Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics
Volume:13 Issue: 1, Mar 2010

This small-scale study investigates (a) whether academic vocabulary compares in development with vocabulary breadth and depth for Iranian ESP/EAP learners and، if the answer is positive، (b) whether this trend of development happens across proficiency levels. Fifty-seven graduate students served as the subjects who were also divided into high and low groups based on whether they had acquired the most frequent 2،000 words. Multiple regression analysis results show much shared variance between breadth and depth tests، and academic vocabulary test for the participants as a whole group. Therefore، as learners’ vocabulary breadth and depth increase، so does their academic vocabulary. A similar finding is also observed for the high group and low group. However، the finding for the low group is contrary to our expectation. The results suggest more systematic vocabulary development for the high group، less for the participants as a whole group، and least in the low group. This investigation has some implications for language، and more particularly vocabulary، instruction for ESP/EAP purposes in Iran.

Self-assessment and peer-assessment are two means of realizing the goals of educational assessment and learner-centered education. Although there are many arguments in favor of their educational benefits، they have not become common practices in educational settings. This is mainly due to the fact that teachers do not trust the pedagogical values and the reliability of learners’ self- and peer-assessment. With regard to these points، this study aimed at investigating the effect of doing self- and peer-assessments over time on the paragraph writing performance and the self- and peer-rating accuracy of a sample of Iranian English-major students. To do so، eleven paragraphs during eleven sessions were written and then self- or peer-rated by the students in two experimental groups. The findings indicated that self-and peer-assessment are indeed effective in improving not only the writing performance of the students but also their rating accuracy. After comparing the effects of self- and peer-assessment on the writing performance and the rating accuracy of the participants، peer-assessment، however، turned out to be more effective in improving the writing performance of the students than self-assessment. In addition، neither of the assessment methods outdid the other in improving the rating accuracy of the students.

Much has been written about the complex textual mechanisms which lie under the structure of academic genre. However، we are still far from a vivid taxonomy of factors that lead to the development of research articles (RAs) as the manifestation of the given genre. Rhetorical structure and thematicity are two of these main parameters. The present study investigates the interaction of the thematic structures and the rhetorical moves of RAs published in the international journals (IJs) and those of the Iranian local journals (ILJs). To this end، a corpus of 120 RA discussion sections of sub-disciplines of Applied Linguistics were analyzed using Kanoksilapatham’s (2007) move analytical model، thematic option (TO) model proposed by Halliday (1985)، and the Daneš’ (1974) revised model of thematic progression (TP) in McCabe (1999). The results indicated a significant relationship between the theme types and the generic moves on one hand، and distribution of the theme progressions and rhetorical structures on the other hand. The choice of theme type and thematic progression was found، however، to be، in some cases، influenced by locality of the journals. The findings of the study call for a consideration of a more complex rhetorical profile of RAs than what has to date been assumed.

This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of fostering cooperative learning on EFL learners’ overall achievement. To fulfill the purpose of this study، 56 female students of Saba Language School in Tehran were selected from a total number of 90 based on their performance on the Preliminary English Test (PET) and randomly put into two experimental and control groups. The same content was taught to both groups throughout the 24-session treatment. The only difference was that the experimental group was taught through communicative language teaching with the use of cooperative learning activities، which consisted of the three-step-interview، think-pair-share، paired annotations، round robin، and learning together، while the students in the control group were taught through the communicative language teaching approach without the cooperative teaching procedure. An achievement posttest within the content taught was given to the students in both groups at the end of the instruction and the mean scores of both groups on the test were compared through an independent samples t-test. The result showed the rejection of the null hypothesis thus concluding that cooperative learning had a significant effect on the overall achievement of Iranian EFL learners.

This study examines the controversial debate of the exclusion of adult learners’ native language by reporting learners’ and instructors overwhelmingly positive perceptions of its use in English for Specific Purpose (ESP) classes. In this study، multiple methods such as class observations، questionnaires and interviews were used. The research was undertaken in 14 ESP classes for the students of Engineering، Sciences and Humanities at Yazd University، Iran. Extensive qualitative and statistical analysis of the questionnaires revealed that a solid majority of learners from different academic majors and instructors responded positively regarding the use of native language as a pedagogic device for teaching various aspects of the target language. Correspondingly، class observations revealed that all the instructors teaching different academic disciplines resorted to the native language as an appropriate medium for cross-lingual، cross-cultural comparisons. Nevertheless، the results from the interview phase of the study revealed that a large majority of learners and instructors were not in favor of using the first language as a facilitating technique and as a means to reduce students’ anxiety.

Sitting in the classroom for rather a long time، listening to the teacher and other students، and having occasional responses are what typically happen in the English teaching classrooms around the world. ETS، a big hall with at least three sites as language learning zones، brings about a dynamic method which environmentally simulates communicative occasions to provide the learners with an exciting and intensive practice on the current conversations through role-playing. In this study، the efficiency of ETS was evaluated in an experimental research design. To do so، 34 students of English Language and Literature at Semnan University were taken as subjects in two conversation classes. Upon the completion of the course for 10 sessions، a T-test was applied to see if the method makes any significant improvement. The result showed that ETS was significantly better than the traditional method. To see the students’ opinions about the method، a questionnaire was also conducted with the results revealing students’ positive feedback toward the method.

The ever-increasing application of computer and internet mandates a longer domain for computer-mediated-communication (CMC). Internet chat as a principal feature of CMC has attracted tremendous attention among the youths in recent years. Thus، this study has focused on the written chats of 100 Iranian university students majoring in different disciplines. We analyzed 400 chat samples (composed of 4000 moves) in terms of opening and continuing speech functions based on Eggins and Slade’s (1997) model of casual conversation. We also examined humor and paralinguistic features based on taxonomies of Huffaker and Calvert (2005) and Nastri، Peña، and Hancock (2006). Among the various types of speech functions، nine opening speech functions، seven continuing speech functions and four humor and paralinguistic features were investigated. The analysis of the data shows that the salient opening speech function has been ‘statement: opinion’ which provides attitudinal and evaluative information. Additionally، the outstanding types of continuing speech functions are ‘prolong: extend’، ‘prolong: enhance’، and ‘append: elaborate’. Therefore، it is in order for the participants to offer additional or contrasting information to the previous move or qualify it by giving details of time، place، condition، etc. Moreover، in case of interruption by the other chatter، the participants mostly tend to clarify، exemplify or reiterate the previous move. Furthermore، the participants produced irony، as a humorous element، in a great volume which is indicative of their tendency toward being indirect during conversation. The subjects also used many paralinguistic features such as misspellings and repeated punctuations in order to express their emotions and attract their partners’ attention in the absence of verbal communication.