درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The world is not a neutral or value-free reality, but each person inevitably experiences it in terms of value. So, every person in the society has a perception of reality and the translator is no exception. However, this has a lot to do with his/her social status. Understanding a symbolic system such as language as a product of culture is done through our expression of reality. Identity construction is somehow related to reality construction. So the main issue is not how the narrative is constructed as a text, but how it acts as a mental tool in constructing reality and consequently, identity. Like the controversial issue of language and thought, it is not easy to deal with narrative discourse and narrative thinking, since the reality existed in the mind, depends on the spatio-temporal framework of the culture in question. In this regard, elaborating on the concept of narrative identity, and the applicability of Goffman’s Frame Analysis in mentioned concept, this paper shows how society, as a cultural frame, forces the translator or the publisher to retell the narrative and to reconstruct the identity, and why this identity formation will be more pronounced in the paratextual elements (translatorial &authorial prefaces). Analyzing the frame of 80s, along with literature and media, it proposes a hybrid model based on Somers’ features (Paul Ricoeur’s Mimesis), and Goffman’s Framework for the concrete manifestation of renarration, and the incorporation of the core conception of identity formation, to indicate how orientalism concepts have been renarrated in translatorial and authorial prefaces of Edward Said’s Orientalism, affected by structure or agency during 80s in Iran, and how these prefaces play a crucial role in framing readers’ interpretation. Finally, it has concluded that, regarding structure/agency, and the involvement of multiple agents in translation, different author-functions and identities have developed through the presentation of the prefaces in question.

The increasing advancement of technology in the field of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) has turned blended learning—a combination of online and in-person learning—into an innovative educational approach. Given the significance of investigating students' attitudes toward learning environments in different EFL contexts, this mixed-methods study was set to examine Iraqi university EFL students' attitudes toward blended EFL courses and investigate gender differences in this regard. Thus, 250 EFL students were selected from five public Iraqi universities via convenience sampling method and completed the questionnaire of the study. Of these participants, a random sample of 25 students was also selected for interview sessions. The questionnaire results suggested that due to serious technological and instructional drawbacks, such as lack of appropriate infrastructure and insufficient technology knowledge, Iraqi EFL students had generally negative attitudes toward EFL blended courses. Gender also played no significant role in students' attitudes. In interviews, they emphasized the importance of technology training programs to pave the way for effective blended EFL courses, mentioning some important benefits for this hybrid approach. The pedagogical implications of the findings are also discussed.

This study evaluates the translation quality of two open letters by Iran’s Supreme Leader, addressed to Western youth, using House’s TQA model (2015). The research identifies both the strengths and limitations of the model in assessing texts of this nature. Through a detailed qualitative, comparative, and descriptive analysis, the study highlighted House’s model as a tool for analyzing field, tenor, and mode but also noted significant gaps, including the lack of differentiation between local and global cultural filters, the absence of non-dimensional mismatches, and the failure to provide practical solutions for identified issues. The findings suggested expanding House’s model to incorporate a broader classification of cultural filters and address non-dimensional mismatches. This study underscored the need to adapt quality assessment approaches to specific text types and linguistic functions. The insights offered not only contributed to theoretical advancements but also provided practical guidelines for improving translation quality assessment endeavors in any type of discourse.

Because of their objective measurement and unambiguous correspondences, syntactic parameters are used as comparanda for deep comparison and relatedness of language varieties. The Parametric Comparison Method (Longobardi & Guardiano, 2009) is based on the hypothesis that syntactic parameters are appropriate traits to use as comparanda for contrastive analysis and distance measurement of language pairs and then to provide language taxonomy. This article addresses the syntactic distance and genealogical taxonomy of language varieties that are closely related genealogically, geographically, and culturally. To analyze relatedness and genealogical issues of Kurdish language varieties and the Persian language, abstract grammatical rules, modeled as syntactic parameters which are applied in the domain of determiner phrase (DP), are used as comparanda. The results show that Laki and Lori are at a close distance from Sorani, and on the other hand, Kurmanji and Kɪrdki are also close syntactically. According to the tree achieved from the syntactic distances, Kurmanji is at one end of the spectrum and Persian is at the other end. Thus, it can be concluded that some preliminary deductions regarding the phylogenetic taxonomy of the Iranian languages and dialects, with a focus on Kurdish language varieties and other related dialects, can be proposed.

This study investigates the impact of negotiated syllabi on English as a Foreign Language (EFL)   learners’ motivation, engagement, and autonomy through a mixed-methods approach. Participants included 120 EFL learners, divided into experimental and control groups. Quantitative data were collected via motivation, autonomy, and engagement scales administered pre- and post-intervention, while qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with a subset of learners from the experimental group. ANCOVA result indicated that learners in the negotiated syllabus group exhibited significantly higher levels of motivation, engagement, and autonomy compared to the control group. Thematic analysis of interview data revealed eight primary themes, including increased relevance of course content, collaborative learning, and enhanced responsibility. Participants reported feeling more invested in their learning due to active involvement in course design, which fostered a sense of ownership and agency. These findings have implications for EFL curriculum development, highlighting the potential benefits of integrating learner input into syllabus design to improve educational outcomes. Future research should further explore learner-centered approaches across diverse EFL contexts.

This study explores Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions of integrating job crafting interventions with reflective teaching to enhance their teaching practices and well-being. Using a grounded theory approach, 25 experienced EFL teachers (minimum 5 years of teaching experience) were selected through purposive sampling to participate in a multi-phased intervention based on the PERMA model. The intervention included training workshops, self-set job crafting assignments, and reflective practices. Data were collected through semi-structured and focus-group interviews and analyzed to identify recurring themes. The findings revealed three themes: 1) reflective mindset, 2) sense of belonging and engagement, and 3) reflective avoidance. Results indicate that job crafting improved teachers' self-efficacy, motivation, and resilience, though some experienced challenges in implementation. Practical implications suggest incorporating job crafting strategies into teacher training programs to foster reflective teaching and enhance teacher well-being. This research contributes to the field by bridging positive psychology and reflective practices in SLA contexts, emphasizing the value of teacher-centered interventions in professional development.

This article investigates how native Persian speakers process and comprehend affirmative and negative discoursal causal assertions. To examine this, an eye-tracking experiment was conducted with 10 male and 20 female Persian-speaking participants. The main experiment involved 32 Persian vignettes, each containing three sentences: an opening sentence, a target sentence (affirmative or negative discoursal causal), and a concluding sentence. The polarity of the target and concluding sentences was varied (affirmative vs. negative) within participants. When participants heard an affirmative discoursal causal assertion (e.g., Because my skin was dry, I applied moisturizer ), they primarily fixated on the factual phrase ("applying moisturizer"), with a fixation probability of 63%, whereas the conjectural phrase received little attention, attracting only 12% of fixation probability. A similar pattern was observed for negative assertions (e.g., Because my skin was not dry, I did not apply moisturizer ), where participants focused on the factual phrase ("not applying moisturizer"), attracting only 63% of fixations, largely ignoring the conjecture, with a fixation probability of only %19. Fixation data confirmed that factual phrases consistently received more attention than conjectural ones during early processing stages. In the final analysis, the effect of specificity on fixation patterns was tested. Results showed that specificity did not significantly influence either early attention or increased attention to factual content across polarity conditions. Overall, the findings align with Mental Model Theory, emphasizing the cognitive priority given to factual representations

This study examines the representation of moral values in English language teaching (ELT) textbooks from two distinct educational contexts: Iran and France. Building on existing scholarship that positions textbooks as ideological tools, the study examines Vision 1 and New Bridges 2e to investigate how moral content reflects national educational priorities. The research is guided by two key questions: how moral values are distributed across social, individual, cultural, and global categories in each textbook, and how these distributions align with their respective sociocultural frameworks. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining qualitative content analysis with quantitative frequency analysis. A total of 274 moral value instances were identified across 10 units from each textbook. The findings revealed that Vision 1 emphasized social and cultural values consistent with collectivist and religious ideologies. In contrast, New Bridges 2e focused more on global and individual values aligned with secular and democratic ideals. The results demonstrate how textbooks mirror national ideologies and contribute to shaping students’ ethical perspectives. These insights have important implications for curriculum developers, educators, and policymakers interested in promoting culturally responsive and ethically grounded language education. The study also highlights the need for increased awareness of the moral messages embedded in language materials and calls for further research on how such content is interpreted and enacted in classroom practice.

Speaking is a multifaceted skill that involves many different areas, such as discourse, grammar, and sociolinguistics. As a primary means of communication, speaking is essential in any instructional program for language learning. Besides, Photovoice is a participatory learning method that represents the viewpoints, issues, and experiences of individuals or communities through photography. Following a mixed-methods design, the present study tried to investigate employing Photovoice on Iranian intermediate language learners' skill in speaking English. It also looked at how the participants felt about using Photovoice to learn languages. Using a convenient sampling procedure, a total number of 60 participants were chosen. Once their homogeneity was confirmed based on the Preliminary English Test, they were randomly divided into two equal groups of thirty participants, one experimental group and one control group. While the control group received typical language teaching using conventional methods, the experimental group followed the PHOTO model, which emphasized participatory photography, as well as the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) model for generating innovative solutions. Triangulation was also accomplished through conducting pre/post tests, a questionnaire, and an interview. Then, the data were summarized, and descriptive and inferential statistics such as one-way ANCOVA and paired samples t-tests were used. The results showed that Photovoice integrated with CPS was an effective method for enhancing students' speaking skill and emotional engagement in language learning. The findings can be helpful through new insights into language pedagogy, suggestions for researchers and language teachers in the study of speaking skill, and visual methods such as Photovoice.

This study explores how Lacanian psychoanalysis governs and understands the mother-child relationships in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (1944/2014) and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010). In so doing, the primary purpose of this study has been to establish the links between the central characters' behaviors and the psychoanalytic concept of 'deferral of desire’.' The research proposes a novel aspect of 'psychoanalytic meaning' by basing it on the counter-intuitive process of evading the jouissance of actualizing and immersing oneself in one's object of desire. To support the proposition mentioned above, this study has explored the eventual fate of the children in Black Swan (Nina), and The Glass Menagerie (Tom and Laura), analyzing their respective experiences of (dis)satisfaction after their ultimate success or failure in their attempts to attain their objects of desire . This study has employed the Lacanian psychoanalytic concepts of the objet petit a and register theory to posit that satisfaction lies not in obtaining one’s object of desire, but in repeatedly failing to do so, due to the fact that possessing the object of desire shatters the lack which is the necessary condition of maintaining the desirability of the object of desire. The article concludes that while we are intuitively equipped to think of satisfaction as the effect of the realization of the object of one's desire, psychoanalytically speaking, satisfaction is found in precisely the opposite direction, that is, in a repeated failure to obtain the object of one's desire .

This research investigated the complex processes of identity negotiation among Iraqi undergraduate students within a multilingual context. Using a mixed-methods research design, the study combined qualitative thematic analysis and quantitative data to examine how linguistic practices, such as code-switching (CS) and code-mixing (CM), act as resources for the expression of individual and social identities. Analysing transcripts from 20 episodes of Iraqi TV talk shows and interviews with 15 undergraduates, the study uncovers distinct linguistic patterns shaped by context: Arabic dominance in discussions of cultural topics and English dominance in discussions of academic and aspirational topics. The findings revealed that linguistic choices are not arbitrary but strategic, reflecting students' efforts to balance cultural heritage with global aspirations. The emergent strategies for bridging the cultural gap, making inclusivity possible, and negotiating social dynamics are CM and CS. Such findings foreground the crucial role language plays in the construction, maintenance, and negotiation of identities in complex sociolinguistic landscapes. Results for educational frameworks involve the inclusion of these insights into school frameworks and the recognition of linguistic diversity as a resource in the construction of identities and in intercultural communication.

This study applies Jacques Derrida’s (1976) deconstructive framework to examine the traditional supervision model at the Iran Language Institute (ILI), a leading EFL institution in Iran with 290 branches serving 1.2 million students annually. Through a qualitative case study employing Critical Discourse Analysis, it investigates how binary oppositions—supervisor/teacher, expert/novice, evaluation/development—and aporias, such as standardization versus individuality and professional growth versus punitive evaluation, sustain hierarchical power dynamics that constrain teacher agency and pedagogical innovation. Data from semi-structured interviews, classroom and feedback session observations, ILI policy documents, and teachers’ reflective journals reveal that unannounced observations and rigid rubrics prioritize compliance over creativity. This approach fosters teacher anxiety, performative teaching, and punitive outcomes, such as demotion to lower-level classes. Key contradictions include: (1) ILI’s mission of quality education versus evaluative supervision; (2) standardized methodologies versus diverse classroom needs; and (3) professional growth goals versus punitive evaluations. To address these issues, the study proposes three reforms: dialogic feedback to foster reciprocal dialogue, co-constructed evaluation criteria incorporating teachers’ contextual expertise, and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to promote peer-driven learning. By addressing a gap in Middle Eastern EFL supervision research, this study advances theoretical discourse on power dynamics in supervision and offers practical strategies for equitable, teacher-centered practices at ILI, with implications for global EFL contexts seeking transformative supervisory frameworks.