درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present study examines the role of gender in reading comprehension of short stories taught through awareness-raising among Iranian EFL learners. In so doing, twelve male and eighteen female learners with lower intermediate English proficiency were selected as the research sample. Next, they were randomly divided into two fifteen-member groups (i.e., a control group and an experimental group). The control group followed the conventional methods and the experimental group was taught the same short stories using awareness-raising activities. Consequently, an independent sample t-test was run. The obtained results indicate the experimental group demonstrates a better performance than the control one. According to the means, the female learners in both groups outperformed the male ones. 

امروزه داشتن رویکرد ارتباطی-معنایی و یا به عبارت دیگر ارجحیت معنا به فرم و ساختار در زمینه زبان امری اجتناب ناپذیر در تهیه و تدوین دستور زبان های معنامحور می باشد. به نظر می رسد که تنها راه از بین بردن شکاف ناخوشایند در بین تمرین های دستور زبانی و یا به طور کلی تمارین مربوط به ساختار کلی زبان و فعالیتهای ارتباطی اتخاذ حرکتی روش مند می باشد که از معنا به سوی فرم و ساختار در حرکت است. برای رسیدن به این هدف آموزشی کوشیده ایم تا در این مقاله به معرفی دلایلِ لزوم آموزش گرامر معنا محور و همین طور روشهای آموزش آن بپردازیم. این پیشنهادات هر چند که ممکن است پایه ای نظری داشته باشند ولی در کاربرد آموزشی دستور زبان معنایی در دانشگاهای ایران مرحله ای اساسی و مهم به شمار می آیند. آشنایی مدرسین ایرانی زبان فرانسه با مفاهیم رویکرد مفهومی-کارکردی باید به شکلی کلی در نظر گرفته شود تا آنها بتوانند به نوبه ی خود این نقطه نظر آموزشی را در مورد ساختارهای زبانی بلافاصله پس از شروع کلاسهای آموزش زبان خود اتخاذ کرده و آن را به کار بندند. به عبارت دیگر، از نظر نگارندگان این مقاله آشنایی با معانی گرامری و یادگیری آنها در شروع آموزش هر زبان خارجی امری اجتناب ناپذیر است چرا که در صورت به کار نبستن رویکرد معنا محور در مورد گرامر یا همان دستور زبان در آغاز یادگیری آن زبان، زبان آموز از به کار بردن ترکیباتی که برایش نامفهوم هستند اجتناب خواهد کرد.

Second or foreign language (L2) learners’ development of interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) competence to understand and properly interpret utterances under certain social and cultural circumstances plays a pivotal role in the achievement of communicative competence. The current study was designed to explore the effects of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) and asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) course modules delivered through social media networks (SMN) on the development of the Iranian L2 learners’ comprehension of implicatures. The participants of the study were 90 English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) undergraduate students attending three intact classes. The classes were randomly assigned to one control and two experimental (SCMC and ACMC) groups. An open-ended implicature comprehension test was used to assess students’ ILP development in this pretest-posttest comparison-group study. The control group received the traditional teacher-fronted instruction, and the S/ACMC groups received instruction via synchronous and asynchronous modules of SMNs for 4 months, respectively. Students’ attitudes towards the CMC-based courses were also sought. Split-plot ANOVA results indicated that both experimental groups developed significant ILP ability to comprehend and interpret L2 implicatures after the instruction; however, by comparison, the ACMC group improved more considerably. It is concluded that, first, comprehending L2 implicatures is not impervious to computer-mediated instruction and, second, different CMC affordances may result in differential ILP developmental effects in teaching L2 pragmatics. The findings can help L2 teachers decide how to use CMC affordances and SMN modules to raise L2 learners’ pragmatic awareness

Fossilization has become the focus of many L2 studies since its introduction in 1972 as many learners fail to achieve native-speaker competence. Researchers have tried to unravel the causes of fossilization, among which noticing has been claimed to be of great importance. This study aimed to explore the effect of noticing on fossilization. To achieve this aim, a mixed methods approach was utilized. Sixty advanced L1 Persian learners of English studying in Iran were chosen to perform two written and three spoken tasks twice. Qualitative data included the content analysis of the participants’ performance on the written and spoken tasks while the quantitative data included percentages of noticed errors and recurrent erroneous forms. The errors observed in both performances were counted and classified. Six main categories named Grammatical Errors, Lexical Errors, and Cohesive Errors were identified. The observed errors were further classified into 61 subcategories. When learners’ ability in noticing their errors was investigated, it was found that they could notice 37.4% of the 3,796 fossilized forms they had produced. Most of the errors observed were categorized in the category of grammatical errors. Noticing affected the number of errors produced. It can be concluded that becoming aware of ones fossilized forms, one will produce fewer fossilized forms. The results of the current study have implications for English language teachers and learners. By being informed of the errors learners make while learning a language and how their noticing affects fossilization, teachers can improve their teaching practice which in turn enhances learning.

This quasi-experimental study aimed to compare the effect of different modes and item types of multiple-choice (MC) test items on advanced EFL learners’ listening comprehension and perception. To this end, 80 advanced EFL learners, aging 18 to 30, were selected. The participants took a listening test including dialogue-completion and question and answer multiple-choice items presented in written and oral modes. In addition, the participants were given a questionnaire on their perceptions of the oral and written modes. The results of two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between the participants’ scores in the oral and written modes. Moreover, they received similar scores on the two item types. However, in their questionnaire responses, most of the participants preferred the written mode to the oral mode. The results also imply that although presenting the multiple-choice test items in the oral mode may form a pure test of listening comprehension, there are acceptable reasons for presenting the multiple-choice listening items in the written mode.