مطالب

SUBJECT & OBJECTIVES: Educational experts have examined the importance of incorporating art and aesthetics into education. They argue that despite the well-documented benefits of art in achieving educational objectives across intellectual, emotional, religious, and ethical domains, its integration into educational settings remains incomplete.  There is a need for extensive research on the effectiveness of artistic and aesthetic approaches in various educational curricula, including medical and higher education. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of engagement with art and aesthetics on the intellectual, emotional, religious, and ethical education of artists’ lived experiences.METHOD & FINDING: The current research utilized a qualitative and phenomenological approach, focusing on diverse artists representing various art forms. The participants in this qualitative and phenomenological study were 19 artists from different fields of art in Kerman, a province of Iran, who were chosen via purposive sampling. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed with MAXQDA software (version 2021), using Colaizzi’s seven-step method. Artists’ experiences demonstrate that engagement with art and beauty triggers significant transformations in various aspects of life, influencing habits, preferences, modes of expression, and even appearance.  The study shows that education involving art and beauty encourages reflection, thinking, understanding, and hands-on learning. CONCLUSION: Special attention should be paid to the relationship between art and beauty and its influence on formal and informal education. Moreover, the principles of aesthetics should be taken into consideration in curriculum planning and teaching, and classroom methods.

Discourse markers play a crucial role in textual cohesion and coherence. By identifying patterns of discourse marker usage, valuable insights can be gained into the underlying communicative strategies employed by text producers. Qur’anic discourse markers are of particular significance for several reasons, making their translation a critical area of study. Accordingly, this article aims to examine the second most frequent, complex, ambiguous, and multifaceted Qur’anic discourse marker, fa, in a Persian and English Qur’anic parallel corpus from a pragmatic perspective. To this end, six ajzā (parts) of the Holy Qur’an were randomly selected as the research sample and served as the source text of the corpus. The Persian translation by Ali Maleki and the English translation by Tahereh Saffarzadeh were chosen as the target texts through purposive sampling. The bilingual parallel corpus was designed to facilitate the investigation of variations and trends across the two languages, thereby providing a more in-depth understanding of the translation process. The analysis of this corpus revealed that translators rendered this Qur’anic meta-discursive component figuratively, communicatively, and dynamically by employing four different types and 81 unique discourse markers to establish various logical relationships between discourse units. These discourse markers conveyed discursive functions of contrast, elaboration, inference, and temporality. This figurative and communicative system, adopted and adapted in the construction of discourse, is substantiated through different theoretical perspectives in discourse analysis and pragmatics. Beyond its contribution to discourse analysis by highlighting the complexities of language use and the interpretation of sacred texts across languages, the study’s findings offer valuable insights for translators in general, and for Qur’an translators in particular, by shedding light on the intricate yet subtle process of discourse construction and its crucial role in facilitating more effective communication.

Language learning is a multifaceted process influenced by various factors, including learners’ individual preferences and cognitive strengths. This mixed-methods study investigates how dominant intelligences influence the instructional preferences and perceptions of 30 male Turkish-speaking EFL learners, aged 13-17, using a structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The research explores the relationship between learners’ intelligences and specific teaching approaches, with data analyzed through both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants were categorized into two groups based on their dominant intelligences: Group A (interpersonal and intrapersonal) and Group B (linguistic and visual/spatial). Analysis of the data reveals that learners gravitate towards learning styles that align with their dominant intelligences, with Group A favoring interactive and self-directed approaches, while Group B leans towards visual and experiential methods. Despite a limited awareness of MI theory, the participants express satisfaction with MI-based instruction, viewing it as more engaging and effective compared to traditional methods. This study underscores the significance of incorporating learner preferences into language instruction and highlights the potential of MI-based approaches to enhance learner engagement and motivation.

The energy sector is a vital pillar of economic development of any country. The government and the private sector are exploring efficient energy sources, and for this purpose, various governments have specified carbon-related targets considering the existing realities. In such circumstances, manufacturing companies are under pressure to improve their energy performance. In these circumstances, reducing energy loss from production systems is very important. The aim of the present study is to identify the factors affecting energy loss in the manufacturing industry and to provide a suitable model for energy efficiency and the development of renewable energies in the manufacturing sector. The research method is mixed. The study sample consisted of 148 experts in manufacturing industries affiliated with the Electronic Industries Company in Shiraz. Data analysis was performed using pls software. The results show that reforming the infrastructure related to renewable energies, paying the initial costs of technology adoption, supporting policies, technological innovations, and inter-sectoral cooperation in technology can be solutions for the development of renewable energies in the manufacturing sector.