Abstract-Writing strategies instruction have become one of the most talked-about topics in the field of language teaching and learning when scholars found that SL/FL writing is believed to be a problem for learners. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies, as two writing strategies, have been widely researched over the past few decades. Among the substantial body of research investigating the effect of cognitive and metacognitive writing strategies, little attention has been given to the effect of cognitive and metacognitive strategies on content of the learners' writing. This experimental investigation is conducted to explore how the cognitive and metacognitive writing strategies can affect the content of the Iranian intermediate learners' writing. For this purpose, 75 intermediate learners were recruited to participate in this study. They were randomly assigned to three groups to form two experimental groups and one control group. Each of the cognitive and metacognitive groups was instructed by one of the cognitive and metacognitive strategies. The findings provide evidence that the intervention favor the experimental groups' learners to create a better content for their writing. The results of this study also indicate that there was significant relationship between cognitive and metacognitive groups. In other words, the metacognitive group outperformed the cognitive one in content of the writing. The implication of this study is to indicate which of the cognitive and metacognitive strategies are most likely to be instructed to students.

PurposeCOVID-19’s attack on the system of education left the learning of many students in limbo. For minimizing this effect, the current study sought to probe how Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) can facilitate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ vocabulary knowledge. In so doing, a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design was adopted to check the effect of a newly developed application (i.e. visual vocabulary learning, hereafter VVL) in an EFL classroom.Design/methodology/approachTo complying with the objective, a number of intermediate students (N = 40) were considered to participate in the study. They were assigned into a visual learning group (VLG) and a nonvisual learning group (NVLG) comprising 20 students in each. The VLG was directed to learn vocabulary by a VVL, and the NVG, a conventional method was employed for vocabulary instruction. An independent samples t-test was run to screen the efficacy of the intervention.FindingsThe finding revealed that participants in the VLG outperformed significantly in the posttest. The finding is beneficial for EFL teachers, syllabus designers, and material developers to take advantage of mobile applications in teaching vocabulary.Originality/valueThis study was conducted during COVID 19 between two groups in Iran.

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