درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a strength-based parenting program in enhancing family cohesion and reducing marital conflicts among parents. Methods: A randomized controlled trial design was employed with 30 participants (15 in the intervention group and 15 in the control group), all of whom were parents residing in Italy. The intervention group participated in a nine-session, strength-based parenting program delivered over nine weeks, while the control group received no intervention during the study period. Both groups completed assessments at three time points: pretest, posttest, and a five-month follow-up. The standardized tools used included the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales IV (FACES IV) to measure family cohesion and the Marital Conflict Questionnaire (MCQ) to assess marital conflicts. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc tests in SPSS version 27. Findings: The repeated measures ANOVA indicated significant time × group interaction effects for both family cohesion (F(2,56) = 16.63, p < .001, η² = .39) and marital conflicts (F(2,56) = 18.38, p < .001, η² = .41). Post-hoc comparisons revealed that the intervention group experienced significant increases in family cohesion from pretest to posttest (Mean Difference = 6.87, p < .001) and follow-up (Mean Difference = 6.14, p < .001). Similarly, marital conflicts significantly decreased in the intervention group from pretest to posttest (Mean Difference = -10.85, p < .001) and remained lower at follow-up (Mean Difference = -11.19, p < .001), with no significant changes observed in the control group. Conclusion: The strength-based parenting intervention proved effective in promoting family cohesion and reducing marital conflict over time, with sustained benefits evident at a five-month follow-up. These findings highlight the value of strengths-focused approaches in enhancing family relationships and emotional well-being.

Morphological Awareness (henceforth: MA), defined as the ability to understand the morphemic structure of the words, has been reported to affect various aspects of second language performance including reading comprehension ability, spelling performance, etc. Yet, the concept has been far less treated with reference to l2 listening transcription. Thus, against this background, this study aims to investigate the link between MA and listening transcription ability of Iranian pre-university students. To this aim, 40 pre-university students participated in the study, and were assigned to two control and experimental groups. Both groups were first given three short listening passages to transcribe as the pre-tests. The results of the independent-samples t-test revealed no significant difference between the two groups. The experimental group, then, received five one-hour sessions briefing them on the morphological realization of English words. The two groups were then given three short listening passages to transcribe as their post-tests. The results of the independent-samples t-tests attested to the significant difference between the two groups, thus, supporting the relationship between MA and listening transcription ability. The study concludes with some suggestions as to the incorporation of MA into L2 learning programs.

This article intended to investigate whether the gender-preferential linguistic elements found by Argomon, Koppel, Fine and Shimoni (2003) show the same gender-linked frequencies in applied linguistics research papers written by non-native speakers of English. In so doing, a sample of 32 articles from different journals was collected and the proportion of the targeted features to the whole number of words was calculated. The results indicated that, although the gender-linked patterns of use for many of those features were also observed in our sample, the difference between men and women in the frequency of using those elements was not statistically significant. This non-significant difference shows that either the confinements of genre or those of using a second language or both are keeping L2 writers from expressing their gender to its fullest capacity in the texts they produce.