درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

این تحقیق کیفی استفاده از فعل بودن (be) در زبان انگلیسی امروزی را مورد مطالعه قرار می دهد. بر اساس این تحقیق، یک ادعای ساده و یک ادعای پیچیده مطرح می شود. ادعای ساده در تلاش است ثابت کند که تفاوت سنتی بین فعل بودن به عنوان یک فعل صرفاَ لغوی و فعل بودن به عنوان یک فعل کمکی، غلط می باشد. به خصوص در مورد ""بودن ربطی"" -- همیشه یک فعل لغوی در نظر گرفته می شده است -- که در اصل یک فعل کمکی است. ادعای پیچیده تراین است که یک تفاوت دستوری بین بودن لغوی و بودن کمکی وجود دارد، اما این تفاوت بااستفاده ی ربطی و غیر ربطی فعل بودن منافاتی ندارد. بلکه، تفاوت دستوری بین فعل بودن لغوی و بودن کمکی اساساَ یک تفاوت معنایی است. این تحقیق علاوه بر جمع آوری مدرک برای اثبات این دو ادعا، درصدد است تا فرضیه کلی دستورسنتی مبنی بر این که همه جملات انگلیسی نیازمند یک فعل لغوی می باشند را به چالش بکشد. این فرضیه با نظریه ی جدیدی جایگزین می شود مبنی بر این که همه ی جملات انگلیسی باید صرف شوند.این تحقیق پلی است بین زبان شناسی تئوریک و زبان شناسی کاربردی و می تواند تصورات مربوط به تدریس و یادگیری دستور زبان انگلیسی را به صورت چشم گیری ساده کند.

از دیدگاه معرفت شناسی، با توجه به ظهور نظریه سیستم های پیچیده و دینامیک و این حقیقت که فراگیری زبان در یک اکوسیستم دارای اجزای مرتبط و درهم تنیده صورت می گیرد، مفهوم و فرایند تحقیق در فراگیری زبان دوم نیازمند بازنگری اساسی است. تحقیق حاضر به بررسی ویژگی ها و مشخصات بنیادین نظریه سیستم های پیچیده و کاربرد آن در تحقیقات فراگیری زبان دوم می پردازد. با توجه به مشخصات نظریه مزبور، استدلال می کنیم که روش های متداول و مسلط تحقیق در فراگیری زبان بسیار ساده انگارانه هستند و قادر به بررسی ماهیت واقعی فراگیری زبان نیستند. ما بر این عقیده ایم که دیدگاه نیوتنی نسبت به تحقیق در فراگیری زبان برای مطالعه بیچیدگی های تحقیق در فراگیری زبان کافی نیست. با در نظر گرفتن فرضیه سیستم های پیچیده، تحقیق به عنوان سیستمی پیچیده، دینامیک، غیرخطی، باز و تطبیقی جهت یافتن راه حل های احتمالی سوالات باز تعریف می شود.

As an integrative component of textual structure, formulaic expressions (FEs) play a key role in communicating the message and comprehending the text. Furthermore, interlingually contrastive features of FEs add to their both significance and complexity of their instruction. Given these facts, this study was an attempt to explore a sound mechanism on how to teach FEs; whether an explicit or CA-based approach to FEs instruction could entail various achievements among EFL learners’ reading ability. To this end, three groups of Iranian EFL learners, identified as homogeneous based on Nelson Proficiency Test, were classified into one control and two experimental (i.e. explicit and CA-based instruction) ones. They were exposed to conventional, explicit and CA-based instructions of a set of selected FEs developed into and presented in the form of an instructional handout. Their Knowledge of reading was also tested based on a researcher-made diagnostic test prior to the experiment. Both quantitative and qualitative paradigms were employed to measure both the achievements and the extent of contrast between Persian and English languages in terms of FEs. The former analysis revealed significance difference among the groups in terms of instruction type effectiveness; both explicit and CA-based instruction groups outperformed the control group; on the contrary, no statistically significant difference was revealed between the experimental groups. Additionally, the latter paradigm revealed differences and mismatches between Persian and English FEs in terms of semantic, syntactic and pragmatic parameters. The findings could be insightful for EFL instructors, learners, textbook writers, and syllabus designers to take into account issues like these in their pedagogical programs.

For centuries the speculations on man's mental functioning posed a great challenge for the scholars in various disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, sociocultural studies, education, ethnolinguistics, discourse analysis, literary criticism. Researchers have been pondering over the ticklish question: is it the mind making the human society, or is it the society that shapes up the human mind? Researchers not informed in Vygotsky's contribution to the resolution of the issue, may still find the vicious circular question glaring in the face. But thanks to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (SCT), the hazy horizon has cleared away and today we are convinced of the truth of Vygotsky's claim that man's mental functioning is mediated by sociocultural artifacts (physical and psychological tools) which imbue us with the capacity the shape natural environment, and in so doing change the natural circumstances in which we live, and the capacity to organize and gain voluntary control over our biologically specified mental functioning. The pivotal concept in this outlook is that man, released from biological constraints, emerges as the master of his own destiny. It goes without saying that a conception as such invests the educationists, social reformers, statesmen with a grave responsibility regarding the necessity of providing appropriate conditions for individual's cognitive, ethical and social development. Indeed, Vygotsky's position on the genesis of man's higher mental functioning which is said to be hinging on the social, cultural, and historical variables provides a viable solution to the mind-society enigma. This said, we intend to submit some ethnomethodological evidence in support of Vygotsky's claim regarding the genesis of man's higher mental conditioning.

Learning a foreign language is a challenging process in which learners need motivation and encouragement through the use of modern techniques. The present paper investigates the effects digital stories may have on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ listening comprehension. To this end, the researchers carried out a quasi-experimental research in a language institution in Tabriz (Iran). In total, forty, 11-14-year-old female students participated in this research. Twenty students were in the experimental group and twenty in the control group. The Preliminary English Test (PET) was administered at the beginning of the study to check whether all participants were homogeneous in terms of English language proficiency. A pre-test of listening comprehension was designed to gather initial data on the learners' listening skill prior to the treatment. The experimental group was presented with digital stories in a technology-equipped classroom. After the treatment, a post-test was administered to both groups to test the learners' progression in listening comprehension. Then, using an ANCOVA test, the performance of two groups was compared.The findings indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the final test. The results raise interesting issues related to the use of technology in the context of foreign language learning, substantiating the link between technology rich environment and improved language learning.