درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

In this article, the low back vowel // in word-final positions in Eghlidian dialect, one of Persian dialects, is studied. This vowel is represented phonetically as [], [] and [] in different phonetic environments. Therefore many words were collected via interviewing ten native speakers so that these different alternant forms can be accounted for appropriately. Since one of the authors of this article is a native speaker of the dialect, the verity of the data is confirmed. In writing this article, the collected data were classified in terms of different alternations of the vowel //, then related contexts were analyzed. Analysis of data showed that, firstly, in individual words, the final vowel // is pronounced as [o] when it is preceded by a non-glottal consonant; however, it is pronounced as [] when preceded by a glottal consonant and, secondly, in continuous speech, as a result of an assimilation, the final position vowel // is pronounced as [o] and [], respectively according to the graveness and acuteness of its preceding consonant.

Since the emergence of the process-oriented approach to second language writing instruction two main questions have been what and how error feedback should be given to the students. The question of whether teachers should provide feedback on grammar in the writing assignments of English as a foreign language students, and if so how, has been a matter of considerable debate in the field of second language writing. The present study investigated the possible effect of implicit and explicit corrective feedback on descriptive writing accuracy of Iranian intermediate EFL learners (N=39) in Hamedan Islamic Azad University. Two groups were selected: explicit corrective feedback group (N=22) and implicit corrective feedback group (N=17). They received corrective feedback on three grammatical structures. The results showed that written corrective feedback can lead to writing accuracy improvement in the short-term, but it may be unhelpful in the long-run.

This study investigated the comparative effect of teaching idiomatic expressions through practicing them in conversation and paragraph writing on intermediate EFL learners’ idiom learning. The participants were sorted out of a population of 134 intermediate students in Zabansara Language School in Khorramabad based on their scores on a Preliminary English Test (PET) and an idiom test piloted in advance. The selected 84 participants were divided randomly into three groups: two experimental groups, namely, conversation and paragraph writing groups, and one control group. The two experimental groups received different treatments. In one class, idioms were taught and learners were asked to make a conversation practicing the new idioms, and in the other class, they were asked to write short paragraphs using the idioms. In the third class, the control group, the new idioms were presented and then practiced through different written exercises. At the end of the treatment period, the researchers administered an idiom posttest. The analysis of the collected data revealed that using new idioms in conversation and paragraph writing helped students learn idioms more efficiently than just practicing them through different written exercises. Moreover, the use of idioms in conversation proved to be more effective than using them in paragraph writing. The findings can have implications in preparing materials, teaching/learning foreign languages, and designing syllabus.

در آموزش و ارزشیابی زبان دوم، بکارگیری یافته های پژوهشی مبتنی بر رویکردی تلفیقی و روانشناختی زبان به منظور بررسی جنبه های پردازش-اطلاعات و مدیریت تولید گفتار در فصاحت کلام لازم می باشد. این پژوهش با تکیه بر مدل روانشناختی زبان و تولید گفتار لولت (1989، 1999) و با استفاده از یک پرسشنامه و مجموعه ای از مصاحبه های بازنگرانه به مطالعه راه کارهای حل ناکارآمدی سخنگویان فصیح و غیر فصیح زبان انگلیسی پرداخته است. پس از ارزیابی صداهای ضبط شده به کمک یک مقیاس سنجش تحلیلی فصاحت کلام، سخنگویان فصیح و غیر فصیح از میان 200 نفر انتخاب شدند. نتایج حاکی از این بود که شرکت کنندگان فصیح در جهت جبران ناکارآمدی ها در گستره ی مفهومی خود، پوشش مشکلات ارتباطی، و مذاکره در مورد منظورشان با مخاطب به استفاده موثرتری از راه کارهای شناختی، زبانی، و تعاملی مبادرت ورزیدند. آنها به طور مؤثری طرح پیش گفتاری را به شکل جدیدی ارائه می کردند، ماهرانه از راهکارهای پیوستگی گفتاری استفاده می کردند، و هوشیارانه بر گفتمان نظارت داشتند. اما، سخنگویان غیر فصیح زمانیکه در تولید گفتار با مشکل مواجه می شدند طرح اولیه صحبتشان را یا بطور کامل رها می کردند یا کاملا تغییر می دادند که منجر به از هم گسستگی گفتار شان می شد. با این وجود، گاهی تلاش می کردند گفتار خود را اصلاح کنند، اما به دلیل محدودیت در توانش زبانی و تعاملی ناموفق بودند. نتایج گویای این بود که پژوهش بیشتر پیرامون فرآیندهای شناختی، زبانی، و تعاملی موثر در استفاده ی سخنگویان فصیح و غیر فصیح از راهکارها، برای تشریح ناکارآمدی های گفتاری و تفاوت فصاحت کلام در سخنگویان زبان دوم سودمند می باشد.

Having its roots in science, “chaos theory” provides a new strategy to examine the disordered world of postmodern novels to find the hidden order underlying the apparent chaos. This study tries to clarify the ambiguous relation between Oedipa Maas, the “Tristero system” and the “Maxwell’s Demon” in Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49. Oedipa Maas, the main character of the novel is regarded as an “everyman” type character who tries desperately to make sense of the signs and mysteries proliferating around her, but she can never fulfill her quest because she is trapped in a chaotic world where there are no stable values, friends or meanings. She feels separated from the world around her and longs to regain the stability she used to have before she started her task as the “executrix” of her former lover’s vast estate. She does not manage to find “order” in the surrounding chaos, but applying the major tenets of chaos theory and examining concepts such as “the butterfly effect”, “bifurcations”, “strange attractors”, “recursive symmetry” and “entropy” , we can come to a better understanding of the order underlying the disordered world of the novel.

This study was particularly concentrating on TOEFL type (CBT vs. P&P) and computer anxiety as independent variables, and test takers' performance as the dependent variable. The two TOEFL types (Paper-and-Pencil and Computer-Based) were given to 40 participants using counter balancing. The interval between the two tests was two weeks. The reason behind choosing this interval and counter balancing was to prevent the practice effect. Three days after the test, the computer anxiety questionnaire was also taken by the same participants. The results showed a high correlation between the scores on the two versions of the test (P&P vs. CBT), also there was no significant difference between the performances of t, and finally, there was no significant interaction between test type (P & high-, low-, and mid-anxious candidates on the two versions of the tesP vs. CBT) and computer anxiety level (high- anxious, low-anxious, and mid-anxious).