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Classroom justice, an under-investigated topic in language education, has been brought under focus in this study. Employing a qualitative research design, we took conceptual metaphor as both the theoretical framework and data analysis tool. Accordingly, 51 Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers were selected via snowball sampling to express their beliefs about (in)justice by creating a metaphor/simile. The aim was to discover EFL teachers’ conceptualization of metaphors of classroom (in)justice. The participants took a metaphor completion task (e.g., classroom justice is like …… because ……). Data analysis involved gathering, inductively coding, and classifying linguistic metaphors. Three elements were identified for each response, namely, the topic, vehicle, and ground. Then, conceptual categories were formed based on thematically grouping vehicles. Findings indicated reflection of the multidimensional conceptualization of classroom justice based on the organizational justice theory in many created metaphors; reference to emotional, psychological, and learning consequences of (in)justice in many other metaphors; and many pairs of opposite metaphors. These findings have implications for teacher education programs to employ metaphor as a useful tool to promote teachers’ reflection about classroom (in)justice; raise awareness of second/foreign language (L2) teachers about both issues of justice and injustice and their potential consequences for students’ wellbeing and educational outcomes; and train teachers for practical strategies of implementing justice principles in the instructional context as a way to address their professional development needs for becoming a quality L2 teacher and acting fairly in classroom. 

Existential positive psychology (EPP) views hardship and tension as inseparable from life. However, majority of the interpretations in language teaching context pertain to the bivariate view of well-being and ill-being, advocating that positivity and negativity are entirely distinct factors. Furthermore, most studies on teachers' psycho-emotional variables are theoretical, creating an urgent need for practical, action-based solutions. Addressing these gaps, researchers utilized an EPP perspective and investigated the effectiveness of a 14-day gratitude-based program on the fluctuations of 42 Iranian EFL teachers' existential gratitude, well-being, and ill-being through the Repeated Measures design. For 14 days, respondents practiced expressing gratitude to themselves, their learners, and others. At the end of each day, they filled out three questionnaires. The results of Repeated Measures ANOVA revealed that gratitude interventions could play a significant role in enhancing teachers’ well-being by helping them control ill-being and be grateful for their lives. Thus, the study evidenced the efficacy of gratitude, as a practical means of tending to teachers’ mental health. The study also contributed to EPP and L2 teaching by profiling the dialectical and co-valence relationship between teachers’ well-being and ill-being. Several theoretical and pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies were also discussed.

Understanding and producing relative clauses (RCs) presents significant challenges for second language learners, particularly when L1 and L2 relativization strategies differ. This study investigated the effect of Persian (L1) on resumptive pronoun (RP) usage in English RCs by Iranian EFL learners (N = 90 English Literature and Translation Studies majors), examining the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy Hypothesis (NPAHH). The study had two primary objectives. First, we hypothesized that lower-proficiency learners would demonstrate more negative transfer. Participants were categorized into high- and low-proficiency groups using the Oxford Placement Test. Results revealed significant between-group performance differences, though error patterns based on the RC head's grammatical function were similar across groups. Both groups showed highest accuracy for object-function RCs, suggesting strong L1 influence. Second, testing the NPAHH revealed that learners (regardless of proficiency) exhibited lowest error rates for object-position RCs, followed by subject, complement, and genitive positions. This pattern partially aligns with but does not exactly match the NPAHH's predicted difficulty hierarchy (subject > object > complement > genitive). The findings highlight how L1 transfer interacts with universal accessibility constraints in RC acquisition.

This study aims to investigate how humorous language and content are rendered in audiovisual translation. Focusing on the animated film Minions , the study compares two Persian dubbed versions produced by Kaszadeh (2015) and Khajavi (2015). The entire film was analyzed, and humorous instances were identified and compared with their Persian equivalents to examine the translation strategies employed. The findings reveal notable differences between the two translations. Kaszadeh predominantly relies on free translation, while Khajavi more frequently employs cultural equivalence. Furthermore, Khajavi’s version demonstrates a higher degree of fluency, suggesting a more effective transfer of cultural nuances and contextual references into Persian. These results underscore the impact of translation strategy choice on the naturalness and reception of humor in dubbed animated films.

This research investigates how 185 Iranian EFL teachers re-shaped their professional identity by taking part in professional development (PD) models: Action research (AR) and Teacher Support Groups (TSGs). We invited the participants from public high schools and gathered the Quantitative data using the English Language Teacher Professional Identity Inventory that was conducted before and after the interventions. These data were analyzed employing an Independent Samples t -test and repeated-measure ANOVA. We collected the qualitative data through semi-structured interviews and reflective journals, which were analyzed by thematic analysis. Quantitative results revealed notable improvements in professional identity for both groups; the AR group showed a greater increase in pedagogical and personal aspects. Qualitative findings revealed four underlying themes: reflective practice and professional growth, autonomy and agency in teaching, emotional support and community, and professional development and learning approaches. Results indicated that reflection and autonomy were greater for AR, while emotional support and shared learning played a pivotal role for the support group. In the end, an exhaustive view of identity development was offered through presenting how AR improved personal growth, while the support group enhanced emotional flexibility and mutual learning. This study highlighted the different effects of each PD model on teacher identity. 

Despite some research on identity processing styles, there is a significant gap on identity processing styles in Iraqi EFL learners, a population with distinct sociocultural and educational backgrounds. This study aimed to address this gap by developing a model of identity processing styles tailored to Iraqi EFL learners. The participants were 30 conveniently selected Iraqi EFL learners, comprising 10 males and 20 females, who were already passing their General English course in different universities of Iraq. A semi-structured interview was conducted to collect the data about (the components of) identity processing styles. Utilizing a grounded theory approach, the gathered qualitative interview data was subjected to manual thematic analysis. According to the findings, the following major components were identified for identity processing styles from Iraqi EFL learners' viewpoints: Diffuse-Avoidant Style, Normative Style, and Informational Style, each consisting of some sub-components. The component Diffuse-Avoidant Style consisted of two sub-components including Positive Thinking and Negative Thinking. The sub-components of the component Normative Style were Religious Thinking, Personal Norms Thinking, and Social Norms Thinking. Finally, the component Informational Style was associated with two sub-components including Problem-Based Thinking and Reason-Based Thinking. The findings have some implications for Iraqi EFL teachers, learners, curriculum planners and teacher educators.

Instructing interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) is essential for effective second language communication. The present study set out to investigate the impact of Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ meta-pragmatic awareness on their classroom practices and developing strategies in teaching pragmatics. To do so, a qualitative study was designed in which 30 EFL teachers selected through convenience sampling from different districts of Tehran City took part. The participants’ classes were observed through an observation checklist three times during the semester, and live notes were taken in the classroom in terms of their teaching ILP practices and teaching strategy development both before and after an in-service meta-pragmatics training course awareness. The results of the observation data analysis showed the success of the in-service training course of meta-pragmatics. Furthermore, adopting an inductive approach in teaching pragmatics, correcting errors either after a delay or on the spot, and comparing L2 and L1 pragmatic features were among the most frequently used strategies teachers developed after being trained with respect to meta-pragmatics. The study results have some implications for foreign language teacher trainers, EFL teachers, and EFL learners.

Extensive research exists on the effects of task design features on measuring L2 learners’ implicit and explicit knowledge. However, the role of structure difficulty has received limited attention. Additionally, the use of fine-grained measures of implicit knowledge has remained underexplored. To address these gaps, utilizing objective criteria to select easy (plural -s) and difficult (third-person -s) structures, a total of 256 experimental items, equally divided into grammatical and ungrammatical, as well as easy and difficult structures, were developed and administered to 32 advanced L2 learners. A word monitoring task (WMT) assessed their implicit knowledge through reaction time (RT) and grammaticality sensitivity index (GSI), while a timed grammaticality judgment test (TGJT) measured their automatized explicit knowledge through accuracy scores. The WMT results showed longer RTs for ungrammatical items and larger GSI for the plural -s items, revealing participants’ more implicit knowledge of the easy structure. The results of the TGJT revealed that L2 learners judged grammatical items more accurately than ungrammatical ones and the plural -s items more accurately than third-person -s ones, showing participants’ more automatized explicit knowledge of the easy and grammatical structures. The findings highlight the influence of grammaticality and structure difficulty on knowledge retrieval and suggest that advanced L2 learners exhibit stronger implicit and automatized explicit knowledge of the easy structure. These findings underscore the need for tailored instructional approaches to address difficult structures and emphasize the importance of using real-time psycholinguistic measures to examine L2 learners’ implicit knowledge.

Because of the significance of teachers’ individual and psychological qualities in affecting their performance, an increasing number of studies have been conducted to probe the relationships among teacher constructs in influencing their professional development. In an attempt to clarify the association among teacher constructs, the current study examined a structural model hypothesizing the predictive role of teachers’ resilience and psychological well-being in promoting their professional development using 300 Iranian English language teachers as a sample. In doing so, the validated scales of the three mentioned constructs were administered to gather data and Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to evaluate the hypothesized model of the variables. The findings indicated that both resilience and psychological well-being significantly predicted professional development for the whole sample. However, psychological well-being appeared to be a stronger predictor of professional development in comparison with resilience. The results are discussed, and the pedagogical implications are proposed for teacher education programs.

Due to the fact that job satisfaction plays a crucial role in teacher attrition, numerous scholars have investigated the predictive variables for occupational well-being in educational contexts. However, this research area has been relatively ignored in higher education contexts. To fill this lacuna, this research employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design to examine the predictive roles of teacher mindfulness and self-efficacy in impacting the job satisfaction of English instructors in various Iranian universities. In the quantitative phase, data from 226 EFL instructors were analyzed following a rigorous screening of an initial pool of 234 participants who completed measures of the focal constructs. Structural equation modeling (SEM) confirmed that teacher mindfulness and self-efficacy significantly predicted job satisfaction, with self-efficacy emerging as the strongest predictor. Furthermore, mindfulness exerted a significant indirect effect on satisfaction through the mediation of self-efficacy. In the subsequent qualitative phase, follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive subsample of 12 instructors to clarify the mechanisms underlying these statistical paths. Thematic analysis revealed that mindfulness facilitates a "psychological pause" through affective detachment, while self-efficacy provides the pedagogical agency necessary to maintain value-action congruence despite institutional stressors. These results suggest that mindfulness acts as a cognitive precursor that enhances pedagogical presence and professional resilience. The implications for developing targeted onboarding strategies and mindfulness-based interventions in higher education are discussed.