مطالب

This study aimed at identifying the most frequent test-taking strategies used by successful Iranian male and female university entrance exam EFL applicants. To this end, 150 English major male and female freshman students who got admission to three reputable state universities of Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tehran were selected conveniently and purposively. The model used in this study was developed by Barati (2005) consisting of planning, monitoring, evaluation, and test-wiseness strategies. After selecting the participants, the modified questionnaire developed based on Barati’s test-taking strategy taxonomy was distributed among the participants. Based on the analysis of results, it was revealed that the EFL learners made frequent use of planning, monitoring, evaluation, and test-wiseness strategies, but only the level of use of planning and monitoring strategies reached statistical significance. Moreover, male and female EFL learners were only significantly different in their use of evaluation strategies, but in terms of using planning, monitoring, and test-wiseness strategies, males and females were not significantly different from one another. The findings of the study bear useful implications for EFL learners, teachers, materials designers, and test constructors.

The present study was aimed at investigating intermediate Iranian EFL learners’ feedback preferences on their L2 writing and examining the possible differences between learners with entity and incremental language mindsets with respect to their feedback preferences. To this end, 150 EFL learners were recruited from several language institutes in Isfahan, Iran, and their language proficiency level was measured through a proficiency test. The learners were then given the Language Mindsets Questionnaire and the Feedback Preferences Scale to fill out. Frequency counts, mean scores, and chi-square for independence were employed to analyze the collected data. The results of the study indicated that teacher-student conferencing, self-correction, peer correction, and correction using prompts were the types of feedback that the learners preferred to receive, and the difference between entity and incremental mindset holders reached statistical significance for teacher correction with comments, self-correction, and teacher-student conferencing. Regarding the strategies the learners utilized to handle feedback, the two groups of learners were significantly different just in terms of asking for teacher explanation. Finally, thinking prompts received priority in the following order, L1/L2, word, and rule, while goal and fit were not favored by the learners; thinking prompt did not turn out to cause significantly different preferences in the EFL learners with entity or incremental mindsets. The significance of the obtained results are discussed and the implications of the study are then proffered

The present study's main objective is to assess the relationship between corporate reputation and different types of earnings management (accrual-based, real, and reductive earnings management). In other words, this paper attempts to figure out whether corporate reputation can contribute to the amount of accrual-based, real, and reductive earnings management or not. This paper's method is descriptive-correlational based on published information from listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2012-2018 with a selected sample of 187 firms (1309 observations). The method applied for hypothesis testing is linear regression using panel data. The obtained results from hypothesis testing show that corporate reputation has a negative and significant relationship with accrual-based, real, and reductive earnings management, which means highly-reputed firms, are less likely to embark on different earnings management types. Since this paper analyzes the emergent financial markets, like Iran, with extremely competitive audit markets to determine the effect of corporate reputation on different types of earnings management of listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange, it can provide useful information in this field.

The present study aims to identify the components of professional ethics in the field of curriculum planning. Factors affecting professional ethics in the curriculum planners are investigated from the viewpoints of professors in the field of educational sciences so that the results can be used as the executive suggestions for the decision-makers in this regard. This study is an applied research in terms of aim, quantitative in terms of the data type, and a descriptive survey research in terms of the method. The statistical population of the study included all male and female faculty members in the field of educational sciences at Azad Universities of Tehran (including the Science and Research Branch of Tehran, Northern Tehran, Southern Tehran, and Islam Shahr Branches) (n=150). The sampling method included the randomized cluster sampling method in which 108 individuals were selected using the Morgan Table. The data collection method included a library and field design using a researcher-made questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha was applied to measure the reliability of the questionnaire; several experts were consulted to determine the validity of the questionnaire and face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed. The data were analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that the share of the first five factors (i.e., commitment and accountability, affiliation and human relations, evolution and human traits, expertise and knowledge-based orientation, and interest in modification and development) is more significant in the variance of all variables compared to the share of other components. The contribution of these five identified factors was determined using the Friedman test as 3.16 (evolution and human traits), 3 (interest in modification and development), 2.97 (expertise and knowledge-based orientation), 2.94 (affiliation and human relations), and 2.78 (commitment and accountability), respectively.