محمدجواد رضایی

The present study compares the motivation of Burundi junior high school students from urban and rural settings to learn L2 French and L3 English, mainly focusing on Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self System. A total of 348 (grade 7 through 9) pupils participated in the present study which used a 40-item questionnaire to collect the data. The results indicated that the students from both learning contexts have distinct motivational dispositions for learning both French and English. French is more popular among rural school learners while English enjoys more popularity among urban school students. Moreover, region-specific differences were found in the participants with learners from rural schools exhibiting more positive motivation to learn both languages than their urban counterparts. The results also revealed that, independent of the region, L2 learning experience and ideal L2 self were the two variables that respectively predicted most the students’ intended effort to learn each target language. One region and language-related difference was that the variable of international posture emerged as a significant contributor to the students’ intended language learning effort only among urban school learners uniquely in relation to their English learning. In the light of the results of this study, pedagogical implications are provided.

In spite of the longitudinal attempts of the educational authorities, English has failed to have a proper position in the ELT educational system in Iran, resulting in the weak performance of Iranian EFL learners. As a result, this study was carried out to integrate sociocultural theory, multimodality theory, multiple intelligence theory, and social identity theory to develop a comprehensive conceptual model for understanding and overcoming ELT curriculum challenges. A transformative sequential mixed research design was adopted to explore the challenges, perceptions, and provision of the model. First of all, a total of 49 articles were selected from well-established journals to map the related challenges. The review and comparison processes were conducted based on Tricco et al.’s (2018) PRISMA_SCR model (thematic analysis). The extracted categories of challenges were explored in relation to the principles of the four mentioned theories, and nine categories were selected to align with the principles of the mentioned theories. Then, 403 participants from three categories of stakeholders (pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and scholars) were chosen, and their perceptions were assessed through the administration of a researcher-developed Likert-scale questionnaire. Moreover, some interview questions were drawn up to guide the qualitative phase, and an observation checklist was developed to assist in monitoring ELT classroom practices (to confirm the extracted challenges and assure the validity of the questionnaire). The results, obtained through SPSS and SEM statistical platforms, revealed that all three groups of participants considered authenticity, lack of communicative skill, deficiency in teacher training programs, and malfunctioning assessment methods as the most important challenges. This study has highlighted the effect of the application of the principles of sociocultural and social identity theories in developing an optimal learning environment that is socially and culturally responsive. Moreover, the principles of multimodality theory have emphasized the positive effect of the application of different instructional resources in promoting engagement and development among EFL learners. On the other hand, the principles of multiple intelligence theory call for differentiated instruction and assessment to address various cognitive and emotional capacities of learners. By integrating sociocultural, social identity, multiple intelligence, and multimodality theories, this study has provided a holistic framework for reforming the most significant ELT curriculum challenges.

Coalescing digital technologies into education has foregrounded gamified formative assessment (GFA) as a promising modality for advancing second language acquisition (SLA). The current study explored the effects of GFA on the writing proficiency of Iranian EFL learners, focusing on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Employing a quasi-experimental design, intermediate and advanced learners were assigned to either gamified or traditional paper-based formative assessment conditions. Writing CAF performance was evaluated by estimating the mean of macro-constructs of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Writing performance was analyzed using established CAF measures for complexity, accuracy, and fluency, based on widely recognized frameworks. To assess group and proficiency-level effects, key statistical tests, i.e., Friedman, mixed-design ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank, independent samples t-test, and Mann-Whitney U , were applied. The findings disclosed that GFA enhances writing proficiency, with the most substantial gains observed in complexity and fluency. Accuracy improvements, though evident, were more modest and varied by proficiency level: advanced learners improved more in complexity and fluency, whereas intermediate learners showed greater gains in accuracy. These results accentuate GFA’s pedagogical efficacy in fostering engagement, reducing cognitive load, and promoting self-regulated learning in writing instruction, offering crucial insights for language educators, curriculum designers, and digital assessment developers who aim to incorporate innovative, learner-centered assessment strategies.

SUBJECT & OBJECTIVES: With the development of technology, it is expected that artificial intelligence will be able to analyze models of emotional relationships, such as love, and respond to users’ requests to create a personalized intelligent beloved with a physical body; a phenomenon named in this study as Intelligent Artificial Beloved (IAB). It can be designed and used as a dedicated companion aligned with the characteristics of the human user. The research's main question is: what philosophical and ethical consequences will the development of IAB entail? METHOD & FINDING: The research benefited from a descriptive-analytical method. Notably, this phenomenon has positive and negative consequences. The advantages of IAB include the ability of a personalized intelligent beloved to adapt to an individual’s variable and fluid requests, and expanding the boundaries of realizing ‘human desires’, i.e., the ability to create features in the artificial beloved that cannot occur or be externally realized in natural humans. The following items might be considered as challenges of IAB: 1. Weakening genuine romantic relationships among ‘natural human individuals’ 2. Immersion in an ‘intelligent artificial life’ and weakening the ‘natural lifestyle’ 3. The guidance and management of the ‘wants and lives of romantic users’ by the AI 4. Developing a competitive space between natural and artificial lovers or beloveds. CONCLUSION: Although IAB has advantages, neglecting its philosophical and ethical consequences can overshadow these benefits and cause individual and social harm. Proper cultural awareness and macro-level policymaking can be useful in responsibly managing this phenomenon.