حبیب الله مشهدی

We deal with a wide range of colors in our daily life. They are such ubiquitous phenomena that is hard and next to impossible to imagine even a single entity (be it an object, place, living creature, etc) devoid of them. They are like death and tax which nobody can dispense with. This omnipresence of colors around us has also made its way through abstract and less tangible entities via the interaction between culture and cognition. In an attempt to shed further light on the way that color meanings could be extended in different languages and cultures, the present study sought to investigate the semantic extension of Persian and English color terms based on cultural data. The findings revealed the existence of both language-idiosyncratic and general tendencies for both Persian and English languages with respect to semantic extension of color terms. It was also shown that Persian and English speakers mostly use the same mechanisms of metonymy, metaphor and sense of opposite relation based on cultural data and their experience of the physical world to develop more and more color meanings. Furthermore, the study suggested that the direction and development of the semantic domain of a color term mainly depends on its already developed semantic properties and is not accidental. Two other accidental points were also found in the study. First, the borrowing, acceptance and the usage of a color expression from another language might depend on the already developed semantic properties of the related color term in the recipient language. Second, it is possible to predict the direction and development of the new connotations and meanings of a color term in a specific language.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to assess the retention of two word types (synonyms and homonyms) in the short term memory, and (b) to investigate the effect of these word types on word learning by asking learners to learn their Persian meanings. A total of 73 Iranian language learners studying English translation participated in the study. For the first purpose, 36 freshmen from an intact class were presented with two lists of words with their Persian meanings. One of the list included 5 pairs of synonyms and the other one included 5 pairs of homonyms. They were asked to retain as much vocabulary items as they can. Learning was measured by lexical representations of the words. The results showed that learners did better on the retention of homonyms than synonyms. For the second purpose, 37 sophomores from an intact class were provided with 40 words in pairs (20 synonyms and 20 homonyms). They were asked to write their Persian meanings in the testing session. The results indicated that students did better on learning synonyms than homonyms. The study revealed that homonyms are better retrieved in short term memory but learned more slowly regarding to the semantic representation.

این مطالعه به بررسی رابطة بین هوش هیجانی و خودکارآمدی بین 71 معلم زبان انگلیسی در موسسات خصوصی زبان می پردازد. برای این منظور پرسش نامه های خودکارآمدی معلم، هوش هیجانی و خصوصیات مردم شناسی بین معلمین توزیع گردید. نتایج تحقیق حاضر نشان داد که هوش هیجانی معلمین رابطه معنی دار و مستقیمی با خودکارآمدی آنها دارد و می تواند بصورت قابل ملاحظه ای میزان خودکارآمدی را در بین معلمین پیش بینی کند. همچنین نتایج این تحقیق تغییرات چشمگیری را در سطح هوش هیجانی و خودکارآمدی معلمین با توجه به خصوصیات مردم شناسی، وضعیت تأهل و سابقه تدریس نشان داد. بنابراین مضامین تحقیق مورد بحث قرار گرفت و پیشنهادهایی برای تحقیقات آتی داده شد.

مطالعه حاضر به بررسی میزان تمایل به انگلیسی صحبت کردن و ارتباط آن با ویژگی های فردی و محیطی در بین ٣٧٢ زبان آموز ایرانی می پردازد. داده های لازم به وسیله ی پرسشنامه جمع آوری شد. از نرم افزار اس پی اس اس جهت اجرای آمار توصیفی و از نرم افزار آموس، با حداکثر میزان برآورد، جهت طراحی و تست مدل جدید روانشناسیِ آموزشِ زبان استفاده شد. نتایج معادلات ساختاری نشان داد که اعتماد به نفس، دیدگاه بین المللی و انگیزه پیش بینی کننده های معنادارِ تمایل به انگلیسی صحبت کردن هستند. نتایج همچنین نشان دادند که اضطراب از صحبت کردن، انگیزه و ویژگی شخصیتیِ موافق بودن و رفتار استاد می -تواند به صورت غیر مستقیم بر متغیر تمایل به انگلیسی صحبت کردن تاثیر بگذارد. رفتار استاد و شخصیت موافق به صورت معناداری هم دیدگاه بین المللی و هم اضطراب از صحبت کردن را در بین زبان آموزان پیش بینی می کند. نتایج بر اساس سیستم و بافت اجتماعی-آموزشی زبان انگلیسی در ایران مورد بحث قرار گرفت و مضامین تحقیق مشخص شد.

This study was set out to shed light on the efficacy of pushed output directed by scaffolding on 41 (24 female and 17 male) upper-intermediate EFL learners’ speaking fluency and accuracy. A public version of IELTS speaking test was held to measure learners’ entrance behavior. Then, they were randomly assigned into symmetrical, asymmetrical, and control group. The experimental and control groups covered 7 lessons of New Interchange 2 during 15 sessions, twice a week for about 45 minutes each session. Control group received placebo while symmetrical and asymmetrical groups worked on pushed output tasks. The data were audio recorded and transcribed for statistical analyses. The results indicated the efficacy of pushed output in boosting speaking. However, tests of between-subjects effects revealed that the mean score of the control group was not significantly different from that of experimental groups concerning speaking fluency. Furthermore, the results of Tukey's HSD post-hoc tests showed that asymmetrically pushed output activities were more effective in enhancing learners speaking accuracy. In sum, the results suggested that the implementation of pushed out put strategies in student centered contexts could be considered as an effective way in the development of learners’ oral output.