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Although pair work interaction gained substantial attention in recent decades, little is known about the best method to enhance its effectiveness. This study investigated the impact of peer modelling demonstration of collaborative writing tasks as a pedagogical intervention on Language-Related Episodes (LREs) and pair dynamics. Using a one-group pretest-posttest design with a delayed posttest, twenty intermediate learners were randomly paired up to complete three tasks (information-gap, story reconstruction, and jigsaw), which also involved a paragraph-level writing over a three-week period. Each session, the participants were required to work on one task while recording their voices. In the second session of the study, the pairs were provided with the peer modelling video to explore its contribution to their performances. The pairs' audio-recorded performances (about 15 hours) were carefully transcribed and later analyzed for a) the frequency, types, and resolution of LREs and b) pair dynamics. Results of Negative Binomial Regression revealed that peer modelling had a significant positive effect on pair performance, in a way that, after the provision of peer modelling, the pairs produced a significantly greater number of LREs and correctly resolved the majority of the conflicts. Additionally, analysis of McNemar's test revealed that the pairs demonstrated more collaborative pair dynamics subsequent to peer modelling. The findings are pedagogically important as they support peer modelling as a valuable pedagogical technique to be integrated into language learning classes to ensure L2 development and foster qualities of pair work.

Cette étude voudrait examiner l'impact des textes médiateurs sur la compréhension orale chez les apprenants du français langue étrangère. Deux groupes d'apprenants ont été comparés à travers une série d'exercices de compréhension orale. L'étude vise à évaluer l'effet des textes médiateurs sur l'optimisation de la charge cognitive et l'accès au contenu global. Cet article met l'accent sur le rôle crucial de la médiation cognitive en tant que stratégie clé pour renforcer la compréhension orale et facilite la réception du contenu du document entendu en orientant l'attention vers une compréhension plus approfondie. La cognition, impliquant la mémoire et l'attention, est au cœur de notre approche, en se servant des textes médiateurs préparant cognitivement à l'écoute. La méthodologie comprend une étude sur le terrain avec les groupes expérimental et témoin, et l’analyse de leurs performances. Les résultats révèlent une certaine amélioration chez le groupe expérimental, confirmant que les textes médiateurs optimisent la charge cognitive et facilitent l'accès au contenu. Nous pouvons constater que le nombre croissant de bonnes réponses lors des exercices d’écoute aussi bien que les réponses données au questionnaire illustrent ces améliorations, le tout affirme ainsi le succès des textes médiateurs comme outil de préparation cognitive.

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.

Extensive research has been conducted on the intersection of digital games and AI, exploring how it impacts the diverse variables of education, such as proficiency, vocabulary, and motivation. However, there is a lack of studies that have comprehensively assessed the combined impact of digital games and AI applications on enhancing six aspects of vocabulary. This study focused on finding the possible effect of using the combination of digital games and the Artificial Intelligence Chat GPT application technique (AIGames) on developing the 7th-grade EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition and their attitude toward such a technique. Based on an experimental and descriptive design, a quantitative approach was used. The participants were assigned to two groups randomly: the experimental group, which studied using this technique, and the control group, which was taught using the regular instruction method. The study used two instruments: a pre-posttest and an attitude scale (questionnaire). The findings revealed statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in vocabulary learning due to using the AIGames technique in favor of the experimental group. The post-test results (Table 2) revealed significant improvements across all six vocabulary aspects, with the largest gains in denotation (experimental group: M=7.82 vs. control: M=4.56) and spelling (M=7.59 vs. 5.38). Pronunciation showed the slightest improvement (M=5.41 vs. 3.69), suggesting that the AIGames technique was less effective for this aspect. The study also showed that most participants in the experimental group had a positive attitude towards using the new technique in learning vocabulary. Moreover, the study revealed no correlation between the experimental students’ achievement in vocabulary and their perception of using the AIGames technique.

Assessing language skills in an integrative form has drawn the attention of assessment experts in recent years. While some research data exists on integrative listening/reading-to-write assessment, there is comparatively little research literature on listening-to-speak integrated assessment. Also, little attention has been devoted to the role of individual attributes within the context of integrated assessment. The objective of the current research was to investigate the relationship between integrated listening/speaking assessment and individual characteristics of ambiguity tolerance (AT), use of cognitive/metacognitive strategies, and foreign language anxiety (FLA). Oxford Quick Placement Test was used to homogenize 60 EFL learners in terms of language proficiency (B2-C1). Additionally, integrated listening/speaking performances were collected using sample TOEFL-iBT tests. The transcribed spoken samples were evaluated by two raters using TOEFL-iBT rubrics in terms of overall description, delivery, language use, and topic development. Additionally, information on individual characteristics was gathered by means of 3 different questionnaires. Data analysis revealed that FLA had a negative relationship while AT and the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies had a positive correlation with integrated listening/speaking test performance. Individual differences have generally been neglected in the assessment literature, but this study revealed that performance on integrated listening/speaking tests can be affected by language-irrelevant constructs such as individual attributes in addition to test-takers’ language competence.

The ecological turn in translation studies subverts anthropocentric perspectives and redefines translation as a multispecies, semiotic process that transcends human language. Eco-translation, a central concept within this turn, extends the field of translation to include non-human actors and ecological networks, allowing for a more inclusive description of meaning-making. Yet this turn has also brought academics a sense of disorientation and solastalgia as scholars have to grapple with the tension between preserving traditional disciplinary boundaries and embracing the expansive horizons of transdisciplinary approaches. The current article traces the ecological turn using Doris Bachmann-Medick’s three-stage model of disciplinary turn: thematic expansion, metaphorical application, and methodological refinement. It maps the evolution of eco-translation from narrowly defined practices focused on ecological themes to a broader, inclusive framework that challenges the field’s traditional foundations. The article also examines the emotional and intellectual consequences of this turn, particularly the solastalgic experience of scholars experiencing the loss of familiar disciplinary contours while adapting to new paradigms.

The common belief regarding the lack of interaction in online education raises some concerns about students’ psychological well-being and the satisfaction of their needs. The relations between teaching and social presences as the two major factors accounting for social-contextual conditions in online education with students' basic psychological needs satisfaction, persistence, and motivation are mostly ignored in the context of teaching English in higher education in Iraq. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the interrelationships between the perception of social and teaching presences and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, persistence, intrinsic motivation, and negative emotions of Iraqi EFL learners in online courses. To this end, 200 intermediate Iraqi university students studying English at the English departments of several institutions of higher education were recruited to participate in the study. Then they were asked to complete self-report questionnaires on their perception of social and teaching presence, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, intention to persist, intrinsic motivation, and negative emotions. The link for questionnaires was shared among the participants via email. SEM analysis showed that the students’ perceptions of social and teaching presence had a positive relationship with their satisfaction of basic psychological needs, persistence, and intrinsic motivation. The results, however, showed that there was a negative relationship between the students’ perceptions of social and teaching presences and boredom, anxiety, and shame. The results imply that providing opportunities for students to interact effectively with their instructors and peers in online classes in a socially supportive environment can lead to positive outcomes. The implications for online teaching and learning are discussed, and suggestions for further research are proposed.

Despite the fact that impoliteness has been the focus of much investigation in various contexts, including political and cultural, there remains a paucity of evidence on the manifestation of impoliteness in literary texts. Examining Harold Pinter’s Mountain Language (1988) and Ashes to Ashes (1996), this paper discloses the impact of (im)politeness on identity. It posits that because of a mismatch in power dynamics and impoliteness between communicators, identity and self-esteem are subject to threat. Harold Pinter’s plays manifest profound interconnection between (im)politeness and identity construction/destruction. Our analysis shows how, in plays under scrutiny, characters are in a constant verbal struggle for survival and dominance and how this conflict impacts on characters’ social identity. Adopting Bousfield and McIntyre (2018) alongside Garcés-Conejos Blitvich (2009)’s model, this paper elucidates how impoliteness operates within the political settings of the plays in which the oppressors’ aggressive language aims to delegitimize the social identity of the oppressed ones. Furthermore, we strive to indicate how the impolite language and social/individual identity are closely related which contributes to a deeper understanding of characterization in literary works.

Navigating the technology-saturated landscape of language education poses a daunting task for present-day parents. As primary companions in EFL learners’ online learning journey, parents need to help them cultivate online language education. Guided by the parental mediation theory, the present study's primary objective was to examine any correlation between parental mediation strategies and Iranian EFL learners' online learning self-efficacy. Inspired by Vygotsky’s (1978) social development theory, which posits that knowledge is constructed within a social context, and Valkenburg et al.’s (2013) autonomy-supportive mediation, the second aim of the study was to uncover strategies that help promote digital parenting to foster learners’ self-efficacy in online language learning. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, data were gathered through questionnaires from 414 Iranian EFL learners aged between 12 and 18, selected through non-probability convenience sampling. Additionally, 47 learners, their parents, and 15 EFL teachers were voluntarily interviewed. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that restrictive mediation and monitoring strategies reduced learners’ online learning self-efficacy while active mediation enhanced it. Reflexive thematic analysis of the interviews also revealed that digital parenting practices, which consider learners’ autonomy and encourage cooperative engagement between learners and parents, will nurture self-regulated online language learners. The findings could set a new benchmark for digital parents, helping them bring up children capable of judiciously leveraging online opportunities.

Compared to non-academic contexts, the use of address forms in academic settings is insufficiently researched. To fill this gap, the present study investigated the address forms commonly used by students and lecturers in Iranian universities in their oral and written communication. The analytical framework of this study is semio-cultural conceptualization. A qualitative descriptive research design was adopted, which included six open-ended questions. Thirty Iranian EFL lecturers participated in this study, 20 males and 10 females, representing 14 different universities. The average age of the participants was 50. The thematic analysis of the data revealed that in addition to the conventional polite forms, some innovations have emerged in the academic address practice in Iran. While students always addressed their lecturers using respectful forms and honorifics, the lecturers’ address choices varied according to sociolinguistic factors such as the students’ age, gender, degree of intimacy and distance, and educational status. In the majority of cases, the lecturers employed title plus last name; nevertheless, some of them opted for more intimate forms. However, such forms were never reciprocated by students owing to the perceived power dynamics and elevated respect for teachers, which is deeply entrenched in the culturally-constructed conceptualization of the unique teacher-student relationship in Iran. The findings also suggest that the scope of address studies can be expanded to include semio-cultural conceptualizations, such as emotion schema, and symbolism.   

Translation plays a vital role in the global spread of academic knowledge. In non-English disciplines, university professors are increasingly asked to translate English texts for teaching, research, and administrative tasks. Recognizing the potential challenges faced by academic members in non-English fields is crucial. Therefore, this qualitative study, with an exploratory approach, aimed to identify the challenges faced by faculty members at Farhangian University in non-English disciplines in translating English texts. Participants included faculty members in non-English disciplines at Farhangian University in the provinces of Hamedan, Ilam, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Lorestan (located in the West of Iran), with 21 selected through a purposive criterion-based sampling method. Data were collected via semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Data analysis was performed using thematic analysis, resulting in one main theme, five organizing themes, and 26 basic themes. The findings identified eight major challenges facing faculty members during translation, including differences in sentence structure between source and target languages, issues with equivalence and transfer of concepts, semantic diversity of words, maintaining faithfulness to the original text, challenges with colloquial and non-specialized texts, lack of English proficiency, the transfer of cultural and indigenous concepts, and the time-consuming nature of translation. These results will benefit stakeholders of English language teaching in higher education as well as translation educators and workshop instructors.

Sociocultural Theory (SCT) of second language learning puts the emphasis on social interaction and regards it as a pre-requisite for cognitive development (Vygotsky, 1978). Drawing on the SCT, the present study aimed to delve into the possible effect of ZPD-based teacher and peer feedback on reading comprehension and reading strategy use of EFL learners. In so doing, 75 Iranian EFL learners, who were randomly assigned into two experimental and one comparison groups, participated in a quasi-experimental study. The data were collected through Oxford Placement Test (OPT), reading comprehension test and reading strategy questionnaire. One of the experimental groups received teacher feedback based on Aljaafreh and Lantolf's (1994) regulatory scale while the other experimental group accomplished the reading task using the feedback provided by the peers. Results obtained from the one–way ANOVA and Tukey test demonstrated that both experimental groups, teacher and peer, gained significantly more and performed better than the comparison group in reading comprehension while there was no significant difference between teacher and peer feedback groups in reading comprehension. The findings of the strategy questionnaire indicated no statistically significant difference between experimental and control groups, leading to the conclusion that students’ grouping did not influence their use of reading strategy. Therefore, it is concluded that peer feedback can be as effective as teacher feedback, aiding teachers to have a learner–centered classroom by implementing peer feedback rather than teacher feedback.