درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present study is part of a Ph.D. program that explores the possible effect of critical thinking-oriented dynamic assessment (CT-DA) on learners' learning potential in reading comprehension skills. 21 Iranian language learners who were homogenized in terms of their language proficiency, reading comprehension, and critical thinking abilities participated in this study. Learners were divided into three groups of CT-DA, dynamic assessment (DA), and Control group. While learners in CT-DA received mediation loaded with critical thinking techniques, learners in DA group received dynamic assessment mediation, and learners in the Control group did not receive any mediation. The analysis of the results revealed that DA and CT-DA significantly improve learners' reading potential scores. Moreover, significant differences between the Learning Potential Score (LPS) of DA and CT-DA groups were found, denoting the better performance of participants who received a critical thinking-oriented dynamic assessment. Finally, the qualitative analyses led to the detection of eleven mediational strategies which nurtured the development of the reading comprehension ability of L2 learners during CT-DA. The article concludes with suggestions for further research on dynamic assessment and critical thinking in second/foreign language development.

The study aimed at investigating whether the retention of vocabulary acquired incidentally is dependent upon the amount of task-induced involvement. Immediate and delayed retention of twenty unfamiliar words was examined in three learning tasks( listening comprehension + group discussion, listening comprehension + dictionary checking + summary writing in L1, and listening comprehension + dictionary checking + sentence writing with the target words) inducing differential ‘involvement loads’- consisting of varying degrees of need, search and evaluation. Time-on-task was kept constant among all three tasks. The results partially supported the Involvement Load Hypothesis: The sentence writing task generated the highest retention rate, a finding which is quite in harmony with the Hypothesis’s prediction. However, the other two tasks did not result in different retention rates despite equal involvement loads. These results are discussed with reference to the involvement load hypothesis and some suggestions are made as to how to improve and revise the original theory.

Almost little is known about creative writing. In this research, creative writing has been introduced as an alternative to academic writing. The aims were to introduce creative writing as an alternative to academic writing to boost the participants’ attitude towards writing in general. The participants were 32 senior university students studying English Translation at Islamic Azad University, Tehran. The study includes two phases: quantitative and qualitative. For the quantitative phase, the participants were given a questionnaire so that the researchers could measure their attitudes about writing. Then, a creative writing pretest was administered, followed by a posttest to see to what extent the treatment could help the participants improve their writing skill. For the qualitative phase, a videotaped oral interview with the participants was closely examined to find out about the participants’ attitudes towards writing. The means of the pretest and posttest indicated a three-fold increase in the scores after the treatment was over. The oral interview, furthermore, showed that most participants had a negative attitude towards creative writing. It was finally concluded that creative writing might be considered as a useful asset in academic contexts, expected to alleviate the negative attitude of learners towards writing to feel more confident.

This study examined the cognitive processes in interpretation through employing Think-aloud Protocols (TAPs) among Iranian translators. The participants included 10 professional and nonprofessional translators selected through Nelson Proficiency Test. TAP and retrospective interview were used as the major instruments in order to collect the data from self-reports protocols<strong>. </strong>In order to assess the translators' mind activity in the flow of interpretation, they were administered a translation test of approximately 150 words concerning a general subject. Then, the applied cognitive processes (attention, comprehension, memory processes, and problem solving) by the participants were determined and examined. Also, for identifying the significance of differences between the translators concerning the cognitive processes, a chi-square nonparametric test was run. Analyzing the translators' performance during think aloud activity of interpretation revealed that both professional and nonprofessional translators have used the same cognitive processes and the results of the chi-square test revealed there was no significant difference between them at the level of comprehension, memory processes, and problem solving. However, significant difference was observed at the attention level. The findings can help the instructors to become aware about mental abilities and are beneficial for students and translators to improve their translation ability.

The impetus for conducting the present study came from Thornbury's (2005) approach to teach speaking in which he claimed that awareness-raising techniques, along with appropriation strategies, facilitate the process of teaching and learning speaking. Therefore, the present study attempted to explore the impact of the appropriation-based syllabus to teach speaking by using chunks-on-card activity. Accordingly, 60 female and male Iranian advanced EFL learners were selected from a private language institute and were assigned to four groups. The four groups were male experimental and control groups as well as female experimental and control groups. To examine the effect of the treatment, the participants were pre- and post-tested on speaking skill. They took part in 14 treatment sessions in which the experimental group practiced the chunks-on-card method through drilling while the control group practiced the conventional approach. The results of one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences among the posttest scores of the four groups. According to the findings, the mean score for male learners in the experimental group differed significantly from female and male learners in the control groups. Similarly, the mean score of female learners in the experimental group differed significantly from female and male learners in the control groups. The results of paired-samples t-test for each group also indicated that the appropriation-based teaching of lexical chunks had significant impacts on both genders’ speaking skills.

This study is aimed to investigate the relationship between teacher emotional intelligence, emotional support, and classroom leadership. To this end, three instruments consisting of emotional intelligence with three dimensions (appraisal and expression of emotion, the regulation of emotion, and the utilization of emotion), teacher emotional support scale with four dimensions (positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, and regards for student perspective), and teacher classroom leadership scale with seven dimensions (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, contingent reward, active management, and passive management), were administered to 321 EFL Iranian teachers in Ilam, Iran. Bivariate correlation analysis indicated significant correlations among all three variables . Not only were all of the subscales correlated with their scales but also significant correlations were found among them and other scales and subscales of the study. Moreover, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach was applied in order to confirm the hypothetical model. The following results obtained from SEM confirmed the hypothetical model (chi- squared=1/637, (p < .001), PGFI =0.693(>0.50), and PNFI =0.785 (>0.50), IFI =0.981(>0.90), CFI=0.981 (>0.90), SRMR =0.031(<0.05), GFI=0.947(>0.90), and RMSEA =0.041 (< 0.05). The results showed that being aware of emotional skills and leadership behaviors, teachers and student teachers could better develop effective leadership skills in the class. The results of the present study have valuable implications for EFL teachers and other practitioners in the field.