1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Sepideh Rafiei Sakhaei; Biook Behnam; Zohreh Seifoori
Abstract
It is commonly agreed that grammar is so important that it should not be ignored. The English passive voice can be a challenging aspect of grammar learning for Iranian EFL learners. The aim of this study was to comparatively and empirically investigate the effect of the Input Enhancement Technique (IET), ...
Read More
It is commonly agreed that grammar is so important that it should not be ignored. The English passive voice can be a challenging aspect of grammar learning for Iranian EFL learners. The aim of this study was to comparatively and empirically investigate the effect of the Input Enhancement Technique (IET), Guided Discovery Approach (GDA), and Explicit Instruction Method (EIM) on Iranian EFL learners’ passive voice production. It sought to determine the individual effectiveness of these methods and identify the most efficient one. To this end, 70 Iranian EFL learners from the Payam Nour University of Tabriz were chosen and divided into three groups, including GDA (N = 22), IET (N = 25), and EIM (N = 23). The research data were obtained based on three validated, researcher-designed computerized activities. Pretest and posttest were used to elicit information on the learners’ production of passive voice. The results of the data analysis revealed that both IET and GDA had significant effects on the production of passive voice. However, EIM did not significantly influence the production of passive voice. Meanwhile, GDA was found to be the most efficient teaching technique compared with the other methods. This study has some important implications for teachers, students, and syllabus designers.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Mostafa Shahiditabar; Hossein Pourghasemian
Abstract
< p>This study aims to consider conceptual metaphors of “separation” in Azerbaijani Turkish poetry in an attempt to uncover the interactions of metaphorical expressions, culture, environment, and embodiment. The corpus of the study contains Azerbaijani Turkish poems of Shahriar (1906-1988) ...
Read More
< p>This study aims to consider conceptual metaphors of “separation” in Azerbaijani Turkish poetry in an attempt to uncover the interactions of metaphorical expressions, culture, environment, and embodiment. The corpus of the study contains Azerbaijani Turkish poems of Shahriar (1906-1988) as well as seven other Azerbaijani poets. The results of the paper show that separation is expressed through eleven salient metaphors in Azerbaijani Turkish: 1. SEPARATION IS HUMAN/ANIMATE, 2. SEPARATION IS PAIN, 3. SEPARATION IS NATURAL FORCE, 4. SEPARATION IS FIRE, 5. SEPARATION IS THING/TOOL, 6. SEPARATION IS FALL, 7. SEPARATION IS OPPRESSION, 8. SEPARATION IS DEATH, 9. SEPARATION IS TRAVEL, 10. SEPARATION IS PLACE/CONTAINER, and 11. SEPARATION IS RESURRECTION. Moreover, according to the findings of the paper, Azerbaijani Turkish cultural/environmental schemata of separation lie at the root of most of the studied conceptualizations. That is, the studied metaphors are touched by cultural and environmental influences. Regarding embodiment and metaphor, the study confirms that some conceptual metaphors are based on recurring bodily experiences as it is seen in SEPARATION IS HUMAN/ANIMATE metaphors.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Alessandro Rosborough; Jennifer Wimmer
Abstract
This paper addresses the in/commensurability of Vygotskian sociocultural theory (SCT) with popular K-12 educational curricula positioned and claiming to use his theory in practice (McLeod, 2019). We discuss well-known educational curricula, models, and social theories in relation to second language learning. ...
Read More
This paper addresses the in/commensurability of Vygotskian sociocultural theory (SCT) with popular K-12 educational curricula positioned and claiming to use his theory in practice (McLeod, 2019). We discuss well-known educational curricula, models, and social theories in relation to second language learning. Representational examples for in/commensurable comparisons are taken from well-published Pre-K, Elementary, Secondary curricula, and educational psychology texts, all primarily used as instructional preparation for pre-service teachers. In operationalizing these comparisons for in/commensurability, we argue that Vygotsky’s explanations concerning the unity of thought and language, the zone of proximal development, mediational means for learning and development, and his overarching framework concerning perezhivanie and consciousness are not well considered by these popular texts and curricula, particularly for marginalized second language learners in the field of education. Conclusions and implications include arguments to more fully implement Vygotsky’s SCT theory in place of simplistic social turn strategies, and a call for supporting language minority students.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Somaye Ashrafi; Parviz Ajideh
Abstract
The aim of this article was to examine three advanced textbooks in Iran Language Institute (ILI) in an attempt to establish if they differ in the extent to which they represent dimension of big ‘C’ culture and little ‘c’ culture, their stance in distribution of references of cultural ...
Read More
The aim of this article was to examine three advanced textbooks in Iran Language Institute (ILI) in an attempt to establish if they differ in the extent to which they represent dimension of big ‘C’ culture and little ‘c’ culture, their stance in distribution of references of cultural category, and also what themes predominate. The analysis identifies just the cultural elements, and culture–free linguistic items were not counted. The statistical analysis suggests that the dominant culture category was the target culture with the least attention given to source culture. It was also found out that although the occurrences of themes of little “c” culture dimension in advanced textbooks 2 &3 were slightly higher than those of big “c”, there was a wide gap between two dimensions in advanced textbook 1 which tends highly towards big “C” culture. There is lack of consistency in the occurrences of themes throughout the textbooks. The main absent themes were common little “c” themes (i.e. “Living Condition,” “Social Convention”, and “body language”). Such considerable lack of source information and imbalanced representation of cultural themes might not be sufficient to flourish Iranian learners’ intercultural communication competence (ICC) and thus might make intercultural communication difficult for them.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Maryam Alipour; Khazriati Salehuddin; Siti Hamin Stapa
Abstract
AbstractIn this study, phonological, morphological, and orthographical spelling difficulties were identified to examine the correlation between spelling difficulties and the time taken to memorize the spelling of words (time of memorization) among Iranian EFL students in Malaysia. The participants were ...
Read More
AbstractIn this study, phonological, morphological, and orthographical spelling difficulties were identified to examine the correlation between spelling difficulties and the time taken to memorize the spelling of words (time of memorization) among Iranian EFL students in Malaysia. The participants were 41 Iranian EFL students (20 male and 21 female) who were selected purposefully from an Iranian secondary school in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. A pre-test and post-test design adapting Tabrizi at el.’s (2013) approach was used. Forty words from the second-year English textbook of Iranian EFL students were selected for use in both pre-test and post-test. After the identification of the most frequent type of spelling errors, a significant negative correlation was found between time of memorization and English spelling errors (r= - 0.765), indicating that when the time of response was short, English spelling errors increased. The findings may contribute to identification, classification, and treatment of spelling, and reducing spelling difficulties among EFL learners to mitigate spelling difficulties among young learners, particularly among Iranian EFL students.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Mehrnaz Jamshidi; Zohreh Mohamadi Zenouzagh
Abstract
This study aimed to discover the effect of mobile-assisted teaching of collocations on Iranian EFL learners’ reading achievement. For this purpose, a PET test was given to 85 intermediate EFL learners as the proficiency test. After homogenization, 30 female and male students within the age range ...
Read More
This study aimed to discover the effect of mobile-assisted teaching of collocations on Iranian EFL learners’ reading achievement. For this purpose, a PET test was given to 85 intermediate EFL learners as the proficiency test. After homogenization, 30 female and male students within the age range of 16 to 30 years old from an institute in Alborz Province were selected as the participants in the experimental group and 30 female and male students within the age range of 14 to 25 years old from another institute in Alborz province were selected as the participants in the control group, as well. A reading test was utilized as the pre-test to measure the participants’ reading achievement. The participants in the experimental group received mobile-assisted teaching of collocations through Flax Completing Collocation game while the participants in the control group received teacher instruction of the collocations existing in the game inside the classroom. To discover the effect of mobile-assisted teaching of collocations, a post-test, the same as the pre-test was given to the participants after the treatment. An independent t-test was run to compare the experimental and control groups’ means on the pre and posttest of reading achievement. The results indicated that the experimental group, after receiving mobile-assisted teaching of collocations, significantly outperformed the control group on the posttest of reading achievement. Regarding the findings of the study, the achieved results would help EFL teachers, learners, and material developers to be informed about the effect of mobile-assisted teaching of collocations on reading ability. Furthermore, this study presents some recommendations in future studies.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Ghader Razmjou
Abstract
Ecolinguistics: language and ecology delivers an overall view and a critical approach on ecolinguistic studies. This book is an excellent resource to students, researchers, linguists and those working in the area of discourse analysis as well as ecology. The book claims presenting a news course for ecolinguistics ...
Read More
Ecolinguistics: language and ecology delivers an overall view and a critical approach on ecolinguistic studies. This book is an excellent resource to students, researchers, linguists and those working in the area of discourse analysis as well as ecology. The book claims presenting a news course for ecolinguistics including a framework for understanding the theory of ecolinguistics, exploration of consumerism, and discourse analysis of texts of different types. In reviewing this book, the principal criteria included content, organization, theories and reference sources. Arran Stibbe, the author of the book, is a Reader in ecological Linguistics at the University of Gloucestershire where he teaches ecolinguisstics, discourse analysis, ethics and language and communication for leadership. His research and teaching examines how language encodes the stories we live by, and shapes how we see ourselves and our relationship with other animals and the earth. This involves linguistic analysis of a wide range of discourses, from advertising which encourages people to buy unnecessary and ecologically damaging products, to the inspirational language of nature writing.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Roya Safari; Farid Ghaemi; Masood Siyyari
Abstract
An awareness of one's own learning processes seems not to occur without language learners, engagement in SRL strategies in terms of behavioral, emotional, cognitive, metacognitive, and environmental aspects during learning procedures, which leads to high-quality planning for learning (Krause & Coates, ...
Read More
An awareness of one's own learning processes seems not to occur without language learners, engagement in SRL strategies in terms of behavioral, emotional, cognitive, metacognitive, and environmental aspects during learning procedures, which leads to high-quality planning for learning (Krause & Coates, 2008). This mixed method study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of self-regulated language learning in developing metacognitive awareness of grammar strategies and compared it with non-self-regulated groups. To this end, a total of 122 homogenized intermediate EFL learners were randomly allocated to one of three groups (two experimental and one control). To collect data, all groups were subjected to three different treatments. The data analysis of non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis indicated that self-regulated language learning strategies instruction (cyclical & emotional regulation) had a significant effect on the EFL participants' metacognitive awareness of grammar strategies. Also, the SRL (C & ER) model improved the learners' metacognitive awareness more than the SRL (C) model and was followed by F on F method, which showed the lowest performance. For more evidence of learners’ engagement in SRL strategies during the learning process, an SRGL questionnaire was administered to EFL learners at the pre-test and post-test phases. A paired sample t-test data analysis revealed that the participants in both SRL models outperformed in the use of self-regulatory strategies. The result of the paired t-test of emotion regulation data also represented a large effect size. Regarding learners’ attitudes towards implementing SRL models, the frequency data and chi-square analysis of both experimental groups indicated that most students significantly held a positive perception of these techniques. Therefore, this study provides implications for teachers and syllabus designers to design SRL task modeling compatible with learners’ language levels.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Mohammad Saber Khaghaninejad; Maryam Azarian; Fatemeh Javanmardi
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the manifestations of objectivity in American academic texts across different disciplines and various time spans. To achieve this, the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) was surveyed in terms of the frequency of occurrence of the four identified linguistic ...
Read More
This study aimed at investigating the manifestations of objectivity in American academic texts across different disciplines and various time spans. To achieve this, the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) was surveyed in terms of the frequency of occurrence of the four identified linguistic features (i.e., passive voice, impersonality, hedging, and attitude markers) as the indicators of objectivity (e.g., Alvin, 2014; Bal-Gezegin & Baş, 2020) to find the cross-disciplinary differences during the last twenty years. The results indicated that passive voice was employed differently across the academic disciplines of COCA and the notion of impersonality was more realized in hard sciences in comparison to soft ones. Moreover, the findings revealed a decline in the occurrence of passive voice through time in all the academic disciplines. In addition, hedging and attitude markers were more manifested in hard sciences probably due to the writers’ inclination to be judged objectively. Finally, objectivity was shown to have a steady increase in American academic texts implying that, though the authors of academic texts revealed less inclination to employ passive voice to avoid difficulty and ambiguity, they have employed less personal authorial references to stick to the notion of objectivity and impartiality during the recent years.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Minoo Alemi; Neda Khanlarzadeh
Abstract
Acquiring proficiency in academic genres is a key factor in research community. Among various genres in academic discourse communities, spoken genre, especially Conference Presentations (CPs), play a crucial role in research communities, though investigation on this important genre is in its infancy ...
Read More
Acquiring proficiency in academic genres is a key factor in research community. Among various genres in academic discourse communities, spoken genre, especially Conference Presentations (CPs), play a crucial role in research communities, though investigation on this important genre is in its infancy or is relatively under-researched. Therefore, the present study aims to shed light on the importance of two most frequently used structures in CPs, passive voice, and pseudo-cleft. To this end, 600 minutes of Iranian international CPs were recorded and then transcribed. The rate of employment of the structures, and the effect of gender and university degree of presenters were estimated. The results of the chi square analysis of the data suggested that although rate of use of passive voice was higher than pseudo-cleft, the differences between males and females, and graduates and postgraduates were minor and hence gender and university degree did not significantly influence the rate of use of the structures. Since passive voice and pseudo-cleft are two of the most important structures in academic genre, the results of the present study have obvious importance in increasing conference presenters and lecturers’ awareness of the employment of the structures efficiently.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Mohammad Ghafouri; Abdorreza Tahriri
Abstract
Understanding the role of positive emotions and their contributions to the learners’ overall academic success and well-being is of utmost importance. To this end, by following positive psychology and control-value theory, the researchers explored the relationship between two under-researched factors ...
Read More
Understanding the role of positive emotions and their contributions to the learners’ overall academic success and well-being is of utmost importance. To this end, by following positive psychology and control-value theory, the researchers explored the relationship between two under-researched factors dwelling within the realm of L2 emotions and goal achievement, i.e., L2 grit and academic buoyancy. To this end, 263 junior high school students were surveyed via L2 grit and academic buoyancy scales. The results of the analyses of correlation, regression, and MANOVA revealed that L2 grit is significantly correlated with L2 buoyancy with the strong predictive power of its underlying components. Analyses also indicated that males and females significantly differ in their level of grit. The findings imply that acknowledging the presence of grit and academic buoyancy in language learners would possibly lead to positive outcomes.
3. Applied Literature
Dr. Abolfazl Ramazani
Abstract
Health Humanities written by Paul Crawford, Brian Brown, Charley Baker, Victoria Tischler, and Brian Adams was first published in 2015 by Palgrave Macmillan, UK. The book is a result of many years of experience of work in the field and comes at a right time after the successful organisation of some international ...
Read More
Health Humanities written by Paul Crawford, Brian Brown, Charley Baker, Victoria Tischler, and Brian Adams was first published in 2015 by Palgrave Macmillan, UK. The book is a result of many years of experience of work in the field and comes at a right time after the successful organisation of some international conferences on health humanities by Professor Paul Crawford, et al. in the preceding years. Structurally, it includes the following chapters: 1) “Health Humanities”, 2) “Anthropology and the Study of Culture”, 3) “Applied Literature”, 4) “Narrative and Applied Linguistics”, 5) “Performing Arts and the Aesthetics of Health”, 6) “Visual Art and Transformation”, 7) “Practice Based Evidence: Delivering Humanities into Healthcare”, 8) “Creative Practice as Mutual Recovery”, and finally “Concluding Remarks”. The book also contains, amongst other things, three important entries: “List of Figures and Tables”, “References”, and an “Index”, which add to the attraction of the book and make it an authentic read. In the “Acknowledgements” section of the book, the authors thank many health-related organisations in the UK, specially the Creative Practice as Mutual Recovery consortium for practically helping them with their “Mutual Recovery”, a subject that has duly and frequently been dealt with in chapter eight.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Minoo Alemi; Mojtaba Mohammadi; Hessameddin Ghanbar; Mohadeseh Asghari; Atefeh Rezanejad; Zhila Tootoonchian
Abstract
Problem-based Learning (PBL) is considered one of the instructional models of learning with many pedagogical advantages that can bridge the current traditional learning systems’ gaps. It is a method of learning in which the students start with a problem rather than the input provided by the teacher. ...
Read More
Problem-based Learning (PBL) is considered one of the instructional models of learning with many pedagogical advantages that can bridge the current traditional learning systems’ gaps. It is a method of learning in which the students start with a problem rather than the input provided by the teacher. The current study set out to investigate the major underlying factors of PBL from the Iranian English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students’ point of view. It also aimed at identifying their attitudes toward the different elements of PBL. The data were collected through a validated and piloted questionnaire based on Likert scale (Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.73) from among 379 Iranian EAP university students (196 male and 183 female) from soft and hard science fields of studies. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EAP) showed that the students considered four different factors, namely (1) Project-Based Learning, (2) Collaborative Learning, (3) Use of Technology in Learning, and (4) Autonomous Learning. Moreover, the results of descriptive statistics also indicated that the Iranian students had a generally positive attitude toward PBL and believed that it would assist them in the process of language learning. Our findings can hold important implications for EFL teachers and materials developers and remind them to consider the students’ socio-cultural background and previous educational experiences and accordingly plan an apt curriculum based on the students’ needs and preferences.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Sahar Ahmadpour; Hassan Asadollahfam
Abstract
The present study investigated the effect of extensive and intensive listening on the accuracy of tense use among EFL learners in Iran. It was based on pre-test post-test with intact classes. According to the purpose of the study, a sample (n = 60) of homogeneous participants were selected. From among ...
Read More
The present study investigated the effect of extensive and intensive listening on the accuracy of tense use among EFL learners in Iran. It was based on pre-test post-test with intact classes. According to the purpose of the study, a sample (n = 60) of homogeneous participants were selected. From among the 6 intact classes, one experimental group (n = 19, 9 male and 10 female participants) was identified to take intensive listening method as treatment, another experimental group (n = 20, 12 male and 8 female participants) was identified to take extensive listening as a treatment, and a control group (n = 21, 9 male and 12 female participants) was identified in order to not take intensive listening or extensive listening activities. All groups of the study were given pre-test of verb tense usage in order to measure their grammatical knowledge in verb tense prior to the treatments of the study. After finishing twenty five sessions of treatments for all groups, a post-test including verb tense was given to the participants. The data gathered from the study were compared through SPSS. It was found that extensive listening and intensive listening had positive effects on the accuracy of tense use among EFL learners in Iran. In addition it was found that none of intensive listening group and extensive listening group outperformed each other and there was not any significant difference between these two groups' performances.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Mehri Mokhtarzadeh; Hadi Farjami; Monireh Mokhtarzadeh
Abstract
The present study investigates the potential impact of inspirational quotes on improving English abstract vocabulary recall. To achieve this, a multiple-choice Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) of 60 items including vocabulary and grammar component was administered as the proficiency test to a sample ...
Read More
The present study investigates the potential impact of inspirational quotes on improving English abstract vocabulary recall. To achieve this, a multiple-choice Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) of 60 items including vocabulary and grammar component was administered as the proficiency test to a sample of 63 second-semester male and female students aged 18 to 22, studying English Translation in Semnan University, Iran. The 40 upper-level language students were selected and randomly assigned into two groups of 20 as an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group was exposed to inspirational quotes for one month and the control group was instructed abstract vocabularies through plain sentences. At the end of the treatment, a cued recall achievement test was used to measure the participants’ immediate recall of the target words. Two weeks after the treatment, the same test was administered to explore the delayed recall of participants and to estimate the effect of inspirational quotes on long term recall of abstract vocabulary by the experimental group compared with that of the control group. Analysis of immediate and delayed cued recall achievement tests confirmed the hypotheses that inspirational quotes had a significant effect on both immediate and delayed recall of abstract vocabulary. Based on these findings it is concluded that inspirational quotes can be utilized not only as a supportive context for teaching and learning of abstract vocabulary but also as motivational, emotional, and meaningful pedagogical sources.
3. Applied Literature
Amirhossein Nemati Ziarati; Mahdi Javidshad
Abstract
Politicization, in general, and biopoliticization, in particular, of human beings’ lives, especially those the state deems expendable, is what informs the heart of the present study. Exploring the subtle ways in which the state renders its subjects docile and at the same time divested of any subjectivity, ...
Read More
Politicization, in general, and biopoliticization, in particular, of human beings’ lives, especially those the state deems expendable, is what informs the heart of the present study. Exploring the subtle ways in which the state renders its subjects docile and at the same time divested of any subjectivity, agency, identity and human rights remarkably helps in better understanding the covert mechanisms of the biopolitical regimes operating within the ideologically-informed, discursive nexus of the sociopolitical fabric of the society. Studying Giorgio Agamben’s (1995) seminal text Homo Sacer (1995), and his theoretical reworking of Michel Foucault’s concept of “biopower” alongside Carl Schmitt’s notion of “the state of exception” casts an illuminating light on how such biopolitical regimes and exclusionary states of exception operate within the narrative of V. S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas (1961). Attempts at biopoliticizing and governmentalizing Mohun Biswas, the fiction’s central character, play out in different contexts and manifest themselves within the fabric of both the microcosmic family and macrocosmic society wherein Biswas inhabits, not as a decent member, but as a subjugated inhabitant of a biopolitical camp. Having been biopolitically interpellated and reduced to an Agambenian homo sacer, Biswas is deemed outside of and beneath the law, life and citizenship, and therefore, within a sacrificial order, his life means nothing to the biopolitical state. However, some counter-discursive, counter-biopolitical spaces that Biswas uses to rally against the prevailing sovereignty of the biopolitical regimes of the state should be explored to further buttress or undermine the discursive and ontological potentiality of resistance against biopolitical oppressions of any sort.
3. Applied Literature
Mehdi Azari Samani
Abstract
This paper analyses Thomas Pynchon’s V. (1961) in light of two contradictory scientific perspectives and argues that Pynchon uses complex science-based formulations on different semantic levels to give shape to a seemingly shapeless world of uncertainty. V. is considered by many critics a historiographic ...
Read More
This paper analyses Thomas Pynchon’s V. (1961) in light of two contradictory scientific perspectives and argues that Pynchon uses complex science-based formulations on different semantic levels to give shape to a seemingly shapeless world of uncertainty. V. is considered by many critics a historiographic metafiction which evolves through certain new readings of the early 20th century Europe’s colonialism and is given a sense of uncertainty to historical consciousness via Pynchon’s postmodernist style. This paper suggests that though Pynchon uses the techniques (on the syntactical level) which define postmodernism and create a pandemonium of complexity and meaninglessness, he leaves hidden blueprints which give shape and order to the syntactical and semantic chaos created in his works. To achieve this goal, the main methodological focus of the paper would be on Claude. E. Shannon’s (1948) “information theory.”
3. Applied Literature
Jane Ekstam
Abstract
It is widely acknowledged that emotion is deeply embedded in literary criticism. Even when we aspire to scientific analysis and objectivity, we assume that we share a love of literature. Loving Literature is a deep and fascinating exploration of this important assumption. Literary critics and professors ...
Read More
It is widely acknowledged that emotion is deeply embedded in literary criticism. Even when we aspire to scientific analysis and objectivity, we assume that we share a love of literature. Loving Literature is a deep and fascinating exploration of this important assumption. Literary critics and professors of literature are expected not only to know but also to love their work. In the case of professors, they are also required to transmit this love to their students. Lynch’s study investigates the historical origins of such expectations, and discusses their implications for readers, students and professors. Lynch does not assume that love is necessarily a healthy emotion: it can also be painful. Readers and literary critics forget this at their peril. To understand the role of love in literature, Lynch argues that it is necessary to study the eighteenth century and its ongoing discussions of literary history and the canon. The eighteenth century marked the beginning of English as an academic discipline. Lynch examines not only what early critics knew about literature but also how they felt about it. Only when we know this can we understand how literary studies evolved to its present form.
Bahram Behin
Abstract
Peter Mühlhäusler is the Foundation Professor of Linguistics at the University of Adelaide, and Supernumerary Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford. He has taught at the Technical University of Berlin and in the University of Oxford. He is an active researcher in several areas of linguistics, including ...
Read More
Peter Mühlhäusler is the Foundation Professor of Linguistics at the University of Adelaide, and Supernumerary Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford. He has taught at the Technical University of Berlin and in the University of Oxford. He is an active researcher in several areas of linguistics, including ecolinguistics, language planning, and language policy and language contact in the Australian-Pacific area. His current research focuses on the Pitkern-Norf'k language of Norfolk Island and Aboriginal languages of the West Coast of South Australia. His recent book publications are Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, Language of Environment-Environment of Language, Early Forms of Aboriginal English in South Australia (with Foster and Monaghan), and Herrmann Koeler's Adelaide-Observations on Language and Culture of South Australia. He continues to publish on theoretical and applied ecolinguistics. JALDA's Editor in Chief, Dr. Bahram Behin has sat, in an online chat, with professor Mühlhäusler on the issue of ecolinguistics and its relevence to the studies of language and language teaching.
4. Dynamics between Applied Studies on Language and Literature
Mehdi Aghamohammadi
Abstract
Hafez Shirazi was a distinguished Persian poet. His poetry collection, Divan, is regarded as a literary work of profound significance. Iranians view this collection as something much more than poetry because it is also used for bibliomantic purposes. After studying Hafez in his social context and exploring ...
Read More
Hafez Shirazi was a distinguished Persian poet. His poetry collection, Divan, is regarded as a literary work of profound significance. Iranians view this collection as something much more than poetry because it is also used for bibliomantic purposes. After studying Hafez in his social context and exploring distinctive qualities of his Divan, particularly its application as a divination tool, the present article largely aims to determine what type of reader the querent who uses Hafez’s Divan is. The answer to this question has led to the introduction of a novel reader construct in the realm of reader-oriented theories. Divining reader is the term I use to refer to the reader who consults Hafez’s poetry collection as a bibliomantic text so as to solve a problem or find an answer to a question. The divining reader has eighteen identifying characteristics, one of which is the willing unframing of disbelief, referring to the fact that the reader first unframes whatever disbelieving and then reframes the unframed disbelief into a belief.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Fereshteh Asadzadian; Ghader Asadzadian
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the Canonical analysis of the relationship between personality traits and attitude with motivation and EFL learners’ written production task. This research in terms of data collection procedure is a correlation type. The statistical population consisted ...
Read More
The purpose of this study was to investigate the Canonical analysis of the relationship between personality traits and attitude with motivation and EFL learners’ written production task. This research in terms of data collection procedure is a correlation type. The statistical population consisted of the students who were selected by random cluster sampling method. Data were analyzed using standard questionnaire of motivation, attitude, and personality traits, and analyzed by SPSS software using statistical tests. The results of correlation analysis of variables showed that there is a significant positive correlation between personality traits with motivation and written skills. It was also determined that attitudes with motivation and written skills predict a positive and significant relationship. Finally, the results of this study can be a very clear perspective for planners and trainers of writing skills training courses to pay more attention to non-cognitive and attitudinal variables such as personality traits and learners’ motivation in English language classes.
3. Applied Literature
Nazila Heidarzadegan; Zeynep Kurt Yildiz
Abstract
The present paper studies Kitchen Sink Drama and Naturalism to investigate how a cultural movement through which artists like Arnold Wesker, John Osborne, and Shelagh Delaney express their disillusionment during the post-war period representing the reality of their lives via theatre. The period of 1956–1965 ...
Read More
The present paper studies Kitchen Sink Drama and Naturalism to investigate how a cultural movement through which artists like Arnold Wesker, John Osborne, and Shelagh Delaney express their disillusionment during the post-war period representing the reality of their lives via theatre. The period of 1956–1965 can be considered as a period of time identifying post-war British theatre which is related to post-war cultural, social, and political developments. In this period, playwrights take a social stance which reflects daily experiences of workingclass undergoing social and political changes in that time. Following the destructive consequences of the First and Second World Wars social, religious, and political alterations resulted in unemployment, insecurity, and frustration in society, especially among young educated people who returned from the war.The Kitchen Sink Drama is a peculiar type of drama for plays written within the mode of the new wave of British Realism in which plays are staged in domestic settings with a Naturalistic representation of ordinary life.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Cosmas Rai Amenorvi; Richard Baffour Okyere
Abstract
This study investigates the major themes that permeate the anthems of the three oldest and the three youngest public universities in Ghana and how the themes are conveyed linguistically and literarily. The University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, and University of Education, Winneba are purposively ...
Read More
This study investigates the major themes that permeate the anthems of the three oldest and the three youngest public universities in Ghana and how the themes are conveyed linguistically and literarily. The University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast, and University of Education, Winneba are purposively sampled as representatives of the oldest public universities in Ghana. Representatives of the youngest universities sampled are University of Energy and Natural Resources, University of Health and Allied Sciences, and University of Mines. Findings reveal self-importance, knowledge, and religion as the major themes in the anthems of all six universities. These themes are projected linguistically by conscious content lexical items, namely, nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Literarily, these themes are cast in such literary devices as metaphor, hyperbole, pleonasm, and personification. There is a major difference between the presentation of the theme of self-importance between the two groups of universities in that generally, the oldest universities are more definite and categorical in projecting their self-importance while the youngest universities are rather indirect and less categorical in their presentation of the theme of self-importance. This may be as a result of conscious respect for the oldest universities.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Haniyeh Shirazifard; Gholam-Reza Abbasian; Ahmad Mohseni
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the effects of TBLT-synthesized collaborative dialogue in teaching writing skills to Iranian EFL learners and also to explore their teachers’ attitudes towards such an approach. Regarding the essence of the questions of the study, an explanatory sequential ...
Read More
The present study aimed to investigate the effects of TBLT-synthesized collaborative dialogue in teaching writing skills to Iranian EFL learners and also to explore their teachers’ attitudes towards such an approach. Regarding the essence of the questions of the study, an explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design was employed. To this end, 100 conveniently sampled Iranian B.A. TEFL and Translation Studies students were identified as relatively homogeneous in terms of their language proficiency through administering Oxford Placement Test (OPT), and ten Iranian EFL teachers attended as the participants. The experimental group students were exposed to the synthetic approach of teaching writing. In contrast, the control group experienced conventional mainstream in the quantitative phase of the study lasting for 16-session treatments. As to the qualitative phase, a semi-structured individual interview was conducted with the participant teachers. The quantitative phase revealed that the synthetic initiative had comparatively significant impacts on the EFL students’ writing performance, and the qualitative phase showed that the teachers adopted some positive views toward the implementation of the applied synthetic approach to TBLT and CD in writing instruction. The findings offer some pedagogical implications for the stakeholders, including syllabus designers, EFL learners, and teachers, to include task-based collaborative dialogues in EFL instruction.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Masoumeh Ghamoushi; Zohre Mohammadi Zenouzagh; Mohammad Hashamdar
Abstract
Teacher engagement has been undertaken in various studies. However, most of the studies have disregarded the dearth of a practical framework to assess teachers' engagement in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Therefore, the researchers of the present study designed and validated a questionnaire ...
Read More
Teacher engagement has been undertaken in various studies. However, most of the studies have disregarded the dearth of a practical framework to assess teachers' engagement in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Therefore, the researchers of the present study designed and validated a questionnaire to assess the engagement of EFL teachers. To examine the reliability and validity of the final draft of the TEQ, it was administered to 234 Iranian EFL teachers who had been selected using non-probability convenience sampling. The results of Cronbach’s alpha indicated an appropriate reliability index and the factor analysis results revealed that items were loaded on 5 factors including 1) emotional, 2) social (colleagues), 3) social (students), 4) cognitive, and 5) agentic. Moreover, TEQ has the potential to be beneficial in assessing EFL teachers' engagement, according to the results of structural equation modeling (SEM), which revealed that the model enjoyed good psychometric features.