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Thanks to the significant achievements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Translation (MT), in general, and Google Translate (GT), in particular, have been extensively used in all facets of life, including language learning. However, faced with a plethora of research evidence on GT’s educational contributions, erroneous translations create disparity regarding its use in language learning. To address this lacuna, the present study systematically reviewed 10 databases, namely, Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC, ScienceDirect, Taylor & Francis Online, Wiley Online Library, SAGE Journals, Springer Link, Springer Open, and DOAJ. Additionally, it hand searched the reference lists of 44 studies selected to be included in the synthesis from database search along with references cited in three previous systematic reviews on similar topics to capture a comprehensive view of the literature related to the use of GT in language learning between 2010-2021. It reviewed 50 studies witnessing a rise in the number of studies in this area. Studies reported that although significant improvements in the quality of GT led to pedagogical gains and more tendency to implement it in language learning, instructors still distrust it. Accordingly, this research provides pedagogical implications and suggests avenues for future research on the use of GT in language learning.     

The present study scrutinized the probable significant correlation between Iranian language learners’ emotional intelligence (EQ) and reading proficiency. Moreover, the significant predicting role of the participants’ EQ for their reading comprehension proficiency was investigated. To this end, 196 Iranian B.A. English language teaching students at Islamic Azad university of Neyshabur attended the study. They formed unequal proportion of gender. The study followed a quantitative descriptive design, in which the significant correlation between the variables and the significant predicting role of EQ were investigated. As the normality of data was proved through Kolmogrow-smirnow test, the parametric statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, independent sample T-test, and linear regression analyses were employed. The data collection instruments were an ETS TOEFL reading comprehension test and Bar On’s (1997) inventory of emotional quotient. The findings demonstrated significant positive correlation coefficients between the participants’ reading proficiency and overall EQ as well as most of its subcategories. Three highest positive significant correlation coefficients were seen among the participants’ reading proficiency level, happiness, problem-solving, and emotional self-awareness successively. The results of linear regression analysis also reflected that EQ significantly predicted the participants’ reading proficiency. No significant differences were found between the genders concerning EQ. The findings laid emphasis on the influential importance of psychological non-linguistic factors in improving linguistic competence of language learners. Language teachers should be acutely conscious of the highly influential role of psychological paradigms in boosting language learning process of language learners.

It is assumed that web-based dynamic assessment will continue to thrive and have a profound role in pedagogy. In this regard, explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was selected to consider the effect of web-based dynamic assessment on learners' autonomy. To this end, a sample of 60 male EFL learners at high school were chosen at non-random and categorized into two groups of web-based dynamic assessment and the control group based on the convenience sampling method. the learners’ autonomy questionnaire was used as a data gathering tool for pretest and posttest in autonomy. The high school students exposed to web-based DA via a designed web based on the level and requirements of the students in grammar, however, the learners in the control group learned the grammar by the traditional or conventional method of instruction. Based on the results of Mann-Whitney U test, the learners’ autonomy means scores in web-based DA increased in comparison to those of the control group. The platform and methods employed in this study produce results that are encouraging for the field of language instruction and could produce motivational outcomes in the future. The pedagogical implications of the study

Predicting students’ performance in a course is one of the major aims of educational data mining systems. In the present study, two and three-layer artificial neural networks (ANN) and neuro-fuzzy systems (NFS) were used to predict Iranian EFL learners’ final scores and compare them with scores given by their instructor. Sixty-six students’ scores in an English reading comprehension course comprising of five sub-scores of midterm (out of 40), quiz (out of 60), final (out of 50), class participation (out of 5) and bonus (out of 2) were used for training the systems. Two and three-layer ANNs and an NFS were trained to predict students’ final scores using training data. Researchers compared the students’ final scores given by their instructor and those achieved through the ANNs and NFS. The results showed that the NFS could predict and deliver scores that were closer to the linear sum of students’ scores. Moreover, three-layer ANN had a better performance than the two-layer ANN. According to these results, data mining techniques could deliver an accurate estimate of students' abilities in a particular course.

To date, with the everyday growth of technology and the increase of online classes, busy modern teachers seek to lighten their burdens and boost their learners’ autonomy. Thus, this multi-method action research aimed to probe the differences between receiving computer-generated and direct corrective feedback (CF) on the syntactic accuracy and complexity of female adolescent Iranian EFL learners’ writing. Two intact classes took part in the study; one group (Group C) received CF from an AWE (Automated Writing Evaluation) tool, called Ginger software, and the other group (Group T) received CF from their teacher. Subject-verb agreement and verb form errors were considered to measure the syntactic accuracy while the average sentence length and verb form variation were regarded as the syntactic complexity. Moreover, via a questionnaire, the students’ perceptions of the kind of CF they had received were taken into account to see which one was more effective. Findings obtained from MANOVA revealed that both groups made significant improvements regarding syntactic accuracy. Group C produced more complex outputs after being exposed to the treatment while Group T didn’t make such progress. The results obtained from the questionnaire also indicated that both groups found the CF satisfactory. However, Group C held more positive attitudes. Not only was the Ginger application effective in decreasing the number of students’ writing errors but also it motivated them to be better writers and write more. The study further points to the likely merits of technology-enhanced feedback in improving EFL learners' writing ability in general, and their written syntactic accuracy/complexity in particular.

The present study investigates the efficacy of preparation time in four speaking tasks of TOEFL iBT. As the current pre-task planning time offered by ETS is very short, 15 to 30 seconds, we intended to explore how the test-takers’ speaking quality would change if the preparation time was added to the response time, giving the respondents a relatively longer online planning opportunity. To this aim, two groups of TOEFL iBT candidates were studied under pre-task and online planning conditions. Totally, 384 elicited speaking samples were first transcribed and then measured in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). The results yielded by a series of One-way MANOVA revealed the online planning group significantly outperformed the pre-task planning group in terms of accuracy and fluency across all four speaking tasks. Although with less robustness, the online planners had significantly higher speech complexity represented by lexical diversity and left-embeddedness. The results obtained through this study may challenge the efficacy of the currently provided preparation time in TOEFL iBT speaking subsection.

This study explores how professional and student writers manifest their authorial identities and project their gender voices in their academic texts. To this end, 38 male-authored and 38 female-authored articles published in seven leading international journals were selected. Moreover, 38 articles written by male students and 38 articles authored by female students were collected from two universities in Iran. Taking an academic writing course, these students handed in their papers as term projects. These academic writings were analyzed based on Hyland’s metadiscourse framework comprising two major resources: interactional and interactive metadiscourse resources. The findings indicated the male authors mainly attended to discourse organization using more interactive resources while the female authors mostly solicited solidarity by employing more interactional resources. The professional authors engaged in a more critical stance using self-mentions and attitude markers and the students focused on discourse organization. Attitude markers and self-mentions, as markers of stance-taking, were absent in the students’ writing. The professional authors made use of their gender identity to promote their authorial identity instead of suppressing it. These results suggest that EAP programs should inform students how to employ both metadiscourse resources and their gender-based discourse choices to express their authorial identity more effectively.

The book Practical Language Testing, authored by Glenn Fulcher (2010), is an epitome of comprehensive and detailed documentation on the relevance of the appropriate techniques, knowledge, and conceptual frameworks required to interpret and develop language assessments. It is also a systematic, helpful reference for researchers and educators that address assessment selection and design concerns, offering instructors guidance on picking the proper test for a particular educational setting and assisting in interpreting the scores generated by such tests. The book lays the groundwork for instructors to establish a thoughtful awareness of test scenarios to furnish the most efficient language assessment for their learners. The book's language is highly lucid and user-friendly to both experts and novices. The book finds an appropriate amalgamation between practical applications and theoretical underpinnings to empower practitioners in comprehending the objectives of effective assessment and its function in facilitating good learning and teaching. On account of the fact that the referenced book has the potential to make a substantial contribution and have significant implications for teachers, test designers, and other stakeholders, the current article attempts to provide a review of the book and emphasize the critical concepts in each chapter.