---

This study investigated the main sources of Iranian students' demotivation in L2 learning and examined demotivation in relation to students' gender and level of education. To find the major demotivating factors, a questionnaire consisting of 32 items was developed and completed by 327 students. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to explore the factorial structure of the questionnaire. Based on the results, five categories of demotivating factors were identified: Learning Contents, Materials, and Facilities, Attitude towards English Speaking Community, The Teacher, Experience of Failure, and Attitude towards Second Language Learning. To examine demotivating factors in relation to students' gender and educational level, two one-way analyses of variance were run. The results indicated significant differences between male and female students in terms of three demotivating factors. Significant differences were observed between students at different levels of education with regard to the three demotivating factors. Finally, a multivariate analysis of variance was performed to examine demotivating factors in relation to students' gender and educational level. Significant differences were found between male and female students across educational levels in terms of all demotivating factors except one. 

---

Teaching English as a second or foreign language has internationally turned into a determiner of success for societies. Thus, the demand has risen for changes in English Language Teaching (ELT) curricula in different contexts. In response to the growing globalization and the dissatisfaction of many Iranian ELT stakeholders with the former program in lower and upper high-school levels, the Ministry of Education, in 2010, initiated the renovation of national policy documents, coursebooks, and the introduction of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) orientations. The present study is part of a larger project that aims to qualitatively scrutinize the implementational complexities of the new program using a systematic language-in-education planning (LEP) framework. In this respect, 30 experienced headteachers' perspectives and voices from several provinces were explored through open-ended semi-structured interviews designed based on the analysis of school-based documents and observations of ELT goings-on in state schools. Interviews were then transcribed and the content was analyzed to identify the recurring themes. Key findings indicated that the new received program suffers from drawbacks like underbudgeting, students’ unequal access to quality ELT, the shortage of prepared teachers, etc. We further found that the program still requires dedicated support of the macro- meso- and micro-level agents at the national scale. Correspondingly, implications for revisions and suggestions for future research are offered.