Dr Dara Tafazoli

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the representation of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in two English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks, Vision 1 (Iran) and Network ESO 4 (Spain), to evaluate how effectively they foster students' intercultural understanding and prepare them for global communication. Design/methodology/approach: A comparative content analysis was conducted to examine the extent to which ICC components are integrated into the textbooks. The analysis focused on cultural representation, diversity and the promotion of intercultural skills. Findings: The analysis revealed that both textbooks inadequately incorporate ICC components, thereby limiting students' exposure to diverse cultural perspectives. Vision 1 predominantly centers on Islamic-Iranian culture. While Network ESO 4 includes international content, it frequently reinforces cultural stereotypes. These shortcomings highlight a gap in the promotion of intercultural competence in EFL/English as a Second Language (ESL) materials. Originality/value: This study provides valuable insights into the limitations of current EFL/ESL textbook design concerning ICC. It underscores the critical need for material developers to integrate ICC components more effectively into EFL/ESL curricula. Furthermore, it offers practical suggestions for educators to enhance intercultural learning activities, contributing to the broader discourse on preparing learners for meaningful global communication.

Purpose: This research paper aimed to investigate the affordances of using virtual reality (VR) in teaching culture among in-service teachers of teaching Persian to speakers of other languages (TPSOL) in Iran. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative case study, conducted at two Iranian universities, used purposeful sampling to select 34 eligible in-service Persian teachers from a pool of 73. Data collection used an open-ended questionnaire and interviews. Findings: Before the TPSOL in-service training workshop, teachers expressed their reservations regarding the use of VR to teach culture in TPSOL courses. The emerged themes were "skepticism toward effectiveness," "practicality concerns," "limited awareness of VR applications," "technological apprehension" and "prevalence of traditional teaching paradigms." During the post-workshop interview, it was discovered that the teachers' perceptions of VR in teaching culture had undergone a positive shift. The workshop generated emergent themes that reflected positive perceptions and affordances for using VR to teach culture in TPSOL, including "enhanced cultural immersion," "increased student engagement," "simulation of authentic cultural experiences," and "facilitation of interactive learning environments." Research limitations/implications: One primary limitation is the lack of prior experience with VR for teaching practices in real-world classrooms among the participants. While the study aimed to explore the potential of VR in enhancing pedagogical approaches, the absence of participants with prior exposure to VR in educational contexts may impact the generalizability of the findings to a broader population. Additionally, the study faced practical constraints, such as the unavailability of sufficient facilities in the workshop. As a result, the instructor had to project the VR cont7ent on a monitor, potentially diverging from the immersive nature of true VR experiences. These limitations offer opportunities for future research to refine methodologies and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the implications of integrating VR into teaching practices. Originality/value: Extensive research has been conducted on the effectiveness of VR in language education. However, there is a significant gap in research on TPSOL, which is considered a less commonly taught language. This study aims to address this gap by exploring the use of VR in the TPSOL through the lenses of in-service teachers. As part of a larger investigation, this qualitative inquiry focuses on the perceptions of in-service teachers about VR, with a particular emphasis on the cultural understanding of the Persian language.

This study investigates the transformative potential of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), particularly ChatGPT, in addressing educational challenges faced by Iranian English language teachers (N = 23). Drawing on qualitative data from focus group sessions, semi-structured interviews, and reflective essays, the study reveals five key themes: accessible learning materials, personalized learning experiences, addressing ideological influences, overcoming technological barriers, and combating isolation from global trends. The findings highlight GenAI's capacity to provide diverse and up-to-date learning materials tailored to individual learners' needs, address ideological biases, and facilitate cross-cultural communication. Moreover, GenAI offers personalized professional development opportunities for teachers, bridging the digital divide and empowering teachers with diverse levels of digital literacy. By integrating GenAI into English language instruction, teachers can overcome longstanding challenges, foster critical thinking, and promote intellectual freedom and open-mindedness among students. The study demonstrates GenAI's potential to promote inclusive education by providing tailored learning experiences that accommodate diverse cultural backgrounds and learning needs.

This qualitative study aimed to uncover the challenges Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students face and their coping strategies amidst the transition to online education. Employing a phenomenological approach, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve EFL MA students at an Iranian university. Data analysis followed Moustakas' (1994) phenomenological data analysis procedure. This study's findings revealed a multitude of challenges experienced by the students, categorized into individual, teaching-led, and contextual challenges. In response to these challenges, students employed adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies. The study's findings offer valuable insights for educational authorities and teachers, encouraging them to empathize with students' perspectives and understand their unique challenges and circumstances. By recognizing and addressing these challenges, universities can foster a humanizing culture that supports students during difficult times.

Drawing on qualitative research, this study explores the Iranian EFL teachers' technological needs and their suggestions for using computer-assisted language learning (CALL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed the narratives produced by 66 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers for their themes through deductive and inductive thematic analysis phases using MAXQDA. The findings indicate that CALL teacher preparation programs should prioritize technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), then technological content knowledge (TCK), and finally technological knowledge (TK). Moreover, teachers stated that CALL teacher preparation programs should develop their knowledge concerning the intersections of TCK/TPK and TPK/TK. Furthermore, Iranian EFL teachers suggested that CALL can be used during the pandemic if cooperation among teachers, students, and parents will be made, technological-related infrastructures will be developed, and teacher preparation programs will develop EFL teachers' collaboration, digital literacy, teacher autonomy, and TPK with special attention to the educational needs made by the pandemic situation. The findings have implications for teacher educators, professional development course designers and providers, and decision-makers by highlighting promising directions to devote their precious time and resources.

Since 2001, Teaching English with Technology (TEwT) has published hundreds of research articles to improve the quality of applying technology in language education and research. This collection of articles has covered many aspects of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL); however, due to the importance of CALL teacher education and professional development, a research synthesis of the two decades of TEwT's articles holds the potential to screen the field at large over that time period. By examining the published articles on CALL teacher education and professional development, data analysis revealed that most of them focused on 'teachers' perceptions, attitudes, and experiences,' 'CALL practicum,' 'teachers' knowledge, literacies, and skills' and 'CALL affordances and hindrances'. This study might help as an extant inventory of CALL research interests over the first 20 years of the Journal's existence.

Due to the massive integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in higher education, teachers need to be highly digital competent and have positive attitudes to manage their classes effectively. In this regard, the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) introduces a paradigm known as 21st-century competence that all teachers should acquire. Recently, scholars have explored the dimension of teachers' digital competence in the 21st century relating to a digital context. Thus, this explanatory study wants to take a step forward to add to the literature the role of university teachers' 21st-century digital competence in their attitudes toward ICT integration. To meet the end, a questionnaire was designed and administered to 350 Iranian university teachers who implemented ICTs in their classes. The result of partial least squares analysis (PLS-SEM) reveals the significant relationship between university teachers' information and data literacy, digital content creation, communication and collaboration, and problem-solving skills with three antecedents of behavioral intention and actual behavior for employing ICTs. Related pedagogical implications are addressed, such as running some teacher training programs for teachers to escalate their 21st-century digital competencies and making teachers aware of the role of these factors in managing their classes with ICTs.

This qualitative case study aimed at investigating the extent to which EFL teachers' reflective practices can be developed based on a six-week virtual exchange program (VEP) through reflective journals. Also, the potential contribution of this virtual exchange program to teachers' professional development and possible affordances to reflective practices were investigated through semi-structured interviews. Data obtained from reflective journals were analyzed based on the reflection scale. Moreover, content analysis was employed to analyze the interview data. The findings revealed that virtual exchange programs developed teachers' reflective practices. In particular, VEP was seen to open up opportunities for teachers to develop new professional partnerships, collaborative academic initiatives, and collaboration skills, also to introduce more innovative approaches in their current teaching practice.

The purpose of the present cross-cultural study was to explore the relationships of second and foreign language teachers' and students' attitudes towards Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in terms of their gender, age group, and educational level in two countries, Spain and Iran. The study was based on a sample of 318 language teachers and 307 language students in Iran and Spain. Data collection was carried out through two online questionnaires (108 items) for both teachers and students. To make a sound decision, the researchers decided to utilize the Delphi methodology, which was originally established in order to diagnose the beneficiary of technologies. In the data analysis phase, descriptive, t test and one-way ANOVA analyses were performed to find the answers of the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that there is no difference between the attitudes of Iranian and Spanish towards CALL in terms of gender, age and educational matter. Finally, pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research are presented.

The current study aims to investigate Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles and their explanations of conceptual metaphors, offering a possible range of individual differences in metaphor processing. 71 participants were asked to explain some established conceptual metaphors that are commonly used in English. Then, their cognitive styles were classified into "analytic" or "holistic" and "imager" or "verbalizer" by means of cognitive styles test. Data analysis revealed that 29 participants (40.85%) explained the three conceptual metaphors by making structural correspondences between source and target domain. Moreover, 20 participants (28.17%) explained at least one of the metaphors by applying elements which were not part of the source domain. The results of the experiment revealed that learners with "holistic" cognitive styles were more likely to blend their conception of the target domain with the source domain in comparison to participants with "analytic" styles; also, "imagers" were more likely than "verbalizers" to refer to stereotypical images to explain the metaphors.

This quantitative study focuses on online metacognitive reading strategies used by 39 Iranian postgraduate students with internal and external locus of control. The students were selected through locus of control questionnaire and it is followed by OSORS questionnaire to measure online metacognitive strategies used by students. The results of study revealed that online metacognitive reading strategies used mostly by internal locus of control students rather than external locus of control students. There were clear interrelationships among types of metacognitive reading strategies used and internal locus of control characteristics. Among three subcategories of metacognitive strategies, students with internal locus of control are more interested to use global strategies, whereas students with external locus of control tend less to use this strategy. Also, there was no significant difference in using problem-solving and supportive strategies used by the students.

The purpose of this study was to compare the attitude of Iranian and non-Iranian English language students' attitudes towards Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Furthermore, the relations of gender, education level, and age to their attitude are investigated. A convergent mixed methods design was used for analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data. In the data collection procedure, an online 44-item web-based questionnaire was applied in order to collect data from 415 students. In the data analysis phase, both descriptive and non-parametric analyses were performed. The findings of the study revealed that there is no difference between the attitudes of Iranian and non-Iranian towards CALL. Finally, pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research are presented.