مطالب

One of the main concerns in educational settings has been the degree of the learners’ involvement in learning and the extent to which they actively participate in classroom talks and interactions. The present study is an emic-based ethnographic study aimed at providing insights about patterns of talk and different degrees of interaction in EFL university classes with a specific focus on teacher’s role. To this end, three different classes were observed for twelve consecutive sessions. Students were both male and female senior EFL students at Najafabad Azad University. The age of the participants ranged between 22 and 28. These classes were taught by the same instructor so that the researcher was directly involved in observing participants’ interactions in the targeted classrooms and in the data collection procedures. The participants’ oral behavior was carefully observed and recorded. To guarantee higher validity, some participants were also interviewed. The results of data analysis revealed that male and female students showed different degrees of contribution to classroom interactions. However, the students’ degree of involvement in the classroom discussions were linked to the related schemata, type of activity, and learners’ interest in the conversation topic rather than interactants’ gender. In addition, most of the involvements were teacher-initiated and directed. Notably, the findings can be of considerable value to teachers’ professional development and can highlight the importance and the value of using specific strategies that can be introduced and employed by the teacher to increase the degree of the students’ involvement in classroom interactions as well as motivate them to take responsibility of their own learning.

Thematic development refers to the way theme and rheme in the clause are developed. The theory of rhetorical structure can be defined as the strategies that follow specific ways to make writing more persuasive. The present study aimed to examine how Iraqi writers maintain cohesion in the text by analyzing the patterns of thematic progression in various rhetorical sections in an online Iraqi newspaper, Azzaman (Zaman). To carry out the study, the news articles were collected from January 2013 to June 2013. Actually, 2 opinion articles which focused on the most important political issues were taken each month, collected and analyzed. The analysis focused on the thematic progression and rhetorical structures. The results revealed that thematic progression patterns were used in every rhetorical section of the newspaper. The findings of the study showed the occurrence of thematic progression with different rhetorical patterns in writing English opinion articles and the influence of culture on the rhetorical structure.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an output oriented methodology for calculating productivity growth by using Malmquist productivity index (MPI) and two different data envelopment analysis (DEA) views (optimistic and pessimistic) simultaneously, and apply it to five Iranian Commercial Banks over the four time period (2009-2013). Consequently, we have proposed a new approach called the double frontiers two-stage DEA or DFTDEA for simultaneous measurement of the MPI from both different DEA views. Furthermore, this paper has used two-stage DEA with reference to the variable return to scale technology (VRS) and applied a new viewpoint to measure the overall efficiency of the process. JEL Classification: E01, E17, E37

In the Value Added Tax (VAT) system some goods and services, such as banking services, are exempted from taxes. Based on theoretical foundations, exempt treatment leads to several distortions and inefficiencies in the economy. In order to understand the importance of exemption on macroeconomic fluctuations as well as the fundamental role of financial intermediaries in economy shocks, this study using a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model provides an empirical analysis for policy simulations with consideration of VAT on financial services under different scenarios. Accordingly, the values of model parameters was estimated via calibration method and also the model accuracy were evaluated by Brooks & Gelman test and impulse-response functions. Simulation results of the policy exercise suggest that shifting from exemption to full taxation, reduces the cost of bank, and increases the bank free resources leading to higher investment and output through more bank loans.

Joint-stock cooperative company is not recognized in Commercial Code of Iran and the amendment bill of the Commercial Code adopted in 1968. This business entity has a unique description because of both being cooperative and having joint stock. It is a joint-stock company that is chartered based on Commercial Code of Iran, amendment bill of the Commercial Code adopted in 1968, and Principle 44 of the Constitution. Joint-stock cooperative Qarzol-Hasaneh Bank is not involved with commercial activity; the maximum share of each real shareholder is equal to half of company’s capital at the time of establishment and during company’s function. Ministry of Cooperatives and the Central Bank monitor activities of joint-stock cooperative companies. Joint-stock cooperative bank like joint-stock cooperative company should be subjected to amended bill of the Commercial Code adopted in 1968, enforcement Act of general policies of Principle 44 of the Constitution. Formation of joint-stock cooperative bank is not possible in practice unless violating the cooperatives regulations and doing activities that are out of jurisdiction of cooperative companies. It should be noted that cooperative banks are considered as nongovernmental banks, therefore they must obey regulations expressed in rules and regulations of non-governmental banks.

Some empirical and theoretical studies have emphasized on fixed exchange rate regime in controlling time inconsistency, while others consider the role of target zone regime as an important factor. Thus there is no general consensus to decide which exchange rate regime may bring about less time-inconsistency. The main purpose of this study is to investigate policy time-inconsistency in exchange rate regimes of Iran (controlled exchange regime between 1991-2001 and managed Floating between 2002-2012). For this purpose, a fuzzy prediction system is used which includes three steps for estimating time-inconsistency. In the first step, fuzzy C-Means is used to calculate membership functions. Then Takagi Sugeno Model (TSM) is applied to identify the model structure, and finally Recursive Least Squares (RLS) is conducted to estimate the amount of time-inconsistency. The results show that the amount of policy time inconsistency under managed Floating exchange rate regime is less than controlled exchange rate regime. Thus it is suggested to policy makers to continue managed Floating exchange rate regime, so that the fluctuations of output decreases. At the same time, since managed Floating exchange rate regime imposes more price fluctuation on economy it is necessary for the policy makers to pay enough attention to the issue.

Letter of Credit is an international payment instrument whereby the issuing bank undertakes to pay the beneficiary, against presentation of certain stipulated documents, according to the conditions of the Letter of Credit. Discounting of LC for the short-term financing of the seller, due to the independent and irrevocable undertaking of the bank to make payment, is prevalent. Beneficiary gets the amount of the credit immediately (after discount rate deduction) in consideration of the assignment of the credit in discounting practice. Now, the main question is: how will the assignment of rights and proceeds under the Letter of Credit be executable and what will be its consequences? Hence, by surveying different methods of assignment of rights in accordance with LC, we study discounting Acceptance and Deferred Payment LCs as two kinds of deferred LCs. In discounting practices of LCs, if a fraud being discovered after the discounting transaction but before the payment due date, the discounting bank would be able to recover payment from issuing bank or confirming bank. According to our analysis, the most promising way for the assignment of rights and reducing the risk of discounting for the discounting bank is "Negotiation" of LC. Acceptance LC makes a favorable opportunity for discounting purposes because it includes bill of exchange as a negotiable instrument, and there is an organized secondary market for Acceptances.