درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This quasi-experimental study aimed to compare the effect of different modes and item types of multiple-choice (MC) test items on advanced EFL learners’ listening comprehension and perception. To this end, 80 advanced EFL learners, aging 18 to 30, were selected. The participants took a listening test including dialogue-completion and question and answer multiple-choice items presented in written and oral modes. In addition, the participants were given a questionnaire on their perceptions of the oral and written modes. The results of two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between the participants’ scores in the oral and written modes. Moreover, they received similar scores on the two item types. However, in their questionnaire responses, most of the participants preferred the written mode to the oral mode. The results also imply that although presenting the multiple-choice test items in the oral mode may form a pure test of listening comprehension, there are acceptable reasons for presenting the multiple-choice listening items in the written mode.

This study investigated the impact of semantic clustering on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary retention at advanced level. Participants were female learners randomly assigned to two groups of 15. Four instruments (TOEFL test; vocabulary pretest; immediate posttest, and delayed recall posttest) were used. The experimental group underwent semantic clustering vocabulary presentation in which the learners were provided with six lists each containing ten semantically related words in sentences, while, the control group was provided with the same words but the sentences were presented in a random way containing different topics, not semantic groups. The results revealed the outperformance of the control group in the delayed recall posttest.

Since the early development of interest in the interpersonal dimensions of academic communication in the 1980s, the analytic potentials of the concept of metadiscourse have motivated a large number of investigations. Although these analytic potentials have facilitated the study of diverse academic genres, there has always been a risk of detachment of textual analyses form the contextual origins and motivations. In some cases, this detachment has been so observable that the true discoursal nature of the interpersonal dimensions of academic communication has been reduced to classifications of a large number of pure textual properties. As a reaction to this reductionist trend, the present article provides a preliminary framework within which the contextual origins of metadiscourse features can be understood. It is suggested that if the findings of metadiscourse research are meant to be interpreted in meaningful ways, they should be contextualized within such process-oriented frameworks.  

The present study investigated differential effect of two types of feedback namely, computer-mediated and metalinguistic, on Iranian EFL learners’ writing accuracy. To this end, based on Nelson Proficiency Test (300 A), 69 Iranian advanced EFL learners, including 45 males and 24 females, aged between 17 and 24, learning English in language institutes in Salmas, were selected randomly out of the total population of 121 EFL learners and then divided into three groups. The participants in the two experimental groups received metalinguistic and computer-mediated feedback separately while those in the control group received no feedback. The analyses of the results obtained through a pre-test and a post-test indicated that both feedback types significantly influenced learners’ writing accuracy. However, analysis of the participants’ performances on the post-test demonstrated that metalinguistic group outperformed computer-mediated one. Thus, the effect of metalinguistic feedback was more than that of computer-mediated feedback. In addition, both of them were more influential than no-feedback instruction. The findings of the present study can be fruitful for syllabus designers and EFL teachers. 

This study examined the cognitive processes in interpretation through employing Think-aloud Protocols (TAPs) among Iranian translators. The participants included 10 professional and nonprofessional translators selected through Nelson Proficiency Test. TAP and retrospective interview were used as the major instruments in order to collect the data from self-reports protocols<strong>. </strong>In order to assess the translators' mind activity in the flow of interpretation, they were administered a translation test of approximately 150 words concerning a general subject. Then, the applied cognitive processes (attention, comprehension, memory processes, and problem solving) by the participants were determined and examined. Also, for identifying the significance of differences between the translators concerning the cognitive processes, a chi-square nonparametric test was run. Analyzing the translators' performance during think aloud activity of interpretation revealed that both professional and nonprofessional translators have used the same cognitive processes and the results of the chi-square test revealed there was no significant difference between them at the level of comprehension, memory processes, and problem solving. However, significant difference was observed at the attention level. The findings can help the instructors to become aware about mental abilities and are beneficial for students and translators to improve their translation ability.

Cognates are the words celebrating their similarities from phonetic, orthographic, and semantic points of view across two or more languages. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of cognate-based instruction strategy on vocabulary learning among Iranian EFL learners. To achieve the goal of the study, 80 EFL learners (15-27 years old) took part in the study; all of them were learning English at language institutes of Lorestan and Isfahan provinces in Iran. Half of the participants who were native speakers of Laki language were assigned to experimental group and the remaining 40 who were from Isfahan and not familiar with Laki language were assigned to control group. Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administered to make sure that the participants were homogeneous. The participants in both groups were taught target words (42 English-Laki cognate words), by the researcher, during six sessions. A pretest was administered for both groups before the treatment and a posttest was managed after the treatment for both groups. Three weeks after the treatment, a delayed posttest was administered for experimental group, only. One sample t test for pre and posttest, and paired sample t test for delayed posttest were run. Findings of the study showed that participants in the experimental group outperformed the participants in the control group, resulting in null hypothesis rejection. In addition, the results indicated similar performance of experimental group in both posttest and delayed posttest, confirming that new cognate words were not forgotten over a period of time.

Second language writing instruction has been greatly influenced by the growing importance of technology and the recent shift of paradigm from a cognitive to a social orientation in second language acquisition (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006). Therefore, the applications of computer-assisted language learning and activity theory have been suggested as a promising framework for writing studies. The present study aimed to investigate the perception of Iranian EFL learners of the efficacy and affordance of activity theory integrated with computer-assisted language learning in writing improvement. To this end, sixty-seven sophomores majoring in English translation were selected as the participants of this study. The writing instruction was geared to an e-learning platform based on the six elements of activity theory--subject, object, mediating artifacts, rules, community, and division of labor--appropriate for the writing course. The students were assigned to write nine expository paragraphs on six different developmental patterns and share various relevant materials on the platform during the treatment. Their assignments were carefully monitored and evaluated by the instructor. Upon the completion of the treatment, the students completed a closed-ended questionnaire and an open-ended questionnaire and took part in a semi-structured focus group interview to express their perception. The results showed that the students held favorable perception toward the use of computer-assisted language learning within the activity theory framework. The findings of the study also revealed that there was a significant difference among the students' perception concerning the four mediating elements of activity theory.

The current study aimed to examine the effects of strategic planning, online planning, strategic planning and online planning combined (joint planning), and no planning on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of oral productions in two simple and complex narrative tasks. Eighty advanced EFL learners performed one simple narrative task and a complex narrative task with 20 minutes in between. The order of the two stories was counterbalanced to control for any possible practice effect. The results suggest that no planning in both tasks was the least effective. Strategic planning led the learners to elevate both their complexity and fluency significantly in the narrative simple task and only their fluency in the complex task. Online planning helped the participants improve their accuracy significantly both in the simple and complex tasks. Finally, joint planning resulted in the significant elevation of accuracy and fluency in the simple task on the one hand, and complexity and accuracy in the complex task on the other. With respect to the effect of task complexity, the interaction between task complexity and CAF was significant. The results and comparisons between groups are discussed in the light of Levelt’s model of speaking, Skehan’s Trade-off Hypothesis, and earlier studies.

This study aimed at developing and validating a new model and instrument to explore attitudes of Iranian EFL learners towards English as an International Language (EIL).In so doing, the researchers followed several rigorous steps including extensive literature review, content selection, item generation, designing the rating scales and personal information part, Delphi technique, item revision, pilot testing, reliability estimation, and finally validation. In the first phase, five dimensions were identified for the new model based on the literature and interview with a panel of experts. An initial draft of the questionnaire consisting of 33 items was designed for investigating learners’ attitudes towards EIL. Then, it was piloted with a group of 170 Iranian EFL learners. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the obtained data revealed that the questionnaire consisted of a five factor structure. Consequently, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out with another 409 Iranian EFL learners to check the fitness of the proposed model. The result of CFA indicated that the model enjoyed a satisfactory level of goodness of fit, showing that the five-factor structure including cultural realism, linguistic cultural disposition (negative), (dis)ownership of English, EIL posture, and localization was not the result of random variance in the learners’ responses.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the authenticity of IELTS academic tests. Bachman and Palmer (1996, p. 23) define authenticity as “the degree of correspondence of the characteristics of a given language test task to the features of a target language task”. Authenticity is then an important aspect of testing since it describes the relationship between the test and the real world. The participants of this study included 80 Iranian IELTS test takers who took IELTS academic test in 2014 and 2015, and 100 lecturers of university and IELTS teachers. Twenty IELTS test takers also were interviewed to collect the required qualitative part of data. The data were gathered through a semi-structured interview and authenticity checklist. Descriptive statistics used to analyze the collected data. The findings of the study showed that IELTS academic tests are not authentic in terms of tone, format, channel, form and scope of interaction. Moreover, mostly the interviewees stated that answering the items in IELTS academic test requires specific techniques and test takers can not succeed without mastering these techniques.   

The present study intends to probe the impediments for the practicality of Critical language pedagogy (CLP) in higher education system of Iran. To do this, 20 Iranian university instructors, holding Ph.D. degrees in TEFL, were asked to read a passage reflecting the main characteristics of transformative pedagogy. To explore the main obstacles, they were invited for a semi-structured interview. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were analyzed using Thomas (2006) inductive approach including frequent, dominant, or significant themes. The results revealed a number of themes that illustrate macro and micro inhibiting factors Iranian EFL instructors encounter toward implementing the principles of CLP. The findings are discussed and suggestions are provided for teachers to transform transmission approaches into transformative and dialogic ones.