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Article History

Received: 12 July 2025

Accepted: 16 April 2026

First Online: 21 April 2026

Declarations

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: All data collection procedures were conducted in agreement with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and in accordance with the guidelines specified by National Committee for Ethics in Research. Furthermore, this research was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the study context in Iran with national regulations governing research with human participants ( ). According to the Iranian research ethics framework, minimal-risk educational studies that involve non-clinical instructional activities with adult learners are exempt from formal review by Institutional Review Boards when they meet the following conditions: • no clinical, psychological, or biomedical interventions are involved; • no deception or potentially harmful manipulation is employed; • no sensitive personal data or health-related information is collected; • all participants are competent adults who voluntarily take part in the study; • data collection procedures pose no physical, social, or legal risks to participants. The present study meets all of these criteria. Participants were adult EFL learners who took part voluntarily and were informed that their participation or non-participation would not affect their course standing or academic evaluation. No identifying information was collected, confidentiality was assured, and all test and interview data were anonymized prior to analysis. Under these national and institutional regulations, the study was therefore exempt from formal ethics committee review, and the authors institution does not issue formal exemption letters for minimal-risk educational research of this type. Despite the exemption status, all procedures were conducted in full adherence to internationally recognized ethical principles, including those outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and the APA Ethical Guidelines. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection.

: All participants provided informed consent before completing the survey. Participation was voluntary, and respondents were informed about the purpose of the study, confidentiality of responses, and their right to withdraw at any time prior to submitting the questionnaire.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.