Zohreh Nafissi, Faculty Member of Alzahra University

Alzahra University, English Department

Seminar Course, MA in TEFL

Mehr 1398/ September 2019

Professor: Zohreh Nafissi

Class Hour: Wednesdays: 8-10

Office hours: Sunday 12- 13; Monday: 9-10 and 13-14 (If no department meeting is held); Wednesday: 10-12 (by special appointment)

Office: Room 318

E-mail: nafissi.zohreh@gmail.com

COURSE OBJECTIVES: 

In this course students will become familiar with the different sections of a research/thesis proposal. Each section of a proposal will be introduced to the students and several samples will be provided. The aim of the course is to help students finalize their thesis proposal by the end of the term and also write the final draft of Literature Review. 

Weekly Schedule:

1.     Introduction to the course

2.     a) Discussion about the different parts of a research proposal

b) Students will be provided with a sample proposal

c) Due assignment: Brief written report and explanation of research proposal components and general area of interest for MA thesis.

d) Instruction about visiting different libraries in person/online.

      3.  a) Discussion about sample proposal in groups of two/three

            b) Choosing a tentative research topic

            c) Due assignment: Handing in clean copies of three articles relevant to your topic of         interest, in addition to a typed summary of each with full reference information . Be prepared to discuss them in class.

            d) Also, you must hand in a typed report of the relevant theses and dissertations available at 2 libraries, complete with the abstract, title of the study, name of researcher and advisor, year, name of university, and reference information. Specify possible thesis topics within area of interest.

             e) Students will be provided with another sample proposal.

       4. a) Discussing sample proposals in groups of two/three and handing in your written comments at the margin. This means you should have two copies of the proposal; one to be handed in at the beginning of the session, and the other for class discussion.

            b) Due assignment: Handing in clean copies of three articles relevant to your topic of interest, in addition to a typed summary of each with full reference information. Be prepared to discuss them in class.

            c) You must hand in typed report of the relevant theses and dissertations available at two other libraries, complete with the abstract, title of the study, name of researcher and advisor, year, name of university, and reference information.

       5. a) Discussing sample proposals in groups of two /three.

           b) Discussing your topic in class and investigating the different possible ways of looking at the same topic using different research methods.

           c) Due assignment: Handing in clean copies of three articles relevant to your topic of interest, in addition to a typed summary of each with full reference information. Be prepared to discuss them in class.

           d) You must hand in a typed summary of the relevant theses and dissertations available at three libraries, complete with the abstract, title of the study, name of researcher and advisor, year, name of university, and reference information.

Note: At the end of this session hopefully you have checked 9 libraries and 9 articles related to your thesis. So you should be able to start writing your complete review of literature.

       6. a) Handing in the first draft of one of your classmates you received last session with the comments at the margin.

           b) In this session two individuals are expected to have their final draft of their proposal ready to be distributed in the class to be discussed in the next session.

           c) Discussing the sample proposal you were provided with and handing in your written comments at he margin. It means you should have two copies of the proposal ;  one to be handed in at the beginning of the session, and the other for discussing through. 

Useful text books will be introduced in class based on the needs of the students.

In The Name of God

Alzahra University

Department of English Language and Literature

Course: Practical Teaching(MA)

Year: 1397-98

Credit: 2

Instructor: Dr. Nafissi

Email:  nafissi.zohreh@gmail.com; z.nafisi@alzahra.ac.ir

Office Hours: Sundays, 10:00-12:00; Mondays, 9:00-10:00, 13:00-15:00 (when there is no department meeting);Wednesdays: 9:00 - 10:00 (Please make arrangements in advance)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
AIMS & OUTCOMES
(1) THEORY: To familiarize students with the history and development of teaching English as a profession. To survey and compare different books and articles on teaching with a critical look at Iranian context.
(2) PRACTICE: 

a)     To provide practical experience of critiquing existing teaching methods, and to provide the opportunity for the students to present their teaching activities to the class.

b)    To invite students to consider and criticize classroom activities or scenarios, relate theoretical ideas to their own experience as student or teacher, or to try out procedures.

c)     To give learners practical guidelines on how to teach particular aspects of language (e.g. grammar, or listening comprehension), run particular types of procedures (e.g. discussions, or tests), or improve lessons (e.g. how to add interest, or cope with discipline problems.

d)    To provide the opportunity for English teachers to exchange ideas and talk about different experiences they have gained in the classroom

e)    To equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to perform competently as an English teacher from the beginning: to plan and run interesting and learning-rich lessons, use texts and tasks effectively, and so on.

(3) REFLECTION: To provide a forum for participants to discuss their personal and professional views regarding teaching practice in the world and specifically in Iran and exchange experience

TOPICS COVERED IN THE COURSE INCLUDE:
* The learner’s practical and emotional needs

* The teacher’s toolkit
* Resources for teaching and learning
* The professional in practice
* Managing student behaviour
* Managing classroom Procedures

* Establishing a Culture for Learning

* Designing Coherent Instruction

* Demonstrating knowledge of Resources

* Setting Instructional Outcomes

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The course will investigate how English teachers should determine what to teach and how to teach it. By the end of the term, students will be familiar with the emotional and practical needs of the learners, the use of the most common teaching methods and learning strategies, making and using learning resources, howto go about planning lessons and courses, how to measure their effectiveness, and how to improve them. Participants should become familiar with their role and responsibility as a teacher and how to work within an institution. They will have discussed and reflected upon their own teaching contexts. 

READING LIST:
1. Bender, W. N. & Waller, L. B. (2013). Cool Tech Tools for Lower Tech Teachers.

2. Danielson, C. (2007). Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching.
3. Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching.
4. Harmer, J. (2007). How to Teach English.

5. Lewis, M. & Hill, J. (1990). Practical Techniques for Language Teaching.England: Language Teaching Publications.
6. Manning, S. & Johnson, K. E. (2011). The Technology Toolbelt for Teaching.

7. Ur, P. & Wright, A. (2003). Five-Minute Activities – A resource book of short activities. UK: Cambridge University Press

Other resources will be introduced during the term.

In The Name of The Almighty

Alzahra University, English Department

Second Language Acquisition, PhD 

Mehr 1398/ September 2019

Professor: Zohreh Nafissi

Class Hour: Mondays: 10-12

Office hours: Sunday 12- 13; Monday: 9-10 and 13-14 (If no department meeting is held); Wednesday: 10-12  (Please make arrangements in advance)

Office: Room 318

E-mail: nafissi.zohreh@gmail.com

Course Objectives:

To investigate the multiple factors that influence language acquisition

To examine various theories that have been offered to explain the complex processes involved in learning a foreign/second language

To discuss the role of instruction in second language acquisition

To critically read and evaluate research on second language acquisition

Grading:

Class discussion/participation/quizzes 

Presentation

Research Questions and Ideas

Reaction papers

Research Paper

Final exam

Class discussion/participation/ quizzes reflect students' preparation for and active participation in discussions and activities as assigned in the Schedule and during class hours. In addition, it includes quizzes on essential concepts and terminology.

Reaction papers serve to develop critical reading of research in the field of language acquisition. A reaction paper is a concise introduction, summary and critique of a research article in the student's own words. It is limited to 3 double-spaced pages and is comprised of the following parts:

1. Reference: an APA style citation of the study (2-3 lines)

2. Introduction: a short paragraph presenting a context for the study- what the researcher(s) intended to prove and why that is important to the field (1 paragraph, approximately 1/2 page)

3.Summary: a concise, objective statement of the design and results of the study (up to 1.5 pages)

4. Reaction/ Interpretation: a critique of the study's design, results, conclusions, accuracy, thoroughness, etc. Both positive and negative comments should be included when appropriate, but should not be personalized or anecdotal. (approximately 1 page)

The Final exam: Students should prepare for defining key concepts, summarizing similarities and differences between theories, synthesizing the issues underlying the study of language acquisition, and citing essential evidence related to the various theories.

Required Texts:

1. Archibald, B. (2000). Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory. USA: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

2. Gass, S. & Selinker, L. (2008). Second Language Acquisition(3rd Ed.), NY: Routledge.

3. Jordan, G. (2004). Theory construction in Second Language Acquisition. Amsterdam: John BenjaminsPublishing Company.

4. Kalaja, P. & Barcelos, A. M. F (2006). Beliefs about SLA New Research Approaches. USA: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.

5. Long, M. H. (2003). Stabilization and Fossilization in interlanguage development. In C. Doughty and M. H. Long (Eds.), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Malde M. A.: Blackwell.

6. Macaro, M. (Ed.) (2010). Continuum Companion to Second Language Acquisition. London: Continuum.

7. Mitchell, R. & Myles, F. (2004). Second Language Learning Theories(2nd Ed.) London: Hodder Arnold.

8. Mitchell, R., Myles, F. & Marsden, E. (2004). Second Language Learning Theories(3rd Ed.) Oxon: Routledge.

9. Robinson, P. (2003). Attention and Memory during SLA. In C. J. Doughty and M. H. Long (Eds.), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Malden, M. A.: Blackwell.

10. Singleton, D. (2005). The Critical Period Hypothesis: A coat of many colours. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 43(4), 269-285.

11. Swain, M. (2005). The Output Hypothesis: Theory and Research. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrene Erlbaum Associates.

12. Van Patten, B. & Williams, J. (2006). Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction.Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

13. Zyzik, E. (2009). The Role of Input Revisited: Nativist versus Usage-Based Models. L2 Journal, 1(1), 42-61. 

SCHEDULE