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Combining Bachman’s (1990) conceptualization of content validity with Messick’s (1989) unifying model of construct validity, this study attempted to fill the gap in researching content validation in the context of a university reading achievement test by (a) examining traditional content validity evidence and (b) analyzing the test scores to either back-up or rebut the evidence and explore the construct of the underlying test structure. On a sample of 477 third-year English-majored test takers at a Central Vietnamese University (CVU), the study was conducted in the pre-test stage where the test content was compared with the test specification and the post-test stage where the test scores were processed via Rasch and CFA competing model analyses. Results showed that while content relevance was satisfactory and the test construct was to a large extent not threatened by construct-irrelevant variance, content coverage of the test remained problematic with instances of construct underrepresentation. Moreover, the study supported the one-factor model of general reading ability as the underlying structure of the reading achievement test over the correlated three sub-skill and higher-order factor models. The study bears implications for both test writers in designing and test takers in performing the L2 reading test.

This mixed-methods study sought to examine any significant impact of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' collaboration in rating speaking tests and brainstorming theoretical concepts of language assessment (LA) on their literacy, perceptions, and practices of speaking assessment. Forty-one Iranian EFL teachers selected through purposeful sampling were asked to fill out a questionnaire, including 20 components of LA, so as to measure their knowledge and perceptions of LA components. Then, 21 of the teachers volunteered to score the video-projected speaking performance of 12 international students in the Key English Test (KET) using KET speaking rating scales. Having received six in-service speaking assessment training sessions based on their collaboration, the 21 participating teachers completed the same questionnaire and scored the same videos again. An ANCOVA was used to compare the quantitative data from the questionnaire and teachers’ scoring of KET speaking tests before and after the treatment and also to investigate any significant differences between the novice and experienced Iranian EFL teachers in terms of their knowledge and perception of LA, and the assessment of KET speaking tests. Moreover, the 21 volunteered teachers were interviewed to further discover their perceptions about the in-service speaking assessment training course they attended. The findings revealed that the collaboration of the Iranian EFL teachers in rating speaking tests and brainstorming theoretical concepts of LA significantly impacted their knowledge, perceptions, and practices of LA. However, the effects were unequal and different for novice and experienced EFL teachers.

This qualitative study aims to investigate the sources of burnout from Iranian EFL teachers’ perspectives. To this end, thirty-four Iranian male and female EFL teachers participated in the semi-structured interview to comment on the burnout sources and then rank them in terms of priority. Also, one hundred teachers responded to an online open-ended questionnaire. The coding scheme revealed two external and internal nodes, five themes, and fifteen subthemes. Under the external node lay financial, organizational, and teacher training problems. The internal node involved teachers’ psycho-affective traits and personal life affairs. The results showed that external sources outweighed the internal ones. Among the external sources, teachers’ low pay, the supervisor’s maltreatment, and workload, and among the internal ones, teachers’ low problem-solving abilities, low motivation and self-efficacy held high ranks. No one attributed burnout to teachers’ gender and age, and almost all participants unanimously criticized the educational administration system of Iran for not providing teachers with the necessary means of burnout recognition and prevention. The study has implications for educational policymakers and practitioners.

La langue persane fait partie des langues dont le groupe consonantique finale de la syllabe CVCC est soumise à certaines contraintes du point de vue de la succession des sons. Le présent article se fixe, comme objectif, d’étudier les emprunts lexicaux qui, dans les groupes consonantiques en position finale, comprennent une consonne labiale non appartenant au persan contemporain mais qui y ont trouvé leur place. Pour ce faire, toutes les syllabes en CVCC ayant une consonne labiale en position de C 1 ou C 2 seront étudiées. Elles seront ensuite comparées en fonction de leur statut (lexique pur ou empreint) dans la langue. Seront ainsi étudiés la fréquence d’occurrence de chaque consonne, tous les ordres possibles de leur apparition ainsi que l’ordre de leur succession. Cette recherche s’inscrit dans le cadre des recherches descriptives et analytiques basées sur des données statistiques. Le dictionnaire Mochiri comprenant 40.000 entrées, a été utilisé comme source principale pour l’extraction des données de cette recherche. L’article est présenté dans le cadre théorique des principes de phonématique et du principe de l’ordre (de la succession) des phonèmes en fonction de leur degré de sonorité. Les résultats de cette recherche montrent que le lexique purement persan a un comportement totalement différent du lexique emprunté en ce qui concerne le type de succession dans le groupe consonantique, l’ordre de la succession sonnante et la sélection du noyau de la syllabe. En persan pur, la consonne /f/ en tant que premier élément constitutif du groupe consonantique et la consonne /m/ en tant que deuxième membre de ce groupe, sont les plus fréquemment employées, parmi les consonnes labiales.

Emotional words are assumed to have a processing advantage over neutral words due to their emotional content. Meanwhile, this advantage depends on other word features such as frequency and the characteristics of the processor and context of learning. Accordingly, the current study investigated the simultaneous impacts of L2 words’ emotional valence and frequency, and L2 user’s gender on word recognition time in a natural reading context. 43 intermediate EFL learners read 36 sentences in a coherent text for comprehension while their eye movements were recorded by eye-tracker. The findings revealed that participants processed the positive, negative, and neutral words identically based on eye fixation time. However, the frequency effect was attained for both valenced and neutral words. Also, no significant gender differences were approved in terms of recognition time though male participants tended to process all word types slightly faster than female ones. The lack of processing difference between valenced and neutral words is attributed to the disembodiment of L2 emotional words and learning experience of the participants as late EFL learners. These learners have been deprived of affective socialization and the affective sensory experience in their development of L2 emotional words. The absence of valence/frequency interaction is attributed to the L1/L2 relationship in terms of the target words. Although witnessed gender effect did not reach a significance level, it is suggested that the processing of emotional words be viewed in a multidimensional framework where the characteristics of the word, the processor, and the learning context are taken into account

This small-scale corpus-based study delineates the most common and significant dialectal variations between the two most commonly spoken English varieties: American English (AmE) and British English (BrE). As a result of the corpus analysis, four main areas have emerged as to where dialectal variations take place: pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and orthography/punctuation. A total of 26 variations ( f =10 in pronunciation, f =5 in vocabulary, f =6 grammar, and f =5 in orthography/punctuation) was identified by analyzing a variety of sources, including books, articles, online dictionaries, and websites. The significance of the variations in the abovementioned language areas and their implications for language teaching were discussed empirically and pedagogically. Notwithstanding the limitations, the research is expected to contribute to our understanding and awareness of the dialectal variations and assist language learners and teachers with the learning and teaching of these variations pedagogically and systematically since it might serve as a guide or a framework of reference.

Proper use of source material in second language writing is an essential skill in the academic writing process. The present study investigates source use and plagiarism level in the essay writing process by the English as a foreign language (EFL) student in one of the international universities in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Thirteen first-year students who failed and then retook the language program were chosen for the purpose of the study. A mixed-methods research design was used to collect the data (i.e., language programs over two subsequent academic years were analyzed for their relevance to the process-based writing). To evaluate the students' opinions on both programs and correct academic citation, a paper-based questionnaire was circulated. The data analysis revealed a positive influence of program two on organizing ideas, incorporating source-text ideas, and using more academic and error- free sentences. A comparative analysis of the plagiarism level and writing performance in students' papers in both programs was performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, which showed a positive difference in the overall writing scores but an insignificant difference in the level of plagiarism. F indings of the study identified that the engagement of the EFL undergraduate students in process-based writing made a positive impact on writing from sources and overall performance.

There is dearth of research on disclosing the ethos of Appreciative Inquiry (AI)-based pedagogy application in language education settings (Johnson, 2014), especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic era. To disclose the ethos in AI-based pedagogy as an appropriate pandemic pedagogy, the present study attempts to uncover the Iranian EFL learners' narratives on their lived experiences of a pedagogical shift in an English language school in northern Iran when dealing with an online class during the pandemic. Embedded in 4-D ethos of AI-based pedagogy, namely Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny, this study utilizes data from observational field notes and interviews in shaping narratives. It was shown that the online language lesson agenda is a dynamic resource that emerges from content development and can be planned to confirm the learner's knowledge. More creative ways of learners' assessment are also yearned for to neutralize cheating possibilities. In addition, new modes of meaning in language education are envisaged to be designed. Learners position themselves as enriched multimodal text repertoires in a dynamic not static language community of practice. The c urrent study has some implications for online language practice, especially in periods of crisis such as a pandemic.

This study sought to investigate the problems and challenges of the current state of teaching translation in post-graduate studies. In so doing, it used a content analysis design within a qualitative method. The participants consisted of 20 (10 males and ten females) translation teachers who were selected through purposive sampling. To collect the required data, a semi-structured interview was used in the form of individual and focus group interviews. To analyze interview data, the content of transcribed interviews was qualitatively analyzed by the researcher to identify the common themes and categories in them, based on an exploratory theme-based approach. The results of the thematic analysis of interview data led to the identification of some problems and challenges including students’ lack of willingness to learn translation, the emphasis on practical elements in teaching translation, lack of an effective teaching translation program, students’ demotivation, and so on. Moreover, a program consisting of five steps was suggested for using technology in teaching translation in post-graduate studies in Iran. The findings have some implications for translation teachers and students, and authorities.