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The current study is delved into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' academic procrastination, learning approach, burnout, and language achievement. To do so, 203 EFL students studying in three universities in Iran were asked to complete three questionnaires, including Academic Procrastination Scale, Revised Study Process Questionnaire, and Maslach Burnout Inventory Student-Survey. Structural Equation Modeling was employed to verify the causal model. The results revealed that students' procrastination predicted their burnout positively and significantly. Moreover, academic procrastination was found to correlate positively with surface learning approach. The results also indicated that procrastination had a negative impact on deep learning approach. Another finding was that procrastination influenced language achievement indirectly and negatively. Finally, these findings were discussed in the light of prior research.

Ahmad Ghanizadeh,1,2 Mohammed Molla,2 Garth Jon Olango21Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; 2Department of Psychiatry, UCLA-Kern Psychiatry Residency Program, Kern Medical, Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Bakersfield, CA, USAIntroduction: While there is a very high rate of comorbidity of autism and ADHD, there are controversies about prescribing stimulants in children with autism. This is a systematic review about the effect of stimulants on irritability in children with both autism and ADHD.Methods: A systematic review was conducted to study the possible effect of stimulants on irritability in autism and ADHD using the databases of PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and ScienceDirect in September 2018. Eligible clinical trials of stimulants in the treatment of Autism and ADHD without restriction of language were included. The primary outcome was irritability score. The full texts of relevant articles were studied, and their references were scanned for any possible related article.Results: Out of 1,315 citations, there were 26 relevant articles. Of the relevant articles, 16 were not interventional studies and were excluded. There were 10 interventional studies. None of them considered irritability as a main outcome. Also, none of them studied the effect of stimulants on irritability in autism plus ADHD. Current uncontrolled evidence about the association of stimulants with irritability is controversial.Conclusion: The current evidence is not enough to support or discourage the effect of stimulants on irritability in children and adolescents with both autism and ADHD. Well-designed controlled clinical trials need to be conducted for this ignored research area.Keywords: autistic disorder, attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, central nervous system stimulants, irritable mood, comorbidity, methylphenidate

Smart Classroom Management (SCM) is an approach proposed by Linsin (2013) that takes into account students' needs and interests in class. It has four main strategies: Planning, Organization, Leadership, and Control. This study investigated experimentally the role of English as a Foreign Language teachers' use of SCM in response to learners' second language (L2) anxiety, engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive), and language achievement. To gauge the students' L2 anxiety, six items out of the Dörnyei's (2005) L2 Motivational Self System were used. To measure student engagement, the Student Engagement Scale (SES) was employed. To conduct the research, a mixed methods design (integrating experimental and interview methods) was utilized. In the experimental phase, two classes at the same level were selected. In the experimental group, a treatment that was prepared based on SCM strategies was utilized. In the qualitative phase, four students of the experimental class were voluntarily interviewed about the effects of using SCM strategies on their learning. The results demonstrate that using SCM strategies as a treatment, that was prepared based on students' needs and a humanistic approach, had a significant impact on learners' engagement and its subscales up to 46%. Moreover, applying SCM was influential in reducing students' L2 anxiety and enhancing language achievement. The findings of this study are expected to inspire policy makers, teacher educators, and supervisors to facilitate the implementation of SCM in language classes.

In the modern era, with the rapid advancement of science, genetic engineering has provided a suitable foundation for producing transgenic animals to achieve important scientific objectives. However, despite the increasing production of these organisms, one of the prevalent issues concerning them is the examination of their permissibility or prohibition in terms of consumption, and subsequently, the approval or disapproval of using their products in Islamic societies. Therefore, given the necessity of investigating this matter, the present research, through a descriptive-analytical method, explores the effectiveness of genetic modification in permitting the use of transgenic animal products. The findings suggest that if genetic modification affects the nature of the transgenic animal, this process could influence the legal ruling regarding the animal, and consequently, affect the permissibility of benefiting from such organisms' products. Otherwise, even with the occurrence of genetic modification, the process will have no role in determining the legal ruling for transgenic animals.

Purpose: Storytelling is a method for training essential life issues as storytelling can assist learners to consider the story not just as a source of entertainment but as a practical lesson. In fact, teachers can encourage even the most unwilling students by engaging the students in storytelling while maintaining students' attention through narration using sounds and gestures. The present study aims to examine the effect of the university instructor's narrative on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student's sustained attention, emotional involvement and cognitive learning. Design/methodology/approach: To do so, the study adopted a quasi-experimental research design with the aim of focusing on the students' performance within two different virtual classes. University students' sustained attention, emotional involvement and cognitive learning were assessed in control and experimental groups before and after the treatment. To measure students' sustained attention, Wei et al.'s (2012) scale, which comprises six items, was used. Besides, emotional involvement was assessed through Golestani's (2017) engagement questionnaire. To check students' cognitive learning, the scale designed by Richmond et al. (1987) was utilized. The summaries and conclusions in the experimental class were ingrained in instructors' pedagogical repertoires, as the repertoires offer students an alternative way to understand course material beyond a straight lecture. Students in the experimental group were also asked to ponder over the materials presented to the students each session, and the students were supposed to present a one to two-paragraph note on the possible implications of the materials instructed at each session. Findings: The results of independent samples t-test indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding the degree of their sustained attention, emotional involvement and cognitive learning. The findings of the present study can raise instructors' awareness toward the application of narratives in their instructional methodologies, as well as putting forth significant strategies to enhance students' sustained attention, emotional involvement and cognitive learning through narratives. Originality/value: The theoretical framework of the study derives from Kromka and Goodboys (2018) conceptualization of instructor narrative (IN), defined as the explicit presentation of the lessons conclusion at the end of each session. Previous studies on narrative have primarily focused on learners' narrative as an educational tool. Later studies on teacher narratives conceive this as the teachers' personal anecdotes and story-like accounts of others' experiences; nonetheless, the position which is taken in this study is more academically laden and is based on the information instructed in each session.

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of Teacher Technology Enhanced Scaffolding (TTES) on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' grammar achievement, Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs), and mastery goal. This investigation was conducted among 50 participants in two classes, with a population of 25 EFL students for each group (control and experimental). The participants were all female junior high school students. They were administered a grammar test and two questionnaires once at the beginning and once at the end of the course. To gauge students' DMC, the Persian version of the DMC Disposition Questionnaire which was designed and validated by Muir (2016) and translated into Persian and revalidated by Ghanizadeh and Jahedizadeh (2017) was utilized. To assess the students' mastery goal, six items of the translated version of Achievement Goal Orientation Inventory designed by Midgley et al. (1998) was employed. Teaching in both groups was provided through "Eitaa" messenger. The treatment was presented in accordance with the principles of the process approach comprising three stages, "noticing," "retrieval," and "generation." These are the three basic principles in the process approach adapted from Nation (2001). However, in the control group, the grammar was taught in the traditional method in the way that the same structure was presented to the learners, and then they did some exercises. The results of independent samples t-test demonstrated that using TTES had a significant impact on learners' grammar learning, DMC, and mastery goal.

Earthquake-induced soil liquefaction is one of the natural hazards that can cause irreparable damages to buildings and infrastructure in addition to threatening human lives. Therefore, accurate prediction of liquefaction has always been one of the important tasks of geotechnical engineers. In the present study, a hybrid approach is introduced to predict liquefaction using the Standard Penetration Test (SPT) results. The approach involves combining Wavelet Neural Network (WNN) and Teaching-Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) techniques to create a binary classification model. The dataset used for this study contains 288 data points, ensuring reliability. The optimal architecture for the WNN is determined as 2-8-1, indicating that it consists of two neurons in the input layer, eight neurons in the hidden layer with the Shannon wavelet function, and one neuron in the output layer with the Hardlim activation function. The developed WNN model is able to predict liquefaction with an overall accuracy of 96.52% based on two input variables, namely modified cyclic stress ratio (CSR7.5) and SPT number (N1,60). Comparing the accuracy of the WNN-TLBO model developed in this research with that of other artificial intelligence models developed in this field shows the superior accuracy of the WNN-TLBO model compared to previous models.

Student evaluation apprehension as one of the detrimental factors in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context, reduces and gradually diminishes student participation in classroom activities, since learners are mostly concerned with how others (teacher and classmates) evaluate/judge their performance. Due to the fact that the studies considering the important role of student evaluation apprehension are scarce in number, this study was conducted to validate the newly-designed questionnaire via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and find the relationship between student evaluation apprehension and academic achievement, gender, and educational level of 258 EFL students. The results from EFA, CFA, and reliability analyses revealed that the new questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument measuring EFL students' evaluation apprehension. Moreover, a significant negative correlation was observed between student evaluation apprehension and academic achievement. Besides, it was found that females experience evaluation apprehension more than males, and BA students were also found to have more evaluation apprehension than their MA counterparts.

Teaching can be considered as an extremely demanding and stressful occupation and being a language educator brings about its own distinctive challenges. In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, teachers worldwide experienced fundamental changes in their profession and their lives as a whole. Coping with such an unprecedented situation and responses to it have created new and extra stressful factors for teachers to cope with, including the difficulties created by quick transition from direct teaching to virtual and remote teaching. This study examined EFL teachers' coping strategies during the COVID-19 virtual education and their association with work engagement and teacher apprehension. A total of 296 language instructors contributed to this study by participating in a survey in January 2021. To determine what coping strategies teachers use in virtual teaching during COVID-19, the researchers adapted the Brief-COPE scale designed and validated by Carver (Int J Behav Med 4:92-100, 1997) to make it appropriate for virtual education. The survey measured 11 coping strategies divided into two broad types, approach and avoidant. For measuring work engagement, the Work and Well-being Survey (UWES) scale designed and validated by Schaufeli and Bakker (Test manual for the Utrecht work engagement scale, vol 3. Utrecht University, The Netherlands, pp. 44-52, 2003. http://www.schaufeli.com) was utilized. To assess teachers' apprehension, the research employed the Sources of Teachers' Apprehension Scale (STAS) developed by Ghanizadeh et al. (Asia-Pac Educ Res 1-14, 2020). The result demonstrated that the adapted coping strategies scale enjoys acceptable reliability and validity indices. The results estimated via structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that EFL teachers' approach coping strategies positively and significantly predicted work engagement ([beta] = 0.72, t = 10.56). Work engagement was negatively predicted by avoidant coping strategies ([beta] = - 0.29, t = - 3.36). Teacher apprehension was negatively influenced by approach coping strategies ([beta] = - 0.44, t = - 5.57) and positively by avoidant coping strategies ([beta] = 0.43, t = 5.29). The study proposes some practical recommendations for overcoming the Covid-19 related challenges which could further deliver valuable guidance for supporting future training of teachers.

This study elucidated how humanistic teaching as manifested in teachers' error correction influences EFL learners' engagement, motivation, and language achievement. the present study was carried out in a language Institute in Mashhad, Iran. The population comprised 42 advanced female learners. To investigate how error treatment will affect EFL learners' engagement, intrinsic motivation and language achievement, a mixed-methods design incorporating both quantitative (experimental design) and qualitative (interview & observation) methods (QUAN[\rightarrow]qual) was employed. The participants were divided into control and experimental groups. Speaking errors of the participants of the experimental group were corrected by three methods of corrective feedback including peer-correction, elicitation, and repetition, whereas, speaking errors of the participants of control group were directly corrected by the teacher. To measure the intrinsic motivation, the MSLQ questionnaire (Pintrich, et al., 1991) was employed. Students' engagement was determined through Tool-school engagement scale, which was assesses behavioral, emotional, and cognitive aspects of academic engagement (Fredericks, Blumenfeld, Friedel, & Paris, 2005). A Babel test was utilized to assess language proficiency. To examine the effect of corrective feedback on intrinsic interest, an independent samples t-test was run. The results substantiated the efficiency of corrective feedback in enhancing intrinsic motivation. A one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was utilized to investigate the role of corrective feedback in Cognitive, Behavioral, and Emotional Engagement. It was revealed that all three types of engagement were influenced and the highest difference was observed in Emotional engagement and the lowest difference was obtained for Behavioral engagement. Regarding language achievement, the results implied that corrective feedback utilized in the experimental group resulted in higher language achievement. Twenty-five percent of the whole participants were interviewed after the term. The findings analyzed via MAXQDA software were in line with the results of the quantitative phase.

This study assessed the impact of teachers' assertive classroom management on the students' perception of classroom activities and their goal orientations. It adopted a mixed method approach (QUANTITATIVE? qualitative.). The population consisted of about 590 consisted of Iranian university and institute students out of which 147 were sampled. They were administered three questionnaires and five were interviewed. To gauge teachers' assertive classroom management, we utilized a questionnaire developed by Shawer (2010). It includes 37 items measuring four components of teacher's assertive classroom management (organization, teaching strategies, teacher-student relationship strategies, teacher's punishment-reward strategies). To assess students' perceptions of classroom activities, a scale designed and validated by Gentry and Gable (2001) was utilized. It comprises 31 items and consists of 4 components (interest, challenge, choice, and joy). The students' goal orientations were measured via 'achievement goal orientation inventory' designed by Midgley, et al. (1998). The inventory comprised three subscales (mastery-approach, performance-approach, performance-avoidance approach) and a total of 18 items. In the quantitative phase, the results demonstrated that teachers' assertive classroom management strategies predicted students' perceptions of classroom activities exhibiting the highest influence on challenge and interest respectively. Mastery goal was influenced by teacher assertive classroom management strategies. The results of the quantitative phase confirmed the findings of the quantitative phase.

The quality of granular base materials plays a key role in the enhanced performance of inverted pavement systems (IPSs). Typically, premium-quality materials are required for the construction of IPS structures. This study investigates the feasibility of geocell reinforcement of lower quality materials to be used as an alternative when premium base materials are not available. To this end, 16 different pavement structures were studied using nonlinear finite element (NL-FEM) models in ABAQUS. The results are validated using those of a full-scale field project, which confirms the reliability of the developed FEM model. It was concluded that geocell reinforcement of granular base layer can increase the fatigue and rutting performances. In all the cases, lower quality aggregates with reinforcement exhibited better performance than the non-reinforced base materials with premium aggregate quality. The findings confirm that in the absence of premium-quality aggregates, good-performing inverted pavement structures can still be achieved. Key words: inverted pavement system, geocell, nonlinear FEM, fatigue life, rutting, 1. Introduction 1.1. Background Inverted pavement system (IPS) is a relatively modern pavement construction technique that was first developed in South Africa in 1970, where it currently comprises about 70% [...]