درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

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.

In the present study, two different models of task complexity; namely, limited attentional capacity model and cognition hypothesis were examined. To this end, the manipulation of cognitive task complexity along +/- single task dimension on Iranian EFL learners’ production in terms of fluency was explored. Based on the results of the writing test of TOFEL (2004), 48 learners were selected as the participants of the study and were divided into two groups, simple task group (STG, n=24) and complex task group (CTG, n=24). The participants in the STG were given an eight-frame picture which had been arranged in the correct sequence before its administration (+ single task). The participants in the CTG were given all the eight frames which were not arranged in their correct order. These participants were required to order the frames in the right sequence first, before starting writing (- single task). Their output was encoded based on the measure of fluency. One independent sample t-tests was run.  The results indicated that the participants significantly generated more words in the complex task. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that in the Iranian context, the predictions of limited attentional capacity model were more accurate.

After Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory (MIT), some language teaching practitioners set out to teach students in a way to help their dominant intelligence(s) blossom. In an EFL context, usually teachers’ main focus is to develop communication skills. Nowadays, writing is one of the main ways by which people communicate. Thus, this study aimed at investigating possible relationship between Multiple Intelligences and writing performance of Iranian EFL learners across different genders. To conduct this study, 15 male and 15 female advanced EFL learners from a reputable institute in Tabriz participated. They passed through a placement test to enter the course, yet the researchers administered a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to ensure homogeneity in the group. After a session of introducing the project’s purpose, Multiple Intelligence Developmental Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire was administered for obtaining participants’ Multiple Intelligence profile. Later, the participants were given a text and asked to read and summarize it. The collected writings were analyzed for grammatical accuracy, complexity and quality of the writing based on Jacob et al.’s (1981) scale. The results of the correlational analysis revealed that overall Multiple Intelligences correlated positively with the quality of the female learners’ writing. The findings suggest that English teachers consider the role of multiple intelligences in learning and teaching process and provide more effective activities to help learners of different intelligences improve their foreign language writing skill.

Changing the English textbook of the first grade junior high school at Iran’s public schools after 27 years has sparked researchers’ interests in conducting evaluations of the new English textbook to get insights into its strengths and weaknesses. In line with this trend, this study aimed at evaluating the new textbook (Prospect 1) from teachers’ perspectives. To attain this objective, 30 junior high school teachers were interviewed and the data were then analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that from teachers’ perspectives, there were some pitfalls with the new textbook such as applying an unsuitable method of literacy instruction; over-attention to the communication skills at the expense of literacy skills; over-localization of the content; overlooking the development of intercultural competence in students; and lack of authenticity in the presentation of the content. Finally, as the central figures in the process of educational change, the participant teachers offered some suggestions to amend the new textbook with the hope that their voices be heard by the pertinent authorities.

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 .

امروزه موضوع ارتقای سطح آموزش در سیستم های آموزشی نوین، مسئله ای مهم است. کیفیت آموزش به عوامل گوناگونی از جمله فعالیت استاد، فعالیت زبان آموزان و مواد درسی وابسته است. در این کار پژوهشی نقش تأثیر مواد درسی برروی کیفیت زبان آموزان در محیط های آموزشی ایران بررسی می شود. بر همین اساس، در این مقاله نقش مطالعه متون ادبی در خانه در بالابردن سطح کیفیت آموزش، تجزیه و تحلیل می گردد. منظور از مطالعه در خانه، مطالعه ای است که زبان آموزان برای تکمیل و بهبود مطالعه مواد درسی مرتبط با موضوعات آموزشی و فهم بهتر محتوای آن ها در خارج از محیط آموزشی به آن می پردازند. مؤلفان معتقدند که مطالعه آزاد متون ادبی در خارج از وقت های آموزشی می تواند تأثیر به سزایی بر روی کیفیت آموزش زبان روسی داشته باشد. در این مقاله برآن هستیم تا مشخصاً با ذکر دلایل و شواهدی تأثیر مثبت مطالعه آزاد متون ادبی را بر روی کیفیت آموزش زبان روسی به دانشجویان فارسی زبان اثبات کنیم و درعین حال معیارهای لازم را برای انتخاب متون ادبی برای دست یابی به هدف فوق و نیز مقدار و نحوه مطالعه آن ها ارائه نماییم.

We deal with a wide range of colors in our daily life. They are such ubiquitous phenomena that is hard and next to impossible to imagine even a single entity (be it an object, place, living creature, etc) devoid of them. They are like death and tax which nobody can dispense with. This omnipresence of colors around us has also made its way through abstract and less tangible entities via the interaction between culture and cognition. In an attempt to shed further light on the way that color meanings could be extended in different languages and cultures, the present study sought to investigate the semantic extension of Persian and English color terms based on cultural data. The findings revealed the existence of both language-idiosyncratic and general tendencies for both Persian and English languages with respect to semantic extension of color terms. It was also shown that Persian and English speakers mostly use the same mechanisms of metonymy, metaphor and sense of opposite relation based on cultural data and their experience of the physical world to develop more and more color meanings. Furthermore, the study suggested that the direction and development of the semantic domain of a color term mainly depends on its already developed semantic properties and is not accidental. Two other accidental points were also found in the study. First, the borrowing, acceptance and the usage of a color expression from another language might depend on the already developed semantic properties of the related color term in the recipient language. Second, it is possible to predict the direction and development of the new connotations and meanings of a color term in a specific language.

This study investigated the characteristics of effective secondary school Iranian EFL teachers from students’ and teachers’ perspectives. To this end, 376 junior secondary school students and 32 EFL teachers teaching at various Iranian secondary schools participated in the study. A validated open-ended questionnaire was distributed among the student and teacher participants and asked for their opinions on key characteristics of an effective EFL teacher. A semi-structured interview was also conducted with the teacher participants to investigate why they deemed the characteristics important. The results of the content analysis of the data obtained from the questionnaire and the interview indicated that students and teachers were approximately of the same opinion, both highlighting teachers’ professional qualities (e.g., knowledge of the subject matter, ability to impart knowledge properly, etc.), classroom management-related qualities (e.g., involving all students by assigning pair work/group work activities, assessing their learning progress regularly, etc.), and interpersonal relationships as being of crucial importance for effective EFL teaching. However, they differed in the degree to which they perceived these qualities to be important