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Culture, intercultural interaction, and language have often been described as indivisible and the relation between them is quite intricate. This study was conducted to evaluate Iranian and Afghan secondary English textbooks. Two aspects, representation of culture and intercultural interaction, were focused on in the conversation parts of Iranian and Afghan secondary English textbooks. First, 172 conversations in Iranian textbooks and 160 conversations in Afghan textbooks were analyzed based on Byram’s (1994) framework to investigate the frequency of representation of culture. Second, all the conversations were analyzed based on Song’s (2013) model to investigate the frequency of intercultural interactions. Results revealed that Social Interaction was the most frequent category for the representation of culture and Superficial Interaction was the most frequent category for intercultural interactions. In the same vein, National History was largely ignored in the representation of culture within these 12 books while Critical Reflection was the category that was not paid due and sufficient attention to throughout the books regarding the intercultural interaction. The study implies that teachers, materials developers, and coursebook designers might be able to make more informed and proper decisions regarding the way and the extent cultural elements are to be incorporated in English textbooks.

The goal of the present study was to realize whether L1 (first language) or L2 (second language) affects the third language (L3) learning. Three mirror-image groups learning English were compared, as early learners of sequential Persian-Arabic bilinguals. The first group used L1 Persian-L2 Arabic languages. The second and the third groups used L1 Arabic-L2 Persian languages. Moreover, the first and the second groups used Persian, and the third group used Arabic as a language of communication. The Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was administered to select initial L3 English learners. Sixty English learners participated in the study. The translation task and Grammaticality Judgment Test were administered to elicit English attributive adjectives. To compare the performances of the three groups, the non-parametric equivalent of One-Way ANOVA, which was the Kruskal-Wallis test, was used. Mann-Whitney U tests were applied to recognize the probably significant differences among groups. None of the Cumulative Enhancement Model (CEM), the L1 Factor Hypotheses, the L2 Status Factor, and the Typological Primacy Model was confirmed. However, the influence of the dominant language of communication on L3 learning supported data. Groups one and two had better performances in the comprehension and production of attributive adjectives. Group three obtained the lowest mean score. This study lets us determine the influence of earlier acquired languages, Persian and Arabic, on the initial stage of learning L3 English attributive adjectives. The results indicate that the language of communication has a substantial effect on transferring from the first and second languages into the L3 language.  

Idioms and collocations are part of lexical phrases which are of high importance in lexicography. One of the criteria for distinguishing these two types of phrases from each other is the inflexibility of their constituent elements. Idioms, unlike collocations, are not flexible in terms of word order and are always used in a fixed and specific form. The purpose of the present article was to show firstly whether all Persian idioms are inflexible against syntactic changes or some are flexible; secondly, to indicate how a new lexical phrase is created as a result of converting an idiom into a collocation. To illustrate this phenomenon, a new and practical definition for idioms and collocations, based on syntactic criteria not merely semantic, was provided. According to Construction Grammar, idioms were analyzed based on four syntactic tests: ‘passivization’, ‘clefting’, ‘dislocation’, and ‘interrogation’. Two hundred idioms were collected from two of the most up-to-date and comprehensive sources, namely Farsi Amiyaneh Dictionary (Abolhassan Najafi, 2008) and the two-volume Dictionary of Kenayat-e Sokhan (Hassan Anvari, 2019). Some idioms were flexible to syntactic changes, and behaved similarly to collocations. The flexibility of idioms led to introducing a new definition of these phrases based on syntactic criteria. Thus, such phrases were considered a kind of collocation, not an idiom. The result showed that converting an idiom into a collocation always creates a lexical phrase or lexeme with a new meaning. Finally, a plan was introduced to represent such idioms practically in Persian dictionaries.

Much of the research on the comprehension of passive sentences has targeted healthy adults, L1 acquirers and people with aphasia. However, a topic that lacks evidence is the comprehension challenges of EFL learners facing different passive structure types. Consequently, this study investigated the comprehension difficulty of different passive structures by 186 intermediate EFL learners. The participants’ task was to read a sentence and choose a corresponding answer in a multiple-choice format via a software application designed for this study. The answers were analyzed in terms of the comprehension accuracy and the reaction time. Compared with the passive sentences, the participants needed less time comprehending active sentences and had a higher success rate. The results suggested that different passive verb types (i.e., regular/irregular, action/state, double-object/single-object, negative/affirmative, and question/statement) imposed different degrees of comprehension challenge to EFL learners; passives with regular verbs (PR) were the least challenging and passives with double-object verbs (PDO) were the most demanding structures. It was also revealed that the participants’ comprehension of different passive structures was significantly different based on their reaction times. The study’s findings may be of insight for EFL instructors and material developers to possibly invest more time for the more challenging passive structures.

Using Critical Digital Pedagogy (CDP) acknowledges the recent advancements in technology in the field of education. As teachers should effectively deal with the needs of students with the help of educational technologies to increase their critical awareness, the level of digital literacy of Iranian teachers is not desirable and naturally teacher training in Iran should be in line with the latest changes in the world, this qualitative study aimed to find out how ELT experts perceive the CP technology-based EFL teacher preparation program in the Iranian context as part of a basic interpretative project. Thirty ELT experts with a Ph.D. in TEFL were selected through convenience sampling among experienced university professors who had relevant research expertise in the field. Consulting the related literature, the researcher developed a semi-structured interview in approximately three open-ended questions. The results analyzed by MAXQDA showed that perceptions of ELT experts were consistent with CP assumptions and the use of technology in education. The interpretation of the findings indicates a reconciliation between CP principles and technology. Participants perceived the valuable concepts of CP in light of technology used to shape a technology-based CP curriculum. Findings have implications for EFL teacher education administrators, curriculum planners, and educators. 

Unidimensionality is an important assumption of measurement but it is violated very often. Most of the time, tests are deliberately constructed to be multidimensional to cover all aspects of the intended construct. In such situations, the application of unidimensional item response theory (IRT) models is not justified due to poor model fit and misleading results. Multidimensional IRT (MIRT) models can handle several dimensions simultaneously and yield person ability parameters on several dimensions which is helpful for diagnostic purposes too. Furthermore, MIRT models use the correlation between the dimensions to enhance the precision of the measurement. In this study a reading comprehension test is modelled with the multidimensional Rasch model. The findings showed that a correlated 2-dimensional model has the best fit to the data. The bifactor model revealed some interesting information about the structure of reading comprehension and the reading curriculum. Implications of the study for the testing and teaching of reading comprehension are discussed.

The current study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) as a statistical technique to test a hypothesized mediating model to uncover the underlying relationship between the L2 motivational self-system, L2 anxiety, and L2 willingness to communicate (L2 WTC). This study is significant because it considers the unique experiences of English as a foreign language (EFL) learner in the era of globalization by incorporating the L2 motivational self-system. The mediating effect of L2 anxiety was also accounted for, providing a deeper understanding of how emotional factors influence L2 WTC. The data were collected through a questionnaire administered to 260 students at six public universities in China. The results showed that (a) two subcomponents of the L2 motivational self-system (ideal L2 self and L2 learning experience) were positive predictors to L2 WTC; (b) the higher the degree to which learners were motivated by their ought-to L2 self, the higher the anxiety of English learning; and (c) L2 anxiety had a suppressing effect between the L2 motivational self-system and L2 WTC. Specifically, L2 anxiety weakens the direct positive effect of the L2 motivational self-system on L2 WTC, leading to a decrease in L2 WTC. Pedagogical implications and future research directions were also addressed.

This study sought to investigate how doctoral candidates are positioned by journal editors and reviewers and how they establish their own position while attempting to get published, as well as the challenges and opportunities they confront throughout this process. Data were gathered from two doctoral candidates at a public university employing a mixed-methods conversion design whose qualitative phase was a multiple case study. In-depth interviews, metalinguistic commentary, and document analysis were used to track the positioning patterns. Data analysis utilizing the Appraisal model revealed that doctoral candidates were perceived as novice researchers by journal editors and reviewers. In addition, doctoral candidates’ own positioning gradually shifted from being novice and intolerant researchers to being independent and tolerant ones. Moreover, the findings revealed that doctoral candidates face different challenges during the process of writing for publication, which makes this process more difficult for them. Based on the interviews, different requirements from different journals, obligations, limited sources of help, and lack of experience were among the most important challenges the participants had to deal with. On the other hand, they mentioned that publication provided them with the chance of expressing themselves and having their own voice, which could be considered as an opportunity in this process.