This study investigates persuasive strategies used in the writings of Iranian university students in the field of teaching English as foreign language (TEFL). The study utilized the 7 principles of persuasive strategies presented by Cialdini (The psychology of persuasion, Quill William Morrow, New York 1984; Pre-suasion: A revolutionary way to…

The study explored the impact of proficiency, frequency, L1-L2 congruency, and semantic transparency on the knowledge of multi-word units (MWUs) among Iranian L2 learners (N = 256). A gap-filling test was used to assess learners' productive knowledge, employing a high-frequency MWU list created with the lemmatised concgramming method. The list,…

Although studying the actual use of L2 materials has gained momentum over the past few years, little is known about its synergy with teachers' beliefs. This study addressed this gap by exploring teachers' stated and enacted beliefs about (effective) materials use in L2 classroom discourse. To this effect, naturally-occurring interactions within 10…

While research on second language teacher cognition (SLTC) has significantly developed over the past three decades, this line of inquiry has not paid adequate attention to material development/evaluation as compared to the key role that materials play in teachers' daily practice. In response to this gap, in this study we adopted the theoretical…

Guided notes were introduced decades ago, but there is still debate over their efficacy in improving student outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine peer-reviewed research on guided notes for adult learners in general populations since 2009, understanding the effects of guided notes on student learning, the knowledge and content areas…

This study explores the possibilities and challenges of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) based on multiliteracies perspectives within New Literacy Studies (NLS). Teaching materials were developed for a group of Iranian EFL learners based on the four principles of NLS and were taught based on the same principles aiming at creating…

This study explored the effects of three types of lexical tools (MOOCs, E-dictionaries, and lexical concordancers) and three types of lexical applications (technology-mediated communication-based applications (TMCA), Anki as an e-flashcard application, and WordUp as a dedicated lexical application) on learning academic core words among a sample of…

There is a change in the status of English from a foreign language to a common language of communication among people with different mother languages. While the new profile of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has important implications for language teaching, it is not yet clear how far language teachers in different learning contexts have embraced…

In this study, 92 Iranian intermediate EFL learners (17 to 22 years) took part in 14 sessions in which they were taught L2 vocabulary through three input enhancements, i.e., visual input enhancement, semantic input enhancement, and input flooding. In fact, the selected participants were divided into three experimental groups and one control group.…

Although researchers in the area of second language acquisition agree on the effectiveness of form-focused instruction, there is little consensus on the appropriate time to direct learners' attention to linguistic items, that is, whether before or after the error occurrence [Nassaji, H. 2010, "The Occurrence and Effectiveness of Spontaneous…

The present study was an effort to investigate the effects of flipped learning on EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' L2 speaking, L2 listening, and out-of-class participation and engagement with course materials and activities. To this end, 67 freshmen English students from two universities in Iran were assigned into one of the three…

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…

This study is conducted to examine the effect of input enhancement as an implicit and consciousness-raising as an explicit method of instruction on improving grammatical and lexical collocation knowledge of Iranian EFL learners. To reach this aim, a sample of sixty participants at pre-intermediate level of English proficiency in Gorgan, Golestan,…

This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of an English Language Teaching (ELT) program at a language institute in Iran from learners' perspective. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the quantitative data showed that the learners found the reading, writing,…

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of the analysis matrix, a type of graphic organizer, as a language improvement supportive attempt on fostering reading comprehension in an EFL academic context. The main question this study tried to answer was whether using this technique might enhance reading comprehension abilities among…