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In recent years, some language teachers have made investments in approaches and models such as mobile assisted flipped language learning. Some studies in Iran have examined flipped learning impact on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ language skills as well as language systems. However, no researches have been conducted on the impact mobile assisted flipped learning might have on improvement of intermediate EFL learners’ cohesive devices and their motivation to learn cohesion which is the focus of the current study. To this end, 40 female intermediate EFL learners in an English language institute in Kerman, Iran were recruited. Employing a quasi-experimental design, subjects were assigned to two classes of experimental (EG- N = 20) and control (CG-N = 20). Oxford Placement Test, researcher-made writing achievement tests, and Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) were utilized to collect the required data. The findings indicate that participants in mobile assisted flipped language learning group outperformed those in the control group. Moreover, the results of a chi-square test showed a significant relationship between mobile assisted flipped language learning and intermediate EFL learners’ motivation to learn cohesive devices. The findings might help stakeholders design, introduce, and address mobile assisted flipped language learning to their context-specific needs, thereby facilitating the language learning process.

The researchers in the current study were pinpointing the factors contributing to teacher motivation. Among the myriad of variables which were deemed liable to influence teacher motivation, the researchers opted for teacher motivation, namely teacher burnout, self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, and teaching style as the main predictive variables for teacher motivation. To conduct the study, a total of 200 English language teachers were asked to fill the study questionnaires. The target group encompassed teachers from both public school and language school contexts. The teachers were from both genders and came from a variety of age groups, years of experience, and language backgrounds. The participants were recruited from 10 cities across West Azarbaijan. To facilitate the data collection process, the questionnaires were sent to participants via Google forms link. The obtained data were analyzed through SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) to find the exact interrelationships between the four variables considered as predictors and teacher motivation. The findings pointed toward the existence of significant paths from burnout, self-efficacy, emotional intelligence (EI), and teaching styles toward teaching motivation. Additionally, EI, self-efficacy, and teaching styles were depicted to be significant predictors for burnout. The path from EI to self-efficacy was also significant. Furthermore, teaching style was significantly predicted by EI and self-efficacy. Finally, the findings obtained via interview analysis demonstrated that teacher motivation can be influenced by a variety of factors including low income and lack of environmental/social support, which can, in turn, lead to increased levels of burnout and hence diminish teaching efficacy and hence motivation. The implications of the findings are discussed throughout the paper.

Over the last decade, Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL) has led to an authentic and contextual language learning process across the globe (Kukulska-Hulme, 2009). It has played a pivotal role in language learning in general and vocabulary learning in particular as a building block of academic writing. The current study examined the effect of a mobile application (i.e. AWL builder) on academic vocabulary learning among sophomore university students in applied linguistics. The study also focused on measuring students' perceptions and problems in utilizing mobile-assisted applications in acquiring English academic vocabulary. Accordingly, using convenience sampling procedures the participants were divided into experimental (N =36) and control (N = 36) groups. The experimental group used a mobile application (i.e. AWL builder), while the control group used a traditional approach. Furthermore, to answer research questions academic vocabulary pre-and post-tests and a questionnaire were employed. The findings show that the AWL group showed prominent performance in academic vocabulary tests. The current study concludes that instructors should take into account mobile devices as useful supplementary tools to enhance L2 academic word retention and include them in regular language curriculum.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of task type (i.e., sentence fill-in/sentence writing) and word type (i.e., real/ pseudo) on initial learning and retention of 10 word meanings, taking the predictions of Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) and Technique Feature Analysis (TFA) into account. Participants were 59 intermediate-level EFL learners from eight intact classes. Each intact class was randomly assigned to one of the four learning conditions: 1) sentence fill-in with real words, 2) sentence writing with real words, 3) sentence fill-in with pseudowords, and 4) sentence writing with pseudowords. Initial learning was measured by administering a meaning recall test immediately after the tasks and medium-term retention was measured by administering the same test with rearranged items one week after the tasks phase. The results of a mixed between-within subjects ANOVA did not show any significant interaction effect between test time and learning condition. Furthermore, the main effect for learning condition was not statistically significant but there was a significant main effect for test time, suggesting that participants’ scores dropped significantly from the immediate posttest to the delayed posttest. The findings of two independent-samples t-tests failed to show any significant difference between the immediate and delayed posttest scores of the participants who received either sentence fill-in or sentence writing tasks. However, some tentative findings demonstrated that those participants who were assigned to the sentence writing task achieved higher scores on the posttests. This finding indicates that TFA has probably more predictive power than ILH and it also provides some evidence in favor of the heavier weight of the evaluation component of the ILH when compared to its search component.

Adaptive teaching addresses students’ diversity and their immediate learning needs. Particularly, in the high-interactive context of English teaching, fostering adaptive teaching in teacher professional development programs not only stimulates teacher change at the micro level, but also facilitates implementing the organizational and curricular innovations imposed by authorities at the macro level. The current English teaching literature lacks a measure for evaluating and fostering adaptive teaching within higher education. Hence, within the present study, the Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth (IMTPG) was adapted and validated as a measure for evaluating and fostering teacher adaptability for 183 international English teachers in higher education. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed for validating two different enactment and reflection links in the original IMTPG, and the final adapted IMTPG for adaptive teaching (At-IMTPG) was proposed. The AT-IMTPG can be applied for evaluating how adaptive English teachers are, seeking to resolve the problem of implementing educational innovations by English teachers in higher education. It can also be used to design teacher professional growth programs for fostering adaptive teaching within English teaching higher education. Such a change in the classroom level is hoped to be translated into an educational change in English teaching higher education.

In recent decades, many second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have identified the leading role of organizing sequentially cognitive tasks in Task-Based Language Teaching. Presenting types of different task sequence has become increasingly crucial for syllabus designers. This investigation examines the theoretical basis of task sequencing, which claims that pedagogical tasks should be developed and ordered cognitively from easy to complex. The current study aims to compare the performance of English learners in sequenced and isolated familiar tasks. Sixty EFL learners studying at the intermediate level in two private language institutes participated in this research. They were randomly selected as one experimental and one control group, each comprising 30 subjects. Before starting treatment, all the participants took a listening comprehension test as a pretest. The treatment took place over one semester, during which the subjects performed simple-complex familiar sequenced tasks while the control group received familiar randomized tasks. After treatment, the posttest of listening comprehension, which contained two complex task features, i.e., - Here-and-Now and - Planning time, was employed. The independent-samples t-test showed that the experimental group who received simple-complex sequenced tasks outperformed the control group in listening to complex tasks. The findings supported the employment of simple-complex sequencing tasks to foster listening task complexity performance.

This research explores language assessment practices and training preferences in Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, aiming to provide valuable insights into the current landscape among 363 Iranian EFL teachers. Data collection included diverse demographics, facilitating a thorough analysis of assessment practices and preferences. Statistical analyses, such as chi-square tests, revealed a significant gap between the perceived importance and the actual proficiency of Iranian EFL teachers. Speaking skills are prioritized while listening comprehension is least emphasized. Common assessment methods include active class participation, oral presentations, and closed-ended tests, with underutilized methods suggesting a need for broader teacher development programs. The study underscores the diverse terminology used for teacher-mediated assessments, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of EFL assessment practices. In summary, the paper highlights the significance of tailored assessment literacy programs to bridge the gap and enhance English language teaching in Iran.

Although processing instruction (PI) has been a very popular grammar teaching method over the last years, there are, however, very limited if any attempts to explore different proficiency learners’ achievements using this approach. This study was, therefore, an attempt to investigate the role of PI in possibly bringing about enhanced acquisition of three grammatical structures: regular past tense, causatives and relative clauses. In addition, it sought learner’s attitudes towards PI as it is believed that the success of an approach is highly dependent upon the viewpoints of its practitioners and the students being exposed to it. Three proficiency groups of elementary (n = 42), intermediate (n = 38) and advanced (n = 40) EFL learners were compared. The results of a set of independent samples t-tests revealed significant effects for the use of PI in all the groups except for a lack of improvement for elementary learners’ production of the regular past tense structure. The analysis of the attitude questionnaire and learners’ further ideas on the effectiveness of PI revealed their appreciation of the integration of this instructional practice in their target language courses. The results are discussed in relation to effective grammar and writing pedagogy.

Task complexity has recently attracted great attention in second language (L2) studies. However, its potential impacts on learning transitional devices have not been considered. The current study was an attempt to analyze the impacts of manipulating task complexity conditions on EFL learners’ grammatical enhancement in terms of learning transitional devices through doing writing tasks. For this purpose, 75 intermediate EFL learners learning English in three English language institutes in Iran were randomly selected. They were assigned to four experimental groups and one control group (each with 15 participants). Each of the experimental groups was presented with a pretest, writing tasks, an immediate posttest and a delayed posttest. The participants took part in 9 sessions and in each session some transitional devices were introduced to the experimental groups with which they were supposed to write a paragraph based on a special topic using all those transitional devices. The different experimental groups received writing tasks with different complexity levels which were determined through the manipulation of factors including ± few elements and ± planning time. The participants in the control group just participated in a regular English class for 9 sessions without doing such tasks. The performances of all groups were analyzed, and the findings revealed statistically significant differences among the five groups in both the immediate posttest and the delayed posttest, after controlling for the effect of the pretest. The findings of the current study have practical implications for curriculum development and EFL writing instruction.

Emotion labor is defined as any conflict between institutional demands and teachers’ professional beliefs and preferences. Engaging in emotion labor is an inevitable aspect of becoming a language teacher. Scholars agree that language teacher agency and identity are closely tied to emotion labor. This fact particularly looms large for novice language teachers, who tend to perceive contradictions between what they imagine prior to entering the profession and what they actually experience in their teaching contexts. This case study applied activity theory (Engeström, 2015) and Gee’s (2000) identity framework to explore how the emotion labor experienced by a novice Iranian female teacher of English as a foreign language (EFL) over a five-year career period at three private language institutes affected her language teacher agency and identity. The findings, obtained from class observations and semi-structured interviews, highlight two major sources of emotion labor: 1) profit-oriented policy, and 2) performance-constraining factors within the institute, which caused the participant to contemplate quitting her job. Implications and further research are discussed in line with the interplay among emotion labor, language teacher identity, and well-being.