ندا فاتحی راد

There is research paucity concerning EFL learners’ self-formation, taking the role of IELTS writing skills into account. With a view to this, the present study aimed to see what a model of possible self-construction before and after training on IELTS writing skills emerges and what the psychometric properties of the emerged model are. To this end, a grounded theory approach was used. Of the IELTS candidates taking part in five IELTS preparation centers in Kerman, 90 (55 males and 35 females) candidates were selected as the participants of the present study through cluster sampling. A semi-structured interview was used to identify the possible selfof the participants. Coding procedures (i.e., open, axial, and selective coding) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data. According to the results, a model of possible selfconstruction before and after training on IELTS writing skills emerged wherein before training on IELTS writing skills, feared possible selfwere more dominant than expected and responsible possible selves. Furthermore, after training on IELTS writing skills, expected and responsible possible selfwere constructed more dominantly than feared possible selves. Implications of the results for EFL curriculum planners, teachers, and learners have been discussed.

Using Critical Digital Pedagogy (CDP) considering the recent technological advancements in the field of education as well as the prevalence of critical pedagogy (CP) in the World educational systems. This qualitative study aimed to uncover ELT experts’ and English literature teachers’ perceptions of a technology-laden CP-based EFL teacher preparation program for the context of Iran within a basic interpretive design. A total of thirty male and female ELT experts with a PhD in TEFL who were selected through convenience sampling from among experienced university professors who had relevant research expertise in the field. They were university professors with PhD in TEFL with different years of teaching experience. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview was used. Data analysis was done by the MAXQDA. The results showed that the perceptions of ELT experts and English literature teachers were both in line with the tenets of CP and the use of technology in education. Further, it was indicated that the perceptions of ELT experts and English literature teachers of a technology-laden CP-based EFL teacher preparation program for the context of Iran were significantly different. The findings have some implications for EFL teacher education administrators, curriculum planners and educators. Key Words: Critical Pedagogy (CP), Critical Digital Pedagogy (CDP), EFL Teacher Education, Technology.

This comparative study sought to explore the translation of requests between God and Prophet in Holy Quran with focus on pragmatic approach. More specifically, the study highlighted the applied techniques in the translations of Quranic verses based on Bach and Harnish's (1979) model. It further analyzed the differences between the translations and examined the translations accuracy in rendering imperatives’ pragmatics. In doing so, some Surah with the most imperative examples were selected as source text, and two English translations of Holy Quran by Ali (1989) and Arberry (1955) were selected as target text. Based on the data, three types of the techniques as "requestives", "questions", and " requirements" were employed in the most of verses with 9 cases, and "prohibition" found in 6 cases. The identified differences between two translations listed as finding the right equivalents, choosing the correct verb, finding meaning faithfully, preserving the imperative function, selecting the common words in TL, etc. The results also indicated some inaccuracies as lexical and pragmatics, finding right pronoun, transferring the illocutionary force of the source words into the TT, and emphasizing on the same theme with different syntactic form. However, most verses provided the accurate factors as word order, transferring the imperative function based on the first interpretation, adding some words to clarify the context, conveying the intended function through applying the exclamation mark, and keeping culture-specific notion. It is worth mentioning that in most cases, the translators could successfully convey the meaning of Arabic words in to the English ones.

Task-based language Teaching (TBLT) has been formed as an approach wherein learners are allowed to communicate language use through tasks due to the limitations of the traditional PPP (Presentation, Practice, and Performance) approach. Among different kinds of tasks, according to Ellis (2008), convergent/divergent tasks can be mentioned which have been originated from concepts of knowledge formation. At a broader level, tasks are divided into input-based tasks and output-based tasks. This study aimed at investigating the effect of output-based and input-based divergent and convergent tasks on learning English idioms among Iranian EFL intermediate-level learners. In so doing, this study used a quantitative quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design. The participants of the study consisted of 75 male intermediate EFL learners studying English at a private language institute in Zahedan, Iran, who were selected through convenience sampling. To collect the data, Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and two researcher-made idiom tests were used. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were run. The results showed that output-based and input-based divergent and convergent tasks had a significant effect on learning English idioms among Iranian EFL intermediate-level learners. The findings have some implications for EFL teachers, learners, and curriculum planners.

Using Critical Digital Pedagogy (CDP) acknowledges the recent advancements in technology in the field of education. As teachers should effectively deal with the needs of students with the help of educational technologies to increase their critical awareness, the level of digital literacy of Iranian teachers is not desirable and naturally teacher training in Iran should be in line with the latest changes in the world, this qualitative study aimed to find out how ELT experts perceive the CP technology-based EFL teacher preparation program in the Iranian context as part of a basic interpretative project. Thirty ELT experts with a Ph.D. in TEFL were selected through convenience sampling among experienced university professors who had relevant research expertise in the field. Consulting the related literature, the researcher developed a semi-structured interview in approximately three open-ended questions. The results analyzed by MAXQDA showed that perceptions of ELT experts were consistent with CP assumptions and the use of technology in education. The interpretation of the findings indicates a reconciliation between CP principles and technology. Participants perceived the valuable concepts of CP in light of technology used to shape a technology-based CP curriculum. Findings have implications for EFL teacher education administrators, curriculum planners, and educators. 

This study seeks to explore the effectiveness of flipped instruction on the Iranian intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners reading comprehension and grammar learning. As the participants of the study, 60 Iranian intermediate EFL learners from a language institute in Kerman, Iran, were recruited based on convenience sampling in the form of two intact classes. Then, to conduct randomization, the two classes were randomly assigned to two groups namely, flipping group and control group. Next, the two groups were exposed to 14 treatment sessions in which reading comprehension and grammar were taught to the flipping group through explicit flipped instruction and to the control group through non-flipped mainstream instruction used in the institute. Data collection tools employed in the study included the Quick Placement Test (QPT), Michigan test of grammar, Michigan test of reading, and SPSS 21 software. The results revealed the significant effectiveness of flipped instruction on the Iranian intermediate EFL learners' reading comprehension and grammar learning. Accordingly, it is suggested that EFL teachers use flipped instruction if they seek to enhance EFL learners' reading comprehension and grammatical knowledge.

This study sought to investigate the problems and challenges of the current state of teaching translation in post-graduate studies. In so doing, it used a content analysis design within a qualitative method. The participants consisted of 20 (10 males and ten females) translation teachers who were selected through purposive sampling. To collect the required data, a semi-structured interview was used in the form of individual and focus group interviews. To analyze interview data, the content of transcribed interviews was qualitatively analyzed by the researcher to identify the common themes and categories in them, based on an exploratory theme-based approach. The results of the thematic analysis of interview data led to the identification of some problems and challenges including students’ lack of willingness to learn translation, the emphasis on practical elements in teaching translation, lack of an effective teaching translation program, students’ demotivation, and so on. Moreover, a program consisting of five steps was suggested for using technology in teaching translation in post-graduate studies in Iran. The findings have some implications for translation teachers and students, and authorities.

Purpose: This study endeavored to find out the possible relationship between reflectivity and impulsivity as cognitive learning styles and vocabulary/ grammar development as sub-skills among EFL learners.  Methodology: Two intact classes of the third-grade students were selected by the researchers and Oxford Placement Test was run for homogenizing them. After that, Barrat’s (2005) Impulsive/ Reflective questionnaire was given to the participants and they had to respond the translated items in a limited time. Regarding the score scale provided by the questionnaire, the participants were labeled as reflective and impulsive ones. Next, a standard grammar/vocabulary test, extracted from their book, administered to them and the scores were recorded by the researchers. Then, the scores of the questionnaires and tests sent to SPSS software for analyzing and interpreting the data. In inferential statistics, the researchers used correlation test to examine the possible relationship between the students' learning styles and their sub-skills development.  Findings: Results of the study indicated a positive relationship between the students' sub-skills achievements (vocabulary/ grammar) and their learning styles (reflectivity/ impulsivity). In other words, reflectivity and impulsivity had effect on the students' performance in sub-skills, as the reflective students presented better performance and made fewer errors than the impulsive ones in vocabulary and grammar tests.  Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded that the higher the reflectivity of the learners is, the more successful they tend to be in such tests. It is expected that the findings of the research indicate the importance of learning styles in educational environment.

The present study, through considering Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory and scaffolding strategy, investigates the use of scaffolding strategy in a language institute and explores the effectiveness of this method on EFL learners' reading achievement of short stories. The researchers adopted a quasi-experimental research design, and the sample of the study consisted of 60 EFL learners.  Including 30 students, the experimental group benefited an implementation of scaffolding strategy and related techniques. The control group (including 30 students) benefited from no implementation of scaffolding strategy and related techniques. An interactive communicative language method of teaching was used for the control group. Moreover, a related questionnaire was used to explore the EFL learners' attitude of the experimental group on the mentioned strategy.  The reading achievement was measured using a pre-test and a post-test for both the experimental and control groups. The obtained results were analyzed descriptively, the statistical manifestation of which is presented in figures. Items are elaborated separately through tables, and two independent sample t-tests were carried out for the revelation of the result.  The data were analyzed using t-test, eta square, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). This study concluded that the employment of scaffolding teaching strategy had a significant impact on the improvement of Iranian EFL learners’ reading achievement of short stories and the students' attitude towards the mentioned strategy was completely positive. Also, the findings revealed that there was not a significant difference between the male and female students' performance.  

This study sought to investigate translation strategies in translation of culture-specific items (CSIs) in Persian translation of ‘The Egyptian’ novel by Mika Waltari. To this end, it benefited from corpus-based comparative content analysis design within a qualitative approach. The corpus of this study consisted of 150 pages of the novel ‘The Egyptian’ by Mika Waltari along with their Persian translations by Zabihollah Mansouri, which were selected through simple random sampling. Data analysis included parallel comparison of the source text and its translation in terms of the occurrence of different types of translation strategies used in the translations. Furthermore, statistical procedures which were conducted consisted of calculation of frequency and percentage of different translation strategies (to identify the most and least frequent strategies) and chi-square test (to see if there is a significant difference between the frequencies of different strategies used by the translator). The results of data analysis showed that the translator has used the following translation strategies: Calque, equivalence, adaptation, literal translation, modulation and omission. Moreover, it was found that the most frequent strategy was calque. Furthermore, the lowest frequency belonged to modulation and omission. In addition, a significant difference was revealed between the frequencies of different translation strategies. The findings have some implications for translation students, translation teachers, and translators.

The present descriptive study aimed at investigating the human and machine Persian translations of The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini, and comparing the applied translation strategies in the translated texts for culture-specific items (CSI). To this end, based on Newmark’s (1988) category, the applied strategies were identified in the two translations and compared. The obtained results showed that Naturalization and Transposition strategies were the most frequently-used strategies by both human translators and machine translation. The results also showed that machine translation could not present a comprehensible translation due to overuse of these strategies (75%). It was further revealed that the spirit of the original text was not lost in the translated versions due to the closeness of Iranian and Afghan cultures. In fact, the translated versions kept the real beauty and creativity of the original work. However, the remorseful theme of the source text was kept intact to a great extent in the human translation of the novel, while machine translation lost it. Thus, the general impression is that culture-specific terms make it difficult for the machine translation to achieve complete word-for-word and semantic equivalence, and that the human translator must have a broad knowledge of the literature and traditions of both the source and target languages.

Determining a qualified teaching method in writing has always been a controversial issue as a multitude of researchers have debated its effectiveness in improving Learners’ accuracy in writing. This study examines the background of this debate and looked at previous major studies on this issue. Due to the limitations and pitfalls of sheltered and reciprocal teaching procedures, this study was to inquire whether the integration of reciprocal and sheltered teaching approaches would influence students’ performance in writing and find out if the approach could impress the learners’ self-efficacy as well. Three groups of pre-intermediate EFL students took part in this research. 68 male and female participants in one experimental and two control groups established the subjects of the study. The experimental group worked on the integration of reciprocal and sheltered approaches in writing and self-efficacy. The results reveal the positive effect of integration of reciprocal and sheltered approaches on the writing performance of the subjects in the EG. Moreover, the selected procedures could lead to learners’ self-efficacy development. Finally, the achievements of this study contributed to an understanding of the type of teaching approach which is most appropriate for pre-intermediate students.

This paper aimed to critically look at team teaching tactics and the role it plays in achieving teaching and learning effectiveness. Specifically, using psychological counseling procedures, this study examined the benefits this learner-centered attitude brings to the student teachers and students, and also discussed different possible issues that may arise. To this purpose, a mix-methods design which comprised pretest, posttest, questionnaires, and interview was utilized to collect the necessary data. 52 Iranian high school EFL students were selected through purposive sampling and divided into a Control Group (CG) and an Experimental Group (EG). Also, two English language teachers, and a teacher as counselor were purposively selected to participate in team teaching procedure. The control group was taught through traditional methods of language teaching and the experimental group was taught through team teaching procedures. The posttest results showed that there were significant differences in favour of the experimental group between the two groups in terms of their oral proficiency.Also, the results obtained from the questionnaires revealed that that there were significant differences in the participants’ outlook towards using team teaching methods in the language class. It was further found that there was a very strong evidence of partnership between team teaching plus counseling practice and inherent academic motivation as well as between team teaching and counseling procedure. The findings of the study are valuable for English language instructors, materials developers, program planners, and education administrators.

This study aimed at investigating the Persian human and machine (Google) renderings of The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini, through comparing and contrasting culture specific items (CSI) as well as the exploited translation strategies. Thus, the relevant problematic forms of the cultural differences were identified and the procedures suggested by Newmark (1988) were examined to see how they fit into the translation of cultural differences in English and Persian. The results of this qualitative study revealed that Literal Translation, Naturalization and Transposition strategies were used most frequently in both human and machine translations. However, machine translation could not present a comprehensible translation due to overuse of these strategies (75%). It was also revealed that the spirit of source text was kept intact in both renderings due to closeness of Iranian and Afghan cultures. It was further discovered that the human translated version carried the real beauty and creativities of the original work. In facty, the terms that were transformed and localized were able to carry over the flavor of the author’s work. Finally, it was shown that the regretful theme of the source text was reserved to a great extent in the human rendering of the novel, while machine translation failed to get it. Generally-speaking, based on the findings of this study, culture-specific terms make it difficult for machines to achieve complete word-for-word equivalence, and at the same time, human translator must have a broad knowledge of the literature and traditions of both the source and target languages to come up with a faithful translation in terms of both form and content.

The structure of socio-culture encouraged the following study to investigate the ways participation in collaborative learning tasks can have an effect on the overall English proficiency of EFL students’ academic achievement. The learners’ engagement in learning and collaboration with others for achieving their goals often happen in participatory approach to second language teaching and learning (Cobb, 1994; Greeno, 1998). In a same way, collaborative learning plays a good role in increasing learners’ interdependence (Bruffee, 1999), responsibility (Totten, Sills, Digby, & Russ, 1991), interpersonal skills (Rymes, 1997), and cognitive and critical thinking skills (Johnson & Johnson, 1986). Therefore, both the control and study group were randomly selected from 60 Iranian EFL learners of two intact classes. The first group which was the control group was exposed to regular teaching process through the conventional book-based method. While, in experimental group activities such as role play, problem solving, group work and collaborative tasks in the classroom instruction were mostly used. Accordingly, scores on the IELTS posttest in both groups improved but, the statistics of their overall performance showed that there is no significant difference. However, separate skills on the IELTS exam needed some analyses the result of which contended that the scores of experimental group on the speaking skill was significantly higher. Clearly, the scores on the vocabulary and grammar posttest in experimental group were significantly higher. In conclusion, higher mean scores indicate that EFL learners’ vocabulary and grammar learning will be facilitated through both participatory approach and collaborative activities. In fact, the more interactions among learners in classroom activities are used, improvement of speaking skills can be encouraged. As the results of the students’ and teachers’ interview revealed, both students and teachers’ attitudes towards participatory approach were positive and were also highly inclined to receive such tasks and activities in future

Purpose: In participatory approach to second language teaching and learning, students actively engage in their own learning process and collaborate with others (Cobb, 1994; Greeno, 1998) to achieve their goals. Also, collaborative learning has been shown to encourage the growth of student interdependence (Bruffee, 1999), responsibility (Totten, Sills, Digby, & Russ, 1991), interpersonal skills (Rymes, 1997), and cognitive and critical thinking skills (Johnson & Johnson, 1986). Methodology: Adopting a sociocultural perspective, the present study has attempted to explore the attitude of teachers and learners toward the effectiveness of the method. In so doing, 60 Iranian EFL learners from two intact classes participated in the study, in which the learners from the two classes were randomly assigned to one control group and one experimental group. For fourteen sessions, the researcher in the control group class followed her regular teaching practice through the conventional book-based method of conducting an English class. In the experimental group class, however, the researcher adopted the participatory approach tasks and activities, in which she applied various participatory approach-based techniques, activities, role play, and problem solving activities, group work and collaborative tasks in the classroom instruction. Findings: Results of the comparison of the effects of the experimental participatory group and the control conventional group revealed that although the students in both groups improved their scores on the IELTS posttest, there was no statistically significant difference between the experimental group’s overall performance and that of the control group. Conclusion: Results of the interview with the students and teachers also revealed that both the students and the teachers had positive attitudes towards implementing the participatory approach and they were willing to use at least some of the tasks and activities in their future courses.