Journal of New Trends in English Language Learning
Volume:2 Issue: 4, Dec 2023

 Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and intercultural sensitivity (IS) have attracted the attention of a number of researchers in the field of foreign language teaching and learning. Like many other studies carried out by far, the present study tries to explore EFL teachers’ (with short- and long-term teaching experiences) ICC (intercultural communicative competence) and IS (intercultural sensitivity) levels and measure them in practice through administering two questionnaires to discover Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions or beliefs in understanding ICC and intercultural sensitivity. In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, via a quantitative and descriptive design; a sample of 170 EFL teachers with short (N=82)- and long-term teaching experiences (N=88) from different language institutes and high schools in West Azerbaijan province was selected to fill out the two ICC and IS questionnaires. The results of quantitative data analysis showed that both groups of Iranian EFL teachers paid special attention to ICC and IS. It also turned out that the two groups of teachers (with short term teaching experience and long-term teaching experience) were not significantly different in terms of ICC and IS levels. To put it another way, though all EFL teachers were aware of the concepts of ICC and IS and their importance in their teaching practices, they paid attention to the concept of culture. The pedagogical implications of the study are discussed.

The present study investigated Iranian English language quality through validating the model of criteria. More specifically, the study analyzed the most and the least important criteria for evaluating the English language quality of EFL learners. Also, the differences among males and females with regard to the English language quality were investigated. In doing so, a total number of 100 English teachers of different levels of proficiency were chosen. The researchers-made questionnaire was distributed among participants via Google. The process of analyzing the data obtained from the questionnaire was performed in two software, SPSS 21 and pls. In the quantitative part of descriptive statistics, numbers, percentages, central indicators, and dispersion indicators were used. In inferential statistics, a factor analysis test was done to confirm and validate the questionnaire and structural equation model. Findings of the present study revealed the most important criteria for analyzing the EFL students' language quality which are individual characteristics, learning strategy, and learning dynamics. The results also indicated that educational technology and content regulation as background conditions, are effective in assessing the English language quality of Iranian learners. Moreover, no significant difference found among Iranian males and females with regard to the English language quality. It should be noted that the implementation of this approach requires the necessary professional potentials and competencies.

EFL teachers are suggested to investigate learners’ beliefs and preferences for oral error correction, an integral part of language teaching, to either adopt them or raise learners’ awareness in case their perceptions and preferences oppose the findings regarding effective learning. Although Iranian EFL learners’ attitude and preferences for different aspects of oral error treatment have been relatively addressed, some mixed results were obtained. Using a quantitative descriptive design, the current study sought to extend this line of research by investigating the attitudes and preferences of 756 Iranian EFL learners regarding the existence of oral errors, oral error correction timing, provider, categories, and techniques. The findings revealed that EFL learners had positive attitude towards oral error correction. In details, a large number of learners had a preference for oral error correction most of the time. Moreover immediate teacher correction was favored by most subjects. Moreover, nearly half of the participants favored self-correction while most expressed dislike for peer error treatment. The findings concerning error treatment types and techniques, showed that EFL learners favored different types and techniques of oral error treatment among which a subtype of metalinguistic clues where teacher provides information or hints to correction and a subtype of clarification request in which teacher asks why the learner used the word or the structure were the most and least favorite ones respectively. The findings might help stakeholders gain a better understanding of learners ' attitudes and preferences for oral error treatment .

 Violence as an unavoidable part of human beings' experience is so widespread within individuals' contacts that in most cases is ignored or taken for granted. However, violence is subject to various misperceptions that make the study of it challenging. Theoretically, this paper adopts the three forms of violence suggested by Slavoj Žižek: subjective, objective and systemic violence in order to explore how Žižek proves the ways by which, violence is perceived and misperceived. In doing so, this paper applies political discourse analysis, Black gender feminism, and psychoanalytic methods to be the approaches of this study. By applying Žižek's theories of violence on Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Beloved as the corpus of the study the current paper explores violence and the ways it is misrepresented. The objective of this paper is to explore the strategies which lead to misperception of violence. The conclusion drawn from this paper shows that Žižekian systemic violence that generates other forms of violence should remain hidden as dark matter of physics. Some pseudo-activities, ideologies or pseudo-ideologies can be at work in their manifest and latent forms when something that is so obviously omnipresent remains invisible or is misperceived.

This study aimed to examine the realization of the semantic and syntactic functions and types of verbs in the introduction section of research articles (RAs) from English literary studies. The functions and types of verbs were investigated in a corpus of 20 published research articles in literary studies written by experts with English as L1. This qualitative study was built on a corpus purposively selected and analyzed from each article to specify functions of verbs by various patterns of the semantic and syntactic structures and determine the types and frequencies of verbs in the introduction sections of the RAs. The analysis of semantic and syntactic functions of verbs indicated the semantic and syntactic features and type of verbs, revealing how verbs were used in the introduction section of RAs in literary studies. Data analysis also highlighted different functions and types of verbs (syntactically and semantically) purposefully used in these studies. Students can benefit from the results of the present study to enhance their linguistic and writing skills in writing for academic purposes (EAP) and promote various strategies used in the production, comprehension, and reproduction of discourses in ELT.

One of the most significant discussions in sociolinguistics has been intercultural competence which involves interactions between people from different cultural backgrounds. Undeniably, beyond the linguistic competence, one needs intercultural competence for an effective communication. One of the main areas which may be affected by intercultural competence is website design for target users. The purpose of this review is to compare the cultural dimensions between Iran and the United States in terms of website design from a variety of state and private sectors. As the theoretical framework, the study relies on Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory which consists of 6 indices of power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long/short term orientation, and indulgence/restraint. The results of the comparison of websites indicated that the way information is presented via Iranian and American websites differs to a great extent, each country reflecting its own cultural norms and values. The study implies that target users’ needs, interests, and cultural values should be taken into account in order to achieve an effective intercultural communication with target users.