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Over the last decade, Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL) has led to an authentic and contextual language learning process across the globe (Kukulska-Hulme, 2009). It has played a pivotal role in language learning in general and vocabulary learning in particular as a building block of academic writing. The current study examined the effect of a mobile application (i.e. AWL builder) on academic vocabulary learning among sophomore university students in applied linguistics. The study also focused on measuring students' perceptions and problems in utilizing mobile-assisted applications in acquiring English academic vocabulary. Accordingly, using convenience sampling procedures the participants were divided into experimental (N =36) and control (N = 36) groups. The experimental group used a mobile application (i.e. AWL builder), while the control group used a traditional approach. Furthermore, to answer research questions academic vocabulary pre-and post-tests and a questionnaire were employed. The findings show that the AWL group showed prominent performance in academic vocabulary tests. The current study concludes that instructors should take into account mobile devices as useful supplementary tools to enhance L2 academic word retention and include them in regular language curriculum.

Prior to Covid-19 pandemic, online education was given little importance in the educational system of different countries, including Iran and Turkey. Actually, previously there was no need for online education. However, in pandemic situation the need for online classes and its significance in language learning became more ubiquitous. Thus, in view of the paucity of research on perceptions toward the efficacy of virtual learning, particularly the sheer dearth of comparative work on the issue, the researchers in the current study intended to investigate the practicality of commonly used online platforms in Iran and Turkey, i.e. Adobe Connect and Zoom. To this end, a total of 10 EFL professors (5 Iranian and 5 Turkish) participated in the interview session to deeply investigate their attitudes on the platforms of Zoom and Adobe Connect as regards issues related to materials and resources, instruction, and assessment. As the results of the interview showed, both Turkish and Iranian university professors had similar ideas towards the online platforms and they listed some merits such as easy access, attractiveness, and applicability for teaching and learning in Covid-19. Also, the demerits were low interaction and communication, being demotivating for non-disciplined learners, and so on. In general, based on the participants’ points of view, both online platforms were useful in terms of materials and resources as well as instruction; however, they had less control on cheating of tests, in terms of assessment. Different parties such as teachers, syllabus designers and materials developers will benefit from the outcomes study.

Learners’ self-efficacy (SE) is one of the vital driving forces for academic learning in general and English language learning in specific. Furthermore, learners’ SE can influence their self-regulated language learning (SRLL) strategy use both positively and negatively. This study, which adapted the post-positivist perspective for the research design, aims at finding out EFL students’ SE in English language skills, SRLL strategy use, and their relationship between the two mentioned variables. A cohort of 240 EFL students from a Vietnam-based high school partook in responding to the closed-ended questionnaire. The software SPSS was employed to process the gleaned data from questionnaires in terms of descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. The findings were that high school EFL students’ SE in English language skills positively influenced their SRLL strategy use. They had a high level of SE in English language skills, resulting in the high frequency of SRLL strategy use. Pedagogical implications in relation to students’ SE in English language skills and SRLL strategy use are suggested in an attempt to leverage the quality of English language teaching and learning in the research context and other similar EFL ones.

Due to the advancement of multimedia technology, it is now very common to use tools and equipment for teaching and learning. Understanding how to best utilize the benefits and functions of multimedia technology has now taken the lead in English teaching and learning. The positive contributions that multimedia technology makes to the teaching and learning of English listening, speaking, reading, and writing are highlighted in this essay. It also focuses on strategies and methods to enhance English comprehensive ability in a multimedia environment and highlights issues that need to be addressed. It is advised to focus more on the natural integration of multimedia technology and English teaching, expand the range of English reading, increase interest in English learning, enhance the comprehensive ability of English application, and establish a resource-sharing environment for teachers.

Alienation is a significant phenomenon that forms the subject of many psychological, sociological, literary, philosophical, and even physiological studies. Alienation is among the most critical justifications bringing about the internal and external pains and sufferings in life. Emerging as a result of war, persecution, famine, and ruin, alienation terminates unfortunately in suffering, isolation, and sometimes critical disasters. In literature, the alienated protagonist is usually a frequent figure in much of the ancient and contemporary fiction. The main issue of alienation refers to a destructive consequence of getting, or feeling of getting separated from people that one is living with them. It refers to become useless, or to feel becoming useless in the field of social relations and interactions. It is the outcome of becoming alienated, so that one thinks that no longer anyone needs him / her, and / or his / her services. Aiming to review the theme of alienation, and focusing on Melvin Seaman’s concepts of alienation in general, the present paper, in particular, will review the manifestation of the term alienation in “The Child in Time,” and “The Comfort of Strangers,” that are both the well-known novels written by Ian Russell McEwan, one of the greatest British novelists and screenwriters of the twentieth century. By describing the disastrous aftermath of the alienation, this article tries to alarm the man regarding the catastrophic and destructive consequences of the alienation in the life of the existing societies.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of task type (i.e., sentence fill-in/sentence writing) and word type (i.e., real/ pseudo) on initial learning and retention of 10 word meanings, taking the predictions of Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) and Technique Feature Analysis (TFA) into account. Participants were 59 intermediate-level EFL learners from eight intact classes. Each intact class was randomly assigned to one of the four learning conditions: 1) sentence fill-in with real words, 2) sentence writing with real words, 3) sentence fill-in with pseudowords, and 4) sentence writing with pseudowords. Initial learning was measured by administering a meaning recall test immediately after the tasks and medium-term retention was measured by administering the same test with rearranged items one week after the tasks phase. The results of a mixed between-within subjects ANOVA did not show any significant interaction effect between test time and learning condition. Furthermore, the main effect for learning condition was not statistically significant but there was a significant main effect for test time, suggesting that participants’ scores dropped significantly from the immediate posttest to the delayed posttest. The findings of two independent-samples t-tests failed to show any significant difference between the immediate and delayed posttest scores of the participants who received either sentence fill-in or sentence writing tasks. However, some tentative findings demonstrated that those participants who were assigned to the sentence writing task achieved higher scores on the posttests. This finding indicates that TFA has probably more predictive power than ILH and it also provides some evidence in favor of the heavier weight of the evaluation component of the ILH when compared to its search component.

The present study was conducted to investigate the comparative impacts of three types of EFL teachers' mindsets on EFL learners' mindsets. The participants of the study were English Translation undergraduate students (both female and male with the age ranging of 18-35) who were selected according to convenience non-random sampling from three classes of English Grammar 1 at both Islamic Azad Universities of Karaj and Shahriyar. The total number of students in each class was 30. The course lasted 16 successive sessions. Participants were assigned into three experimental groups. At the outset, a Mindset Assessment Profile (MAP) adopted from Mindset works, INC (2002-2012) on a scale of disagree a lot to agree a lot was administered among participants in all three experimental groups. The researchers provided interventions in terms of fixed, growth, and mixed mindsets to teach English grammar. At the end of the course, the same Mindset Assessment Profile (MAP) as the one administered in the pretest phase was administered among participants in all three groups and it was demonstrated that the EFL teacher’s type of mindset can significantly influence EFL learners’ mindsets. Consequently, it was determined that helping students adopt growth mindset hinges on raising teachers’ awareness about the importance of their own mindsets as well as helping them to grow their mindsets. This study includes a variety of instructional implications for both EFL teachers and EFL learners.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to explore pre-service EFL teachers’ conceptions and self-efficacy for effective online teaching and (b) to determine their instructors’ conceptions of online teaching effectiveness and their approaches to preparing them for effective online teaching. The participants were 100 MA students of TEFL and 6 teacher educators at Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST). The data collection instrument was a questionnaire with 40 principles of effective online teaching classified into 7 categories of facilitating learning, interaction, deep learning, relationship, resources, engagement, and organization followed by two open-ended questions. A semi-structured interview was also conducted to examine teacher educators’ conceptions of online teaching effectiveness. The results revealed that pre-service teachers considered themselves more self-efficacious in fostering relationship while less in maintaining organization in online English language classes. To be an effective online teacher, they also held the view that teachers need to establish a friendly atmosphere and relationship, provide useful materials, have adequate technological knowledge, give prompt feedback, and engage learners in their learning process. For teacher educators, effective online teaching was having adequate technological knowledge, providing appropriate content, establishing an online presence, successful classroom management, and having positive perceptions of online teaching.

One strategy that eases the process of teaching argumentative writing might be teaching them how to express their thoughts, beliefs, and in general, ideologies in academic essays. This study aimed to investigate the effect of teaching writing skills on ideology transfer in the academic writings of EFL students. To this end, a sequential mixed-methods design was used. Participants were 80 male and female IELTS candidates who were selected based on some criteria such as proficiency level, age, and educational background. A sample Mock Writing Task 2 and a sample IELTS Writing Task 2 were used as instruments in the pre-test and post-test respectively. Learners’ essays produced during these stages were analyzed based on Fairclough’s (2001) three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis: description, interpretation, and explanation. To analyze the data, content analysis methods were applied during which discursive strategies used by the candidates were identified and coded, and the frequency and percentage of them were calculated. After the analysis, the following themes were extracted in the participants’ writings, as representing ideology transfer: tendency towards representation of identity, use of active voices, use of first-person pronouns, social views, author visibility, ideology-laden concepts, and idea development. Moreover, there were significant changes in the post-test writings of the participants in terms of the number of discursive strategies used to express ideology. This shows that teaching writing skills can significantly affect EFL learners’ ability to transfer their ideology into academic writing. The findings can have some implications for EFL learners, teachers, and curriculum planners.

Reflective practice and noticing can be regarded as two essential concerns for novice teachers’ survival and development in their first practices. Therefore, this study was an attempt to explore how reflective practices activate novice English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ noticing. To that end, we conducted an instrumental case study to explore the role of reflective practice among Iranian novice EFL teachers in activating their noticing. An inductive-deductive thematic analysis of the data collected through teachers’ portfolios and semi-structured interviews indicated that novice teachers’ noticing could be activated and sharpened through teachers’ personal, cognitive, and professional developments addressed by reflective practice. Furthermore, the findings showed that there are relationships among novice teachers’ personal, cognitive, and professional developments and the components of teacher noticing, including framing, perceptual activities and exploration, and interaction, leading to sharpening novice EFL teachers’ noticing. Hence, it can be concluded reflective practice can activate novice EFL teachers' noticing, impacting their professional development through framing, interaction, perceptual activities, and exploration. The study has implications for EFL teacher education programs, where teacher educators can help teachers develop critical reflection skills to address problems in their classrooms.