درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

How language teachers talk is a key factor in organizing and facilitating learning specifically in language classrooms where the medium of instruction is also the subject matter. This study aimed to examine the extent and ways of teacher talk adaptation to students’ proficiency levels in the Iranian EFL context. Two EFL teachers who were teaching three different proficiency levels were observed and recorded. They were also interviewed to see if they would make any conscious effort to adapt to their students’ proficiency level. Furthermore, the students of the same classes were interviewed for the comprehensibility of their teachers’ talk. Data were analyzed for four major areas of adaptation including speech rate, vocabulary, syntax, and discourse. The results showed that teachers’ adaptation to students’ level does happen clearly for elementary students, but the adaptation boundary between the intermediate and advanced levels is fuzzy. The findings also indicated that in spite of what they think, teachers’ talk is not tuned to elementary students’ understanding.

This study aimed at gaining insights into students’ attitudes in the learning English using the Smart Board or Interactive White Board (IWB) technology in EFL classrooms. The main goal of this paper is to evaluate students’ attitudes towards the use of Smart Board as an instructional tool on student motivation, participation, interaction and retention for learning English in Iranian schools. To achieve this aim, an observation was carried out during lessons in the classroom by the researcher. A questionnaire consisting of 20 questions was also developed by the researcher based on an extensive literature review as well as related instructional theories. The researcher also conducted an interview to find the effect of Smart Boards on student motivation, participation, interaction and retention of information in English classrooms. Analysis of these three instruments yielded patterns of responses concerning how Smart Board or IWB technology can motivate the students and increase their participation in classroom. The results of this study also indicate that students interact more in classrooms where technology is used effectively. Finally, it was found that Smart Boards enhance students' retention of information and learning process in EFL classrooms. The findings of the study will carry important implications for students, language instructors, and administrators as well.

This mini-corpus, cross-linguistic, comparative, and norm-referenced study intends to render the most frequently and oft-used affixes in the written descriptive tasks in the performance of English language materials developers (ELMDs) and Iranian English language undergraduates (IELUs). Samples of writings of both groups were studied and analyzed through affixation principles. The frequency of nearly 63 affixes both inflectional and derivational morphemes was taken into account. The statistical analysis showed a highly significant correlation (.86) with (.75) coefficient determination (shared variance) between the performance of IELUs and ELMDs. The result of the study bears approximately a close resemblance to the findings by Bauer et al.(1982), Fry and Kress (2006), Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn, and Mahler (2000), and White, Sowell, and Yanagihara (1989). Finally, the implications of the study were taken into account.

A long-standing debate among the vocabulary researchers is the depth of processing to learn vocabulary. This paper is a quantitative research which considers a revision in the “involvement load hypothesis” proposed by Laufer and Hulstijn in 2001. It investigates the role of proficiency and evaluation in this hypothesis in order to better reveal its potential contribution to vocabulary learning. It was based on task-induced involvementthat comparesdifferent tasks in incidental vocabulary acquisition in EFL context. The participants were 66 learners fromtwo different English institutes who were classified into two major high and low proficient groups based on Nelson Proficiency Test. The participants in each group were randomly assigned to three tasks prepared to compare“moderate”, “strong”, and “no evaluation” in involvement load hypothesis.The “strong evaluation”subgroup (making original sentences) in low proficiency supported Laufer and Hulstijn’s hypothesis and yielded better retention of the target words. The study suggests that the level of proficiency and evaluation in task induced involvementneeds reconsideration. The results have implications for language teachers, materials developers, and syllabus designers.

To date, little research on pragmatic transfer has considered a multilingual situation where there is an interaction among three different languages spoken by one person. Of interest was whether pragmatic transfer of refusals among three languages spoken by the same person occurs from L1 and L2 to L3, L1 to L2 and then to L3 or from L1 and L1 (if there are more than one L1) to L2. This study aimed to investigate the production of refusals in three languages and to specify the impact of linguistic knowledge on pragmatic transfer of refusals. To this end, 161 participants in 5groups filled out a Discourse Completion Test (DCT). Data was coded and analyzed according to semantic formula sequences. The data obtained from Kurdish learners of English who were also fluent in Farsi (Trilinguals) were compared with those in other four groups: 1)Native English speakers; 2)Monolingual speakers in Farsi; 3) Monolingual speakers in Kurdish; and 4) Bilingual Farsi learners of English. The results revealed that pragmatic transfer exists in choice and content of semantic formulae. It was also found that the sociocultural norms of English, Farsi, and Kurdish languages differ with respects to the refusal speech act and that individuals’ social power and relative distance play a critical role in performing such a speech act. This research suggests that, in spite of the norm differences existing among these languages, transfer of refusals mostly occurs from Kurdish as L1but not from L2 (Farsi) to L3 (English).

To direct m-game to be a possible didactic option for Iranian TVT (Technical Vocational Training) trainees, in this study m-game-mediated (Mobile Game-Mediated) materials delivery was incorporated into the conventional teaching method in the blended ESP reading skill platform. So, 52 male trainees fromTechnical and Vocational College of Isfahan were selected by convenience sampling. Afterwards, 48 trainees were defined as homogeneous using Englishtag Test to learn ESP in 16 triads under two different blended learning scenarios in 18 sessions in the academic year 2014-2015. While the first group of the trainees practiced in the blended learning situation with ready-made displaying device and materials, the second-group trainees practiced the same content through the medium of their own self-made PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and materials; in this way, their learning performance assessed continuously in and outside the classroom. To employ tree-prong approach, interest survey and focus-group interview were embraced, as well. Overall, descriptive and inferential analyses of the collected data disclosed that trainees who were involved in the process of materials development were more excited and learned more than their counterparts who practiced via prefabricated devices and materials. Consequently, self-made (vs. prefabricated) m-game-mediated blended platform was found to be more liable to teaching and learning ESP reading skill.

Various studies have confirmed the influential role of corrective feedback (CF) in the development of different linguistic skills and components. However, little, if any, research has been conducted on comparing types of linguistic errors treated by teachers through CF. To bridge this gap, this study sought to investigate the linguistic errors addressed and the types of CF provided by teachers. To this end, the classes of 40 teachers teaching at the intermediate level were audio-recorded for two successive sessions. The detailed analysis of around 128 hours of classroom interactions showed that explicit correction was the most frequent CF type, accounting for 48.5 percent of all CF types provided, and recast was the second most frequently used CF type, constituting 29.5 percent of all CF types. All the other CF types (i.e. request for clarification, confirmation check, repetition, metalinguistic feedback, elicitation, and multiple feedback) constituted 22 percent of the CF. Repetition was the least frequently used CF type, amounting to 0.66 percent of the CF given by teachers. As to the linguistic focus of CF, pronunciation errors were found to be the mostly noticed target for teachers’ CF, constituting 47 percent of all errors addressed, while vocabulary was the least frequently addressed linguistic target, accounting for 17.5 percent of all errors. The study suggests that teachers prefer explicit corrective strategies over implicit ones and that they provide CF mainly to correct pronunciations errors. The study suggests that there is a need for change in the types of CF teachers use and the relative attention they assign to different linguistic error types they treat through CF

امروزه داشتن رویکرد ارتباطی-معنایی و یا به عبارت دیگر ارجحیت معنا به فرم و ساختار در زمینه زبان امری اجتناب ناپذیر در تهیه و تدوین دستور زبان های معنامحور می باشد. به نظر می رسد که تنها راه از بین بردن شکاف ناخوشایند در بین تمرین های دستور زبانی و یا به طور کلی تمارین مربوط به ساختار کلی زبان و فعالیتهای ارتباطی اتخاذ حرکتی روش مند می باشد که از معنا به سوی فرم و ساختار در حرکت است. برای رسیدن به این هدف آموزشی کوشیده ایم تا در این مقاله به معرفی دلایلِ لزوم آموزش گرامر معنا محور و همین طور روشهای آموزش آن بپردازیم. این پیشنهادات هر چند که ممکن است پایه ای نظری داشته باشند ولی در کاربرد آموزشی دستور زبان معنایی در دانشگاهای ایران مرحله ای اساسی و مهم به شمار می آیند. آشنایی مدرسین ایرانی زبان فرانسه با مفاهیم رویکرد مفهومی-کارکردی باید به شکلی کلی در نظر گرفته شود تا آنها بتوانند به نوبه ی خود این نقطه نظر آموزشی را در مورد ساختارهای زبانی بلافاصله پس از شروع کلاسهای آموزش زبان خود اتخاذ کرده و آن را به کار بندند. به عبارت دیگر، از نظر نگارندگان این مقاله آشنایی با معانی گرامری و یادگیری آنها در شروع آموزش هر زبان خارجی امری اجتناب ناپذیر است چرا که در صورت به کار نبستن رویکرد معنا محور در مورد گرامر یا همان دستور زبان در آغاز یادگیری آن زبان، زبان آموز از به کار بردن ترکیباتی که برایش نامفهوم هستند اجتناب خواهد کرد.

این مطالعه به بررسی روابط بین انگیزه ها، نگرش ها و فعالیت های آموزشی خانگی والدین ایرانی به سوی دوزبانگی (فارسی وانگلیسی) می پردازد. به همین منظور،از ۶۸ والدین زبان آموز جوان، خواسته شد که به پرسشنامه ای پاسخ دهند. لازم بذکر میباشد که هدف پرسشنامه مذکوربررسی نگرش ها، انگیزش، و فعالیت های آموزشی خانگی والدین به سوی دوزبانگی می باشد. نتایج ضریب همبستگی پیرسون و تحلیل رگرسیون خطی داده ها نشان داد که والدین نگرش مثبت کلی، انگیزه یکپارچه٬ و روشهای رسمی درفعالیت های آموزشی خانگی به کار می گیرند.علاوه بر این٬ یا فته ها نشان دادند که همبستگی مثبت معناداری بین نگرش ها، انگیزش و فعالیت های آموزشی خانگی والدین وجود دارد. ولیکن٬ تحلیل رگرسیون خطی داده ها نسبت به متغیر های مربوطه نشان داد که فقط متغیر انگیزه بر پراکنش فعالیت های آموزشی خانگی تأثیر چشمگیری دارد. پیامدهای بدست آمده ازنتایج برای معلمان٬ سیاست گذاران، و توسعه دهندگان برنامه درسی بهمراه برخی پیشنهادات در این مطالعه فراهم شده است.