Amir Arsalan Yarahmadzahi; Behzad Ghonsooli
Abstract
Some minor changes in the process of translation can lead to large deviations, especially in religious texts. Therefore, the present paper tries to address this issue through a descriptive and comparative study of translations of the Qur’an into English (Shakir and Arbery) and Persian (Elahi Ghomshei ...
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Some minor changes in the process of translation can lead to large deviations, especially in religious texts. Therefore, the present paper tries to address this issue through a descriptive and comparative study of translations of the Qur’an into English (Shakir and Arbery) and Persian (Elahi Ghomshei and Ansarian). To this end, van Leuven-Zwart’s descriptive and comparative model was used, which is in accordance with the descriptive translation studies paradigm. According to van Leuven-Zwart, integral translation is a type of translation, where the translator is not allowed to add or delete anything beyond the sentence level. Two forms of shifts can happen: at the micro level (clauses and phrases) and at the macro level (characterization and point of view). Presenting a rather complicated model, she attempts to reveal how the micro level can lead to the macro level. Findings show that the two Persian translations are more integral than the two English versions. This is perhaps because Iranian translators have more competency over the Qur’an or religious concepts in Persian and Arabic are quite similar; therefore, the strategy of borrowing can be used for many Qur’anic terms.
Ali Raeesi; Manoochehr Jafarigohar; Behzad Ghonsooly; Amir Reza Nemat Tabrizi
Abstract
The phenomenon of language attrition has been identified as an important obstacle that runs counter to the process of language learning. This paper investigates whether foreign language attrition affects the levels of accuracy, fluency and complexity in speaking skills of Iranian EFL learners. In doing ...
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The phenomenon of language attrition has been identified as an important obstacle that runs counter to the process of language learning. This paper investigates whether foreign language attrition affects the levels of accuracy, fluency and complexity in speaking skills of Iranian EFL learners. In doing so, 37 English language learners within an age range of 18 to 35 were selected from intermediate and advanced levels of oral proficiency based on convenience sampling. To assess the speaking ability of the participants, an IELTS speaking mock test was administered with various topics at four different stages of the study over a period of nine months—at the beginning of the loss of contact with the language, three months, six months and nine months after the loss of contact with the language learning experience. In order to answer the research questions, a repeated-measures ANOVA was used. The first research question was concerned with the impact of attrition on the complexity level of Iranian EFL learners’ speaking skills across the four stages. The results indicated that attrition significantly affected complexity. As for accuracy, significant and meaningful differences were found across the four stages. Similarly, regarding fluency that relates to the third research question, the results suggested a significant impact of attrition on this aspect of speaking. Moreover, the results of the effect size demonstrated that attrition had the highest impact on fluency and the lowest on accuracy.
Vida Dehnad; Azar Hosseini Fatemi; Behzad Ghonsooly
Abstract
In line with new findings in the interdisciplinary fields of philosophy and psychology of emotions and cognition, the use of emotional scales in assessing readers’ reactions to the texts containing moral dilemmas has attracted the attention of researchers. Likewise, this study, using the Delphi ...
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In line with new findings in the interdisciplinary fields of philosophy and psychology of emotions and cognition, the use of emotional scales in assessing readers’ reactions to the texts containing moral dilemmas has attracted the attention of researchers. Likewise, this study, using the Delphi technique and the opinions of experts tried to predict the emotional-cognitive reactions of two groups of deontic and consequentialist readers to the texts containing moral dilemmas. For this purpose, a mixed-methods research was chosen and a three-phase Delphi technique was used for collecting the data, i.e., experts’ opinions. The expert group consisted of nine university English teachers and psychologists fluent in English. First, the experts were provided with six strategic questions to be able to comment. After coding and converting the qualitative data into quantitative data and preparing a concept map, first, the percentage of the pairwise agreement between the raters was calculated, and then, the formulas of Krippendorff’s alpha and Fleiss Kappa were used to determine the reliability of the 72 pairs of decisions. Accordingly, the acceptable values of 0.76, 0.72, and 0.71 were obtained for the mentioned formulas. Based on the results of the two stages of the Delphi technique, a 9-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed and re-assessed by the experts. After rating the questionnaire items by the experts, the intra-class correlation coefficient with the two-way random effect model was used. A significant value of 0.872 was obtained from this calculation, which confirmed the congruence of experts’ opinions about the probable behaviors of the two groups of readers in reaction to the texts containing ethical dilemmas. This should be noted that the collection of experts’ opinions and the evaluation of the reliability of the opinions, in three consecutive rounds, took about four months.
Sima Ziaei; Behzad Ghonsooly; Zargham Ghabanchi; Hesamoddin Shahriari
Abstract
The major aim of this study was to construct a Narrative Writing Intelligence Scale (NWIS). To this end, the scale was designed by picking up the narrative intelligence factors proposed by Randall (1999). The designed NWIS, composed of 13 items, was used to score 200 pieces of writing of FCE students. ...
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The major aim of this study was to construct a Narrative Writing Intelligence Scale (NWIS). To this end, the scale was designed by picking up the narrative intelligence factors proposed by Randall (1999). The designed NWIS, composed of 13 items, was used to score 200 pieces of writing of FCE students. These students were asked to watch a short animation and narrate it in written form, while they were not allowed to consult their teachers, classmates, or any English resources for vocabulary or grammar. They were not allowed to take any notes while the movie was being played either, since the power of memory and the range of vocabulary and grammar are constituents of narrative intelligence. Then, the writings were scored by the newly-developed 5-point Likert type scale. The scores were transferred to SPSS 18 and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was employed to determine the underlying factors in the designed scale. At the end, three items were removed and the final scale came out to be a 10-item scale. The results revealed that the scale can be explained by a 3-factor solution with a good level of reliability. The three-factor model accounted for 57.47% of the variance and the factors were named as Unity of the plot, Identification (of characters, objects and ideas), and Voice and Rhetoric. The variables which comprise the three factors, based on Randall (1999)’s definition are related to emplotment, characterization, narration, Genre-ation, and thematization.
Mostafa Amiri; Behzad Ghonsooly; Zargham Ghapanchi
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between the Iranian EFL learners’ performance in the reading subsection of TOEFL and their awareness of metacognitive reading strategies and test-taking strategies. Sixty-two students majoring in teaching English and English literature were randomly selected ...
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This study investigated the relationship between the Iranian EFL learners’ performance in the reading subsection of TOEFL and their awareness of metacognitive reading strategies and test-taking strategies. Sixty-two students majoring in teaching English and English literature were randomly selected from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Hakim Sabzevari University, and Imam Reza International University. To collect data, the following instruments were employed: Nelson English proficiency test (form 300D), the reading subsection of a TOEFL form 0401, the metacognitive awareness of reading strategy inventory (MARSI), and a test-taking strategy questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and independent sample t test utilizing SPSS (version 19). The results showed a negative correlation between test-taking strategies and the students’ scores in the reading subsection of TOEFL (r = -0.13), and a low correlation between MARSI and the reading subsection of TOEFL (r = 0.17). However, the correlation between Nelson proficiency test and the students’ scores in the reading subsection of TOEFL was significant (r = 0.74, p < 0.001). Moreover, the results showed that in test-taking strategies questionnaire, the students employed Reasoning subskill, Strategies for Vocabulary subskill, Guessing subskill, and Personal Knowledge and Experience subskill in order. Also, the results revealed that from the MARSI subskills, the students had used Problem-solving strategies first, and secondly, Global and Support strategies. The role of test-taking strategies is somewhat downgraded indicating that most of its subskills should not be emphasized. Conversely, awareness of metacognitive reading strategies should be considered in teaching. The suggestions and implications are discussed.
Gholam Hassan Khajavy; Behzad Ghonsooly; Azar Hosseini Fatemi
Abstract
1. IntroductionIn recent years, research on emotions has attracted the attention of many researchers (Butz, Stupnisky, & Pekrun, 2015; Frenzel, 2014). Teachers’ emotions can be as important as students’ emotions. Although many studies have focused on investigating emotions among students, ...
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1. IntroductionIn recent years, research on emotions has attracted the attention of many researchers (Butz, Stupnisky, & Pekrun, 2015; Frenzel, 2014). Teachers’ emotions can be as important as students’ emotions. Although many studies have focused on investigating emotions among students, very few studies have examined emotions among teachers (Chang, 2009; Frenzel, 2014). Moreover, the studies which have examined emotions among teachers have mostly examined them in general education, and very few studies have been conducted on English language teachers’ emotions. To have a better understanding of learning and teaching English, it is necessary to get more familiar with teachers’ emotions. Teaching consists of different positive and negative emotions (Hargreaves, 1998). However, six discrete emotions are considered as the most salient ones (Frenzel, 2014). These emotions include enjoyment, pride, anxiety, anger, boredom, and shame. Although previous research has developed a scale for assessing emotions, this scale is limited only to enjoyment, anxiety, and anger, while other emotions among teachers have not been examined.Teaching is full of emotions and these emotions play a vital role in teachers’ professional career (Hargreaves, 1998). Motivation, cognition, and emotions are considered to be three main components of the mind (Sutton & Wheatley, 2003). Teachers experience both positive and negative emotions. The importance of teachers’ emotions lies in the fact that they are related to other individual difference constructs which are related to both teachers and students.. For example, previous research has shown that negative emotions are directly related to teachers’ burnout, while positive emotions can hinder burnout (Chang, 2009, 2013). Among both positive and negative emotions, enjoyment is the most dominant emotion that teachers experience (Frenzel, 2014). Among negative emotions, anger is the main emotion experienced by teachers (Frenzel, 2014). The main reason for teachers’ anger has been reported to be students’ disruptive behavior (Chang, 2009). The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a scale for assessing English language teachers’ emotions. This scale included items from previous studies as well as new items developed by the researchers.2. MethodologyA total number of 326 teachers who were teaching English in language institues took part in this study. Among the participants, there were 227 female and 95 male teachers. Five participants did not write their gender. Teachers’ age ranged between 20 and 40 with a mean of 27.88. Moreover, teachers had between 1 and 21 years of teaching experience. In order to assess emotions, the newly developed qustionnaire was sent for the teachers online. The questionnaire assessed six emotions of enjoyment, pride, anxiety, anger, boredom, and shame. Each subscale included four items measured on a six-point Likert scale rangigng from strongly disagree to strongly agree. In order to analyze the data, exploratory factor analysis was run by SPSS. To check the unidimensionality of the scale, Rasch analysis was run by Winsteps. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis was run by Mplus.3. ResultsIn order to check the unidimensionality of the scale, Rasch analysis was conducted. MNSQ statistics confirmed the unidimensionality of the scale. Following this, exploratory factor analysis was run. Before that, KMO and Bartlett test of sphricity were investigated in order to be sure that the data were ready for factor analysis. Upon confirming the factorability of the scale, exploratory factor analysis with principal component analysis and varimax rotation was run. The results showed a six-factor solution and items loading on each factor. Three items did not load on any factor due to very low factor loadings and therefore were removed for further analyses. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted and goodness-of-fit indices were all within the acceptable range. In addition to validity, reliability of the subscales was also investigated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from .64 to .88 which confirmed the reliability of the subscales.4. ConclusionsThis study was conducted to develop and validate a scale for measuring English language teachers’ emotions in the Iranian context. Results of Rasch analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the construct validity of the scale. This questionnaire can be used by researchers for future research. Supervisors in English language institutes can also benefit from this scale. For example, using this questionnaire, supervisors can become aware of their teachers’ emotions and provide more support for the teachers accordingly. Like all studies, this research had some limitations. While we tried to develop a scale for the most important emotions, there are still other emotions which were not included in the present scale. Therefore, future research is needed to develop scales for other emotions. Moreover, validity and reliability of this research are limited to the present study and further research is needed to confirm the validity and reliability of this research in other contexts.
Roya Araghian; Behzad Ghonsooly; Afsaneh Ghanizadeh
Abstract
1. IntroductionGiven the role of affective variables in relatively every facet of human life, the research into the function of self-efficacy systems on individuals’ behavior and performance has recently carried much weight for psychologists and educators. Translation as a higher–order cognitive ...
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1. IntroductionGiven the role of affective variables in relatively every facet of human life, the research into the function of self-efficacy systems on individuals’ behavior and performance has recently carried much weight for psychologists and educators. Translation as a higher–order cognitive task is also viewed both as a process of problem-solving strategies and decision making. More specifically, translation competence in PACTE’s TC model encompasses five sub-competences, among which strategic competence is of utmost importance, playing a pivotal role in solving problems and making interrelations between the other sub-competences. All these sub-competences are also connected to the psycho-physiological component, reflecting cognitive and behavioral, and psychomotor mechanisms. Consequently, self-efficacy and problem-solving strategies can make contributions to each other according to this model. Although translation strategies are of essence to translation process, whereby relevant decisions are made, the available literature shows somehow the neglected field of problem-solving strategies in the field of translation. Therefore, this study tries to investigate this relationship and to determine the way and to what extent translators’ self-efficacy influences the complex process of problem-solving and decision making throughout the translation practice. Self-efficacy, the principal notion of Bandura’s social cognitive theory (1997), is defined as the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to manage prospective situations. In fact, self-efficacy plays a significant role in achieving goals, performing tasks, and approaching challenges. What is more, people’s level of motivation, affective states, and actions are based more on what they believe than on what is objectively true. On the other hand, translation strategies are at the core of translation process; every translation entails a certain strategy and each translator possesses a specific one. Actually, translators face multiple constraints at various levels and stages, which require tapping into more effective decision making and problem-solving strategies; and translators’ self-efficacy perceptions may serve a function on the strategies they choose in their performance. 2. MethodologyA total of 76 translation students of Imam Reza International University and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad participated voluntarily in this study. Their selection was based on convenience sampling. The sample was made up of 19 males (25%), 54 females (71%), and 3 non-mentioned (3.9%) whose first language was Persian. Their background education encompassed BA translation studies and literature in English. The primary purpose of the present inquiry was to develop an inventory scale to examine the probable impact of self-efficacy sense of student translators on their translation strategies. In so doing, two inventory scales of Translation Self-efficacy (TSE) and Translation Problem-solving Strategy (TPSS) in English were designed. The selection of scale items for the self-efficacy questionnaire was based on Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. The earlier version of the questionnaire was also consulted with two translation specialists for the better improvement and clarity of the scale. The construction of translation problem-solving strategy questionnaire was basically a case of the researchers’ personal experience based on their classroom observation of translation students. However, the main focus was on shared translation strategies which are commonly employed and verbally stated by translation students. Moreover, the earlier version of the scale was consulted with two translation teachers who commented on the items.3. DiscussionStatistical analysis indicated that both scales enjoyed validity and reliability. Upon running an exploratory factor analysis to identify interrelationships among items in the scales, a couple of factors were extracted from both questionnaires. As for TSE, 7 factors were loaded and labeled. They were willingness to translate, motivation enhancement for translating, the ineffectiveness of colleagues’ remedial points on reducing motivation, demotivation in facing problems, positive feeling and translation, and having no fear against translating problems. Along with that, 5 factors were extracted from TPSS and labeled as metacognitive strategy (evaluating and designing strategy), reviewing the text in order to simplify next translating, translating then evaluating, reviewing the text prior to translating, and utilizing dictionaries.In order to examine the relationship between students’ self-efficacy and translation strategy scores, the Pearson-Product Moment formula was used between the loaded factors of both questionnaires. Statistical calculations accounted for a significant relation between the first factor of the TPSS questionnaire (i.e. metacognitive strategy) and the first and second factors of the TSE questionnaire (i.e. willingness to translate and also self-assuredness in ability to translate). What is more, using a dictionary made a modest contribution to the enhancement of motivation. An important implication of these findings is that the translation students who showed no concern or stress in facing translation problems were more qualified in designing and evaluating the relevant strategy in translating practice. It was also derived that the enthusiasm and confidence of students in translating were perceived to be inclining toward the application of metacognitive strategies. It can also be inferred that high-efficacious people compared to low-efficacious ones are cognitively and metacognitively aware of their behavior, trust themselves, and are able to control their demeanor and envisage success or failure.4. ConclusionSumming up the results, self-efficacy’s potentiality in the translation domain is evident in this study, which helped to broaden the insight of such tenet in connection with the application of translation problem-solving strategies. More importantly, the extant literature substantiates the findings of the present study as regards the impact of self-efficacy beliefs on stress, self-confidence, willingness, and motivation; therefore, meticulous recognition of the source, nature, significance, and process of efficacy perceptions serves the merit of proposing and developing practical guidelines on improving training and performance of translation students as well as stimulating translation expertise.
Farzaneh Shadloo; Hesamoddin Shahriari Ahmadi; Behzad Ghonsooly
Abstract
1. IntroductionGaining competence in writing academic texts has been considered as a challenging and important task in the process of second and/or foreign language learning; and "this realization is not surprising, given the similar difficulties related to the development of first language (L1) writing ...
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1. IntroductionGaining competence in writing academic texts has been considered as a challenging and important task in the process of second and/or foreign language learning; and "this realization is not surprising, given the similar difficulties related to the development of first language (L1) writing competency" (Whalen & Ménard, 1995, p. 382). As a result, teaching and making language learners aware of common linguistic measures in different kinds of academic registers can be significant and useful. In this regard, Ortega (2003) has suggested that this construct—grammatical complexity—is of significance in "second language research because of the assumption that language development entails, among other processes, the growth of an L2 learner’s syntactic repertoire and her or his ability to use that repertoire appropriately in a variety of situations" (p. 492). Ortega (2003) has also noted that "measures of syntactic complexity are important research tools not only in the field of second language acquisition but in a variety of language-related disciplines" (p. 492). In this regard, some studies have demonstrated that clauses and clausal subordination are the best measures of grammatical complexity. Larsen-Freeman (1978), for example, has pointed out that the "percentage of error-free T-units and the average length of error-free T-units, proved to be the best discriminators among the five levels of ESL proficiency" (p. 439). However, Lu (2011) has noted that previous studies have only analyzed a limited number of measures and therefore there is not enough information available on the best measure(s) for analyzing syntactic complexity in academic prose. Lu (2011) has subsequently classified 14 syntactic complexity features in five categories. These include length of production, sentence complexity, subordination, coordination, and particular structures. As few studies have examined these 14 syntactic complexity measures proposed by Lu (2011), the aim of the present study is to analyze these features in a corpus of argumentative essays written by learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). 2. MethodologyThe present study has made use of a corpus of argumentative essays by EFL learners from three levels of proficiency (upper-intermediate, intermediate, and pre-intermediate). Following this, for analyzing the measures of syntactic complexity, the online L2 syntactic complexity analyzer which is designed by Lu (2010) was employed. Considering its function, this analyzer "produces frequency counts of nine linguistic units in the text—word, sentence, clause, dependent clause, T-unit, complex T-unit, coordinate phrase, complex nominal, and verb phrase—and generates 14 indices of syntactic complexity for the text" (Yang, Lu, & Weigle, 2015, p. 58). In the next stage, the data was entered into the SPSS software and a one-way ANOVA was run. 3. DiscussionThe statistical results of the one-way ANOVA revealed that five features of grammatical complexity show significant differences (p < 0.05). The results also show that features that are related to phrasal complexity can be regarded as a better criterion for assessing grammatical complexity in essays compared to features of subordination, coordination, or sentence complexity. The results of the present study are in line with the findings of Biber and Gray (2013) and Biber, Gray, and Poonpon (2011) who underscored the importance of phrasal and noun phrasal complexity in academic prose. In analyzing three types of texts, namely argumentative, descriptive, and narrative texts, Lu (2010) also found that mean length of T-unit, mean length of clause, complex nominals per T-unit and complex nominals per clause show a statistically significant difference. Therefore, Lu (2011) has suggested that there is a need for more studies to analyze phrasal complexity.4. ConclusionThe results of the current study are of considerable significance for the evaluation of argumentative essays written by EFL learners. Therefore, becoming more familiar with grammatical complexity measures of academic writing may lead to more comprehensive and thorough assessment. Moreover, writing instructors can make their learners aware of the importance of noun phrasal complexity in their writing. It could also be of great benefit if material developers and language instructors were to highlight the differences among various registers of academic writing while teaching grammar lessons. In this regard, Biber, Conrad, and Reppen (1994) have mentioned that there is no "single register that can be identified as 'general English', and that advanced instruction based on our intuitions about 'general' or 'core' English is not likely to provide adequate exposure to the actual linguistic patterns found in the target registers" (p. 183). As a result of this suggestion, future studies are recommended to concentrate on features of grammatical complexity in different registers of academic writing.
Elham Naji Meidani; Reza Pishghadam; Behzad Ghonsooly; Azar Hosseini Fatemi
Abstract
1. IntroductionIn our age of speed and communication, time plays an important role in all dimensions of our lives. Globalization, which has brought about intensity of human relations, has raised the value of time. Time is a complex concept which has developed a specific meaning in every culture and society. ...
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1. IntroductionIn our age of speed and communication, time plays an important role in all dimensions of our lives. Globalization, which has brought about intensity of human relations, has raised the value of time. Time is a complex concept which has developed a specific meaning in every culture and society. People's conceptions about time have such high significance that some perceive them as the type of culture those people live in. Levine (1997) contended that a culture’s basic value system can be reflected in its norms and beliefs about time; thereby time is considered a social construct. English language teachers and learners deal with English culture, in which time is highly valued. Using Bourdieu's (1984) terms, they are in a "field" in which time and punctuality are important, and which being punctual can turn into a "habitus". Therefore, it is assumed that because of their familiarity with English culture, these two groups may have different conceptions towards time and a critical view towards how time is managed in the Iranian society and the educational system.2. MethodologyTo collect the required data, face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted in Persian. The interviews were all conducted in language institutes. The number of participants was not set a priori and with 8 language teachers and 10 language learners saturation point was gained. The language teachers and learners were all teaching and learning at English language institutes in Mashhad, respectively. A set of eight questions was designed regarding the participants' sociological conceptions of time. The first five items were broad, general questions, and the researcher added complementary questions in the course of the interview. The last three questions consisted of three hypothesized scenarios based on White, Valk, and Dialmy's (2011) study, in which the interviewees were asked how late each person in the scenario can come late. The social relationships in three situations were designed based on Scollon and Scollon (2001). Therefore, three relationships were taken into account: deference, solidarity, and hierarchy.3. ResultsOverall, the findings revealed that both teachers and learners are dissatisfied with time management in the educational system and everyday culture and they themselves have not been influenced by English culture's punctuality. The themes extracted from the interviews were the following: lack of adequate attention to time in the educational system, high potentiality for waste of time in language classes, a passive attitude towards time in Iranian culture and society, having the right to be late based on social relationships, thinking about the future and not the present, and not being influenced by western culture's punctuality.4. DiscussionDue to their particular characteristics, English language classes have a different environment from other classes. Examples of these characteristics include: discussing various topics, doing group work, and having a friendly and fun environment (see Pishghadam, Zabihi, & Shayesteh, 2015). The aforementioned features increase the level of subjectivity in English language teaching (ELT) classes and learners try to present their ideas and opinions. They certainly do have many advantages for learners and can increase their creativity, emotional intelligence, willingness to communicate, and social skills. However, if management is not properly done, these positive points can lead to a waste of time in the classroom. Some learners' over talking lead to feelings of dissatisfaction in the others and decreases the efficiency of the class. The other issue mentioned in the interviews was error correction. What seems important is that error correction should not take up too much of classtime. A particular aspect of English language classes is the comparison of learners' home culture with the target culture. Unfortunately, past research has revealed that this point often brings about deculturaltion in learners and even teachers (Pishghadam & Navari, 2009; Pishghadam & Saboori, 2011; Rahimi, 2011; Shahasavandi, Ghonsooly, & Kamyabi, 2010). It appears that learners and teachers pay attention to the negative aspects of Western culture and become influenced by it, but they do not show much interest in the positive aspects, such as punctuality and time management. The results revealed that in two types of relationship lateness was considered acceptable, namely, solidarity and hierarchy. In case of solidarity, the close relationship that exists between the two sides allows for the tolerance of unpunctuality. This can be explained by the fact the Iran is a high-context culture (Hofstede, 1986). Similarly, the hierarchical context allows for acceptance of unpunctuality of the superior by the inferiors. A contradiction found in the results is that although the interviewees showed dissatisfaction towards the delay of instructors in appointments, when they were put in the hypothetical scenario and asked about how late a university instructor can come, they mentioned long periods. This point demonstrates that in our society, the cultural aspect can be more favored that the moral or reasonable aspect. As the findings of the interviews revealed, the basis of inadequate attention to time is culture. Time is an important concept in the field of language learning with many applications. Since learning English has become a necessity nowadays, there is a need for speed in learning to reach the required credits as soon as possible. Therefore, more research should be done in line with this study.
Naeemeh Kharaghani; Behzad Ghonsooly; Parviz Birjandi
Abstract
1. IntroductionFor many students reading is the most important of the four skills in a foreign language. If we consider the study of English as a second or foreign language around the world and the situation in which most English learners find themselves, we recognize that reading is one of the main ...
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1. IntroductionFor many students reading is the most important of the four skills in a foreign language. If we consider the study of English as a second or foreign language around the world and the situation in which most English learners find themselves, we recognize that reading is one of the main reasons why students learn the language (Richards & Renandya, 2002).Researchers believe that there are some common factors which influence L2 reading comprehension.One of them is individual factors which include “L1 knowledge, language proficiency, the use of strategy, knowledge of different text types and pragmatics, metalinguistic knowledge, background knowledge, and motivation”(Alderson, 2000, p.60 as cited in Orbea & Villabeitia, 2010).However, according to Dornyei (2005), the effect of individual differences (ID) is produced in interaction with the environment, including classroom instruction and interaction with teachers and classmates. Therefore, the present study is designed to shed light on the effect and interaction of Iranian EFL learners’ level of motivation (as one of the factors of individual differences) with the type of instruction based on receiving reciprocal teaching and cooperative grouping intervention program. The results showed that the intervention changed motivation for reading efficacy, reading challenge, reading curiosity, competition in reading, recognition for reading, reading for grades, social reasons for reading and compliance.2. MethodologyThis study was based on a quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest design. The participants were not randomly assigned to groups but rather belonged to whole classes.There were four groups of participants. The control groups received the typical reading instruction and the experimental groups received the intervention.The study took 14 sessions of 90 minutes during a semester. Meanwhile, in order to control the effect of the text type on reading comprehension, the textbook of all groups was the same.3. DiscussionThe results of the study show that the type of intervention is effective on reading comprehension ability of Iranian English learners. Therefore, the significant feature of the intervention which includes interaction between the teacher and the students could be considered as a key point in the process of instruction. Meanwhile, the results highlight the great influence of scaffolding as the fundamental element of the intervention. Scaffolding in the process of instruction provides opportunities for learners to improve their language knowledge and to become autonomous (Ellis, 2003).In this regard, Walqui (2006) suggests six main types of instructional scaffolding. One of them is modeling which is used in reciprocal teaching and cooperative grouping intervention program. In addition, the study reminds us of the significant role of motivation. The intervention changes motivation for reading efficacy, reading challenge, reading curiosity, competition in reading, recognition for reading, reading for grades, social reasons for reading and compliance. Therefore, as Guthrie, Cox, Knowles, Buehl, Mazzoni, & Fasculo (2000) mentions, language learners with high intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy as well as competition and challenge are moderately active readers and high achievers in the process of reading comprehension.4. ConclusionThis study highlights the significant role of interaction and cooperation .The related literature in educational field shows that there is a significant relationship between applying reading strategies(through reciprocal teaching and cooperative grouping intervention program) and improvement in reading comprehension ability of language learners(Topping, Thurston, Tomlie, Christie, Murray, & Karagiannidou, 2011).The results would be highly beneficial for instructors and course designers since they could form authentic and real-life contexts in which the learners would be more involved in problem solving tasks and critical thinking activities. This area of attempt needs special attention in Iran since educators do not focus on the importance of interaction and negotiation; therefore, we face reluctant readers who prefer to work individually. The practice of reciprocal teaching and cooperative intervention program would facilitate the relation between teacher and students and between students themselves.On the other hand, learners with different features learn in different ways and give different feedback to the instruction. Therefore, instructors should prepare the learning contexts by considering learners’ individual differences in a way that the environment would satisfy each learner’s needs. Each learner with his/her own unique characteristic would like to know the course objectives and the instructor’s plan during the course. Therefore, preparing a concise lesson plan with all the explanations and details improve learners’ level of motivation and enable them to complete their tasks including reading ones in the process of instruction. Meanwhile, lack of motivation and interest towards the reading activities in the classrooms would be the result of the instructional techniques which are employed. Therefore, instruction should include a selection of appealing activities .Also, the content should be related to the learners’ educational backgrounds and level of motivation so that they could become more motivated and encouraged in the process of learning (Tomlinson, 2003).
Parisa Taheri; Majid Elahi Shirvan; Behzad Ghonsooly; Ahmad Saffar Moghadam
Abstract
In today’s multiculturally interconnected world, cultural understanding is the key to communication and a buffer to communication breakdown. That is, the objectives of language learning cannot be viewed as a mainly linguistic task anymore; they should be directed towards achievement of intercultural ...
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In today’s multiculturally interconnected world, cultural understanding is the key to communication and a buffer to communication breakdown. That is, the objectives of language learning cannot be viewed as a mainly linguistic task anymore; they should be directed towards achievement of intercultural communicative competence. Therefore, the foreign language teachers should utilize and promote the acquisition of intercultural competence in their learners. However, they themselves, in the first place, ought to be sufficiently familiar with the foreign cultures of the language they teach. Hence, the rational of this study was to explore how familiar Iranian teachers are with the foreign cultures and to what extent they are prepared for teaching intercultural competence. On the other hand, this study addresses teachers’ perceptions of their pupils’ language-and-culture learning profile as well. To do so, 120 Iranian English teachers teaching in private English institutes of Mashhad were asked to answer the sections 4 and 5 of a survey entitled ‘Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural Competence’ organized by Lies Sercu (2005). The findings revealed that teachers need additional familiarity and preparation to interculturalize their foreign language education and improve their students’ culture learning profile in terms of intercultural competence.
