The purpose of this study was to evaluate ESP textbook on "English for the students of computer engineering" taught at Payame Noor University in Astane (Guilan province, Iran). It was a mixed method research. The research instrument consisted of a researcher-made questionnaire which was designed on the basis of eight checklist references. Sample of this study consisted of 49 junior students majoring in computer engineering, who were selected through convenience sampling method. The textbook was evaluated in terms of six criteria of aims and approaches, design and organization, skills and strategies, topics, practical considerations and illustrations, language content and exercises. Data was collected through a five-point Likert scale questionnaire consisting of 22 items. Descriptive statistics including percentage, mean, and standard deviation were calculated for each item. Findings indicated that despite having pedagogical values, the textbook was not very good according to design and organization, language content and exercises, skills and strategies, practical considerations and illustrations. Finally, the pedagogical implication of findings for teaching grammatical items, listening materials, recycling and revision, writing activities and illustrations would be discussed.

Thisstudy investigatedthe effectofmotivational factors on English achievementinanintensiveEnglish course.Theparticipantsconsisted of 164Iranian male militarystaff,agedfrom20to 30.Theparticipants filledatranslatedand adapted version of themini-Attitude Motivation Test Battery (α=.70). Factor analysis of thequestionnaireyielded four principalvariables namely,motivation, integrativeness, organizational influence,a nd anxiety. Descriptive statistics indicatedt hatt he militarystaff were highly motivatedinlearningEnglish andhad lowEnglish learningAnxiety.Italsosuggested that themilitaryorganization wasnot so much supportive in learners'studying English.Furthermore,pathanalysisindicatedthatintegrativeness predictedthe motivation to learnEnglish positively, andthatmotivation wasapositivepredictor of English achievement, whereasorganizational influence wasanegativepredictor of English achievement. Thisstudy confirmedthatmotivation is the single most influential factor of language learningachievement,all other thingsbeing equal. The wider concludingargumentofthispaper is that motivation andits constructs arecontext dependentand therefore, anylanguagelearningcontext hasits ownuniquemotivational model. Finally, basedonthe contextoflanguagelearningapathanalyticmodel of L2 motivation wasproposed.

The present study investigated EFL teachers' familiarity with Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory and any possible difference between teachers with different years of teaching experience in terms of the activities implemented in their classes. To this end, 30 male and female EFL teachers took part in the study. The participants' language classes were observed for three successive sessions and their class activities were jotted down through an observation schedule. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to gather information about the teachers' familiarity with multiple intelligences. Based on the results of Kruskal Wallis test, a significant difference was found simply among teachers with different years of teaching experience in terms of their implementation of logical/mathematical activities (p ≤ .05). No statistically significant difference was found for other types of activities. Furthermore, the majority of the participants of the study (73.3%) stated that they had no knowledge of the MI theory. In addition, the Chi-square test showed that the instructors were statistically different from each other in terms of their familiarity with Gardner's MI theory. This study can be considered as another step toward understanding what is necessary to put the MI theory into effect.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of instruction through debate on the male and female EFL learners’ reading comprehension, and to examine the difference between male and female EFL learners’ perception towards instructing critical thinking (CT) through debate. 88 learners, out of 120, were selected through convenience sampling method. Using a quantitative research method with experimental pre-and post-tests design, this study consisted of 44 participants in the experimental group and 44 participants in the control group. The experimental group received some treatment in the form of “the Meeting-House Debate” strategy, while the control group received no such treatment. After one month and a half treatment of experimental group, both groups participated in the post-test. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics procedures. Findings showed that the debate strategy had statistically significant effect on the students’ reading comprehension. Also, results revealed that there was no significant difference between male and female EFL learners’ perception towards instructing CT through debate. It was concluded that instructing CT skills through debate strategy resulted in better understanding of reading texts.

This study investigates the difference between the performance of Iranian male and female EFL learners on the five dimensions of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test. Eighty-eight learners, out of 120, selected through a convenience sampling method, participated in this study. The researcher used a quantitative research method with one-group pretest posttest design. This group received "the Meeting-House Debate" strategy. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed no significant difference between males and females on the sub-scales measured; i.e. evaluation, analysis, inference, deductive reasoning, and inductive reasoning. It was concluded that gender did not have a significant effect on the students' critical thinking skills.Résumé: Le but de cette étude était d'employer les cinq dimensions de l'épreuve California Critical Thinking Skills pour étudier la différence entre la performance des apprenants mâles et femelles iraniens de l'anglais comme langue étrangère. 88 des 120 apprenants sélectionnés par la méthode d'échantillonnage de commodité ont participé à cette étude. La méthode de recherche quantitative utilisée consistait d'une conception posttest prétest d'un seul groupe. Ce groupe a reçu un enseignement sous la forme de débats structurés. L'analyse des données a été effectuée à l'aide de statistiques descriptives et déductives. Les résul-tats ont montré qu'il n'y avait aucune différence significative dans la performance des mâles et des femelles selon les sous-échelles de mesure; à savoir l'évaluation, l'analyse, l'infé-rence, le raisonnement déductif, et le raisonnement inductif. On a conclu que le sexe n'a pas eu d'effet significatif sur la pensée critique des élèves.