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Retrieval tasks provide learners with an opportunity to focus both on meaning and on form. There are four different retrieval directions. The present study aimed to identify the optimal direction of recall type retrievals during reading and to investigate the outcomes of each one. Forty-eight intermediate EFL learners took part in the study. One of the experimental groups was provided with the productive retrieval version of the reading text, and the other experimental group with the receptive retrieval version. A Posttest was conducted in both productive and receptive directions for all the groups. Delayed posttests were administered two weeks after the treatment without prior notice to evaluate the time effect on participants' performance in each group. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in participants' performance in immediate and delayed posttests based on the method of retrieval. Further explanation of the effect of each retrieval direction on immediate and delayed posttests has been presented.

Reading is recognized as being the most important skill needed by ESP learners in their field of study, and vocabulary knowledge is the most widely discussed component of effective ESP reading per se. However, research on how much the different types of words exert substantial influences over ESP reading comprehension remains scanty. To address this lacuna, the present study aimed to examine the degree of contribution made by general high-frequency, core-academic, and technical-academic words to 127 Iranian learners studying Psychology at three state universities in Tehran, Iran. Three researcher-made and validated tests were used to measure the three aforementioned types of vocabulary knowledge accompanied by an ESP reading test. Data analysis using multiple regression revealed that the core-academic words and technical-academic words significantly contributed to the ESP reading comprehension, explaining about 92% of the variance in reading scores, but knowledge of general high-frequency words was not a significant contributor. Moreover, teaching core-academic and technical-academic words did not have a significant effect on ESP reading comprehension in the short term, yet a low significant difference was observed for technical academic words in the long term. Findings of this study imply that direct teaching of the core-academic and technical-academic words can help ESP learners improve their reading over time. The article ends with pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research.

The present study assessed the construct validity and reliability of a researcher-constructed psycho-motor mechanism scale based on the communicative theory of translation proposed by PACTE (2003). In doing so, the necessary criteria for designing the scale were obtained by a thorough review of related literature on previously constructed scales in error analysis or holistic ones. Moreover, in the first part of the research, a qualitative data analysis according to the translation tasks done by eleven participants and their feedback through a semi-structured translation problems interview was done for finding the descriptors in designing the psycho-motor mechanism scale. Next, by designing the scale, two translation tasks were given to 90 M.A. students majoring in Translation Studies at four different branches of Islamic Azad University. Based on the rating done by two experienced raters, construct validity and reliability of the scale was revealed by the use of factor analysis and correlation statistics. The findings approved by the construct validity and reliability of the researcher-constructed scale could contribute to the field of Translation Studies since having a more objective scale for translation tasks in line with anchored theories of translation quality assessment like those of PACTE (2003) is a felt need.

The present study aimed firstly at investigating the impact of translators' style on figurative language translation from English into Persian. Secondly, it intended to find which strategies were most frequently adopted by Persian translators to translate figures of speech into Persian. Lastly, the study sought to check the extent of transference of figurative features of literary texts in English-Persian renderings. To achieve these purposes, the English novel, Little Women by Alcott (1880) and its three Persian translations by Raiszadeh (1997), Akhavan (1996), and Morvarid (2000) were used as the materials of the study. The original novel, along with its three selected translations, were first studied carefully by the researchers and about fifty percent of the novel was chosen to be analyzed in terms of figures of speech, which are part of stylistic features of any literary text. Then, the figures of speech in the stated sample, besides the Persian equivalents of each of them used by the three translators, were identified. Finally, a hybrid model incorporating 5 strategies retrieved from Newmrak's (1988) and Baker's (1992) models of translating figurative language was utilized to examine the identified tropes and determine the type and number of strategies employed by any individual translator. The obtained results revealed that figurative language devices were translated from the source into the target language through a variety of strategies, which can be indicative of the translator’s stylistic tendencies.

The present study aimed toassess the target and present reading comprehension needs and abilities of Iranian medical students with different levels of Englishlanguage proficiency. A total of 283 medical students and 23 ESP instructors were chosen through cluster sampling. The data collection instruments included the Persian version of Atai and Nazari’s (2011) needs analysis questionnaire and a 40-item language proficiency test. The obtained results indicatedthat ‘general vocabulary’and ‘medical terminology’were considered ‘important’ in facilitating the comprehension of medical texts. In addition, the findings revealed that medical students need to improve all reading sub-skills. Furthermore, the respondents’ perceptions were significantly different with regard to students’ target needs and present abilities in reading comprehension. Finally, there was no statistically significant difference in students’ target and present needs and abilities across different levels of language proficiency. The findings have potentialimplications for the improvement of medical EAP courses.

Drawing on the literature on the emergence of different varieties of English in the globalized world, current debates surrounding English as an international language (EIL), and more orientation towards intelligibility and mutual understanding in international communication, this article reports the findings of a quantitative and qualitative research study with 112 native American and British, 120 Indian and 120 Iranian teachers as members of Inner Circle (IC), Outer Circle (OC) and Expanding Circle (EC) (Kachru, 1992) to explore their attitudes towards pronunciation pedagogy within the framework of English as an international language and  how they see their role in relation to different varieties of English. The findings demonstrate the extent to which teachers’ acceptance of pronunciation and varieties of English differs. In particular, the Iranian teachers’ norm-bound orientation was found to be the greatest among the three groups. Native English teachers’ replies were also indicative of their acceptance of different varieties of English. Teachers’ preferences will be discussed with consideration of their attitudes towards varieties of English which might have influenced the construction of English teachers’ identity and the educational policy of each country. The findings also highlight the localization of L2 language planning and policies in an EIL pedagogy. This article argues that, together with encouraging and valuing different varieties of English, it is important to acknowledge and promote ways to raise awareness of teachers and learners towards global spread of English and the realities of English today which can be really helpful to be more realistic and not just blind followers of a particular model. Keywords: Pronunciation, Intelligibility, English as an International Language, Language Awareness, Identity   نگرش معلمان نسبت به انواع انگلیسی جهانی: معیار های تلفظ در زبان انگلیسی و  نوع آموزش تلفظ زبان انگلیسی در لایه های درونی، بیرونی، و رو به گسترش زبان انگلیسی یکی از مهمترین موضوعات در حوزه آموزش زبان توجه به انواع انگلیسی جهانی از دیدگاه تلفظ زبان انگلیسی و نوع آموزش تلفظ می باشد. تمامی افراد حتی غیر بومی ها عضوی از جامعه انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی می باشند و هیچ گروهی دستور زبانی خاصی راتعیین نمی کند. بومی سازی زبان نقش مهمی در ارتباط میان افراد در یک جامعه خاص را دارد. اهمیت موضوع تلفظ می تواند به دو دلیل اصلی است: اول، ساخت فهم که اشاره به ایجاد یک گفتمان قابل فهم در میان شرکت کنندگان در یک چارچوب ارتباطی دارد. دوم، با در نظر گرفتن نقش اصلی تلفظ درزبان انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی و راه آن است که شکل آگاهی زبان آموزان نسبت به هویت فرهنگی اجتماعی خود را شکل می دهد .مقاله حاضر با استفاده از روش تجزیه و تحلیل کمی و کیفی به بررسی دیدگاه معلمان در سه لایه زبانی (112 معلم بومی انگلیس و آمریکا: لایه درونی؛ 120 معلم هندی: لایه بیرونی؛ و 120 معلم ایرانی؛ لایه روبه گسترش)، اعتقادات و نگرش آنها نسبت به هنجارهای تلفظ و آموزش آن می پردازد، چرا که آنها می توانند با توجه به عوامل اجتماعی فرهنگی و سیاسی متفاوت  تغییر کنند.  این مطالعه همچنین نسبت به تغییر نگرش معلمین نسبت به انگلیسی بومی و سوق دادن آنها بسوی اهمیت زبان بر اساس قابل فهم بودن و توجه به ارتباط میان مخاطبین تا تلفظ بومی خاص زبا انگلیسی توجه دارد. توجه ویژه به انواع انگلیسی های جهانی و حفظ هویت فرهنگی خود به هنگام یادگیری زبان خارجی از دیگر اهداف این تحقیق می باشد کلمات کلیدی: تلفظ، گفتمان قابل فهم ، انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی، آگاهی زبانی ،  هویت

Of the many dilemmas facing the assessment of literary competence, one is the extent to which language should constitute part of the target construct intended to be measured. Some argue for the construct-irrelevance of language and hence recommend that it be eliminated or minimized in favor of an exclusive focus on literary competence. In practice, this does not seem to be the case, as language proficiency considerations seem to creep into assessment, clouding assessment outcomes. The current study sought to examine students' perceptions of the degree to which knowledge of language constitutes part of the construct of literary competence in two departments of English and Persian literature. To this end, a total of seventy students in two poetry courses, one in the English department and the other in the Persian, responded to a questionnaire designed to gauge their perceptions of the extent to which language competence constitutes a component of the literary competence. Data were analyzed through one sample and independent samples t-tests. It was found that language competence is somehow construct-irrelevant in testing literary competence. Interestingly, measurement-invariance was observed regarding Persian and EFL students’ stance on the construct-irrelevance of language in tests of literary achievement and competence.