Lived Experience

From the view point of the classical structural semiotics, the "empirical experience" is considered as a pre-semiotic alien to any signification of the world, and it's based from there, by nature, below the threshold of the analyzable. While structuralist semioticism has given "narrative discourse", that is, what conveys the empirical life to "narrate", and while giving it a "textual" effect, this makes it susceptible to be the subject of the analysis of a semiotician, which justifies the great slogan of Greimas "out of the text point of salvation". On the contrary, we have the opinion that these are two processes of meaning production that the one does not necessarily exclude the other. As a result, we have two sets of views on the world that each have a specific design regime. By giving examples of a variety of domains, and more particularly of literature, the purpose of this series is to demonstrate that the "empirical experience", as well as the "discourse of the narration "both relate to the rejection and semiotic analysis.

In line with the technological advancement during the last few decades, virtual learning has been addressed more widely, which affected English language teaching and learning as well. Since Covid 19 pandemic, which has resulted in the long-lasting closure of educational settings worldwide, virtual learning as the alternative of traditional education has been developed unprecedentedly. An option for virtual learning specifically for language teaching is teaching on the phone which has been mostly neglected in educational research. The aim of this study was to analyse the lived experience of 16 adult English language learners who experienced learning English through one-to-one, audio call sessions. Due to the pandemic, semi-structured interviews were conducted on the phone, which were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed with a phenomenological approach. Many times revisions of the statements driven from the transcriptions resulted in six themes namely: a) learning on-the-phone as a new, satisfying experience, b) advantages, and c) disadvantages of one-to-one audio sessions, d) the participants’ preferences, e) the requisites of on-the-phone-learning, and f) the expectations of on-the-phone teacher, According to the result of this study, some educational recommendations for improving on-the-phone teaching are: covering four language skills through developing individualised lesson plans based on each learner’s needs and English language proficiency level; holding group video sessions along with one-to-one audio sessions; and using the facilities of messengers like WhatsApp to send audio, video and textual files to learners based on their needs and learning objectives.

   The histories of architectural design and town planning are replete with references to creating a better quality of human life. One of the approaches to enhancing human existence is Vāstu Vidyā , the knowledge of design and building from the ancient Vedic tradition. More recently, Vāstu Vidyā has been repurposed to include not only architectural practice and construction but also considered in light of the consciousness of the designer and builder and the need for a more ‘enlightened’ approach to design. Such a consideration is called Maharishi Vedic Architecture (MVA). Some of the features of MVA include a concern for orientation of the building to cardinal east, the position and proportion of rooms within the dwelling, and considerations of slope and relation to the early morning sun. Such features are said to enhance the creativity, health, and happiness of occupants.  The purpose of the present study is to explore the experiences of individuals who reside in homes designed according to the principles of MVA. Triangulated quantitative and qualitative results from an international mixed-methods survey of 158 individuals in 14 countries indicate this approach to architectural design contributes to individual and family quality of life, specifically as it has been operationalized to mean changes in well-being, health, personal development, and success. On a quality-of-life scale, the study found a statistically significant difference between those living in MVA for more than three years compared to those living in MVA for less than three years ( F = 1.89, p = .02), however no difference was observed between experiences for people living in different locations.  

The purpose of this research is to know the lived experience of Ahvaz city teachers in teaching bilingual students and it was done by phenomenological method. The research community includes all primary school teachers in Ahvaz. Sampling was done in a purposeful way and all the samples were chosen voluntarily from among the teachers who dealt with bilingual students. The sample size depended on data saturation, which finally included 21 people. The data collection method is a semi-structured interview. After collecting the data, it was coded and analyzed. Analyzes have been done using thematic analysis. After analyzing the experiences of participating teachers, the findings include 6 main themes and 13 sub-themes. The main themes are: non-native language, inconsistency between the language of the teacher and the learner, learner's disability and teacher's fatigue, love to teaching, communication, local language, methods. The result of the research shows that establishing a friendly relationship with children, involving students and their parents in their children's educational affairs, using educational aids suitable for the local and environmental conditions of bilingual students are more effective in their education. Also, teachers of bilingual schools should participate in classes and workshops that provide the correct methods of interaction with bilingual students and relative familiarity with their language and culture.

Infidelity is an important matter in marital relationships and it has undesired and deleterious outcomes for the family. This study aimed to investigate the lived experience of women in response to their husband’s infidelity. This study employed a qualitative descriptive-phenomenological method to examine women’s responses to their husband’s infidelity in marital life. Nine female participants were recruited using purposive sampling. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and the data collection process continued until theoretical saturation. The data analysis showed 13 contributing themes related to women’s lived experience in response to the husband’s infidelity: (1) self-harm, (2) deciding to end the relationship, (3) threatening the husband to engage in mutual infidelity, (4) the disruption of normal life, (5) loss of belief in being unique, (6) feeling inferior and humiliated, (7) skepticism about religious beliefs and justice in the world, (8) losing self-confidence, (9) losing contact with the outside world, (10) self-blame, (11) distrust in the world, (12) losing the meaning of life, and (13) aggression and quarreling. The results showed that the women who experienced the infidelity of their spouse showed different reactions based on internal experiences and external reactions. Therefore, considering the effect of marital infidelity on personal and interpersonal relationships, it is necessary to know and understand these reactions.

The present study examines the teachers' experience of teaching "environmental protection" to elementary school students. Qualitative research has been done using the phenomenological method. The research population includes all teachers working in primary schools in Ahvaz. Sampling was purposeful, and after semi-structured interviews with 30 teachers, theoretical data saturation was obtained. The condition for selecting teachers was their desire to participate in research and interest in environmental topics. Interview data were analyzed using the Van Manen method to explore teachers' experience of environmental protection education. Findings include five main themes: ethics education in environmental protection, elements of environmental protection education, knowledge in environmental protection, attitude in environmental protection, and skills in environmental protection, and 15 sub-themes. According to teachers' experience, promoting and increasing students' sense of responsibility towards the environment and teaching environmental ethics is essential. It is also necessary to pay attention to human interaction and the two-way relationship with the environment and teach students that there is a kind of trade between us and nature, and if humans do not fulfill their obligations to nature, they face dangerous and unsolvable consequences. The teachers believed that, to increase students' understanding of how to preserve the environment, its harmful factors, and the consequences of polluting it, some lessons should mention environmental issues and problems and their solutions. Also, teaching aids should be prepared and used for environmental protection education. Improving students' attitudes toward the environment can motivate them to react to right and wrong environmental behaviors, make them aware of the value of nature, and ultimately lead to environmental protection.

Migration has become an international challenge that has affected all social institutions, especially the educational system, in terms of changing the composition of the cultural context of students. Therefore, intercultural communication is the key to creating social harmony. The aim of research was to analyze intercultural interactions from the perspective of primary school students and their teachers in Ardakan City, using grounded theory method. The research field includes teachers and pupils of different ethnic groups in Ardakan City, and purposeful sampling methods (semi-structured interview & free group interview) for data collection and open, central, and selective coding methods for data analysis were used, respectively. The findings of the research point to three similarities between the views of teachers and students and two basic differences: Effectiveness of intercultural interactions makes students more prepared to accept and choose a transformational strategy and live in a multicultural society under the influence of age characteristics. In contrast, teachers' efforts to ignore and downplay cultural differences are based on emphasizing the national and systemic curriculum and devoting more time. The results of the research indicate that intercultural interactions in immigrant-accepting areas should be considered by policymakers and educational planners in order to reduce tensions and lead to intercultural synergy