درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Nowadays, intercultural communication via email among various groups and societies has been increasingly important as an aspect of communication. This research aims at investigating aspects of politeness meaning negotiation via emails exchanged between English and Persian speakers with different cultural backgrounds. The present study also reveals the potentials for using emails to experience culture as a process of meaning negotiation. To do this, 18 English and Persian speakers (aged 22-60) were asked to exchange emails for 12 weeks. After collecting the required samples, the interplay between the computer-mediated communication, speech act and politeness is explored by using the analytical frameworks of Hyme’s ethnography of communication (1974), Searle’s speech act theory (1969) and Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory (1987). The methodology of this research is descriptive analytical. The results of this research show that “politeness” is not a stable construct. Rather it is constantly (re)negotiated by the interactants who take into account the relevant contextualization cues. In addition saving the face of the sender and the receiver is concerned simultaneously in the process of email exchanging.

In light of the fact that L2 pronunciation errors are often caused by the transfer of well-established L1 sound systems, this paper examines some of the outstanding phonological differences between Persian and English. Comparing segmental and supra-segmental aspects of both languages, this study also discusses several problematic areas of pronunciation facing Iranian learners of English. To reach such a goal, thirty EFL learners were randomly selected from three levels of beginning, intermediate, and advanced students enrolled for the Fall term in 2008 in one of the private institutes in Shiraz. Their pronunciations of a list of 40 words and 8 sentences were analyzed through read-aloud task followed by an interview. The words have been recorded though a computer-based files adjusted for voice. The result of the data analysis indicated that our EFL learners at three levels confront considerable problems in areas that are absent in their mother tongue or converged into one item which is technically termed as coalescence. In order to compensate for the difficulties encountered by our EFL learners, we as teachers should integrate pronunciation teaching in our classroom syllabi so that they will become conscious of the differences in the sound system of the two languages. In this way, the Persian learners of English will be helped to become proficient speakers of English with rare or no residue of foreign accent in the pronunciation of target words, phrases, or sentences, thereby leading to more intelligibility of their utterances.

هدف این تحقیق بررسی آگاهی منظورشناختی-زبانی زبانآموزان در اثنای پردازش دادههای منظورشناختی ضمنی و نیز ارتباط این آگاهی با توانایی زبانی و انگیزه بود. بدین منظور ارتباط بین توجه به درخواست دوجملهای با سطح زبانی و انگیزه درونی و بیرونی سنجیده شد. آزمودنیهای این تحقیق شامل 121 زبان آموز سطح پیشرفته بودند که به پرسشنامه انگیزه و آزمون توانایی زبانی پاسخ دادند. در ابتدا بر اساس نتایج پرسشنامه، ساختار عاملی انگیزه مشخص شد. سپس از بین این افراد، 35 زبانآموز به طور تصادفی برای مرحله تجربی انتخاب شدند و درفعالیتی شرکت کردند که هدف آن توجه به ساختار درخواست بود. در پایان فعالیت، این زبانآموزان در پروتکل کلامی شرکت کردند تا میزان آگاهی آنان از ساختار مورد نظر سنجیده شود. نتایج نشان داد که زبانآموزان به ساختار درخواست به طور غیریکسان توجه کردند و اینکه این توجه با انگیزش آنها ارتباط معنیدار داشت نه با سطح زبانی. مع هذا ارتباط توجه با انگیزه بیرونی با یافتههای تاکاهاشی ( 2005 ) که مطالعه مشابهی انجام داده است مغایرت دارد. یافتههای این تحقیق دال بر آن است که زبانآموزان در محیطهای مختلف دارای تمایلات انگیزشی متفاوتی برای توجه به ویژگی های منظورشناختی داده ها هستند.

There is a growing interest among the higher education principals and policy makers to improve teacher evaluation methods and more important than that to use the evaluation data. A number of research studies implied the ineffective instruction of ESP courses in Iran (Atai, 2002; Eslami, 2005; Hayati, 2008; Ahmadi, 2008; Sherkatolabbasi & Mahdavi, 2012; Boniadi, Ghojazadeh & Rahmatvand, 2013). The basic objective of research in field of ESP/EGP instruction and evaluation is to facilitate informed decisions for the betterment of English classes. The literature suggested that most of the teachers and students were dissatisfied with the students’ progress in specific English courses. Data was collected from the teachers by various ways including observation checklist and feedback form. To carry out the study, 12 ESP and EGP teachers were observed using Marshall’s rubrics (2011) and observation logs’ analysis. Then, 18 teachers offered feedback on different aspects of their own courses. The data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively using ANOVA statistical measurement. The findings firstly indicate that EGP teachers were more standard teachers in comparison to ESP teachers. Secondly, the feedback forms show discrepancy between the views of EGP teachers and ESP teachers in some areas including the material effectiveness and students’ interest. To reach a standard point in EGP/ESP instruction, more evaluation is to be applied by the faculty members, university principals and the teachers themselves. Politically correct attitudes towards teachers should not lead to ineffective English courses. Some practical implications are suggested to upgrade the current practice in ESP classes