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The study investigated (a) pre-service teachers' strategy use in managing online classes of young learners in terms of six categories of time, interaction, assessment, behavior, instruction, and content; (b) the extent to which their practice matched their beliefs; and (c) their strengths and weaknesses in online classroom management. To collect the required data, the teaching practices of 26 pre-service teachers (f = 19, m = 7) who were MA students of TEFL (Teaching English as a foreign language) at Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) were observed and then rated according to 40 strategies defined in a rating scale. The student teachers were also asked to rate their own online teaching, and then their scores were compared with those of the observers. They also answered three interview questions on their strategy use, strengths, and weaknesses in managing their class in the Adobe Connect. The results of this mixed methods research revealed that student teachers used time management strategies more than the other strategies in their practice and that the majority of whom overrated their strategy use. The results also indicated that their strengths in using the components of classroom management could be hierarchically ranked as time, interaction, content, instruction, behavior, and assessment. With regard to their weaknesses, assessment was found as the weakest component. This study can help teacher educators to offer pre-service teachers an appropriate instruction on their challenges of managing online classes of young learners.

This study aimed to examine the impact of flipped classroom (FC) integrated with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on EFL learners’ use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies in writing. To this end, 60 intermediate college students, who were homogenized by a placement test, were selected and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The treatment for the experimental group (flipped classroom integrated with MOOCs), took place in three phases, namely before class, in class, and after class. Before class, the materials and sources were delivered via Moodle application, a MOOC-based educational program. In class, the students participated in group discussions and an interactive feedback session. After class, they received online support. The participants in the control group attended the traditional face-to-face writing course, without the use of any technology-based instruments. They underwent only two phases: in-class and after-class activities. Before the treatment, an SRL strategies questionnaire was administered to all the participants. The same questionnaire was again administered to them at the end of the treatment. The results of ANOVA revealed that flipped classroom integrated with MOOCs had a statistically significant positive effect on the experimental group’s overall use of SRL strategies. Similarly, the method, performance, and social environment SRL dimensions improved significantly in the experimental group. Flipped classroom integrated with MOOCs may provide valuable insights for EFL contexts, particularly by encouraging self-regulated learning and reducing teacher workload, which can support the development of academic writing skills.

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.

This study evaluated the validity of group dynamic assessment (G-DA), grounded in Vygotsky’s (1987) Sociocultural Theory, implemented in a class of intermediate learners to assess and promote L2 listening comprehension. To navigate the dual goals of assessment and instruction, flexible mediation attuned to the zone of proximal development of the learners was provided within the G-DA interactions. This led to the detection of nine mediational strategies. The validity of these G-DA interactions was explored by extending Poehner’s (2011) validation model to classroom setting. Poehner’s (2011) model includes two interrelated foci for DA validation: micro and macro-validity. Following Kane's (2021) argument-based approach to validation, evidence-based arguments were developed to explore the appropriateness of each mediational strategy given to the learners (micro-validity) as well as the success of that mediational strategy and the entire G-DA procedure in promoting learners’ L2 listening comprehension (macro-validity). Class transcripts were analyzed to gain evidence for the micro- and macro-validity of the G-DA interactions. The findings supported the usefulness of Poehner’s validation model in developing validity arguments to determine the appropriateness of the interpretations made about learners’ abilities and the effects of the G-DA procedure on their development. Moreover, the study concluded that the analysis of learners’ independent performance needed to be added to Pohener’s macro-validation model so that it becomes applicable to G-DA

The present research studied the disciplinary use of cohesive devices across academic writing, comparing Native English Writers (NEW) with Arab Writers of English (AEW). It centers around the research articles in the fields of Medicine and Education. The researchers adopted corpus-based analysis, presented by Halliday and Hasan's framework, 1976, in the exploration of cohesive device types—grammar and lexical ones—while considering frequencies along with discourse contexts. The results indicated significant disciplinary differences in cohesive strategies use among the NEW, i.e. additive conjunctions, which appear in the educational writing and facilitate argument development and logical flow between ideas (e.g., and, further); the collocations in medical writing reflect the exactitude of the subject and clarity to be expected in any sort of scientific discourse, no less with causal conjunctions. AEW also exhibited discipline-specific patterns, but their cohesive strategies are colored by the Arabic rhetorical traditions. AEW in education relied heavily on repetition to achieve thematic unity, which sometimes results in redundancy by the norms of English academic writing. AEW in medicine make more use of additive and causal conjunctions to achieve logical relations, although overuse sometimes led to long, unwieldy sentences. These findings have significant pedagogical implications for EAP instruction. They call for training in cohesive strategies specific to disciplines, especially for learners from an Arab background, as this helps learners adjust their writing practices in ways that will meet expectations in the English academic conventions while managing cultural influences.

This study aims to investigate the role of first language literacy and reading habits in L2 development. the researcher invited a group of 97 pre-intermediate and intermediate learners from various schools to participate in this study. They were asked to take part in two L1 tests (L1 reading comprehension and L1 spelling) as well as an L2 achievement test. Correlation was used to find the possible relation between L1 literacy and L2 development and in order to find out which of the two subcomponents of L1 literacy can better predict L2 development, regression was used. The findings show that there is a meaningful relationship between L1 literacy and L2 development. Both reading comprehension and spelling knowledge of L1 can lead to L2 development; the statistics revealed that both can preferably lead to L2 development and L2 literacy. But in this study, reading comprehension has the strongest impact on L2 development.

House wives hold a specific position at home, as it is known to everyone. This study aimed at investigating the effect of virtual English language teaching on Iranian house wives’ emotional regulation, anger control, and domestic violence. In so doing, a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design was used. The target population of this study included all Iranian house wives. From the population, about 60 Iranian house wives from different cities of Iran were selected through available sampling. The participants were randomly divided into two groups namely, the experimental and control groups. The required data were collected through the following instruments: The Persian version of Anger Control Questionnaire, developed and validated by Buss and Perry (1992); the Domestic Violence against Women, developed and validated by Mohseni Tabrizi et al. (2011) in Persian; and the Persian version of the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski et al., 2003). The findings confirmed a significantly positive impact of virtual English language teaching on Iranian House wives’ emotional regulation, anger control and domestic violence. The findings have implications for top-level educational authorities, social emergency administrators, and future researchers.

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.

The studies on L2 argumentative writing have surveyed different dimensions of learners’ argumentative behavior and performance. However, less attention has been given to the strategies and techniques enhancing students’ argumentative repertoire. As such, the current study, taking a pedagogy-based perspective, examined the argumentative writing behavior of 30 Iranian IELTS candidates before and after the instruction in both English and Persian languages. The sample questions were of the previous IELTS Writing part 2 essays from a real test by Cambridge University Press, chosen by 3 IELTS instructors in the Institute to meet the research objectives. To this end, 180 IELTS Task 2 argumentative essays were analyzed by 30 volunteers, each having 6 essays, at least 250 words, (Persian and English). As for the students’ English and Persian argumentative writing performance, the results indicated that there were significant differences between the EFL learners’ overall means on English argumentative tests. Furthermore, the candidates chiefly applied ‘data’ and ‘claim’ most frequently in both languages with secondary elements of argument (i.e., counterargument claim, counterargument data, rebuttal claim, and rebuttal data) as the least produced elements detected in the essays. The results demonstrate that a sound pedagogy in argumentation can both influence the use of argumentation elements in both English and Persian written texts. The pedagogical implications for writing instruction and argumentative writing are discussed.

This study investigated the effectiveness of two different scopes of corrective feedback on enhancing the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of L2 written productions among 150 intermediate EFL learners participating in intact online courses. The corrective feedback scope includes highly focused and comprehensive feedback delivered via digital platforms in synchronous and asynchronous formats. Participants were divided into five groups: synchronous highly focused feedback, synchronous comprehensive feedback, asynchronous highly focused feedback, asynchronous comprehensive feedback, and a control group receiving corrective feedback via traditional methods, characterized by the indiscriminate identification and marking of all errors. Results across the feedback groups regarding their impact on complexity, accuracy, and fluency in EFL learners' written productions indicated a significant effect on accuracy, while complexity and fluency showed no significant differences based on feedback scope and delivery modality. The results of this study have several important implications for educators, material developers, and policymakers in the field of language education. For teachers, adopting synchronous feedback strategies could significantly enhance the accuracy and complexity of students' written work.

The usefulness of using literature in language teaching has always been acknowledged by language teaching researchers who have studied the said issue from different aspects and in various contexts. The present investigation tries to discover if the use of authentic and simplified literary texts could improve learners’ reading achievement, and then check if the impacts of these two types of texts on the learners’ reading were significantly different. Employing a quasi-experimental design, the researchers included ninety high school students in the data collection process. These students were taught in three groups including two experimental and one control, comparing the two types of literary texts with the usual course materials. Using pre-tests and post-tests scores, the learners' performance was compared, then t-test and ANOVA were employed to analyze the significance of the differences found between the means. It appeared that the use of literary texts could assist high school learners improve their performance in reading compared to the use of usual course materials. The findings further confirmed that the use of simplified literary texts could improve the learners’ reading better than the authentic literary texts. The findings are specifically important in teaching reading, which serve as the basic skill for building the required knowledge in EFL contexts. Literature-based language teaching seems to enjoy the power to change and improve language teaching programs through presenting on-demand and productive teaching materials and add to learners’ life awareness besides the language knowledge.

Language learning platforms or channels have always been a challenge and source of inspiration for the respective SLA researchers. The two widely used channels are learning exercises and tasks, which have received much research but which is more effective in developing language skills (listening here), is still controversial. Additionally, learners' features, including their learning styles, might be either an effective or an affected factor in applying either channel. To shed light on both problems, this experimental research employing 55 conveniently sampled Iranian intermediate EFL learners categorized into experimental and control groups was conducted. The experimental groups exposed to both pre-and post-tests received task- and exercise-based listening instructions separately for ten sessions. Their perceptual learning styles were also measured after the interventions. The respective parametric statistical analysis (i.e., independent-samples t-test) showed that both groups performed roughly equally in the post-test, and there was statistically no significant difference between intervention types. ANCOVA was run concerning each sub-style to address the status of the learning styles. Similarly, the relationship between listening ability and method type showed no statistically significant differences, regardless of whether the effectiveness of either treatment was natural. Both listening activities worked efficiently to enhance learners' listening comprehension abilities. Statistically speaking, the results confirmed the non-significantly differentiating effects of both independent variables on developing listening skills and modifying learning styles. The findings are more challenging rather than concluding, which, while bearing specific pedagogical insights, motivates further research.