درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Drawing on the assumptions of socio-cognitive linguistics, focusing on the effective role of interaction in terms of reducing the cognitive burden in the process of learning, this quasi-experimental study aimed at investigating the effect of the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) usage on the learning and retention of non-congruent collocations among 60 homogenized Iranian EFL learners, aged 18 to 24 years old. To this end, the sample selection procedure yielded two intact groups: the experimental group (N=30) who experienced learning collocations through the IWB and the control group (N=30) who learned them through the use of conventional board. The t-test results of the comparison between the two groups on both the immediate and delayed post-tests indicate that the experimental group outperformed the control group, suggesting the effectiveness of the IWB for the purpose of learning (Sig. value = 0.01; Eta squared = 0.10) and retention (Sig. value = 0.04; Eta squared = 0.06) of non-congruent collocations, thus providing support for the interactive function of instructional materials, such as IWB. The procedure and promising findings may provide insights for considering the integration of IWB into Iranian EFL learning settings.

By withdrawing from Afghanistan, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended in the 1990s. Throughout that decade, western governments forgot the people of Afghanistan. But the 1998 attack on the U.S. interests in Africa and al-Qaeda attacks of the September 11, 2001 reintroduced the foreign aggression of the Western governments’ coalition against Afghanistan. In the late 2001, NATO countries led by the United States brought down the Taliban regime. Concomitantly, the UN conducted a conference in Bonn, Germany in which political and paramilitary groups agreed to form an inclusive government without presence of the Taliban. The Bonn Agreement contents show that most of its principles are based on the doctrine of Liberal Democracy. Accordingly, in most of the ratified articles of the Eighth Constitution of Afghanistan the doctrine of liberal democracy is reflected. In a country where many political regimes and systems were experienced, the effectiveness of Liberal Democracy doctrine was expected. Meanwhile, Liberal Democracy faced challenges and nation-state building development process witnessed deficiencies. The present paper uses systemic analysis of the liberal nation-state (system input, policy design, policy implementation, evaluation and outcome) to respond the research question. The question is, how have the nation-state building process and political development in Afghanistan been affected by the Bonn Agreement and liberal democracy doctrine? And has that led to the deficiencies in nation-state building and political development in the country? Hypothetically, nation-state building and political development in Afghanistan based on the Bonn Agreement suffered from deficiencies due to the following reasons: disregarding the historical-traditional contexts of Afghanistan, the weak presence of liberal democrats in power, disregard for the demands of the fragmented society, the continuation of nationalist policies, and the incorrect public-private divide in the liberal structure of democracy.