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: Zari Saeedi, Hossein Jajarmi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, 2023-07-01
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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author Zari Saeedi
Hossein Jajarmi
author_facet Zari Saeedi
Hossein Jajarmi
author_sort Zari Saeedi
collection DOAJ
description 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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spelling doaj-art-ade873651118470fbefd877651ded2f32025-08-20T01:59:53ZengImam Khomeini International University, Qazvin,Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies2676-53572023-07-011032138https://doi.org/10.30479/jmrels.2023.17942.2135Interactional Competence and Gender Impacts on EFL Learners’ Self-Perceptions of Its Sub-ConstructsZari Saeedi0Hossein Jajarmi1Associate Professor, Department of English Language Education, Allameh Tabataba’i University (ATU), Tehran, IranFaculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages; Allameh Tabatab’i University (ATU); TehranEven 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. https://jmrels.journals.ikiu.ac.ir/article_2892_c056c7a7804b244d73661625f937d95d.pdfenglish learnersinteractional competencegender
spellingShingle Zari Saeedi
Hossein Jajarmi
Interactional Competence and Gender Impacts on EFL Learners’ Self-Perceptions of Its Sub-Constructs
Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies
english learners
interactional competence
gender
title Interactional Competence and Gender Impacts on EFL Learners’ Self-Perceptions of Its Sub-Constructs
title_full Interactional Competence and Gender Impacts on EFL Learners’ Self-Perceptions of Its Sub-Constructs
title_fullStr Interactional Competence and Gender Impacts on EFL Learners’ Self-Perceptions of Its Sub-Constructs
title_full_unstemmed Interactional Competence and Gender Impacts on EFL Learners’ Self-Perceptions of Its Sub-Constructs
title_short Interactional Competence and Gender Impacts on EFL Learners’ Self-Perceptions of Its Sub-Constructs
title_sort interactional competence and gender impacts on efl learners self perceptions of its sub constructs
topic english learners
interactional competence
gender
url https://jmrels.journals.ikiu.ac.ir/article_2892_c056c7a7804b244d73661625f937d95d.pdf
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