Journal of Language and Translation
Volume:14 Issue: 4, Autumn 2024

The present study aims at investigating the differential effects of two types of instruction (explicit versus implicit) on the learning of English articles by Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this aim, 90 intermediate undergraduate students at Islamic Azad University, Shahreza Branch, whose major was English Translation were selected for the experiment. Then, they were divided into three groups namely, explicit group (EG), implicit group (IG), and control group (CG). The EG received instruction on English articles through two popular grammar- books, namely ‘Essential Grammar in Use’ by Murphy (1998) and ‘Oxford Practice Grammar’ by Eastwood (1999). The second group received instruction on English articles by employing the technique of textual input enhancement. The third group received similar instruction like IG except that English articles were not enhanced for this group. After analyzing the data on pre- and posttests, the results showed that the three groups of EG, IG, and CG improved significantly from pretest to posttests. Moreover, on the posttest, the EG learners significantly outweighed the IG learners, who were in turn found to be significantly better than their counterparts in the CG. The results of this study have several important implications for the classroom practice concerning the controversial issue of teaching English articles.

The role of metacognitive processing in learning different language skills has been considered by scholars in the field of English Language Teaching. The present quasi-experimental study sought to investigate the effect of explicit and implicit strategy instruction on reading comprehension among Iranian university students. A total of 119 male and female English as a foreign Language (EFL) university students aged 20-28, enrolled in three reading courses, were selected conveniently from a university in the central part of Iran. The three classes were randomly assigned to two treatment groups: explicit group (n=37), implicit group (n=39), and control group (n=43). The experimental groups received treatment in the form of explicit and implicit strategy instruction while the control group followed the conventional course of instruction. Two different validated reading comprehension tests were used to collect measures of reading ability, and some reading texts taken from Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School were used as the materials of the study. Data analysis using ANOVA showed that although the reading scores of both experimental groups improved from pretest to posttest, the explicit strategy instruction group outperformed the implicit group in reading comprehension. Pedagogic implications stemming from the findings are discussed.

Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) Theory holds the idea that a crucial factor in the development of a person’s cognitive functioning and enabling him to function as an autonomous learner is the amount and quality of mediated learning interactions he has received. Given this, the paramount focus of this study was to implement MLE through mediational behaviors regarding developing EFL learners’ metacognitive strategy use (MSU) and grammar knowledge. To this end, a grammar test and the Persian version of the Metacognitive Strategies Questionnaire by Item Types were administered to 60 Iranian elementary EFL learners who were selected through convenience sampling and assigned to experimental and control groups at the pretest and posttest. Quantitative analysis of the data revealed that an MLE-based grammar course done through mediational behaviors improved not only the learners’ use of metacognitive strategies as a total but also the learners’ use of planning strategies and their grammar knowledge as well, it did not improve their use of goal-setting and assessment strategies, instead. The results can bear some lucrative insights for various practitioners ranging from teachers and teacher trainers to syllabus designers and stakeholders.

The aim of this study was to identify the strategies used by Iranian teachers to develop their EFL learners' intercultural communicative competence. For this purpose, one hundred Iranian in-service EFL teachers (male and female) teaching at different private language schools in Ahwaz and Isfahan participated in the study and completed a questionnaire that assessed the frequency and perceived effectiveness of different strategies for developing intercultural communicative competence. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The findings revealed that Iranian EFL teachers employ different strategies to promote their learners' ICC, which can be categorized into teacher-centered, student-centered, and collaboration between teacher and student strategies. It was also revealed that teacher-centered strategies are the most commonly used strategies, while there is a need as well for more student-centered and collaborative strategies that actively involve learners in the process of developing their ICC. The implications of these findings for language teaching and learning practices are discussed at the end of this study.

Successful technology integration initiatives hinge on the skills and knowledge of teachers to effectively implement technology in classroom teaching. The effect of technology in blended learning can be maximized if the three aspects of content, pedagogy, and knowledge are well incorporated. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) offers a framework for teacher knowledge to combine technology and teaching successfully. Using digital tools in TPACK to understand EFL teachers’ skills and ability levels is considerably important. This study examined the impact of blended learning according to the TPACK framework presented by Mishra and Koehler (2006) on critical thinking and reflection. To this end, 60 EFL teachers were selected from among 100 EFL teachers based on their OPT scores. They were asked to participate in a pre-post-test design experiment. The data were gathered from the EFL teachers through three questionnaires including the TPACK questionnaire, reflective questionnaire, and critical thinking questionnaire. During the 12 sessions of intervention, the experimental group experienced BL instruction based on the TPACK model, while the control group went through traditional face-to-face instruction. The teachers took the critical thinking and reflection questionnaires in the first and last sessions. To analyze the data, independent and paired sample t-tests were conducted. Data analyses revealed that blended-learning training instruction based on TPACK had a statistically significant influence on Iranian EFL teachers’ reflection and critical thinking. The findings have implications for EFL teacher educators, school administrators, and other stakeholders to be encouraged to develop TPACK-based professional programs for EFL teachers.

This study attempted to evaluate the comparative effects of reading-to-write and writing-only tasks on the discourse characteristics of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. In order to accomplish this goal, sixty EFL learners were chosen by OPT. These individuals were then split up into two experimental groups, reading-to-write and writing-only, respectively. Before and after receiving the therapy, the writing pre-and post-tests were given to both groups. In addition, ten out of thirty participants in the reading-to-write group completed the semi-structured interview. The findings showed that reading-to-write activities substantially impacted the writing fluency, syntactic complexity, and grammatical accuracy of the post-test completed by EFL students. The findings also revealed that writing-only activities substantially impacted the EFL learners' writing posttest performance in the areas of writing fluency and grammatical accuracy. Analyzing the discourse features of the writing post-test revealed a sizeable gap between students who had learned to write by reading to write and those who had learned to write only. The findings of the qualitative study showed that the vast majority of students were pleased with the implementation of reading-to-write activities in the various classroom settings and found it was effective in enhancing students’ level of writing ability. This study has some implications for teachers and syllabus designers to design appropriate integrative reading to write tasks.

Writing a thesis in English is a challenging requirement for most graduate students. Many non-native students may get assistance in crafting their theses. One of the most commonly used tools for this purpose is Google Translate (GT). To our knowledge, graduate students and their supervisors’ perceptions of using GT have not been investigated in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This study aims to investigate the attitudes of supervisors and supervisees toward the use of GT in thesis writing. It also considers the possible reasons and purposes for the use of GT by students. In addition, it seeks to understand participants' perceptions toward the benefits, drawbacks, and ethicality of utilizing GT in writing theses. Using questionnaires and interviews, the researcher investigated the perceptions of 49 PhD and master students from different disciplines and 18 supervisors across universities of Iraqi Kurdistan. The results revealed that students employed GT for tasks such as translating sentences and text to aid in reading comprehension, integrating it into their assignments, and even incorporating it within their theses. Moreover, although both students and teachers perceived GT as an effective tool, they were concerned about its inaccuracy and unethicality. This research provides recommendations for the optimal utilization of machine translation tools such as GT in academic writing in general and thesis writing in particular.

The current study was an attempt to develop a local model and scale of washback effects of the English language module of the National University Entrance Exam on English language education at Iran's High Schools. To this aim, a mixed methods study was adopted. The qualitative phase involved data-driven from interviews with twenty experts in English education concerning NUEE washback effects which led to the formation of a tentative scale. Then, the quantitative phase included piloting and reliability estimation as well as factor analyses and Structural Equation Modeling for validation of the developed questionnaire. To this purpose, 570 participants were selected through convenience sampling from Tehran, Qom, Varamin, and Gharchack amongst teachers and students as respondents to the questionnaire. Data analyses showed that 58 items were loaded under five dimensions: educational process, attitudes and perceptions, educational policies, emotional and consequential, and socio-cultural dimensions. The model was shown to enjoy acceptable fit indices.

Lexical Priming Theory claims that the collocational primings of a word depend on the genre or discipline in which it occurs. In this study, attempts were made to compare the collocates and colligates and the positions of the collocates prior and subsequent to the node word in two specialized corpora of soft science and hard science to see if they are realized in the same or different ways. To serve this purpose, the introduction section of 1000 RAs of two disciplines of soft and hard were gathered from disciplines of applied linguistics, sociology, and psychology (soft science) and computer science, chemistry, physics and medical science (hard science) in order to find a relationship between these two types of RAs with differences in discipline and the authors’ use of collocations and colligations. The findings revealed that the frequency of collocations that employed in the introduction sections of soft and hard sciences were not the same and the researchers of soft science in designing their research articles’ introduction sections employed more collocations in comparison to the researchers in hard science. Hence, based on the results of Chi-square data analysis, it can be claimed that there is a significant difference between two groups of authors in using colocations. However, in terms of colligations, both groups used colligations with the same rates and similarities in the right and the left positions of the collocations, hence it can be claimed that there is no difference in two sciences in terms of high dominant colligations.

Pienemann’s Processability (PT) Theory is on the assumption that there is a limit on the human’s short term memory and processing capacity. On the one hand it means that those language structures which need a higher processing should only be produced in later stages of second language acquisition. On the other hand it means that what is presented to second language learners has to in line with their current level of proficiency. The present paper was an attempt to see if the English textbooks (Vision 1, 2, 3) taught in Iranian secondary high schools follow the developmental stages offered by PT. It also aimed to see if there was a smooth pedagogical progression from the first grade to the third grade in these textbooks. The findings showed that they only were successful at stage 1 of PT. In other words, they were more concerned with presenting word and phrases but when it came to other stages of the PT three major deviations were noticed: A) the early presentation of question forms before SVO structure is well-established, B) mixing the stages of PT, and C) omission of some intermediate stages. With regard to the second purpose no smooth progression was seen from grade one to grade three. For example, while Vision 1 introduces subordinate clauses, surprisingly, a year later Vision 2 presents countable/uncountable words like “some, many, a few, a little...” which, according to PT, are a lot easier to process than complex sentences containing subordinate clauses.

The present study aimed at investigating student-generated vocabulary testing factors fostering autonomy among Iranian EFL learners. The changing needs of today's society have redefined the goals of education in general and teacher and learner roles in particular. Learners are no longer viewed as the individuals who passively receive knowledge from teachers. Instead, the modern society has necessitated a lifelong learning, that is, training learners by giving them the power to take the responsibility of their own learning. The qualitative method of research was used in this study. The participants consisted of 30 EFL learners studying or finished teaching English. A semi-structured interviews were designed and conducted. After conducting all the interviews, the recorded interviews were transcribed by the researcher. In order to maintain the confidentiality, each participant was given a name other than his or her real names. Then, the transcripts and interviews' notes and memos returned to the participants and they were asked to ensure that the data was genuine and truly based on their opinions. Then, the transcripts were read and reread several times in order to thoroughly comprehend and get familiar with. In this qualitative research, MAXQDA software was used to analyze the data. A large number of codes were consequently provided by the software and a list of tentative categories were prepared (4 themes and 14 categories) by the constant comparative method. The four themes are: 1- Personality characteristics 2- Positive points of student-generated vocabulary testing, 3- Negative points of student-generated vocabulary testing, 4- Teacher’s role.

This study investigates the impact of various reflective practices—Reflection-in-Action, Reflection-on-Action, and Reflection-for-Action—on the Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) of Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers. The research addresses a critical gap in teacher development by examining how self-reflective processes can enhance the knowledge, skills, and principles required for effective language assessment. A mixed-methods approach was employed, involving 100 teachers from institutions in Tehran and Karaj. Data collection involved pre- and post-tests, interviews, and classroom observations, analyzed through both statistical methods (ANOVA) and thematic analysis. Findings revealed significant improvements in LAL, particularly with Reflection-for-Action, where teachers demonstrated better alignment of assessments with instructional goals and improved feedback mechanisms. Qualitative insights suggested that these reflective practices helped teachers foster more student-centered assessment strategies, enhancing both formative and summative evaluation processes. The findings of this study contribute to both theory and practice by integrating reflection into teacher education frameworks. Implications for policy and practice are significant: teacher training programs should incorporate structured reflection to foster deeper pedagogical insights, better assessment practices, and more equitable student outcomes. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the need for context-specific training that accounts for cultural influences on teacher attitudes and behaviors toward assessment. In light of the evolving educational landscape, this study underscores the potential of reflective practice in bridging gaps in language assessment literacy and promoting continuous professional growth.

Teaching and development of writing skill in foreign language education is very important, but it has been regarded as a challenging task for some teachers especially in the context of teaching English as a Foreign Language, In this respect, different teaching approaches, including Problem-Based Learning (PBL) have been developed to help learners improve their writing skills. This study sought to investigate the effect of problem-based learning on Iranian EFL learners’ argumentative writing performance. To fulfill the above purpose 46 EFL upper intermediate female learners within the age range of 16-18 were selected through a convenience sampling design, out of a population of 73 learners, based on their performance on a First Certificate in English test (FCE). Then, they were randomly assigned into two groups of problem-based and traditional product- based group. Both groups took a pretest at the beginning of the study to measure the amount of pre-existing knowledge on argumentative writing performance including its components of (Generic features, syntactical language, and spelling) and a post-test in the end to check the effectiveness of the treatment applied. PBL group benefited from PBL method and the control group received traditional writing instruction method. The results of the study, based on the analysis of covariance, indicated that PBL group outperformed the control group in writing performance, including its component of generic features, syntactical language, and spelling. Teachers, EFL learners, material developers, and syllabus designers can be the beneficiaries of this inquiry's outcomes.

The multifaceted roles of corrective feedback in second language instruction continue to attract the attention of both researchers and practitioners interested in how it can most effectively be integrated into classroom interaction in ways that benefit second language development (Tedick & Lyster, 2020). Therefore, the present study intends to shed a light on the effectiveness of recall protocol method on Iranian male and female intermediate EFL learners' general English achievements. To fulfill this study, 80 male and female undergraduate university students were divided randomly into two groups; The experimental group received recall protocol feedback method whereas the control group was taught through the conventional feedback techniques. Consequently, the results of the independent samples T-test revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group. Moreover, the results of two-way ANOVA showed that male students obtained significantly higher scores than the female students considering the use of recall protocol. Furthermore, the pedagogical implications suggested that such findings can be colossal as a way for assist creating efficiency, especially on the off chance that the disclosures are to be utilized by L2 teachers.

Educational aids and new educational technologies have transformed learning systems during the last decade. The present study was an attempt to investigate the role of participatory structure and output modality in enhancing Iranian EFL learners’ writing, and examine their perceptions toward participating in writing activities. The population of this study included all female EFL learners (90 learners) at intermediate level at Avayeh Daneshvaran Language Academy in Tabriz. Among them, 63 learners were selected as the sample group after conducting a sample of the PET. The participants were selected through convenient sampling; they included four intact classes. The instruments included two samples of the English language proficiency test of PET, which were administered as homogeneity test, and the pre-tests and posttests of writing. The collected data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and two-way ANCOVA. The researchers analyzed the participants’ responses to the open-ended questionnaire qualitatively. The findings revealed that output modality, participatory structure, and the interaction of these two had no significant effect on EFL learners’ writing skill. Regarding the qualitative section, the findings showed that the learners had positive attitude toward the use of podcasts and summary telling and writing. The findings of the study have significant theoretical and practical significance for teachers, teacher educators, curriculum designers and researchers.

The present case study aims to compare human translators and machine translation engines to determine the differences in transferring the register of the original text. Khaksar and Sohrabi as human translators are selected to be compared to Google and Targoman as translation machines. Steve Toltz's A Fraction of the Whole is selected to contain the data samples. The method is descriptive qualitative, and quantitative analysis is used to quantify the qualitative data. To deal with the concept of register, Halliday's register theory in systemic functional linguistics is used which mainly considers register as a concept for investigating the contextual factors that consist of three dimensions: field, tenor, and mode. The products of the four translators are analyzed and compared based on the Hallidayan register. The results demonstrate that humans have been able to transfer the register of the selected samples with higher quality than the machines. However, the difference in transferring the three dimensions of the register by each translator implies that there are similarities between the humans and the machines when transferring the dimensions of the register is considered since the distribution of problematic items among the dimensions of the register is extremely similar for all translators.

This study explores innovative and ground-breaking concepts in Sa’eb Tabrizi’s (1992) poetry, with a specific focus on the natural element of "dew." Sa’eb's poetry deviates from literary traditions through discordance, categorized as parody, contradiction, and inversion. The research addresses the question of how Sa’eb employs "Shanam" (dew) in his poetry, analyzing its imagery. The novelty lies in examining both literary characteristics and the original illustrations of Sa’eb's opposition. Employing a qualitative approach, the research identifies discordance levels, selects "dew" as a natural element of interest, and categorizes discordance types. The analysis of Sa’eb's verses reveals diverse metaphorical associations of dew, including likening it to mercury, eyes, evil eyes, tears, and water. This study’s findings contribute to understanding Sa’eb's creative expressions and his departure from literary traditions, shedding light on the significance of natural elements in his poetic discourse.This study’s findings contribute to understanding Sa’eb's creative expressions and his departure from literary traditions, shedding light on the significance of natural elements in his poetic discourse.

This study aims to identify ideologically-laden translation patterns in an Iranian news website. The corpus consists of 40 ST-TT pairs of English news and their Persian translations by Tabnak, a ‘Principlist’ Iranian website. The source texts originate from Western media, mostly based in Europe and the United States, in addition to Israel, and relate to the main points of conflict between Iran and the West such as Iran’s nuclear program. Relying on concepts and taxonomies introduced by Critical Discourse Analysis scholars, the authors examined which ideological shifts had taken place and which had a higher frequency. The study revealed that omission of Our bad actions/properties, lexical manipulation, and omission of Their good actions/properties were the most frequent shifts. The study explains how these ideological manipulations relate to the wider sociopolitical context, i.e. the relations between Iran and the West, and the political viewpoint of Tabnak as an Iranian news source with a conservative bent. It also provides suggestion for rigorous application of CDA framework in Translation Studies.

The twentieth century has been shaped by a multitude of events that have been analyzed and documented by scholars across several disciplines. Both Ernest Hemingway, a renowned novelist, and Gholamhossein Saedi, a writer and novelist who explores similar subjects and is influenced by similar modes of thought, have addressed the concept of existence in their body of work. This study examines many indicators that indicate the presence of themes related to identity and existence in the main works of the two authors. This paper employs a research methodology rooted in content analysis to examine how two writers, originating from distinct geographical regions and employing unique genre characteristics, skillfully address the theme of existence through the careful selection of setting, language, and characterization within the framework of social realism, a literary movement associated with enlightenment. The findings of this study, which utilized a content analysis approach, demonstrate how these two authors, despite residing in disparate geographical regions, have employed the novel as a literary genre to effectively convey social realism through deliberate choices in spatial representation, language usage, and character development, thereby contributing to the advancement of literature.

This study explores the gendered linguistic strategies employed in White House press briefings by spokespersons Sean Spicer and Karine Jean-Pierre. Through the application of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the research aims to identify distinct language patterns that reflect authority, ideology, and inclusivity. Through an analysis of pronouns, modal verbs, and specific lexical choices, this study highlights how gender inflects communication dynamics and power relations in the domain of political discourse. The findings also showed major differences in the languages used by both male and female spokespersons, evidencing the subtle ways in which gendered expectations shape public communication. Contemporary research on gender, hedging, assertiveness, and authority in political language supports these findings and is useful for contributions to sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and gender studies. The implications of such a study would further suggest that political communicators can benefit from heightened awareness of these language patterns to ensure the application of more inclusive and effective engagement strategies within the public sphere. 
Contemporary research on gender, hedging, assertiveness, and authority in political language supports these findings and is useful for contributions to sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and gender studies. The implications of such a study would further suggest that political communicators can benefit from heightened awareness of these language patterns to ensure the application of more inclusive and effective engagement strategies within the public sphere.