مطالب

Recent years have witnessed extensive research on motivation in second/foreign language (L2) contexts. Attempts have been made to develop motivation-based techniques and methods to boost learners’ learning outcomes in L2 programs. Yet, studies that have targeted L2 learners’ perceptions about the effectiveness of such programs in online classes remain scarce. This study addressed this gap and delved into L2 learners’ perceptions of two motivation-oriented instructions, namely the ARCS-based (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) and L2MSS vision-inspired (Second Language Motivational Self System) instructions, in an online English course. To this end, 41 learners of English were assigned to two groups. One group was instructed based on the ARCS motivation framework, and the other was instructed based on the L2MSS framework. Then, 10 volunteer participants from each group participated in focus group interviews. Thematic analysis of the data revealed 19 subthemes and 7 main themes, including 4 themes of attention-related pedagogy, relevance-oriented content, confidence-building elements, and sense of contentment/discontentment regarding the ARCS group, and 3 themes of ideal self-orientations, ought-to self-orientations, and situated learning/teaching experiences regarding the L2MSS group. The engaging content and appealing learning environment in the ARCS group and the future perspective enhancement and goal setting in the L2MSS group were motivating factors, creating positive perceptions of the two programs. The findings suggest utilizing attention-catching and vision-building strategies to motivate learners and enhance their L2 learning outcomes in online classes.

Positive Language Education (PLE) has emerged as a significant area of focus within foreign language education, emphasizing the incorporation of well-being and positive psychological principles into the language learning process to foster a more holistic and supportive educational environment. Despite the growing scholarly interest in this approach, the application of Positive Psychology (PP) themes within language curricula, particularly in non-Western educational contexts, remains underexplored. In this qualitative study, the researchers explored the potential benefits of embedding PP content within a General English course. Drawing on established well-being themes from the literature—such as gratitude, resilience, emotion regulation, altruism, creativity, and life’s meaning—the researchers designed and implemented a series of activities and materials incorporating multimodal resources, including texts, audio recordings, and video clips across diverse genres (e.g., fiction and non-fiction). The study was conducted with a cohort of 85 Iranian female undergraduate students enrolled  in a General English course at a state university in Tehran., Iran Data were collected over the course of a semester through a combination of methods: classroom observations, analysis of student-generated materials, and in-depth semi-structured interviews with a selected number of participants. Thematic analysis of the collected data revealed that the integration of well-being themes and activities fostered the development of both linguistic and non-linguistic competencies, including enhanced positive self-expression, introspective self-reflection, well-being literacy, and the cultivation of a foreign language growth mindset. The findings highlight the multidimensional benefits of integrating PP principles into foreign language education.

This paper discusses the use of figures of speech and communicative intentions behind such stylistic choices in British political interviews. By using a qualitative stylistic framework based on the models of Simpson (2004) and Leech and Short (2007), this research investigates the usage of metaphors, similes, and analogies by British politicians between 2009 and 2024. This study has found that such rhetorical devices are strategically utilized to reduce intricacy, create emotional appeals, and command authority. Key findings underline the fact that key metaphors constitute the framing of policies in an accessible and positive light, reinforcement of political positionality through similes, and projection of competence and trust through analogies. This is a very significant lacuna in literature, as almost all previous studies have focused on rhetorical devices in American political speeches rather than British interviews. It tries to show the purposes of such stylistic strategies and allow a bigger understanding of political communication in British contexts to linguists, political strategists, and media analysts. The findings point up the centrality of language in the engendering of public perception and offer insight into the persuasive functions of rhetorical devices in contemporary political discourse.

In this paper, the researcher intends to show the Fantasy world, like the real world, suffers from racial issues and cultural diversities as well. Moreover, the main claim of this article is to depict that the tensions and battles that exist in the selected novels are the result of diaspora, dislocation, and cultural diversities as the subjects attempt to adjust or fail to adapt themselves. In this research, Hall’s theory is used as the main framework. In the selected works Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the idea of dislocation is the dominant notion among the characters of the story. The characters might not belong to a specific region while they live there and they would not be accepted by the other character. Consequently, they become confused about their own identity and regard themselves as hybrid subjects. This means that the notion of hybrid identity is dominant among several characters in the series. Consequently, the characters have different features that might be contradictory. ecocriticism has other disciplines such as environmental justice and deep ecology that remain open to trace them in the selected novels. In addition, applying other approaches, such as psychoanalysis, to the novels could also be beneficial, since when searching for the purpose of this study, many interesting issues on the novels and discussions can be read.

Dialogue journal writing is extensively regarded as an effective technique for enhancing the writing motivation of EFL/ESL students. However, studies on how dialogue journal writing enhances EFL students’ writing motivation are scarce in the Ethiopian context. This study investigates the impact of dialogue journal writing on freshman EFL students’ writing motivation. Employing a quasi-experimental design, two intact groups were selected from students in the social science stream. After checking their comparability at the onset of the intervention, the two groups were randomly assigned into experimental (n = 37) and comparison groups (n = 35) using coin flipping. Following this, the experimental group was instructed writing for 10 weeks based on the dialogue journal writing approach and the comparison group for the same period, but following the conventional approach. Data were collected before and after the intervention through a writing motivation questionnaire from both groups. The collected data were analyzed using an independent sample t-test, a paired sample t-test, and one-way MANOVA. The result of the study revealed that dialogue journal writing significantly enhanced the experimental group students' overall writing motivation (p<0.05), with a large effect size (d = 1.46), and its sub-components (enjoyment, self-efficacy, instrumentality, recognition, and effort), (p<0.05), with a moderate effect size (η²p = 0.371) when these sub-components were considered combined. The finding suggests that dialogue journal writing can effectively enhance EFL students’ writing motivation. Therefore, university EFL teachers are recommended to use dialogue journal writing in their writing classes to improve their students’ writing motivation.

This study investigates the effect of corrective feedback on Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) development in the context of invitation acceptance and declination. Three intact experimental groups were selected via convenience sampling from an English institute in Tehran: a recast group (N = 13), a metalinguistic group (N = 17), and a clarification request group (N = 12). Prior to the treatment, the groups participated in a dialogic extended discourse pretest. The dialogues for invitation acceptance and declination were drawn from Top Notch, American English File, English Result, and Four Corners. Learners’ performance was assessed using two checklists—one for pragmalinguistic and the other for sociopragmatic knowledge—based on a five-item Likert scale ranging from inappropriate to most appropriate. Treatment sessions were conducted three times per week, each lasting 60 minutes, over a period of one month. The findings reveal that corrective feedback significantly enhanced ILP development. Notably, the metalinguistic group outperformed the recast and clarification request groups. Consequently, metalinguistic corrective feedback proved more effective than recast and clarification feedback in fostering Iranian EFL learners’ ILP development concerning invitation acceptance and declination.