مطالب

The present study is an attempt to find if there is a relationship between silent reading speed and reading comprehension score in undergraduate students a pre-requisite study before starting a research involving factors related to metacognition and the affective domain. The sample of the study consists of twenty-four undergraduate students pursuing various foreign languages such as French, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, and German. To assess the reading comprehension of the students, two passages with multiple choice questions were selected from a book designed to check and improve reading speed and reading comprehension. The students worked in pairs, keeping a record of time taken to read for their partner. The word count of the passage was divided by the student’s speed of reading to analyze the reading speed simultaneously the students answered the multiple choice questions given after the passage which was used to assess the comprehension level. The findings of the t-test revealed that there is a significant difference between the reading speed and reading comprehension scores and the Pearson’s correlation shows that there is a positive and moderate relationship between the two variables. Secondly, it revealed that there is a significant difference between male and female students with respect to their reading comprehension scores and reading speed. In both cases the female students performed better in comparison to the male students. Finally, it reveals that there is a significant difference between the students pursuing different languages at their undergraduate level with respect to their reading comprehension and reading speed. The results indicated that the students from Japan had the highest scores, followed by those from Germany, France, Arabic, Spanish, and Russian.

The objectives of the present ethnography were three-fold: exploring the MA TEFL students' expectations of the Advanced Writing course taken as part of their coursework in the MA program, unearthing the actual classroom practices implemented, and eliciting any possible suggestions for its improvement. To this aim, stimulated recall and ethnographically-oriented qualitative research were used to interview nine MA students at IAU, Isfahan Branch and unravel their perspectives concerning the writing course they had passed. Non-participant observation was also used to triangulate the data and verify the students' responses regarding the expectations/problems of the course and the classroom practices besides cyclical data analysis to find the recurring patterns and themes in the data. Results showed the most serious problems were lack of enough writing practice during the course, limited class hours, and lack of feedback on students' writings. The prevalent classroom practices, on the other hand, were covering the APA writing style, teaching how to write the different sections of a research report, and working on essay writing during the first few sessions of the course. Finally, the top suggestions made by the students were adding practical writing activities to the course, having more writing courses, taking advantage of group work for students to monitor each other's work and provide peer feedback, and offering the course right before students take their thesis rather than in the first semester of the MA program. These findings can heighten the educator's awareness and contribute to a better understanding of students' needs/expectations regarding academic writing. Overall, by addressing the gap in understanding advanced EFL learners' expectations, this study can have practical implications that directly impact the teaching of writing. It can guide curriculum development, inform instructional approaches, enhance learner motivation and engagement, promote learner autonomy, and improve instructional materials, ultimately leading to more effective writing instruction and improved outcomes for advanced EFL learners.

Women entrepreneurs use virtual social networks in their professional relationships. These relationships with higher quality leads to better performance in their businesses. The present study aimed to analyze the effects of virtual social networks on improving rural women’s entrepreneurship. The statistical population of the study included all members of the Agricultural Development Specialized Holding Companies in Fars province in Iran. The study was conducted using survey and stratified random sampling methods with 269 individuals participated via questionnaires. The results indicated that virtual social networks had a favorable effect on rural women’s businesses. There was a significant difference between women in the different studied counties regarding the effects of virtual social networks on business. In addition, a significant difference was observed between women in various groups regarding the effect of virtual social networks on business. In addition, greater effect of virtual social networks on women’s businesses led to higher business resilience among the women entrepreneur and their businesses, which resulted in increasing the women’s information about business activities and their entrepreneurial activities in their businesses. Further, more use of social networks by the women led to more use of marketing methods and strategies. Therefore, it is suggested that Agricultural Development Specialized Holding Companies use the functions of virtual social networks in order to information transfer, networking and online training for members when necessary. Also provide the necessary training in the application of appropriate marketing methods and strategies to rural women entrepreneurs using these networks.

Knowledge, as one of the pillars of success, is an essential factor for innovation, production and economic growth. Knowledge management is a new strategy that organizations, would need that so as to increase their performance and success. In case companies don’t use knowledge management system correctly and at proper time, they would be either faced with failure or obliged to leave the arena of contest. Agricultural knowledge-based companies have a key role for the regeneration of the agriculture and increase of the employment of agricultural graduates in this field. As presently the challenge of managers is to provide a suitable environment for the growth of the human mind in knowledge-oriented companies that embrace a cutting-edge approach to knowledge management, wherein knowledge is tailored to fit the specific context, are poised for success. By fostering effective learning, this approach leads to enhanced performance and improved efficiency. In this study, many studies were reviewed and generations of knowledge management were analyzed with a paradigmatic approach. Almost 100 related books and articles were reviewed through archival research. The findings showed that knowledge-based companies should go from the first generation of knowledge management to the use of the fourth generation; that way the internet use, social networks, analytical tools, intelligent agents, etc., might have a great participation with one another, which leads to their stay in the contest scene, and their faster achievement of future-oriented and dynamic results. Therefore, it is suggested that agricultural knowledge-based companies have focus on transformational management and its characteristics.

Purpose: The studying public policy can play an important role in improving the country's study situation. As a result, the present research was conducted with the aim of pathology of studying public policy of students in Tehran province from the teachers' perspective. Methodology: The present study was applied in terms of purpose and survey in terms of implementation method. The research population had two parts, which in the first part was 30 cultural experts of education in the cities of Tehran province in the 2018-19 academic years, which number of 15 people of them were selected as a sample with using the targeted sampling method. The research population in the second part was 26889 teachers of education in the cities of Tehran province in the 2018-19 academic years, which based on Cochran's formula number of 379 of them were selected as a sample by stratified random sampling method, respecting the size of the population in each region. The cultural experts declared their level of agreement with each of the items of the initial researcher-made questionnaire (23 items in the two components of the studying social policy and studying general policy) during two Delphi rounds, the teachers also declared their agreement with each of the items of the modified researcher-made questionnaire (8 items in two components). The data were analyzed by percentage of agreement and one-sample t-test in SPSS software. Findings: The findings of the first part of the research, i.e. cultural experts showed that after two Delphi rounds, among the 10 items related to the studying social policy the percentage of agreement for 5 items was higher than 50 percent and among the 13 items related to the studying general policy the percentage of agreement for 3 items was higher 50 percent. Also, the findings of the second part of the research, i.e. teachers showed that the percentage of high and very high importance of 7 items out of the final 8 items of the modified questionnaire was calculated above 70%. In addition, in both components of studying social policy and studying general policy the population average significantly was higher than the hypothetical average (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the present study have many practical implications for public policy officials, managers and planners. Based on the results of this study, they can take an effective step towards improving and promoting the studying public policy of students.