https://are.ui.ac.ir/ Applied Research on English Language en daily 1 Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30480.html https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30023.html The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education has transformed writing instruction. Still, little is known about how AI-supported collaboration shapes first-year students’ emotional experiences during argumentative essay writing. Emotions influence students’ engagement, idea negotiation, and overall writing performance, particularly in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. This study investigates EFL freshmen’s emotions and emotion regulation strategies in AI-supported collaborative argumentative essay writing across the stages of planning, execution, and evaluation. Using a multiple case study design, seven EFL freshmen from a private Indonesian university participated. Data were gathered through reflective journals and in-depth interviews, and were analyzed thematically. The findings show that students experienced both positive and negative emotions throughout the writing process, with negative emotions, such as anxiety, confusion, overwhelm, and stress, being more dominant. These emotions were linked to cognitive demands, including topic selection, evidence integration, and revision, as well as social factors such as unequal contribution and fear of negative judgment. Although AI tools helped with linguistic accuracy and text organization, they did not fully address deeper emotional and motivational challenges. Students used various regulation strategies, including attention deployment (seeking online sources), cognitive change (breaking tasks into smaller ones, positive self-talk, task prioritization), and response modulation (taking breaks, consulting AI tools). The study highlights the need for pedagogical frameworks that combine emotional support with cognitive skill development to promote equitable and reflective collaboration in AI-supported EFL writing. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30025.html The hospitality industry in Bangladesh is expanding rapidly, with three-star and four-star hotels in Dhaka increasingly serving international guests. In this regard, English language proficiency has become a crucial skill for hotel employees to ensure effective service delivery and guest satisfaction. However, English language training is still largely neglected, leaving employees with communication barriers that hinder their professional performance, as well as the quality of their overall service. This study adopts a case study approach, focusing specifically on four well-established hotels in Dhaka city to investigate the English language needs of their employees. Using a mixed-method design, data were collected from 26 participants through semi-structured interviews and online survey questionnaires, representing key operational divisions such as front desk, room service, and customer relations. Findings reveal that speaking and listening skills are the most important yet challenging skills for employees because these are directly tied to guest interaction. Employees also showed a considerable interest in structured English courses in workplace contexts, with a special focus on vocabulary in the area of hospitality and communicative tasks. The study contributes to the field by providing empirically grounded recommendations for an industry-oriented ESP syllabus with practical implications for hotel authorities, curriculum designers, and policy makers for strengthening workforce competence. These findings also contribute to the field by moving beyond general assumptions to provide actionable recommendations for improving professional competencies and guest satisfaction within this particular industry context. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30069.html Self-regulated learning theories emphasize individual autonomy, yet their applicability in collectivist educational contexts where teacher authority prevails remains theoretically contested. This study uniquely applies Bayesian structural equation modeling to examine culturally-mediated self-regulated learning in Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language contexts. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, stratified purposive sampling across institutional types recruited 329 participants from three Vietnamese universities during designated class periods. Bayesian structural equation modeling analyzed quantitative data, followed by reflexive thematic analysis of 24 semi-structured interviews. Teacher support emerged as the strongest predictor of self-regulated learning (β = 0.51), with technology acceptance demonstrating moderate effects (β = 0.34). A significant interaction effect (β = 0.19) revealed synergistic relationships, with students exhibiting 1.7 times greater self-regulatory behaviors when both variables operated at high levels. The combined model explained 45% of the variance. Qualitative findings revealed that Vietnamese students conceptualize learning autonomy as inherently social, requiring instructor scaffolding rather than independence from external guidance. Students distinguished between "guided technology use" that enhanced learning and "assigned technology use" that produced compliance without benefits. These findings challenge individualistic assumptions underlying self-regulated learning models by demonstrating that effective autonomy development operates through culturally-mediated mechanisms. The study contributes methodologically by demonstrating Bayesian approaches' analytical advantages while revealing fundamental limitations in universal learning theories when applied across diverse cultural contexts. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30215.html Teacher resilience, as a context-specific variable, has become a prominent research priority in teacher education, especially in challenging educational settings. This study aimed to construct and validate a questionnaire to measure teacher resilience among Iranian EFL teachers. In an exploratory sequential design, two groups of English language teachers were selected as the samples of the study: The first sample, comprising 27 English teachers, participated in semi-structured interviews, and the second sample, consisting of 308 English teachers, completed a questionnaire. Based on the thematic analysis of the interview data, an initial draft of the questionnaire, containing 41 items, was administered to the second sample. An Exploratory Factor Analysis, using Principal Components Analysis with Varimax Rotation, supported a four-factor model—comprising Contextual, Personal, Professional, and Sociocultural factors—which explained 72.26% of the total variance. All 41 items loaded cleanly (>.54) on their intended factors. The results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis, using SmartPLS, confirmed the four-factor measurement model, demonstrating strong composite reliability (CR > 0.70), convergent validity (AVE > 0.50), and discriminant validity (HTMT ratios < 0.58), thus establishing robust psychometric properties for the instrument. The validated questionnaire provides Iranian EFL administrators with a reliable, context-specific tool to measure resilience levels and design targeted support programs. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30176.html The current study examines the relationships between intercultural communication skills (ICCS), informal digital learning of English (IDLE), Ideal L2 Self, enjoyment, and netizens’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in English as a second or foreign language (L2) on social media. A knowledge of the roles of ICCS, IDLE, Ideal L2 Self, and enjoyment in shaping learners’ L2 WTC in virtual settings may provide implications for L2 motivation. From an extensive literature review, we developed a hypothesized model in which ICCS and IDLE function as independent variables, Ideal L2 Self and enjoyment as mediators, and L2 WTC as a dependent variable. Questionnaires were administered to 504 Vietnamese university L2 English students. After the data cleaning phase, the remaining data from 416 participants were analyzed by SPSS 28. We employed the structural equation modelling approach to examine the hypothesized model. The results show that IDLE and ICCS had significantly positive direct effects on WTC in L2 on social media and Ideal L2 Self, respectively. L2 enjoyment was not significantly affected by ICCS but IDLE, in turn significantly impacting Ideal L2 Self. L2 Ideal Self and L2 enjoyment positively influenced learners’ WTC in English on social media. The findings suggest implications for L2 education in the digital era. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30390.html The emotional content of words can affect L2 reading in different ways. Meanwhile, this effect does not seem to be independent of the processor’s psychological states. The present study examined the complex interplay between word-level emotional features of valence and arousal and reader-level affective states of perceived mood and anxiety on L2 word recognition in the context of L2 reading. Forty-four late English bilinguals read 36 sentences while their eye fixations were recorded with an eye tracker. The results indicated no significant differences in the processing time between high and low arousal words; however, words with positive valence elicited longer gazing time than neutral words, suggesting deeper cognitive engagement with positively-valenced words. Additionally, observation of the interaction between words’ valence and arousal levels showed a processing disadvantage for positive low-arousal words. Concerning readers’ psychological states, positive mood facilitated faster global word processing regardless of words’ emotional properties. However, a high or low level of readers’ state anxiety did not make a difference in the processing speed of emotion-laden words. Also, valence and arousal did not interact with the learners’ mood or anxiety. The study concludes that the positive valence cost is likely driven by the higher cognitive load and abstractness of positive low-arousal words for L2 learners. Furthermore, positive mood acts as a global cognitive enhancer, reducing processing load, rather than a specific, mood-congruent facilitator. These findings suggest that fostering a positive affective environment and providing explicit instruction for abstract positive words are key to improving reading fluency. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_29985.html Language teachers are professionally expected to serve as educational innovators, change agents, and particularly teacher-researchers. Teacher-researcher identity and its negotiation have received much attention from international scholars. In Vietnam, substantial research has been conducted to examine this concept and its influential factors among tertiary lecturers. Nevertheless, a research gap remains in understanding factors affecting teacher-researcher identity negotiation from other teacher demographics, particularly from an insider’s perspective. Therefore, this autobiographical introspective narrative inquiry addressed this gap by shedding light on the contextual influences on my teacher-researcher identity negotiated during the process of completing a Master’s graduation thesis. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory of Human Development as the theoretical framework, the study gathered data from my autobiographical writings and semi-structured interviews with two purposefully-selected outsiders. The collected data were deductively analyzed through thematic analysis. Results revealed that contextual influences (personal, academic, institutional, and socio-cultural contributors) on my teacher-researcher identity negotiation were nested into an ecological system of four concentrated layers, including the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-systems, respectively. These findings further showed how the socio-academic condition of the Mekong Delta region affectionately nurtured my growing maturity as a qualitative teacher-researcher. Beyond its scholarly contribution, this study is also a testament to how one’s roots can illuminate the path toward becoming a teacher-researcher, offering inspiration for others walking a similar journey. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30448.html In the current competitive academic world, publishing papers in prestigious journals is of great significance to scholars, and one of the main elements in ensuring the quality of submitted manuscripts is peer review. The fate of manuscripts largely depends on the final review reports provided by the reviewers. Research has investigated peer review from different aspects. However, a comprehensive account of all the studies in this regard, especially within the field of applied linguistics and focusing on authentic blind peer review reports, is missing. Accordingly, this scoping study aimed to provide a clear picture of existing research on peer review in applied linguistics. To this end, following Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) scoping review guidelines, a total of 33 studies were examined to assess their scope, addressed themes, and methodological trends. The results revealed that these studies were published between 2004 and 2024, in 27 outlets, originated from 15 countries, and mainly focused on single-journal contexts. The main themes investigated in these studies were comparative analyses, pragmatics, comment focus, genre structure, metadiscourse, and association, with comparative analyses being the most frequent. In terms of methodological traits, most studies were qualitative and descriptive. This review can benefit authors, reviewers, and editors by clarifying the current status of research on peer review and providing a foundation for future research on peer review practices. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30531.html Research on mobile-assisted language learning has underscored its potential to enrich vocabulary development and provide flexible oral practice, yet evidence remains limited on how gamified mobile ecosystems shape the intertwined advancement of lexical command and fluent speech among secondary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. This study explored how a structured gamified mobile learning intervention addressed these gaps by embedding progress quests, time-bound speaking missions, and reward-based vocabulary tasks into instructional routines. Employing a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, data were gathered from 122 students selected through intact class sampling across Grade 8, utilizing a receptive and productive vocabulary test and a rubric-based speaking fluency assessment administered before and after the intervention. Additional data were obtained from a closed-ended questionnaire capturing learner engagement patterns and a structured interview with selected participants to explore task experiences in greater depth. The results revealed meaningful expansion in vocabulary repertoire and more sustained spoken delivery, while several learners demonstrated inconsistent pacing, reduced stamina during extended tasks, and difficulty transferring practiced items into spontaneous conversation. These divergent outcomes suggest that gamified mobile learning can enhance lexical retrieval and oral participation, yet its effectiveness depends on calibrated task design that minimizes mechanical participation and fluctuating speech performance. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30506.html The educational landscape of the 21st century demands the renewal of language teaching methodologies by integrating cognitive skills such as critical thinking to enhance learning outcomes and learner autonomy. Employing an exploratory sequential mixed-methods research design, this study examines the impact of CT-integrated instruction on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ reading skills. An initial pool of 156 EFL learners was interviewed to identify their learning challenges, with a particular emphasis on reading skills. Subsequently, 107 of these learners were selected through convenience sampling, all of whom demonstrated difficulties in reading English. The participants were divided into two groups of high and low critical thinkers in accordance with their performance on Watson-Glaser critical thinking appraisal practice test. They were then randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. After a semester of CT-integrated instruction, scores taken from pre- and post-test were statistically analyzed. The results of Mixed ANOVA, Independent T-tests and Paired Samples T-tests revealed significant improvements in the experimental group, underscoring the effectiveness of CT-integrated pedagogical approaches in fostering L2 reading comprehension. The qualitative analysis of the follow-up interviews with 46 EFL learners in the experimental groups further validated these results through thematic analysis, showing less reliance on any translation applications. The students advocated for the integration of CT into language instruction, underscoring the role of cognitive skills in improving reading skills and learner autonomy over external supports such as AI. The study offers theoretical and practical implications forintegrating CT abilities into teaching L2 reading skills in EFL contexts. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30537.html Speaking constitutes a fundamental skill in second language acquisition; however, it simultaneously represents one of the most psychologically demanding tasks for many learners. The fear of negative evaluation, apprehension regarding linguistic errors, and difficulties with lexical retrieval precipitate hesitation and diminished classroom participation. Mindfulness-based breathing interventions, particularly pranayama—a system of yogic breathing techniques offer a theoretically grounded approach to ameliorating this pedagogical challenge. The present study employed a mixed-methods design to investigate the effects of pranayamic breathing techniques on speaking anxiety and oral performance among Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Participants comprised 25 intermediate-level learners (experimental group: n=13; control group: n=12) enrolled at a private language institute in Isfahan, Iran. Data were collected through planned and unplanned speaking tasks, a classroom observation anxiety checklist, and semi-structured interviews conducted during the final session. Quantitative analyses utilizing MANCOVA revealed statistically significant reductions in observable anxiety symptoms, particularly physical manifestations (p < .05) and verbal/speech disruptions (p < .05), among learners in the experimental group. However, improvements in measured speaking performance did not reach statistical significance. Qualitative thematic analysis of interview data yielded four principal themes: anxiety reduction, enhanced concentration, positive classroom atmosphere, and transferability of techniques to extra-curricular contexts. Participants reported that the breathing exercises engendered feelings of calmness, bolstered confidence, and provided strategies applicable to stressful situations beyond the language classroom. These findings suggest that pranayama constitutes a practical, low-cost, and culturally adaptable intervention for alleviating speaking anxiety and supporting learners' affective well-being in EFL contexts. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30555.html This critical narrative review examines major theoretical models of reading comprehension, tracing their evolution and evaluating their contributions and limitations in explaining how readers construct meaning from text. Drawing on more than 80 foundational and contemporary studies identified through searches of major academic databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar, the review synthesizes research on cognitive, linguistic, and metacognitive processes involved in reading. Beginning with traditional unidirectional frameworks—bottom-up and top-down models—it highlights their limitations in capturing the complex and interactive nature of skilled reading. The review then examines influential interactive and compensatory frameworks, including Rumelhart’s Interactive Model, Stanovich’s Interactive-Compensatory Model, Perfetti’s Verbal Efficiency Model, Walczyk’s Compensatory-Encoding Model, and Just and Carpenter’s Capacity-Constrained Reader (CC READER) Model. Particular attention is given to their treatment of working memory, automaticity, compensation, and individual differences. The review further discusses the Multiple-Processing Model as a proficiency-sensitive framework that explains how working memory allocation and the automatization of lower-level linguistic processes vary across L2 readers. This review identifies key theoretical gaps and proposes directions for future research, emphasizing the need for more integrative and empirically validated accounts of reading comprehension that accommodate proficiency differences, cognitive resource dynamics, and cross-linguistic variation. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30565.html Textbook evaluation plays a crucial role in language education, as textbooks significantly shape teaching practices and learning experiences. Since 2013, the Prospect series (Prospect 1–3) has been implemented in Iranian junior high schools with the aim of promoting communicative English language teaching while preserving cultural and local relevance. Guided by the PRISMA framework, this systematic review surveyed evaluative research on the Prospect series through a comprehensive search of four academic databases: Google Scholar, ERIC, Web of Science, and Scopus. Following systematic screening and the application of predefined inclusion criteria, 122 journal articles were selected for analysis. The studies were coded to identify publication trends, the textbooks examined, research methodologies, evaluative frameworks, and major thematic emphases, including linguistic, affective, sociocultural, pedagogical, and visual or layout dimensions. The results indicated that most studies were published in English, with Prospect 1 receiving the greatest evaluative attention. Mixed-methods designs and content-analysis instruments were most frequently employed, and teachers constituted the primary group of evaluators. Evaluation frameworks based on Cunningsworth were the most adopted. Linguistically, the four language skills and vocabulary attracted the greatest focus, while learner motivation predominated in the affective domain. Sociocultural evaluations primarily addressed cultural representation and identity construction, pedagogical analyses emphasized task design, and visual elements were the most frequently examined aspects of physical layout. Overall, the findings reveal an uneven distribution of evaluative attention across the Prospect series and identify several underexplored dimensions. This review offers a systematic reference point for future evaluative research and provides pedagogically informed insights. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30578.html Teacher professional identity is an important driver of teacher motivation and efficacy. However, literature on emotions and EFL teacher professional identity shows that scarce research has been conducted on emotional damage to EFL teacher professional identity. To bridge this gap, this study carried out an investigation into the factors contributing to emotional damage to teacher , twenty. For this purposeemploying a qualitative research designprofessional identity in Iran, and sixteen of them were structured interviews -Iranian EFL teachers participated in semione analyzed using inductive . The data were selected for this study through purposive samplingwith the help of thematic analysis method and codes and themes were identified and interpreted The findings showed that the factors causing the emotional damage can be MAXQDA software. classified into two categories of personal ecology and contextual ecology factors. Personal ecology factors included professional capital and personal dispositions while contextual ecology involved societal recognition, institutional environment, workplace conditions, and factors Finally, a comprehensive model of the emerged themes, codes, and subeconomic conditions. Among the many educational implications of this research are the codes was developed. development of more efficient support systems for teachers, a revolutionary transformation in learning environments, and the revival of teachers' motivation and energy in the long term. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30603.html This research aimed at measuring and chronicling supervisors’ perceived challenges and solutions regarding the integration of GenAI in students’ final project writing. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-method design conducted in Indonesian higher education, comprising 70 public and 105 private institutions, distributed across 8 islands in Indonesia: Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Bali, Maluku, and Papua. The research subject consisted of 290 supervisors; 10 of them were selected for an interview. The instruments are a questionnaire covering 15 items on a Likert scale with 4 levels of measurement and 4 interview items validated by 2 experts. The questionnaire was tested on 25 respondents to prove its validity and reliability. The quantitative results revealed that 60% of the respondents have acceptance and high agreement towards the perceived challenges and solutions on the integration of GenAI in students’ final project writing. The qualitative data mentioned that supervisors faced perceived challenges related to the issues of authentic checking, plagiarism, overreliance, critical thinking, creativity, content, source accuracy, AI Illiteracy, overoptimism, a lack of writing enjoyment, and a lack of writing self-efficacy. The supervisors mentioned their perceived solutions namely raising students’ self-awareness of mistakes, promoting guidelines, writing AI disclaimer and having intensive discussions as the perceived solutions to the challenges. The study highlights the importance of creating an official guideline as the basic foundation to manage the integration of GenAI in the final project writing. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30606.html Studies on the effects of caption condition and the textual enhancement of lexical items in captions on L2 viewing comprehension have shown mixed results. This study investigated whether caption condition and textual enhancement influence Iranian EFL learners’ viewing comprehension. To this end, the following viewing conditions were examined: 1) captioned viewing with 16 textually-enhanced multiword items, 2) captioned viewing with 18 textually-enhanced single words, 3) uncaptioned viewing, and 4) unenhanced captioned viewing. Sixty-two Iranian EFL learners from four intact classes were randomly allocated to one of the viewing conditions. Viewing comprehension was assessed using a 10-item comprehension test. The results showed that the textual enhancement of multiword items and single words had a positive impact on their comprehension scores. Another noteworthy outcome was that unenhanced captioned viewing and uncaptioned viewing did not lead to significantly different comprehension scores. Additionally, questionnaire data indicated that participants were accustomed to watching English videos and that the majority of them watched English videos with L2 captions. The findings suggest that textual enhancement can be incorporated into captioned materials without compromising comprehension among high-intermediate to advanced EFL learners. The findings have implications for technological developments in L2 education, including future research, instructional design, and teacher education, particularly in EFL contexts. https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30633.html The digitalization of business environments has created a demand for graduates with integrated language, digital, ethical and sustainability competencies. However, the teaching of English for Business in higher education is often language-oriented and separated from the disciplines. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the use of an implicit Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach to embed digital literacy, ethics and sustainability principles in English for Business teaching to Digital Business students. The study was conducted over one semester (14 weeks) involving 42 second-year undergraduate students at Universitas Pancasakti Tegal, Indonesia. Data were collected from course materials, student assignments, reflective journals, field notes by the instructor, and final projects. Thematic analysis was conducted following the six phases of analysis outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006) and was aided by NVivo 12 for coding. Trustworthiness was ensured by inter-coder reliability (Cohen’s κ = 0.82) and member checking.. Most students (n=38, 90%) indicated that CLIL-based activities increased their understanding of the requirements of professional communication in comparison to previous language-focused courses. Implicit CLIL is an effective way of integrating subject content and language learning, developing students’ professional communication competence and increasing motivation and engagement. The study offers a pedagogical framework for ESP educators interested in orienting Business English instruction towards the exigencies of today's work environment https://are.ui.ac.ir/article_30638.html Drawing on Darvin and Norton’s (2015) Investment Model, this study explored how Iranian undergraduate non-English majors perceive the role of GenAI tools in mediating access to different forms of capital and shaping their investment in English academic writing. Qualitative data were generated from 75 participants across diverse academic disciplines through 65 written interviews, 10 semi-structured interviews, and 10 reflective diary reports, and were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA). The analysis revealed six themes, representing that the learners’ investment in AI-assisted academic writing was mediated through multiple forms of capital. GenAI functioned as a source of pedagogic-material capital by providing instructional support, linguistic feedback, and reusable writing resources that facilitated academic writing, although participants also recognized the need to critically evaluate AI-generated outputs. AI further enhanced psychological capital by increasing writing confidence and reducing anxiety, while raising concerns about overreliance, diminished authorial voice, and reduced independent learning. Embodied capital, including English proficiency, prompt-crafting skills, disciplinary knowledge, and AI literacy, shaped the learners’ ability to engage critically with AI. AI also reconfigured social capital by fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing while reducing interpersonal interaction and, at times, creating feelings of disconnection. Institutionalized capital both enabled access to academic writing conventions and constrained investment through limited institutional support, ambiguous AI policies, and inconsistent instructor attitudes. Finally, unequal access to technological resources and infrastructural constraints highlighted the role of digital-economic capital in shaping the learners’ investment, while revealing both experiences of educational inequality and adaptive resilience.