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As there have been few studies on the comparative effects of mind-mapping (MM) and concept-mapping (CM) techniques on learning English language skills and sub-skills, this survey pursued to scrutinize the impacts of these techniques on reading motivation, reading comprehension, and willingness to communicate (WTC) of Iranian EFL students. To fulfill these objectives, 78 intermediate EFL students were selected based on non-random sampling and accidentally assigned to two experimental groups (EGs) and one control group (CG). They were then pre-tested using a reading motivation test, a reading comprehension test, and a WTC test. Next, the intervention was conducted on the three groups. The MM technique was employed to teach 16 English reading texts to one EG and the CM technique was applied to teach the same texts to the other EG. None of these techniques were used to teach the texts to the CG. When the intervention ended, the post-tests of reading comprehension, reading motivation test, and WTC were given to the three groups. The outcomes of the One-Way ANOVA tests and the post-hoc Scheffe tests revealed that there was a substantial difference between the scores of the EGs and the CG on the three post-tests, with the results being in favor of the EGs. In effect, the findings indicated that the MM and CM techniques enhanced reading motivation, reading comprehension, and WTC of the experimental participants equally. Finally, the implications and conclusions of the research were explained.

The present study aims to elucidate the relationship between religion and development and to examine the role of religion as either an obstacle or a catalyst for development by delving into the thought system of Ayatollah Khamenei. In this regard, the ideas and thoughts of Ayatollah Khamenei regarding religion and development are analyzed to respond to the fundamental question of this research: ‘Is religion an obstacle to development or a driving force for it?’ He has presented his specific views on the role of religion in human development and progress. Ayatollah Khamenei's perspective is significant regarding his position as a contemporary religious thinker. This paper employs a mixed-methods approach to investigate the topic. In the first phase, a library research method was utilized to gather comprehensive and in-depth information. This involved systematically referring to existing sources, including books, articles, and statements by Ayatollah Khamenei, and collecting data. In the second one, a systemic analysis method was employed for a deeper interpretation and analysis of the research findings. The systemic analysis of political thinkers’ ideas is a novel method for examining and interpreting the thoughts of political thinkers, and it is designed in five key stages: Research design, data collection, data analysis, reporting findings, and research validation. The findings indicated that religion is not only an obstacle to development, but it also acts as a driving force for it. The religious teachings derived from Ayatollah Khamenei's thought system, which have their roots in his specific worldview, play a vital role in achieving development in both individual and social dimensions.

Many difficulties learners experience during language learning interfere with their performance, and those associated with their psychology play an integral role in this process. Underpinned by Bandura’s social cognitive theory and Dweck’s implicit theory of intelligence, this article explored how language mindsets influenced female EFL learners’ cognitive engagement through the mediation of risk-taking. Following a quantitative design and drawing on stratified sampling, the researchers ran the Power Analysis Calculator and selected 384 language learners from six institutes of Tabriz, Iran. The data were collected by three questionnaires, including the Language Mindset Inventory of Lou and Noels (2017), University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI) designed by Maroco et al., (2016), and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) of Patton, Stanford and Barratt (1995). The PLS-SEM analysis showed that learners’ growth mindsets were directly related to cognitive engagement. Furthermore, risk-taking significantly mediated this relationship. This finding provides some implications for school psychology to develop in students self-theories that highlight growth and competence instead of limitation and inactivity.