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To investigate the effects of etymological elaboration, contextual pragmatic clues, and lexical knowledge on L2 idioms comprehension and production, 60 male intermediate level EFL students in three groups were selected. Each group was randomly assigned to one treatment condition. Group one participants were presented with the etymological explanation of idioms. In group two, the same idioms were presented in short, familiar contexts, and in the third group, the participants focused on the exact meaning of the constituent parts of each idiom. At the end of the experimental period, comprehension and production posttests of idioms were administered. Two one–way ANOVA procedures were used to analyze data. Results showed that the participants of the etymological elaboration group performed significantly better than the participants of the lexical knowledge group on idiom production. The differences between the means in all other comparisons were not statistically significant. These findings may have implications for teachers, learners, and syllabus designers.

The current study aimed at investigating the academic learning needs of Iranian undergraduate students of English Language and Literature from the perspective of 320 stakeholders including undergraduate students (n=252), graduates (n=51), English literature instructors (n=7), and language instructors (n=10). To this aim, atriangulation of the most important data collection instruments of needs analysis (i.e., questionnaires, class observations, and semistructured interviews) was adopted for data collection at eight different Iranian state universities. The results of data analysis revealed that the above-mentioned students are not adequately equipped with learning and communication strategies during their academic and preacademic studies. The results of the current study may promise implications for the provision of some extracurricular EFL courses at the tertiary and senior high school levels in order to enhance students’ sociocultural and strategic competence based on the shared decision-making process among different stakeholders in the course design community

The present study sought to investigate the evidence for cross-linguistic transfer in a partial English immersion and non-immersion educational setting. To this end, a total of 145 first, third and fifth graders in a partial English immersion program and 95 students from the same grade levels in a non-immersion program were chosen. Six different English and Persian tests were administered: the Cambridge English for Young Learners (YLE) Test for Reading, a Persian reading achievement test, the English and Persian Phonological Awareness Sound Detection tests and the English and Persian Rapid Automatized Naming Tests. Given the nature of the research question and the design of this study, linear regression analysis was run through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings suggest that there is an apparent cross-linguistic transfer between English reading achievement and Persian cognitive predictors in both educational settings. Relatively speaking, Persian cognitive predictors can moderately predict English reading achievement in Grades 1 and 5 and can weakly predict English reading achievement in Grade 3.

استقلال فراگیر همواره یک مسئله بحث برانگیز میان زبان شناسان کاربردی بوده است. مطالعات متعددی به منظور بررسی برداشت معلمان و یادگیرندگان از استقلال فراگیر و همچنین امکان استقلال فراگیر انجام شده است. با وجود اهمیت استقلال فراگیر و وجود چندین مطالعه مرتبط، چالش در ترویج استقلال فراگیر در موسسات ایرانی به زعم محقق انجام نشده است. هدف اصلی این مطالعه بررسی چالش ها در ترویج استقلال یادگیرنده از دیدگاه معلمان زبان انگلیسی ایران بود. برای این کار، یک طرح تحقیق کیفی استفاده شده است. برای انجام این تحقیق ، 23 معلم زبان انگلیسی ایرانی در دانشگاه های مختلف در تهران به صورت هدفمند انتخاب شدند. داده ها از طریق مصاحبه عمیق جمع آوری شده و از طریق تحلیل محتوا بر اساس مدل رندر تحلیل شده است. بر اساس تحلیل محتوای مصاحبه ها، سه موضوع مختلف استخراج شد. اولین موضوع مشاهده شده، چالش های مربوط به موسسه، شامل اهداف تجویزشده ، مواد و روش های ارزیابی می باشد. دومین موضوع، چالش های مربوط به فراگیر می باشد که از هفت زیرمجموعه تشکیل شده است. سومین موضوع به دست آمده، چالش های مربوط به معلم می باشد که از چهار زیرمجموعه تشکیل شده است. این یافته ها می تواند توسط معلمان، تربیت کنندگان معلمان و همچنین زبان آموزان استفاده شود. می توان نتیجه گرفت که معلمان زبان انگلیسی باید آموزش لازم دراستقلال یادگیرنده را از طریق دوره های آموزشی قبل از خدمت و ضمن خدمت ببینند.

این تحقیق به بررسی تاثیر پیچیدگی زبان و اندازه گروه بر ساخت دانش در دو بحث آن لاین می پردازد. ساخت دانش از طریق مدل تجزیه ارتباطات Gunawardena و دیگران (۱۹۹۷) سنجیده شد. پیچیدگی زبان از طریق تقسیم تعداد کلمات خاص بر کل کلمات به دست آمده و به تغییر لغوی اشاره دارد. نتیجه این تحقیق نشان می دهد که ساخت دانش و اندازه گروه به طور چشمگیر و البته به شکلی منفی با هم مرتبط اند که بیان کننده این موضوع است که هر چه اندازه ی گروه کوچک تر باشد میزان ساخت دانش بالاتر می رود. نتایج همچنین نشان می دهد که ساخت دانش و پیچدیگی زبان به طور چشمگیر و مثبتی با هم مرتبط اند که مشخص کننده این موضوع است که هرچه تغیرات لغوی بالا تر باشد ساخت دانش نیز بالاتر می رود. به علاوه، این تحقیق ثابت کرد که پیچیدگی زبان بیانگر ساخت دانش در بحث های آن لاین است. کارهای متفاوتی می تواند صورت بگیرد تا پیچیدگی زبان در بحث های آن لاین افزایش یابد برای مثال: دادن تکلیف های خواندنی و نوشتنی به شرکت کنندگان. اندازه ی گروه ها نیز باید محدود شده تا از خستگی و کم کاری دانش آموزان در بحث های آن لاین جلوگیری شود.

Reading comprehension (RC) and critical thinking (CT) are the two basic cognitive skills that should be developed through involving language learners in a carefully planned instruction. Multiple intelligences (MI) instruction may assist learners in developing RC and CT in L2 education. This study probed the effect of MI-based reading instruction on the Iranian EFL learners’ RC and CT skills. In so doing, it compared the effectiveness of an MI-based reading instruction with a traditional one. To this end, 4 intact classes from several English language institutes, comprising 56 Iranian intermediate-level EFL learners, were selected and randomly assigned to MI-based (experimental) and traditional (control) groups. A multiple- choice RC test, a reading summary test, and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal test were used as the instrumentations to collect data on the participants’ RC and CT. Analysis of covariance revealed a significant effect for the MI-based reading instruction. Furthermore, the RC scores increased more significantly in the MI-based group in comparison to the traditional one. However, the CT scores did not significantly improve in both groups. There was also no statistically significant difference in the CT scores between the two groups after the treatments. Iranian EFL educators are, then, encouraged to develop MI-based lessons and activities for diverse students and take explicit instruction for the enhancement of CT skills in EFL reading courses

Language and culture are now deemed to be co-constitutive; hence English language teaching (ELT) textbooks should incorporate cultural aspects and promote intercultural competence. However, careful decisions should be made as regards to the cultural content of materials and the ways in which culture is represented. This study was an attempt to deconstruct the patterns of cultural representation and intercultural interactions in Interchange textbooks, an ELT textbook series taught to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Iran. Using content analysis of texts and images and with the focus on nationality, gender and race, it examined how different cultures were reflected in Interchange 1, Interchange 2, Interchange 3, and whether cultural bias or inequality was present. The quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that the white male group was dominant in all three textbooks. And, to use Kachru’s (1985) terms, inner, outer and expanding circle nationalities were represented in the textbooks, with the expanding circle constituting the major nationality, but American culture of inner circle was predominant. Additionally, the interactions were mainly limited to superficial aspects of the target culture although these textbooks sought to show various intercultural interactions. Dominance of male and white characters and the US culture indicated inequality in race and gender, and the superficial treatment of culture in the textbooks. Less attention to the hybrid culture and deeper level of intercultural aspects, i.e. critical reflections, in the textbooks suggests that the materials be supplemented by EFL teachers’ constructive discussion of the cultures that interact.