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As a possible and influential factor in academic success, student growth mindset has recently received attention. However, the number of the studies concerning the effects of growth mindset on language skills in the context of Iran is not considerable and no study has specifically examined the influence of growth mindset on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary development. To fill this gap, this study was conducted in order to investigate if the intervention has any significant effects on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary development compared to those who do not receive such intervention. A quasi-experimental design in the form of pre- and posttest was used in this study. To homogenize the participants in terms of their proficiency, OQPT was used. Subsequently, out of 78 learners, sixty Iranian intermediate language learners were randomly assigned into two groups of control group receiving conventional vocabulary training and experimental group receiving a growth mindset intervention besides the conventional method for vocabulary learning. Vocabulary knowledge of the students was tested with the help of a vocabulary knowledge test that was specifically prepared and developed by researchers. To investigate if using growth mindset intervention had positive effects on learning English vocabulary by the learners in each control and experimental groups, two sets of paired-samples t-test were conducted. Afterwards, to explore which method had been more effective, the mean scores of the posttests of the control and experimental groups were compared by executing an independent two-sample t-test. The results revealed that implementing growth mindset intervention had positive effects on vocabulary development of EFL learners. Accordingly, this study has pedagogical implications for EFL teachers and students, as well as material designers.

The main purpose of this study is to present and evaluate a model to execute successful On the Job Training Course for Iranian EFL teachers. In order to achieve the goal of the study, 441 teachers of different language institutes in several cities of Iran were asked to complete a self-made questionnaire which was designed based on some face-to-face interviews and observation documents of 26 teachers. As factor analysis was the most crucial concern of this study, the 43 items of the questionnaire were piloted on a sample of 147 EFL teachers. Regarding this matter, the scale in this study enjoyed having a sufficient communality value greater than 0.5 for 25 questions in the questionnaire out of 43 questions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling (SEM) were run to analyze the relationships among the components. The result revealed that the research model was in the domain of acceptance. The findings of this study can provide fruitful information for English teaching and learning stakeholders, educational policy makers, supervisors, and those involved in second language teacher education as well as English language teachers in EFL contexts.

This study examined how Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency were affected by collaborative online writing using Wikis. The language proficiency of 75 EFL learners was gauged based on their performance on the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). They were intermediate male and female EFL learners studying English at three language institutes in Shahrekord, Iran. The participants were then split into two groups at random: a Wiki group (WG), and a control group (CG). Afterwards, learners in the control and experimental group were given a cause-and-effect prompt as a pre-test, and their writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency were assessed using CAF measures. Following the pre-test, the participants in the experimental group began a six-week training period in the collaborative environment of Wiki. The same instructional materials and procedures were presented to the control group, but in a non-collaborative, face-to-face setting. Similar to the writing pre-test, a writing post-test was given to both groups at the end of the intervention, and the writings were graded. In comparison to the conventional methodology, the results obtained revealed that the instructional method via Wiki was advantageous and effective in enhancing writing skills. This result is consistent with theories supporting the use of technology-based approaches in EFL writing settings. The main outcome of this research is that the ease and viability of teaching and learning writing are significantly and meaningfully influenced by giving learners control over their learning through Wiki.

This study aimed to examine the effects of a teacher education course on EFL teachers’ self-efficacy in formative assessment. The researchers employed a mixed-method design that combined quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the effects of the course. Thirty EFL teachers participated in the study and completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires to assess their formative assessment self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather qualitative data on teachers’ beliefs about formative assessment. The quantitative data were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests, and thematic analysis was conducted for the qualitative data. The results indicated a significant increase in teachers’ formative assessment self-efficacy beliefs. The findings suggest that providing teacher education courses focused on formative assessment can effectively enhance EFL teachers’ self-efficacy and utilization of such assessment methods in online classroom. The current study has some pedagogical implications and recommendations for the implementation of similar courses and potential areas for future research are also discussed.

This article performs a CDA on White House press briefings and is especial in its focus on how gendered language impacts relations of power. Adopting a mixed-method approach, this study will examine linguistic strategies and deictic expressions used by male and female spokespersons articulating ideologies and constructing authority. The latter is based on Fairclough's three-dimensional CDA model, whereby text analysis is involved, together with discourse practices and social context in explaining how language reflects and constructs political realities. The research questions were as follows: (1) How are deictic expressions used by spokesmen and spokeswomen in the White House press briefings? (2) What is the inter-relationship between power and language through the usage of modal verbs, and is there a gender-based difference herein? (3) How do women spokespersons, through language, claim ideologies and power? It is a contribution to applied linguistics and presents evidence of subtle linguistic mechanisms that shape public perception of gendered language in political discourse. The research questions were as follows: (1) How are deictic expressions used by spokesmen and spokeswomen in the White House press briefings? (2) What is the inter-relationship between power and language through the usage of modal verbs, and is there a gender-based difference herein? (3) How do women spokespersons, through language, claim ideologies and power? It is a contribution to applied linguistics and presents evidence of subtle linguistic mechanisms that shape public perception of gendered language in political discourse.

The present study aimed to investigate vowel hiatus resolution and its relation to vowel shortening in Persian and Central Kurdish within an Optimality-Theoretic framework. The results showed that both Persian and Central Kurdish ​​use glide formation through vowel shortening to resolve hiatus in certain environments. Persian has its own way to resolve vowel hiatus. The two high vowels /i/ and /u/, as a result of glide formation through vowel shortening, are changed into a short vowel and the glides /j/ and /w/, respectively. In Central Kurdish, glide formation occurs in high vowels /iː, uː/ and mid-high vowels /ēː, ōː/. In Persian, glide formation involves a quantitative reduction in the long vowel /iː/ and a quantitative and qualitative alteration in the long vowel /uː/. On the other hand, glide formation in Central Kurdish involves only a quantitative reduction in long vowels. Based on an OT analysis, the main factor in resolving vowel hiatus in both Persian and Central Kurdish is the obligatory presence of onset in the syllable structure. In contexts in which glide formation occurs through vowel shortening, the ranking of the active constraints in Persian and Central Kurdish is: ONSET, AGREE(place) >> MAX, DEP >> IDENT(µ).  

Due to time constraints and large classes, teachers typically prefer to have product-based writing classes. Going through the existing literature, almost no study has examined the interrelationships among four variables of strategy use, self-efficacy, language proficiency, and writing autonomy in product and process writing classes. To this end, 381 Iranian male and female EFL students of English majors were chosen from the Universities of Qom and Kermanshah.  OPT and the questionnaires were distributed in person, via email, and an already-made Google-Doc link of the instruments. The data were analyzed using multiple correlation and SEM. Multiple correlations pointed to two-way correlations among the included variables in the process-oriented group in comparison to the product-oriented groups. In other words, learners in the process-based group appeared to be more autonomous, more self-efficacious, and more proficient language learners and could make more appropriate use of L2 strategies. The findings obtained from SEM also revealed the fact that the model of relationships among self-efficacy, autonomy, language proficiency, and strategy use enjoyed a good fit. Teachers will be able to make more informed and proper decisions regarding the adoption of either process-based or product-based instructional approaches to teaching writing in their own classes in general, and the way students’ levels of self-efficacy, autonomy, language proficiency, and strategy use can be boosted in particular. 

Construct-irrelevant variance is considered as a major threat to validity which indicates the existence of additional unrelated variables that distort the meaning of test scores and cause the test to be biased. Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis is an important technique in examining the validity and fairness of educational tests. Concerning the importance of test fairness in large-scale exams, this study aimed to (1) detect gender DIF in the reading comprehension section of the B2 First exam using the Rasch model and Mantel-Haenszel method, and (2) investigate the comparability of results from the two DIF detection techniques. To this end, the reading section of the B2 First exam was administered to 207 undergraduate students of English as a foreign language (EFL). After checking the fit of the data to the Rasch model, the results of the Rasch model-based DIF analysis showed the presence of two items indicating DIF, whereas the results of Mantel-Haenszel showed that there were three gender-DIF items.

Objective: This study explores the effect of recruiting topics highly valued by students along with the interest-igniting mode of reading texts in the site of practice, collectively framed as funds of identity (FoI), on willingness to read (WTR).Methods: To this end, three groups of students were recruited. Over a 17-session extracurricular experiment, all the three groups received books in and out of tune with their FoI, elicited through an initial-semester researcher-made questionnaire. One group (n = 20) received e-books with few interactive features, the second group (n = 20) received e-books with no interactive features, and the third group (n = 20) received print books. WTR and attitude changes toward e-books were assessed using initial- and final-semester questionnaires. Students were also required to send summaries of their readings and keep journals throughout the experiment. They finally gave a post-treatment interview.Results: Qualitative sets of data in juxtaposition with quantitative ones lent support to the positive influence FoI and e-books—as on-site emerging FoI—exercised on WTR and attitude change toward e-books.Conclusions: FoI operationalized through e-books increased learners' WTR. In light of the patterns of changes observed, FoI of students are suggested to be taken into consideration for obtaining better educational results.

This study investigates the impact of teachers’ rapport on classroom interactions and students’ participation in class activities, comparing experienced and novice EFL teachers. Rapport, defined as a positive, harmonious relationship between teacher and students, is often cited as critical for effective communication and a supportive learning environment. Despite the extensive literature emphasizing the importance of rapport in enhancing student engagement, motivation, and classroom dynamics, limited research has explored the role of teaching experience in moderating these effects. The study involved 40 EFL teachers (20 experienced and 20 novice) from Safir Language Academy in Tehran, with data collected through classroom observations. An independent t-test was used to analyze the differences in classroom interaction and student participation between the two groups. The findings indicate no significant difference between experienced and novice teachers in terms of the impact of rapport on classroom interactions and student participation. The study’s results challenge previous research, suggesting that the level of teacher rapport, regardless of experience, does not significantly influence classroom dynamics or student engagement. These findings imply that other factors may play a more substantial role in shaping classroom interactions and participation, warranting further investigation into the complexities of teacher-student relationships and their effects on learning outcomes.

With the emergence of new online technologies and computer-mediated language teaching, many recent studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of online peer assessment. The present mixed methods study examined the effect of online peer assessment on Iranian intermediate-level EFL students` writing accuracy. In the quantitative phase of the study, 28 EFL learners studying in an English institute were randomly assigned to two groups and were taught for 14 sessions. The experimental group attended online peer assessment on Wiki as a forum for out-of-classroom discussions regarding English writing, and the control group attended face-to-face peer assessment. To analyze the numerical data collected through a pretest and a posttest, an independent sample t-test was used to investigate the difference between the two group scores before and after the assessments. The results showed that the difference between the posttest means of the experimental group and the control group was significant. Moreover, the results of analyzing the qualitative data, gathered through focus-group interviews, also confirmed the quantitative results, revealing the positive opinions of the interviewees about the role of technology in language learning. Therefore, online peer assessment seems to have benefits that make it worthwhile despite all the difficulties and extra effort of introducing and teaching it to students. The findings may have implications for material designers, language teachers, and language learners.

This case study examines the influence of students’ motivation on their EFL performance to identify motivational factors and as a result, it was created a proposal for increasing their motivation. The population selected was 126 first-semester students and 5 professors in charge of the EFL process at a private university in Colombia, Bogotá in the first and second semesters of 2023. Moreover, the methodology used was qualitative with a social constructivist worldview to research based on students' and professors’ perceptions. That way, the collected results show that most students’ extrinsic motivation causes their low EFL level when entering the program as students may be goal-oriented and short-term sustained, which can contribute to dropping out of the program. Therefore, it is recommended that professors take action to increase students’ motivation by teaching students relevant topics, exposing the benefits of learning EFL, encouraging them to be self-directed students, promoting a safe environment, making them use e-learning tools and using gamified assessment/activity tools so that students can improve their academic performance.