علی درخشان

Reading is recognized as being the most important skill needed by ESP learners in their field of study, and vocabulary knowledge is the most widely discussed component of effective ESP reading per se. However, research on how much the different types of words exert substantial influences over ESP reading comprehension remains scanty. To address this lacuna, the present study aimed to examine the degree of contribution made by general high-frequency, core-academic, and technical-academic words to 127 Iranian learners studying Psychology at three state universities in Tehran, Iran. Three researcher-made and validated tests were used to measure the three aforementioned types of vocabulary knowledge accompanied by an ESP reading test. Data analysis using multiple regression revealed that the core-academic words and technical-academic words significantly contributed to the ESP reading comprehension, explaining about 92% of the variance in reading scores, but knowledge of general high-frequency words was not a significant contributor. Moreover, teaching core-academic and technical-academic words did not have a significant effect on ESP reading comprehension in the short term, yet a low significant difference was observed for technical academic words in the long term. Findings of this study imply that direct teaching of the core-academic and technical-academic words can help ESP learners improve their reading over time. The article ends with pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research.

Considering one of the earliest calls for applying pragmatics in the second language, Kasper and Rose’s (2002) study “Is Pragmatic Teachable?”, pragmatic features have been analyzed during the last 20 years in EFL/ESL contexts. The amalgamation of studies has been conducted on many speech acts around the world within the two decades, among which apology is considered as the second most-appreciated speech act in Iran. The aim of the current meta-analysis is twofold: first, to unravel the overall effectiveness of the instruction in an Iranian EFL context on the speech act of apology, and second, to explore whether treatment types and research designs moderate this effectiveness. To this end, out of a total number of 31 studies, 12 papers were chosen based on the exclusion and inclusion criteria, which were coded for the analysis. The results of the study revealed that the instruction of apology is effective for this speech act, and it documented a medium effect size. Furthermore, it was found that research design is a good predictor for this effectiveness, and the quasi-experimental group displayed a large (g = 2.39) and positive effect. Although treatment types (e.g., explicit & non-explicit) produced medium and large effect sizes, they are not a suitable predictor for the overall effectiveness of instruction on the aforementioned speech act. The study concludes with pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty members and students had to leave their face-to-face (FTF) classes and move into emergency distance education (EDE) contexts. Due to this drastic change in the system of education, investigating the probable effects of EDE on the quality of education seems essential. As such, this study has attempted to probe the effect of EDE on the language skills of Iranian EFL students. To do so, drawing on the maximum variation sampling, the present study embarked on a qualitative descriptive research method, triangulating data through written open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from 170 EFL students from different universities in Iran. The sample included BA students majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and English Literature, aged above 18. Using Thematic Analysis (TA), students’ responses were transcribed, codified, and interpreted. The findings of TA revealed that along with several disadvantages and challenges that Iranian EFL students experienced in EDE with regard to learning English language skills, EDE provided some opportunities and benefits for their learning. The analysis of students’ responses also indicated that they deemed speaking skill as the most negatively influenced language skill and listening skill as the most positively affected skill. Furthermore, the findings represented that most of the students held teachers and administrators responsible for the problems and challenges they experienced in EDE contexts. The findings of the present study can encourage administrators, teachers, and students to prepare themselves for EDE against the possible subsequent waves.

It is substantiated that particular features of pragmatics are teachable, and instruction is both necessary and effective. Determining what kind of intervention is most effectual for facilitating learners’ pragmatic development has been a central issue for researchers. To respond to the inconclusive findings in intervention studies and to extend the instructional studies in L2 pragmatics to less studied and more complex teaching targets, such as implicatures, the current study inquired into the effects of metapragmatic awareness, interactive translation, and discussion through video  vignettes on the comprehension of implicatures of 51 (15 male and 36 female) Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners, who were selected based on Oxford Quick Placement Test (2004) from students majoring English Literature and TEFL at Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran. Fifty-six video prompts containing implicatures from Friends sitcom series and Desperate Housewives TV series were taught to the participants who were randomly assigned to four groups (metapragmatic awareness, interactive translation, discussion, and control). The participants attended the classes twice a week for eight sessions. Results of multiple-choice implicature listening test revealed that all three intervention groups outperformed the control group. Results of Tukey’s Honest Significant Difference (HSD) test illustrated that the metapragmatic awareness group outperformed the interactive translation and discussion groups. No meaningful difference was found between the interactive translation group and the discussion group. The paper concludes that providing learners with contextually appropriate input through video using methods of pragmatic instruction (metapragmatic consciousness-raising, translation, and discussion) is effective to promote their ability to comprehend implicatures and signposts some avenues for future research.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine teachers’ perceptions towards research by first investigating teachers’ conceptions about research and second, by examining the extent to which teachers read and do research. Methodology: To this end, the participants of the present study were 98 English language teachers from language institutes and schools. Utilizing Borg’s (2009) questionnaire, at first, the questionnaire responses were analyzed to determine the teachers’ view of research; in this section, the teachers were asked to point out to what extent they felt the activities described in 10 scenarios were or were not research. Findings: The results indicated that three scenarios were considered to be “probably research” and scenarios 4, 5 and 6 were regarded as “definitely research” by the participants. On the other hand, two scenarios were recognized as “definitely research”. The results of the second research question showed that among 98 English teachers only 24 teachers “often or sometimes” read published research which is a very high index. Teachers’ reasons for the answers to the second research question were lack of time, knowledge, access to resources, and institutional support. The findings of this research indicate that teachers’ conceptions of research are very near to conventional scientific theories. Only 12.2% of the teachers mentioned that they “do research”. Conclusion: the findings of the present study may be useful for teachers who want to promote their English teaching as such findings are suggested to improve their level of engagement in research activities, and consequently the quality of their research.

Learning outcomes will highly increase if barriers are identified and removed appropriately. Since demotivating factors can affect the learning process negatively, regaining the lost interest of learners leads to higher levels of academic achievement. Demotivation has been referred to as low motivation instead of being an independent concept on its own on the one hand, and the demotivating factors related to PhD exam candidates have not been taken into consideration so far on the other hand. As a result, this research attempted to examine both the demotivating and remotivating factors in the Iranian milieu, for which 100 MA and 78 PhD exam candidates from various universities took part in our study. The participants filled out a validated demotivating questionnaire for data collection, and 15 MA and 20 PhD participants participated in a semi-structured interview, encompassing five open-ended questions. The multivariate analysis of ANOVA depicted a significant difference between the most demotivating factor (economic problems) and the least demotivating one (curriculum decisions). Moreover, the data provided by the participants were analyzed to reduce the effect of these factors. Identifying the demotivating factors and trying to neutralize their negative effects by considering the remotivating options enables the policymakers to help the students move towards academic satisfaction which in the long run leads to their psychological well-being.

Despite the significant role of emotions in any aspect of language learning, including its pragmatic aspect, there have been few research studies on this topic. As a stride toward narrowing this research niche, the objectives of this research were threefold. Firstly, it aimed to examine the two face-threatening speech acts of request and apology as indicators of learners’‎ interlanguage pragmatic competence (ILP) and its relationships with learners’ Emotional Quotient (EQ). Secondly, it sought to investigate ‎whether gender as an intervening variable would have any significant relationship with ILP and EQ, and thirdly whether EQ could predict ILP ‎development. To this end, 72 (50 females and 22 males) Iranian lower-intermediate level learners ranging ‎in age from 17 to 25 from two universities took part in this research. A multiple-choice discourse completion test ‎‎(MDCT) (Liu, 2004) and Bar-Onʼs ‎(1997) EQ scale were used and correlation analysis was done to search for any linkage between ILP and EQ. The Pearson product-moment correlation outcomes ‎revealed no significant relationship between EQ and ILP. However, a significant relation was found between Independence as a component of EQ and ‎EFL learners’ ILP competence. The independent samples t-test outcomes indicated ‎that female participants had a higher level of (ILP) competence than male participants; however, male and female participants did not differ significantly regarding their EQ level. The findings indicate that ‎EQ, in general, is not influential in EFL learners’ ILP competence. The paper concludes by providing pedagogical implications for EFL learners and instructors.

This study endeavored to discuss certain aspects of Emotional Intelligence (EI) that are related to foreign language (FL) teaching and learning in two different contexts (Iraq and the Czech Republic). It outlined the areas that could be important for FL teachers and may be useful in FL learning. The countries of Iraq and the Czech Republic are culturally different, but in both of them, English is considered as the foreign language. This cross-cultural study attempted to unravel the current status and extent of the presence of EI in English as foreign language university classes of these two countries. Two samples, each including 20 EFL university teachers, were chosen as the participants. The participants responded to a close-ended questionnaire and participated in an interview. Textual data were content analyzed manually, and frequency and percentage were also reported. The findings revealed that there were dissimilarities in how EI was applied in the two geographical contexts. While the majority of Iraqi teachers considered EI an important element of online teaching and class management, the majority of Czech teachers did not regard it as important and necessary for effective learning and teaching. In addition, both samples agreed that teachers and students face more challenges in online EFL classes compared to traditional face-to-face classes. Moreover, many teachers from both groups, notably from the Iraqi sample, reported to be using a variety of EI tactics in their classes, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

With the rise of positive psychology (PP) and its emphasis on the affordances of positive emotions to second/foreign language teaching and learning, numerous studies have been conducted on different PP constructs all over the world. Nonetheless, the status of researching this school of psychology in L2 education is still imprecise. To fill this gap, the present state-of-the-art paper intends to flesh out the conceptualizations, premises, versatilities, emerging theories and methods, and research trends in PP and second language acquisition (SLA). Moreover, it elaborates on the seven PP factors, including optimism, immediacy, connectedness, commitment, academic buoyancy, immunity, and mindfulness. Such sample variables have also been supported by scientific evidence from different contexts. Additionally, some potential implications are drawn for stakeholders to enlighten the process and quality of L2 education. Finally, the study suggests some avenues for future studies to expand the scope of PP and SLA research and practice.