Journal of Language and Translation
Volume:11 Issue: 4, Summer 2021

This paper is a descriptive-analytic study on the adpositional system in a number of northwestern Iranian languages, namely Taleshi, Gilaki, and Tati, based on Dryer’s typological approach. To this end, the correlation of verb/object order was examined with the adpositional phrase and the results were compared based on the aforesaid approach. The research question investigated the correlation between adposition and verb/object order in each of these three varieties. First, the data collection was carried out through a semi-structured interview that was devised based on a questionnaire including a compilation of 66 Persian sentences that were translated into Taleshi, Gilaki, and Tati during interviews with 10 elderly illiterate and semi-literate speakers, respectively, from Hashtpar, Bandar Anzali, and Rostamabad of the Province of Gilan for each variety. Then, the transcriptions were examined in terms of diversity in adpositions, including two categories of preposition and postposition. The findings of the study indicated a strong correlation between the order of verbs and objects with postpositions. More specifically, in most samples in all the varieties, objects precede verbs and postpositions are predominantly employed.

There are verses in the Holy Quran with implicit scientific overtones, the improper translation of which may not reveal the scientific I’jaz of the Quran. This research focuses on the English translation of the scientific implications to find any relation between acceptable/adequate and explanatory/non-explanatory translations. To this end, first, the verses with a scientific impact were selected by consulting four commentaries. Second, four English translations of the Quran by Arberry, Irving, Yusuf Ali, and Saffarzadeh were chosen and theoretically analyzed in terms of Toury’s initial norm of acceptability/adequacy, an eclectic model of shifting built on Chesterman and Zahedi’s models. Third, the translations were comparatively and semantically analyzed to assess if the scientific implication had been transferred. The results show that Saffarzadeh, Yusuf Ali, and Irving’s translations use more shifts; henceforth, their translations are near to acceptability. Saffarzadeh, Yusuf Ali, and Irving have referred to the scientific implications in more cases than Arberry whose translation is near the adequacy pole. Acceptable translations conveying the implicit meaning more frequently are more explanatory and a more proper translation for translating the scientific implication.

The present research analyzed Berman's (2000) negative deformation tendencies in the Persian translation of Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring.The data came from a sample of 100 sentences that were randomly selected from the novel translated into Persian by Goli Emami. The researchers read the English text line by line carefully to find the negative deformation tendencies based on the mentioned model. After finding the mentioned cases, the equivalences used in the Persian translation were found by the researchers. Then, the extent of the translatability of negative deformation tendencies and the most/least frequent ones were presented by the researchers. The results revealed that most deformation tendencies applied in the source text (ST) were not translatable in the target language (TL) by the Persian translator. Also, the most frequently applied tendency in translating the statements was rationalization which seemed to affect syntactic structures. However, the least frequent one was the effacement of the superimposition of languages which refers to the omission of the traces of different forms of languages that coexist in the ST in translation. The significant issue was that the destruction of linguistic patterning which destroys the constructions and patterning of the ST and quantitative impoverishment which is loss of lexical variation in translation, were not employed in the translation.

This study investigated the translator’s presence in three Persian translations of The Dead according to the Bakhtinian approach. To this effect, the presence is traced at three levels. First, following Hermans’ advice, the translations were analyzed apart from the source text for the noticeable presence of the translator. Second, following Munday’s advice, a stylistic analysis was conducted focusing on the features of free indirect discourse in both the source and translated texts. In light of this analysis, the author identified two types of alterations in the interaction of the source voices indicating the presence of translators: suppressing the characters' voice through empowering the narrator’s voice and suppressing the voice of the narrator by empowering the characters’ voice. The analysis at this level added one more piece of evidence to May’s hypothesis regarding the tendency of translators toward reducing the voices. To have a thorough examination of the translator’s presence, a third level of analysis was also added at which translations were compared with one another to look into the presence of the antecedent translator in the work of the following one. The author justifies this last kind of presence building on the Bakhtinian concepts of dialogism, heteroglossia, and assimilation. The use of the Bakhtinian perspective for justifying what goes on in translation is extended in this study to include the notion of originality and, thereby, wise assimilations on the part of translators were reflected on.

Cooperative learning has attracted ever-increasing research literature on language studies, among which EFL reading instruction abounds with numerous examples in favor of cooperative learning. However, there is a common belief that if cooperative learning were not assessed, students would be unlikely to take it seriously. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to examine EFL learners’ accuracy in assessing cooperative reading. To this end, 60 sophomores majoring in English translation at Islamic Azad University, Tehran Central Branch, participated in this study. Data were collected in the course of 15 weeks. Each week, first, the participants cooperatively read an expository passage in 15 four-member groups in class. Then, each participant was asked to carry out an individual reading assignment at home. For the cooperative reading assessment, both the group performance and the individual homework assignment of each participant was weekly self-, peer-, and instructor-assessed. The results demonstrated the participants’ reasonable accuracy in assessing cooperative reading. Furthermore, the qualitative findings obtained from a semi-structured focus group interview showed that the participants perceived cooperative reading assessment positively. The study may produce credible evidence for using cooperative assessment as a reasonably honest approach to evaluate EFL learners’ reading performance.

Drawing on the principles of noticing hypothesis, focus on form (FonF) instruction emerged as a mediator between meaning-focused and form-focused approaches to teaching L2 grammar. The present study examines the differential effects of two forms of FonF, that is, planned preemptive and reactive FonF on Iranian beginner EFL learners’ grammatical accuracy in written output. Following a quasi-experimental design, 40 beginner learners, including both male and female, were recruited out of 100 based on the results of a proficiency test and then assigned to two experimental groups. One group received planned preemptive feedback on related grammatical items to enable the learners to avoid any errors while the other group received reactive FonF which was implemented by offering explicit corrective feedback on learners’ errors after the occurrence. The results of t data analysis revealed that while both groups underwent a significant change in terms of L2 grammatical accuracy, the planned preemptive group outperformed the reactive group which indicated that (a) presenting language before the task performance could result in enhanced noticing and improved performance and (b) drawing students’ attention to the linguistic elements during meaningful activities presents an additional difficulty of distributing attention over both form and meaning.

The present study attempted to explore the patterns of pair interaction in peer feedback dynamics to facilitate the quality of peer feedback and the quality of English writing among EFL learners while communicating ideas through written discourse. This qualitative case study was conducted with 12 (six pairs) EFL learners. To this aim, 12 out of 18 EFL learners from a writing course over 16 weeks, a session per week, during the first semester of 2019-2020 at Poldokhtar University were selected. The revised Bloom’s taxonomy model was transferred to the learners in the workshop. Three kinds of data, including semi-structured interview transcripts, 12 writing assignments, and artifacts of peer feedback dynamics, were analyzed by the QSR NVivo 8 software. The findings revealed that the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Model is more acceptable for peer feedback dynamics using patterns of pair interaction which provides a six-step model of critical thinking. The process of peer feedback dynamics was summarized as three steps: intake, critical thinking, and output. Each of the three steps had several mental processes in peer feedback dynamics. Accordingly, the amount of learners’ awareness resulted in their critical thinking. The more the learners were cognizant of their pair interaction and the feedback they received, the more they could criticize the tasks and class activities. Furthermore, the results showed that the pair interaction led to more motivation, cooperation, and confidence. When the learners were confident, they felt comfortable. In conclusion, during peer feedback dynamics, there was a cyclic relationship among the affective variables, including the learners’ awareness, critical thinking, motivation, cooperation, and confidence.

Initiation, Response, and Feedback (IRF) is the dominant classroom interactional pattern that, if employed adequately, can facilitate learners’ transition from other-regulation to self-regulation by providing scaffolded learner-contingent feedback. However, the extent to which the teaching experience and learners’ proficiency level may impact teachers’ employment of this interactional resource still awaits scrutiny. Hence, the present ethnographic classroom research explored possible variations in novice and experienced teachers’ use of IRF patterns and graduated/contingent feedback (GCF) when teaching upper and lower intermediate classes. To serve the purpose, 20 English classrooms at nine branches of a well-known language school in Tabriz during the same semester were selected that were being taught by five novice and five experienced teachers teaching based on purposive sampling. The classroom procedures were observed, recorded, and transcribed based on a validated researcher-designed observation form. The frequency of the IRF and GCF in the transcribed data were estimated and analyzed through a Chi-square test to find out variations across the proficiency level and teaching experience. The results revealed that teaching experience could predict the frequency of the IRF pattern use but not the GCF in the final turn; GCF was significantly disproportionate to the general use of IRF patterns and more frequent at a lower intermediate level.

The current study investigated whether EFL learners performed differently in the paper and computer modes of the IELTS academic writing module in terms of task response/achievement, coherence/cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. In addition, it explored whether the candidates’ computer familiarity was different in paper and computer mode groups. To this end, 108 candidates were selected out of 144 based on the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) results in the University of Tehran, Iran. To gather the data, a retired IELTS academic writing sample and a computer familiarity questionnaire were administered. The participants were divided into two equal groups. In the Paper Mode (PM) group, the students were given the test to write in the conventional paper mode. In the other Computer Mode (CM) group, the students were given the same test but were asked to type the test in the computer provided for them in their class. Also, all the participants took the computer familiarity questionnaire. The gathered data were analyzed and the findings revealed significant differences between paper-based and computer-based modes in both writing tasks. Moreover, the questionnaire analysis showed the impact of the candidates’ computer familiarity on their writing performance.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Gardner’s multiple intelligence-based activities (MIBAs) to improve the oral performance of male and female EFL learners. To this end, 60 Iranian intermediate EFL learners were selected out of 120 learners based on their scores on a sample Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) and divided into two equal groups of experimental (n=30) and control (n=30). The IELTS speaking test was administered as a pretest. The experimental group was taught through some appropriate activities based on the definition of eight types of Gardner’s intelligences. At the same time, a method including conventional speaking activities such as repetition drills, memorization, reading texts, and answering some knowledge questions was employed for the control group. The treatment period lasted for 10 weeks. After the treatment, the oral posttest, the same as the pretest, was administered to investigate the impact of the teaching process on the learners' oral performance. The participants’ oral proficiency was evaluated using both the IELTS speaking band scores and a researcher-made evaluation sheet including eight speaking components. The findings revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group. The use of MIBAs significantly affected EFL learners’ oral performance and improvement regardless of their gender. The findings may offer some implications for the fields of teaching, material preparation, and curriculum designing. Additionally, the findings can make optimal changes for assessment methods.

Collaborative reading strategies could help language learners to develop a more teamwork environment for students. Moreover, in this research study, researchers investigate the effect of peer-assisted mediation versus. tutor intervention within the interventionist dynamic assessment on the reading comprehension of intermediate EFL learners. For this purpose, 60 language learners were recruited as the main participants of the study. They were divided into three groups: experimental group A as peer-mediation, experimental group B as tutor-intervention, group C as control. After this, a pretest of reading comprehension was given to all the groups. Each group of participants underwent the treatment which lasted 12 sessions. One session was allocated to the proficiency test and pretest and one session for the posttest. At the end of the treatment, the posttest was administered. The findings suggested that involving learners in literature peer mediation and tutor intervention in an interventionist dynamic atmosphere can significantly and positively affect their reading comprehension. The results of the findings could help language learners to decide their own learning experience. Furthermore, EFL teachers and materials developers can benefit from the findings of this study by providing students with practical tasks based on their assessment needs.