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Hamidreza Sheykholmoluki

Assistant Professor

Update: 2026-05-21

Hamidreza Sheykholmoluki

Nahavand College / Department of of Humanities and Physical Education

P.H.D dissertations

  1. The Roles of Working Memory Capacity (WMC) and Second Language (L2) Age of Onset in L2 Morphosyntactic Processing and L2 Reading Comprehension Abilities
    2022
    The present study explored the roles of working memory capacity (WMC) and second language (L2) age of onset (AO) in L2 semantic/morphosyntactic performance as well as L2 reading comprehension ability. Additionally, the role of WMC in L2 relative clause (RC) attachment preference was investigated. A total of 238 bilingual Persian native speakers of English participated in the study. The results showed a significant relationship between WMC and L2 semantic/morphosyntactic performance. Additionally, the results revealed that the participants’ morphosyntactic performance, irrespective of their WMC, was significantly influenced by semantic priming effect, indicating that L2 morphosyntactic knowledge in learners' interlanguage system might be shaky and subject to communicative aspects of input. Furthermore, the results showed no significant correlation between WMC and L2 reading comprehension composite scores and no significant correlation between WMC components and L2 reading comprehension dimensions. In addition, no significant difference between early and late L2 learners' reading comprehension composite scores as well as their literal and inferential comprehension abilities was observed, which provides counterevidence for the predictions of the Critical Period Hypothesis. The results of the correlation between the storage and processing components of WMC, however, revealed that there was a significant negative correlation between the storage and processing components of WMC, and this negative correlation was even stronger for the lower-capacity participants, providing support for the time-based resource sharing (TBRS) model of WM (Barrouillet et al., 2004). Moreover, the results revealed no correlation between the participants' WMC and their L2 (English) RC attachment preferences. The findings of the study provide some implications for foreign language teachers with regard to teaching morphosyntactic aspects of language and correcting morphosyntactic errors.

Master Theses

  1. Iraqi EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate, Attitudes toward English, L2 Anxiety, and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of L2 Speaking Ability with the Mediating Role of Emotional Intelligence
    2025
    Abstract This study examined psychological and affective predictors of Iraqi EFL learners’ L2 speaking ability and tested Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a mediating mechanism linking dispositions to performance. 150 Arabic-speaking undergraduates, enrolled in a TEFL course at the University of Babylon completed validated self-report measures of Willingness to Communicate (WTC), attitudes toward English, L2 anxiety, self-efficacy, and EI by using a cross-sectional, predictive–correlational design. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) compared competing specifications of direct and indirect pathways. The best-fitting model retained positive direct paths from WTC and self-efficacy to speaking, a negative direct path from L2 anxiety to speaking, and primarily indirect effect of attitudes routed through motivational/self-belief channels that elevate WTC. EI functioned as an affective self-regulation hub: higher EI was associated with stronger self-efficacy and lower anxiety, which in turn predicted better speaking; mediation patterns were consistent with multiple-/serial-mediator chains. Overall, the results position immediate communicative readiness (WTC), confidence (self-efficacy), and low anxiety as proximal drivers of oral performance, with attitudes operating upstream and EI converting beliefs and feelings into observable proficiency. Pedagogically, findings support classroom designs that engender repeated low-stakes speaking turns, build mastery-based self-efficacy, normalize error through face-supportive feedback, and embed brief emotion-regulation routines.