Journal of Language and Translation
Volume:11 Issue: 3, Autumn 2021

Millions of users worldwide nowadays use Machine Translation (MT) systems such as Google Translate (GT). The present study aimed at investigating the effects of using GT in class activities on the vocabulary development and phraseology of Iranian ESP learners. To this end, after assuring the homogeneity of the students, 60 ESP learners majoring in Persian Language and Literature and Physical Education and Sports Sciences were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental groups. After administering the pretest, the students in the first experimental group (Only-Dictionary) used available dictionaries but those in the second experimental group (Dictionary plus Google Translate) employed both GT and available dictionaries. As for homework, the participants were asked to translate a passage from their textbook for the following session. The students were given feedback on their translations so that they could understand their weaknesses and strong points. Ultimately, the posttest was administered which indicated that both groups improved in their vocabulary knowledge and equivalent-finding skill. However, the mean score for the Dictionary plus Google Translate group students was significantly higher than that of the Only-Dictionary group. As for phraseology, there was not a significant difference between the two groups.

Interpreters play a crucial role in the modern era but are often criticized for their. This study investigates five interpreters for the national football team and the league teams in Iran as a representative sample of interpreters in Iranian football events. Their performances were investigated concerning audience design as one of the probable factors of stylistic choices in their interpretation. To this end, around five hours of football press video conferences were analyzed with respect to face management strategies, including shifts in the interpretation of address terms and deferent statements, conversion of indirectness to directness, replacement of address terms to third-person pronouns, pronoun choices, and conventional indirectness. Despite all limitations, the results showed that the performances of these five interpreters were under the influence of their audience, i.e. audience design. Exploring the audience design notion and strategies to control can improve interpreters’ performance in different settings.

This research aimed to study four translations of Saadi’s Gulistan by four English translators during three centuries in England, from the 19th to the 21st centuries, namely Gladwin (1806), Burton (1888), Platts (1904), and Thackston (2008) in terms of Transcreation and Althusser’s Ideology, in order to find the effect of the dominant ideology of England on the translators while rendering a piece of Persian literature. In this descriptive study, 30 anecdotes selected purposefully were examined. All the relevant features were extracted, compared, and contrasted with the original and subsequently the data were analyzed using the chi-square procedure. The result indicated no significant difference among the translations in question in terms of ideology and transcreation although huge differences among some elements are perceivable, which could provide significant evidence in the existence of hidden ideology in the translations in question. Moreover, transcreation was most frequently used in Thanckston’s translation while Gladwin’s had the highest frequency of ISA.

The current study investigated Persian-English translations conducted by a human translator and a machine translator. The researchers employed House’s Translation Quality Assessment (TQA) model to evaluate the differences between the two translated works. Accordingly, they had the Persian texts translated by a human translator and Google Machine Translator (GMT). The translation quality, error recognition, and mismatches of the two translations were subsequently analyzed. The results showed a one-to-one match between the source and target texts regarding the human translator’s work. Furthermore, the results revealed both overt and covert errors when comparing the human and machine translators. The error analysis results also suggested that the quality of the output provided by the GMT can cause misunderstanding in the meaning. Academic texts could mean different in various contexts. Hence, it is necessary to consider human interferences when dealing with the genre of the academic text.

This study investigated the development of EFL learners’ language proficiency considering motivational and metacognitive scaffolding techniques. The participants included 90 EFL learners. The recruitment procedure took place based on the participants’ performance on a sample Preliminary English Test (PET). To collect the data and address the research questions, the participants were assigned into two experimental groups of metacognitive-based and motivational-based scaffolding and a control group with an equal number of participants in each group. In the metacognitive-based scaffolding group, metacognitive strategies such as producing a story within the framework and listening to and retelling the story were implemented. In the motivational-based scaffolding group, the speaking instruction was based on activities which provided maximum assistance for the learners. They were provided with songs, a relaxed environment, and opportunities to talk, i.e., turn-taking and wait-time to stimulate their motivation. The findings of the study shed light on the metacognitive and motivational-based scaffolding to promote EFL learners’ speaking in foreign language skills. It was found that motivational-based scaffolding was more conducive to enhancing Iranian EFL learners’ speaking ability.

The present study explores Iranian EFL learners’ perceptions of two types of corrective feedback, i.e., explicit and scaffolded feedback in oral productions. To this end, 30 female EFL learners selected through convenience sampling from two intact classes at a language school in Behbahan, Iran, were randomly assigned into two explicit and scaffolded feedback groups. The participants were all junior and senior high school students aged 15 to 20 at the intermediate level. A qualitative approach in the form of a series of semi-structured interviews was adopted to deeply explore the language learners’ perceptions of the corrective feedback types in question. The findings of the interviews demonstrated that half of the language learners in the explicit group set great store by explicit corrective feedback, while the other half were less favourably disposed toward explicit feedback. Likewise, a significant number of language learners in both groups found the teacher’s corrective feedback distracting. However, the overwhelming majority of the language learners in the scaffolded group viewed scaffolded corrective feedback as beneficial. The implications of the findings are also elucidated.

Nonnative English speaking (NNES) writers seeking to publish the results of their studies in international English-medium journals may find it challenging because of unfamiliarity with the genre conventions of research articles (RAs). The goal of the present study was twofold: (a) to identify the moves and steps characterizing the discussion section of RAs and (b) to investigate the differences in the use of moves and steps employed by English Writers (EWs) and Iranian Writers (IWs). To these ends, an English Corpus (EC) composed of 50 RAs written by EWs, and an Iranian Corpus (IC), including 50 RAs written by IWs were developed. Drawing on Swales’ moves analysis, this genre-based study used corpus data for genre analysis. The data were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. A series of one-way chi-square procedures was used to analyze the frequency data quantitatively. For qualitative analysis, corpus data were content analyzed to identify moves and steps. A list of moves and steps, including six moves and 10 steps of the discussion section of RAs was proposed based on the analysis of 100 English RAs representing five core subfields. The results showed statistically significant differences in using one of the moves and several steps between EWs and IWs. Unlike EWs, IWs mostly failed to use all steps to linguistically textualize and manifest the overall function of a particular move. The study concludes with some implications for English for specific purposes (ESP) practitioners.

Autonomy as an essential factor contributing to successful second language learning has been extensively studied in recent decades. Despite the importance of autonomy, the casual effect of the negotiated syllabus on enhancing learner autonomy through empirical studies is understudied. Few studies have attempted to document ESP learners’ experience with the negotiated syllabus. Therefore, this study methodologically contributes to the body of knowledge in autonomy by addressing the gaps mentioned above. This mix-methods research used a quasi-experimental design in the quantitative phase to investigate the effects of the negotiated syllabus on Iranian ESP learners’ (N = 71) autonomy. The experimental treatment was carried out with 32 students in the experimental class over eight weeks. The treatment comprised class-time exposure to a negotiated syllabus co-constructed through negotiation of purposes, contents, methodsو and evaluation. The control group used a pre-designed syllabus. T-test analysis showed a significant increase in the autonomy level of the experimental class in comparison to their counterparts in the control group. Qualitative data collected through semi-structured interview and student journal also confirmed the results. The compelling evidence on the positive effect of negotiated syllabus has different implications for different stakeholders including policymakers and teacher trainers.

The current study investigated Iranian engineering students’ target situation and learning needs about a tertiary level course of English for specific purposes (ESP). To this end, a convenience sample including 27 ESP instructors and 222 students majoring in different fields of engineering from 10 randomly selected Iranian universities participated in an exploratory sequential mixed-method study. As the preliminary stage of the analysis, the instructor participants were interviewed about various domains representing the ESP needs of engineering students. The qualitative teacher-elicited data were used to develop a needs analysis questionnaire specific to the student participants of the study. The descriptive analysis of the responses provided by the engineering students to the needs analysis questionnaire shed light on the significant learner needs relevant to ESP learning and those related to the target situation of use. Providing a context-relevant scheme to design, evaluate, and modify ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering, the study’s findings could positively influence the current ESP pedagogy in Iran.

Washback has been defined as the impact of testing on curriculum design, teaching practice, and learning behaviours. The English Proficiency Test (EPT) is a high-stakes test in Iran and is prone to bring degrees of washback both at micro and macro levels. This study was an attempt to examine the washback effect of the EPT on Iranian PhD candidates’ language learning strategies. To this end, a mixed-methods approach of data collection was used to collect, analyze, and integrate quantitative and qualitative data to reach a better grasp of the research topic and enhance the validity and reliability of the information. Based on the sequential exploratory design, two phases of data collection were conducted with a two-week interval. In the first phase, the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) was administered to 200 students at Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan). In the second phase, 20 students who filled out the questionnaire showed their willingness to participate in the interview session and write their language learning diaries. Finally, the quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed via descriptive and thematic analysis, respectively. The results showed both positive and negative washback effects on the students’ language learning strategies. The findings of this study have practical implications for EFL language teachers, syllabus designers, and material developers.

The current paper investigated the effect of postmethod pedagogy on senior high School students’ achievement, academic self-efficacy, achievement emotions, and self-esteem. The participants of this study included 120 female students in Zahedan located in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan. They were randomly recruited and categorized into two control and experimental groups. The students’ academic achievement was measured through a pretest. Subsequently, the Morgan-Jinks Student Self-Efficacy Scale (MJSES), Pekran Academic Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ) (2005), and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were distributed among the participants in both groups. The control group received instruction based on the conventional method, while instruction in the experimental group was based on the new method during the academic year. Upon the completion of the study, the achievements of both groups were measured again through a posttest. The data obtained were analyzed to reveal that postmethod played an important role in teaching and the use of this approach could develop academic achievement, self-efficacy, emotions, and self-esteem among senior high school students.