2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Seyyedeh Zahra Esmaeili; Davud Kuhi; Sorayya Behroozizad
Abstract
Adopting a qualitative design, the current study explored the usefulness of interculturally-laden tasks and intercultural training in improving the Iranian English learners’ intercultural competency in Anzali, Guilan province, Iran. To this objective, a group of 25 intermediate levels whose ages ...
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Adopting a qualitative design, the current study explored the usefulness of interculturally-laden tasks and intercultural training in improving the Iranian English learners’ intercultural competency in Anzali, Guilan province, Iran. To this objective, a group of 25 intermediate levels whose ages ranged from 21 to 30 participated in the study. The participants were required, initially, to complete seven intercultural tasks to assess their current level of intercultural competence. Then, they attended in eighteen sessions of intercultural training using Mirror and Window: an intercultural textbook and then completed the same seven intercultural tasks one again at the end of the course. Anchored in Byram's (1997) ICC theory, five components of the learners’ ICC enhancement, namely Savoir Comprendre, Savoire Etre, Savoire S’engager, Savoirs, and Savoire Apprendre / Faire were investigated throughout an intercultural training course. Two major sources of data were intercultural tasks, which were written by the participants per week as part of their assignments, focused-group interviews and self-report evaluation survey conducted at the end of the course to elicit the views they harbor toward the course. Drawing on the qualitative content analysis, findings indicated that interculturally-laden tasks could help the participants enhance their intercultural competence. Meanwhile, the analysis of the focused-group interviews and self-report evaluation survey revealed that learners evaluated most aspects of the tasks and textbook positively. Finally, the implications of the current study and suggestions for further research were discussed.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Ali Roohani; Mohsen Hosseini
Abstract
Culture is regarded as a part of English language teaching (ELT). Also, ELT textbooks are a main source of intercultural teaching / learning in most English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning contexts. Thus, representation of cultural content and development of (inter)cultural aspects are important ...
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Culture is regarded as a part of English language teaching (ELT). Also, ELT textbooks are a main source of intercultural teaching / learning in most English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning contexts. Thus, representation of cultural content and development of (inter)cultural aspects are important issues in ELT textbooks, particularly in EFL contexts. This study analyzed the representation of culture in the Vision series, a recently developed ELT series used nationwide in Iranian high schools, and examined how multimodality in these local textbooks would provide context to develop (inter)cultural aspects. To collect the data, an adapted version of Cortazzi and Jin’s (1999) classification of culture (source, target, international, and globally-shared) was used to analyze the content of the Vision series to see which culture was reflected in these high school textbooks. Additionally, the Wenninger and Kiss’s (2013) semiotic framework was used to examine how multimodality would serve cultural contents through analyzing image-text relationship. The content analysis demonstrated the domination of source (i.e., Iranian) and globally-shared cultural elements with less attention to the target and international cultures. Furthermore, the results showed that multimodality in these textbooks could provide the opportunity for critical cultural reflection, though it was limited to source and globally-shared cultures. By implication, ELT material developers in Iran should incorporate more appropriate materials and culturally engaging visuals associated with diverse cultures into local ELT textbooks to promote Iranian EFL students’ cultural reflection, and, subsequently, their intercultural competence.
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) ...
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< 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.
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.
2. Applied Linguistics (Inspirations from neighbor disciplines)
Sorayya Mozaffarzadeh; Parviz Ajideh
Abstract
As an important focus of modern language education, intercultural language learning reflects greater awareness of the inseparability of language and culture and the need for providing the learners with materials concerning teaching intercultural communication to enhance learners’ intercultural ...
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As an important focus of modern language education, intercultural language learning reflects greater awareness of the inseparability of language and culture and the need for providing the learners with materials concerning teaching intercultural communication to enhance learners’ intercultural competence in an increasingly multicultural world. Proper development of a learners’ understanding of another culture’s perspective and worldview is an essential of effective communication. Regarding the significance of issues, the present study is an attempt to consider the trend of addressing culture in Iranian ETL textbooks at the high school level of education before and after the Islamic Revolution. The research findings indicated that the cultural contents are neglected in the ELT textbooks used both pre- and post-Islamic revolution. Therefore, due to overlooking learners’ cultural communicative needs intentionally or unintentionally, Iranian ELT textbooks are insufficient materials for teaching communicative language and in overall teaching culture-general skills such as intercultural competence and understanding. It is noteworthy that this study recommends constructive changes in textbooks to make them more communicative and more consistent with the students’ needs and expectations.
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 ...
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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.
