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In this study, a framework has been designed to guide institutions to better improve learner satisfaction and further strengthen their e-learning implementation. Undergraduate participants (nź=ź600) completed an online survey of 132 items. This article will first report on the development and validation of an instrument that attempts to reveal factors that affect user satisfaction, and then a multiple regression analysis and a path analysis help further investigate which factors can significantly predict learner satisfaction. The factor analysis identified 14 different factors. These factors were further categorized by the researchers into 6 dimensions i.e. learner dimension, instructor's dimension, course dimension, technology dimension, design dimension, and the environment dimension. The multiple regression analysis showed that e-learners satisfaction can mostly be predicted by learner interaction with others. Findings of this research will help institutions by providing them with psychometric properties that add pedagogical value to e-courses. Important factors that influence e-learner satisfaction in virtual courses.Exploratory factor analysis helped identify important factors and construct a model.Dimensions were learner, instructor, course, technology, design, and environment.Direct method multiple regression analysis to test the effect of different variables.Path analysis to measure model fit and visualize factors in e-learner satisfaction.

This article reports a mixed-method research probing the effect of utilizing a blog-buddy system on English for academic purposes learners’ writing performance. Sixty Iranian undergraduate engineering students at Iran University of Science and Technology Virtual Campus participated in this study. Our analysis of the students’ writings indicated that blog-integrated writing instruction accompanied with the implementation of a blog-buddy system resulted in a significant improvement in students’ writing performance. Further, the results of an attitudinal survey revealed that students who received feedback from blog-buddies showed higher positive attitudes toward utilizing blogs for their writing classes. For further investigation, data were gathered through comments the participants left on the weblog and the forums, semistructured interviews, and teacher observations. Four themes emerged, which were used to come up with a framework based on the learner-centred approach. The framework integrates web-based trainings and learners’ learning styles and fosters the learners’ control of their learning experiences.

Virtual learners were significantly more enthusiastic and collaborative.Mixed-method approach. Outstanding theme of blended class: personality clash.Outstanding themes of virtual class: anticipation in problems, communication.Blended class: goal oriented; wanted to enter graduate school.Virtual class: skills oriented; believed multidimensional thinking. This study compared students' group work experiences in virtual and blended classes in an EFL context. The study was conducted during an academic semester and the participants comprised of two groups of Iranian EAP students in mainstream education system and virtual education context. To probe the factors influencing student group work experiences and how these factors might affect student performances in virtual and blended environments, we adopted a mixed-method approach. For the collection of quantitative data, a survey adapted from Smith et al. (2011) was used. For further investigation, data were gathered through comments the participants made, semi-structured interviews, and teacher observations. The findings revealed that students in the virtual class proved significantly more enthusiastic about collaborative work compared to students in the blended class. Our analysis of qualitative data confirmed that anticipation of problems and development of communication plans were found in the learners in the virtual group, whereas personality clashes were commonly observed among the learners in the blended environment. The results promise implications for teachers in order to identify challenges the English learners may face in online instructional environments and think of strategies to help them overcome problems and engage in active participation in online activities.

© 2014 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. In this study we explored the effect of podcasting on the motivation of the students in an online English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course at the university level (N = 179). By using a mixed-method approach, we analyzed the data collected on the learners' impressions about using podcasts as a learning tool. The particular aim of this study was to help learners do research in English in their specific academic field. In their EAP course the learners are expected to study various types of English texts, listen to media and give lectures on their academic findings. The findings of this study revealed that males found podcasting significantly more relevant and attractive than females. Females, on the other hand, were significantly more satisfied with using podcasts in their EAP class. Further, results showed that learners who had no prior experience of podcasts for academic purposes outperformed the learners with medium experience. For further qualitative investigation, several sources were used for data collection including interviews with the learners, the course forums, emails, the class groupblog, podcasts and open-ended questions. Overall podcasting proved highly effective in motivating the students to learn in the online environment. peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=nile20 ispartof: Interactive Learning Environments vol:24 issue:4 pages:875-896 status: published

The literature on English for academic purposes (EAP) methodology highlights the significance of learners' engagement in learning language (Hyland, 2006) in mainstream general and online contexts. Blogs have been recommended in many studies as having the potential to bring the sense of community and collaboration in online classes. Therefore, this study sought to investigate whether blogs in large classes would help students enhance their perceptions of learning. To this end, Forty-two undergraduate students of Information Technology (IT) at an Iranian university participated in a weblog writing course in order to promote collaboration and reflective learning. Instrumentation included a questionnaire of perceived learning and sense of community, semi-structured interviews, and participant observations. The findings revealed a significant difference in perceived learning between the students with low sense of community and those with a high sense of community. Based on the qualitative findings of the study, we suggest an assessment framework incorporating constructivist and social-interactionist theories of learning in order to treat students as members of a community of learning. The findings may promise implications for gearing EAP assessment to more collaborative modes in online courses and suggest a model framework for the assessment of students in EAP online classes. This study examined the effect of blogs in a collaborative context on enhancing EAP students' perceptions of learning.Data were collected through a questionnaire of perceived learning, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation.The findings confirmed the difference in perceived learning of EAP students following the use of blogs.The implications for EAP writing instruction through more collaborative modes of education and assessment are discussed.Online framework of assessment for EAP students of IT studying at IUSTVC was developed.

Mastering the temporal system of a second language and being able to correctly implement this knowledge especially in spontaneous production is a challenging task to accomplish. That is why most learners often have problems using appropriate tenses in oral and written production. The present study attempts to shed light on the way Iranian learners cope with a tense task and how they come up with responses, right or wrong. The participants were given a tense task in the form of a cloze and were asked to think aloud as they were completing the task. The researchers, then, tried to see what processes they went through while filling in the blanks with verbs. The potential sources of error and their significance in teaching English are also discussed.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether there is any statistically significant difference between the effects of asynchronous online peer WCF through blogging and face-to-face peer WCF on the writing achievement of Iranian EFL learners. The study also investigated the extent to which students revise their writings based on peer comments provided. This study also measured the attitude of students towards peer WCF through blogging as compared with that of the participants receiving face-to-face peer WCF. The findings indicated that there is no statistically significant difference between the effects of face-to-face and asynchronous online peer WCF on the writing achievement of the Iranian EFL learners. In terms of the extent of incorporating the peer comments in their final drafts, the participants in the FF group incorporated more of the comments they received into their second drafts in comparison with the OL group. Finally, it was revealed that the participants of each group generally expressed their satisfaction with both methods of peer review.

The purpose of this study was to search for the probable effects of learners’ characteristics on linguistic properties of their writings. Learners’ characteristics were studied via three main leaner variables; affective, cognitive, and biological variables. Extroversion/ introversion (affective), reflectivity/ impulsivity (cognitive), and gender (biological) were selected as three variables via which the learners could be categorized into different groups. The linguistic properties of the learners’ written performance were measured through Syntactic Complexity and Lexical Complexity. The participants were selected from a homogeneous group of university language learners whom were asked to write a composition. The compositions were then transcribed into available information for a computer. A computerized text analysis program (Word Smith Tools) was used to measure the linguistic properties of the written compositions. Syntactic complexity (ratio of subordination and average sentence length of the written texts) and Lexical complexity (lexical diversity and lexical density) were calculated by the program. Extroverts indicated to write in a more lexically complex way than introverts. The results showed that there was not any significant difference between reflective and impulsive learners with respect to the linguistic properties of their writings. Female and male learners also indicated no such difference with regard to the linguistic characteristics of their written performance.

This study investigated the association of teacher stress with sense of humor and emotional intelligence (EI) among 108 EFL teachers from 5 private language institutes in Tehran. It was also checked that whether sense of humor and EI could predict teacher stress. The participants were administered Fimian’s (1984) Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI), Thorson and Powell’s (1993) Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS), and Bar-On’s (1997) EI test. A series of Pearson Product Moment Correlations and a 2-step Hierarchical Regression Analysis were run. The findings revealed that EFL teachers’ sense of humor and EI were reversely correlated with their stress level. It was also found that, after accounting for the contribution of demographic variables, sense of humor and EI could collectively add to the prediction of teacher stress, however, only EI could separately predict teacher stress. Implications of the study are discussed, and suggestions for future research are made.

This study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and burnout among 104 Iranian EFL teachers. In addition, teachers’ differences on EI and burnout were examined with respect to demographic variables. The participants were administered EI and Burnout questionnaires. The results obtained through using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation showed that there were significant negative correlations between EI and burnout, burnout, teaching experience and age and positive correlations between teachers’ EI, teaching experience, and age. Finally, using T-Test, the researchers found no significant differences in teachers’ EI and burnout with respect to gender. Implications of the study are discussed, and suggestions for further research are made.

This study investigated the relationship between self- efficacy and stress among 108 EFL teachers in Iran. The participants were administered self-efficacy and stress questionnaires. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression analyses were used. The results indicated significant negative correlation between self efficacy and stress. Also it was found that both dimensions of self-efficacy, namely, classroom and organizational efficacies, either collectively or separately, could predict stress among EFL teachers. Implications of the study are discussed.

This study aimed to investigate virtual English language instructors' perspectives regarding Community of Inquiry Model (CoI). The population of the study consisted of 7 online experienced TEFL instructors at Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST). They were asked to provide the answers of an interview based on 38 open-ended questions. The results of the study indicated that Cognitive presence was the least common presence in virtual learning environment. Regarding Social presence, only few indicators of this presence (Utilizing medium, Identifying areas of agreement and disagreement, Setting climate for learning, and Encouraging and acknowledging student contribution) were available to virtual students. Considering Social presence, slightly less Affective and Group Cohesion presence was found in Instructors' comments and only two indicators of Open Communication category (Complimenting and Quoting messages) were frequent and applicable to virtual learning environment.

The emergence of Dynamic Assessment (DA) has been motivated by the inadequacy of conventional static tests to provide accurate information about the individuals' learning ability. To explore the effectiveness of Dynamic Assessment and conventional methods of teaching and assessing in writing, 45 female students were studied. These individuals were randomly assigned into two groups. To understand students' problems and needs better, individuals in both groups were asked to write reflective reports which mainly focused on their writing process. Analyzing the mean scores of these groups revealed the superiority of Dynamic Assessment. The students' scores in each group were also compared prior to the implementation of the treatment and after that, using two paired t-tests. The results revealed that unlike the conventional group, those in Dynamic Assessment group had improved their writing skills significantly. Such results implicitly revealed that writing reflective reports by itself cannot have any effect on the writing abilities of individuals. Some criteria for writing, as mentioned by the individuals in their reflective reports, were categorized: grammar, content, using appropriate and effective vocabulary, organization, spelling and capitalization. Further findings and implications for future research are discussed in the paper.

This study investigates the relationship between Iranian EFL learners' and teachers' sensory preferences (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (VAK)) and the learners' achievement in speaking. Fifty-two Iranian EFL learners studying English participated in this study after their knowledge of English was considered homogeneous based on an English proficiency test and an IELTS interview simulation. Participants received the equivalent speaking instruction. Reid's PLSPQ was given to students to determine their sensory preferences. A teaching style questionnaire was given to their English teachers to determine their teaching style. Based on the results, two groups of matched and mismatched students were determined. After instruction, the two groups were post-tested through an oral interview test rated based on IELTS speaking band descriptors, as in the pretest. Results of the study indicated that matching Iranian EFL learners' and teachers' sensory preferences (VAK) had a significant effect on the learners' achievement in speaking.

The study has aimed at observing English teaching in practice and has attempted to see whether teaching practice is in congruence with teachers’ claims to teaching according to CLT. In pursuit of fulfilling the aims of the study, the ideas of 17 EFL teachers, all of which were selected from private language institutes in Tehran, were measured through an attitude questionnaire. In addition, 16 EFL classes were observed to measure the state of the practice of language teaching and learning in the classrooms against the principles of CLT. The findings revealed that although teachers held a positive claim towards practicing CLT, the state of the practice of language teaching and learning was not in favor of the premises of CLT.

There are two types of alfalfa landraces in Iran. The first is temperate landraces such as Hamedani, Gharah Younjeh and the second is sub-tropical landraces such as Bami, Nikshahri and Yazdi. Do they have different gene pools and could they be identified using agro-morphological traits. A total of 332 landraces which had been collected from different parts of Iran were planted in the experimental field. During 1998-2002, agro-morphological traits were evaluated according to IPGRI descriptors. One way ANOVA analysis showed that the variance among accessions within provinces is not significant for mostly of traits, whereas it was significant among provinces. Cluster analysis revealed that there are five clusters which are grouped in two main clusters. The first main cluster consisted of landraces of central to Northern provinces. The other main cluster consisted of landraces of central to Southern provinces. The results of t-test among quantitative traits in two main clusters and distribution of collected accessions of each province in the produced plot based on two first factor of factor analysis, confirmed the cluster analysis results. Therefore these results revealed that those accessions which were collected from Northern parts of the country were genetically different from Southern accessions. As a result, there are two types of gene pools for alfalfa landraces in Iran. Also this study showed that using agro-morphological traits could be used for distinguishing between two types of gene pools of alfalfa landraces in Iran.