فاطمه خسروی

Argument maps as schematic representations of arguments and their logical and evidential relationships are effective diagrams for instruction in education as well as in L2 development. However, their use for teaching L2 writing in EFL contexts has not been adequately studied. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of argument mapping instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ writing achievement and writing components, including grammar, coherence, cohesion, and task accomplishment in expository and descriptive essays. The participants were 60 intermediate EFL learners at Fadak language institute in Tehran. The selected participants were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental and a control group, each including 30 participants. Materials, coursebooks, and the teacher were the same for the study groups. However, the participants in the experimental group received specific instruction about the use of argument maps before and during their writing. After 10 sessions of treatment, the learners in the two groups were asked to write a descriptive and an expository paragraph. The paragraphs were rated by two raters and the final score was the average of the scores given by the two raters. The results of the data analysis revealed that argument mapping strategies had significant improvement impact on expository and descriptive writing tasks and could improve participants’ writing in terms of grammar, coherence, cohesion, and task achievement. However, argument mapping was not beneficial in improving the vocabulary of study participants’ writing. Findings of the study suggest that EFL language instructors and learners can use argument maps for teaching descriptive and expository writing.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of life skills training on coping strategies and psychological capital of adolescents. Methodology: The research design was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with the control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all female high school students in the 4th District of Tehran in the academic year of 1396-97. According to Cohen's table, the sample size was 30 people. The initial random sampling method was used, but the participants in the control and experimental groups were randomly assigned and 15 individuals in the experimental group and 15 in the control group were replaced. The measuring tools included Lazarus's Coping Strategies Scale (1985) and Lutz's Psychological Capital Scale (2007), which subjects completed before and after the life skills training program. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using Spss21 software at a significant level of 0.05. Findings: The results showed that life skills training (14.3%) played a role in explaining the problem-focused coping strategy, but it was not effective in the emotion-focused coping strategy (P = 0.824). Life was 19.7% in explaining self-efficacy, 23.2% in explaining hope, and 17.1% in explaining the resilience of the experimental group. But the experiment group was not optimistic (P = 0.904). Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that life skills training has been effective in coping strategies and psychological capital of adolescents.