Farnoosh Mohammaddokht's research while affiliated with University of Kurdistan and other places

https://staging.journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00315125231182269 We tested an assessment model, by which teacher self-efficacy, perceived school climate, and psychological wellbeing at work, might predict teaching enjoyment. We invited a convenience sample of 355 teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) to respond to four online questionnaires. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to check the scales’ construct validity and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test associations among the variables. Our results showed that teacher self-efficacy, perceived school-climate, and psychological wellbeing were direct predictors of foreign language teaching-enjoyment (FLTE). Teacher self-efficacy affected FLTE indirectly, as induced by psychological well-being. School climate also indirectly influenced FLTE, as mediated by teacher self-efficacy and psychological wellbeing, with school climate a direct predictor of teacher self-efficacy and psychological wellbeing. Teacher self-efficacy directly affected psychological wellbeing. We discuss implications of these findings for teacher-education programs.

This research was set to uncover Iranian English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers’ attitudes toward the use of learning management systems (LMS) in English classes. Employing a mixed methods research design, the researchers recruited 168 Iranian EFL teachers from several schools and language institutions as research participants and sent them a valid self-report questionnaire to gather quantitative data. Simultaneously, they conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers to collect qualitative data. Findings revealed that Iranian EFL teachers adopted both positive and negative perceptions of LMS use. The positive perceptions included ease of access, knowledge sharing, suitability for crowded classes, variety of learning tasks, and more advanced assignments and feedback. In turn, negative views comprised inadequacy of teacher training programs, inappropriacy for productive skills, complexity of functions, and students’ unfamiliarity with the systems as well as lack of interest. These results may offer significant insights into EFL practitioners’ perceptions of a variety of measures that can be taken by teacher development programs to encourage the use of LMS in EFL contexts.

As teaching is a complex and demanding activity especially in university and higher education contexts, exploring the correlates of work engagement in university contexts seems to be a promising research area. As an attempt to further clarify this research area, this study sought to examine the significance of reflective teaching and academic optimism as correlates of work engagement among university instructors in Iran. Having been selected via convenience sampling, a sample of 289 Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) university instructors participated in this survey. The electronic versions of the scales of teacher academic optimism, reflective teaching, and work engagement were administered to the participants. Initially, the construct validity of the scales was verified for the university contexts via performing confirmatory factor analysis. Then the hypothesized structural relationships among the constructs were tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results demonstrated that both reflective teaching and academic optimism significantly predicted work engagement among English university instructors. Some notable implications are finally discussed based on these findings.

Because of the exacting nature of teaching, identifying factors affecting teachers’ mental health and psychological wellbeing are of paramount importance. Parallel with this line of inquiry, the goal of this project was to test a model of psychological wellbeing based on teacher self-efficacy and emotion regulation in an EFL context. To this end, 276 Iranian English teachers participated in this survey. First, the measurement models for the three latent constructs were verified through performing Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Then Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized model. SEM outcomes evince that both teacher self-efficacy and emotion regulation were the significant predictors of teachers’ psychological wellbeing, with teacher self-efficacy being a stronger correlate than emotion regulation. The findings offer significant implications for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers.

Due to the complexity of teaching, determining the variables influencing teachers’ work engagement is a rewarding research area. In line with this research agenda, the purpose of this study was to test a structural model of work engagement based on teacher self-efficacy and teaching enjoyment among English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers. For this purpose, 315 Iranian English instructors completed an online survey. Initially, the measurement models for the three latent variables were averred via conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Following that, structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the hypothesized model. SEM results showed that both self-efficacy and teaching enjoyment were the significant predictors of teachers’ work engagement, although teacher self-efficacy was a stronger predictor than teaching enjoyment. The findings might have notable implications for English teachers.

The aim of this research was to explore the effect of flipped classroom on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ reading skill and reading anxiety. For this purpose, a sample of 44 Iranian EFL learners was recruited and randomly assigned to a flipped group (N =23) and a non-flipped group (N =21). Using a quasi-experimental design, the researchers employed an experimental group that received flipped instruction and a control group that were instructed based on the regular method for a period of four months. The reading component of the Cambridge Preliminary English Test (CPET) and a scale of reading anxiety were given to assess the reading comprehension and reading anxiety of the participants as pre-test and post-test of the study. The outcomes of the research indicated that the learners in the flipped class substantially performed better than those of the non-flipped class regarding EFL reading gains. Also, flipping the course significantly reduced reading anxiety of the participants. According to these results, it may be concluded that EFL teachers can utilize flipped instruction for their reading courses.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of two types of repeated reading (i.e., assisted and unassisted) on incidental vocabulary learning of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. In so doing, a sample of 45 intermediate EFL students from two intact classes of a language institute were selected as the participants. The two classes were randomly assigned to an unassisted group (N = 21) who were required to just read and an assisted group (N = 24) who were asked to read and listen to 24 short texts several times. The assisted group employed their smartphones to listen to the audio files of the short stories. The data were gathered via a researcher-made vocabulary test and vocabulary learning self-efficacy scale. The results of ANCOVA revealed that although both types of repeated reading contributed to enhancing vocabulary learning of the participants, assisted repeated reading led to significantly greater EFL vocabulary gains. Additionally, the findings revealed that both assisted and unassisted repeated reading improved vocabulary learning self-efficacy of the participants and there was not a significant difference between the two types of interventions. The findings of the present study have implications for EFL researchers and practitioners.

Given its key role in enhancing learners' communicative competence, willingness to communicate (WTC) has received much research attention in the field of second language (L2) teaching and learning. Numerous studies have explored the antecedents of WTC in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. As an attempt to shed more light on this line of research, this study was set to investigate the effects of grit and foreign language anxiety as predictors of L2 WTC among Iranian EFL learners. For this purpose, a number of 163 undergraduate English major students from several universities participated in this survey. The required data were collected by distributing valid and reliable instruments measuring the three target variables (i.e., WTC, grit, and anxiety). A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was utilized to test the hypothesized structural models for the relations between these variables. The SEM results indicated that grit accounted for 10.6 % of the variance and Foreign Language (FL) anxiety explained 20% of the variance in the participants' L2 WTC. Furthermore, the unique impact of foreign language anxiety on WTC was greater than that of grit. The implications of these findings for language teaching and learning are discussed at the end of the paper.

Learners’ emotions in learning a foreign language are claimed to shape complicated dynamic associations contributing to their motivational and linguistic outcomes, as evidenced by recent research in this area. In order to advance this research area, this study sought to investigate the foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) as the predictors of ideal L2 self in Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. The total number of 195 English-major students from various universities completed an online survey containing the three scales in question. The measurement models were first verified using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Then, the structural model for the relations among the variables was tested employing structural equation modeling (SEM). The SEM results showed that although FLE and FLCA significantly predicted ideal L2 self, FLE was a stronger predictor of ideal L2 self than FLCA. This study provides significant pedagogical implications for EFL practitioners.