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Mindfulness-based training (MBT) and clinical supervision (CS) are two somewhat alternative approaches in education, the promising results of which have been reported in the English as a foreign language (EFL) literature. Accordingly, the current study sought to explore the differential impacts of MBT and CS for EFL teachers on the overall achievement of the learners they taught. The teacher and learner participants, selected non-randomly through convenience sampling, comprised 64 teachers and 663 of their learners teaching and learning English at one private language school in Tehran. The teachers were randomly divided into two equal groups each consisting of 32 participants. There were 327 learners in the CS group of teachers and 336 learners in the MBT group of teachers. Prior to the treatment, the two learner groups took a sample Preliminary English Test (PET) as the pretest. Next, one of the teacher groups underwent CS while the second group was exposed to MBT. After the treatment, both learner groups who had been taught by the two groups of teachers took another sample PET as the posttest. The statistical analysis revealed that the learners taught by the MBT group outperformed those taught by the CS group significantly. Based on the results, teacher educators and supervisors are encouraged to raise teachers’ awareness concerning the benefits of MBT in their working environments.
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This study bridges cognitive theory and learners’ perspectives to investigate the effectiveness of Processing Instruction (PI) in teaching causative constructions within EFL grammar contexts. A mixed-methods design was employed to capture both quantitative results and qualitative insights. The participants consisted of 123 undergraduate EFL students, assigned to two groups: one receiving PI and the other taught with a conventional method. The statistical results from the quantitative phase revealed that the PI group showed significant improvements in comprehension and retention of causative constructions compared to the conventional group. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 students from the PI group to examine the efficacy of this instruction through the learner’s lens. They reported that PI improved cognitive engagement and sustained interest, which contributed to their grammatical awareness and, as they perceived, their productive language use. The findings demonstrate that PI may effectively support grammar teaching, with practical implications for EFL learners, teachers, and syllabus designers.
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Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs) refer to periods of sustained motivational momentum characterized by clear direction, structured pathways, and ongoing feedback. This study examined how teacher cognition shapes DMC-like engagement in exam-driven EFL classrooms and how these processes appear in learners’ moment-to-moment engagement. Using a longitudinal multiple-case design, we followed five upper-secondary EFL teachers in public schools over one academic year. Data collection included repeated teacher interviews, classroom observations and field notes, teacher reflections, focus groups, including a follow-up session, learner interviews, and paper-based motometers tracking within-lesson engagement trajectories. Data were managed in MAXQDA (2022) for coding and organization and analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis guided by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase model, with systematic triangulation across teacher- and learner-side sources. The findings showed that teachers valued DMC principles but often saw full DMCs as hard to sustain under exam cycles and pacing demands. Instead, their cognition centered on route-building practices, i.e., clarifying direction, sequencing subgoals, maintaining routines, and providing frequent low-stakes feedback, which supported episodic DMC-like engagement as shown in motometers and observation field notes. However, institutional route-change events and learner-level fragility repeatedly disrupted continuity, shifting engagement toward exam-framed persistence, reducing learner-owned momentum. The study sharpens the boundary between DMC-like engagement and exam-driven persistence and offers practical guidance for designing flexible motivational routes that protect continuity in constrained school contexts. By linking teacher accounts to learner-side engagement signals, the study provides a mechanism-level explanation of the interplay between teacher cognition and learner engagement trajectories across a school year.
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This study explored Iranian learners’ perceptions of the effect of context, cognitive, metacognitive, procedural and motivational scaffolding on their listening comprehension, listening anxiety and metacognitive awareness. To this end, a grounded theory design was used using a semi-structured interview to collect the data. The participants consisted of 25 Iranian female intermediate EFL learners who were voluntarily selected from a language institute. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis of the interview data. According to the results, the following themes were extracted for the effect of context scaffolding: Reducing Listening Anxiety, Increasing Willingness to Learn Listening, and Enhancing Listening Skill. Moreover, Making Listening Learning Quicker, Increasing Control over Listening, and Increasing Attention were extracted for the effect of cognitive scaffolding. Further, for the effect of metacognitive scaffolding, the following themes were extracted: Increasing Self-Confidence, Increasing Autonomy, and Increasing Enjoyment. Additionally, the themes related to the effect of procedural scaffolding were Enhancing Teacher-Students Relations, Enhancing Problem-Solving Ability, and Enhancing Reflective Behavior. Finally, Increasing Motivation, Increasing Learner Interest, and Increasing Learner Engagement were extracted for the effect of motivational scaffolding. The results have some implications for EFL teachers, learners and curriculum planners.
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Informal digital learning of English (IDLE) is now a routine part of many learners’ everyday media use, yet it remains unclear how these out-of-class digital practices translate into competence for real-world intercultural communication. Building on work that conceptualizes IDLE as both receptive and productive engagement, this study tested a mediation model in which EFL grit and classroom boredom help explain the link between IDLE and intercultural communicative competence (ICC). A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 219 intermediate Iranian EFL learners (aged 15–20) studying in private language schools in Urmia. After screening, 218 valid cases were retained for analysis. Measures included receptive and productive IDLE, ICC (25 items), EFL grit (18 items), and boredom in practical English classes (27 items). The hypothesized model was examined using partial least squares structural equation modelling with bootstrapped confidence intervals. Results indicated that both receptive and productive IDLE were positively associated with ICC. In addition, higher grit and lower classroom boredom partially mediated these relationships. The findings suggest that learners’ sustained effort (grit) and their classroom emotional experience (boredom) are key psychological routes through which everyday digital English engagement may contribute to intercultural development. Implications are discussed for connecting IDLE experiences to classroom reflection, reducing boredom, and supporting perseverance in EFL learning.
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The main objective of the present study was to design a social responsibility curriculum model for the second grade of secondary school based on the Akker model. It is applied in terms of purpose and, from the perspective of data collection method, qualitative and conducted using research synthesis. The statistical population consisted of all domestic and international studies between 2004 and 2024, among which 40 studies were purposefully selected as a sample and analyzed using Marsh’s six-step research synthesis model. The research findings were summarized and thematically analyzed based on Akker’s proposed curriculum model, and the following elements were identified: curriculum logic; content topics; goals and objectives; teaching-learning activities including principles and methods, teacher’s role, educational materials and resources; grouping; space and environment (physical and emotional); instruction time; and evaluation including: respect for social and environmental values; preservation of ethical values; and principles and methods. The proposed model moves social responsibility beyond a fragmented moral concept and frames it as an integrated curriculum logic that connects objectives, content, pedagogy, environment, and assessment. It can support curriculum policymakers and teachers in designing learning experiences that systematically cultivate students’ ethical judgment, civic agency, environmental awareness, and responsible social participation.
