Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics

The present study aims to investigate the relative effectiveness of different types of pragmatic instruction including two collaborative translation tasks and two structured input tasks with and without explicit pragmatic instruction on the production of apologetic utterances by low-intermediate EFL learners. One hundred and fifty university students in four experimental groups and one control group participated in pre-tests, post-tests and two month follow ups consisting of open-ended discourse completion tasks (OPDCT), mobile short message tasks (MSMT) and telephone conversation tasks (TCT). The results of the study indicated that pragmatic instruction may enhance interlanguage pragmatics (ILP). It was also found that the participants receiving explicit pragmatic instruction outperformed the implicit and control groups. Moreover, the two Collaborative Translation Task (CTT) groups showed better retention of pragmatic knowledge. It was concluded that collaborative translation may result in deeper processing of both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic knowledge leading to more appropriate pragmatic production.

This study investigated the effect of the title and ambiguity tolerance on the comprehensibility of a non-text. To this end, ten irrelevant sentences from different texts were put together to make two seemingly cohesive and coherent texts. The two texts were exactly the same except for the fact that one of them carried a title whereas the other had no title. The two texts were randomly given to two groups of intermediate EFL students. Students were expected to read the text and answer 10 reading comprehension questions. Eight questions asked for the reference of specific pronouns or words; one asked for the topic and one for the main idea of the text. Considerable difference was found between the performance of the students on the titled text and the untitled text. It indicated hat the title had made students construct a meaning regardless of the fact that the text was basically meaningless and that the title was not a real title. Further analysis of the results indicated that ambiguity tolerance could not provide enough justification for the results found and that the presence of the title was the best explanation provided for the performance on the non-text.

Few studies have been conducted on the application of chaos theory to foreign language learning and assessment. The present study tried to empirically test the application of one of the fundamental tenets of the chaos theory (sensitivity to initial conditions) to language assessment by studying the effect that changing the first item of a MC test may have on test performance. Twenty Iranian EFL students majoring in English Literature at Shiraz University took part in the study. They were all freshmen who had just finished their first academic semester and were beginning the second semester. They took a MC grammar test of 2o items. After an interval of two weeks they took the same test in different versions. These versions were created by changing the first item that was presented to each student. The first item was; however, selected from the same test so that all the students received the same items, though, in different orders. Analyzing the results indicated that 72.21% of the students had a different performance on the second test. The results also indicated that 38.88% of the changes were considerably large (changes of 3 or more points in a scale of 0-20). The results were indicative of the effect of changing the first item of the test on test takers' performance in line with the idea of sensitivity to initial conditions in chaos theory.

The present study aimed at investigating DIF sources on an EFL reading comprehension test. Accordingly, 2 DIF detection methods, logistic regression (LR) and item response theory (IRT), were used to flag emergent DIF of 203 (110 females & 93 males) Iranian EFL examinees' performance on a reading comprehension test. Seven hypothetical DIF sources were examined in this regard: text familiarity, gender, topic/text interest, guessing, and the social variables of location, income, and educational status. Only LR, for gender and text familiarity, could preempt DIF with gender supporting the gendered-text effect while text familiarity benefiting, inversely, the participants with low level of text familiarity. For interest in topic, LR found a single item favoring the group with higher levels of interest and the IRT model detected DIF in either extreme. Regarding guessing and income, the LR indicated DIF supporting the low guessers and high-income group whereas IRT, conversely, showed DIF favoring the high guessers and low-income group. For location and education both methods, correspondingly, demonstrated DIF for the expensive location and educated groups. Finally, the differential test functioning result made it clear that only three sources of DIF (gender, income, & interests) were transferred to the test level. The findings could support a proportional effect of DIF sources.

Although some piecemeal efforts have been made to investigate the validity and use of the Iranian PhD exam, no systematic project has been specifically carried out in this regard. The current study, hence, tried to attend to this void. As such, to ensure a balanced focus on test interpretation and test consequence, and to track evidence derived from a mixed–method study on the validity of Iranian PhD entrance exam of TEFL (IPEET), this study drew on a hybrid of two argument-based structures: Kane's (1992) argument model and Bennett's (2010) theory of action. Resting on the network of inferences and assumptions borrowed from the hybridized framework, the study investigated the extent to which the proposed assumptions would be supported by empirical evidence. It also examined the unintended consequences that may possibly be revealed through this validity investigation. Three sources of data informed the present study: (a) Test score data from about 1000 PhD applicants' taking IPEET test administered in 2014, (b) questionnaires completed by university professors and PhD students of TEFL, and finally, (c) telephone and focus-group interviews with university professors and PhD students of TEFL, respectively. The results from the analysis of mixed-method data indicated that all the inferences proposed for this study were rebutted, suggesting that some unintended consequences have happened to the technical as well as the decision quality of this test, hence its invalidity. Findings also The Journal of Teaching Language Skills / 7(2), Summer 2015, Ser. 79/4 2 provided valuable insights and suggestions for the betterment of the present content and current policy of IPEET in Iran. 1. Introduction A decentralized assessment system was previously practiced to screen PhD applicants in Iran. In the decentralized PhD exam no central bodies from top-tier decision makers such as Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (hereafter, MSRT) and the National Organization for Educational Testing (NOET) were in control of this admission system. Different universities administered their own examination differently in different formats and at different times. The screening was based on a written performance-based assessment (or sometimes an MC test) in which applicants were required to respond to essay-type knowledge questions (or MC questions) based on which those who passed the cut-score (determined and decided by each specific university) were allowed to attend an interview. The overall evaluation was based on the local written performance assessment, the MC test, and the oral interview. However, this traditional system was claimed in the oral literature not to be scientific and fair enough; that is, most of the PhD students were selected from the MA students of the same university. Furthermore, most of the PhD applicants were relatively dissatisfied with the entrance criteria of the higher education in Iran (Kiany, Shayestefar, Ghafar Samar, & Akbari, 2013). Therefore, these problems casted some doubts on the reliability and validity issues of this type of evaluation. Currently, following the criticism leveled against the decentralized admission system, a semi-centralized assessment system is practiced for screening PhD applicants. Every year, a resounding number of MA graduates (NOET news, 2013) from different majors, in 30 capital cities in Iran take part in IPEET. As released on the official sites of NOET and MSRT, the apparent intentions behind introducing this test were both to solve some of the deleterious effects of the decentralized local examinations and to take more control and power on the acceptance and non-acceptance of candidates for doctoral programs. Annually, this test is administered in March and the primary results are released on NOET site at the end of May. The IPEET test subsists of a test of academic talent, a general English proficiency test and a specialized knowledge test, all appearing in MC format. The knowledge test which is aimed at measuring the candidates' expertise in the field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) is supposedly related to the courses students have passed in the MA or even BA program. In fact, it assesses the students' specialized knowledge in areas which are assumed to be the prerequisite for entering the PhD program since the PhD program is built on such areas of knowledge. As such, the knowledge test of IPEET includes questions on

Dynamic assessment (DA) which is rooted in Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural theory involves the integration of instruction and assessment in a dialectical way to achieve two main purposes: enhancing learners' development and understanding about their learning potential. However, the feasibility and appropriateness of mediation are two main concerns of DA. The former is concerned with the application of DA for a large number of students, while the latter is concerned with providing test takers with appropriate hints. The purpose of the current study was threefold: to examine the difference between dynamic and nondynamic tests, to understand about test takers' potential for learning, and to find out how mediation works for high and low ability students. To achieve these aims, computer software was developed. The software is capable of both providing the test takers with graduated hints for each item automatically, and adapting the overall difficulty level of the test to the test takers' proficiency level. To test the efficiency of the software in employing dynamic assessment, 83 Iranian university students participated in the study. The results of the study indicated that the computerized dynamic test made significant contribution both to enhancing students' grammar ability and to obtaining information about their potential for learning. Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that the use of dynamic assessment can simultaneously lead to the development of the test takers' ability and provide a more comprehensive picture of learning potential. Accordingly, teachers are recommended to use dynamic assessment to make more informed decisions about their students.

Differential Item Functioning (DIF) exists when examinees of equal ability from different groups have different probabilities of successful performance in a certain item. This study examined gender differential item functioning across the PhD Entrance Exam of TEFL (PEET) in Iran, using both logistic regression (LR) and one-parameter item response theory (1-p IRT) models. The PEET is a national test consisting of a centralized written examination designed to provide information on the eligibility of PhD applicants of TEFL to enter PhD programs. The 2013 administration of this test provided score data for a sample of 999 Iranian PhD applicants consisting of 397 males and 602 females. First, the data were subjected to DIF analysis through logistic regression (LR) model. Then, to triangulate the findings, a 1-p IRT procedure was applied. The results indicated (1) more items flagged for DIF by LR than by 1-p IRT (2) DIF cancellation (the number of DIF items were equal for both males and females), as revealed through LR, (3) equal number of uniform and non-uniform DIF, as tracked via LR, and (4) female superiority in the test performance, as revealed via IRT analysis. Overall, the findings of the study indicated that PEET suffers from DIF. As such, test developers and policymakers (like NOET & MSRT) are recommended to take these findings into serious consideration and exercise care in fair test practice by dedicating effort to more unbiased test development and decision making.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) entails the ability to adopt accurate reasoning about emotions and the ability to use emotions and emotional knowledge to improve thought. Regarding the importance of EI and its effect on different dimensions of education, the present study is aimed at investigating the relationship between EI, test taking strategies (TTSs), and language proficiency of Iranian EFL learners. It also tried to examine which EI sub-components are the best predictors of TTSs and language proficiency. For the purpose of the study, 175 male and female Iranian EFL learners from Shiraz and Ahvaz Universities took part in the study. EI was measured through the short form of BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (BarOn EQ-i) in the participants' first language, Farsi. The knowledge of the participants' TTSs was investigated through a TTSs questionnaire which was developed by the researchers. A TOEFL test was further administered to measure the participants' language proficiency. Pearson Correlation analyses revealed that among the EI sub-components, problem solving and optimism had positive relationship with TTSs, with large and medium effect sizes, respectively. Moreover, EI and its related subcomponents had no significant relationship with language proficiency. The results of the multiple regression analyses also showed that self-regard, impulse control, and problem solving were weak predictors of language proficiency. Finally, it was revealed that problem solving was the best predictor of TTSs.

Recent versions of international high-stakes tests like TOEFL and IELTS have made use of integrated tasks in addition to the traditional independent tasks in a claim to provide a more realistic estimation of the test takers' language abilities. The present study aimed to investigate how test takers' performance may differ on such tasks. As such, the test takers' performance was compared on IELTS Academic Writing Tasks 1 and 2. Whereas Task 1 is an integrated task which calls for graphic interpretation and description, Task 2 is an independent task of writing an argumentative essay. Furthermore, the study also aimed to investigate the effect of writing prompts on the test takers' performance on such tasks. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design in the form of posttest-only group. Fifty six Iranian EFL learners at Shiraz University were selected based on their availability. After receiving instruction in a semester on how to do the two tasks, they received 4 writing tasks (2 versions of each task with different prompts). The data collected were analyzed through two-way repeated-measures ANOVA. The results indicated that task type did not have a significant effect on the test takers' writing performance; that is, there were no significant differences between the participants' performance on the independent and integrated writing tasks. Furthermore, the effect of prompts was only found to be significant on the participants' performance on task 2 (independent task). The findings provide evidence for higher consistency of scores obtained from different versions of the integrated task.

The validity of large-scale assessments may be compromised, partly due to their content inappropriateness or construct underrepresentation. Few validity studies have focused on such assessments within an argument-based framework. This study analyzed the domain description and evaluation inference of the Ph.D. Entrance Exam of ELT (PEEE) sat by Ph.D. examinees (n = 999) in 2014 in Iran. To track evidence for domain definition, the test content was scrutinized by applied linguistics experts (n = 12). As for evaluation inference, the reliability and differential item functioning (DIF) of the test were examined. Results indicated that the test is biased because (1) the test tasks are not fully represented in the Ph.D. course objectives, (2) the test is best reliable for high-ability test-takers (IRT analysis), and (3) 4 items are flagged for nonnegligible DIF (logistic regression [LR] analysis). Implications for language testing and assessment are discussed and some possible suggestions...

The current study tries to investigate the particular role familiarity with the genre of the text plays in EFL learners' performance on two types of tests, i.e. cloze test and C-test. It also attempts to determine whether C-test is a measure of language proficiency like cloze test. The participants of the study were fifty-one intermediate undergraduate students majoring in English Literature at the University of Isfahan. In two sessions, the participants took a battery of measures (a) two newly developed cloze tests of familiar (literary) and unfamiliar (political) genres, and (b)