Language Education
Asieh Amini; Hiwa Weisi
Abstract
The realm of foreign language acquisition emphasizes the affective dimension of learning rather than only cognitive. This affective turn has focused on how EFL students’ emotions affect learning a new language and culture, as well as identity development. This survey article examines the kinds ...
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The realm of foreign language acquisition emphasizes the affective dimension of learning rather than only cognitive. This affective turn has focused on how EFL students’ emotions affect learning a new language and culture, as well as identity development. This survey article examines the kinds of emotions students experience, the causes of emotions and their potential effects on learning, based on the emotioncy model. Ten students majoring in English participated in cognitive interviews and they were asked to elaborate on the tensions they might have encountered or are currently encountering. Based on the interview results, emotioncy management is one of the instructors’ abilities that plays a significant role in the process of foreign identity development. Further, in order to facilitate successful learning, emotioncy should be materialized to the practical level to be an apropos signifier in meeting students’ emotional needs.
Ghasem Modarresi
Abstract
To date, some research has been carried out on Persian neologisms from linguistics, linguistic typology or sociolinguistics perspectives; however, research from a psycholinguistic perspective offers new insights into Persian neologisms and their foreign equivalents. Employing the concept of emotioncy ...
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To date, some research has been carried out on Persian neologisms from linguistics, linguistic typology or sociolinguistics perspectives; however, research from a psycholinguistic perspective offers new insights into Persian neologisms and their foreign equivalents. Employing the concept of emotioncy (emotioncy+frequency of senses), the present study compares the cultural weight of seven Persian neologisms and their foreign equivalents to discover why the public accept or reject the words, approved by the academy of Persian language and literature. Moreover, the study examines the role of their native language in the application of these words. To this end, 223 participants in the quantitative phase and 61 participants in the qualitative phase of the study were selected from the public based on convenience sampling and data saturation to participate in the study. The study follows a sequential mixed-methods design which consists of qualitative and quantitively phases to collect the relevant data. The results of the t-test show that there is a significant difference between the six pairs in terms of emotioncy. Moreover, the results of One-way ANOVA confirm that there is a significant difference in three of the selected words with respect to the native language of the speakers, including Persian, Kurdish and Turkish in terms of emotioncy. After determining the inter-rater agreement and inter-rater reliability of the data, the qualitative results reveal 16 reasons for the acceptance of the foreign equivalents, such as positive association, beautiful-sounding words and high frequency. Also, eight reasons for the non-acceptance of the Persian neologisms are identified like negative association, hard sounding words and low frequency. Indeed, to promote the acceptance and application of neologisms, the academy of Persian language and literature should take not only linguistic but also psycho-sociolinguistics issues into consideration.
Shaghayegh Shayesteh
Abstract
Given the differences between first language and second language learning in adults, simulating first language learning can help us have an improved picture of the nature of second language learning. During first language learning, we learn the concepts in our interactions with the immediate environment. ...
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Given the differences between first language and second language learning in adults, simulating first language learning can help us have an improved picture of the nature of second language learning. During first language learning, we learn the concepts in our interactions with the immediate environment. In second language learning, however, the relevant world knowledge is transferred from the first language and we only learn the word knowledge. Thus, in the current study, we sought to simulate first language learning and introduce the null experimental research method with its roots in the emotioncy model. This research method applies to those studies in which adult language learners deal with some concepts that they have no knowledge about and begin to learn them in the class. Reviewing the conventional research methods, we explained the null experimental research method and provided an example from an electroencephalography (EEG) experiment. The behavioral and electrophysiological results revealed that, as we have more interactions with the sensory environment, the retrieval of word knowledge and world knowledge is facilitated.
Haniyeh Jajarmi; Reza Pishghadam; Sahar Moghimi
Abstract
Repetition, as an effective way to learn vocabulary, has long been the subject of language instruction. However, it seems that the effective number of repetitions in language classrooms has been less considered by the linguistic research and consequently language instructors. Capitalizing on the emotioncy ...
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Repetition, as an effective way to learn vocabulary, has long been the subject of language instruction. However, it seems that the effective number of repetitions in language classrooms has been less considered by the linguistic research and consequently language instructors. Capitalizing on the emotioncy (emotion+ frequency) concept, this study investigates the effective number of word repetitions in class and based on a review of research in linguistic areas and cognitive psychology, it elucidates the spaced repetition method. To this end, 100 participants with intermediate proficiency level were randomly assigned to five groups (1, 2, 3, 4, and no repetition(s)). Then, 15 words about which the participants knew nothing were taught. To compare the results of the retention test of the five groups, one-way ANOVA was utilized. The findings demonstrated a significant difference in favor of the two repetitions group. Therefore, two spaced repetitions, along with the learners' emotioncy level towards the new words can play a pivotal role in vocabulary learning in language classrooms.
Zahra Jahani; Shima Ebrahimi; Samira Bameshki
Abstract
Books written about the history of Persian language appears to focus on transferring knowledge to students only. Despite the significance of students’ needs and their individual differences as well as their personality traits, books have failed to take into account these factors. Of these considerations, ...
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Books written about the history of Persian language appears to focus on transferring knowledge to students only. Despite the significance of students’ needs and their individual differences as well as their personality traits, books have failed to take into account these factors. Of these considerations, mentions could be made of emotions and feelings of students as they largely contribute to positive learning. Emotioncy (emotion + frequency) stresses on emotions evoked by the senses from which we receive inputs, hence learning happens. It stands on a hierarchical matrix of six levels, including Null (0), Auditory (1), Visual (2), Kinesthetic (3), Inner (4), and Arch (5) or more specifically, avolvement (null) and exvolvement (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic) to involvement (inner and arch). Drawing on the concept of emotioncy, the present study aims at analyzing and evaluating the content of books written about the history of Persian language. The corpus of the investigation consists of five academic books, namely, The History of Persian Language (by Natel-Khanlari), The History of Persian language (by Abolghasemi), The Brief History of Persian language (by Bagheri) and the History of Iranian Languages (by Rezaei Bagh Bidi). Different levels of emotioncy were examined in the above-mentioned books and the analysis was guided with Chi-squared tests. The findings suggest that there are significant differences among the books in terms of employing emotioncy; therefore, new or updated content would benefit the books. It appears that the employment of emotioncy in drafting books about the history of Persian language could facilitate learning for students as they become emotionally engaged with the teaching content, hence the learnt materials are easily transferred to permanent memory.
Sahar Tabatabaee Farani; Reza Pishghadam; Sahar Moghimi
Abstract
There is no doubt that reading comprehension is one of the main skills of English language that plays a significant role in learning. Foreign language reading anxiety is one of the issues that can affect the quality of reading comprehension. Researchers have identified several factors such as different ...
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There is no doubt that reading comprehension is one of the main skills of English language that plays a significant role in learning. Foreign language reading anxiety is one of the issues that can affect the quality of reading comprehension. Researchers have identified several factors such as different writing systems, and cultural issues that may be anxiety provoking while the language learners are reading foreign language texts. Given the significant role of positive and negative emotions in the process of language learning, the language learner’s level of emotioncy regarding the content of the reading comprehension text can be considered as another factor that can cause foreign language reading anxiety. Emotioncy that consists of sense, emotion, and frequency deals with different emotions about linguistic items that language learners form due to different sensory experiences they have already had about those items. The present study tries to introduce engaging the five senses of language learners, and improving their emotioncy level for the content of reading comprehension text as possible solutions to control foreign language reading anxiety. Further studies are required to determine different types of emotioncy, and the appropriate order and combination of the five senses to control foreign language reading anxiety.
Aida Firoozyan Pour Esfehani
Abstract
The present research attempts to present emotioncy (emotion+ frequency) as a newly developed concept in psychology, which has been employed in various fields including literature, language education, and lexicography. In this research, it is hypothetised that this concept can be employed in the realm ...
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The present research attempts to present emotioncy (emotion+ frequency) as a newly developed concept in psychology, which has been employed in various fields including literature, language education, and lexicography. In this research, it is hypothetised that this concept can be employed in the realm of audiovisual translation as well. Emotioncy deals with sense-induced emotions which can affect viewers’ interpretation of the audiovisual products. It is defined as a hierarchy, ranging from exvolvement (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic) to involvement (inner and arch), to emphasize the emotions evoked by the viewers’ audio and visual senses. In fact, emotioncy deals with the ways (e.g., visually or kinesthetically) individuals experience the world, which can affect and shape their mindsets. Concerning the emotional factors, the major claim of this exploratory study is that high levels of emotioncy can lead to more reception of audiovisual products. In fact, when the users of such products have higher levels of emotioncy for specific words applied in the subtitled or dubbed versions (viewers at the higher levels of emotioncy), they will be more involved in the process of reception. In other words, in the subtitled or dubbed versions of audiovisual translation products, high-emotioncy words are preferred by the viewers, as they seem to be easier for reception on the part of the audience. In the end, emotioncy is suggested as a novel concept in audiovisual translation, which may introduce new lines of research.
Reza Pishghadam; Shima Ebrahimi; Golshan Shakeebaee
Abstract
"Capital" is an important sociological concept, which shows how the objective structures of any given society (social rules, norms, roles, institutions, and cultural instruments) can influence the mental structures of individuals and their social behaviors. The most important capitals are economic, cultural, ...
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"Capital" is an important sociological concept, which shows how the objective structures of any given society (social rules, norms, roles, institutions, and cultural instruments) can influence the mental structures of individuals and their social behaviors. The most important capitals are economic, cultural, social, and natural capitals that can influence the learners’ motivation, attention, behavior, attitudes, and beliefs. Since the senses can be considered as a gateway to understanding the linguistic community and due to a close connection between them and the level of learner's emotions, the present study aimed to introduce emo-sensory capital and investigate its relationship with other forms of capitals in successful language learning. The results showed that using social, cultural, and natural capitals will increase the emo-sensory-capital in learners, which consequently leads to inter-subjectivity and facilitates learning. Therefore, instructors can use such capitals to engage the learners’ senses more deeply and increase their positive emotions, attention, and motivation. It is assumed that in this way, the content will be internalized and the learner will be more inclined to be more engaged in an active communication.
Shima Ebrahimi; Azam Estaji; Reza Pishghadam; Seyyed Amir Aminyazdi
Abstract
1. IntroductionTeaching Persian language to non-Persian speakers has various purposes such as making them familiar with the Iranian culture and customs, establishing more interpersonal interactions, enhancing business and professional communication, and finally increasing mutual understanding between ...
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1. IntroductionTeaching Persian language to non-Persian speakers has various purposes such as making them familiar with the Iranian culture and customs, establishing more interpersonal interactions, enhancing business and professional communication, and finally increasing mutual understanding between two cultures. Persian language classes and instructors play a fundamental role in satisfying the mentioned goals through modifying the learners’ attitudes. Attitude, as a set of beliefs, emotions, and behavioral intentions toward an object, a person, or an event, significantly influences the language learners’ overall success or failure. One of the factors influencing students’ attitudes is involving their senses and emotions. A pertinent concept which juxtaposes senses and their resultant emotions is emotioncy. Drawing upon the emotioncy model, in this study, the researchers made an attempt to teach Persian language cultural issues and, thereafter investigate the effect of this model on the attitudes of the Persian learners and their learning outcome. The concept of emotioncy was first introduced by Pishghadam, Tabatabaeyan, and Navari (2013). This model is based on the psychological findings of the developmental individual- differences relationship-based (DIR) model, and it assumes that emotions are the foundation of evolution and learning (Greenspan & Weider, 1997). According to the emotioncy model of Pishghadam (2015), when a language learner has never heard of a subject, s/he has no emotion for it (null emotioncy). When s/he hears about the subject, the degree of emotioncy of that word moves from the null to the auditory level, and if he sees or even touches that item, then the emotioncy can be raised from the auditory level to the visual and kinesthetic levels, respectively. If his experiences of this subject increase, in the next steps, the inner emotioncy of the word is created, and the learner can achieve an arch emotioncy by doing research. At this stage, an accurate understanding of the subject will be formed which will lead to profound learning.2. MethodologyIn the present study, the results of interviews with 60 non-Persian language learners from 16 countries (including India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Turkey, Egypt, Madagascar, Burundi, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Libya, Tajikistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Guinea-Bissau, Syria, and Indonesia) who were studying at Al-Mostafa International University were analyzed. To get the most information and a deep understanding of the participants' attitude, the learners were not selected randomly, but they were all purposefully selected from a group with similar relative knowledge of Persian. All participants in the study were non-Persian and female. They were between 17 and 30 years old (M= 23.5). The level of fluency in the Persian language was the same for all of them (Book Seven). All were studying at Al-Mostafa International University, and on average, one year had passed from their presence in Iran. Semi-structured interviews were used as for the qualitative phase. Based on the cultural topic taught in each class, with "Why" and "How" questions (Dornyei, 2007) students were asked to express their feelings about the topic and then to provide more explanations about their answers in two minutes. Therefore, according to the purpose of the study, their positive or negative attitudes toward the subject taught in the class were determined, and the change in their attitudes toward learning was evaluated. Four different cultural issues which were selected are as follows: "Yazd badgir" (Yazd windproof), "Ajil-e-moshgelgosha" (problem-solving nuts), "Mirzaqasemi" (a kind of Iranian food), "Zal and Simorgh's Story". Learners did not have any information about these subjects being completely related to the Iranian's culture and customs. The subjects were taught in four classes (each class included 15 learners), by the same lecturer according to the different levels of the emotioncy model (Pishghadam, 2015) and in 6 sessions (each session lasted 50 minutes including 20 minutes of teaching and 30 minutes of interviewing ( two minutes per participant)). Subsequent to teaching each subject, an interview was conducted to determine the participants' attitudes and emotions towards learning based on the emotioncy model.3. DiscussionThe results of the answers related to the auditory session showed that the learners did not have an effective relationship with the subject during this session and did not have a very positive attitude toward the subjects taught. According to the received responses, the observed results at the visual stage improved. The change in the attitude of the learners from negative to positive was also evident in the kinesthetic sessions. At this stage, since there was a more active engagement of the language learner with the subject, we also monitored a deeper attitude toward the subject, and the language learners gave convincing reasons for their responses and emotional experiences. In the fifth session (inner), having brought the necessary and relevant subjects into the class, the instructor asked the learners to simulate the subject taught. In the final session (Arch), the learners were asked to explore the resources available (cyberspace, library, etc.) about the topics taught during the fifth session (inner session). 4. ConclusionIn the emotioncy model proposed by Pishghadam (2015), levels of avolvement, exvolvement (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic), and involvement (inner and arch) are considered separately based on the subjects’ emotional experiences. That is, to teach a subject and gradually increase the level of emotion of an individual, six sessions are required to allow the learner to reach the desired level. However, according to the model proposed in this study, due to the time constraints, the small number of teaching sessions for each book, and the skills mentioned therein, it was not necessary to hold separate sessions at the exvolvement stage in teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers. Because the results of the study showed that learners can reach the desired level leading to positive attitudes by participating in involvement (inner and arch) sessions. Therefore, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic sessions could be integrated into the inner session simultaneously, and during the inner session, the tools used for all auditory, visual, and kinesthetic sessions were also used. According to the mentioned model, a teacher can engage students' emotions when teaching different subjects of the Persian language, especially cultural subjects. The teacher can integrate all aforementioned sessions while stimulating visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, etc. senses. so that learners learn more effectively. In addition, recommended strategies can be useful for Persian language instructors, textbook authors, and holders of Persian language workshops to provide them with appropriate materials for teaching.
