مطالب

The conflict between form and meaning is not a new phenomenon, especially in the translation of sacred texts . The Quran's fusion of style and content, as well as the unparalleled quality of its structure, have made its translation an arduous task for translators. The aim of this descriptive study was to investigate the adjustments to form and meaning in three translations of Az Zariyat surah (by Arberry, Pickthall, and Shakir). The English and Arabic versions of this surah were contrasted based on the semantic and structural adjustments applied by Nida and Taber in the translation of the Bible. The results revealed that more than three-quarters of the adjustments were concerned with semantic adjustments, with lexical expansions being the most common. Furthermore, structural adjustments and reductions were made to a lesser extent compared to other modifications. Translators mostly chose to stick to the source text, describing only ambiguous or abstract words in the source text and avoiding significant reductions. This behavior can be explained by the sensitivity of the Quranic verses and the translators' willingness to remain faithful to the original text . The adjustment framework introduced in the present study may offer promising avenues for tackling the dilemmas in the way of rendering the style and content of the Quranic verses.

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.

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.  

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.  

Economic punishments and sanctions have been used against the Islamic Revolution of Iran as well as some other countries. But their efficacy is usually in dispute among politicians and economists. Current research reports the results of a randomized experiment that seeks to identify the cause of the failure of broad political punishments and sanctions. Most sanctions and political punishments are ultimately employed as a psychological-economic device. They are meant to adversely affect the opinion of the people of a country, thereby putting pressure on the government to change course. We propose and empirically test the hypothesis that a reduction of welfare has a different effect when it is attributed to an out-group versus an in-group agent. We find that when economic failure is believed to have been brought about by an outsider, it actually solidifies the position of the leader. There is, moreover, no statistically significant difference in the reactions across sexes. The study draws on insights from the sociology of group identity to propose an answer to an old question in political economy. There is, moreover, no statistically significant difference in the reactions across sexes. The study draws on insights from the sociology of group identity to propose an answer to an old question in political economy.

The Islamic - Iranian model of progress is a document based on the Iranian-Islamic principles and indigenous values of society, which seeks to achieve the final stage of the new Iranian-Islamic civilization in the future. Looking at development in a systematic way and providing mechanisms for participation and active-voluntary competition of social groups in the general sphere of society, is the focus of this model; thus, the attitude of the ruling political elite is key. The aim of this article is to answer this question: how the political culture of the ruling elites can achieve political development in the Iranian-Islamic model of progress? The hypothesis of the article is that the political culture of the ruling group is the source of political action and behavior in society. Therefore, reforming and improving the attitude of the ruling political elites towards political development within the framework of political and jurisprudential capacities in the religious discourse and the Islamic Revolution, provides the ground for the realization of political development in Iran as a model.  

By examining the conditions of possibility and refusal, the present study aimed to answer the main question 'Under what conditions, spiritual civilisation in the contemporary world becomes possible?'. In the timeological assessment of the civilisational situation, referring to the loss of the "Positive Aspect of Modern Civilisation" and its continued bio-negative in the absence of alternative models limitations, it examines the "Modern Position of Civilisation" in terms of universal basis and valuable theoretical framework different from current literature in modern and non-modern research civilisation. By creating a distinct consciousness organisation, do not block the path of spirituality in civil and civilised life, without eliminating science and technology, overlap with the universal needs of the world. And also create different formulations of civilisational actions, structures and relations that make the way of facing the world and science and technology meaningful, distinct and religious. Therefore, systemic Ijtihad and "Divine Verses" present the new spiritual civilisation's conceptual and theoretical organisation. In this context and with a critical approach, it recreates the Islamic Revolution's software infrastructures and civilisation-making organisationware.

The soft war to weaken the intellectual and cultural circles ruling the society and the instability of the socio-political system has a broad scope against Iran, and the role of the soft war officers is essential. Accordingly, with the descriptive-analytical method and qualitative approach, the present study has a development-applied aim to formulate the soft war officers’ position in advancing the goals of the revolution’s second phase. The study's statistical population includes experts and thinkers in the Islamic Revolution, and the sample size has been done through purposeful sampling (judgmental). Based on interviews with the elites, there are 31 components to the soft warfare officers’ role in advancing the goals of the revolution’s second phase. The most common consensus is acceptance of the Vilayat and defence of it (2 scores), formulation of budget deficit strategies (1.98 scores), establishing a think tank to formulate an operational plan of the "We Can" discourse in society (1.97 scores), demanding from officials regarding anti-corruption (1.96 scores), demanding from officials regarding justice spread (1.95 scores), formulation of strategies for improving people's livelihoods, increasing the value of the national currency and improving the purchasing power of the people (1.94 scores).

The Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 by the leadership of Imam Khomeini, the resulting discourse and its influence on the internal political and social structure, affected the Islamic world, the Middle East, and the Lebanese Shias. The rise of Hezbollah in Lebanon was a manifestation of the Islamic Revolution discourse on the Shia community regarding meaning and identity. With a critical approach, the present study aimed to answer the question ‘How close and different has Hezbollah to the discourse of the Islamic Revolution from the discoursive view, structural and identity?’. The issue was analyzed using the theory of Laclau and Mouffe's discourse analysis and operationalized by explaining the positions of the movement, its leaders and the function of Hezbollah and comparing it with the political thought and works of Imam Khomeini as the Islamic Revolution ideologue. It shows that the Islamic Revolution has been very influential in shaping Hezbollah's Islamic and revolutionary identity. Meanwhile, the sign of Shia political Islam is the central sign of the Islamic Revolution discourse, and the (Islamic) resistance is the primary sign of the Hezbollah speech. The result indicated similarities in most floating characters, namely Shia political Islam, belief in Velayat-e Faqih, justice-seeking, nationalism, independence, issuance of Revolution and revolutionary identity, and resistance (struggle against Israel and anti-Zionism, and anti-arrogance). However, there are some identity distinctions regarding the emphasizing Hezbollah on the Shia, Arab and Lebanese identity and the broad definition of some signs and, consequently, the attribution of some meanings to them, which should be considered from the pathology of future relations between Iran and Hezbollah. This issue regarding common counter-discourses such as Salafi-Takfiri, Liberal Democracy and the Akhavani is essential.