درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

It is by now well established that materials may have an impact beyond simply learning a language they present. Hence, in this study attempts have been made to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of a textbook Summit 2B which is currently being widely used in Iranian EFL classes. The textbook has been evaluated based on criteria provided by McDonough and Shaw (1993) on the basis of two stages: an external and an internal evaluation. Efforts have been made to critically evaluate the textbook in terms of the layout, grading and sequencing of assignments, design, content, different activities, sort of texts utilized, and the skills emphasized in the book. The findings showed that albeit there appears to be some shortcomings, Summit 2B seems to be more efficient to meet the requirements of EFL learners as compared with the other textbooks which have hitherto been used at different language classes. Accordingly, investigating and evaluating the book proved to be very lucrative and valuable in terms of pedagogy as well as the efficient attributes that suits the context of the present study. Finally, the implications as regards the efficiency of this particular course book as the consequence of evaluating it have been put forward and the strengths and weaknesses related to it have been argued.

The current study examined the Iranian EFL teachers’ and students’ perceptions about Communication Strategies Teachability. The study was conducted with 20 teachers and 110 students from universities and private language Institutes in Tabriz, Iran. The literature regarding the teachability of communication strategies (CSs) has been far from conclusive. Some researchers reject the possibility of CSs instruction while many empirical studies support their teachability. Taking a mixed method design, the present study used a language proficiency test, a questionnaire and an interview for data collection. In the quantitative phase, the participants’ responses to questionnaire before and after a 12-week period of teaching CSs were statistically compared. The analysis of the quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire through Paired-samples t-test indicated that the students’ perceptions towards the usefulness of CSs grew significantly more positive after their instruction. The qualitative analysis of the interview data collected from the teachers indicated that most teachers found CSs useful and possible to teach. It was also found that these strategies improved capability of English language learners to speak and enhaned their conciousness of CSs. This study could offer pedagogical implications for both teachers and students and pave the way for further studies in the field.

Corrective feedback refers to a teacher or student’s reaction to a learner’s target language production containing an actual or perceived error. The last three decades have witnessed a large amount of research on the impacts of various types of corrective feedback on students’ written production. Along the same vein, the present study seeks to explore the effectiveness of providing teachers’ metalinguistic feedback vs. peers’ collaborative feedback on students’ writing performance. In so doing, the present study adopted a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design including three upper-intermediate groups (i.e., two experimental and one control). The participants of the study were a total of 62 English as a foreign language (EFL) freshman students from two public universities in Tehran, Iran. The writing tasks utilized in the present study were adopted from IELTS writing Task 2. The results of one-way between groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that students produced significantly more lexically diverse as well as grammatically accurate language as a result of both treatments. Moreover, it was observed that collaborative peer feedback led to significantly higher lexical diversity than those of other two groups. The findings of the present study suggest that L2 teachers can opt for a combination of corrective feedback strategies to help learners improve their writing performance.

Although FLIP learning has been used as an effective face-to-face and online learning pedagogy, there is a scarcity of research on students' English speaking skill using FLIP learning in these two modalities. Therefore, this study set out to investigate the effect of face-to-face vs. online FLIP learning on the speaking skill of lower-intermediate Iranian university EFL learners. The study was quasi-experimental with 32 participants (18 female and 14 male) whose homogeneity in terms of language proficiency at lower-intermediate level was assured through the administration of Oxford Placement Test. Then, the participants were randomly assigned to two experimental groups, both of which took the pretest and posttest of speaking. One group participated in face-to-face FLIP classroom and the other one took part in online FLIP context using Adobe Connect. The findings revealed that using FLIP learning significantly improved the speaking skill of the two groups since the participants of both groups performed more successfully on the post-test as compered to the pre-test. The findings also indicated that the face-to-face FLIP learning participants outperformed the online FLIP learning participants. This means that using face-to-face FLIP learning in which the students had face-to-face interactions had a positive effect on their speaking skill more effectively.

The current study aimed to evaluate the content of the English textbooks taught in Iranian senior high schools. To this purpose, the study relied upon a descriptive survey design. Through a stratified random sampling, a total of 12 senior high schools were selected from the high schools located in Isfahan. To select the teacher participants, a convenience sampling method was employed. Then, a structured questionnaire was administered to the selected teachers and students. The obtained data were statistically analyzed and item analysis revealed that the accessibility and affordability of the textbooks were the most-favored features. However, most of the students wondered whether the textbooks were equipped with supplementary (online and offline) materials. The post-hoc analysis results revealed the significant overall teacher-student disagreement towards the textbooks. Generally, the results showed that there is a need to adapt the teaching materials to the target situation of use. As a practical implication, the findings may urge the developers of the textbooks to launch a modification project in order to get more conscious in developing future textbooks. Moreover, the findings are of use for the teachers of the textbooks as well as the pedagogical policy makers. 

This quasi-experimental research aimed at investigating the effects of two different modes of worksheets on the vocabulary learning of Iranian young EFL learners. Some 20 male and female learners enrolled in a language institute in Chabahar agreed to participate in this study. Then, they were randomly divided into two experimental groups, and a vocabulary test was administered before the treatment as the pre-test. This pre-test was administered to determine the learners’ vocabulary knowledge and check their homogeneity. During the treatment, learners in Paper Worksheet Group (PWG) learned new words via paper worksheets, while the learners in Online Worksheet Group (OWG) learned vocabulary items via online worksheets. At the end, all the participants took a vocabulary post-test, which was the same as the pre-test. A paired sample t-test and an independent sample t-test were run, the results of which revealed that the PWG outperformed the OWG. More precisely, paper worksheets had a significant impact on young EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. Using worksheets, teachers can create a relaxed, challenging, and fun atmosphere so that young EFL learners can learn complex vocabulary items through active and multi-dimensional learning.

The target bridges in this s tudy were cons tructed during the Safavid era in Isfahan city and are considered as one of the mos t important components of the urban s tructure; during his tory. They have shown various functions in addition to their role as a connecting route, which has varied from individual scale to collective spaces over time. This research s tudy is trying to find out the architectural components affecting the public presence in these urban buildings, specifically in two bridges called, Allahverdi Khan (Si-o-se-pol) and Khajoo bridge in the contemporary era, to see if they would correspond the needs of today’s urban residents. To get this aim, the qualitative research approach was adopted based on an interview framework. To answer the ques tions was arranged based on three functional, physical, and s tructural aspects of these bridges, and a significant result was achieved by applying qualitative content analysis. The architectural components influencing the public presence were included eight general components and sub-components. These items were either in line with or opposite to each other, including the social functions and the contemporary space of bridges, the bridges’ cultural and physical s tructure, the shaping context of the bridges and the memorability of them, the environmental psychology and the related aes thetics aspects. According to the content analysis outcomes, a functional review of the space of these bridges in the future can lead to the qualitative improvement of architecture and space of them.

The Islamic era is the period of new s tyles and beyond its own time. Shamsa, Muqarnas, S tar, geometric motifs, and decorative elements have fractal nature, which was used as a tool to express the architect’s idea by repeating the same components in a spatial dimension. We will reach the effect of Islamic impacts on fractal architecture and semantic cognition, and by finding the roots of theories about fractal with an analytical-descriptive approach, we will unders tand the relationship between fractals and how they are used by architects. Our focus is on comprehensive s tudy and calculation, not only in ornaments but also in s tructure, to find patterns of fractal form, to represent coordination between components. Firs t, we proved and extracted the fractal properties and patterns between the cons tituent elements, including self-similarity, repeatability, small-scale, and non-integer dimension, using visual analysis, and then we set up the Box-counting analysis technique with two purposes of calculating fractal dimension and finding their relationship. Aware of the mathematical proportions and relationships between the components of nature, the architect of the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque has displayed the geometric sequence limit with an ascending equation in the interior ornaments of the dome. His goal is both to create the world of spirituality on a micro-scale and make it unders tandable for an observer. Thus, in this way, he has sometimes expressed his concept through mathematics, proportions, and sometimes by showing beliefs in concepts such as unity in diversity, all of which in their essence have concepts consis tent with fractal forms.

More than eight hundred years ago, before the invention of digital tools, Muslim builders had achieved the creative vision and aes thetic complexity required for the production of Muqarnas: an architectural device that connects surface ornament to divine concepts. This research adopts a qualitative, comparative, and critical use of architectural source material to cons truct an alternative unders tanding of Muqarnas within a documented his tory of architectural allegories and theories. The paper follows the argument that in the absence of figurative depiction in Islamic art, geometry assumes greater symbolic power, which manifes ts itself in ornament, s tructure, and space. In this sys tem, Muqarnas uses complex geometry to connect wall surfaces to spacious volumes. In the metamorphosis of two-dimensional planes to three-dimensional space, Muqarnas occupies the in-between space that connects the two worlds in a smooth and parametric process of transition. Thus, Muqarnas operates similarly to the folds of Baroque architecture and expresses, in a manneris t, yet geometric manner, the connection between the two realms of body and soul. However, unlike the Deleuzian model of Baroque sacris ty, light does not enter from below; from the realm of the body and the senses, but rather it shines from above; from the realm of the soul and divine concepts. From this point of view, Muqarnas becomes a significant phenomenon in architecture being a symbolic, ornamental, and parametric architectural device that simultaneously alludes to the allegories of the Platonic tradition, the Deleuzian concept of fold/unfold, and to recent theories of Parametricism.

Although a plethora of research endeavors have investigated the rhetorical structure of the Research Articles (RAs) through the lens of move analysis, Move Recycling (MR) across RA sections has remained unnoticed. The current study sought to bridge this gap by exploring cross-disciplinary variations in the recycling of the Objective move (research questions/hypotheses/purposes) across four conventional sections (Introduction, Method, Result, and Discussion) of RAs. To this end, 600 English RAs from four prestigious journals in six soft science disciplines, published between 2006 and 2018, were selected. The quantitative data analysis results revealed that the Objective move’s recycling was sensitive to the disciplinary variations and RA sections. That is, Economics RAs were the main platforms for recycling the Objective move, and Psychology RAs witnessed the least amount of its recycling. Moreover, Objective move recycling was observed most frequently in the Discussion sections and least frequently in the Method sections of RAs. In the study’s qualitative phase, the RA authors’ rationales for MR, which were received via email, underwent content analysis. Based on the recurrent themes in the RA authors’ responses, four main reasons for MR, including editorial policy, readers’ guidance, discipline conventions, and RA length, were identified. This study’s findings might provide a concise view of MR for researchers, teachers, and students in various disciplines. EAP instructors can raise students’ awareness of MR and encourage them to use it in their RAs as a comprehension facilitator.

Theory and practice are two sides of one coin, and the way they are perceived adds to its practice. This holds true regarding teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) literacy status and its implementation. To shed more light on these issues in the Iranian EFL setting, t his study was designed to pursue a three-fold purpose: the status quo of the Iranian EFL teachers' TPACK literacy, the contribution of TPACK literacy, and perception developments in the light of TPACK intervention. For the intervention purpose, TPACK workshops were implemented with 15 teachers through employing the TPACK framework and the learning by doing method. The results of chi-square data analysis showed statistically significant differences between the participants’ TPACK literacy before and after TPACK workshops and also positive contributions of the intervention. Moreover, it was observed that participants’ perceptions towards TPACK literacy developed in the light of TPACK workshops. Thereby, the study develops a new perspective and provides empirical evidence to investigate incorporating technology and knowledge into teaching English and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in Iran. Also, the theoretical and pedagogical recommendations for future research and practice are provided.

With the increasing importance of Language Assessment Literacy in recent years, identifying the assessment literacy components in different contexts becomes essential to ensure that language teacher professional development is on the right path, thus providing students with proper evaluation. This paper describes a research project in which an adapted version of Fulcher's (2012) Language Assessment Literacy Survey was delivered via the Internet in an attempt to characterize the levels of assessment knowledge of English language teachers in Syria. Three hundred and thirty Syrian English language teachers participated in the study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to the data obtained from the constructed-response item, and qualitative data analysis procedures were applied to the open-response items. The results indicated that Language Assessment Literacy in the Syrian context mainly comprises four factors: social impact of tests; test prepping and administration; test design, development, and interpretation; and evaluating language tests. On the other hand, the content analysis applied to the responses given by Syrian English teachers to the open-response questions indicated failings in both theoretical and practical assessment literacy in Syria's education scene, particularly the former, calling for an immediate change in teachers' preparatory courses in Syria. It is hoped that the study results can help language teacher education programs specify EFL teachers' academic assessment goals and enhance the nature of future language assessment programs, particularly in Syria; it can further provide a basis for comparison with other contexts and countries, thus contributing to a cross-cultural understanding of language assessment literacy.

This case study examined the adaptivity of learning transfer from an English for general academic purposes course to different disciplinary writing contexts. Data were collected at the end of one academic semester from 7 students of engineering disciplines enrolled in the writing course. Their EGAP writing course lasted for 16 weeks over which they were taught The St. Martin's Handbook, 6th Edition. The participants’ disciplinary writings together with interview transcripts served as the data sources for the extraction of adaptive transfers and also the processes of realizing the transfers. Adaptive transfers were identified by participants. Findings indicated that learning outcomes can transfer adaptively through a variety of processes to accommodate to the new writing demands. The results showed that the participants could adapt their learning along two broad dimensions of transfer, ‘idea generation’ (IG) and ‘text construction’ (TC) with the former involving ‘explication’ and ‘integration’ of knowledge and the latter achieved at macro and micro level. Within these adaptive transfers, we found a range of writing issues pursued including ‘goals, topics, logics, propositions, integrity, disciplinarity, linearity, paragraphing and linguistic resources’. Furthermore, the findings displayed two broad categories of ‘higher order’ and ‘lower order’ processes employed for the realization of adaptive transfers. While higher order processes operated through ‘transformative and evaluative’ mechanisms, the lower order processes involved two categories of ‘avoidance and affordance’, with the former as an attempt to refrain from going wrong and the latter as an effort to generate adaptivity. The findings for L2 writing are theoretically discussed.