درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The goal of this inquiry was to scrutinize how Iranian university students’ motivation, creativity, emotional intelligence (EI), and intellectual awareness (IA) were affected by artificial intelligence (AI). Sixty Iranian university students in Ahvaz, Iran, were chosen based on a convenience sampling method to reach this objective, and they were separated into two groups: the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG). Both groups were administered four relevant questionnaires to gauge their proficiency in each dependent variable. Next, utilizing AI-ChatGPT, some modified materials (ten reading texts) were trained to the EG. The CG received traditional instruction using the same materials. Four questionnaires were given to each group as research posttests following the ten-week course of treatment. The results of ANCOVA and independent samples t-tests revealed meaningful differences; the EG did better than the CG on all dependent variables. Based on the gained results, the EG outperformed the CG on the posttests of motivation, creativity, EI, and IA. The research’s implications can encourage EFL teachers and learners to acquaint themselves with different AI applications and apply them in their teaching and learning. 

The increasing availability of scientific knowledge through digital platforms has transformed how scientific discourse reaches the general public. This study examined the use of interactional metadiscourse markers across four leading popular science subgenres: books, TV documentaries, magazine articles, and newspaper articles. The aim was to investigate the language features of these markers, focusing on how they engage readers and highlight writer presence in different subgenres. A corpus of 987,625 words was analyzed using AntConc software (Anthony, 2019) and 80,260 instances of interactional markers were identified according to Hyland’s (2019) Interpersonal Model of Metadiscourse. The study revealed how hedges, boosters, attitude markers, self-mentions, and engagement markers function to create persuasive and accessible content. Interestingly, interactional markers appeared most frequently in TV documentaries, suggesting a heightened effort to engage audiences through this medium. Chi-square tests revealed significant differences in marker usage across subgenres; however, the small effect sizes (Cramér’s V) indicated that these differences are of only modest practical significance. These results provided insight into how popular science writers adapt their rhetorical strategies to suit different communicative contexts and audience expectations. The findings also have pedagogical implications. Incorporating features of popular science into ESP/EAP materials, such as authentic texts and structured practice with interactional metadiscourse markers, can make scientific content more engaging and accessible for learners. Raising learners’ awareness of interactional metadiscourse markers can improve writing skills, especially for novice writers in non-English academic settings, helping them better engage readers and communicate more effectively.

This study aims to explore the strategies Indonesian students employ in writing comparative Indonesian-English literary criticism within the context of EFL students. A qualitative approach was utilized, and data collection techniques included questionnaires and interviews. The data analysis technique used the identification, classification, reduction, and exposure stages. This study used four phases, namely the screening phase, the reading process phase, the interpretation phase, and the reflection phase. The results showed that in the screening phase, 14.1% of participants expressed a liking for English, while 85.9% remained neutral; the mean score of English obtained by the participants was 45.1% very good, 45.1% good, 8.5% sufficient, 1.3% insufficient; and regarding the English courses attended by participants, 62% never attended, and 38% had taken English courses. In the reading process phase, 74% of the participants searched for translated novels on Google, 7% translated English novels using Google Translate, 3.5% engaged in skimmed reading, 2.5% translated English novels using translators, and other reading strategies were below 3%. Participants who responded with ‘loved’ were 71%, participants who responded with ‘liked’ were 19%, participants who responded with ‘neutral’ were 7%, and those who responded with ‘disliked’ were 3%.  

The emergence of flipped learning has provided new opportunities to improve the quality of English language learning. First, the present study attempted to investigate the effects of flipped learning on enhancing the vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners. Second, it aimed to investigate the perception of the participants toward the flipped learning. To this end, 23 EFL learners from an English institute in Iran were assigned to the flipped and conventional groups. In the flipped classroom, the course materials selected by the teacher were posted via Telegram Application in advance to the class and the class time was spent on different peer and group activities including pre-communicative sentence arrangement, communicative activities, pair, and group discussion, role-play and storytelling. Multiple data collection sources, including a vocabulary knowledge test, a student-recorded portfolio, and a flipped learning experience questionnaire were employed to elicit the required data. The results revealed that the participants in the flipped learning classroom performed a little better than the participants in the conventional class; however, it was not statistically significant. Besides, they did not have a positive attitude toward flipped instruction. The author presents insights into the impacts of flipped instruction on the quality of vocabulary learning and the participants' perception of flipped learning and offers recommendations and implications for practice.

This study is an attempt to explore the integration of positive psychology within language testing, while assessing its effects on learner performance, self-efficacy, motivation, and test anxiety in EFL contexts. Postulated on a mixed-method approach, firstly, the study involves in a quasi-experimental design, where 100 EFL learners were assigned into control and experimental groups. The latter group experienced strength-based feedback and growth-focused assessment practices. The results of the paired t-tests and ANCOVA revealed significant improvements in the EFL students' language proficiency, with the anxiety construct reduced by 30%, alongside substantial increases in the constructs of motivation and self-efficacy. These outcomes can be taken into account as the highlight of the efficacy of positive psychology interventions, contrasting with traditional deficit-focused models of assessment. Afterwards, in the qualitative phase, the research advocates for a paradigm shift in language testing, while emphasizing EFL learners' emotional well-being, cognitive engagement, and learner autonomy. Furthermore, this study contributes to the broader discourse, representing implications on rethinking pedagogical approaches to language assessment, proposing more humanistic and learner-centered frameworks.

Kurmanji uses two morphological forms of pronouns and R-expressions: direct and oblique. The direct form of first and second pronouns (local pronouns) is fully specified for person and number. In contrast, direct third-person pronouns and R-expressions are unmarked; however, these arguments still exhibit person and number agreement with verbs and number and gender agreement with Ezafe heads. There are two approaches to deal with direct unmarked arguments. In the asymmetric approach, these arguments are assumed to be fully specified for relevant φ-features, which are deleted at PF (Phonological Form) after agreement, whereas in the symmetric approach, they are merged as underspecified for relevant features and acquire their interpretation via agreement. Given the prevalence of unmarked arguments in Kurmanji, the symmetric approach is more economical and minimalistic, requiring fewer theoretical tools and computations. The present study shows that the key distinction between local pronouns and unmarked arguments lies in the specification of relevant φ-features. Direct unmarked arguments enter the derivation underspecified for these features, establishing a relation of ‘subset control’ in agreement and acquiring their interpretation by spreading features from the agreeing head at the LF (Logical Form) interface. This study also reveals that agreement in Ezafe constructions and pro-drop sentences also involve subset control and agreement is the only possible way to license φ-features, such as gender in inanimate arguments and person in R-expressions.

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of learner autonomy; however, the roles of teachers and language materials in fostering in have not received due attention. This mixed methods study investigated the association between what Iranian teachers perceived of LA and what they thought about the role of textbooks in fostering EFL learners’ LA, and to what extent they believed the principles of LA in their classrooms. The participating teachers were 200 male and female teachers that taught Iranian tenth-grade EFL textbook in senior high schools of Qom, Arak, and Karaj. The first instrument was a questionnaire developed by Borg and Al-Busaidi (2012), which primarily focused on the teachers’ perspectives and opinions about LA. The second questionnaire was used to investigate how Iranian EFL teachers think the EFL textbook Vision 1 helps foster LA. The questionnaire was developed based on the LA principles (Fenner & Newby, 2000). The last instrument was an interview protocol that was developed by the researcher to gain a deeper understanding of teachers’ promoting LA in their teaching. The interview protocol also was based on Fenner and Newbys’ (2000) principles. For this study, the questionnaire data were collected through two questionnaires. Moreover, an interview protocol was used to gather qualitative data from 12 teachers, who participated in the interviews (i.e., 2 face-to-face and 10 online interviews). The result of the bivariate correlation test showed that there was a significant relationship between teachers’ perception of learner autonomy and their opinions about the LA-fostering role of the Iranian 10th-grade EFL textbook. The results of the interview analysis showed that the principles of learner autonomy were largely approved of by the interviewees. The study has some implications for textbook developers, teachers trainers, and teachers.

The present study investigates the effectiveness of a conceptual approach, grounded in cognitive linguistics, in enhancing the comprehension and production of phrasal verbs among Iranian EFL learners of English. To this end, 38 participants (16 males and 22 females) at intermediate levels of language proficiency were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group, and underwent instruction through the conceptual approach or the traditional method, respectively. A pre-test was administered to assess baseline performance, followed by the intervention and two post-tests (i.e., a cloze test and a story-retelling task) to measure changes in comprehension and production of the phrasal verbs. The cloze test measured differences in phrasal verb comprehension, while the story-retelling task assessed production and accuracy. The mixed between-within-subjects ANOVA (SPANOVA) revealed significant improvement in the experimental group on the post-test. Independent sample t-tests confirmed superior performance in the production and accuracy of phrasal verbs for the experimental group. This suggests that the conceptual approach offers a systematic method for learners to approach phrasal verbs analytically, contrasting with the traditional perception of these elements as non-analyzable. As a practical implication, educators in EFL contexts, are strongly urged to adopt the presented conceptual approach. This innovative pedagogical strategy not only enriches the learning experience but also addresses linguistic challenges associated with phrasal verbs, fostering creativity in the instructional process through situational presentations and orientational metaphors. 

This article examines gendered patterns in public discourse by analyzing the cognitive and sociolinguistic features of interruptions, turn-taking, and collaborative language during Iraqi TV talk shows. We used a mixed-methods approach to examine transcripts from 20 episodes of TV talk shows in which both male and female guests appeared. This and other studies suggest that there are strong gender-based differences in, for example the per cent of talk with interruptions (evaluated by numerical frequency), topic control or continue, males talking more than females coded as take-talks or pivoting responses, whereas types of type-control regards turn taking was higher among female speakers than male while total degree of fluency to engaged language use. These trends are consistent with Iraq's historical gendered norms — a juxtaposition against American shifts toward more equitable media relations. The main conclusions suggest the significance of cultural constraints in communication, indicating practical paths for media literacy as well as suggestions where sociolinguistic training and gender-inclusive policy design may benefit from a closer look.

In the present essay, the researchers aim at studying two famous novels "The Crossing" and "The Road" in the light of Deleuzian geocritical concepts such as: nomad, rhizome, smooth space, and war machine. Studying space and place in American literature is a new trend. Space and landscape, considered as smooth space and striated space in Deleuze and Guattari's nomadology, are significantly highlighted in American literature. By drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's view of rhizome, which does not follow any plans or structures, the novel can be regarded as a rhizomatic structure in which the characters with nomadic existence move freely in a smooth space- a space without an explicit beginning and a clear destination. Portraying American space and landscape is a dominant theme in Cormac McCarthy's novels, including "The Crossing" and "The Road", in which the characters move from a rooted life to a nomadic life. Through examining these two novels, this paper is going to investigate the movement of nomadic characters in the smooth space of the postmodern world. Moreover, through exploring the relationship between literature, space, and identity, drawing on the philosophical ideas of Deleuz and Guatari, this paper is going to expose in what extent the representation of spaces in literature can reflect and shape cultural and national identities.

The present study sought to investigate the effects of face-to-face and web-based group dynamic assessment (GDA) on the speaking skills of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. A total of 100 participants from Ariana Institute in Rasht were involved in the study, with 36 introverted and 36 extroverted learners selected based on their scores on the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and Eysenck’s Personality test. These participants were then divided into experimental and control groups. Each experimental group, comprising 12 participants, underwent either face-to-face or web-based GDA sessions, while the control groups received traditional instruction. The research design included a pretest, 15 treatment sessions, and a posttest to assess the progress of speaking abilities among the learners. The statistical analysis, which included paired samples t-test and one-way ANOVA, indicated significant enhancements in speaking skills among the learners who participated in the experimental GDA sessions compared to those in the control groups. Notably, introverted learners in the web-based GDA group exhibited superior speaking abilities, whereas extroverted learners showed more improvement in face-to-face GDA sessions. These results have important implications for English language educators and researchers in Iran, highlighting the significant influence of GDA delivery mode on the speaking proficiency of EFL learners, particularly in relation to their introverted or extroverted traits. Such findings can offer valuable insights for pedagogical approaches and theoretical frameworks in English language teaching in Iran.

This study aimed to explore the combined impacts of critical thinking and dynamic Assessment on enhancing the writing performance of Iranian EFL learners, specifically focusing on teaching writing strategies. We selected 80 intermediate-level participants from a pool of approximately 200 language learners at an accredited institute (Gooyesh). These participants were divided equally into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group (EG) received writing strategies through the application of critical thinking principles and dynamic assessment. The control group (CG) received writing strategies through traditional methods without receiving critical thinking or dynamic assessment principles. The two groups underwent a writing pre-test to assess their initial writing skills, and after the treatment, to measure their writing improvement, they took a post-test using the same evaluation criteria as those of the pre-test. Then, appropriate statistical tools were employed to gauge the participants' writing progress as a result of the instructional methods. The results indicated that integrating dynamic assessment and critical thinking strategies significantly improved participants' written communication skills. These findings hold promise for EFL instructors, curriculum designers, and material developers.

The present study aimed to create a diverse curriculum model for teaching English in high schools in Iran. Utilizing an exploratory mixed-methods design to collect the desired data, the study enlisted the participation of 38 Iranian curriculum designers, with a gender distribution of 26 males and 12 females. To evaluate the model, a questionnaire was developed, and its reliability was gauged using Cronbach's Alpha. The validity of the curriculum model was established through Exploratory Factor Analysis employing principle component analysis (PCA). In qualitative phase, the analysis of the data uncovered several key components of the multicultural curriculum, including multicultural education, cultural diversity, and equity pedagogy, social, gender, and educational equality, prejudice reduction, upholding the intrinsic dignity, equity pedagogy, empowering school culture. Furthermore, the proposed model encompassed four essential elements: objectives, content and learning activities, methods, and evaluation. The results of quantitative phase of the study indicated that the multicultural curriculum model was deemed valid by designers in the field of curriculum development. As a result, it is recommended for adoption by English language educators in Iranian high schools.

This study conducted a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Arab English-language online newspapers to examine how the Israeli-Lebanese and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts are represented. Employing Fairclough's three-dimensional framework, the research explored the linguistic, discursive, and socio-cultural dimensions of media narratives, integrating framing theory to investigate how these narratives shape public opinion and geopolitical discourse. The study’s design involved the systematic collection and analysis of 50 articles from prominent newspapers such as Al Jazeera English, Al Arabiya English, and Asharq Al-Awsat, selected for their diverse ideological perspectives. The findings revealed distinct ideological framings employed by each outlet, ranging from systemic oppression narratives to calls for regional diplomacy. These narratives are shaped by geopolitical affiliations, cultural identities, and the affordances of digital media, including the role of algorithms and user-generated content. The research highlights how digital tools and social media amplify and polarize discourses, influencing public sentiment and policy debates. By addressing gaps in the literature concerning Arab media’s linguistic strategies and digital affordances, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the interplay between language, power, and ideology in conflict representation. Implications extend to both academic discourse and practical applications, providing a framework for policymakers, peacebuilding organizations, and journalists to critically engage with and promote balanced conflict narratives. This interdisciplinary approach underscores the evolving role of digital media in shaping political realities, offering a nuanced lens for future research on conflict discourse.