Linguistics

In this study, we attempt to bring to light various organisational and implementational clashes relevant to the conceptualisation of language policies at national level, and the planning of local practices with regard to degree programmes, language journals and conferences in Iranian higher education. We also prove that in its current status, the ELT syllabus in Iran, both at national and local levels, is a mixture of English Language Teaching, Linguistics, and Applied Linguistics (a hotchpotch), which suffers from ‘regulatory barriers’. The paper asks for an in-depth language policy and planning (LPP) that would clarify the blurred boundaries between ELT, Applied Linguistics, and Linguistics in Iranian higher education. This paper recommends that there should be a change regarding language-in-education policy and planning in Iran; a change that would be able to address both theoretical and applied language problems at national and local levels. The attempt should begin with organising a clear and comprehensive language planning with regard to language programmes. This would mean carefully determining the scope and boundaries of the fields as ELT, Applied Linguistics, and Linguistics in the higher educational context. The subsequent challenge is to fix the problematic implementation of language programmes at the local level, considering language journals, conferences, and syllabuses. The findings presented in this work are useful for language policymakers to regulate language-in-education policy and planning in Iran.

Chomsky cannot help wondering at the fact that we, despite so vast evidence, have little knowledge about the obvious evidence. A good example, I think, is the child’s way of first language acquisition. A great many researchers have studied various aspects of child language acquisition at different stages of the child’ life and have brought to light many details of language development. However, it remains uncertain how the child can cope with this heavy task of language acquisition within the first two years of his life. Since its birth, the child begins acquiring the intonation, the sound, the phoneme, the word, the meaning, and the structure of the language, to which he is exposed so fast that it is beyond our imagination. Mind that the same child is unable to do the simplest addition or subtraction of numbers within the early years of life. Thus, the intriguing question for Chomsky is: How is it that the child can acquire the complex system of a language such as English, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese … very fast despite so little and often deficient linguistic input?

The first step in the optimization of research is to analyze and review the conducted research to gain a comprehensive overview. Therefore, this study was set to delve into the contributions made to Iranian Applied Linguistics Journals approved by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology from 2008 to 2019. To analyze the data, frequency analyses were run on 1419 publications. The findings indicated that TEFL-related topics received the most coverage (88%) compared to the other prevalent majors: Linguistics, Translation, and Literature. The study revealed that male contributions (63.7%) far outweighed those of females (34.4%). Furthermore, it came to light that co-authorship (59.95%) was more appreciated among contributors to Iranian applied linguistics journals. Moreover, Islamic Azad University collectively (25.34%) followed by University of Shiraz (11.3%) and University of Isfahan (10.25%) had the highest number of publications. Assistant (32.12%) and associate professors (21.86%) had the highest number of publications. It was also found that the US contributors (28.75%) followed by Australian and Malaysian contributors (13.75%) made the highest number of foreign contributions to the Iranian EFL journals.  Finally, it was revealed that writing-related topics was the most frequently-explored topic (n=164). Corpus-related studies (n=132) and teacher education (n=118) came second and third respectively. The study provides practitioners and researchers with relevant and missing information about the most frequently-explored topics, the most prolific authors, the most productive universities, and the number of foreign contributions.

یک رابطه بسیار نزدیک بین زبانشناسی و فلسفه وجود دارد. در طول تاریخ، این دو حوزه تاثیرات بسزایی بر روی هم داشته اند. زبانشناسان همواره تلاش کرده اند تا معنی کلمات را از جهات مختلف بررسی کنند. به همین منوال، فلاسفه همیشه کوشیده اند تا کلمات و معانی آنها را در بافت های پیرامونی و زبانی متعدد بکار ببرند. با توجه به اینکه کلمات و عبارات، تنها ابزار و وسیله فلاسفه برای انتقال افکار و عقایدشان می باشد، آنها کلمات و عبارات را با دقت بسیار بالایی انتخاب و بکار می گیرند. زبانشناسان نیز می کوشند تا این کلمات و عبارات را از جنبه های گوناگون از جمله ساختواژشناسی، معناشناسی و منظورشناسی بررسی کنند. در این مقاله، سعی بر آن است تا کلمات و معانی آنها از منظر معناشناسی و منظورشناسی بررسی شود. در این راستا، برخی مفاهیم کلیدی که نقش بسزایی در فاسفه دارند مانند معنای صریح (معنای هسته ای) و معنای ضمنی (معنای مضاعف، احساسی و نگرشی) مورد بحث و بررسی قرار می گیرند. همچنین، برخی روش های مهم دیگر برای بررسی متون فلسفی بر اساس پیش فرض، انسجام دستور زبانی و انسجام معنایی مورد کنکاش واقع می شوند. امید است که این مقاله بتواند هم برای زبانشناسان و هم برای فلاسفه مفید واقع شود.

The final goal of this research is to investigate the design of Qajar women's clothing in different periods. In the first step, the question arises whether the cover can be a language. Then this research seeks an answer to the question of what messages in the form of language mean. Therefore, in the current research, the above issue has been analyzed by a case study of Qajar women's clothing and using a descriptive-analytical qualitative research method. Findings: This study shows that the clothing of Qajar women can be considered a single language of signs. In deciphering this language, concepts such as women's attention to religious foundations, gender inequality, and patriarchal view in society, the value of wearing Iran's old traditions, as well as the desire to move towards westernization and fashionism of Europeans can be inferred. The results of this research show the importance of the role, color, code, sign, symbol, and finally language in the field of women's clothing in the Qajar period.  

God Almighty, as the only creator of the universe, has taken charge of the creation and engineering of the creature system and created the best creatures in the best possible way and in the best quality. In the meantime, some of the creations of God the Almighty have been created so desirable that they are mentioned in the Holy Qur'an as blessed creatures. Identifying the differentiation of these creatures helps others to become acquainted with the criteria of a creature and to increase their usefulness. For this reason, the present article attempts to study the word "blessing" in the Holy Quran using the "semantics" method. And analyze the criteria that made them distinct and blessed. The general interest in having and helping to guide humanity quickly is one of the criteria of a blessed creature whose components are explained in this article.

The role of teachers in affecting students’ attitudes and motivations to language learning and teaching cannot be denied. To improve the field of foreign language teaching and learning we need to improve the qualities of EFL teachers. To achieve this goal, recognizing and identifying the qualities of effective EFL teachers is essential. So this study attempted to investigate the view points of male and female English language students about the characteristics of effective English language teachers based on four categories: English proficiency, pedagogical knowledge, organization and communication skills, and socio-affective skills. For this purpose the researchers administered a questionnaire adapted from Park and Lee (2006) to 60 (28 female and 32 male) foreign language learners at Tabriz Islamic Azad University. The results of the U-Mann-Whitney test indicated that there was not a significant difference between the perceptions of the male and female students regarding the characteristics of effective teacher. However, the overall mean score of the female students’ perceptions was a little bit higher than the male students. For the female students the most important features of the teacher was his/her English proficiency, socio-affective skills, pedagogical knowledge and organization and communication skills, while the preferences of the male students were the organization and communication skills, pedagogical knowledge, socio-affective skills and English proficiency, respectively. The findings have some implications for EFL teachers and students.

Extensive studies on Iranian architecture have been conducted since the late Qajar period. However, many aspects remain unexplored. One of the main challenges in this field is the lack of a systematic approach to architectural analysis. Most previous research has been descriptive, focusing on the physical characteristics of buildings. Yet architecture goes beyond its physical elements; it consists of complex structures that require theoretical and conceptual analysis. As a tool for understanding architecture, the theory allows for a deeper examination of structures, meanings, and cultural transformations. Since the 1960s, linguistics has emerged as a significant architectural theory paradigm due to the renewed focus on meaning in architecture. Language and architecture are manifestations of culture—while language reflects culture, it also organizes other cultural domains. The structural similarities between language and architecture have led architects and theorists to adopt linguistic theories for "understanding architecture" and finding "design solutions." This article approaches architecture as a language and, inspired by how linguists study language through various approaches, proposes methodologies for the "understanding of architecture." It draws on Ferdinand de Saussure's classification, particularly the synchronic approach, which analyzes language at a specific moment. The scope of this research is centered on the applications of the synchronic approach in understanding Iranian architecture. Through a comparative study of linguistic and architectural methodologies, the article demonstrates how synchronic linguistic concepts and methods can be applied to analyze Iranian architecture's structures, meanings, and spatial systems, contributing to developing a theoretical model for its study.