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In light of ongoing challenges in writing education and the needs of digital-native learners, this study explored the effectiveness of using the free version of Grammarly in the writing development of EFL learners. Thirty-three TEFL students at Shahid Rajaee University were randomly selected and participated in the study. Using a quantitative one-group design, their writing performance was assessed through six tasks and analyzed via one-way Repeated Measures MANOVA. The results indicated a consistent improvement in overall writing performance through the regular use of Grammarly as an automatic corrective feedback tool. To identify which writing components improved, an RM-MANOVA was conducted on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and clarity. The analysis showed significant improvement only in grammatical accuracy, with other aspects remaining unchanged. These findings highlight Grammarly’s potential in enhancing grammatical skills. The study contributes to ELT by encouraging the integration of ICT-related content into the EFL curriculum and teacher training programs, emphasizing the role of AI tools in language learning. These findings highlight the increasing impact of AI-powered tools in improving writing skills for language learners. Educators should balance automated feedback with personalized instruction. As research on effectiveness of Grammarly is still limited, further studies are necessary to fully understand its educational potential.

Criticism of a translation evaluates its quality, accuracy, and effectiveness in communicating with the target readers. To ensure objectivity, such criticism requires a defined model. Pym’s (2007) model is based on two main concepts: directional equivalence and natural equivalence. Directional equivalence highlights the difference between the translation and the original, which is easily recognizable. In contrast, natural equivalence pertains to what different languages and cultures inherently produce within their own systems to convey a message, function, or referent. These two concepts make Pym’s model effective for broad evaluations of translations. This study applied Pym’s framework to objectively criticize the Persian translation of Melville’s (2021) Moby Dick to investigate the type of equivalence—directional or natural—the Persian translator employed. To do so, a comparison was made between the original and its translation to examine the translation techniques adopted by the translator at the micro-level, leading to the determination of his overall strategy at the macro-level based on Malone’s (1988) taxonomy of translation techniques, including matching, zigzagging, recrescence, repackaging, and reordering. The findings revealed that the translator employed all of Malone’s techniques but leaned toward those that prioritized naturalness over directionality. This approach enabled the production of a translation that maintained a close relationship between the source and target languages, ensuring effective communication with Persian readers. The findings of the current study offer pedagogical implications that may be beneficial for translation students, novice critics, and translation teachers.

The following paper was designed to focus on how learners’ process different communication inputs (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) and secondly, how gender differences play a significant role in this process. However, materials and instruction methods must also affect individual responses to given tasks. A study on these issues will necessitate the development of gender sensitive instructional materials with a special focus on improving individual comprehension strategies. First year graduate students with English as a compulsory subject of the two selected institutions were taken for our study. In this paper we have reported the differences between the male and female attitudes of the learners and their beliefs in acquiring LSRW skills for learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Survey questionnaires (through Google forms) and interview questions were designed. One sample T-test and paired sample test were taken whereas, interview question responses were analysed to validate the data. The findings revealed that average responses regarding the difficulty of listening skills are statistically significant and correlation between male students learning listening skills are better in the collaborative learning environment whereas the female students depict a positive and moderate correlation for the same. However, it is also found that there is no significant difference between the overall performance of female and male students and the implications have been discussed in the paper.

This study explores Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions of integrating job crafting interventions with reflective teaching to enhance their teaching practices and well-being. Using a grounded theory approach, 25 experienced EFL teachers (minimum 5 years of teaching experience) were selected through purposive sampling to participate in a multi-phased intervention based on the PERMA model. The intervention included training workshops, self-set job crafting assignments, and reflective practices. Data were collected through semi-structured and focus-group interviews and analyzed to identify recurring themes. The findings revealed three themes: 1) reflective mindset, 2) sense of belonging and engagement, and 3) reflective avoidance. Results indicate that job crafting improved teachers' self-efficacy, motivation, and resilience, though some experienced challenges in implementation. Practical implications suggest incorporating job crafting strategies into teacher training programs to foster reflective teaching and enhance teacher well-being. This research contributes to the field by bridging positive psychology and reflective practices in SLA contexts, emphasizing the value of teacher-centered interventions in professional development.

One of the key components for effective communication and promoting second/foreign language learners’ ability to produce meaningful performance is controlling their language anxiety. This study investigated the relationships among personality types, locus of control, and foreign language anxiety within the context of Iranian EFL learners. A non-experimental type based on a quantitative approach, the present study enjoyed a correlational design. Its participants were 317 Iranian EFL learners who all were undergraduate university students from both genders. The context of this study was the EFL face-to-face educational settings and the participants were from different fields of study at the university level in Iran. Data collection was conducted via three psychological questionnaires for measuring the variables. For data analysis, Pearson correlation and Regression analysis were used to specify the correlation between variables. To examine the mediation role of variables, Z Sobel and Bootstrapping tests were incorporated in the analysis. This study revealed significant relationships among participants’ personality types (extroversion and introversion), locus of control, and foreign language anxiety. The findings showed that there was a significant negative relationship between personality and locus of control and also a significant negative relationship between personality types and foreign language anxiety. Mediation analyses further illuminated the negative mediating role of the locus of control and the positive mediating role of the personality, shedding light on their nuanced dynamics. This study has implications for language educators, practitioners, and policymakers in terms of tailoring interventions to address individual differences and create supportive learning environments.

The primary objective of this research was to explore how the mindsets and perseverance of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Iran impact their well-being. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), data from 375 EFL teachers, selected through convenience sampling, were analyzed. The results revealed a direct and positive correlation between a teacher's growth mindset and their well-being. Additionally, the study found that the relationship between a teacher's growth mindset and well-being was influenced by their level of grit. These findings suggest that educators can significantly contribute to fostering growth mindsets and perseverance among EFL teachers, thus improving their well-being. Ultimately, this research underscores the importance of these teacher characteristics in enhancing the well-being of EFL instructors and offers practical guidance for educators aiming to support them.  

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.

The study, which has been derived from a larger project, examined how effective ChatGPT, compared to human raters, is for scoring writing tasks when tasks were arranged from simple to complex or vice versa. In so doing, a correlational design was employed. The participants were 113 EFL learners. Two sets of writing tasks were customized based on the SSARC (simplify, stabilize, automatize, reconstruct, complexify) model. The participants were divided into two groups. They took a pre-test and did tasks in two different orders. The tasks were rectified by the researcher and returned to them later. The participants enhanced their text based on comments on tasks. After that, they took a posttest. Human raters and ChatGPT scored the pretests and posttests.  A Pearson Correlation test was run to obtain the correlation between a human rater and ChatGPT. The results indicated a strong positive correlation between scores assessed by human raters and those by ChatGPT when tasks were arranged from simple to complex (r = 968, p > 05) or complex to simple (r = 860, p > 05). These findings suggest that ChatGPT can be an effective tool for writing assessments. Suggestions for further research are discussed.

Evaluating research designs plays a pivotal role in promoting principled Mixed Methods Research (MMR). Although the quality of mixed methods designs has been among the most debated topics, scant attention has been drawn to the investigation of Applied Linguistics (AL) Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) journals. Informed by this gap, the present exploratory sequential mixed methods study aimed at analyzing the research designs, tools of data collection, and purposes of 303 MMR articles published in 12 leading ISC journals. This involved a qualitative content analysis using a code sheet based on established MMR typologies, followed by a quantitative frequency analysis to determine the prevalence of these coded categories. The findings indicated that sequential designs were more frequently used in the corpus. Moreover, as regards the tools of data collection, questionnaires and interviews were the most commonly utilized ones. Finally, exploration purpose was the prime purpose opted for by the researchers in the study corpus. The study highlights the importance of conducting principled MMR through the reconceptualization of designs from method to methodology level. It further argues for a systemic view of MMR in which there is a cyclic interaction among fully integrated stages of an MMR design. The implications of the findings are discussed throughout the paper.

The evaluation of students' writings and the allocation of scores are traditionally time-intensive and inherently subjective, often resulting in inconsistencies among human raters. Automated essay scoring systems were introduced to address these issues; however, their development has historically been resource-intensive, restricting their application to standardized tests such as TOEFL and IELTS. Consequently, these systems were not readily accessible to educators and learners. Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have expanded the potential of automated scoring systems, enabling them to analyze written texts and assign scores with increased efficiency and versatility. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of an AI-based scoring system, DeepAI, with human evaluators. A quantitative approach, grounded in Corder's (1974) Error Analysis framework, was used to analyze approximately 200 essays written by Persian-speaking EFL learners. Paired sample t-tests and Pearson correlation coefficients were employed to assess the congruence between errors identified and scores assigned by the two methods. The findings revealed a moderate correlation between human and AI scores, with AI diagnosing a greater number of errors than human raters. These results underscore the potential of AI in augmenting writing assessment practices while highlighting its pedagogical implications for language instructors and learners, particularly in evaluating the essays of EFL students.

Language learning is a multifaceted process influenced by various factors, including learners’ individual preferences and cognitive strengths. This mixed-methods study investigates how dominant intelligences influence the instructional preferences and perceptions of 30 male Turkish-speaking EFL learners, aged 13-17, using a structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The research explores the relationship between learners’ intelligences and specific teaching approaches, with data analyzed through both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants were categorized into two groups based on their dominant intelligences: Group A (interpersonal and intrapersonal) and Group B (linguistic and visual/spatial). Analysis of the data reveals that learners gravitate towards learning styles that align with their dominant intelligences, with Group A favoring interactive and self-directed approaches, while Group B leans towards visual and experiential methods. Despite a limited awareness of MI theory, the participants express satisfaction with MI-based instruction, viewing it as more engaging and effective compared to traditional methods. This study underscores the significance of incorporating learner preferences into language instruction and highlights the potential of MI-based approaches to enhance learner engagement and motivation.

This article examines the evolution of teacher education in Iran, with a specific focus on English language teacher training. Utilizing a qualitative analysis of historical documents, the study identifies six distinct periods in this evolution. The first period marks the foundation of teacher education with the establishment of the Dar al-Fonun School. The second period saw the formalization of teacher education through the Central and Higher Teacher Training Colleges. In the third period, teacher training expanded with the creation of Preliminary and Higher Colleges, focusing on multidisciplinary fields, including the French language. The fourth period introduced specialized programs, such as English language teaching, which replaced French. During the fifth period, teacher training centers reached their peak and then declined. Finally, the sixth period marks a shift in the educational system’s approach to teacher education, highlighted by the establishment of Farhangian University. Throughout these periods, English language teacher curricula evolved from classical and structural approaches to communicative and interactive methods. This shift not only highlights the changing pedagogical landscape in Iran but also underscores the need for curricula that better prepare teachers for contemporary classroom dynamics. The findings showcase the developmental trajectory of teacher education in Iran, emphasizing the need to address future challenges.