عزیزه چالاک

Enhancing speaking ability is an important component of the acquirement of a language. The innovative aspect of this study is improving speaking ability through online strategy-based instruction by applying the Moodle course management system as an instructional platform. To this end, a group of 80 Iranian female and male students at the advanced level participated in the treatment. Participants of the study were divided into four groups of 20. The subjects in experimental groups benefited from two particular instructional focuses of this study include social and affective strategies. In order to assess the effect of the treatment pre and posttests design were utilized. Consequently, the data were analyzed through One-Way ANOVAs and t-tests. The findings revealed that strategy treatment was successful in improving the participants’ speaking ability. Therefore, the findings suggest that online strategy-based instruction can positively influence the speaking ability of Iranian advanced EFL learners. In addition, a questionnaire from Kitchakarn (2015) was employed to understand students’ perceptions and attitudes toward computer-based learning. The statistical analysis of the questionnaire revealed positive attitudes of participants toward computer-based learning.This study may have pedagogical implications for material practitioners, CALL package designers and distance learning planners to include strategy instruction in English courses.

Problem-based Learning (PBL) as one of the newest teaching methods in the area of language teaching in second and foreign contexts, has been used by teachers in the last two decades in different institutes. In the current study, attempts were made to find out the effect of the two PBL subcategories, i.e. Hybrid Problem-based Learning (H-PBL) and Pure Problem-based Learning (PPBL) in comparison to a traditional lecture-based method, on Iranian EFL university learners’ speaking skill and their self-confidence, by implementing these two methods in the EFL classroom using eight teacher-made real-world problems. To this purpose, 56 undergraduate participants of Payam Noor university (PNU) in Abadan, Iran, were randomly selected, divided into a control group and two treatment HPBL and PPBL groups. The statistical analysis of the obtained results of the participants’ pretest-posttest scores, through one-way ANCOVA and Man-Whitney U test, revealed that the treatment groups outperformed the control group in speaking skill and self-confidence The findings of the study might bear implications for teachers and university curriculum designers to take more proper approaches towards the instructing university participants.

Although English language plays an important role in the job of aviation personnel, language needs of these employees have been taken for granted. This study aimed at investigating the extent to which English is used by the employees at Iran Air airport services at Isfahan Airport, the required level of basic language skills in performing their jobs effectively, and the employees’ attitude towards their English professional courses. A questionnaire consisting of 24 items was constructed and distributed among all the employees working at three sections of Iran Air airport services (Ramp Control, Customer Services, and Baggage Services). Besides, Observation was done by the researcher at the airport to find out the basic language problems of the aviation personnel, and interviews were done with the head of each sections. The findings proved that English language is highly used in the employees’ jobs and they are not satisfied with their training courses. Also, the Ramp Control and Baggage Services employees considered speaking as the most important skill, while Baggage Services employees considered reading and writing as the important ones. Finally, it can be concluded that revision of the current professional training programs seems to be necessary to offer appropriate ESP course curriculum.

Writing as one of the important skills needed for communication has always been the topic of research in English teaching contexts. To improve the writing of English students, teachers employ different methods. This study was designed to investigate the impact of the inquiry learning method on the grammatical accuracy of Iranian EFL learners’ writing. To do so, 90 intermediate EFL learners from Abadan Medical University were selected through the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and participated in a quasi-experimental study, and then they were randomly divided into experimental and control groups (EG & CG). Their ages ranged between 20 to 30. A pretest was administered to compare the results of their performance at the beginning of the study. The inquiry learning method was taught to the EG as the treatment, while the conventional method was employed for the CG. In the experimental class, the teacher did not teach everything directly, and the learners were expected to discover the knowledge and generate rules, but the presentation of materials in the CG was conventional without any discussion, and the students in the CG were mainly passive. After the instruction, a posttest was given to both groups to observe the impact of the inquiry learning method on the grammatical accuracy of their writings. The analysis of the data was accomplished through the application of a dependent sample t -test and an independent-samples t- test to compare the mean scores, and the results indicated that the inquiry learning method improved the EGs̕ writing, and they outperformed the CG. The findings of this study could have implications for the EFL learners, teachers, and material designers that may help them in EFL language learning and teaching.

Translating accounting documents, in general, and accounting terminology, in particular, is not a simple task, especially when the new terms keep created in pace with accounting developments. This study was carried out to find the most common and preferable ways to translate accounting terms from English into Persian. Also, an attempt was made to identify the frequently used patterns of word-formation in the rendition of technical terms in English and Persian. To this end, Mir dictionary was selected and the accounting terms were identified and categorized. Then, patterns of word-formation in English and Persian were identified. Also, a comparison was made between the English accounting terms and their Persian equivalents in order to determine the translation strategies used. The results of the study revealed that the most frequently employed patterns of word-formation for rendering the accounting terms in English and Persian are noun+noun and adj+noun and the most commonly used translation strategy is transposition.

Teaching grammar has always created some challenges for EFL teachers. Therefore, this study explored the effect of four scaffolding strategies as contextualizing, modeling, metacognitive scaffolding, and bridging on Iranian EFL students’ grammatical knowledge. Moreover, this study examined Iranian EFL learners’ attitudes towards scaffolding strategies. To fulfil the purpose of this study, 40 language learners were chosen based on convenience sampling as the participants of this study. They were both males and females between 20 to 30 years old divided into two groups as the control and experimental groups. After assuring the homogeneity of the students in terms of their English proficiency in general and grammatical knowledge in particular, a parallel achievement test was administered to both groups as the pre-test. Following that, as the treatment, scaffolding strategies were applied for the experimental group to teach grammar and a traditional way of teaching grammar for the control group. After running the classes, a parallel achievement test was administered to both control and experimental groups as the posttest. The data analysis revealed that the experimental group that received scaffolding strategies significantly outperformed in the grammar part compared to the control group which received a conventional way of teaching grammar. It is believed that utilizing scaffolding strategies can motivate learners and facilitate the tough task of grammar learning and thereby make teachers aware of their ability to obtain success in their teaching process.

This study aimed to assess the quality of Persian translation of Orwell's (1949) Nineteen Eighty-Four by Balooch (2004) based on House's (1997) model of translation quality assessment. To do so, 23 pages (about 10 percent) of the source text were randomly selected. The profile of the source text register was produced and the genre was realized. The source text profile was compared to the translation text profile. The result of this comparison was dimensional mismatches and overt errors. The dimensional mismatches were categorized based on different dimensions of register including field, tenor, and mode. The overt errors which were based on denotative mismatches and target system errors were categorized into omissions, additions, substitutions, and breaches of the target language system. Then, the frequencies of occurrences of subcategories of overt errors along with their percentages were calculated. The overt errors and dimensional errors were analyzed carefully. The dimensional mismatches as well as a large number of major overt errors such as omissions and substitutions indicated that the translation was not in accordance with the House's view stating that literary works needed to be translated overtly. In other words, mismatches on different levels of register showed that the cultural filter was applied in translation and the second-level functional equivalence required for overt translation was not reached. As a result, the Persian translation of Nineteen Eighty-Four did not fulfill the criteria to be an overt translation. Instead, this translation tended to be a covert one.

Technology-supported collaborative writing has gained popularity in L2 writing pedagogy. The study investigated the effects of Edmodo as an online social platform on the writing accuracy of 50 Iranian intermediate EFL learners, who were chosen through the convenience sampling method. The researchers utilized a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design and assigned the participants to an experimental and a control group. The participants of the control group sent their assignments and received feedback asynchronously through email; whereas, the learners of the experimental group used Edmodo to work collaboratively on their writing assignments. Finally, after eight treatment sessions, the scores of the pretest and posttest were analyzed through using a paired-sample t-test and MANOVA. The results revealed that the application of Edmodo had a significant effect on writing accuracy. Moreover, the participants’ attitudes were assessed by running a Likert-scale questionnaire. According to the findings, they had a positive attitude towards integrating Edmodo into their writing curriculum. This study could bring about pedagogical implications for EFL writing courses.

Nowadays, English language plays an important role in the job of engineers and it is necessary to become familiar with engineers’ objectives, attitudes, and expectations in order to have an appropriate course design. The purpose of this study was to explore the needs analysis of English learning of engineers in Esfahan Steel Company (ESCO). This study aimed at investigating the required level of language skills in performing their jobs effectively, the employees’ attitude towards their English professional courses, their professional needs, their language skills and tasks, and the difficulties they face while studying a language. A questionnaire consisting of 25 items was distributed among the engineers working at ten sections of ESCO. In addition, interviews and observations were done in order to increase the reliability of the research. Time, financial resources, and worker expectations ask for more reliable methods to provide a better situation in the workplace. Based on the findings obtained from this study, it can be concluded that receptive skills were perceived as a bit more important than the productive skills to perform the job effectively and the revision of the current professional training programs seems to be necessary to offer appropriate ESP course curriculum.

Attention has been drawn to recent, expanding studies on Second Language (L2) online programs and problems with people with learning difficulties, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This group of learners suffers from feelings of detachment and low self-confidence due to their lack of Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in an online classroom. Thus, the current quasi-experimental study explored the impact of a supplementary intervention targeted at helping learners create, substantiate, and live up to their ideal L2 self-images on multivariate components of ADHD learners' WTC in online English classes. For this purpose, 29 Iranian ADHD learners selected through convenience sampling were divided into two equivalent groups based on their ADHD levels. The groups were then randomly assigned to an experimental (N = 15) and a control condition (N = 14). In the experimental group, the vision ignition intervention was integrated into a 10-week online English course, whereas the control group's learners received no vision-enhancement intervention throughout the course. The learners' WTC was measured through a standard psychometric survey at the outset and conclusion of the course. Multivariable Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to determine whether a linear combination of the subcomponents resulted in significant differences between groups. Along with an overall significant between-group difference in WTC, the results revealed the intervention's significant impact on WTC's two subcomponents: communicative self-confidence and integrative orientation.

Virtual learning has been defined as any system of education and instruction that brings together participants who are separated by geographical distances or time. Significantly, in a virtual learning environment, interactive telecommunications systems are utilized to connect learners, resources, and instructors. As such, the present study sought to investigate the possible effect of a synchronous virtual learning environment on the reading comprehension of undergraduate EFL university students. To this end, from the population of students majoring in English translation at Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran, one control group, and one experimental group were non-probabilistically selected based on their availability. Indeed, thirty students were chosen for the control group and thirty students were nominated for the experimental group. Live interactive teaching rooms were utilized in the experimental group during the term, whereas asynchronous instructional practices were adopted in the control group within the study. According to the results of paired samples t-test, the experimental group, which was instructed by live interactive teaching rooms over the term, progressed at the end of the period as compared to the beginning of the term. Moreover, the independent samples t-test showed that the students' scores on the post-test in the experimental group were higher than that of the control group. Evidently, the results of the present study may have practical implications for EFL teachers, online instructors, distance education programmers, materials developers, and syllabus designers.

With the rapid development of technology, multimedia comes into English classes and positively improves learners’ language proficiency. The present study attempted to consider the use of animated infographics on the vocabulary gain and retention of Iranian intermediate EFL students. The classes were held online through the Jitsi meet website in the autumn of 2021. To this end, 60 EFL students were selected among 90 students through a homogeneity test. At the beginning of the treatment period, a pretest was administered to both groups, and then, the participants attended 13 sessions. In these sessions, the animated group (AG) was taught through animated infographics, while the control group (CG) was instructed conventionally. The posttest and delayed posttests were administered to test the student’s vocabulary gain and retention. The findings indicated that the AG outperformed the CG significantly in the posttest and delayed posttest. Therefore, the animated infographics proved to be more effective in learning English vocabulary for these students. The results could have implications for teachers because it heightens their understanding of using technologies in general and animated infographics in particular and leads to more effective teaching methodologies.

Translation of cultural-specific items (CSIs) has always been a challenge for translators. To overcome this problem, they employ different strategies. The present study focused on the role of CSIs in English translation of the Holy Quran by Irving and how he has used different strategies in rendering them. The design of the study was a descriptive one and the data were collected from the second surah of the Quran (Baqara). The theoretical framework was Venuti’s (1995) domestication and foreignization Model. This study analyzed the differences in the use of these two strategies through descriptive statistics by presenting frequency and percentage of each alternative.  The analysis of the data showed that Irving used domestication as the main technique to render CSIs. The findings of this study could be beneficial for both students of translation and the practitioners in the field to get familiar with the most influential strategies in rendering cultural specific items.

Although the EFL teachers' challenges in developing and enhancing Professional Identity Formation (PIF) in face-to-face and virtual instruction contexts have extensively been explored, there were a limited set of practical and advantageous strategies, particularly for the novice teachers, in promoting their PIF in E-teaching especially since the emergence of changed priority of teaching contexts amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Accordingly, this study attempted to check the Iranian novice EFL teachers’ PIF, uncover the potential impacts of utilizing Online Image Management (OIM) strategies in promoting their PIF, and identify the most-preferred OIM strategies. Based on the convenience sampling, 184 male and female Iranian novice EFL teachers were selected to participate in this quasi-experimental study. Two instruments, including a Questionnaire of Perceived Professional Identity (QPPI) and a series of Quantitative Online Interviews (QOIs), were used to collect the data via the virtual platform of Survey Planet. The descriptive statistics and Independent Samples t-Test packages in R were utilized to analyze the data. The results confirmed the low levels of professional identity among Iranian novice EFL teachers, verified the significant effects of OIM strategies in promoting PIF of Iranian novice EFL teachers, and shed light on reflection practices and strategies in enhancing digital literacy as the most-favored OIM strategies in promoting PIF among these teachers. This study may provide implications for EFL teachers and trainers in helping novice EFL teachers to promote their PIF with OIM strategies.