فهرست مطالب

Research in Applied Linguistics - Volume:6 Issue: 2, Autumn 2015

Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics
Volume:6 Issue: 2, Autumn 2015

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1394/09/15
  • تعداد عناوین: 7
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  • Manoochehr Jafarigohar, Afsar Rouhi, Hassan Soleimani, Majid Ghelichi Pages 3-20
    This study explored the effect of contrastive phrase resynthesis instruction on gaining the teachability hypothesis stages in self-paced versus time-constrained oral production and recognition. Three groups (i.e., 23 learners) of high beginner female learners in an English language institute were randomly selected from a cohort of learners. One group received contrastive metalinguistic instruction on the concept and structure of English phrases. The second group received the same instruction only in English. The third group served as a comparison group. Self-Paced Picture Differences Tests and Time-Constrained Oral and GJTs were used for collecting the data. Chi-square analyses through Fisher’s Exact Test showed that the treatment, especially in its contrastive form, significantly contributed to gaining next, next + 1, and next + 2 stages in spontaneous oral production, but only to next + 1 and + 2 stages in self-paced oral production and time-constrained recognition. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.
    Keywords: Phrase, Based Treatment, Contrastive Teaching, Self, Paced Task, TimeConstrained Task, Stage Gain
  • Fatemeh Salemi, Masood Khoshsaligheh, Mohammad Reza Hashemi Pages 21-35
    The present exploratory study aimed to construct and apply a localized questionnaire to investigate the cultural orientations of Iranian English translation students. It also examined the relationship between cultural orientations of Iranian English translation students, their gender, and translation quality. This mixed-methods study, in the first phase, used focus group interviews to form a pool of cultural orientations to provide for the first draft of the questionnaire items. Initial draft of the questionnaire was subjected to the revision by experts and potential participants to determine the face and content validity of the data to collect. Eventually, a 53-item questionnaire was finalized, and the responses of a cluster sample of 473 Iranian English translations at undergraduate and graduate levels were obtained. In the second phase, the data collected using the revised questionnaire were analyzed through a number of inferential statistical procedures. National identity, cultural heritage, local traditionalism, collectivism, and social attachment were the revealed categories of the cultural orientations of the participants. Findings did not indicate any significant relationship between the Iranian English translation students’ cultural orientations, their gender, and translation quality.
    Keywords: Cultural Orientations, Iranian English Translation Students, Gender, Translation Quality
  • Zainab Abolfazli Khonbi, Karim Sadeghi Pages 36-60
    This study investigated the relationship between language learning aptitude (LLA) and the use of language learning strategies (LLSs) among a cohort of Iranian EFL students at Urmia University, Iran. The adapted versions of the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT; Carrol & Sapon, 1983) and Oxford’s (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) were distributed among the participants (i.e., 6 males and 32 females). A strong positive relationship was found between aptitude and the use of all the categories of LLSs. Pearson product-moment correlation also indicated a strong positive relationship among components/categories within MLAT and SILL. Furthermore,the application of t test showed no significant differences between the males and females on their overall LLA test scores, but a one-way ANOVA indicated significant differences between the two genders regarding the cognitive and metacognitive strategies in favor of the males. One-way ANOVA also revealed significant differences between high versus low-aptitude students on LLSs use in favor of the former group.
    Keywords: Iranian EFL Students, Language Learning Aptitude (LLA), Language Learning Strategies (LLSs), Strategy Training
  • Fatemeh Hemmati, Amirali Mohammadkhani Pages 61-80
    This study focuses on the relationship between lower-intermediate level EFL learners’ metacognitive awareness and accuracy in self-assessment of a speaking test. We tried to raise the learners’ metacognitive awareness through practice in goal-setting and planning. To do so, 103 lower-intermediate level students took a pretest of speaking, completed a metacognitive awareness questionnaire, and had an immediate recall interview. Next, they were divided into 2 groups and attended a course in which the students in 1 group received goal-setting and planning treatments. After administration of the posttests, the findings revealed that the goal-setting and planning treatment led the learners to gain higher levels of metacognitive awareness, t(101) = 2.45, p =. 019, and this increased awareness could increase their accuracy in self-assessment. Such findings indicate that presenting the objectives of different tasks to learners and goal-setting can be applied in language learning classes to enhance their awareness and improve their self-assessment skills.
    Keywords: Self, Assessment, Metacognitive Awareness, Planning, Goal, Setting
  • Nooshin Malekizadeh, Alireza Khoram Pages 81-93
    This study aimed to gain an insight into whether computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the form of a digital forum can reflect gendered discursive practices. A great deal of research has now established that computer-mediated interactions embody gendered differences in the use of emoticons, but few studies have examined the potential effect of the gender of the emoticon-receiver on the frequency and type of the emoticons. Drawing on a corpus of 386 posts from 26 interlocutors—both male and female participants—we explored how men and women receive emoticons, not just how they send emoticons. Our analysis of the transcripts focused on coding emoticons by type and frequency of occurrence. Each instance of emoticon use was initially coded based on our own interpretation of emoticons’ potential meaning in their particular surrounding texts. Findings revealed that the male participants displayed more emoticons than the females. Moreover, gendered differences were found in terms of the gender of the addressee: Both the males and females used significantly more emoticons when interacting with interlocutors from the opposite gender.
    Keywords: Computer, Mediated Communication (CMC), Digital Forum, Emoticon, Gendered Discourse
  • Nadia Mayahi, Maryam Alirezaee Pages 94-113
    This study investigated Iranian English language learners’ use of circumlocution for culture-specific referents. A discourse completion test (DCT) was designed in English and Persian, consisting of items dealing with Iranian culture-specific notions and distributed among 3 groups. The Persian language group received the Persian version, whereas the English language learners, divided into high and low, received the English version of the DCT. Data were analyzed according to Salazar’s (2006) categorization of circumlocution, namely description, function, superordination, location, and combination. Results revealed that the high group had a stronger tendency to use circumlocution, in general, and in terms of its categories of description, function, and combination, in particular, as compared to the low group. Furthermore, cross-linguistic analysis suggested signs of linguistic transfer with regard to circumlocution. Our findings revealed that it is not so much the familiarity of learners with cultural concepts as it is their knowledge of linguistic and communicative strategies that enables them to overcome communicative problems. Finally, this study points to the facilitative role of compensatory strategies, particularly circumlocution, as a tool to cope with communication breakdowns in an L2.
    Keywords: Communication Strategies, Compensatory Strategies, Circumlocution, Culture, Specific Notions
  • Taraneh Borbor Pages 114-129
    In this study, the notions of homelessness and unhomeliness are studied in 2 novels by Naipaul: Half a Life (2001) and Magic Seeds (2004). Naipaul has been viewed by many postcolonial critics as an imperially complicit writer, for his controversial views of places and societies, particularly his disdain for non-Western societies. This study examines whether the imperatives of the postcolonial context, where boundaries and idealistic vision of place are unsettled, have influenced Naipaul’s view of places and ways of belonging to them. It is argued that his recent novels accept that the reality of homelessness renders the quest for home futile and approves of cultural exchange and hybridity as possible ways of belonging. However, the 2 novels show possibility as only tenable in certain Western societies (like England) and refuses to accept the possibility of hybridity and cultural exchange in postcolonial societies.
    Keywords: Naipaul_Half a Life_Magic Seeds_Hybridity_Homelessness_Unhomeliness_Postcolonial Studies