درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Pronunciation remains a persistent challenge for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. This is particularly important in contexts where segmental/suprasegmental features differ from those of learners’ first language. Translanguaging is widely recognized as a beneficial pedagogical approach in language education. It is defined as learners’ strategic use of their full linguistic repertoire, including first and additional languages, to support meaning-making and learning. However, its application to pronunciation instruction has received limited empirical attention. This quasi-experimental mixed-methods study examined the effectiveness of translanguaging-based instruction in developing Iranian EFL learners’ segmental/suprasegmental pronunciation features and explored participants’ perceptions of this approach. Twenty upper-intermediate Iranian EFL students were assigned to the experimental and control groups. Over 27 instructional sessions, the experimental group received translanguaging-based pronunciation instruction, while the control group followed a communicative English-only approach. Data were collected through pretest–posttest pronunciation tasks, acoustic analysis using Praat, and semi-structured interviews, and they were analyzed using non-parametric statistical tests and thematic analysis. The quantitative results revealed significant improvements in several suprasegmental features, including linking, epenthesis, deletion, sentence stress, and word stress, whereas gains in segmental features were limited. Acoustic analysis indicated significant changes in F2 onset frequencies for the diphthongs /oʊ/ and /eɪ/. Qualitative findings showed that students perceived translanguaging as enhancing comprehension and reducing anxiety. They also reported it created a more supportive learning environment and varied in effectiveness across pronunciation features. Findings suggest translanguaging is particularly effective for suprasegmental pronunciation development and offers pedagogical value for creating a learner-centered EFL pronunciation instruction.

While a growing body of research testifies to the benefits of asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) for foreign language learning, its contributions within the field of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) have remained underexplored. To address this gap, the present study aimed to unveil the impact of mobile-assisted (text vs. voice messaging) ACMC on Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' pragmatic learning of apologies and requests. Utilizing a mixed method, pretest-posttest design, data from sixty intermediate Iranian EFL learners studying English at Shokouh Language Institute in Babolsar, Mazandaran were obtained based on the results of an Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The participants were assigned into two experimental groups (text-messaging, N = 20; voice-messaging, N = 20) and one control group (N = 20). A Written Discourse Completion Test (WDCT) and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. The pretest and posttest analysis revealed the experimental groups’ significant gains through both text and voice messaging, with only a negligible difference between their effectiveness. The qualitative findings led to the detection of three significant themes a posteriori, namely flexibility and convenience, lower pressure, and promotion of collaborative learning and emotional engagement. The findings suggest that by incorporating multiple modes of interaction, mobile-assisted ACMC grants learners a variety of technological affordances to enrich their pragmatic learning.

In the domain of Persian literature, the Holy Qur’an has consistently played an influential subtextual role in shaping the formal and semantic aesthetics of literary works. The present study, aiming to analyze intertextual relations, investigates Saleh Hosseini’s utilization of Quranic terms and concepts in his translations of English literary works. To this end, based on Kristeva’s (1966) theory of intertextuality and Genette’s (1982) taxonomy, selected examples from seven translated works were analyzed. Following the examination and analysis of the data, a comprehensive interview with the translator was conducted to triangulate the findings. The results indicate that the translator employed two main strategies—explicit intertextuality (direct use of Quranic terms and verses) and paratextuality (using footnotes and appendices)—to create complex references in translations. This approach, while maintaining fidelity to the source semantic networks, reconstructed the text within the cultural context of the target language, providing a multilayered and polyvocal experience for the target readers. In light of the analysis of the collected textual data and the translator’s responses in the interview, it can be concluded that literary translation, far beyond the mere transfer of words, is a creative, interpretive, and intertextual process that facilitates deep cultural and discursive interaction among various texts.

The present study aims to investigate users’ responses to linguistic diversity on Persian-language social media, particularly Instagram, based on Lippi-Green’s theoretical framework of language subordination. The study employs a mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, the data were analyzed using the language subordination framework, which comprises seven core components: Mystification, authority, misinformation, trivialization, accommodators and non-accommodators, threat, and promise. In the quantitative phase, the frequency and proportional distribution of these components were calculated across more than 400 user comments posted on widely followed Persian-language Instagram pages between 2023 and 2026. The findings indicate that the components of misinformation and trivialization occurred most frequently and that social media platforms, contrary to common assumptions, serve as significant sites for reproducing the ideology of the standard language and marginalizing non-standard varieties. Furthermore, the results show that users’ linguistic judgments are largely influenced by entrenched monolingual standard ideologies that, consciously or unconsciously, construct the so-called Persian standard as superior while other language varieties as inferior.

Although peer-assisted collaborative writing has been examined extensively, the development of artificial intelligence (AI) highlights the importance of investigating how AI might affect the way students write and perceive writing. Drawing on the sociocultural theory, the present mixed-methods study examined learners’ integration of AI in their writing process. The participants included 40 TEFL students, randomly assigned to either the peer-assisted collaborative writing or AI-assisted collaborative writing groups. In the first phase of the study, a pretest and a posttest were administered to both groups. They were analyzed in terms of different measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency features (CAF). A series of paired and independent t-tests was used to compare the two groups in each measure. Although there was no difference between the groups in terms of complexity and fluency, learners in the peer-assisted group outperformed those in the AI-assisted group in terms of accuracy measures. In the second phase of the study, the participants in both groups filled in an open-ended questionnaire on their attitudes toward their writing experiences. It was found that learners in the peer-scaffolded group were more satisfied with their writing and experienced less boredom during writing. 

The present article aims to analyze Ann Pancake’s Strange as this Weather Has Been through the lens of ecofeminist theories. The study explores the connections between women and nature by focusing on three key areas: inherent affinity and dualism, agency and intrinsic values, and conflict with technology. The article addresses how the novel expresses and upholds ecofeminist concepts and how the female characters challenge the male-dominated power structure by participating in the ecofeminist movement through their actions and words as Earth's guardians. Greta Gaard’s ecofeminist ideas form the theoretical foundation of this research. The article highlights how the primary female characters in the novel exhibit a profound bond with their land and work to safeguard it as guardians of the Earth, embodying resilience, empowerment, and an enduring spirit, and manifest self-confidence and a deep connection with nature. Through this affinity, they portray a sense of belonging and identity with nature. It laments that technology, which is manipulated in capitalist and patriarchal ideologies, treats nature merely as a commodity. The narrative also showcases and criticizes the dire environmental and societal consequences of mountaintop removal mining as a harmful technological practice in Appalachia, which, on a macro level, stands for the world.

This paper aims to analyze Doris Lessing's narrative techniques to explore how she developed the discourse of her stories and depicted her contemporary realities in her story worlds. It seeks to address the question of whether there is a relationship between her real world and her storytelling, and whether her ideology and personal background influenced her narrative approach. To accomplish this goal, we will analyze the novels The Grass is Singing and Martha Quest using Gavin's Text World Theory, a cognitive approach that provides a framework encompassing three levels of analysis: Discourse World, Text World, and Sub-Worlds. Our analysis reveals that the discourse of her stories closely mirrors her real-life discourse, indicating a direct relationship between her real worlds and her storytelling. Lessing’s intricate descriptions of world-building elements, such as time, locations, characters, objects, and actions within the story, serve to advance the narrative forward through both material and existential processes. Moreover, her use of sub-worlds to express her yearning for freedom and justice reflects her critical viewpoints on the oppressive systems prevalent in her time, particularly colonization and racial issues. Furthermore, it becomes apparent that from 1944 to 1956, her storytelling method was influenced by her communist ideology. In essence, the concepts and themes represented in her stories emerge as reflections of her real-world experiences, effectively conveyed through her narrative techniques.