Elyas Barabadi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Elyas Barabadi

The Effects of Foreign Language and Religiosity on Moral Decisions: Manipulating Norms and Consequences

Journal of Cognition and Culture

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the association of foreign language use and reli... more The primary purpose of this study was to examine the association of foreign language use and religiosity to moral decision-making in the context of a realistic set of scenarios about the COVID-19 pandemic. We used the CNI model in which four variants of a single dilemma manipulated norms and consequences, which are the defining characteristics of deontology and utilitarianism, respectively. A secondary purpose of the study was to investigate the role of in-group versus out-group membership in shaping moral judgment. 461 participants responded to COVID-19 scenarios either in their native language (Persian) or foreign language (English). Contrary to findings of prior research on moral judgment, the results of the current study indicated that those using their native language showed more sensitivity to consequences compared to those using a foreign language and that less religious individuals were more likely to endorse norms compared to more religious participants. These unexpected fi...

Frontiers in Psychology

The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) describes experiences of perceived intellectual fraudulence despite ... more The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) describes experiences of perceived intellectual fraudulence despite the existence of objectively good performances, and it is a robust predictor of experiences and outcomes in higher education. We examined the role of the IP in the domain of second language (L2) acquisition by testing its relations with a robust predictor of L2 use, willingness to communicate (WTC). We collected self-reports of 400 adult Iranian L2 learners and tested the associations between the IP and WTC. As expected, we found a negative association between IP and WTC (r = −0.13). When testing a mediation model with perceived competence and communication anxiety as parallel mediators, we found evidence for full mediation via perceived competence. Our findings show the importance of considering self-evaluations in the domain of L2 acquisition. Further implications and limitations are discussed.

The links between perfectionistic cognitions, L2 achievement and willingness to communicate: examining L2 anxiety as a mediator

Current Psychology

The current study mainly aimed at examining the link between perfectionistic cognitions on the on... more The current study mainly aimed at examining the link between perfectionistic cognitions on the one hand and L2 anxiety, willingness to communicate (WTC) and achievement on the other hand. The other purpose of the research was investigating the factor structure of perfectionistic cognitions as proposed by Stoeber et al. (2010). To this aim, 1,349 Iranian secondary school students completed questionnaires related to L2 anxiety, willingness to communicate, and perfectionistic cognitions. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that perfectionistic cognitions had only two dimensions: personal standards (PS) and concerns over mistakes (COM). As hypothesized, personal standards dimension had a positive correlation to L2 achievement and willingness to communicate and was negatively related to L2 anxiety. Moreover, concern over mistakes was positively related to L2 anxiety. In both cases, anxiety mediated the relationship between perfectionism and outcome variables (i.e., L2 achievement and willingness to communicate). Therefore, although concern over mistakes was not directly related to L2 achievement and willingness to communicate, it was indirectly related to them through L2 anxiety.

Foreign language teacher grit: scale development and examining the relations with emotions and burnout using relative weight analysis

Applied Linguistics Review

As teaching a foreign language (FL) is a demanding and frustrating career, FL teachers might face... more As teaching a foreign language (FL) is a demanding and frustrating career, FL teachers might face different challenges and difficulties which in turn would lead them to quit their jobs. Therefore, FL teachers need to keep their effort, energy, and passion to achieve their teaching goals. FL teacher grit (i.e., perseverance of effort and consistency of interest in FL teaching) is the concept that deals with these issues. In this study, we developed a new FL teacher grit scale (FLTGS) and investigated how FL teacher grit is related to their burnout and different discrete emotions. To this end, a total of 235 FL teachers filled out the questionnaires. The results of the study indicated, firstly, that the newly developed FL teacher grit scale had high reliability and a two-factor model fitted the data adequately. Secondly, findings indicated that both grit components had positive correlations with FL teaching enjoyment and negative correlations with FL teaching anxiety, boredom, and bur...

Perfectionism and L2 Achievement: The Mediating Roles of Motivation and Self-Regulated Learning Among Iranian High School Students

Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment

The current study investigated how perfectionism can be related to L2 learners’ achievement with ... more The current study investigated how perfectionism can be related to L2 learners’ achievement with motivation and two aspects of self-regulated learning as possible mediators. This study also evaluated the factor structure of the Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS) in an Iranian sample. The participants were 495 Iranian high school students who completed six BTPS sub-scales and measures of self-determined motivation and self-regulated learning. Psychometric analyses indicated that rigid perfectionism and self-critical perfectionism as two higher order factors have construct validity. Structural equation modeling indicated that rigid perfectionism positively predicted L2 achievement, while self-critical perfectionism negatively predicted L2 achievement. Mediational models indicated that neither autonomous-mastery/performance motivation nor controlled motivation mediated the path from perfectionism to L2 achievement. However, both aspects of self-regulated learning, namely, deep learni...

Foreign Language and Religiosity Effects on Moral Decisions Manipulating Norms and Consequences

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Despite the large number of studies conducted on teachers' oral corrective feedback, the findings... more Despite the large number of studies conducted on teachers' oral corrective feedback, the findings of these studies have been mainly limited to cognitive orientations rooted in experimental designs and the verbal discourse of the teacher as the main object of inquiry. Considering teachers' affective concerns regarding their corrective feedback and the shift from negative psychology to positive psychology in the field of second/foreign language teaching as well as the entirety of the teacher's corrective repertoire, in this case study, we aimed to explore the enjoyment building capacity of a teacher's multimodal corrective feedback in a university general English course. We video-recorded the teacher's multimodal corrective feedback including verbal and nonverbal semiotic resources like gesture, gaze, and posture while observing the learners' emotional experiences for eight sessions. We also conducted stimulated recall interviews with some learners and collected their written journals about the experiences of enjoyment with regard to the teacher's multimodal corrective feedback scenarios. The teacher's multimodal corrective feedback was analyzed through systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis (SF-MDA) and the content of the interview transcripts as well as the written journals were qualitatively analyzed. The findings indicated that the teacher's inherent multimodality in his corrective feedback broadened the main dimensions of enjoyment by raising the learners' attention to their errors, heightening their focus on the correct form, and increasing the salience of his corrective feedback. Further arguments regarding the findings are discussed.

Frontiers in Psychology, 2022

Influenced by the flowering of positive psychology in the field of foreign language acquisition r... more Influenced by the flowering of positive psychology in the field of foreign language acquisition research in recent years, the present study aimed to explore the perceived functions of playfulness, as a personality construct, among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. To this aim, an initial sample of 38 EFL learners were selected randomly from the private language institutes of Mashhad, the second largest city in Iran. They were interviewed about any perceived functions of playfulness in the EFL learning context. A qualitative content analysis of the collected data led to the extraction of four categories: Fun and laughter, creativity, mastery orientation, and cultivating relationships. A further in-depth analysis of the categories and comparison with the functions of adult playfulness in psychology (primarily Proyer’s 2014 and 2017 works of research) revealed that these four categories can be subsumed under two of the four structural components of adult playfulness; namely...

Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 2018

Teacher efficacy is an essential psychological variable which is linked to student achievement, m... more Teacher efficacy is an essential psychological variable which is linked to student achievement, motivation, and even student self-efficacy. Moreover, teachers' self-efficacy beliefs play an essential role in the context of reform initiatives by mediating any behavioral change. The relevant literature reports conflicting findings on the sources, however. Such being the case, the present study aimed at speculating on the sources of self-efficacy among Iranian EFL teachers who participated in this study. To this aim, individual interviews were conducted with 18 English language teachers teaching in middle schools up to the point when data saturation was achieved. Moreover, the participating teachers were asked to keep journals in order to keep a record of the significant experiences that captured their attention concerning their self-efficacy beliefs during one semester. The data were analyzed using grounded theory procedures in which open, axial, and selective coding were applied ...

Studies in Educational Evaluation, 2020

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of perfectionism in the second/foreign l... more The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of perfectionism in the second/foreign language (L2) learning context. To this end, we investigated the possible links between perfectionism, emotions, achievement goals, and L2 achievement. A total number of 2008 secondary school students completed the relevant questionnaires. First, confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assure the construct validity of the questionnaires. Then, separate structural equation models were conducted to examine the relations among variables. Results indicated that adaptive perfectionism was directly related to positive emotions, while the opposite pattern was found for maladaptive perfectionism. Moreover, only adaptive perfectionism was related to mastery goals, and both adaptive and maladaptive perfectionisms were related to performance-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals. Maladaptive perfectionism dimensions were negatively related to L2 achievement, while one dimension of adaptive perfectionism had positive relation and another one had negative relation with L2 achievement. Finally, mediation analysis was performed and results showed that only negative emotions and only mastery goals could mediate the relation between perfectionism dimensions and L2 achievement.

Role of the Emotions and Classroom Environment in Willingness to Communicate

Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2017

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations between emotions, classroom environ... more The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations between emotions, classroom environment, and willingness to communicate (WTC) using the advanced quantitative methodological procedure of doubly latent multilevel analysis. To this end, 1528 secondary school students from 65 different classrooms in Iran participated in the study. Results of the doubly latent multilevel analysis showed that a positive classroom environment is related to fostering WTC and enjoyment, while it reduces anxiety among students. Moreover, enjoyment was found as an important factor in increasing WTC at both student and classroom level, while anxiety reduced WTC only at the student level. Finally, the results of the study are discussed and pedagogical implications are provided for language teachers.

Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2015

The present study takes Engeström human activity system model (1987, 1999) as a theoretical frame... more The present study takes Engeström human activity system model (1987, 1999) as a theoretical framework to investigate the CLT-based English curriculum reform in Iran which was initiated in 2013 by the Ministry of Education in public schools.

Cogent Education, 2017

Corpus-based data-driven learning (DDL) is an innovation in teaching and learning new vocabulary ... more Corpus-based data-driven learning (DDL) is an innovation in teaching and learning new vocabulary for EFL students. Using teacher-prepared materials obtained from COCA corpus, the goal of the present study is to compare DDL and traditional methods of teaching vocabulary like consultation of dictionary or a grammar book. As such, two intact classes (N = 42) and one intact class (N = 20) who were studying English for Certificate for Advanced English (CAE) comprised the experimental and control group, respectively. Nation's standardized vocabulary size test was administered as a pre-test to make sure that the participants were at the same level of vocabulary knowledge. During the semester, the learners were exposed to teacher-prepared corpus-based materials from COCA such as display list, synonym, keywords in context (KWICs), and collocate. Moreover, they were asked to do similar searches on their own as homework. A post-test based on the reading passages of their course book (Ready for CAE) was designed and administered at the end of the semester. The results of the study indicated that the learners in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group. The better performance of the former group can be attributed to the fact that the learners could take a more active role in the learning process in which self-discovery, inductive, and bottom-up processes were emphasized.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2013

The purpose of this study is to investigate the compliment responses in Persian language. Drawing... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the compliment responses in Persian language. Drawing on Herbert's (1986), Mile (1994), Rose and Kwai-Fun (2001), and also the data of the current study, 18 types of compliment responses were identified. Based on different compliment topics [such as appearance, ability, possession and nationality], the researcher along with 12 others as assistants who were instructed how to give compliments got engaged in conversations with different people to compliment them. They complimented people from various professions, contexts, cities and educational levels. The majority [67.6%] of our corpus of 756 naturally occurring compliment responses fell into the main category of "agreement". However, the absence of the compliment response "no-acknowledgement", the high rate of two or three part appreciation token along with a significant portion of " making offer" attest to the culturallyspecific Iranian features such as modesty and Ta'arof. Additionally, no significant differences were found between males and females in terms of compliment response types, or the degree of modesty or Ta'arof. Nonetheless, there existed significant differences with regard to topics of compliment in a sense that most of the compliments given on nationality (89%) were accepted while in the case of physical and mental domain, it was not that much high. Like other studies in pragmatic area, this study also indicates that compliment response is cross-naturally varied, different, and hence warrants more attention in instruction and material development.

Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2011

The present study investigates the effectiveness of using a computerized dynamic reading comprehe... more The present study investigates the effectiveness of using a computerized dynamic reading comprehension test (CDRT) on Iranian EFL students with a moderate level of proficiency. Using an interventionist approach, the researchers have developed a software which provides the learners with prefabricated strategy-based mediations for each item. The software provides two scores for each learner; a nondynamic score that represents the learner's ability to answer the test without using the mediations and a dynamic score which represents the learners' ability to answer the test items using mediations in a stepwise fashion. The results revealed that providing mediation in the form of hints contributed significantly to the increase of students` scores, and consequently to the improvement of their text comprehension. Moreover, this study confirmed that low achievers would benefit more than high achievers from a dynamic test of reading comprehension.

Dynamic assessment (DA) which is rooted in Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural theory involves th... more 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...

Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2012

The main purpose of this study was to construct and validate a Computerized version of Dynamic As... more The main purpose of this study was to construct and validate a Computerized version of Dynamic Assessment (C-DA) and examine its effectiveness in enhancing reading comprehension. Feasibility and concern for psychometric properties of testing are issues that have limited the use of DA approaches. In this study, C-DA is offered as a solution for overcoming such limitations. To this end, a software package named Computerized Dynamic Reading Test (CDRT) was developed. The software is capable of providing test takers with strategy-based hints. For each test taker, two scores are assigned by the software; a non-dynamic score which is based on test takers' first try of each item and a dynamic score which is based on the average hints they have employed. One hundred and four university students took the test. The findings of the study indicated that while observing the psychometric standards of testing namely, reliability and validity, CDA was useful both in improving students' read...

Dynamic assessment (DA) which is rooted in Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory involves the in... more 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 three-fold: 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 te...

The Relation of Language Context and Religiosity to Trilemma Judgments

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2021

Utilitarian judgments maximize benefit for the most people, whereas deontological judgments are b... more Utilitarian judgments maximize benefit for the most people, whereas deontological judgments are based on moral norms. Previous work shows that people tend to make more utilitarian judgments in their second compared to their native language, whereas higher religiosity is associated with more deontological judgments. However, it is not known whether the effect of language context is moderated by the religiosity of the individual. We hypothesized that more religious participants from all three languages would favor deontological choices irrespective of language context. In order to investigate this, we studied native speakers of Persian who either had Arabic or English as their second language, and all participants were given a standard measure of religiosity. Decision making was measured by the classic trolley trilemma in which a participant could “push” a person to save the lives of more people which is considered a utilitarian judgment. Alternatively, they could “switch” a track to ...

The Emergence of Various Contradictions in Iranian High School English Education under the New CLT-Based Curriculum

Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 2016

Recent research has indicated that the adoption of CLT in an EFL contexts will create certain cha... more Recent research has indicated that the adoption of CLT in an EFL contexts will create certain challenges. Using Engestrom’s (1999) human activity system model, the present study investigated the implementation of CLT-based curriculum which was initiated in 2013 in Iranian public schools. Four groups of participants including 23 language teachers, 17 teacher directors, 23 students, and 20 parents took part in the study. Semi-structured interviews, observation of participating teachers’ classes, and analysis of relevant documents were used as data collection tools. Grounded theory analysis of the data revealed three main categories explaining the difficulty of CLT implementation in an EFL context like Iran. From an activity theory perspective, these categories indicated that the four layers of contradictions emerged in Iranian English Education as the activity system. The results suggest that not only language teachers as the subjects of the current activity system, but also other com...