فصلنامه مطالعات زبان و ترجمه
سال پنجاه و سوم شماره 2 (تابستان 1399)

The concept of literacy is inherently debatable and the definition of literacy has changed in the course of history with the concomitant change of philosophical orientations. The content and the method used by educational programs are dependent on the various definitions of literacy and the different viewpoints on literacy determine the chances of learning. English as a foreign language enjoys a significant status in our curriculum. It seems that an understanding of the multiple meanings of literacy could enhance the language learning of our language learners greatly. Owing to the fact that we strive for a more effective learning in our educational system, it seems necessary to look into the conceptualization of literacy on the part of the language learners. The present study intends to look into the conceptualization of literacy by language learners using a grounded theory approach. This could help us explain and enhance the language behavior of our learners. Taking into account saturation, 24 English language learners were interviewed. The collected data were analyzed using axial and selective coding and finally a theory emerged. The emerging theory illustrated that literacy is a scientific and original issue which is transferred through discourse and the expression of agency.

Beliefs as triggers of performance and ESL proficiency as the ultimate goal of second language education play a significant role in language learning achievement. Using a qualitative approach, this paper aimed to examine the conception of English language proficiency from the perspectives of EFL policymakers, teachers, and learners in Iran. To this end, a select group of 20 people were interviewed. After audio-recording, transcribing, the interview data were coded via MAXQDA software. Iterative data collection and analysis continued until a point of saturation was reached with 20 participants. Grounded in their perspectives, the findings showed a conceptual gap and diversity of conceptions on the nature, characteristics, approaches, and goals of English language proficiency. Based on the results, a framework for developing ESL proficiency is proposed in which the views of the groups are incorporated, Cummins’ notions on ESL proficiency underlie its theoretical foundation, and the Common European Framework of Reference forms its practical basis. The findings have some implications for practitioners, syllabus designers, policymakers, and learners as well.

In parallel with the development of Educational Technology tools, this research aims to benefit from these advancements to promote the quality of teaching translation and thus address students’ educational real-world needs. Executing a robot-assisted differentiated instruction (RADI) in a full factorial design study, oral and written translation as well as the real-world workplace performance of 373 Persian and non-Persian students enrolled in the compulsory course of English for Medical Purposes (EMP) at Medical University of Isfahan (MUI) were assessed in three sets of Commercially-Off-The-Shelf, self-, and robot-made educational activities. The data gathered from the participants’ attitude, progress, performance, perception, and teachers’ journaling were analyzed both descriptively and inferentially through a mixed-effect model. The results pointed to the applicability of RADI in learning EMP translation and enhancing the participants’ transfer competence. As the findings revealed, a converging trend was evident between the participants’ attitude, performance and perception, as well as teachers’ approving journal entry. The participants’ success in oral and written translation of EMP contents through the robot-assisted platform as well as their good performance in promoting the health levels in the communities (viz., quality of treatment) could be attributed to the diverse affordances of robots coupled with the participants’ active role in meeting their educational real-world needs. The results could be used in subsequent studies on teaching translation through the medium of robots.

Dubbing can transfer and (re)produce manifestations of hybridity in target culture products. The multimodal system of dubbing can multiply the degree of hybridity since such manifestations may be identified at different audio-verbal, audio-nonverbal, visual-verbal, and visual-nonverbal layers. The present paper explored the non-verbal manifestations of hybridity in English feature films dubbed into Persian by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The results of the study revealed that various non-verbal manifestations of hybridity exist in audio and visual layers of dubbing. Both audio-nonverbal and visual-nonverbal layers can play an important role in (re)creating manifestations of hybridity in dubbing. The visual-nonverbal layer showed the most frequent manifestations of hybridity among non-verbal layers. The category of Dress Code and Ornaments occupied the first place at the visual-nonverbal layer. The categories of Objects and Body Language occupied the second and third place at the same layer, respectively. Various audio-nonverbal manifestations of hybridity were identified and subcategorized as Sounds, Songs, and Music among which Music held the first place.

Metadiscourse features are considered important elements of discourse that are used to establish communication between different parts of discourse as well as to help audience (readers and listeners) in understanding the functional relationships. The aim of this study was to investigate these metadiscourse features and to conduct a comparative corpus-based study on some of the most important metadiscourse features in English and Persian. To this end, ten Ted talks, focusing on the political issues in English, were randomly selected and, along with their Persian translations, were added to Sketch Engine corpus software. Hyland’s (2005) framework was selected to analyze and categorize metadiscourse features. In this classification, metadiscourse features are divided into two main categories, namely, interactive and interactional. Transitions belong to the interactive category. The comparative analysis between these elements and their Persian translations suggested that the translation process of these elements can be described in form of two general strategies; literal translation and underspecification. Underspecification process consists of three types, namely, deletion, extension and restriction. Other findings of this study highlighted the significant relationship between the type of underspecification and the type of strategies adopted. Using statistical and quantitative analysis, it was also found that strong transitions are often translated literally, while weak transitions such as “and” are sometimes translated literally and sometimes with underspecification. The findings of this study can be used in future research in the field of corpus-based translation studies and contrastive linguistics.

Until now, a large number of researchers have pointed to the structural complexity of The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot as it is shown in the relationship of the personages. In this paper, the sayings and the behaviors of five couples among many other personages of this poem are studied based on Eric Berne's theory of Transactional Analysis. For this purpose, the Structural Pathology of the couples is examined to identify the roots to their unsolved problems through which one can clearly understand the present condition of their relationships. The results of the present research indicates that two cases of Child Contamination, two persons with Parent Contamination, and one individual with Excluding Adult are observed in total out of five sub-categories of Structural Pathology. Therefore, the presence of the Adult Ego State, which is able to balance out the Parent and the Child Ego states is deficient in the intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships of these couples.

Despite the shift of translation studies from linguistic aspects to extralinguistic ones, the role of some extralinguistic factors, such as translators’ national and religious identities has received little attention. In recognition of this fact, the purpose of this study was to identify the role of the translator’s national and religious identities in their choice of translation strategies in the translation of hybrid novels from English into Persian. To this end, a descriptive and comparative analysis was conducted. Two Dumas’ English novels along with six translations formed the corpus of this study. These novels belong to immigration literature which can provide rich examples of hybridity and multilingualism. First, hybrid parts in the original versions and their translations were identified. Next, the original texts and their translations were compared and lexical, sentential and pragmatic shifts in translation of hybrid elements were identified. Finally, the translation strategies revealing the presence of national and religious identities of translators in the translation were identified based on Klinger’s (2014) model. The findings revealed that translators’ strategies can be indicative of their national and religious identities.