Mastering writing has always proved an almost insurmountable barrier to EFL learners. In an attempt to alleviate problems advanced EFL learners have with writing, this study aimed at investigating the effect of scaffolded instruction through writing frames constructed from extended prefabricated lexical bundles. 40 female advanced English students, selected out of a population of 65, were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The participants of both groups were assigned a writing pre-test prior to any instruction, and a writing post-test following the twenty-session scaffolded instruction in both groups. The results revealed that the participants in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group as a result of the writing frames they were provided with. Overall, it is concluded that scaffolded instruction through writing frames can be a useful means of helping advanced students to improve their writing quality.

The present study seeks to introduce and investigate an approach to teaching writing in the EFL classroom which draws heavily on the use of formulaic expressions. In contrast to its predecessors, this approach includes both the application of process writing techniques and the teaching of grammar and vocabulary into its syllabus. Two groups of 30 EFL learners participated in this study. One group was taught writing through the proposed method, while the other group received instruction of a grammatical and structural nature. Following the courses, learners of both groups were asked to write an argumentative essay. A comparison of the essays written by the participants of the two groups revealed that those who were taught with the formulaic approach were more successful in fulfilling the purpose of the task, as well as creating more coherent and structurally accurate texts. The authors of this study argue for the use of formulaic expressions in teaching writing, especially in proficiency test preparation courses, due to its usefulness in fulfilling the communicative requirements of such examinations.

To explore the effectiveness of flipped instruction in influencing second language learning outcomes, the current research investigated the contribution of flipped classrooms of an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) writing course to Iranian learners’ writing development and writing motivation. In so doing, two intact classes were chosen as the participants (N=43) of this research and they were randomly assigned to a Control Group (N = 18) and an Experimental Group (N = 25). During one semester, the Control Group underwent the traditional writing instruction, while the Experimental Group received a flipped writing instruction. Second Language writing Motivation Scale (SLWMS) and two timed writing tasks were given to gather the required data. The results demonstrated that the flipped method of teaching was substantially effective in improving the L2 writing performance of the experimental group (F=22. 20, p = 0. 000, partial eta squared = 0. 35). Also, the results indicated that the flipped instruction had a statistically significant effect on learners’ writing motivation (F= 51. 67, p = 0. 000, partial eta squared = 0. 56). The findings have remarkable implications for L2 writing methodology.

In the contemporary age, universities, particularly those in Iran, encounter various challenges concerning scientific writing. Among the key elements of audience-focused scientific writing, attractive writing is critical; however, research indicates that it often receives insufficient emphasis. Given this reality, it's imperative to prioritize and identify a comprehensive set of indicators for assessing the quality of attractive writing in scientific works.It is imperative to devise effective solutions to enhance its overall quality. The aim of the present study was to discern a set of indicators for evaluating the quality of attractive writing in academic writing. To achieve this goal, a qualitative approach and phenomenological method were employed. The research was conducted at the Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran. A purposive selection was made of 12 faculty members, who subsequently underwent a semi-structured interview. Utilizing Dickelman's strategy for analysis, the interviews were examined, resulting in the successful identification of 51 indicators. These indicators were then classified based on nine criteria, including "creative writing", "stimulating text", "brief writing", "simplified writing", "transparency of writing", "page layout order", "Attractive summarizers (appropriate use of graphic symbols)", "In-text coherence" and "writing Correct Words" which can be used to accurately measure the characteristics of writing attractiveness. It seems that observing the indicators and criteria of writing attractiveness can play an important role in improving the quality of writings, increasing the tendency towards studies, promoting the study culture and using scientific findings and facilitating them. in the end, suggestions were also proposed.

The present study examined relationships among critical thinking, writing strategy use, second/foreign language (L2) writing anxiety, and L2 writing performance of Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. To this end, 100 homogenized EFL learners (57 female learners and 43 male learners) filled out Facione and Facione’ s (1993) California Critical Thinking Skills Test-form B (CCRST), Petric and Czarl’ s (2003) writing Strategy Questionnaire (WSQ), Cheng’ s (2004) Second Language writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI), and the second task of the academic version of IELTS exam. Multiple correlation analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between L2 writing performance and writing strategy use; and L2 writing performance and critical thinking. Results also revealed a significant negative relationship between L2 writing performance and L2 writing anxiety. Furthermore, it was found that L2 writing anxiety was a stronger predictor of L2 writing performance. Additionally, the results of one-way MANOVA showed a significant difference between Iranian male and female EFL learners regarding both their L2 writing performance and L2 writing anxiety. These results emphasize the inclusion of pre-planned writing sessions for Iranian EFL learners which can help foster critical thinking skills and writing strategy use, reduce L2 writing anxiety and hopefully, improve their L2 writing ability.

The present study examined the effect of four types of post reading-based tasks with different index of task-induced involvement load (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001) on EFL learners’ recognition and recall of unfamiliar L2 vocabularies. To this end, 88 intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned to four groups and were instructed to employ four different tasks after reading two narrative texts: (1) simple sentence writing; (2) text summary writing; (3) creative sentence writing; and (4) imaginary story writing. A day after the output activity session, the participants took two post-tests: the production test and the recognition test. Three weeks later, the delayed post-tests were administered. Mixed ANOVA (Split-plot) was run to compare the performances of the groups on immediate and delayed post-tests. The results revealed that there were overall significant within-group and between-group differences among four groups of the study both in immediate and delayed posttests. The creative sentence writing group outperformed in comparison to the other three groups. The results of this study turned out to be partially consistent with involvement load hypothesis.

The role of psychological factors in learning a second language is no secret. The relationship between the variables such as ambiguity tolerance which means continued efforts despite uncertainty has been measured with vocabulary competence level in some previous research. The present study investigated the relationship of ambiguity tolerance, particularly with writing block and measures of writing quality in second language. For this purpose, 120 randomly selected participants at advanced level of English proficiency in two universities located in Tehran, responded to ambiguity tolerance questionnaire. The scores obtained were then related to their scores on writing block questionnaire and the mean score of writing quality. The latter was obtained through scoring three academic essays written by each student based on a well-known scale of writing quality by Nation which displayed a significant and positive relationship with ambiguity tolerance. writing blocks had a negative significant relationship with ambiguity tolerance.

The use of Web 2. 0 technology in language education has received much research attention quite recently. In an attempt to shed more light on the use of Google Docs as a kind of Web 2. 0 technology in language learning, the purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of online collaborative writing using Google Docs and collaborative writing in a face-to-face classroom on the writing performance and writing self-regulation of EFL learners. A sample of 38 homogeneous intermediate learners was recruited as the participants who were then randomly divided to an experimental group (N = 19) and a control group (N = 19). The participants of the experimental group received online collaborative writing using Google Docs while the control group received collaborative writing in the face-to-face classroom. Two timed-writing tasks and the Second Language writing Self-regulation (SLWS) scale were administered to gather the data. The results obtained from performing paired-samples t-tests and ANCOVA revealed that collaborative writing both via using Google Docs and in the face-toface classroom significantly enhanced the writing performance and writing self-regulation of the participants. However, the gains experienced by the experimental group were significantly higher than those experienced by the control group. Pedagogical implications for Google Docs-supported collaborative writing are finally discussed.