درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Le présent article se penche sur l’étude descriptive et analytique des noms composés dans une approche contrastive (français-persan et vice versa). Un corpus thématique dans le domaine de « faune et flore » a rassemblé ces noms en deux langues dont les exemples sont présentés dans les tableaux, parallèlement à leurs équivalents dans l’autre langue. Pour être plus systématiques, nous avons fait une taxinomie de cette thématique qui se répartit en quatre groupes « fruits et légumes », « arbres et fleurs », « plantes aromatiques et médicinales » et « animaux ». Les structures grammatico-syntaxiques ainsi que la situation de leur noyau sémantique, à savoir indocentrique et exocentrique, sont passées au crible. Selon les résultats de notre recherche, cette catégorie de nom partage plus ou moins les mêmes structures et traits caractéristiques dans les deux langues étudiées, sans oublier quelques points importants et intéressants qui les distinguent d’une langue à l’autre, notamment sur le plan orthographique.  

Many studies on L1 and/or L2 pragmatic competence are constrained by universalist orientations towards sociopragmatics and overlook the idiosyncratic cultural scripts and schemas of underexplored languages and cultures. Particularly neglected is the complicating role of Iranian cultural schema of a (dis-)belief in the evil eye with regards to the speech act of complimenting (and responding to it); actually, the schema is hypothesized (Talebzadeh & Rajabi, in preparation; Younesi & Talebzadeh, 202) to pose intricate interactional challenges for both parties due to the possible interpretations of and (non-)verbal responses to compliments (as predominantly Face-Saving Acts versus potentially Face-Threatening Acts). Moreover, still unknown is the way these could confound EFL learners’ cross-cultural communications. To address these gaps, we present the second phase of a more comprehensive study of compliment response (CR) behaviors of Iranian respondents while checking the adequacy of our proposed model (inspired by Herber’s taxonomy). To qualitatively and quantitatively examine the CRs of fifteen proficient Iranian female learners of English, we initially collected the data using two sets of Discourse Completion Tasks (DCT) (in Persian and English) consisting of a variety of situations and variables (e.g., social distance and compliment topics). Then, follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted to tap into the participants’ (non-)beliefs in the evil eye and its presupposed effects on their compliment exchanges. The findings underscore the adequacy of our modified model and the particularities of Iranian cultural schemas. Specifically, being a widespread belief, evil-eye is shown to play a pivotal role in formulating the responses to compliments through the selective application of CR types such as Cheshm-Zadan and Taarof in reaction to the compliments given (particularly those on family members or beloved ones) across both languages. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings with reference to the relevant literature and implications for intercultural communication, language education, and sociopragmatic research and practice.

This study investigates the effects of summative, formative, and combined assessments on the development of listening and reading comprehension skills on advanced Iranian EFL learners. Data were collected from 40 advanced EFL learners, aged 19 to 35, from intact classes at a higher education institute, divided into three experimental groups, each receiving one of the assessment types (summative, formative, or a combination of both), along with a control group. Learners’ progress in listening and reading comprehension was measured over a four-month period using pre- and post-tests administered at the end of the term. Data analysis involved ANOVA, ANCOVA, and post hoc LSD tests. The findings of this longitudinal study revealed that while the combined application of formative and summative assessments had a significant positive impact on listening comprehension, neither assessment type alone contributed to improvement in this area. In contrast, the results showed that all forms of assessment—whether summative, formative, or combined—led to notable improvements in reading comprehension. These results highlight the differential effects of assessment types on listening and reading skills, suggesting implications for assessment practices in EFL contexts.

Based on Shulman's (1986) concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) emerged and became a helpful framework for comprehending the objectives of using technology in pre-service teacher training programs. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate Iranian pre-service EFL teachers’ (PSEFLTs) perceptions towards their TPACK regarding their gender and academic year of study. To this aim, 254 Iranian PSEFLTs across various academic years of study filled out a 39-item EFL TPACK questionnaire developed by Baser et al. (2016). The questionnaire included seven categories: Content Knowledge (CK), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), Technology Knowledge (TK), PCK, Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). Based on the collected data, which were subjected to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and post-hoc analysis, it was found that PSEFLTs generally held mildly favorable perceptions towards their TPACK. Notably, the lowest mean score was observed for the TK component, while the component with the highest mean score was the CK component. In terms of the gender effect, statistically significant differences were found in the TK and TPCK dimensions, where males outscored females in both TK and TPCK and females outscored males in CK. Furthermore, an examination of the relationship between participants' TPACK and their academic years of study manifested a statistically significant difference primarily between freshmen and seniors. The results are expected to encourage curriculum planners to develop PSEFLTs’ training programs by integrating technology courses into the ELT curriculum.

This study intended to unveil the impact of incorporation of positive psychology theory into English instructions on the preference for anxiety-reducing strategies among Iranian EFL learners. The participants consisted of 60 EFL learners, from Safir Institute, Tehran, Iran, at the intermediate level, who were selected out of 90 EFL learners selected on convenience sampling basis. The 60 learners selected on the basis of their scores from an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), given to the 90 learners, were split into two equal 30-member groups. Both groups were given the language anxiety reducing strategies (LARS) questionnaire as pretest. Then, positive psychology-based instructions were provided to the experimental group drawing on five types of positive psychology-based instruction techniques for 20 sessions. These five instruction techniques included gratitude, optimistic intervention, positive affirmations, savouring, and strength-building measures. The control group received no intervention concerning positive psychology, and learners followed the conventional syllabus of the language school. After the treatment, the two groups took the LARS questionnaire as post-test. The results of ANCOVA indicated that teaching positive psychology techniques significantly increased anxiety-reducing strategies preference among Iranian EFL learners.

This study sought to probe and explain the causes and sources of failure or lack of success in intercultural communication. Thus, the researchers selected one hundred (100) participants to take part in this study. 20 participants out of 100 took part in the interview session willingly. The participants were all English language teachers from Golestan province, Iran. The researchers used the ICC questionnaire and structured interview to collect the required data. To analyze the data, the researchers used the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and inductive content analysis. The results revealed that miscellaneous factors could cause failure among which linguistic, cultural, and emotional factors are the most important agents in failing intercultural communications. In fact, linguistic, emotional, and cultural factors are the three macro-sources that cause failure in intercultural communications. Each of these macro-sources has its sub-sets and micro-sources such as language proficiency, sociocultural knowledge, motivation, etc. In the meantime, context and the interlocutor are other factors that affect these three macro-sources and they should be taken into account. This study is of high importance for intercultural experts, psychologists, and international students to be able to find the roots of intercultural hurdles easily and eradicate them.

This study examined the effects of virtual English instruction via the Iranian Student Education Network (SHAD) on the speaking accuracy of Iranian high school English learners with varied personality traits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants (n = 54) completed the Quick Oxford Placement Test and the Eysenck Personality Inventory before taking a speaking test based on the Vision English for Schools Series. The participants' voice-recorded responses to the speaking test were then analyzed for accurate verb usage. After completing 18 online sessions with diverse speaking tasks on SHAD, the participants retook the speaking test, and their performances were analyzed. The results indicated significant effects on the speaking accuracy of both extroverts and introverts, with introversion showing the most positive impact. Semi-structured telephonic interviews were conducted to gather participants' perceptions of virtual education. The findings highlighted the challenges and opportunities faced by Iranian high school English learners in online classes, with implications for virtual language education and materials development. 

This study sought to determine the impact of self-regulation and emotional labor on reflective action among Iranian EFL teachers in online EFL classes using structural equation modeling. To achieve this, a combination of cluster sampling and stratified random sampling of 500 people was recruited. The participants were administered with the English version of Dutch questionnaire of emotional labor, Teacher Self-Regulation Scale and Teaching Reflection Inventory. After collecting data using three distinct questionnaires pertaining to latent variables, SEM analysis was conducted using IMB SPSS version 28.0 and Amos version 24.0 to analyze the path model relationships. To this end, a hypnotical model was proposed, evaluated, and specified to fit the data. The confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess the hypothetical model by employing goodness of fit indices and analyzing all the convergences between the latent variables and the related sub-scales. According to the criteria for a good model's fitness, all of the model's values are above 0.90, indicating that the model has good fitness. And it was concluded that there was statistically significant relationships between the variables of the study.