Research Methodology (RM) is the backbone of any TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) MA programme. Although a burgeoning body of research has investigated students' attitude towards research and RM course in various disciplines, students' attitudes towards research and research methods courses in TEFL research has remained a relatively…

Research is an indispensable part of any educational endeavour generally and graduate/postgraduate studies particularly, since the Iranian educational system requires M.A. and Ph.D. candidates to submit a thesis or dissertation as partial fulfilment of the requirements for attaining their respective academic degrees. However, a review of the…

Purpose: This paper explores the challenges of conducting qualitative research from ELT (English Language Teaching) Ph.D. candidates' perspectives. Design/methodology/approach: The participants of the study consisted of 30 Iranian Ph.D. students majoring in ELT. The semi-structured interview was employed to investigate the heart of experiences,…

As part of a large-scale project, this study explored research conception and research engagement of English as a second/foreign language (L2) researchers as stakeholders of research in higher education communities of practice. To this end, 10 Masters students, 10 doctoral students, and 10 instructors in L2 education of English in different…

Emphasis on teaching religious education in the university and raising the level of religious awareness of students in parallel with specialized education, raises attention to the important point that the set of Islamic education courses was in line with the demands and desires of students? The aim of this study is to an increase of the analytic…

This study focuses on how and to what extent factors identified in the literature influence academic and commercial outcomes, as well as the candidates' perception of the success and satisfaction from the results of PhD projects. Based on a survey of 607 PhD graduates and candidates, the relationship between contextual factors and subjective…

This study is intended to explore challenges in writing master theses from postgraduate English as Foreign Language (EFL) students' and supervisors' perspectives. To do so, 40 EFL postgraduate students and 10 supervisors were selected nonrandomly based on availability sampling from five major Iranian universities. Qualitative data were gathered…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the perception of EFL teachers and learners on the fundamental principles and constructs of critical thinking, the main characteristics of a critical thinker, and strategies for reinforcing critical thinking ability. Semi-structured interviews with eight EFL teachers and ten learners, who…

Developing research performance has become an important theme in Iranian higher educational institutions as other national and international academic institutions across the world. However, the research performance of Iranian Teaching English as a Foreign Language postgraduate candidates has been argued to be limited. In order to increase their…

The present study investigates the hidden experiences of students in the doctoral programs. This qualitative study was performed using the phenomenological method. The data were collected through the interview. The population consists of PhD graduates whose study period had passed. Using normal purposeful sampling, 45 graduates were interviewed.…