https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/ Teaching English as a Second Language Quarterly en daily 1 Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8490.html Given the pivotal role that social and psychological factors play in the field of teaching English as a foreign language, the present study focused on exploring the relationship among collegiality, identity, and emo-educational divorce. However, the nature of this relationship, i.e., the direction and level of this connection have not been explored, yet. To address this need, a total of 227 Iranian English language teachers of universities, schools, and language institutes filled out collegiality scale along with identity, and emo-educational divorce questionnaires. Then, analyses indicated that emo-educational divorce was negatively correlated with teacher identity and teacher collegiality, whereas identity and collegiality were positively correlated; moreover, the subconstructs of emo-educational divorce showed different predictive behaviors with regard to teacher collegiality and teacher identity. Finally, the findings were discussed and implications were reviewed to pay close attention to the role of the combination of social and psychological elements in EFL teaching contexts. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8489.html This study aimed to identify the foundational principles of a post-modernistic critical pedagogy-based (PMCP) curriculum and to develop and validate a scale measuring English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ beliefs about curriculum in the Iranian high school context. Grounded in the theoretical traditions of critical pedagogy and postmodern curriculum theory, the study was motivated by long-standing concerns about the ideological rigidity, cultural narrowness, and behaviorist orientation of the current national English curriculum. Drawing on PMCP principles such as learner empowerment, cultural inclusivity, dialogic learning, and ethical pluralism, the initial conceptual framework was constructed through a synthesis of relevant literature and semi-structured interviews with in-service Iranian EFL teachers. Based on this framework, a 35-item questionnaire was developed to measure teachers’ beliefs across four curriculum components: goals, content, methods, and assessment. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was employed to validate the scale. Content validity was confirmed through experts' review, while internal consistency was supported by Cronbach’s alpha (α= .898). Exploratory factor analysis yielded a five-factor solution, accounting for 77.79% of the total variance. Model fit indices confirmed the structural adequacy of the instrument. The validated scale offers a theoretically grounded and empirically robust tool for examining teachers’ curriculum beliefs within the Iranian school curriculum, thereby contributing to research and policy dialogue on a transformative curriculum reform in the centralized EFL education systems. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8304.html Existential positive psychology (EPP) views hardship and tension as inseparable from life. However, majority of the interpretations in language teaching context pertain to the bivariate view of well-being and ill-being, advocating that positivity and negativity are entirely distinct factors. Furthermore, most studies on teachers' psycho-emotional variables are theoretical, creating an urgent need for practical, action-based solutions. Addressing these gaps, researchers utilized an EPP perspective and investigated the effectiveness of a 14-day gratitude-based program on the fluctuations of 42 Iranian EFL teachers' existential gratitude, well-being, and ill-being through the Repeated Measures design. For 14 days, respondents practiced expressing gratitude to themselves, their learners, and others. At the end of each day, they filled out three questionnaires. The results of Repeated Measures ANOVA revealed that gratitude interventions could play a significant role in enhancing teachers’ well-being by helping them control ill-being and be grateful for their lives. Thus, the study evidenced the efficacy of gratitude, as a practical means of tending to teachers’ mental health. The study also contributed to EPP and L2 teaching by profiling the dialectical and co-valence relationship between teachers’ well-being and ill-being. Several theoretical and pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies were also discussed. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8272.html Academic discourse is the collaborative interaction within academic communities, primarily aimed at convincing readers that the writers' arguments are valid. Despite the fact that nouns are frequently used in academic writing, the rhetorical functions of nouns have received limited attention in academic writing analysis. This research sets out to: (1) investigate the frequency of Metadiscursive Nouns (MNs) in Iranian scholars' research articles, and (2) compare MN usage across academic disciplines and genders. In this corpus-based study, 40 articles from the fields of Applied Linguistics, Psychology, Medicine, and Chemistry were carefully selected and analyzed based on Jiang and Hyland's (2016) MNs taxonomy. Chi-square analyses revealed significant differences across disciplines and genders, with generally weak effect sizes. The findings revealed gender-based disparities, with male scholars using MNs more frequently in soft disciplines (78.4%) compared to female scholars (69.6%), while female scholars (30.4%) exceeded male researchers (21.6%) in MN usage in hard disciplines. The results also indicated that MN usage differed significantly across disciplines, with the highest frequencies observed in Linguistics and Psychology, despite the relatively small effect size. This research underscores the impact of disciplinary norms and gender on MNs' selection and usage in academic writing, providing valuable insights for teaching academic writing skills, developing instructional materials, and conducting academic discourse analysis. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8412.html This quantitative corpus-based study investigated the use of hedges and boosters in the writing of Iranian advanced EFL learners, with particular attention to potential gender differences. Forty EFL learners (20 males and 20 females, aged 15-20) were purposively selected from private language institutes in Yasouj, Iran, based on their performance on the Quick Oxford Placement Test (QOPT). A corpus of 40 essays (12,464 words total) was analyzed using Hyland's (2005) metadiscourse framework to identify and categorize hedges and boosters. Manual coding by two raters achieved substantial inter-rater reliability (r = .79). Frequency counts were normalized per 1,000 words, and chi-square tests were employed to examine gender differences. Results revealed that learners employed various types of hedges and boosters, with epistemic modal verbs being the most frequent category for both marker types, while epistemic nouns were rare or absent. Epistemic adjectives were the least frequent hedges, and epistemic nouns were the least frequent boosters. Notably, chi-square tests indicated no statistically significant gender differences in the use of either hedges or boosters, suggesting that male and female learners employed these markers with similar frequency and variety. The findings highlight the predominance of basic, frequently taught metadiscourse forms and suggest a need for explicit instruction to expand learners' repertoire of hedging and boosting strategies. Pedagogical implications emphasize the importance of genre-based, corpus-informed instruction and teacher professional development in metadiscourse awareness. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8401.html The study of EFL in Iran reveals complex challenges faced by both teachers and learners, particularly in fostering learner autonomy. This qualitative study explored the challenges to learner autonomy in the Iranian EFL context through semi-structured interviews with 17 teachers and 13 learners selected through purposive sampling to ensure diverse representation from various educational settings. Thematic analysis using MAXQDA was employed to identify recurrent themes related to the challenges. Findings revealed that both groups face significant obstacles, primarily stemming from curriculum rigidity, which includes prescriptive syllabi, an overemphasis on standardized testing, rote memorization, and severe time constraints. Teachers also reported barriers related to their adherence to traditional teacher-centered approaches, limited understanding of innovative methods, and insufficient professional development, alongside perceiving learners' lack of motivation and passive learning styles as hindrances. Learners, conversely, highlighted the focus of curriculum on memorization, assessment methods prioritizing grammar over practical language use, and a lack of personalized guidance from instructors, compounded by personal struggles with initiative, time management, and cultural influences. The study concludes that comprehensive educational reform is essential, advocating for more flexible curricula, diversified assessment methods, continuous teacher professional development, supportive learning environments, and a cultural shift towards valuing autonomy to enhance student engagement, language proficiency, and lifelong learning. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8293.html Abstract As the demand for effective language instruction continues to rise in an increasingly digital world, understanding the impact of different synchronous/asynchronous mediation methods on language acquisition is crucial. Drawing on Vygotskian sociocultural theory and social constructivism, and adopting a quasi-experimental approach, this study explored the impact of online synchronous, online asynchronous, and in-person mediations on short-term and long-term general writing skills through one-on-one individual in-person and online dynamic assessment (DA) sessions over ONLYOFFFICE Personal and its upgraded version, ONLYOFFICE DocSpace. Moreover, it explored online synchronous-mediated learners’ and online asynchronous-mediated learners’ perceptions of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) using a Likert scale questionnaire. Sixty EFL university students preparing for the IELTS General exam participated in the study. Their general writing skills were assessed using IELTS task 1 samples from three books, and marked based on IELTS band descriptors. To analyze the data, Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-Square tests were used. The findings revealed that in-person mediation was significantly more effective than both online mediations in the short run. No significant difference was found between online synchronous and online asynchronous mediation in the short-term. However, online synchronous mediation proved to be more effective than its asynchronous counterpart in the long term, although not significantly different from in-person mediation. In addition, the results showed online synchronous-mediated students displayed more favorable attitudes than online asynchronous-mediated students. The study suggests tailored mediation approaches can enhance EFL learners’ writing proficiency in various educational contexts, providing valuable insights for educators and curriculum developers. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8365.html Incrementalism refers to the epistemic belief that the edifice of knowledge is built one brick at a time. In actual research practice, incrementalism is realized through spotting gaps in the literature, a widespread scheme for developing research questions and justifying studies. Gap-spotting is so common and taken for granted that it has become one of the grand narratives of today’s academic knowledge practices. Grand narratives often go unnoticed and hence unchallenged; thus, it is vital that gap-spotting be submitted to critical scrutiny. Taking such a critical stance, this study employs a synchronic approach using a qualitative content analysis of 238 original research articles published between 2016 and 2025 in six top-tier international Applied Linguistics journals. Findings suggest that irrespective of paradigmatic differences, an overwhelming majority of articles rely on gap-spotting to craft researchable questions and to justify their significance. Our analysis also indicates that the gap-spotting research habit promotes incremental research, an adding-to-the-literature attitude, and an occasional narrowing of vision in research. The study highlights the epistemological assumptions underpinning gap-spotting and suggests the potential of rhizomatic review as an alternative approach. These findings carry implications for research conduct, pedagogy, and the reconsideration of conventional literature review practices in Applied Linguistics. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8560.html Despite growing interest in character education globally, there remains a notable lack of research on character education in the Iranian EFL context. This descriptive study aimed to examine the extent to which character values were present and their frequency of distribution in the Iranian high school English textbooks Prospect Series and Vision Series and to see if there are violations of these character values. Quantitative data were gathered through content analysis of these two English textbook series, focusing on the frequency and distribution of the character values based on the 18-character values checklist by Pratiwi et al. (2021). The results showed that communicative values (e.g., interaction, cooperation, and social engagement) were the most frequently represented (f = 211), reflecting the series’ emphasis on basic language use and classroom interaction at the junior high school level. Values of Democratic (f=9), Honest (f=5), and Environmental caring (f=10) appeared less frequently, suggesting room for more intentional integration. Character values of being Communicative (f=93), Disciplined (f=103), and Hardworking (f=74) dominated across the Vision series, while values such as being Honest (f=6), Democratic (f=5), and Social Caring(f=11) were rarely found, indicating a gap in promoting personal initiative and participatory classroom culture. Furthermore, a closer qualitative analysis revealed several instances in which textbooks content may unintentionally undermine values such as honesty, tolerance, democracy, peace loving in Prospect Series, and tolerance, peace-loving, creativity, and respect in Vision Series through stereotyping, dichotomous moral framing, or neutral presentation of conflict-related themes. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8595.html The present study aimed to explore the impact of socially constructed action research (AR) on the PCK of eight in-service Iranian EFL teachers, with a focus on the transformative power of reflective practice and collaborative learning. For this purpose, a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. Data were collected through pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, alongside semi-structured interviews and observational field notes offering a perspective of teacher experiences. The results indicated statistically significant improvements in teachers’ PCK. Qualitative insights revealed heightened instructional confidence, increased student-centered approaches, and enriched collaborative learning experiences. However, institutional barriers such as limited time and support hindered the full realization of AR’s potential of teachers. No significant gender-based differences in knowledge gains were observed. This study underscores AR’s transformative potential in fostering reflective teaching and enhancing PCK among Iranian EFL teachers. The study concludes with the need for institutional support, including professional learning communities, to sustain AR initiatives. https://tesl.shirazu.ac.ir/article_8638.html Teacher–Student Relationships (TSRs) influence classroom realities and educational experiences. This study examines the socio-cultural factors that shape these relationships in the Iranian EFL context. Adopting a Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) design, the study drew on an iterative process of data collection and analysis. Sixteen participants (10 university ELT educators and 6 EFL teachers) were recruited through purposive and theoretical sampling. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and life-history narratives and analyzed using the constant comparative method, including initial, focused, and theoretical coding, to develop a context-sensitive explanatory framework. The findings reveal three main socio-cultural factors shaping TSRs. Authoritative culture promotes power imbalance and restricts meaningful interaction. Collectivist culture substitutes genuine collaboration with group conformity. Content-focused education prioritizes syllabus coverage and summative assessment at the expense of dialogic teaching and reciprocal engagement. The study advances three interconnected theoretical concepts—Authority–Relationship Tension Cycle, Harmonized Collectivism vs. Collaborative Personalization, and Reciprocal Scaling of Content and Learning Conditions—to explain how these factors interact to constrain constructive TSRs. The findings carry important pedagogical implications. First, teacher education programs should critically address hierarchical norms. Second, instructional practices should balance authority with relational engagement. Third, curriculum and assessment reforms should create space for dialogic, needs-responsive teaching. By situating TSRs within their socio-cultural ecology, this study provides a contextually grounded framework for rethinking relational pedagogy in exam-oriented educational systems.