نشریه زبان پژوهی
پیاپی 12 (پاییز 1393)

In the present paper، we have studied phonological properties of hypocoristic formation in the Standard Persian within the framework of Optimality Theory but have not confined ourselves to this analytical level and tried، through combining phonological and socio-pragmatic analyses، to apply Optimality Theory to the interface of phonology، sociolinguistics، and pragmatics. In contrast to the general idea adopted by the standard version of Optimality Theory wherein the derivation of only one optimal candidate in the output of a process is predicted، the findings of this research emphasize on the possibility of the emergence of more than one candidate in the output. This observation، by any means، cannot be analyzed within the framework of the mainstream Optimality Theory، and for that reason، we have tried to define specific socio-pragmatic constraints، which either limit the use of hypocoristic forms to appropriate styles of Persian، or relate the overall performance of hypocoristic formation to appropriate Persian politeness strategies. As a result، the topic in question has been directed towards the significance of context of situation and، accordingly، the scope of optimality analysis has been extended to areas far beyond pure phonology.

In the process of teaching foreign languages، various factors affect the success of learners. One factor in this field which has always created great concern is the impact of age on learning foreign languages. That is، learners and teachers have always raised this question in mind: does the ability of learning a foreign language، increase or decrease with increasignage? Accordingly، in this paper، the relationship between the learner age and success in the process of learning a foreign language is discussed. Studying the correlation of age and learning a foreign language components (pronunciation، grammar، vocabulary and language skills) as well as learner physiological factors، suggest that there is a significant negative correlation between the aging process and foreign language proficiency and learning. Therefore، considering the appropriate age for language learning، improves the efficacy of the system of teaching foreign languages.

This study investigated the relationship between locus of control، test anxiety، sex and Iranian undergraduate EFL students'' listening test performance. The participants of this study were ninety-six (96) students at Islamic Azad University of Ghaemshahr at the intermediate level of listening proficiency who were all taking their listening/speaking course. At first the students took part in the listening section of the TOEFL (2003) test. Then they were given Rotter''s (1966، cited in Waddel، 1998) locus of control scale in order to determine whether they are internally or externally oriented. Also Sarason''s (1975، cited in In’nami، 2006) test anxiety scale was distributed to determine their level of test anxiety (high-mid-low). The results showed that students with internal locus of control outperformed those with an external locus of control orientation and that sex does not mediate the relationship between locus of control and listening test performance. The results also revealed that students with low level of test anxiety performed better than those with mid or high level of test anxiety; and that sex does not mediate the relationship between three degrees of test anxiety (high-mid-low) and listening test performance.

Using sings to express thoughts and inculcate opinions in an audience is as old as man himself. Signs make indirect representation of meaning possible through signifying implicated meanings، which result in an enduring stabilization of meaning in the mind of audience. Having knowledge of such mechanisms can help media agencies to convey religious messages in a more appealing، influential and deeper way to their audience. Signs have various layers of meanings; thus to penetrate into these layers، to discover the meaning implications، and to study their role in the representation of religious elements in the realm of cinema، this research studies the film «Signs» written and directed by Shyamalan. The findings show that a great amount of signs in this film implicate religious meanings.

This research aims to investigate the situational and metaphorical code-switching and code-mixing in the EFL classrooms in Bukan. The results show that we can discern a close relationship between mind، context and language by looking at the phenomena of code- switching and code-mixing in these classes. A systematic analysis of data reveals that code-switching and code-mixing occur according to a change in frames. The frame for a situational code switching is based on social contexts and obligations، while the frame for a metaphorical code switching triggers out of a topic change. It can be argued that there is a functional correspondence between a specific frame and a special code. A change in a specific frame will result into a change of its relevant code. Furthermore، the choice of a code is associated with a couple of factors triggered by context of situation and speaker’s intentions. The study also shows that a code switching designating issues such as solidarity، informality، emotive information and symbolic function relates to Kurdish code، whereas the indexical meaning such as low solidarity، formality، referential information and communicative function attributes to Persian code. Due to the theoretical apparatus of this paper، we can say that code mixing is triggered by simultaneous activation of different frames which results in simultaneous applications of different codes in a single sentence.

The influence of Saussure on the twentieth century thought and modern approaches to the study of language has often been acknowledged by great figures in the social sciences and humanities، to whom structural linguistics has been considered as a major science، a philosophy، or a long-awaited methodology for social sciences and humanities. Despite a great number of studies aimed at uncovering the history of theoretical linguistics، there has been little attempt at tracing it to the philosophical context in which it was originally developed. This is particularly true of research carried out in Iran. The present study aims at first revisiting the Saussurian concept of the linguistic sign and the particular approach to the study of language known to us as ‘structural’; and seond، exploring the lines of thought linking Saussure to Rousseaue and Hegel، and from another perspective linking him to rationalist thinkers.

Many suffixes of the Persian language which have evolved from the Indo-European to the New Persian Language Hr’s suffix in the new Persian language have changed into different forms. In this article، an effort is made to survey the evolved word forms in three periods. Moreover، the study emphasizes words that have arrived in the New Persian. We have arranged these words based on the kind of their evolution in the history of the Persian language. Finally، based on the phonetic evolution، we have made conclusions.