The advent of new technologies and rapid growth of online distance education have fostered interaction as well as collaboration among learners and created a true learning community. Moreover, forming synchronous and asynchronous learning networks utilizing the Internet have been simplified by new technologies. Since the importance of technology is undeniable, teachers and instructors must use it to create new opportunities and experiences for educators. The present study investigates the use of audio podcast plus still pictures and audio podcasts plus animated pictures on learners' vocabulary gain and retention in a process-oriented approach. The results indicate that the participants who received audio plus animated pictures had higher levels of vocabulary gain as well as retention. The present study showed that podcasting is an influential tool to course resources and increases the contact between students and teachers.

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The present study investigates the effect of attitude on the choice of compensation and meta-cognitive strategies of Iranian EFL university students majoring in Teaching English and English Translation. 108 intermediate students from Qazvin and Takestan State and Islamic Azad Universities participated in this study. Data were gathered by means of questionnaires and were analyzed using ANOVA procedures. Results indicated that the level of attitude had a statistically significant effect on the choice of students' compensation strategies (F = 19.407, p < .01); however the effect of attitude on the choice of students' meta-cognitive strategies was not significant (F = .772, p > .05).

Abstract-The present study was conducted in order to identify the relationship among autonomy, critical thinking ability, and lexical knowledge of Iranian EFL learners. 114 male and female learners learning English as a foreign language participated in the present study. The obtained data was analyzed by using Pearson correlation coefficient and One-Way ANOVA. The results of the present study indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between autonomy and lexical knowledge of learners. Moreover, the results of One-Way ANOVA revealed that learners with high critical thinking ability level were the most autonomous learners. Furthermore, learners with high critical thinking ability had high lexical knowledge.

Visual and pictorial materials are extensively used in teaching listening comprehension textbooks. Although the use of still image is currently implemented in some distinguished testing systems, video test is not a popular modality due to the fact that this kind of test may result in test-takers' confusion during the test. In the present study, a sample of 80 Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students was selected to compare their performance on three different modalities of listening test: audio-only test, pictorial (listening with still image test), and visual (video) listening test. The analysis of one-way repeated measure ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was used to compare the students' scores.