EFL Teachers' Perception of Using Stylistic Imitation in EFL Classes: Benefits and the Challenges

محورهای موضوعی : نشریه زبان و ترجمه

Arash Dehghanian ¹ (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch,Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)
Seyyed Hassan Seyyed Rezaei ² (Assistant Professor, Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)
Omid Mazandarani ³ (Assistant Professor, Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)
Ghasem Barani ⁴ (Assistant Professor, Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran)

تاریخ دریافت : 1401/05/20 تاریخ پذیرش : 1401/06/11 تاریخ انتشار : 1402/04/10

کلید واژه: Modeling, Imitation, Stylistic Imitation, social cognitive theory,

چکیده مقاله :

Writing always plays an essential part in learning languages, mostly due to close connections it bears to speaking and reading development. Nevertheless, next to speaking and reading, writing is comparatively less attended to. This paper is an attempt to look into the potential stylistic imitation holds in learning how to write as well as how this technic is perceived by the EFL teachers. Action research offers an invaluable chance to delve into the real-life issues teachers deal with on a daily basis. In-service teachers attending a writing course took part in this study to experience first-hand how it feels to use imitation in class to teach writing. They were first presented with a model paragraph and asked to imitate it, first closely sticking to the style of the writer, then freely making changes to the wording and structure as they see fit. Lastly, they were asked to reflect upon the experience. It was revealed that most teachers believed stylistic imitation can benefit learners and they intend to practice it in their classes. They seem to believe stylistic imitation can be of extraordinary help to novice learners in their classes in that it can alleviate the burden they feel trying to master writing. However, a few argued against it stating concerns for voices getting lost and styles getting killed.

چکیده انگلیسی:

نوشتن همیشه نقش مهمی در یادگیری زبان دارد، بیشتر به دلیل ارتباط نزدیکی که با رشد گفتاری و خواندن دارد. با این وجود، در کنار صحبت کردن و خواندن، نوشتن به نسبت کمتر مورد توجه قرار می گیرد. این مقاله تلاشی است برای بررسی احتمال تقلید سبک در یادگیری نحوه نوشتن و همچنین نحوه درک این تکنیک توسط معلمان زبان انگلیسی. اقدام پژوهی فرصت ارزشمندی را برای کنکاش در مسائل زندگی واقعی که معلمان به طور روزانه با آنها سروکار دارند ارائه می دهد. معلمان ضمن خدمتی که در یک دوره نویسندگی شرکت می کردند در این مطالعه شرکت کردند تا به طور مستقیم احساس کنند که استفاده از تقلید در کلاس برای آموزش نوشتن چه احساسی دارد. ابتدا یک پاراگراف مدل به آن‌ها ارائه شد و از آن‌ها خواسته شد که از آن تقلید کنند، ابتدا کاملاً به سبک نویسنده پایبند باشند، سپس آزادانه در قالب و ساختار آن‌طور که می‌دانند تغییراتی ایجاد کنند. در نهایت، از آنها خواسته شد تا در مورد این تجربه فکر کنند. مشخص شد که اکثر معلمان معتقد بودند که تقلید سبک می تواند برای زبان آموزان مفید باشد و آنها قصد دارند آن را در کلاس های خود تمرین کنند. به نظر می رسد آنها معتقدند که تقلید سبک می تواند کمک فوق العاده ای به فراگیران مبتدی در کلاس های خود داشته باشد، زیرا می تواند باری را که آنها برای تسلط بر نوشتن احساس می کنند کاهش دهد. با این حال، عده‌ای با ابراز نگرانی از گم شدن صداها و کشته شدن سبک‌ها مخالف آن بودند.

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