فهرست مطالب

Research in Applied Linguistics - Volume:8 Issue: 2, Autumn 2017

Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics
Volume:8 Issue: 2, Autumn 2017

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1396/07/25
  • تعداد عناوین: 10
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  • Gholam-Reza Tajvidi, S. Hossein Arjani Pages 3-30
    Translation studies (TS), as a young (inter)discipline, has partly relied on metadiscussions, critical assessments of its literature, and compilation of bibliographies to deal with certain problems of its youth, such as polarity and fragmentation. While the current status of TS shows general maturity, there are still young areas of inquiry in the discipline that are faced with similar issues. The current study is an attempt to introduce and bring together an area of research in TS that draws on appraisal theory (AT; Martin & White, 2005) to functionally and systematically study the expression of feelings, emotions, viewpoints, and intersubjective positioning in translation. It is argued that this body of research has not received enough attention, partly due to its fragmentation and diversity. Several appraisal theory-informed studies of translations in different languages, genres, and mediums are introduced and reviewed, and certain points of similarity and differences are highlighted. More elaborate methodologies are given a closer look, and a general view of the findings in the literature is also provided. Finally, suggestions are made to address some limitations in the literature.
    Keywords: Translation Studies (TS), Appraisal Theory (AT), Evaluation, Stance, Attitude, Positioning
  • Karim Sadeghi, Maryam Azad Mousavi, Shahrooz Javidi Pages 31-50
    Self-assessment and task-based assessment have recently attracted attention in language learning and testing contexts worldwide; however, little research has been carried out to document the link between these notions. The present research was an attempt to investigate the connection between task-free/task-based self-assessment and learners’ self-perceived communicative competence in speaking. To examine the link, 48 upper-intermediate and advanced language learners participated in the study. Data were collected via a self-perceived communicative competence questionnaire, the learners’ self-assessment (task-based and task-free) scores, and the teachers’ assessment of learners speaking. The analysis of the obtained data revealed a difference between the learners’ task-based and task-free self-assessment, and a high relationship between their self-perceived communicative competence and their self-assessment of speaking. Results also revealed a positive correlation between the learners’ task-based and task-free self-assessment of speaking and that of their teachers. Findings highlight the importance of self-assessment and task-based assessment in language learning to foster learner involvement.
    Keywords: Self-Assessment, Task-Based Assessment, Task-Free Assessment, Self-Perceived Communicative Competence, Speaking
  • Sakineh Jafari, Saeed Ketabi, Mansoor Tavakoli Pages 51-70
    This study focused on the effect of transcribing task, as a noticing activity, on EFL learners’ grammatical accuracy. For 20 sessions, oral discussion tasks were assigned to 2 intermediate adult EFL classrooms, with 1 class serving as the control group and the other as the experimental group. For this purpose, the learners were divided into groups of 3 or 4 in each class. Learners in both groups were asked to record their group conversations each session. Unlike the control group, the learners in the experimental group were engaged in the posttask activity. Working individually, they first transcribed the recorded classroom speaking task and autonomously tried to correct their own and their peers’ grammatical mistakes. Subsequently, collaboratively, the learners engaged in further reformulation of these mistakes. Results obtained from the t test indicated that the transcription of oral output with a follow-up self- and peer-correction significantly enhanced the accuracy of the EFL learners’ production.
    Keywords: Autonomy, Grammatical Accuracy, Group Discussion Task, Transcription
  • Ali Roohani, Farzaneh Forootanfar, Mahmood Hashemian Pages 71-92
    This study explored the effect of input vs. collaborative output tasks on Iranian EFL learners’ grammatical accuracy and their willingness to communicate (WTC). In so doing, the study utilized 3 input (i.e., textual enhancement, processing instruction, and discourse) and 3 collaborative output (i.e., dictogloss, reconstruction cloze task, and jigsaw) tasks and compared their effects on 5 English grammatical structures (used to, too, enough, wish, and past tense). To this end, 50 Iranian intermediate EFL students in 2 groups (input- and collaborative output-based) participated in this study. To collect the data, a 32-item grammar test and WTC questionnaire were used as the pretests and posttests. Results of the t tests and analyses of covariance revealed that the input- and output-based tasks had a significantly positive effect on the participants’ grammatical accuracy. Moreover, the output-based instruction enhanced the participants’ WTC more than the input-based one. Findings have implications for L2 grammar pedagogy.
    Keywords: Input Tasks, Collaborative Output Tasks, Grammar, Willingness to Communicate
  • Nasser Rashidi, Seyyed Ali Mirsalari Pages 93-118
    This study investigated the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ use of strategies in producing English collocations and their proficiency level. Participants were 115 undergraduate university students at 3 proficiency levels, that is, low, intermediate, and high, majoring in English language at the Faculty of Letters and Humanties at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. Their selection was based on their scores on a proficiency test (Oxford Quick Placement Test, OQPT). Participants’ knowledge of collocations and the strategies used were examined through a fill-in-the-blank and a translation test, both of which were accompanied by a self-report questionnaire. Findings showed that all the strategies in the self-report questionnaire were employed by the participants. However, retrieval, literal translation, and L2 common and delexicalized words were the most commonly employed strategies. Quantitative analysis of the data also revealed that the participants’ overall use of strategies in producing correct collocations was lower than their use of strategies in producing incorrect collocations. Results also showed that the participants in the 3 proficiency groups appeared to have adopted the same strategies and did not differ much in their total use of strategies. Nevertheless, there were differences among the 3 groups in producing correct collocations. These findings have immediate implications for EFL learners, teachers, and materials designers.
    Keywords: English Collocations, Strategies, EFL Learners, Iranian English Learners
  • Alireza Mirzaee, Mohammad Aliakbari Pages 119-135
    The sociocultural ways of conceptualizing human learning in general education have given rise to various sensitive and time-consuming tools of knowledge production for both the researcher and the researched. The gravity of the situation is more noticeable in narrative inquiry methodology, which has gathered momentum in both general education and second language teacher education (SLTE) because it requires long engagement with participants and (re)telling of tales of success and failure. However, the ethicality of this knowledge production tool has remained in the periphery of academia. Grounded in our data, we present a case for a critical-event approach to narrative inquiry, indicating how the participants’ engagement in the research process enabled them to externalize their feelings, verbalize their everyday and scientific theories and, ultimately, systematically examine their teaching philosophy and develop ecologically valid pedagogical practices. These 3 functions of narrative inquiry seem to enhance the ethicality of narrative inquiry research methodology.
    Keywords: Ethicality, Knowledge Production Tool, Narrative Inquiry, Critical Event
  • Aiyoub Jodairi Pineh Pages 136-158
    Considerable literature explores the contribution of genre teaching in English academic writing. The role of this approach in developing academic writing of Iranian EFL students, however, has been underresearched. This study investigated the implications of using this approach with a class of undergraduate students in Iran. The current study reports on the findings of a project which employed a text-based cyclical teaching and learning method to teach argumentative genres, that is, exposition and discussion. Findings suggest rapid changes in appropriate mode of meaning making for developing macrostructures of such genres and a sharp decline in deploying unknown rhetorical strategies. Quantitative analysis of micronominalized features also shows some developments after the application of the genre teaching pedagogy.
    Keywords: EFL Academic Writers, Genre Taxonomy, Rhetorical Strategies, Grammatical Metaphor (GM)
  • Amin Khanjani, Fereidoon Vahdany, Manoochehr Jafarigohar Pages 159-168
    Teacher education programs can play a principal role in helping prospective teachers to acquire requisite knowledge and skills. Vital to the issue of teacher education is the efficient evaluation of such programs in promoting prospective teachers’ knowledge base. However, the literature contains very few reports of the evaluation of the Iranian EFL preservice teacher education program, which is a gap to be addressed by this study. To this end, 346 high school EFL teachers, 20 EFL teacher educators, and 97 teacher trainees took part in the study. A questionnaire, semistructured interviews, tests, and an observation checklist were utilized. A mixed methods design was employed to evaluate the program. The results of the questionnaire, tests, and observation checklist were analyzed quantitatively. For the interview results, both quantitative (percentages) and qualitative analyses were deployed. Findings indicated that the program was not satisfactory in enhancing the EFL teacher trainees’ pedagogical content knowledge.
    Keywords: EFL, Evaluation, Teacher Education, Pedagogical Content Knowledge
  • Mohammad Amiryousefi Pages 187-210
    This study examined the effects of cognitive task complexity increase on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) as well as the temporal distribution of the cognitive and metacognitive processes involved in computer-mediated L2 written production. To this end, the study employed a between-subjects experimental design with 85 EFL learners from a language learning institute in Iran. Participants were assigned to one of 3 groups: low-, medium-, and high-complexity groups. Each group performed one of the 3 computer-mediated letter writing tasks of varying levels of complexity, from the lowest level (low-complexity) to the highest level (high-complexity) of cognitive demand. Participants were also asked to complete L2 writing Cognitive Processes Scale (CPS) and Metacognitive Processes Scale (MPS) to measure the differentials in time and attention allocated to these processes by the participants in each group. Results revealed that the increases of task complexity (1) affected the fluency positively and the accuracy negatively, with no significant effects on the complexity; (2) directed the participants’ attention more toward the processes such as task formulation and generation of new ideas, which could help them manage the conceptual pressure imposed; and (3) contrary to the assumptions, directed the participants’ attention away from the processes such as thinking about language aspects, which could direct their attention to the linguistic aspects of the tasks. Implications are discussed and avenues for future research are outlined.
    Keywords: Task Complexity, L2 Writing, Cognitive Processes, Trade-Off Hypothesis, CAF
  • Sayyed Rahim Moosavinia, Masome Baji Pages 211-221
    Following the “spatial turn” of the last 3 decades in humanities and social sciences and the structure of semiotic object, this research studies space as the main semiotic object of Calvino’s (1972) Invisible Cities. Significance of this application resides in examining the possibility of providing a more concrete methodology based on the integration of Zoran’s (1984) 3 vertical levels of constructing space and Hrushovski’s (1979) 3-dimensional model of the structure of semiotic object in the space-oriented plot of Calvino’s (1972) novel. In fact, the topographic, chronotopic, and textual levels of space are respectively studied in association with the dimensions of meaning and reference, organized text, and speech and position. It is also suggested that for studying all the vertical levels of space in Invisible Cities as well as all other literary texts, the 3 aspects of textual levels including the selectivity of language, the linearity of the text and the latter’s perspective are respectively reflected in the structure of space at the topographic, chronotopic, and textual levels.
    Keywords: Topographic Level, Chronotopic Level, Textual Level, Three-Dimensional Model, Semiotic Object, Space