درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of language assessment literacy enhancement (LALE) on Iranian high school EFL students’ assessment as learning of writing skill. It also aimed to examine if LALE affects Iranian EFL students’ attitudes toward assessment as learning. To this end, 80 intermediate-level high-school EFL learners were selected and randomly categorized into the experimental and control groups. Both groups wrote an essay in the pre-test phase. Then, The ESL Composition Scale was used to teach the students what makes good writing and what criteria and standards they are supposed to learn to be able to write and rate the essays of their own and their peers. The control group received no instructional information on assessment rubrics. The experimental and control groups wrote another essay on a specific topic in the post-test phase. In the qualitative phase of the study, ten high school EFL students from the experimental group were interviewed regarding their attitudes toward the practice of assessment as learning of the writing skill in their English classes. The findings indicated that LALE significantly affected Iranian high school EFL students’ assessment as learning of writing skill. Moreover, students believed peer and self-assessment techniques are rarely implemented in Iranian high school EFL classes. They were also uncertain and felt uncomfortable judging, evaluating, criticizing, and rating their peers. Besides, they felt that they were not knowledgeable and capable enough to play the role of an assessor.

Lexical bundles, starting with the anticipatory it, mostly serve as stance expressions (e.g., it is necessary to ). While most research centers on anticipatory, it-bundles in one single discipline, not much has been done across different disciplinary areas. Therefore, based on an adaptation of the functional taxonomy proposed by Hewings and Hewings (2002), this research attempted to detect it-bundles using a corpus of 400 research papers in L1-English and L1-Persian in applied linguistics (AL) and information technology (IT) to probe the possible significant resemblances and disparities. According to the results, IT writers employed fewer bundles than their AL counterparts, and their overuse was more impressive than that of their L1-English peers in AL. However, AL and IT writers showed similarity in their use of functional categories; AL writers also made heavier use of two functional categories: emphatic and epistemic. As for practice, writing instructors can exploit the findings of this study to facilitate academic writing instruction. They can also help students to achieve a better comprehension of anticipatory it-bundles .

This study examined the personal, professional, and contextual barriers to teacher identity (TI) within English language institutes and their strategies to navigate them. The study used a multiple case study approach with semi-structured interviews for data collection. It involved four Iranian English institute teachers aged 22 to 30, with varying degrees of education: two holding a B.A., one an M.A., and one a Ph.D. Data analysis utilizing thematic analysis revealed that insecurity, self-doubt, perfectionism, and challenges in balancing personal and professional lives were personal barriers to TI. Moreover, professional barriers such as excessive workloads, strict adherence to academic norms, and stress from peers and superiors could hinder TI development. Furthermore, contextual barriers, including hierarchical cultures, top-down decision-making, and rigid institutional policies, could restrict TI development. The findings also revealed some patterns among these barriers. The results showed that contextual barriers exacerbate professional barriers. Moreover, professional barriers exacerbate personal barriers. Teachers often try to navigate barriers by seeking feedback, engaging in professional development, advocating for their needs, holding meetings, using dead times, focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses, accepting faults and shortcomings, promoting shared leadership, prioritizing self-care and work-life balance, expanding knowledge through reading more, setting realistic goals, recommending solutions, being more flexible, involving and engaging students, motivating students, taking assessment as learning perspective, etc. The study's findings have implications for teachers, teacher training programs, and educational policy.

The rapidly growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to fundamentally transform the realm of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction. This research studied this emerging trend through a qualitative research synthesis of 24 peer-reviewed articles published between 2021 and 2024. It examined them to highlight the diverse applications, challenges, and teaching practices associated with AI in EFL education. Methodological rigor was ensured through established inclusion and exclusion criteria for selecting the articles. The qualitative synthesis and thematic analysis revealed five prominent themes that illuminate the current landscape of AI in EFL instruction: 1) conceptualizations of AI within EFL settings; 2) factors influencing its adoption; 3) challenges faced when integrating AI into EFL settings; 4) limitations of AI-based tools and methods; and 5) potential avenues for future investigation. Although integrating AI into EFL pedagogy is still in its early stages and presents various challenges, the findings provide valuable insights and practical recommendations for effectively using AI in EFL education, enhancing teaching methods, and improving student learning outcomes. Educators can make informed decisions regarding its implementation while navigating the evolving EFL instruction landscape by cultivating an understanding of AI's potential benefits and inherent limitations.

This study investigates the representation of starvation in Gaza across two leading Arab media outlets, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, through the lens of Cognitive Critical Discourse Analysis (Hart, 2014). Focusing on agency attribution, role allocation, and event construal, the analysis reveals how media discourse shapes public perceptions of responsibility and crisis. Findings demonstrate that Al-Jazeera denaturalizes starvation by foregrounding Israel’s agency and situating the crisis within a conflictual space open to contestation and alternative narratives. Conversely, Al-Arabiya depicts the issue by naturalizing starvation as a self-propelling humanitarian catastrophe, thereby suppressing antagonism and foreclosing discursive plurality. These divergent discursive trajectories illustrate how discursive stratifies such as de-naturalization and naturalization are enacted in media discourse and highlight the ideological orientations of representing humanitarian crises. The study contributes to scholarship on mediated representations, and Critical Discourse Studies by foregrounding the role of event construal in mediating political action and public consent.

AI-assisted translation has gained increasing attention in recent years, yet its effectiveness remains underexplored. The present study sought to shed light on the role of AI (ChatGPT) in mediating translation. To this end, 46 postgraduate ESP students majoring in three sub-disciplines of politics (across three classes) were selected through convenience sampling. No outliers were identified in these classes, and each was assigned to one experimental group (AI-assisted group, N = 16; AI–Human Revised group, N = 16; Human-only Scaffolded group, N = 14). A posttest-only control group design was adopted, and each group was mediated according to its respective intervention protocol. AI was instructed to follow a graduated mediation protocol developed for the purposes of this study. The final translations were evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings revealed that the end product of the AI-assisted group, compared with the human-involved groups, exhibited major translation deficiencies ranging from the lexico-semantic level to syntax, the syntax–semantic interface, and rhetorical patterns. Additional procedural deficiencies were also observed and reported. Furthermore, participants’ translations were assessed using a rubric, and quantitative analysis showed that both human-involved groups significantly outperformed the AI-only group.

As a national high-stakes test of English proficiency, MSRT needs further scrutiny of reliability. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate different sources of variation that may impact the MSRT test-takers’ reading comprehension. Accordingly, some factors including the reading topics, item types, and participants’ general proficiency were delved into based on the scores obtained from 60 MSRT prospective candidates. Upon administering a sample of the reading subtest taken from a recent version of MSRT, the collected data was dichotomously scored and then analyzed in terms of internal consistency, inter-correlations, and causal patterns. The yielded results showed an overall reliability of 0.86 for the reading module, while a moderate interrelationship was obtained amongst the passages (r = 0.47) as well as the item types (r = 0.44). Furthermore, the Mixed ANOVA results demonstrated that topic and item type significantly affected the reading performance, whereas the proficiency factor did not play a conspicuous role in distinguishing the participants’ reading accomplishment. Both theoretically and operationally, the results reported through this study may stress the need for reconsidering the influence of such test-method facets as topic and item type in the MSRT reading subtest to upgrade the test’s unidimensionality and fairness. 

Cette recherche examine l’impact des tâches numériques sur la production orale des apprenants iraniens de FLE de niveau A2, dans le cadre d’un cours de conversation à distance. Neuf participants ont été impliqués dans douze séances organisées autour de cinq thèmes, au cours desquelles des tâches numériques soigneusement planifiées ont été mises en œuvre. La méthodologie adoptée combine des approches quantitatives (pré-test et post-test analysés à l’aide du logiciel SPSS ) et qualitatives (productions orales des apprenants et entretiens). Les analyses statistiques mettent en évidence une amélioration significative entre le pré-test et le post-test, confirmant un progrès global dans les productions orales des apprenants. Bien qu’aucune différence notable n’ait été observée entre les performances des apprenants dans les différentes tâches numériques, cette homogénéité souligne un développement régulier, indépendamment de la nature de la tâche. De plus, les témoignages des apprenants recueillis lors des entretiens révèlent des perceptions variées de leur expérience d’apprentissage, mettant en lumière à la fois des aspects positifs et des pistes d’amélioration concernant l’intervention mise en place. En conclusion, les tâches numériques enrichissent considérablement l’enseignement de la production orale dans le cadre des cours de conversation, en favorisant un apprentissage interactif et authentique. Leur pleine efficacité repose néanmoins sur une planification didactique rigoureuse, incluant des formations technologiques pour les apprenants afin d’optimiser les résultats et de développer de manière équilibrée les différentes compétences linguistiques.

This study aimed to investigate the foreign language learning needs of undergraduate engineering students enrolled in the faculties of architecture and electrical in Iran. A total of 133 undergraduate students aged between 20-25 years, along with 30 subject-specific instructors from Azad and State universities of Yazd, Iran, participated in the study. The study was conducted using a qualitative-quantitative survey design, which involved questionnaires and interviews. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with 20 subject-specific instructors and ten undergraduate students in their eighth semesters. The analysis of qualitative and statistical data revealed that most students needed to master the English language before they attended their specialized courses. Over one-third of the students expressed dissatisfaction with the teaching methodology, evaluation methods, amount of foreign culture taught in class, and content of the textbook. The subject-specific instructors also expressed dissatisfaction with their students’ language skills. It can be concluded that in Iran, the English for Specific Purpose (ESP) course does not fully prepare the students to embark on their studies, as it does not sufficiently take into account their learning needs, present level of foreign language proficiency, objectives of the course, resources available in terms of staff, materials, equipment, finances, and time constraint, as well as the skill of the teachers and the teacher’s knowledge of the specific area.

English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) programs in Iran have been designed in a distinctive bilingual environment where private language institutes offer influential training foundations for most English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. This study examines the structure and content of teacher preparation programs in four prominent Iranian language institutes to identify the core components of their training courses. To gather data, semi-structured and focus-group interviews were conducted with two novice teachers and two teacher educators from each institute, selected through purposive sampling. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that training programs emphasized seven key themes: Teaching Methods, Flexibility, Practical teaching, Reflection, Native language use, Culture, and Technology. These findings can offer English language teachers valuable insights into their future roles and provide policymakers with rich data to evaluate existing programs and make necessary modifications in areas that require improvement. Potentially bridging the gap between theoretical training and practical classroom demands.

Listening comprehension remains a persistent challenge for non-English major students, often due to passive learning approaches, limited interactive engagement, and ineffective assessment methods. Traditional formative assessment lacks real-time feedback and adaptive mechanisms, hindering students’ ability to monitor progress and develop effective listening strategies. To address these drawbacks, the current study examines the implementation of an AI-integrated gamified formative assessment in enhancing listening comprehension among the 38 first-semester students at Universitas PGRI Delta Sidoarjo, a private university in East Java, Indonesia. Employing a sequential mixed-methods approach, data were collected from a closed-ended questionnaire measuring dimensions of engagement, motivation, and self-regulation, alongside structured interviews with six selected students to gain deeper insights. The findings reveal that the AI-integrated gamified platform fosters a more interactive and engaging learning experience, with students demonstrating increased autonomy and strategic listening behaviors. The instant feedback and adaptive challenges contributed to improved comprehension, particularly in recognizing key information and inferring meaning from context. However, some participants expressed difficulties in adapting to the dynamic nature of the platform, citing cognitive overload and challenges in managing time constraints within the game-based environment. Additionally, variations in AI-generated feedback quality occasionally led to confusion in interpreting certain listening tasks. These findings suggest that while AI-integrated gamification enhances listening comprehension, further refinements in feedback accuracy and cognitive load management are essential to optimize its pedagogical impact. The study provides critical insights for educators and developers in designing AI-driven gamified assessment tools that effectively support listening comprehension development for non-English majors.

Teaching is a complex profession demanding strong emotional regulation and interpersonal relationship skills, which are critical to teachers’ psychological well-being (PWB). Based on positive psychology as well as Compassion-Based Language Education (CBLE), this research intends to examine the mediational role of teacher-student relationship (TSR) in the relationship between emotion regulation (ER) and psychological well-being of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Adopting SEM and with the help of established scales, the study searches for fresh insights about these core psychological processes to reveal the intricate associations between emotional regulation, relationships, and the psychological outcomes at work in the context of EFL instruction. A total of 243 Iranian EFL teachers were also randomly chosen based on the stratified random sampling technique with different professional experiences (that is, with different academic degrees and expertise). Broad experience and qualifications make our sample representative of Iranian EFL teachers and enhance the generalization of our findings. Stratification also helped in the coverage of aspects of age, education, and experience. Inter-variable correlations were strong, and TSR was a significant mediating variable, as indicated by the path coefficients. The direct effect of ER on TSR, indirect effect on PWB through TSR, and the total effect of ER on PWB were very significant according to AMOS 26 software. Notably, partial mediation was found where direct relationships of ER to PWB were still significant along indirect routes through TSR. This study offers unique avenues for future intervention efforts aimed at enhancing teacher well-being through relationship-oriented interventions.

The integration of AI in educational contexts has been a heated debate among scholars. Despite the important role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in foreign language education, exploring English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ voices regarding their motivation to use AI in foreign language education has received scant attention. Therefore, this study explores the motivational factors influencing the adoption of AI in foreign language teaching through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews from six EFL teachers in the context of Saudi Arabia. The study identified several key sub-themes within the broader motivational factors of relatedness, autonomy, and competence from the SDT framework. Regarding competence, participants emphasized the role of AI in enhancing their ability to deliver personalized instruction and manage their classrooms more efficiently. For relatedness, the sub-theme of mutual support and community building emerged as crucial, highlighting the importance of collaboration between teachers and students in AI adoption. In the context of autonomy, self-initiated professional development was prominent, reflecting teachers’ active efforts to stay updated on AI technologies. Teachers felt that mastering AI tools not only improved their competence but also enabled them to adapt AI-based solutions to meet students' individual needs. However, they also noted the challenge of ensuring that AI tools complement rather than replace critical pedagogical skills, highlighting the need to maintain a balance between using AI for efficiency and preserving essential human elements like creativity and critical thinking.

The importance of teachers in promoting reading comprehension skills among learners is crucial in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. This study aims to explore how teachers utilize social, discursive, and textual methods to enhance the development of reading comprehension skills in EFL learners. A total of 160 translation-majoring learners enrolled in a Reading Comprehension Course at Applied Scientific University (Rad) in Tehran were purposefully selected and divided into three experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups received instruction based on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which included social, discursive, and textual strategies to enhance their reading comprehension skills in the EFL classroom. To evaluate the effectiveness of the CDA-based instruction, pre- and post-tests on reading comprehension were conducted using a quasi-experimental design. The data obtained from these tests were analyzed using a one-way analysis of covariance (one-way ANCOVA). The results showed a significant improvement in reading comprehension among learners who were exposed to the CDA-based treatments, highlighting its essential role in promoting critical interaction with texts and enhancing overall language proficiency, while no significant improvement was observed in the control group. Additionally, social practice was found to be more effective than discursive and textual practices; however, no significant differences were observed between discursive and textual practices. The findings have implications for EFL teachers, learners, and curriculum planners, which can ultimately help make reading comprehension easier in EFL contexts.

Machine translation (MT) of literary texts presents unique challenges due to their stylistic complexity and cultural nuances. This study evaluated the performance of Google Translate (GT) and Microsoft Bing Translator (MBT) in translating Camus’s The Stranger from English to Persian. Data collection for this study involved automated evaluation using the Bilingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU) metric and human evaluation conducted by three experts using the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA) rubric. The results showed that GT significantly outperformed MBT across nearly all dimensions. GT achieved a BLEU score of 21.57 compared to MBT’s 6.36, with superior n-gram precision at all levels. The human evaluation phase also revealed GT’s fewer critical and major errors in almost all categories compared to MBT. However, both systems struggled to preserve the aesthetic and philosophical richness of The Stranger . These findings highlight the persistent limitations of MT in literary translation, particularly for linguistically distant pairs like English and Persian. While MT shows potential as a supplementary tool, it remains unsuitable as a replacement for human translators in capturing the depth and artistry of literary works.

Teacher-researcher identity is commonly conceptualized as one of the central components of teachers’ professional identity. Such identity development is not only configured toward the past and present but also oriented toward the future. This retrospective duo-narrative inquiry aimed to portray such orientation by exploring the possible selves envisioned by two female Gen-Z EFL teachers upon the completion of their Master’s graduation theses in the Mekong Delta region. Informed by Possible Selves Theory, this study drew upon qualitative data collected from semi-structured interviews with two primary participants and two outsiders for data triangulation. Subsequently, data were analyzed utilizing thematic analysis for each case, followed by a cross-case analysis to identify convergences and divergences in their lived experiences. Findings revealed that participants reconstructed their teacher-researcher identity through three dimensions of possible selves, including the hoped-for, the ought-to-be, and the feared. They envisioned their identity as personally developed, institutionally grounded, yet potentially at risk of being contextually dissolved. The study was pedagogically significant for maintaining teachers’ motivation in the teaching profession through an envisioned sense of possible selves. Pedagogical implications were offered to inform Master’s students, teacher education programs, and tertiary institutions in Vietnamese contexts and beyond.