1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Kazem Lotfipour-Saedi; Davoud Amini
Abstract
Due to the special (procedural) nature of the language (verbal communication) ‘knowledge’, the dominant trends in applied linguistics research in the last few decades have been advocating ‘acquisition’ rather than ‘learning’ activities where the main focus in SL & ...
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Due to the special (procedural) nature of the language (verbal communication) ‘knowledge’, the dominant trends in applied linguistics research in the last few decades have been advocating ‘acquisition’ rather than ‘learning’ activities where the main focus in SL & FL education should be on ‘meaning’ while some ‘focus-on-form’ being justified. But the ‘form’ to be ‘focused-on’ is mostly misconceived to be ‘grammaticality’ of sentences. This misconception is driven by the traditional outlook on language which considers it as a set of sentences carrying THE meaning deposited upon them, disregarding the true nature of verbal transactions where meanings are discursively constructed by the participants in interaction , and the text (enabled by its textuality) rather than sentences (supported by their grammatical accuracy) mediates this discursive process. The present paper argues that textuality representing an underlying discourse should be the ‘form’ to be focused on in SLA facilitation tasks. It is the textuality and its ‘impulse-creating and impulse-reiterating agencies which, upon their perception, help the receiver to grasp the hierarchical integrity of the linearly organized text. Each text can be seen as containing a set of units which are psycho-socio-linguistically determined packages facilitating the linear presentation of the textual hierarchy. These units, labeled as T-units in written text, can be defined as stretches of text occurring between two full-stops. These T-units are the epicenters for ‘impulse-creation’ while carrying some ‘impulse-reiterating’ elements as well. Variations in the overall configuration of the T-units including what is chosen as their main verb (epicenter), the number of impulse-reiterating elements revolving around it and their mode of realization will be discussed. It will be argued that the SLA ‘focus-on-form’ activities designed to raise the language learners’ consciousness should be along these textuality dimensions; and examples of such activities (mainly oriented towards reading/writing skills) will be discussed.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Mir Habib Aboulalaei
Abstract
The role of using meta-discourse elements in writing, especially in research newspapers, is so important that their authors can convey certainty, doubt, and characteristics of the writers in their writings. There are different meta-discourse markers used by various authors in different branches; for ...
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The role of using meta-discourse elements in writing, especially in research newspapers, is so important that their authors can convey certainty, doubt, and characteristics of the writers in their writings. There are different meta-discourse markers used by various authors in different branches; for example, hedges and boosters are the most important devices in writing. The meta-discourse elements are communicative strategies for increasing and reducing the force of statements, i.e. authors and writers who write theses, books, or articles give more information with certainty by these markers. In the present investigation, 60 reports from 2 important newspapers, Iran Daily and US Today, were studied, where for each field 30 articles written by both native and non-native writers were selected and studied. In sum, for each newspaper, 30 articles were chosen. Frequency and distribution of the meta-discourse elements were examined to show which one of the newspapers used those more. The analysis was done by ANOVA test to compare the frequency and distribution of the meta-discourse devices. The result of the test indicated differences between the selected newspapers, i.e. Iran Daily and US Today. It is important to mention that the results of this study can have pedagogical implications for prospective academic writers.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Mahmood Hashemian; Razieh Salemi; Aliakbar Jafarpour
Abstract
In the last 2 decades, studies on conceptual metaphors have profoundly increased. The development in this field was followed by Lakoff and Johnson's (1980b) work on describing the conceptual role played by metaphors and their correspondence with language and thought. This study aimed to compare conceptual ...
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In the last 2 decades, studies on conceptual metaphors have profoundly increased. The development in this field was followed by Lakoff and Johnson's (1980b) work on describing the conceptual role played by metaphors and their correspondence with language and thought. This study aimed to compare conceptual metaphors in Persian and English through a corpus-based approach as well as examining both the universality and culture-specificity of conceptual metaphors within Persian/English and describe in detail the Persian conception of some metaphorical concepts from the cognitive perspective. The cognitive theory of metaphor was resorted to and applied to a cross-cultural analysis of a randomly selected set of conceptual metaphors in English and Persian. To analyze the data, 12 conceptual metaphors introduced by Wright (1999) were investigated and gathered. Then, the metaphorical expressions in the 2 languages were grouped under their source and target domains. Results pointed to the fact that whereas there is a certain degree of universality in terms of the predominant conceptual metaphors, there are also variations between the 2 languages for cultural and linguistic reasons.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Ensiye Niknahad; Zohre Mohamadi
Abstract
This study used a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental designto find out the effect of teacher-directed and collaborative reading on Iranian EFL learners' receptive skills.To start, 40 EFL intermediate female students within the age range of 15-17 were selected out of an initial 53 students, based on ...
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This study used a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental designto find out the effect of teacher-directed and collaborative reading on Iranian EFL learners' receptive skills.To start, 40 EFL intermediate female students within the age range of 15-17 were selected out of an initial 53 students, based on their performance in an OPT. Then, they were assigned into two groups of teacher-directed and collaborative reading.Both groups took a pretest at the beginning of the studyto measure their receptive skills' ability and a post-testin the endto check the amount of the effectiveness of the treatments applied.Collaborative group benefitted fromCollaborative Strategy Reading (CSR) consisting of preview, click and clunk,get the gist,and wrap up was introduced.In teacher-directed, on the other hand, direct explanation, modeling, and guided practice were used to teach the students how to use the strategies independently.Analysis of the data and the findings revealed that both teacher-directed and collaborative reading affected the learners' performance significantly. Moreover, collaborative reading was proved to be asignificantly better technique. Teachers, EFL learners, materials developers, and syllabus designers can be the beneficiaries of this inquiry's outcomes.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Behrooz Azabdaftari
Abstract
There are such great names in language studies as Noam Chomsky, Lev S. Vygotsky, Howard Gardener and Michael Halliday who are widely accredited with having introduced new concepts in linguistics and neighboring disciplines and to whom we remain deeply indebted. In this article which has been written ...
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There are such great names in language studies as Noam Chomsky, Lev S. Vygotsky, Howard Gardener and Michael Halliday who are widely accredited with having introduced new concepts in linguistics and neighboring disciplines and to whom we remain deeply indebted. In this article which has been written on the occasion of Professor Henry Widdowson's visit in April 2018 to Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University in Tabriz, Iran, professor Widdowson's thoughts and contributions to applied linguistics and language teaching are reviewed in passing. The author make this issue his point of departure and takes up some of the ground breaking ideas of Professor Widdowson and elaborates very briefly on the following notions: 1) English in Training and Education. 2) Applied Linguistics and Linguistics Applied. 3) Authenticity of Teaching Materials in ESP. 4) Present Situation versus Target Situation Analysis of Students’ Language Learning needs: The Language Audit 5) Linguistic principles and intuitive interpretation
3. Applied Literature
Taher Ben Khalifa
Abstract
This paper deals with the study of how racist ideologies are constructed in Crane’s “A Dark Brown Dog” using the CDA framework. Benefitting from the approaching between literature and linguistics, it focuses on the linguistic examination of the (re)construction of whiteness and blackness ...
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This paper deals with the study of how racist ideologies are constructed in Crane’s “A Dark Brown Dog” using the CDA framework. Benefitting from the approaching between literature and linguistics, it focuses on the linguistic examination of the (re)construction of whiteness and blackness based on the assumption that racism is: a social, a discursive, and an ideological construct. This tri-dimensional construct is treated within a theoretical triangulation ranging from cognition, society, and discourse. Based on the view of discourse as a process of coding and decoding of meaning, the text of this story is explored at various levels of language use: a) contextual analysis focuses on the study of how the depiction of the setting and the characters serves to draw the scene of racial inequality; b) textual analysis deals with the way narration contributes to the (re)production of racism; and c) identity analysis is devoted to the study of how racial identity evolves across generations. The results showed that: first, the representation of the characters highlights the binary structure of the southern American society marked by the inferiority of the blacks and the superiority of the whites. Second, the way actions and events are narrated reflects the unequal distribution of power between blacks and whites. The existing asymmetry of power is traced in the duality of punishment and obedience. Third, the racist ideologies and race relations evolve across generations depending on: the amalgamations happening at the family level, the evolution of society, and the evolution of its legislations.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Henry G. Widdowson
Abstract
The basic assumption in applied linguistics is that the expert disciplinary study of linguistics can yield insights which can be applied to an understanding of how language is actually experienced, and so provide a principled basis for intervention by proposing ways of resolving the problems that people’s ...
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The basic assumption in applied linguistics is that the expert disciplinary study of linguistics can yield insights which can be applied to an understanding of how language is actually experienced, and so provide a principled basis for intervention by proposing ways of resolving the problems that people’s experience in using and learning language gives rise to. But the validity of this assumption depends on how is expertise in linguistics to be defined, and how far, as it has been conventionally practiced, can it claim to account for the reality of how individuals experience language? What, for example, does it tell us, and not tell us, about how users and learners think and feel about their own and other peoples’ language, and what effect their attitude has on their using and learning? These are crucial questions about the scope of linguistics and its applied linguistic relevance since they have an immediate and urgent bearing on the problematic issues that applied linguistics would claim to address of how communication is enacted across different lingua-cultural and ideological borders in a globalized world. Since this global communication is predominantly mediated by the expedient use of English as a lingua franca, it raises the applied linguistic question that this talk will be centrally concerned with of what pedagogic implications this has for how English is conventionally taught as a foreign language subject.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Davud Kuhi
Abstract
Since its introduction to EAP theory in the 1980s, the concept of genre has proven to be a rigorous theoretical construct for a deeperunderstanding of the nature of academic discourse. However, the inherent potential of this concept as a means of classifying and categorizing academic texts has also given ...
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Since its introduction to EAP theory in the 1980s, the concept of genre has proven to be a rigorous theoretical construct for a deeperunderstanding of the nature of academic discourse. However, the inherent potential of this concept as a means of classifying and categorizing academic texts has also given rise to what we have called “the misconception of homogeneity”. Criticizing this misconception and drawing on the concept of hybridity/heterogeneity of scientific/academic genres, the present paper explores some of the major implications of this view for EAP research and pedagogy. It is argued that the recognition of the concept of hybridity of academic genres would result in redefining the corpus design issues, focusing on genre networks instead of single genres, trying further possibilities of triangulation, redefining the criteria for the selection of formal/functional properties in analytic projects and development of thicker explanatory frameworks. The paper also looks at possibilities of operationalizing this concept within what is called “a hybridity-sensitive EAP pedagogy” and suggests intertextuality/interdiscursivity tracing tasks and discursive conversion tasks as means of raising EAP learners awareness.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Mohammad Ahmadi Safa; Roya Zamani Jamshidi
Abstract
Abstract The researchers have been interested to explore the impact of personality traits on second or foreign language learning. The current study is an attempt to investigate whether there exists a statistically significant relationship between introvert and extrovert EFL learners’ willingness ...
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Abstract The researchers have been interested to explore the impact of personality traits on second or foreign language learning. The current study is an attempt to investigate whether there exists a statistically significant relationship between introvert and extrovert EFL learners’ willingness to communicate and ambiguity tolerance. To this end, a total of 150 EFL learners completed the Introversion/Extroversion Scale developed by McCroskey (1998), the Willingness to Communicate Questionnaire (McIntyre et al, 2001) and the Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (Ely, 1995). The findings of Pearson correlation coefficient revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between (a) introvert EFL learners’ WTC and ambiguity tolerance, and (b) extrovert EFL learners’ WTC and ambiguity tolerance. Independent samples t-tests indicated a significant meaningful difference between introvert and extrovert EFL learners’ WTC and ambiguity tolerance. Whereas extrovert EFL learners were positively different from introvert learners in their willingness to communicate (WTC), introvert EFL learners were found to be more tolerant of ambiguity than extrovert EFL learners. The findings imply that EFL teachers and policy makers need to consider personality types as determining factors for the success of foreign language learners and accordingly modify their educational practices.Keywords: Introversion, Extroversion, Tolerance of Ambiguity, Willingness to Communicate.
Ahad Mehrvand; Moussa Pourya Asl
Abstract
Attempts to present a definitive rational explanation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights have been a growing concern since its publication in 1847. The abundant, yet incoherent, interpretations of Wuthering Heights, each taking one element of the novel and extrapolating it towards total ...
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Attempts to present a definitive rational explanation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights have been a growing concern since its publication in 1847. The abundant, yet incoherent, interpretations of Wuthering Heights, each taking one element of the novel and extrapolating it towards total explanation, make the need for this research timely. This article focuses on ways to achieve a truer and more rational interpretation of the novel. The study indicates that in order to solve the enigma and crack the codes of the novel, the conscious and unconscious thoughts of the author, performing within the text, have to be discovered. The research approach adopted in this study is what is referred to as psychobiography or the Freudian psychoanalytic criticism. Freud's ideas have been employed due to the increasing shift to him in the recent decades, particularly in the discipline of psychobiography. The findings of this research underline that: First, Emily Brontë grew up in an oppressive milieu, and she compulsively created phantasy worlds within which she continuously repeated certain patterns; Second, nearly all the characters of the novel are stricken by their mother's death, and they not only undergo the processes of dejection, melancholia, and hysteria, but also suffer from certain core issues—fear of intimacy, fear of abandonment, fear of betrayal, low self-esteem, insecure or unstable sense of self; Third, in Wuthering Heights, religion, civilization, and conventional principles of Victorian novel writing are satirically rejected. The main conclusion to be drawn from this article is that Emily Brontë was a neurotic person whose unconscious obsessions of psychoanalytic love of mother and hatred of father are projected in Wuthering Heights.
Leila Ahmadpour; Dr. Mohammad Hossein Yousefi
Abstract
Peer assessment has gained growing popularity in education and teaching. Being a learning tool, evaluating their peers can equip learners with skills to develop judgments about what forms high-quality work. There have been however research gaps in the literature showing a lack of adequate work on the ...
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Peer assessment has gained growing popularity in education and teaching. Being a learning tool, evaluating their peers can equip learners with skills to develop judgments about what forms high-quality work. There have been however research gaps in the literature showing a lack of adequate work on the investigation of peer assessment in a group-oriented classroom context. The present study intended to compare the effectiveness of group work with peer assessment and scaffolding with lack of it on learners’ oral accuracy. For this purpose, the regular past tense –ed grammatical target structure as a challenging feature was selected. A total of 34 low-intermediate Iranian EFL learners in two intact classes took part in the study. Although one class was exposed to group work enhanced by peer assessment and scaffolding, the control class did not receive any such instruction. Participants provided answers to pre- and post- grammar tests and their performance was subjected to statistical data analysis by means of ANCOVA. The results indicated the superiority of the experimental group in comparison to the control group. The findings were therefore in line with the cognitive elaboration hypothesis and the sociocultural theory. The findings were discussed with relation to implications for language teachers.
Davud Kuhi; Sirous Khoubkar
Abstract
This study aimed at discussing and representing discourse analysis of classroom talk in two contexts. It is significant, since it considers different genres of talk, cultural and social identities, social relations, different ideologies and many other aspects in this analysis. It attempts to analyze ...
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This study aimed at discussing and representing discourse analysis of classroom talk in two contexts. It is significant, since it considers different genres of talk, cultural and social identities, social relations, different ideologies and many other aspects in this analysis. It attempts to analyze the dominant classroom patterns in two contexts. Two cases of study were analyzed in this study: a rural setting which includes 28 participants, and an urban setting including 32 participants. Using Schiffrin’s model of study with different principles – speech act theory, Interactional sociolinguistics, pragmatics, ethnography of communication, conversation analysis, and variation analysis – we tried to interpret and analyze different forms and functions of utterances, different social orders, ideas, thought processes and social identities of participants in each context. Frank talks, simple constructions of utterances, simple action clauses and their referents are common in rural setting, while intertextuality, literal phrases, similes and metaphors, ellipses and complicated action clauses and their referents are popular in urban settings. The findings of this paper direct us toward a complete needs analysis and designing new courses in two contexts. These indicate that there are many differences among two groups.
Seyedeh Elham Elhambakhsh; Forugh Amirjalili; Elham Kashefi
Abstract
As covert socio-cultural relations have significant effects on language, these norms are reflected in linguistic and generic structure of public death notices as a distinctive genre. This study intended to identify the different genres of death notices (e.g. memorial advertisements, obituaries, funeral ...
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As covert socio-cultural relations have significant effects on language, these norms are reflected in linguistic and generic structure of public death notices as a distinctive genre. This study intended to identify the different genres of death notices (e.g. memorial advertisements, obituaries, funeral announcements/posters, memorial cards, etc.) and to conduct a comparative genre analysis of memorial cards (MCs) in English and funeral/memorial announcements (FMAs) in Persian using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The data included 22 English MCs and 40 Persian FMAs (average 80 words). The results of bottom-up analyses of different moves and steps in the 2 genres in focus revealed that, there were more similarities between English MCs and Persian FMAs than differences. Both languages introduced the deceased person, included literary or religious texts, signatures, names of the clergyman invited and included the date, time, and address of the memorial ceremony in their MCs and FMAs. While English MCs included the dates of birth and death of the deceased person and a word of acknowledgement, the Persian FMAs distinguished different types of ceremonies and named and invited the relatives, friends, or acquaintances. The results can benefit L2 writers to master the predominant structural patterns and the reflected cultural differences.
Davud Kuhi
Abstract
Inspired by Fairclough's suggestion of the idea of commodification in higher education, particularly in terms of "the marketization of the discursive practices of universities" (1993, p. 143), the author of the present paper proposes a theoretical basis within which the constitutive functioning of academic ...
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Inspired by Fairclough's suggestion of the idea of commodification in higher education, particularly in terms of "the marketization of the discursive practices of universities" (1993, p. 143), the author of the present paper proposes a theoretical basis within which the constitutive functioning of academic discourse in the mentioned process can be understood. In this attempt, Althusser's chain of interpellation is proposed as a rigorous conceptual framework to demonstrate the interdependence of the different components of academic life. As the major contribution of the present argument, the adapted schema demonstrates a dynamic relationship among university as an institution, academic communicative events, academic practice, academic discourse and the identities of the participants of academic context. The paper is concluded with some implications of the argument for EAP research and pedagogy.
Fatemeh Esmaeili; Biook Behnam; Abolfazl Ramazani
Abstract
Emotional Intelligence (EI) theory has stirred up interest of researchers and policy makers. As opposed to mere reliance on Intelligent Quotient (IQ) as contributing to success in education, proponents of EI theory emphasize its fundamental role in different aspects of academic achievement. Therefore, ...
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Emotional Intelligence (EI) theory has stirred up interest of researchers and policy makers. As opposed to mere reliance on Intelligent Quotient (IQ) as contributing to success in education, proponents of EI theory emphasize its fundamental role in different aspects of academic achievement. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between EI and writing ability of Iranian EFL university students. To achieve this goal, a group of forty EFL students took part in this study. Twenty of the participants were female and twenty male, and their age range was 19-26. The participants were given Bar-On’s EQ questionnaire as well as a writing test. Bar-On’s questionnaire consisted of 90 items which were in Likert scale format and the writing test was given as the final exam of students’ Advanced Essay Writing course at the university. Students were asked to write about one of the 2 topics they were given and their writing was evaluated by two raters. Inter-rater reliability of 0.8 was achieved. The results indicated no significant relationship between female and male students’ EI and their writing score. Among sub-skills of EI, impulse control correlated negatively with males’ writing ability. Detailed findings and implications are also discussed.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Dr. Azizeh Chalak; Mahdokht Nilforoush
Abstract
This article aims to investigate and analyze the perceived English language needs of engineers who want to develop their job position through English Language in their workplaces such as public relations, technical and operational, engineering support of production, planning and development, financial, ...
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This article aims to investigate and analyze the perceived English language needs of engineers who want to develop their job position through English Language in their workplaces such as public relations, technical and operational, engineering support of production, planning and development, financial, general accounting, and legal affairs. In today’s competitive world, the economy needs more people with higher level skills in the workplace. Taking into consideration the specializations mentioned above, the article focuses on the perceived needs of engineers concerning Business English, not general English. Due to the business and economic development of the last decades in Iran, English has rapidly become the language used all over the world. Developing an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course in their workplaces is another purpose of this study. Questionnaire, interviews and observations were used to gather information in this research. Engineers’ expectations, managers’ demands, economy’s needs ask for more reliable methods to provide a better learning in workplace situation. Finally, based on the findings obtained from this study, it can be concluded that workplace courses have lots of effect on the engineers’ job and development and by passing the time they ask for more variable ESP courses relating to their job.
Nasser Dasht Peyma; Sanam Aliashrafy
Abstract
The processes of cultural transformation in Britain in the second half of the 20th century, the fall of the Empire, immigration from former colonies and the expansion of the multiculturalism, have influenced new ways of looking at the conceptions of identity of diasporic subjects within Britain. ...
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The processes of cultural transformation in Britain in the second half of the 20th century, the fall of the Empire, immigration from former colonies and the expansion of the multiculturalism, have influenced new ways of looking at the conceptions of identity of diasporic subjects within Britain. Examining these experiences, diasporic novelists write about the second generation immigrants in contemporary Britain who accentuate hybrid existence and complex identities. Hanif Kureishi in The Buddha of Suburbia delineates the formation, the existence, the refashioning of the conceptions of cultural identities of predominantly the second generation immigrants, British born migrants of his own generation and the challenges the perceptions of such identities as essentialist and fixed concepts. The novel depicts a protagonist whose cultural identity is fragmented and far from homogeneous. London with its heterogeneous character is symbolized as a place of social encounter and cultural intermixture, a decentered place that stimulates the exploration of transnational models of identity. Kureishi’s writing can be seen as an example of the fact that many conceptual binaries, such as centre and periphery, self and other, inside and outside, have been challenged and have given way to more mutable concepts of hybridity, transculturation, border lives and ‘in-between’ space.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Elizabeth Maria Kissling
Abstract
Concept-Based Language Instruction (C-BLI) is rooted in Vygotskian sociocultural theories (SCT) of learning and modeled after Systemic Theoretical Instruction. Investigations of C-BLI have reported positive instructional outcomes such as increased conceptual awareness and control for a variety of targeted ...
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Concept-Based Language Instruction (C-BLI) is rooted in Vygotskian sociocultural theories (SCT) of learning and modeled after Systemic Theoretical Instruction. Investigations of C-BLI have reported positive instructional outcomes such as increased conceptual awareness and control for a variety of targeted concepts in a variety of languages, including aspect in Spanish. This study followed suit, by exposing novice Spanish learners (n = 26) to the concept of viewpoint aspect as a matter of boundedness. It also directly tested the learners’ ability to form nonprototypical associations between preterite-imperfect morphology and lexical aspectual categories, which is the kind of learner development most of interest to scholars working in semantic theoretical perspectives outside of SCT such as the Aspect Hypothesis (AH). Comparisons with corpus data (n = 75) suggested that the C-BLI learners were able to use the Spanish preterite and imperfect non-prototypically, more like advanced learners than novices. The results suggest that C-BLI can facilitate aspectual development applied to disassociating viewpoint aspect from lexical aspect. It is argued that C-BLI and other approaches rooted in SCT principles could be enriched by engaging with new ways of examining learner development, and thereby perhaps garner the interest of scholars working outside of SCT. It is further argued that research on the AH could be enriched by considering data that elucidates effects of specific instructional approaches.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Ali Akbar Ansarin; Masoud Yaghoubi Notash; shalaleh Javadi
Abstract
Syntactic priming has been suggested to be an efficient paradigm in studying mental language representations. However, further research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms. Recently it is suggested that argument-based constructions are present at both the syntactic and discourse levels of ...
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Syntactic priming has been suggested to be an efficient paradigm in studying mental language representations. However, further research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms. Recently it is suggested that argument-based constructions are present at both the syntactic and discourse levels of representation predicting that priming effect does not occur in the absence of shared semantic content. The study used a pre-test and post-test approach within a quasi-experimental design to investigate whether sentences with no shared semantic content, but similar syntactic structure, could prime one another in L2 written production tasks. Ninety students at the University of Tabriz participated in the study and were divided into intermediate or upper-intermediate groups based on their proficiency test performance. Both groups narrated a silent movie in the pre-treatment phase. In the treatment phase, the participants were primed with motion phrasal verbs by reading and rating a booklet including pictures followed by phrasal motion verbs describing them. Immediately afterward, they were required to narrate a silent movie. It was hypothesized that if semantically unrelated structures could prime one another as is supported by some reported findings, priming participants with motion phrasal verbs would boost non-motion phrasal verb usage in the treatment phase. However, the authors failed to find a significant difference between the performance of participants in the pre-treatment vs. post-treatment phase. The findings support the claim that syntactic similarity is not sufficient to trigger structural priming, and shared semantics seems to be required, and are justified with regard to semantic roles and compositional vs. non-compositional meaning.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Samira Atefi Boroujeni; Mohammad Hassan Tahririan; Katayoon Afzali
Abstract
It is frequently affirmed that EFL teachers face many stressors at work. While they keep experiencing perturbations that may cause fluctuations in their efficacy, immunity acts as a buffer and allows teachers to carry on performing academically in the classroom and emotionally and psychologically over ...
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It is frequently affirmed that EFL teachers face many stressors at work. While they keep experiencing perturbations that may cause fluctuations in their efficacy, immunity acts as a buffer and allows teachers to carry on performing academically in the classroom and emotionally and psychologically over the course of their careers (Thelen, 2005). The present study adapted a mixed-method design to investigate the distribution of the participants across different immunity types and also the destabilizing events which triggers Iranian EFL teachers' immunity. To fulfill this aim, 204 English teachers from two provinces of Iran (Isfahan and Charmahal Bakhtiari) took part in the study. To collect the data, Language Teacher Immunity Questionnaire (Hiver, 2016), reflective journal, and interview were utilized. The data gathered via questionnaire were subjected to descriptive analysis and cluster analysis while the qualitative data were analyzed through the three-stage coding process of grounded theory. The results of the qualitative analysis led to the identification of three immunity types, namely, productively immunized, maladaptively immunized, and immunocompromised with maladaptively immunized teachers having the highest rate of distribution among the participants. The results of the study further identified 3 categories of educational, organizational, and personal triggers along with 14 subcategories among Iranian EFL teachers. The findings of the study can have implications for teachers, stakeholders, and policy-makers to help teachers foster their immunity against stressors and avoid fatigue and burnout.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Behnaz Rastegar; Abbas Ali Zarei; Rajab Esfandiari
Abstract
Substantial research has been done on assessment literacy (AL), and several questionnaires have been developed to measure AL. However, little (if any) research has attempted to provide a comprehensive assessment literacy questionnaire. To fill this gap, the present study attempted to develop an assessment ...
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Substantial research has been done on assessment literacy (AL), and several questionnaires have been developed to measure AL. However, little (if any) research has attempted to provide a comprehensive assessment literacy questionnaire. To fill this gap, the present study attempted to develop an assessment literacy questionnaire which encompasses not only the areas identified by previous research, but also those not identified by those studies. Moreover, attempt was made to identify the components that were better predictors of Iranian EFL teachers’ assessment literacy. To this end, first previous AL questionnaires were explored and their main items were identified. Then, researchers-made items were added. Meanwhile, interviews were conducted with experts, who suggested some additional items. Then, 386 Iranian teachers of English were selected through convenience sampling on the basis of availability to fill in the first draft of the questionnaires that assessed different aspects of assessment literacy in order to validate it. Finally, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted, and a questionnaire with 35 items which evaluated nine components of assessment literacy was developed. In addition, the validated, final version of the AL questionnaire was distributed among 146 EFL teachers to identify the better predictor components of AL among Iranian EFL teachers. Multiple regression analysis revealed that “administering, rating, and interpreting test” was the best predictor of teachers’ AL in comparison to other components. The theoretical as well as practical implications of the findings are also discussed.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Sasan Baleghizadeh; Hamidreza Zakervafaei
Abstract
Given the long-lasting debates over L1 use in language teaching and learning, this study adopted a mixed methods design to investigate the role of Iranian EFL learners’ L2 proficiency in their attitudes toward using L1. A questionnaire originally developed by Scheffler et al. (2017) was modified ...
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Given the long-lasting debates over L1 use in language teaching and learning, this study adopted a mixed methods design to investigate the role of Iranian EFL learners’ L2 proficiency in their attitudes toward using L1. A questionnaire originally developed by Scheffler et al. (2017) was modified and distributed among 180 elementary, intermediate, and advanced learners in four private language institutes in Karaj, Iran. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with 18 participants to support and supplement the findings of the quantitative phase. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS and the interviews were transcribed to find common themes. Quantitative data showed that the elementary learners held positive attitudes toward L1 use, while the intermediate and advanced learners held negative attitudes. It was also revealed that the elementary learners held positive attitudes toward all functions of L1 use. The intermediate learners held positive attitudes toward using L1 only for vocabulary and grammar points, while advanced learners held negative attitudes toward all dimensions of L1 use. The findings are likely to help EFL teachers to hear learners’ voices and decide when and at which level it is appropriate to use or limit L1.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Afsheen Rezai; Zeinab Azizi; Ehsan Namaziandost
Abstract
The present study sought out to examine the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ professional competence and job performance quantitatively and qualitatively. To this end, a total of 330 EFL teachers, including males (n = 185) and females (n = 145) for the quantitative part, as well as a ...
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The present study sought out to examine the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ professional competence and job performance quantitatively and qualitatively. To this end, a total of 330 EFL teachers, including males (n = 185) and females (n = 145) for the quantitative part, as well as a sample of 25 high school English teachers, consisting of males (n = 11) and females (n = 14) for the qualitative part were selected using a random sampling method in Khorramabad City and Borujerd City, Iran. The participants responded to an EFL Teachers’ Job performance Questionnaire, an EFL Teachers’ Professional Competence Questionnaire, and a reflective written statement. The collected data were analyzed through a Pearson correlation analysis, a multiple regression analysis, and a standard thematic coding analysis. Findings evidenced a positive correlation between the participants’ professional competence and their job performance. Additionally, the results evidenced that the participants’ job performance was mainly impacted by skills, knowledge, and attitudes factors, comprising their professional competence. The complementary qualitative findings yielded four overarching themes: “increased job effectiveness”, “improved teaching self-efficacy”, “increased teaching motivation”, and “promoted organizational acceptance”. The study concludes with offering a range of implications and avenues for further research.
3. Applied Literature
Bahram Behin
Abstract
Applied literature is a term that is the outcome of a need to put literature to tangible uses in the “real” world. A medical practitioner looking for a definition of life, for instance, finds literature a useful source for the answer. With paradigm shifts in scientific studies, interdisciplinarity ...
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Applied literature is a term that is the outcome of a need to put literature to tangible uses in the “real” world. A medical practitioner looking for a definition of life, for instance, finds literature a useful source for the answer. With paradigm shifts in scientific studies, interdisciplinarity has been a method to overcome the alienations that resulted from the isolation of disciplines from one another. Some would go even further to problematize the concept of being solely confined to the limits of disciplines or the textuality of literature because they are still hindrances to coming into direct contact with the “real” world. Arguing that tangible real world should lie at the core of applied literary studies, this paper is an attempt to show how a path may be opened up towards the diverse nature of reality in literary studies through a critical review of relevant aspects of literary theory and by drawing upon studies of cultures.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Cosmas Rai Amenorvi
Abstract
This paper unearths the contribution of lexical cohesion to the textuality and overall meaning of Malcolm X’s speech 'The Ballot or the Bullet'. Drawing on Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) and Hoey’s (1991) theory of cohesion, specifically lexical cohesion, whose main thrust ...
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This paper unearths the contribution of lexical cohesion to the textuality and overall meaning of Malcolm X’s speech 'The Ballot or the Bullet'. Drawing on Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) and Hoey’s (1991) theory of cohesion, specifically lexical cohesion, whose main thrust is the role of lexical items in not only contributing to meaning but also serving as cohesive ties, the paper discusses how Malcolm employs words in serving a dual role of contributing to meaning by serving as cohesive ties and their literary use for an aesthetic touch to his The Ballot or the Bullet. Discussions show that Malcolm X employs both simple and complex lexical structures to achieve cohesion in 'The Ballot or the Bullet'. The same lexical structures espouse the literary device of repetition, for emphasis and rhythm. Malcolm, therefore, combines linguistic and literary phenomena by his employment of lexical items in not only conveying meaning or passing information to his audience but also doing that with artistic beauty.
