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Cognate objects are verbal nouns that are morphologically related to their preceding verb by being derived from it. For all their widespread use in Arabic, such constructions are almost non-existent in Persian, and their use in the language is considered a deviation from the normal syntax of Persian. Given this, translating them into a language with no exact equivalents is likely to pose challenges for translators. This language-related problem has been probed in this investigation through a descriptive-analytical research methodology. To see how translators of the Quran set about rendering them into Persian and what compensational syntactic devices they might resort to, a content analytic approach was applied to an aggregate of 53 instances of Cognate Object Constructions (COCs) with their translations by five Persian translators of the holy book freely available on the website ParsQuran . It was found that the translators had mostly resorted to the deletion procedure rather than literal rendition, probably to help render them more naturally in the target language. The deleted cases of COC had been supplemented by a range of minor procedures, including transposition through using prepositional phrases and adverbs, the use of metaphors, amplification via absolute adverbs/adjectives and synonymy, and explicitation.

Translating book titles requires fidelity to the source text and cultural adaptation. Franklin Publishing House (FPH), active in Iran between 1954 and 1976, played a key role in shaping translation norms. This study investigates the translation strategies applied to book titles published by FPH during this period, using a microhistorical approach. A corpus of 790 translated titles from diverse genres was compiled through archival research in the Princeton University Library, the Library of Congress, the National Library of Iran, and other Iranian repositories. Titles were classified by genre and analyzed according to Yin’s (2009) framework, which distinguishes source-oriented strategies (literal translation, transliteration, and explication) from target-oriented strategies (adaptation, new title). Frequencies and percentages were calculated for each category. Literal translation was the most frequent strategy, while explication was the least common. Genre-specific patterns revealed a predominance of literal translation across most categories, particularly in historical and pure science titles. FPH’s predominant use of literal translation reflects its commitment to preserving source-text identity, a practice that aligned with its Cold War cultural diplomacy objectives and influenced translation norms within Iran’s publishing industry.

Language learners find it hard to change a text’s wording and present it differently while maintaining the original meaning in the text. This research, therefore, examined the effect of concept mapping instruction on summarizing short stories for EFL learners. Two intact grade-eight classes were assigned to experimental (n = 20) and control (n = 18) groups randomly. They summarized a starter-level short story, Drive into danger, using a maximum of 450 words as a pretest. Next, the experimental group experienced concept-mapping instruction, whereas the latter group received the traditional way of teaching summarization, for six consecutive weeks. Both groups summarized the same story again, based on their instruction, into a 450-word text at a maximum as a posttest. Pretest and posttest summaries were assessed in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, and language use. The experimental group positively improved on overall performance, content, and organization, marginally improved on vocabulary, but did not improve on language use. Furthermore, the participants’ feedback on the instructional treatment supports the statistical results. The findings offer several instructional implications.

Existential positive psychology (EPP) views hardship and tension as inseparable from life. However, majority of the interpretations in language teaching context pertain to the bivariate view of well-being and ill-being, advocating that positivity and negativity are entirely distinct factors. Furthermore, most studies on teachers' psycho-emotional variables are theoretical, creating an urgent need for practical, action-based solutions. Addressing these gaps, researchers utilized an EPP perspective and investigated the effectiveness of a 14-day gratitude-based program on the fluctuations of 42 Iranian EFL teachers' existential gratitude, well-being, and ill-being through the Repeated Measures design. For 14 days, respondents practiced expressing gratitude to themselves, their learners, and others. At the end of each day, they filled out three questionnaires. The results of Repeated Measures ANOVA revealed that gratitude interventions could play a significant role in enhancing teachers’ well-being by helping them control ill-being and be grateful for their lives. Thus, the study evidenced the efficacy of gratitude, as a practical means of tending to teachers’ mental health. The study also contributed to EPP and L2 teaching by profiling the dialectical and co-valence relationship between teachers’ well-being and ill-being. Several theoretical and pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies were also discussed.

Although reflective teaching and well-being have been promoted as a means to promote teaching quality, there is little empirical evidence to illustrate their impact on enhancing professional development. To fill this existing gap, this study adopts a mixed-methods approach to examine the contribution of reflection and psychological well-being as predictors of professional development. In so doing, 350 English language teachers participated in a survey and follow-up interviews. The correlational analysis confirmed the positive relationship among these three constructs, and a structural equation modelling indicated that both reflection and well-being significantly predicted professional development; however, well-being was a stronger predictor compared to reflection. The qualitative analysis of data revealed four main themes contributing to professional development among teachers. The pedagogical implications are also elaborated and discussed.

ranslated literature almost always involves a degree of manipulation of the source text for a certain purpose. Such manipulations are imposed by the ‘patrons’ who try to regulate the relationship between the literary system and the other systems a society is composed of. Working on this fundamental broadly-acknowledged assumption about translation, the present study aimed at identifying the concepts that are often manipulated in translated literature published in contemporary Iran. It also attempted to spot the manipulative strategies imposed on translations and the counter-manipulative strategies adopted by translators to sidestep those manipulations. Drawing on the findings of the so-called ‘Manipulation School’ and Dukāte’s typology of manipulation strategies, it conducted a comparative analysis of the source texts and translated versions of four American novels recently published in Iran. The codification of the data revealed the frowned upon taboo concepts to be descriptions of, or references to, sexual activity, physical contact between the sexes, human body, extramarital relationships, swear words, prostitution, nudity, homoeroticism, alcoholic drinks, and dancing. The most frequent manipulation strategies were 1) deletion of the taboo concepts, 2) substitution of the concepts with totally different concepts, and 3) attenuation of the forbidden words, that is to say, expressing them in a more polite, softer language. Although the manipulation mechanism is most effectively in place, the translators seemed to have occasionally applied creative strategies to evade the imposed manipulations. Such counter-manipulative strategies were classified as legitimization, archaism, use of less familiar words, degenderalization, denunciation, and borrowing in this study.

This study investigates the impact of listening to English songs on the acquisition of phrasal verbs among Iranian intermediate EFL learners. A sample of 100 learners initially took the Oxford Placement Test to assess language proficiency. Based on the homogeneity test results, 80 learners, whose scores were within one standard deviation of the mean, were selected for the study. These participants were divided randomly and equally into an experimental group and a control group, each consisting of 40 female learners. The experimental group was taught phrasal verbs using English songs as examples in eight instructional sessions, which incorporated interactive speaking activities and feedback. Conversely, the control group received the same instruction and activities without the use of songs; instead, written examples and teacher narration were provided. All sessions were conducted via Telegram, with identical content for both groups, except for the presence of songs in the experimental group. An independent samples t-test was performed to analyze the differences between the two groups in pretest and posttest performance. Results showed that listening to songs significantly enhanced the learning of phrasal verbs in the experimental group. The study concludes with theoretical and pedagogical implications for EFL teaching.

This study aimed to identify the foundational principles of a post-modernistic critical pedagogy-based (PMCP) curriculum and to develop and validate a scale measuring English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ beliefs about curriculum in the Iranian high school context. Grounded in the theoretical traditions of critical pedagogy and postmodern curriculum theory, the study was motivated by long-standing concerns about the ideological rigidity, cultural narrowness, and behaviorist orientation of the current national English curriculum. Drawing on PMCP principles such as learner empowerment, cultural inclusivity, dialogic learning, and ethical pluralism, the initial conceptual framework was constructed through a synthesis of relevant literature and semi-structured interviews with in-service Iranian EFL teachers. Based on this framework, a 35-item questionnaire was developed to measure teachers’ beliefs across four curriculum components: goals, content, methods, and assessment. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was employed to validate the scale. Content validity was confirmed through experts' review, while internal consistency was supported by Cronbach’s alpha (α= .898). Exploratory factor analysis yielded a five-factor solution, accounting for 77.79% of the total variance. Model fit indices confirmed the structural adequacy of the instrument. The validated scale offers a theoretically grounded and empirically robust tool for examining teachers’ curriculum beliefs within the Iranian school curriculum, thereby contributing to research and policy dialogue on a transformative curriculum reform in the centralized EFL education systems.

Taking into account the key role of teachers, the present survey research investigates the relationship between cultural intelligence and spiritual leadership style with the empowerment of 210 Secondary School Language teachers in Gorgan. Grounded in cultural intelligence theory (Earley & Ang, 2003) and spiritual leadership theory (Fry, 2003), the research explores how these factors contribute to teacher empowerment, a critical component of effective teaching and school improvement. Results revealed significant positive relationships between cultural intelligence and teacher empowerment and between spiritual leadership and teacher empowerment. Regression analysis confirmed that both cultural intelligence and spiritual leadership style are significant predictors of teacher empowerment. The structural equation model demonstrated strong fit indices, confirming the reliability and validity of the measurement instruments. These findings highlight the importance of cultural intelligence and spiritual leadership in enhancing teacher empowerment. The findings suggest that educational decision-makers should promote teacher empowerment by fostering cultural intelligence and spiritual leadership in the workplace.

This quantitative corpus-based study investigated the use of hedges and boosters in the writing of Iranian advanced EFL learners, with particular attention to potential gender differences. Forty EFL learners (20 males and 20 females, aged 15-20) were purposively selected from private language institutes in Yasouj, Iran, based on their performance on the Quick Oxford Placement Test (QOPT). A corpus of 40 essays (12,464 words total) was analyzed using Hyland's (2005) metadiscourse framework to identify and categorize hedges and boosters. Manual coding by two raters achieved substantial inter-rater reliability (r = .79). Frequency counts were normalized per 1,000 words, and chi-square tests were employed to examine gender differences. Results revealed that learners employed various types of hedges and boosters, with epistemic modal verbs being the most frequent category for both marker types, while epistemic nouns were rare or absent. Epistemic adjectives were the least frequent hedges, and epistemic nouns were the least frequent boosters. Notably, chi-square tests indicated no statistically significant gender differences in the use of either hedges or boosters, suggesting that male and female learners employed these markers with similar frequency and variety. The findings highlight the predominance of basic, frequently taught metadiscourse forms and suggest a need for explicit instruction to expand learners' repertoire of hedging and boosting strategies. Pedagogical implications emphasize the importance of genre-based, corpus-informed instruction and teacher professional development in metadiscourse awareness.

lassroom interaction improves the learning process by enhancing opportunities for learning since both instructors and learners are involved in various speech acts. Speech act refers to a functional element in the form of an act assisting individuals to perceive or promote things with words in interaction. Thus, the current study investigated classroom interaction in terms of types and functions of speech acts performed by Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and learners. The data for the study came from audio-recording of twelve 90-minute sessions taught by six experienced Iranian teachers. To analyze the conversational data, Finocchiaro and Brumfit’s (1983) model was used to examine various types of speech acts and Walsh’s (2006) SETT model was employed to delve into the functions of speech acts. Following the data analysis, it was unfolded that directives were the most frequent speech acts, including suggestions, requests, warning, and giving instruction, accompanied by interpersonal and personal ones. As to the functions of speech acts, the most frequent mode appeared to be the materials one (42%), accompanied by skills and systems (34%), classroom context (16%), and managerial (8%). The overall findings indicate the central role of the teacher in teacher-fronted classes in Iran as the most speech acts, i.e. about 79%, were performed by teachers in the form of requestive, suggestive, and advisory to control and promote the learning process. By carrying out the current study, it is hoped that readers gain more insight regarding the pragmatics territory, most notably speech acts.