۱.
Few studies have explored the relationship between non-cognitive factors in different educational settings and with different age groups. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between Study Habits (SH) and Commitment to Ethical Codes (CEC) and their ability to predict the academic performance of language learners in schools and universities (547 students aged under 18 – above 35 years old). The instruments used are adapted versions of questionnaires which were made into one survey tool with each measure in distinct sections. The results showed a significant relationship between SH and CEC displaying a positive relationship in all age groups (a highest relationship in the age group of 18-22, P< 0.05) and in both male/females with male participants reported having the highest relationship (P< 0.05). The study concludes that CEC needs to be considered and assessed during school years with additional training to language learners to help them learn or modify SH to increase their performance at the time of entry into university.
۲.
Objective: This study aims to find the most suitable type of oral narrative for assessing the transitivity system used by hearing-impaired students studying in ordinary schools with their hearing counterparts.
Methods: Three types of oral narratives, including personal narration, storytelling, and story improvisation were collected. The participants were eighteen hearing-impaired students (selected as an available sample) along with eighteen hearing students. Oral narratives were transcribed and analyzed using Halliday's transitivity system framework. And data analysis was carried out using SPSS 26 and based on the normality of the data in each of the transitivity indicators, two-independent samples t-tests and U Mann-Whitney tests were conducted.
Results: Findings revealed that all three types of oral narratives of hearing-impaired students contained transitivity indicators lower than average, this difference was significant for processes (p=0.047) and participants (p=0.029) in improvisation, and for circumstances only in Personal narrative (p=041). However, in the total three types of narratives, the median difference between the two groups is significant in all transitivity indices (p= 0.24, p=0.022, and p=0.001 for processes, participants, and circumstances respectively).
Conclusion: In light of the results of this research, the storytelling task, which is the most widely used form of assessment in communication disorders, cannot capture the narrative weaknesses of hearing-impaired students enrolled in regular schools, and it is necessary to use more spontaneous narrative tasks such as personal narration and improvisation of narrative in evaluating and rehabilitating these children.
۳.
This explanatory sequential mixed-method study aimed to investigate the washback effect of a local English Proficiency Exam (the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology Test (MSRT)) on Iranian Ph.D. candidates' English language learning skills. The study also examined the changes Iranian Ph.D. candidates perceive as essential to make the MSRT module implementation more useful for English learning. To this end, a sample of 150 Ph.D. candidates with differences in gender, age, and major were invited from Islamic Azad universities of Shiraz and Marvdasht to complete a questionnaire designed in terms of MSRT washback. The participants were chosen through a combination of stratified and convenience sampling methods. Furthermore, a sample of 20 PhD candidates from the same population was selected based on purposeful sampling and participated in the semi-structured interview sessions. The results of the data analysis represented some positive and negative washback effects on MSRT. Moreover, the participants suggested some recommendations on necessary changes and alterations for the MSRT test to facilitate university English learning further. Their feedback was in line with their viewpoints on why MSRT preparation had not satisfactorily prepared them to manage university workloads. The pedagogical implications will be discussed.
۴.
The present paper examines Nadine Gordimer's The Conservationist (1974) in order to present a postcolonial reading of it in light of Homi K. Bhabha's ideas. It firstly discusses the significance of this novel and its narrative style, along with its context (Apartheid and the Zulu culture). Then it examines the central characters (Mehring and Jacobus) with the help of Bhabha's key concepts of hybridity and mimicry. The paper analyzes the relationship between the foreign white master, Mehring, and his native black servants, and underlines that the displaced colonial subjects (such as Jacobus) can, through mimicry, defy the oppression of imperial hegemony from within. In the text of Gordimer’s novel we can witness the formation of new cultural hybrids. It is characteristic of Gordimer’s fiction to reflect upon interactions between European and indigenous cultures. It is also argued that the funeral at the very end of the novel is in fact a transformation; for one, it brings about a change of focus and the readers shall end the novel bearing the memory of the black man in their minds.
۵.
The presence of the Achaemenid Persians and the archaeological materials that they left in their territories have always been regarded as important topics. Phoenicia was one of their prized dominions. Considering the historical importance of the pioneering universal empire of the Achaemenids as well as the significance of the Phoenician civilization, the study of their interactions would be invaluable. After a historicalgeographical introduction and an overview of the role and status of Phoenicia in the history of the Achaemenid Empire, the present research has focused on Phoenician architecture. The questions addressed in this study are: To what extent can Persian influence be observed in the architectural findings recovered from Achaemenid Phoenicia? To what extent did each Phoenician city-state adopt Achaemenid architectural elements? The study of available sources and reports indicated that the Persian influence on Phoenician architecture, despite its insignificance, demonstrates the presence and dominance of the Achaemenid style. Furthermore, the extent of Persian influence on different city-states was not equal, and did not depend on the prominence of a city-state. It even seems that there was no special requirement for the application of Achaemenid elements. It should be noted that architectural findings only constitute a part of the available material. Obviously, in order to achieve a more comprehensive result regarding the research topic, other data from Achaemenid Phoenicia should also be considered.
۶.
The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which academic admission criteria predict prospective teachers’ competency during teacher education program. To this end, a total of 186 prospective teachers majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Teacher Education University in Iran were selected as the convenience sample of the study. They completed two questionnaires, Prospective Teachers’ Professional Attitude and Prospective Teachers’ Professional Identity. The participants’ high school GPA, university entrance score, and university GPA were also obtained. The results of Pearson product-moment correlations indicated a significant positive correlation among academic measures of high school GPA, university entrance score, and university GPA but no significant correlation was detected between these academic measures and nonacademic measures of professional identity and professional attitude. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that the two admission criteria had just predictive validity for university academic achievement; however they could not predict prospective teachers’ professional attitude or their professional identity. Based on the findings of this study, it would be concluded that the academic measures used for admitting candidates into the program have low predictive validity for predicting non-academic attributes of teacher competenc
۷.
The rules in the family are the creators of legal relationships, and the implementation of the legal orders is the basis for the organization of the affairs. Sometimes due to the situation where the rights of the family to the spouses are recognized, the parties to each other do harm and use their rights inappropriately and, namely, abuse their rights. In the present paper, using the descriptive-linguistic method, the non-financial rights in spousal relationships and the possibility of their abuse have attracted greater attention. In addition, the explanation of the orientation of the teachings of Islam regarding the abuse of non-financial couples' rights and its prohibition without providing a guarantee of implementation is discussed, which constitutes it among the moral recommendations; the need to develop and determine the guarantee of effective implementations to prevent the abuse of non-financial rights and to control the exercise rights for the realization of the legislator’s goal and the realization of justice in the relationships of couples has been examined and proved, and for certain reasons such as the rule of no loss, the principle of expediency, the rule of maintaining the system (social system) and determining the punishment by the government has been referred to prove the point.
