درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Second or foreign language (L2) learners’ development of interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) competence to understand and properly interpret utterances under certain social and cultural circumstances plays a pivotal role in the achievement of communicative competence. The current study was designed to explore the effects of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) and asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) course modules delivered through social media networks (SMN) on the development of the Iranian L2 learners’ comprehension of implicatures. The participants of the study were 90 English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) undergraduate students attending three intact classes. The classes were randomly assigned to one control and two experimental (SCMC and ACMC) groups. An open-ended implicature comprehension test was used to assess students’ ILP development in this pretest-posttest comparison-group study. The control group received the traditional teacher-fronted instruction, and the S/ACMC groups received instruction via synchronous and asynchronous modules of SMNs for 4 months, respectively. Students’ attitudes towards the CMC-based courses were also sought. Split-plot ANOVA results indicated that both experimental groups developed significant ILP ability to comprehend and interpret L2 implicatures after the instruction; however, by comparison, the ACMC group improved more considerably. It is concluded that, first, comprehending L2 implicatures is not impervious to computer-mediated instruction and, second, different CMC affordances may result in differential ILP developmental effects in teaching L2 pragmatics. The findings can help L2 teachers decide how to use CMC affordances and SMN modules to raise L2 learners’ pragmatic awareness

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

The importance of demotivation in language learning has been overshadowed in the commonplace research on language learning motivation and even in mainstream psychology (Dörnyei, 2005). The purpose behind conducting this study was to investigate the relationship between students’ demotives for studying in general and English language in particular. Besides, the importance of educational context was investigated through explaining the changes in students’ responses based on the type of university and gender. In Iran, university education is highly important for youngsters and the type of university with their various contexts is determining for their future. There are popular state universities among which one technical university as well as its satellite campus were selected. Besides, a distance-education and a unisexual university were represented in the present sample, overall comprising 194 bachelor students of different majors. Consequently, the factors considered as demotives are ranked, elaborated on and analyzed in order to shed light on the educational context-specific demotives and the pros and cons of current practices of EFL instruction in the universities.

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

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

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

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