مطالب

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in understanding how cognitive skills influence second language acquisition. Cognitive control, a set of mental processes that include attention, inhibition, and working memory, has been shown to play a significant role in language learning. This study examines the impact of cognitive control skills on language development among adult Iranian English learners, comparing it both in online and in person settings. Forty adult EFL learners were divided into two groups and underwent a 9-week instructional period, with cognitive control skills assessed using the Attention Network Task (ANT), working memory tasks, and a Raven’s IQ test. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, regression, and ANCOVA to determine relationships between variables. The results of the study revealed that while aspects of cognitive control like orienting and altering do not have a significant impact on language development, the more complex, controlling aspect exhibits a positive relationship (F=4.937, p=0.033). This relationship was contingent upon controlling for differences between post-examination and primary examination of ANT results, indicating that controlling attention is a stronger predictor of language outcomes. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that the mode of instruction—online or in-person—has no significant impact on this relationship (F=0.009, p=0.925), suggesting that cognitive control operates independently of teaching mode. The study’s findings suggest that educators and curriculum developers should emphasize activities targeting the controlling component of cognitive control in language learning, as this is linked to better language development. Additionally, since the mode of instruction does not significantly impact this relationship, effective language instruction can be delivered in both online and in-person settings, providing flexibility in course design.

The complexity of the field of architecture, its ever-increasing application, and the rapid growth of technologies and software used in this field necessitate the need to inves tigate the effects of computer software on the quality of s tudents' learning and a solution to improve the role of software in learning. Therefore, research has been carried out to inves tigate the role of computers in improving the quality of undergraduate architecture projects. This research is applied research, and its nature is descriptive-analytical and inferential research. The data for this research was obtained through ques tionnaires dis tributed among 86 undergraduate s tudents in the 3rd course. The final reliability of the ques tionnaire was 0.889 using Cronbach's alpha tes t. The research findings were analyzed using T-tes t, ANOVA, and Tukey's. The t-tes t showed that the role of computers in architecture s tudents' learning rates differs from each other. Also, the ANOVA tes t results showed that s tudents' learning amount based on the type of software has a significant difference equal to Sig=0.000. According to the results obtained from the findings of the research, it can be said that despite the effectiveness of computer sys tems in improving the learning of architecture s tudents, the priority is on the individual and collective characteris tics of s tudents, and the use of computers should be appropriate to the nature of the course, s tudents' ability and interes t.