محمد ظهرابی

This study strived to specify and particularize Iranian medical field specialists and EFL teachers’ predominant and overriding textual interventions, which fall within the ambit of convenience editing. To this end, we required 20 field specialists and 20 EFL instructors to edit the unedited versions of 80 published medical research articles in a way that rendered them apt for publication in quality medical journals. We categorized the obtained data of the edited articles using an editing strategy framework that distinguished four editing micro-strategies and five macro-strategies. The findings revealed that medical specialists and EFL teachers’ micro-editing strategies outnumbered their macro-editing ones. Furthermore, there were significant differences between the editing micro-strategy uses of the above-mentioned groups of the participants. The results highlighted the need for a synergic collaboration between the medical field specialists and the EFL teachers to ameliorate medical articles’ formal, stylistic, and genre-related features and to expedite their publication process. 

Positive psychology constitutes an approach to the study of human behavior that examines the extent to which individuals’ affective factors are likely to ameliorate their life conditions and their performance in diverse academic and occupational settings. The present study strived to determine the degree to which university learners’ psychological well-being, as their main positive psychology factor, was influenced by their grit, emotion regulation, and academic engagement. To this end, the researchers used convenience sampling to select 221 English Language and Literature learners and 178 Persian Language and Literature learners from among the learners of a university in Tabriz (Iran) as the participants. Second, they administered the English and Persian versions of the psychological well-being scale, grit scale, emotion regulation scale, and academic engagement scale of the study to the learners of English and Persian respectively. Finally, the researchers utilized SPSS 25 and Amos 24 to analyze the obtained data. Based on the results, while English learners’ grit, emotion, regulation, and academic engagement significantly predicted their psychological well-being, Persian learners’ grit, and academic engagement constituted significant predictors of their psychological well-being in their academic setting. Moreover, English learners’ psychological well-being was significantly higher than that of Persian learners. The results may have certain implications for professor educators, syllabus designers, and professors in the context of Iran.

The meticulous examination of discourse analysis, particularly the scrutiny of language application in academic writing, carries significant weight in the realm of Applied Linguistics. A critical aspect of this exploration revolves around the deployment of stance markers, which function as linguistic tools for articulating the personal viewpoints and assessments of writers concerning the assertions they proffer. The primary objective of this study was to juxtapose the overall and categorical distribution of stance markers in academic research articles authored by native (English) and non-native (Iranian) academic writers across the spheres of soft and hard sciences. The analytical framework of Hyland (2005b) on interactional metadiscourse was utilized to delineate the specific taxonomy of stance markers employed in the academic research articles written by two groups of authors. The results of the research revealed significant differences in the overall and categorical distribution of stance markers between the two sets of datasets, highlighting the potential impacts of disciplinary and cultural variations on their usage. The study advocates for an enriched understanding and integration of the rhetorical norms inherent in academic genres, including the deployment of stance markers, to enhance the creation of educational materials and elevate the language proficiency of students in linguistic studies.

Literature plays a crucial role in education, a powerful tool for learning and teaching various subjects. It enriches the educational experience by fostering critical thinking, enhancing language skills, and promoting cultural awareness. Literature can enhance critical thinking and empathy by exposing students to various voices, perspectives, and experiences. This article explores the multifaceted role of literature in the learning and teaching process. Incorporating diverse literary texts in instruction is essential for fostering an inclusive and culturally responsive educational environment. In the present qualitative study seven literature and teaching professors, and twenty-six university students at the BA level were interviewed. The data were analyzed to deduce the relevant themes. The results revealed many positive points in using literary texts in language learning and teaching. In addition, some important themes were obtained from the interview data. In general, it was revealed that diverse texts could reflect students' varied backgrounds and challenge dominant narratives, encouraging learners to explore and appreciate different cultures and histories. This approach promotes student engagement and relevance, as the students see themselves represented in the literature they study. Moreover, different literary texts can serve as powerful tools for discussions around social justice, identity, and power dynamics, helping students to navigate complex societal issues. Ultimately, integrating these texts enriches the curriculum, supports the development of a more equitable classroom, and prepares students to thrive in a multicultural world.

In academic discourse across diverse fields, the cultivation of authorial competence in crafting compelling and persuasive texts is of paramount importance. Scholars in the field of linguistics, particularly those involved in discourse analysis, have been attentive to this necessity. Within the realm of academic writing, the strategic utilization of engagement markers plays a pivotal role in achieving persuasive communication and fostering reader engagement. The cultural positioning of academic writers is often reflected in the incorporation of these linguistic elements within written discourse. This study undertook an examination of 60 research articles spanning the domains of hard and soft sciences, with a focus on discerning potential disparities in the employment of engagement markers between two distinct cohorts of authors: native English speakers and non-native Iranian writers. Employing Hyland's (2005b) model of engagement markers as an analytical framework, the study sought to ascertain the frequency of these linguistic devices within academic research articles produced by the aforementioned groups. The findings of the analysis revealed significant differences in the overall and categorical distribution of engagement markers in the scholarly works of native English and non-native Iranian authors across hard and soft science disciplines. These differences may be ascribed to the cultural positioning of academic writers or the potential lack of familiarity with the established conventions of English rhetoric, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics among non-native Iranian authors. The implications of these findings are significant, as they can inform the development of pedagogical materials aimed at enhancing the academic writing proficiency of authors.