درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This paper elaborates on Persian and English orthographic shared aspects to study the effects of L1 Persian on learning English as a foreign language. While there are some examples of letter and sound mismatches in the orthographic system of both languages, those of English are more complex than Persian. In order to see the effect of the mismatch between orthography and transcription, 40 Persian EFL learners were divided into two proficiency groups i.e., advanced and elementary, and their performance was examined on comprehension and production tasks. The learners’ production skills were checked via a list of 76 pseudo words requiring the learners to read them while their voices were recorded. After one week time interval, a comprehension test consisted of 34 items was administered, requiring the learners to listen and choose among the orthographic forms presented to them. It was hypothesized that being educated in L1 Persian comprising semi-opaque orthography system, the learners would tackle the English opaque graphemes better on the mismatches. However, it was observed that both elementary and advanced groups had difficulty learning English orthography system, showing almost no positive effect from L1. Only in rare cases more proficient learners performed better due to more schooling education in English.

The present study investigated comparatively the impact of two types of input enhancement (i.e. textual vs. compound enhancement) on developing grammar ability in Iranian EFL setting. Sixty-five female secondary high school students were selected as a homogenous sample out of about a 100-member population based on Nelson language proficiency test. Then, their grammar ability was measured based on a researcher-made diagnostic test prior to the experiment. The sample was randomly divided into two equal groups; one group received text-enhancement-based instruction of grammar, while the other received compound-based enhancement. Finally, they received an achievement test of grammar as a posttest to measure their progress in light of two different types of input enhancement mechanisms. The pertinent statistical analyses of the results indicated that a) the effect of textual enhancement-based instruction of grammar is not significantly meaningful, while b) the compound enhancement-based instruction has significant effect on learning grammatical structures. Comparatively speaking, therefore, c) compound enhancement-based instruction of grammar is more significantly effective than that of textual in developing grammar ability. It can be safely concluded that grammar instruction and its resultant development are subject to intervention type, which, pedagogically, bears promising messages for both teachers and syllabus designers to incorporate parameters of input enhancement in both teaching and materials development, respectively.

یادگیری یک زبان خارجی از طرفی با نوعی دانش راهبردی و از طرف دیگر با سطحی از اضطراب آزمون ارتباط دارد، اگرچه معمولا داشتن اندکی اضطراب آزمون طبیعی است. مطالعه اخیر به بررسی رابطه میان استفاده از راهبردهای شنیداری، اضطراب آزمون و عملکرد آزمون شنیداری فراگیران ایرانی سطوح متوسطه و پیشرفته ی زبان انگلیسی به عنوان زبان خارجی پرداخت. بدین منظور 80 فراگیرایرانی زبان انگلیسی ( 40 نفر در سطح متوسطه و 40 نفر در سطح پیشرفته ) در این تحقیق شرکت نمودند و پرسشنامه ی استفاده از راهبردهای شنیداری لی (1997)، مقیاس اضطراب آزمون ساراسون(1975) و دو مونولوگ از عملکرد آزمون شنیداری که از بخش شنیداری تافل TOEFL ETS)) انتخاب شده بود را کامل نمودند. نتایج آزمون همبستگی پیرسون نشان داد که بین اضطراب آزمون وعملکرد آزمون شنیداری رابطه منفی معنی دار و بین استفاده از راهبردهای شنیداری و عملکرد آزمون شنیداری رابطه مثبت معنی داری وجود دارد.همچنین نتایج تحلیل رگرسیون چندگانه نشان داد که استفاده از راهبردهای شنیداری پیش بینی کننده ی بهتری برای عملکرد آزمون شنیداری است.به علاوه نتایج آزمون تی مستقل نشان داد که بین فراگیران ایرانی سطوح متوسطه وپیشرفته ی زبان انگلیسی در میزان استفاده از راهبردهای شنیداری و میزان اضطراب آزمون تفاوت معنی داری وجود دارد.

Increasingly, we can build new bridges between related fields of education. This makes it possible to use techniques that were originally designed for one specific area of teaching, in others. An example of this can be, on the one hand, the teaching of audiovisual translation and, secondly, the teaching of foreign languages. We can find instances of this possibility in recent and noteworthy works in which, for example, the application of subtitles to learn a foreign language is explored. Thus, along the same lines, the main objective of this article is the search for other possible avenues of connection between the two areas mentioned above, taking advantage of new technologies and of the tools with which they provide us. Our starting point will be audiovisual translation teaching and the use of software programs such as Windows Movie Maker and Subtitle Workshop, to later transfer them to the second language (in this case, English) classroom. In the first of these contexts, both software programs allow for, among many other possibilities and respectively, dubbing and subtitling simulations in class. On this occasion, our intention is to show the potential of the aforementioned software in the English language class, but not for interlinguistic purposes, as in the case of dubbing and subtitling into another language, but for intralinguistic ones, as in the case of postsynchronisation and of subtitling into the same language.

Pragmatic assessment and consistency in rating are among the subject matters which are still in need of more profound investigations. The importance of the issue is highlighted when remembering that inconsistency in ratings would surely damage the test fairness issue in assessment and lead to much diversity in ratings. Our principal concern in this study was observing the criteria that American and Iranian EFL/ESL teachers consider when rating Iranian EFL learners’ pragmatic productions regarding the speech act of compliment. The instrument utilized in this study was WDCTs and a speech act rating questionnaire administered to sixty American and sixty Iranian EFL/ESL teachers. In order to come up with the criteria, the reasoning and justifications of the raters when rating learners’ pragmatic productions were analyzed carefully through content analysis. The results showed that overall the raters considered nine general criteria when rating. They included: “Strategy use”, “Affective factors”, “Politeness”, “Interlocutors’ relationships”, “Linguistic accuracy”, “Sincerity”, “Authenticity”, “Fluency”, and “Cultural issues”. Also, the most frequent criterion among the native and non-native raters was “Strategy use” and “Politeness” respectively. Finally, it was concluded that due to some inconsistencies and variations in the ratings and criteria of both native and non-native raters, it seems that both groups are in need of pragmatic workshops and training sessions. The results of this study can have important implications for EFL/ESL teacher educators who are considerate of the importance of pragmatic training and instruction.

Chomsky cannot help wondering at the fact that we, despite so vast evidence, have little knowledge about the obvious evidence. A good example, I think, is the child’s way of first language acquisition. A great many researchers have studied various aspects of child language acquisition at different stages of the child’ life and have brought to light many details of language development. However, it remains uncertain how the child can cope with this heavy task of language acquisition within the first two years of his life. Since its birth, the child begins acquiring the intonation, the sound, the phoneme, the word, the meaning, and the structure of the language, to which he is exposed so fast that it is beyond our imagination. Mind that the same child is unable to do the simplest addition or subtraction of numbers within the early years of life. Thus, the intriguing question for Chomsky is: How is it that the child can acquire the complex system of a language such as English, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese … very fast despite so little and often deficient linguistic input?

The aim of this study was to find the appropriate type of translation of English brand names Iranian consumers prefer, i.e. phonetic, semantic and phonosemantic types of translation. Also, it was aimed at examining the type of font size Iranian consumers tends to see on packages of English products. To this end, the distinction between male and female participants as well as the participants’ level of proficiency was considered as two key factors. Six fictitious brand names were created and the 55 selected participants (43 females and 12 males with upper-intermediate, intermediate and pre-intermediate English proficiency levels) were asked to fill a questionnaire related to the goals of the research. Statistical analyses were then done. The results revealed that Iranian consumers, with different levels of proficiency, tended to use phonetic translation. Also, it was revealed that females with different proficiency levels tended to see English brand names larger than their Persian translations in terms of font size, whereas male participants did the reverse. The findings were discussed in connection with translation and marketing.

مطالعه حاضر کاربرد گفتگوی با خود توسط فراگیران زبان انگلیسی را در ساماندهی فعالیت های ذهنی آن ها بررسی می کند. برای این هدف موارد گفتگوی با خود 30 زبان آموز سطح متوسط بزرگسال در حین انجام فعالیتی حاوی معماهای چالش برانگیز به زبان انگلیسی ضبط شد. سپس موارد گفتگوی با خود زبان آموزان از نظر شکل، محتوا و کاربرد مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. نمونه های متعددی از بلند خوانی، تکرار، توضیح برای خود و همچنین مرور مطالب نشان می دهد که گفتگوی با خود در هدف گذاری، مدیریت ذهن، انگیزش و کنترل اضطراب نقش دارد. به علاوه، نتایج کاربردهای مفید گفتگوی با خود از قبیل هدف گذاری، مدیریت ذهن، انگیزش و کنترل اضطراب را در میان بسیاری دیگر نشان می دهد. این مطالعه بر آموزش کاربردهای گفتگوی با خود به زبان آموزان تاکید می کند و همچنین مدرسین را به هنگام سکوت فراگیران در فرایند آموزش زبان خارجی به صبر دعوت می نماید.

از دیدگاه زبانشناسی کاربردی یکی از مسایل بنیادی در برابر معلمین زبان، روش شناسان آموزشی زبان و برنامه نویسان درسی زبان آموزی این است که اصولا چه روند و مسیری در آموزش زبان خارجی یا زبان دوم کارآتر است: آموزش زبان برای کاربرد آن یا کاربرد زبان برای آموزش آن؟ بی تردید، برای این که گویشور زبان توانایی باشیم، معلومات و دانش در زمینه ساخت زبان و نظام و شیوه کارکرد آن امری است ضروری؛ ولی این دانش فی النفسه کافی نیست. به همین علت، در سال های اخیر گرایش و چرخشی ویژه از معلم و روش زبان آموزی به سوی خود زبان آموز صورت گرفته است. بدین ترتیب، در تعریف مؤلفه های توانش زبانی و مکانیزم ها و استراتژی های درگیر در فرآیند آموزش زبان تغییرات عمده ای صورت گرفته است. در مقاله حاضر، ماهیت و ویژگی های استراتژی های زبان آموزی یعنی ویژگیهای شناختی، فراشناختی، زبانشناختی و جامعه شناختی زبان مورد توجه قرار گرفته اند؛ و نقش مهم و تعیین کننده استراتژی های فراشناختی در آموزش استراتژی های زبان آموزی مورد تاکید ویژه قرار گرفته است .