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Translation service has been essential before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the considered frontline services, especially in a multilingual nation like Saudi Arabia. However, just like any other industry, translation had to undergo necessary changes that could have been realized even without the repercussion of a pandemic. This study looked into the change-related issues that struck the translation industry/business, including the adoption of translation tech tools and the reformation of translation course programs and curricula. With the participation of 103 study respondents and the sheer use of descriptive statistical analysis, it was found that the dominantly rookie workforce of the Saudi translation industry is now shifting towards engaging in remote services, adopting new technological tools, and continually engaging in professional development courses and trainings. In the survey, it was further revealed that the translators have a thirst for knowledge in managing business and the skill in using computer-aided translation (CAT) and other media tools. It was deduced that in order for translation to be more productive, lucrative, and most of all, reliable, translators have to learn to adapt to these changes. Moreover, this study offers timely challenges in the breeding of a more resilient translator workforce in the future. When clearly viewed from a more general perspective, this pandemic has brought to light one positive realization despite the devastation it has caused to the population - one should not be content with something just because it works; sometimes, he has to learn new tricks to produce better outcomes.

Problem-based Learning (PBL) as one of the newest teaching methods in the area of language teaching in second and foreign contexts, has been used by teachers in the last two decades in different institutes. In the current study, attempts were made to find out the effect of the two PBL subcategories, i.e. Hybrid Problem-based Learning (H-PBL) and Pure Problem-based Learning (PPBL) in comparison to a traditional lecture-based method, on Iranian EFL university learners’ speaking skill and their self-confidence, by implementing these two methods in the EFL classroom using eight teacher-made real-world problems. To this purpose, 56 undergraduate participants of Payam Noor university (PNU) in Abadan, Iran, were randomly selected, divided into a control group and two treatment HPBL and PPBL groups. The statistical analysis of the obtained results of the participants’ pretest-posttest scores, through one-way ANCOVA and Man-Whitney U test, revealed that the treatment groups outperformed the control group in speaking skill and self-confidence The findings of the study might bear implications for teachers and university curriculum designers to take more proper approaches towards the instructing university participants.

This study aimed to discover the possible relationship between intrapersonal intelligence and grammatical ability of Iranian EFL male and female learners. To this purpose, 139 undergraduate English students (46 males and 93 females), with the age range of 22-32, were selected through a TOEFL test as the participants. To obtain the needed data, the instruments used were a 119-item Multiple Intelligences Questionnaire (MIDAS) to assess the participants’ intrapersonal intelligence, and a 30-item grammar TOEFL test to the measure their grammar ability. The obtained data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and linear regression. The difference between male and female students in grammar ability and intrapersonal intelligence was determined by independent samples t-test. The results indicated a statistically significance relationship between intrapersonal intelligence and English grammar ability scores. The results also revealed no significant difference between male and female students in terms of intrapersonal intelligence and English grammar ability. The findings of this study may assist language teachers, policy makers and curriculum designers to consider the role of intrapersonal intelligence as a helpful construct in learning English grammar.

This study attempted to investigate the effect of using focused vs. unfocused metalinguistic feedback on Iranian EFL learners’ use of dependent clauses in writing. On the basis of an Oxford Quick Placement Test, 60 learners out of 90 intermediate female EFL learners with the age range of 17 to 27 from Melal language institute in Karaj were chosen to participate in the study. They were assigned to two experimental groups. The homogeneity of the two groups in terms of writing ability was determined by comparing their means in a writing pretest. The treatment was done through using focused feedback for the first experimental group and unfocused feedback in the second experimental group during 14 session. At the end of the treatment, a writing test was conducted as the posttest. The results of Paired Samples t-test showed that the participants in both experimental groups performed better in writing posttest. However, the results of one-way ANCOVA showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups’ means on the posttest scores of achievements in accurate use of dependent clauses between two groups. The results were discussed in relation to some implications and recommendations for further research.

This study explored the impact of task complexity on task performance of Iranian lower-intermediate and advanced language learners. It also investigated how working memory was related to task performance and mediated the influence of complexity conditions on language performance. Task complexity was operationalized by designing differing tasks along the +/- reasoning and the +/- few elements dimensions. Eighty Iranian EFL learners (40 lower-intermediate and 40 advanced) carried out argumentative tasks which differed in complexity level. Working memory capacity was measured by applying the Persian translation of Wechsler's (1987) working memory test, and task performance was measured in terms of accuracy and fluency. The results revealed that for lower-intermediate learners, task complexity led to decrease in accuracy in the complex tasks, while fluency was boosted in simple task condition. For advanced learners, task complexity resulted in improved accuracy, while fluency decreased in complex condition. The results of multivariate analyses revealed that learners' language performance in the complex group significantly differed from that of the simple group on the combined dependent variables for both lower-intermediate and advanced learners. There was no significant correlation between working memory and any performance measures.

The primary aim of this study was to shed light on the impact of a new instruction model, reflective reciprocal teaching (RRT), on English as a foreign language learners' (EFL) reading comprehension ability. Its mode of inquiry was a mixed-method, and it took on a quasi-experimental design, including a pretest, treatment, and posttest paradigm. The sampling techniques were both convenience and random sampling by which 100 EFL freshman learners were selected and assigned into three groups of reflective reciprocal teaching (RRT), reciprocal teaching (RT), and control. Two tests, namely Oxford Quick Placement Test and Michigan English Language Assessment Battery, were used to measure EFL learners' proficiency level and reading comprehension ability in its quantitative phase. ANOVA was utilized to analyze the collected data. Also, during the next step, which aimed to explore the learners' perceptions of RRT instruction, semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data. The results indicated that the RRT group outperformed the control group regarding their reading comprehension ability; however, the RT instruction did not significantly impact this issue. Accordingly, the qualitative data analysis findings indicated that self-regulated learning, perceived competence, metacognitive awareness, confidence, and intrinsic motivation were the significant results of the RRT instruction model, contributing to the learners' reading comprehension ability.

Washback or backwash, used similarly, has been defined as the impact of testing on curriculum design, teaching practice, and learning behaviors. Iranian PhD candidates’ performance on this exam is required to pursue PhD study; therefore, degrees of washback both at the micro and macro levels are at stake. Despite the importance of this exam for the candidates, it seems that studies on washback and specifically washback effect of EPT on Iranian PhD candidates’ learning materials has not been given adequate attention in Iran. Given this, the present study attempts to examine the washback effect of EPT on Iranian PhD candidates’ learning materials. Based on sequential design, two phases of data collection were conducted with a two-week interval. In the first phase, attitude questionnaire was administered to 200 Iranian PhD candidates at Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) branch. In the second phase of the study, 20 Iranian PhD candidates were interviewed. Finally, the collected data from both the questionnaires and the interviews were analyzed via quantitative and descriptive analysis, respectively. The results of the study revealed both positive and negative washback impacts on learning materials. The findings of the study have practical implications for language teachers in general, and EFL language teachers, syllabus designers, and material developers in particular.

The present descriptive study aimed at investigating the human and machine Persian translations of The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini, and comparing the applied translation strategies in the translated texts for culture-specific items (CSI). To this end, based on Newmark’s (1988) category, the applied strategies were identified in the two translations and compared. The obtained results showed that Naturalization and Transposition strategies were the most frequently-used strategies by both human translators and machine translation. The results also showed that machine translation could not present a comprehensible translation due to overuse of these strategies (75%). It was further revealed that the spirit of the original text was not lost in the translated versions due to the closeness of Iranian and Afghan cultures. In fact, the translated versions kept the real beauty and creativity of the original work. However, the remorseful theme of the source text was kept intact to a great extent in the human translation of the novel, while machine translation lost it. Thus, the general impression is that culture-specific terms make it difficult for the machine translation to achieve complete word-for-word and semantic equivalence, and that the human translator must have a broad knowledge of the literature and traditions of both the source and target languages.

The present article dedicates to studying the syllable-internal structure in three Iranian Balochi dialects (IBDs) namely Mirjaveh Sarhaddi, Sarawani and Lashari dialects. The data analysis will be based on the onset-rhyme theory (e.g., Kurylowicz, 1948; Fudge, 1969; Vergnaud & Halle, 1979; Selkirk, 1982). Moreover, the syllable weight in IBDs will be discussed in the framework of mora theory (Hayes, 1985, 1989). The data have been collected during the research fieldwork in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. The research findings demonstrate that the Balochi language is an example of a nucleus-weight language in which heavy syllables depend on the number of elements in the nucleus. Thus, CV and CVC are light syllables and CVV(C) syllable is counted as heavy syllable. Besides, the context-dependent weight of CVC syllables occurs in IBDs stress pattern system. Studying the syllable contact (word-medial consonant clusters) in IBDs shows that Balochi is among languages that admit all types of heterosyllablic clusters.

Teacher identity has turned out to be of great importance in teacher pedagogical practice. A number of factors are implicated in shaping and reshaping teachers' identity. Despite numerous studies on teacher identity, language teacher religious identity has remained under-researched. Therefore, the current study examined how Iranian religious English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers are identified. To do so, 30 religious teachers were selected through purposive sampling. The data were collected through employing semi-structured interviews, developed based on Simon’s (2004) six components of identity, namely personal features, physical characters, special abilities, behavioral qualities, ideological attributes, and group membership. The results demonstrated that religious teachers tend to manifest certain Islamic-based personal attributes like fairness and kindness and also adhere to some Islamic rules of physical features like head covering for females and dignified clothes for males. In addition, religious teachers' behaviors and performances were profoundly affected by their religious background, realized in their attempts to control their anger, to avoid insulting and backbiting, and to disregard or replacing the materials which seem to be against the Islamic thought. The findings can have practical implications for teachers, institute administrators, and other stakeholders whose cognizance of religious teachers' identity could help prevent possible identity tensions.

Although Diagnostic Classification Models (DCMs) were introduced to education system decades ago, it seems that these models were not employed for the original aims upon which they had been designed. Using DCMs has been mostly common in analyzing large-scale non-diagnostic tests and these models have been rarely used in developing Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA) from scratch. Despite the prevalence of retrofitting CDA studies, true applications of CDA are believed to be rare since, firstly, a coherent framework to conduct such studies had not been available and, secondly, researchers were not able to analyze various DCMs according to the same model fit indices and criteria. This paper presents a summary of different types of DCMs and reviews true and retrofitting CDA studies. Having examined the limitations of previous CDA studies, the present study argues for the implication and application of Ravand and Baghaei’s (2019) framework to conduct true CDA studies. This framework is of importance since not only does it fit into prominent frameworks in education assessment such as Cognitive Design System and Assessment Triangle, but also it can provide test-developers with practical steps in conducting valid cognitive diagnostic tests.

Reading passages act as the locus of comprehensible input in the English language teaching materials and are mostly followed by a host of activities to ensure the learners’ comprehension. The current study aimed to carry out a comparative evaluation of Vision 3 and Learning to Read (i.e., English for Pre-university Students) in terms of the reading sections. To this end, Freeman’s taxonomy of reading comprehension questions was used. To enrich the quantitative data, thirty-two English teachers were also interviewed. The results revealed the prevalence of Language questions in both textbooks. However, the least common types of questions were Affect and Content in the old and new textbook, respectively. The results of Chi-square tests unfolded a significant difference between the two textbooks in terms of three categories of questions. The analysis of the teachers’ responses corroborated the findings of the quantitative phase. The teachers seemed satisfied with the inclusion of more Affect questions in Vision 3; nevertheless, they believed that the new English textbook needed to be revised in terms of the quantity and quality of reading texts and tasks in order to shape and expand the students’ reading comprehension skills. The findings carry pedagogical implications for the materials developers and English teachers.