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This study examined students' attitudes toward distance learning, and its relationship with the duration of using Telegram and schooling. It specifically explored students' experiences of the challenges and opportunities that distance learning created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, two null hypotheses were formulated: (1) there is no significant relationship between students' attitudes toward distance learning and the duration of using Telegram; and (2) there is no significant relationship between students' attitudes towards distance learning and the duration of schooling. Data were collected from a survey questionnaire and in-depth semi-structured interviews with students from the English Department of Herat University, Afghanistan. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, an independent samples t-test, and ANOVA. The results of the t-test showed that the first hypothesis should be accepted, meaning there is no relationship between students' attitudes toward e-learning and years of Telegram use. Further, the one-way ANOVA test showed that the second null hypothesis was affirmed. Moreover, the qualitative findings indicated that distance learning via Telegram is associated with context-specific challenges and several opportunities.

This study investigates the perceptions of teachers and students toward formative assessment (FA) in higher education settings. The researchers developed a four-construct perception scale, namely self-assessment, interactive formal assessment, in-class diagnostic assessment, and subjective assessment. Data were collected from 216 participants--91 teachers and 125 students. The findings demonstrated that both teachers and students have identically perceived interactive and in-class diagnostic assessments. Nonetheless, they distinctively perceived self-assessment and subject performance assessment demonstrating a significant difference. The students reported self-assessment greater than the teachers, whereas they perceived the subject-performance assessment lower compared to the teachers. The findings suggest that English as a foreign language (EFL) or English as a second language (ESL) learners benefit from formative assessment if teachers evaluate students' progress based on their own development rather than being evaluated in comparison to other students' development.

Afghanistan has recently witnessed the redefinition of its educational policies, particularly those related to language teaching. However, little is known about Afghan second language (L2) teachers and the challenges they might face in their professional identity construction. This study investigated the challenges of professional identity construction of Afghan L2 teachers. Scenario prompts and semistructured interviews were used to explore how the teachers responded to challenging situations and narrated their professional challenges. Data analyses indicated that the teachers responded to the scenario prompts in accordance with perspectives mirroring criticality in educational functioning by promoting learners' awareness of sociocultural anomalies, resisting institutional inequalities, and gearing instruction to learners' needs. Additionally, analysis of the teachers' semistructured interviews revealed sociocultural, institutional, and pedagogical challenges, particularly the dominance of institutional barriers in sanctioning the teachers' identity construction. The authors argue that Afghan L2 teachers need more assistance from policymakers and teacher educators to facilitate their professionalism and professional practice.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how feedback loops function within the Ministry of Education (MoE) Provincial Education Directorate (PED) in Herat province of Afghanistan, how the MoE/PED collects, analyzes, and uses feedback for improving its policies and programs, and responds to the issues and barriers identified at the school levels. To narrow down the research, it investigated the feedback loops around teacher professional development (TPD). We used semi-structured interviews and document analysis to collect data. The participants were 34 individuals selected purposefully from six schools, one CBE, and Herat educational offices. We used thematic analysis methods for analyzing the data. The findings indicate that the MoE/PED did not collect regular or quality feedback about TPD activities, usually offered as teacher training workshops, from this study participants. Besides, we did not find any evidence that the MoE/PED has used the rarely collected feedback for improving TPD programs, so the feedback loops were not closed. The mechanisms for collecting, analyzing, and using feedback are not well defined and established at the MoE/PED. The existing structures for communicating information between schools and the higher authorities in the MoE/PED are manual and paper-based, and the process is very time-consuming.

Despite a burgeoning body of research on teacher identity development, little is known about how incongruities between the ideal and real-life teaching practices create identity tensions. The present study adopted an arts-based approach and examined teachers' ideal and actual teaching practices, and the associated identity tensions and related coping strategies in the context of Afghanistan. Data were collected from six English teachers via drawings and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis indicated that the teachers experienced unattainable ideal praxis in terms of 'time, space and facility', 'ideal teaching methods', 'ideal instructional materials', and 'technology-enhanced classroom', which resulted in various identity tensions. However, thinking reflectively about their imagined community and ideal practices offered affordances for the teachers to be creative to manage the tensions, and build resilience and reflexivity. The study concludes with implications for teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers in developing awareness of ideal-real mismatches to support teacher identity development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This mixed-methods study investigated the students' attitudes and motivations toward English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for General Purposes (EGP) courses. It also explored the perceived reported experiences of Afghan English teachers regarding teaching ESP and EGP courses. The quantitative data was collected through distributing questionnaires among students, and teachers were interviewed through semi-structured interviews for the qualitative data. The results revealed that students' interest can be further enhanced if they were taught in more homogenous classes, with creative and well-qualified teachers. Besides, the instructional materials should be further goal oriented, resulting in addressing the needs of students' needs. Moreover, from teachers' perspectives, lack of diverse use of teaching activities, and scarcity of appropriate materials, and class size were among the significant challenges which teachers and learners are faced with. In the light of the study results, implications for teaching, research and higher education were also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of English language on the perceived reported experiences of an Afghan English language teacher. The research design for this study is an autoethnography, a method of design which allows the researcher to study himself. The researcher has utilized his language literacy autobiography, personal journals and personal photo albums for the data collection phase of this study. He has employed Appadurai's (1990) five scapes, dimensions of cultural flow, to explore the impact of English language on his lived experience. The results demonstrated how English language as a global phenomenon has helped me to move from a fruit vendor to a teacher scholar, visit other countries, and know more about his culture and identity. The results also yielded that English has negatively affected my source culture and first language usage. The constructed themes in the currently study offered implications for teaching, research and education authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]