مطالب

This research aimed to screen 'essay writing' difficulties that non-native university students at postgraduate levels usually experience regarding scholarly publication in mainstream, English journals. Two sets of variables including written literacy competencies in Persian and English languages were mapped over language uses (General vs. Academic). Initial screenings from one hundred Iranian students at PhD and MA levels with publication experiences in both Persian and English languages gave rise to some fifty-five participants randomly selected from different university disciplines (Humanities, Engineering, Medicine and Basic Sciences) and diverse university settings (Public and Private) across the country and classified via stratified sampling. A validated questionnaire from a large-scale project called ENEIDA (Moreno, 2011) was used for collecting the required data. Two measures were used to assess written literacy competencies across language uses: 1) participants' assumed, self-reported written literacy competencies in using English and Persian languages for General and Academic purposes were denoted as 'perceived' measures and 2) further supported by actual measures: mostly received comments from reviewers in the mainstream, English journals by the target group above. Findings were discussed in the light of recent lines of enquiries in Academic Literacy (AL) trends.

Drawing on the literature on the emergence of different varieties of English in the globalized world, current debates surrounding English as an international language (EIL), and more orientation towards intelligibility and mutual understanding in international communication, this article reports the findings of a quantitative and qualitative research study with 112 native American and British, 120 Indian and 120 Iranian teachers as members of Inner Circle (IC), Outer Circle (OC) and Expanding Circle (EC) (Kachru, 1992) to explore their attitudes towards pronunciation pedagogy within the framework of English as an international language and  how they see their role in relation to different varieties of English. The findings demonstrate the extent to which teachers’ acceptance of pronunciation and varieties of English differs. In particular, the Iranian teachers’ norm-bound orientation was found to be the greatest among the three groups. Native English teachers’ replies were also indicative of their acceptance of different varieties of English. Teachers’ preferences will be discussed with consideration of their attitudes towards varieties of English which might have influenced the construction of English teachers’ identity and the educational policy of each country. The findings also highlight the localization of L2 language planning and policies in an EIL pedagogy. This article argues that, together with encouraging and valuing different varieties of English, it is important to acknowledge and promote ways to raise awareness of teachers and learners towards global spread of English and the realities of English today which can be really helpful to be more realistic and not just blind followers of a particular model. Keywords: Pronunciation, Intelligibility, English as an International Language, Language Awareness, Identity   نگرش معلمان نسبت به انواع انگلیسی جهانی: معیار های تلفظ در زبان انگلیسی و  نوع آموزش تلفظ زبان انگلیسی در لایه های درونی، بیرونی، و رو به گسترش زبان انگلیسی یکی از مهمترین موضوعات در حوزه آموزش زبان توجه به انواع انگلیسی جهانی از دیدگاه تلفظ زبان انگلیسی و نوع آموزش تلفظ می باشد. تمامی افراد حتی غیر بومی ها عضوی از جامعه انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی می باشند و هیچ گروهی دستور زبانی خاصی راتعیین نمی کند. بومی سازی زبان نقش مهمی در ارتباط میان افراد در یک جامعه خاص را دارد. اهمیت موضوع تلفظ می تواند به دو دلیل اصلی است: اول، ساخت فهم که اشاره به ایجاد یک گفتمان قابل فهم در میان شرکت کنندگان در یک چارچوب ارتباطی دارد. دوم، با در نظر گرفتن نقش اصلی تلفظ درزبان انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی و راه آن است که شکل آگاهی زبان آموزان نسبت به هویت فرهنگی اجتماعی خود را شکل می دهد .مقاله حاضر با استفاده از روش تجزیه و تحلیل کمی و کیفی به بررسی دیدگاه معلمان در سه لایه زبانی (112 معلم بومی انگلیس و آمریکا: لایه درونی؛ 120 معلم هندی: لایه بیرونی؛ و 120 معلم ایرانی؛ لایه روبه گسترش)، اعتقادات و نگرش آنها نسبت به هنجارهای تلفظ و آموزش آن می پردازد، چرا که آنها می توانند با توجه به عوامل اجتماعی فرهنگی و سیاسی متفاوت  تغییر کنند.  این مطالعه همچنین نسبت به تغییر نگرش معلمین نسبت به انگلیسی بومی و سوق دادن آنها بسوی اهمیت زبان بر اساس قابل فهم بودن و توجه به ارتباط میان مخاطبین تا تلفظ بومی خاص زبا انگلیسی توجه دارد. توجه ویژه به انواع انگلیسی های جهانی و حفظ هویت فرهنگی خود به هنگام یادگیری زبان خارجی از دیگر اهداف این تحقیق می باشد کلمات کلیدی: تلفظ، گفتمان قابل فهم ، انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی، آگاهی زبانی ،  هویت

The present study sought to investigate the effect of explicit instruction of lexical bundles (LBs) on the development of Iranian English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students’ writing quality and also their receptive and productive knowledge of Lexical Bundles (LB). Assigned to two experimental and control groups, the eighty participants took pre- and post-tests of writing tasks and the receptive knowledge test. Afterwards, the obtained scores were subjected to a series of Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs) and paired samples t-tests. Results of the within-group and between-group analyses indicated that explicit instruction of LBs enhanced the participants’ productive and receptive knowledge of LBs and also improved the overall quality of their written productions. Possible explanations are provided and the implications of the findings for the applicability of LBs instruction are discussed.

The present study probed 409 Iranian English as foreign language (EFL) learners' motivation and attitude toward English as an International Language (EIL) by investigating the causal relationships of their facets via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). To do so, the Persian version of the ‘attitudes toward EIL’ scale was designed and validated. It measures five constructs of: cultural realism, linguistic cultural disposition (negative), (dis)ownership of English, EIL posture, and localization. Then, the researchers utilized the validated scale along with the adapted Persian version of motivation scale designed by Taguchi et al. (2009) to explore the causal relationship among their facets. The latter scale measures seven dimensions of instrumentality prevention, instrumentality promotion, ideal L2 self, ought-to l2 self, learning experience, motivational intensity, and integrativeness. The findings of the study revealed that students' motivational intensity positively predicted by other motivational and attitudinal factors with 'ideal self' and 'instrumentality promotion' having the highest influence. It was also found that ‘cultural realism’ was a significant predicator of ‘localisation’, and ‘localisation’ was a significant positive predictor of ‘disownership of English’. ‘EIL posture’ was also in a positive direct relationship with ‘cultural realism’, whereas ‘linguistic cultural disposition’ (negative) was found to negatively influence other aspects including ‘motivational intensity’. This study has some implications for ELT professionals to revisit EFL motivation in light of attitudes toward EIL in expanding circle.