It has been suggested that phrasal verbs create special problems for language learners because of their diversity both in terms of number and in terms of form (Cornell, 1985;Side, 1990). It has been a source of argument for researchers to determine what type of input is more effective in teaching and learning English vocabulary, including phrasal verbs. This study has been conducted to examine the relative effectiveness of three types of input -unenhanced input, typographically enhanced input and lexically elaborated input -on learning English phrasal verbs. To do so, a time series quasi-experimental study was carried out, in which six different texts in three different forms -unenhanced, enhanced and elaborated -were given to 35 Iranian intermediate EFL learners to read. After the participants read each version of the input, a post-test including the target phrasal verbs practiced in each section of the treatment was delivered to answer. Results of related samples Friedman's two-way ANOVA on the pre-tests and post-tests showed that the participants' scores on the post-tests were higher after reading the elaborated texts than their scores after reading the unenhanced and enhanced texts. It has been concluded that (a) typographical input enhancement better helps L2 learners learn English phrasal verbs as compared with unenhanced input, (b) lexical input elaboration better facilitates the learning of English phrasal verbs by L2 learners as compared with unenhanced input, and (c) lexical input elaboration is more effective than input enhancement in helping L2 learners to learn English phrasal verbs.

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In today's world of education, a successful teacher can be assumed to be the one who benefits from Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), which demands consideration of teachers' beliefs about tasks. The present paper takes into account developing a questionnaire regarding teachers' beliefs about tasks. To this end, 300 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers from Mazandaran province participated in the study. The raw items for the questionnaire were collected by randomly interviewing 15 participant teachers and the related literature on teacher cognition research on TBLT. Then the items were factor-analyzed to develop the final version of the Teachers' Beliefs on Task Questionnaire (TBTQ). Employing Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) resulted in a six-factor structure including TBLT and teacher education, TBLT and the learners' expectations, TBLT and challenges with Present-Practice-Produce (PPP) approach, TBLT and teachers' time limitations, TBLT and teachers' characteristics, and the feasibility of TBLT resources. Findings revealed that although TBLT has been considered as an innovative approach due to its inspiration from Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), teachers' attitudes towards TBLT implementation appear to have been taken for granted according to the components emerged from the factor analysis. It is suggested that TBTQ can be used in both foreign and second language contexts in order to identify different categories that can shape teachers' beliefs about tasks and provide further pedagogical insights into designing and implementing tasks more effectively.

Delving into the sources of foreign language writing problems is usually neglected. This necessitates more scrutiny of finding out where these problems originate from. To this end, the present study sought to follow a two-fold aim: finding the roots of the Iranian EFL learners' writing problems, and discovering how these roots are interconnected with each other and come up with a corresponding model. In the qualitative part of the study, a phenomenological research tradition was adopted and 20 EFL learners were selected through purposive sampling. In the quantitative part, through convenience sampling 120 language learners from an English language school in Gorgan, Iran, were selected to be the participants of the study. A semi-structured interview and a researcher-developed questionnaire were used as the instruments for data collection. The results obtained from the analysis of data revealed that writing problems originate from various sources, mainly linguistic, personal, epistemological and ecological, and enjoy a model in which epistemological, linguistic and ecological sources have direct effects and personal source has indirect effect on writing problems. Recognition of epistemological and ecological sources as a novel finding can make teachers revisit their view of these lessapproached issues.