Teachers' Perspectives on the Quality of Online TEFL Courses in the Wake of COVID-19: Promoting knowledge sharing
Purpose: The present study sought to evaluate the quality of virtual education in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) courses at the wake of COVID-19. In addition, ways to knowledge sharing in the courses was investigated. Methods: The statistical population of the quantitative section consisted of 95 TEFL professors and the qualitative section consisted of 13 TEFL professors in the first semester of the 2020-21 academic year. Da...
The Effectiveness of Peer Feedback through Google Docs for Improving EFL Students’ Classroom Engagement and Writing Achievement
The paper presents a research study dealing with the effect of Google Docs on EFL learners' engagment and writing achievement
Collaborative digital writing and metacognitive knowledge in writing among TEFL students: the mediating role of online knowledge sharing
Previous studies indicate that metacognitive knowledge has a key role in learning and that collaborative learning and knowledge sharing may affect learners’ metacognition. As such, the present study set out to test a structural model of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) students’ collaborative digital writing, online knowledge sharing, and metacognitive knowledge in writing, and specifically to examine the hypothesis that online knowledge sharing mediates the effect of collabo...
Quality of ESP Courses for Nursing Students: Expectations and Challenges
Background: The present study set out to examine English for Specific Purposes (ESP) for nursing instructors’ perceptions of what constitutes quality ESP delivery and their perceptions on the challenges that may inhibit the provision of the quality in ESP education for nursing students.Methods: To obtain data, first, the questionnaire of quality of education in ESP was given to ESP instructors. They were asked to fill in the questionnaire and rank strategies for effective ESP education. Sec...
An Investigation into the Level of Reflection and Barriers to EFL Teachers’ Reflective Practice
The present study aimed at investigating English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ level of reflection and the barriers to their reflection. To do so, based on an experimental research method, 98 EFL teachers were recruited and the English language teacher reflection inventory (ELTRI) was distributed among them. To consolidate the findings of the inventory, 20 volunteers from the same pool were interviewed. As the next phase of the study, to investigate the barriers to the teachers...
The Mediating Effect of Knowledge Sharing in the Relationship Between Factors Affecting Knowledge Sharing and Reflective Thinking: The Case of English literature students during the COVID‑19
The COVID-19 pandemic has had serious implications on educational systems worldwide and, hence, online courses have been organized. It is expected that the use of online learning in higher education promote knowledge sharing among students and the sharing of knowledge result in the improvement of reflective thinking among them. As such, we examined the knowledge sharing behavior among the undergraduate students in online learning English literature courses, the student’ perceptions to...
Web Questing in TEFL Courses: What Factors Deter the Students' Information-seeking Behavior?
The survival and the continuity of an organization’s operations depend upon the use of information. As such, investigating the Webquesting behavior of university students in general and TEFL (Teaching English as a foreign language) students in particular during the Covid 19 seems essential. Since information-seeking behavior can be influenced by various factors we aimed to explore the attitude of TEFL students towards webquesting. In the next phase of the study, we sought the bar...
Constructing and Validating a Questionnaire on Barriers to EFL Learners’ Reflective Writing
The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate a scale to assess the inhibitors to reflective writing of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The other aim of this study was to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. To prepare the first item pool of the questionnaire, the researchers reviewed the previous related literature and prepared the first item pool with 62 items. At the next stage, based on the judgments of some experts in the field regarding ...
ONLINE COLLABORATIVE ACTION RESEARCH IN AN EFL CONTEXT: THE EFFECT ON TEACHERS’ REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
Technology can be integrated in teacher education and, hence, be used to empower teachers to extend learning beyond their classrooms. Therefore, the present study was an attempt to investigate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions of action research and explore the impact of their collaborative action research in an online discussion group on their reflective practice. In addition, we were interested to ...
Knowledge Sharing and Reflective Practice Among ESP Instructors of Allied Medical Sciences
Abstract Knowledge sharing and reflective thinking are two key issues in any educational system. The present study examined the willingness of instructors of English for the students of allied medical sciences to share knowledge and think reflectively and investigated their reluctance to form knowledge sharing groups. To this aim, in the quantitative phase of the study, two questionnaires were completed by 14...
The Inhibitors to Information Seeking Behavior of Nursing Students in General English and ESP Courses from University Instructors’ Perspective: A Case Study
Introduction: Investigating the information seeking behavior of nursing students in General English and ESP courses is of great importance since various factors may impact the students’ information seeking behavior. As such, the present study sought the inhibitors to the information seeking behavior of students of nursing in general English and ESP courses. Methods : The study is a qualitative research that adopted a conventional content ...
Collaborative Climate and Knowledge Sharing among ESP Teachers: A Mixed Method Study
Research on teacher collaboration emphasizes the key role of collaborative culture for teachers’ functioning; however, there is little empirical evidence to investigate its relationship with knowledge sharing among university ESP teachers. In the present study, the relationship between EFL teachers’ collaborative climate and knowledge sharing was sought. The data were collected through two surveys of 328 Iranian ESP teachers. A Pearson c...
From Knowledge Sharing to Reflective Thinking: Using Focus Group to Promote EFL Teachers’ Reflectivity
Abstract Educational research literature has underscored the key role of collaboration and interaction among teachers. As such, the present study, as its main objective, sought whether knowledge sharing in a reflective focus group improved English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers’ reflective practice. In addition, it explored the benefits and challenges to knowledge sharing in a reflective focus group. To this end, a survey of reflective practice, and a semi-structured interv...
EAP instructors’ professional development and their knowledge sharing: A case of nursing courses
Background: It has been agreed upon by educators and scholars that one of the key successes in any educational setting is promoting the professional development of teachers. Having this in mind, the researchers of the present study investigated nursing English for academic purposes (EAP) and instructors’ perceptions of knowledge sharing. In addition, they sought whether EAP instructors’ perceptions of knowledge sharing would predict their professional...
Knowledge sharing through WhatsApp: does it promote EFL teachers ’ reflective practice?
Purpose – Reflective practice can greatly improve teachers’ professional development, and various studies have demonstrated that teachers’ knowledge sharing has a positive impact on their reflection. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to examine the effect of knowledge sharing in a popular online forum –WhatsApp – on English as foreign language (EFL) teachers’ reflective practice. It was also aimed to probe the challenges the teachers faced t...
