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In spite of the potential merit of technology-enhanced education in offering an innovative educational game in the arena of English teaching and learning, they have not garnered much momentum in terms of practical research, particularly in ELT speaking domain and their potential role in the Covid-19 pandemic and post-pandemic eras. This constitutes a substantial gap in the extant corpus of literature, which will be addressed in the current study by exploring the short- and long-term impacts of immersive virtual reality  and space team ESL games on the speaking abilities of Iranian EFL learners. To this light, 54 basic EFL students from private language institutions in Urmia were selected through convenience sampling and an intact group design. Three classes were randomly exposed to two treatments, encompassing virtual reality, space team, and a control group receiving traditional instruction. The participants were pre-tested with the IELTS speaking test before receiving the treatment, and the same instrument was utilized for post-tests and delayed post-tests. In contrast to the traditional group, the results demonstrated that both immersive virtual reality and space team games enhanced students' short- and long-term oral performance. The findings of this study could be well-regarded as an important proposal for considering game-based instruction as an integral component of ELT classrooms and a technique for promoting language proficiency in non-native contexts.In spite of the potential merit of technology-enhanced education in offering an innovative educational game in the arena of English teaching and learning, they have not garnered much momentum in terms of practical research, particularly in ELT speaking domain and their potential role in the Covid-19 pandemic and post-pandemic eras. This constitutes a substantial gap in the extant corpus of literature, which will be addressed in the current study by exploring the short- and long-term impacts of immersive virtual reality  and space team ESL games on the speaking abilities of Iranian EFL learners. To this light, 54 basic EFL students from private language institutions in Urmia were selected through convenience sampling and an intact group design. Three classes were randomly exposed to two treatments, encompassing virtual reality, space team, and a control group receiving traditional instruction. The participants were pre-tested with the IELTS speaking test before receiving the treatment, and the same instrument was utilized for post-tests and delayed post-tests. In contrast to the traditional group, the results demonstrated that both immersive virtual reality and space team games enhanced students' short- and long-term oral performance. The findings of this study could be well-regarded as an important proposal for considering game-based instruction as an integral component of ELT classrooms and a technique for promoting language proficiency in non-native contexts.
 

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Language learners find it hard to change a text’s wording and present it differently while maintaining the original meaning in the text. This research therefore examined the effect of concept mapping instruction on summarizing short stories for EFL learners. Two intact grade-eight classes were assigned to experimental (n = 20) and control (n = 18) groups randomly. They summarized a starter-level short story, Drive into danger, using a maximum of 450 words as pretest. Next, the experimental group experienced concept-mapping instruction whereas the latter group received the traditional way of teaching summarization, for six consecutive weeks. Both groups summarized the same story again, based on their instruction, into a 450-word text at a maximum as posttest. Pretest and posttest summaries were assessed in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, and language use. The experimental group positively improved on overall performance, content, and organization, marginally improved on vocabulary, but did not improve on language use. Furthermore, the participants’ feedback on the instructional treatment support the statistical results. The findings offer several instructional implications.

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Before teachers can transform the reality and promote a liberating education within mainstream educational contexts, they must first gain a thorough understanding of how learners perceive the world. In an attempt to gauge EFL learners’ perceptions, the present study set out to conceptualize the construct of Critical Digital Pedagogy (CDP) by developing and validating a questionnaire for use in online EFL settings. The researchers distributed a preliminary questionnaire with 65 items to 380 adult Iranian EFL learners and used Exploratory Factor Analysis as well as Confirmatory Factor Analysis (EFA, CFA) to analyze the results. After removing 9 items, the final questionnaire consisted of 56 items on a five-point Likert scale. The analysis revealed that CDP consists of 10 factors, namely “consciousness raising,” “community and collaboration,” “empowerment and agency,” “inclusivity,” “dialogism,” “co-creation of materials,” “praxis,” “problem-posing education,” “teachers as transformative intellectuals,” and “critical thinking and reflection.” Additionally, the convergent validity as well as the reliability of the questionnaire to measure the intended construct was statistically confirmed. These findings have important implications for EFL teachers, curriculum developers, course designers, and language researchers as they increase awareness of CDP and its underlying components.

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This study employed a mixed-methods approach to examine the utilization of two emotion regulation strategies, namely cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, among a group of Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at universities in Isfahan, Iran. The investigation was based on the Process Model of Emotion Regulation, a psychologically-validated theoretical model proposed by Gross (2015). The study also investigated the correlation between emotion regulation and levels of foreign language anxiety (FLA), and as an additional area of investigation, the impact of emotion regulation on the association between FLA and motivation for learning a second language. A total of 295 learners were questioned using a quantitative questionnaire. The qualitative research involved the selection of thirteen respondents from three levels (high, medium, low) of FLA. The primary component employed in this study was a stimulated recall interview. Data collection was undertaken online due to scheduling constraints. The findings indicated a low frequency of utilization for the two emotion regulation strategies, with cognitive reappraisal being more commonly employed compared to expressive suppression. Learners with low English proficiency exhibited a lower prevalence and preference for cognitive reappraisal. There was a stronger positive correlation observed between expressive suppression and FLA. The study found a negative correlation between cognitive reappraisal and FLA. It provides evidence that understanding the inner workings of learners’ emotion regulation may inform pedagogical practices.

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Learners’ classroom involvement is thought to be highly influential in their academic success in that highly involved learners typically invest more time and energy in acquiring course content. For this reason, the predictors and determinants of learners’ classroom involvement have been highly attended to by educational researchers. Nonetheless, the predicting role of teachers’ emotional competencies like compassion and empathy has rarely been researched. Furthermore, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, no theoretical review has looked into the concurrent impacts of teachers’ compassion and empathy on EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ classroom involvement. To address this lacuna, the current theoretical review aimed to explicate the effects of these two emotional competencies on EFL learners’ classroom involvement. The desirable effects of teachers’ compassion and empathy on EFL learners’ involvement were demonstrated using theoretical and empirical evidence. The implications of the present review’s findings are thoroughly discussed.

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Diagnostic Formative Assessment (DFA) has already established its applicability and necessity in second language teaching practice and research as a legitimate supplement to summative assessment. However, examples of practical implementations of DFA informing SLA research and an investigation of the detailed processes involved, especially when it comes to productive skills such as speaking in tertiary educational settings are rather scarce. Therefore, focusing on the formality dimension, as a rather neglected component in DFA, the present quasi-experimental study set out to compare the effects of formal and informal DFA on Iranian EFL learners’ oral fluency and accuracy at university level. For this purpose, a homogeneous group of 52 male and female L2 learners were assigned to two experimental conditions and after a speaking pre-test developed and scored based on IELTS speaking tasks, went through four months of formal and informal DFA based on four reiterative stages of Observation, Initial Assessment, Hypothesis Checking, and Decision Making. Upon the post-test, the results of ANCOVAs showed that both treatments equally contributed to learners’ development of oral fluency and accuracy, indicating that traditional skepticisms towards informal DFA must be revisited and they can serve as appropriate supplements to more formal approaches whenever necessitated by the instruction. EFL practitioners are recommended to take these rather broad, flexible, and convenient informal DFA practices into consideration and decide on their exact choices based on the particularities of the context, situation, and individual learners, which leads to an expansion in their pedagogical options.
 

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The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of practicing reflective assessment (RA) strategies in language classroom and to examine EFL learners’ perceptions regarding RA. In order to do so, the following research questions and hypotheses were answered:
Research questions:

1. Does applying RA strategies impact EFL learners’ achievements in General English (GE) classes?
2. Is there any statistically significant difference in post-test scores of EFL learners who practiced RA strategies and who did not?
3. Is there any statistically significant difference in retention-test scores of EFL learners who practiced RA strategies and who did not?
4. What are EFL learners’ perceptions regarding the application of RA strategies in language classroom?

 
Research hypotheses:

1. Applying RA strategies does not impact EFL learners’ achievements in General English classes.
2. There is not any statistically significant difference in post-test scores of EFL learners who practiced RA strategies and who did not.
3. There is not any statistically significant difference in retention-test scores of EFL learners who practiced RA strategies and who did not.

This study followed a mixed-methods design and both quantitative and qualitative data were used. The participants of the quantitative phase were 90 Computer Engineering students at Shahid Beheshti University who took part in General English (GE) classes. Two classes were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Intermediate-level learners were selected based on their Oxford Placement Test’s scores. After pretest, in the experimental group, the students practiced Ellis's (2001) RA strategies, but in the control group, the normal course of class was followed. Five RA strategies (Ellis, 2001) were practiced in the experimental group. They were I Learned Statement, Talk about it (Think Aloud), Clear and unclear windows, The week in review, and Record keeping: After ten sessions, the posttest was administered and four weeks later, delayed posttest was administered. Considering the qualitative phase of the study, the participants were 45 computer engineering students (experimental group) and their perceptions regarding RA were extracted using questions and a questionnaire (Kourilenko, 2013). To do so, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire and answer two interview questions regarding the application of RA and its impact on their English language achievements. After both quantitative and qualitative data collection, the data were analyzed. For quantitative data analysis, paired-samples t-test and independent-samples t-tests were used, and for qualitative data analysis, content analysis was run. The results revealed that the practice of RA strategies had a positive impact on EFL learners’ GE achievements (t (44) = -8.7, p<0.05). Furthermore, it was found that there were statistically significant differences between experimental and control groups’ scores in posttest (t (88) = 3.25, p< 0.05) and retention test (t (88) = 4.58, p< 0.05). According to the data, EFL learners, who practiced RA strategies, had higher scores in their post-test and retention-test compared to their control group counterparts. Besides, the analysis of the qualitative data showed that EFL learners had a positive approach to RA, and themes like increased collective morale, enhanced awareness of errors, and increased motivation to learn were the most frequent ones regarding positive impacts of RA and lack of time and knowledge, tediousness of over-practicing, and lack of students’ cooperation were found to be obstacles in practicing RA in the language classroom. The results of this study may have beneficial implications for EFL learners, teachers and material developers. EFL learners can apply different RA strategies in their learning process to increase their awareness of what they have learned and how they have learned them. EFL teachers should encourage their learners to practice RA strategies and provide them with appropriate feedback to help them improve their learning. Finally, EFL material developers can insert activities in the books and educational materials which trigger students’ reflection. Moreover, they can design activities which motivate learners to write reflective journals and record their scores in order to follow the way of their progress. Overall, this study revealed that practicing RA strategies are beneficial in language classroom and EFL learners have positive attitudes toward it. It is noteworthy to state that this is the first study conducted in Iran considering the implementation of RA and its effectiveness in the language classroom. It is hoped that it paves the way for further research in the realm of RA in Iran.
 
 

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There has been an increasing attention to written corrective feedback (WCF) and its potential effectiveness in recent years. This paper examines the roles of direct versus indirect WCF in fostering learners’ written and oral accuracy across language proficiency. A quasi-experimental design was adopted to conduct the study. Seventy-six pre-intermediate and upper-intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned into six groups (four experimental and two control groups). In the experimental group, a series of pictures were used as prompts for writing tasks in the treatment sessions, and pre-, immediate, and delayed posttests were used to measure written and oral accuracy. According to the results, WCF, regardless of the type, was facilitative in developing learners’ both written and oral accuracy, which was a manifestation of implicit knowledge. The results also revealed that the proficiency level played a key role in determining which type of CF was more beneficial. While the pre-intermediate learners benefited more from direct CF, the upper-intermediate group improved more as a result of indirect CF treatment. This study calls for more informed decisions by L2 teachers in the correction of written errors considering that it improved L2 learners’ oral accuracy

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This study made an attempt to investigate the impacts of Virtual Reality on  Iranian young Foreign Language learners’ pronunciation, aged between 6 to 12 years (Low-intermediate Level) in Tehran, Iran. To this aim, after taking a pronunciation pre-test through Speech ace Browser, 18 students participated in the study and  were divided into two groups in order to be controlled better in their performance. The Virtual Reality Game (VR Games) given by a teacher was designed with a humanoid robot in virtual environments  and all of the pronunciation items were measured in words consisting of vowel /ɪ/ and /i/ and vowel /ʊ/ and /u/. The researchers taught learners the items in 10 ninety-minute-long sessions (twice a week) through the VR games and helped them learn efficaciously the items by different pronunciation activities. Finally, the researchers administered the post-test and the paired-samples t-test was conducted to examine a potential relationship between the pretest and the posttest of the group. The findings of the study showed that there was a significant relationship between these two times of testing. Overall, the results revealed that VR has been very influential and useful in creating an efficient and pleasurable English learning environment. This study has some implications for technology-based education and language teaching through educational games

 
1. Introduction
During the past years, communication is addressed as an essential goal in language learning and teaching (Cook, 2016). Although communication is an end for every teacher and learner in native and non-native contexts, there are various amount of challenges in the path of language learning (Cohen, 2014). As previous studies have mentioned the role of meaningfull communication in language conversations and face to face interactions (Ali, 2016; Burgess & Spencer, 2000; Cook, 2016), teachers and learners are trying to find a way to create meaningful and understandable way of communication (Al-Zayed, 2017; Cruttenden, 2014). As Al-Zayed (2017) maintained, one of the factors of meaningful communication can be the result of the combination between vocabulary knowledge and appropriate level of pronunciation. Therefore, pronunciation can be identified as a challenging component for language learners all around the world especially in non-native countries (EFL/ESL). In other words, pronunciation is ignored during past years by many teachers and learners because teaching and mastery of it can be recognized as a complex and hard task (Cook, 2016). Moreover, non-native countries experience lack of access to native-like pronunciation and corrective feedbacks from native speakers and listeners. In other side, with the advancement of technology and advancement in computer assisted language learning (CALL) programs in language education, creating immersive and virtual environments come true for language learners and teachers to be placed in these environments (Chik, 2014; Chiu, 2017; Lawrence & Ahmed, 2020). To explain it clear, virtual reality assisted language learning can be introduced as an appropriate way for teachers and learners to teach and learn pronunciation beucause these virtual environments can make the language learning experience in virtual or immersive way.
Based on the mentioned problems in pronunciation in language education and improvement in CALL, this study tried to investigate the impacts of VR based pronunciation training in terms of VRAPT (Virtual Reality Assisted Pronunciation Training) for the first time in related literature. In line with this goal, following research question was raised by researchers to examine whether VRAPT can improve the pronunciation of young EFL learners.
Research Question
 Does VR have any significant impact on the pronunciation of young EFL learners (from pre-test to post-test)?
 
2. Literature Review
2.1. Pronunciation Training through Technologies (From Computer to Virtual Environments)
After the advent of using computers, computer softwares, as well as mobile applications for language teaching, researchers and linguists have succeeded in incorporating humanoid robots into the realm of teaching of English  or   Robot-Assisted Language Learning (Alemi, Meghdari & Ghazisaeidi, 2014). These robots can influence the many aspects of linguistics or even  psychology by teaching a language. For example, Alemi, Meghdari, Ghazisaedy (2015) with the use of a humanoid robot as a teaching assistant  in teaching English assessed the level of anxiety and attitude of about 46 female students in English language classes. The result indicated that the use of a robot in the classroom could be very entertaining and enhanced learning more effectively.
VRALL is combination of virtual reality and robot assisted language learning. In fact, linguists use this technology to create virtual and unrealistic environments similar to lessons and training environments (Lin & Lan, 2015).
What is considered as VRAPT in this study is type of classroom in which VR technologies assisted as teacher assistant to improve the EFL learners’ pronunciation.
 
3. Methodology
In order to conduct the current study, the following steps were undertaken.
Pre-test Phase
At the outset of the study, given the fact that the pronunciation variable was assumed to be dynamic and uncontrollable, All the students’(18 girls and boys) initial mastery over pronunciation was measured. This was done through speech recognition browser (SpeechAce) in two categories of vowel /ɪ/ and /i/ and vowel /ʊ/ and /u/ in simple words and sentences with the aim of being close to the native tune-up. Additionally, after collecting this information, the needs and level of the participants were examined through the percentage of native-like pronunciation that the software gave to the researcher; therefore their level was determined for the game because this sounds absolutely essential and games should fit with the proficiency level of learners. The children were monitored by the teacher and the game specialist at Sharif University of Technology and  their pronunciation was continually recorded.
Treatment Phase
In the VR group, students were able to play 10 sessions of ninety minutes with virtual reality and a game designed for this type of training. The beginning of each session, new topics were taught by the teacher and then a game or practice of virtual reality was used. During these sessions, learners were able to learn the pronunciation of different words from different  scenarios such as hobbies, colors, fruits, jobs, sports, body parts, toys, jobs, animals, foods, and birthday, etc where each scenario was specifically designed and created in a fully 3D environment.
Post-test Phase
After presenting the class and receiving 10 ninety-minute-long sessions, the participating learners were tested again through the Speech ace Software to collect the posttest information, and then the results were compared.
 
4. Results
In order to achieve the purpose of the study,  first descriptive statistics was run as shown in Table 1.The students in the posttest (M = 6.01, SD = 1.08) had a better performance, as against that of theirs in the pretest (M = 3.64, SD = .81).

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of two testing times of students ( N= 18 )
		Mean	N	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean
VRAPT	Pretest	3.64	18.00	0.81	0.19
	Posttest	6.01	18.00	1.08	0.25

 
Moreover, the paired-samples t-tests was run as shown in Table 2 which indicated that there was a significant difference between pretest and posttest of students, t (17) = -13.41, p = .00, with the Cohen’s effect size value being 2.47, which can be considered as a very high effect size.
 

Table 2. Paired-Samples t-test
		Paired Differences				t	df	Sig. (2-tailed)
		Mean	Std. Deviation	95% Confidence Interval of the Difference
				Lower	Upper
	Pretest and Posttest	-2.37	.75	-2.75	-2.00	-13.41	17.00	.00

 
The results from the pretest to the posttest revealed that there was a significant difference between the gains of  these students in terms of pronunciation.This efficiency could be attributed to different factors like ‘authenticity’, ‘motivation’ and ‘repetition’. Therefore, VR had the potency to inspire and motivate the participants in order to perform better in pronunciation and they could have better performance in communication. Based on this, VR can make the path of meaningful communication shorter and can be used in language classrooms to help teachers and learners

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Despite the bulk of literature on various aspects of anxiety, its multi-dimensional aspect generates many controversies among researchers. Sometimes, EFL learners may suffer from proficiency and gender dependent anxiety in language learning contexts. This correlational study aims to explore the relationship between the construct of general anxiety across different English proficiency levels including elementary, intermediate, and advanced in Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 108 male and female (54 in each group) Iranian EFL learners aged 14 to 18 took part in the present study at a private language school in Gorgan, Iran. The analyses explored the general relationship between anxiety levels and English proficiency levels and also EFL learners’ gender. Chi Square tests were run in R software did not demonstrate a significant relationship between anxiety and levels of proficiency in general. Findings revealed a significant relationship between EFL learners’ level of anxiety and gender. The results might help design future studies and assist teachers, teacher educators, and syllabus designers to devise their courses and tests considering affective factors which ultimately lead to students’ self-efficacy

1. Introduction
Language learning is a complicated process in which many factors are involved. Apart from cognitive factors, psychological factors play an inevitable role in the learning environment (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993). Affective factors such as empathy, self-esteem, and anxiety are rooted in psychology and encompass emotional side of human behavior and over the last 30 years many studies confirmed their undeniable role in language teaching (Brown, 2014). Cognitive and affective factors, once considered to be the opposite ends of a continuum are now seen as complementary to each other (Dewaele, 2005). Anxiety is among the affective factors which have attracted the most attention since foreign language teachers have always encountered learners who demonstrate different degrees of uneasiness and worry in the classroom. Horwitz’s study (1986) is considered to be the starting point for many other studies on the issue of “Foreign Language Anxiety” (FLA).
There are different perspectives with regard to FLA in the classroom; some believe that anxiety is a major problem and has detrimental effects on language learning (debilitative anxiety) (Gregersen, 2003; Gregersen & Horwitz, 2002); however, other scholars have the opposite idea and consider a small dose of anxiety as a facilitative factor in foreign language learning (Frantzen & Magnan, 2005).
Almost all studies in the field proved the negative influence of anxiety on foreign language learning (Horwitz, 1986). Several studies have focused on the level of anxiety among the learners whereas others have investigated the relationship between FLA and students’ oral performance or listening performance. Other researchers on the other hand have inspected its influence on students’ test performance. However, since the construct is a multi-faceted one, more studies need to be conducted to cover all its aspects. Most of the studies regarding the issue so far have been implemented in academic contexts among university students with different majors and mostly focused on the influence of FLA on test performance (Birjandi & Alemi, 2010; Cheng, Horwitz & Schallert, 1999). The exclusive EFL context of Iran in which students do not have the opportunity to be exposed to a great deal of English makes the situation even more challenging for the students to master a foreign language which adds to the importance of this research..
 
2. Literature Review
In Horwitz’s (1986) study significant negative correlation was found between FLA and English achievement of students who were learning Spanish or French. Chapell, Blanding, and Silverstein (2005) carried out a study among undergraduate and graduate students outcomes of which revealed a significant difference of academic achievement among students showing various degrees of anxiety. In the Thai context, the results of an investigation in an English language program revealed significant correlation between FLA and performance in English language as well (Anyadubalu, 2010).
Wigfield and Kennedy (2007) reported students who have high anxiety do poorly in tests. A study by Batumlu and Erden (2007) showed a significant negative correlation between FLA and English achievement test among university students. Rahimi (1999) found 36.9 % of high school students in Sanandaj, Iran had severe anxiety; Mozaffari’s (2001) findings were also in line with the previous research. Salehi and Marefat (2014) explored possible relationship between FLA and test anxiety and also the effects of FLA and test anxiety on foreign language test performance; the results displayed negative effects of both types of anxiety on test performance, and there was also a strong positive relationship between FLA and test anxiety. Daskzan (2004) documented that 37% of male and 53% of female high school students in Saghez, Iran had test anxiety and that there was a significant relationship between test anxiety and academic achievement. Mersi (2012) investigated FLA among male and females EFL learners and found out that females had higher level of anxiety. Rezazadeh and Tavakoli (2009) carried out a study on the relationship between gender, academic achievement, years of study and levels of test anxiety among university students, and it was revealed that females had a higher level of test anxiety. Two qualitative studies concluded that students in upper-level courses experience higher anxiety (Ewald, 2007; Kitano, 2001). However, Gardner, Smythe, & Brunet (1977) concluded that anxiety decreased when experience and proficiency increased.
Despite the number of studies (Ewald, 2007;Sparks & Ganschow, 2007;Daskzan, 2004), there are still no conclusive results on the issue and research on the differences in anxiety levels among proficiency levels among male and females EFL learners at private language institutes is rather scarce. To narrow the gap, this correlational study explored the relationship between the construct of general anxiety across different English proficiency levels including elementary, intermediate, and advanced in Iranian EFL learners. Based on the purpose of the research, the following research questions were formulated:
1. Are there any significant relationship among anxiety levels of EFL learners and their proficiency?
2. Is there any significant relationship among anxiety levels of EFL learners and their gender?
3. Are there any significant relationship among anxiety levels of female EFL learners and their proficiency?
4. Are there any significant relationship among anxiety levels of male EFL learners and their proficiency?
Method
The participants comprised 108 male and female (54 in each group) EFL learners whose age ranged 13-18 studying at three different proficiency levels at a private language institute in Gorgan, Iran. Cognitive Test Anxiety and Academic Performance based on 4-point Likert scale by Jerrell C. Cassady Ball State University and Ronald E. Johnson (2002) was used. A number of 108 out of the original 172 questionnaires were selected in the current study based on the learners’ age.
 
 
Data Analysis, Results, and Implications
The analyses explored the general relationship between anxiety levels and English proficiency levels and also EFL learners’ gender. Chi Square tests were run in R software did not demonstrate a significant relationship between anxiety and levels of proficiency in general. Findings revealed a significant relationship between EFL learners’ level of anxiety and gender. The results might help design future studies and assist teachers, teacher educators, and syllabus designers to devise their courses and tests considering affective factors which ultimately lead to students’ self-efficacy.
 

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The present study investigated the impact of language learning strategy instruction on the enhancement of less successful Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ L2 achievement. To this end, 40 less successful EFL students took part in the study, 20 of whom were trained based on CALLA (Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach) and the rest formed the control group. A complete TOEFL PBT test was administered to the 40 participants of the study to homogenize them in terms of language proficiency.The results of two independent samples t-tests and two separate paired samples t-tests indicated that explicit strategy instruction had a significant positive impact on L2 achievement of less successful Iranian EFL learners as the participants in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the control group. The results of the current study might contribute to the educational policymakers,  materials writers, syllabus designers, curriculum developers, and foreign language teachers to incorporate learning strategies in their policies, curricula, syllabi, materials, and instructional tasks if they intend to boost EFL learners’ L2 achievement.

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The use of Web 2.0 technology in language education has received much research attention quite recently. In an attempt to shed more light on the use of Google Docs as a kind of Web 2.0 technology in language learning, the purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of online collaborative writing using Google Docs and collaborative writing in a face-to-face classroom on the writing performance and writing self-regulation of EFL learners.  A sample of 38 homogeneous intermediate learners was recruited as the participants who were then randomly divided to an experimental group (N= 19) and a control group (N= 19). The participants of the experimental group received online collaborative writing using Google Docs while the control group received collaborative writing in the face-to-face classroom.  Two timed-writing tasks and the Second Language Writing Self-regulation (SLWS) scale were administered to gather the data. The results obtained from performing paired-samples t-tests and ANCOVA revealed that collaborative writing both via using Google Docs and in the face-to-face classroom significantly enhanced the writing performance and writing self-regulation of the participants. However, the gains experienced by the experimental group were significantly higher than those experienced by the control group.  Pedagogical implications for Google Docs supported collaborative writing are finally discussed.

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The present study examined the content and construct validity, and internal consistency of the Academic Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (AERQ) in the Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. The original scale was translated and back-translated between English and Persian. The content validity ratio (CVR), and content validity index (CVI) were then measured by a panel of 14 expert judges. The internal consistency coefficients of the scale were estimated by piloting it with 60 Iranian EFL learners. The results of the Cronbach’s alpha showed a satisfactory level of reliability. The AERQ was then administered to 346 English language learners (M_age = 19.34, SD_age = 4.951). To explore the factorial structure of the 37 items of the questionnaire, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted. In addition, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was run to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the AERQ’s measurement model. The results obtained from the modified measurement model showed an adequate fit of the data. In the modified version, two items (i.e., one item from suppression, and one from redirection of attention) were omitted due to low standardized loadings (< .50). The model fit indices also provided a reasonable model fit for the structural model. The internal consistency coefficients for the constructs were higher than the minimum value (α = .70). Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

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The self-monitoring technique, using the learners’ annotations and teacher’s response as its base, proved to be one of the beneficial alternatives for the traditional teacher feedback. Although some studies have been done on the effects of self-monitoring technique, more studies are still required to place this tactic at the forefront of educational practices. This study examined Iranian EFL learners’ annotations in terms of their form and content. To this end, after homogenizing the participants, 30 university students were selected and received essay writing instruction employing the self-monitoring technique for eight sessions. The learners’ annotations were gathered and classified in terms of their content and form based on the frameworks established by Sarabia, Nicolás, and Larioss (2012) and Storch and Tapper (1996) respectively. The research results, as for the content of the annotations, evinced that the largest number of annotations fell into the categories of lexis and syntax, and to a lesser extent the discourse organization. Regarding the form of the annotations, most of the learners’ annotations fell into the category of “a demand for the correction of an L2 form”. The results of the chi-square test also showed that the difference in the content and use of language forms of annotations used by students was significant. Hence, the use of self-monitoring technique in writing courses brings a wealth of information regarding the writing content and problematic areas for both the teacher and learners as they can have discussions over the written text, making the process of writing more interactive.

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This study was conducted to examine learners’ attitudes and perceptions toward the efficacy of task repetition: whether or not they appreciated task repetition as an effective classroom strategy for enhancing their oral performance. To this end, a multiple case study approach was adopted in which six intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners were investigated over a four-month period in an intact class. Four data collection tools were used: (1) multiple interview sessions, (2) learner diaries, (3) participant observation, and (4) classroom portfolios. In addition, 20 hours of the learners’ audio-recorded task performances across sessions were transcribed and analyzed for signs of improvements in qualities of oral performance. Results indicated that despite the fact that repeating reciprocal narrative tasks led to gains in oral performance, learners viewed task repetition as a futile activity that did not affect their performances over time. The findings are discussed, and implications are provided in the context of education.
 

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Students’ engagement in classroom activities has been at the center of attention these days that affect learners’ success, mental health and alternatively, their disengagement impacts their achievement and may also affect their future professional well-being. Motivation is another important contributor to success in education, which is also in line with engagement. Likewise, demotivation has been a concentration point of instructional research; yet, it has not obtained much concentration in the realm of language acquisition. Indeed, English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ demotivation has an essential role in hindering their learning in the English language learning classroom. The level of these two concepts, namely disengagement and demotivation is influenced by different factors in students and as far as EFL teaching is concerned, one of these factors is school climate which is deemed as a predictor of academic success. Indeed, the learning climate has been attracting the attention of researchers for decades given that this construct improves or prevents student achievement and poor mental health. Nevertheless, its contribution to mitigating learners’ demotivation and disengagement has not been scrutinized yet. Accordingly, this review presents the power of the learning climate where EFL students are learning a language and its role in students’ demotivation and disengagement. Subsequently, this is followed by giving some implications for EFL teachers, school authorities, and researchers.

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While cognitive and social-affective strategies have straightforward impacts on learners’ academic performance attached to specific tasks in a communicative and student-centered language classroom, metacognitive strategies, with their vigorous power, are arguably worth more attention. This group of strategies plays a vital role in making students become more self-directed and autonomous learners. This paper reported on a study investigating Vietnamese university students’ perception of using metacognitive strategies in their listening activities. Specifically, 140 English majors at the foreign language department of a university in Vietnam were involved in the study. Based on quantitative data from a questionnaire slightly adapted from Vandergrift et al. (2006), it was found that students in the study generally had a relatively high awareness of metacognitive strategies, with varying levels across the five subcategories of specific strategies. In addition, a comparison between the two groups (first-year and third-year students) showed minor differences regarding their listening strategy awareness. The findings suggested that metacognitive strategies should be encouraged, and listening strategies should be instructed early in English education programs.  

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As a new shift in the ELT field, critical pedagogy (CP) originated from Freirean philosophy. It aims at raising both teachers and learners’ awareness towards the instrumental view of ELT and its superficial neutrality. Despite the recent growth of CP in Iran, it is unknown whether or not CP is supported and practiced in the teacher development process of Iranian universities. Moreover, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge, an appropriate questionnaire dealing with such a concept has not been developed yet. The present study, therefore, aimed at developing and validating a CP-oriented scale to be used in ELT education system in Iran. To validate this instrument, 150 EFL teachers and students from three universities of Iran were selected through convenience sampling. The researchers employed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The results indicated an acceptable level of internal consistency and satisfactory construct validity. This measure can be helpful for those who support practicalizing CP tenets in the field of ELT, in general and in teacher development process, in particular.