درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Cloze tests are gap-filling tests designed to measure overall language ability and reading comprehension in a second language. Due to their ease of construction and scoring, cloze tests are widely used in the context of second and foreign language testing. Previous research over the past decades has shown the reliability and validity of cloze tests in different contexts. However, due to the interdependent structure of cloze test items, item response theory models have not been applied to analyze cloze tests. In this research, we apply a method to circumvent the problem of local dependence for analyzing cloze tests with the Rasch model. Using this method, we applied the Rasch model to a cloze test composed of eight passages each containing 8-15 gaps. Findings showed that the Rasch model fits the data and thus it is possible to scale persons and cloze passages on an interval unidimensional scale. The test had a high reliability and was well-targeted to the examinees. Implications of the study are discussed.

Online discussion forums (ODFs) offer students and teachers the opportunity to harness the endless power of the internet for educational purposes. This study investigates the impact of Edmodo as an asynchronous ODF on six of the most recurring reading comprehension skills in the TOEFL iBT test among Iranian learners. Online and offline treatments were given to 26 students in the experimental group and only offline treatments to 33 students in the control group. The statistical analysis of the data represents a large effect size (Partial η2=.234; r=.826; Partial η2=.397; r=.661) for identifying factual information, making inferences, guessing vocabulary from context, and inserting texts in the passage skills respectively, a moderate effect size (r=.363) for the understanding the rhetorical purpose of the passage, and a weak effect size (r=.156) for the identifying referential relationships between the words in the passage skills. The results tell us that Edmodo is effective in teaching reading comprehension skills by overcoming the usual time constraints and offering students autonomy in going online at the most convenient time and place. Finally, the findings are valuable for educational policymakers, curriculum designers, materials developers, language instructors, and language learners.

Limiting the scope of Maritime English (ME) courses to nautical subject matters, due to the conventional views who define ME as the global language used at sea, may not be based on a real needs analysis of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses in ports and maritime related organizations. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this study aimed to challenge this traditional perception through conducting an ESP needs analysis in Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) of Iran. All the 17 departments’ managers and/or their delegates were interviewed, then a researcher-made questionnaire which was developed according to the interviews was distributed among the experts (70 respondents). The deductive content analysis was used for analyzing the qualitative part, and the quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. It was revealed that the overall needs of PMO in terms of ESP does not concord with conventional nautical-based Maritime English courses, and it in fact encompasses a much wider variety of content areas such as “port economic, marketing and investment, legal, tariffs, agreements and contracts, education, research, strategic port administration, logistics” etc.

Les défis de la traduction, notamment les enjeux de la traduction audiovisuelle, et plus particulièrement les sous-titres sont fort multiples. D’une part, les difficultés liées aux contraintes spatio-temporelles pour la lecture des sous-titres et d’une autre part, l’utilisation des allusions, métaphores et les implicites émanant de la critique des problèmes sociaux, politiques et culturels, via le « faire rire du public », décuplent la difficulté de cette tâche. La question qui se pose ici est de dépister comment l’interprétation du traducteur/sous-titreur est capable de façonner et d’orienter la réception du public. Pour y répondre, nous hypothétisons qu’en utilisant les outils d’interprétation propices (l’induction de tonalité, l’option des équivalents communs dans la langue cible, l’inclusion des informations supplémentaires et des constations personnelles hors des sous-titres), le sous-titreur pourrait clarifier les messages implicites du (con)texte de départ et ainsi augmenter les capacités interculturelles et réceptives du public. Cet article vise donc à étudier le rôle interprétatif du traducteur sur la performance de lecture et les modes de réception de public. A cet effet, quinze sous-titres multilingues de diverses comédies de stand-up provenant de sites TED et YouTube sont choisis et analysés selon la théorie générale de réception. Compte tenu des limites spatio-temporelles des sous-titres, nous avons constaté que le traducteur, tout en jouant son rôle d’interprète, devrait fournir des explications supplémentaires et acceptable exclusivement dans la mesure où ces dernières conduiraient à une meilleure réception de la traduction et qu’elles ne compromettraient aucunement la perception, la compréhension et la concentration de l’auditoire.

De toutes les fonctions assumées par les enseignants, celle qui suscite le plus de souci est probablement l’évaluation des apprentissages dans le cadre d’une perspective actionnelle, surtout l’approche par compétence. L’évaluation est une phase essentielle du processus d’apprentissage et contribue à la fois à l’approfondissement de l’apprentissage et à la satisfaction des apprenants. Dans cette visée, l’évaluation est liée au processus d’apprentissage, est intégrée à la progression et se situe à l’intérieur du processus et dans son déroulement. Mais, cette partie très importante de l’apprentissage reste parfois cachée aux yeux des enseignants et sa qualité n’est pas tenue en considération de la part des enseignants et des institutions. De ce fait, afin de soutenir l’apprentissage et de reconnaître l'état de développement des compétences lors du bilan des apprentissages de fin d’un cursus d’apprentissage, le processus d’enseignement du FLE suppose un ajustement des pratiques évaluatives qui favorise la progression des apprentissages. Dans ce but, connaître les pratiques d’évaluation des enseignants du FLE semble indispensable. Dans cette étude, nous aborderons l’agir évaluatif des enseignants lors de prendre des décisions sommatives. Cette étude a été menée auprès de soixante-dix enseignants de différents instituts des langues en Iran.Les résultats de cette recherche démontrent que les pratiques d’évaluation des enseignants ne sont pas bien adaptées aux perspectives nouvelles d’évaluation. Les résultats permettent donc de concevoir des programmes de formation de professionnalisation de l’évaluation des enseignants du FLE.

While metadiscourse has been extensively examined across several genres, contexts of publication, disciplines, and languages over the past two decades, researchers have mainly limited themselves to the qualitative checking of candidate metadiscourse markers for the various functions they serve. In the present study, however, we drew on retrospective methods coupled with semi-structured interviews to gain a deeper understanding of metadiscourse features applied linguistics apprentice and professional authors use in their research articles (RAs) in national and international English-medium journals. To achieve this goal, we built on Hyland’s (2019) interpersonal metadiscourse model to analyse RAs in three subsections including introductions, results, and discussion. We ran chi-square tests to examine the RA variations, following the descriptive analysis of the use of metadiscourse markers. A follow-up stimulated recall through semi-structured e-mail interviews was used. We used MAXQDA to analyse the interview data from authors. The results of qualitative and thematic analyses showed that metadiscourse markers play key roles in conveying the writers’ message and intention to the members of discourse communities. The findings of the study suggest raising apprentice writers’ awareness of the way they frame their message in research writing

The current study explored the effects of different feedback types on reducing Iranian test-takers’ speaking anxiety at the lower- and upper-intermediate levels. For this purpose, 90 male and female learners aged 21 to 45, who were preparing themselves to take the IELTS Mock test, were selected through a convenient sampling method and divided into lower-intermediate and upper-intermediate levels on the basis of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) results. Then, they underwent ten treatment sessions of recast, explicit, metalinguistic, and clarification corrective feedback. To measure the anxiety in speaking performance, Chowdhury’s (2014) questionnaire was given to the participants once before treatment and once after the treatment. Then, the score of each learner was calculated and recorded for the data analysis. The obtained results revealed that there was a statistically significant difference among the feedback types regarding the participants’ speaking anxiety at the lower-intermediate as well as the upper-intermediate level. The implication of this finding is that teachers should constantly implement different types of corrective feedback in their classes to help students with their speaking anxiety problems.    

“Flipped” or inverted classrooms are designed to utilize class time for application and knowledge building, while course content is delivered through the use of online lectures and watched at home on the students’ time. It is believed that flipped classrooms promote student engagement and a deeper understanding of the class material. The implementation of flipped classroom has been conducted in China’s higher education for more than a decade. However, its implementation in Hotel English courses has not received any attention. By doing a needs analysis, it was proved that the implication of flipped classroom model would be promising in Hotel English courses. Hence, the author redesigned the Hotel English course based on the results of the needs analysis. This course is expected to improve the cultural awareness of the students and offer them with more opportunities to practice speaking English, especially in an authentic situation. Meanwhile, their problem-solving ability and critical thinking ability can be upgraded. As a result, the students can be well prepared to enter their future career not only in hotel industry but other areas.

Over the past decades, writing assessment research has been concentrating on alternative methods with a social-oriented view of assessment, including dynamic assessment (DA). Given the lack of research juxtaposing the interventionist and interactionist DA frameworks in the area of narrative writing, this study sought to compare the effectiveness of Brown’s graduated prompts model vs. Poehner’s model in the development of one-paragraph narrative essays in terms of grammatical accuracy. The study followed a quasi-experimental design, with 15 Iranian EFL learners selected via convenient sampling from among the female students of a language institute in Tehran. The participants were then randomly divided into three groups: Interventionist group, in which mediation was based on Brown’s model in the sandwich format; interactionist group, where mediation was done using Poehner’s model in the cake format; and non-dynamic assessment (NDA) control group with no mediation involved. The research consisted of three pilot sessions and eleven sessions as the main phase. To analyze the data, both descriptive and non-parametric inferential statistics were run. The results conceded the superiority of both DA approaches to NDA, whereas no significant difference was observed between the two DA groups in their general performance on narrative tasks. However, the analysis of the number and types of required mediational moves over the DA sessions indicated the superiority of the interactionist model to interventionist framework in the development of grammatical accuracy in narrative paragraphs. The study offers some theoretical and pedagogical repercussions for educators, curriculum designers, and L2 teachers.