Raven Progressive Matrices (RPMs) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WSIC-R) are two common general intelligence measuring scales used in Iranian high schools. In this paper the relationships between g factor scales and students’ reading comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary was examined by correlation and regression analysis. Standard tests of grammar and vocabulary and Cambridge Key English Test (KET) were used to elicit the overall language proficiency of Iranian high school students. The results of the study revealed that verbal intelligence and vocabulary and non-verbal intelligence measured by RPMs not WSIC-R were determining factors in reading comprehension. Verbal intelligence was found to have an important role in vocabulary knowledge. Only grammar, in spite of a weak correlation with reading and a section of WSIC-R, didn’t show any remarkable correlation with intelligence or language knowledge measuring scales.

The present study investigated varieties of C-test as measures of General Language proficiency (GLP). C-test was first introduced into language testing as a modification of close procedure. The original C-test was developed by mutilating the second half of every other word, beginning from word two ID sentence two of [l passage. Through various studies, C-test proved an integrative and a highly reliable and valid measure of (GLP. The present study was also aimed at further confirming those findings by investigating not only the original C-test but other varietis of C-test. To this end ten C-test versions were developed, by applying different deletion techniques and deletion rates, and were administered among nearly 500 senior EFL students, in the way that each form was given to almost 50 subjects. All the subjects had already taken a TOEFL. and a close test prior to the administration of the C-tests. The results of data analyses showed that C:-test may measure different things one of which might be general language proficiency and as such, not all varieties of C-test measure this construct to the same extent.

Conversational implicature, which is a component of speaker meaning that constitutes an aspect of what is meant in a speaker’ s utterance without being part of what is said, is subsumed under interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) which has attracted considerable attention from pragmatics practitioners and theoreticians. Nonetheless, very few studies have explored the correlation between implicature knowledge and the proficiency level; therefore, the present study, conducted at Golestan University among Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and English Literature students, aimed to find out not only whether there would be any statistically significant relationship between 102 (35 males and 76 females) Iranian EFL learners’ proficiency level (High vs. Low) and their implicature knowledge as well as the subcategories of idiosyncratic and formulaic implicatures, but also whether there would exist any significant relationship between male and female EFL learners’ proficiency level (High vs. low) and their implicature knowledge. Moreover, this study investigated to what extent the (sub)categories of idiosyncratic and formulaic implicatures could be predicted by the proficiency level. The results of Pearson correlation indicated that there was a positive significant relationship between proficiency score and both formulaic implicatures and idiosyncratic implicatures. Moreover, among three sub-constructs of formulaic implicatures, Understand Criticism had the highest positive significant correlation and the Pope Q had the lowest correlation with proficiency. In addition, among four sub-constructs of idiosyncratic implicatures, Relevance Disclosure had the highest positive significant correlation and Relevance General had the lowest correlation with proficiency. However, the results of independent-samples t-test indicated that there is no significant difference in the implicature knowledge between male and female students. Results of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) revealed that both types of implicatures are predicted positively and significantly by proficiency level. Therefore, one of the implications of the present study for materials developers is to include idiosyncratic and formulaic implicatures in the textbooks to enhance the leaners’ implicature comprehension; teachers can also focus on the significance of interpreting the implied meaning rather than just focusing on linguistic features.

This study focused on the relationship between VIA (Values in Action) character strengths and the general second language (L2) proficiency of Iranian upper-intermediate EFLlearners. The researchers aimed to investigate the reletionship between six VIA virtues (courage, justice, humanity, temperance, wisdom, and transcendence) and learners' general L2 proficiency. The study involved 300 Iranian EFL learners enrolled in five language institutes in Isfahan, Iran. The participants' proficiency level was assessed using an Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). Language proficiency was evaluated through the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and a questionnaire was used to measure VIA characteristics. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation. The findings showed a significant positive relationship between various subcategories of VIA characteristics and general L2 proficiency. These subcategories included wisdom, creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, courage, perseverance, honesty, humanity, love, kindness, social intelligence, justice, fairness, leadership, temperance, forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation, transcendence, appreciation, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality, and L2 proficiency. These results have implications for educational practitioners, such as school counselors, instructors, educational policymakers, and researchers, as they highlight the importance of VIA character strengths in promoting language learning achievement.

This study reports on an investigation of reliability, different aspects of validity, and discrimination power of the C-Test as a measure of overall language ability. A C-Test developed by the researcher and a Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP) were administered concurrently to 144 university students. The reliability coefficients found for the C-Test were high. The C-Test also proved to have acceptable content relevance and fairly high criterion-related validity. Results of two factor analyses confirmed that the C-Test texts measure, to a large extent, the same underlying trait as the MTELP- significant evidence of construct validity for the C-Test. However, the C-Test texts did not prove to behave consistently with examinees of different proficiency levels. Also it came out that the C-Test could not consistently classify the subjects in their appropriate proficiency levels. This finding was further affirmed by an ANOVA whose results demonstrated that the C-Test had difficulty discriminating between participants of lower and upper intermediate levels.

This study was an effort towards examining the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ language proficiency and their metaphorical competence. The subjects were 120 Iranian EFL learners studying at SADR English Language Teaching Center within the 19-25 age range. The EFL learners’ English proficiency varied from Elementary to Advanced which was determined by the OPT. Afterwards, the students were administered a researcher-made test assessing their metaphorical competence. The test consisted of ten concepts with each concept containing five metaphors together with their Persian equivalents written in English. Having two scores in hand, the researcher was able to see whether there were any significant relationships between the students’ language proficiency and their metaphorical competence. The researcher used the SPSS software package to calculate the degree of correlation between participants’ language proficiency and their metaphorical competence. Using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient formula the Received 10 May 2011 Approved 22 June 2011130 Iranian Journal Of researcher used the statistical procedure of one-way ANOVA to determine the relationship between learners’ metaphorical competence and their language proficiency. The findings revealed that the more proficient the EFL learners were in English language, the more metaphorically competent they would be.

Background: Critical thinking and learning styles are important in students’ learning processes. The study examined the relationship between critical thinking and cognitive learning styles with general English proficiency and success in examinations. Method: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 138 students at Gonabad University of Medical Sciences in 2019-2020 were selected through convenience sampling. To collect data, a critical thinking scale, a learning cognitive style questionnaire, a general English proficiency test, and a general English final exam were used. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics through SPSS V. 22. Results: Descriptive statistics showed that among critical thinking components, 35. 4% of participants had deductive and inductive reasoning components. Out of cognitive learning styles, most had divergent styles, claiming 47. 1% of the cases. ANOVA results showed a significant relationship between critical thinking and general English proficiency as well as success in the English final exam (p=0. 045 and p=0. 037, respectively). However, ANOVA results revealed no significant relationship between cognitive learning styles and general English proficiency as well as success in the English final exam among students (p=0. 41 and p=0. 06, respectively). Conclusion: It is concluded that the higher the critical thinking skills in deductive and inductive components among students are, the greater their proficiency in the English language and their success in English final exams will be. Regarding cognitive learning styles, the students would integrate concrete experimental and reflective observational methods and have the greatest ability to observe concrete situations.

Present study attempts to find the relationship between tolerances of ambiguity and the students' language proficiency. To this aim, 135 students were randomly selected among Shahed University students. Subjects took a CELT (A Standard Language Proficiency Test) and filled the MacLain's (1993) Second Language Tolerance of Ambiguity questionnaire. They were divided into two groups of low and high tolerant of ambiguity. For processing the data, T-Test and multivariate regression were used and the results indicated that there was a significant relationship between students' English grades in University Entrance Examination as well as their grades of General English course at the university with their tolerance of ambiguity. Moreover, the results from multi variable regression showed that in a linear relation the Entrance exam scores can predict 61% of the variance related to the subjects' English grades. On the other hand, the degree of the tolerance of ambiguity had no significant relations with sex, field of study, Shahed martyrs' first degree relatives or non-Shahed attributes in different groups.