درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This study queries into the ethical functions of diasporic fiction through carrying out a textual as well as a contextual study of The Famished Road. As an account of the politically marginal and the socially displaced, the diasporic novel is imbued with a singularity of form and content. Formally speaking, diasporic fiction is non-canonical, since it belongs to the space between nations and cultures. Furthermore, it partakes of a dialogic form which novelizes minor discourses and genres. In terms of content, the diasporic fiction opens up and narrates a liminal space and consists of the search for a utopian alternative to the dystopian status quo. The concurrence of these four qualities turns the diasporic novel into an account of experience at its extremes. However, the diasporic fiction is ethically radical not because it shows how different human experience is at the moment of exception, but because it points toward what Badiou calls an ethics of truths in singular situations. The diasporic experience results in a radical ethical system of truths that, far from succumbing to an overarching ethics of difference and a logic of us versus them, highlights the human truth at the heart of the experience of diaspora.

The present paper explores Alice Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy in an attempt to highlight the importance of the establishment of a well-defined identity as the crucial step in the life of Tashi, a victim of genital mutilation. She becomes whole and healthy once she finds a voice and remakes her severed ties with the black community. Her individual acts of rebellion are complemented with collective political action against genital mutilation. Butler’s view, agency is a restorative energy which works against fragmentation and opens a new possibility for psychic healing as the essential path to the formation of an individual identity. The paper explores the path taken by the novel’s female protagonist to validate her right as an active agent and defy the objectifying assumptions which deprive women of the right to be treated as human subjects. The long-held womanist aspirations shared by Tashi and her fellow sufferers matched by the desire to restore the lost agency is the only hope given to black women to establish their own voice. The protagonist’s final healing is thus achieved through the healthy interaction between individual as well as collective acts of rebellion: individual agency accompanied by political and social transformation.

Disability has an omnipresence in our daily lives, from our encounters with people with disabilities in real-life experiences to encountering them in novels, movies, and video games. After the Vietnam War was pursued by movements like Civil Rights and social discourses revolving around race, gender, and sexuality gained momentum in the 1970s, there was an urge for a civil rights-based model for disability. Previously, disability was considered a physical or mental deviance in the individual, an affliction to be cured or eliminated. This medical model gave its place to a social model, in which the social, political, and cultural environment rendered people with impairments disabled. Recently, some theorists have denounced drawing lines between the social and medical models and instead propose a liminal cultural model, believing that this mixed paradigm is the only model that does justice to the lived experiences of people with disabilities. The present study aims at analyzing John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men. It investigates how Lennie, a person with a cognitive disability, is treated and the challenges he faces, grounded on Garland-Thomson’s cultural theorization of disability through three concepts of feminism, otherness, and disability.

This study scrutinized the impact of Web 2.0 on the language achievement and self-regulated learning of Iranian EFL learners in online language courses. A mixed-methods approach was employed to leverage the Learning Management System (LMS) alongside WhatsApp as a supplementary tool in the experimental group. In the quantitative segment conducted over a three-month semester, an experimental design was implemented involving 24 Iranian male and female students from the Iran Language Institute (ILI). These participants were divided into two coeducational online classes: LMS and WhatsApp were utilized in the experimental group (n=12), while the control group (n=12) solely employed LMS. Quantitative data were gathered using the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), the Language Learning Self-Regulated Scale, and pre-test and post-test assessments. Concurrently, the qualitative phase entailed interviews with 8 participants, aimed at capturing nuanced insights into the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing WhatsApp alongside LMS for online learning. The quantitative outcomes revealed a notable impact on language achievement and self-regulated learning among EFL learners in the experimental group, emphasizing WhatsApp's supplementary role. Furthermore, qualitative findings shed light on the multifaceted aspects of employing WhatsApp in conjunction with LMS, unveiling both its merits and drawbacks. The implications for online EFL classes are substantial, offering valuable insights into optimizing digital platforms for enhanced language learning experiences.

This study intended to assess how ELT teachers evaluate the quality of Pre and In-service TPD Programs in an EFL context. Data for this study came from a survey and follow-up interviews with 300 high school EFL teachers. The findings suggest that the ELT teachers recommend professional development programs that prioritize continuous learning, knowledge and skills updates, subject matter expertise, and technology integration in teaching practices. The study reveals challenges faced by the ELT teachers in participating in TPD programs, such as the need for innovative and updated programs, practical application focus, budget constraints, and high-quality facilitation. The characteristics of a good TPD program from the perspective of ELT teachers were also discussed, emphasizing the importance of addressing immediate needs, incorporating the latest trends and innovations, aligning with international standards, and providing support systems and collaboration opportunities. In addition, the study highlighted the motivation of the ELT teachers for professional development and the need for targeted programs to support their specific needs. Finally, suggestions were made and implications were discussed.