درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Culture, intercultural interaction, and language have often been described as indivisible and the relation between them is quite intricate. This study was conducted to evaluate Iranian and Afghan secondary English textbooks. Two aspects, representation of culture and intercultural interaction, were focused on in the conversation parts of Iranian and Afghan secondary English textbooks. First, 172 conversations in Iranian textbooks and 160 conversations in Afghan textbooks were analyzed based on Byram’s (1994) framework to investigate the frequency of representation of culture. Second, all the conversations were analyzed based on Song’s (2013) model to investigate the frequency of intercultural interactions. Results revealed that Social Interaction was the most frequent category for the representation of culture and Superficial Interaction was the most frequent category for intercultural interactions. In the same vein, National History was largely ignored in the representation of culture within these 12 books while Critical Reflection was the category that was not paid due and sufficient attention to throughout the books regarding the intercultural interaction. The study implies that teachers, materials developers, and coursebook designers might be able to make more informed and proper decisions regarding the way and the extent cultural elements are to be incorporated in English textbooks.

The timing of corrective feedback (CF) provision has been a controversial issue in SLA research. Despite widespread research, there is still disagreement on whether the erroneous structures should be addressed immediately or at a delayed time after task completion. This study investigates the comparative effects of immediate and delayed feedback on developing subject-verb (s-v) agreement by Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 28 university students were divided into immediate (n=14) and delayed (n=14) CF groups after the administration of the Oxford Placement Test. The study involved a pre-test, three treatment sessions and a post-test. The two feedback groups received treatments followed by either immediate feedback provided after task completion or delayed feedback delivered after 3 days of task completion. The tests and treatments contained various activities including multiple-choice, cloze, fill-in-the-blanks and picture description task. The results of the analysis of test scores on the pre- and post-tests were indicative of the outperformance of the immediate CF group, implying that the immediate feedback may be more beneficial for developing s-v agreement accuracy than delayed feedback. The findings of this investigation can bear efficient implications for language teachers and researchers.

The area of Individual Differences (IDs) and their interactions with instructional conditions have recently been a point of interest in second language acquisition. However, the effect of such interaction on aural implicit grammar knowledge has not been researched exhaustively. This study thus examined the interactive effects of aptitude and treatment conditions on implicit grammar knowledge as elicited aurally. Grammar knowledge was operationalized as the ability to comprehend past/present simple passive verbs. To this end, 120 EFL learners were randomly assigned to four groups: three teacher-generated experimental (Isolated Form-Focused Instruction, henceforth FFI, Integrated FFI, and Incidental) conditions, each lasting for six treatment sessions, and a control group receiving the same content with no instruction. Initially, learners took a pre-test and cognitive tests (LLAMA-D, LLAMA-F, and LSPAN). They then received the treatments, and three days after the treatments, they took an Aural Timed Grammaticality Judgment Test as a measure of implicit grammar knowledge. Results of a general linear model revealed a significant effect for treatment. Additionally, LSPAN was found to mediate the effectiveness of instruction, with the highest effect on implicit grammar knowledge under the Isolated FFI condition. Post-hoc analyses also demonstrated that instruction made a significant difference compared with no instruction, though, in comparison with other conditions, Integrated FFI proved to be more effective. Results provide EFL teachers and curriculum developers with awareness concerning the interaction between instruction and cognitive differences. For improving the effectiveness of instruction and acquiring implicit knowledge, cognitive tasks, especially those boosting working memory, are suggested.

Self-efficacy, which is known as the teachers’ self-perception of their competence and abilities in doing specific tasks, has attracted considerable attention in teacher education. It is seen as the teacher’s belief in achieving specific outcomes for students in their teaching practices, but the main sources of EFL teachers’ self-efficacy have not been systematically explored in a single study.  Therefore, this study set out to present a systematic review of the studies on EFL teachers’ self-efficacy. To this aim, a meta-analysis approach was employed to systematically review closely related papers from Elsevier, Google Scholar, and ERIC. The articles examined the sources of self-efficacy in a different context. Through precise screening, 13 papers were found to be eligible enough to be included in this study. Findings revealed that ‘Mastery Experiences’, ‘Vicarious Experiences’, ‘Social Persuasion and Support’,                                 ‘Emotional and Physiological States’, ‘Language Proficiency’, ‘Intelligence’, ‘Teaching skills and experience’, ‘pre-service training courses’, and ‘professional development activities’ are the main sources of self-efficacy. The findings could be theoretically and practically significant to EFL teachers, teacher trainers, and researchers interested in teacher education.

This study examines the occurrence of increments in three languages (Nigerian English, Yoruba, and Pidgin) in the medical context in Nigeria with the aim to give a functional classification to increments built upon the conceptual and structural description in the literature. This is a step further from reflecting the manifestation of increments in the monotypic context of mundane interactions to an investigation of the phenomenon in an institutional context. Fifty audio-taped recordings of naturally occurring conversations in selected hospitals in three states in southwest Nigeria were transcribed and analysed using Conversation Analysis. Functional classification of increments in the data revealed six types of increments namely, symptom-motivated, information-motivated, history-related, face-saving, emphatic, and mundane. The increments were mainly glue-ons and very few instances of non-add-ons in the context of history-related increments. Patients were more frequently disposed to designing increments than doctors in STI and HIV consultations in Nigeria. The patients utilized the symptom-motivated increments for the purpose of elaborating on their health concerns and for clarifying the most pressing symptoms. This afforded them the opportunity of unburdening their health concerns and focalising more pressing symptoms. In addition, the sensitive nature of their condition also spurred the deployment of face-saving and history-related increments to handle embarrassing and face-sensitive questions about their condition and lifestyle. 

The study scrutinized the probable significant relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Translation Competence (TC) in the Iranian students of Translation Studies. The first stage of the study followed a conventional statistical approach, in which the significant relationship between the variables as well as the predicting role of emotional intelligence for translation competence of the participants was examined through Pearson correlation and linear regression analyses. Two questionnaires of emotional competence, derived from Bar-On (1997), and translation competence, derived from Alavi and Ghaemi (2013), were utilized in the study. The findings of the initial phase revealed the significant relationship between the participants’ emotional intelligence and translation competence. In the second stage, modeling approach was employed to probe the relation between emotional intelligence and translation competence through structural equation modeling, using LISREL. The results demonstrated a significant relationship between EI and TC, justifying the results of the first non-modeling stage. The findings are of significance as the association between translation competence and emotional intelligence has been scarcely explored. Moreover, the relation between two variables was deeply explored through using non-modeling as well as modeling approach, adding the novelty of research. The results reflected that emotional intelligence plays a significant role in predicting the language learners’ translation competence. The results have some implications for language teaching. Language teachers can promote language learners’ emotional intelligence to reach successful learning outcomes. Through using useful techniques such as discussion, group-work activities, answering questionnaires, the learners' emotional intelligence can be significantly improved, leading to effective translation achievement.

Language placement tests (LPTs) are used to assess students’ proficiency in a progressive manner in the target language. Based on their performance, students are assigned to stepped language courses. These tests are usually considered low stakes because they do not have significant consequences in students’ lives, which is perhaps the reason why studies conducted with LPTs are scarce. Nevertheless, tests should be regularly examined, and statistical analysis should be conducted to assess their functioning, particularly when they have a medium or high-stakes impact. In the case of LPTs administered on a large-scale, the logistic and administrative consequences of an ill-defined test may lead to an economic burden and unnecessary use of human resources which can also affect students negatively. This study was undertaken at one of the largest public institutions in Latin America. Nearly 1700 students sit an English LPT every academic semester. A diagnostic statistical analysis revealed a need for revision. To retrofit the test, a new test architecture and blueprints were designed in adherence to the new curriculum, and new items were developed and tried out gradually in several pilot studies. Item Response Theory (IRT) was used to examine the functioning of the new test items. The aim of this study is to show how the test was retrofitted, and to compare the functioning of the retrofitted version of the English LPT with the previous one. The results show that the quality of items was higher than that of the former English LPT.