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Although dyadic collaborations (DC) are sensitive to individual differences, the role of levels of equality (LoE) and gender disparity as potential mediators are largely unexplored. To address the research gap, this case study investigated whether symmetrical (equal and gender-matched) and asymmetrical (unequal and gender-mixed) peer interactions differ in terms of efficacy for morpho-syntactic development and learners’ retrospective reflections. Forty-three young learners were randomly assigned into symmetrical (equal) and asymmetrical (unequal) pairs and into dyads of various gender dispersal (matched and mixed). The learners’ behaviors and perceptions during and following the paired tasks were recorded via observation, field notes, focused-group discussion, and member-checking meetings. The results of the Mann-Whitney U-test and Friedman Test were as follows: DC was more effective than non-collaborative learning for both short-term and long-term structure and vocabulary learning. It was helpful for expert-expert and gender-matched dyads in both domains alike and for experts and novices in unequal pairs in the structure area only. It was ineffective, however, for novice-novice and cross-gender dyads. Among the recurrent themes in observation and interviews were overall preference to pair up with female partners, consensus on the advantage of DC for grammar judgment (structure) over fill-in-the-blank (vocabulary) tasks, the realization of DC as effective for promoting rapport and responsibility, experts’ willingness to pair with novices or work alone, novices’ tendency to work with experts, and role of personality traits as a substantial mediator. Based on the findings, several implications for research and practice are offered.

This study evaluates the technological proficiency of Iranian EFL teachers in alignment with the TESOL Technology Standards, addressing both their familiarity and application of these standards in the unique Iranian context. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, 122 teachers completed a questionnaire to assess their knowledge of the TESOL standards, while 15 participants engaged in semi-structured interviews to discuss the applicability of these standards in Iran. Results show that while most teachers are proficient in basic technology use, they demonstrate moderate familiarity with advanced pedagogical applications such as professional collaboration and assessment using technology. The study also identifies challenges unique to Iran, including internet censorship, restricted access to online platforms, and inadequate infrastructure. These factors limit the full implementation of TESOL standards. Moreover, the study suggests that TESOL standards should be updated to reflect the growing importance of online teaching and AI integration. Recommendations are made to modify the standards to better suit local constraints, while emphasizing the need for institutional support and ongoing professional development. The findings contribute to improving technology integration in language teaching, particularly in contexts facing technological barriers.

Mobile technologies and portable devices have a crucial role in mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). This paper evaluates the difference of gender in the improvement of oral skills via WhatsApp Application (WAA) and the impression of mobile devices on students’ motivation, satisfaction, and anxiety and the learners’ opinions. A mixed method study was used on the sample size. Quasi-experimental and non-experimental survey designs were carried out in this research. The study’s participants were composed of 30 EFL learners at an upper-intermediate level in Zanjan, Iran. A face-to-face verbal interview was implemented for recording the pre-test before setting up the experimental course on WAA and by creating the interaction group on WAA, the learners communicated (written and voice messages) with the tasks that they received every week for six weeks. Then the teacher ran another interview and used a questionnaire consisting of thirty 5-point Likert item questions adopted from Horwitz et al. (1986) to estimate the participants’ contentment and attitude with mobile education classes, the effectiveness of this process on their inspiration to get involved in class interaction, and the anxiety of learners in this approach. The findings displayed that the female participants’ performance was slightly better than male participants and the use of WAA on mobile devices can enhance speaking proficiency among EFL learners by decreasing their anxiety and increasing motivation resulting in their satisfaction.

Translation has been examined from diverse perspectives, including linguistic, cultural, and sociological viewpoints. Across these fields of study, human involvement has remained central to all translational activity—whether as translators, publishers, editors, or in other roles. Even when the primary focus has shifted to aspects like the text itself, human influence invariably surfaces. In other words, certain facets of translation have remained unexplored, overshadowed by the dominance of human agency. With the advent of ecotranslation, which merges ecology with translation studies, these hidden dimensions of translation can now be uncovered, opening up new avenues for research. This paper explores Luhmann’s social systems theory in comparison with ecology, drawing on a parallel approach to that used by Beebee, Childress, and Weidman (2017) in Translation Ecologies: A Beginner’s Guide . However, whereas their work contrasts ecology with polysystem theory, this paper instead examines the relationship between ecology and social systems theory within the context of translation studies.

This study aims to identify the role of transfer in the L3 acquisition of indefinite frequency adverbs, be it L1, L2 or both; and to find out whether CLI occurs on a feature-by-feature basis or as a wholesale phenomenon. Also, this study intends to investigate the influence of the learners' L2 proficiency on the L3 acquisition of indefinite frequency adverbs; and to examine the effect of different task modalities on the facilitative/detrimental role of background languages in the transfer of indefinite frequency adverbs in the early stages of German learning. To this end, we studied 30 Persian-speaking L3 learners with previous L2 knowledge of English. We collected data from a grammaticality judgement task to account for learners' receptive knowledge and an element rearrangement task to measure learners' production. The data were analyzed using multivariate tests and paired samples t-tests, which allowed us to estimate the effects of background languages, learners' L2 proficiency, and task type on the acquisition of indefinite frequency adverbs in L3. The results contradicted the wholesale CLI and supported the hybrid transfer models of CEM and LPM, which claim that transfer occurs property by property. The results also refuted the role of micro-variables, including learners' L2 proficiency and task type.

The emergence of flipped learning has provided new opportunities to improve the quality of English language learning. First, the present study attempted to investigate the effects of flipped learning on enhancing the vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners. Second, it aimed to investigate the perception of the participants toward the flipped learning. To this end, 23 EFL learners from an English institute in Iran were assigned to the flipped and conventional groups. In the flipped classroom, the course materials selected by the teacher were posted via Telegram Application in advance to the class and the class time was spent on different peer and group activities including pre-communicative sentence arrangement, communicative activities, pair, and group discussion, role-play and storytelling. Multiple data collection sources, including a vocabulary knowledge test, a student-recorded portfolio, and a flipped learning experience questionnaire were employed to elicit the required data. The results revealed that the participants in the flipped learning classroom performed a little better than the participants in the conventional class; however, it was not statistically significant. Besides, they did not have a positive attitude toward flipped instruction. The author presents insights into the impacts of flipped instruction on the quality of vocabulary learning and the participants' perception of flipped learning and offers recommendations and implications for practice.

This research study aims to investigate the motivation behind Iranian EFL learners' desire to learn English, with a specific focus on the political and socio-economic factors that influence them. The study takes into account the changing political and social landscape in Iran, which has been shaped by globalization and advancements in information and communication technology (ICT). In order to gain a deeper understanding of the driving forces behind Iranian EFL learners' English language acquisition, the researcher conducted interviews with thirty participants who had been studying English for approximately 3 to 6 years. The interviews were transcribed and the data was then analyzed using a systematic approach, including open, axial, and selective coding. The resulting model identified seven factors and twenty-seven categories that contribute to language motivation. These seven factors were a) The government’s foreign and economic policy, b) Transfer of religious and national ideology and patriotism, c) Academic and occupational aspirations, d) Improving social life, e) Fear of failure, f) International posture, and g) IT advancements. This model can serve as a valuable resource for informing future educational policies and curriculum development in Iran.

This article examines gendered patterns in public discourse by analyzing the cognitive and sociolinguistic features of interruptions, turn-taking, and collaborative language during Iraqi TV talk shows. We used a mixed-methods approach to examine transcripts from 20 episodes of TV talk shows in which both male and female guests appeared. This and other studies suggest that there are strong gender-based differences in, for example the per cent of talk with interruptions (evaluated by numerical frequency), topic control or continue, males talking more than females coded as take-talks or pivoting responses, whereas types of type-control regards turn taking was higher among female speakers than male while total degree of fluency to engaged language use. These trends are consistent with Iraq's historical gendered norms — a juxtaposition against American shifts toward more equitable media relations. The main conclusions suggest the significance of cultural constraints in communication, indicating practical paths for media literacy as well as suggestions where sociolinguistic training and gender-inclusive policy design may benefit from a closer look.

Dissatisfaction with product-oriented and static forms of assessment led to the emergence of process-oriented testing or dynamic assessment. Learners’ involvement in the assessment process can enhance their learning autonomy and help them process linguistic features more deeply. Accordingly, using a quantitative quasi-experimental research design, the researchers sought to explore whether utilizing DA principles would have any differential impact, believed to be statistically significant, on the Iranian male and female intermediate EFL learners’ learning and retention of English grammar. To this end, 30 EFL learners from two intact classes who were taking a general English course at Shayestegan English Language Institute, in Rasht, Iran were selected as a homoscedastic group of participants based on the scores they obtained on a sample copy of Oxford Solutions Placement Test (OSPT). The intact classes, each comprising 15 students, were then assigned to one experimental and one control group who then received treatment on their L2 grammar under different conditions: The experimental group received instruction on English grammar as per the principles of dynamic assessment in an eight-session intervention program. The control group likewise received treatment on L2 grammar over the course of the study, but they were trained using teacher-fronted instruction. Finally, the groups sat for an immediate and a delayed posttest of grammar to demonstrate their degree of learning and amount of retention of English grammar. Capitalizing on a 2 by 2 factorial design, which allowed for examination of both main and interaction effects of instructional modality and participants’ gender, the researchers employed a two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to examine the participants’ performance scores. The results revealed that, regardless of participants’ gender, instruction as delivered through dynamic assessment privileged the participants in the experimental group much better than that of the conventional method in terms of their learning an

This study aimed to explore the combined impacts of critical thinking and dynamic Assessment on enhancing the writing performance of Iranian EFL learners, specifically focusing on teaching writing strategies. We selected 80 intermediate-level participants from a pool of approximately 200 language learners at an accredited institute (Gooyesh). These participants were divided equally into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group (EG) received writing strategies through the application of critical thinking principles and dynamic assessment. The control group (CG) received writing strategies through traditional methods without receiving critical thinking or dynamic assessment principles. The two groups underwent a writing pre-test to assess their initial writing skills, and after the treatment, to measure their writing improvement, they took a post-test using the same evaluation criteria as those of the pre-test. Then, appropriate statistical tools were employed to gauge the participants' writing progress as a result of the instructional methods. The results indicated that integrating dynamic assessment and critical thinking strategies significantly improved participants' written communication skills. These findings hold promise for EFL instructors, curriculum designers, and material developers.

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, language teachers are presented with new possibilities for addressing challenges in language education. This intervention study aimed to investigate views from ESL teachers on the benefits and challenges of integrating ChatGPT, An artificial intelligence (AI) language model created by OpenAI in 2023, into ESL classrooms for personalized language learning. The study carried out in two upper-secondary schools, combines teacher questionnaires and interviews with a personalized learning intervention based on ChatGPT. The primary focus was on understanding the effect of ChatGPT-based personalized learning assignments on learners’ grammatical knowledge in a local classroom setting. Through the questionnaire, initial teacher concerns regarding the precision, dependability, and helpful application of AI tools were investigated. Despite these reservations, the intervention demonstrated a notable decrease in grammatical errors in student writing. Subsequent interviews revealed a positive shift in teacher perceptions, indicating increased receptivity to AI-based approaches after witnessing positive outcomes. The study highlights the importance of teacher training and hands-on experience in overcoming initial hesitations associated with AI tool adoption in pedagogical practices. Moreover, the promising results suggest that AI-powered instruments, like ChatGPT, have the potential to enhance personalized language learning. This underscored the significance of educators cultivating their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) to overcome hesitations and effectively harness the potential of ChatGPT for augmenting individualized learning. The study’s findings provided evidence supporting the utilization of ChatGPT-based personalized learning assignments to meet the specific requirements of the schools in question.