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هدف از انجام این مطالعه پیداکردن عواملیست که زبان آموزان دبیرستانی موفقیتهاوشکستهای خودرابه آن نسبت می دهند. بدین منظور، 708 دانش آموزان دبیرستانی ازاقشار مختلف اجتماعی-اقتصادی وجنسیت مختلف انتخاب شدند. شرکت کنندگان به پرسشنامه اسنادی پاسخ دادند. پرسشنامه شامل چهاربخش است: احساسات ،تصویرازخود، انگیزه درونی،وسیاست زبان.آزمون ANOVA و Post-hoc به منظورتجزیه وتحلیل داده ها استفاده شد.نتایج حاصل ازتجزیه وتحلیل نشان داد که انگیزه درونی اسناد اصلی است وجنسیت هیچ نقشی دراسناد بازی نمی کند. علاوه براین،تفاوتهای قابل توجهی درمیان طبقات مختلف اجتماعی مشاهده شد. دانش آموزان طبقات بالای جامعه ،دراحساسات وتصویرازخود بالاترین نمره را کسب کردند؛ودانش آموزان ازمناطق روستایی درانگیزه درونی وسیاست زبان نمره بالاتری بدست آوردند. درنهایت، نتایج به دست آمده درزمینه یادگیری وآموزش زبان مورد بحث قرارگرفت وپیشنهاداتی ارایه شد.

Following Beebe, Takahashi, and Uliss-Weltz’s (1990) classification, this study examines the relationship between power and gender of the addressees and the type and number of refusal strategies employed by Sarawani Baloch male university students (SBMUS). Fifty SBMUS studying in Azad University of Sarawan were randomly chosen as the participants of the study. Data collection was accomplished through applying a revised version of DCT (Discourse Completion Test). The data collected were then coded and analyzed according to Beebe et al.'s (ibid.) taxonomy, and Chi-square and Correlation test results. The results show that refusal strategies extracted, are, for the most part, similar to those given in Beebe et al.’s work, which, in turn, confirms the universality of applying refusal strategies. However, SBMUS also employ some new strategies not predicted in the given scheme, suggesting the effect of their religion and culture. Research findings also denote the ineffectiveness of power and gender of the addressees on the type of refusal strategies employed by SBMUS. Moreover, results indicate that although power of the addressees affects number of refusal strategies used by the participants, their gender does not affect this variable. “Excuse, reason, explanation” dealing with all the addressees, the combination of 3 refusal strategies in reply to those in higher social power, and the combination of 2 strategies in response to those with equal and lower power are the most frequent refusal strategies regarding the type and number of refusal strategies.

Despite its sociopolitical basis, Academic Literacy (AL) is recently referred to as a set of complex skills such as writing, which lays undeniable foundations for success in academic communities (Hyland & Lyons, 2002). This study is aimed at improving students' AL in general and their writing skill in particular at Khaje Nasiredin Toosi (KNT) University of Science and Technology. Based on the domain of EAP (Flowerdew & Peacock, 2001; Jordan, 1997), and among various academic assignments (Braine, 1995; Canseco & Byrd, 1989), students' summary writings at KNT University were selected to be investigated. Besides the summaries, 20 students were interviewed to delve more into the problematic areas. Data analysis of 1270 written errors indicated that sequence of tense, article use, and appropriate selection of words are the most prevalent error types. Further analysis of the data revealed that students had failed to develop their ideas properly in unified paragraphs. Moreover, students were unsuccessful to put their ideas in the simple format of introduction, body, and conclusion. The paragraphs also lacked cohesive ties. The article, accordingly, ends with some practical recommendations addressing the present issues.

One of the promises of web-based education is to help students take control of their learning pace as the basic requirement of language learning is being life-long. The purpose of the present study was to find out which of the e-tools -- weblogs, wikis, or podcasts -- can better help EFL learners excel in their writing skill. To this end, 156 Iranian sophomore students majoring in English and studying at Islamic Azad University, Abadeh and Shiraz Branches and the Zand Institute of Higher Education were selected based on random sampling as participants. As the design of the study was a pre-experimental one, there were three experimental groups involved but no control group. Before the instruction, the participants were given an essay writing test, whose results were used to divide them into three groups. Two of the groups received in-class instruction and were assigned out-of-class activities through weblogs and wikis. The third group received the instruction through podcasts. The treatment lasted for two and a half months and at the end, another essay writing test was given to all groups. A two-way ANOVA for the comparison of the participants' gain scores indicated that using the tools available on the Internet could lead to improvement in the EFL students writing abilities, and gender was not a determining factor. The study reveals the fact that web tools, in general, and blogs, wikis, and podcasts, in particular, can foster EFL students’ writing skills and teachers can use them as supplements in their language instruction.

This paper aims at studying the speech act of congratulation in Persian and English with regard to semantic formulas. To gather the semantic formulas related to congratulation, the researchers chose 100 movies (50 in Persian and 50 in English) as the instrument of the study. The only model of cross-cultural comparison was related to that of Elwood (2004). Therefore, we used Elwood’s model as the yardstick to design a new classification for coding congratulation utterances. The new model which is designed in this study covers the categories of the Elwood’s model but omits the overlapping strategies which were observed in that model. The new model enjoys more clarity and is more clear-cut. Also, the non-congratulatory categories of Elwood’s model are deleted in the new design. Six generic categories were recognized as the model of analysis: (1) offering congratulation; (2) mentioning the occasion; (3) blessing wish; (4) expressing feeling; (5) divine statement; and (6) complimenting. In order to investigate the significant of differences between Persian and English categories, the researchers employed Chi-square formula. The results of the study revealed that a) there is a significant difference among various semantic formulas in each language and b) Persian and English congratulation utterances are significantly different with regard to mentioning the occasion, expressing feeling, and divine statement. However, no significant difference was observed with regard to complimenting, offering congratulation and blessing wish. Pedagogical implications are discussed in the context of EFL to link theory into practice.

Lexicalization-patterns, the way words are mapped onto concepts, differ from one language to another. This study investigated the influence of first language (L1) lexicalization patterns on the processing of second language (L2) words in sentential contexts by both less proficient and more proficient Persian learners of English. The focus was on cases where two different senses of a polysemous word in Persian are realized by two independent words in English. For example, Persian uses ‘ماه’ to refer to both ‘moon’ and ‘month’ in English. In the present study, the researchers examined the processing of English translations (moon, month) of polysemous Persian words such as ‘ماه’ in a semantic anomaly judgment task. The participants who were two groups of more proficient and less proficient Persian learners of English were presented with two types of anomalous sentences: anomalous test sentences in which one of the two English words (e.g., month) was used in a context where the other word (e.g., moon) was appropriate (e.g., “A pleasant thing to watch at night is a full month”) and anomalous control sentences in which the same word was used in a context where neither of the two words was appropriate (e.g., “A pleasant thing to eat at night is a full month”). The participants were asked to judge, as quickly and accurately as possible, whether the final word could complete the sentence meaningfully (YES response) or whether the final word was semantically unacceptable (NO response). The participants’ reaction time (RT) for correct No responses and their error rates were recorded using DMDX, a psycholinguistics experimentation software package. Using two General Linear Model Repeated Measures, a main effect of sentence type was obtained in the analysis of both RT and errors. Also, there was an interaction between sentence type and proficiency level in the analysis of both RT and errors. The results are discussed in terms of the activation of the semantic specifications of L1 translation equivalent of L2 words.

The demands of the changing world impose on learners the need to become autonomous readers. This places a responsibility on the shoulders of the teachers to develop an approach to teaching reading which will help readers become independent strategic ones. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of teaching reading strategies on the development of reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. An experimental design was adopted to accomplish this investigation. To do so, two intact classes of 35 students were selected. Then to find out the homogeneity of the participants, Oxford Placement Test was administrated to both classes’ among whom 60 students who scored above 47 were selected as homogeneous and were assigned to two experimental and control groups. The students in the experimental group participated in 10 sessions and were taught two strategies of reading comprehension: activating background knowledge and contextual strategies. At the same time, the materials in the control group were taught through conventional methods of reading and translating the texts into Persian. In the 10th session, the post-test was administrated to both groups. The results of the t-test confirmed the positive effect of reading strategies instruction on the development of reading comprehension ability. These findings may furnish language teachers with the empirical evidence that capitalizing on the students' awareness of the strategies and helping them to use these strategies will significantly develop their reading abilities.