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There is scarce systematic research on the role of genres and their associated discourse features in Information Structure and its syntactic representations in Persian. The current descriptive, corpus-based study, therefore, aimed to investigate three different genres of Persian spoken language; that is, political, scientific and daily conversation, in terms of their Information Structure as realized through four syntactic devices of clefting, pseudo-clefting, passive and preposing. To this purpose, 1000 different utterances related to each of the mentioned genres, were extracted from the multi-media archive of IRNA (Iranian News Agency) website and daily conversations of the researchers’ family members and friends, based on Lambrecht’s theoretical framework in modeling the Information Structure. The collected data were then transcribed, the syntactic devices were identified, and descriptive statistics were used to see how the above syntactic devices are represented in each genre type. The results revealed that the devices are represented differently in the three genres of political, scientific, and daily conversations. This finding may be of interest to linguists and language theoreticians.

Driven by the concept of mediation, this study is set out to use sociocultrual theory as the theoretical framework to explore the mediation role of textbooks, specifically, the series Northstar in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university classes in Vietnam. Learning journals with guided questions are employed to collect data on how different aspects of English textbooks assist students’ learning in the classroom. Besides, transcripts of recorded classroom obervations are analysed to interpret how the textbooks formulate and faciliate students’ ideas related to the given tasks and generate their interaction in both the target language and the mother tongue. It is found from the students’ journals that the textbooks assist them in understanding the lesson contents and the images help them with visualizing the lessons. Besides, the students make use of the tasks/activities when practising language skills, especially the listening skill. The transcripts reveal the process in which students refer to their previous knowledge related to the topics/tasks provided in the textbooks to interact with one other. More speficially, the tasks and the ideas of other group members mediate more thoughts of the students, leading to collective knowledge construction and task completion. From the findings, recommendations for the use of textbooks in the framework of sociocultrual theory are put forward.

The use of storytelling on students’ first language literacy and development were extended to foreign/second language learning, and a large number of researchers interested in the field attempted to use storytelling and story reading strategies in teaching oral language skills to foreign/second language learners. Despite the existence of a number of studies on the impact of storytelling on English language skills, the number of studies on the impact of storytelling and story reading approaches on pre- intermediate EFL learners’ oral language production and comprehension seems to be scanty. To do so, a quasi- experimental study was employed. Ninety Iranian language learners, from 6 intact classes (each consisting of 15), were divided to three sub-groups: storytelling, story reading and conventional groups. To one group, stories were told, one group only read the stories, and the third group received no stories. The data were collected through researcher developed oral language production and comprehension tests. One-way-ANOVA test and three independent samples-tests based on Bonferroni test were employed to analyze the data and locate the sources of the differences. Findings revealed that storytelling outperformed story reading groups on both production and comprehension tests. Story reading group outperformed the conventional group. It can be concluded telling and reading stories are effective techniques for improving EFL learners’ oral language production and recognition.

Abstract Driven by Beijaard, Verloop and Vermunt’s (2000) theory of Professional Identity (PI), this study aims to investigate teachers’ perception of their PI in relation to the English textbooks they use in EFL classes. In-depth interview with four Iranian EFL teachers and the school principal was conducted. The teachers’ reports were employed to investigate their PI in relation to the textbooks they used. Furthermore, the school curriculum was analyzed through an interview with the school principal and examining the school documents. Content analysis of the interview data revealed that all the teachers viewed the content knowledge dimension of their PI reliant on the textbooks. Over the years, they had gained more autonomy in adapting the content or selecting more supplementary sources. Overall, the participants in this research highlighted the pivotal role of textbooks in the construction of their PI, most importantly in the formation of their content knowledge and the least in the development of their pedagogical knowledge. The analysis of the school curriculum revealed a heavy reliance of many decisions on textbooks directly or indirectly. The findings in this study will provide more insights for curriculum developers, language school managers, teacher educators and teachers who have a say in curriculum decisions when learning about the crucial role of textbooks in PI.

Washback or backwash, used similarly, has been defined as the impact of testing on curriculum design, teaching practice, and learning behaviors. Iranian PhD candidates’ performance on this exam is required to pursue PhD study; therefore, degrees of washback both at the micro and macro levels are at stake. Despite the importance of this exam for the candidates, it seems that studies on washback and specifically washback effect of EPT on Iranian PhD candidates’ learning materials has not been given adequate attention in Iran. Given this, the present study attempts to examine the washback effect of EPT on Iranian PhD candidates’ learning materials. Based on sequential design, two phases of data collection were conducted with a two-week interval. In the first phase, attitude questionnaire was administered to 200 Iranian PhD candidates at Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) branch. In the second phase of the study, 20 Iranian PhD candidates were interviewed. Finally, the collected data from both the questionnaires and the interviews were analyzed via quantitative and descriptive analysis, respectively. The results of the study revealed both positive and negative washback impacts on learning materials. The findings of the study have practical implications for language teachers in general, and EFL language teachers, syllabus designers, and material developers in particular.

Nous nous interrogeons, dans cet article, sur les valeurs sémantiques et référentielles de Pendant que . Confrontant les propositions faites dans la littérature avec nos observations sur des données attestées, nous nous efforcerons, dans ce travail, d’apporter quelques éléments de réponse à des questions en rapport avec les différents mécanismes qui régissent les fonctionnements de ce dernier marqueur discursif. Ajoutons ici que cette recherche a pris appui, entre autres, sur la SDRT (Segmented Discourse Representation Theory) (Lascarides et Asher 1993). Cette approche nous paraît intéressante et féconde par le modèle formaliste qu’elle met en œuvre, son objet étant particulièrement labile .

La contribution se concentre sur l'analyse de la survivance du matériel mythologique dans la littérature française des treizième et quatorzième siècles. Pour cette analyse, trois textes ont été choisis pour représenter autant de manières de comprendre la mythologie au Moyen Âge, en France et en Italie.   La première œuvre, le roman d'Hector et Herculés, met en évidence la modernisation des matériaux épiques, qui se déclinent selon les canons du roman et de la chanson de geste. Le roman d'Hector et Herculés présente in nuce le contact entre mythologie et religion chrétienne qui est bien explicité dans le second texte, le Huon d'Auvergne. La chanson de geste raconte les aventures du héros éponyme, qui est envoyé en enfer par Charles Martel. Son pèlerinage rappelle étroitement les aventures d'Ulysse et les héros des romans courtois. En outre, le Huon d'Auvergne associe étroitement la conception chrétienne à la survie du matériel mythologique. Un exemple en est donné par l'épisode des femmes diaboliques, qui ressemblent de près au règne de la Sibylle des Apennins.   Le dernier texte est l'Histoire Ancienne jusqu'à César, un récit historique qui part de la Genèse et raconte l'histoire de l'humanité jusqu'à l'époque romaine. Déjà dans sa structure, l'Histoire combine le texte sacré avec l'histoire, la mythologie avec les chroniques. De cette façon, les héros de la guerre de Troie peuvent à la fois invoquer leurs dieux pour la victoire de la guerre et se dire chrétiens.   À travers les trois exemples présentés, il sera montré comment le Moyen Âge a préservé la mythologie, en essayant à chaque fois de la proposer dans une perspective chrétienne. 

The teachers' competencies in the process of internationalization of higher education (IHE) are of vital importance (Brandenburg & Federkeil, 2007; van der Werf, 2012). The extent of IHE in a university is in a close relationship with the teachers' competencies (Harari, 1981). However, the required competencies of teachers in IHE are not a well-studied topic. Similarly, the "dearth of literature on EAP professional development" (Blaj-Ward, 2014, p. 113) has complicated exploring the EAP teachers' competencies. The absence of a competency model addressing the needs of EAP teachers to effectively engage in the education fitting the IHE objectives and policies gave impetus to this study. In line with this objective, an instrument measuring EAP teachers' competencies was designed and validated. The following steps were taken to develop the instrument: the theme extraction and item generation phase, the piloting phase, and the validation phase. The extensive review of the literature and interviews with IHE experts and EAP teachers yielded 8 competencies. This initial framework led to the development of the preliminary version of a 22-item questionnaire. The piloting phase resulted in 23 items. 74 EAP teachers from both camps (language and content) participated in the final administration. Various factor analyses, internal consistency, and correlation of all of the items were performed. The data obtained confirmed a sufficiently reliable and valid scale, consisting of 6 components (with the same underlying themes of 8 competencies extracted earlier) and 23 items for measuring the EAP teachers' competencies.

The current study investigated the relationship between teachers’ creativity, motivation and job satisfaction. In so doing, the role of demographic factors, i.e. gender, teaching experience and teaching context was also taken into account. To conduct the study, a total of 103 EFL teachers at both institute and school contexts were selected. The teachers were recruited on a voluntary basis, and the sample included teachers from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, coming from both genders and either of the teaching contexts. Three questionnaires (Teacher Creativity Questionnaire, Teacher Motivation Questionnaire, and Job Satisfaction Scale) were employed to gather the data, which were then analyzed through a number of analyses, including Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation, Multiple Regression Analysis, Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Findings revealed the existence of a significant correlation between teachers’ motivation and their job satisfaction. Furthermore, teachers’ motivation in comparison with their creativity had a greater predictive power with regard to job satisfaction. However, demographic factors did not have a significant role in job satisfaction. The findings can offer insightful implications for educational authorities, teachers, school leaderships and academicians to help promote job satisfaction in different instructional contexts.

Depuis la publication des premières traductions des Aventures de Tintin en persan, les lecteurs iraniens ne cessent d’y montrer un accueil chaleureux et exceptionnel. Pour en comprendre le pourquoi, il faut analyser le rôle des lecteurs dans le processus de production de sens, et plus généralement le rôle de la société qui décode le produit culturel étranger selon sa propre perspective. Dans cette optique, les figures littéraires d’une œuvre contemporaine peuvent convoquer les symboles anciens : le bagage culturel des lecteurs iraniens influence (et distord) leur lecture des albums de Tintin.  Grâce à l’articulation de certains concepts des études culturelles et postcoloniales, sur l’approche relationnelle de la théorie de la réception, on examine le « personnage » du perroquet, tel qu’il est conçu séparément dans les Aventures de Tintin et dans les topoï thématiques et culturels de la littérature iranienne afin de montrer comment le lectorat iranien défigure la création d’Hergé.

Research findings reported to date indicate that carefully planning speech while performing a task increases second language (L2) learners’ attention to formal aspects of their discourse. The evidence, however, is mostly based on performance analysis with respect to the linguistic measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. To enhance the psycholinguistic validity of current findings, the present research adopted a process-product approach to analyze L2 learners’ performance and attention shift as indicated by the occurrence of pauses in their speech. The study involved thirty Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) who were divided into two groups of fifteen. Whereas participants in the first group were given unlimited time to carefully plan while performing a narrative task, their counterparts in the other group completed the same task under time constraint. Following participants’ performance, both performance analysis and retrospective interviews were conducted to collect their protocol data. The results revealed that carefully planned speech is characterized by increased complexity and accuracy and reduced fluency stemming from attention being primarily focused on syntactic encoding, lexical choice, and phonology instead of conceptualizing the message. The outcomes are discussed in light of their theoretical and pedagogical implications.