مطالب

The term “free zone” refers to designated areas in which companies are taxed very lightly and it enhances global market presence by attracting new business and foreign investments. For over a century, governments around the world have sought to boost and exploit the economic power of their particular regions and zones by designating them as “special” or “free” economic zones. The trend of establishing such zones or areas have gained momentum in the last four or five decades with countries accounting for small businesses and millions of direct or indirect jobs. The Middle East, especially the countries in the Persian Gulf, for some and other reasons, have particularly embarked on such a trend. The current paper tries to highlight benefits and challenges faced by free trade zones in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, taking into account recent global financial crises.

Objective : One of the signs of people's mental health is the ability to adapt to different life conditions. This study aims to explore how parent-child interaction, sense of security, entitlement schema and adjustment are related, and how resilience mediates these relationships. Methods : The participants are 250 female high school students from Rudsar city, who were selected by convenience sampling from 5 schools in the academic year 2023-2022. The data were collected online using the following instruments: the Parent-Child Relationship Assessment Questionnaire (PCRS), the Sense of Security in Family System Questionnaire (SIFS), the Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ), the California Social Adjustment Questionnaire (CSAQ) and the Resilience Scale (SQRS). The data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation coefficient test and structural equation modeling with LISREL-8.8 and SPSS-22 software. Results : The results showed that the data has a good fit with the proposed research model. The results showed that parent-child interaction, sense of security and entitlement schema have a direct and significant impact on the adjustment of female students. Moreover, there was an indirect and significant impact of parent-child interaction, sense of security and entitlement schema on the adjustment of students through the mediating role of resilience (p > 0.05). Conclusion : The results suggest that the type of parent-child interaction, sense of security and the schemas created can influence the individual’s adjustment with the environment, and resilience plays a mediating role in this process. Therefore, paying attention to these variables is recommended to parents, counselors, psychologist and experts in the field of education.

  Subjective : Anxiety is a negative emotional state caused by confronting unfavorable and unmanageable situations. Starting university and facing a new setting often triggers anxiety in students, particularly those who anticipate a demanding work environment. Methods : The study is a descriptive-analytical research conducted in 2023 on the students of Balkh University Faculty of Medicine. A sample size of 120 students was chosen using the basic random sampling approach. Data was collected using Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied for data analysis using SPSS 27. Out of 120 participants, 52 were aged 20-25, 38 were aged 25-30, and 30 were aged 30-35. Out of the respondents, 62 resided in dormitories and the remaining 58 lived in individual residences.  Results : Out of 120 students, 56 had normal anxiety levels, 35 had mild anxiety, 12 had moderate anxiety, 8 had severe anxiety, and 9 had extremely severe anxiety. Conclusion : Therefore, psychologists in student counseling centers should pay attention to reducing the level of anxiety in students and study the reasons for its occurrence.

Objective: Recent literature emphasizing the importance of income distribution for pollution. The GINI index is the most common indicator for measuring income inequality in previous studies. The new literature has focused on relative redistribution, which is quantified by the GINI coefficientis defined as the difference between the GINI based on market income and GINI based on disposable income. Thus, this study relies on the redistributive effect of taxes and transfers and its impact on carbon dioxide emissions.Methods: The study is conducted using aggregated data from oil-exporting countries including Canada, the United States, the UK, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, and China between 2010 and 2020 by using a simultaneous equations system consisting of two equations so that economic growth and pollution emission are as endogenous variables. Elative redistribution, good governance, oil income, trade openness, and CO2 emission are the exogenous variables. Results: Based on model estimates, income inequality, good governance, and oil income have a positive and significant impact on economic growth over the years studied, while inequalities in human development and population growth rates have a negative impact. Economic growth and trade openness also have a negative and significant impact on the spread of pollutionConclusion: Taxes and transfer payments, as redistribution tools can stimulate economic growth. Relative redistribution as a more equitable way can lead to increased economic growth and economic growth reduces carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, providing an appropriate standard of income inequality can help to better understand and formulate effective policies for income equality.

Objective: The stock market and the foreign exchange rate market have been sensitive segments of the financial market. These two markets are rapidly affected by fluctuations and business cycles in the economy and quickly reflect the economic change. At the same time, turmoil in one or both markets raises concerns among market policymakers. We also address the question of whether the national currency can be strengthened through the stock market.Methods: This study examines the stock market price on the value of the national currency of Iran using stock-oriented models and the Markov switching method in the period 1995 to 2021. In this study, the non-linear Markov switching method was used to estimate the model, and the LR- test method was used to check the linearity or non-linearity of the models. Akaike's test has also been used to determine the number of Markov switching regimes.Results: The research results show that for every one percent increase in stock prices, the exchange rate has decreased by 0.21 percent. Therefore, the results indicate the approval of stock-oriented models in the Iranian economy. In other words, the capital market is one of the determinants of the exchange rate.Conclusions: According to this model, lower stock prices reduce the wealth of domestic investors, which leads to lower demand for money with lower interest rates. Lower interest rates cause capital outflows to overseas markets, assuming other conditions remain stable, causing the domestic currency to depreciate and the exchange rate to rise.

Objective Using a quantitative approach and a systematic methodology, advanced structural equation modelling techniques were applied to test the research hypotheses. In a possible sample of 98 experts and activists of entrepreneurship in Sistan and Baluchistan province, the observations were collected using a standard 32-items tool based on Likert scale. After screening the raw data, covariance-based confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the validity, reliability and fittingness of the research model, and the hypotheses were tested in the form of a structural model. The results of convergent and divergent validity tests showed that the two indicators of the research model has validity. Also, the reliability tests indicated the generalizability of the research results at 85%. Also, all the research hypotheses were confirmed.Objective Using a quantitative approach and a systematic methodology, advanced structural equation modelling techniques were applied to test the research hypotheses. In a possible sample of 98 experts and activists of entrepreneurship in Sistan and Baluchistan province, the observations were collected using a standard 32-items tool based on Likert scale.

Teacher assessment identity (TAI) is an integral element of quality assessment practice and professionalism, which has been widely overlooked in teacher education research. To bridge this gap, the present study explored the dynamism of TAI through an explicit training course. To do so, 22 novice and experienced Iranian EFL teachers completed a questionnaire on TAI before and after the course. Then both novice and experienced teachers attended a 16-hour treatment in which various assessment dimensions were taught. The participants also completed tasks reflecting TAI components. Moreover, five novice and five experienced EFL teachers were interviewed. The results of the independent samples t-test indicated that novice and experienced Iranian EFL teachers did not significantly differ regarding their assessment identity before and after the treatment despite improvements in their mean scores. However, the results of paired samples t-test revealed that the formal intervention has developed the TAI of both novice and experienced groups. This was substantiated by qualitative findings which demonstrated that, owing to the training, novice teachers manifested TAI in 16 domains while experienced teachers showed their identity as assessors in five domains. The study offers promising implications for EFL teachers and trainers, who can realize the dynamism of TAI and its core dimensions in light of instruction.

As a formative assessment procedure, self-assessment aims to converge learners’ and teachers’ views in assessment. Hence, reducing the perceptual mismatches between the learners’ and the teachers’ assessment would positively affect the learning process. For this aim, the present study investigated to what extent the learners’ assessment of their writing before and after being provided with a list of rating criteria, agrees that of their teachers. Therefore, a body of 6 EFL writing teachers and 27 EFL learners participated in this study. The learners were asked to rate their writing before and after being provided with rating criteria developed by the researchers. The teachers also rated the students’ writings following the same criteria. The obtained results showed a significant difference between the students' scores on the first and second assessment occasions. The teachers’ and the students’ assessment on the second time also were found to significantly correlate. Moreover, the analysis of the students’ comments showed that while they rated their writing on some limited aspects of writing in the first rating occasion, they assessed their essays using more components in the second assessment phase. Overall, the findings revealed that providing the learners with rating criteria would not only reduce the perceptual mistaches between the students’ and the teachers’ assessment but through involving the students’ voices in their assessment would promote democratic classroom assessment. Pedagogical implications of the study are discussed.

The present research was targeted toward examining the relationship between cultural intelligence (CQ), emo-sensory intelligence (ESQ), language learning strategies (LLS), and students’ language achievement (LA). A number of 300 EFL Iraqi students studying at the English Language Department of AL-Qadisiyah University, Iraq was selected through convenience sampling. The participants filled out the cultural intelligence questionnaire, emo-sensory intelligence scale, and the language learning strategy inventory. Students’ final scores were used as a means through which their language achievement could be gauged. The data were analyzed using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. The findings indicated a significant relationship between ESQ, CQ, learning strategies, and students’ language achievement. In addition, it was found that CQ and language learners’ strategy could directly predict the language achievement of Iraqi EFL learners. ESQ, could only predict language learners’ achievement through the mediation of language learning strategies.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of a gamification-enhanced language classroom within the context of Moodle in promoting extrinsic and intrinsic motivational attributes of language learners. A total of 220 language learners from different universities in Iran were recruited as the participants and randomly assigned to the gamification-enhanced (n= 114) and control groups (n= 106). Over the eight weeks of treatment, the experimental group members were taught using various gamified tasks and activities through the gamified Moodle LMS. A motivational orientation scale was administered before and after the intervention. The results of ANCOVAs demonstrated a significant boost in the extrinsic motivation of language learners, including external, introjected, and identified regulation. Furthermore, the study confirmed that the integration of gamification has resulted in a higher level of intrinsic motivation for the participants in the areas of knowledge, accomplishment, and stimulation. The relevant pedagogical implications and directions for future studies are discussed.