Elnaz Pakar; Ali Khazaee Farid
Abstract
Over the past one hundred and fifty years, due to a huge number of translations from different languages into Persian, certain norms of language use have changed and certain others are in the process of changing. As one of the most frequent syntactic properties of most languages, especially English, ...
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Over the past one hundred and fifty years, due to a huge number of translations from different languages into Persian, certain norms of language use have changed and certain others are in the process of changing. As one of the most frequent syntactic properties of most languages, especially English, the nominal style is a most likely candidate for transfer through translation into Persian, a language in which the use of the verbal style is admittedly more dominant. This research addresses the following question: since literalism is the prevailing translation method in Iran, is there a tendency towards the nominal style in non-literary translated texts? To this end, two large corpora of translated and original Persian texts of expository nature were selected. The former group consisted of translations done by both famous and not very famous translators. The purpose of examining the translations was to find out which style was dominant: nominal or verbal. A comparison of the corpora showed that in original Persian books as well as translated books done by well-known translators, there was a tendency toward the verbal style as the number of nominal sentences found in these books was very low. But in the texts translated by not very famous translators, the number of nominal sentences was significantly higher than the number of verbal sentences.
Nadia Ghazanfari Moghaddam; Mohammad Reza Hashemi
Abstract
Language is a system by which all sorts of thoughts and concepts are transmitted and exchanged. On the other hand, translation performs like a tool which eases this exchange of information and makes it interculturally possible. Yet, the translation of cultural terms and concepts has always been a tricky ...
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Language is a system by which all sorts of thoughts and concepts are transmitted and exchanged. On the other hand, translation performs like a tool which eases this exchange of information and makes it interculturally possible. Yet, the translation of cultural terms and concepts has always been a tricky area of translation practice, and for which numerous translation strategies have been proposed. Newmark has also contributed to this area of translation and suggested many strategies and even classifications. Newmark divides cultural terms and concepts into five categories which assumingly should apply for almost all cultural terms. Through a quantitative and qualitative study we attempted to investigate the application of Newmark's Cultural Categories on Persian cultural terms and concepts. To fulfill this aim, three short stories by Jalal- Ale- Ahmad ( which were enriched with cultural terms and concepts) were selected as the corpus of the present study. At the end, based on the extracted and later analyzed data, the five categories although quite handy, did not apply on all Persian cultural terms and concepts. Eventually, three categories were suggested to compensate the Newmark's model.
Saba Azimi
Abstract
Meena Alexander, a contemporary Indian-American writer and a professor of English Literature and Women’s Studies. The criticism of Dr. Alexander’s poetry and prose brings in many issues that draws upon poststructuralism and postcolonialism. To mention a few, the negotiation of fragmented ...
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Meena Alexander, a contemporary Indian-American writer and a professor of English Literature and Women’s Studies. The criticism of Dr. Alexander’s poetry and prose brings in many issues that draws upon poststructuralism and postcolonialism. To mention a few, the negotiation of fragmented identity, the problem of belonging, and the challenge of living in a female body are among her concerns. What makes the representation of the body in her writings more problematic is the language of this representation which is a colonial language.
Nasser Maleki; Maryam Navidi
Abstract
Friedrich Schleiermacher was the first who introduced hermeneutics in two branches including comparison and association, the former is based on comparison of concepts, and words, and the later is physical objectification of concepts. In fact, it is association of ideas, a new method to get rid of the ...
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Friedrich Schleiermacher was the first who introduced hermeneutics in two branches including comparison and association, the former is based on comparison of concepts, and words, and the later is physical objectification of concepts. In fact, it is association of ideas, a new method to get rid of the traditional concepts. Therefore the new method leads to the innovative interpretations and illustrations which are suspended to be revealed, hence it produces what Derrida called Difference, Privileging here the hermeneutics of suspicion, the function of differences or contrasts refers to what Derrida extrapolated as Differance or to differ. These innovative ways of looking at the world, pave the way for new perceptions which are not revealed promptly, instead, challenges and penetrates the readers to discover the new conception which further makes some lingering in the new perception. In this sense, the slowness of new perception can become the other manifestation of Derridaian term, Différance(defer). Considering such a postmodern prospective in mind, this study is to illustrate these manifestations in some of the poems by John Keats. The authors of this paper believe that the essence or the motifs in most of the artistic works of these two poets respond to a dualistic notion which is – or might be – an ongoing process in literary criticism. This study tries to compare hermeneutics and Différance in some of Keats’s poems and it shows the relation among speech act theory and hermeneutics and Différance in his poems.
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.
Sepideh Rahimpour; Elaheh Sotoudehnama; Mohammad Dabir Moghadddam
Abstract
1. IntroductionIt is believed that we can provide our learners with the appropriate language devices in writing through which they can increase their knowledge of linguistic and structural pattern in written texts. Besides, concepts such as identity and culture are included in written texts. Therefore, ...
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1. IntroductionIt is believed that we can provide our learners with the appropriate language devices in writing through which they can increase their knowledge of linguistic and structural pattern in written texts. Besides, concepts such as identity and culture are included in written texts. Therefore, it is essential to focus on identity in education. In other words, writers show their identities in their writings. Consequently, when researchers write their research articles they manifest their professional identities in their academic writings. However, there has been little focus on this essential concept. Thus, the current study seeks to address this gap in the language education domain, and investigates how mixed methods researchers project their identities into research articles written in English from the point of view of Critical Discourse Analysis.2. MethodologyFour mixed methods research articles written in English were selected among different research articles published in leading applied linguistics journals including and to be analyzed. In order to have a framework to analyze the data, we devised a model of researcher identity from previous taxonomies in CDA including the patterns of inclusion / exclusion, activation / passivation, and individualization/ assimilation (van Leeuwen, 2008), transitivity pattern (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004), the why this way and not that way tool, the significance building tool, the relationships building tool, the connections building tool, the intertextuality tool (Gee, 2014), the code glosses tool, and the self-mentions tool (Hyland, 2004). Afterwards, based on the devised model, we analyzed the corpus critically to see whether mixed methods researchers have a particular pattern to project their identities into their writings. To do so, the main social actors were identified. In other words, teacher, learner, and textbook were identified as denominators. 3. DiscussionThe theme of these four mixed methods research articles was “teacher education”. Data analysis showed that the mixed methods researchers tried to follow the pre-determined format of article writing; however, they added few sections related to their own article. In other words, they tried to have the pre-determined sections such as introduction, methodology, results, and discussion. They added few sections which were specifically related to the topic of their article. Furthermore, considering the employment of social actors it was found that “teacher”, and “textbook” were included more than being excluded but this is not the case regarding “learner”. This can be due to the fact that the mixed methods researchers intended to deemphasize the role of learners in their writings. Moreover, “teacher” was the most included social actor with the “textbook” in the second position and the “learner” in the third position. This shows the fact that since the theme of the articles was teacher education, the authors tried to include “teachers” more than “leaners” and “textbooks” to show the important role of the teacher in any educational system. Furthermore, they focused on “textbook” as a non-human social actor in their writing and they included it more than excluded. In addition, the activation/passivation pattern indicates that the occurrence of activation regarding “teacher” is nearly similar to the occurrence of passivation which shows that the mixed methods researchers were conservative in employing active and passive voice in their writing regarding “teacher” and tried to show the teacher as a dynamic force in some parts of their writing regarding actions such as complimenting, performing, arguing, etc. and as the object of the verb regarding actions such as controlling, observing, comparing, etc. in other parts of the texts to have an unbiased viewpoint. It is worth mentioning that the writers employed different ways in representing the pattern of individualization/assimilation. “Teacher” was assimilated more than being individualized. Concerning learners, similar pattern could be seen. Concerning transitivity, we can see that authors employed mental, material, behavioral, and relational processes more than the verbal process. Also, the writers used relative clauses to help the readers grasp the concepts in the texts better. They, similarly, used frame markers to refer to discourse acts and stages in the argument; it means that they explicitly refer to discourse shifts or text stages. The authors also employed hedges which indicate the author’s doubt. Moreover, the writers used attitude markers to show the importance of the different concepts and their attitude to the textual information. The reason for using attitude markers can be that mixed methods researchers might use this tool when they are relying greatly on their personal convictions and ideas in order to influence their readers. Additionally, they used engagement markers to have a relationship with their readers, and they employed transitions almost frequently in their research articles. The writers employed these devices in their writings so that they can show their readers how different parts of texts were connected to one another. These researchers also used evidentials to document their claims, and to give credit to the people whose ideas were used in texts. On the other hand, they tried not to use evidentials very frequently since they might feel that using frequent citations indicate lack of originality. In addition, they did not use code glosses very frequently in their writings. Therefore, they thought that the reader could realize the intended meaning of the elements in text; so, there was no need to elaborate on it more by using these devices. Besides, they used self-mention devices showing that although they did not try to show their presence explicitly in most parts of their writings, they had a balance in that regard and whenever they found it necessary they used self-mentions rather than other terms such as “the researcher” to show their powerful authorial presence. 4. ConclusionThis study tried to examine how mixed methods applied linguistics researcher’s project their identities into their research articles. The results seem to imply that they followed certain patterns in their articles by using specific linguistic devices. They employed all subdivisions of the devised model. We couldn’t find any study on researcher identity; however, we found different studies in the field of identity in general, and this study was in line with these previous studies. The findings of the current study would be beneficial for language teachers, learners, and educators to help them become more self-conscious about representing their identities in the content of the textbooks and research articles. One of the strengths of this study, therefore, is that it gives hints to the writers that their readers learn beyond their words; and in research articles they not only present informational content, but also they represent their identities.
Binazir Khajepoor; Ali Khazaee Farid; Masood Khoshsaligheh
Abstract
1. IntroductionThis study investigates the relationship between culture and translation. The concept of Culture Repertoire advocated by Even-Zohar was used as the framework of the study, and the English translation of the Persian novel My Uncle Napoleon was selected as the case study. This novel as the ...
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1. IntroductionThis study investigates the relationship between culture and translation. The concept of Culture Repertoire advocated by Even-Zohar was used as the framework of the study, and the English translation of the Persian novel My Uncle Napoleon was selected as the case study. This novel as the corpus under investigation contains over 230,000 words in 462 pages. Given the focus and attention the book has received, it is an appropriate case for investigating the Iranian culture as it is obviously rich with symbols representing the local culture. The theoretical framework elaborates on the root and the origin of Culture Repertoire by drawing on the Jacobsen’s linguistic model. In addition, the concept of Culture Repertoire as a part of Even-Zohar’ cultural conception is delineated with examples and clarifying explanations.2. MethodologyThis descriptive study is an attempt to address two questions. First, it explores the categories of Iranian culture repertoremes and secondly the attitude of the Iranian translators towards them. To explore the fixed expressions in Persian language, a number of specialized websites in Persian poetry, the Holy Quran, and a number of major religious-literary texts were reviewed. In addition to these sources, some software programs for literary and religious texts were also benefitted. To obtain the translated English phrases, the Coca Corpus, which is the largest available English corpus was used in addition to Webster’s Big Dictionary. But to collect the data from the original text and the translated one, taking notes was benefited. Due to the qualitative nature of the study, purposive sampling technique was used for forming the sample and later grounded theory procedures were employed to analyze the data. That is, the culture repertoremes in the source text along with their translations were extracted, and then using grounded theory, the Iranian cultural repertoire diagram was plotted. More specifically, each repertoreme, depending on the type, got a label and the given labels were in the same category, and the resulting chart thus was formed from the bottom up. For example, the label ‘religious proper names’ including items like Imam Reza and the label ‘historic proper names’ including items such as Muhammad Ali Shah were placed under the general subsidiary label ‘proper names’.3. DiscussionThe achieved diagram comprises two main branches of material and semiotic repertoremes at the highest level which is consistent with the Even-Zohar’s conceptualization. Material items included repertoremes from which the materials are formed such as certain types of food in different cultures, or conventional clothing items such as the repertoreme Charghad in the Iranian culture. Semiotic repertoremes consist of items which hearing, reading, expressing, or using them strike an idea in the mind of the people of a particular culture whereas the people of other cultures are not reminded of anything. For example, a location-related proper name label such as Ahwaz has special connotations and indications with itself for the Iranian people—the concepts of the south, heat, war, etc. But for someone who was born and raised in London, for example, Ahwaz does not stimulate anything in particular because that person draws on a different cultural repertoire. In the branch of semiotic repertoremes, all fixed expressions, innuendos, proverbs and collocations which are frequently used in Persian colloquial conversations, are accounted as Iranian culture repertoremes. Examples in Persian language could include the collocation spoon and fork, the equivalents of which in English is knife and fork. Such collocations in each of these languages have been created, formed and fixed based on the eating traditions in those cultures. Thus, fixed expressions in languages are considered as culture repertoremes. In the Poly-system theory advocated by Even-Zohar, human social life consists of different systems that overlap. Naturally in the cultural system, some components are found from the religious and literary systems.4. ConclusionAfter the achieved classification, the data were analyzed by reviewing the English translation of these Persian repertoremes. The translator of the novel had used the strategies of addition, transcription, familiarization, exclusion, expansion and neutralization. The descriptive information including frequency and percentage of the repertoremes, groups and their translation strategies are calculated and presented. Moreover, the strategy groups are compared and contrasted. The overall strategy is also illustrated in a diagram for further clarity. The findings reveal that the translator’s most frequently used strategies in terms of the Persian culture repertoremes are neutralization and familiarization strategy, respectively.
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.
Saeede Mohagheghian; Saeed Ketabi
Abstract
1. Introduction The pun refers to the similarity of two or more words in the morphemes with different meanings. The pun, which is used more than other kinds of humor, can be found in not only words but also idioms. Puns that are categorized as language jokes are considered humorous as a result of being ...
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1. Introduction The pun refers to the similarity of two or more words in the morphemes with different meanings. The pun, which is used more than other kinds of humor, can be found in not only words but also idioms. Puns that are categorized as language jokes are considered humorous as a result of being dependent on different meanings. Beside the musical richness that puns add to words, pun jokes could be means of improving learners' interest and ability level and creating a fun atmosphere in classrooms. To benefit from the positive implications of using puns in classrooms it is important to make sure that learners have sufficient knowledge of puns and their different meanings. Considering the paucity of research regarding learners' comprehension of pun jokes in Iran, the present research has made an attempt to fill the gap to some extent.Over the years, translatability of puns has been studied by different researchers. Translatability of puns has been studied by Qafzezi (2013) in the translation of Alice in Wonderland. The findings showed that Albanian translators in Qafzezi's study (2013) had a lot of problems in translating puns. Perez (2008) studied the same issue in the translation of Spanish film titles. He found that sometimes the difficulty of pun translations forced the translators to omit the puns totally and provide a different translation. Saadi's Golestan and the translation of puns in Saadi's Golestan was investigated by OliaeeNia and Ordoodari (2006). The results showed that, despite having some methods for translating puns, sometimes it is not possible to translate them. Although puns and their translatability have been the main focus of many studies, it seems that pun jokes are not studied enough. This is what Laurian (1992) believes and Popa (2005) thinks puns' magical structure is the reason for lack of studies in the areas of pun humors and translation. Lems (2013) considers English to be a rich language in the case of puns and since Persian has the same situation, using English pun jokes in Iran's English language classes can have positive influences on learning. Furthermore, Kilgore (1994) believes that the requisite for benefiting from the positive effects of pun jokes on learning is that learners should reach a high level of understanding of such jokes. 2. Methodology Twenty-one Iranian undergraduate students participated in this study. Among these students, who were 19 to 24 years old, 12 were the students of English Translation and 9 were the students of English Literature. These students were asked to take part in a test with 12 pun jokes. All of the jokes were in English and each contained a pun. The participants were asked to read the jokes and then translate the pun sentence which was underlined in each joke. The participants were also allowed to look up the words they did not know in a dictionary in order to make sure that they would not skip any joke only because the words were new to them. Subsequently, the participants answered a question, the purpose of which was to realize whether they had understood the humor of the joke or not. The question was "why was the joke funny?" A proper answer to this question was the criterion to participants' understanding. Participants' responses to each joke were studied and the results were portrayed on a number of graphs. 3. Discussion The results showed that most of the participants were not successful in translating the puns. In some cases, some of them could not even recognize which word was humorous, and believed that the joke was not funny at all. The participants of this study did not show enough mastery of pun words in English, either in recognizing or arriving at their meanings. As a result, they could not have a proper translation. In some cases, the translations were acceptable but the answer provided for the question showed that the participants were not successful in understanding the humor. In other words, the ability to understand the joke fully depended on recognizing the pun and its different meanings. 4. Conclusions Since the main problem was with the participants and their lack of knowledge in recognizing the puns, to improve the situation, it is better to start with instructional programs enriched with pun humors and use teachers and masters who are interested in carrying out such programs. It can also be a good idea to encourage participants themselves to enrich their process of English learning by using humor books or joke websites. Since jokes can create a friendly and funny atmosphere for learning, it can be implemented to ease the process of learning and be a kind of help for learners. There are some suggestions for further research. Firstly, the effect of teaching humor in English classrooms in Iran on learners' level of interest and participation in learning can be investigated. Another study can focus on whether Iranian English learners learn vocabulary better if humor becomes the tool of instruction. Finally, the relation between Iranian learners' rate of learning and use of humor in English language classes can be studies.
Marzieh Malekshahi; Ali Khazaifarid
Abstract
1. IntroductionDiscourses and theories are produced in different ways, whether they are produced within the borders of a culture, or imported from a different culture through the channel of translation or other forms of rewriting (e.g. original writing on the imported discourse). In Iran, many modern ...
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1. IntroductionDiscourses and theories are produced in different ways, whether they are produced within the borders of a culture, or imported from a different culture through the channel of translation or other forms of rewriting (e.g. original writing on the imported discourse). In Iran, many modern discourses and theories are products of different types of translations. This does not mean that some elements of these discourses have not been previously present in Persian literary and philosophical works, but it means that such discourses and theories as coherent sets of knowledge, philosophy and theory and with a specific purpose and worldview are products of translation and importation from different cultures. However, few historical studies have been carried out in this regard and even in those few studies the role of translation in introducing new discourses has been totally ignored.2. Theoretical frameworkThe present study aimed to use, as Bandia (2006) suggests, the current theories and methodologies which are developed in the field of history. Thus, among the current theories, Reception Theory, proposed by Jauss (1970), has been suggested and modified to account for the way modern discourses in Iran are received. Following Rundle's (2012) distinction between historical and scientific methods in historical translation studies, the present study aimed to avoid yielding a general account of the role of translation in the immigration of theories and discourses and instead focused on the history of the reception of modern discourses in Iran with a focus on the role of translation among other forms of rewritings. Thus, as Rundle (2012) suggested the results may interest a wider range of audience, historians as well as translation studies scholars.3. DiscussionThe present paper sought to emphasize the transfer of contemporary discourses as an important area in Historical Translation Studies in Iran and suggested it be an essential area for research among Translation Studies scholars in Iran. To this end, first, some of the ideas on the transfer of discourses and the current discussions in the field of historiography were briefly reviewed, and then an attempt was made to adapt Jauss's (1970) Reception Theory to the needs of Historical Translation Studies scholars interested in studying the transfer of discourses.4. ConclusionConsidering the importance of translation in the transfer and development of contemporary discourses, this paper attempted to propose a historical approach to address the issue of the transfer of contemporary discourses in Iran. Adopting a historical approach helps us avoid imposing a pre-existing theory on the data, and thus emphasizes the specific characteristics of the transfer of each discourse. In addition, the emphasis put on using the “Reception Theory” distinguishes it from similar approaches to the problem of the transfer of discourses which seek to examine the impact of imported discourses on the target culture.
Ahmad Sharifi; Mohammad Reza Hashemi; Mahmoud Fotoohi Rudmajani
Abstract
Coleman Barks’ translations of Rumi’s works have played the largest role in Rumi’s popularity, especially among American public audience. Thus, it is very important to study how Rumi’s works are represented in the target language and culture. In this regard, the translator’s ...
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Coleman Barks’ translations of Rumi’s works have played the largest role in Rumi’s popularity, especially among American public audience. Thus, it is very important to study how Rumi’s works are represented in the target language and culture. In this regard, the translator’s approach toward the universe of discourse of a literary work in relation to the universe of discourse of the target audience is an important factor in the representation and reception/rejection of that work in the target community. Therefore, the present research examines how the universe of discourse elements of the Masnavi’s poems are translated and how this has affected the poetic elements. The analysis of Barks’ translation of a poem from the first book of the Masnavi reveals that Barks has either omitted a great portion of universe of discourse elements of the original poem or removed them from their Quranic, Islamic and mystical context. In some cases, he has even changed the universe of discourse completely by conflating the poem with concepts of Taoism. Barks’ approach toward the universe of discourse elements has led to the omission of some poetic elements and the change of content of some others. Barks’ approach can be interpreted in terms of adapting the universe of discourse elements of the original poem to the New Age thinking and the spiritual needs of a wide range of American audience.
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.
Safoora Navari; Reza Pishghadam; Azar Hosseini Fatemi; Mohammad Reza Hashemi
Abstract
The present study sought to implement the idea of ELT for life among language education practitioners by challenging and materializing the notion of Applied ELT. In so doing, constructing some novel scales seemed inevitable. Highlighting the premises of Life Syllabus, this study devised and validated ...
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The present study sought to implement the idea of ELT for life among language education practitioners by challenging and materializing the notion of Applied ELT. In so doing, constructing some novel scales seemed inevitable. Highlighting the premises of Life Syllabus, this study devised and validated a TPCS-ELLTs (Teachers’ Perceptions of Creativity Scale for English Language Learning Textbooks) with 45 items to evaluate the current English language textbooks regarding the level they increase the creativity of language learners. The TPCS-ELLTs was validated through statistical procedures like Rasch rating model and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) which at last provided a model with a 6-point Likert scale. This scale was administered to a group of 164 EFL teachers at private language institutes. After more investigation, it was clear through Rasch model that, those items having infit MNSQ greater than 1.4 deviate from the expected model and degrade the analysis. Therefore, after changing some items, it was concluded that this scale as a unidimensional model, contains a high reliability and also a correct 6-point Likert. In other words, this scale is a precise measurement of the construct and therefore well-targeted for the sample. Furthermore, some recommendations regarding the implication and conclusions of this study in other fields of language teaching have been pointed out.
Asieh Rad; Mohammad Reza Farsian; Samira Bameshki
Abstract
Simone de Beauvoir and Simin Daneshvar are pioneers of women's writing and activists of women's rights in France and Iran. In their writings, both authors are engaged in offering an account of the status of women and the role they play in their societies. In their writings, they called for full-fledged ...
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Simone de Beauvoir and Simin Daneshvar are pioneers of women's writing and activists of women's rights in France and Iran. In their writings, both authors are engaged in offering an account of the status of women and the role they play in their societies. In their writings, they called for full-fledged gender equality in their societies. They are, therefore, in the public spotlight. Additionally, they are considered committed authors among their contemporaries due to their political and social works. The similarities between two authors’ writings, along with the influences they might have exerted on each other, may offer fertile grounds for comparative research. It is not surprising that the authors have produced similar and relevant writings in a related area and this similarity is probably caused by similar intersubjectivity and socio-historical conditions the authors had. Drawing on imagology—as a branch of comparative literature— the present research is a comparative study of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Blood of Others and Simin Daneshvar’s Savushun as far as the image of World War II is concerned. This comparative analysis suggests that the two authors yielded a different and similar image of the war. Notwithstanding the cultural and geographical distances between the two, the projected image concerns a common goal which is describing the war from political, social and cultural perspectives. The two authors have perfectly drawn the image of war for readers using such images as the fight and social conditions. They condemned the war by projecting negative images of it.
Elahe Kianian; Salar Manafi Anari
Abstract
The main purpose of the present research, is to use a statistical-descriptive analysis to assess the quality of translation services using the customer-oriented approach in translation agencies. In addition, the main concern in this study is to solve the problem of fatigue and ambiguities of decision ...
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The main purpose of the present research, is to use a statistical-descriptive analysis to assess the quality of translation services using the customer-oriented approach in translation agencies. In addition, the main concern in this study is to solve the problem of fatigue and ambiguities of decision makers in the field of qualitative assessment of translation services using various methods of customer orientation. This research was carried out with the sample size of 60 scientific experts selected through a combination of purposive non-probability sampling (judgmental) and snowball sampling methods. In this regard, a set of data was obtained from the instrumentation and analysis of factors affecting the quality of translation services in Iran through a customer-oriented approach in translation agencies in Iran in February 2017. Considering the opinions of experts in evaluating the quality of translation services in Iran in the seven-point Likert scale, the most important factors affecting the quality of translation services were determined. Then, by comparing the current performance status mean of these factors with their importance mean, the analysis was done. Finally, the analysis of this study showed that the current performance status of factors in the service providers are rather poor in comparison to their importance mean, and managers should take the necessary measures in order to improve them.
Key words: "Translation service"; " Translation Agencies"; "Customer-Oriented Approach"; "Descriptive Statistical Analysis".
Meysam Ebrahimi; Mehyar Alavi Moghaddam; Mohammad Davoudi
Abstract
Contemplation in the history of rhetoric in the Persian and English languages introduces us to some rhetorical similarities and distinctions. In this paper, we try to find a comparative study of one of the main branches of rhetoric in the science of “expression”, that is, “metaphor” ...
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Contemplation in the history of rhetoric in the Persian and English languages introduces us to some rhetorical similarities and distinctions. In this paper, we try to find a comparative study of one of the main branches of rhetoric in the science of “expression”, that is, “metaphor” .To categorize of its varieties in Persian and English rhetoric, in order to achieve the aesthetic and aesthetic origins of these two languages is another aim of this article. The metaphor is one of the most imaginative tricks in the realm of arithmetic, which has many similarities in terms of distinction between Persian and English languages. Metaphors in Persian and English are similar in terms if features of differentiation. In the English rhetoric, the metaphorical metaphor is considered to be the reference to both the main sides of the simile, which are classified in Persian rhetoric, other than similes. Metaphor in Persian and English classifications can be found in examples of metaphor between these two languages. In addition, there is a kind of metaphor in the English rhetoric in which both main elements of the metaphor are eliminated, which is not exemplified in the Persian rhetoric.
Farah Ghaderi; Ensiyeh Darzinejad; Karim Sadeghi
Abstract
Due to its diasporic features and being 'in-between' competing Pakistani-American discourses, Mohsin Hamid (1971--)'s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) has the potential to deconstruct the dominant perceptions about influential incidents like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade ...
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Due to its diasporic features and being 'in-between' competing Pakistani-American discourses, Mohsin Hamid (1971--)'s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) has the potential to deconstruct the dominant perceptions about influential incidents like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The major concept which is dislodged in this novel is the paradigm shift which occurs in the West and especially the United States after the event. The United States claims that its strategic alteration toward the Muslim immigrants in the post 9/11 era is a reaction against the fundamentalism and terrorism engendered by them; whereas, Hamid's critical reading against the grain, regards the post 9/11 alterations in the reception of Muslim migrants as anterior to the global fundamentalism and terrorism, rather than posterior to them. Put differently, the marginalized and oft-neglected narrative of a Muslim migrant author of the post 9/11 tumults, recognizes the United States as the origin of the global fundamentalism and terrorism and not the victim of them as widely claimed. The redefinition of this change in American policies in post 9/11 is depicted through the perspective of Changez, the novel's protagonist. He is a Muslim Pakistani young man, a Princeton graduate, and employed by a prosperous economic company. Hamid's redefinition of the post 9/11 paradigm shift is investigated along three axes and three important binary oppositions are deconstructed in his novel; the cosmopolitan/nationalist United States, the religious/ economic fundamentalism, and the military/economic terrorism.
Leila Tavakoli; HamidReza Shairi; Ali Rabi; Ali Karimi Firuzjani
Abstract
Each translator directs his/her translation choices based on vocabulary substitution and coherence of grammatical structures and by taking into account what intentions the source text holds and the importance of the target culture. Given the fact that the translator is under the influence of an interpolation ...
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Each translator directs his/her translation choices based on vocabulary substitution and coherence of grammatical structures and by taking into account what intentions the source text holds and the importance of the target culture. Given the fact that the translator is under the influence of an interpolation space between source and target languages, the semantic approach was employed to analyze the process of meaning transfer. Given the semiotic definition of translation, which is understood as an intercultural and intertextual relationship, the purpose of the present study is to show that in the translation of The Prophet, the work by Gibran Khalil Gibran’s work, which was translated by Hossein Elahi Qomshei, the culture of both source and target languages play a role, following two converging and diverging semantic systems. The function of the converging semantic system is to preserve the cultural morph of the source text, and the function of the divergent semantic system is to create intercultural anomalies. The question is, however, how cultural elements could facilitate the transfer of meaning within the framework of a discursive value in the abovementioned translation. The novelty of this study lies on the fact that it studied the cross-cultural elements in this translation from the perspective of the semantic sign.
Narjes Amel Sadeghi; Mohammad Davoudi; Seyyed Mohammad Reza Adel; Gholamreza Zareian
Abstract
The concept of literacy is inherently debatable and the definition of literacy has changed in the course of history with the concomitant change of philosophical orientations. The content and the method used by educational programs are dependent on the various definitions of literacy and the different ...
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The concept of literacy is inherently debatable and the definition of literacy has changed in the course of history with the concomitant change of philosophical orientations. The content and the method used by educational programs are dependent on the various definitions of literacy and the different viewpoints on literacy determine the chances of learning. English as a foreign language enjoys a significant status in our curriculum. It seems that an understanding of the multiple meanings of literacy could enhance the language learning of our language learners greatly. Owing to the fact that we strive for a more effective learning in our educational system, it seems necessary to look into the conceptualization of literacy on the part of the language learners. The present study intends to look into the conceptualization of literacy by language learners using a grounded theory approach. This could help us explain and enhance the language behavior of our learners. Taking into account saturation, 24 English language learners were interviewed. The collected data were analyzed using axial and selective coding and finally a theory emerged. The emerging theory illustrated that literacy is a scientific and original issue which is transferred through discourse and the expression of agency.
Reza Pishghadam; Shima Ebrahimi
Abstract
Effective communication can be considered as a social process reflected in lexical chains. In fact, speaking can be considered as a communicative mediator which hinges on the speaker’s linguistic competence, but if the aim of a given dialogue is to have a more effective communication, one should ...
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Effective communication can be considered as a social process reflected in lexical chains. In fact, speaking can be considered as a communicative mediator which hinges on the speaker’s linguistic competence, but if the aim of a given dialogue is to have a more effective communication, one should move beyond the speaker’s subliminal intentions. The present study, therefore, tries to examine the influence of “postlocution” as a level beyond communicative competence, and attempts to introduce “brainling” based on brain structures. This model considers language as a tool for behavioral changes and developments, and offers the four concepts of cogling (cognition in language), emoling (emotions in language), cultuling (culture in language), and sensoling (senses in language). The proposed model can be used to portray a different and more comprehensive picture of brain’s macro functions, which is useful for a better and more effective communication. From this perspective, in addition to paying attention to self-oriented language, a dialogue should take other-oriented language into consideration, and individuals should attend to both communicative competence and linguo-therapeutic competence (language for a better life).
Ali Derakhshan
Abstract
The interconnectedness of language and culture has attracted the attention of scholars in philosophy, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, and applied linguistics. In this regard, inspired by the ideas of Halliday (1975, 1994), Vygotsky (1978, 1986), and Sapir and Whorf (1956), which imply the relationship ...
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The interconnectedness of language and culture has attracted the attention of scholars in philosophy, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, and applied linguistics. In this regard, inspired by the ideas of Halliday (1975, 1994), Vygotsky (1978, 1986), and Sapir and Whorf (1956), which imply the relationship among culture, thought, and language, Pishghadam (2013) introduced the concept of “Cultuling”. He postulated that investigating and identifying the cultulings of each society not only can pave the way for the faster detection of right and wrong cultural behaviors but also can facilitate the cultural reforms which lead to linguistic excellence and “Euculturing”. Due to the prime importance of identifying and investigating cultulings, several studies have analyzed them; nonetheless, no systematic research has been conducted to synthesize the cultuling studies. Therefore, in the present study, the theoretical frameworks, the corpora, and the findings of all cultuling studies were scrutinized. The results suggest that the majority of cultuling studies have embarked on the data by reviewing the linguistic structures and expressions that occur in natural situations and have used the Hymes’s (1967) SPEAKING model to analyze these expressions. The findings also indicate that few studies have analyzed textual cultulings. Moreover, no empirical study has been conducted to evaluate textbooks based on cultulings. Finally, based on the results and findings of this review, some avenues for future studies are provided.
Nadia Ghazanfari Moghaddam; Mohammad Reza Hashemi; Mahmood Reza Ghorban Sabbagh
Abstract
In any society, patronage always attempts to control and direct materials produced for the young population, and Iran is no exception. Thanks to the large flow of translated children’s literature published in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s, several literary institutions were established to manage ...
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In any society, patronage always attempts to control and direct materials produced for the young population, and Iran is no exception. Thanks to the large flow of translated children’s literature published in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s, several literary institutions were established to manage the flow. They introduced various measures and their policy on award offerings appears to be the most effective one, yet, it has not been fully studied and researched. The aim of this study was to investigate how these institutions’ policy on award offerings had affected translated and domestic children’s books during the early years of their establishment. Accordingly, all award-winning translated and domestic children’s books during the period of 1340/1961 to 1357/1978 were collected from two comprehensive resources, and they were analyzed in SPSS. The quantitative analysis offered insights into major institutions, award winners and qualified publishers. Drawing on discourse analysis, the authors extracted the main themes revolving around award winners and they were compared and contrasted to find any possible harmony. Overall, the results revealed that the institutions preferred to choose children’s books, which were written by Iranian authors, and translated books were not their priority. Additionally, fictions were favored over nonfictions. Their award-offering policy was also ideologically oriented since awarded books contained common themes.
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.
Masood Khoshsaligheh; Shilan Shafiei
Abstract
A survey of recent studies in audiovisual translation reveals that audio description (AD), as a service of empowerment and accessibility to media for blind or partially sighted audiences, has been increasingly investigated and researched internationally mostly in European counties and the United State, ...
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A survey of recent studies in audiovisual translation reveals that audio description (AD), as a service of empowerment and accessibility to media for blind or partially sighted audiences, has been increasingly investigated and researched internationally mostly in European counties and the United State, however. This service is newly developing and rarely offered in Iran. This article aims to initially introduce developments and advancements in AD globally and discuss its production process in the world. The article then explores the current status of AD in Iran and reviews the preliminary measures which have recently been taken in this regard. Within an exploratory approach, the required data were obtained through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with AD practitioners in Iran. The findings are classified and presented in six categories. The findings show that the highest proportion of AD production goes to radio and a non-governmental group, Sevina, respectively, and television as a national mass media has not taken any measure in this regard. Besides, the production of AD on the radio has been limited to Iranian feature films, while the products of Sevina group are more diverse. A number of suggestions for future investigations are also presented.
Soudabeh Ghandehari; Mohammad Javad Mahdavi; Ali Khazaee Farid; Mohammad Jafar Yahaghi
Abstract
Interlinear translation has been a popular method of translating religious texts, including the Bible and the Qur’an. Since religious books are considered to be sacred, translators mostly translate them word by word and they provide readers with the exact original word under the translated text. ...
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Interlinear translation has been a popular method of translating religious texts, including the Bible and the Qur’an. Since religious books are considered to be sacred, translators mostly translate them word by word and they provide readers with the exact original word under the translated text. However, early translations of the Qur’an were not completely word by word and contained numerous language initiatives. The aim of this study is to examine these initiatives. This descriptive-analytic study compares four ancient interlinear translations of the Qur’an dating back to the 4th and the mid-6th Century AH. The translations include the famous commentary on the Qur’an by Al-Tabar, Tafsīr Abū al-Futūḥ in verses, Qods translation of the Qur’an and Rey translation. The translations are analyzed in terms of lexical items and syntax. The findings suggest that the translators were loyal to the syntax and lexical items of the Qur’an albeit in varying degrees. In other words, although all the translations turned out to be word by word, they contained some specific features which made them valuable texts. For example, Tafsir al-Tabari and Qods translation contained many Persian equivalents or Qods translation included a Sistani dialect. In addition, the Rey translation and Tafsīr Abū al-Futūḥ were under the influence of the original language, especially when it comes to lexical items. Indeed, these two translations followed the syntactic conventions and standards of Persian.
