درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Objective: Somatic symptoms consist of a wide range of symptoms and until yet clustering them has been very challenging for researchers and therapists. The present study aims to explore underlying psychological factors of various functional somatic symptoms and determine if there are any similarities or differences in these factors that could help classify these symptoms as one syndrome or discrete ones. Method: This study adopted an association rule mining method based on data mining. 643 participants were recruited using a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected using the checklist of somatic symptoms (Lacourt et al., 2013), Attachment Questionnaire (Hazan & Shaver, 2017), Defense Style Questionnaire (Andrews et al., 1993), and Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (Lane, 2006). Results: Cognitive, gastrointestinal, and fatigue symptoms are related more to immature defense mechanisms. Musculoskeletal, respiratory, and cardiac symptoms are associated with neurotic defenses. Fatigue symptoms are associated with ambivalent attachment and musculoskeletal symptoms are related more to avoidant attachment. Indeed, it could be said that there are two clusters of somatic symptoms, one of which is attachment and the other is defense mechanisms. This supports the splitters’ view about somatic syndromes. Conclusions: These findings show various types of somatic symptoms have qualitatively different risk factors. Our findings imply that psychotherapists should consider the kind of syndromes a patient has and their underlying psychological predispositions to manage the problem better.  

This study investigates the impact of teachers’ rapport on classroom interactions and students’ participation in class activities, comparing experienced and novice EFL teachers. Rapport, defined as a positive, harmonious relationship between teacher and students, is often cited as critical for effective communication and a supportive learning environment. Despite the extensive literature emphasizing the importance of rapport in enhancing student engagement, motivation, and classroom dynamics, limited research has explored the role of teaching experience in moderating these effects. The study involved 40 EFL teachers (20 experienced and 20 novice) from Safir Language Academy in Tehran, with data collected through classroom observations. An independent t-test was used to analyze the differences in classroom interaction and student participation between the two groups. The findings indicate no significant difference between experienced and novice teachers in terms of the impact of rapport on classroom interactions and student participation. The study’s results challenge previous research, suggesting that the level of teacher rapport, regardless of experience, does not significantly influence classroom dynamics or student engagement. These findings imply that other factors may play a more substantial role in shaping classroom interactions and participation, warranting further investigation into the complexities of teacher-student relationships and their effects on learning outcomes.

This study aims to represent how a primary school principal evolved into an effective educational leadership, focusing on their personal and professional background along with the distinctive features of the school and local community. A qualitative approach and narrative inquiry method were used. Initially, in-depth and semi-structured interviews lasting 12 hours were conducted with the principal. Data analysis was performed using Lichman’s model (2013). To validate the narratives, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with five teachers who had worked under the principal's management and were selected through purposive (criterion-based) sampling. Additionally, self-reflection notes were prepared during the research process. The principal's journey towards efficiency was divided into four episodes: the character formation period, facing discrimination, conflicts and grief, building professional identity, and role modeling. According to the data analysis results, themes of encountering discrimination, economic poverty, and the local community's perception of disadvantaged schools were continuously repeated in the principal's narratives. Based on the narratives, three strategies - managing interactions, continuous professional development, and vision setting - played a crucial role in the principal's evolution towards efficiency. According to the findings, it is recommended that principals of high-poverty schools address teachers' educational deficiencies in the form of suggestions and gradually increase delegation of authority and trust in their measures to ensure improved performance quality. In addition, the principal, by requiring teachers to daily note the challenges and issues faced by students and to identify major and common challenges, aimed to prioritize these challenges and take necessary actions.

Writing is a crucial means of communication. Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners face a difficult problem in becoming proficient writers. Employing various methodologies and incorporating diverse exercises yield distinct effects on writing proficiency. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of cloze-elide and grammaticality judgment tasks on the paragraph writing proficiency of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. In order to achieve this objective, a total of 90 intermediate EFL learners who were enrolled in a private language institute in Guilan province were chosen using the availability sampling method. These learners were then divided into three groups. Initially, OPT served as the placement test. Subsequently, a preliminary assessment of writing skills was conducted among all research groups. Subsequently, experimental group 1 underwent 10 sessions of English paragraph writing using cloze-elide tasks, experimental group 2 underwent 10 sessions of English paragraph writing using grammaticality judgment tasks, and the control group received a placebo in the form of English paragraph writing using the existing method. Finally, a posttest of writing was given to the three groups in the study. The findings of a repeated-measures two-way ANOVA indicate that introducing a new task, either cloze-elide or grammaticality judgment, can enhance the performance of EFL learners in paragraph writing abilities.