<p>The field of applied linguistics (AL), which examines L2-related issues— is currently undergoing a molt, with scholars and researchers shifting their priorities to research and related issues, i.e., the research movement. Besides fresh perspectives on research, the rise of research synthesis and applied bibliometrics is conspicuous. This study, adopting research synthesis and bibliometric perspectives, charted the landscape of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) research in Iran by synthesizing 1,915 research articles with different methodological orientations (i.e., quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and systematic reviews) published between 2016 and 2022. The primary objective is to examine the prevalence rate of research methodologies employed in TEFL studies. The second purpose is to investigate the research frontiers, trends, degree of collaboration, and collaboration patterns employed in recent research articles with different methodological approaches in Iran. The findings revealed that the rate of quantitative and mixed research studies outweighs qualitative and systematic reviews. Given that the rate of co-authored articles exceeds that of single-authored counterparts, our findings indicated that the overall degree of collaboration for AL researchers was high (89%). More specifically, mixed methods research contained the highest degree of collaboration. Regarding the pattern of collaboration, the findings revealed that domestic interinstitutional collaboration is trendy among the authors. Interestingly, the findings revealed that each research approach covers specific research frontiers. While quantitative studies prioritized L2 individual differences and teaching and pedagogy, qualitative and mixed methods studies heavily emphasized teacher-related factors. Interestingly, L2 individual differences, explored mainly in quantitative and mixed methods studies, were not a prominent theme in secondary studies. Implications for educational research and TEFL are discussed.</p>