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The question put forward in this study was to pinpoint the impact of the authentic versus non-authentic listening materials on the listening comprehension of Iranian EFL subjects. After random selection, 80 upper-intermediate students from among all language institutes in Khoramshahr and Abadan cities, in Khuzestan province, Iran, took part in this study. The participants participated in two experimental treatment groups. During one semester, they were instructed in listening to authentic radio-tapes and non-authentic listening materials taken from the assorted sources. The results revealed that the participants who were instructed on the basis of authentic radio-tapes had gained a higher degree of listening comprehension and proficiency than non-authentic groups. Given the results of this experiment, the tentative extrapolations could be that some of the assumptions about the futility of teaching authentic listening materials should be rigorously re-examined. That is, the use of aural authentic listening materials in EFL classrooms improves learners' listening comprehension, and has positive effects on EFL learners.

Guided by the research on the self-efficacy beliefs on the one hand and the works done on instructional materials evaluation and selection on the other, this study followed a twofold purpose: first, examining teachers' reactions towards prescribed textbooks and second, investigating relationships between such reactions and teachers' sense of selfefficacy. Accordingly, 312 Iranian in-service high school English language teachers (N=312) were asked to respond to two scales: Self-Efficacy to Influence Instructional Textbooks (SEIIT) scale devised by the researchers according to the principles of Social Cognitive Theory and the 12-item Teacher's Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001). The data analysis revealed acceptable psychometric properties of the newly developed scale and a degree of correlation between self-efficacy in teaching and in dealing with prescribed textbooks. The findings also provided a number of practical and theoretical implications.

This study examined the role of output-first presentation of vocabulary tasks in noticing lexical

The present study reports on an attempt to apply the principles of autonomous learning within the curriculum of an online course for teaching English to Iranian adult language learners. The contents of the course (i.e. general English) were delivered using work-cycles (Legenhausen, 2003) and were completed in the form of students’ projects. Each work-cycle started by setting personal learning goals in the planning and negotiation phase, deciding on the project in the decision-making phase, completing the actual project in the project phase, followed by an evaluation of the outcomes in the evaluation phase. Different phases of the cycle fitted autonomous learning framework, enabling the implementation of the principles of learner autonomy. Finally, after the actual implementation of the principles of learner autonomy through work-cycles, learners’ perceptions were assessed to estimate the efficiency of autonomous learning using work-cycles which revealed an overall positive pattern of beliefs. However, despite general success of work-cycles in implementing autonomous learning, a gap between learners’ autonomous beliefs and behaviors was observed which necessitates further preparation in the form of awareness-raising.