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Teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and identities are regarded as the key elements in boosting their effectiveness in improving their learners’ performance. Professional identity as a quality of a teacher can be evolved in a constant and continuous process. It is usually shaped in educational and social contexts. Among the teacher characteristics which influence teachers’ performance, professional identity and self-efficacy are considered to be vital characteristics. The current study was set to explore the association between Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ professional identity and self-efficacy. Therefore, in order to gather the data required for the aims of this research, 92 English language teachers were chosen as the participants of this research study. Two questionnaires were utilized to gather the data. The data collected was analyzed via Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The results revealed a positive bond between Iranian EFL teachers’ professional identity and self-efficacy. The findings of this study can be of help for teacher educators and English language teachers.

The rapidly growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to fundamentally transform the realm of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction. This research studied this emerging trend through a qualitative research synthesis of 24 peer-reviewed articles published between 2021 and 2024. It examined them to highlight the diverse applications, challenges, and teaching practices associated with AI in EFL education. Methodological rigor was ensured through established inclusion and exclusion criteria for selecting the articles. The qualitative synthesis and thematic analysis revealed five prominent themes that illuminate the current landscape of AI in EFL instruction: 1) conceptualizations of AI within EFL settings; 2) factors influencing its adoption; 3) challenges faced when integrating AI into EFL settings; 4) limitations of AI-based tools and methods; and 5) potential avenues for future investigation. Although integrating AI into EFL pedagogy is still in its early stages and presents various challenges, the findings provide valuable insights and practical recommendations for effectively using AI in EFL education, enhancing teaching methods, and improving student learning outcomes. Educators can make informed decisions regarding its implementation while navigating the evolving EFL instruction landscape by cultivating an understanding of AI's potential benefits and inherent limitations.

The present study assessed test-taking strategies awareness, test anxiety, and test performance relationships among Iranian ESP students. The sample was comprised of 60 students majoring in Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering who were enrolled in an ESP course. All participants completed the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) as a requirement for ensuring homogeneity regarding language ability. Participants also completed Barati's (2005) test-taking strategies questionnaire and a standard test anxiety scale, and test performance was assessed by ESP course examinations. Pearson correlation analysis produced three general findings: First, there was significant positive correlation between test-taking strategies awareness and test performance, such that students with higher strategy awareness had better test scores. Second, test anxiety was significantly and negatively correlated with test performance. Third, an inverse correlation existed between test-taking strategies awareness and test anxiety, suggesting that students employing more strategies experienced less anxiety. These findings highlight the interdependent functioning of strategy awareness and anxiety control in performance. The results suggest that ESP instruction needs to integrate training in the use of test-taking strategies and anxiety reduction in order to assist students most effectively. The study contributes to our understanding of factors influencing language test performance in ESP settings.

Human beings employ different forms of linguistic politeness to ease communication and reduce the likelihood of conflict. With the rise of technology and social media platforms such as Email, Telegram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, the concept of politeness has faced new challenges. The present study focused on Instagram comments and analyzed politeness strategies based on Leech’s grand strategy of politeness. The study examined a 20043-word corpus developed based on 696 posts across various topics on Instagram. The results revealed that Instagram users predominantly utilized negative politeness strategies (63.3%). Among the positive strategies, agreement constraints were the most frequently employed (32.7%), while tact constraint violations (32.1%) were the most common within negative strategies. The study utilized repeated measures of ANOVA and Tukey post hoc analysis via SPSS to examine differences among various constraints and their violations. Significant differences were found among most constraints, except for tact and modesty, generosity, and feeling reticence. In terms of constraint violations, no significant differences were observed between approbation and obligation of the speaker to others constraint violation, between agreement constraint violation and generosity constraint violation, between agreement and obligation of others to a speaker constraint violation, between agreement constraint violation and opinion reticence constraint violation, between sympathy and modesty constraint violation, between sympathy and feeling reticence constraint violation. The findings underscore the importance of analyzing language in specific media, providing insights into politeness and impoliteness in a specific medium. The results can enhance students' pragmatic skills and improve their online communication, prompting materials developers to consider such pragmatic dimensions.

Given the cognitive demands of consecutive interpreting and the psychological pressures faced by novice interpreters, the present quantitative study aims to identify the most frequently occurring disfluencies in the output of English-Persian interpreter trainees and to explore how interpreting anxiety influences different types of disfluencies. A total of 23 translation trainee students were selected based on convenience sampling. Data were gathered through the Interpreting Classroom Anxiety Scale and a CI exam. After classifying the disfluencies =, it was revealed that hesitation, silent pauses, and prolongation are the predominant disfluency features. These types of disfluencies indicate cognitive overload and failures in language planning. Statistical analyses showed a significant correlation between high levels of anxiety and an increased frequency of these disfluencies; however, no meaningful relationship was found between interpreting anxiety and disfluency in general. This suggests that anxiety adversely affects fluency and overall interpreting performance. This study highlights the critical role of psychological factors, particularly anxiety, in interpreter performance and training. The findings call for the inclusion of anxiety-reduction techniques in interpreter education and suggest future research on experience-based disfluency patterns and Persian-specific disfluency classification.

This study aimed to investigate the foreign language learning needs of undergraduate engineering students enrolled in the faculties of architecture and electrical in Iran. A total of 133 undergraduate students aged between 20-25 years, along with 30 subject-specific instructors from Azad and State universities of Yazd, Iran, participated in the study. The study was conducted using a qualitative-quantitative survey design, which involved questionnaires and interviews. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with 20 subject-specific instructors and ten undergraduate students in their eighth semesters. The analysis of qualitative and statistical data revealed that most students needed to master the English language before they attended their specialized courses. Over one-third of the students expressed dissatisfaction with the teaching methodology, evaluation methods, amount of foreign culture taught in class, and content of the textbook. The subject-specific instructors also expressed dissatisfaction with their students’ language skills. It can be concluded that in Iran, the English for Specific Purpose (ESP) course does not fully prepare the students to embark on their studies, as it does not sufficiently take into account their learning needs, present level of foreign language proficiency, objectives of the course, resources available in terms of staff, materials, equipment, finances, and time constraint, as well as the skill of the teachers and the teacher’s knowledge of the specific area.

The importance of teachers in promoting reading comprehension skills among learners is crucial in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. This study aims to explore how teachers utilize social, discursive, and textual methods to enhance the development of reading comprehension skills in EFL learners. A total of 160 translation-majoring learners enrolled in a Reading Comprehension Course at Applied Scientific University (Rad) in Tehran were purposefully selected and divided into three experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups received instruction based on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which included social, discursive, and textual strategies to enhance their reading comprehension skills in the EFL classroom. To evaluate the effectiveness of the CDA-based instruction, pre- and post-tests on reading comprehension were conducted using a quasi-experimental design. The data obtained from these tests were analyzed using a one-way analysis of covariance (one-way ANCOVA). The results showed a significant improvement in reading comprehension among learners who were exposed to the CDA-based treatments, highlighting its essential role in promoting critical interaction with texts and enhancing overall language proficiency, while no significant improvement was observed in the control group. Additionally, social practice was found to be more effective than discursive and textual practices; however, no significant differences were observed between discursive and textual practices. The findings have implications for EFL teachers, learners, and curriculum planners, which can ultimately help make reading comprehension easier in EFL contexts.

Extensive reading (ER) has been widely recognized for its impact on vocabulary acquisition, yet its role in shaping L2 learners’ affective learning experience remains underexplored. In the early 20th century, Palmer proposed ER (see Day & Bamford, 1998) to lead to enhanced reading abilities and motivate L2 learners to read. Although ER’s potential in language development has been widely studied, few empirical studies have examined this connection within the framework of L2MSS. Selecting Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self-system (henceforth, L2MSS) which links learners’ future self-concept to their motivation and learning behaviors as our theoretical framework, we measured offline ER’s influence on not only Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary development but also on their L2 learning experience. In so doing, we selected an experimental group (EG) ( N =32) and a control group (CG) ( N =28) from two university-level intact classrooms who were passing their General English course. The experimental group (EG, N=32) read three proficiency-matched graded readers over an 8-week period, while the control group (CG, N=28) used only the coursebook, Select Readings: Pre-Intermediate . The graded readers were selected in such a way to match learners’ current language proficiency as determined by an Oxford and Cambridge Quick Placement Test (OCQPT). Our participants’ baseline vocabulary knowledge was assessed using a teacher-made test, while their baseline L2 learning experience was measured through Li’s (2025) L2 Learning Experience Scale measuring six subcomponents: positive emotion, negative emotion, engagement, relationship, meaning, and accomplishment. The findings showed that both groups had little knowledge of the target words before the treatment. However, post-treatment results showed that the EG significantly outperformed the CG in vocabulary knowledge and reported greater gains across multiple L2 learning experience subscales. These findings have important implications for integrating extensive reading into general English curricula to foster both lexical growth and learner motivation.

Grounded in social learning theory, this study examined Iranian English language instructors’ and students’ perceptions of the contribution of Vadana-Mediated Learning Management Systems (VMLMS) as a remote education platform to online English language learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 54 university EFL instructors and 164 English language students were selected through convenience sampling from Islamic Azad Universities (IAU) in Gilan Province, Iran. To investigate their perceptions of VMLMS, one common questionnaire (for both instructors and students) and two separate questionnaires (one for instructors and one for students) were administered. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the common and instructor questionnaires. Descriptive analyses indicated that both groups held unfavorable perceptions of VMLMS. The results of the MANOVA revealed statistically significant differences between instructors’ and students’ perceptions of VMLMS. The analysis also showed that students agreed they did not receive sufficient support from either instructors or the system. These findings may have implications for universities and educational administrators seeking to facilitate the implementation of online instruction in the Iranian context.

Productive skills have a vital role in learning the English language as they provide foreign learners with opportunities to practice real-life activities in the classroom. The photo-based method for teaching language skills has been developed due to advances in visual technology, the shift to student-centered learning, and the demand for 21st-century skills. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effectiveness of utilizing Photovoice on Iranian intermediate learners’ English language productive skills. The research followed a quantitative quasi-experimental design that included pretest and post-test equivalent treatment and control groups. Sixty intermediate female language learners were chosen from a private institute in Isfahan, Iran. First, they were selected conveniently and then they were homogenized based on their performance on the Preliminary English Test. They were divided into two experimental ( n = 30) and control ( n = 30) groups. The experimental group received Photovoice as a methodological innovation, incorporating reflective and collaborative activities, while the control group received routine language instruction involving traditional teaching practices such as lectures, textbook exercises, and grammar drills. One pretest and one post-test were administered to assess the learners’ speaking and writing skills. Then, between-subjects MANOVA and t-tests were employed to analyze the data. The results revealed that Photovoice significantly helped students improve their speaking and writing skills. The present study might have useful implications for curriculum designers, language learners, teachers, and other researchers who are considering the use of Photovoice in language classes.

Technology-mediated learning experiences are becoming a norm for today’s language learning. In the technology-mediated society, the production and transformation of information is not restricted to published works, but to anyone with access to basic technology resources. This study was an endeavor to explore the ESP (English for Specific Purposes) learners' overall views of technology-mediated language learning. The research also focused on the overall idea of the participants about the challenges and opportunities of remote learning. To this end, the current mixed-methods study was used. The data-gathering tools included a related questionnaire and interview. By scrutinizing satisfaction levels, benefits, drawbacks, and skill preferences, the study sheds light on the nuanced dynamics of remote learning. Results of the study indicated a high satisfaction level among participants with remote education. The study further demonstrated a prior recognition of benefits over drawbacks. Notably, vocabulary and reading emerged as preferred skills for virtual learning. In summary, this study contributes to the understanding of ESP students' views in the context of remote learning, offering remote education that can be an educational strategy for the future.