درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The neurolinguistic approach (NLA) nests the claim that both internal and external grammars (i.e., implicit and explicit grammar knowledge) develop through an intensive orality-based pedagogy. The present study put this claim to the test focusing on Iranian English language learners’ development of implicit and explicit knowledge of definite and indefinite English articles (EAs). Forty-three Iranian English language learners constituting 2 intact lower-intermediate classes were randomly assigned to a control group (CG; N = 20) and an experimental group (EG; N = 23). EG underwent four 1.5-hr project-based sessions of NLA-based instruction on definite and indefinite EAs. Each session began and ended with authentic oral practice of the structure under study. There was (a) a paragraph reading phase followed by rule induction and (b) a writing phase in between the two oral practice phases. CG was presented with reading texts (amply instantiating EAs), rule explanation, and communicative tasks. A timed grammaticality judgment test and an EA-focused oral proficiency interview were employed to estimate the participants’ implicit knowledge, and an untimed grammaticality judgment test and a metalinguistic knowledge test were deployed to measure their explicit knowledge. ANOVA results showed (a) EG’s development of implicit and explicit knowledge of EAs, but CG’s development of only explicit knowledge of EAs, and (b) EG’s significantly greater gain in both knowledge types. The findings reveal NLA’s potential for the development of both types of knowledge concerning definite and indefinite EAs, and have implications for the intensive instruction of knotty structures for low proficiency L2 learners.

Several languages displayed in Language Landscape (LL) in tourism cities are foremost to be explored since they can depict the battle and position of each language. As China has a tight cooperation with Indonesia and other countries, Mandarin has begun to be utilized in the public sphere, such as in the LL. Thus, this present study intends to analyze the use and position of Mandarin, the underlying reasons for using Mandarin, society’s perspective, and its implication. The qualitative method was applied in which all data were explained descriptively by engaging documentation and a questionnaire for data collection. The former was done through the 831 signs displayed in tourism cities in East Java (27 Mandarin LL involved). The latter was conducted through the 127 responses from various backgrounds: old and younger generations. The results indicate that (1) Mandarin LL with top-down signs get a higher percentage than bottom-up signs in which Mandarin is in the fourth position, (2) the utilization of Mandarin in LL is to reveal their identity of the LL owner, (3) it is not vital to display Mandarin in LL due to the lack knowledge of it. Even if societies have negative perceptions of Mandarin, they confess that Mandarin is extensively spread due to its fast growth in any sector. Consequently, this study is crucial to give a wake-up call to the government and speakers of indigenous languages that they should take essential action to preserve the position of local-ethnic languages in LL.

The statement stated in a multiple-choice question can be developed regarding two types of sentences: Interruptive (periodic) and cumulative (or loose). This study deals with different kinds of stems in designing multiple-choice (MC) items. To fill the existing gap in the literature, two groups of teacher students passing general English courses at Farhangian University were selected based on Cambridge Placement Test. The design of this study was a comparison group design. To verify the effectiveness of the stems, i.e., interruptive and cumulative stems, two types of tests based on the book entitled Thoughts and Notions 2, which was taught in General English classes, similar in content, but different in their stems, were designed. Each test contained 40 items, 25 vocabulary items, and 15 items of reading comprehension. The first group of students was given the test designed using only interruptive sentences as stems. The second group participated in the test, being prepared using only cumulative sentences as stems. After the data analysis via an independent t-test, it became apparent that the first group outperformed the second. Therefore, it was concluded that interruptive sentences as a stem in multiple-choice tests were more reliable and valid than cumulative ones. One of the study implications is that the interruptive stems can be used to assist policymakers and material designers, and language teachers to be considered for future decision making, and designing materials.

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.

Delivering supervisory feedback to teachers is considered a challenge in teacher education and evaluation. This study analyzed the rhetorical features and effectiveness of the academic commentary that observers write at the end of observation forms. The study aimed to explore the qualitative section of an observation form that is filled out by observers during classroom observation and obtain an understanding of macro and micro features, and how they are perceived by observers and observees through a questionnaire. For this purpose and on account of the Swalesian approach (2004), we gleaned 200 commentaries written by different observers across the country, examined the recurring rhetorical patterns of structure, and subsequently developed a questionnaire to elicit the effectiveness of these features in academic commentaries. The result revealed that as a review genre the extracted framework enjoyed a rhetorical structure generically representative of a common practice in characterizing academic commentary in the Iranian context, and in terms of effectiveness, although there were discrepancies, the majority of observers and observees were found to have shared concepts of how to establish rapport, present evaluation, and finalize the academic commentary.  

Translating taboo words is one of the challenging tasks that translators face during subtitling and dubbing movies. The translation of taboo words should be handled carefully since they may violate the norms of the target society. In this regard, the translators use different strategies to find an equivalent in the target language. This study tried to identify the strategies used by Iranian translators in dubbing and subtitling the F*k words as taboos in American English-drama crime television series based on Davoodi’s (2009) model. Thus, this was a corpus-based study that has a quantitative method with a descriptive comparative approach. The corpus of this study was limited to F*k words found in the TV series called Big Little Lies season one. This TV series was selected as the corpus of this research because this series movie was incredibly more suggestive and popular in recent decades and targeted a wide range of audiences and adults. Thus, 80 F*k words were identified for further analysis based on Sharifi and Darchinian's (2009) model. Descriptive statistics were used to determine frequencies and percentages of the applied strategies in the Persian subtitled and dubbed of the F*k words. The findings showed that Substitution, and Euphemism were the first and second used strategies by Iranian translators for dubbing and subtitling the F*k words, respectively. Additionally, the results of the Chi-square test revealed that there was not a significant difference between Iranian translators’ strategies for subtitling and dubbing F*k words. The results of the present study can be beneficial for Iranian subtitlers, dubbers, and translation students in the subtitling and dubbing of F*k words as taboos in crime drama movies from English into Persian.

I am delighted to be invited to write a paper for the inaugural edition of the journal Applied Linguistics Inquiry . I am also honored to be invited to serve on its editorial board. In this paper, I will first describe the seminal study reported by Biggs and Edwards (1991) to serve as a backdrop for a discussion of classroom communicative and interactional competence. The paper outlines how teachers can reflect on such competence by exploring teacher questions, teacher feedback, grouping and nonverbal communication, and classroom communicative and interactional competence. The paper end with a discussion of evidence-based reflective practice as professional development as well as the place of emotions in reflection.

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. 

Within the Minimalist Program (MP), Relative clauses (RCs) are considered complementizer clauses (CPs) containing a C with an edge feature [EF] in the form of [wh] and [EPP] but no tense feature. This study investigates Persian RC derivation based on MP. By proposing two approaches, namely: (1) ‘ ke -movement’ and (2) ‘null wh-operator (OP) movement’, we will consistently argue and show that the null wh-OP approach provides an appropriate generalization for Persian restrictive RCs. Adopting the latter, the results display Persian RCs can be analyzed as CPs with a null wh-OP assuming to undertake wh-movement as copying and deletion from different syntactic positions, i.e., subject, direct object, object of preposition, etc. This operator allows a small pro in the subject position, leaving an optional null copy, either allowing an optional resumptive pronoun (RP) behind in direct object position or attaching to the verb; and obligatorily in indirect object and object of preposition positions as well as Ezafe-construction. Also, the edge feature of the probe, the complementizer ke , attracts the null wh-OP to Spec-C, for checking and valuing the unvalued [wh] and [EPP] features. The long relative clause derivations can, correspondingly, work as expected by the successive cyclic movement of OP through intermediate Spec-C positions as well.