Foreign Language Teaching and Research

Discrepant cultural systems of languages are more likely to reflect challenges for translators maintaining the cultural dynamics of translation. Such perspective is mostly highlighted in the translation of literary texts where the main parts of the equation are language and culture. The present study aims to investigate cultural, historical and religious loss or gain in the translation of culture-specific items (CSIs) along with the rendering procedures used by the translators. To this end, through a comparative analytical and descriptive method based on (Vinay & Darbelent Model, 1995), culture-specific items of three Persian translations of the Huckleberry Finn story were extracted and divided into three subcategories of cultural, historical, and religious; consequently, the procedures applied by the translators which led to the cultural loss or gain were analyzed. The findings demonstrated that the first translation by Mohebbi had the highest degree of loss (17.16%), and the third translation by Daryabandari had the highest degree of gain (41.58%). Also, the highest frequency of lost items belonged to the cultural type with %6/31 in the first translation by Mohebbi and %2/52 in the second translation by Pirnazar. The findings indicated that the policies and normative differences of societies in different periods had an undeniable impact on the transmission of concepts which reflects the degree of loss and gain in translation. The result of the present study could be thought-provoking for psychoanalytical studies on the translator’s decision-making.         

The current study adopted a qualitative-quantitative design to compare the effects of output-based production (OBP) and input enhancement (IE) as two teaching techniques on a group of EFL learners’ writing and also to seek those learners’ perceptions on the two instruction procedures. Accordingly, 65 intermediate learners were selected through convenience nonrandom sampling from among 94 students in intact classes based on their performance on a sample proficiency test (the test had already been piloted among 30 learners). These 65 learners were subsequently divided into two groups consisting of 33 learners in the OBP group and 32 in the IE group. The researchers also made sure that the learners in both groups were homogeneous in terms of their writing prior to the treatment. Next, the treatment in both groups commenced. Once the treatment was over, the researchers gave both groups the same writing posttest. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that the IE group outperformed the OBP group significantly in their writing. The participants further sat for a semi-structured interview comprising five questions about their perception regarding both instructions which demonstrated that the IE group was generally more satisfied with the course than the OBP group. The findings of this study suggest more attention to the incorporation of IE in both English language schools and pre- and in-service teacher training programs.

EFL teachers’ conceptions of Alternative Assessment (AA) strategies in English language classrooms are of significance since they can affect the teachers’ overall performance in the classroom. This study aimed to explore Iranian EFL teachers’ conceptions of AA strategies. In so doing, a sequential mixed methods design was used. The participants of the study consisted of 30 (15 males and 15 females) Iranian EFL teachers with MA and Ph.D. degrees in English language teaching (ELT) who were selected through convenience sampling. To collect the required data, the Teachers’ Perceptions of Alternative Assessment Questionnaire (Elharrar) was used as an open-ended questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted through qualitative thematic analysis and presenting the extracted themes in frequency and percentage formats. It was found that most of the teachers perceived the positive influences of AA. Additionally, it was revealed that the teachers attached some advantages to AA that help them provide a more quality teaching environment. The findings of this study may render implications for EFL teachers, teacher trainers, and administrators.        

Numerous academics in the domains of language instruction, cultural studies, communication studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, etc. have focused on critical cultural awareness (CCA) as a crucial element of intercultural competency. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether the cultural elements in Iranian high school coursebooks (Vision Series) have been (un)touched by the ministry of education. To this end, the conversation contents of the Vision Series (levels 1-3) were examined by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to evaluate possible intercultural competence used in Vision Series. It was found that the content was biased toward the source culture in general. Finally, some ideal ways of presenting culture in the coursebooks were put forward in the form of a cultural rubric. The pedagogical implications of this study are discussed.       

This study was an endeavor to explore the main sources of EFL learners' writing problems through dialogic interactions. It also investigated the effect of metaphor and metonymy on EFL learners' writing achievement. To achieve this end, the researcher adopted mixed-method research with a sample of intermediate language students from both genders. In the qualitative section, 20 EFL learners were selected through purposive sampling, and in the quantitative section, 120 language students were selected through convenience sampling from a university in Gorgan. Data were gathered through Quick Oxford Placement Test (OPT), writing tests, and a semi-structured interview. After recording and transcribing the interviews, the transcripts of the interviews were formatted using the software NVIVO 11 Pro®. With the help of this software, the textual data were reduced into some statements which could reflect the main ideas of the participants’ lived experiences without any intervention from the researcher. However, the data of the tests were inserted into SPSS software and the ANCOVA test was run to indicate differences between the three groups in terms of their writing improvement. The main results suggested that metaphor and metonymy through dialogic interactions had significant effects on the participations’ writing achievement. As well as that, findings from the analysis of data revealed the four main sources of writing problems as linguistic, personal, epistemological, and ecological.       

The teacher, his instructional method, and indeed his characteristics are considered to be the decisive factors for the success or failure of education. The current study was carried out to determine the Iranian EFL teachers’ perception of immunity in their occupational contexts, that is in English language institutes and public schools. To achieve this objective, one hundred EFL teachers teaching in public schools (N = 50) and language institutes (N = 50), in Isfahan, were selected through convenience sampling to participate in this study. Then, the Teachers’ Immunity Level questionnaire was administered to them, and they were interviewed as well. The teachers were asked about their perception of immunity in their own occupational setting. All the teachers working in language institutes believed that teachers in these educational centers are suffering from low levels of job immunity. The teachers were also asked about the reasons underlying the high and low levels of job immunity in these two educational contexts. The teachers in language institutes believed that the dearth of monitoring by the government, the large number of unemployed educated people, employers’ greed, and lowering the value of education in the society are among the most important reasons underlying this catastrophe in language institutes. These findings can have some implications for the decision-makers in the Iranian Ministry of Education to provide language institutes with more support and attention with an eye to eliminating the mentioned problems.

Utilizing graphic advance organizers before reading is to construct a mental model of the meaning of the text based on readers' formal prior knowledge of familiar rhetorical schemata, which enhances reading performance. The effectiveness of an animated matrix in improving reading comprehension was investigated in a computer-mediated reading environment. Eye-tracking was employed to examine the reading process of participants performing a German reading task. Two groups of participants (N = 21) were compared in terms of their reading performance quality, the number of main idea units recalled, and the verbatim recall memory. The use of a graphic advance organizer significantly improved reading comprehension quality (p < .05). Based on the eye-tracking results, the two groups of participants showed no significant difference, indicating equivalent exposure to the passage. There is evidence that the user-controlled sequential display of elements grants categorical reading of the matrix and provides minimal guidance to deepen the understanding of the passage, as metacognitive skills are not actively used in linking new material read to parts of the organizer.

The present study was conducted to investigate the comparative impacts of three types of EFL teachers' mindsets on EFL learners' mindsets. The participants of the study were English Translation undergraduate students (both female and male with the age ranging of 18-35) who were selected according to convenience non-random sampling from three classes of English Grammar 1 at both Islamic Azad Universities of Karaj and Shahriyar. The total number of students in each class was 30. The course lasted 16 successive sessions. Participants were assigned into three experimental groups. At the outset, a Mindset Assessment Profile (MAP) adopted from Mindset works, INC (2002-2012) on a scale of disagree a lot to agree a lot was administered among participants in all three experimental groups. The researchers provided interventions in terms of fixed, growth, and mixed mindsets to teach English grammar. At the end of the course, the same Mindset Assessment Profile (MAP) as the one administered in the pretest phase was administered among participants in all three groups and it was demonstrated that the EFL teacher’s type of mindset can significantly influence EFL learners’ mindsets. Consequently, it was determined that helping students adopt growth mindset hinges on raising teachers’ awareness about the importance of their own mindsets as well as helping them to grow their mindsets. This study includes a variety of instructional implications for both EFL teachers and EFL learners.

Over the last decade, Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL) has led to an authentic and contextual language learning process across the globe (Kukulska-Hulme, 2009). It has played a pivotal role in language learning in general and vocabulary learning in particular as a building block of academic writing. The current study examined the effect of a mobile application (i.e. AWL builder) on academic vocabulary learning among sophomore university students in applied linguistics. The study also focused on measuring students' perceptions and problems in utilizing mobile-assisted applications in acquiring English academic vocabulary. Accordingly, using convenience sampling procedures the participants were divided into experimental (N =36) and control (N = 36) groups. The experimental group used a mobile application (i.e. AWL builder), while the control group used a traditional approach. Furthermore, to answer research questions academic vocabulary pre-and post-tests and a questionnaire were employed. The findings show that the AWL group showed prominent performance in academic vocabulary tests. The current study concludes that instructors should take into account mobile devices as useful supplementary tools to enhance L2 academic word retention and include them in regular language curriculum.

The present study aims to study "Alienation" in “The Comfort of Strangers” a novel by Ian Mc-Ewan. It attempts to work out the negative and destructive aftermath of alienation in the protagonists of the novel. The research on the mentioned term is fulfilled as per the theories of Melvin Seaman. Ian Russell Mc-Ewan is one of the many examples, who depicted the mentioned element masterfully in his works, specifically in this novel. He goes beyond man’s expectations to show his readers the smashing consequences of human estrangement from the self and society in intelligence and function. Alienation is a venerable concept, with its roots going back to Roman law, where it was a legal term used to denote the act of transferring property. After World War II, when societal complexity started its increasingly accelerated rate of change, and the first signals of post-modernity were perceived by the intellectual elite, alienation slowly became part of the intellectual scene. Melvin Seaman (1918), a theorist which made a momentous modern and post-modern points of the view regarding "Alienation" after Marx and Hegel, was one of the first in the 1960s to develop an alienation scale to measure degrees and varieties of alienation

This article tries to delineate different aspects of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) in detail: MLE as a model of learning in psychology, MLE as a dynamic assessment methodology, and MLE as a basis for designing a course. This article tries to delineate different aspects of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) in detail: MLE as a model of learning in psychology, MLE as a dynamic assessment methodology, and MLE as a basis for designing a course. MLE, well-known as Feuerstein's theory, is presented as a model of learning in psychology for enhancing cognitive functioning and problem-solving skills in children with cognitive challenges. Some other studies and scholars such as Poehner (2008) consider MLE as a dynamic assessment methodology because in dynamic assessment, assistance emerges from the interaction between the mediator and the learner. The other studies look at MLE as a holistic and integrative approach which is able to prepare a course. Definition of MLE principles and a meticulous and elaborate analysis of the first five MLE principles in different studies, entitled as MLE Taxonomy, are presented in a table at the end of the article.