Top-down and bottom-up reading processes have attracted attention from researchers in ESL/EFL teaching/learning. However, the role of these processes and their combination in L2 vocabulary learning and retention still needs further research. Given this, this study sought to consider their role in L2 vocabulary learning and retention by Iranian EFL…

The present study scrutinized Iranian EFL learners' mode of learning (distance vs. conventional) as a probable source of bias in employing cognitive and metacognitive reading comprehension strategies. To this end, a total of 514 Iranian distance and conventional EFL learners were asked to take a 30-item multiple-choice reading comprehension test…

Emergentist, usage-based L2 research has witnessed that emphasizing formulaic sequences as entry points in meaning-based instructional contexts contributes to the development of linguistic comprehension and production. Related studies have thus far striven to find the most effective methods of highlighting these word strings. This study explored…

The present study investigated the effects of text-based and audio-based dynamic glosses on L2 vocabulary learning within a sociocultural approach. Dynamic glosses were operationalised as a set of incrementally ordered prompts, provided during text-based and audio-based interactions that guided the participants to identify the meaning of unknown…

This study was an attempt to investigate Iranian EFL learners' private speech across proficiency levels and gender while doing reading comprehension tasks. Moreover, it was an attempt to examine the different forms of private speech produced by Iranian English learners. Six forms of private speech were coded and analyzed: affective markers,…

Despite empirical evidence from research showing that the use of text-picture combination is beneficial for second language (L2) learning, little is known about the effectiveness of reading comic books for incidental vocabulary acquisition. This study investigated the effects of engaging with comic books on incidental learning of L2 Italian…

Reading is an essential skill for second and foreign language learners. It is the heart of all formal learning. Students 'success or failure in reading at early grades resonates throughout the rest of their lives. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between reading anxiety and reading strategy use of Iranian elementary…

Ensuring second language (L2) learners have an adequate breadth and depth of L2 vocabulary knowledge is a key pedagogical objective in L2 learning contexts. For this reason, establishing guiding principles that successfully enhance the efficacy of L2 vocabulary knowledge development is of strong importance. The current study investigated the value…

The present study examined two input modification techniques, namely lexical elaboration (LE) and typographical enhancement (TE), and the combination of these two (LE & TE) to seek the difference among them as far as incidental vocabulary learning through reading is concerned. Ninety six Iranian EFL students whose reading proficiency was at…

This study set out to inspect Laufer and Hulstijn's (2001) motivational-cognitive construct of task-induced involvement. Involvement load hypothesis predicts that tasks with the same involvement loads lead to the same amount of learning. To this end, three output task types which induce equal involvement indices of 3 were employed to examine the…

This research investigated the relationship between reading maturity, reading strategy use, and gender with Iranian EFL undergraduates' reading comprehension. The results revealed that the most preferred strategies were cognitive in nature. Moreover, the Iranian EFL undergraduates were intellectually enriched by most of what they read and enjoy…

Readers are expected to construct balanced mental representations of socioscientific issues discussed across controversial documents. However, readers tend to be biased toward documents that present belief-consistent perspectives and tend to refute documents that argue against their stance (text-belief consistency effect). Published studies on…

The present study attempts to investigate Persian cultural conceptualizations (hereinafter CCs in the text) placed in the reading passages of the English textbooks published by one of the most prominent publishers in Iran. Employing the principles of critical literacy, together with the investigative framework of Cultural Linguistics, content…

This mix-method research attempts at extending our knowledge about the impact of L1 glossing (Persian) for abstract words on reading comprehension in English. It also examines learners' attitudes towards abstract glossed words while engaged in reading. Sixty students in Iranian language institutes were recruited to participate in the quantitative…

The current research study was conducted to examine the impacts of focused and unfocused audio-appended reading tasks on female EFL learners' acquisition of a rule-bound structure (passive voice) and a non-rule-bound structure (prepositions). The participants of this study involved ninety intermediate female English learners. They were assigned…