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Regarding problems with traditional models of instruction, EFL learners need to exercise innovative models of learning. For this purpose, flipped classroom instruction may render an effective learning environment. The purpose of this study was to determine how flipped instruction may increase learners’ engagement. Therefore, 100 Iranian EFL intermediate students, selected based on convenience sampling, participated in this study. The students were then randomly assigned to the experimental (n=50) and control group (n=50). Those in the experimental group were instructed by a flipped classroom model for 10 sessions, while the control group participants were instructed on traditional methods. Before and after treatment, all the participants filled out the “Classroom Engagement Inventory” by Wang, Bergin, and Bergin (2014) which served as the pre and post-tests. A repeated measures ANCOVA was conducted to analyze the pre and post-tests of the experimental and control groups. The results indicated that the students' level of engagement in the experimental group increased in comparison to the performance of the students in the control group. Moreover, a semi-structured interview was conducted to find out students' perceptions of this model. Thematic analysis of the interview indicated that the students had positive perceptions of the model; believed that classroom and home activities remarkably increased their engagement; and preferred the role of the teacher in a flipped classroom than in a traditional one. It can be implicated that educators need to focus on the innovative methods of instruction by utilizing different technological tools.     

T his study attempts to examine the amounts, purposes, and reasons for using L1 by teachers as well as the amounts and purposes of its use by students in English as foreign language classrooms through investigating two pre-intermediate classes of an English language institute in Iran. Among students with an age range of 16-25 years, eight male and female students were in one class and 16 were in the other class (N = 24). Two native Persian teachers with master's degrees in Teaching English as a Foreign Language participated in this study: One was 40 years old with 14 years of experience and the other one was 32 years old with nine years of experience. Eight 90-minute sessions of each teacher’s class were audio-recorded. Following that, the two teachers were interviewed to report on the reasons for which they used their first language. The findings obtained from the classroom audio transcriptions were analyzed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches through the lens of Activity Theory. Moreover, the teachers’ interviews were thematically analyzed and the results of these analyses indicated that the teachers and their students resorted to the first language as an important cognitive and pedagogical tool on different occasions wherever needed during their teaching. The findings also revealed that teachers in this study maintained that using the students’ first language supports second/foreign language learning and teaching processes in the pre-intermediate levels.

Recent thrust of research has focused on non-conventional classrooms for teaching to EFL learners. Amongst the newly developed models, Unplugged Classroom Model (UCM) is the most debated one as textbooks are aside and the syllabus is based on conversation-driven activities. This study sought to determine the pros and cons of unplugged teaching for enhancing EFL learners' oral proficiency. From a pool of 317 intermediate and upper-intermediate Iranian EFL learners, 120 intermediate and upper-intermediate learners (60 each) were selected based on SPEAK NOW 1-4 Interview Placement Exam and were divided into conventional and non-conventional classrooms at each proficiency level. The participants in the non-conventional classrooms received unplugged instruction; whereas, their counterparts in the control group (conventional) classrooms were taught according to their textbook's instruction. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to measure learners' performances before and after instruction through paper-based exams and interviews. Participants' perspectives and viewpoints in the non-conventional classrooms were analyzed using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) questionnaire and the instructor's observations, respectively. The findings revealed that not only did the UCM participants enjoy collaborative learning but also enhanced their learning ability to produce more orally proficient utterances and to expand their gained knowledge in order to scaffold their classmates' conversation.

This study was an attempt to investigate the relationship among EFL learners’ language aptitude, anxiety, and willingness to communicate (WTC). Accordingly, two questionnaires and a battery were used: Language Aptitude Battery for Iranian Learners (LABI), Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), and WTC Scale. A total of 164 undergraduate students majoring in English literature and English translation of Islamic Azad University Central Tehran took part in this study, among whom 119 (52 males and 67 females) whose age ranged from 19 to 35 years responded to the three instruments completely and were thus considered as the actual participants. The researchers carried out a series of both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses and the results supported the notion that learners’ anxiety was negatively correlated with their WTC while learners’ language aptitude was positively correlated with their WTC. Hence, the major implication of this study is that by helping learners reduce their anxiety and enhance their aptitude, they can increase their WTC.

This study aimed to overcome the researchers' extreme attention to essentially qualitative methods in research on language learners' imagined communities and move towards quantification in order to achieve a more tangible image of this construct. To do so, the present researchers followed three main phases. First, a hypothesized model of language learners' imagined communities with eight components was developed for the Iranian context based on the wide-ranging readings of the literature on imagined communities, consultations with experts and interviews with language learners. Second, a questionnaire was developed and validated based on the model to represent its components. Finally, the data collected through the questionnaire were fed into the model to see to what extent the model fit the data. The initial results showed poor values; however, the model was trimmed by removing one item from the questionnaire, and final statistical indices showed that the model was fit.

This mixed-methods study aimed at investigating the effects of a gadget-based Internet multimedia extensive reading program on promoting language proficiency. In so doing, a pretest-posttest design was applied in the quantitative phase to comparatively analyze outcomes of three classes of college-level EFL learners (two experimental groups and one control, each including 30 university students) on how much they improved in their receptive proficiency, before and after the general English language course they were taking. The first group took the General English course along with a multimedia-based Internet extensive reading program as the study’s treatment, and the second group took a linear text (traditional) extensive reading program with their English course. The posttest scores showed that students in experimental group 1 (extensive reading using multimedia texts) outperformed both experimental group 2 (extensive reading using linear texts) and the control group. Furthermore, experimental group 2 had higher scores in comparison to the control group. As for the qualitative phase, results of the follow-up interviews and open-ended questionnaires also indicated that the learners liked, and would prefer to substitute traditional reading programs by gadget-based multimedia ones. EFL teachers may be most interested in outcomes of this study since insights may be gained regarding the extent to which Internet-based reading should enter language courses.