درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

تحقیق حاضر به منظور بررسی تاثیر آموزش مستقیم بعضی از تکنیک های تحلیل گفتمان انتقادی بر خواندن و درک مطلب زبان آموزان ایرانی صورت گرفته است. در این راستا تلاش شده است تا هر گونه تغییر مثبت در توانایی زبان آموزان در درک معنای ضمنی متن خوانشی سنجیده شود. ضمنا، هرگونه تغییردرنقطه نظرات زبان آموزان در خصوص شیوه یادگیری زبان انگلیسی پس از آموزش مهارت خوانش انتقادی از طریق تکنیک های تحلیل گفتمان انتقادی نیز مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است. بدین منظور دو مقاله خبری از منابع آنلاین در نظر گرفته شد. جامعه آماری شامل 60 دانشجوی دوره کارشناسی رشته حقوق بودند که بطور تصادفی به دو گروه 30 نفره تقسیم شدند. از گروه آزمایشی خواسته شده بود درک خود را از هر متن در قالب یک مقاله بنویسند. آنها همچنین باید به پرسشنامه ای معطوف به بررسی تغییر نگرش یا انگیزه آنها نسبت به یادگیری زبان انگلیسی پاسخ می دادند. نتایج حاکی از آن بود که گروه آزمایشی پس از آموزش خواندن از طریق تکنیک های تحلیل گفتمان انتقادی بهتر از گروه کنترل شده عمل کردند. انگیزه آنها نیز نسبت به یادگیری زبان انگلیسی پس از آشنایی با حوزه تحلیل گفتمان انتقادی افزایش یافت.

It was claimed by variationists that languages experience variation at all levels, which is supposed to be patterned. The present study aimed at exploring how variation occurred in English and Persian wh-questions. More specifically, it investigated whether such a variation was systematic and patterned. To this end, a modified version of the Edinburgh Map Task was used in data collection. The population of this study was 60 Canadian and Persian native speakers who performed the task through the construction of wh-question variants. The results indicated that both languages experienced variation in the construction of wh-questions. However, Persian proved to be more variable than English because it allowed more wh-question variants to be produced. Moreover, this variation was patterned in English and Persian individually, yet a systematic variation could not be observed between these two languages. It followed that the different mind-sets of the Canadian and Iranian participants which were affected by social and cultural factors might account for such a variation.

The present research was conducted to compare the efficiency of 3 groups of ESP instructors: content teachers, language teachers, and professional ESP teachers. The main question was aimed to investigate whether there was a significant difference between the 3 mentioned groups of ESP teachers and if there was, who was more qualified to teach ESP. To find the answer, a questionnaire was developed by the researchers, with an acceptable reliability and validity. The questionnaire was distributed to 135 students in several universities. The obtained results revealed that there was a significant difference between the 3 groups of teachers. Content teachers gained the least score, while language teachers and professional ESP teachers were located in the same subset and gained the highest score. It was concluded that language instructors and professional ESP teachers were more qualified to teach ESP.

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ reading strategy use and Emotional Intelligence (EI) as well as exploring the most frequently-used reading strategies which can facilitate the process of reading comprehension. To this end, a group of 60 was selected out of 274 university learners majoring in TEFL and English Translation. Based on English Proficiency Test and Bar-On’s (1997) EI Test, they were divided into two groups (high and low EI). Then, the needed data were gathered by employing a Reading Strategy Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed via SPSS software, version 22. The results of the study revealed that EI level was positively associated with Reading Strategy Use (r=0.623, p<0.01). Also, the results of independent samples t-test were indicative of the fact that the degree of usage of meta-cognitive and cognitive strategies by the high EI group was greater than that of the low EI group, while with respect to the test-taking strategies, this degree of usage was weaker in the former than in the latter. In addition, cognitive strategy, as the most frequent one, was observed to be a facilitative strategy for reading comprehension. It was, therefore, concluded that the importance of reading strategies should be taken into account in improving the reading skill and other areas of language learning and teaching. The findings of the can be helpful for material development, testing and teaching methodologies.

Owing to the growing interest in communicative, cultural and pragmatic aspects of second language learning in recent years, the present study tried to investigate representations of pragmatic aspects of English as a foreign language in Iranian high school textbooks. Using Halliday’s (1978), and Searle’s (1976) models, different language functions and speech acts were specifically determined and examined in high school textbooks. The results indicated that there were major insufficiencies in pragmatic representations in these books. These problems were related to inadequate coverage of different speech acts and language functions, lack of authenticity in the dialogues, inappropriate simplifications and reductions, lack of grading, unsystematic presentations, providing no meta-pragmatic information, and presenting English speech acts embedded in dialogues with Iranian culture, religion, and norms. The results indicate that material developers and textbook designers need to consider these aspects to help learners to be able to learn second language more efficiently and appropriately.

The role of teachers in affecting students’ attitudes and motivations to language learning and teaching cannot be denied. To improve the field of foreign language teaching and learning we need to improve the qualities of EFL teachers. To achieve this goal, recognizing and identifying the qualities of effective EFL teachers is essential. So this study attempted to investigate the view points of male and female English language students about the characteristics of effective English language teachers based on four categories: English proficiency, pedagogical knowledge, organization and communication skills, and socio-affective skills. For this purpose the researchers administered a questionnaire adapted from Park and Lee (2006) to 60 (28 female and 32 male) foreign language learners at Tabriz Islamic Azad University. The results of the U-Mann-Whitney test indicated that there was not a significant difference between the perceptions of the male and female students regarding the characteristics of effective teacher. However, the overall mean score of the female students’ perceptions was a little bit higher than the male students. For the female students the most important features of the teacher was his/her English proficiency, socio-affective skills, pedagogical knowledge and organization and communication skills, while the preferences of the male students were the organization and communication skills, pedagogical knowledge, socio-affective skills and English proficiency, respectively. The findings have some implications for EFL teachers and students.

بی شک کارآمد بودن آگاهی فرا زبانشناختی در بهبود کیفیت نگارش و دانش دستوری یادگیرندگانی که زبان انگلیسى را به عنوان زبان خارجی می آموزند از دیرباز حوزه جذابی در زبانشناسی کاربردی بوده است(براون، ٢٠٠١ ). از این رو، هدف اصلى مطالعه ى حاضر بررسى اثر تدریس بصورت تاکید بر صورت به طور برنامه ریزی شده و برنامه ریزى نشده بر توانایى دانش آموزان برای یادگیری دستور و کاربرد صحیح آن در نگارش است. به همین منظور سه کلاس فشرده در دانشگاه اصفهان ایران که دوره های دستور و نگارش برگزار می کند برای تدریس ساختار مورد نظر (یعنی کلمات پیوند دهنده) از طریق روش های متفاوت تدریس تاکید بر صورت انتخاب شدند. نمونه های انتخاب شده شامل دانشجویان سال دوم و (٣٠ نفر در هر گروه) در رده ى سنی ١٩ تا ٢٤ بودند که در دانشگاه اصفهان مترجمی انگلیسی مطالعه می کردند. نمونه ها به ترتیب آموزش با تاکید بر صورت بطور برنامه ریزی شده و برنامه ریزى نشده و تاکید صفر بر صورت دیدند. نتایج پس آزمون پارگراف نویسی و پس آزمون متعاقب آن که با تاخیر گرفته شد نشان داد که شرکت کنندگانی که در گروهی قرار داشتند که تدریس برنامه شده می دیدند عملکردشان بطور قابل ملاحظه ای بهتر از آن دسته ای بود که در به کارگیری کلمات پیوند دهنده در نوشتن پارگراف هایشان آموزش برنامه ریزی نشده و صفر دیده بودند.

Motivation can be conceptualized as a dynamic process which is a key contributor to mastering a second language. This study used the L2-Motivational Self System as the basis for a conceptual framework for studying the effects of external factors on learners' motivation. In particular, the role of teachers and parents was studied as the external facets of predicting learners' motivation. One hundred and twenty EFL teachers along with 1,270 of their students participated in the study. To measure motivation, the Persian version of Dörnyei's L2 Motivation Self-System Scale was utilized. Three key components of the scale, namely, criterion measure, attitudes to L2 learning, and instrumentality promotion were employed in measuring motivation. To assess the role of family in motivating learners, another subscale of Dörnyei's questionnaire, i.e., family influence was used. To gauge teacher burnout, the educator version of the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI-ES) was used. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was run to analyze the causal relationships among the variables. The results revealed that teacher burnout negatively influenced learners' criterion measure and their attitudes to learning English. However, the path leading from teacher burnout to instrumentality promotion was not significant. Furthermore, three direct, positive, and significant paths leading from family influence to learners' criterion measure, instrumentality promotion, and attitudes to learning English were detected. Finally, findings are discussed with reference to the context of Iran