Mahdi Amini - English Department, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran
Hadi Salehi - English Department, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran

The present study sought to examine research trends in the application of technology in English language teaching (ELT), using a retrospective scientometric approach. Web of Science was used as the focal database to extract the data from the start point of this field (۱۹۹۶) to the present. A document co-citation analysis method was used to detect the major research clusters in the dataset. The impact of each publication on the field was measured, using the burst index. In general, we identified seven major clusters in the field, including EFL, English Language, ICT Integration, Technology-mediated Task-based Language Teaching, Self-efficacy, Language Learning-mail, and Teacher Cognition. The results showed that these clusters are the most important ones, on which the major authors of the field have focused. The analyses of research trends on technology in ELT can provide suggestions for the future development of research in the field and may be beneficial for the teachers, policy-makers, and curriculum developers.

Scientometrics, research trends, technology, ELT