Spaced repetition seems to play a significant role in the learning and retention of words in foreign language settings. This experimental study investigated the impact of expanding and equal spacing conditions on receptive and productive English vocabulary retrieval. The participants consisted of 63 pre-intermediate EFL learners in three intact classes randomly assigned to one control and two experimental groups. A Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) was used to select 20 unknown word pairs (each word and its synonym) for teaching purposes and check the effects of the treatments at the end of the study. The word pairs were later divided into two 10-item A and B sets because of the counterbalanced design of the study. The first experimental group studied set A under an equally spaced condition (2-2-2) and set B under an expanding spaced condition (0-1-5) with the same absolute spacing value. The second experimental group studied them in the reverse order, thus counterbalancing the effect of encounter order. The control group studied the target items under the no-spacing or massed condition (0-0-0). The statistical analyses of the three groups’ posttest scores indicated that all the three groups had improved their receptive and productive vocabulary retrieval. However, an equally spaced schedule had led to a significantly higher mean score only on the receptive items of the posttest and, therefore, better vocabulary retrieval. Therefore, it is suggested that EFL teachers consider spacing in general and the equal spacing condition in particular as important elements in facilitating both receptive and productive vocabulary learning. Manuscript profile

This study investigated the effects of implementing multimedia on the lived experiences of Iranian archivists in an ESP course for Archival Science in Iran. The participants consisted of 23 archivists working in the National Library and Archives of Iran. Multimedia-assisted task-based instruction was employed during a 10-session ESP course. Due to the nature of phenomenological studies, at the end of the semester, the researchers conducted semi-structured, one-to-one interviews with all the participants to learn about their attitude toward implementing multimedia in ESP learning and to gain useful insights about their experiences during the learning process. The researchers followed the data analysis technique of familiarization, horizontalization, highlighting, and clustering as well as descriptive and Vivo coding. The process of data analysis revealed seven main themes of skill development, practical, challenging, personal, work-related, platform-related, and course-related experiences. Thus, it was concluded that the use of technology-based instruction in ESP courses could positively affect ESP learners' experiences of professional language learning, which could persuade ESP stakeholders to meticulously examine the expectations and perceptions of learners in order to hold successful ESP courses. Manuscript profile

Interaction has always been viewed as a key element in developing the knowledge of an L2 and establishing dynamic communicative episodes. However, it is not always materialized in foreign language learning contexts where access to English speakers is limited. Hence, this study investigated the effects of employing interactive and individual performance tasks on Iranian male EFL learners’ speaking ability. The participants were 32 homogeneous upper-intermediate EFL learners in two intact classes, randomly assigned to two experimental groups. The first experimental group performed problem-solving, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap tasks individually, and the second group employed problem-solving, reasoning-gap, and information-gap tasks through team-work for 16 sessions. Two speaking pre- and post-tests were administered to evaluate the participants’ oral performance before and after the treatment. The statistical analysis of the data showed no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the two groups on the speaking post-test, indicating that neither form of performance was superior to the other in the process of developing L2 oral proficiency. However, the results of two paired samples t-tests demonstrated that the learners’ speaking skill had significantly improved in both groups at the end of the experiment. Therefore, the researchers concluded that a careful execution of individual performance tasks in the absence of interaction could also contribute to developing speaking an L2. Manuscript profile