This study investigated the prepositional phrase attachment preferences of Persian speaking second language learnersof English in dealing with globally ambiguous sentences. Results are reported from 34 participants across twoproficiency levels who took part in an online reading task and an offline reading task. In both tasks, the preferenceswere examined in biased and neutral conditions; in the former the verb was semantically biased towards the DPinside the PP (e.g. Peter killed the man with a gun) and in the latter condition there was no bias (e.g. Peter met theman with a gun). The findings showed that in both online and offline reading tasks participants resolved theambiguity by attaching the ambiguous DP to the verb, being influenced by the semantic relationship between the two,but in the neutral condition, the preferences were almost equal for both interpretations. The proficiency level did notinfluence preferences except for a slight interaction effect in the offline reading task. The findings indicate that L2learners of different proficiency levels rely on semantics rather than syntax in processing globally ambiguoussentences. The findings of this study in the neutral condition, are in line with the unrestricted race model. However,this model and the constraint-based theories fail to provide a proper explanation for the biased and neutral conditionsrespectively. It is suggested that discrepancy between the assumptions of the constraint-based theories and theunrestricted race model seems to be due to ignoring the role of semantic relationship between phrases in sentencesused for elicitation of parsing preferences; a factor that needs to be taken into account in future studies.

The rise of English as an international language and English globalization has rekindled the debate over native vs.nonnative teachers’ identity in terms of their strengths and weaknesses in foreign language education. To contributeto the debate, this study explored EFL learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of native and nonnative teachers’ identity.Six nonnative teachers and their students (N=40) participated in collaborative talks to construct teacher identity inseparate discussion sessions. The conversations were transcribed to extract the main themes through content analysis.The findings showed that, from the students’ point of view, nonnative teachers enjoy bilingual advantage, have abetter understanding of learners’ culture, and are more capable in establishing rapport with learners. Regardingnative teachers, the students believed that they enjoy linguistic advantage and transfer L2 culture more competentlythan non-native teachers. The teachers had similar opinions about linguistic advantage, advanced/elementary levelinstruction, and art of teaching. However, they did not fully agree with nonnanative teachers’ bilingual advantage.The findings indicated that EFL learners and teachers prefer native and nonnative teachers in different respects andthat nativeness is not the sole determining factor in teacher identity.

There is a growing consensus that implementation of planning time exerts an effect on oral speech production of learners.Research has yet to find out what strategies are used by learners in oral speech production. To contribute to this ongoing debate, the present study examined activation of sociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and content knowledge strategies employed by learners in pre-task planning time to produce answers. Ten M.A. students and Ph.D. candidates majoring in TEFL gave their answers to oral request and refusal DCTs through think-aloud protocol. The results revealed that the pre-task planning time caused the participants to activate a high degree of sociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and content knowledge awareness. Therefore, implementation of planning time in speaking tests may help individuals to produce more fluent and socially appropriate utterances.Keywords: planning time, sociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, content knowledge stress-power relationship, distance, and real time pressure. According to Skehan and Foster (2001) task manipulation effects should be studied in areas of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. To put it bluntly, Skehan and Foster investigated effect of time planning on accuracy, fluency, and complexity of produced oral speech of learners and concluded that exerted planning time leads to a more fluent and complex speech. Accuracy factor did not represent a considerable change but again they admitted that more research is needed before coming to a conclusion. Correspondingly, Gilabert (2007) reported a similar finding and asserted that time planning is very beneficial for oral speech production.

This study investigated whether L2 learners of English process sentences semantically or syntactically when they areengaged in production rather than comprehension. Thirty-four Persian speaking second language learners of Englishacross two proficiency levels participated in a production task which involved completing sentences such as Andyshot the man with… with a determiner phrase (DP) of their own choice. In majority of cases, the participants acrossboth proficiency levels supplied DPs that were semantically related to the verb (i.e., semantic-based processing). Thefindings are argued to support the constraint-based theories and shallow structure hypothesis.

This article explored the background for task-based games and how they could best fit in educational contexts tomake use of their potential benefits for language teaching and learning purposes. First, the assumptions of task-basedlanguage teaching (TBLT) and game-based learning (GBL), as the two underlying theories of task-based games,were touched upon. It was suggested that pedagogical tasks could be used as a framework for designing educationalgames. The benefits and pitfalls of implementation of TBLT and GBL were also investigated. Moreover, it wasargued that supplementary educational games that are in line with the syllabus rather than games used as the mainmeans of instruction could result in more efficient teaching and learning. Finally, task-based games were posited as apowerful educational tool to utilize the merits and to compensate for the shortcomings of TBLT and GBL.