Challenges of Mediation Theory and Gender Differences in Iranian EFL Contexts

According to the Feuerstein mediation theory, a social mediator who monitors the process of interaction is required to facilitate the communication process and promote learning outcome (Dendrinos, 2006); however, researchers found that every language teaching context is unique and conducting this theory might face learners with some challenges; therefore, this study investigated the significance of mediation theory and gender difference in Iranian EFL context. To conduct the study, 86 teachers of Kashan high schools were chosen. To elicit the attitudes towards mediation theory between male and female high school teachers, Warren teacher mediation questionnaire (1995) was administered and to deepen the obtained data, interviews were conducted with ten teachers. The results of both quantitative and qualitative data have shown that conducting mediation theory in language teaching contexts needs some prerequisites that cannot be ready normally in every teaching environment. Moreover, the findings demonstrated that there is a general difference between male and female teachers in the order of mediation theory in Iranian EFL context. Index Terms--Feuerstein mediation theory, interactionism, gender difference, mediation, mediator, teacher mediation