درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

In response to the increasing interest in and need for a practical brief measure in language testing, this study explored the properties of an offline short-form test (OSF) versus a conventional lengthy test. From the total of 98 vocabulary items pooled from the Iranian National University Entrance Exams, 60 items were selected for the conventional test (CT). To build the OSF, we created an item bank by examining the item response theory (IRT) parameter estimates. Data for the IRT calibration included the responses of 774,258 examinees. Upon the results of the item calibration, 43 items with the highest discrimination power and minimal guessing values from different levels of ability were selected for the item bank. Then, using the responses of 253 EFL learners, we compared the measurement properties of the OSF scores with those of the CT scores in terms of the score precision, score comparability, and consistency of classification decisions. The results revealed that although the OSF generally did not achieve the same level of measurement precision as the CT, it still achieved a desired level of precision while lessening the negative effects of a lengthy test. The results also signified an excellent degree of correspondence between OSF and CT scores and classification results. In all, findings suggest that OSF can stand as a reasonable alternative for a longer test, especially when conditions dictate that a very short test be used.

خلاصه سازی متن در کلاس های رشته های مهندسی و تخصصی دانشگاه ها و موسسات صاحب نام و همچین در آزمون های بزرگ استخدامی و دولتی به خصوص در آی. ان. پی-اچ. بی یاموسوکرو جایگاه مهم و خاصی دارد. اما متاسفانه فرایند خلاصه سازی متن برای دانشجویا اغلب مشکل آفرین است. از میان مشکلات و نواقصی که وجود دارد، فرایند تفسیر عبارت برای دانشجویان و مدرسان دغدغه ای بسیار جدی و حقیقی است. موضوع اصلی پژوهش حاضر بررسی فرایندهای زبانشناختی است که قادرند متن را به سمت و سوی نوعی تفسیر عبارتی مطلوب رهنمون سازند. در پایان یک آزمون گرفته شده از دانشجویان، مشخص گردید که حداقل پنج متغیر از نمونه های ممکن تفسیر عبارت وجود دارد. این نتایج می تواند در جهت بهبود روش شناسی آموزش خلاصه سازی از متون به کار گرفته شود. اگرچه این موارد به هیچ روی نمی توانند کلیت روش های متفاوت بازگویی یک متن را که در عمل وجود دارد، در بر بگیرند.

لغت عنصر مهمی در مهارتهای چهارگانه زبانی است. مسئله به خاطرسپاری بلندمدت لغات برای معلمان زبان انگلیسی همواره دارای اهمیت زیادی بوده است. چرا که اغلب معلمان شاهد هستند که دانش آموزان لغات آموزش داده شده را پس از مدت کوتاهی فراموش می­کنند. این مطالعه بر آن است تا تأثیر استفاده از نرم افزار ""ورد سیفت"" (word sift)را که ابزاری وابسته به اینترنت برای تولید ابر کلمات است در به خاطرسپاری بلندمدت لغات زبان آموزان زبان انگلیسی بررسی نماید. برای این منظور 60 زبان آموز که داری سنی بین 17 تا 24 سال بودند انتخاب شدند و به دو گروه شاهد و آزمایش تقسیم شدند. 100 لغت که در 6 متن بکار رفته بودند به آنها آموزش داده شد. آموزش اصلی شامل 12 جلسه تدریس بعلاوه یک جلسه اضافی برای بررسی تاثیر آموزش در به خاطرسپاری بلندمدت کلمات بود. نتایج آزمون t و تحلیل واریانس یک راهه نشان داد که استفاده از نرم افزار ""ورد سیفت"" و بکار بردن ابرکلمات به طور کلی تاثیر معنادار مثبتی بر به خاطرسپاری بلند مدت لغات در زبان آموزان زبان انگلیسی دارد.

به دنبال تحقیقات سویلز (1981) در بررسی نوع ساختاری، پژوهش های متعددی در بخش های مختلف مقالات علمی در زبان ها و حوزه های مختلف صورت گرفته، ولی توجه اندکی به چکیده ی مقالات حوزه ی ادبیات به زبان فارسی شده است. همچنین ادعای لورس (2004)در مورد تناظر دو نوع چکیده با مدل های متفاوت، و مارتین (2003) در مورد تاثیر عوامل اجتماعی-فرهنگی بر سبک نوشتار نیاز به بررسی داشت. به همین منظور، 90 چکیده ی مقالات انگلیسی و فارسی در زمینه ی ادبیات، نوشته شده توسط نویسندگان انگلیسی و فارسی زبان، بر اساس مدل های IMRD و CARS بررسی شد. نتایج این بررسی نشان داد که نخست، نویسندگان مقالات حوزه ی ادبیات عموما بر«مقدمه» و «نتایج» تاکید می کنند، «روش» و«بحث» را نادیده می گیرند، و خلاء موجود در پژوهش های قبل را ذکر نمی کنند؛ دوم، با وجود ناکارآمدی هر دو مدل، چکیده ی مقالات ادبیات عموما با مدل CARS بیشتر از IMRD سازگاری دارند. و سوم، چکیده های انگلیسی نوشته شده توسط نویسندگان فارسی با هنجارهای مقالات فارسی و بین المللی تفاوت دارند و دارای هنجار خاص خود می باشند. این پژوهش همچنین به بحث درباره ی موارد ناکارآمدی دو مدل در توصیف چکیده ها می پردازد و نهایتا راهکارهایی در زمینه ی آموزش زبان انگلیسی، خصوصا مهارت نگارش، ارائه می دهد.

Although story mapping strategy has been shown to be beneficial in many reading comprehension classes, the benefits of this technique have not been thoroughly investigated in L2 writing research. The small number of previous studies (e.g., Li, 2007; Brunner, 2010) have found the potential benefits of using story mapping strategy on students’ writing performance, but they did not focus on different aspects of students’ writing. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the effect of story mapping strategy on writing performance of EFL learners in terms of writing components (i.e., organization, content, grammar, mechanics, and style). After administering a standard proficiency test (OPT), 30 out of a pile of 82 Iranian EFL learners all majoring English teaching were selected and assigned to two groups: one experimental group and one control group. Both experimental and control groups completed two thirty-minute composition writing tests, one as a pre-test and the other one as a post-test. The experimental group received four sessions of instruction on how to use story mapping strategy in writing personal narratives. The results of One-way ANOVA and post-hoc Scheffé test indicated that the experimental group, which used story mapping strategy, made more progress in their personal narrative writings. Also, the results revealed that L2 learners made more progress in all writing aspects. The study contributes to teaching pedagogy by encouraging teachers to use story mapping strategy in L2 writing classes

This study aimed to assess the quality of Persian translation of Orwell's (1949) Nineteen Eighty-Four by Balooch (2004) based on House's (1997) model of translation quality assessment. To do so, 23 pages (about 10 percent) of the source text were randomly selected. The profile of the source text register was produced and the genre was realized. The source text profile was compared to the translation text profile. The result of this comparison was dimensional mismatches and overt errors. The dimensional mismatches were categorized based on different dimensions of register including field, tenor, and mode. The overt errors which were based on denotative mismatches and target system errors were categorized into omissions, additions, substitutions, and breaches of the target language system. Then, the frequencies of occurrences of subcategories of overt errors along with their percentages were calculated. The overt errors and dimensional errors were analyzed carefully. The dimensional mismatches as well as a large number of major overt errors such as omissions and substitutions indicated that the translation was not in accordance with the House's view stating that literary works needed to be translated overtly. In other words, mismatches on different levels of register showed that the cultural filter was applied in translation and the second-level functional equivalence required for overt translation was not reached. As a result, the Persian translation of Nineteen Eighty-Four did not fulfill the criteria to be an overt translation. Instead, this translation tended to be a covert one.

The present paper aimed at highlighting the judicious incorporation of literary genres (i.e. novel, short story/fiction, drama, and poetry) as a supposedly inspiring teaching technique and an allegedly potent learning resource into ESL/EFL curricula. The rationale behind this pedagogical inclusion is to promote both teaching and learning effectiveness through capitalizing intensively on the genres so as to teach basic language skills and language areas- macro and micro levels. Much mention was made of the 'why' (i.e. justification and benefits), the 'how' (i.e. logistical considerations), the 'where' and the 'when' (i.e. spatiotemporal factors) aspects of introducing literary texts into the confines of the ESL/EFL classroom. What this vigorous discussion spawned was some detailed accounts of literary competence as an overarching term consisting of morphological, lexical, phonological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, discourse, stylistic, and sociolinguistic / sociocultural knowledge bases . Afterwards, evaluation process as the last but most important element of the teaching-learning process was explicated. In the end, seven solutions to the problems and dangers of using culture transmitters in the ESL/EFL classroom were suggested in an attempt to bring literature and ESL/EFL pedagogy into a happy contact leading to teaching and learning effectiveness maximization.

The concept of demotivation and removing possible barriers of learning has been researched and advocated throughout the ESL/EFL literature but it seems that it has not been well studied at least on Iranian seminary EFL learners. As such, this study aimed at investigating the effect of demotivation on oral performance of Iranian EFL seminary learners and finding possible demotivating factors which may affect it. The participants were 50 male intermediate EFL learners studying at Islamic Propagation Office, Isfahan, Iran, selected based on their performance on the Oxford Placement test. A pretest-posttest design oral performance exam was used. The participants were divided into two groups of motivated and demotivated group based on the motivational questionnaire (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, (1996). The collected data included: (1) the results of the motivational questionnaire, (2) the results of the oral tasks (used as pre and post tests) and (3) responses to a semi-structured interview regarding the possible demotivating factors which may influence participants' oral performance. The independent sample t-test and paired samples t-test were used to determine whether there were significant inter and intra-group differences. The results provide evidence that motivation helps enhance EFL seminary learners’ oral performance and demotivation significantly hinders improving it.

In this research, different English translations of Sa‘di’s Bustan were studied. An anecdote was selected randomly with its three English translations to identify whether or not the translators have managed to convey the messages of the original poem. The three selected translations were examined according to two of the criteria that Larson (1984) has proposed (accuracy and naturalness) for testing a translation. By accuracy, the researcher intended to see whether, the translators have been successful in rendering the SL text accurately and precisely without radical changes, omission and addition; and by naturalness, it was meant whether the translations sound natural or they contain strange and foreign words. The results of the study show that Edwards has been successful in understanding the main idea of the original poem and conveying it into prose. Clarke’s translation is word-for-word and being literal, the natural criterion has been breached in some instances. Wickens’s has attempted to transfer the exact meaning of the original to the target text. Among the three translations studied, that of Wickens is considered to be the most accurate one.