The purpose of this study was to compare the functioning of five restrictive CDMs, including DINA, DINO, A-CDM, LLM, and RRUM, against the G-DINA model to identify the best-fitting CDM which can better explain the interaction underlying the attributes of the reading comprehension section of an Iranian high-stakes language proficiency test. To this…

Using Kane's interpretive argument model and Messick's validity argument approach, this study rigorously examined faculty and PhD candidate's perspectives on PhD admission interviews in Iranian universities. We interviewed 10 professors and PhD interviewees which provided comprehensive insight into nuanced perspectives. We conducted rigorous…

Muslims may not experience integration or assimilation in European countries, as they have certain values regarding hijab, eating restrictions, and lifestyle. They may therefore face more challenges than other migrants. With the insight that religiosity may have an impact on migrants' national and/or ethnic identities, we look at the role of…

One of the significant drawbacks of the English Language Teaching (ELT) Ph.D. programme in the Iranian ELT setting is the insufficiency of the research courses offered in the current curriculum, which do not adequately address the Ph.D. candidates needs, and this issue was not tackled in the field. Therefore, adopting a qualitative approach, this…

The findings of previous research into the compatibility of stakeholders' perceptions with statistical estimations of item difficulty are not seemingly consistent. Furthermore, most research shows that teachers' estimation of item difficulty is not reliable since they tend to overestimate the difficulty of easy items and underestimate the…

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…

The present study was an attempt to explore international English-medium publication in humanities and social sciences in Iran. In so doing, 50 PhD students from 8 humanities and social sciences disciplines, who had already published or attempted to publish in English-medium journals, were requested to write reflection guide accounts and to take…

To investigate the congruence between the requisite postgraduate academic language skills and the language skills measured by the General English section of the Iranian National PhD Entrance exam, field specialist informants, language-specialist informants and post-graduate students were questioned. The informants' data were collected through…