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Positive Language Education (PLE) has emerged as a significant area of focus within foreign language education, emphasizing the incorporation of well-being and positive psychological principles into the language learning process to foster a more holistic and supportive educational environment. Despite the growing scholarly interest in this approach, the application of Positive Psychology (PP) themes within language curricula, particularly in non-Western educational contexts, remains underexplored. In this qualitative study, the researchers explored the potential benefits of embedding PP content within a General English course. Drawing on established well-being themes from the literature—such as gratitude, resilience, emotion regulation, altruism, creativity, and life’s meaning—the researchers designed and implemented a series of activities and materials incorporating multimodal resources, including texts, audio recordings, and video clips across diverse genres (e.g., fiction and non-fiction). The study was conducted with a cohort of 85 Iranian female undergraduate students enrolled  in a General English course at a state university in Tehran., Iran Data were collected over the course of a semester through a combination of methods: classroom observations, analysis of student-generated materials, and in-depth semi-structured interviews with a selected number of participants. Thematic analysis of the collected data revealed that the integration of well-being themes and activities fostered the development of both linguistic and non-linguistic competencies, including enhanced positive self-expression, introspective self-reflection, well-being literacy, and the cultivation of a foreign language growth mindset. The findings highlight the multidimensional benefits of integrating PP principles into foreign language education.

Pragmatic comprehension is a central albeit under-researched dimension of pragmatic competence in which most EFL learners suffer from serious deficiencies; therefore, the current study was launched to compare the effects of the Non-Computer Mediated Instruction (NCMI) with Computer-Mediated Instruction (CMI), Multiuser Virtual Environments (MUVEs), and Mobile Augmented Reality Games (MARGs) on Iranian EFL learners’ comprehension of English speech-acts. Moreover, this study attempted to cross-compare the effects of the implicit, explicit, and balanced combination of explicit and implicit instruction and synchronous vs. asynchronous CMI impacts on learners' speech-act pragmatic comprehension. Seven equal size groups of 20 upper-intermediate EFL learners took part in this study. Three NCMI groups (implicit, explicit, and balanced explicit-implicit), two synchronous and asynchronous CMI groups (SCMI & ACMI), one MUVE group, and a MARG group were taught based on their assigned 10 two-hour sessions treatments. A validated listening pragmatic comprehension test was used as a pretest and post-test. Data analysis using one-way ANCOVA showed that the utilised MUVE (OpenSim) was more effective than other types of treatments on learners’ pragmatic comprehension development, and both CMI and NMCI were also better than the used MARGs (Batman Bat-Tech Edition and Harry Potter-Wizards Unite). Moreover, those explicit and balanced explicit-implicit interventions were significantly better than the implicit instruction. Finally, the SCMI could enhance L2 pragmatic comprehension significantly better than the ACMI. These findings pedagogically imply the use of MUVEs, SCMI, and balanced explicit-implicit interventions can strengthen L2speech-act pragmatic comprehension.

Foreign language vocabulary learning is challenging and requires using an appropriate method. To this end, this study aimed to investigate the effect of listening and viewing BBC News lessons as a teaching and learning tool on high school EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. This quasi-experimental research was carried out in the twelfth grade of Shohada high school in Kalybar city in East-Azarbijan, Iran. Forty two high school EFL learners were chosen as participants from two intact classes. The homogeneity of the classes was checked through a KET test. Then, they were randomly assigned into the experimental (n=19) and control (n=23) groups. Target words were selected from the eight BBC News lessons for both groups. The unfamiliarity of these words to the learners was found through the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale. The experimental group experienced vocabulary learning through watching and listening to the BBC News lessons; while, the control group received the same target words through the traditional method. A vocabulary-based post-test was administrated after the treatment. The result of Independent-Samples t-test on the post-test scores of both groups revealed the significant outperformance of the experimental group compared to the control group. Practical implications are presented to teachers, researchers, and learners.

Many difficulties learners experience during language learning interfere with their performance, and those associated with their psychology play an integral role in this process. Underpinned by Bandura’s social cognitive theory and Dweck’s implicit theory of intelligence, this article explored how language mindsets influenced female EFL learners’ cognitive engagement through the mediation of risk-taking. Following a quantitative design and drawing on stratified sampling, the researchers ran the Power Analysis Calculator and selected 384 language learners from six institutes of Tabriz, Iran. The data were collected by three questionnaires, including the Language Mindset Inventory of Lou and Noels (2017), University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI) designed by Maroco et al., (2016), and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) of Patton, Stanford and Barratt (1995). The PLS-SEM analysis showed that learners’ growth mindsets were directly related to cognitive engagement. Furthermore, risk-taking significantly mediated this relationship. This finding provides some implications for school psychology to develop in students self-theories that highlight growth and competence instead of limitation and inactivity.

Fluent reading is a multifaceted ability that integrates several linguistic and non-linguistic processes. Accordingly, recognizing the critical components of fluent reading is highly significant in planning and implementing effective reading programs. This study was undertaken to evaluate the predictive power of syntactic knowledge, vocabulary breadth, and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies in the reading fluency of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, a sample of 149 Iranian EFL language learners took the Vocabulary Levels Test, Survey of Reading Strategies Questionnaire (SORS), a TOEFL PBT, and a fluency test. The linear regression results indicated that vocabulary breadth was the first predictor of readers' performance on reading fluency, followed by metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. At the same time, syntactic knowledge was not entered into the regression model. Moreover, the findings confirmed the contribution of both linguistic and non-linguistic processes to reading fluency. Having a clear picture of fluency components can be advantageous to teaching reading comprehension and test score predictability.

The purpose of this research is to investigate Iranian English teachers’ perception of teaching reading comprehension and reading comprehension strategies and their use which can be influenced by individual factors such as gender and teachers’ teaching experience. To serve this purpose, 78 EFL teachers were selected in a stratified manner from West and East Azerbaijan’s language institutes and schools in the second semester of the academic year 2021. This sample included 54 females (=22 experienced, 17 developing, and 15 novices) and 24 males (=1 highly experienced, 6 developing, and 7 novice). To collect the research data, the first three sections of a five-point Likert scale standardized questionnaire was employed to tap teachers’ perception of reading comprehension and the importance of reading strategies. The obtained data were analyzed through Two-Way between Groups Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to investigate the significant main and interaction effects of teachers’ gender and their teaching experience on their perception of teaching reading comprehension and reading strategies. The results showed that the gender and teaching experience had no significant main or interaction effect on their understanding of the way reading comprehension should be taught or the paramount of reading comprehension strategies. Moreover, the findings unraveled some uncertainties in   teachers’ perceptions of reading comprehension skills and misconceptions regarding the significance of reading comprehension strategies. The findings are pedagogical significant and will be discussed in length.