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This research attempts to investigate the effect of the English language test of the University Entrance Examination (UEE) in predicting the academic achievement of Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this goal, Isfahan, Tabriz, Mashhad, Shiraz and AllamehTabatabaeiUniversities were randomly selected. Then, the scores of the English majors admitted to those universities were collected from the aforementioned universities. Subsequently, the scores of special courses were included and the scores of the general ones such as theology, Ethics, etc. were excluded. Afterwards, the English scores of the learners were obtained from the Educational Testing Measurement (ETM) to investigate the relationship between the set of scores from the ETM and their achievements at the aforementioned universities. The results showed significant relationships between the UEE scores and the academic achievement in all fields of the study when quota (Q) six was included. However, in the same fields of study when Q six was excluded, the observed correlation was rather low except for the scores of the English majors in ShirazUniversity. It was also discovered that the correlation observed between the two sets of scores of the English majors in MashhadUniversity did not reveal significant relationships when Q six was excluded.

Objective: Despite the renewed interest in individual differences in second language acquisition (SLA), there is still limited research on the interconnections among regulatory focus (promotion and prevention), L2 grit (Consisting of perseverance of effort and consistency of interests), and emotions. Methods: A total of 85 undergraduate English majors (54 women, mean age = 20 years) from two comprehensive universities in Iran took part in the research. In order to assess the participants' promotion and prevention focuses, L2 grit, and English writing enjoyment, three questionnaires were used. The data collected was analyzed using IBM SPSS (26.0) software. Results: The correlational analysis revealed that regulatory focus, L2 grit, and L2 writing enjoyment are interconnected. Specifically, promotion focus positively correlated with L2 writing enjoyment and L2 grit. Additionally, L2 grit (Perseverance of Effort) showed a meaningful connection with L2 writing enjoyment. On the other hand, prevention focus demonstrated significant negative correlations with L2 writing enjoyment and L2 grit. Lastly, there was no significant relationship found between L2 Grit (consistency of interest) and L2 Writing Enjoyment. Conclusions: The study's results demonstrate the crucial findings regarding the interplay between different dimensions of grit, emotion and personal best goals.

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 paper explores the ways in which the transfer of assumptions from first language (L1) writing can help the process of writing in second language (L2). In learning second language writing skills, learners have two primary sources from which they construct a second language system: knowledge and skills from first language and input from second language. To investigate the relative impact of first language literacy skills on second language writing ability, 60 EFL students from Tabriz Islamic Azad University were chosen as participants of this study, based on their language proficiency scores. The subjects were given two topics to write about: the experimental group subjects were asked to write in Persian and then translate their writing into English. The control group wrote in English. The results obtained in this study indicate that the content and vocabulary components of the compositions were mostly affected by the use of first language.

Grammatical Metaphor (GM) is one of the fresh language phenomena introduced by Halliday (1985) in the framework of functional grammar. Thompson (2004) states that the salient source of GM would be ‘Nominalization’ where a noun form attempts to represent a verb form or in other words, a verb form with its different process is represented in a noun form. He continues that any wording is ought to be either metaphorical or congruent wording. In this study the story of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was explored in search of GMs deployed throughout the first two chapters. This study tended to identify the instances of nominalization types of GM in the first two chapters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and offer the congruent wording. As the next step, the congruent wordings were compared with metaphorical wording in order to find out the lexical density of each wording. The lexical density was obtained by Concordance software. The result of study illustrated , in a very crystal-clear way, the advantage of GM in adult writing which is stated to be one of the noticeable points regarding GM by Halliday (1985).The result obtained statistically revealed that the deployment of GM increases the lexical density, which again was claimed by Halliday (2004) as one of the other salient points about GM. Based on the findings of this study, some implications can be drawn for academic writing and reading as well as for teachers involved in writing and reading pedagogy.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of mobile-assisted learning-oriented assessment (LOA) on the writing ability of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. A total of 60 intermediate Iranian EFL learners were selected through convenience sampling and divided randomly into two groups: control and experimental. Both groups completed pretests and posttests, and the experimental group received nine 90-minute sessions focused on teaching descriptive essay writing using LOA syllabi and mobile applications related to the tasks. The control group followed a traditional writing syllabus without any LOA-related treatments. Both groups used the Adobe Connect mobile application for their online classes. Two open-ended questions were administered to the experimental group at the beginning and end of the course to measure their attitudes toward mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). The data were analyzed using a repeated-measures two-way ANOVA, revealing that mobile-assisted LOA significantly improved the EFL learners’ writing ability. The results of the two open-ended questions indicated that the learners had a positive attitude toward MALL in general but a somewhat negative attitude toward online classes. The findings have important implications for teachers, materials developers, and teacher educators.

Anxiety undoubtedly plays an influential role in the experience of foreign language learning. This affective factor has attracted lots of researchers and has been the subject pool of scholarly research worldwide. However, research on the effect of demographic variables on foreign language anxiety (FLA) and the effect of FLA on the learners’ intention to continue their English language education is still limited. Therefore, to bridge this gap, the present study intended to explore the role of gender and age in EFL learners’ FLA level. In addition, the potential effect of learners’ FLA in their decision whether to continue their English studies was tested. To this end, a sample of 295 university EFL learners completed FLA questionnaire and a demographic form. The findings showed that there was no significant correlation between the age of the learners and their FLA level. FLA differences with respect to gender did not reach the statistical significance either. However, it was found that FLA could significantly affect the learners’ willingness to continue their English language education. The findings were discussed and implications were made.

Demotivation is a relatively new topic in the field of second or foreign language acquisition which is in need of more rigorous research. In this regard, the present study was an attempt to investigate demotivating factors in learning English as a foreign language in an Iranian context. To this end, 382 Persian learners of English were selected through stratified clustering sampling procedure to participate in this mixed method study. The Data was collected through a 40-item Likert type questionnaire. The Factor analysis of the data extracted seven factors including a) inadequate facilities, b) reduced self-confidence, c) class characteristics, d) lack of purpose to study English, e) teaching methods, f) teachers and teaching styles, and g) negative attitudes toward English and the culture of English-speaking countries as demotivators. The Students’ perceptions of these seven factors were compared based on their general English proficiency levels. The Results revealed that low proficient learners perceived reduced self-confidence and negative attitudes more demotivating than their counterparts at other levels of proficiency.

A standard correction for random guessing (cfg) formula on multiple-choice and Yes/Noexaminations was examined retrospectively in the scores of the intermediate female EFL learners in an English language school. The correctionwas a weighting formula for points awarded for correct answers,incorrect answers, and unanswered questions so that the expectedvalue of the increase in test score due to guessing was zero. The researcher compared uncorrected and corrected scores on examinationsusing multiple-choice and Yes/No formats. These short-answer formats eliminatedor at least greatly reduced the potential for guessing the correctanswer. The expectation for students to improve their grade by guessingon multiple-choice and Yes/No format examinations is well known. The researcher examined a method for correcting for random guessing (cfg) " no knowledge" on multiple- choice and Yes/No vocabulary examinations by comparing application and non-application of correction for guessing (cfg) formula on scores on these examinations. It was done to determine whether the test takers really knew the correct answer, or they had resorted to a kind of guessing. This study represented a unique opportunity to compare scores from multiple-choice and Yes/No examinations in a settingin which students were given the same number of questions ineach of the two format types testing their knowledge over thesame subject matter. The results of this study indicated that the significant differences were highlighted between the subjects' scores when cfg formula was applied and when it was not.

The cultural background in language teaching has, for a number of reasons, recently moved to the foreground. Broadly speaking, there has been a shift in emphasis in course design from a pre-occupation with form to an interest in content. This article describes the results of a survey designed to elicit the views of students on what language teaching should be about. 400 students learning English in Kish-Language Institute, Kashan branch were chosen as participants of the study based on their proficiency level (Starter, Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced) in order to answer the questionnaire. Each question was designed in the form of a five point Likert Scale. The results were analysed using Binomial and MANOVA Tests. The obtained Results in this study indicate that except for Elementary level, other levels favoured bilingual/bicultural teacher. In relation to varieties of English, American English was liked most by Intermediate and Advanced students. All students had an overall positive attitude towards the native speaker pronunciation and finally the most favoured course contents were revealed to be science and social facts, students’ past experiences, English/American Literature along with culture of other countries.

Concern about the Iranian EFL learners’ dissatisfaction with their learning achievement motivated this qualitative study. While the importance of teacher feedback in English as a foreign language (EFL) and its correlation with self-directed learning (SDL) of EFL learners is recognized in the literature, there seems to be a gap specifically regarding the role of Iranian EFL teachers' productive feedback features in fostering EFL learners' SDL. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the teachers' self-reported productive feedback perception and practices in support of Iranian EFL learners’ SDL to fill in the gap. For this aim, fourteen Iranian EFL teachers were interviewed, and the data obtained from the semi-structured individual interviews were analysed through content analysis. According to the findings, the participating EFL teachers unanimously comprehended the benefits of productive feedback in the classroom in support of learners’ SDL. These benefits, emerging from the analyzed data based on teachers’ insights, may contribute to learners’ self-awareness, freedom, effective learning, and a stress-free learning environment. However, the presence of lack of time, teachers’ shortage of knowledge, and the top-down approach to the education system of Iran prevented Iranian EFL teachers from actually implementing these productive feedback features supporting learners’ SDL.

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of two multi-step oral-revision processes as feedback providing tools on Iranian EFL learners’ argumentative writing achievement. The participants taking part in this study were 45 Iranian EFL students who were randomly assigned into three groups. The participants of the groups were given three argumentative writing assignments, each assignment demanding three separate drafts. In the control group, the participants revised their essays in response to teacher's written feedback, while the participants of the two experimental groups experienced oral-revision talks with their teacher or a peer. Two sets of quantitative and qualitative data were collected: Argumentative essays written at the beginning and the end of the semester and interviews. The results of the quantitative aspect of the study revealed the significant outperformance of the two experimental groups. Moreover, the data provided through interviews revealed some differences in terms of the effectiveness of feedback between the two experimental groups. The participants of the peer-led group reported more awareness of the rhetorical structures and an ability to revise surface errors. While, the teacher-led group reported more global writing concerns like content, organization of ideas, and discourse. The obtained results point out that the mutual co-construction of participation roles and certain combinations of negotiation and scaffolding let the teacher provide a supportive conversational environment and assistance in accordance with the proficiency of learners of the teacher-led group to promote greater learner participation.

The current study aimed at investigating the relationship between life-wise syllabus- as a new type of syllabus which emerged as the result of recent developments in applied ELT and corresponding to the "education for life"- and teacher success in an EFL context. Life-wise syllabus introduced by Pishghadam in 2011 directed English teachers’ attention to give priority to life issues rather than language in class. These new concepts encourage curriculum development based on life and all of its manifestations which is the core principle of humanistic education. Then teaching should not only comprise mathematics, chemistry, or literature, but also emotions, relationships, attitudes, thinking styles, feelings, and states of mind. Due to the recent emergence of this syllabus and the dearth of research over its effectiveness, this research study was carried out to shed more light on the issue. To this end, 200 teachers- 100 from private sector and 100 from public sector- and their 1771 students were chosen as the participants of the research study from Mashhad and Ghaen cities. In this study, the teachers were given "Life-Responsive Language Teaching beliefs Questionnaire" (hereafter LRLTB), and their students were given the "Characteristics of Successful EFL Teachers Questionnaire" (hereafter CSET). The results of the correlational study indicated that the main variables and also their subscales were highly correlated. The comparison between male and female teachers regarding correlation between variables did not show any significant difference. But the comparison between private and public school teachers in terms of the relationship between the variables displayed that they were more strongly correlated for the latter.

This research aims to develop a questionnaire that measures students’ attitudes toward collaborative course design and identifies any barriers that might hinder student participation in course design. The questionnaire was developed in four phases. First, an item pool was created based on experts’ opinions, relevant literature, and the researchers’ experience. Second, the items were classified into two main sections: “attitudes” and “barriers”, with the latter further divided into five subcategories (social and cultural, educational and institutional, individual, practical, and attitudinal). The content validity of the questionnaire was assessed, with all items and subcategories achieving CVR>0.59 and CVI>0.79, thus surpassing the minimum required threshold. Third, the questionnaire was piloted with 330 students. The construct validity of the Collaborative Course Design Questionnaire (CCDQ) was confirmed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as the extraction method, along with Varimax rotation, which identified six factors explaining 71.536% of the variance in the data. Finally, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated, yielding reliability indices ranging from 0.971 to 0.627, indicating internal consistency and reliability of the items within each construct. The findings suggest that the Collaborative Course Design Questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument suitable for use with senior high school students.

This study explores the impact of supplementary blended learning on the listening comprehension skills of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. A sample of 60 male Iranian EFL learners was selected from a population of 100 learners studying English at Pardis Language Institute, Hamadan, Iran, via double-stage sampling. After being selected, participants were sorted into two groups, that is, a control group and an experimental group. In the treatment sessions, all participants listened to parts of the American English File (book 2). The participants in the control group received the usual procedure of teaching listening in the institute. In the experimental group, the students received target language input via videos and supplementary reading materials before classes so that they had sufficient exposure to the input. The listening topics were uploaded on a common social networking site, i.e., the telegram application, which was also reserved for giving teachers feedback on the students’ questions. The results of the data analysis showed that supplemental blended learning had a statistically significant effect on EFL learners’ listening comprehension. In other words, the research question was answered positively, and the corresponding null hypothesis was rejected.