درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The purpose of this article is to determine the phonemic status of [h] and [ʔ] in the Sistani dialect of Miyankangi. Auditory tests applied to the relevant data show that [ʔ] occurs mainly in word-initial position، where it stands in free variation with Ø. The only place where [h] is heard is in Arabic and Persian loanwords، and only in the pronunciation of some speakers who are educated and/or live in urban centres، where inhabitants are in closer touch with Persian than in rural areas. The sound [h] also occurs in the pronunuciation of some Arabic loanwords where it replaces the glottal plosive، particularly in word medial، intervocalic position. The investigation shows that neither [ʔ] nor [h] have phonemic status in the Sistani dialect of Miyankangi at present، but that more intense contact with Persian may change this state in the future، particularly for [h].

Consequential validity, a component of construct validity as a unified concept introduced by Messick(1989), deals with the impacts of tests on teaching, learning, individual test takers, teachers, society, and educational system within a country. Although the impacts of language tests on teaching and learning have been somehow studied, the consequences of ESP tests on individual test takers and teachers have not been given appropriate attention. The present study aimed at exploring the possible consequences of ESP tests, as parts of master and doctoral entrance examinations to post graduate universities in Iran, on the stake holders and society. In doing so, a qualitative research method was applied. The participants were 31 master and doctoral students, and 5 ESP instructors. The data were analyzed in terms of the content. Four main themes with a variety of sub-themes emerged from the content analysis. The results indicated that ESP tests have negative psychological (anxiety, stress, disappointment, self-confidence, teaching efficacy, disappointment), social (deprivation from education, ethical issues, acceptance of nonqualified candidates), financial, and family consequences on the learners and teachers. The society is also influenced as the result of ESP tests scores.

This paper explores male and female students' and teachers' perceptions of the role of grammar instruction and corrective feedback. A questionnaire, administered to 60 male and female intermediate EFL students (30 males and 30 females) and 40 teachers (20 males and 20 females), elicited student and teacher perceptions concerning the role of explicit grammar instruction and corrective feedback in learning English as a foreign language. Data comparisons revealed high agreement between students as a group and teachers as a group across genders on the majority of questions. A number of discrepancies were evident between students and teachers’ beliefs within each gender. There were also some comparisons of sample groups based on gender differences which examined the effect of formal grammar instruction in foreign language teaching. Although the differences between students' and teachers’ belief system can be a threat to learning, it is essential to mention that teachers’ consideration of students’ perceptions of those factors will improve the process of new language learning, and an effort to consider the potential mismatch between students’ beliefs and teachers’ instructions will enhance learning.

This study investigated the effects of different learning levels, including Remember an Instance (RI), Remember a Generality (RG), and Use a Generality (UG) in multiple-choice and essay tests on immediate and delayed retention. Three-hundred pre-intermediate students participated in the study. Reading passages with multiple-choice and essay questions in different levels of learning were given to the participants to investigate the effects on both immediate and delayed retention. The findings revealed that to evaluate immediate retention, multiple-choice questions at remember levels are effective, but for enhancing delayed retention, essay questions, especially at UG level, are more effective. The results of the study suggest that tests can be used as aids to retention beyond their primary evaluation function.

In recent years a great number of books have appeared in various fields of ESP، and the number is increasing every year. These books are specially prepared and adapted for foreign students possessing varying degrees of language skills. Experts believe that the production of ESP books is a vital task that requires several stages and procedures. To produce these materials، special attention should be paid to the age of the learners their English background، their level of knowledge in specialist field and the teaching method. The best should be done to provide materials which enable the learners to increase their English proficiency، learn the required skills for communication، and achieve their terminal behavior. Since the majority of university graduates in Iran are not equipped with sufficient knowledge of English to read and understand the original specialized textbooks، this paper aimed to test the appropriateness of materials used in ESP classes، based on a study conducted at Chabahar Maritime University. The finding of this research rejected the null hypothesis، because the observed t. was 2.83 and the value of critical t.’ with the 49 degrees of freedom at the .05 level was 2، and this signifies that the novel content based texts motivated the students and improved their English proficiency.

The extensive research done on the interrelationship between different social factors such as social class، gender and age and different linguistic variables has shown that these factors have important effects on the way language is used. Among these factors a special importance can be placed on age due to the role it plays in revealing different patterns of language use، such as the age-grading pattern، the normal pattern of age differentiation and the important patterns of language change which can inform us about the emergence of a linguistic form or the death of some old form. This paper is intended to examine the interrelationship between age and the usage of Shirazi vocabulary or lexical items. Sixty respondents belonging to 6 age groups of Shirazi speakers answered a 60-item questionnaire. Each item included one Shirazi word with its definition and sometimes a short example to clarify its meaning. The respondents had to choose between two choices: either they used the item or they did not. The analysis of the results showed that age was an influencing factor on the speech of the speakers as the older people had a large collection of active Shirazi words (they actively used all the words) while the younger generation had two collections of more active and less active Shirazi words and as the age of the subjects increased their mean scores which represented their usage of Shirazi vocabulary items also increased. These words were also used less among the more educated Shirazi speakers.