attitudes and actual experiences of iranian efl learners in distance ‎english language education

The rapid growth of online learning in efl education has outpaced research on how learners’ expectations align with their actual experiences, particularly in understudied contexts like iran. this study addresses this gap by investigating whether iranian upper-intermediate efl learners’ pre-course expectations matched their post-course experiences in distance education, while also examining the unique role of instructor support, active learning, and learner autonomy in shaping these perceptions. grounded in transactional distance theory (moore, 1993), which emphasizes learner-instructor interaction and course structure as key mediators of satisfaction, the study employed a quantitative descriptive design using the validated distance education learning environments survey (deles). the deles, which demonstrates strong reliability (cronbach’s α > 0.85 for all subscales in prior efl studies), was administered to 90 learners from three arak language institutes via google forms at the start and end of their 12-week online courses. convenience sampling ensured participants (aged 19-45) had sufficient english proficiency to engage with the instrument. results revealed that while overall satisfaction exceeded expectations, significant discrepancies (p < .05, mann-whitney u test) emerged specifically in instructor support, active learning, and autonomy—factors critical for mitigating transactional distance in online efl contexts. these findings extend prior work on technology-enhanced language learning by highlighting actionable strategies for iranian online course designers: structured peer collaboration, scaffolded autonomy-building tasks, and synchronous instructor feedback loops. the study contributes original insights into how socio-educational contexts influence the implementation of global online learning models.