Research Article
Rana A. Saeed Almaroof; Kais Amir Kadhim
Abstract
The question of identity in a narrative text is one of the most influential questions that need further study. The variations in the factors that may affect the concept of identity add to the complexity of the narrative text. The study aims at analyzing the main phases, stages, themes and events of Moses’ ...
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The question of identity in a narrative text is one of the most influential questions that need further study. The variations in the factors that may affect the concept of identity add to the complexity of the narrative text. The study aims at analyzing the main phases, stages, themes and events of Moses’ life story as part of the narrative discourse. The effects of time and place on the main events can help in developing the identity of Moses and other characters. The fact that time has influential features that are supposed to be found in a narrative text is crucial to this study. The most important result reveals that the three phases of configuration embrace different stages, themes and events. These stages and themes, in turn, correlate with the main events based on the main character’s intention and the transition of themes. Finally, the main features of time such as importability, stability and symbolization have their implication in developing the identity in the selected text.
Seyedeh Elham Elhambakhsh; Masoome Jalalian
Abstract
To win the attention of the audience, presidential candidates rely on their own rhetorical methods. Hedges and boosters as metadiscourse markers have been the focus of many studies as the communicative strategies enabling speakers to soften the force of utterances or moderate their assertive force. TV ...
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To win the attention of the audience, presidential candidates rely on their own rhetorical methods. Hedges and boosters as metadiscourse markers have been the focus of many studies as the communicative strategies enabling speakers to soften the force of utterances or moderate their assertive force. TV news was used as the corpus of this study, whereas most of the previous studies have focused on examining newspaper presidential debates. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of hedges and boosters in TV election debates of the two presidential candidates - a principalist and a reformist. Three televised debates made by Hassan Ruhani and Bagher Ghalibaf were identified and classified based on the framework proposed by Jalilifar and Alavi-Nia (2012) and Alavi-Nia and Jalilifar (2013). Then, qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to identify the frequency and the function of the hedges and boosters. The results of the analyses and chi-square tests revealed that, in spite of some similarities, there were great differences in the use of hedges and boosters between the candidates. In other words, they had different tendencies toward using these techniques, and eventually Dr. Ruhani could win the battle due to using such metadiscourse devices.
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.
Hadi Farjami; Esmaeel Noroozi
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between behavioral and emotional engagement of Iranian EFL learners and their attachment to their teachers. Both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of their relationships and students’ engagement have been taken into account. ...
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The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between behavioral and emotional engagement of Iranian EFL learners and their attachment to their teachers. Both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of their relationships and students’ engagement have been taken into account. Questionnaire data provided by 311 EFL students and 70 EFL teachers was used to investigate the relation between (a) teacher-student attachment and EFL learners’ engagement, (b) teacher-student secure attachment and EFL learners’ engagement, (c) teacher-student insecure attachment and EFL learners’ engagement, (d) teacher-student secure attachment and EFL learners’ behavioral engagement, (e) teacher-student insecure attachment and EFL learners’ behavioral engagement, (f) teacher-student secure attachment and EFL learners’ emotional engagement, and (g) teacher-student insecure attachment and EFL learners’ emotional engagement. The analysis of teachers and students’ questionnaire data showed that teacher-student attachment was correlated with learners’ engagement. The student participants reported that secure attachment positively affected behavioral and emotional engagement while insecure attachment had a negative effect. The teacher participants reported that attachment with students had weak and non-significant relationship with their students’ behavioral and emotional engagement. These findings and their major pedagogical implications are discussed.
Mohammad Reza Khodadust
Abstract
Ideology, power, and identity are truly reflected in people’s daily discourse including mark negotiation discourse of students. Peculiar power relations in Iranian academic settings and the unique features of politeness in Farsi extending up to Ta’arof motivated the researcher to statistically ...
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Ideology, power, and identity are truly reflected in people’s daily discourse including mark negotiation discourse of students. Peculiar power relations in Iranian academic settings and the unique features of politeness in Farsi extending up to Ta’arof motivated the researcher to statistically analyze a total of 50 mark negotiation discourse samples of Iranian university students from diverse disciplines. Data analysis revealed patterns of initiating and closing, persuading through lexical items, using politeness markers, intensifying, and consequencing. The goal is finding out how both male and female students from various disciplines buy their respective professors’ favors in their online mark reconsideration appeal to increase their mark and avoid failure.
Aisan Norozi; zohre Mohamadi
Abstract
This study investigates the relation between EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ autonomy, their identity styles, and their writing ability and it aims to show which independent variables have higher predicting power on variances in writing. To this end, 60 Iranian university EFL students ...
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This study investigates the relation between EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ autonomy, their identity styles, and their writing ability and it aims to show which independent variables have higher predicting power on variances in writing. To this end, 60 Iranian university EFL students at the language center of the researchers’ institution were selected to participate in this study. The results of Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and regression analysis on participants’ answers to learner autonomy and identity styles questionnaires and their writing performance indicated that all identity style types significantly correlate and predict learner autonomy and only commitment identity style could predict writing ability. Multiple mediation analysis indicated that the identity styles significantly mediated the effect of autonomy on writing. The findings can provide insights to operationalize autonomous learning, learner-centered learning and individualized learning. The implications and suggestions for future direction of research are discussed in the light of limitations of the study.
Zohreh Seifoori
Abstract
A fundamental necessity at postgraduate level is a developed strategic reading skill that permits digesting tremendous amounts of technical academic content. The need is more paramount for EFL contexts and postgraduate students majoring in English Language Teaching (ELT) and English Literature (EL) most ...
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A fundamental necessity at postgraduate level is a developed strategic reading skill that permits digesting tremendous amounts of technical academic content. The need is more paramount for EFL contexts and postgraduate students majoring in English Language Teaching (ELT) and English Literature (EL) most of whom will ultimately search a career in teaching. The aim of the present ex-post facto study was to compare reading comprehension, overall metacognitive awareness of reading strategies (RSs) and awareness of Global, Problem-solving, and Support reading strategies of these prospective English teachers. To this end, a convenient sample of 60 ELT and 40 EL postgraduates were recruited from a pool of 130 students. The research data were collected using a reading comprehension test and the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI) (Mokhtari & Reichard, 2002). The Independent Samples t-test analyses of the research data revealed that both groups were average in their reading comprehension and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. MANOVA analysis of the MARSI components also indicated that although ELT postgraduates were significantly more aware of Global, Problem-solving, and Support RSs, both groups were at medium level. The findings highlight the need for strategic-based instruction in reading courses and offer a number of implications.
