There is growing interest in integrating scaffolding in educational decisions everywhere including Iran. Drawing on sociocultural theory, this quasi-experimental study was aimed to determine the effect of technology-, motivational-, and metacognitive-based scaffolding on improving Iranian adult advanced EFL learners’ speaking. A sample of 90 advanced EFL learners was selected non-randomly based on their performance on Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) from two language institutes in Tehran, Iran during the summer and autumn semesters of 2019. The selected participants were randomly assigned to three equal groups. IELTS was used to compare their language proficiency at the beginning and the end of the study. Scaffolding provided conditions for learners to highly engage in speaking activities. The results of paired-sample t-tests revealed a significant improvement in the speaking scores of the three study groups. The results of the one-way ANOVA and Scheffe post-hoc tests indicated that motivational-based scaffolding was more conducive to enhance Iranian EFL learners’ speaking. The results of this study showed the positive impacts of integrating scaffolding into different language learning strategies, and this may carry pedagogical implications for both language teachers and learners. Manuscript profile

The present study investigated the potential role of tasks in engaging Iranian EFL learners in task-supported language learning, affecting on learner-centered instruction and the correspondence between the objectives and contents in current pre-university English course book (Learning to Read English for Pre-University Students). To do this, 100 Iranian EFL teachers of pre-university grade were invited to participate in this study. They were asked to fill out a 5-point Likert scale checklist (adapted from Lawrence, 2011). The checklist was initially piloted on 20 EFL teachers in order to see to what extent the items were clear and comprehensible to the subjects of the study and to find out the internal consistency or reliability of the items. The results of statistical analyses indicated that teachers tended to agree on the point that tasks have significant capability in engaging learners in communicative language use or task-based language learning. The vast majority of the teachers expressed that using tasks in textbook can improve learner-centered instruction. The evaluation of the textbook showed the contents are corresponded to their objectives. Manuscript profile

Scaffolding as an instructional strategy significantly contributes to learning development. However, there is a lack of studies assessing the comparative effects of various scaffolding strategies. The present study intended to evaluate the effects of motivational, metacognitive, and computer-based scaffolding on Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing according to Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. In this quasi-experimental study, sixty male and female intermediate EFL learners in the age range of 14 to 23 were chosen by convenience sampling from the Jahad language center in Tehran, Iran. They were enrolled according to their performance on Preliminary English Test (PET) in the 2020 spring English courses and were randomly assigned to three equal groups. The IELTS writing test was used as a pretest and posttest. Learners received a scaffolding instruction package on writing. A statistically significant improvement in the participants’ posttest writing scores was observed in all groups, and motivational scaffolding was the most effective strategy in developing the writing skill of EFL learners. The results could have implications by providing insights helpful for language teachers, learners, and syllabus designers. Manuscript profile