بهمن گرجیان

This research investigates the impact of textual coherence factors on the improvement of reading comprehension in elementary school students. It aims to analyze the influence of grammatical, lexical, and connective elements on students' ability to recall stories, utilizing the framework of systemic functional linguistics (SFL). Textual coherence, as one of the key components in understanding and conveying meaning in educational texts, plays an important role in improving reading comprehension. This study uses a qualitative method and analyzes 64 stories from elementary school Persian textbooks to identify and analyze textual applications and their effects on students' recall of the stories. Data were collected through questionnaires based on Halliday and Matthiessen's (2014) SFL. A researcher-made questionnaire was designed, and 150 students were recruited to answer the items on a 5-point Likert scale. Results showed that grammatical, lexical, and connective coherence effectively improve students’ text recall. In comparison, the lexical features are more effective than connective and grammatical features, facilitating students’ recall of the stories in Persian textbooks. This study reveals that teachers at the elementary level need to focus on textual coherence, especially grammatical and connective, and then lexical features. Implications suggest that textbook designers focus on textual structures in designing educational textbooks since they affect students’ recall and improve their reading comprehension.

This study aimed to explore the role of context in the selection of equivalents by translators with diverse worldviews, following the framework of Lotfi Gaskaree et al. (2023). A qualitative research design was employed, and verses were selected using purposive sampling. Five widely known English translations of the Holy Qur’ān were analyzed. The data encompassed nine Surahs, which were semantically analyzed to investigate the variation in lexical equivalents across the selected versions. The study focused on understanding the translators’ perspectives in selecting English equivalents for Qur’ānic vocabulary. Specifically, translations of Surah Al-Baqarah were examined, as rendered by Arberry, Shakir, Pickthall, and Yusuf Ali. Selected excerpts from each version were analyzed to explore differences in the Arabic-to-English lexical choices. Findings revealed notable differences in the translators’ degrees of familiarity and intimacy with Islamic and religious concepts. Translators influenced by Western worldviews tended to favor literal translations at the morphemic level, while those with Eastern perspectives leaned toward more meaningful or communicative translations. These variations highlight that English lexical choices in Qur’ānic translations are heavily context-bound and influenced by the translators’ cultural and ideological affiliations. The study acknowledges a limitation in the sample size, noting that a broader dataset exceeding nine Surahs could yield more comprehensive insights. Nonetheless, the findings offer valuable implications for cross-cultural translation theory, demonstrating that translators from different cultural backgrounds select lexical equivalents based on their worldviews. This study serves as a preliminary contribution to further semantic and contextual research in Qur’ānic translation.

This research explores metaphors of temporal concepts within the novel "The Fig Tree of Temples," utilizing cognitive semantics regarding time. This concept manifests in concrete representations of places and objects in literature and poetry, rendering temporal concepts objective and comprehensible. The study employed a qualitative approach to examine metaphors associated with temporal concepts, dividing the analysis into primary and secondary temporal concepts understood through cognitive semantics. The novel was authored by Mahmoud in 1979. The investigation focused on identifying source and target terms within the metaphors of temporal concepts, assessing their frequency, and analyzing the sentences that featured these temporal concept mappings. Ultimately, a total of 1137 mappings were identified and categorized into 12 domains of source and target metaphorical concepts related to temporal concepts, following the theoretical framework established by Evans and Green (2006). The findings indicated that temporal concepts-motion mappings, particularly those related to temporal concepts sequence, exhibited the highest frequency, while observer-motion temporal mappings were the least frequent. Additionally, the occurrence of primary temporal concepts was found to be lower than that of secondary temporal concepts. The implications of findings are expected to enhance readers' comprehension of novels that incorporate metaphorical representations of temporal concepts, thereby fostering a semantic understanding of narrative coherence.

The translation of discourse markers in English versions of the Holy Qur’ān can significantly impact the quality of the translated text. Translators face the challenge of ensuring the accuracy and effectiveness of discourse markers when converting the original text into the target language. This study employed a qualitative research methodology to investigate the usage of English and Persian discourse markers in three translated versions of the Holy Qur’ān by Arberry, Shakir, and Yusuf Ali. Focusing on the renowned Surah Al-Baqarah, 286 verses were meticulously analyzed. Descriptive statistics, following Fraser’s (2005) framework, were applied to categorize discourse markers. The study identified various discourse markers falling into four distinct categories: elaborative, contrastive, inferential, and temporal markers. The results underscored the pivotal role of discourse markers in shaping the translation and structure of the Holy Qur’ān. These markers establish a cohesive link between content words and contribute to the overall coherence of Qur’ānic passages. The study recommends that translators exercise careful consideration in selecting and translating discourse markers to maintain the integrity and meaning of the text.

This research delves into the intricate art of translating cultural elements and identifying appropriate equivalents for Quranic words. The primary objective is to investigate the strategies employed in the translation of Qur’ānic and religious terms, while also shedding light on the main sources of mistranslation. The study examines four renowned English translations of the Holy Qur’ān, namely those by Muhammad Shakir (1976), Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1987), Marmaduke Pickthall (1986) and Arthur Arberry (1955). The dataset comprises terms derived from the original Arabic text of the Holy Qur’ān and their corresponding equivalents in the aforementioned English versions. Consequently, this study identifies and compares the religious and culture-specific terms within these translations, aiming to ascertain the underlying causes of mistranslations. The findings of this research reveal that the process of finding accurate equivalents for Qur’ānic and religious terms is inherently complex. Furthermore, it highlights that the challenge of finding suitable equivalents arises from translators' lack of awareness regarding the culture of the target language as well as the intricacies involved in transferring the source language's essence to the target language.