Abstracts in research papers are one of the focal parts of academic research, and they are one of the first things that a reader reads to determine the value of the research. Furthermore, acknowledgments appreciate those who have helped in writing a thesis. The present study investigated rhetorical moves in the acknowledgment and abstract sections of Iranian English language teaching and nursery students' M.A. theses. In addition, it investigated if there were any significant differences between rhetorical moves observed in the acknowledgment and abstract sections of Iranian TEFL and nursery students' M.A. theses in these two fields. Some of the 80 theses from the two disciplines, 40 each, were investigated. Hyland's (2000) models of the abstract rhetoric structure and acknowledgment structure were adopted to investigate the corpora under study. The results revealed that different steps and moves were used in theses from both disciplines. However, the results of Chi-square tests revealed that the differences between different moves and steps of these acknowledgments and abstracts from the two disciplines were insignificant. The findings have some implications for post-graduate students to be more aware of their addressees and language teachers to teach students about genre-based writing. Manuscript profile

ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study was to explore if advance organizers with the help of MALL-oriented classrooms can help Iranian EFL learners improve their collocational knowledge or not. In other words, this study investigated the effect of advance organizers on improving collocational knowledge of Iranian EFL learners in a MALL-oriented classroom environment. To accomplish this aim, a quasi-experimental method of research, using a pretest-posttest design with a control group was employed in order to answer the research question. After the homogenization procedure the participants were divided into two groups of control and experimental. In order to investigate the effectiveness of the treatment and also compare the two proficiency levels regarding the treatment, two teacher-made multiple-choice grammar tests were employed as the pre- and post-test. The findings, guided by descriptive and inferential statistics, highlighted that advance organizers in a MALL-oriented classroom had a positive effect on improving EFL learners’ collocational knowledge. Manuscript profile

This study aimed at designing a scale for developing EFL materials based on the principles of Critical Pedagogy. In so doing, a qualitative thematic analysis method was used. The participants of this study consisted of 20 (10 males and 10 females) EFL experts with more than 15 years of teaching EFL at the university level with at least one published paper on critical pedagogy and materials development, who were selected through purposive sampling from different states and Azad universities in Iran. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview was implemented. The existing literature on critical pedagogy and different materials development models was reviewed so that through merging the interview and literature review data, the recurrent categories can be identified and converted into the items of the intended scale. To analyze the data, thematic analysis was used. The following main themes were revealed as the main themes for CP-based EFL materials development: Defining CP-based objectives, developing CP-based content, encouraging CP-based teaching methods, encouraging CP-based evaluation procedures, and defining CP-based roles for teachers and students. Based on the extracted themes, a scale was developed into six categories. The developed scale consisted of 50 items in a five-point Likert range from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. The findings have some implications for EFL teachers, learners, curriculum planners, and researchers. Manuscript profile

Abstract: This study aimed to develop a language teaching aptitude scale for Iranian EFL teachers by using a qualitative thematic analysis approach. The participants of this study consisted of thirty (fifteen males and fifteen females) EFL experts who were Ph.D. holders in TEFL with more than twenty years of teaching EFL at different universities in Iran and at least one published paper on language teaching aptitude. They were selected through purposive sampling from different universities. To collect the required data, a semi-structured interview was used as well as the existing literature and documents on English language teaching aptitude. Data analysis was conducted using the thematic analysis approach. The following themes emerged as the components of the English language teaching aptitude scale: inter-personal relationship skill, motivation-making ability, time management ability, needs analysis ability, positive thinking skills, critical thinking ability, verbal intelligence, mastery over different teaching methods, evaluation skills, and English language proficiency. Based on the identified components, a scale consisting of 10 sub-scales including inter-personal relationship skills (16 items), motivation-making ability (4 items), time management ability (4 items), needs analysis ability (4 items), positive thinking skills (15 items), critical thinking ability (8 items), verbal intelligence (5 items), mastery over different teaching methods (13 items), evaluation skills (13 items), and English language proficiency (7 items) were developed for English language teaching aptitude for an Iranian EFL context. The scale included 90 five-point Likert items ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. Manuscript profile

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different educational contexts (institutes and high schools) on Iranian teachers’ perceptions and implementation of task-based language teaching (TBLT). This mixed-methods research through quantitative and qualitative methodology tried to shed light on why TBLT was practiced or avoided. The data were gathered through questionnaires, interviews, and observation from 60 Iranian teachers working at some English language institutes and high schools. The participants were divided into two groups. The results of the study were examined using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics determined the central tendency of teachers’ answers to the questionnaire, and inferential statistics was employed as well to use an independent samples t-test to compare the mean scores of the two groups. Questionnaires were distributed among teachers and collected individually. The collected data was tabulated for analysis, assessing teachers' perceptions and implementation of TBLT. Ten teachers were randomly selected for interviews, exploring their reasons for adopting or avoiding TBLT and gaining insight into their practices and beliefs. The ten-minute individual interview sessions were recorded and evaluated by the researcher. The quantitative results of the study indicated that first, institute and school teachers had different perceptions about the TBLT method. Second, there was no significant difference between institute and school teachers’ attitudes toward implementing this language teaching method. Third, although there was no significant difference between institute and school teachers in applying this method, the results claimed that these two groups are significantly different in avoiding TBLT in their classes. In the qualitative study, the observation results indicated that the majority of institute teachers implemented all phases of TBLT. On the other hand, the instructors mostly avoided implementing TBLT in their junior and senior high school classes. Classroom size, lack of time, improper textbook materials, and students’ lack of prior knowledge as the hindrances of TBLT implementation were among the main reasons that teachers avoided TBLT. Manuscript profile

This study was an effort towards comparing Iranian EFL learners’ online learning satisfaction at three levels of proficiency during the Covid-19 pandemic. The participants were 268 Iranian EFL learners studying at different institutes in Shiraz-Iran, within the age range of 18 to 35. The participants’ English proficiency was determined by the Quick Oxford Placement Test which divided them into three groups of beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners. Afterward, the participants were administered a questionnaire assessing their overall satisfaction with online education. The researchers used one-way ANOVA to investigate any significant differences between the three proficiency levels in terms of overall online learning satisfaction. Besides, as the questionnaire consisted of five dimensions, the researchers found it crucial to employ five other one-way ANOVAs to check any significant differences in terms of the five dimensions. The findings revealed a significant difference between the three proficiency levels where advanced level learners, in comparison to beginners, showed more satisfaction with online learning and intermediate level learners were more satisfied with online learning as well. The only group which showed more reluctance toward online learning was the beginner-level learners. More details are available in the text. Manuscript profile

ABSTRACTThe present quasi-experimental study aimed at exploring whether using EFL learners' mother tongue has any influence on EFL learners' grammatical knowledge improvement at two proficiency levels, i.e., elementary and intermediate. It also aimed at investigating whether there were any differences between elementary and intermediate EFL learners' grammatical knowledge improvement as a result of using their L1 in the classroom. To achieve this goal, 30 elementary and 32 intermediate Iranian EFL learners aged between 16 and 32 were chosen from an English institute in Shiraz. The sampling procedure was of a non-probability convenience type. The participants were divided into two experimental and two control groups. First, Oxford Placement Test was used to homogenize the participants at each proficiency level. Moreover, to investigate the effectiveness of the treatment and also compare the two proficiency levels regarding the effectiveness of the treatment, two teacher-made multiple-choice grammar tests, one for the elementary level and another for the intermediate level participants, were employed. Each of these tests was used both as the pre- and the post-test. In order to answer the research questions, independent and paired samples t-tests were run, and the effect sizes were estimated. The findings highlighted that the experimental groups at both proficiency levels significantly outperformed the control groups on their posttests. In addition, it was concluded that using L1 had a slightly greater effect on grammatical knowledge improvement of elementary than intermediate learners. Manuscript profile

Interlanguage pragmatics knowledge is significant since it enables second/foreign language users to communicate well with native and non-native users of English. The instruction of interlanguage pragmatics has been well-accepted as a measure to improve interlanguage pragmatics knowledge. This instruction can be affected by a range of variables. Several variables such as instruction approach, the language of instruction, and learners’ characteristics have already been examined; however, there are still niches in the literature that needs empirical studies to be occupied. One of these gaps that is addressed in this study deals with the effect of teachers’ gender on their use of techniques for teaching interlanguage pragmatics. This quantitative study employed a Likert-scale questionnaire to identify the possible similarities and differences between the techniques used by 211 Iranian English language teachers. The participants who were selected based on a quota sampling procedure expressed the techniques they use while teaching interlanguage pragmatics. The findings of this study indicated that female teachers used L1 in their instruction, films, language games, and pictures to teach interlanguage pragmatics more than male instructors; however, male teachers used email-exchanging activities to improve their learners’ L2 pragmatics significantly more than female participants. Manuscript profile

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of psychological factors on teachers` attitudes regarding technology use. To this purpose, such factors as ‘perceived usefulness’, ‘perceived ease of use’, ‘trialability’, ‘subjective norms’, and ‘attitude’ were investigated. The participants of the study were high school English language teachers in Shiraz, who were selected through stratified sampling as a representative sample of the available population. In order to assess the extent of the effect of each factor, five questionnaires were administered. Then, the elicited data were analyzed by means of path analysis. The obtained results revealed that ‘perceived ease of use’ was affected by ‘subjective norms’, and ‘trialability’ influenced the attitude of teachers about using technology in their teachings. The results also showed that the most influential factor on attitude was ‘trialability’. Furthermore, the results displayed that ‘perceived usefulness’ had a significant effect and subjective norms had an indirect but meaningful effect on the teachers’ attitude. The findings of the study have implications for school administrators and teachers to use them in their planning and instruction and, as a result, boost the learning environment. Manuscript profile

Dynamic Assessment (DA) method which combines instruction and assessment can reveal the extent to which the language learners have acquired what they have been taught. This quasi-experimental study examined the role of interactionist and interventionist DA on Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ descriptive writing ability. This study also explored whether there is any relationship between students’ attention to specific components of descriptive writing and their writing performance. To this end, 90 EFL learners who were at the intermediate level of language proficiency, based on the results of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), constituted the sample of the study. The participants were requested to write a descriptive essay as a pretest. Then, they were randomly assigned to control, interventionist, and interactionist groups. During the mediation step, the control group was provided with the traditional teaching methodology, but the experimental groups were trained based on the DA method through distinct mediators. The students were finally asked to write a descriptive writing on a new topic for the post-test. To analyze the data, the descriptive statistics, paired samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation, and regression analyses were run. The findings of this study indicated that the dynamic assessment proved to be effective in enhancing the writing competence of the participants; however, the impact of the interactionist approach was significantly higher than the interventionist one. The findings also revealed the significant relationships between students' attention to specific components and their overall writing performance, except Mechanics. These findings highlight the effectiveness of dynamic assessment approaches, particularly the interactionist method, in enhancing EFL students' descriptive writing skills. Manuscript profile

Even though teachers’ Assessment Literacy (AL) is of high importance, it has been a Cinderella in Iran as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Moreover, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge, the relationship between AL and attitude toward Dynamic Assessment (DA) has not been studied so far. To this end, 104 EFL teachers were selected from 12 English language institutes across Shiraz. The Assessment Literacy Questionnaire (Campbell & Mertler, 2003) including 35 items was used to find the level of assessment knowledge of the participants. Moreover, the Attitudes towards Dynamic Assessment Questionnaire (Gholamalian et al., 2015) was used to measure the participants’ attitudes toward DA. The results of Multiple Regression Analysis revealed a strong and significant relationship between the participants’ scores on the AL and attitudes toward DA. Moreover, there were significant and positive relationships between EFL teachers’ attitudes toward DA and the five subcomponents of AL. Amongst the five subcomponents of AL, Choice of Methods had the highest correlation with EFL teachers’ attitudes towards DA. Accounting for about 45% of the variance in the attitudes toward DA scores, Choice of Methods had the highest Beta value, suggesting a stronger contribution to the dependent variable, i.e., attitudes toward DA. The results may have implications for practitioners in the field of education, in general, and teaching EFL, in particular. Manuscript profile

This study delves into the intricate landscape of second language (SL) writing assessment, with a focus on rater-associated variables and the impact of Dynamic Assessment (DA) on learners’ writing achievement. DA is an approach that combines instruction and assessment to mediate with the areas that students need help with to promote learners understanding and writing skills. To conduct this study, 90 participants were first given an online Oxford placement test and then, they were asked to write a descriptive essay as a pre-test, according to which, the students were randomly assigned to interventionist, interactionist, and control groups. Subsequently, the two experimental groups attended five weekly sessions in which the instructor introduced the five components of descriptive writing. The students were then given a writing task as the post-test and were asked to fill out a Five Factor Personality Inventory. The analysis of the data obtained reveals that students’ personality traits significantly affect their performance in descriptive writing. Also, both interactionist and interventionist techniques exhibit a positive influence on learners' writing achievement. Furthermore, the study compares the impact of interaction and intervention techniques, concluding that both are effective in enhancing EFL learners' writing achievement. This resonates with the broader academic discourse where dynamic assessment is recognized as a central goal of language learning, and autonomy is considered an indispensable prerequisite for successful language acquisition. The study's results are supported by parallel research reinforcing the positive influence of interactionist and interventionist approaches on learners' writing skills. Manuscript profile

The current study was done to assess the effect of using e-portfolio and MALL-oriented recast on Iranian English language teaching B.A. students. To do the study, 200 English language students of Islamic Azad University of Shiraz were selected to participate in the study. Initially, the Quick Oxford Placement Test was run to check their homogeneity, and based on the scores 120 students were chosen as the main participants of the research and were later divided into 3 groups, 38-45 participants in each. Then, a pre-test of grammar was administered to the participants (N= 120) of the three groups to reveal their grammatical knowledge before the treatment. Then, the 45 participants of the control group utilized conventional methods of grammar, the participants of the first experimental group (N=38) utilized e-portfolio and the participants of the second experimental group (N=37) utilized MALL-oriented recast to enhance their grammatical knowledge. Finally, a post-test of grammar was administered to the participants of the three groups. The results of the paired samples t-test showed that e-portfolios and MALL-oriented recast significantly enhance the grammatical knowledge of Iranian students. Furthermore, the findings showed that there was a significant difference between the effects of using the strategies on Iranian English language teaching B.A. students. The results of the study assist the students in enhancing their grammatical knowledge in the process of foreign language learning. Manuscript profile