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Advocating the inclusion of neurocognitive science concepts in English language teacher training curriculum is gaining more interest. However, little is known about the prospective teachers' perceptions of neurocognitive science core concepts. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the prospective ELT teachers' perceptions of the neurocognitive core concepts and the applications of them through the lens of four neuro-educational models in the classroom practices. Fifteen prospective Iranian ELT teachers were interviewed and the data were analyzed using the phenomenological method. The findings revealed that the prospective ELT teachers lacked a clear understanding of the neurocognitive concepts and their implications in classroom practices. The findings support the inclusion of neurocognitive science core concepts training in language teachers' professional development.

Nowadays, the goal of language education has changed from mastery of structure to the ability to use language for communicative purposes; however, the cultural content of the ELT textbooks in Iran has never been sufficiently discussed. Therefore, the major purpose motivating this study was to study the perceptions of teachers and learners of the localization of Iranian English textbooks in the Iranian EFL textbooks (i.e., Prospect series), besides investigating if there were any significant differences between the perceptions of teachers and learners. For this purpose, the participants of this study comprised two samples. The first group who took part in this study were 87 EFL teachers, and the second was a sample of 105 EFL learners. The research instruments were a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview protocol. For the evaluation of the textbook, a researcher-made questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was designed based on Cheng (2005). The purpose of this questionnaire was to probe the Iranian EFL teachers' and students' perceptions of the localized materials. In order to explore teachers' attitudes towards localized materials, a semi-structured interview was used. The findings suggest that while teachers and learners might view the series differently, there exists a common ground of appreciation for its value in enhancing the English learning experience. This convergence in positive perceptions emphasizes the importance of educational resources that cater to diverse learning styles and preferences. This study can have some pedagogical implications for curriculum developers, educational policymakers, teachers, and material designers.

In tandem with communicative approaches to language teaching, there is a growing understanding in SLA that assessment needs to be integrated into language learning. This contention has led to the development of the Learning-Oriented Assessment (LOA) approach for assessing language skills and aspects in language classrooms. To our knowledge, interventionist studies to improve EFL teachers' LOA-based assessment practices are in their infancy. The present study examined Iranian EFL teachers' perspectives on LOA in language teaching. To this end, the researchers selected 44 EFL teachers in four language institutes in Urmia (Iran) and provided them with tailor-made LOA-based training in 12 sessions for one month. The teachers were informed that LOA procedures are to be adopted and used in their classes. During the following semester, the researchers observed the participants' classes periodically and provided them with comments on their LOA procedures. Following the course, interviews were held with the participants to probe into their perspectives on LOA. Drawing upon thematic analysis, the researchers analyzed the recordings to develop a model for the participants' perspectives on LOA procedures. Development of teacher noticing skills in LOA procedure, its beneficial impact on language learning vis-à-vis traditional testing procedures, implementation challenges, widespread use at all proficiency levels, and the need to develop user-friendly LOA-compatible software and applications constituted the major themes based on the interview data. The findings demonstrate that the participants harbored favorable views on LOA and regarded it to be more efficacious than traditional testing procedures.

Considering that foreign language (FL) learning invokes a diverse brain network with different functions, this paper aims to discuss the activities proposed in a case study with a Brazilian participant with aphasia learning Japanese as a FL. We focus on the metalinguistic processes required from him to accomplish the Japanese tasks. The participant attended weekly sessions, one-hour per session, for seven months. The sessions were recorded and transcribed. Therefore, we explore the relation among language, brain, aphasia, and metalinguistic processes and embodied simulation in the context of FL learning activities. The results of this research support the idea that learning a FL might be a valuable technique for language intervention in aphasia.To our knowledge, this is the first work to address the FL learning by people with aphasia. Several questions still remain to be answered, such as the long-term effect of FL learning and the use of a broader variety of participants. However,  the findings of this study contribute to the discussion of language learning in aphasia rehabilitation.

English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks play a significant role in these cultural exchanges. On the other hand, English is known as an international language and acquiring a good Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in EFL classes is considered as one of the primary goals. The present research reports a qualitative study on firstly, the representation of the elements of intercultural competence in Iranian EFL high school textbooks (Prospect Series) and secondly, the potentiality of the textbooks to develop students’ ICC. To this end, an in-depth content analysis of Prospect 1, Prospect 2, and Prospect 3 was done based on Byram’s (1997) model. Next, a group of 300 Iranian high school students was provided with the AIC questionnaire (Fantini, 2009a, p. 196) to examine the extent to which EFL lessons in Iranian high-school English textbooks significantly develop learners’ intercultural competence. The results of the statistical analyses revealed that the cultural topics covered in Prospect Series have little emphasis on developing students’ ICC, and also the dimensions of ICC tasks in the textbooks are distributed unequally. Moreover, Iranian EFL textbooks could not significantly develop learners’ ICC to become aware of cultural differences by being a source of ICC experience.

Highlighting the inseparable link between language, culture, and technology in English as a foreign language education, this qualitative exploratory study examined the impact of cultural and multicultural awareness on Iranian EFL teachers’ professional development within augmented virtual reality (AVR)-based and conventional teacher education programs. Thus, 28 EFL teachers participated in semi-structured interviews and reflective inquiries following eight-week training courses. Data analysis was done manually via qualitative thematic analysis and by MAXQDA according to Guskey’s (2002) professional development model. Consequently, seven themes for the conventional group (maintaining a culturally responsive environment, enhanced teachers’ behavior, curriculum improvement, creative ideas, enhanced skills, efficient communication, and preparing students for effective communication) and five themes for the AVR group (experiencing authentic material and environment, accessibility features, less interactivity in the classroom, teachers’ passion and confidence improvement, and less cultural boundaries) were extracted. The study highlighted the crucial role of cultural and multicultural immersion and adaptive teaching strategies in creating culturally responsive environments. This approach equipped EFL instructors to address diverse student needs and foster inclusive learning spaces effectively. Moreover, the AVR technology deepened cultural immersion and supported modern teaching approaches, enhancing educators' ability to engage with diverse cultural classrooms. Despite the observed improvements in trainees’ passion and confidence, a need for reconsidering technological aspects in contemporary teacher education was identified. Ultimately, the findings offered pedagogical implications for EFL teacher education and teacher trainers to equip teachers with the necessary skills to address cultural and multicultural challenges in EFL teaching and stimulate their professional growth.

Assessing learners’ writing is one of the primary responsibilities of English language teachers. Nevertheless, research on teachers’ writing assessment literacy (WAL) is scarce. To this end, this study a) explored Iraqi Kurdish EFL teachers’ writing assessment knowledge, beliefs, and practices and b) examined assessment strategies they employ to assess learners’ writing ability and the feedback they provide on learners’ writing performance. Data were collected from language teachers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (N=80), who taught at universities, institutes, and schools, utilizing a modified version of the WAL questionnaire consisting of five sections, including teachers’ demographic information, assessment strategies, knowledge of WAL, beliefs about WAL, and practices concerning WAL. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a group of volunteer teachers (N=10). The findings highlighted teachers’ insufficient knowledge of writing assessments. A significant mismatch was found between teachers’ stated beliefs and their practices in the use of formative and summative assessment. The teachers had positive beliefs toward formative assessment; however, they preferred using summative assessment. The qualitative findings further pointed to a significant knowledge gap among teachers regarding specific terminologies, such as formative and summative assessment, as well as scoring rubrics. Finally, the results indicated that teachers used various feedback types to improve learners’ writing skills. The findings emphasize the need to improve teachers’ writing assessment literacy in order to bridge the gap between teachers’ beliefs and their practices of writing assessment.  

Dictation is a method in which learners receive speaking input which can foster their writing skill, so this quasi - experimental study attempts to investigate the role of classroom dictation activity as a kind of dicto-gloss on improving accuracy and complexity of written performance between Iranian male and female EFL learners. For this aim, 40 male and female learners were chosen out of 59 students. Then, by administrating a Preliminary English Test (PET) 40 homogeneous participants were selected as final sample of this study. The first language of the learners was Azerbaijani Turkish and they were intermediate-level learners. Then, they were randomly divided into two intact groups, one consisting of 20 male students and the other one 20 female students. Before manipulating treatment, the participants took part in the pretest to check their accuracy and complexity of their written performance. After 10 sessions, they took part in the post-test. The data collected in this study were analyzed through independent samples t-test. Both groups in the post test had higher scores in accuracy and complexity than the pre-test. However, the findings revealed that female group significantly outperformed the male group on the post test, in terms of both their accuracy and complexity of written performance. In conclusion, it could be stated that classroom dictation activity as a kind of dictogloss can be effective method that can enhance Iranian EFL learners’ accuracy and complexity of writing. The results of the study would be significant for EFL/ESL teachers, English language institutes, and teachers.

The focus of this paper is to determine the extent to which changes in the ideological frameworks took place after 2003 when the removal of Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist dictatorship set up a democratic system for Iraq. Using the frameworks of Critical Discourse Analysis, more specifically Fairclough's three-dimensional model and van Dijk's socio-cognitive approach, this study conducts a critical investigation into the reframing of national identity, ideological structures, and religious themes in presidential discourse. This article provides an overview of the major ways in which the Iraqi presidents have used language in an attempt to redefine national unity, balance references to Islam, and build legitimacy in light of continuing political transitions. The most important findings provide substantial shifts away from the authoritarian themes and toward inclusiveness, with each administration changing its speech to adjust to the increasingly complex sociopolitical situation. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the role that discourse plays for state-building as a process and to develop a model of political communication after a conflict. The most important findings provide substantial shifts away from the authoritarian themes and toward inclusiveness, with each administration changing its speech to adjust to the increasingly complex sociopolitical situation. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the role that discourse plays for state-building as a process and to develop a model of political communication after a conflict.

This study intended to unveil the impact of incorporation of positive psychology theory into English instructions on the preference for anxiety-reducing strategies among Iranian EFL learners. The participants consisted of 60 EFL learners, from Safir Institute, Tehran, Iran, at the intermediate level, who were selected out of 90 EFL learners selected on convenience sampling basis. The 60 learners selected on the basis of their scores from an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), given to the 90 learners, were split into two equal 30-member groups. Both groups were given the language anxiety reducing strategies (LARS) questionnaire as pretest. Then, positive psychology-based instructions were provided to the experimental group drawing on five types of positive psychology-based instruction techniques for 20 sessions. These five instruction techniques included gratitude, optimistic intervention, positive affirmations, savouring, and strength-building measures. The control group received no intervention concerning positive psychology, and learners followed the conventional syllabus of the language school. After the treatment, the two groups took the LARS questionnaire as post-test. The results of ANCOVA indicated that teaching positive psychology techniques significantly increased anxiety-reducing strategies preference among Iranian EFL learners.

Writing a thesis is crucial in the master's or PhD study process. There is no denying the supervisor's responsibility in this situation. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the Kurdish students` perceptions toward their supervisors at various universities in Iraqi Kurdistan. In this study, two groups of students took part: 13 master students and 11 PhD students. Students, both male and female, who were studying at different universities in Kurdistan were included. They were all in their last year of studies and writing their theses and dissertations. A questionnaire and interviews were conducted to collect the data. The results revealed that students perceived the supervisors as a supporter, a leader, and a knowledgeable person who give them continuing feedback. The major point regarding the characteristics of effective supervisors was their knowledge of students` research topics, requiring supervisors to acquire enough knowledge and information on the topics of students` theses.

The advent of ChatGPT, an all-purpose intelligent Chabot created by Open AI, has created a multitude of prospects and opportunities within the realm of language education. Owing to its exceptional capacity to produce a wide range of textual outputs, ChatGPT responds to queries in a matter of seconds. The present study aimed to examine the appropriateness of ChatGPT-based instruction and flipped language learning instruction (FLLI) in classrooms in terms of enhancing EFL learners’ interactional metadiscourse realization across language proficiency levels. Sixty-three English language learners were divided into four distinct groups: 16 in the advanced and 16 in the intermediate FLLI group, 15 in the advanced, and 16 in the intermediate ChatGPT group. Before initiating the study, all participants were given a pretest that specifically assessed the use of interactional metadiscourse markers (IMMs) in argumentative writing. The four experimental groups were separately exposed to ChatGPT-based instruction and FLLI during eight sessions. Results from a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure through SPSS (version 25) revealed that the ChatGPT-based instruction was more effective than FLLI, and both intermediate and advanced language learners following the ChatGPT-based instruction used IMMs in argumentative writing more successfully. Moreover, the participants’ perceptions of ChatGPT and FLLI were analyzed through MAXQDA (version 2020), showing more positive attitudes towards using ChatGPT in language learning in general and IM realization in particular. The findings have the potential to provide advantages for teacher educators in terms of utilizing ChatGPT learning approaches.

Lexical bundles are recurrent multi-word sequences that play a crucial role in academic discourse. This article presents an analysis of lexical bundles in book reviews across the disciplines of human and natural sciences. Drawing from a corpus of 737 book reviews, the study investigates the functional roles and structural patterns of these recurrent linguistic units. The research aims to bridge a gap in the literature by exploring how lexical bundles vary across disciplines. Employing a quantitative-qualitative approach, the study first quantitatively identifies the most common 4-word lexical bundles and compares their distribution between the two disciplines. The researchers then qualitatively analyzed the context in which these bundles are used, observing that they often serve to refer to or evaluate the structure, content, audience, or scope of the book under review. Findings reveal that while both human and natural sciences book reviews share some lexical bundles, they exhibit variations in their distribution, structures, and functions. Notably, natural sciences book reviews employ a greater frequency of lexical bundles signaling an evaluative context, particularly contexts related to the assessment of a book. The study also uncovers differences in the structural preferences of lexical bundles between the two disciplines. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the genre-specific utilization of lexical bundles and underscores their role in conveying evaluative meaning in scholarly discourse. Furthermore, the study suggests avenues for further exploration, providing a foundation for future investigations into the intricate interplay between linguistic features and disciplinary preferences.

Materials evaluation plays an important role in language teaching as it helps practitioners to develop an awareness of the coverage and quality of the existing materials and as such, guides most instruction and revision decisions. Therefore, we sought to evaluate three English Vision textbooks exclusively written for Iranian secondary high school students through a comparison to the identical Interchange book series, the fifth edition. Following a model of nominal groups outlined here, the evaluation targeted the quantity and quality of the groups appearing in the two series as they are assumed to be an important part of authentic language. For the quantitative part, the results indicated a significantly higher use of nominal groups in the Interchange series. Similarly, in the qualitative analyses, we found higher quality nominal groups appearing in the Interchange books. The findings revealed inadequate inclusion of nominal groups' potentially useful structures in the Vision textbooks, supposed to help teachers to raise an awareness so as to come up with appropriate instructional policies, and the textbook developers to consider the findings when any revision is due.

The e-learning integration has emerged as an alternative strategy, significantly improving teaching and learning experiences in higher education worldwide. However, it has also presented different challenges and opportunities for teachers and students. This comparative, cross-cultural study explored the perspectives of German vs. Iranian EFL teachers on e-learning integration in higher education. The data were collected utilising a mixed-methods design and based on convenient sampling through two questionnaires on challenges and opportunities, semi-structured interviews, and observations from 26 German EFL teachers and 92 Iranian EFL teachers. The study focused on the Technology Acceptance Model and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. The questionnaire findings revealed that both groups recognised significant challenges and opportunities in e-learning. German teachers appreciated organisational improvements and evaluative innovations, whereas Iranians valued stress reduction and access to materials. Both groups faced technological and administrative challenges, with Iranians reporting more severe difficulties, highlighting the need for tailored support and resources to enhance online education. Interviews indicated a preference for face-to-face instruction among Germans, with greater resistance to online formats compared to Iranians. Younger teachers in both contexts showed more positive attitudes towards e-learning, with a consensus on the future of blended learning. The observations also supported the findings. Results indicated significant differences and similarities between the two contexts, highlighting technological, academic, pedagogical, and cultural factors influencing e-learning integration. The study findings could offer practical implications for policymakers and material developers, emphasising the need for custom-made e-learning strategies for different educational contexts. This cross-cultural comparison could suggest insights for teachers interested in integrating e-learning into their teaching.