Research Article
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.
Research Article
Azadeh Fesanghari; Hamid Reza Shaeiri; Mahmoud Reza Gashmardi; Roya Letafati
Abstract
attention of many language education scholars over the past few decades. For these scholars, teaching/learning process is a phenomenon which is formed in the context of society and is controlled by cultural factors and variables, which is the reason why the effects of cultural variables on teaching/learning ...
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attention of many language education scholars over the past few decades. For these scholars, teaching/learning process is a phenomenon which is formed in the context of society and is controlled by cultural factors and variables, which is the reason why the effects of cultural variables on teaching/learning process cannot be overlooked. The current research aims to study the cultural characteristics of Iranian language learners on the one hand, and explore the possibility of changing these cultural characteristics on the other hand. In order to achieve the research goals and find an efficient, practical pattern in French language teaching/learning process. More specifically, this article examines the effects of employing a network thinking approach on the learning culture of Iranian language learners through Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. This research was conducted on 48 undergraduate students of French Language and Literature at Hakim Sabzevari University in the academic year of 2018-2019 using a quasi-experimental method. To examine the elements of learning culture among students, a self-administered questionnaire based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions was used. The results showed a statistically significant difference in power distance, individualism/ collectivism, masculinity/ femininity, and long-term orientation/short-term orientation and indicated no statistically significant difference in uncertainty avoidance between treatment and control groups. Nonetheless, the research findings suggested that using the network thinking approach could significantly affect Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. It was also found that employing this method can pave the way for gradually changing language learners’ learning culture.
Research Article
Mohammad Ahmadi Safa; Rahimeh Karbakhsh Ravari
Abstract
Speech act analysis, as a significant aspect of discourse analysis and pragmatics, has increasingly drawn the researchers’ attention since John L. Austin (1962) put forward speech act theory, and ever since then, the study of the linguistic structures of speech acts and their functional values ...
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Speech act analysis, as a significant aspect of discourse analysis and pragmatics, has increasingly drawn the researchers’ attention since John L. Austin (1962) put forward speech act theory, and ever since then, the study of the linguistic structures of speech acts and their functional values have been among the key areas of study in speech act analyses. The present study comparatively explored the manifestations and functions of flattery speech acts in Persian and English languages. To do so, flattery instances were identified and extracted form a corpus of 60 Persian speaking and 60 English speaking film scripts. The speech act instances were extracted from different movie genres including social and family, drama, science-fiction, and romance. The movies were produced between the years 2010-2020. A sample of 343 Persian and 228 English flattery instances were extracted and analyzed on the basis of Hymes’s (1967) model. The obtained results indicated that flattery was used in both Persian and English cultures in order to exert positive influence on the addressees. Moreover, in both languages, the act of flattery was done in both formal and informal situations in an attempt to deceive, compliment, praise, and ridicule. In addition, although flattery speech act was found in both formal and informal situations—in the case of Persian language and culture—, its application in informal and private situations was more frequent than in formal situations. Moreover, the frequency of flattery in Persian language and culture was found to be significantly higher than English.
Research Article
Mohammad Reza Farsian; Fatemeh Ghasemi Arian
Abstract
Folk literature is an important and considerable part of folklore which is transmitted orally from generation to generation, and their careful collection and analysis can shed some light on life in tribes and nations around the world. In fact, these images are national treasures that build the social ...
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Folk literature is an important and considerable part of folklore which is transmitted orally from generation to generation, and their careful collection and analysis can shed some light on life in tribes and nations around the world. In fact, these images are national treasures that build the social imagination of people. Hence, European travel memoirs are a representative of Iranian folk literature and they have been an important topic of research in comparative literature. This is because travel memoirs reflect the culture and society of “the other” wherein one we can find manifestations of folk literature in the form of frozen images such as national and intercultural stereotypes and clichés. To this end, we examined Henry Rene D'Allemagne’s travel memoirs. His works include numerus elements of folk literature, compared to his French contemporaries. This paper follows a descriptive-analytic method and tries to figure out how folk literature represents itself Henry Rene D'Allemagne’s travel memoir and how the traveler’s ideology plays a pivotal role in this representation. To analyze images of Iranian folk literature in Henry Rene D'Allemagne’s travel memoir From Khorasan to Bakhtiari in light of imagology. The results of this study showed that the images in the travel memoir reflect Persian folk literature, folk poetry, discourses, titles, and anecdotes. This suggests the importance of Persian language and literature among Iranians and Europeans and indicates how Iranian culture has traveled through folktales.
Research Article
Mohammad Amiryousefi
Abstract
The present study investigated the comparative effects of input vs. output-based instruction on vocabulary acquisition and retention of young Iranian EFL (English as a foreign language) learners. To this end, 45 Iranian EFL learners aged 6–7 were divided into three groups; control group, input-based ...
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The present study investigated the comparative effects of input vs. output-based instruction on vocabulary acquisition and retention of young Iranian EFL (English as a foreign language) learners. To this end, 45 Iranian EFL learners aged 6–7 were divided into three groups; control group, input-based group, and output-based group. The students in the input-based instruction were not required to use the target vocabulary items. The target vocabulary items were only presented to them via input-based tasks. In contrast, in the output-based group, the students were required to use the vocabulary items by doing output-based tasks. After four weeks of instruction, the two groups took two types of vocabulary tests (listening comprehension and production tests) as post- and delayed tests. The findings revealed that both input-based and output-based instruction helped the participants to gain both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. In general, the results of the present study can support the idea put forth by scholars such as Long (2015) that adhering to a single method is not beneficial, and language instructors should use a variety of methods based on their language learners’ characteristics and needs.
Research Article
Leila Dobakhti
Abstract
The English language has become a global means of communication and is not considered as a threat to the integrity of non-English speaking countries because it does not embody Western way of life and culture. In recent decades, the new concept of world “Englishes” is used to symbolize this ...
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The English language has become a global means of communication and is not considered as a threat to the integrity of non-English speaking countries because it does not embody Western way of life and culture. In recent decades, the new concept of world “Englishes” is used to symbolize this trend. The English language is considered as a globalized language and their native speakers hardly claim it as their exclusive property. The English language teaching should be inculcated with cultural traditions. This attitude upholds that language preferably be intermingled with culture and be learned and taught along with cultural norms. It is presumed that globalization has impacted the nations around the world and a global culture has been formed. For example, we can see the same or similar goods or foods that are used all around the globe. The present study explores the role of culture concerning globalization, contextual shaping, cultural competence, instructional materials, learners and teachers. The key points that this study accentuates are the differences in terms of contexts in which English language is taught and acquired, in other words, EFL/ESL situations.
Research Article
Ali Malmir
Abstract
Foreign Language (L2) teachers’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and their awareness and understanding of the intercultural similarities and differences is the key to their professional success. One of the indispensable components of communicative competence, which is highly influenced ...
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Foreign Language (L2) teachers’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and their awareness and understanding of the intercultural similarities and differences is the key to their professional success. One of the indispensable components of communicative competence, which is highly influenced by L2 teachers’ ICC and its impact on the classroom practices is considerable, is pragmatic knowledge of the L2 learners. Accordingly, the current investigation has sought to explore the relationship between L2 teachers’ intercultural competence and their students’ knowledge of common English speech acts. Participants were 85 EFL teachers and 610 upper-intermediate to advanced proficiency-level students. The participants had been studying English at language institutes from 3 to 5 years and they had almost completed American File conversation book series. These participants were selected based on the results of a Michigan Language Proficiency Test. First, the teachers filled out Jaou’s (2011) ICC questionnaire. Then, Tajeddin and Malmir’s (2015) multiple-choice test of frequent English speech acts was administered to the students. Data analysis using multiple regression revealed that all four components of teachers’ ICC were significant predictors of their students’ speech-act knowledge. Intercultural skills were the strongest predictor followed by intercultural knowledge as a mediocre predictor. However, intercultural attitudes and awareness were poor predictors of speech-act knowledge. These findings imply that L2 teachers can enhance their learners’ pragmatic knowledge regarding common speech acts by increasing their own intercultural communicative competence.
