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Although there has been ample research on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ formative assessment practice (FAP) and their agency separately, scant attention has been paid to the possible influence of teachers’ level of agency on their FAP. Accordingly, this study investigated EFL teachers’ FAP in the light of teachers’ agency. The initial participants, selected based on convenience sampling, comprised 180 male and female Iranian EFL teachers within the age range of 22 to 45. Their teaching experience fell between a few months to 21 years. The initial 180 teachers were given a Teacher Agency Questionnaire (TAQ) to determine teachers with high and low levels of agency. To this aim, 30 teachers who scored the highest and 30 who scored the lowest on the TAQ were selected. The 60 teachers were asked to fill out the Teacher Formative Assessment Practice Scale (TFAPS). Moreover, 15 teachers from each group were asked to take part in semi-structured interviews to explore their perceptions regarding their FAP. The results of parametric independent samples t-test revealed that teachers in the high-agency group scored significantly higher than their counterparts in the low-agency group in terms of both teacher-directed (p = .00<.001, effect size = 3.32) and student-directed FAP (p = .00<.001, effect size = 3.44). The descriptive and qualitative comparison of the thematic analysis between teachers in the high agency and low agency groups demonstrated marked differences both in the total number of themes and theme mentions as well as the theme contents between the two groups. Based on the findings, teacher educators are encouraged to enhance EFL teachers’ level of agency to improve their FAP.

Cette étude s’intéresse à la façon dont l’univers des œuvres de Mauriac dévoile la complexité des luttes intérieures de ses personnages, illustrant ainsi les dilemmes universels de la condition humaine. En explorant ces drames psychologiques, il apparaît que les tensions entre aspirations profondes et attentes sociales s’articulent comme une réflexion intemporelle sur l’identité, le désir et la culpabilité. Ces thèmes, riches de sens, résonnent avec le contexte contemporain, révélant leur pertinence toujours vivante. Il s’agit d’analyser comment la méthode psychocritique de Charles Mauron — en dévoilant la dualité des personnages — permet d’éclairer ces enjeux profonds. L’étude propose que les combats intérieurs dépeints dans l’univers mauriacien transcendent leur époque, ouvrant une voie pour une identification moderne. En adoptant une approche analytique mêlant psycho-analytique et exploration littéraire, la recherche vise à déchiffrer les profondeurs de l’âme humaine, révélant ainsi la richesse et la modernité des réflexions de Mauriac. De plus, cette étude met en lumière la mythologie personnelle de Mauriac, un processus créatif qui a façonné ses œuvres et leur donne une portée universelle. Nous avons ainsi identifié comment son univers symbolique, façonné par ses expériences et son rapport à la foi, constitue une véritable clé pour interpréter ses personnages et leur quête d’intégrité. En définitive, cette réflexion met en lumière la permanence de l’œuvre mauriacienne comme miroir de nos propres psychés, invitant le lecteur à une introspection sincère.

Motivational intensity and enjoyment are considered two incentives that boost Willingness To Communicate (WTC), while boredom diminishes it. However, going through the existing literature, almost no studies have ever explored these interrelationships among the four variables -Boredom, WTC, Enjoyment, and Motivational Intensity- in the Iranian setting. To address this gap, 300 high schoolers between the ages of 11 and 19 took part in the study. Of those, 83 were beginners, 107 were intermediates, and 110 were advanced learners based on the results obtained from OPT (Oxford Placement Test). All the participants were surveyed using questionnaires administered via Google Docs. The study used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to interpret these statistics, revealing mediation effects and showing direct and total effects between motivational intensity, enjoyment, boredom, and WTC. Statistics confirmed that boredom had a notable direct impact on WTC, though its indirect effect through enjoyment was insignificant. In contrast, motivational intensity positively influenced the WTC through both direct and indirect pathways. The study suggests boosting motivation and enjoyment in second-language classrooms would dramatically enhance the learners' WTC in formal and informal settings. Teachers should be initiative and creative in designing fascinating and new classroom tasks, transform the class into a lively environment in which all students are actively involved in the interesting classroom activities in a relaxed manner, and promote a friendly and humorous group-work atmosphere so that classroom becomes a welcoming space where students learn without boredom or anxiety.

The integration of generative AI like ChatGPT into EFL pedagogy presents both opportunities for fostering higher-order thinking skills and risks to academic integrity. A research gap exists regarding the simultaneous impact of ChatGPT on the crucial triad of critical thinking, creativity, and self-reflection within the Indonesian EFL context. This study aimed to fill this gap by quantitatively measuring the effect of ChatGPT on these skills and qualitatively exploring students' perceptions of the learning process. The study used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. Participants were 100 undergraduate students, randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n=50) or a control group (n=50). Data were collected using three validated instruments: the Critical Thinking Scale, the Creative Thinking Scale, and the Reflective Thinking Scale. In addition, a semi-structured interview guide was used to obtain qualitative data. Quantitative data were analyzed using ANCOVA, and qualitative data using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the ChatGPT group achieved statistically significant gains in critical, creative, and reflective thinking scores compared to the control group. Qualitative results revealed a duality in student perceptions; they valued the AI for fostering skills through idea generation and safe practice, but expressed concerns about risks such as cognitive offloading and skill atrophy.

It is becoming an established strategy to add humor in Persian subtitles even often when the original dialogue does not include the created or any other humor. This study measures the impact of this strategy on viewers’ attention allocation while reading subtitles. The eye movements of 32 participants were recorded while watching a humorous and non-humorous version of the same scene extracted from Superchondriac (Boon, 2014), a French comedy. The results show that there is a significant difference between attention allocation in the two versions, and the viewers’ attention to the subtitles with added humor is significantly larger than non-humorous subtitles. The interviews showed that some viewers liked the added humor because they thought it is funny and close to their cultural and ideological views. On the other hand, some of the participants opted for the non-humorous subtitles because they thought the added humor was distracting, confusing, at times offensive, and detached from the original culture.

Although researchers have used practical procedures for developing professional teacher education, such as reflective practice and action research, the role of learning-oriented assessment (LOA) in building an active learner-centered pre-service teacher education has received scarce scholarly attention. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore how collective and reflective LOA can enhance EFL pre-service teachers’ learner-centered teacher education. For this purpose, 15 Iranian EFL pre-service teachers were selected through a convenience sampling procedure from a teacher-training college in Iran. The study was built on a qualitative intrinsic case study, the data were collected from the participants through observations, self- and peer-assessment practices, portfolios, and semi-structured interviews, and the collected data were inductively analyzed. The results of the inductive thematic analysis indicated that pre-service teachers became active, cooperative, and flexible. Firstly, pre-service teachers concentrated on reflective self-assessment, collaborative peer-assessment, and portfolios. Secondly, pre-service teachers were more self-directed and autonomous by taking more actions, planning their development, making decisions, and learning. Thirdly, pre-service teachers accelerated their positive emotions, such as growth mindset, flexibility, curiosity, and criticality. The findings promise implications for implementing learning–oriented assessment to promote teachers’ agency and autonomy in their teaching careers.

The present study aims to explore Vietnamese English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teachers’ assessment strategies to support students’ preparation for industry demands in the hospitality sector. Using a qualitative design, it employed a two-staged data collection process comprising a narrative frame and semi-structured interviews with five experienced ESP teachers from a university in Vietnam. The data were analyzed drawing on an inductive approach to content analysis. The findings showed the teachers’ support for devising authentic assessment strategies based on available teaching materials and ESP resources to respond to industry requirements. They emphasized the need for more stringent collaboration between educational institutions and industry stakeholders to develop more relevant assessment strategies, and investment in dedicated learning resources to better prepare students for workplace communication. Additionally, the teachers advocated for specialized assessments that addressed the limitations of traditional language proficiency tests and aligned more closely with the linguistic and communicative demands of the hospitality industry. This study provides actionable recommendations for ESP teachers, program developers and course coordinators to design and deploy authentic assessment strategies that simulate real-life professional scenarios, consequently enhancing students’ employability.

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.

This study examines the influence of output-based podcasts (OBPs), the mediating effect of funds of identity (FoI), and teacher corrective feedback (CF) on L2 speaking of Iranian pre-intermediate learners and their willingness to communicate (WTC). The study also surveys the attitudes of the experimental groups toward OBPs and CF, as well as their probable attitude and WTC changes over time. To these ends, 60 participants were randomly divided into two experimental groups (the OBPs + CF and theOBPs – CF group) and a control group. Podcasts were created based on themes congruent and incongruent with students' FoI. The data was collected through pretest, immediate and delayed posttests, (attitude, WTC, and FoI) questionnaires, reflective journals, as well as an interview. Results demonstrated that OBPs improved the experimental groups’ speaking ability. Moreover, CF pushed learners to perform better. FoI also proved to be pivotal in triggering learners’ WTC. Learners had positive attitudes toward OBPs and FoI in improving their speaking skill. Furthermore, learners’ WTC changed positively over time as a result of creating podcasts. Integrating FoI into creating podcasts improved learners' performance, increased their WTC, and brought them more satisfaction. As such, OBPs based on students' FoI are suggested to serve as an alternative teaching method to traditional lecturing.  

Few studies have explored how English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) preservice teachers can do collaborative reflective practice (CRP) to enhance their knowledge and skills, using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The main purpose of this study, adopting a basic interpretive qualitative design, is to investigate how CRP can be implemented with ChatGPT to develop preservice EFL teachers professionally. After selecting the participants through a purposive sampling procedure and exploring the perspectives of eight preservice EFL teachers and two teacher educators through narratives, interviews, observations, and group discussions, the data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The results of data analysis showed that employing CRP implemented in ChatGPT has the potential to provide several benefits, including the ability to contemplate new experiences, connect theory and practice, acquire knowledge and expertise, become critical and autonomous, embrace challenges and opportunities, improve professionally, socially, and emotionally, regulate emotions and thoughts, and foster creativity. Furthermore, the use of ChatGPT in CRP can function as a virtual mentor and collaborator to engage with preservice teachers, find problems and resolve issues, and enhance professional growth. The findings of the present study may carry implications for teacher educators and policy makers to enhance social and reflective practices as they integrate AI into teacher education programs to enhance preservice teachers’ cognitive and social functioning.

Language learning is a multifaceted process influenced by a range of cognitive, emotional, and psychological factors. This study explores the relationships among spiritual intelligence (SI), foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and willingness to communicate (WTC) among Iranian high school learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). A quantitative approach was employed, utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze data collected from 280 high school students in Kerman Province, Iran. The participants, selected through convenience sampling, included 78 males and 202 females, with ages ranging from 16 to 19 years. Data were gathered using three validated instruments, i.e., a WTC questionnaire, an SI scale, and an FLE scale. The findings reveal robust positive correlations among the three constructs, with both SI and FLE emerging as significant predictors of WTC. Additionally, a strong interdependence was observed between SI and FLE, highlighting their mutually reinforcing roles in shaping learners’ communicative tendencies. These results underscore the importance of integrating psychological and emotional dimensions into language education, offering valuable insights for educators seeking to enhance learners’ willingness to engage in communication.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly transforming the landscape of education, particularly within the domain of language learning, as evidenced by a growing body of research published in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) journals. These studies have examined the application of various AI technologies, including natural language processing (NLP), AI-driven educational platforms, automatic speech recognition, and chatbots, in facilitating language acquisition. The present study investigated the perceptions of 386 Iranian high school EFL students, utilizing the Students’ Perceived EFL Teacher Support Scale to evaluate the impact of AI-powered speaking assistance technologies, educational level, and learning setting on perceived teacher support. The findings revealed a tri-factorial structure underlying EFL teacher support, highlighting the compatibility of AI technologies with traditional pedagogical methods. This suggests that the integration of AI-powered tools into classroom instruction can enhance the overall effectiveness of language teaching and learning. To ensure optimal outcomes, educators are encouraged to strategically incorporate AI within pedagogically sound frameworks that maintain human-centered support. The study offers important implications for sustaining and enhancing teacher support in technology-enriched learning environments and underscores the need for further empirical research in this evolving area of applied linguistics and educational technology.

Online collaborative writing (OCW) is an essential pedagogical method in higher education, promoting learner interaction and shared responsibilities in academic writing tasks. While previous research has explored learners’ perceptions of OCW across various academic writing genres, there is a lack of investigation into how OCW impacts higher education students’ perceptions of their research article abstract writing performance. Utilizing an OCW perception questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, this study aimed to gauge the perceptions of 20 Iranian PhD TEFL candidates regarding an online collaborative academic writing course focused on writing research article abstracts. Quantitative and descriptive analysis of the questionnaire data and qualitative thematic analysis of the interview questions revealed that participants held positive views of technology-mediated writing instruction. However, they noted challenges faced, such as connectivity issues, software glitches, or time management. Besides, they offered recommendations, including exerting more rigid rules and defining more online assignments for the betterment of such online courses. The findings underscore the necessity of integrating technology-based writing instruction into teacher training programs to equip educators with essential skills for effective implementation. Besides, given the participants’ favorable looks towards interactive platforms like Google Docs, conducting joint research article writing programs can enhance the collaborative writing experience, ultimately leading to better academic outcomes for doctoral candidates.