Studies examining culture representation in language textbooks have rarely adopted the semiotic approach, despite its potential for presenting and (re)creating cultural meanings at their various levels (i.e. cultural, intercultural, multicultural, and transcultural) in the co-instantiations of texts, tasks, and images. To address this issue, a…

Considering the theoretical shift caused by the anti-grammar movement of 1980 (Celce-Murcia, 1991) and the increase in the number of learners of Persian as a second language, this study investigated the realization of the consciousness-raising approach of grammar teaching in the intermediate level Persian Language Teaching course books in Iran. In…

With the advent of new English textbooks, course book evaluation has become an indispensable ingredient in all English Language Teaching (ELT) contexts. Thus, the present study aimed to contribute to this area in the Iranian context by evaluating newly published junior high school (13 to 15 years old) course books (the Prospect series) and…

This study aimed at investigating children and young adult EFL learners of Iran Language Institute(ILI) and their course books in the light of Multiple Intelligence (MI) Theory. To achieve this aim, 240 EFL learners participated in this study. First, the students' intelligence profiles were identified by adapting and using Lazear's (1994)…

As there is no well-established benchmark in terms of the representation of culture in English Language textbooks, culture representation has often been treated as a matter of opinion. To address this gap, having classified the textbooks in an EFL context into three types, namely local, localised, and international, the researchers drew on the…

Research suggests that English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) contexts have difficulties understanding the passages in technical English textbooks of various fields of study including computer software engineering. Few experimental studies to date have investigated the effect of an online hybrid reading…

Teachers need evidence-based data to select, adapt, adopt, and effectively use textbooks. The present survey compared Iranian university English-as-a-Foreign-language (EFL) teachers' and learners' views on locally-produced textbooks and adopted ones. 119 undergraduate university EFL learners and 36 EFL university teachers were selected through…

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…

Cultural content analysis of EFL textbooks has received considerable attention in ELT pedagogy in recent decades. The current study investigated the representation of big "C" and small "c" cultural themes in three common EFL textbooks: "Top Notch," "Summit" and "Passages." The frequency analysis…

Studies on the salient role of neoliberalism in education have increased rapidly in recent years. These studies highlighted the presence of neoliberalism in language teaching materials in different contexts. However, research exploring the reality of neoliberal mentality in young learners' (YL) English language teaching (ELT) materials are sparse.…

Although narratives have been widely used and investigated in the second/foreign language literature, studying narratives in authentic classroom contexts and their functions has received comparatively little attention. To fill this gap, the present study examines the narratives produced naturally by teachers within English-as-a-foreign-language…

In recent years, learner-centered teaching has emphasized the demand for making healthy environment where learners' preferences, interests, personal experiences, cultural backgrounds and lifestyles are taken into account when making decisions about various characteristics of language learning/teaching The choice of topics, which are used in EFL…

This study aimed to probe whether using the backward summary technique led to reading comprehension enhancement among non-English major university students at the Islamic Azad University of Babol, located in Babol city, in the North of Iran. 120 B.S. level nursing and microbiology students were randomly selected from a population of non-English…

In the field of TESOL, teacher guides are widely used resources providing instructional support and guidance to English language teachers. Drawing upon Vygotskian sociocultural theory, this research explored how novice language teachers perceive the mediational roles of these artifacts in shaping their teaching practices and the affordances and…

Metaphor analysis has been used as a cognitive tool to raise awareness about assumptions and beliefs held by teachers and learners about the process of learning and teaching. Motivated by such an ambition, this study conducted with a quantitative and descriptive design examined the metaphors produced by Iranian high school students in an EFL…