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This study aimed at designing a problem-based model of writing development for Iranian EFL learners. To this end, a qualitative content analysis method was used. The participants included EFL teachers (N=10) and learners (N=15) with teaching and learning experience in writing courses at different language institutes of Iran. They were selected through purposive sampling. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview was used. More particularly, initially, the respondents in this study were interviewed to find out what their views about PBL is. The researchers began the qualitative data collection procedure and continued until data was saturated. The semi-structured questions administered to the respondents dealt with various aspects of PBL including: searching for answers, collaborative learning, cognitive thinking, learner-centered learning, diminished rule of the teacher, feedback dynamics in PBL, synthesis of data, and application of findings. By using the views of participants with regards to PBL, a new PBL model for the writing skill were designed. The findings can have implications for EFL teachers, learners, and curriculum planners.

Simultaneous decoding and encoding of information substantiate the foundations of natural processing of language in translation. The present study analyzed two Persian translators’ pragmatic strategies in translating the Quranic temporal discourse marker thumma into Persian. The source text corpus consisted of 6 sections of the holy Quran and was selected randomly; and the target text corpus is comprised of two Persian translations of the same sections. Theoretical perspectives in discourse and translation studies were applied in approaching parallel corpora analysis in the study. The findings indicate that different types and combinations of Persian temporal discourse markers were applied in 53% of the cases by the translators. Moreover, in 47% of the instances, it was replaced with Persian elaborative, contrastive, and inferential discourse markers. This creative, flexible, and innovative discourse construction approach was substantiated on the basis of the recognition of differences between discourses, cultures, and languages. Consequently, this dynamic approach was employed in the construction of an appropriate discourse for the addressee. The bases, resources, and foundations of these dynamic and discourse sensitive translation strategies were discussed pragmatic awareness raising in explicit teaching of these elements, development of sensitivity to unsteady social contexts in language use, and utilizing the findings in lexicography, translation quality assessment, and syllabus design were suggested.    

Foreign language vocabulary learning is challenging and requires using an appropriate method. To this end, this study aimed to investigate the effect of listening and viewing BBC News lessons as a teaching and learning tool on high school EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. This quasi-experimental research was carried out in the twelfth grade of Shohada high school in Kalybar city in East-Azarbijan, Iran. Forty two high school EFL learners were chosen as participants from two intact classes. The homogeneity of the classes was checked through a KET test. Then, they were randomly assigned into the experimental (n=19) and control (n=23) groups. Target words were selected from the eight BBC News lessons for both groups. The unfamiliarity of these words to the learners was found through the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale. The experimental group experienced vocabulary learning through watching and listening to the BBC News lessons; while, the control group received the same target words through the traditional method. A vocabulary-based post-test was administrated after the treatment. The result of Independent-Samples t-test on the post-test scores of both groups revealed the significant outperformance of the experimental group compared to the control group. Practical implications are presented to teachers, researchers, and learners.

AbstractThe resilience of teachers has arisen as a crucial issue in developing exceptional teaching and learning experiences. It is imperative to foster resilience, which entails the capacity to endure and overcome obstacles and challenges encountered during the teaching process. Additionally, research has demonstrated that the self-efficacy of instructors is pivotal in this regard. To investigate these features, this research aimed to inspect the role of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) teachers' resilience and self-efficacy. To this end, a total of 60 IELTS teachers were chosen from Oxford Language Center, Tehran, Iran thanks to the convenient sampling and they completed a self-efficacy scale, and a resilience scale and were assigned to experimental and control groups that the former were trained through self-efficacy workshop training course in Oxford IELTS center in Tehran, Iran. The findings of this study through running an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) indicated a constructive effect of self-efficacy on IELTS teachers' resilience after the workshop training course (F (1,57) = 60.00, p = .000 < .01, partial eta squared = .513, representing a large effect size). Correspondingly, it was revealed through Pearson Product-Moment Correlation that there is a positive and significant correlation between IELTS teachers’ self-efficacy and resilience (r = .462, p = .01 < .05). This study helps IELTS teachers improve their resilience. In line with these findings, some implications were presented to language stakeholders to consider the role of teacher self-efficacy.

Reading education and reading affective factors significantly affect school-age students’ academic achievement. Nevertheless, most teachers disregard scientific strategy-based reading instructions and scholars have recently regarded L2 reading affective factors, namely reading motivation and anxiety. Moreover, technology-aided EFL reading courses for primary schoolers have been neglected. Accordingly, the current study aimed to implement seven L2 reading strategies suggested by Yapp et al. (2021a), and evaluate the effect of these strategies on English reading comprehension, motivation, and anxiety at virtual environment by using online team-teaching. The EFL fifth graders and pre-service teachers of the study were selected via volunteer sampling. The students (n = 28) were randomly assigned to two groups (n = 14 for each group) and the teachers (n = 4) were randomly assigned to two groups (n = 2 for each group) as well. One group was given Traditional Instruction (TI) and taught by two instructors whereas the other group received Strategy-Based Instruction (SBI) and was taught by the other two instructors. To assess L2 reading motivation and anxiety, the questionnaires by Dhanapala (2008) and Saito et al. (1999) were administered. The within- and between-group analyses using paired-sample t-tests and ANCOVAs indicated that although both groups’ reading comprehension, motivation, and anxiety were enhanced, the SBI participants outperformed the TI participants. Moreover, the interview with the SBI group demonstrated their positive attitudes toward the SBI course. The current study would encourage EFL teachers to base reading instruction upon reading strategies when teaching young EFL learners.

Mastery of English phrasal verbs is regarded as a stumbling block for English language learners, even at advanced levels. Possible sources of difficulty can be a lack of clear meaning and the random nature of particles. The lack of an organized approach to present phrasal verbs to the learners might be a factor that could exacerbate the situation of learning them. This study takes this issue as its point of departure. It investigates whether employing radial categories, conceptual categories with one prototypical concept and some peripheral members that are organized around it, is influential in the learning and long-term retention of these verbs. Moreover, the effect of employing radial categories to teach PVs on learners' cognitive load is investigated. For this purpose, 60 intermediate high school students in 10th and 11th grade were assigned to two groups, one experimental and one control group, each containing 30 students. The study results indicated that the experimental group learners who were taught phrasal verbs using radial categories outperformed control group learners who were taught using a traditional approach. This result suggests that radial categories may help facilitate learning phrasal verbs.

This quantitative study examined the relationship between EFL learners’ choice of vocabulary learning strategies (CVLS), reading strategies (RS), and reading anxiety (RA). To this end, 123 Iranian EFL learners (81 female; 42 male) within the age range of 24 to 39 were selected by employing convenience sampling. The data collection instruments were the Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (Saito et al., 1999), the Survey of Reading Strategies (Mokhtari & Sheorey, 2002), and the Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire (Schmitt, 1997). Subsequent to checking and verifying the pertinent assumptions, using Pearson’s correlation coefficient indicated that there was a significant and negative correlation between CVLS and RA and a significant and positive correlation between CVLS and RS; in addition, a significant and negative correlation between RS and RA was observed. Furthermore, the results of multiple regression analysis and comparing the β values revealed that RS makes the strongest statistically significant unique contribution to suppressing reading anxiety, and CVLS turned out to be the second significant preventer of RA. In general, the obtained results confirmed that both RS and CVLS can significantly prevent EFL learners’ RA; therefore, it is fairly reasonable to consider RS and CVLS while planning the pedagogical practice.    

Linguistic and semantic differences are some of the main problems of translating the Holy Qur’an into English. The present study highlights the problem of lexical gap and examines a number of terms- totally 117 in 110 verses- of the Holy Qur’an, including the referential meaning of ‘sin’ and their English translations. The researcher aimed to find the strategies applied by three translators and three machine translation systems (MSTs) and to compare them.  In this regard, five frequent and common terms – ‘اثم’, ‘جناح’, ‘سیئه’, ‘ذنب’, and ‘وزر’-were selected. The strategies proposed by Mollanazar (2009) were employed to fill the gap.  To do so, the English translations produced by three machine translation systems (MTSs), namely Google Translate, SDL Free Translation and Systranet were compared with three human translation by M.H. Shakir, A.Qaraei and T.B.Irving. The results revealed that in most verses, almost in six English translations, a generic term was used without any additional information to make the sense clearer. There was no noticeable difference between human and machine translations in applying the proposed strategies to fill the gap and make the English version more meaningful in terms of these apparently similar but contextually different terms. Thus, it seems that these differences were not focused on, while rendering these given verses to English. 

The design, implementation and outcomes of curriculums must be ongoingly evaluated. Using quantitative gap analysis, this study evaluated Iranian EFL teachers’ satisfaction with their pre-service education in developing their assessment literacy in reference to the perceived importance of knowledge and skills areas of classroom language assessment.  To this end, the study included 100 EFL teachers who graduated from state universities in Iran with at least a Bachelor’s degree and three to five years of teaching experience at public schools. Data were collected using a 44-item researcher-made semantic differential Likert scale. It involved two parts tapping into their perceptions of importance and the level of their pre-service preparation. Descriptive analysis and inferential statistics revealed that the teachers rated all the areas almost highly (M ≥ 4.67 out of 6). The participants attached the highest importance to the areas of "assessing different language skills and sub-skills". In contrast, the areas relating to "interpreting students’ test performance” and “making the appropriate decision about the students’ test results and test washback" were perceived to be the least significant in classroom assessment. The gap analysis also indicated that there was a significant difference between the teachers’ perception of the importance of assessment knowledge and skills areas and their level of pre-service education, construed as their under-preparedness for classroom assessment. Further, the gaps were perceived to be sharper in assessment skills areas.  The study discusses the implications of the findings in the context of teacher education and classroom assessment in Iran.