درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Authenticity has always been the concern of test developers in the history of second language assessment. This study was an attempt to investigate the authenticity of the present researchers' innovative idea of “Language Town” as a method for assessing learners’ speaking ability. To this end, a simulated town was designed like a real town in an outdoor space of about 400 square meters. The participants in this study were 31 undergraduate students of Translation Studies at Jahrom University who were taking the 4-credit course of Conversation 2. First, the students’ speaking ability was measured based on the IELTS testing system. Then each student was sent to the Language Town with a few definite missions determined in advance by the teacher; e.g. ordering food in the restaurant, depositing/withdrawing money in a bank, etc. Using IELTS band descriptors, each student’s speaking ability was measured by two raters in both tests. Then the correlation between the two sets of scores obtained from the IELTS test and the one in the Language Town were calculated. Using open-ended questions, a survey was also conducted to extract the students’ attitudes towards the Language Town. The results of the statistical analyses showed a weak correlation (0.36) between the two sets of scores. The survey also revealed that almost all the students were interested in and had positive views towards Language Town as an authentic method of assessment. A Virtual Language Town (VLT) could be a solution to the practicality problems of the Language Town.

The study investigated EFL teachers’ current level of critical consciousness as well as their beliefs about the educational context where they taught. The study also explored how gender, teaching experience, workplace, and academic degree differentiated the participants with regard to their critical consciousness. Drawing upon the related literature and the existing questionnaires in the field, we designed and validated a questionnaire applying technical statistical procedures (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis). The questionnaire was then completed by 310 English teachers teaching in different language institutions across the country. The findings revealed that, in general, EFL teachers’ current level of critical consciousness was above average. However, they believed that the educational context did not encourage and cultivate in them critical consciousness. It was also found that, contrary to expectations, the academic degree did not differentiate teachers in this regard. Moreover, male and female teachers were found not to be significantly different in their critical consciousness. The theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed in the paper.

Previous literature on the study of identity representation in political discourse has been mainly concerned with the spoken discourse and the representation of self. However, the way different groups of political agents represent others’ identities across languages has not attracted much attention. Using Wodak’s (2007) Discourse Historical approach to CDA, the present study investigates the way EL2 and English speaking political actors and researchers in the context of Iran and the U.S represent others’ identities in their political discourse. Through purposive sampling, 28 English political speeches and columns produced by native and non-native (Persian) speakers of English were selected for analysis. The results of CDA, as well as Chi-square tests of statistical significance, indicated there were differences in the quality and quantity of the strategies employed by the two groups of political agents across language groups. EL2 speakers of English used more implicit, covert, anonymous and less transparent as well as more distant representation strategies than English agents who tended to use more explicit, direct and involved strategies. Implications were drawn for ESP material development at an advanced level.

Thematization is the process of arranging theme/rheme patterns in a text. It is considered the mental act or process of selecting particular topics as themes in discourse or words as themes in sentences. This study aimed to find out how the translators organize their themes into marked and unmarked ones and how these organizations are related to the original texts. This paper examined thematization strategies in English opinion articles and compared them with their Persian translation. To this end, one of the leading newspapers in the United States, The New York Times, was chosen. The texts were given to a professional translator to be translated and then rated by an expert rater. Based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of textual features and marked and unmarked themes of 6 opinion articles, their Persian translations were selected. The findings revealed that thematization patterns can help the translators in better transforming the message to the target language. The results for the marked and unmarked thematization patterns were relatively the same in the original texts and their translations.

Materials are the most noticeable components of every language-learning context. One of these materials is the specific textbooks being used by English language academies; they are crucial in directing EFL teachers and learners and guiding them through the route of language learning. The present study attempts to compare the cultural content of two course books being used currently in Iran called ILI and Rise and Shine series in order to see which one is more useful in developing the intercultural competence of EFL learners. The participants of this study include 30 EFL teachers (15 teachers in ILI who teach advanced level books and 15 teachers in Chitsazan academy who teach advanced level books). The instrument of this study includes a questionnaire adapted from (Ahmadi Safa, Moradi et al. 2015) that consists of 38 questions designed based on Likert scale. The collected date were analyzed by an independent t-test. The obtained results revealed that Rise and Shine series include more intercultural features than ILI series and they are more applicable in improving the intercultural competence of EFL learners.

The present research aims to examine the effects of using culturally oriented texts in project-based classes on the views of EFL university students regarding their L1 culture. To this end, three experimental groups of intermediate EFL freshmen, assigned to classes A, B and C, participated in this study. Each of the classes were presented with reading passages focused on L1 culture, L2 culture, and a combination of both L1 and L2 culture, respectively. A written two-question structured interview was designed by the researchers to gain in depth detailed information about the studentschr('39') views regarding L1 culture in each class. The interviews were then examined using content analysis. Findings revealed the effectiveness of the combined approach (i.e. the use of reading materials focused on L1 and L2 culture) in establishing more positive views about L1 culture in students. The results can provide insightful recommendations and implications for EFL instructors, educational materials developers and educational policy makers.