مطالب

As Schmidt (2008) states, deeper engagement with new vocabulary as induced by tasks clearly increases the chances of learning those words. This engagement is theoretically clarified by the involvement load hypothesis (ILH, Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001), based on which the involvement index of each task can be measured. The present study was designed to test ILH by evaluating the impact of 4 different reading-based tasks on vocabulary acquisition and retention. Investigating learners' beliefs about the use and effect of the tasks they performed has been another concern of this study. To this end, 120 female and male English undergraduates, attending Reading Comprehension 4 at the Islamic Azad University of Najaf Abad took part in the experiment. There were 4 intact classes that received 4 different tasks randomly. The first class completed an input-oriented task (multiple-choice questions or MCQ) with an ILI of 2. The second class completed an output-oriented task (sentence making or SM) with an ILI of 3. The third class completed an input-oriented task (multiple choice cloze test or MCT) with an ILI of 2, and the fourth group completed an output-oriented task (blank-filling or BF) with the same involvement load as that of the second class. The results showed that all tasks were conductive in vocabulary learning and retention. However the SM task was found to be the most effective of all. The task effectiveness which was asked through an interview with some of the participants, chosen randomly from each group, was in line with the above mentioned results. In other words, participants agreed that reading-related tasks could facilitate L2 vocabulary acquisition and retention. Concerning their opinions about task type, they found SM easier and more conductive to vocabulary learning and retention. The findings of this research could attract EFL and ESL teachers' attention to utilize the same task types in their classes in the form of class activities and could provide EFL and ESL students with an effective way of vocabulary learning and retention.                                         

The current article was an attempt to investigate the effect of semantic mapping strategy instruction on reading comprehension performance of EFL learners. To this end, thirty homogeneous Iranian intermediate EFL learners attending a language school in Bonab, Iran, were randomly assigned to two groups, one as the experimental and the other as the control. The experimental group received instruction through semantic mapping strategy while the control one received conventional instruction by the same instructor. The study employed pre-test post-test control group design. After two months, on-line and off-line post-tests were administered for experimental and control groups. Analysis of gathered data from post-tests by using independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA indicated that semantic mapping instruction promotes reading comprehension of expository texts. Furthermore, it was found that certain types of semantic maps were more effective not only on reading comprehension performance but also on faster reaction time

Translating accounting documents, in general, and accounting terminology, in particular, is not a simple task, especially when the new terms keep created in pace with accounting developments. This study was carried out to find the most common and preferable ways to translate accounting terms from English into Persian. Also, an attempt was made to identify the frequently used patterns of word-formation in the rendition of technical terms in English and Persian. To this end, Mir dictionary was selected and the accounting terms were identified and categorized. Then, patterns of word-formation in English and Persian were identified. Also, a comparison was made between the English accounting terms and their Persian equivalents in order to determine the translation strategies used. The results of the study revealed that the most frequently employed patterns of word-formation for rendering the accounting terms in English and Persian are noun+noun and adj+noun and the most commonly used translation strategy is transposition.

The Khānegāh or the Shrine of Shaikh Safi al-Din in Ardabil, north-west of Iran, listed as the world heritage site ( by UNESCO) back in 2011 under the identification no. 1450. This ensemble is located at 38° 14´52/5" northern latitude, 48° 17´27/5˝ longitude, and altitude of 1365 above sea level in the center of city of Ardabil. The ensemble of Shaikh Safi al-Din is a well-developed prototype constituting social, religious, charitable, cultural, and educational functions. With range of versatile spaces, it has met the physical and spiritual needs of residents and pilgrims as such; it includes places to meet needs in fields of education and training, livelihood and healthcare. Relying on the diagram of De Morgan, it seems there are more than 67 spaces and courtyards attached to the Khānegāh, all of which have had a significant role in the training and educational philosophy of Safavid tradition. After decade of Safavid, most part of this magnificent structure damaged. F. Sarre, a German researcher, conducted one of the earliest studies on the architectural and archaeological history of Ardabil shrine in 1897. Some others such as Dibaj (1948), Ali Akbar Sar-faraz,(1974), Weaver (1974), Morton (1974) and Seyyed Mahmoud Mousawi (1995-6) have also carried out researches on this subject in recent decades. Archaeological works of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Islamic Republic also conducted a study under the leadership of Hassan Yousefi in 2007. These studies cleared so many unsolved historical questions about the general plan of the holy shrine.

An upward trend in the divorce rate in Iran in recent years has attracted officials, researchers and sociologists towards investigating causes and factors contributing such a social menace. Based on the statistics published by the Statistics Center of Iran (SCI), the divorce rate has gone up from 1.5 in 1000 cases in 1996 to 2.3 in 1999 and 3.1 in 2006. Results of previous studies show that factors such as age and educational differences between husband and wife, women’s employment, addiction and lack of moral principles have been the most important causes of the divorce. This study, however, focusing on the socio-economic status of the divorcee in Iran, picks up a different view from that of other studies conducted in this field. This article also tries to identify the relationships between the rules applicable to personal and employment variables among divorced people using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) techniques. The sample data used in this study include 6400 divorcee from the total divorced population (of 392075) in the county according to the 2006 census; those who have declared themselves without marriage partner due to divorce. The sample includes both male and female. Results show that the main characteristics of divorced women were their employment and level of education which were statistically significant in metropolitan regions where there is a rise in the employment and education level of women. On the contrary, low education, unemployment, and place of work have been significant factors among divorced men.

Expansion of urban area is a well-known phenomenon in developing countries with population growth and the migration from villages to cities being two major factors. Those factors reduce the influence of efforts to limit the cities boundaries. Thus, spatial planners always look for the models that simulate the expansion of urban land-uses, and enable them to prevent unbalanced expansions of cities, and guide the developments to the desired areas. Several models have been developed and evaluated for simulating urban land-use expansions. Although these models are numerous, most of them have focused to simulate urban land-use expansions in sub-urban areas. The regional models that cover wider area are equally important. In this study, a new agent-based model has been developed and implemented to simulate urban land-use expansion in Qazvin and Alborz regions of Qazvin province, which cover 1620 square kilometres. In this model, land-use developers have been treated as computer agents that move in the landscape explicitly, and assess the state of parcels for development. The environment of the model is raster. The agents are categorized based on two scenarios. In the first scenario, all agents are of similar category and in the second scenario the agents are divided into five categories with different objectives. Then, the results of the two scenarios are compared. Due to the spatial essence of the problem, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) were used to prepare the environment of agents’ movement and search, and to aggregate and analyze the results. To evaluate the model, data of year 2005 were used as the input and data of year 2010 were used for checking the results. By calibrating the parameters, the most desired configuration of the model was found in the second scenario, since the results were close to the reality as the Kappa index raised up to 78.17 percent. These results showed that the precision of the model to simulate land-use developments are of considerable quality. Thus, the model is able to detect the area that faced rapid urban expansions. Moreover, a comparison between the results of the two scenarios revealed that dividing the agents into categories with different aims and parameters will improve the outcome of the model. However, it is vitally important to determine the number of the agents in each category as well as their parameters precisely.

This study analyzes wind energy potentials of Zanjan province which located in northwest of Iran. Renewable energy plans are not fully environmentally safe and different renewable energy plans have different environmental impacts. Therefore, site selection is an important issue in the wind turbine installation and therefore, selecting an appropriate wind turbine site requires consideration of multiple alternative solution and evaluation criteria because of the system complexities. In this paper, using AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS techniques in conjunction with GIS, wind turbine potentials of the study area are evaluated. Criteria weights are obtained from pairwise comparison of identified criteria and after fuzzification of both criteria weights and criteria map layers using triangular fuzzy numbers, fuzzy TOPSIS technique is utilized to integrate and rank more suitable alternatives for the wind turbine installation. The results shows the ability of multi-criteria methods to evaluate suitable sites in geographic areas on one side and good potentials sites of Zanjan province to establish new energy plans on the other.

The significance of research article (RA) abstract as a key academic genre has recently motivated analysts to focus on this neglected area. Considering a summary function for abstracts, most genre researchers have adopted the conventionally proposed Introduction- Method- Results- Discussion (or Conclusion) (IMRD) model for analysis. However, the problems reported, especially for Results and Discussion sections, question the vitality of such accounts and prompt further scrutiny. Moreover, in spite of claims about disciplinary and cultural variations which can affect communication within and across discourse communities, sufficient contrastive studies which address the Iranian academics' need to communicate with and participate efficiently in the international discourse communities are scarce. Inspired by English for Specific/Academic Purposes tradition of genre analysis, this paper tries to fill these gaps presenting a comparative generic analysis of soft sciences abstracts to see what the characterizing features of the texts of Iranian scholars and their international peers are. The macro-structure, micro-structure, and some features of 100 experimental RA abstracts taken from a number of reputable Iranian (Persian) and international (English) journals were analyzed and explained drawing upon some existing rigorous models. The results revealed similarities in the presence of Introduction, Method, and concluding units, while there were also differences in the realization of units, Moves, and Steps. It is argued that the differences can point to the varying cultural norms and values of the two groups. Plus, considering the inadequacy of the four-way macro-model, an alternative three-way model was suggested, instead. Some implications of the study are discussed, too

Autonomy plays a crucial role in the enhancement of important learning qualities in the learners. In that line of thinking, this study was launched to discover how English language learners exposed to an autonomously managed versus teacher controlled conditions would respond to the learning determinants. Two classes of English language learners at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran were thus treated under the two learning conditions. On the closing days of the semester, they were administered a questionnaire constructed based on three action phases of learning, namely, forethought, performance/volitional control, and self reflection. The questionnaire statements were rated on the Likert scale. The data analysis revealed that autonomy to a large extent determines the learners' views of learning. The class where autonomy was practiced showed a great deal of motivational boost or what is reinterpreted as forethought. The other two categories of learning, namely, their performance and self reflection, were also distinctly better perceived by the autonomous learners. The results point out the significance of preparing learners through autonomy for the prospective independent and critical learning.