Ali Safari
Volume 1, Issue 2 , June 2018, Pages 7-30
Abstract
The translation of advertisements is not like any kind of translation which is done across languages; rather it is done in the mind automatically, to convey meaning that advertisers want to be extracted; therefore, it is usual for companies and businesses to select special elements. Illustrations can ...
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The translation of advertisements is not like any kind of translation which is done across languages; rather it is done in the mind automatically, to convey meaning that advertisers want to be extracted; therefore, it is usual for companies and businesses to select special elements. Illustrations can provide audiences with a sense of personal identity and an awareness of cultural heritage. The present study aims to investigate pictures accompanying advertisements as an intersemiotic translation. This study takes pieces of advertising texts as well as the pictures accompanying them to show the translational relationships. Then, the study attempts to reveal the importance of pictures and the role they may play in conveying meaning. Within the first step, advertising texts containing both linguistic and visual elements were collected. Then they were studied based on the interrelationship between texts and images; an attempt was made to identify different ways in which illustrations are employed by text producers to translate linguistic elements. The corpus included the advertising texts which are collected from a wide variety of sources including internet, shops and newspapers. When all samples were studied and strategies were identified, the number and percentage of each strategy was counted and the results were presented in tables. The data analysis revealed that illustrations play an important role in translating the textual elements.
Davood Borzabadi Farahani1; Shima Babapour
Volume 1, Issue 2 , June 2018, Pages 31-73
Abstract
Recent research suggests that critical thinking is not typically an intrinsic part of instruction at any level. Students come without any training in it, while faculties tend to take it for granted as an automatic by-product of their teaching. Yet without critical thinking systematically designed into ...
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Recent research suggests that critical thinking is not typically an intrinsic part of instruction at any level. Students come without any training in it, while faculties tend to take it for granted as an automatic by-product of their teaching. Yet without critical thinking systematically designed into instruction, learning is transitory and superficial. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the impacts of teaching critical thinking skills on the development of the reading and writing abilities of Iranian EFL learners, in line with other studies confirming the positive relationship between critical thinking and language skills. The treatment consisted of 18 instructional sessions of 20 minutes on critical thinking. The participants of the study were 50 male and female students with pre-advanced proficiency level. The students in the experimental group were taught critical thinking skills beside other materials while the students in the control group did not have critical thinking instruction. The data were analyzed using several independent t-tests which were administered across pre-test and post-test scores. The results indicated that critical thinking led to students' significant improvement in reading and writing abilities in the experimental group. The results have implications for teachers, institutes and material designers.
Reza Bagheri Nevisi; Arezou Izadi
Volume 1, Issue 2 , June 2018, Pages 75-105
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the effect of using rhythmic instruction on FD and FI EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge. To this end, 30 EFL learners were selected based on their performances on the Solutions Placement Test. Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) was also administered to identify ...
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This study aimed at investigating the effect of using rhythmic instruction on FD and FI EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge. To this end, 30 EFL learners were selected based on their performances on the Solutions Placement Test. Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) was also administered to identify groups as field dependent and field independent participants. The participants were randomly assigned to one experimental and one control group. The experimental group was provided with rhythmic instruction whereas the participants in the control group were instructed through GTM. Both groups went through a 17-week instructional period. A 50-item vocabulary test, consisting of multiple-choice, matching items, and true or false items was developed, and used as pre-test and post-test. At the end of the course, an independent samples t-test was run between the obtained means of the two groups to determine whether there was any significant difference between the mean scores of the two groups on the post-test. The results revealed there was a significant difference between the mean scores of the two groups. To conclude, the participants in the experimental group who had received rhythmic instruction outperformed those in the control group without such instruction. However, the mean difference between the participants in the FI group in comparison with FD was not significant, and it indicated that FI and FD learners exposed to rhythmic instruction performed similarly. The major implication of the study is that rhythmic instruction as a crucial method of vocabulary learning should receive further attention in language teaching programs.
Sara Beyginia
Volume 1, Issue 2 , June 2018, Pages 107-126
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the difference in the effects of “Find the Difference” and “Describe and Draw” activities on enhancing speaking ability of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. The researcher adopted an experimental approach. This study consisted of 50 female ...
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This study aimed at investigating the difference in the effects of “Find the Difference” and “Describe and Draw” activities on enhancing speaking ability of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. The researcher adopted an experimental approach. This study consisted of 50 female participants, who were equally and randomly divided into two experimental groups. First, the researcher administered an Oxford Placement Test, followed by two interviews to make sure that the participants’ level was pre-intermediate. Then, the researcher developed a teacher-made test and in order to prove the validity of the developed test a group of 40 participants, other than the major participants, took the test. The participants were divided into two experimental groups and the pre-test was administered before the instructional treatment. The treatment lasted for eight sessions and during this time the experimental groups received information gap activities. Finally, the post-test was administrated for the two groups and the results of the posttest were analyzed through some statistical procedures to determine the effect of the two types of information gap activities on enhancing Iranian EFL learners’ speaking ability. The results indicated that there was no significant different in the performance of the two groups on the posttest which revealed that the two instructional techniques (i.e., ‘Find the Difference’ and ‘Describe and Draw’) were equally effective on enhancing Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners’ speaking ability
Mariam Biabani; Siros Izadpanah
Volume 1, Issue 2 , June 2018, Pages 127-146
Abstract
One of the most significant current discussions in learning and teaching communicative methods, especially in informal and communicative language, is the teaching and learning of American slang. There is not any study about the relationship between Kolb’s Learning Model and Learning American slang ...
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One of the most significant current discussions in learning and teaching communicative methods, especially in informal and communicative language, is the teaching and learning of American slang. There is not any study about the relationship between Kolb’s Learning Model and Learning American slang among Iranian EFL students. In this study sixty three EFL students were selected. The 63 participants took the Kolb’s (2006) Learning Style Inventory questionnaire, and then the Slang Test. The test and the questionnaire answered by the participants were scored. Then the data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics, correlation, regression and t-test. The outcomes of the study indicated that the Abstract Conceptualization (AC)/ being theorist, followed by the Active Experimentation (AE)/ being active, are the most dominant teaching and learning styles among the students. The outcomes of the correlation illustrated a significant and high positive correlation between the Kolb’s (2005) teaching and learning model and teaching and learning slang. The study demonstrated the highest correlation between the experiential teaching and learning style (Concrete Experience (CE)/ being pragmatic) and the teaching and learning slang. The findings of this study may be useful for all persons who are concerned with language teaching and learning.
Mahmood Safari
Volume 1, Issue 2 , June 2018, Pages 147-163
Abstract
This study is a critical discourse analysis of some western and Iranian newspaper headlines related to Iran’s nuclear program. Newspaper headlines serve as precursors to news reports and reveal the social, cultural, and political representations disseminated in a community at any time. Thus, comparing ...
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This study is a critical discourse analysis of some western and Iranian newspaper headlines related to Iran’s nuclear program. Newspaper headlines serve as precursors to news reports and reveal the social, cultural, and political representations disseminated in a community at any time. Thus, comparing newspaper headlines in two societies will bring into light interests and ideological intentions of the producers of those headlines. In this study 930 headlines, 460 headlines from two Iranian newspapers (Tehran Times and Iran Daily) and 470 headlines from three western newspapers (Washington Post, Fox News, and Haaretz), were analyzed for their vocabulary, topics, and referential devices. These features clearly indicated the hidden agenda or the ideological dimension underlying the construction of these headlines
