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Applied linguistics has recently seen a surge in research and methodological approaches to do stronger studies. One important factor affecting such a new movement is the researchers' individual differences in shaping their research repertoire. Therefore, this study, which employs a path-analytic approach, investigates the interrelationship between three significant individual factors in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context: research self-efficacy, anxiety, and motivation. This nationwide survey included 561 male and female Iranian MA students studying TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). The researchers administered three adopted instruments, namely the research motivation scale, the research anxiety scale, and the research self-efficacy scale. The path-analytic findings revealed such interrelationships among the three factors. In particular, the findings indicated that there is a negative relationship between research anxiety and motivation to conduct research. In our study, however, the relationship between research self-efficacy and motivation is positive. These evidence-based findings can help policymakers shape an evidence-based research policy. Recommendations and implications of the results for policymakers, research methodologists, research instructors, and MA students are discussed.

Research Methodology (RM) is the backbone of any TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) MA programme. Although a burgeoning body of research has investigated students' attitude towards research and RM course in various disciplines, students' attitudes towards research and research methods courses in TEFL research has remained a relatively unexplored area. This mixed-methods study aimed to contribute to this gap in the present research literature. To this end, we administered a 33-item close-ended questionnaire with two open-ended questions to 171 TEFL MA students studying at Iranian universities. IBM SPSS (version 26) was used to analyse quantitative data, and MAXQDA (version 2020) was used to analyse qualitative data. The integrated findings revealed a substantial interest in research and highlighted the right attitude towards RM courses. However, the findings singled out the barriers and impediments EFL students encountered during MA studies. We provide implications for EFL policymakers, EFL departments, and research instructors.

This mixed methods study investigated the contextual and educational dimensions of engaging language teachers in second language acquisition (SLA) theory and research to inform second language pedagogy. To this end, 132 Iranian English teachers completed the questionnaire designed by Nassaji (2012) that includes both Likert-scale items and open-ended questions. The participants had academic degrees in majors related to English language. They constituted two groups of public sector (n=66) and private sector (n=66). Each group was divided in two sub-groups, one with Bachelors of Arts (B.A.) and the other with Master of Arts (M.A.). Quantitative data analyses revealed a significant difference between the perceptions of the participants of public and private sector with B.A and M.A. degrees towards the relevance and usefulness of SLA research, the role of teachers and researchers, and perceiving teacher as researcher. Moreover, analyzing the open-ended questions revealed instances of attitudes, motivations, and challenges experienced by the participants reflecting the need to use SLA theory and conduct research to enrich pedagogical practices, ability to conduct research, access, understanding research articles, and dealing with institutional constraints. The findings have implications for policy makers to encourage practice-oriented research courses and research-oriented practicums across both contexts of public and private sectors.

The development of speech-act theory has provided the hearers with a better understanding of what speakers intend to perform in the act of communication. One type of speech act is apologizing. When an action or utterance has resulted in an offense, the offender needs to apologize. In the present study, an attempt was made to compare the apology strategies employed by Iranian EFL learners and those of English native speakers in order to find out the possible differences and similarities. To this end, a discourse completion test (DCT) was given to 100 male and female Iranian EFL learners and English native speakers. The respondents were supposed to complete the DCTs based on nine situations, which varied in terms of power between the interlocutors and level of imposition. This study employed Cohen and Olshtain's (1981) model to classify various types of apology strategies. The obtained results revealed some similarities along with some (statistically insignificant) differences between EFL learners and American English speakers in terms of their use of apology strategies. Furthermore, it was found that the illocutionary force indicating devices (IFIDs), such as request for forgiveness and an offer of apology were the strategies mostly employed by the Iranian EFL learners while taking on responsibility such as explicit self-blame, and expression of self-deficiency were found to be the strategies mostly used by English native speakers. In terms of gender, the male and female respondents more or less used the same apology strategies in response to the situations. The findings of the present research can be used by language teachers as well as sociolinguists.

The Impact of using Supplementary books alongside the national academic text book has received great attention of the curriculum and material developers. Since the beginning of language studies, Second & Foreign Language Acquisition (SLA & FLA) researchers have been searching for effective ways of improving learners' language skills. This study aimed at investigating the effects of using supplementary text books (Gaj and Khate Sefid) on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' Reading skill. Data from this study demonstrate a significant role of using two kinds of books Gaj and Khate Sefid in improving the reading skill of participants in the experimental groups. The findings of this study may help the learners to enhance their independent English language learning and improve their reading comprehension and the overall learning of English by using Supplementary books.

Representation of languages in a bilingual mind in general and the way bilinguals restore words from their mental lexicon, and the way they retrieve words have been explored by many researchers resulting in varied findings. The more information regarding bilingual memory is obtained, the better image would be constructed about this knowledge representation. The present study is an attempt to investigate if bilinguals share semantic features of their L1 and L2 using semantic priming paradigm. In two experiments, semantically related target-prime pairs were examined. In both of the experiments target words were in English, but the primes were in Persian in the first experiment and in English in the second. Reaction time of sixty Persian-English bilinguals for these prompts was measured by DMDX software. Results showed that semantic priming effect was not there in any of the experiments. The findings suggest that bilinguals have shared semantic representation for two languages with different scripts only for the cognate words. Results also suggest that using semantically related words, for non-cognate words, in the process of language teaching is not useful in intermediate proficiency levels.

Due to the lack of span test for the use in language-specific and cross-language studies, this study provides L1 and L2 researchers with a reliable language-independent span test (math span test) for the measurement of working memory capacity. It also describes the development, validation, and scoring method of this test. This test included 70 simple math problems, and was developed based on Salthouse and Babcock's (1991) and Robert and Gibson's (2002) math span tests. The shortcomings of the test were identified and removed over five pilot studies on 48 participants. The final test was used in an experimental study with a group of L1 Persian EFL learners. Results of an item analysis, as indicated by Cronbach's Alpha, indicated an internal reliability of 0.850 and 0.863 for the math span test processing and recall respectively. This suggests that the newly developed test is reliable enough and could be used to measure working memory capacity in L1 and L2 studies. This study also provides a clear procedure for the development and scoring of a math span test for the use in L1 and L2 studies.

Prompted by the recent shift of attention from just focusing on the top-down processing in L2 reading towards considering the basic component, bottom-up processing, the role of phonological component has also enjoyed popularity among a selected circle of SLA investigators (Koda, 2005). This study investigated the effect of the automatization of the phonological component on the reading comprehension of the ESP students. After administering a reading section of a TOEFL test, sixty participants out of one hundred and thirty were selected from among ESP students volunteering to participate in this study. These sixty participants were randomly assigned to two groups namely, control group and experimental group. The result of the pre-test revealed that there was not any significance difference between the two groups prior to the treatment. Then, in the period of one semester, the control group received reading instruction through the automatization of phonological component (i.e. pronunciation practice) and the control group received the reading instruction based on the traditional approach which was based on literal translation of English words and sentences into their Persian equivalents. After the treatment, all the participants took the post-test. The result of an Independent-samples T-test indicated that teaching reading through the automatization of phonological component was more effective than the traditional approach in reading instruction. The result of this study is considered to be useful in methodological issues related to reading instruction and also teacher education programs. Moreover, the findings of this study have theoretical implications for SLA researchers.

This paper looked into the interplay between language and culture based on the metatext categories utilized by the writers in three speech communities: Philippines, Iran, and Taiwan. Specifically, it answered the following subproblems: (1) What metatext categories exist in the results-and-discussion section of ESL/EFL research articles written in Philippine English, Iranian English, and Taiwanese English?; (2) At what points are the metatext categories in the three speech communities parallel or contrasting?; and (3) What cultural features are revealed by the use of metatext categories in the three Asian Englishes? Data analyzed were the results-and-discussion sections of 15 research articles (RAs): ESL RAs representing the Philippine-English variety were published in the TESOL Journal in 2009, and EFL RAs representing both the Taiwanese-English and Iranian-English varieties were from the Asian EFL Journal published in 2008 and 2009. Two inter-raters helped in the coding of metatext categories in the genre examined and in the validation of the data gathered. Frequency and percentage counts were employed to examine the corpus. Results revealed that the relative frequency of preview and review categories was highest in Philippine English RAs than in Taiwanese English RAs and Iranian English RAs. In the three Asian Englishes, the number of previews was larger than the number of reviews. With regard to the use of connectors, all three Englishes were built on the additive cohesive relation. Further, they used both simple connectors, such as and, but, though, and yet and their complex alternatives, such as furthermore, on the other hand, in a similar vein, and in a similar sense--a preference for a more elaborate and a change-oriented rhetorical pattern. In addition, Philippine English had the most number of action markers, thus, implying the Philippine English's tendency to be more writer-responsible as compared with the Taiwanese English and Iranian English.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations between emotions, classroom environment, and willingness to communicate (WTC) using the advanced quantitative methodological procedure of doubly latent multilevel analysis. To this end, 1528 secondary school students from 65 different classrooms in Iran participated in the study. Results of the doubly latent multilevel analysis showed that a positive classroom environment is related to fostering WTC and enjoyment, while it reduces anxiety among students. Moreover, enjoyment was found as an important factor in increasing WTC at both student and classroom level, while anxiety reduced WTC only at the student level. Finally, the results of the study are discussed and pedagogical implications are provided for language teachers.

Recent language testing research investigates factors other than language proficiency that may be responsible for systematic variance in language test performance. One such factor is the test takers' cognitive styles. The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their performance on communicative tests. For purposes of the present study, it was hypothesized that field (in)dependence would introduce systematic variance into Iranian EFL learners' communicative-test performance. 240 junior and senior students all majoring in English took the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), the 1990 version of IELTS, and the Communicative Test (CT) designed for the present study. The results of the present study provided evidence that the field-dependent (FD) subjects, compared to their field independent (FI) counterparts, performed much better on the CT. It was, therefore, concluded that test takers' cognitive styles may be viewed as a source of systematic variance in performance on communicative language tests.

In the present cross-linguistic study two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of age and linguistic background on response tendencies of preschoolers toward forced-choice questions. A total of 163 2- to 5-year-old children, including 63 Persian speakers, 57 Kurdish speakers and 43 English speakers, were asked a set of forced-choice, two option questions about familiar and unfamiliar objects. The results showed that, regardless of their linguistic background, children displayed a recency tendency in response to forced-choice questions. In addition, younger children exhibited a stronger tendency and this tendency was more pronounced when children were asked questions about unfamiliar objects. The findings suggest that recency tendency is a universal phenomenon. However, it grows weaker as children's age increases. The mechanism of a recency tendency along with implications of the use of forced-choice questions with children is discussed.

This study investigates the combined effects of task-based careful online planning and the storyline structure of a task on second language performance (complexity, accuracy and fluency). Sixty intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 15). Participants were asked to perform two tasks with different degrees of storyline structure (structured and unstructured) under two different planning conditions (pressured online planning and careful online planning). Analysis of the narrations and the results of a series of one-way ANOVA revealed that the participants who performed the structured task under the careful online planning condition produced more complex, accurate and fluent language. However, those who performed the unstructured task under the pressured online planning condition obtained the lowest scores in all three areas of oral production. The findings add support to the view that selecting appropriate task-based implementation conditions and task design features can induce language learners to increase the complexity, accuracy and fluency of their output.

Reviewing and discussing the development of critical studies in the field of applied linguistics in general and English language teaching (ELT) in particular in Iran, this paper attempts to highlight the main contributions in this field. Introducing a new growing critical-oriented shift in Iranian ELT community as the one which has been mostly dominated by the mainstream ELT is the main interest of this paper. To do so, after providing a scene of the past and current situation of English and ELT in Iran, the most outstanding critical works and the recent developments are classified and presented in three categories including a) English linguistic imperialism, b) ELT materials: nature and function and c) critical pedagogy. While this critical movement, directing the ELT from the mere technical learning of language to the more educational, social and political activity, is still in infancy, the development of politically and ethically motivated studies in this field is a clear indication of a growing critical awareness of the mainstream ELT that ignores the political, cultural, social and ethical issues of English and ELT. Undoubtedly these growing critical works, beginning to grow out of neutralism and objectivism that prevent the applied linguists and ELT professionals from engaging in politically and ethically motivated researches, will widen the global and local perspectives of ELT which has been basically confined to the technical aspects of teaching. To be more realistic, some practical hints and suggestions for further studies have also been provided and put forth.

Cross-linguistic transfer studies began from linguistic aspects of language learning and moved to non-linguistic aspects. The intriguing question is whether students are aware of the nature of these cross-linguistic interactions in their minds. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was conducted with four Iranian university students. It was found that students' awareness of cross-linguistic transfer did not cover all aspects of cross-linguistic transfer equally, and students had no or very limited awareness of the non-linguistic aspects of cross-linguistic transfer, the factors causing it, or the way to improve it. It is important to increase cross-linguistic awareness among language learners and help them to overcome the inhibitive influences of the existing languages to facilitate learning. It is recommended that in the Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context learners have a comprehensive view of cross-linguistic transfer in language learning and that teachers teach for transfer.

It is true that analyses of English language texts dominate the literature. It is equally true that a flourishing field of "Contrastive Rhetoric" (CR) research has begun to address the way various text types and/or "genres" may differ across cultures and languages (see Connor 1996, 2003). Very much in line with these developments, this study was an attempt to first characterize the global and/or macro-rhetorical structure of English newspaper editorials and formulate what Halliday and Hasan (1989: 64) call "the Generic Structure Potential" (GSP) of a genre. Secondly, this study attempted to cross-examine whether there is significant macro-structural variation from one culture to another within the same genre. To this end, a total of 90 editorials culled from three English newspapers (30 editorials each) published in three different socio-cultural environments by native speakers of English ("The Washington Times"), and non-native speakers ("The Iran News, and The Pakistan Today") were text-analyzed. The results of a GSP analysis of texts indicated that, in terms of the rhetorical elements of structure, there is "statistically" no significant difference ([alpha] = 0.05) between editorials written by (non-)native editorial writers, in whatever socio-cultural and socio-political context they are produced and disseminated. In plain words, results revealed that an "unmarked" English newspaper editorial, published either in Iran or Pakistan or the USA, typically consists of four "obligatory" and two "optional" generic rhetorical elements. (Contains 3 tables.)

With the deepening of the research on emotional factors, foreign language anxiety (FLA) has become the focus of researchers in the field of foreign language learning (FLL) and teaching. This paper aims to provide an overview of the historical trajectory of FLA research that has been published in System between 2004 and 2023. While examining the retrieved 49 studies, focus has been laid on the methodologies including research instruments, methods, participants, major themes and key findings of FLA research. Although almost all of the studies employed quantitative and mix-methods methodologies, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the most preferred research methods. FL learners from 21 countries/regions were represented, but a significant number of the studies came from China, Japan and Iran. And an overwhelming majority of the studies focused on FLA among the learners learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The review concluded with some research lacunae and possible directions for future research on FLA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) has recently gained recognition in the field of applied linguistics. This field, which previously differentiated between macro- and micro-ethics, is now grappling with QRPs that originate from the core of microethics. Despite the importance of studying QRPs, the applied linguistics community has not paid due attention to them. The present mixed-methods study investigates the frequency and severity of QRPs among Iranian applied linguists. Additionally, it explores QRPs related to artificial intelligence (AI) tools, a topic not previously examined, using researcher-constructed scenarios. A total of 160 Iranian applied linguists participated in the study, completing a 48-item questionnaire adapted from Larsson et al. (2023). Fifteen participants also took part in follow-up scenario-based interviews with regard to AI-related QRPs. The most common QRPs identified were the selection of variables for convenience and P-hacking, while the most severe ones were plagiarism-like behaviours and authorship issues. Lack of AI-related regulations, excessive use of AI as a threat, AI disclosure dilemma, and Al deficiencies and human oversight were the themes representing AI-related QRPs. The study concludes that QRPs among Iranian applied linguists mainly stem from inadequate ethics training, limited statistical knowledge, and a lack of AI guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to investigate the interrelationship among L1 writing skills, L2 writing skills, and L2 proficiency of Iranian English language learners at different proficiency levels. To this aim, two groups of advanced and lower-intermediate participants consisting of twenty learners were asked to write on the same topic in Persian and English in one week interval. Subsequently, the compositions were evaluated based on Jacob Composition Profile (1981). Then, the Pearson product-moment correlation was calculated to examine the correlation between the compositions' overall scores in Persian and English in both groups. To determine which variables, L1 writing skills or L2 proficiency, is a more significant predictor of L2 writing at these different proficiency levels, and investigate the difference between them, multiple regression analysis was calculated. The results displayed large correlation between compositions' overall scores in advanced group, but not in lower-intermediate group. Also, L1 writing was a more significant predictor at advanced level; however, at lower-intermediate level, L2 proficiency was a more significant predictor of L2 writing. These findings entail some pedagogical implications for effective language teaching in L2 writing classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the enormous potential of mobile assisted language learning (MALL) in teaching and learning foreign languages, no serious attention has been paid to develop this phase of education at schools and universities in Iran. This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of SMS as a subset of MALL on learning phrasal verbs among university students in Iran. Also, the role of gender in learning phrasal verbs by SMS was investigated. A group of 75 students were selected from 90 students who were studying different engineering fields at Arak University of Technology. They were assigned randomly into two experimental and control groups. During the study which lasted 25 days, participants in control group received 25 phrasal verbs in a booklet and participants in experimental group received 25 phrasal verbs via SMS. The pre- and post-test scores of two groups were compared using ANCOVA. The results of data analysis showed that experimental group outperformed control group. But there was no relationship between gender and learning phrasal verbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite the spread of reliable technological tools and the availability of computers in Iranian universities, as well as the mounting evidence of the effectiveness of blended learning, many Iranian language teachers are still reluctant to incorporate such tools in their English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. This study inspected the status quo of technology integration in Iranian EFL classes and investigated the obstacles, as perceived by the Iranian EFL teachers, toward implementing CALL in Iran. First, 100 EFL teachers completed the Teacher Technology Integration Survey developed by Vannatta and Banister (2009), to help estimate technology use in EFL classes. Then the researchers interviewed twelve teachers, comprising two EFL teacher educators with no CALL experience, four teachers with the experience of integrating technology in their EFL classes, four EFL teachers who had recently finished an online CALL teacher education program, and two EFL teachers with no CALL experience. The semi-structured interview questions were designed by the researchers, one of whom has extensive experience with CALL, and were revised based on the suggestions of a colleague with expertise in teacher education. One of the researchers conducted the interviews, each of which lasted for 30–50 minutes. The researchers used structural content analysis of the interview transcripts to find themes relevant to the research question. The results suggest that on the whole, Iranian EFL teachers do not usually integrate digital technology into their classes; and the obstacles in implementing CALL in language classrooms could be classified into three categories: teacher, facility, and learner constraints. Each of the categories is discussed in detail and suggestions are provided for promoting CALL in the Iranian context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports a study that explored the overall pattern of metacognitive awareness of reading strategy use and its possible relationship with reading comprehension. Moreover, the study investigated the influence of gender and proficiency level on the use of these strategies. The Survey of Reading Strategies Questionnaire (SORS), the semi-structured interview technique, and a reading comprehension test were used to collect data from a randomly chosen sample. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics to determine the frequency and type of strategies employed by the learners. Pearson coefficient correlation was also used to discover the relationship between reading strategy use and reading comprehension achievement. Moreover, one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was also employed to find out how the use of strategies varied according to gender. The results revealed that there was a strong positive correlation between reported metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and reading comprehension achievement. The results also showed that the students' knowledge of metacognitive reading strategies were significantly influenced by their levels of English proficiency. According to the findings, Iranian EFL students are moderately aware of reading strategies and the most frequently used strategies were the Support Reading Strategies (SUP), followed by Global Reading Strategies (GLOB), and then Problem-Solving Strategies (PROB). It was also revealed that no significant difference existed between male and female language learners in the use of reading strategies. The findings of this study may have implications for learners, teachers, and materials developers in the field of English language teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of both IQ and emotional intelligence on reading comprehension in Iran. Forty-five EFL college students from Payame Noor University of Gonbad and Azad University of Gorgan participated in this study. Three independent tests were administrated, including Bar-On's emotional intelligence inventory (EQ-i), Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, and the reading comprehension portion of the TOEFL (2005). The results indicate that the relationship between IQ and reading comprehension is stronger than the relationship between total emotional intelligence and reading comprehension. A small but significant correlation was found between reading-comprehension scores and some emotional-intelligence subscales such as interpersonal abilities, intrapersonal abilities, and stress management. It follows that IQ is a more determinative factor in reading-comprehension proficiency than emotional intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the effect of robotics assisted language learning (RALL) on the vocabulary learning and retention of Iranian English as foreign language (EFL) junior high school students in Tehran, Iran. After taking a vocabulary pre-test, 46 beginner level female students at the age of 12, studying in their first year of junior-high participated in two groups of RALL (30 students) and non-RALL (16 students) in this study. The textbook used was the English book (Prospect-1) devised by the Iranian Ministry of Education for 7th graders, and the vocabulary taught and tested (pre-test and post-test) were taken from this book. Moreover, the treatment given by a teacher accompanied by a humanoid robot assistant in the RALL group took about five weeks in which half of the book was covered, and the non-RALL group was taught in a traditional method. Finally, the teacher administered the post-test and delayed post-test whose results of repeated measures ANOVA and Two Ways ANOVA indicated that there was a significant difference regarding participants' vocabulary gain and retention in RALL group comparing to non-RALL group. In addition, the teacher reported the students' positive reaction to RALL in learning vocabulary. Overall, the results revealed that RALL has been very influential in creating an efficient and pleasurable English learning environment. This study has some implications for technology-based education, language teaching, and social robotics fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study is to investigate the impact of indirect corrective feedback on promoting Iranian high school students' spelling accuracy in English. It compared the effect of direct feedback with indirect feedback on students' written work dictated by their teacher from Chicken Soup for the Mother and Daughter Soul. The study was conducted at the talented girls' high school in Saveh, Iran. A sample of 56 high school sophomores were randomly assigned to two equal groups of 28. Group 1 (the direct feedback group) and Group 2 (the indirect feedback group) were treated differently regarding their spelling errors for five weeks. Statistical analysis based on Mean scores and Paired t-tests revealed that indirect feedback was more effective than direct feedback in rectifying students' spelling errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to conduct a comparative study of Iranians EFL students' language proficiency at BA level in Isfahan Universities namely Islamic Azad University of Khorasgan, Sheikhbahaee University, and Payam-e Noor university of Baharestan. To this aim, two English Tests were administered to 105 participants including Agricultural Engineering, Management, Law, and Psychology students who had already passed their General English courses. The data collected through the tests were analyzed using SPSS. The result of the data derived from the tests revealed that there was no significant difference between language proficiency of students' at different universities. Furthermore, the students mostly scored low on the English tests which revealed that the objectives of the General English programs were not fully achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's interconnected multicultural world, citizens' differential levels of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) can play an important role in the amount of enthusiasm, time, and efforts they invest in second or foreign language (L2) communication and learning. ICC has recently found its way into L2 theory and research. This study attempted to first develop a measure of ICC and then explore the relationship between Iranian L2 learners' ICC and their L2 learning motivation, on the one hand, and between gender and the development of ICC, on the other. The participants were 180 B.A. English Literature/Translation and M.A. TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) students at several Iranian universities. A test battery including the final version of the ICC questionnaire and an L2-learning motivation questionnaire adapted from Gardner's attitude/motivation test battery was then administered to a random selection of 70 students (M = 30 and F = 40). The correlation results indicated that there was a strong, positive relationship between L2 learners' ICC and L2-learning motivation. Meanwhile, t-test results demonstrated that Iranian female and male L2 learners did not possess different levels of ICC. The finding related to the ICC and motivation association suggests that an account of ICC development be incorporated into L2 teachers' classroom agendas at different educational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article sets out to examine the relationship between EFL learners' sense of self-efficacy and their writing achievement. In order to tackle with this question, two self-efficacy questionnaires were employed, English and General self-efficacy. Ninety-three Iranian EFL learners from four different universities in north-eastern part of Iran took part in the study. Pearson correlation and ANOVA were run to analyze the collected data. The findings indicated a significant relationship not only between learners' writing performance and English self-efficacy beliefs, but also between learners' writing performance and their General self-efficacy beliefs. It is worth mentioning that English self-efficacy beliefs showed stronger relationship with learners' writing performance as compared to General self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultural influence of foreign languages has always been a matter of concern for the learners of languages. The present study aimed at examining the relationship between English Textbooks and the cultural attitudes of Iranian EFL learners at English language schools. To this end, two of the widely used series of English textbooks in Iranian context (Interchange and American File) were analyzed to extract all the possible cultural issues embedded within the units. A researcher made questionnaire was designed based on the cultural issues extracted from the English textbooks. It was validated by two experts in the field, also its reliability, using the data from pilot study through Cronbach's Alpha, was estimated to be (.870). The questionnaire was administered to 210 learners of English followed by an interview for follow up purposes. For measuring the probable correlation between the English textbooks and the cultural attitudes of the learners, Correlation as well as cross tabulation were run through SPSS for analysis of the obtained data. The results exhibited a significant correlation between English textbooks and the cultural attitudes of Iranian EFL learners. Moreover, the relationship found to be positive i.e. their attitudes significantly changed after studying these English textbooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of planning on second-language written production with regard to proficiency level, and task type. The participants were 157 Iranian learners of English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners attending a four-year university program in Iran. They were asked to complete two different types of writing tasks i.e., expository writing task and argumentative writing task in different planned conditions i.e. Individual Planned Condition and Collaborative Planned Condition over a two-week period. In the Individual Planned Condition, the learners were given 10 minutes for individual planning in the prestructured task sheet and then were asked to write an essay for 30 minutes. In the Collaborative Planned Condition, learners were allowed to interact with a peer during planning and were required to independently complete an essay. Participants' written products were evaluated on five analytic measures covering the areas of Content, Organization, and Language in Use, Grammar, and Mechanics. The results of MANOVA test indicated that the planned condition had an impact on learners' written performance in both tasks. Individually considered, learners in the Collaborative Planned Condition were able to achieve significantly higher scores in all the analytic features in Task 1 (Expository writing task). In contrast, there were no significant mean differences between two conditions in Task 2 (Argumentative writing task). The results also indicated that proficiency had influenced learners' written performance in both tasks. The proficiency effect was consistently found throughout the analytic scores Task 1 and Task 2. However, the interaction between condition and proficiency was not found in the two tasks. The results of repeated measures for the effect of task type revealed that significant mean differences were only found in the Mechanics section. It is concluded that Iranian EFL learners' written performance was affected by planned condition and proficiency, but only to a small degree by the nature of task type with regard to the five analytic features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was carried out to compare the effect of text simplification versus peer interaction generated by student-made questions on the reading comprehension of 83 Iranian adult English as a foreign language students. Three groups of participants were involved in the study. The first experimental group read two unmodified reading passages and answered 15 multiple-choice comprehension questions. They were then asked to come up with a number of questions based on the passages and discuss them with a peer. The participants in the second experimental group read simplified versions of the same passages and answered the same comprehension questions. Finally, the participants in the control group read the unmodified passages and answered the same questions without any opportunity for interaction. The results revealed that the participants in both experimental groups outperformed their peers in the control group. Further, the participants who had benefited from peer interaction had significantly higher reading comprehension scores than those who had read the simplified texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shyness may be defined experientially as excessive self-focus characterized by negative self-evaluation that creates discomfort and/or inhibition in social situations and interferes with pursuing one's interpersonal or professional goals. In the present study by employing the T-test and ANOVA, results indicated that shyness has effect on local/global reading comprehension. It further indicated that the correlation effect between the shyness and gender was significant. Therefore, males are better than females in local/global reading comprehension test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a study which investigated the errors committed by rural students while learning English as their second language at the undergraduate collegiate level of Madurai District in Tamilnadu, India. Researchers collected data from various sources such as questionnaires, students' test papers, and class discussions. They learned that the learners' errors are due to the interference of mother tongue and lack of knowledge in the target language.

This article discusses a study which investigated the effect of teaching executive interpreting in comparison to simultaneous interpreting on vocabulary acquisition in respect of gender of the subjects. The participants were English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students (32 males and 32 females) at the Arak University in Iran. They were asked to listen to different English native speaker dialects through prepared tapes/compact discs (CD) and video CD (VCD) and take a vocabulary test.

This study examined the role of Ethnicity as a crucial factor in determining language learning preferences. Recent researches provide important support to claim that when students have the opportunity to clarify and assess their preferences in regard to definition of objectives in general and awareness of leaning preferences, their motivation, performances, and achievements will be increased and better. Since students are increasingly diverse, ethnicity has been considered as a crucial factor in determining language learning preferences. In our country, Iran, there are various ethnicities; nonetheless, English language is taught almost in the same manner for learners with different ethnical background. This study examined the impact of ethnicity (Kurd, Turk, Fars) on language learning preferences of Iranian EFL learners in order to understand weather there was any meaningful relationship between learning preferences and EFL learner's ethnicity. To accomplish the research, a language learning preferences questionnaire with 10 items was administered to Iranian EFL learners. Subjects have been chosen according to the cluster sampling from EFL Institutes in Tehran, (Iran Mehr language institute), Tabriz and Kermanshah (Kish institute). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the differences between Iranian students-Persian speakers who are learning English as a foreign language-(20 male and 20 female) and the native participants (20 male and 20 female) Australian students majoring in different fields, refusal strategies. A Discourse Completion Task (DCT) was used to elicit the relevant data. The results showed that Iranian EFL students tend to use limited strategies for refusing their interlocutors' requests. Moreover, refusal patterns of natives are very different from those of non-natives, though they do share some similarities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, global issues (GI), known as a well-established branch of language teaching field in general and English language teaching in particular, has gained increasing interest among the teaching community. In Sampedro and Hillyard's (2004) terms, global issues can no longer be dismissed as the "out there", but they are very much "in here" too and can no longer be safely ignored. Matsuda (2006) also points out since at present learners want to become effective users of English in the international context, some awareness of global cultures and issues needs to be fostered. Pass all doubt, in a globalizing world, when every corner of the planet is being affected by the phenomenon of globalization as an inevitable reality of the modern society, the need to understand other cultures, societies as well as the challenges and problems which we are faced with seems increasingly important. Certainly, one of the primary aims of language learning and especially English language which is known as a global and international language is facilitating the communication among the cultures and peoples. Since GI is a new approach to foreign language teaching and aims to enable learners to efficiently acquire and use a foreign language while empowering them with the knowledge, skills and commitment required by world citizens for the solution of global problems, using this approach can effectively integrate a global perspective into classroom instruction through a focus on international themes (see Cates 2000, Dyer and Bushell, 1996). In fact, this paper not only aims at introducing the reasons for introducing global issues as an important theme to English textbook development, but also attempts to highlight the applications of GI for English language classrooms with a specific reference to the Iranian society as an EFL context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Task-based language teaching is recently the most frequently used method in second language instructions. The current study has focused on two main factors that have been proposed in TBLT, i.e. strategic planning and topic familiarity. It aims to investigate the effect of manipulation of strategic planning and topic familiarity on EFL written task performance. The participants were 80 intermediate female learners of English as a foreign language from a private language institute in Urmia, Iran. All of the written productions were coded using three measures covering accuracy, fluency and complexity. Using SPSS software, ANOVA have been used to analyze the collected data. The findings of this study carry significant pedagogical implications for task and syllabus designers, second language teachers and testers and also SLA researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was an attempt to evaluate, firstly, whether the objectives specified by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) of Iran for a BA degree in English Language and Literature (ELL) are relevant and appropriate, and secondly, whether these intended objectives match those reported to have been achieved by students and graduates. For this purpose, 178 participants from Urmia University took part in the study, and different questionnaires were developed and used for collecting relevant data. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection and analysis through the use of both open-ended and closed questionnaire items. The results revealed that the current objectives for education leading to a BA in ELL are regarded as unacceptable. Furthermore, what is expected does not exactly match what is actually achieved. The findings showed that significant changes must be made to English language education in Iran's university sector by revising the current curriculum to place greater emphasis on the needs of the society and students. Additional findings and implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to provide observational evidence on the relationship between teachers' use of motivational strategies and students' motivated behavior in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context of Iran. To this end, 741 male learners of English from 26 secondary school classes taught by 17 teachers participated in the study. The teachers' use of motivational strategies and the students' motivated behavioral codes were measured using a classroom observation instrument originally developed by Guilloteaux and Dörnyei (2008). Furthermore, the participating students completed a questionnaire that consisted of both situation-specific and general-motivational scales. Finally, a post hoc rating scale was employed to evaluate the teachers' overall motivational practice. The results showed that the teachers' motivational practice is significantly related to the students' motivated behavior. Further, while no differences were found between high-motivation and low-motivation learner groups in terms of their ideal second language (L2) selves, the low-motivation group had stronger ought-to L2 selves. The results will be discussed with reference to the socio-educational context of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to study the effect of explicit-inductive and explicit-deductive grammar instruction on the acquisition of relative clauses by Persian learners of English. The two intact classes were randomly assigned to one of the treatments, inductive or deductive. Both groups received instruction about English relative clauses using the explicit-inductive (experimental group), or the explicit-deductive (control group). They were administered three similar but not identical tests namely, a pretest, posttest, and a delayed posttest containing Sentence Combining Test and Grammaticality Judgment Test. The findings displayed that both groups significantly increased their overall learning outcomes from the pretest to the posttest, but the experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group. Also, both groups scored consistently scored higher on the GJT than on the SCT, but the experimental group scored significantly higher that the control group on both the SCT and the GJT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors examine the ways in which young women in Iran express disagreement within the confines of their own language and culture. The investigation is measured by the effects of solidarity and deference proposed by linguistic experts Ron and Suzanne Scollon. In addition the data is analyzed under the established classification of Geoffrey Leech, a professor of linguistics. The central focus of the article is on the contention that considerations of deference may supersede solidarity in a non-Western Islamic state such as Iran.