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The quality of mixing methods has been widely debated in the field of applied linguistics (AL) and the integration of data from both quantitative and qualitative research paradigms has always been open to controversy. The present study was aimed at recognizing the status quo of MMR in AL, investigating the nature of various sections of MMR studies, and specifying the way the pattern of employing MMR has changed over the past few years. From a total of 1,314 articles in seven peer-reviewed accredited AL journals, 220 articles were finally identified to be mixed in method which were subsequently scrutinized based on already established frameworks regarding their research questions, research designs, sampling designs, and inference quality to explore the status quo of mixed methods research (MMR) in AL. We went through two phases of screening to identify the articles which met the principles of MMR and analyzed the selected articles qualitatively based on a coding scheme. The findings revealed (a) only a few research questions were hybrid, (b) both concurrent research designs and concurrent sampling designs were employed more frequently than their sequential counterparts, and (c) only a few articles made their inferences mixed in a principled manner. The findings of several extracts and an open-ended questionnaire showed a growing interest in MMR and the challenges and problems of conducting MMR, respectively. The results might imply that the new paradigms of research favor mixing methods and that the researchers employ it more due to its strengths.

The study examined the extent to which Iranian EFL teachers were familiar with reflective journal writing (RJW), the possible contribution of a consciousness-raising interactive workshop to the participants' individual and collective journal writing, and their perception of the barriers to RJW. The study enjoyed a qualitative design employing interviews and journal writings for data collection. Thirty Iranian EFL teachers sat a face-to-face interview. They were also asked to write two reflective journals, (one individually and one collectively), before, and two others after attending a consciousness-raising interactive workshop on reflection which adopted Richards' (1995) framework on teacher reflection and Soodmand Afshar's (in press) journal content guide. The grounded-theory-based content analysis was employed to analyze the data collected. The results indicated an improvement in participants' familiarity with RJW after the event. Furthermore, the barriers to RJW were identified as 'institutional issues', 'teacher issues' and 'educational system issues'.

The present study explored the characteristics of 147 Iranian EFL teachers teaching at senior secondary schools (N = 62) and those teaching in private language institutes (N = 85). Data were collected through a Likert-scale teacher characteristics questionnaire mainly adapted from Borg (2006). Also, for data triangulation purposes, 20 teachers from each group (i.e., 40 in total) were randomly selected and attended a semi-structured interview. The results of Independent Samples t-test indicated, overall, there was a significant difference between the characteristics of senior secondary school teachers and those of language institute teachers. Moreover, the results of Chi-square analysis and content analysis of interviews revealed that EFL teachers of language institutes and senior secondary schools were significantly different regarding some specific characteristics commonly ascribed to successful teaching including good command of aural-oral skills, "being disciplined and punctual", "being open to criticism", "respecting the personality of students", "listening to students' opinions and letting them express themselves", and "showing interest in students and their learning". The findings of the study might prove fruitful for syllabus designers, teacher educators and pre-service EFL teachers as discussed in the paper.

As part of a large-scale project, this study investigated the differences between satisfied and dissatisfied Iranian junior secondary school English teachers in terms of their job performance. To this end, 64 Iranian English teachers and 1774 of their students completed a validated questionnaire specifically developed to investigate EFL teachers' job performance. The results indicated that satisfied teachers significantly differed from their dissatisfied counterparts in terms of their job performance suggesting that the observed differences in their job performance might have mainly been caused by the degree to which they were satisfied with their profession. The results also showed a significant difference between students' evaluation of their teachers' job performance and the teachers' self-evaluation of their job performance. Furthermore, through a semi-structured interview, the most crucial factors contributing to poor job performance of dissatisfied Iranian secondary school EFL teachers were identified to be an insufficient subject and pedagogic knowledge, unequal attention to individual students, lack of professional commitment, interpersonal relationship problems, and demotivation.

The present study investigated the relationship between language learning strategy use, learning styles, gender, and second language (L2) achievement of Iranian English for academic purposes (EAP) learners. To this end, 120 Iranian EAP learners majoring in various fields of humanities including political sciences, psychology, economics and law participated in the study by completing Oxford's (1990) "Strategy Inventory for Language Learning" (SILL), and an adapted version of the "Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire" (PLSPQ) originally developed by Reid (1987). The results obtained from three separate Pearson product moment correlations indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between (a) language learning strategy use and L2 achievement; (b) learning styles and L2 achievement; and (c) learning styles and strategy use by Iranian EAP learners. Moreover, the results of multiple regression analysis demonstrated that both learning styles and language learning strategy use were significant predictors of the participants' L2 achievement; however, learning styles were found to be a stronger predictor. Also, the findings of two separate multiple regression analyses indicated that among the components of learning styles and language learning strategies, visual learning style and cognitive strategy use were stronger predictors of L2 achievement respectively. In addition, the results of an independent samples t-test showed cognitive and metacognitive strategies were the most frequently used strategy groups by females and males respectively. The results of another independent samples ttest indicated that group and visual learning styles were the most preferred types adopted by the female and male learners respectively.

The study investigated the relationship among critical thinking, strategy use and university achievement. To this end, 76 English major students sat the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and filled out Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning. Participants' Grade Point Averages were regarded as their university achievement. The results indicated that both critical thinking and strategy use had significant positive correlations with university achievement, with the former being stronger. The regression analyses revealed between critical thinking and language learning strategy use, the former significantly predicted university achievement. The results of analysis of variance demonstrated that the three groups of high, mid and low achievers were not significantly different in their use of language learning strategies; however, the three groups performed significantly differently on the test of critical thinking. From post-hoc comparisons and descriptive statistics, it became evident that critical thinking was an asset to the high-achieving group.

The idea that language learning is facilitated or inhibited by a multitude of factors has prompted scholars in the field to investigate variables considered to be crucial in the process of second or foreign language learning. This study investigated relationships between emotional intelligence, learning style, language learning strategy use, and the L2 achievement of Iranian EFL learners. One hundred and thirty eight Iranian EFL learners participated in the study by completing three Likert-scale questionnaires: the "Emotional Quotient Inventory" (Bar-on, 1997), the "Learning Style Questionnaire" (Kolb, 1984), and the "Strategy Inventory for Language Learning" (Oxford, 1990). Also, the participants' final scores in the previous four terms were collected and their average was regarded as their L2 achievement. The results of Pearson correlation analyses revealed there was no statistically significant relationship between learning styles and L2 achievement; however, the findings indicated L2 achievement was significantly related to emotional intelligence as well as to language learning strategy use. The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that among the variables of the study, strategy use, followed by emotional intelligence, was a stronger predictor of L2 achievement. Moreover, the findings indicated that of the components of emotional intelligence, assertiveness was the best predictor of L2 achievement.

Among the factors influencing learners' learning, instrumental motivation, critical thinking and autonomy are thought to be of crucial importance. The present study, thus, set out to investigate relationships between instrumental motivation, critical thinking, autonomy and academic achievement of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 100 Iranian learners majoring in English language were selected as the participants in the study. For data collection purposes, the participants filled out two questionnaires; one on instrumental motivation, adapted from Kimura, Nakata and Okumura (2001), Carreira (2004), and Takagi (2003), and factors analysed, and another on autonomy developed by Cotterall (1995; 1999). They then sat the "California Critical Thinking Skills Test" (CCTST) form B. The participants' GPAs were also requested and collected. The results of multiple correlation analyses revealed that autonomy correlated significantly highly with academic achievement, followed by instrumental motivation and critical thinking, which stood at the second and third places respectively. The results of the multiple correlation analyses also revealed that the relationships between critical thinking and autonomy, and instrumental motivation and autonomy were significant, but critical thinking and instrumental motivation did not correlate significantly. The results of multiple regression analyses revealed that among the independent variables of the study, critical thinking was a significantly stronger predictor of academic achievement, with autonomy and instrumental motivation.

This study explores the research approach preferences of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) faculty members and Ph.D. candidates, and the role of TEFL Research Methodology course instructors and the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) curriculum of Ph.D. level in Iran in this respect. Based on purposive sampling and availability, 10 faculty members and 25 Ph.D. candidates were selected and sat a semi-structured interview. Based on the results of the interview, a researcher-made questionnaire was developed and validated. Next, 53 faculty members and 98 Ph.D. candidates were selected based on purposive sampling and their availability to respond. Findings revealed that mixed-methods research (MMR) was the most preferred research approach of both groups of participants. Despite the overall preference for MMR studies, the results showed that the MSRT curriculum and the instructors of the Research Methodology course did not focus on MMR adequately. Furthermore, the participants believed that Research Methodology course at the Ph.D. level did not equip the addresses well enough to be able to conduct accurate and appropriate MMR studies. Findings could imply that MSRT curriculum developers and Research Methodology course instructors need to pay more attention to the research approach preference (i.e., MMR) of the end-users (i.e., PhD candidates). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the impact of language learning strategy instruction on the enhancement of less successful Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' L2 achievement. To this end, 40 less successful EFL students took part in the study, 20 of whom were trained based on CALLA (Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach) and the rest formed the control group. A complete TOEFL PBT test was administered to the 40 participants of the study to homogenize them in terms of language proficiency. The results of two independent samples t-tests and two separate paired samples t-tests indicated that explicit strategy instruction had a significant positive impact on L2 achievement of less successful Iranian EFL learners as the participants in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the control group. The results of the current study might contribute to the educational policymakers, materials writers, syllabus designers, curriculum developers, and foreign language teachers to incorporate learning strategies in their policies, curricula, syllabi, materials, and instructional tasks if they intend to boost EFL learners' L2 achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the cross-disciplinary variations in the generic structure of Introduction sections of 52 Applied Linguistics and 52 Chemistry research articles drawing upon Swales" (2004) framework, taking into account the new insights proposed by Bhatia (2004), Shehzad (2008), and Lim (2012, 2014). To this end, in addition to collecting quantitative data and conducting frequency and Chi-square analyses, a number of semi-structured interviews were conducted with some Chemistry scholars and Applied Linguistics (ALs) experts for triangulation purposes. The results of the quantitative data analysis indicated that the two disciplines showed significant variations in the frequency with which they used some steps and sub-steps to realize the moves. The results of the qualitative content analysis of the interviews also helped understand why authors in each discipline might use a specific move/step more than the others and why a move/step was frequently used by the authors in one discipline, but completely absent in another. Finally, based on the results, some implications were presented to postgraduate students and novice researchers in Chemistry and Applied Linguistics to help them write effective research articles in their field. The findings of the study could also provide some practical implications for the EAP teachers to help their students become better writers. In addition, some suggestions were presented to genre analysts to help them obtain more dependable results when analyzing the generic structure of various sections of research articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the speaking skills problems faced by Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors from their own and their English instructors' perspectives. To this end, 238 Iranian EFL students (138 freshmen and 100 seniors) and 30 English instructors from various universities participated in the study by completing a validated speaking skills problems questionnaire. To triangulate the data, 30 EFL students (15 freshmen and 15 seniors) and ten English instructors, selected randomly from among the participants of the study, also sat a semi-structured interview. The results of the study revealed that some socially-related and instructor-related problems, the lack of teaching facilities, and the curricula of the education system of the country were among the major problem-creating factors for the freshmen's and seniors' speaking skills. Furthermore, the t-test results showed that overall there was no significant difference between the freshmen's and the seniors' perceptions of their own speaking skills problems. The results of Chi-square analyses of the individual items of the questionnaire indicated that there was no significant difference between the freshmen's and the seniors' perceptions except for item 1 (I am afraid of making mistakes). In addition, the results of one-way ANOVA showed that overall there was no significant difference among the freshmen's, the seniors' and the instructors' perceptions of speaking skills problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study set out to investigate the differences between EAP (English for Academic Purposes) students of Humanities and Engineering in terms of vocabulary strategy choice and use. One hundred and five undergraduate Iranian students (39 students from Engineering Faculty and 66 from Humanities Faculty) studying at Bu-Ali Sina University Hamedan, during the academic year of 2011–2012 participated in this study. For data collection purposes, a pilot-tested factor-analyzed five-point Likert-scale vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire (VLSQ) containing 45 statements was adopted. The results of independent samples t-test indicated that, overall, the two groups were not significantly different in the choice and use of vocabulary learning strategies. However, running Chi square analyses, significant differences were found in individual strategy use in 6 out of 45 strategies. That is, while Humanities students used more superficial and straightforward strategies like repetition strategy and seeking help from others, the Engineering students preferred much deeper, thought-provoking and sophisticated strategies like using a monolingual dictionary and learning vocabulary through collocations and coordinates. Further, the most and the least frequently used vocabulary learning strategies by the two groups were specified, out of which only two strategies in each category were commonly shared by both groups. The possible reasons why the results have turned out to be so as well as the implications of the study are discussed in details in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]