@article { author = {Golzar, Jawad and Yousofi, Rohullah}, title = {Exploring Gender Identity, Argumentation and Rhetorical Appeals Uses within EFL Students' Writing}, journal = {International Journal of Education & Language Studies}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {1-18}, year = {2021}, publisher = {LULU Publications}, issn = {2767-4851}, eissn = {2767-4851}, doi = {10.22034/ijels.2021.278979.1005}, abstract = {Persuasive language influences college students dramatically by providing possibilities of presenting their self. The current study examined how EFL college students embodied their gender identity, employed argumentation, and incorporated rhetorical appeals (logos, ethos, and pathos) in their EFL writing. The study utilized a mixed-method approach. Using simple and random sampling, the authors selected eight argumentative essays that the EFL students submitted as an academic writing course requirement. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) is used to measure linguistic properties of the texts, and coding quantitatively is used to analyze the qualitative data collected by interview. The results revealed that the participants did not include the qualifier and counterarguments, and they incorporated rhetorical appeals across gender differently. The study unveiled various underlying constraints sanctioning the EFL students' gender identity presentation within their writing in the Afghan context. The study offered several pedagogical implications to support EFL students to develop as successful writers.}, keywords = {gender identity,Argumentation,Rhetorical Appeals,Logos,Ethos,Pathos}, url = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132420.html}, eprint = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132420_b3a57e60d4a03e8c803963932083c0ee.pdf} } @article { author = {Zargar, Maryam}, title = {Development and Validation of English Language Teacher Emo-sensory Practice Scale and Examining its Relation with Teacher Effectiveness}, journal = {International Journal of Education & Language Studies}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {19-38}, year = {2021}, publisher = {LULU Publications}, issn = {2767-4851}, eissn = {2767-4851}, doi = {10.22034/ijels.2021.132440}, abstract = {Given a considerable number of studies attempted to determine the factors influencing teacher effectiveness, the current study set out to investigate the effect of the newly-proposed concept of Emo-sensory practice on teacher success. For this purpose, the researcher took advantage of using both qualitative and quantitative methods of research. In the first phase, a focus-group discussion was conducted with nine EFL teachers to explore their views toward using emo-sensory practices in their education. Based on the data from the qualitative phase, the English language teacher emo-sensory practice scale (ELT-ESPS) was designed. Afterwards, a total of 200 English language learners filled out ELT-ESPS along with the teacher success scale. The construct validity of ELT-ESPS was substantiated through confirmatory factor analysis. To examine whether distal and proximal senses could predict teacher success, structural equation modeling was utilized. The results indicated that distal senses (i.e., auditory and visual) are better predictors of success than proximal senses (i.e., olfactory, gustatory, and kinesthetic); the auditory sense is the strongest predictor of teacher success whereas the olfactory sense is the weakest predictor of it. Findings indicated that there is a significant positive correlation between Iranian English language teacher emo-sensory practices and teacher success. In the end, the results were discussed and implications of findings were presented.}, keywords = {Emo-sensory practices,Distal senses,Proximal senses,Teacher Success}, url = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132440.html}, eprint = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132440_25d311dd0d97cf9bb9c942094e57eacc.pdf} } @article { author = {Maleki, M Naeim}, title = {Towards Outcome-Based Education: Challenges in the Context of Afghanistan}, journal = {International Journal of Education & Language Studies}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {39-51}, year = {2021}, publisher = {LULU Publications}, issn = {2767-4851}, eissn = {2767-4851}, doi = {10.22034/ijels.2021.279086.1007}, abstract = {As a response to content and teacher-based approaches of traditional education, outcome-based education (OBE) has emerged. Recently, the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) in Afghanistan has trained some university teachers on these approaches. This is going to be an ongoing process in which all the university teachers will be trained. The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges trained teachers faced in the implementation of OBE in their courses and their suggestive solutions to overcome the barriers. The participants (n=16) were selected from among the teachers who had participated in the OBE training workshop at Herat University. A desk review of the documents and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data for this qualitative study. The paper uses the components of constructive alignment as a framework to analyse the data. The study found that there are external challenges (i.e., top-down curricula and policies) and internal challenges (i.e., number of students and the amount of instructional time) ahead of teachers when they tried to implement OBE systems in Afghanistan. Furthermore, the study provides suggestions for both policymakers and teachers to ease the implementation of OBE-SCL in university classes.}, keywords = {outcome-based education,OBE Challenges,OBE in Afghanistan,Constructive Alignment}, url = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132421.html}, eprint = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132421_45a58327917345815776794a79213c72.pdf} } @article { author = {Nabizadah, Parigul}, title = {Exploring Afghan EFL Students' Attitudes toward Writing English Poetry}, journal = {International Journal of Education & Language Studies}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {52-69}, year = {2021}, publisher = {LULU Publications}, issn = {2767-4851}, eissn = {2767-4851}, doi = {10.22034/ijels.2021.279192.1011}, abstract = {The current study explores EFL Afghan students' attitudes towards writing English poetry. This study aims to investigate how EFL Afghan students perceive writing poetry by examining four basic themes (difficulty, value, emotion, and attitude) adopted from Iida's (2012a) research. This study has a qualitative design. The study participants were selected from the English department of Language and Literature Faculty at Herat University, Afghanistan. The data were analyzed through a coding system. The coded data's reliability was computed using SPSS statistical package version 26. The inter-rater reliability of the Correlation coefficient estimated agreement across raters of (r=.89) demonstrates a significantly high correlational value between the raters. The results showed that Afghan EFL students have positive attitudes toward writing English poetry. The findings revealed some reasons (such as expressing emotions and thoughts, enjoyment, discovering abilities, confidence, and enriching the vocabulary and language skills) that make Afghan EFL students willing to write poetry in the English language. However, some obstacles (such as the word choice, the poem's structure, self-expression, self- doubting, frustration, lack of knowledge, and previous learning experiences) make Afghan EFL students reluctant to write English poetry. The finding also reported a significantly high correlation between Afghan EFL students and Liao's (2018) study on EFL/ESL M.A. TESOL students' perception. The study concluded with some implications. }, keywords = {poetry,attitudes,EFL,qualitative,Correlation}, url = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132422.html}, eprint = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132422_7c614b00caeeb5d6730fe56a328531df.pdf} } @article { author = {Miri, Mir Abdullah and Timori, Khadija}, title = {Afghan University EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Psychological Wellbeing at Workplace}, journal = {International Journal of Education & Language Studies}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {70-85}, year = {2021}, publisher = {LULU Publications}, issn = {2767-4851}, eissn = {2767-4851}, doi = {10.22034/ijels.2021.278655.1004}, abstract = {The present study explored the Afghan English teachers’ psychological well-being (PWB) at Higher Education and their perception toward PWB through a qualitative inquiry to collect the required data. The study participants were seven Afghan EFL university teachers, four from a public university and three from a private university in a western province of Afghanistan. A qualitative research design was employed in this study. The participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and the data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis of the interviews indicated that the limitations of organizational workplace influenced the teachers’ performances in the classrooms, and their PWB was primarily influenced and decreased. Additionally, the results revealed that the teacher participants deal with many socio-cultural and institutional mandates that intervened and negatively impacted their PWB. The results also showed there was no fixed organizational approach to enhance or maintain the teachers’ PWB. The authors assert that Afghan EFL teachers need more attention and support from educational authorities and policymakers to improve their psychological wellbeing and professionalism.}, keywords = {Psychological Well-Being,Afghan EFL teachers,Job Satisfaction,identity,Workplace}, url = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132424.html}, eprint = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132424_276ae1dac349c74cdb14de171af29154.pdf} } @article { author = {Noor, Shagofah}, title = {Assessing the Efficacy of Extensive Reading Via Developing Audiobooks Among Afghan EFL Learners}, journal = {International Journal of Education & Language Studies}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {86-101}, year = {2021}, publisher = {LULU Publications}, issn = {2767-4851}, eissn = {2767-4851}, doi = {10.22034/ijels.2021.279106.1008}, abstract = {This research paper is intended to study the effects of creating audiobooks on developing the reading skills of the Afghan EFL sophomore students of the English Department at Herat University, Afghanistan. Students were provided with an opportunity to create audiobooks for the simplified novel they read in groups. In the end, students reflected on their experience of creating audiobooks by completing a questionnaire. Data obtained from the questionnaire was quantitatively analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the questionnaire were analyzed and sorted into five categories: the level of motivation, the development of reading skills, the level of difficulty, the participants' experience in working in groups, and the language development aspect of the participants while creating audiobooks for extensive reading purposes. The study results suggest that creating audiobooks as a comprehensive reading tool was motivating and beneficial in developing the overall language skills of the Afghan EFL sophomore students.}, keywords = {reading skills,simplified novels,Proficiency,Motivation,audiobook development}, url = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132425.html}, eprint = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132425_78fbb350fbdf7543bbb08866453d9b91.pdf} } @article { author = {Tajik, Omid and Si Na, Kew}, title = {The Effects of Online Collaborative Reading on Reading Performance of Sophomore Students at Herat University}, journal = {International Journal of Education & Language Studies}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {102-115}, year = {2021}, publisher = {LULU Publications}, issn = {2767-4851}, eissn = {2767-4851}, doi = {10.22034/ijels.2021.275057.1006}, abstract = {Collaborative language classes have been always encouraged among teachers, but the effects of online collaborative reading among English learners, especially with Afghan learners, have never received much attention. This study was conducted to investigate if this method would affect students’ reading performance. For Afghan English learners reading skill is a challenging solitary activity which may lead them to failure and disappointment. For data collection, the researchers divided the participants (sophomore students of the English department, Herat University, Afghanistan) into two groups; one group took the online collaborative reading class and the other one, as the control group, took the conventional face to face reading class. The researchers used Schoology platform as the tool for conducting this research for the online class. The participants took a pretest before the treatment and a post-test at the end of the six-week treatment. Data were analyzed quantitatively through SPSS; paired sample t-test and independent-sample t-test were used to find the effects of the treatment. The result of the study shows that students who took the online collaborative reading class and worked collaboratively in completing the assignments performed better in the post-test than the ones who took the conventional reading class.}, keywords = {collaborative learning,reading performance,EFL,ESL,Online Learning,language teaching}, url = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132423.html}, eprint = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132423_53d129bd005364966de5c2bd282773bc.pdf} } @article { author = {Sarwari, Kawita and Kakar, Ahmad Fawad}, title = {Developing EFL Students' Critical Thinking Skills through Writing Activities: Challenges and Strategies}, journal = {International Journal of Education & Language Studies}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {116-127}, year = {2021}, publisher = {LULU Publications}, issn = {2767-4851}, eissn = {2767-4851}, doi = {10.22034/ijels.2021.279157.1009}, abstract = {The current qualitative study aimed to explore the challenges of developing students' critical thinking skills through writing activities from the perspectives of five Afghan English language instructors of the English Department of Faculty of Languages and Literature, Herat University. Further, this study attempted to investigate the English language instructors’ strategies towards promoting EFL students' critical thinking skills. The data collected through face-to-face, semi- structured interviews were analyzed and interpreted thematically. The findings indicated that English language teachers’ lack of pedagogical knowledge, students' weak general information background, lack of reading activities among students, and large classes were the challenges that the Afghan English language instructors encounter in their classes while attempting to develop students' critical thinking skills. Further, promoting students' reasoning skills, integrating technologies into writing classrooms, problem-based learning, implementing interactive-based and student-centered approaches, encouraging students to do reading, as well as teaching students to provide feedback to their peers help develop EFL students' critical thinking skills.}, keywords = {critical thinking,Critical Pedagogy,communicative-based teaching,writing activities}, url = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132427.html}, eprint = {https://www.ijels.net/article_132427_6dccca7a3a61377ff15574ff0cc3119a.pdf} }