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The documentation of test takers’ achievements has been accomplished through large-scale assessments to find general information about students’ language ability. To remove subjectivity, Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA) has recently played a crucial role in perceiving candidates’ latent attribute patterns to find multi-diagnostic information rather than single proficiency classification. However, there are some gaps in the literature about in detail investigation of test takers’ listening comprehension language ability in responding to placement test items of a public English language center. The present study aims to validate an English placement test at a language center through a retrofitting process. In an exploratory mixed-method design, 449 participants from the same language center, including 274 females and 175 males, were selected. The performance of randomly selected participants in a language center placement test was analyzed by applying the GDINA model from R-studio packages, to detect Differential Item Functioning (DIF). Results of the study revealed DIF in some items since there is some bias in test items. The implication of this study is to provide meaningful interpretations of respondents’ attributes and improve teaching and learning by finding the strengths and weaknesses of candidates. For this purpose, the findings derived from the result of the study can raise the awareness of test developers in preparing unbiased items for the placement test, and at the same time, assist test-takers to become more critical of their English language achievements. It is also helpful for materials developers to become aware of developing materials free from bias.

Abstract Formative assessment has been often encouraged recently as a pivot component in the methodology of evaluation but the student's view of how this affects the improvement of language learning in some countries is disregarded in a way. Therefore, the following study investigates the experiences of students (pre-service teachers) in formative assessment and the tools used for its implementation. Teaching and evaluation are based on learning outcomes and students' approach to the activities that students are liable to convey in the course of English for teachers in the Department of Education. The study analyzed students' perceptions and their approach to formative assessment utilization. The Formative Assessment appears as a dignified way to raise the quality of learning, and as a result, the students achieve their goal to pass the exam successfully and get high grades. To acquaint their perspectives, 85 students as study respondents took part in the research in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The quantitative research data from the questionnaire were analyzed through the SPSS platform, while the qualitative research data extracted from the focus group are presented through descriptive analysis, in the form of quotations. The findings of the questionnaires evinced the students' views on formative assessment and further, data from focus group discussions validated the reasonableness of what the students perceived in the questionnaire. Implications recommended that in addition to the tiresome work of continuously preparing during the teaching, EFL teachers are able to meet the individual needs of the students depending on the differences they have among themselves.

Cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) have received sustained attention in educational settings because they can be used to operationalize formative assessment to provide diagnostic feedback and inform instruction. A large number of CDMs have been developed over the past few years. An important component of all CDMs is a Q-matrix that specifies a particular hypothesis about the relationship between each test item and its required attributes. The purpose of this study was to construct and validate a Q-matrix for the reading comprehension section of the Islamic Azad University English Proficiency Test (IAUEPT), as an advanced English placement test designed to measure language ability of Ph.D. candidates who tend to pursue their studies in the IAU. To achieve this, using item responses of 1152 candidates to twenty items of the reading section of the test, an initial Q-matrix was constructed based on theories and models of second/foreign language (L2) reading comprehension, previous applications of CDMs on L2 reading comprehension, and brainstorming and consensus of five content experts. Then, the initial Q-matrix was empirically validated using the method proposed by de la Torre and Chiu (2016) and checking mesa plots, and heatmap plot. Five attributes were derived for the reading comprehension section: vocabulary, grammar, making an inference, understanding specific information, and identifying explicit information. Finally, the analysis of the Generalized Deterministic Inputs, Noisy “and” Gate (GDINA) regarding absolute fit at item- and test-level as well as three residual-based statistics showed the accuracy of the Q-matrix and a perfect model-data fit.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, educational institutes around the world including Iran transitioned from the face-to-face method to an online modality to sustain education. Adapting to this abrupt transition was challenging for teachers, especially those working in remote and low-resource schools. To have a profounder understanding of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in rural secondary schools, in this qualitative study, the researchers explored the technological tools, teaching platforms, and assessment strategies employed by 12 Iranian English teachers during the pandemic. The analysis of the data, collected through semi-structured interviews and e-observations, revealed that the participants mostly, but not exclusively, used SHAD application as their online platform and used different technological tools for creating pedagogic content such as screen recorder, video editors, and PowerPoint. The teachers also adopted different methods for delivering teaching including flipped method, live broadcasts, pre-recorded teaching materials, voices, and images. They used Google forms, Digi forms, and video calls for evaluating the students; nevertheless, they chiefly deployed these tools for designing traditional exam types. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

The current study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a process based reflective teacher training course that utilized situational role plays, video analysis, and scenario evidence as guided reflective and caring practices for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher candidates. To this end, 45 teacher candidates at a teacher education university in Iran participated in a semi-structured interview (pre-intervention and post-intervention interview) and created process-oriented narrative journals documenting their reflective and caring practices. The findings of the study indicated that all the three groups of participants (role play group, scenario-based evidence group, and video evidence group) benefitted from the course and demonstrated improvement in various ways. The emerged themes from each group (role play group: 23 categories, video group: 17 categories, and scenario-based evidence group: 16 categories) illustrated how these strategies supported teacher candidates in developing their caring and reflective practices.

Corrective feedback has been evidenced to be a propitious pedagogical tool to promote second language (L2) knowledge, yet little is known about the role of interactional feedback in maximizing L2 learners’ pragmatic knowledge and their reciprocity patterns to corrective feedback in teacher-student interactions. Therefore, the current study made an attempt to bridge this gap. To do so, twenty (11 male and nine female) intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) participant with an age range of 19 to 31 were recruited and were provided with recast for their inappropriate request strategies. The participants were assigned to perform requests in various scenarios that varied in terms of power, familiarity, and social distance. To gauge their performance, a pretest and posttest Discourse Completion Test (DCT) was run. The obtained data gave evidence to the efficiency of recast in improving L2 pragmatics. Moreover, classroom interactions were recorded and transcribed to identify the emerging reciprocity patterns. The findings revealed several reciprocity patterns, including repetition of trigger, modification of trigger, acknowledgement, topic continuation, and inability to respond. The findings have implications for L2 teachers and augment our understandings of the role of recast in L2 pragmatics and reciprocity patterns of students.

Modern teaching practices emphasize learner autonomy and learner-centered approaches to language learning. Such teaching methods require corresponding assessment approaches. Self-assessment is viewed as an assessment mode which matches modern learner-centered teaching methodologies. However, the validity and reliability of self-assessments are not yet conclusively established. This study aimed to provide validity and reliability evidence for self-assessments among Iranian EFL university learners. The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Self-Assessment Grid was translated into Persian and was given to a sample of Iranian undergraduate students of English. A C-Test battery containing four passages was used as a criterion for concurrent validation. Self-assessments of university EFL learners were examined for internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Findings showed that while self-assessments are highly reliable they lack validity as evidenced with low correlations between components of self-assessment grid and the C-Test. The implications of the study for the application of self-assessments in foreign language education are discussed.

 Juxtaposing the ubiquitous facets of mobile technology as everyware (Greenfield, 2010) and vocabulary as one of the most axial aspects of language learning (Bowles & Cogo, 2016; Schmitt & Schmitt, 2020) , besides the importance of considering learners’ attributes and needs (Taghizadeh, 2019) while developing a mobile vocabulary application (app), necessitates analyzing the relationship and impact of all these elements in a single structural model. To tackle the issue, first, via a mixed-methods design, the researcher developed a bespoke mobile application using the task model and the principles of agile methodology. and then investigated the impact of using the app on a sample of 62 Iranian EFL university students’ vocabulary recognition and recall, the results of which were published in two other articles. In this study, the researcher integrated the obtained data within a proposed structural model and assessed the model's fitness to investigate the interaction and interrelationship among the latent variables mentioned above. The results obtained from SEM-PLS analyses revealed that within the unified structural model, the learners’ preferences and needs were favorably influenced by their learning style orientation and technology savviness. Similarly, the findings verified the positive impact of considering learners’ preferences and needs during the agile app development lifecycle on the target participants’ vocabulary knowledge, encompassing vocabulary recognition and recall. Finally, the fitness of the proposed structural model was verified based on the criteria for model assessment mentioned by Sparks and Alamer (2022) . The SEM-PLS data analyses and the implications of the study are presented and discussed.

PhD examination is a unique type of assessment with examiners playing a key role in it. Despite extensive research on various modes of academic genre, research on the examiners’ language representing oral review genre is yet underrepresented. One important way to identify this genre is to unpack the metadiscursive features that constitute this type of academic discourse. Using a metadiscourse framework, developed by Hyland (2005), this study investigates the metadiscursive markers that constitute Iranian and International examiners’ language of PhD dissertation evaluation. The data include the transcriptions of Iranian and International examiners’ evaluative discourse in eight PhD dissertation defenses, taken place in Iran and the US (MICASE corpus), representing English for Academic Purposes. The results indicate that the examiners use a variety of interactional as well as interactive metadiscourse markers to convey the effective and appropriate evaluation of the PhD dissertations at hand. Further breakdown of the metadiscourse devices and the comparison of the two sets of data are provided. The results unpack an aspect of oral academic review as a specific genre with implications for both EAP-user examiners and PhD candidates to become aware of the discursive features of the examiners language.

A long-standing concern reverberating over the minds of intercultural scholars is how best to incorporate intercultural issues in English language teaching, an issue on which there has been little research in EFL contexts. To fill this gap, this qualitative study examined the efficacy of interculturally-laden tasks in promoting Iranian learners’ intercultural competency in Anzali, Guilan province, Iran. Thus, a group of 22 Iranian intermediate EFL learners were recruited through convenience sampling from a pool of 44 according to their score on Oxford Quick Placement Test. All the participants were 12 females and 10 males aged 21-30. Then, they attended eighteen sessions of intercultural training using Mirrors and Windows: An intercultural communication textbook and completed seven intercultural tasks as a pretest and posttest. Data was collected through seven intercultural tasks and reflective worksheets. Drawing on the qualitative content analysis of intercultural tasks, the findings revealed that the tasks could help the participants increase their intercultural competence. Moreover, three themes were emerged from the analysis of the reflective worksheets as follow: (1) the participants’ evaluation of the ICC course and intercultural tasks, (2) perceptions regarding intercultural development and (3) language skills and anxiety. The implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Writing skill is a challenging and frequently-used activity in academic circles. This study investigated the effects of reflective writing on EFL learners’ writing performance. The participants were 61 Iranian EFL learners from two intact university classes randomly assigned to the non-reflective (n=31) and reflective (n=30) groups. Over sixteen sessions of instructions over eight weeks, the non-reflective group was taught using the traditional writing method; however, the reflective group was exposed to reflective writing instruction under Kolb’s Model. The data were collected through reflective writing compositions and the content analysis of think-aloud protocols. The quantitative data analysis revealed that the reflective group significantly outperformed the non-reflective group in writing compositions. The thematic analysis of think-aloud protocols substantiated the quantitative data findings, indicating that all participants went through the cognitive psychological processes of ‘planning, drafting, pausing and thinking, reading and reproducing, reviewing, editing and revising’ as they were engaged in reflective writing via Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle. The results offer significant implications for language instructors, curriculum planners, and course designers.

As conceptual models of language learning, use, and processing mature, it is both natural and necessary for the statistical models we apply to follow suit. One statistical approach with great potential in the field Applied Linguistics and L2 studies is structural equation modeling (SEM). SEM is introduced in this paper as a powerful and highly flexible family of analyses. In doing so, the paper outlines (a) the types of variables and possible modeled relationships that SEM is equipped to address and (b) statistical considerations for applying SEM in L2 research, and (c) a number of additional and key considerations for those interested in delving deeper into SEM (e.g., goodness of fit indices, model modification procedures, etc.). This paper also describes the potential of SEM to contribute to construct validation (e.g., convergent and discriminant validity). Throughout the paper, a plethora of examples pertaining to applications of SEM in L2 research are provided.

Traditional methods of scaffolding for language teaching have turned out ineffective, leading to the exploration of innovative approaches such as blended learning. While blended learning has shown effectiveness in various language aspects, its impact on scaffolding for speaking proficiency remains unclear. This study investigated the impact of peer scaffolding on speaking proficiency in traditional face-to-face classes versus blended classes. The participants consisted of 42 advanced learners, randomly assigned to a control group (traditional classes) and an experimental group (blended classes). Pre-tests and post-tests were conducted using speaking topics to assess speaking proficiency, and evaluations were done using established criteria. The control group received instruction and speaking practice using conventional methods, while the experimental group had access to online resources and was engaged in face-to-face sessions guided by peers and the teacher. Dscriptive statistics and t-tests were employed to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the experimental group, which received peer scaffolding in the mixed class, performed better in speaking ability compared to the group that received peer scaffolding in the conventional class. These findings have implications for language teachers, material developers, and policy makers, emphasizing the potential benefits of integrating peer scaffolding within blended learning environments to enhance speaking proficiency for advanced learners.

The main goals of the study were to decipher the English language needs of dental students and to evaluate the effectiveness of the recent official English for specific purposes (ESP) book published for Iranian dental students by SAMT Publication. Accordingly, the study sought to determine whether this book has the potential to meet the specific needs of dental students. Needs analysis data were gathered by interviewing 34 ESP stakeholders from two universities of medical sciences in Iran. The interviews attempted to examine the students' language needs, lacks, and preferences. Following the needs analysis, six evaluators evaluated the coursebook based on a book evaluation form. The results obtained from the needs analysis highlighted the significance of practicing 4 language skills in addition to medical terminology.      In terms of students' language skill lacks, it was found that the majority of the students had problems in listening, speaking, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The participants also reported the learners' preferences and some drawbacks of current ESP courses with respect to learning styles and methodology. Following the book evaluation process, it was concluded that even though the book did not gain a fully satisfactory score, among a few ESP books published for Iranian dental students, this book was the most appropriate one to be used in ESP courses. However, considering some points can surely improve our future ESP books and give the material developers a better understanding of ESP materials.