Interactional Competence and Gender Impacts on EFL Learners’ Self-Perceptions of Its Sub-Constructs
Even though interactional competence (IC) has recently been at the center of attention, its constructs/sub-components and influencing factors still require profound scrutiny. The features associated with IC have indeed been probed in various language learning and teaching realms. However, the ef...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin,
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jmrels.journals.ikiu.ac.ir/article_2892_c056c7a7804b244d73661625f937d95d.pdf |
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| Summary: | Even though interactional competence (IC) has recently been at the center
of attention, its constructs/sub-components and influencing factors still
require profound scrutiny. The features associated with IC have indeed
been probed in various language learning and teaching realms. However,
the effect of language learners’ gender on their perception of IC remains
to be addressed. To bridge this gap, the present research, as one of the
stages of development and verification of the Learners’ Interactional
Competence Questionnaire (LICQ), investigated how gender may affect
IC and its sub-constructs as perceived by males and females. A total of
407 male and female intermediate-level Iranian EFL learners, selected
through convenience sampling from several language institutes,
participated in the study and responded to the LICQ. Subsequently, a twogroup multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to measure
the potential effects of students’ gender on perceived IC, including
conversational management, speech acts, register, nonverbal semiotics,
and requests and complaints. The results showed that gender has a small
significant effect on learners’ perceived interactional competence. Even
though this effect is not visible in conversational management, but exists
in the other four sub-components, namely speech acts, register, nonverbal
semiotics, and requests and complaints. Language teachers could consider
the different perceptions of male and female learners of IC as an
influential aspect of IC realization and development in the language
classroom setting. Besides, the study findings provide learners with a selfassessment scale to identify their present state of IC perception and
monitor its development through time. |
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| ISSN: | 2676-5357 |