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The purpose of this study was to investigate the probable effects of E-Mind Maps on the prevailing Language Learning Strategy Choices of adolescent versus adult Iranian EFL learners (LLSC). Besides, their preferred strategies were investigated across each dominant LLSC for some volunteer participants through structured interviews. According to a mixed-method design, 76 available Iranian adolescent and adult EFL learners, both male and female, were randomly divided into four equal groups of experimental and control ones. Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) was conducted for all participants in the pre-and post-intervention phases, followed by a structured interview in just the post-intervention phase in the qualitative phase. The intervention presented the teaching content through E-Mind Maps vs. the conventional way of teaching for 20 sessions. The data were analyzed using descriptive and Chi-Square statistics. The results confirmed that using E-Mind Maps shifted the dominant LLSC of adolescent and adult EFL learners to memory and cognitive strategies. Moreover, preferred strategies across each dominant LLSC were discussed in detail for both groups. The conclusion can provide critical implications for English language teaching, learning, and educational technology in using E-Mind Maps as an effective strategy in EFL classrooms.

To analyze and evaluate textbooks, researchers have either proposed scales and checklists to be filled by teachers and learners or conducted qualitative investigations of the match between SLA theories and textbook activities. This study, however, employs the microstructural approach of schema theory to scrutinize the reading passages of “Mosaic 1 Reading”. To this end, 17 passages of the textbook were randomly chosen and their constituting words were explored as semantic, syntactic, and parasyntactic schemata. The passages were also analyzed in terms of their readability indices. The results showed that they consist of 3722 schema types, 2979 (80%) of which are semantic in nature. Although the textbook aims at “academic success” at English language “proficiency levels”, it provides no objective definition of what they stand for. In terms of readability, however, the passages vary in difficulty from grade three in primary school to college level. Further, the textbook is discussed in terms of its constituting schemata and suitability to the Iranian context and suggestions are made for future research. The findings of this study have important implications for language teaching, testing and materials development. They show that language proficiency must be defined in terms of schema types and the bulk of class time must be spent on teaching semantic schemata rather than syntactic and parasyntactic ones. Similarly, for testing the reading comprehension of these passages, the number and type of test items must be based on the percentage of semantic and syntactic schema types and subjective criteria such as teachers’ intuition or experience must be avoided both in teaching and testing the comprehension of passages.

One essential yet often-ignored factor in pronunciation teaching is learners’ beliefs towards teaching and learning of pronunciation. Awareness of this factor can help both learners and teachers achieve their language learning and teaching objectives. The current study investigated 195 Iranian EFL learners’ beliefs and perceptions about various aspects of pronunciation teaching and learning. The learners answered a 30-item Likert-scale online questionnaire which inquired about their views regarding the overall importance of pronunciation instruction, the type of syllabus, the design of classes devoted to pronunciation, the introduction of pronunciation features, the ways of practicing these features, and the role of error correction. To enhance the findings from the questionnaire, the researchers interviewed a subsample of the participants about various pronunciation dimensions specified in the questionnaire. Results revealed that the majority of the participants believed teaching and learning pronunciation was of paramount importance in EFL contexts as it helped them achieve their communicative goals more effectively. The learners also largely preferred a structural over a task-based syllabus for pronunciation instruction but differed regarding whether pronunciation features should be taught in isolation or in communicative contexts, and whether correction of their pronunciation errors should be done by the teacher or peers. Findings of this study can inform the mainstream pronunciation teaching and learning practices and materials designs.

In countries where textbooks are considered as the main source of teaching/learning process, textbook evaluation seems to be inevitable and necessary. The current study aimed at evaluating the new English textbook entitled “Vision 1”, developed for the Iranian first grade high school students. To achieve this goal, two groups of participants took part in the study. They consisted of 30 teachers teaching this book in Baghmalek in Khuzestan province and 70 students studying in the first grade high school in the city mentioned. The quantitative data were collected through two questionnaires. The questionnaires were designed to evaluate the book in terms of seven criteria namely, practical considerations, layout and design, activities, skills, language type, subject and content and cultural considerations. The findings showed that teachers and students were interested in the book in all criteria except cultural considerations. The results also showed no significant difference between Iranian teachers' and students' perceptions towards the book. It can be concluded that the book needs to be modified to include some aspects of cultural values to open a window into learning about the target language culture.

The purpose of the present study was two-fold: (a) First, it examined fairness of Special English Test (SET) of Iranian National University Entrance Exam (INUEE) by analyzing Differential Item Functioning (DIF) with reading comprehension section of this test (b) second, it explored test takers’ attitudes towards possible sources of unfairness and DIF. In the quantitative part of the study the data from 10000 test takers (6820 females and 3180 males) were analyzed for gender DIF using Mantel-Haenszel (MH) technique. It was revealed that only 6 items in the reading comprehension skill showed DIF. Further analysis manifested that the effect size of DIF for all six items were category A or negligible. Moreover, qualitative interview results indicated that learners generally considered the test a fair one while some potential sources of bias such as topic familiarity, multiple-choice format of the test, topic interest, passage length, and complex structure of test items were mentioned.

This study investigated the relationship between Iranian high school students’ Universal Grammar knowledge and their performance on such standardized general English proficiency tests as PET and FCE internationally administered by Cambridge University. To this end, 108 students were randomly chosen from some high schools located in Malayer from Hamedan. Since this study was correlational in nature, and descriptive and hypothesis-testing by definition, the research participants were given no treatment. Three tests were administered to them instead. To measure UG knowledge, a researcher-made UG test was given to all participants. This test which was made both reliable and valid included pied-piping and preposition stranding principle, binding principle, pro-drop parameter, that-trace effect, projection principle, resumptive pronoun and subjacency principle. To assess the participants’ general English proficiency, PET and FCE tests were run. All participants took the three tests consecutively at two-week intervals after they were given clear and detailed instructions. The findings were manifold. Firstly, there was a significant relationship between UG knowledge and performance on the proficiency tests. Secondly, there existed no significant difference between the proficiency tests as far as the UG test was concerned. Finally, the UG test scores were, through the Cubic regression model, proved to predict the scores gained on both proficiency tests. Most importantly, this study led to some suggestions regarding the learner variables and the under-explored issue of integration of generative SLA and language testing, more specifically standardized general English proficiency tests.

This study investigated the receptive and productive vocabulary command of learners based on their willingness to communicate (WTC) and critical thinking skill. The study also aimed to compare gifted and non-gifted learners in terms of the above-mentioned variables. To this end, 112 gifted and non-gifted Iranian EFL learners were picked out and given four instruments (WTC questionnaire, critical thinking skill test, receptive, and productive vocabulary tests). Having analyzed data through two-way ANOVA and independent samples t-tests, the study revealed that, first, no significant difference was found between high and low WTC learners and also high and low critical thinkers in their receptive lexical command; and second, high and low WTC learners, high and low critical thinkers, and also gifted and non-gifted learners showed significant differences in their productive lexical command. Thus, while for receptive vocabulary knowledge, giftedness is a more influential factor than WTC and critical thinking, for productive vocabulary knowledge, WTC, critical thinking, and giftedness are all influential. The pertinent theoretical and practical implications of the study will also be explicated.

The most effective means of directing attention to an article in the academic community is to publish it in credential journals, however, writing in English can be challenging for novice writers especially non-native speakers (NNS) of English. Thus, despite the ample research in some fields, there is a great need for studies comparing the rhetorical features together with move structure of sections of Research Articles (RA) written by native scholars with non-native (NN) scholars’ RAs to provide NN writers with academic writing patterns beside procedures needed for publishing in the field of Business Management. To this end, Hyland’s (2000) five-move model was employed for identifying rhetorical moves along with a “bottom-up” approach for realizing linguistic signals in the Abstract, Introduction and Conclusion sections of thirty articles from international and national journals. The study revealed correspondence of most international articles to Hyland’s move model, a tendency for writing informative Abstracts was apparent with the presence of all the moves in Introduction and Conclusion sections. Analysis of linguistic aspects of articles illustrated a striking difference in the use of language features between native and NN scholars. The findings of this study have some implications for people involved in genre analysis as well as teaching academic writing and material design.

This paper reports on the findings of a research aimed at exploring the professional identity (PI) of English as Foreign Language (EFL) teacher in Iran. The research further examined the extent to which the identified PI factors affect their teaching quality. The authors argue that earlier classification of different factors of professional identity of EFL teachers is arbitrary and may only be valid by definition. The possible grouping of these factors is also examined to identify what clusters of factors have relative importance in EFL teacher's professional identity and how these clusters may contribute to the quality of teaching. Sample participants contributed in semi-structured interviews and subsequently based on the thematic analysis of the interviews a questionnaire was developed and completed by a total of 143 EFL instructors and students. Factor Analysis of data identified four distinct clusters accounted for a total of nineteen variables presenting the PI profile of EFL teacher in which Personal Characteristics (PC) emerged as the most important cluster. Consequently, five clusters identified to have a considerable effect on teaching quality, Pedagogical knowledge (PK) found to be the most influential cluster. These findings may well serve as a valuable pedagogical resource for EFL teachers and policy makers to help improve teaching quality, educational processes, and curriculum design.

: This study aims to apply active learning in a foreign language context to improve L2 learners’ listening comprehension. Participants in this attempt were 56 EFL learners between 13 and 15 years old. To amass the required data, learners went through a ten-week treatment, in which participants in the experimental group received computer-mediated active learning intervention and those in the control group had computer-mediated listening activities in traditional lecture-based format. Since the focus of this study is on listening comprehension, tasks were designed in such a way so as to teach the basic tenets of listening including: a) reflective listening to comprehend meaning and content, b) reflective listening to clarify feelings, and c) listening to nonverbal cues. The aim was to find the possible effects of such intervention on learners’ listening comprehension. Scores on final exams and an attitude interview were compared between the two groups. Results of independent samples t-tests revealed that, as opposed to students in the control group, students in the experimental group performed significantly better and had much more positive attitudes toward the course. It was found that the proposed intervention is beneficial for English-language learners by reducing their anxiety in listening tasks and enhancing their motivation to take part in classroom activities and to do independent test tasks as their homework

Multiple conceptualizations of the interrelation between assessment and learning yield three notions of assessment: assessment of learning, assessment for learning, and assessment as learning. This paper aims at uncovering roles and obstacles of assessment for learning and assessment as learning in English language classrooms in Hong Kong. Grounded upon the theory of constructivism and the notion of learner autonomy, assessment for learning and assessment as learning play vital roles in supporting students’ learning and nurturing autonomous learners in English language classrooms in Hong Kong, respectively. In particular, assessment for learning provides students with achievement targets prior to assessments, communicates assessment results with students by means of descriptive feedback, and guides teachers’ future lesson planning whilst assessment as learning equips students with abilities to set personal learning goals, monitor their own learning process, and conduct self-assessment in the course of learning. For all their desirability and perceived pedagogical efficacy, seldom are these two assessment practices operationalized in the implemented curriculum in English language classrooms, where assessment of learning prevails; such actualities can largely be attributable to local teachers’ lack of motivation to modify their existing assessment practices out of their conservative conceptualization of assessments, low metacognitive awareness as well as level of English proficiency of local students, and large class sizes in local classrooms, which are construed as local contextual factors hindering implementation of the two assessment practices. The aforementioned obstacles ought to be overcome so that the two assessment practices can be promoted and implemented in local English classrooms in distinct year levels for the sake of students’ language learning.