Constructivism

In an effort to examine EFL students’ and teachers’ perceptions about the role of implementing flipped teaching in the university context, a mixed-method research approach was employed. To this end, 80 male and female Iranian advanced EFL learners majoring in English translation, literature, and English teaching and 204 Iranian EFL instructors were selected. They answered the flipped teaching questionnaires, then ten percent of the participants (8 students and 20 teachers) volunteered for follow-up qualitative data collection procedures (i.e., the interview) to let the researchers produce more profound responses to the related concepts of the study. Then, the data collected from the questionnaires were coded and analyzed. Also, the qualitative analysis of the research was done using the interview transcripts to support the quantitative analysis results of the research. It included content analysis requiring the examination of the participations' interviews transcripts. The findings of the quantitative part revealed that a majority of students held positive perceptions about engagement, effectiveness, attitudes, and positive affect through flipped instruction constructs in the flipped teaching class. University instructors also had an inclination towards implementing flipped teaching on the whole for the constructs named language improvement, attitudes about flipped instruction, better education through flipped instruction, and difficulty of implementing flipped instruction. The qualitative investigation confirmed the previously-stated results to a great extent in that the EFL students and instructors generally preferred employing flipped teaching and they had positive perceptions about the role of this approach.

Researchers use various political science and international relations theories with modifications to analyze Hashemi's foreign policy in the period 1368-1376. Most writers believe Hashemi's foreign policy was realistic according to materialist and rationalist theories, and the power-ideology equation changed in favor of power during this period. Others, using liberal-capitalist approaches, argue that Hashemi's government tended to converge with international economic and financial institutions and organizations. However, the above research vacuum is ignoring the government and society identity components in this period and its impact on foreign policy. The identity of political actors has a decisive effect on their behavior in the international arena; therefore, the identity of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been an influential factor in the foreign policy of this country. With the descriptive-analytical method, the present study aimed to examine the effect of identity ideals on Hashemi's foreign policy. The hypothesis of this research is: Hashemi's policy-making and foreign policy orientation are influenced by the identity components of the domestic executive political elites and the dominance of the Westernist identity discourse over the international system after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Iraq is a prominent identity crisis example. Ethnic and religious multiplicity have caused political and social conflicting divisions. Shiites, Kurds, and Sunnis are the main group players. Kurdish and Arab are ethnic, Shiite and Sunni are religious groups. Islamic Revolution made fundamental changes in Iran’s foreign policy orientation. In Iraq simultaneously, Saddam took power. Different ethnicities and identities had no expressing opportunity. US invasion and Ba''athist overthrow brought Iraq into a new and unstable phase, and various groups and ethnicities expressed their conflicting political and social identity goals and demands. Regional countries particularly Iran have expanded their influence in Iraq by changing the foreign policy orientation, to prevent others from increasing their effect. This study is to analyze and investigate identity crisis impact in Iraq on Iran’s foreign policy orientation emphasizing post-Saddam era (2003-2020) applying Constructivism Theory. The descriptive-analytical method and library resources used in collecting data and information.

The beginning of the political crisis in Syria, each regional and trans-regional actors have adopted different policies based on their interests and goals in relation to this country. Syria is an exceptional issue for countries in the region and the world's powers like the United States of America, and any transformation in that form might have a fundamental impact on the interests of each of these regional and global powers. Turkey as a regional power and the United States has always been present in the Syrian crisis as a regional power based on its interests. But the United' support of the present groups in Syria has sought to fight ISIS extremists, which Turkey has called for terrorist groups to reduce the US and Turkey relations. The present study was conducted using descriptive-analytic method and using documentation sources to provide a theoretical framework, the question of why Turkey is against United States about the Syrian Kurdish issue? This study investigates the presence of United States in Syria and the support of Kurdish groups, as well as the reaction that Turkey and Iran have been involved in. The findings of this article indicate that the United States support the Kurdish groups in northern Syria has led to conflict of interest between the two countries.

The beginning of the political crisis in Syria, each regional and trans-regional actors have adopted different policies based on their interests and goals in relation to this country. Syria is an exceptional issue for countries in the region and the world's powers like the United States of America, and any transformation in that form might have a fundamental impact on the interests of each of these regional and global powers. Turkey as a regional power and the United States has always been present in the Syrian crisis as a regional power based on its interests. But the United' support of the present groups in Syria has sought to fight ISIS extremists, which Turkey has called for terrorist groups to reduce the US and Turkey relations. The present study was conducted using descriptive-analytic method and using documentation sources to provide a theoretical framework, the question of why Turkey is against United States about the Syrian Kurdish issue? This study investigates the presence of United States in Syria and the support of Kurdish groups, as well as the reaction that Turkey and Iran have been involved in. The findings of this article indicate that the United States support the Kurdish groups in northern Syria has led to conflict of interest between the two countries.

As a theoretical treatise, the present article brings to light the applicability of constructivism to the study of think tanks as ideational agents actively participating in the construction of ideational structures that constitute American identity, interests, and policies. It is argued that when discussing think tanks’ production of expertise and policy advice on U.S. relations with the Muslim world, American exceptionalism and Orientalism operate as two interconnected ideational structures influencing the process. Based on a constructivist framework, an investigation into the role of think tanks in U.S. foreign policy should not begin at the final stage of policy formation; rather, it is necessary to look into how think tanks influence the process of policy making at the ideational level. As such, the characteristics of U.S. foreign policy toward the Muslim world will remain unchanged as long as there is an ideational commitment to the creed of American exceptionalism; that is to say, as long as American exceptionalism constitutes American identity, American interest, and thus American foreign policy behavior toward the Muslim world. Think tanks, as the special focal points at the intersection of the political realm, the academia, and the media, serve as the hubs of American exceptionalism and Orientalism. As long as this dual creed is continually reproduced in the think tank world, it is logical to conclude that no change is in sight with regard to U.S. foreign policy and American unilateral interventionism in the Muslim world. A break with American exceptionalism and Orientalism in the think tank world, in turn, would signal the beginning of a new era in the operation of American foreign policy.

Traditional literature teaching is usually a passive process as students normally perform the role of listeners. This research proposes to alter the students’ role to active learners by assisting them to produce and stage an English children’s drama. This study is student-centered and attempts to adopt workshop and drama practice to enhance students’ participation in the classroom. Different from traditional teaching methods, constructivist pedagogy enables learners to recognize and strengthen their self-learning abilities. Often discussed in constructivist pedagogy, Lev Vygotsky’s works are especially related to this research. Even though the application of Vygotsky’s theory to teaching is beneficial to students, relevant studies are scarce in higher education. This paper then proposes to apply Vygotsky’s idea of zone of proximal development and scaffolding approach to cultivate students’ ability to produce an English children’s drama. Through the support of capable others, the learners achieve a deeper understanding of drama/literature and through the scaffold approach, students steadily leave the need of assistance behind, are able to work independently and autonomously, and become more capable than their previous selves.

Abstract According to the importance of cooperative learning based on constructivism in better learning of the material, which has been demonstrated in many types of research, these techniques make students exchange information and opinions, help each other and get help. Cooperative learning and the conduction of constructivism in learning, increase group cohesion and enable students to interact with others and examine learning from all aspects. To conduct this research, 30 senior students with the age range of 16 to 18 and based on the English level proficiency test to ensure the same language level of them, were selected. Then the target students were divided into two experimental and control groups and the pre-test was taken from them. After grouping, English language teaching was done to the students of the experimental group based on constructivism and cooperative learning, and after a certain period (five weeks), a post-test was taken from them, and Stephen's cooperative learning questionnaire (2007) was given to the students, and then the data was collected and analyzed and T-Test, ANOVA, paired sample test were conducted. The most important findings, in the present research in the first stage, were the impact of constructivism and cooperative learning on English learning of the students who were trained and achieved the most effective cooperative learning techniques, and in the second stage recognized that students use the technique of group dynamics and then feedback and doing project work respectively based on Stephen's cooperative learning questionnaire (2007).

The Balkans, in a specific sense, refers to the collection of countries in Southeast Europe that gained independence following the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, most of which are on the path to membership in the European Union. The Balkans, with its great ethnic diversity, is the intersection of three religions: Islam, Catholic Christianity, and Orthodox Christianity, and regarding its historical background, it is considered a crisis-prone area next to the European Union. Iran has long-standing deep cultural ties with the countries of this region, and the Persian language has historically held significant appeal among the intellectuals of this area. However, undoubtedly, Iran's presence and role in the Bosnian crisis during the 1990s is considered the most significant involvement of Iran in this part of Europe. The present study aims to explore the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Balkans region, emphasizing Iran's role in Bosnia. The results indicated that the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Balkans is consistent with the constructivist approach in international relations, and this region possesses considerable potential in cultural, political, and economic fields for the development of relations.