Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly (Formerly Journal of Teaching Language Skills)

EFL Learners’ Training on IELTS Writing Skills and Their Possible Self Construction

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Candidate, Department of English Language, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of English Language, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of English Literature, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman,Iran

Abstract

There is research paucity concerning EFL learners’ self-formation, taking the role of IELTS writing skills into account. With a view to this, the present study aimed to see what a model of possible self-construction before and after training on IELTS writing skills emerges and what the psychometric properties of the emerged model are. To this end, a grounded theory approach was used. Of the IELTS candidates taking part in five IELTS preparation centers in Kerman, 90 (55 males and 35 females) candidates were selected as the participants of the present study through cluster sampling. A semi-structured interview was used to identify the possible selfof the participants. Coding procedures (i.e., open, axial, and selective coding) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data. According to the results, a model of possible selfconstruction before and after training on IELTS writing skills emerged wherein before training on IELTS writing skills, feared possible selfwere more dominant than expected and responsible possible selves. Furthermore, after training on IELTS writing skills, expected and responsible possible selfwere constructed more dominantly than feared possible selves. Implications of the results for EFL curriculum planners, teachers, and learners have been discussed.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References
Abbasian, G. R., & Karbalaee Esmailee, M. K. (2018). Peer- coaching, EFL teacher’s professional identity development and students’ academic achievements. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(1), 150-163. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0801.19
Aghaei, P., Bavali, M., & Behjat, F. (2021). Relationship between professional identity and reflectivity: A case of Iranian EFL teachers. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 9 (34), 11-23.
Amiri Shayesteh, L., & Baleghizadeh, S. (2022). Construction and validation of Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development questionnaire. Language Related Research, 14(1), 113-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.52547/LRR.14.1.5
Anderson, K. T. (2017). The doctoral gaze: Foreign PhD students’ internal and
external academic discourse socialization. Linguistics and Education, 37,1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2016.12.001
Banjeni, B., & Kapp, R. (2005). Identities in transition: Shifting conceptions of home among “Black” South African university students. African Studies Review, 48(3), 1-19.
Barkhuizen, G. (ed.) (2013). Narrative research in applied linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P., & Chik, A. (2014). Narrative inquiry in language teaching and learning research. Routledge.
Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and teacher education, 20(2), 107-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2003.07.001
Benwell, E., & Stokoe, E. (2006). Discourse and identity. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 4, 261-262.
Berlin, J. (1988). Rhetoric and ideology in writing class. College English, 50 (5), 477-494. https://doi.org/10.2307/377477
Conway, P. F., & Clark, C. M. (2003). The journey inward and outward: A re-examination of Fuller’s concerns-based model of teacher development. Teaching and teacher education, 19(5), 465-482. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(03)00046-5
Coşgun, G. E., & Savaş, P. (2023). Professional identity development of English teachers: A data-driven model. Review of Education, 11(1), 123-136. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3394
Crawford, C., & Greaves, E. (2015). Socio-economic, ethnic and gender differences in HE participation. Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Creswell, J. W., Hanson, W. E., Plano, V. C., & Morales, A. (2007). Qualitative research designs: Selection and implementation. The Counseling Psychologist, 35, 236-264. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006287390
Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2015). Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 36-56.
Day, C., Elliot, B., & Kington, A. (2005). Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges of sustaining commitment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(5), 563-577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.03.001
Day, C., Kington, A., Stobart, G., & Sammons, P. (2006). The personal and professional selves of teachers: Stable and unstable identities. British Educational Research Journal, 32(4), 601-616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01411920600775316
Dunkel, C.S., & Anthis, K.S. (2001). The role of possible selves in identity formation: a short-term longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 765-776.
Golzar, J. (2020). Teacher identity formation through classroom practices in the post-method era: A systematic review. Cogent Education, 7, 185-304. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2020.1853304
Gray, S.J. (1988). Towards a theory of cultural influence on the development of accounting systems internationally. Abacus, 24, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6281.1988.tb00200.x
Hamman, D., Gosselin, K., Romano, J., & Bunuan, R. (2010). Using possible-selftheory to understand the identity development of new teachers. Teaching and teacher education, 26(7), 1349-1361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.03.005
Hardgrove, A., Esther, R., & McDowell, L. (2015). Possible selfin a precarious labor market: Youth, imagined future and transitions to work in the UK. Geoforum, 60, 163–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.01.014
Harrison, N. (2018). Using the lens of ‘possible selves’ to explore access to higher education: A new conceptual model for practice, policy, and research. Soc. Sci., 7 (209), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7100209
Hawkins, M. (2005). Becoming a student: Identity work and academic literacies in early schooling. TESOL Quarterly, 39(1), 59-82.
Kuhi, D., & Rahimivand, M. (2011). An exploration of discoursal construction of identity in academic writing. The Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 97-129.
Landau, M. J., Jesse, B., Lucas, A. & Keefer, C. (2017). On the road: Combining possible identities and metaphor to motivate disadvantaged middle-school students. Metaphor and Symbol, 32(4), 276–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2017.1384271
Mahendra, A. W. (2020). Constructing Identity: Experiences of Indonesian ESP Teachers in a Language Institute. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 3(3), 229-240. https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v3i3.2560
Mahmoudi-Gahrouei, V., Tavakoli, M., & Hamman, D. (2016). Understanding what is possible across a career: Professional identity development beyond transition to teaching. Asia Pacific Education Review, 17(4), 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-016-9457-2
Man, L., Bui, G., & Teng, F. (2018). From second language to third language learning: Exploring a dual-motivation system among multilinguals. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 41, 63-91.
Marcia, J.E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159-187). Wiley.
Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954-969. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.41.9.954
Matsuda, P. K. (2003). Process and post-process: A discursive history. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12(1), 65-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(02)00127-3
McKinley, J. (2017). Identity Construction in Learning English Academic Writing in a Japanese University. The Journal of Asia, 14(2), 228-243. http://dx.doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2017.14.2.2.228
Mirhosseini, S. A. (2015). Resisting magic waves: Ideologies of ‘English language teaching’ in Iranian newspaper advertisements. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 36(6), 932–947. DOI: 10.1080/01596306.2014.918462
Moeinvaziri M, Afraz S, Fahandezh F. (2020). Toward designing a model of professional skills for Iranian EFL teachers. Iranian Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, 3 (4), 497-516. https://doi.org/10.52547/ieepj.3.4.497
Motallebzadeh, K., & Kazemi, B. (2018). The relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem. Cogent Education, 5(1), 144-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2018.1443374
Murray, G., & Kojima, M. (2007). Out-of-class language learning: One learner’s story. In P. Benson (Ed.), Learner autonomy 8: Teacher and learner perspectives (pp. 25-40). Authentik.
Norton, B. (2013). Identity, literacy, and English language teaching. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 1(2), 85-98.
Ofte, I. (2014). English academic writing proficiency in higher education: Facilitating the transition from metalinguistic awareness to metalinguistic competence. Acta Didactica Norge, 8 (2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.5617/adno.1142
Oyserman, D., & Fryberg, S. (2006). The possible selfof diverse adolescents: Content and function across gender, race and national origin. In C. Dunkel & J. Kerpelman (Eds.), Possible selves: Theory, research, and application (pp. 17–39). Nova Science Publishers.
Oyserman, D., Johnson, E., & James, L. (2011). Seeing the destination but not the path: Effects of socio-economic disadvantage on school-focused possible self-content and linked behavioral strategies. Self and Identity, 10(4), 474–492. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2010.487651
Rassouli, M., & Abbasvandi, M. (2013). The effects of explicit instruction of grammatical cohesive devices on intermediate Iranian learners’ writing. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 2(2), 15-22. http://european-science.com/eojnss/article/view/137/0
Riahipour, P., Tavakoli, M., & Eslami Rasekh, A. (2020). Curriculum reform and Iranian EFL teachers’ professional identity: A marathon of change! Two Quarterly Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning University of Tabriz, 12(26), 435-463. https://doi.org/10.22034/elt.2021.42087.2294
Sadeghi, M., & Sahragard, R. (2016). A questionnaire and model of role identity for Iranian English language teachers: A structural equation modeling. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 7(6), 1153. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0706.13
Sancar, R., Atal, D., & Deryakulu, D. (2021). A new framework for teachers’ professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 101, 103-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103305
Shahvand, M., & Rezvani, E. (2016). Iranian EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices on effective teaching: The case of gender and level of experience. Research in English Language Pedagogy, 3(2), 30-43. https://relp.khuisf.ac.ir/article_533629_73017694a178ca5a2071c9968ff17353.pdf
Teng, F. M. (2019). Learner Identity and Learners’ Investment in EFL Learning: A Multiple Case Study. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research 7(1), 43-60. 10.30466/ijltr.2019.120632
Zamani, R., & Ahangari, S. (2016). Characteristics of an effective English language teacher (EELT) as perceived by learners of English. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 4(14), 69-88. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v2n4p13
Zhan, Y., &|Wan, Z. (2016). College Students’ Possible L2 Self Development in an EFL Context during the Transition Year. English Language Teaching, 9(1), 41-50. https://doi:10.5539/elt. v9n1p41
Zhou, C. (2022). The relationship between Chinese EFL learners’ L2 motivational self-system and willingness to communicate. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 12(11), 2374-2380. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1211.18
Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly (Formerly Journal of Teaching Language Skills)
Volume 43, Issue 2
May 2024
Pages 111-132
Files
History
  • Receive Date: 05 November 2023
  • Revise Date: 19 April 2024
  • Accept Date: 04 May 2024
Share
How to cite
Statistics