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Predicting students’ performance in a course is one of the major aims of educational data mining systems. In the present study, two and three-layer artificial neural networks (ANN) and neuro-fuzzy systems (NFS) were used to predict Iranian EFL learners’ final scores and compare them with scores given by their instructor. Sixty-six students’ scores in an English reading comprehension course comprising of five sub-scores of midterm (out of 40), quiz (out of 60), final (out of 50), class participation (out of 5) and bonus (out of 2) were used for training the systems. Two and three-layer ANNs and an NFS were trained to predict students’ final scores using training data. Researchers compared the students’ final scores given by their instructor and those achieved through the ANNs and NFS. The results showed that the NFS could predict and deliver scores that were closer to the linear sum of students’ scores. Moreover, three-layer ANN had a better performance than the two-layer ANN. According to these results, data mining techniques could deliver an accurate estimate of students' abilities in a particular course.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines self-awareness competence as the ability to assess one's emotions, values, and skills realistically. Utilizing this definition as a theoretical framework, this qualitative study aimed to explore EFL teachers' perceptions and strategies regarding self-awareness competence in the classroom. To accomplish this goal, 19 EFL teachers from Iran were recruited through convenience sampling and took part in one semi-structured written interview and four focus group interviews to exchange their perspectives and strategies for developing their self-awareness competence. Adopting the routine analytical steps in grounded theory, i.e., open, axial, and selective coding, the study identified three key components for the participants’ self-awareness perceptions: knowing one’s emotions, having a growth mindset, and having a realistic sense of self-perception. The participants also outlined two primary categories of self-reflection strategies - practical and cognitive - to enhance their self-awareness competence. It was found that reflective practices were essential tools for cultivating the self-awareness competence of EFL teachers. Additionally, the study unveiled that EFL teachers' attitudes and strategies toward self-awareness competence were harmonious. Ultimately, the findings demonstrated promising prospects for future EFL teachers to enhance their personalized reflective strategies.

The current study primarily explored the link between EAP students’ L2 situational interest (SI) and academic reading transformative engagement (TE). Moreover, it explored SI and its subcomponents, triggered SI and maintained SI as predictors of TE. We also sought the role of different disciplines as moderators of the relationship between SI and TE. Finally, we investigated the big five personality traits as predictors of TE. The participants of this study were 160 undergraduate EAP students recruited through quota sampling. A quantitative research method with a correlational design was employed to conduct the study. Two questionnaires were adopted to measure academic reading TE and personality traits, and a questionnaire was adapted from math SI to English learning SI to assess the students’ L2 SI. The results revealed a significant and positive relationship between students’ L2 SI and their academic reading TE. SI significantly predicted TE, and between its subcomponents, only maintained SI strongly and significantly predicted TE. Neither the difference between the disciplinary groups in terms of students’ TE nor the interaction of the comparative disciplinary groups by SI was significant. The result indicated the agreeableness trait as the sole predictor of TE. Our findings have fruitful pedagogical implications discussed in the conclusion section.

A bulk of research has revealed that emotions play a crucial role in different aspects of second/foreign language (L2) education. However, the emotions that English as a foreign language (EFL) students experience during assessment have been neglected, so far. Against this backdrop, this qualitative study intended to unveil the typologies, antecedents, and outcomes of assessment-related emotions of 24 Iranian EFL undergraduate students studying applied linguistics. To this end, a semi-structured interview and a narrative frame were employed. The results of the thematic analysis demonstrated that undergraduate EFL students experienced different positive and negative emotions before, during, and after assessment practices at the university. Furthermore, it was found that “teacher”, “tasks”, and “textbook” were the most frequent causes of the participants’ perceived emotions in assessment. Concerning the outcomes of assessment-induced emotions, the results demonstrated that “burnout”, “frustration”, “demotivation”, “stress”, and “self-doubt” were the most frequent negative outcomes, while “motivation”, “learning”, “pride”, and “excitement” were repeatedly posited as positive outcomes. Finally, the study enumerates some implications for L2 educators and researchers concerning the role of emotions in assessment processes and practices.

Cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) have received much interest within the field of language testing over the last decade due to their great potential to provide diagnostic feedback to all stakeholders and ultimately improve language teaching and learning. A large number of studies have demonstrated the application of CDMs on advanced large-scale English proficiency exams, such as IELTS, TOEFL, MELAB, and ECPE. However, too little attention has been paid to the utility of CDMs on elementary and intermediate high-stakes English exams. The current study aims to diagnose the reading ability of test takers in the B1 Preliminary test, previously known as the Preliminary English Test (PET), using the generalized deterministic input, noisy, “and” gate (G-DINA; de la Torre, 2011) model. The G-DINA is a general and saturated model which allows attributes to combine in both compensatory and non-compensatory relationships and each item to select the best model. To achieve the purpose of the study, an initial Q-matrix based on the theory of reading comprehension and the consensus of content experts was constructed and validated. Item responses of 435 test takers to the reading comprehension section of the PET were analyzed using the “G-DINA” package in R. The results of attribute profiles suggested that lexico-grammatical knowledge is the most difficult attribute, and making an inference is the easiest one.

In the present study, we analyze the semantic fragmentation and conventionalization in Persian compound nouns ending in the verbal stems –andāz ‘throw’, -band ‘fasten/close,’ -foruš ‘sell’, -gir ‘catch’, -keš ‘pull’, -paz ‘cook’, -yāb ‘find’, and -zan ‘hit’ from the usage-based perspective. The analysis is based on a 800 data set extracted from diachronic and synchronic corpora. The words produced from the general compounding pattern [XV PRS]N can be categorized in a range of semantic categories, including agent, instrument, location, and object. In describing the semantic fragmentation of [XV PRS]N, we propose the human agent as the starting meaning, from which the instrument sub-pattern is derived by the mechanism of metaphorical extension. However, to justify the object and location meanings, we consider the metonymic extension mechanism to be involved. The sense extension mechanisms do not only apply to the individual words but can happen on the pattern level. It is also argued that these mechanisms are not mechanically applied to all the patterns ending in the verbal stems, instead, it is the usage and the communicative needs of the speakers that determine the semantic fragmentation of any patterns. To illustrate this point, as a case study, we focus on the development of instrument meaning in the pattern [X-paz PRS]N. We show that the instrument sub-pattern is a recent linguistic phenomenon that coincides with the introduction of modern cooking equipment with mostly English names to Iranian society. The increasing use of these types of equipment has led to a new communicative need for naming such instruments. This extra-linguistic factor has motivated the pattern [X-paz PRS]N to be extended through analogy with English compound instrument nouns. The findings of this study may contribute to the understanding of word-formation patterns in general and compounding patterns in particular.