محدثه صدقی

In spite of the longitudinal attempts of the educational authorities, English has failed to have a proper position in the ELT educational system in Iran, resulting in the weak performance of Iranian EFL learners. As a result, this study was carried out to integrate sociocultural theory, multimodality theory, multiple intelligence theory, and social identity theory to develop a comprehensive conceptual model for understanding and overcoming ELT curriculum challenges. A transformative sequential mixed research design was adopted to explore the challenges, perceptions, and provision of the model. First of all, a total of 49 articles were selected from well-established journals to map the related challenges. The review and comparison processes were conducted based on Tricco et al.’s (2018) PRISMA_SCR model (thematic analysis). The extracted categories of challenges were explored in relation to the principles of the four mentioned theories, and nine categories were selected to align with the principles of the mentioned theories. Then, 403 participants from three categories of stakeholders (pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and scholars) were chosen, and their perceptions were assessed through the administration of a researcher-developed Likert-scale questionnaire. Moreover, some interview questions were drawn up to guide the qualitative phase, and an observation checklist was developed to assist in monitoring ELT classroom practices (to confirm the extracted challenges and assure the validity of the questionnaire). The results, obtained through SPSS and SEM statistical platforms, revealed that all three groups of participants considered authenticity, lack of communicative skill, deficiency in teacher training programs, and malfunctioning assessment methods as the most important challenges. This study has highlighted the effect of the application of the principles of sociocultural and social identity theories in developing an optimal learning environment that is socially and culturally responsive. Moreover, the principles of multimodality theory have emphasized the positive effect of the application of different instructional resources in promoting engagement and development among EFL learners. On the other hand, the principles of multiple intelligence theory call for differentiated instruction and assessment to address various cognitive and emotional capacities of learners. By integrating sociocultural, social identity, multiple intelligence, and multimodality theories, this study has provided a holistic framework for reforming the most significant ELT curriculum challenges.