درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The present paper sought to investigate gender differences in the speech pauses made by Iranian bilingual (L1: Turkish and L2: Persian) learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). To this end, the pauses made by males and females were compared. Via an Oxford Placement test, a convenient sample of 40 bilingual advanced EFL male and female learners were selected from several English language institutes in Tehran, Iran. Three reading passages (English, Persian, and Turkish) were used to measure students’ fluency in terms of their speech pauses in the texts they read. As learners started to read the passages, their speeches were recorded. The collected data were analyzed by means of Praat Software. The data were analyzed in terms of the frequency and duration of the recorded pauses. The results indicated that that there were not any statistically significant differences between males and females regarding their pause frequency and duration across languages. Accordingly, the results represented more similarity than difference across the groups. The implications of the study results are discussed.

The academic general curriculum is of great importance alongside the specialized curriculum; this field is not only limited to the subject of human knowledge and scientific disciplines, but is also related to the development of personal capabilities, such as the creativity and intellectual abilities, transfer of cultural heritage and values, and the evaluation of committed and accountable citizens. The present study aims to investigate the various areas of the Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in the academic general curriculum in Iran. This is an applied research wherein, a qualitative content analysis method, the thematic analysis (themes), has been applied to the two levels of the selected documents (the law on the goals, duties and organizations of the Ministry of Science, the comprehensive scientific map of Iran, and Iran's sixth development plan) and syllabuses of the general courses approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. The data collection tools included content analysis, note-taking, and a checklist. A descriptive-analytic method was applied to interpret and analyze the data. Based on the research findings, the level of contents associated with globalization has a significant degree of severity and weakness from one course to another in terms of the qualitative aspect. It is certain that most of the contents related to the components of globalization often have indirect links and regarding the positive, negative, and neutral aspects, it can be claimed that the neutral aspect is of considerable significance compared to the other aspects. The qualitative content analysis of the documents and syllabuses of the general courses was done and subsequently, the obtained scheme indicates that the existing approach to the GCE in Iran is a combination of political and civic education approaches, cultural transfer, and the neo-liberal approach, and hence, the educational system should try to train global citizens with an Iranian–Islamic identity. Among the important points in the analysis of the documents is a lack of distinction between globalization and internationalization.