P a g e | 31
their components. But the relationship between literal and figurative meanings
is not as obvious as in transparent idioms. For instance, pull faces meaning face
twisting does not link figurative and literal meanings directly. This idiom is
flexible both semantically and syntactically (make/pull faces/face). Opaque
idioms are idioms whose literal meaning is completely different from their
figurative meaning. In other words, there is no link between literal meaning
and figurative meaning. For instance, in face the music meaning to accept
criticism for something you have done, there is no link between the figurative
and literal meanings. It is worth noting that opaque idioms have minimal
variability in comparison with transparent and semi-transparent idioms.
According to Nunberg (1978), idiomatic expressions are classified into normally
decomposable, abnormally decomposable, and semantically non-
decomposable idioms. Normally decomposable idioms are idioms in which a
part of meaning is used literally (e.g. buck in pass the buck). Abnormally
decomposable idioms are expressions in which the reference of an idiom’s
parts can be identified metaphorically (e.g. the question in pop the question).
The third category of idioms is semantically non-compositional idioms (opaque
idioms), in which there is no relationship between the idiomatic meaning and
the figurative meaning of its constituents. This class of idioms fits the
traditional approach to idiomatic expressions. One example of semantically
non-compositional idioms is chew the fat meaning to have a chat with
someone, the meaning of which cannot be inferred from the meaning of its
individual components.
Gibbs (1987) classifies idioms into four groups: syntactically frozen idioms,
syntactically flexible idioms, transparent idioms, and opaque idioms.
Syntactically frozen idioms cannot be syntactically changed into the passive
and still retain their figurative meaning (e.g. drive someone up the wall).
Syntactically flexible idioms keep their figurative meaning when transformed
into the passive form (Roger kept the tabs on them or Tabs were kept on them
(by Roger). Transparent idioms and opaque idioms are similar to those of
Fraser's classification.
Cacciari and Glucksberg (1991) present a typology of idioms regarding their
degree of compositionality and transparency. This typology is classified into

32 | P a g e
three categories: Transparent idioms, quasi-metaphorical idioms, and opaque
idioms.
Finally, Irujo (1986) classifies idioms into three groups: identical idioms, similar
idioms, different idioms. Identical idioms have a word-for-word translation in
the learners' native language. Similar idioms are meaningfully and syntactically
similar to their first language equivalents. Different idioms are those which are
used to express the same idea in the same situation as in the native language,
but are semantically and syntactically different from the first language idioms.
Language transfer
During the fifties and the late sixties, contrastive analysis (CA) was recognized
as a major influential factor in foreign language teaching and learning. CA is
based on the assumption that language learners tend to transfer features of
their mother language to their learning of the target language.
Traditionally, errors were seen as signs of blocking students' progress. An
example of this view is the attitude of Audio-lingual method in which errors
had to be corrected at any cost. But then, the view to errors changed and
errors were regarded not as something that hinders students' progress, but as
a sign of progress in learning. "This latter approach assumes that learner's
errors are in some sense systematic and not random, otherwise there would
be nothing for the teacher to learn from them" (Corder, 1981, P. 66).
Based on CA, when the similarities between the structure of the learner’s
native language (NL) and that of the target language (TL) makes the learning of
the new habit easy, positive transfer occurs. In other words, if the L1 and L2
have similar features, learners may be able to transfer their L1 features
positively. When old habits impede the formation of a new habit, negative
transfer or interference is believed to occur and learning becomes difficult
(Yule, 1996).
Transfer in the learning of idioms
Irujo (1986) investigated the relationship between idioms and language
transfer. She conducted a study to determine the effects of language transfer
on the comprehension and production of idioms. She concluded that the
learning and production of identical idioms is easier than similar and different
idioms. She further held that the recognition and production of similar idioms

P a g e | 33
is easier than different idioms. In short, Irujo's (1986) study of L2 advanced
learners of English from Venezuela had three important findings:
a) Participants were able to generalize the meaning of identical idioms in
Spanish into their English equivalents, although there were slight
differences in their forms.
b) Similar idioms were understood as well as identical idioms, but there
was interference from the first language.
c) Participants understood and produced fewer different idioms correctly.
She further asserts that when the first and the second languages have identical
idioms, the use of transfer can be positively effective. A Persian example would
be:
‘gorg dar lebase mish’
Wolf in clothing sheep
"a wolf in sheep’s clothing". (Shafiee, 2007, P. 35)
Moreover, Irujo concluded that within each idiom type (similar idioms,
identical idioms, and different idioms), those idioms which were
comprehended and produced more accurately were those which were
frequent in both cultures, those whose meanings were transparent, and those
which contained somewhat simple vocabulary and structure. Therefore, Irujo
recommends that teachers avoid presenting infrequent, highly colloquial
idioms with difficult vocabulary and structure.
Mahmoud (2002) conducted a similar study on the role of language transfer in
the learning of English idioms by Arab language learners. He classified idioms
into 5 categories: (a) formally and semantically similar (b) formally similar,
semantically different (c) semantically similar, formally different
(grammatically different or lexically different) (d) English specific and (e) Arabic
specific idioms. He warns that learners should be aware of the transfer
strategy and its outcomes. He also suggests that negative and positive transfer
be discussed with learners and that English classes focus on idiomaticity as well
as fluency and accuracy.
A similar study was done in Iran by Sadighi and Fahandezh (1999). They
classified idioms into four categories: similar idioms, identical idioms, different

34 | P a g e
idioms, and English specific idioms. They investigated the role of language
transfer to determine the extent of positive, negative, and zero transfer in the
reconstruction of these idioms. They found that the use of language transfer
strategy has an important role in the processing of these idioms both positively
and negatively.
Another study was carried out by Shafiee (2007) dealing with idioms learning
of EFL students at varying levels of proficiency. In his study, students’
performance on various tests of idiomatic knowledge was investigated. He
concluded that idiom type is an important factor influencing the learning of
idioms by EFL learners at different levels of proficiency. He also demonstrated
that intermediate level students did better on similar idioms than they did on
conceptually familiar idioms. Likewise, their performance on conceptually
familiar idioms was significantly better than on conceptually unfamiliar idioms.
Advanced students did almost equally well on similar idioms, although their
performance on conceptually familiar idioms was poor. It also turned out that
level of proficiency affected the students’ performance on the idiom type tests
since the more proficient students outperformed intermediate level students
on all tests of idiom type.
The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of three kinds of
idioms (i.e. identical, similar, and different) on the comprehension and
production of Iranian intermediate level learners of English.
Method
Participants
The participants of the present study were 60 male English students at
Zabansara institute in Koohdasht. The age of the participants ranged between
16 and 25. They were selected for this study on the basis of cluster sampling
procedure. They were then homogenized and their proficiency level was
intermediate.
Materials
The materials used in this study include the following: a pretest was given
before the teaching of different kinds of idioms to make sure that the idioms
were not already known to the participants. It included 90 multiple choice

P a g e | 35
idiom items, of which 30 items were similar idioms, 30 identical idioms and 30
different idioms. Participants were able to recognize some of the similar and
identical idioms in the pretest. Those idioms the meanings of which were
recognized in the pretest were removed. Out of the remaining idioms, 60
idioms, including 20 similar idioms, 20 identical idioms and 20 different idioms
were selected to be included in the posttests. The posttests of the study were
of three kinds: in the first test, the participants were administered a multiple
choice test to measure the comprehension of different kinds of idioms. In the
second test, the English meanings of idioms were given and the participants
were supposed to provide an appropriate idiom for each definition. In the third
test, fill-in-the-blank items as well as the Persian equivalents of the idioms
were given to the participants, and they were required to fill the blanks with an
appropriate idiom corresponding to the Persian equivalent. Since the posttests
were directly based on the materials taught, their content validity was taken
for granted. The reliability of the posttests were estimated through the KR-21
formula, and the reliability indices of the first, second, and third test turned
out to be .76, .84, and .79, respectively.
The materials taught to the participants contained 35 chapters of an idiom
book entitled 'English Idioms in Use' by McCarthy & O'Del, designed for
intermediate level learners.
Procedure
Having selected the participants with the afore-mentioned characteristics and
having randomly assigned them to three groups, an intermediate test of
Interchange 2 was administered to determine the proficiency level of the
participants and to homogenize them. To homogenize the participants, the
mean score and standard deviation were computed, and those learners whose
score was more than one standard deviation away from (above or below) the
mean were excluded from all subsequent analyses. The participants were then
given a multiple choice test containing 90 items of different idiom types as a
pretest. Some identical and similar idioms whose meanings were recognized by
the participants were removed from the treatment and the posttests.
The treatment included 35 chapters of the book 'English Idioms in Use',
containing over 300 idioms, which were taught during a semester. The
teaching method was deductive. The classes were presented with different

36 | P a g e
kinds of idioms, but the participants were also encouraged to guess the
meaning of idioms in Persian. They were even able to guess the meaning of
few similar and identical idioms in some cases. Moreover, they were asked to
write short stories by using idioms as homework every session. Idioms were
taught by using pictures, fill-in-the-blank exercises, making short stories. In
addition, their attention was drawn to the English form and meaning as well as
the Persian equivalents of idioms.
At the end of the experimental period, the three posttests with the above-
mentioned features were administered to all the three groups and the
obtained data were submitted to statistical analyses.
Data Analysis
To investigate the first research question, a one way ANOVA procedure was
used to find out whether idiom type had any significant effect on the
comprehension of different kinds of idioms. Another one way ANOVA was used
to find out if idiom type had any significant effect on the production of various
types of idioms. To answer the third research question, three separate
matched t-test procedures were used for three groups of idioms (similar,
identical, and different idioms) to find out if the knowledge of Persian idioms
affected the production of English idioms.
Results and discussion
Results
The first research question sought to see if there were any significant
differences among the three groups in the comprehension of different kinds of
idioms. To this end, a one-way analysis of variance procedure was used.
Descriptive statistics, including the mean, standard deviation, etc. are
summarized below:
Table 1: The descriptive statistics needed for the ANOVA on idiom comprehension
idiom types N Mean Std. Deviation
similar idioms 60 11.53 3.47
identical idioms 60 12.11 2.94
different idioms 60 8.95 2.28
total 180 10.86 3.23

P a g e | 37
As it can be seen in Table 1, the identical idioms group has the highest mean ( x
= 12.11), followed closely by similar idioms group ( x =11.53). Different idioms
group has the lowest mean ( x =8.95). The results of the ANOVA procedure are
given in Table 2.
Table 2: The result of the ANOVA procedure on idiom comprehension
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig
Between Groups 340.83 2 170.41 19.71 .000
Within the groups 1529.96 177 8.64
Total 1870.80 179 ω2=.13
According to Table 2, since the F-value is statistically significant ((F = 19.71, P <
.001), we can safely claim that there are significant differences among the
groups. To locate the differences among the groups, a post–hoc Scheffe' test
was run, which yielded the results summarized in Table 3.
Table 3: Multiple Comparisons on idiom comprehension
idiom types (I) idiom types (j) Mean Difference(I-J) Std. Error Sig
different idioms similar idioms -2.58 (*) .53 .000
similar idioms identical idioms -.58 .53 .55
different idioms identical idioms -3.16 (*) .53 .00
* The mean difference is significant at the .05 level
A look at Table 3 makes it clear that although the differences between the
similar and identical idioms groups is not statistically significant, they are both
significantly better than the different idioms group.
The second research question sought to investigate the differences among the
groups in the production of different kinds of idioms. The relevant descriptive
statistics are given in Table 4.
Table 4: The descriptive statistics needed for the ANOVA on idiom production
idiom types N Mean Std. Deviation
different idioms 60 8.80 3.91
identical idioms 60 12.28 2.91
similar idioms 60 12.00 2.24
total 180 11.02 3.46
As it can be seen in Table 4, the identical idioms group has the highest mean ( x
= 12.28), followed closely by the similar idioms group ( x =12.00). The different
idioms group has the lowest mean ( x =8.80). To see whether or not the
differences among the groups are statistically significant, another one-way
ANOVA procedure was run. The results of the ANOVA procedure are given in
Table 5.

38 | P a g e
Table 5: The result of the ANOVA on idiom production
Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig
Between Groups 449.07 2 224.53 23.35 .000
Within groups 1701.78 177 9.61
Total 2150.86 179 ω2
=.19
Based on Table 5, since the F-value is statistically significant (F = 23.35, P <
.001), it can be claimed that there are significant differences among the
groups. To locate the differences, a post–hoc Scheffe' test was used, which
yielded the results summarized in Table 6.
Table 6: Multiple Comparisons on idiom production
idiom types (I) idiom types (j) Mean Difference(I-J) Std. Error Sig
different idioms similar idioms -3.20 (*) .56 .00
similar idioms identical idioms -.28 .56 .88
identical idioms different idioms 3.48 (*) .56 .00
* The mean difference is significant at the .05 level
A look at Table 6 makes it clear that although the difference between the
similar and identical idioms groups is not statistically significant, they are both
significantly better than the different idioms group.
The aim of the third research question was to see whether or not the
knowledge of Persian idioms influences the production of English idioms. To
this end, three independent paired samples t-tests were used to compare the
performance of the participants on the second and third post-tests, where
they were required to write an idiom for the given English definitions, and fill
the blanks with English idioms based on the given Persian equivalents.
The first t-test procedure was used to study the effect of the knowledge of
Persian idioms on the production of the corresponding different idioms in
English. Table 7 contains the summary of the descriptive statistics:
Table 7: Paired samples descriptive statistics for the different idioms
Idiom types Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error
English idioms 8.80 60 2.24 .28
Persian idioms 7.91 60 1.48 .19
Table 7 shows that the mean of the participants on the Persian idioms test is
lower than that of the English idioms test. To see whether or not the difference
between the means is statistically significant, a paired samples t-test
procedure was used. The result of the procedure is given in Table 8.

P a g e | 39
Table 8: Paired samples t-test for the Different Idioms
Paired Differences
Mean SD
T Df Sig.(2-tailed)
English/Persian different idioms .88 1.15 5.94 59 .000
µ2
= .37
As Table 8 indicates, since the significance level of the t-test procedure is .000,
it can be concluded that the difference between the two means is statistically
significant. Therefore, it can be claimed that the knowledge or awareness of
the Persian equivalents negatively influences the production of different
idioms in English.
The same procedure was gone through to investigate whether or not the
knowledge of Persian idioms influences the production of similar idioms in
English. Table 9 summarizes the descriptive statistics.
Table 9: Paired samples statistics for the similar idioms
English idioms 12.00 60 3.91 .50
Persian idioms 12.16 60 3.60 .46
Table 9 shows that there is only a slight difference between the means of the
participants on the two tests indicating that probably there are no significant
differences between the groups. Still, to make sure whether or not the
difference between the means is statistically significant, the paired samples t-
test procedure was used, yielding the following results:
Table 10: Paired samples t-test for the similar idioms
Paired Differences
Mean SD
T df Sig.(2tailed)
English/Persian Similar idioms -.16667 .94181 -1. 371 59 .07
µ2
=.03
As Table 10 indicates, since the significance of the t-test procedure is more
than .05, it can be concluded that the difference between the two means is not
statistically significant. Therefore, it can be claimed that the knowledge or
awareness of the Persian equivalents does not influence the productions of
similar idioms in English.
The third t-test procedure sought to see the effect of the knowledge of Persian
idioms on the production of identical idioms. Table 11 contains the relevant
descriptive statistics.

40 | P a g e
Table 11: Paired sample statistics for the identical idioms
English idioms 12.28 60 2.91746 .37664
Persian idioms 13.11 60 2.61736 .33790
Table 11 shows that the mean of the participants on the Persian idioms test is
higher than that of the English idioms test. To make sure that the difference
between the means is statistically significant, the third Paired Samples t-test
procedure was used. The result of the analysis is given in Table 12.
Table 12: Paired t-test for the identical idioms
Paired Differences
Mean SD
t df Sig.(2-tailed)
English/Persian identical idioms -.833 .740 -8.7 59 .000
µ2
= .56
According to Table 12, the significance level of the t-test procedure is
indicative of statistically significant difference between the two means.
Therefore, it can be claimed that the knowledge or awareness of the Persian
equivalents positively influences the production of identical idioms in English.
Discussion
The findings of the present study suggest that the recognition and production
of identical idioms is easier than similar and different idioms, and that there is
a trend that the comprehension and production of similar idioms are easier
than those of the different idioms, although the differences are not statistically
significant. These results match those of Irujo’s (1986) study but are different
from the results of Shafiee’s (2003) study because in his study, the recognition
and production of similar idioms turned out to be easier than identical and
different idioms. The results of the present study are not altogether
unexpected. It is not entirely unexpected for similar and identical idioms to be
easier than different idioms for both recognition and production because there
can be transfer of knowledge from the native language. In case of different
idioms, however, not only is there nothing for the learners to resort to, but
also the mother tongue idioms could act as a source of difficulty hindering
learning due to negative transfer. Yet again, the proponents of the weak
version of the contrastive analysis hypothesis would argue against this saying
that similar idioms should be more problematic because of the minute
differences which are often overlooked.

P a g e | 41
Another finding of the present study is that the knowledge (awareness) of
Persian idioms influences the production of identical idioms positively while it
influences the production of different idioms negatively. Awareness of Persian
idioms does not affect the production of similar idioms in any meaningful way.
There are areas of conflict between these findings and those of Irujo (1986) in
which knowledge of Spanish idioms influenced the learning of identical and
similar idioms positively, but the awareness of Spanish idioms did not influence
the learning of different idioms. These findings are also different from those of
Shafiee (2007), who found that the awareness of Persian idioms influenced the
learning of similar and identical idioms positively, but the effect of such
knowledge on similar idioms was more prominent in comparison with identical
idioms. As a matter of fact, it looks rather unusual for similar idioms not to be
influenced by transfer from native language. But that is what this study
suggests. Further research is probably needed to resolve the present conflicts.
Conclusion
This study seems to suggest that both recognition and production of identical
idioms are comparatively easier than those of both similar and different
idioms. The findings also suggest that knowledge of L1 (in this case Persian)
idioms can have varying effects on the production of L2 (in this case English)
idioms depending on whether the target language idioms are identical with,
similar to, or different from the native language idioms. These findings can
have implications for learners, teachers, as well as syllabus designers. A clear
understanding of how L1 can influence the comprehension and production of
L2 idioms can help facilitate learners' task of tackling one of the thorniest areas
of language. The same understanding can also affect teachers' classroom
practices. They may decide to alter some of their practices in an attempt to
provide the learners with better learning conditions. They may, for instance,
decide to include or exclude the use of mother tongue equivalents when
presenting L2 idioms. Syllabus designers may also take these findings into
account when preparing course books. The inclusion of certain types of
materials in course books is probably one of the effective ways of encouraging
teachers less aware of the theoretical developments to modify their teaching
practices.

42 | P a g e
References
Abismara, N. (2002). Read Write Think: Lesson Plan. Figurative Language: Teaching Idioms.
International Reading Association, American University of Beirut. Retrieved July 7, 2007
from http://www.tesolonline.com/articles/completearticles.php?index=331& category=24
Cacciari, C. & Glucksberg, S. (1991). Understanding Idiomatic Expressions: the contribution of word
meanings. In: G.B. Simpson (Editor). Understanding word and sentence. Elsevier science
publishers BV (North Holland). Chapter 9, pp. 217– 240.
Cooper, T. C. (1999). Processing of Idioms in L2 learners of English. TESOL Quarterly, 33, 233-262.
Corder, S. P. (1981). Error Analysis and Interlanguage. Oxford University Press.
Dimitrova, K. (2005). Comparison of Some Theories of Idioms in English. Lexical Idiosyncrasies in
Syntax and Logical 5, 2- 28.
Fraser, B. (1970). Idioms within a transformational grammar. Foundations of language 6, 22-42.
Gibbs, R. (1987). Linguistic factors in children's understanding of idioms. Journal of Child Language
14 (3), 569 – 586.
Gibbs, R. (1994). The Poetic of Mind: Figurative Thought, Language, and Understanding. Cambridge
University Press.
Ifill, T. (2002). Seeking the Nature of Idioms: A Study in Idiomatic Structure. Harvard College.
Irujo, S. (1986) Don’t put your leg in your mouth: Transfer in the Acquisition of Idioms in a Second
Language. TESOL Quarterly 20 (2), 287- 304.
Mahmoud, A. (2002). Interlingual Transfer of Idioms by Arab Learners of English. The Internet Tesl
Journal, 8 (12). Retrieved September 18, 2007, from
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Mahmoud/Idioms.html
Mäntylä, K. (2004). Idioms and language users: the effect of the characteristics of idioms on their
recognition and interpretation by native and non-native speakers of English. University of
Jyväskylä.
Nunberg, G. (1978). The Pragmatics of Reference. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University
Linguistics Club.
Pinnavaia, L. (2002). The Grammaticalization of English Idioms: A Hypothesis for Teaching Purposes.
Mots Palabras Words.
Sadigi, F. & Fahandezh Sa'di, J. (1999). Transfer Strategy and the Production of English Idioms in a
Foreign Language Setting. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity of Shiraz University, 14
(2), 11-28.
Shafiee, S. (2007). A piece of Cake or Hard nut to Crack: Investigating Intermediate and Andvanced
EFL Learners Performance on Different Tests of Idiom Types. Esfehan: Esfehan University
Press.

P a g e | 43
Vicker, B. (2000). Building Competency with Figurative Language One Idiom at a Time. The Reporter,
5(3), 17-21
Yule, G. (1996). The Study of Language (2nd
). Cambridge University Press.

44 | P a g e
An analysis of the English class
discourse in the Iranian high schools
Behzad Barekat1
Saeedeh Mohammadi2
University of Guilan
Abstract
One of the decisive factors of students’ success in second language learning is employing interactive
strategies, or using the term of Bakhtin, dialogic discourse pattern, by the teacher. Following
Bakhtin’s conceptualization of discourse (1981), monologic and dialogic patterns can be considered
as the opposing ends of the teacher’s discourse continuum. On these lines, the current research
intended to find out whether the Iranian high school teachers use a monologic or dialogic discourse
in their classes. To accomplish this goal, a comprehensive exploration carried out to enumerate the
features differentiating monologic and dialogic discourse, which proved to be around thirteen. Then,
interviews were conducted with ten high school English teachers, based on the features of the two
patterns of discourse already found. One case study was also conducted to boost the reliability of
interview’s findings in which a teacher’s classes were observed, video-taped, transcribed and
analyzed for recognizing the type of discourse pattern used by the teacher. The analysis of the data
from both interviews and the case study through grounded theory and conversation analysis
revealed that the teachers used a monologic discourse pattern in their classes.
Key Words: discourse, discourse pattern, monologic discourse, dialogic discourse
Introduction
The most important problem in teaching English in an EFL context is how to
prepare learners to use the English language so as to be capable of
participating in conversations inside and outside the class. At first sight,
classrooms are full of discourse and dialogue, observable in the frequent back
and forth between students and teachers in everyday formal and informal talk.
But, as O’Connor and Michaels (2003) argue, most of these class activities are
more indicative of a monologic stance. In fact, as Bakhtin (1981) has widely
discussed, a distinction shall be made between dialogic and monologic
discourse. A monologic teacher is concerned with the transmission of
knowledge and in doing so s/he firmly controls the class. During dialogic
1
BehzadBarekat@yahoo.com
2
saeedehm63@gmail.com, Phone: 09127441126

P a g e | 45
teaching, in contrast, the teacher makes every effort to help pupils share and
create meanings.
On the same lines, the present paper aims at identifying the situation of Iran in
terms of discourse pattern to be used in the English classes which is one of the
main causes of the students’ linguistic lacks and achievements. In other words,
whether the teachers use a monologic discourse pattern or a dialogic one can
highly contribute to the learners’ various capabilities.
The current study can fill a gap in the Iranian context to investigate teacher-
student interactions in English classrooms in public schools from the
perspective of the kind of discourse pattern used in the classroom. In other
words, whether the teachers use a monologic discourse pattern or a dialogic
one can highly contribute to the learners’ various capabilities. Among the few
studies along this line situated in the Iranian context, qualitative data in
particular is very thin and most of the studies have been done at the level of
university or institutes and less have been in school level.
The aim of current research is thus to deeply investigate how the teachers use
the language in the class and recognize the type of discourse pattern to be
used by the teachers. To arrive at this overall aim, we had two research
questions:
1. What is /are the difference(s) between monologic and dialogic discourse
pattern in EFL classes?
2. Do the teachers use monologic discourse pattern in their classes or a
dialogic one?
Literature review
This section incorporates the exploration of the major issues related to the
present study. As we aspire to analyze how English is used in the classes in
terms of discourse pattern to be used by the teachers, we firstly examine the
status of EFL in Iran schools. Then, we briefly take a look at the teachers’ roles
in EFL classes. Putting a step forward, we then, investigate the discourse and
its analysis in the classroom. Lastly, the two types of discourse patterns used in
the classrooms are deeply put into consideration i.e. monologic discourse
pattern and dialogic discourse pattern.

46 | P a g e
The situation of EFL in Iranian public schools
As cited in Talebinezhad and AliAkbari (in progress) “the dominant trend in ELT
context in Iran is toward more, not less, language teaching” (p. 21). The variety
of English institutes in Iran signifies the great tendency to learn English.
However, English instruction that happens in Iran schools mostly focuses on
learning and memorizing grammatical rules and does not lead to the
development of oral abilities. According to Dahmardeh (2009) in countries like
Iran, there is a constant pressure on teachers to prepare their pupils for school
exams. However, given the fact that the vast majority of language exams in
Iran fail to assess students’ real communicative abilities, teaching
communicative skills remains as a neglected component in most Iranian EFL
classes in public schools. Although there are many language institutes outside
the classroom giving way for students to attend and learn the language, the
time devoted to language instruction in Iran schools is mostly wasted because
even the memorized rules are forgotten after a while.
Among the important reasons of students’ lacks in English performance are the
syllabus and textbooks imposed to the teachers in schools giving no room for
any creativity and innovation. As Dahmardeh (2009) maintains,
all the textbooks for the schools are produced by the Ministry of Education and no
alternatives are available. These course books are taught in both private and public
schools and all the teachers follow the same syllabus. A secondary school in Iran
includes 4 years of studying and in each level there is one book for Teaching English as
a Foreign Language (TEFL). English language teachers are supposed to cover one book
during each educational year (p. 46).
The role of the teacher in the EFL classes
As Ellis (1990) asserts, the reality of most classrooms is that the teacher has
the power of controlling most of the interactions which happen in the class.
This is reflected in the preponderance of teacher acts over student acts.
Teachers open and close interactional exchanges, while students are restricted
to replying. Teachers elicit and students supply responses. However, the
teachers can elect not to use this power or only use part of it.
Jonson (1995) suggests that the teachers establish and maintain classroom
discourse patterns. In her research, she concluded that the teachers are
responsible for establishing and maintaining discourse patterns and that the
discourse patterns are a reflection of the teachers’ beliefs. Many other

P a g e | 47
researchers have concentrated on the teachers in establishing different
instructional discursive patterns in the classroom such as Webb, Franke, Ing,
Chan, De, Freund, and Battey (2008) and Hermans (2007), to name a few.
Classroom discourse analysis
One of the recent approaches in studying language in various aspects of use is
discourse analysis. Discourse analysis is the examination of language use by
members of a speech community. It involves language form and function and
studies both spoken interaction and written texts. It identifies linguistic
features that aid in our interpretation and understanding of different texts and
types of talk (Demo, 2001). In fact, discourse analysts examine spoken, signed
and written language, and may concentrate on any aspect of linguistic
behavior, from the study of particular patterns of pronunciation, through word
choice, syntactic and semantic representation, to the pragmatic analysis of
how we organize our speech.
A classroom setting can be called a discourse in which different interactive
exchanges may occur between the teacher and learners and among the
learners themselves. As cited in Behnam & PourIran (2009),
classroom discourse is a special type of discourse that occurs in classrooms. Special
features of classroom discourse include: unequal power relationships, turn-taking at
speaking, patterns of interaction, etc. Classroom discourse is often different in form and
function from language used in other situations because of particular social roles which
learners and teachers have in classrooms and the kind of activities they usually carry
out there (p. 118).
The research focusing on classroom discourse aims at recognizing what
actually happens in the classroom that can make a difference to the learners’
progress in learning EFL. As an instance, Hardman, Abd-kadir and Smith (2007)
in a study, reported on an investigation of classroom interaction and discourse
to determine the key issues which affect patterns of teacher–pupil interaction
and discourse.
Monologic and dialogic discourse patterns
Bakhtin (1981) makes distinctions between the two types of discourse
including monologic and dialogic discourse. Bakhtin (1984) deplores the typical
organization of most of the classes as a nonproductive monologism:

48 | P a g e
In an environment of ... monologism, the genuine interaction of consciousness is
impossible, and thus genuine dialogue is impossible as well. In essence idealism knows
only a single mode of cognitive interaction among consciousness: someone who knows
and possesses the truth instructs someone who is ignorant of it and in error; that is, it is
the interaction of a teacher and a pupil, which, it follows, can only be a pedagogical
dialogue (p. 81).
For Bakhtin, this form of discourse is similar to a communication disorder. In its
most basic form, monologic discourse resists communication: “Monologism, at
its extreme,” Bakhtin (1984) writes:
denies the existence outside itself of another consciousness with equal rights and
responsibilities. … Monologue is finalized and deaf to the other’s response, does not
expect it and does not acknowledge in it any decisive force. … Monologue pretends to
be the ultimate word (pp. 292-93).
The studies conducted by Nystrand, Wu, Gamoran, Zeiser, & Long (2001),
Molinari & Mameli (2010), Innes (2007), Pishghadam, Hashemi, & Adel (2010)
suggest that monologic discourse is the dominant discourse pattern in
different parts of the world. According to Nystrand et al. (2001) “repeated
empirical findings that monologic discourse is prevalent across American
classrooms clearly suggest that monologic discourse dominates within the
classroom” (p.6). Indeed, monologic discourse is a prevalent pattern in most of
the classes unless the teacher does something to change it.
In a more practical framework, we provide Nystrand’s distinctions (1993) so as
to get a general understanding of monologic and dialogic discourse patterns.
What Nystrand et al. (1997) call monologic recitation Gutierrez’ (1993)
characterized as follows:
1. Classroom talk follows strict IRE discourse patterns.
2. Teacher selects student speakers.
3. Teacher shows little or no acknowledgment of students’ self- selections.
4. Teacher initiates subtopics.
5. Teacher discourages or ignores students’ attempts to introduce other
subtopics.

P a g e | 49
6. Student responses tend to be short (one word/phrase); teacher does not
encourage response elaboration, and there is minimal expansion of
students’ responses by teacher.
7. Teacher initiates test-like questions for which there is generally only one
correct answer and indicates implied goal is to contribute specific right
answers to teacher’s questions (Nystrand et al., 1997: 26).
This is while the features of dialogic exchange are as the following:
1. Activity and discourse boundaries are significantly relaxed with more
student responses between teacher initiation and evaluation; also
student responses occasionally build on previous responses (chained)
and contributes to the construction of shared knowledge.
2. Teacher frames and facilitates the activity and can respond at any time,
but keeps utterances and intervention to a minimum.
3. There is a minimal teacher selection of students; students either self-
elect or select other students.
4. Teacher and students negotiate subtopics of discussion.
5. Teacher indicates implied goal as developing shared knowledge, but still
includes a prefernce for correct information.
6. Teacher and students initiate questions for which there are no specific
correct answers as well as questions that are constructed from students’
previous responses.
7. Teacher sometimes acknowledges students’ topic expansions as well as
teacher’s and other students’ incorporation of these expansions into the
ongoing lesson (Nystrand et al., 1997: 26-27).
Methodology
Participants
Ten high school teachers were selected for interview. From among the
interviewees, one teacher was selected based on the location criterion and her
willingness to participate in the study. The other criterion in selecting the

50 | P a g e
teacher was her ability in engaging the students in English language use in the
class, albeit very little. The teacher was informed of the research steps and the
main foci of the study. For observing and video-taping the classes, the
permission of the chief of education office of Tarom town, the principal of the
school and the students was obtained. 27 pre-university students from
Fatemieh high school in Tarom town cooperated in the study.
Instruments
To minimize subjectivity and bias in the data collection, we used the strategy of
triangulation or obtaining multiple data sources: both methodological
triangulation (interview, classroom observation, analysis of transcripts,) and
data triangulation (transcripts and video-taped lessons). For example, the
evidence obtained from the class observation of the case study teacher’s
actual practices was used to complement the evidence gathered from our
interview.
Regarding the interview instrument, we chose to use a structured interview as
it suited best to our research purpose. To find which discourse pattern is used
by the EFL teachers, we prepared ten interview questions based on the basic
distinctions between the monologic and dialogic discourse patterns (the
response to the first research question). Our case study also included the study
of one English teacher in Tarom town teaching in high school level. The case
study process involved the observation and video-recording of classes of the
teacher and transcriptions of the events. We used a less structured
observation in which the researcher may rely on field notes for description of
the phenomena being observed, or transcripts of tapes of those events
(Mackey & Gass, 2005).
Procedures
We used a structured interview to probe some representative teachers’
responses in deeper detail and to find out exactly what their classroom
discourse was (The interview questions are provided in appendix A.). We
emailed the interview questions to a variety of experts and TEFL teachers and
informed them of the interview objectives and bases to remove any problems
and ambiguities. Applying the experts’ and teachers’ comments and
suggestions, we came up with a number of ten questions each including some
sub-questions. Having been aware of the research focus in advance, the ten

P a g e | 51
teachers were interviewed and the interviews were recorded for a deeper
analysis. Then, the case study teacher and her respective classes were
observed and video-taped in turn for a ten week period resulting in a total of
10 observational visits each constituting one session of one hour and thirty
minutes. Through both case study and interviews we intended to make sure of
the teacher’s discourse pattern.
Data analysis
In case of the qualitative part of the present study, the approach to data
analysis was “unstructured” in the sense that it was data-driven. Generally, in
analyzing our data, we used a combination of grounded theory (Strauss, 1987)
for analyzing the interviews and fine grained conversation analysis using
Nystrand (1993)’s attributes of monologic and dialogic discourse as the
reference for the analysis of classroom observation transcripts.
Interviews analysis
The process of analyzing the data derived from the interviews through
grounded theory involved different steps. After transcribing the recorded files
of interviews, the three phases of grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1990)
were exactly followed. In the first phase of open coding all the interviews were
segmented into paragraphs and the main ideas of each paragraph were noted
as the codes. Then, during axial coding, the interconnected codes were
regarded as being under the same subcategory. Finally, in the third phase of
selective coding, a core category was identified based on the interlinked
subcategories which guided us to write the grounded theory. An example of a
partial transcript is provided in table 1.
Table 1: A partial transcript of a teacher interview (16/8/2011)
I: interviewer
T: teacher
I: When teaching English, which language do you prefer to use? English or Persian?
T: I really prefer to use English, but I can’t. Most of the time, the students don’t like to communicate
in English because they think they are unable to use English and understand it. The second reason is
that we haven’t enough time to communicate in English. If I do that I lose the time for my other
works and the students don’t like that. They always want to cover everything exactly and carefully.
I: Do you prefer to have control and power in teaching or in class management? Do you let your
students air their views too? How much do you usually intervene in the class activities?
T: In class settings with a large number of students and crowded desks, I prefer to have power in class
management but sometimes when the classes are not populated, I ask for the students’ ideas and
views in class management but again I have the authority to control the class. Most of the time, I let

52 | P a g e
the students to air their views but I am always who makes the last decision. Usually I intervene in the
class activities a lot. I decide homework and class activities and nearly everything that happens in the
class.
From the partial transcript above, six codes were obtained. The total analysis
of the ten interviews provided a total of 120 codes. The irrelevant codes to the
research purpose were eliminated and the codes that were nearly identical in
meaning were combined under one code. The coding of the partial transcript is
given in the following table.
Table 2: Coding of partial teacher interview
Code 1: not to use English language because the students think they are unable to
communicate in English
Code 2: not to use English language because communicating in English makes the teacher
lose the time of the class for other activities
Code 3: to have power and authority in populated classes
Code 4: to ask the students’ ideas in less populated classes though making the last decision
herself
Code 5: to intervene in the class activities most of the times (to decide homework and class
activities)
Code 6: to guide the class in a way the teacher wants
Codes that contained similar properties were combined to form subcategories,
as shown below. During the whole process of repetitive analysis, seventeen
subcategories and nine core categories were emerged.
Table 3: Forming subcategories of the codes from the partial teacher interview
Subcategories of the codes
Subcategory 1: Teachers use Persian due to students’ low English proficiency.(code1)
Subcategory 2: Teachers use Persian due to time constraint.(code 2)
Subcategory 3: Teachers have Control over the class activities to a great extent. (codes 3 &6)
Subcategory 4: Teachers seldom ask about students’ ideas.(code 4)
Subcategory 5: Teachers intervene in the class activities a lot.(code 5)
Class transcripts analysis
The analysis of the transcripts, through conversation analysis, was done having
the teacher and students utterances as the unit of analysis and characterizing
discourse based on the Gutierrez’(1993) attributes of the monologic and
dialogic discourse. The choice for characterizing the utterances according to
Gutierrez’(1993) properties of monologic and dialogic discourse was made in
light of the fact that the features listed characterize not only discourse
patterns but also teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching as interpreted
by Nystrand et al. (1997). These attributes have been mentioned in the
concluding section of chapter two.

P a g e | 53
To show how the transcripts are analyzed, we provide a partial transcript of
one of the randomly selected transcripts of class videos. The following excerpt
is taken from a pre-reading activity a ranking exercise in the textbook.
T: “What’s the topic of the lesson?”
Ss: “Giving speech”
T: “Ok, please open your books on page 12. There are some pre-reading questions here. The
first question is “Does standing up in front of a group make you nervous?”. “Nervous”
means?”
Ss: “stressful, concerned”
S1: “No, it doesn’t. We are not anxious when we stand up in front of a group.”
T: “Thank you. The next question is “How about having to talk to that group as well?”. What
do you feel? Do you get nervous?”
S2: “Could we say “I speak very well in front of a group”?”
T: “Ok, you can say “I don’t feel stressful so I can speak very well.” Or you can say “talking to
that group doesn’t make me nervous”.”
S3: “Or because I have self-confidence, I don’t feel anxious.”
T: “Very good. The next question: “Do you remember the last time you gave a lecture?” two
weeks ago, two of you had lectures, how did you feel? Were you concerned? [saying in
Persian]”
S4: “I hadn’t confidence.”
S5: “But I was relaxed.”
T: “Ok, now please answer the second exercise. Rank the sentences from the most important
to the least important about giving speech.”
[Students work individually and then the teacher checks the answers]
(Class video, 25/10/2011)
In our analysis, each sentence is quantified as one utterance. As influenced by
Brown (2001) conceptualization of question types, the teacher and student
questions are classified as display (for which the teacher knows the response.)
and referential questions (for which the teacher does not know the response).
The analysis of the partial transcript resulted in 9 teacher initiated questions, 5
teacher initiated statements, 1 student initiated question, 0 student initiated
statement and 7 student initiated responses. Setting the total transcripts of
class videos against an analysis of the types of utterances that prevail in the
classroom engenders the following table.

54 | P a g e
Table 4: Classroom discourse pattern for the whole transcripts
Utterance
Number of
occurrences
Topic
Teacher initiated question 70
Display questions about reading, new
vocabulary and grammar
Teacher initiated statement 68
Comments about reading, grammar, homework
and book exercises
Student initiated question 9
Questions about homework and
misunderstanding of meaning of a sentence or a
word or a grammar point
Student initiated statement 0
Student initiated response 75
Answers to display questions about reading,
vocabulary and grammar
Results
Discussion
In this section, we will review the research questions one more time and
discuss our findings in light of the research questions.
Research question 1
What is /are the difference(s) between monologic and dialogic discourse
pattern in EFL classes?
To meet this research objective, a comprehensive exploration of the previous
researches’ findings was conducted and the fundamental ideologies of
significant figures were carefully put into consideration. In result, a number of
thirteen basic distinctions between the two discourse patterns were obtained.
Generally speaking, in the monologic discourse pattern, the teacher’s and the
textbook’s voice are the only or the dominant voices. In contrast, in a dialogic
discourse pattern, the teacher’s voice is still an important voice but it is only
one of the many voices. Following is a list of the aspects of such a difference.
1. In a monologic discourse pattern, the teacher formulates the questions
to be asked from the students in such a way that a short answer is
required. So, student responses tend to be short (one word/phrase). By
contrast, in a dialogic discourse pattern the teacher asks questions
which require longer answers and waits enough till the student gives the
response.

P a g e | 55
2. In the monologic discourse pattern, the teacher does not take into
consideration the students’ ideas, needs, desires and contributions while
in the dialogic one the teacher considers students’ needs and
contributions in his/her lesson plan and organization of the class
activities.
3. In the monologic discourse pattern, there are a low number of student-
initiated questions and statements while in the dialogic one, the teacher
lets the students initiate the talk and ask as many questions as possible.
Moreover, sometimes the number of questions asked by students is
more than the number of questions asked by the teacher.
4. In the monologic discourse pattern, the teacher does not follow up on
students’ questions. She/he also does not encourage response
elaboration, and there is minimal expansion of students’ responses by
teacher. So, the responses provided by students don’t lead to further
discussion. By contrast, classroom discourse is dialogic when the teacher
follows up on students’ contributions to modify or expand on them. In
addition, the teacher asks questions that are constructed from students’
previous responses.
5. In the monologic discourse pattern, students do not listen to other
students very well and can’t continue their talk whereas in a dialogic
discourse pattern, uptake is generated in the class trough student
responses and questions occasionally building on previous responses
(chained) and contributing to the construction of shared knowledge.
6. In the monologic discourse pattern, either the teacher initiates subtopics
or the topics are based on the textbook. Moreover, the teacher
discourages or ignores students’ attempts to introduce other subtopics.
While in a dialogic one the teacher and students negotiate subtopics of
discussion and the teacher sometimes acknowledges students’ topic
expansions as well as teacher’s and other students’ incorporation of
these expansions into the ongoing lesson.
7. In a monologic discourse pattern, there is a high frequency of calls on
students for answers to questions and a low number of student
volunteers. Most of the times, the only students participating in the class

56 | P a g e
are those called by the teacher. While in the dialogic one, there is a
minimal teacher selection of students; students either self-elect or select
other students.
8. In the monologic discourse pattern, the teacher initiates test-like
questions for which there is generally only one correct answer. In other
words, the teacher has a pre-determined response in the mind for the
question s/he asks. Whereas, in the dialogic discourse pattern the
teacher initiates authentic questions for which there are no specific
correct answers in the teacher’s mind.
9. In the monologic discourse pattern, all the class activities are organized
and controlled by the teacher and authority of the teacher is clear. s/he
prescribes the directions and boundaries and acts as a greatspeaker in
the classroom. While in the dialogic discourse pattern, the teacher
almost assumes a nuetral position and only frames and facilitates the
activities and respond at any time, but keeps utterances and
intervention to a minimum.
10.In the monologic discourse pattern, the teacher indicates implied goal as
to contribute specific right answers to teacher’s questions while in the
dialogic one the teacher indicates implied goal as developing shared
knowledge, but still includes a prefernce for correct information.
11.In the monologic discourse pattern, the teacher asks questions with low
cognitive level which requires a mere reporting or replication of
another’s voice rather the teacher, in the dialogic discourse pattern, asks
questions with high cognitive level which can’t be answered neither by
reporting an event or reciting others’ voices nor using the students’ own
prior knowledge. These questions need more critical thinking involving
students’ own voice and perspectives.
12.In the monologic discourse pattern, the teacher asks display questions
the answers for which are known to the teacher and need short
responses; whereas in the dialogic discourse pattern most of the
teacher’s questions are referential for which the teacher does not know
the answer and they are answered through negotiation and exploration

P a g e | 57
of the topic. “Why” and “how” questions are of this type and require
more justification.
13.In the monologic discourse pattern, the teacher gives feedbacks of low
level evaluation to students’ responses. For example, s/he gives
feedbacks like “very good” or” you are right” and gets back to the
lesson; whereas in the dialogic discourse pattern, the feedbacks are of
high-level evaluation. In this way, the teacher evaluates the students’
responses by making them explain more, clarify or give more
information. Furthermore, the teacher gives feedback to the content of
the student’s response rather than to its form.
Research question 2
Do the teachers use monologic discourse pattern in their classes or a dialogic
one?
To discover whether the teachers use monologic discourse pattern in their
classes or a dialogic one, two research instruments were applied: interviewing
and case study. Firstly, structured interviews were conducted and then they
were analyzed in connection with the case study to maximize the validity of
the findings. As follows includes the discussion of the results concerning both
interview and case study.
Discussion and interpretation of the interviews
The analysis of interviews using grounded theory resulted in nine core
categories, each to be discussed in the following.
Core category 1: Using Persian in the class
With respect to this core category, there are two subcategories driven from
twelve codes. From the two subcategories, it can be inferred that the teachers
use Persian language most of the times in their classes and regard students’
low English proficiency as well as the lack of time as the main reasons for not
speaking in English. In other words, they maintain that if there was sufficient
time for all the class activities and the students were at the right level of
English proficiency, they certainly used more English language in their
teaching.

58 | P a g e
Core category 2: Having control and power in the class
The analysis of the interviews resulted in three subcategories and eighteen
codes related to core category two. Considering the subcategories and their
consisting codes, three points can be interpreted:
1. About all the teachers prefer to have control, power, and authority in
their class management, activities and so on. They believe the reasons
are the large number of students in the classes and problems in effective
teaching.
2. Although the teachers respect their students’ ideas if there is any, they
seldom ask about their ideas regarding class topics and subtopics of
discussion and almost never let their students choose the topics.
1. 3.The teachers intervene in all the class activites and control almost
everything that happens in the classes. They maintain the reasons as:
students’ low level of proficiency, measuring students’ progress exactly,
helping them to go further and time limit.
The three points mentioned confidently account for a monologic discourse
pattern.
Core category 3: Cooperating with the learners
Regarding this core category, we obtained two subcategories and ten codes.
The analysis of the subcategories and codes shows that although the teachers
cooperate with their students in most of the class activities, they involve their
students in some mechanical activities like doing exercises on the board,
providing materials, doing the teaching themselves and the like. These
activities certainly do not make them speak in English and can’t improve the
learners’ speaking ability. Therefore, though a dialogic discourse pattern may
be used while doing activities cooperatively, the English language definitely is
not applied in a dialogic discourse pattern.
Core category 4: Deciding on the lesson plan, syllabus and class management
Concerning core category 4, we had two subcategories obtained from twelve
codes. Taking these subcategories and codes into account, it can be
generalized that teachers highly follow the book topics and syllabi decided by
the ministry of education and very rarely take the students’ needs,
contributions and concerns into consideration in their lesson plans and class

P a g e | 59
management. Yet, some teachers maintain that the main reason for not
considering all the students’ needs and concerns in deciding upon the lesson
plans is that the school syllabi imposed by the ministry don’t allow for any
spontaneity or creativity. Overall, it can be concluded that the discourse
pattern to be used in the classrooms is a monologic discourse pattern.
Core category 5: Managing the learning tasks and activities
From the analysis of the whole interviews, related to managing the learning
tasks and activities, six codes were emerged which led to one subcategory. The
analysis revealed that the teachers mostly manage the learning tasks and
activities to be done individually and sometimes group work is used depending
on the type of activity and the class time. It is generally conceived that for
most of the learning tasks and activities, individual work is preferred by the
teachers. However, for a dialogic discourse to be established in the classroom,
learning tasks must be managed to be done in groups or as a class.
Core category 6: Making students cooperate with each other
Related to this core category, eight codes were obtained which led to one
subcategory. Considering the found information, it is self-evident that most of
the teachers prefer their students to cooperate with each other and assign
activities for the students to work on in groups. Nevertheless, all this
cooperation happens in Persian and the teachers do not ask their students to
speak in English and give comments to each other using English language. If
the students’ cooperation happened in English, the establishment of a dialogic
discourse pattern while using the language could be heightened.
Core category 7: Asking questions in the class
Related to core category 7, the interviews analysis generally resulted in twenty
codes which led to three subcategories. Based on three points resulting from
the analysis of the subcategories and codes, it can be highly recognized that
the teachers’ questioning behaviors bring about a monologic discourse pattern
to a great extent.
2. The teachers mostly ask “display questions” which are questions for
which the teachers know the answer and usually demand a single or
short response. The questions mentioned by the teachers are raised
with the intention of check students’ understanding, elicit examples, and

60 | P a g e
arouse interest for a new topic. All the questions of this sort are display
questions.
3. Teachers often ask questions which need short responses and these
questions are usually followed by single responses and are not followed
up by the other students.
4. Teachers seldom ask “authentic questions” which refer to questions for
which the asker has not a pre-specified response and allows a range of
responses, unlike recitation (or test) questions, in which a teacher asks a
question with a prescribed answer in mind. The example questions given
by the teachers in response to one of the interview questions are not
authentic at all.
Core category 8: Managing students’ questions
Through analyzing the interviews about managing students’ questions, we
obtained eight codes leading to two subcategories. The analysis showed that
most of the teachers give importance to the students’ questions; nevertheless,
most of the students’ questions are related to the lesson contents. We also
found that the teachers very rarely follow up the students’ questions. This
means that the teachers in some way finish the talk raised by the students’
questions and get back to the lesson. They do not let the other students follow
what the students have said or asked about and the classroom talk does not
move in directions prompted by the students’ questions. In the other words,
there is no “uptake” in the class and accordingly the discourse is in a monologic
pattern.
Core category 9: Giving feedback to the learners
Concerning the core category of “giving feedback to the learners”, the two
subcategories were emerged from nineteen codes. Through their analysis, we
arrived at three outcomes, all implying that the teachers use a monologic
discourse in their classes.
1. The teachers often give “low level evaluation” to the students’
responses. In other words, the kinds of feedbacks they give to the
learners don’t make them continue their talk or think more and say how
they think or why they give such responses.

P a g e | 61
2. The teachers focus on the form more than the content. The feedback
sentences which they give to the students confirm their high attention
to the form and grammar. To put it in better words, the teachers very
rarely provide students with “content feedback”.
3. From the teachers’ example sentences for the feedbacks they give, it can
be inferred that they seldom offer enough “wait time” which is the time
the teacher allows the students to answer questions.
Based upon the points mentioned regarding all the nine core categories and
seventeen subcategories, it can be generalized that the teachers use a
monologic discourse pattern in their classes.
Discussion and interpretation of the case study
The transcription and analysis of the data in accordance with the attributes of
monologic and dialogic discourse, accordingly, indicates that the class
discourse pattern is characterized by factors associated with monologic
discourse as defined by Gutierres (1993) and features the following traits:
 There is a significant difference between the number of utterances
made by the teacher in comparison to the number made by the
students.
 There are a high number of display questions asked by the teacher, none
of which are referential.
 There are a low number of student- initiated questions or statements.
The ones that were made remained at a factual level as they related to
topics like homework and grammar which were made in Persian and
those related to the meaning of a sentence or word which were made in
English.
 There is a high frequency of calls on students for answers to questions
and a low student volunteers. Most of the times, the only students
participating in the class are those called by the teacher.
 All the topics to be discussed in the class are based on the textbook and
there is no possibility for the student’s selections of topics or subtopics.

62 | P a g e
 The responses provided by the students don’t lead to further discussion
and the teacher does not follow up on the student’s responses.
 The answers provided by the students consist of only one or a few
couple of words and the longer answers are the ones which are directly
from the book and the students say what they have memorized.
In sum, all the mentioned traits resulting from the analysis of the case study
teacher’s class video transcripts indicate that the teacher uses a monologic
discourse pattern in her classes rather than a dialogic one. This conclusion is,
certainly, correlating with the interviews findings.
Conclusions
Our data confirm that teaching in Iran schools is very much a matter of
teachers’ talking and directing children’s talk and controlling the class events.
In line with the most recent studies on learning and teaching (Fisher and
Larkin, 2008; O’Connor and Michaels, 2003), our study also gives evidence to
the presence of a type of monologic discourse in Iran classes. This has been
done through conducting interviews and case study. The analysis of interviews
revealed that:
1. The teachers use more Persian language in the class.
2. They have control, power, and authority in their classes.
3. They almost never let their students choose the topics.
4. They intervene in all the class activites to a great extent.
5. They cooperate with their students in most of the class mechanical
activities.
6. They highly follow the book topics and imposed syllabi.
7. They seldom consider students’ needs, contributions and concerns in
their lesson plans and class management.
8. They mostly manage the class activities to be done individually but
sometimes group work is used depending on the type of activity and the
class time.
9. They assign activities for the students to work on in groups but this
cooperation happens in Persian.
10.They mostly ask “display questions”.
11.They often ask questions which need short responses.
12.There is no uptake in the class.
13.They seldom ask “authentic questions”.

P a g e | 63
14.They don’t follow up on students’ questions.
15.They often give “low level evaluation” to the students’ responses.
16.They very rarely provide students with “content feedback”.
17.They seldom offer enough “wait time.
Based on these findings, it can be widely concluded that the teachers use a
monologic discourse pattern in their classes.
The analysis of classroom observation transcripts of our case study teacher had
also the objective of affirming whether a monologic discourse pattern is used
in the classes or a dialogic one. We found that classroom practices are
dominated by a class discourse which concern with teacher telling and
controlling the interaction, using display questions with pre-specified answers
or test questions rather than referential, authentic questions of high cognitive
level. Furthermore, there are very few student-initiated statements or
questions and they never lead to further discussion in the class. Moreover, all
the class discussion is around the book topics. All these results correlate with
the basic traits of the monologic discourse and they lead us to this conclusion
that the teacher uses a monologic discourse pattern in the class.
It can be generally conceived that, the classes observed here reveal a
traditional teacher-controlled transmission mode of teaching with the focus on
rote learning of vocabulary and grammar, mechanical practice, recalling from
memory and knowledge rather than on language skills, meaningful interaction,
and initiative use of language. The students taught through this didactic way
never meet these requirements. Their responses fit to the teachers’ standards
and are based on the book contents.
Suggestions for further research
Due to the inherent limitations of the case study research approach, in this
case being directed towards one English teacher and her classrooms in our
own town, findings here might not be generalized to the wider English
teaching community in Iran. Additionally, regional disparities make any such
attempt to generalize to other EFL classrooms even less reliable. Therefore,
future research should aim to gather more data from more EFL settings.
Moreover, the current study could be replicated to see the results in places
other than public schools like language institutes and universities which either
teach English as a general course or for specific proposes.

64 | P a g e
References
Alexander, R. (2004). Talking to learn: Teaching principles. Published in TES Magazine.
Bakhtin. M.M. (1981). The dialogic imagination. Austin: Texas university press.
Bakhtin, M. (1984). Problems of Doestoevsky’s poetics. Trans. Caryl Emerson. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Behnam, Biook., PourIran, Yasamin. (2009). Classroom discourse: analyzing teacher-student
interactions in Iranian EFL task based classrooms. Purta Linguarum, 12, 117-132.
Brown, H.D (2001). Teaching by principles (2nd Ed.). London: Longman.
Christoph, J.N., & Nystrand, M. (2001). Taking risks, negotiating relationships: one teacher’s
transition towards a dialogic classroom. Research in the teaching of English. 2001/09- 14003.
Dahmardeh, M. (2009). Communicative textbooks: Iranian secondary school’s English language
textbooks. Linguistic online, 40(4). University of Bern.
Demo, D A. (2001). Discourse analysis for language teachers. Eric clearinghouse on languages and
linguistics. DIGEST EDO-FL-01-07
Ellis, R. (1990). Instructed second language acquisition. Oxford and Cambridge: Blackwell.
Fisher, R., & Larkin, S. (2008). Pedagogy or ideological struggle? An examination of pupils’ &
teachers’ expectations for talk in the classroom. Language and Education, 22(1), 1-16.
Goulding, C. (1999). Grounded Theory: some reflections on paradigm, procedures and
misconceptions. Management Research Centre. University of Wolverhampton. Working
Paper Series. Number WP006/99. ISSN Number ISSN 1363-6839.
Gutierrez, K. (1993). Scripts, counterscripts and multiple scripts. Paper presented at the American
Educational Research Association. Atlanta, GA.
Hardman, F, Abd-kadir, J and Smith, F. (2007). Pedagogical renewal: Improving the quality of
classroom interaction in Nigerian primary schools. International journal of educational
development, 28(1), 55-69.
Hermans, L. (2007). English in the EFL classroom: why not. Classroom discourse pattern and teachers’
beliefs. A PhD thesis.
Johnson, K. (1995). Understanding communication in second language classrooms. Cambridge, MA:
Cambridge university press.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S.M. (2005). Second language research: methodology and design. London:
Lawrence Erlbaum associates.
Molinari, L., & Mameli, C. (2010). Classroom dialogic discourse: an observational study. Elsevier Ltd.
Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2, 3857–3860.

P a g e | 65
Nassaji, H., & Wells, G. (2000). What’s the use of ‘Triadic Dialogue’?: An investigation of teacher-
student interaction. Applied Linguistics, 21(3), 376-406.
Nathan, M. J., Kim, S., & Grant, T. S. (2009). Instituting change in classroom discourse
structure: Human and computer-based motif analysis (WCER Working Paper No.
2009-1). Madison: University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Center for
Education Research. Retrieved [e.g., February 15, 2008,] from
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/publications/workingPapers/papers.php
Nystrand, M., & Gamoran, A. (1997). The big picture: Language and learning in hundreds of English
lessons. In M. Nystrand (Ed.), Opening dialogue (pp. 30-74). New York: Teachers College
Press.
Nystrand, M., & Gamoran, A (1991). Instructional discourse, student engagement, and literature
achievement. Research in the Teaching of English, 25: 261-290.
Nystrand. M. (with Gamoran, A., Kachur, R., & Prendergast, C.). (1997). Opening dialogue:
Understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom. New York:
Teachers College Press.
Nystrand, M., Wu, L., Gamoran, A., Zeiser, S., & Long, D. (2001). Questions in time: Investigating the
structure and dynamics of unfolding classroom discourse. CELA Report: No. 14005.
O’conner, C., & Michaels, S. (2007). When is dialogue ‘dialogic’? Human Development, 50, 275–285.
Pishghadam, R., & Hashemi, M.R., & Adel, S.M. Reza. (2010). Dialogical interaction in formal and
informal contexts: A study in an EFL situation. The Iranian EFL Journal, 6 (1), 27-71.
Silverman, D. (1998). Harvey Sacks: Social Science and Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Polity.
Talebinezhad, M., Aliakbari, M. (in progress). Evaluation and justification of a paradigm shift in the
current ELT models in Iran. Linguistik online. 10, 1(02), 21-28.
Webb, N. M., Franke, M.L., Ing, M., Chan, A., De, T., Freund, D., Battey, D. (2008). The role of the
teacher instructional practices in the student collaboration. Contemporary educational
psychology, 33(3), 360-381.
Wells, G. (1993). Reevaluating the IRF sequence: A proposal for the articulation of theories of activity
and discourse for the analysis of teaching and learning in the classroom. Linguistics and
Education, 5, 1-37.
Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry: toward a sociocultural practice and theory of education. New York:
Cambridge University Press.

66 | P a g e
Appendix A: Interview questions
When teaching English, which language do you prefer to use? English or Persian?
Do you prefer to have power in teaching or in class management? Do you let your students
air their views too? How much do you usually intervene in the class activities?
Do you like to get help from your learners and cooperate with your pupils? How do you do
that?
Who decides on the topics taught in the class? Do you have a role in designing your own
syllabus and lesson plan? Do you consider your students’ needs, concerns and contributions,
in that respect? What do you do exactly? Can you clarify your response with some examples?
How do you normally manage the learning tasks to be done? (Individually or group work or
any other).
How do you make your students help each other, work together, and share ideas in the
class? Do you ask your students to listen to their friends in order to follow their talk when
they say something in English?
Do you ask questions when you are teaching? When do you normally ask questions?
Do you ask questions for which you have no pre-determined response in mind? How often
do you ask your students questions that need longer answers? Can you exemplify the typical
questions you usually ask your students at different steps of you teaching?
Do your students ask questions using English language? Are their questions important for
you? And can they influence on the choice of your class topics and contents? How often do
you ask your students’ ideas about the topics for discussion in the class?
How do you give feedback or evaluate your students’ responses? (Exemplify the sentences
you use when your students say something right or wrong.) How often do you give feedback
to what the student really tries (its content) to say rather than its grammar?

P a g e | 67
An Investigation of the Construction of
English Learners’ Identities in Iranian
EFL Contexts: Schools and Institutes
Marzieh Asadi1
Islamic Azad University2
Abstract
The topic of identity has moved from the periphery to the core in second language acquisition
research (Choi, 2009). The topic has drawn many attentions in recent years. Most studies done in
this respect focus on the identity in the inner circle where English is taught as a second language.
Less attention has been paid to identity construction in EFL contexts where English is taught as a
foreign language.
The status of English as a foreign language in Iran is a bit different from other countries where
English is taught as a foreign language. This difference arises from the fact that English is presented
in two different contexts in Iran: formal settings of schools and less formal settings of institutes.
These settings are quite different from each other in many respects such as teachers, textbooks,
instructional methods, and learners’ motivation to learn. Because factors such as teachers,
textbooks, and instructional methods are the key components of any EFL settings, they cause
learners to manifest two different identities in the two settings of schools and institutes.
According to what was cited above, the focus of this study was first to investigate how learners
constructed their identities as bilinguals in EFL settings and second to explore how their identity
changed in the two settings of EFL in Iran, i.e. schools and institutes. For this purpose, the research
method of interview was adopted to collect the data from eight Iranian female EFL learners
participating in the study. A qualitative content analysis was used in order to analyze the data.
The results of the study revealed that learners constructed a new identity by learning English,
knowing about its culture and people, creating imagined communities of native speakers. But, this
new identity did not cause them to forget their L1 identities and values. Learners manifested
different identities in the two settings of school and institute and they attributed this change to the
differences that existed between the two settings.
Introduction
Issues surrounding learner identities have been discussed and researched
extensively in the field of second language acquisition (Yoshizawa, 2010). A
1
PhD student at Tarbiat Modares University
2
Aligudarz branch

68 | P a g e
great deal of attention has been paid to this topic on recent years. So, the topic
of identity no longer remains on the periphery in second language acquisition
research (Choi, 2009). As Norton (1995) points out, interest in identity has
resulted from the recognition that learning a second language does not entail
merely obtaining linguistic knowledge, but it is concerned with how the
language learners perceive themselves, including their abilities, communicative
styles, values, and belongings to community (Cited in Choi, 2009: 130). In fact,
foreign language learning is perceived as part of an identity construction
process.
Another impetus for studying identity according to Gee (2003) is the
recognition that teaching second language unavoidably involves helping
learners negotiate their identities and forge new identities. Zacharis (2010)
also points out that learning English is more than acquiring linguistic aspects of
language. Rather, it is a complex social practice involving a transformation of
learners’ multiple identities. Kearney (2004: 47) states that while individual
factors such as age, previous language learning experience, attitude and many
others have been studied in the field of second language acquisition, identity
as an overarching factor brings together numerous issues and may offer an
accurate picture of how individuals deal with learning a second language. She
further maintains that while some studies in SLA focus on outcomes as they
are related to a single variable like age, motivation, or attitude; identity more
adequately captures the complexity of learner’s engagement with language
learning and allows us to reconsider what constitutes success and who gets to
decide what success is in language learning. The advantage of such studies on
identity is that it allows us to recognize the agency of individual learners in
defining their own goals and in attempting to realize them. Because
traditionally, language learners have been considered poor copies of native
speakers and defective users of the target language. A more contemporary
view of language learning acknowledges that language learners are legitimate
owners and users of the second language, who perform their own
representations of the language and have identities in their own right
(Pennycook, 1994, Cook 2002, Pavlenko 2002, Kramsch 1998, Cited in Zacharis,
2010).

P a g e | 69
In short, as Kearney (2004:65) states “Research on identity revalorizes the
language learner and illuminates the ways in which learners navigate the
process of Language learning”. In general research on identity advances our
knowledge of the process of language learning”.
Review of Literature
A focus for many studies in the field of second language acquisition is on how
learners of an additional language acquire an abstract language system. The
theoretical perspective that form the basis for many of these studies see the
goal of language acquisition research as understanding the development of a
system of formal linguistic structures in the individual brain. But, recent
research in SLA indicates that learning a second language is more than
acquiring a set of grammatical, lexical, and phonological forms of the language.
More importantly, “It is a reconstruction of selves” ( Pavlenko & Lantolf, 2002,
cited in Zacharis, 2010:27). In other words, learning of a second or foreign
language may have multiple meanings for learners.
Theoretical Perspectives on Identity
Identity has been viewed from various angles and different perspectives.
Regarding the existing paradigms on identity, there are two different models.
Based on the first paradigm named as the Western, mono- cultural, cognitive
view, the individual is considered as an independent, free, and self-contained
person. In this respect, the philosopher Tyler (1985,1989, 1993) argues that in
Western thought the individual has been conceptualized as metaphysically
independent of society, obscuring the way in which an individual is constituted
by language and culture which can only be maintained and renewed in the
communities he is part of (Cited in Day, 2002:16). This atomistic view of self
and identity is quite different from the second paradigm, in which the society
plays an important role in the construction of the identity of the individuals.
This paradigm is known as the constructivism and considers the human identity
to be partly cognitive or individualistic and partly social (Brewer & Gardner,
1996; Brown, 2007, cited in Razmjoo, 2010:100). There are some theories
which support the second paradigm and one of them being social identity
theory and the second cross-cultural theory. According to the social identity
theory, identity is bipolar: social and personal (Tajfel, 1998). Regarding the

70 | P a g e
cross-cultural theory, self or identity represents two ideas, namely,
independent-self and interdependent-self (Cited in Razmjoo, 2010:100).
Identity and SLA
Approaches to identity in SLA research have changed considerably over the
past decades, reflecting shifts in thinking about how and why second and
foreign language learning takes place, and especially the nature and effects of
interactions between the learners and contexts of learning (Ricento, 2005).
Much of research by applied linguists and second language acquisition
researchers concerns the ways in which identity is constituted through and by
language, so they have developed frameworks for exploring how learner’s
identity influences and is influenced by various settings in which learning takes
place (Ricento, 2005). Early works in SLA was influenced by the theories of
social identity developed by Tajfel (1981). He understood social identity as
being derived from an individual’s membership in a social group (Ricento,
2005). Drawing on this work, Giles and Johnson (1981,1987) developed their
ethnographic identity theory in which language was posited as a prominent
marker of group membership and social identity. If a change in group
membership involved linguistic adaptation, one result could be subtractive
bilingualism or even language erosion and loss over time. (Ricento, 2005). So
identity was conceptualized as a group attribute. Another theory related to the
notion of identity is the Schumann’s Acculturation model (1936, 1938) and the
concept of social distance operationalized in his model. He assumes that less
social distance entailed greater social solidarity between two cultures. In other
words, the greater identification with the target culture, the more motivated
the learner will be to acquire the target language.
Another model from SLA research which is related to identity is by Gardner and
Lambert (1972). They propose concepts of attitude and motivation and the
roles they play in foreign language learning. According to them there are two
types of motivation: instrumental and integrative; there are also two sets of
learning outcome, linguistic and nonlinguistic (Gardner, 1985). Instrumental
motivation refers to such purposes for learning the foreign language such as
career development, to study in another country, etc. Integrative motivation
refers to a desire of the learner to integrate themselves with the target people
and become part of their group. Linguistic outcomes consist of target language

P a g e | 71
proﬁciency; nonlinguistic outcomes consist of more general changes in the
learner. By non-linguistic outcomes, they mainly focus on the concept of
bilingualism and maintain that the nonlinguistic outcomes of English learning
deserve much of EFL teachers’ attention because language learning can bring
about identity changes to learners (Cited in Yihong, 2007:133).
The problems to this approach first is that it assumes a static identity on the
part of the language learner (Peirce,1995) and second the price of acceptance
into another culture is the loss of one’s identities or the adoption of dual
identities (Ricento, 2005). In other words, there is a myth in the EFL pedagogy
that to succeed academically, English language learners need to minimize, if
not getting rid of, their L1 identities and adapt to native-speaker norms and
standards (Zacharis, 2010). English teaching methods like suggestopedia in
which the learners were supposed to pick an English name was the outcome of
these ideas (Zacharis, 2010).What was overlooked in these ideas was that
learners’ L1 culture is an integral part of their identities and cannot simply be
replaced (Zacharis, 2010). As a result, these notions were challenged in the SLA
research especially regarding L2 learners’ identities.
More Recent Approaches to Identity in SLA
The relationship between identity and language learning is of interest to
scholars in the fields of second language acquisition (SLA), language education,
sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics. It is best understood in the context of a
shift in the field from a predominantly psycholinguistic approach to SLA to
include a greater focus on sociological and cultural dimensions of language
learning- what has been called the “social turn” in SLA (kearney, 2004). This
shift in the field of SLA, brings out the subjective aspects of language learning
to the forefront and provides a complex view of the language learner (kearney,
2004).Thus, while much research on language learning in the 1970s and 1980s
was directed toward investigating the personalities, learning styles, and
motivations of individual learners, contemporary researchers of identity are
almost concerned with the diverse social, historical, and cultural contexts in
which language learning takes place, and how learners negotiate and
sometimes resist the diverse positions those contexts offer them (kearney,
2004). Further, identity theorists question the view that learners can be
defined in binary terms as motivated or unmotivated, introverted or

72 | P a g e
extroverted, without considering that such affective factors are frequently
socially constructed in inequitable relations of power, changing across time
and space, and possibly coexisting in contradictory ways within a single
individual (kearney, 2004).
More recent approaches to identity in SLA were mainly influenced by
sociocultural theory. Language in the sociocultural perspective is seen as a
source for participation in the kinds of activities our everyday lives comprise
and participation in these activities is both the product and process of learning
(Zuengler and Miller, 2006, cited in XU, 2010). According to Joseph (2004:21,
cited in XU, 2010), the relationship between identity and language is that
“people’s identity inherits in their voices, spoken, written or signed and their
identities are always present in what they say and in understanding of what
others say”. Another concept related to the understanding of identity is the
concept of the community of practice and theory of legitimate peripheral
participation (Lave and Wenger, 1991, cited in XU, 2010) which focuses on the
relationship between learning and situated social situations and conceptualises
learning as one of the participation in a community of practice. For Lave and
Wegner (1991), learning and identity are inseparable. Through legitimate
peripheral participation, an apprentice’s contributions to ongoing activity gain
value in practice and provide evidence for self-evaluation of effort, thus
providing inherent motivation to learn. Moving toward full participation in
practice involving part of the community and developing a sense of identity as
a master practitioner (Day, 2002:16). This, Lave and Wenger acknowledge,
entails changes in cultural identity and social relations (Cited in Day, 2002:16).
In a similar way, Ochs (1993) draws our attention into how we use language to
display our identities and memberships in groups.
As it can be seen, within sociocultural approaches (e.g., Bakhtin, 1986;
Bourdieu, 1991; Lantolf, 2000; Vygotsky, 1978; cited in Ricento, 1995: 895)
identity is not viewed as a fixed, invariant attribute in the mind of individual
learner. Instead, one’s identity is multifaceted, shifting, and fluid in different
zones of time and space. As a result, identity is presented as multi-faceted,
dynamic, and interactionally produced and negotiated (Kearney, 2004:49).
Like the sociocultural researchers, those working within critical and
poststructural perspectives in the second language field also take a socially

P a g e | 73
situated view of identity. For these theorists, language should be seen as a
social practice and individuals should be seen as having a complex identity,
changing over time and space (Day, 2002). Furthermore, poststructuralists in
the field of SLA have been trying to understand what identity is, how it relates
to a larger society, and most importantly how it affects one’s language learning
process. ( Day, 2002). Poststructuralists claim that “Identity is a site of struggle
in a way that subjectivity is produced in a variety of social sites, all of which are
structured by relations of power in which the person takes up different subject
positions which may be in conflict with each other” (Norton, 1995; 2000, cited
in Yoshizawa, 2010:35). “Identity is understood as diverse, contradictory and
dynamic: multiple rather than unitary, decentred rather than centered. In
addition, identities change over time: characteristics such as attitudes and
motivation change over time and social space” (Yoshizawa, 2010:35).
Moreover, many scholars cite Bonny Norton’s theorizing of identity (Norton
Peirce, 1995; Norton, 1997; Norton, 2000), as pivotal in framing contemporary
theory of identity and language learning. Post structuralism, particularly that
associated with Christine Weedon (1997) and Pierre Bourdieu (1991), is central
to Norton’s theories of identity, and her construct of investment complements
constructs of motivation in SLA (XU,2010). Norton (2000, cited in XU, 2010:2)
defines identity as “a sense of who we are and how we relate to social world”.
Norton (1995, 2000) argues that “a learner may be a highly motivated
language learner, but may nevertheless have little investment in the language
practices of a given classroom or community”. Thus, while motivation can be
seen as a primarily psychological construct, investment is framed within a
sociological framework, and seeks to make a meaningful connection between a
learner’s desire and commitment to learn a language, and their complex
identity. The construct of investment has sparked considerable interest and
research in the field.
An extension of interest in identity and investment concerns the imagined
communities that language learners may aspire to join when they learn a new
language. The term “imagined community”, originally coined by Benedict
Anderson (1991), was introduced to the language learning community by
Norton (2001), who argued that in many language classrooms, the targeted
community may be, to some extent, a reconstruction of past communities and

74 | P a g e
historically constituted relationships, but also a community of the imagination,
a desired community that offers possibilities for an enhanced range of identity
options in the future (Yoshizawa, 2010). Kanno and Norton (2003) explain that
“language learners also create imagined communities, which are groups
of people, not immediately tangible and accessible, with whom learners
connect through the power of imagination” (cited in Yoshizawa, 2010: 33).
Norton (2001) argues that “second language learners have images of the
communities in which they want to participate in the future. These imagined
communities have a large impact on their current learning although the
learners are not yet members of such communities. Therefore, the learner
investment is closely connected to their imagined communities and future
affiliation with the community that they hope to gain access to” (Cited in
Yoshizawa, 2010: 37). In other words, an imagined community assumes an
imagined identity, and a learner’s investment in the second language can be
understood within this context.
To sum up, the poststructuralist approach has challenged the notion that
language learners’ identities are fixed, firmly anchored in the original culture
and resistant to change (Norton, 1995, Pavlenko 2002). Instead, learners’
linguistic and cultural identities are seen as multiple - learners can be members
of multiple ethnic, social and cultural communities - contradictory, changing,
and permeable over time. Learners can not only cross the borders between
two cultures, but they can re-position themselves and modify their previous
selves without having to completely lose their old personas (Ricento, 2005).
To conclude the review part, a point worth considering is that according to
Yoshizawa, (2010:35) “So far, research on identity has mostly focused on the
identity issues in ESL context or in the core circle of English speaking
countries”. In contrast, there is a dearth of research on learner identity in EFL
contexts, i.e. where English is taught as a foreign language to see how
imagined communities are created and affect learners’ identities in these
contexts (Yoshizawa, 2010).
According to what was cited above, i.e. the significance of studying learners’
identities in the second language acquisition process as well as lack of research
in this respect, especially in EFL settings; the main purpose of this study was to
investigate the learners’ identities in the two EFL contexts in Iran: schools and

P a g e | 75
institutes. Furthermore, this study mostly relied on contemporary views on
identity of second language learners, i.e., sociocultural and poststructuralists
views to see how learners’ identities changed in these two settings.
English Status in Iran
Since English language teaching in the formal education system of schools in
Iran lacks the capability to equip learners with the required level of English to
pass the university entrance exam or meet their communicative needs,
students usually resort to language institutes to achieve their goals. These
private institutes are active throughout the country and a lot of students are
attracted to them. The context of learning English in these institutes is very
much different from formal settings in schools from lots of respects such as
teachers, materials, methodology, and peers, and even motivation to learn
English. So, concerning the variability of identity in different settings, it could
be inferred that learners might manifest two different identities in these
contexts which is worth noticing.
Thus, the main focus of this study was to investigate how learner identity
changes in the two different settings of learning English: formal settings in
schools and less formal settings in institutes.
Method
According to Ricento (2005) “Because identities are constantly changing,
dynamic, and socioculturally constructed, their study requires a qualitative
research methodology that permits a more in-depth exploration of each case”
(Cited in Choi, 2009). Therefore, this study adopts a qualitative research
method and interprets the data accordingly by analyzing the transcribed
recordings by qualitative content analysis. Why the researcher chose this
method is that as Miller and Crabtree (1999) point out, the interview genre
with its turn-taking conversations and expectations for participant roles,
etiquettes, and even linguistic phrases is usually shared cultural knowledge. It
is exactly because interviewing is a known communication routine that the
method works so well as a versatile research instrument- in fact, although
there is a range of qualitative research techniques available to the researchers,
the interview is the most often used method in qualitative inquiries. It is

76 | P a g e
regularly applied in a variety of applied linguistic contexts for diverse purposes
(Cited in Dornyei, 2007:134). The typical qualitative interview is a one-to-one
professional conversation that has a structure and a purpose to obtain
descriptions of the life world of interviewee with respect to interpreting the
meaning of described phenomena (Kvale, 1996:5, cited in Dornyei, 2007:134).
Another point which is worth noticing here is that the interview was a semi-
structured one.
Research Questions
Since qualitative research has an exploratory nature (Dornyei, 2007), and it is
an effective way of exploring new areas, the following exploratory research
questions guided this study:
1. What are some of the general characteristics of the learners’
identities?
2. How do learners construct their identities as bilinguals?
3. How is the learner identity different in school and institute settings?
What are the causes of this change?
Participants
The participants of this study were 8 female students, six of them high school
students and two of them undergraduate university students who also took
part in English language programs in Shokuh institute. Indeed, the one original
intact class of the institute was used. The participants had the experience of
taking part in two EFL settings of English learning: formal settings of schools
and less formal settings of institutes. Their ages ranged between 16- 23 years
old.
Data Collection Procedures:
Data were collected by conducting interviews with the learners at the institute.
According to Dornyei (2007), the typical qualitative interview is a one-off event
lasting about 30-60 minutes. However, as Pollinghorne (2005) argues, one-shot
interviews are rarely able to produce the full and rich descriptions necessary
for worthwhile findings. So, he recommends that researchers administer a
sequence of three interviews with the same participants to obtain sufficient
depth and breadth. So, the researcher conducted a three-phase interview with

P a g e | 77
the participants. In the first phase, the researcher tried to get more familiar
with the learners and introduced them some of the interview questions and
reduced learners’ anxiety resulting from taking part in the interview. In the
second phase, the researcher introduced most of the questions of the
interview and asked learners to think about them. The reason was that identity
itself is a very complicated psychological construct and very difficult for the
learners to digest. So, in the first two phases, the researcher did not record
the learners’ voices. It was in the third phase that the researcher began to ask
the learners all the interview questions and recorded their voice. Because the
interview consisted of approximately 74 questions, it was conducted during
the three sessions in order to be more comprehensive and arrive at a full
account. Each interview lasted from 45 to 60 minutes. The interview was a
semi-structured one because although there was a set of pre-planned guiding
questions and prompts, the format was open-ended and the interviewee was
encouraged to elaborate on the issues raised in an exploratory manner.
According to Dornyei (2007:136) the interviewer in the semi-structure
interview provides guidance and direction (hence the –‘structured’ part in the
name), but is also keen to follow up interesting developments and to let the
interviewee elaborate on certain issues (hence the ‘semi-’ part). The semi-
structure interview is suitable for cases when the researcher has a good
enough overview of the phenomenon or domain in question and is able to
develop broad questions about the topic in advance but does not want to use a
ready-made response categories that would limit the depth and breadth of the
respondent’s story .
Here, the structure of the research interview should be more elaborated. The
interview framework was mainly extracted from the identity structure analysis
(ISA) developed by weirnreich (1979-1996). This conceptual framework draws
upon psychological, sociological, and social anthropological theory to
formulate a system of concepts that help explain the notion of identity. “ISA
refers to the structural representation of the individual’s existential
experience, in which the relationship between self and other agents are
organized in relatively stable structures over time, but which become further
elaborated and changed on account of new experiences” (weirnreich 1979-
1996). It enables social realities to be related to identity processes. According
to ISA people’s identities are addressed and brought into being by interaction

78 | P a g e
with others. Identity processes encompass biographical experiences, historical
eras, and cultural norms in which the self’s autonomy varies according to the
flux of power relations with others. The definition of identity according to
Weirnreich (1969-1989) is:
"A person's identity is defined as the totality of one's self-construal, in which how one
construes oneself in the present expresses the continuity between how one construes
oneself as one was in the past and how one construes oneself as one aspires to be in
the future”.
This definition is an inclusive one. It refers to the totality of one’s identity at a
given time. It applies to the young child, adolescent, and older adult in various
phases of lifecycle. This definition also refers to the totality of identity with
which there are significant aspects, such as ethnic, gender, occupational
identity among many other aspects. These aspects are, of course, not separate
identities (as they are frequently reified to be within the literature), but are
interwoven in complex ways.
This definition further indicates that peoples’ identities have foundations in
past experiences. Continuity from past experiences through current episodes
towards future aspirations links together the component parts of one’s identity
(Weirnreich & Saunderson, 2003).
The ISA instrument which forms the basic framework of our interview consists
of : entities –facets of self, others, institutions, agencies, etc. by means of
bipolar constructs– discourses which the participants use to talk about,
describe, and interpret themselves and their social environment.
Entities: 'Entity' is an abstract term used to refer to any feature of self and the
social world that may be the subject of discourses between people in the social
world. It consists of:
 Current self: In some respects the notion of one's current self is
amorphous in that the current moment may be instantaneously 'now ',
but more often this moment is elongated into a period of time during
which the current event or state of affairs continues. What one feels and
how one expresses oneself varies in general according to social context
(being by oneself, being with one's friends, being at work, being with
one's own people, being with another community) and mood state

P a g e | 79
(being anxious, being depressed, feeling at one with oneself). Evidently,
there are potentially numerous contextual current selves. This Current
Self is “Me as I am now”.
 Past self: What constitutes significant aspects of oneself in the past will
be dependent on biographical events, and one's memories and
reconstructions of these events. What one was as a pre-school infant, a
child, an adolescent and a young adult, and one's transitions from one
phase of life to another - going to college, getting married, procreating -
could be significant 'past selves'. It is expressed as “Me as I used to be”.
 Metaperspective of self: The expression of the selves I am for others,
the "me as others see me" as these others often perceive oneself
differently, are the public manifestation of one's private self.
 Aspirational (ideal) self: A person's 'aspirational self' consists of two
main features, being, on the one hand, the projected desires,
orientations, and 'goals' of the person (aspirations in a positive sense)
and, on the other, those potential states and characteristics that the
person would rather disown (aspirations in a negative sense) as these
are agentically appraised. This ideal self is "Me as I would like to be”.
The entities also consist of the person’s liked and disliked persons, family
and close friends and the communities with which a person has contact
(Weinreich & Saunderson, 2003).
Bipolar constructs: In the terminology of personal construct psychology, two
contrasting texts would constitute the two poles of a bipolar construct. From
the perspective of ISA either the one or the other pole of this construct might
be endorsed as an identity aspiration. For instance in the context of business,
the bipolar constructs can be: have a deep concern for others vs. puts the
pursuit of commercial success before other consideration. Some people may
change towards a preference for the one pole over the other, but feel
themselves to be in a dilemma, wanting to express concern and achieve
commercial success simultaneously.
As it was mentioned above, the main framework for the present interview
consisted of entities and constructs taken from ISA instrument. Since ISA
studies have not been conducted in the field of language acquisition, it was

80 | P a g e
researcher’s task to draw items from the literature based on different theories
of identity in SLA and put them in the ISA instrument under entities and
construct parts. The researcher also used the Furness &Tate Aimhigher West
learner identity questionnaire (2010) and used some questions of it related to
the work. Furthermore, the researcher used interview questions from a
doctoral dissertation by Falsafi (2010) on learner identity. Since the major
focus of this study was to see the different learner identities in two different
settings of school and institute, the researcher tried to design the questions so
that the comparison would be easier by drawing learners’ attention to the two
contexts, for example friends in school and institute or English learning at
school and institute. This was more conspicuous in bipolar constructs where
two contrasting poles were rendered. For instance the person is satisfied with
English learning at school vs. is satisfied with English learning at institute.
Data Analysis
As it was referred to above, the recordings of the interviews first were
transcribed and then analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Related themes
were drawn and presented to explore more on learners’ identities. Needless to
say that because some of the learners’ answers were very similar to each other
and some of the answers were irrelevant and because of lack of space, the
researcher only presents the answers that were new and relevant for the
purpose of study.
Analysis of Research Question One:
What are some of the general characteristics of the learners’ identities?
As it was mentioned above, the entities in the ISA instrument dealt with the
current self, past self and ideal self which referred to the present, past and the
future respectively. The questions which were presented under each of these
asked participants how they describe themselves in general at present, in the
past, and as they would like to be in the future. The reason for this sequence is
the definition of identity in ISA presented by Weinrich (2003). So, here we deal
with the following classification:
Participants’ Current, Past, and Ideal Self in General
In response to the description of participants’ current self in general, they
answered by mostly talking about their personality traits, and to a lesser

P a g e | 81
degree talking about their likes and dislikes. Because of the lack of space and
because the focus of the study was on EFL learners’ identity, the answer by
one of the participants is provided:
“…I am proud, revengeful. I don’t get angry easily. I make friends easily. I am
interested in studying….”
When asked about their past self in general, participants responded by talking
about their past personality traits. Here is an example of the same person:
“I was shy; I couldn’t say no easily, I wasn’t very serious. I didn’t take studying
seriously”.
In most cases, participants confessed that they have changed a lot from what
they were in the past.
When they were asked about their ideal self, participants added more to what
they were in the past and at present. For instance, they talked about their
personality traits as well as their aspirations for the future related to their
personal, social, and academic life. Again an example by the same person:
“I like to be more self-confident; to advance more in life, to communicate better with
people, to learn things more quickly, to pass university entrance exam…..”
In sum, the purpose of research question one was to get a general view of the
participants and to see how they interpreted their selves in general and also
what their interpretations of their identities were.
Analysis of Research Question Two:
How do learners construct their identities as bilinguals?
To answer this question, we dealt with the following classification respectively
in entities part of the interview:
a) Description of participants’ current, past, and ideal self as an English
learner
b) The characteristics that distinguish them as English learners.
c) The community of English native speakers
Participants’ current self as an English learner, past self before starting to learn English,
and their ideal self as an English learner.
In answering to describe themselves as an English learner, the participants
claimed that they saw themselves as different when they considered

82 | P a g e
themselves as an English learner and this difference was a change towards the
better. Some responses are provided here:
“I feel that I’ve gained more self-confidence by learning English. English learning
helps me to be successful in society. Regarding English learning, I’ve gained a new
identity because I’ve become familiar with a new culture and a new way of
thinking...”
“By the time that I’ve started to learn English, my identity has changed. I feel I am
different from those who do not know English…”
“As an English learner, I’ve become familiar with a new culture which is different
from my last experiences. I could make myself familiar with it and I’ve accepted my
new identity…..”
“By English, I like to travel to other foreign countries to get familiar with more
cultures and ways of thinking. I think I’ve gained a new identity”
The participants’ perception of their past self before starting to learn English
were mainly not satisfactory for them. Before starting to learn English, they
saw themselves not up-to-date and English was very difficult for them to learn.
They also said that they had different viewpoints. So generally speaking, they
were not content with their position before starting to learn English. Some
example answers are as follows:
“Before starting to learn English, I consider myself as illiterate. When I saw those
who were younger than me and could speak English easily, I really felt ashamed of
myself.
“I had lots of problems with English and I could not meet my family’s expectations”.
“I didn’t like to learn English and I didn’t pay attention to it”.
“I couldn’t understand English. Everything about English was so difficult for me. I
wasn’t interested to learn English”.
The learners’ perception of their ideal self as an English learner was being able
to understand and speak it without any difficulty. Some sample answers are as
follows:
“I like to speak English without any problems”.
“My ideal self as an English learner is a person who can speak English very well”.
“I like to improve my English and be able speak with English people”.
“I like to learn English very well so that I can communicate with English people very
easily and be able to translate books and films and become a good translator”.
The characteristics that distinguish them as English learners.
As it was seen above, learners felt that their identities have changed after
becoming g an English learner. This change was the outcome of how they saw

P a g e | 83
themselves as different and their characteristics. Some sample answers are as
follows:
“Learning English has caused me to change my behavior so that to have more self-
confidence in comparison to those who don’t know it. I have an additional identity”.
“I think a person who knows English is very different from the one who doesn’t
know it. After gaining a new identity you enter a new world”.
“Getting familiar with another culture has caused me to be more open-minded and
be able to deal with different viewpoints more easily”.
“I think I am superior over those who don’t know English. This gives me more self-
confidence and motivation”.
The community of English native speakers
Part of the dimension of learner identity is concerned with the participants’
attitudes toward language learning and target society. There is definitely
positive dimension of identities that is influenced by their positive image of the
target language community which they hope to belong to someday, by
speaking the language of community (Norton & Kamel, 2003, cited in
Yoshizawa, 2010:38). Therefore in this part, to further explore learners’
identities, the researcher asked questions which were related to the
community of native speakers in order to find out what learners attitudes were
towards target society. The questions were identification with target
community, creating imagined communities (Norton & Kamel, 2003), and as a
result of that their expectation of English speaking people, their tendency to
make friends with the people of target community, and their willing to learn
their culture. We elaborate on each of these by citing sample answers by
learners.
Identification with target people community and perceive themselves as part of
their group:
“I don’t like to identify with English people because I think they are not the same as
us especially in our way of thinking. I don’t like their culture”.
“I don’t like to identify with them because our Islamic culture is very different from
theirs. They don’t believe in Hijab and they are not very kind with each other, I mean
their family relationships are very poor”.
“I like to identify with them and be like them in scientific aspects because they are
very advanced scientifically, but their culture is very different from us especially
regarding Hijab. In this respect I don’t like to identify with them”.
I like to identify with them because they are very different from us culturally. Getting
familiar with their culture and being like them is very interesting for me”.

84 | P a g e
As it can be seen, these learners’ behaviors and thoughts were informed by
familial and religious principles and values and a strong identification with
them. As a result, they could not identify with what they consider as contrary
to their values. They were also critical about their culture and saw it as
contradictory to theirs especially with respect to religious beliefs.
Creating imagined communities of the target people and their expectation of
them
As it was mentioned in the review, Kanno and Norton (2003) explain that
language learners also create imagined communities, which are groups of
people, not immediately tangible and accessible, with whom learners connect
through the power of imagination. Norton (2001) argues that second language
learners have images of the communities in which they want to participate in
the future. These imagined communities have a large impact on their current
learning although the learners are not yet members of such communities.
Therefore, the learner investment is closely connected to their imagined
communities and future affiliation with the community that they hope to gain
access to (cited in Yoshisawa, 2010). Some example of learners answers are as
follows:
“I like to create imagined communities in order to speak with them and improve my
English. I expect them to be friendly and frank”.
“Yes, I like because I want to have conversations with an imaginary person. I like to
ask them about their culture and get familiar with their way of thinking. I think
English speaking people are not friendly and don’t like to make friends with us”.
“I like to create imagined communities because in that case I have control over them
and they depend on my thinking. In this way they can be effective on my learning. I
think target people are dictators, selfish, rebellious. They are not very faithful in their
family relationships”.
“No, I don’t like to create imagined communities of English people, I think they are
very cold in their family relationships, everyone only thinks of himself/herself”.
“I am very eager to communicate with English people both in imagination and in
reality. I think they have modern ideas, they are not traditional. Generally I have a
positive attitude towards them.”
As it is clear, there were both positive and negative attitudes in this respect.
Some of the learners’ expectations of the target people were true but some of
them were very unrealistic and they were affected by the information provided
by the media. Learners liked to create imagined communities mostly to speak
with native people and improve their language.

P a g e | 85
Making friends with native speakers and learning their culture
Learners’ identity construction in a second language is also affected by their
willingness to make friends with native speakers and learn their culture. This
can lead to a positive attitude and willingness to invest in the language. Sample
answers are as follows:
“I like to make friends with native speakers to see how they would treat an Iranian. I
like to learn their culture in order to see whether my expectations about them were
correct or not”.
“In every friendship, we can learn new things. Making friends with target people also
help me to learn new things as well as provides an opportunity to practice my
English. I like to learn their culture but not to follow their culture”.
I like to make friends with them in order to get more information about their culture
and their way of thinking. I like to learn positive aspects of their culture not those
who are against our religion”.
“I like to make friends with natives and learn their culture provided that I don’t
forget my own culture”.
The interesting point here is that learners liked to learn about the target
culture but they did not want to follow their culture because they saw their
values contradictory to theirs. Furthermore, they wanted to make friends with
them in order to improve their language and learn more about their culture
and see whether their expectations were true or not.
For analysis of research question two, there were some items in the bipolar
constructs part of the interview. In this part, there were some contrasting
poles hat were used in order to find out about the learners’ preference on
each of them as well as explore more about their identities. These constructs
had in them the concepts of attitude, motivation, etc. Two of them will be
investigated here. Others are not mentioned because they were related to
some questions in the interview and have already been mentioned like gaining
a new identity or having more self-confidence.
You learn English because you like the language.
You learn English because you want to get a better job in the future.
This bipolar construct was put in the interview in order to find out whether
learners were intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to learn English. All the
eight participants chose the first one. This was an indication of the fact that all
of them were intrinsically motivated to learn English. One of the participants
chose both of them. This indicates that she was both extrinsically and

86 | P a g e
intrinsically motivated to learn English. The second bipolar construct is as
follows:
You have positive attitude towards English speaking people.
You have negative attitude towards English speaking people.
All the participants chose the first one to show that their attitudes towards
English speaking people were positive.
Analysis of research question two showed that learners invested in their
language learning, create imagined communities of it, and constructed
identities. Sources of information about native speakers for EFL learners who
had not the experience of traveling to native speaking countries mainly came
from the media, internet, and also the larger society in which they lived. How
the society and the government view language has a great effect on the
perception and expectation of the learners towards the target people and their
cultures. They claimed that they have gained a new identity by learning English
and they thought of knowing English as an advantage and a priority for
themselves. They made an investment in learning English by trying to improve
their language because their main impetus of creating imagined communities
and making friends with natives was to improve their language. In addition to
this, they expressed their ideal self as an English learner a person who is able
to speak very well the language and be able to communicate with native
speakers easily. Their answers on culture learning were positive because they
wanted to know about native speakers’ culture in order to see whether their
expectations are true or not. But they didn’t like to become like the target
people because they valued their own culture and way of thinking. In other
words, they displayed a strong affiliation or identification with their own
Iranian culture. All of these indicate that learners prefer to preserve their L1
identity culturally, socially, and ethnically and in addition to their L1 identity
construct a new identity in L2. This L2 identity should not stand against their L1
values and beliefs. They mainly wanted to gain positive values of the target
culture and beliefs, those that are not in sharp contrast to their own way of
thinking.
Analysis of Research Question Three
How is the learner identity different in school and institute settings? What are
the causes of this change?

P a g e | 87
As it was mentioned before, English in Iran is presented in two different
contexts: formal settings of school and less formal settings of the institute.
These two contexts of English learning are very different from each other from
many aspects such as the methods of teaching, teachers’ personality and their
relationship with learners, textbooks, and last but not least learners’
motivation to learn English.
It was also cited that this study investigated learners ‘identities according to
the theories of sociocultural and poststructuralists that take identity as fluid
and changing in different contexts. Therefore, learners’ identities must change
in the two settings under investigation: school and institute.
In order to answer research question three, some questions in the entities part
of the interview which were related to the English language community in Iran
were used, for example English teachers at both settings, peers at both
settings. The questions were taken from an identity questionnaire, Furness &
Tate (2010). There were also some bipolar constructs related to the two
settings which were used in order to find out which setting the learners
preferred. Finally, the last part of interview contained some questions taken
from Falsafi (2010) doctoral dissertation asking directly about the learners’
identities in both settings. Each of these will be presented below.
The English language community in Iran (teachers, peers in both settings). The
answers were analyzed according to the following classification:
a) Learners’ relationship with their teachers, the teachers’ roles in their
language learning, and how they describe their English teachers (both
school/institute).
b) Learners’ peers at school/institute: whether peers encourage them to
learn. How their peers affect their learning,
Sample answers by participants on the issues of the first classification are as
follows:
 The learners’ relationship with their teachers:
“I have a good relationship with both my school and institute teacher. I think the
reason is that I like English so I don’t have problems with my English teachers in both
settings”.

88 | P a g e
“My relationship with my school teacher is confined only to class. I don’t like her. In
contrast, I have a good relationship with my institute teacher, I feel comfortable with
him and can easily speak with him”.
“Because I am a good student, I have a good relationship with my school teacher, I
have a good relationship with some of my institute teachers not all of them”.
“My relationship with my institute teacher is better than my school one, because my
institute teacher is more friendly”.
“My school teacher is very strict. I don’t have a good relationship with my school
teacher. There is always a distance between us. But I have a very good relationship
with my institute teacher. I can even talk about my personal matters with him”.
As it can be inferred from learners’ answers, because school context is a formal
one, learners mostly didn’t have a good relationship with their school teachers.
However, the context in institute is less formal so learners’ relationships with
their teachers were more satisfactory for them. Those who have a good
relationship with their school teachers attributed this either to their interest in
English or being a good student not to the goodness of the school teacher.
 The role of their English teachers in their learning (both school /institute
teachers).
“My school teacher always discouraged me and I got the lowest score from her. My
institute teacher’s role is really great”.
“My school teacher had no role in my learning and didn’t encourage me at all. My
institute teacher encourages me to learn and try harder”.
“My school teacher has a very effective role in my learning and she always
encouraged me to go to extra classes in order to improve my English. My institute
teacher has a great role in my learning.”
“My school teacher just explained the lesson for us, if we didn’t study, we won’t
pass. But my institute teacher has a very effective role. He shows us the way how to
learn English”.
Most learners consider the role of their institute teacher more effective in
their English learning.
 How learners describe their teachers (both school/institute).
“My school teacher was proud, very serious, and strict. Her behavior was not good
with us may be because she taught us a foreign language. My institute teacher is
very patient, very kind, helps us all in order to progress, works very seriously”.
“My school teacher was very proud, unfriendly, and strict. She was proud because
she knew an additional language. My institute teacher is not bad. Generally
speaking, institute teachers are better. They communicate with their learners more
easily and try more”.

P a g e | 89
“My school teacher is very serious, good-willed. She doesn’t waste the class time.
These characteristics have caused us to be good at English. My institute teachers are
very on time, eloquent; explain the lessons very well for us in order to understand”.
“My school teacher was very strict and serious. She just tried to make us understand
the lesson. The class was always silent. My institute teacher has a good relationship
with learners. He is sometimes serious and sometimes funny. His aim is that his
learners understand the lesson”.
My school teacher is very friendly. My institute teacher is very friendly too. He tries
to make us progress in English learning. He works compassionately”.
“Being very cold, and strict are the important characteristics of my school teacher.
She thinks that because she knows all materials we should also know them. If we ask
a question for the second time, she becomes angry. In contrast, school teachers are
very friendly and have emotional relationship with students. They work with weaker
students more without receiving extra money”.
It is quite conspicuous that teachers’ personalities were also affected by formal
settings of school and less formal settings of institute. This has a direct effect
on learners’ identity and their way of thinking. So, most learners saw their
institute teacher as more ideal and consequently were more motivated to
learn English. The behavior of some of the school teachers made learners hate
English and not having any motivation to learn it. So, the first identity
difference for these learners arising from teachers’ personality, role,
relationship is that learners were more motivated and more satisfied to learn
English at the institute.
 Learners’ peers at school/institute: whether peers encourage them to
learn. How their peers affect their learning,
The second classification of the entities part was about peers. The philosophy
behind this is that according to Smith and Tropp (2002:2), part of our identity is
relational. That is, it is determined by other people with whom we have direct
personal relationship (cited in Razmjoo, 2010:104). These people can be
members of family and close friends. Here, the focus was on peers. Sample
answers by learners are provided here:
“My friends at school don’t encourage me but at the institute we have somehow
cooperation with each other. Because at school we were not interested in learning
English, we didn’t talk with each other. At the institute, I speak English with one of
my friends and she affects my learning a lot”.
“I always talk with my school friends about English learning and we encourage each
other to learn more. The situation is the same at the institute. At my school, there is
competition between me and my friends so we affect each other learning. I have the
same feeling at the institute”.

90 | P a g e
“My friends at school encourage me very little. At the institute, sometimes they
encourage me. At school, my friends affect my learning because of the competition
between us. My friends at the institute affect my learning in a way that I have more
motivation to learn.
“I received no encouragement from my friends at school. They were very indifferent.
They didn’t affect my learning because they all hated language class and studied just
because they were forced to study. At the institute, my friends encouraged me to
study more because we have group work. They have a basic role in my learning”.
“Because at school there was a sense of competition between us, no one encouraged
the other to learn. And also my friends dint like English, so they didn’t affect my
learning in a positive way. At the institute, the situation is better. My friends
encourage me because the sense of completion is less than school. When I see my
friends trying to speak English, this affects me a lot to learn and try”.
There are some contrasting viewpoints in this part. Some learners view
competition a motive to learn, but others don’t. But generally speaking, it
might seem that the role of peers at the institute encouraged learners more
and affected their learning in a more positive way in comparison to their peers
at school.
 Bipolar constructs: As it was mentioned earlier, there were some bipolar
constructs in the interview to directly find out about learners’
preferences in two settings. They will be investigated in the following:
 Prefers to learn English at school.
 Prefers to learn English at institute.
Six participants preferred to learn English at institute and two preferred to
learn at school. When they were asked about the reason, two learners stated
that it was not because the quality of learning or the method of teaching that
they chose school, but just because of the emotional relationships with some
of their friends that they preferred school.
 Is satisfied with teachers at school.
 Is satisfied with teachers at institute.
Six participants chose the second construct. Their explanations for choosing
the second construct was not that teachers were more successful academically
at institute, rather the reason was that they were more comfortable with their
institute teachers and the distance between them were less. But two of
learners chose both of them. This could be an indication of the fact that

P a g e | 91
teachers at institute were successful at meeting both the learners’ educational
and emotional needs.
 Is pleased with the English teaching method at school.
 Is pleased with the English teaching method at institute.
Six of the participants chose the second construct, but two of them chose both
of the constructs. When asked about the reason, the two learners confessed
that they also liked the teaching methods at school because they were used to
it and it was the matter of habit. All the participants confessed that they prefer
the method at the institute because it was more up-to date in comparison to
the school method. They also stated that the method and consequently the
textbooks at institute enabled them to learn how to speak in English and learn
a new culture. They praised the method and the textbook for having variety
and not being monotonous.
 Considers school environment more conducive to learning.
 Considers institute environment more conducive to learning.
Seven participants chose the second construct because they thought that they
had less anxiety when they were at institute. They also stated that the institute
environment were more attractive and interesting for them. Just one
participant chose the first construct. When was asked about the reason, she
said she preferred formal learning environments to informal ones.
As it can be seen, most learners preferred institute over school because they
thought they could be more successful at language learning in that context.
This may imply that they feel the difference between their identities in the two
settings and preferred one over the other because of the reasons that they
mentioned.
 Questions asking directly about the learners’ identities in both settings,
asking about the causes of change in their identity in both setting, and
which identity they liked more. Sample answers are as follows:
“My identity changes in different contexts of school and institute. The reason for this
change might be my lack of interest at school for English learning or the indifference
of my teacher. But at institute I became more interested in learning English. I like my

92 | P a g e
institutional identity more because I learned more and I became more motivated to
learn English”.
“I think I am different in both settings because at school there is a great competition
between students. The only motivation for us to learn is getting good grades. The
teachers force learners to learn. But at institute there is no force. We go there by our
own will and we are more motivated to learn. Because I am more relaxed at the
institute and try more to learn English, I like my identity at the institute more than
school”.
“Yes, my identity is different in both settings. At school I was more successful in
comparison to my classmates and this gave me more motivation and perseverance.
But at institute, I am weak and this discourages me. I like my school identity more
because I was stronger and more successful at school”.
“Definitely my identity as an English learner changes in different settings of school
and institute. The main causes for this difference are teachers, methods of teaching,
scores. I like my institutional identity more because I learn better at the institute”.
“My identity is different in both contexts. I didn’t care about studying English at
school but at institute studying English is very important for me. I like my
institutional identity more because I try more there, I’ve gained a lot there that I’ve
not gained at school like acquiring speaking skills and being able to communicate
with other people who know English”.
“Yes, I have different identities at school and institute settings .I took English more
seriously at school because there was a sense of competition between us. But the
situation is not the same in the institute. In it, we are more relaxed, the teacher is
not so strict. The context is friendlier. The two contexts are very different so we
change in each of them. I like my institutional identity more because studying at
institute gives me more self-confidence and satisfies me more”.
As it can be seen, learners attributed their identity change in the two settings
to various reasons and criteria. These criteria were difference between
teachers, methods of teaching, context of learning, learners’ own values and
priorities, and personality factors. Most learners preferred their institutional
identities because of its calmness and consider it to be a matter of their
success. They didn’t like the formalness at school which created anxiety for
them in their way of learning English. Few learners preferred school and school
identity because they liked more formal settings and they considered
themselves stronger at school academically.
More importantly, it can be inferred that learners became more mature to pay
attention to their being human, their identities in EFL settings, as well as their
needs, wants, desires, and values. They did not just pay attention to linguistic
factors, but nonlinguistic factors also became important for them. They
expected their teachers to pay attention to their humanity as a learner not just
the language. The main reason for most of them to prefer institute and their

P a g e | 93
institutional identity were to a greater degree the nonlinguistic factors and to
lesser degree linguistic ones.
Conclusion
This study attempted to answer three exploratory research questions. The
analysis of research question one revealed some general characteristics on
learners’ identities, for instance how they perceived their current, past, and
ideal selves. This research question was a kind of introductory one for the
research because the main focus of the study was firstly to investigate
participants’ identities as an English learner and secondly and more
importantly to see how their identities changed in different settings of English
learning Iran: schools and institutes. Research question two (how the learners
construct their identities as bilinguals) was analyzed by investigating learners’
current, past, and ideal self as an English learner, the characteristics that
distinguished them as an English learner, and the community of native
speakers. Analysis of research question two revealed that learners were
satisfied with their current self as an English learner in comparison to their past
self that they did not know English. They felt a change in themselves after
learning English and this change was towards the better. For instance, learning
English had the outcome of gaining more self-confidence, gaining more
information, becoming familiar with a different culture, being able to
communicate with other people around the world. These characteristics
caused them to distinguish themselves from others who did not know English.
Moreover, their ideal self as an English learner was a person who could speak
English very fluently and communicate with natives very easily.
As it was cited earlier, part of the identity construction of the learners relied
on their investment in the target language, their attitudes towards its
speakers, creating imagined communities of speakers, as well as identification
with them. Analysis of learners’ answers related to the above points revealed
that learners were willing to create imagined communities in order to speak
with native speakers and improve their language. They were inclined to learn
the target culture and be familiar with their way of thinking but not at the cost
of losing their cultural identity. In fact, learners were very biased to their
cultural, religious, and familial values and did not want to lose them. So, in
addition to gaining an L2 identity, they wanted to preserve their L1 identity.

94 | P a g e
Research question three (how does learner identity changes in the two EFL
settings in Iran: school and institute and what are the causes of this change)
was analyzed by first considering English language community in Iranian EFL
contexts: teachers and peers in settings, then investigating constructs, and
finally directly asking about the change. Analysis of research question three
revealed that because the two contexts were very different from each other
from many aspects such as teachers and their relationship with learners, peers,
teaching methods, textbooks; learners manifested two different identities in
the two settings. Most learners liked and preferred their institutional identity
because they thought in that settings they were more valued as learners and
had less anxiety, so more motivated to learn.
As a result, teachers should pay attention to learners’ identities when
designing courses, preparing materials, and teaching approaches because all
these items can have a direct effect on shaping learners’ identities in EFL
contexts. As Yoshizawa (2010:37) points out learner identities in the EFL
contexts may be affected by unique social factors that are dramatically
different from learning English in ESL contexts. The EFL environment’s
distinctive geographic location, social values, and ideologies behind the
curriculum are factors affecting learner identities. Therefore, more works
should be done to investigate learner identity in EFL contexts of the outer
circle because it has been neglected till now. To better understand the identity
construction of language learners and most importantly how language is
acquired, more studies must be done in the context where English is taught as
a foreign language and more questions should be answered.
References
Choi, J. (2009). Asian English learners’ identity construction in an after school literacy site. Journal of
Asian pacific communication, 19/1 (2009), 130-161. John Benjamins publishing company.
Day, E. M. (2002). Identity and the young English language learner. Cromwel Press Ltd.
Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
Dornyei, Z & Ushioda, E. (2009). Motivation, language identity, and L2 self. Multilingual Matters.
Falsafi, L. (2010). Learner identity: A sociocultural approach to how people recognize and construct
themselves as learners. Doctoral dissertation: published.

P a g e | 95
Furness & Tate (2010). Example questions to elicit information about learner identity. Aimhigher
West.
Kearney, E. (2004). Negotiating identity as a beginning foreign language learner. Working Papers in
Educational Linguistics, 20/1 (2004), 47-69.
Razmjoo, S. A. (2010). Language and identity in the Iranian context: The impact of identity aspects
on EFL learners’acheivement. The Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 2/2, 99-121.
Ricento, T. (2005). Considering of identity in L2 learning. Retreived February 26th
from www. Google.
Com.
Weinreich, P. & Saunderson, W. (2003). Analyzing identity. Routledge.
XU, X. (2010). Identity and language learning: Exploring Chinese EFL learners’ identities and language
learning. Retrieved May 25th
from www. Google. Com.
Yihong, G, Ying, Ch, &Yuan, Zh. (2007). Relationship between English learning motivation types and
self-identity changes among Chinese students. TESOL Quarterly, 41/1, 133-155.
Yoshizawa, A. (2010). Learner identity construction in EFL contexts: Needs for research area
expansion and examination of imagined identities in the imagined communities. Retrieved
May 25th
Zacharis, T. (2010). Acknowledging learner multiple identities in the EFL classroom. Retrieved May
25th

96 | P a g e
The Impact of Phrasal Verb Avoidance
on the Writing Ability of the University
EFL Learners
Behzad Barekat1
Berjis Baniasady2
University of Guilan
Abstract
This study endeavors to investigate the avoidance of English phrasal verbs by Persian EFL university
learners. The question this study attempted to answer was whether the learners’ writing ability can
be affected by phrasal verb avoidance. To find the answer to this question, forty four intermediate
undergraduate English majors were selected using an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) (Allen, 2004).
Three elicitation tests (multiple choice, recall, and translation) were adopted for investigation from
different perspectives, eliciting preference for either a phrasal verb or an equivalent one-word verb.
The results revealed that the participants tended to adopt a play-it-safe strategy, preferring one-
word verbs with general, multi-purpose meanings over phrasal verbs with specific, sometimes
idiomatic meanings. The total mean score of the participants was used as a criterion to divide them
into two groups. Based on how far above or below the mean their scores were, the participants
were placed in either of the two groups A (participants with higher amount of avoidance) and B
(participants with lower amount of avoidance). The next step followed was to investigate whether
the participants’ phrasal verb avoidance would affect their writing performances. To accomplish this
purpose, the participants were asked to perform a writing task. Their compositions were read and
evaluated by two independent raters using Weigle's (2004) essay scoring criteria. A T-test was run
for this study as the statistical means for the hypothesis testing process and the results revealed a
significant difference between the writing performances of the two groups. The participants in group
B had a better performance than the participants in group A. Drawing from this finding, it can be
concluded that there exists a close relationship between phrasal verb avoidance and the
participants’ writing ability.
Key Words: Avoidance, phrasal verb, Persian EFL learners, writing ability
1
BehzadBarekat@yahoo.com
2
berjisbaniasady@gmail.com

P a g e | 97
Introduction
Statement of the topic area
The fundamental question in the field of second language acquisition is how
learners acquire a second language. A tremendous amount of research has
been devoted to the area of leaner language. It has been thought that the
errors second language learners make can provide a window to the
understanding of the internal processes of second language acquisition. In the
history of second language acquisition, there have been at least two significant
approaches in the analysis of learner difficulty in acquiring a second language.
The first approach, contrastive analysis, endeavored to predict the areas of
difficulty and non-difficulty learners would face by comparing the linguistic
system of the learners’ native language with that of the target language. The
second approach, error analysis, attempted to empirically investigate the
actual errors produced by second language learners in the target language and
sought to explain their cause. Although the evidence from error analysis
studies points to the fact that contrastive analysis is an inadequate predictor of
learner difficulty and non-difficulty with target language material, a drawback
has been pointed out concerning the error analysis approach, which observed
only the errors actually done by learners of a second language. Schachter
(1974) argued that the error analysis approach is deficient because it is
incapable of explaining the phenomenon of avoidance.
In general, avoidance behavior is believed to occur "when specific language
structures are under-represented in the learner's production in comparison
with native-speakers production" (Eliss, 1986, p. 293). The explanation for this
phenomenon is that second language learners will often try to avoid using a
difficult item or structure in the second language, and will instead use an
alternative item or structure, which they perceive as simpler.
The theoretical rationale for considering phrasal verbs in the investigation of
the avoidance phenomenon is that Persian learners of English often confront
difficulties with identifying, learning and ultimately using phrasal verbs. All of
these difficulties can be daunting for learners to overcome in the process of
incorporating this new type of lexical item to their productive vocabulary. As a
result, they find it very difficult to incorporate the usage of phrasal verbs either

98 | P a g e
in their speech or in their writings. In their performance especially while
writing in English, these learners tend to avoid this linguistic category and use
the one-word verb instead. It explains why even students with an excellent
command of English know relatively little about phrasal verbs and use them
rarely. By frequently resorting to this strategy, the learners try to hide their
weakness in using phrasal verbs. As a result, two problems appear. Firstly, the
learner will not improve in that specific area and secondly, if the errors are
overlooked actively, they may become fossilized.
Research Questions and Hypothesis
The aim of current research is to investigate the impact of phrasal verb
avoidance on the writing ability of Iranian EFL learners. In order to accomplish
this purpose, the following research questions were developed:
1. To what extent do Persian learners of English avoid using phrasal verbs?
2. Does their avoidance, if any, have any positive/negative effect on their
writing performance?
To answer these research questions, the following hypotheses were proposed:
Hypothesis 1: Persian learners of English avoid using phrasal verbs to some
extent.
Hypothesis 2: Persian learners’ avoidance of phrasal verbs does not have any
positive/negative effect on their writing performance.
Literature review
The issues explored in this study build on the results of previous investigations
into L2 learners’ avoidance of phrasal verbs. In this section, relevant literature
underlying the relevance to the issues investigated in this study will be
reviewed.
The Avoidance Strategy
The avoidance phenomenon was first brought to light by Schachter (1974) who
drew attention to the importance, in error analysis, of examining not only the
L2 forms actually produced by the learners of a foreign language in their
attempts to express themselves in L2, but also the L2 forms they seem

P a g e | 99
consistently to avoid using. Since then, avoidance has been studied by many
researchers.
In order to explain the avoidance behavior by L2 learners, two important
claims have been made. One is that avoidance takes place when there are
structural differences between L1 and L2. Within this view, avoidance is
predictable by Contrastive Analysis (Schachter (1974), Kleinman (1977), Daught
& Laufer (1985)). The other maintains avoidance is governed by universal
principles. Within this view, avoidance is predictable on the basis of the
semantic difficulty of L2 forms in question (Hulstijn & Marchena, 1989).
Schachter (1974) examined Chinese, Japanese, Persian, and Arabic learners’
avoidance of relative clauses. She concluded that “if a student finds a particular
construction in the target language difficult to comprehend it is very likely that
he will try to avoid producing it”.
Further, Kleinman (1977) argued that the avoidance behavior implies that a
learner is aware of a given word or expression of the target language, and that
a learner makes an intentional choice to replace that feature of the target
language by something else. As he maintained, one can speak of avoidance
when the structure in question is known, but not freely used by the learner,
otherwise it is an indication of ignorance.
Kleinmann (1977) examined four English grammatical structures performed by
intermediate level native speakers of Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese. He
demonstrated the learner’s knowledge through comprehension tests before he
examined ESL learners’ avoidance behavior. The findings lend support to
Schachter’s (1934) point that avoidance can be predicted by the structural
differences between the first and the second language. However, there is an
interaction between linguistic and psychological factors.
Mehrpooya (2002) investigated the use of avoidance strategy by Iranian EFL
learners when producing different idioms. The results indicated that the EFL
learners' use of avoidance strategy was more evident when the idioms were
mostly different from the idioms in their L1.
On the other hand, some researchers asserted that the structural difference
between L1 and L2 alone may not be the only reason for avoidance. Bley-

100 | P a g e
Vroman and Houng (1988) challenged Schachter’s proposal and proposed that
the low production rate of English relative clauses by the Chinese learners
would be an indication of the low frequency of relative clauses in Chinese. In
another study, Li (1996) found that learners did not necessarily avoid structures
that were apparently different in form from their L1. He concluded that subtle
pragmatic differences made them subconsciously underproduce relative clauses.
Pazhakh (2006) explored the avoidance phenomena in English writings by
intermediate and advanced Iranian EFL learners. Through the analyses of the
learners’ English writings, questionnaires and interviews, he found that
avoidance is inversely related to English proficiency level. Besides, language
proficiency level, there are many other factors influencing students’ avoidance
behaviors, such as the nature of the problem source, the learner’s personality,
and the learning situation.
Phrasal Verbs
One feature of English which many L2 learners find difficult is phrasal verbs.
These verbs are considered problematic for a number of reasons. Research
indicates the difficult nature of phrasal verbs may lead to avoidance causing
learners to choose a single word synonym instead. Three common main reasons
were given for possible avoidance: "(a) L1-L2 difference, (b) L1-L2 idiomatic
similarity, and (c) inherent L2 complexity.
In most cases, the major problem with phrasal verbs is gaining insight into the
meaning(s) of their particles and understanding why one particle is used and
another is not. Furthermore, from a semantic perspective, phrasal verbs have
what Laufer (1997) calls "descriptive transparency”; that is, the meaning
cannot always be deduced by analyzing the inherent parts. That explains why a
lot of learners still cannot get the meaning of an unfamiliar phrasal verb
although they may know very clearly what the base verb and the particle
defines (Rudzka-Ostyn, 2003).
An additional complication is that certain phrasal verbs are polysemous (bring
up the tools from the basement = carry them up; bring up children = nurture;
bring up a suggestion = mention) (Biber et al. 1999). To add to their semantic
complexity, phrasal verbs may be synonymous with other phrasal verbs, as
well. In most cases, they are similar in stylistic usage, for example call back and

P a g e | 101
ring back mean almost the same as phone back; count on and bet on mean
almost the same as bank on.
Considering the aforementioned problems, no wonder phrasal verbs represent
a feature of English much dreaded by learners, and therefore many of them
tend to avoid these verbs. In the following section, previous research studies
on phrasal verb avoidance are reviewed.
Avoidance of Phrasal Verbs
Research on the avoidance of English phrasal verbs was first conducted by
Dagut and Laufer (1985). In their research, they observed a group of Hebrew-
speaking students of English. The results of the study demonstrated that the
majority of learners exhibited a strong preference for one-word verbs. They
attributed this finding to L1–L2 structural differences.
Hulstijn and Marchena (1989) hypothesized that Dutch learners would still
avoid phrasal verbs, not for structural reasons as the Hebrew learners did, but
for semantic reasons. Their study offered two results about avoidance
strategy. First, Dutch learners avoided those idiomatic phrasal verbs that they
perceived as too Dutch-like. Since their findings showed that idiomatic phrasal
verbs are avoided more than figurative ones, they claimed that the L2 learners
of English avoid using phrasal verbs mostly because of semantic
considerations.
Laufer and Eliasson (1993) took up both Dagut and Laufer’s (1985) and Hulstijn
and Marchena’s (1989) lines of argument. Their study with Swedish learners
investigated whether avoidance is due to semantic difficulties or structural
(dis) similarities between the native and the target language. They concluded
that the best predictor for strategy of avoidance was differences between first
and second language.
Similarly, Liao and Fukuya (2004), whose subjects were Chinese learners of
English, speculated that the structural differences between the L1 and L2 as
well as semantic complexity of the phrasal verbs may be the reasons of
avoidance. They observed a number of intermediate learners producing
phrasal verbs much less frequently than both native speakers and advanced
learners. Therefore, they suggested that the avoidance or non-avoidance of

102 | P a g e
phrasal verbs could be an indication of learners’ interlanguage development
rather than the L1–L2 differences or similarities.
The Relationship between Vocabulary and Writing
The interactions between vocabulary and writing skills are twofold. On the one
hand, writing practice contributes to the development of vocabulary. On the
other hand, vocabulary use in writing enhances the quality of the written text.
L2 writers are reported to acquire much of their lexical competence via the
written languages. Further evidence for the role of writing practice in the
development of lexical competence is provided by Muncie (2002). In his
experiment with Japanese learners, he found that vocabulary development
correlates highly with writing practice. Similarly, a further study by Lee (2003)
found that writing tasks maximize vocabulary learning opportunities and help
learners develop L2 vocabulary by retaining new learned words.
The aforementioned research findings are indicative of the positive effect that
writing has on vocabulary development. Vocabulary knowledge has been
found to play an important role in writing as well. Teachers, researchers and
learners all acknowledge the importance of lexical knowledge in the
development of writing. Studies on the importance of vocabulary in L2 writing
have been carried out by many researchers.
Leki and Carson (1994) suggested that the degree to which L2 learners’
vocabulary knowledge influence their effective and proficient writing should
not be underestimated. In an examination of learners’ views concerning their
EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses, they found that learners ranked
vocabulary as the most important factor in academic writing and claimed that
vocabulary expansion was the key component needed to improve their writing
performance. In a further experiment conducted by Polio and Glew (1996),
students mentioned the importance of knowing appropriate vocabulary to
write an essay and commented in the difficulties they confront when writing
about a topic for which they lacked sufficient vocabulary.
Additionally, vocabulary is considered a criterion for assessing writing. The
texts of proficient writers display a wider range and specificity of vocabulary.
As Grobe (1981) stated, vocabulary is one of the most crucial elements in
evaluating the quality of writing in the foreign language. Laufer and Nation

P a g e | 103
(1995) suggested that the proportion of core academic vocabulary in L2
writers’ text correlated positively with higher rating of essays in standardized
tests. Based on earlier studies, Nation (2001) concluded that an increase in the
amount of academic vocabulary in L2 writing contributes significantly to the
higher evaluations of the quality of L2 academic writing.
Therefore, based on what have been mentioned regarding the role of
vocabulary, developing a large repertoire of vocabulary is crucial in achieving
writing proficiency and phrasal verbs are no exception to this rule.
Methodology
Participants
The participants included in the present study were 86 undergraduate students
of Guilan University. They were homogeneous in respect of age, nationality,
mother tongue and both cultural and educational background. Based on the
English Language Syllabus they went through in the past two years, it could be
presumed that they should have had a reasonable exposure to the English
Language during their education, and, hence, have attained a fair level of
competence in the use of phrasal verbs. Therefore, they were expected to be
able to communicate in English, at least in the writing tasks. The main
consideration when selecting the participants was their level of English
proficiency. As the present study’s experimental materials involved structurally
complex sentences, only learners at or above the intermediate level were
included in our study. Out of a total number of 86 participants who took the
proficiency test, 44 ones were selected to take the main tests.
Instruments
In order to collect data, the following instruments were used:
An Oxford Placement Test (OPT): The test was comprised of a 100-item
multiple-choice Grammar Test, which consisted of several parts, testing
different aspects of grammar. The reliability and validity of the OPT test were
confirmed by several studies. This test is reliable since it consistently grade test
takers at the right level. Moreover, it is considered to be valid because it has a
strong theoretical basis and has been through a rigorous test design, pretesting

104 | P a g e
and piloting stage. It took about thirty minutes to complete. Marking of the
test was done according to the User’s Guide.
A Multiple Choice Test: When the participants were homogenized with the
same level of proficiency, they were asked to take a multiple-choice test.
Fifteen pairs of phrasal and one-word verbs were selected for this test. The
phrasal verbs and test sentences used in this study were suitable to the
students' proficiency level. They were selected from the book ‘1000 phrasal
verbs in context’ which contained phrasal verbs specifically designed for
intermediate level learners.
For these verb pairs, 15 sentences were created. Among the 15 phrasal verb
items, 11 were figurative and 4 were literal. This set of 15 sentences was also
used in the recall and translation tests. The list of phrasal verbs, their
categories, their one-word equivalents and their Persian translation were given
in Appendix B.
In each sentence of the multiple-choice test, the verb in question was left
blank. The participants were required to fill in the blank with one of the four
verbs presented below the sentence: the phrasal verb, the equivalent one-
word verb, and two distractor verbs. Unlike a normal multiple-choice test, the
present test consisted of not one but two correct answers. Thus, the
participants were given special instructions to choose the answer that they
considered most suitable to complete the test. The following two sentences
appeared in the instructions: "Choose for each sentence the verb that in your
opinion best fits the context and fill in that verb. Assume that these sentences
have been written in normal, colloquial English" (Hulstijn & Marchena, 1989).
A Recall Test: In this test, the participants were given the same 15 sentences as
in the multiple-choice test, written out in full with the phrasal verb. Five
distractor sentences with one-word verbs were added.
A Translation Test: This test had the same 15 sentences as in the multiple-
choice test, with the verb left out. At the end of each sentence, the Persian
equivalent of the missing verb was given (see Appendix C).
A Writing Task: This task contained a narrative composition on the topic, " If I
Had a Million Dollars". The time allowed for the task was 40 minutes.

P a g e | 105
Procedures
Stage 1: An Oxford placement test was administered to the participants in
order to determine their proficiency levels.
Stage 2: The next step was to find out whether and to what extent these
phrasal verbs would be avoided by Persian learners of English. This step
consisted of the administration of three elicitation tests (a multiple-choice test,
a verb translation test, and a recall test) to the participants.
Stage 3: Two weeks later, a recall test was administered to the students. At the
beginning of the class session, the participants were asked to remember the
main ideas of the sentences in about 10 minutes. They were told that they
would be tested at the end of the class to check how much they had
remembered. After about 1 hour, they were given the same sentences, but this
time with the verbs left out. They were given 10 minutes to fill in the verbs
according to what they remembered. In order to prevent L1 influence no
Persian equivalents were given in this test.
Stage 4: At this stage, a translation test was given to the students. There was a
two-week gap between the recall and the translation test. In this test, the
participants were asked to translate the phrasal verbs given at the end of the
sentences into English in the provided 10 minutes.
Stage 5: In this step, the participants’ performances on the elicitation tests
were assessed to provide answer to the research question 1. Subsequently,
based on their scores on the above mentioned tests, the participants were
divided into two groups according to their amount of avoidance.
Stage 6: A week after the translation test, the participants were asked to write
a narrative composition on the topic, " If I Had a Million Dollars". At this stage,
the functions of the two groups were compared according to their
performance on the writing task.
Data Analysis
To analyze the data, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used.
To calculate the scores of the tests, the answers of each of the items, 1 to 15,
were added up for each participant. The total possible number of correct
answers was 45. Since there were two phrasal verbs among the four choices

106 | P a g e
(one correct, one distractor), only the correct phrasal verbs chosen by the
participants were counted in the calculation. Then the total scores for each
participant were calculated. To answer research question 1 and to further
explore the choice between phrasal verbs and their one-word verb
competitors, the relative proportion of occurrence of each was calculated.
After identifying the extent to which the participants resort to the avoidance
strategy in using phrasal verbs, the next step followed was to investigate
whether phrasal verb avoidance would affect the participants’ writing
performances. To this end, the performance mean of the participants in the
mentioned tests was computed. The participants' mean score was 6.37 out of
15. Based on how far above or below the mean their scores fell, the
participants were placed in either of the two groups A (participants with higher
amount of avoidance) and B (participants with lower amount of avoidance). As
previously stated, to accomplish this purpose the participants were asked to
perform a writing task. The grading scale which was used to evaluate the
writing tasks was the Weigle's (2004) essay scoring criteria (See Appendix E).
To overcome the rater reliability problems, two independent raters were asked
to evaluate the student' written products by using Weigle's (2004) essay
scoring criteria. To estimate the inter-rater reliability, Pearson product-
moment correlation coefficient (.74) was calculated using SPSS which revealed
substantial agreement between the raters.
In order to statistically analyze the significant difference between the writing
performances of the two groups, the analysis of independent-samples t-test
was utilized. An alpha level of .05 was selected for rejecting the null
hypothesis.
Results and Discussion
In this section, the results are analyzed and discussed to answer the two
research questions.
Research Question 1: Do Persian learners of English avoid phrasal verbs?
To answer this research question, results from all three elicitation tests were
analyzed. The results of the multiple choice test revealed that out of 660
possible uses of phrasal verbs (15 × 44) and one-word verbs, in 278 (42.12%)

P a g e | 107
cases, the participants selected phrasal verbs. 338 (51.21%) answers showed
the preference of the participants for one-word verbs and the 44 (6.66%)
remaining cases comprised wrong responses.
The results of the recall test indicated that out of the total 660 (15 × 44)
phrasal and one-word verbs, in 280 (42.42%) cases the participants preferred
phrasal verbs. In 341 (51.66%) cases the participants used one-word verbs. The
39 (5.90%) remaining cases included the wrong responses.
Regarding the verb translation, the results showed that out of out of 660
possible (15 × 44) translations, in 283 (42.87%) cases the participants
translated the Farsi verbs into a phrasal verb. In 356 (53.93 %) cases the
participants translated the Farsi verbs into a one-word verb. The 21 (3.18%)
remaining cases were the wrong translations.
The scores of the three tests revealed that out of 1980 possibilities to choose
phrasal verbs and one-word verbs, the participants selected phrasal verbs
42.47% of the time and one-word verbs 52.27% of the time, respectively.
Evidently, a tendency to opt for multi-purpose one-word verbs with general
meanings rather than for special-purpose phrasal verbs with specific, or even
idiomatic, meanings was characteristic for the participants. It follows that the
intermediate learners avoided using phrasal verbs and preferred the one-word
verbs. Thus, Hypothesis 1 of this study is supported.
The L1-L2 structural difference (Dagut & Laufer, 1985; Laufer & Eliasson, 1993;
Liao & Fukuya 2004) between Persian and English might be a reason for the
avoidance of phrasal verbs by the intermediate learners. The phrasal verb
structure is a peculiarity of the Germanic languages (Dagut & Laufer, 1985;
Darwin & Gary, 1999) which has no parallel in Persian. Furthermore, the
combination of a verb and the particle following it never forms a semantic
meaning which differs from the usual meanings of its individual parts.
Therefore, in comparing the verb system of the two languages, the English
phrasal verbs are left over with no Persian equivalents and it is not correct to
list the English phrasal verbs such as: get over, look into, stand for and come
about as the perfect correspondents to /behbud ya:ftan/ (recover); /bar-resi
kardan/ (investigate) ;/nesha:n da:dan/ (represent); and /ettefaq ofta:dan/
(happen) respectively (Fallahi,1991; as cited in Moghimizadeh, 2007). Because

108 | P a g e
of this L1-L2 difference, the syntactic and semantic functioning of the particles
in English phrasal verbs may be confusing to Persian learners of English.
It is equally important to note that in addition to inter-lingual factors, the
participants’ resistance to phrasal verbs can be explained in terms of inherent
complexity of the structure of the English language itself. Due to the difficult
nature of phrasal verbs, learners of English as a foreign language normally
experience enormous difficulties while attempting to learn these verbs. As a
result of these complexities, when speaking or writing in English a Persian
learner finds it difficult to understand and produce phrasal verbs and prefers
the alternative single word equivalents.
Besides the reasons mentioned above, there exist additional factors for
adopting avoidance strategies which are worth considering. As cited by
Pazhakh (2006), the fundamental causes of learners’ avoidance behaviors can
be roughly divided into two categories: objective causes and subjective ones.
Objective causes are beyond the control of students and are related to
external factors such as difference or similarities between English and Persian,
lack of comprehensible input and output, deviations between foreign language
competence and ideation proficiency, etc. On the other hand, subjective
causes are attributed to internal factors such as the teachers and students’
attitudes toward errors, the fear of difficulties, and the playing safe strategy,
etc. Since avoidance is widely acknowledged to imply a psychological process,
subjective causes assume that learners have the ability to use or partially use
the complex and appropriate words and sentences, but they consciously or
subconsciously avoid using them (Pazhakh, 2006, p. 8).
Research Question 2: Does their avoidance, if any, have any positive/negative
effect on their writing performance?
To respond to this research question and to discover whether any significant
difference existed between the writing ability of the two groups, the
participants were asked to perform a writing task. As Table 3.2 shows, the
results indicated a statistically significant difference between the scores of the
two groups. Thus, Hypothesis 2 of this study is rejected.

P a g e | 109
Table 1: Group Statistics
N Mean SD SEM
Group A 23 27.3913 1.96536 .40981
Group B 21 30.0238 2.45701 .53616
Table 2: Independent Samples Test
t-test for Equality of Means
t df Sig.
Mean
Difference
95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
Lower Upper
Equal variances assumed -3.941 42 .000 -2.63251 -3.98054 -1.28447
Equal variances not assumed -3.901 38.308 .000 -2.63251 -3.99829 -1.26672
To further investigate which group had a better performance in the writing
task, each groups’ mean score was taken into consideration. As obvious from
Table 3.2., the performance of the two groups differed widely. Since Group B’s
mean is higher than Group A’s mean, it can be claimed that the participants in
Group B had a better performance than the participants in Group A. Drawing
from this finding, it can be concluded that there exists a close relationship
between phrasal verb avoidance and the participants’ writing ability. In fact,
phrasal verb avoidance negatively affected the participants’ writing
performance. This means that EFL teachers should recognize the role of
phrasal verb avoidance while teaching writing.
Conclusions
This study explored phrasal verb avoidance by Iranian EFL learners. It also
provided insights into the consequences that phrasal verb avoidance has on
the writing ability of the L2 learners, thereby extending previous research
which has only focused on establishing the avoidance concept and trying to
improve its classification.
The results of the study showed that Persian learners tended to avoid using
phrasal verbs. These findings suggest that avoidance or play-it-safe behavior
may occur on certain occasions. Since phrasal verbs do not exist in Persian, the
learners’ avoidance can be explained in terms of L1-L2 difference. Moreover,
Persian learners’ avoidance might be attributed to the inherent complexity and
the difficult nature of phrasal verbs.
In an attempt to find answer to the question related to the impact of phrasal
verb avoidance on Persian learners’ writing performance, two groups of

110 | P a g e
learners were compared in their writing performances. The analysis of the data
attained through writing performance task indicated a statistically significant
difference between the scores of the two groups. The participants in Group B
whose scores were higher on elicitation tests outperformed the participants in
Group A in the writing task. The claim to be raised from this finding is that
phrasal verb avoidance has a negative impact on Persian learners’ writing
performance.
Pedagogical Implications
Although the current study is only a preliminary step towards untangling the
mysteries of phrasal verb avoidance phenomenon, it recommends several
implications as follows:
The findings of this research offer insights to language teachers. It is very
worthwhile for teachers to realize the role of avoidance strategy in the
improvement of EFL learners especially while teaching writing. It is hoped that
the findings of this research can provide teachers with a framework that helps
them guide learners towards overcoming the problem of phrasal verb
avoidance. Since phrasal verbs are confusing to Persian learners especially at
the level of production, it would be advisable for teachers and course
designers do the followings in the process of phrasal verb instruction:
 In order to help the learners expand their knowledge of phrasal verbs,
these verbs should be introduced at every opportunity in an EFL
classroom.
 Teachers should be conscious of the fact that apart from resolving
meaning and grammar problems, they should develop in their students
the ability to comprehend phrasal verbs as they are used in authentic
and meaningful activities.
 To reduce the problem of learning phrasal verbs, teachers need to
provide teaching materials which contain sufficient colloquial
conversations. Making use of authentic materials and literary texts
which present these verbs in natural context would be beneficial.
 It is often claimed that phrasal verbs are used in informal register and
specific written genres more than others like fiction and conversations.

P a g e | 111
Learners should appreciate that it is possible to use phrasal verbs in
formal contexts as well. Therefore, teachers should gear writing
assignments towards certain tasks that promote usage and production
of phrasal verbs.
The findings of this research offer insights to textbook writers and test
developers. Instead of traditional grammar lessons, curriculum developers and
textbook writers may need to design textbooks or teaching materials with
more informal conversations to provide practices on phrasal verbs. If possible,
besides studying textbooks, students should be required to be involved in
some actual communicative situations.
Test developers would utilize the findings of this research since by identifying
the phrasal verbs which Persian EFL learners tend to avoid, they may focus on
these verbs in evaluation. Moreover, it would be essential to include an
assessment of the learners’ ability to use phrasal verbs appropriately.
Intermediate foreign language learners, including the subjects in the present
study, are generally assessed as intermediate based primarily on their
knowledge of syntax and general vocabulary. More weight may need to be put
on the learners’ ability to use formulaic sequences including phrasal verbs to
arrive at a more accurate evaluation of the learners’ proficiency level.
Limitations of the Study
There are a number of limitations that need to be addressed regarding the
present study. The first limitation is related to the sample size. Due to
curriculum and administrative limitations, convenience sampling procedures
which involve choosing the nearest individuals to serve as respondents were
applied in drawing sample for the study. The findings of this investigation are
based on the performance of 44 participants who took part in this study and
thus cannot be safely extrapolated onto the larger body of EFL learners until
further research duplicating this study.
The second limitation has to do with the small numbers of English phrasal
verbs used in the tests. As a result, the findings of the study cannot be
generalized to all English phrasal verbs of this kind. In order to confirm the
tendencies found in this study, further research on larger numbers of phrasal
verbs with larger numbers of research participants over a longer period of time

112 | P a g e
is recommended. Apart from all these weaknesses, as this is an initial study on
impact of phrasal verb avoidance on the writing ability of Persian learners,
more research on this issue is needed.
Suggestions for Further Research
Acknowledging some limitations of the present study, certain suggestions can
be made for further research. In the present study the participants were all
intermediate learners. Another question which merits more investigation is
whether or not different results would be obtained with beginner and
advanced learners. Moreover, it would be advisable to compare the
performance of the participants with different proficiency levels. Further, in
this study gender was not taken into consideration as a variable, which can be
a good topic for future research
It has been claimed that exposure to the L2 environment may play an
important role in the avoidance or non-avoidance of phrasal verbs (Liao &
Fukuya, 2004). Accordingly, it would be worthwhile to look into phrasal verb
avoidance by comparing ESL and EFL learners at different levels of English
proficiency.
When studying the avoidance phenomenon, attention needs to be paid to all
those features which may interact with this factor in complex ways. The need
for further research in this area goes without saying. Especially useful would be
replication and expansion of the present study to include affective variables
such as risk-taking, about which relatively little is known concerning second
language learners. Further, final conclusions cannot be drawn only from
quantitative measurement. More qualitative analyses of phrasal verb
avoidance are still needed and are certain to provide new insightful evidence
on this issue.
And finally, here we investigated the effect of phrasal verb avoidance only on
one skill known as writing, while further research can open new avenues of
research into other areas such as listening, reading, speaking and so forth.
References
Allan, D. (2004). Oxford placement test. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

P a g e | 113
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and
written English. London: Longman.
Bley-Vroman, R. & Houng, C. (1988). Why do Chinese use few relative clauses in English? University
of Hawai’i Working Papers in ESL 7, 93-98.
Dagut, M., & Laufer, B. (1985). Avoidance of phrasal verbs: A case for contrastive analysis. Studies in
Second Language Acquisition 7, 73-80.
Darwin, C., & Gray, L. (1999). Going after the phrasal verb: An alternative approach to classification.
TESOL Quarterly, 33, 65-83.
Eliss, R. (1986). Understanding second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Errey, M. (2007). 1000 phrasal verbs in context. Retrieved from
http://www.teflgames.com/phrasal_verbs.html
Grobe, C. (1981). Syntactic maturity, mechanics, and vocabulary as predictors of quality ratings.
Research in the Teaching of English, 15, 75-85.
Hulstijn, J. H., & Marchena, E. (1989). Avoidance: Grammatical or semantic causes? Studies in Second
Language Acquisition, 11, 241-255.
Kleinmann, H. H. (1977). Avoidance behavior in adult second language acquisition. Language
Learning, 27, 93-107.
Laufer, B., & Eliasson, S. (1993). What causes avoidance in L2 learning: L1-L2 difference, L1-L2
similarity, or L2 complexity? Studies in Second Language, 15, 35-48.
Laufer, B., & Nation, P. (1995). Vocabulary size and use: lexical richness in L2 written production.
Applied Linguistics 16, 307–322
Laufer, B. (1997). What’s in a word that makes it hard or easy: Some intralexical factors that affect
the learning of words. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lee, S. H. (2003). ESL learners’ vocabulary use in writing and the effects of explicit vocabulary
instruction. System, 31, 537-561.
Leki, I., & Carson, J. (1994). Students’ perceptions of EAP writing instructions and writing needs
across the disciplines. TESOL Quarterly, 298, 81–101.
Li, J. (1996). Underproduction does not necessarily mean avoidance: Investigation of
underproduction using Chinese ESL learners. In L. F. Bouton (Ed.), Pragmatics and language
learning, 7, 171-187.
Liao, Y., & Fukuya, Y. J. (2004). Avoidance of phrasal verbs: the case of Chinese learners of English.
Language Learning, 54, 193–226.
Mehrpooya, A. (2002). A study of the use of avoidance strategy by EFL learners in production of
idioms. M.A thesis: Allameh Tabatabai University.

114 | P a g e
Moghimizade, R. P. (2007). Teaching Vocabulary in an EFL Environment: Problems and Prospects.
Southern Thailand English Language Teaching/Cultural Change Conference.
Moghimizade, R. P. (2008).The Study of Syntactic Avoidance on the Written Production of Persian
University Students Majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation. University Sains Malaysia. Malaysia.
Muncie, J. (2002). Process writing and vocabulary development: comparing lexical frequent profiles
across drafts. System 30, 225–235.
Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pazhakh, A. (2006). An investigation on Iranian EFL learners’ application of avoidance strategies in
their writings. Iranian Journal of Language Studies. 1(1), 1-12.
Polio, C., & Glew, M. (1996). ESL Writing Assessment Prompts: How Students Choose. Journal of
Second Language Writing 5.I, 35-49.
Rudzka-Ostyn, B. (2003). Word power: phrasal verbs and compounds- A cognitive approach. Berlin:
Mouton de Gruyter.
Schachter, J. (1974). An error in error analysis. Language Learning, 24, 205-214.
Weigle . S.C. (2004). Integrating reading and writing in a competency test for non-native speakers of
English. Assessing Writing, 9, 27-55

P a g e | 115
APPENDIX A: OPT Test

116 | P a g e

P a g e | 117

118 | P a g e

P a g e | 119
APPENDIX B
Table 3: Pairs of Phrasal and One-word Verbs Used in the Study with Persian EFL Learners
Phrasal Verb (PV) PV categorization One-word verb Persian equivalent
Let down Figurative Disappoint ‫نا‬‫ام‬‫ی‬‫د‬‫کردن‬
Run into Figurative Meet ‫مالقات‬‫کردن‬
Call off Figurative Cancel ‫لغو‬‫شدن‬
grow apart Figurative Separate ‫جدا‬‫شدن‬
show up Figurative Appear ‫حضور‬‫ی‬‫افتن‬
Go off Figurative Explode ‫منفجر‬‫شدن‬
Made up Figurative Invent ‫از‬‫خود‬‫در‬‫آوردن‬
Give up Figurative Stop ‫ترک‬‫کردن‬
Bring up Figurative Raise ‫بار‬‫آوردن‬
Come back Literal Return ‫برگشتن‬
Put up with Figurative Bear ‫تحمل‬‫کردن‬
Find out Literal Discover ‫شدن‬ ‫متوجه‬
Hold on Figurative Wait ‫صبر‬‫کردن‬
Take away Literal Remove ‫برداشتن‬
Come in Literal Enter ‫شدن‬ ‫وارد‬
APPENDIX C
Test Sentences
After each sentence the following information is added in parentheses: in
order of their appearance, the four alternative verbs presented in the multiple-
choice test; following the slash, the Persian equivalent presented in the
translation test (in infinitival form).
1. Jason felt terrible after he failed his exam. He said he'd ________ his
family, his teachers and all the friends who'd helped him study.
(discard, disappoint, let down, carry on / ‫نا‬‫کردن‬ ‫امید‬ )
2. Today I ________ a cousin I hadn't seen for years. It was good to see
each other after such a long time.
(went over, ran into, met, applauded / ‫کردن‬ ‫)مالقات‬
3. The reception in the garden was ________ because of a thunderstorm.

120 | P a g e
(canceled, went off, called off, encountered / ‫شدن‬ ‫)لغو‬
4. Jenny and Kate used to be close friends, but they've ________ over the
years. They hardly ever see each other these days.
(grown apart, separated, gone without, secluded / ‫شدن‬ ‫)جدا‬
5. Many people ________ at the product launch because of the free drinks.
(claimed, appeared, showed up, looked up / ‫یافتن‬ ‫)حضور‬
6. Fortunately, there weren't that many people in the building when the
bomb ________.
(went off, tuned in, exploded, collapsed / ‫شدن‬ ‫)منفجر‬
7. Alex was late for school, so he ________ a story about traffic jam.
(invented, made up, followed, looked over / ‫آوردن‬ ‫در‬ ‫خود‬ ‫)از‬
8. When you are a chain-smoker it is incredibly difficult to ________
smoking.
(eliminate, stop, fall down, give up / ‫کردن‬ ‫)ترک‬
9. Parents should do their best to ________ their children to be honest.
(dismiss, raise, bring up, come across / ‫آوردن‬ ‫)بار‬
10.We are having a great time in France. I hope we can ________ again
next year.
(take up, come back, return, leave / ‫برگشتن‬)
11.We can't ________ the heat any longer. We're going to buy an air
conditioner.
(bear, get over, bewilder, put up with / ‫کردن‬ ‫)تحمل‬
12.Mr. Jones wanted to catch the train to London. He was late and he didn’t
know which platform the London train left from. He ________ which
platform by asking a ticket collector.

P a g e | 121
(abandoned, discovered, find out, tried out / ‫شدن‬ ‫)متوجه‬
13.We can't ________ much longer. If we don't get the deal soon, we will
give up.
(hold on, starve, wait, go off / ‫کردن‬ ‫)صبر‬
14.The waiters ________ the dirty dishes and wiped down the table before
serving and dessert and coffee.
(removed, drop in, took away, mix / ‫برداشتن‬)
15.The children ________ the bar from the back door.
(appeared, entered, put up, came in / ‫شدن‬ ‫)وارد‬
APPENDIX D
Recall Test (Part I)
DIRECTIONS: Try to memorize the following sentences in 10 minutes. You will
be tested later to check how much you have remembered.
1. Kim complained that no one invited him to the party and that he felt
disappointed.
2. Jenny and Kate used to be close friends, but they've grown apart over
the years. They hardly ever see each other these days.
3. Alex was late for school, so he made up a story about traffic jam.
4. Parents should do their best to bring up their children to be honest.
5. Many accidents are caused by carelessness.
6. Why is Sue still angry with John? I thought they'd talked things over and
clear up their misunderstanding.
7. We can't hold on much longer. If we don't get the deal soon, we will give
up.
8. You should jot down your ideas to make sure you don't forget them.
9. At the beginning of the class, the instructor distributed the quizzes
among the students.
10.I wish I'd tried out this calculator before I bought it. It doesn't seem to be
working right.

122 | P a g e
11.We'll stop the meeting now and carry on after lunch.
12.We can't put up with the heat any longer. We're going to buy an air
conditioner.
13.I can't tolerate my roommate's lack of responsibility. He never pays his
share of the rent on time.
14.When you are a chain-smoker it is incredibly difficult to give up smoking.
15.Many people showed up at the product launch because of the free
drinks.
16.The reception in the garden was called off because of a thunderstorm.
17.Don't get so excited. Just relax and tell us what happened.
18.Today I ran into a cousin I hadn't seen for years. It was good to see each
other after such a long time.
19.Fortunately, there weren't that many people in the building when the
bomb went off.
20.Jason felt terrible after he failed his exam. He said he'd let down his
Recall Test (Part II)
DIRECTIONS: Question 1-15 are incomplete sentences. Please read them
carefully. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and try
to fill in the verbs according to what you remember.
1. Jenny and Kate used to be close friends, but they've __________ over
the years. They hardly ever see each other these days.
2. Alex was late for school, so he __________ a story about traffic jam.
3. Parents should do their best to __________ their children to be honest.
4. Why is Sue still angry with John? I thought they'd talked things over and
__________ their misunderstanding.
5. We can't __________ much longer. If we don't get the deal soon, we will
give up.
6. You should __________ your ideas to make sure you don't forget them.
7. I wish I'd __________ this calculator before I bought it. It doesn't seem
to be working right.
8. We'll stop the meeting now and __________ after lunch.
9. We can't __________ the heat any longer. We're going to buy an air
conditioner.

P a g e | 123
10.When you are a chain-smoker it is incredibly difficult to __________
smoking.
11.Many people showed up at the product launch because of the free
drinks.
12.The reception in the garden was __________ because of a
thunderstorm.
13.Today I __________ a cousin I hadn't seen for years. It was good to see
each other after such a long time.
14.Fortunately, there weren't that many people in the building when the
bomb __________.
15.Jason felt terrible after he failed his exam. He said he'd __________ his
Recall Test (Answer Sheet)
DIRECTIONS: Please read the given directions for the previous section. Read
the questions carefully. Then, find the number of question in this answer sheet
and fill in the space. As you can see, two response columns are given. Write
the exact original words you remember in the left-hand column (Column A). If
you are not able to remember the original words, fill in another appropriate
verb in the right-hand column (Column B).
Column A Column B
1. ………………………..…………………….. 1. ………………………..……………………..
2. ………………………..…………………….. 2. ………………………..……………………..
3. ………………………..…………………….. 3. ………………………..……………………..
4. ………………………..…………………….. 4. ………………………..……………………..
5. ………………………..…………………….. 5. ………………………..……………………..
6. ………………………..…………………….. 6. ………………………..……………………..
7. ………………………..…………………….. 7. ………………………..……………………..
8. ………………………..…………………….. 8. ………………………..……………………..
9. ………………………..…………………….. 9. ………………………..……………………..
10 ………………………..…………………….. 10 ………………………..……………………..
11. ………………………..…………………….. 11. ………………………..……………………..
12. ………………………..…………………….. 12. ………………………..……………………..
13. ………………………..…………………….. 13. ………………………..……………………..
14. ………………………..…………………….. 14. ………………………..……………………..
15. ………………………..…………………….. 15. ………………………..……………………..

124 | P a g e
APPENDIX E
Table 4: Essay Scoring Criteria, Adapted from S.C Weigle (2004), Assessing Writing, 9 (27-55)
Rhetoric: Content
Rhetoric:
Organization
Language:
Accuracy
Language: Range
and complexity
9-10 9-10 9-10 9-10
The treatment of the
assignment completely
fulfills the task
expectations and the
topic is addressed.
Clear and Appropriate
organization plan.
The essay is clearly
written with few errors;
errors do not interfere
with comprehension
The essay uses a variety
of sentence types
accurately.
Fully developed range
evidence for
generalizations and
supporting ideas is
provided in a relevant
and credible way.
Effective introduction
and conclusion.
Includes consistently
accurate word forms and
verb tenses.
Uses a wide range of
academic vocabulary.
Uses ideas from source
text well to support
thesis.
Connections between
and within paragraphs
are made through
effective and varied use
of transition and other
cohesive devices.
Word choices are
accurate and
appropriate.
Source text language is
used sparingly and
accurately incorporated
into writer’s own words.
7-8 7-8 7-8 7-8
assignment fulfills the
task expectations
completely and the topic
is addressed clearly.
Clear organization plan
The essay is clearly
written but contains
some errors which do not
interfere with
comprehension.
The essay uses a variety
of sentence types.
Evidence for
generalizations and
supporting ideas is
provided in a relevant
and credible way.
Satisfactory introduction
and conclusion
The essay may contain
some errors in word
choice, word form, verb
tenses, and
comprehension.
Good range of
vocabulary used with at
most a few lapses in
register.
Ideas from source text
used to support thesis.
Satisfactory connections
between and within
paragraphs using
transitions and other
cohesive devices.
----------------
Some language from the
source text may be
present but is generally
well incorporated into
writer’s own words.
5-6 5-6 5-6 5-6
assignment minimally
fulfills the task
expectations; some of
the task may be slighted.
Adequate but simplistic
organizational plan
Is generally
comprehensible but
contains some errors that
distract the reader; at
most a few errors
interfere with
comprehension.
Somewhat limited range
of sentence types; may
avoid complex
structures.
Some evidence for
generalizations and
supporting ideas is
provided
Introduction and
conclusion present but
may be brief.
The essay may contain
some errors in word
choice, word form, verb
tenses, and
comprehension.
Somewhat limited range
of vocabulary

P a g e | 125
Rhetoric: Content
Rhetoric:
Organization
Language:
Accuracy
Language: Range
and complexity
Ideas from source text
are included but may not
be explicitly
acknowledged as such.
Connections between
occasionally missing
----------------
May include extensive
language from source
texts with an attempt to
incorporate text own
language
3-4 3-4 3-4 3-4
assignment only partially
fulfills the task
expectations and the
topic is not always
addressed clearly.
Organization plan hard to
follow
Contain many errors;
some errors may
interfere with
comprehension.
Uses a limited number of
sentence types.
Evidence for
generalizations limited,
and supporting ideas is
insufficient and
irrelevant.
Introduction and
conclusion may be
missing or inadequate.
Includes many errors in
word choice, word form,
verb tenses, and
complementation.
----------------
May not include ideas
from source text, or may
consist primarily of ideas
from source text without
Connections between
frequently missing
----------------
Extensive use of source
text language with little
integration with writer's
words.
1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2
assignment fails to fulfill
the task expectations
and the paper lacks
writing.
No apparent organization
plan
Contain numerous errors
that interfere with
comprehension
Use simplistic and
repetitive vocabulary
that may not be
appropriate for academic
focus.
Evidence for
generalizations and
supporting ideas is
insufficient and
irrelevant.
Introduction and
conclusion missing or
clearly inappropriate.
Includes many errors in
word choice, word form,
verb tenses, and
complementation.
Does not vary sentence
types sufficiently.
----------------
Few connections
between and within
paragraphs
----------------
May rely almost
exclusively on source
text language

126 | P a g e
Developing an ELT Context-Specific
Teacher Efficacy Instrument
Kobra Tavassoli
Supervisor: Ramin Akbari, PhD
PhD Dissertation Abstract
Over the years, teacher efficacy has received great attention from different
scholars and researchers in mainstream education due to its influence on
students’ learning, and different teacher efficacy instruments have been
developed to measure this construct. Despite its importance, different
problems are associated with the available teacher efficacy instruments, the
most important of which is the generality of the statements/items in such
instruments. To avoid these problems, this study aimed at developing a new
teacher efficacy instrument whose items were specific to different contexts in
ELT classes. Moreover, it aimed to find out possible relationships among ELT
teacher efficacy and three other teacher variables – burnout, teaching style,
and emotional intelligence – as well as to document probable differences
among the components of ELT teacher efficacy with respect to teachers’
gender, major, degree, and teaching experience. To this end, the following
steps were taken. 1) Based on the information obtained from the literature
and the researcher’s conceptualization of a typical ELT class, a tentative
theoretical framework of ELT teacher efficacy was developed. 2) Eighteen
heterogeneous English language teachers’ classes were observed and they
were interviewed to see how efficacious they were. 3) Thirteen English
language students were interviewed to discover who they considered an
optimal English language teacher. 4) Four experts in teacher education were
interviewed to understand their opinions about ELT teacher efficacy. 5) The
tentative theoretical framework was crosschecked with the results obtained
from observations and interviews. 6) A likert-scale ELT context-specific teacher
efficacy instrument with scenario-based items was developed based on the
theoretical framework; it was reviewed, piloted with 42 English language
teachers, and revised. 7) The newly-developed ELT context-specific teacher
efficacy instrument, along with instruments on burnout, teaching style, and

P a g e | 127
emotional intelligence were administered to 206 heterogeneous English
language teachers. To answer the research questions of this study, different
data analysis techniques were used. The results of factor analysis run on the
newly-developed teacher efficacy instrument led to the revision of the
tentative components of ELT context-specific teacher efficacy. Moreover, low
significant correlations were observed among teachers’ efficacy, burnout,
teaching style, and emotional intelligence on the one hand, and a number of
significant differences were seen in teachers’ performance on the ELT context-
specific teacher efficacy instrument with respect to their gender, major,
degree, and teaching experience on the other hand.

128 | P a g e
An Ethnographic Study of English
Teachers’ Institutional Identity in High
Schools, Language Institutes, and
Universities
Hadi Azimi
Supervisor: Reza Ghafar Samar, PhD
Advisor 1: Gholam Reza Kiany, PhD
Advisor 2: Ramin AKbari, PhD
PhD Dissertation Abstract
Teachers’ inner qualities have recently attracted researchers in the area of
teacher education. By analyzing teachers’ characteristics, researchers look for
finding means through which they can improve both teachers’ professional
conditions in particular and the educational states of affair in general. One of
these means is different types of identity teachers may develop in their
profession.
Among various variables affecting teachers’ professional identity is the
institutions they serve; the institutions that make them develop a special type
of teacher identity named “institutional identity”. This is a significant type of
identity in teacher education because it raises key questions like: do teachers
display different identities in different institutions? This question constitutes
the focal point of discussion in this study.
Meanwhile, one is reminded that institutions differ in a variety of dimensions
including their social status. The question is how different social status of
institutions, say low and high social status, affect a teacher’s perception and
realization of his/her professional identity. To this question gender should be
added as well, since gender can always be a determining variable in
humanities. This study is an attempt to fill the research gap by answering the
question of the effects of social status and gender on teachers’ institutional
identity in three different institutions where English teaching is prevalent, i.e.
high schools, language institutes, and universities.

P a g e | 129
In so doing, ethnography was selected as the design. 12 male and female
English teachers teaching at different high schools, language institutes, and
universities with different social status were selected for data collection. Three
major instruments, namely semi-standard interviews, focus group technique,
and (non-)participant observation were implemented for data collection. The
recorded data were then transcribed and merged with the notes taken. Then,
making use of “content analysis”, patterns were extracted which served as the
materials to define and describe the institutional identity of teachers in these
three institutions.
The patterns extracted revealed the similarities and differences among the
institutional identities of teachers regarding their related institutions.
Description of each type of institutional identity in details, statement of the
extracted similarities and differences, and explanations of the motives and
consequences are among the outcomes of this study. The institutional identity
questionnaire developed based on the data is another significant result of this
study. According to findings, the three institutions differ in terms of the nine
institutional identity factors. Also, male and female teachers in each institution
type displayed different institutional identity states. Moreover, high and low
status institutions found to hold diverse institutional identity qualities. The
outcomes provide researchers in the realm of teacher education with a
qualitative picture of teachers in various institutions where language is taught.
Key Words: Institutional Identity; English Teachers; Social Status; Gender; High
Schools; Language Institutes

130 | P a g e
The power of critical literacy in
mentoring: Iranian readers of English
literature
Maryam Hesabi,
Supervisor: Dr. Ghahremani Ghajar
Alzahra University
MA Thesis Abstract
This study is an attempt to describe the power of natural mentoring in a critical
English reading course. In response to many years of a one-way teacher
oriented teaching approach, there have been some attempts in countries
outside Iran to identify young learners as resourceful learning material
themselves. Over a period of two semesters, the researchers as teacher-
researcher and co-teacher full-time participant observer explore the following:
(a) diverse ways for inviting twenty nine English Literature majors to voice their
own spontaneous learning challenges in reading English literature through
mentorship; (b) characteristics of a popular mentor in critical reading practice
and the ways in which a mentor may share her voice with mentees; (c) how
teachers create space for critical readers to position themselves as language
and reading mentors and mentees interchangeably. For this purpose a
qualitative case-study methodology is conducted at Alzahra University for an
in-depth understanding of the language and act of reading when Iranian
women English literature readers participate in a mentorship interaction. The
findings indicated that the mentors/mentees and the teacher create a subtle
relationship throughout the semesters by sharing how to read and search for
literary texts; how to review literary texts after hearing each other’s writing
styles; how to voice their critiques with courage; how to overcome
competition; and how to invite quiet members to their circles.

P a g e | 131
The Effect of Wikis' Collaborative
Environment on the Improvement of
Iranian EFL Learners' Writing Skill
Zahra Arabsarhangi
Advisor: Dr. Roya Khoii
Reader: Dr. Roxana Aminzadeh
Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch
MA Thesis Abstract
The present study was conducted to demonstrate the effect of wikis'
collaborative environment on the improvement of Iranian EFL learners' writing
skill. Wiki, Hawaiian word for quick, is a series of interlinked collaborative web
pages that can be edited and added to by a group of learners. Nowadays, the
availability of these online environments for practicing writing and delivering
the materials in a web-based format has turned them into useful tools for
teaching writing. In addition, the time demanding nature of writing and
classroom time limitations have led some teachers to use these ideal platforms
to boost their students' motivation to learn to write. The participants of this
study consisted of 60 female elementary level students chosen from among
100 students studying English at Sherafat Junior High School in Tehran. After
matching their scores, the students were later divided into three homogenous
groups, one control and two experimental groups, each consisting of 20
students. Collaboration was the key concept in both experimental groups
where the members wrote through collaborative work and were corrected by
their peers. While the activities in one of the experimental groups were done
in the wiki environment, those in the other experimental group were
performed in the class following the norms of any collaboration-oriented class.
The students in the control group wrote individually and were corrected by the
teacher. Narrative writing on the basis of the writing process method was
taught from the book writing tutor in all the three groups, and the same
teacher taught them. After the 2-month treatment period, the same topic was
given to all the participants to write a composition each on their own. It was
concluded that there was a significant difference among the mean scores of
the three groups and the students in the wiki group outperformed those in the

132 | P a g e
other groups. So, the null hypothesis was rejected. Although collaboration was
the key element in the superiority of the two experimental groups over the
control group in terms of writing, collaborative activities in a technology-
oriented context employing the use of wiki pages contributed to greater
progress in the acquisition of the writing skill and produced better student
writers.

P a g e | 133
The Effect of Training in Reading Self-
assessment on EFL Learners’ Reading
Comprehension, Reading Motivation
and Reading Strategies Awareness
Mahnoosh Hamavandi
Supervisor: Dr. Kiany
Advisor: Dr. Akbari
MA Thesis Abstract
Due to the growing focus on learner independence and autonomy, self-
assessment has received considerable attention in recent years. Nevertheless,
this idea is novel to most English language teachers and students in Iran where
traditional assessment is still dominant. This study explored the effect of self-
assessment on EFL learners’ English reading comprehension, reading strategy
awareness, and reading motivation. 192 advanced EFL learners who were all
females studying in Iran Language Institute participated in this experimental
study. 95 participants were in the treatment group, and 97 participants were in
the control group. All participants completed the Survey of Reading Strategy
(SORS), English Reading Motivation Questionnaire (ERMQ) and the Nelson-
Denny Reading test (NDRT) during the second week of the semester (i.e.,
pretest) and during the final week of the semester (i.e., posttest). Participants
in the treatment group also completed weekly Self-Assessment Questionnaires
and kept reading journals throughout the semester for 10 weeks. Step-wise
multiple regression independent and matched t-tests were used to analyze the
predictive power of the SORS and the ERMQ subscales with respect to reading
comprehension and to find the difference between the two groups in terms of
their reading motivation, reading comprehension and reading strategies
awareness. Results from the three post measurements indicated that students
in the experimental group showed statistically significant gains on three post
measurements as compared with the control group. In addition, the results
indicated that among the three sub-scales of reading motivation questionnaire
(ERMQ), reading self-efficacy was the only significant predictor of reading

134 | P a g e
comprehension. Likewise, global reading strategy which was a subscale of
survey of reading strategies (SORS) turned out to be the single predictor of
reading comprehension. In sum, the results of this study suggest that self-
assessment should be integrated into regular EFL reading classes in order to
help EFL learners become independent readers and ultimately lifelong readers.
A detailed interpretation of these results as well as implications for foreign
language education is provided.
Key Words: self-assessment, reading motivation, reading comprehension,
reading strategies awareness

P a g e | 135
The Iranian English Language Learners’
Perceived Social Self-Efficacy and their
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety
Mohammad Amerian
Supervisor: Dr. Hadi Frajami
University of Semnan
M.A. Thesis Abstract1
In foreign language learning and education, social psychological variables are
of utmost importance. These variables can highly affect the learners’
performance and their achievement level, especially when they learn in a
community of peers. One of the most influential psycho-social domains in
language pedagogy is Perceived Social Self-Efficacy; “an individual’s confidence
in his/her ability to engage in the social interactional tasks necessary to initiate
and maintain interpersonal relationships” (Smith and Betz, 2000). This thesis
has been conducted to investigate the relationship between the perceived
social self-efficacy of Iranian students of English and their foreign language
classroom anxiety. The needed data were gathered by two standard
questionnaires: Smith and Betz’s (2000) 25-item Scale of Perceived Social Self-
Efficacy (SPSSE) with reliability of .95 and in the areas of “making friends”,
“pursuing romantic relationships”, “social assertiveness”, “performance in
public situations”, “groups or parties”, and “giving or receiving help”, and
Horwitz et al.’s (1986) 33-item Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale
(FLCAS) with reliability of .83 and subscales of “communication apprehension”,
“test anxiety”, and “fear of negative evaluation”. A total of 151 students (127
students of English Language and Literature in B.A. level and 24 students of
Teaching English as a Foreign Language at M.A. level) participated in the study.
After obtaining the raw data, the SPSS software (version 16) was used to
change the data into numerical interpretable form. To determine the
relationship between perceived social self-efficacy and foreign language
classroom anxiety, correlational analysis was employed. Pearson Product-
1
Defended on October 1, 2012

136 | P a g e
Moment correlation was used and the correlation coefficient (r) was -.164 (p <
.05). The result showed that the participants’ perceived social self-efficacy has
a reverse relationship with their foreign language classroom anxiety. Also,
further calculations were done about the type and rate of the influence of
demographic variables (namely age, gender, educational level, and academic
seniority) on students’ PSSE and FLCA. As a whole, among males, a reverse
relationship was observed between the two main variables. This reverse
relationship was stronger for B.A. students than for M.A. students, although it
was not recognized statistically significant. Moreover, senior B.A. students
established the strongest negative correlation (r = -.367) among the
participants from different classes. According to the One-Way ANOVA results,
no meaningful relationship was observed between age, gender, educational
level, and academic seniority of the participants, and their perceived social
self-efficacy or foreign language classroom anxiety. Based on the findings of
the study, the rate of perceived social self-efficacy (i.e. trust in self in social
situations) seems to play a key role in the intensity of foreign language
learners’ anxiety and a vital parameter in their full-functioning and efficient
learning.
Key Words: EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Learners, Attitude, Social Self-
Efficacy, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety.

P a g e | 137
Notes
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

138 | P a g e
Notes
……………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

License NO. 191/102796
Email: modarestefl@yahoo.com
MeTEFL, Tarbiat Modares University
Jalal Ale Ahmad Highway, P.O.Box: 14115-111, Tehran, Iran

MeTEFL

More Related Content

What's hot (17)

Viewers also liked (17)

Similar to MeTEFL (20)

MeTEFL