مطالب

This study is an attempt to find the realization of visual literacy in Iranian high school English textbooks. To this purpose, the density and number of the tags in the three volumes of the senior high school English textbooks were qualitatively investigated. The results showed that Book 1 emphasizes the Affective/Perceptual aspect of the visuals, whereas Book 3 puts more emphasis on Critical/Ideological aspect of the visuals. Furthermore, it was found that as grades of the books advance, the density and number of the tags decrease. The results based on Callow’s (2005) dichotomy also indicated that as the grade of the English textbooks advances, the visual literacy moves from the receptive aspect to more productive one. It can be inferred that in developing high school English textbooks, there seems to be no association between the visuals and the corresponding tags despite the variety of the visuals.  

The present study aimed at investigating the effects of applying yoga, visualization, and Rosetta Stone software on English achievement of Iranian senior citizen EFL learners. Prior to this study, the homogeneity of the learners was checked through conducting Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). Consulting the rating scale of OQPT, 30 female elementary level senior citizen EFL learners between the ages of 55 and 65 were selected to take part in the study. The participants sat for an English achievement test designed based on their textbook. They were, then, assigned to two groups of control and experimental. The members of the experimental group were taught English while practicing yoga, visualization, and applying Rosetta Stone software program, whereas their counterparts in the control group were taught via the conventional method of teaching English in the elderly day-care center. The procedure lasted for 30 sessions during the three-month treatment. Afterwards, the posttest which was similar to the pretest was administered to unravel the effect of the treatment. They were also given an attitude questionnaire to uncover their attitude towards the applied instruments. The results of the study indicated that the members of the experimental group outperformed those of the control group in terms of their English learning. The results of the attitude questionnaire demonstrated that they had positive attitudes towards the use of yoga, visualization, and Rosetta Stone software in learning English. The results of this study may offer implications for EFL teachers, curriculum designers, day-care centers of the elderly, well-fare organizations, and language schools.  

Language learners' test performance is affected by individual attributes that are not part of test takers’ language ability (Bachman, 1990). The identification of such factors and the study of their association/impact with/on EFL learners' test performance has been a real test validity concern for language testing researchers (Bachman, 1990, 2004). This study was designed to explore the relation of a number of cognitive and psychological attributes and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' test performance. To this end, two hundred male (100) and female (100) Iranian intermediate EFL learners selected through convenience sampling procedure took Goal-orientation Scale, Test Preparation and Test-taking Strategy Scale, and Examination Stress Scale and a sample Test of English as a Foreign Language Junior Standard (TOEFL Junior). Regression analyses of the questionnaires and the TOEFL test results demonstrated that mastery goal orientation, performance goal orientation, test-taking strategy and test anxiety all correlated with EFL learners' test performance; however, test taking strategy was the strong cognitive predictor and performance goal orientation was the strongest psychological predictor of the EFL learners' test performance. The results seem to indicate that in addition to previously identified factors like test anxiety and test taking strategies some factors like performance and mastery goal orientations which were once deemed as construct irrelevant factors in EFL learners' test performance need to be added to the battery of personal attributes that are influential factors in this regard.

Willingness to communicate is subject to the moment-by-moment fluctuations in the classroom. Therefore, teachers’ decisive role comes to the foreground as they can increase learners’ desire to communicate at a particular moment by their interventions. Online instruction, despite furnishing learners with authentic material, has failed to culminate in communication thanks to connection problems or lack of non-verbal clues. Thus, the present study aimed to explore Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions of strategies to promote willingness to communicate of learners in online classes. The mixed-methods design was employed to answer the research questions. To this end, a self-designed questionnaire was first piloted and then administered to the main sample which included thirty-seven teachers. The questionnaire subsumed five effective factors garnered from extant literature. Five teachers were interviewed as to their perceptions of pros and cons of promoting WTC in online classrooms. The results indicated that teachers’ motivational strategies were perceived to promote WTC best in online classes followed by teacher immediacy. Qualitative reports also corroborated the numerical data. Lack of non-verbal clues i.e. body language was perceived to decrease learners’ motivation and participation; however, technological resources like games were reported to increase WTC in online classes. Teachers should pay heed to their crucial role in inciting positive atmosphere and get better equipped to capitalize on online affordances to increase participation in online classes.

The study of second language learners' engagement with language learning tasks has become an enchanting line of research since several studies in general education and second language literature have proved its significant effects on learners' ultimate educational success. However, there are several niches in the literature which have not been occupied yet. One of these niches, addressed in this study, is the examination of the effect of computer-mediated condition on second language learners' emotional and social engagement with speaking tasks. Using a repeated-measures design, 40 intermediate language learners performed computer-mediated and face-to-face speaking tasks in a counterbalanced fashion. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect the required data to respond to the questions. The results showed that learners were more emotionally and socially engaged with the computer-mediated speaking tasks. It was also revealed that low-intermediate learners’ use of social engagement indicators was significantly higher in the computer-mediated condition; however, the change in the condition did not significantly affect the quantity of social engagement indicators provided by high-intermediate ones. The findings also indicated that different engagement dimensions are interconnected, and the change in one of them can affect the other ones.  

Researchers examined anomalies in the market to understand the market dimensions. Prior studies considered the effects of biases on momentum strategy. Stock liquidity as one of the risk factors for assets was also considered by researchers. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of stock liquidity in the separately and jointly effect of anchoring bias and the disposition effect on momentum profit. The population of this study consists of all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. Based on systematic election sampling this study covers 136 companies over the period of 2007-2020. In this study, the effect of disposition effect is calculated using the approach of Greenblatt and Han (2005) and Frazzini (2006) and the anchorage bias is calculated according to George and Hwang (2004). This study calculates momentum profits according to Jegadeesh and Titman (1993). To test the hypotheses, multivariate regressions and the five-factor model of Fama and French (2015) have been used. The results of this study show that the disposition effect in stocks with low liquidity increases momentum profit. In addition, anchoring bias in stocks with low liquidity leads to an increase the momentum profit. Findings of this study document that the interaction effect of anchoring bias and disposition effect, while reinforcing each other, is also associated with increasing in momentum profit. Finally, when anchoring bias and disposition effect reinforce each other, and stocks have low liquidity, they do not increase momentum profits.