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Since teachers’ perceptions of work engagement can strongly shape their engagement level, it is imperative to explore how teachers perceive this construct and its associated dimensions. With this in mind, some researchers have evaluated teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards this notion.  Notwithstanding this, to the authors’ knowledge, no study has examined language teachers’ viewpoints on this variable and its significance in online EFL classes. To bridge these gaps, this phenomenological study explored Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions and experiences of work engagement and its value in online English courses. To this aim, using the purposive sampling strategy, a total of 21 EFL teachers were chosen from different state, private, and non-profit universities in Iran. To obtain the required data, all participants were invited to complete an open-ended questionnaire. To reach more comprehensive data, from among the 21 participants, nine willingly took part in a 20-minute interview session. Results obtained from content analysis revealed that Iranian EFL teachers considered work engagement as a complex variable with four related dimensions of emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social engagement. The results also indicated that Iranian teachers perceived work engagement as an important professional behavior that results in increased academic achievements, professional advancement, improved teaching quality, and strong teacher-student rapport. Hence, education leaders and teacher educators should support Iranian EFL teachers in enhancing work engagement dimensions to improve professional growth and teaching quality.

The present study, adopting a sequential mixed-methods design, chiefly aimed to determine the strongest predictors of EFL learners’ involvement in the components of motivational self-regulatory strategies (MSRSs). In so doing, 154 English-major university students joined in the quantitative phase, and a pool of seven students was selected to participate in the qualitative phase of the study. A number of validated instruments were utilized to gather the relevant data. The Pearson moment-to-moment correlation, SEM, multiple regression, and a semi-structured interview method were used to analyze the data. The results showed a positive relationship between the components of MSRSs and involvement in writing skills. Among MSRSs components, performance self-talk, mastery self-talk, and environmental control made significant contributions to the prediction of involvement in writing skills. More specifically, the strongest predictor of involvement in writing skills in MSRSs components was performance self-talk. Following the inter-coder reliability, the responses elicited from the interviews regarding EFL learners’ opinions about the role of MSRSs in increasing their involvement in writing skills delineated eight themes, including quiet talk, consistent working, interest, coping with distractions, class environment, motivating peers, regulating emotions, and teachers’ help. In the end, the interplay between MSRSs components and involvement factors was discussed and several practical implications were proposed.

Although there is an increasing amount of research examining the efficacy of Witten Corrective Feedback (WCF) in enhancing the grammatical accuracy of EFL learners, only a few studies have explored the perspectives of EFL teachers regarding Formulaic-oriented Witten Corrective Feedback (FWCF) in EFL settings. Using a mixed-method approach, this interpretive exploratory study sought to understand the attitudes of Iranian EFL teachers toward FWCF. The analyses were based on quantitative data from a 13-item anonymous bespoke online survey, qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, and an open-ended question at the end of the survey. EFL teachers (n =137) responded to the online survey, and 7 participants participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that female teachers' favorable opinions about the effectiveness of WCF for improving EFL learners' writing performance resulted from their belief that the learners' capacity to use more formal and courteous language in their writing assignments was positively impacted by using these formulaic sequences. Moreover, the findings demonstrated that EFL teachers preferred direct WCF methods over indirect tactics. The most essential component that affected teachers' practices in the classroom was training designed to change their perspective of the valuelessness of WCF. The teachers' lack of satisfactory understanding of formulaic sequences stemmed from their lack of information. In addition, teachers' hesitancy to use them in the lower proficiency levels emanated from their misconceptions of their uselessness in the language learners' writing tasks.

While there is a growing interest in poetry writing, it is important to explore students' experiences of writing poetry related to their meaningful lived experiences in an English as a Foreign Language setting. The study aims to investigate students' perceptions, emotions, and desires toward the activity of autobiographical poetry writing. Valid responses were obtained from 143 EFL students through a Qualtrics online survey, which examined their experiences in composing autobiographical poetry and its impact on their perceptions, emotions, and desire to learn poetry. The participants came from ten universities across various regions in Indonesia. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis revealed that participants perceive writing autobiographical poetry to be a challenging experience due to technical language and poetic style. They also demonstrated a range of emotions, notably fear and anxiety, despite believing that the activity is beneficial. Although most of them experienced many challenges in autobiographical poetry writing, they expressed a desire to continue learning how to write poetry in the future. Participants were able to express their personal experiences in meaningful ways through their poems despite their anxiety about poetry writing. Hence, this study can serve as a stepping stone toward integrating poetry into Indonesian EFL curricula as a form of meaningful literacy

Reviewing related literature shows deviation from Searle’s felicity conditions has not been given attention. The present paper aims to investigate pragmatic deviation from Searle’s (1969) felicity conditions of illocutionary speech acts in the previous president of the US, Donald Trump’s political language. A qualitative method is used to gather and examine the data. The instrument consists of three oral documents which are chosen purposefully: (1) Trump’s discourse to a group of his supporters in Illinois state, (2) Trump’s meeting with Broadcasters MacCallum and Baier on Fox News Channel, and (3) Trump’s interview with Broadcaster Cooper on CNN Channel. The paper uses a discourse analysis method to study these documents. Findings reveal that Searle’s conditions (propositional content, preparatory, sincerity, essential) are deviated from in Trump’s political speeches: (1) Representative acts by making false claims without providing any evidence, (2) commissive acts by committing himself to do a future action, but Trump fails to fulfill it, (3) directive acts by ordering Joe Biden’s administration to prevent immigrants from entering the US, but Trump’s order cannot be done, (4) expressive acts by jokingly apologizing to his wife because he does not do anything wrong that pushes him to make an apology to her and thus has no real intention to do this act, and (5) declarative acts by declaring they are going to end Pelosi’s career politically, but she is not done.  It is also found that deviation from these conditions happens as a means of persuading, influencing, threatening, mocking, and attacking others.

This study takes a critical look at the purposive manipulation of discourse and rhetoric by the former Iranian President — Hassan Rouhani — when announcing the lockdown of holy sites during the COVID-19 crisis. A discourse analysis with a qualitative design was applied to study the political dimension of the discourse. This study is framed within the domain of systemic functional linguistics mood systems and the classical Aristotelian rhetoric trio — logos, ethos, and pathos. The results revealed that Rouhani mainly used the declarative mood in his speeches which performed three main functions: statements of opinion, statements of fact, and indirect directives. From a rhetorical perspective, Rouhani applied ethos considerably more than pathos and logos as a way to increase the credibility of his words while persuading the audience. Moreover, the researchers noticed that the former president employed multiple strategies to build pathos and ethos with the audience. These findings can suggest and encourage novel future research directions.  

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 research investigated the effects of applying standardized grading procedures and tailored constructive feedback on the development of students' productive skills, with a specific focus on writing and speaking abilities in the Deanship of Preparatory Year students at the University of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal, Saudi Arabia. The study introduced two programs: a writing portfolio program and a speaking remedial program. These programs aimed to assess students' strengths and weaknesses in these skills before offering individualized feedback from teachers between two assessment points. Pre- and post-program scores were compared, and teachers' reflections were gathered. The results demonstrate that students experienced substantial improvements in their scores, with progress ranging from 29% to 66% following the implementation of these initiatives. Additionally, the study revealed that teachers also benefited from these programs, leading to a reevaluation of the quality and quantity of their feedback and an adjustment in their teaching approaches to better support their students. These findings underscore the significance of providing constructive feedback in higher education institutions. They highlight the necessity of implementing feedback systematically and methodically to cater to the needs of struggling students, enhance the learning experiences of high-achieving students, and professionalize the processes of learning, assessment, and student support.

Although teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes (ESAP) is equivalent to teaching reading comprehension, it seems that Iranian graduated students having studied ESAP at BSc and MSc levels are not efficient readers and they also have a lot of problems in obtaining information from English materials related to their field of study via translation. Because mental translation is inevitable while reading English texts, the question is how to make the best use of this spontaneous strategy to promote reading comprehension. Sixty-six students majoring in midwifery, nursing and surgical technology at MSc level were selected based on convenience sampling. They were classified as lower-intermediate students by a standard placement test. Their translation practices and reading activities were investigated in an attempt to discover the strategies most frequently used by such learners. Through content analysis of these documented activities and interviews with the learners and observation of ESP classes, the common problems in reading comprehension as well as translation processes were identified. These problems originated from mental translation. These problems were addressed by using strategy-based instruction. The findings implies how to expliot mental translation as an efficient strategy through equipping learners with the prerequisite reading comprehension and translation skills and strategies.

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.

The global education landscape is witnessing a rise in teacher accountability, where educators bear a heightened responsibility for demonstrably achieving student learning outcomes. In response, teachers are engaged in a continuous quest to enhance their pedagogical effectiveness, seeking strategies and methodologies to optimize their classroom practice. The present study investigates the relationship between Continuous Professional Development (CPD) practices and teacher success in the Iranian context. A sample of 364 EFL teachers from junior and senior high schools self-reported on their CPD engagement, while 422 of their students provided their perceptions of teacher success. Findings revealed the substantial potential of CPD to elevate teacher success through interconnected processes of knowledge updating, reflective practice, collaborative learning, and refined decision-making skills. Notably, updating knowledge strongly influenced both collaboration and reflection, while reflection moderately stimulated collaboration, and collaboration exerted a robust influence on effective decision-making. However, the study unexpectedly uncovered a negative direct association between teacher decision-making and professional success within the specific Iranian context. Additionally, no significant gender-based differences in teacher success were observed. The negative association between teacher decision-making and professional success in the Iranian context warrants further investigation. This suggests that factors specific to the Iranian educational system or cultural context might influence the relationship between these two variables. Understanding these factors is crucial for developing contextually relevant CPD programs.