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This paper reports the performance of 38 non-native senior university students of English on two achievement tests: a traditional content-based multiple choice item test (MCIT) and a schema-based cloze MCIT measuring course objectives. The former was developed on the whole content of a teaching methodology textbook sampled in a stratified manner and taught during an academic semester. The latter was constructed on some randomly selected passages of another teaching methodology textbook suggested for outside reading. The results indicated that schema-based cloze MCITs measuring objective-based achievement correlate significantly with traditional content-based MCITs and thus have empirical validity. They also enjoy superior construct validity in terms of their construction theory and measuring objectives rather than specific content. In contrast to the traditional content-based MCITs, schema-based cloze MCITs measuring course objectives, however, have lower reliability because they are developed on unseen passages and are heterogeneous in nature.

The interest for values and education is by no means a new concept. It is easy to see the concept being discussed throughout the Western world, but also in Asia and Latin America. Various terms are being used, each with its own tradition and theoretical position, for instance, in English literature: ‘values education’, ‘character education’, ‘moral education’, ‘personal and social education’, ‘citizenship education’, ‘civic education’, ‘religious education’, ‘moralogy’, and ‘democratic education’. In scientific publications, the term ‘moral education’ is often employed. This study aims at exploring how the literary texts are used to enhance the moral perspective of the junior university students in language learning classes.

The major aim of this study was to determine the impacts of emotional and verbal intelligences on English language learning success in Iran. To this end, three classes were selected—emotional, verbal, and control groups. To fully understand the nature of the learning, both the product and the process data were calculated and analyzed. The results of the product-based phase demonstrated that the emotional intelligence is effective in learning different skills, specifically productive ones. In the process-based phase, the analyses of oral and written modes of language exhibited the effects of emotional and verbal intelligences on turn-taking, amount of communication, the number of errors, and writing ability. Finally, the results were discussed in the context of the importance of the emotional intelligence in second language learning, and some implications were proposed for teachers and materials developers.

Among factors affecting test performance, test anxiety has been the focus of attentions for decades. However, the skills have always been considered in isolation. This study intends to investigate the effect of test anxiety in relation with two major skills—listening and speaking—associated with test anxiety, as well as the amount of anxiety before and after the listening test. Three intact groups (74 freshmen students of English) participated in the study: Group 1 took the Anxiety scale (Fujii, 1993) before their final exam which was conducted in the form of oral interview; Group 2 took the questionnaire before the final exam which was in the form of a listening comprehension (LC) test; and the third group did so after the LC test was over. The results indicated that anxiety is a more serious factor in taking oral tests than in the LC type tests. However, no significant difference was found between test anxiety before and after the LC test. Results are discussed in relation to the previous literature, and general implications are given in relation with teaching and testing the relevant skills.

The aim of this study was to describe and examine Iranian's undergraduate students' integrative and instrumental motivation toward learning English as a foreign language. In the study, 79 non-English major students from Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) were selected to complete a questionnaire reflecting their motivation for learning English. In order to determine the students’ tendency towards the two kinds of motivation a modified 25-item survey adapted from Gardner’s (1985) and Clement et al.’s (1994) was administered to undergraduate students in Birjand University of Iran. The results have shown that Iranian students had very high motivation and positive attitudes towards learning English and hat they were more instrumentally motivated. Finally, based on the findings, some suggestions and recommendations for teachers have been highlighted.

The purpose of the present correlational research is investigating the relationship between dimensions of Reflectivity/Impulsivity as cognitive styles and language proficiency in the Iranian learners who are studying English as a foreign language. The participants of the study consisted of 120 undergraduate students studying EFL at Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas who were randomly selected. Two instruments were used to gather the needed data: 1) A 12-item Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) developed by Kagan in 1964 for the purpose of distinguishing the bipolar trait of Reflectivity/Impulsivity; and 2) Farhady's Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) for the purpose of measuring the degree of the participants' language proficiency. The data collected were analyzed through a combination of descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that although there is no significant relationship between the dimensions of reflectivity and language proficiency, a slight negative correlation is found between the dimensions of impulsivity and language proficiency but it is not sound significant. In addition, the findings show no meaningful and significant relationship between dimensions of Reflectivity/Impulsivity and student's general achievements as measured by Grade Pont Averages (GPAs). But the results show that the relationship between language proficiency and general achievements is meaningful and significant.

Development of English language teaching materials for the school students’ requirements has been the concern of the Ministry of Education in Iran for many years. The current English language teaching materials have undergone a lot of revision since their inception in 1985. They still need to be revised in the light of the present-day concerns, needs of language learners and the language learning society. This being followed, a needs analysis was carried out and the results were analyzed and discussed. Furthermore, a brief subjective analysis was provided in order to compensate for the areas that were not sheltered by the data. The results of this study suggest that learner syllabus, as a network of knowledge that develops in learner’s brain, must be of crucial consideration in materials design for Iranian school students.