Journal of Language and Translation
Volume:14 Issue: 1, Spring 2024

This study intended to develop a model of motivating factors to learn English among Iranian Kurdish and Azerbaijani EFL learners. For this purpose, at first, an endeavor was made to discover motivation factors and validate a model. Therefore, in the qualitative phase, a semi-structured interview was done with 18 Azerbaijani interviewees (in the Azerbaijan University of Tabriz) and 18 Kurdish ones (in the Kurdistan University of Sanandaj) and 6 participants of focus group from each ethnic group to brainstorm their ideas. After discovering seven EFL motivating factors with 29 categories, a questionnaire was made which reflected the factors. In the quantitative phase, the 80-item questionnaire underwent an exploratory factor analysis to test validity, and after the confirmation of its validity and reliability through a pilot study with 234 participants, the questionnaire was distributed among 320 EFL participants. To corroborate the validity of the proposed model, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis was used with LISREL 8.8. Eventually, confirmatory factor analysis was run and the model of motivating factors was developed with three factors related more to Azerbaijani students leading to integrative motivation and four for Kurdish students making instrumental motivation. The emerged model is helpful for policymakers of education and teachers caring about better English instruction.

Assessment of interactional competence (IC) as a multi-componential construct poses several challenges for both teachers and administrators. Having a diagnostic assessment perspective through stakeholders’ involvement, this mixed methods study attempts to provide information about students’ strengths and weaknesses in IC. The paper first explored the distinctive effects of diagnostic self- and peer-assessments on the development of Iranian EFL learners’ IC; it then examined the accuracy of the learners’ diagnostic assessment of IC in paired speaking tests. The learners’ perception toward the application of diagnostic assessment was also investigated qualitatively. To this end, 60 students majoring in English translation at Islamic Azad University participated in this study. Taking the instructor’s ratings as the criterion, over the course of 12 weeks, the accuracy of the learners’ diagnostic self- and peer- assessments was investigated. Data analysis, using T-test and MANOVA, confirmed that while the two groups of diagnostic self- and peer- assessments had considerable improvement in IC, there was not any significant difference between the two groups’ gain. In addition, no statistically significant difference was found between the accuracy of diagnostic self-, peer – assessment and those of instructor- assessment throughout the course. Furthermore, the results showed that the participants held favorable perception toward the application of diagnostic assessment.

In this study, attempts were made to explore the impact of peer-assisted mediation and teacher intervention on the attitudes of Iranian intermediate English learners towards reading comprehension, within an intrusive dynamic assessment approach. For this purpose, 60 male language learners were selected and homogenized by applying the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) as the main participants of the study. They were randomly divided into three groups: Experimental group (GA), Peer mediation, Experimental group (GB), and Instructor intervention group (GC)—control group. An attitude questionnaire was administered to the participants in all three groups to collect the necessary data. Then the treatment started and lasted 12 sessions. Each group of participants received a specific treatment. The post-test was administered at the end of the treatment. Analysis of the results showed that peer-assisted mediation and teacher intervention in intrusive dynamic assessment had significant impacts on the reading comprehension attitudes of Iranian intermediate English learners. The findings of the study offered some pedagogical implications for language teachers and textbook developers.

Reading and listening skills are regarded as two out of four significant skills in the field of language teaching. However, no valid research was carried out to study the role of the 5E Learning Cycle Model in developing these two receptive skills. Drawing on insight from the 5E Learning Cycle Model, this study aimed to examine the effect of 5E-based online activities on English language students’ reading and listening performances. A sample of 60 adult EFL learners studying in a pre-IELTS course at a private language school participated in the study.  The study utilized an experimental method approach to achieve this. Two real samples of listening and reading IELTS tests were used as pre-and post-tests to gather quantitative data. Two sessions before the start of a 12-session pre-IELTS course, learners became familiar with their electronic classroom called Easy class and also received their pre-tests on listening and reading of IELTS. Next, 5E-based online activities were presented to the experimental group participants while the learners in the control group received conventional or non-5E-based instruction.  At the end of the semester, learners participated in one extra session to take their post-tests.  The independent sample t-test analysis of the quantitative data demonstrated that the employment of 5E-based online activities culminated in the improvement of EFL learners’ listening and reading performances. The findings imply that language teachers, teacher trainers, and material developers can benefit from 5E-based activities to improve language skills among learners.

Passing University Entrance Exams (UEE) successfully has long been the main anxiety for Iranian high school students. The reason for this mixed-methods ponder was to look at how freshman TEFL students experienced portfolio assessment for fostering their empowerment and also how assessment (dis)empowerment manifests itself in the English section of university Entrance Exams. The members were 100 freshmen university TEFL students who were helpfully and deliberately chosen from Shiraz, Tehran, and Isfahan universities. Not only a valid questionnaire but also group interviews were used to gather the required information. To analyze and portray the data, the researchers used descriptive statistical methods. The findings revealed TEFL pupils regarded the portfolio program as valuable for fostering their empowerment. Moreover, the TEFL students had an agreement about the disempowerment of the English section of the University Entrance Exam. Besides, the result underscored the need for more executive modes of evaluation consisting of using portfolios in UEE. Regarding the results, there are valuable suggestions for policymakers as well as constructors of the high-stake test.

Reality is perceived differently by different people, and the translator is no exception. Identity construction is related to reality construction. So, the main issue is how the narrative acts as a mental tool in constructing reality and hence identity. Like the controversial issue of language-thought, it is not easy to deal with narrative discourse and narrative thinking, since the reality in the mind, depends on the spatiotemporal framework of the culture in question. This paper shows how society, as a cultural frame, forces the translator to retell the narrative and reconstruct the identity, and why this identity formation will be more pronounced in the paratextual elements (translatorial &authorial prefaces). To provide effective insights into the involvement of multiple agents in the translation process, it tries to indicate how Orientalism concepts have been re-narrated in translatorial and authorial prefaces of Edward Said’s Orientalism, how it has been affected by structure and agency during the 90s in Iran, and how these prefaces as metadiscourse play a crucial role in framing readers interpretation. Analyzing the framework, along with literature and media in the mentioned decade, it proposes a hybrid model regarding Somers’ features (Paul Ricoeur’s Mimesis), and Goffman’s Framework for the concrete manifestation of re-narration and analysis of the prefaces, and the incorporation of the core conception of identity construction. The outcome shall also tell us that the identity, has been constructed by and existed as a narrative, in this case, mostly through paratexts, and various functions and author-identities have emerged regarding structure/agency dichotomy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Iranian EFL teachers’ years of experience and their empowerment on Iranian EFL students’ achievement. To this end, 70 EFL teachers and 60 intermediate students were selected from different English language institutes in Shiraz, Fars province. The instruments used in this study include the Oxford Quick Placement Test, Demographics, and Teacher Empowerment Questionnaire. The results were analyzed using One-way ANOVA, frequency analysis, independent samples t-test, and Multiple Regression Analysis. The result from the descriptive analysis regarding the distribution of means based upon the responses provided by the participants of the present study indicated that highly experienced teachers view their most empowered subscale as autonomy, status, self-efficacy, impact, decision-making and professional growth, respectively. These results suggested that teachers perceive their highest level of empowerment to reside in their ability to make decisions on what is taught or about curriculum, and to have control over daily schedules. In addition, it is important to mention that low-experienced teachers view their most empowered subscale as self-efficacy, professional growth, status, autonomy, impact and decision-making. The findings of the current research suggest that teachers perceive their highest level of empowerment to reside in their ability to share their skills and knowledge with students to help them learn.

This article surveys the process of news translation, the role of news translators in this process, and the skills, knowledge, and attributes necessary for them to establish an understanding of the nature of news translation. It is also intended to ascertain whether news translation university courses are adequately designed and delivered in consonance with the requirements of the profession. To achieve this, 12 journalist-translators working for eight news agencies in Iran were invited to participate in this study. Through in-depth interviews and a Likert scale questionnaire, some questions were put to the interviewees, the responses to which indicated that the news translation process consists of five major steps, very much common to all agencies. However, who are the actors, what happens in between the steps, and where do news translators stand in this process all depend on the news agency’s policies and the competencies of the translators. The interviewees also identified a total of 31 traits as the necessary attributes of competent news translators. Finally, regarding the relevant university programs, the experts had a unanimous negative opinion and believed that the programs were due for major revision. It is expected that examining these issues will illuminate some under-attended aspects of news production and make a constructive contribution to the development of news translation syllabuses and the design of the courses taught in journalism and media colleges and universities.

This study investigates the way psychological problems affect unique LAD while acquiring a second language. A qualitative study and semi-structured interview, ranging from 50 to 70 minutes were employed. Twelve professional L2 teachers have been interviewed to meet the study's findings. Participants' quotes help the researchers find that psychological problems include four main properties, namely OCD, lack of concentration, stress, and other unique psychological problems affecting the process of SLA. During the interview, the researchers found that these properties affect learners' rate of learning, interest, acquisition progress, concentration, self-confidence, interaction in the TL, motivation, and learning potential.

Based on the tenets of the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, the purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of Fully-Immersive Teaching (FIT) vs. conventional communicative language teaching on the articulation abilities of Iranian EFL learners diagnosed with Expressive Language Disorder (ELD). Purposively choosing 36 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners who had mild to moderate levels of ELD, we used a quasi-Solomon four-group design and separated them into two experimental and two control groups. The intervention included twenty sessions of seventy minutes each and comprised of eighty microlearning speech exercises that were developed in VR by FIT. The participants in the control group were given instruction based on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which is an approach to language education. Both the OQPT and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-III) were used in this study's pre-testing and post-testing procedures. The results showed that individuals who were instructed in accordance with FIT performed better than their colleagues who had been subjected to CLT in terms of articulation abilities. These skills included expressive vocabulary, oral word fluency, and sentence repeats. TEFL, therapeutic education, cognitive speech therapy, and instructional technology might all stand to gain from the outcomes.

Appropriate language learning strategies result in improved proficiency among EFL learners. This paper aimed to investigate the relationship between vocabulary learning strategy use and the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners using structural equation modeling. To fulfill this goal, 200 EFL learners, mainly intermediate level, both genders using cluster sampling procedure, established the participated of the study. Three instruments were used to collect the data: the vocabulary learning strategies survey, the depth and breadth of vocabulary test, and the vocabulary levels test. Friedman’s test results showed that the proportion of using word learning strategies was not the same among the respondents (p-value <0.05). A comparison of the frequency of using strategies indicates that the MEMORY strategy with (69%) was used more than others and the DETERMINATION strategy with (2.5%) was the least used by the respondents. Also, none of the respondents used the SOCIAL vocabulary learning strategy and METACOGNITIVE strategy. Finally, the relationship between DETERMINATION strategy and Breadth of vocabulary knowledge, SOCIAL vocabulary learning strategy and Breadth of vocabulary knowledge, MEMORY learning strategy and Breadth of knowledge, COGNITIVE learning strategy and Breadth of knowledge, METACOGNITIVE learning strategy and Breadth of knowledge, SOCIAL learning strategy and Depth of knowledge, COGNITIVE learning strategy and Depth of knowledge and METACOGNITIVE learning strategy and Depth of vocabulary knowledge is not significant (p-value>0.05). These findings have implications for teachers, students and English language teaching policymakers.

ELT practitioners are expected to adopt the role of reflective practitioners, engaging in a thorough and analytical examination of their teaching practice. This is achieved through the undertaking of research, with systematic research being recognized as a crucial endeavor in implementing reflectivity within the ELT field. Concurrently with the proliferation of several novel problems and methodologies in the realm of research within ELT contexts, the act of conducting research in ELT has evolved into a multifaceted endeavor. The data for this study were gathered from 717 EFL instructors, consisting of 581 females (81%) and 136 males (19%). The participants included individuals with B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees, with an average age of 25. The Quantitative Research Literacy (QRL) questionnaire, developed by Zaker and Nosratinia (2021), was utilized as the primary instrument for data collection. The utilization of the non-parametric Welch's ANOVA test and the Games-Howell post-hoc technique revealed a statistically significant disparity in the mean score on the QRL measure across participants with Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. degrees. Specifically, Ph.D. level participants exhibited a notably higher average score compared to both M.A. level and B.A. level players. Additionally, upon conducting a Welch's ANOVA and subsequently applying the Games-Howell post-hoc procedure, it was observed that the participants exhibited the highest level of proficiency in developing research topic knowledge. Conversely, the participants displayed the lowest level of knowledge in the area of data analysis. This study finishes by engaging in a comprehensive discussion of the findings and providing some recommendations.

Translation has always been subject to the influence of ideology. The Book of Fate</em> by Parinoush Saniee is a representative case. The book is translated into 26 languages and is one of World Literature</em> Today</em>'s 75 Notable Translations of 2013. The Italian edition also earned Saniee the 2010 Boccaccio prize. The present study, as library-based qualitative research, tries to answer the question of why a book that has no literary merit in the source language gains such wide reception and popularity in the target language. In spite of the changes that the translator makes in the original text to improve it, the translation has still the weaknesses of the original text: characters are exaggerated, sentimental and stereotypical. In addition, the protagonist’s depictions of the social life lived in the tumultuous period in the history of Iran are extremely one-dimensional and superficial. The study concludes that the novel's success as a bestseller in many Western countries is because it reaffirms and reinstates the Western Stereotypical image of the East and Easterners. In this stereotypical image of the East, the female protagonist is angelic and her cruel father and brothers are represented as demonic characters. Thus, the Western reader finds a novel that reinstates the Western discourse of the East and Easterners.

This study tried to examine the effect of using scaffolded differentiation strategies on reading comprehension and vocabulary improvement of intermediate students. The effect of using scaffolded differentiation strategies on the reading strategy use of the intermediate students was also checked. The researcher selected 40 EFL learners with intermediate levels. They were mixed learners from the institutes in Tehran. Nelson proficiency test, screening test, diagnostic test, progress monitoring test, outcome test, and a close-ended questionnaire were used in the study. For the quantitative part, the selected students were randomly divided into four groups. Two were experimental groups and the rest were control ones. Each group consisted of 10 students. There were 15 sessions for the treatment. In the Experimental group the instructor used scaffolded differentiating strategies for improving the reading comprehension of the students and in the control group the teachers used ordinary methods. A test that subdivides the broad area into specific skills, in this case, inferential comprehension and receptive vocabulary was administered before and after the intervention. The questions were constructed in the related course of study. The result of the post-test showed that ‘Inferential reading’ and ‘Receptive vocabulary’ of the experimental group were noticeably greater than those of the control one. Data for the qualitative part was collected through the reading strategy inventory of MARSI (Mokhtari & Reichard, 2002). The reading strategy inventory was administered to 20 participants before the instruction and the instruction started, and after the instruction it was administered again. It consisted of 30 items that measured three factors: Global Reading Strategies (13 items), Problem-Solving Strategies (8 items), and Support Reading Strategies (9 items). The result of the posttest showed that the mean scores for the two subscales of ‘Global’ and ‘Supportive’ in the experimental group were noticeably greater than the mean scores in the control group but not for the other subscales of ‘Problem-solving’.

Eco-criticism brings a change in literary studies by linking literary criticism and theory with the ecological issues at large. Eco criticism proceeds a call to literature to connect to the issues of today’s environmental crisis. In other words, ecocriticism is instantly concerned with both nature and the environment. A new eco-literary discourse can statement nature's voice without permeating it with human primacy. As Hughes (2009) debates, even though eco-criticism has become a field in literary theory and the extensive landscape of environmental history, it could benefit from an enhanced framework. Environmental History is relevant to numerous things, including the history of the mutual relations between the human race and remnants of nature. It studies the related effects that other types, natural powers, and sequences have on human beings, and the web of connections with non-human organisms and entities has been affected by the actions of individuals. This study attempts to analyze Philippa Gregory’s “The Other Boleyn Girl”</em> and “Virgin Earth”</em> based on the features of environmental history as a model of ecocriticism.  In her novels, Gregory tries to define the true history and surroundings of the 16th</sup> and 18th</sup> centuries of Britain, particularly among the kings and queens who are seeking power even with the war. First, concerning the features of environmental history, a model of analysis will be structured. Then, the analysis of Gregory’s selected novels based on these features will be indicated. Finally, the results of the analysis will be discussed to confirm how it can be implied as a novel’s approach to literary theory.

This study investigates the effect of deductive versus inductive teaching of Information Structure (IS) of non-canonical sentences on Iranian EFL learners’ writing productions. To do so 69 participants majoring in English literature and English translation, fourth semester, Arak University, participated in this study in the form of two intact groups called Deductive (experimental) and Inductive (control) groups, comprising 36 and 33 participants in that order. Under the effect of twelve treatment sessions of deductive vs. inductive instructions of IS principles, six weeks, the statistical analyses of the results regarding the pretest-posttest phase disclosed significant improvement of the participants’ writing scores in both groups. Concerning the post-test results, no statistically significant difference was observed in the Deductive vs. Inductive groups’ writing scores. Regarding the posttest-delayed posttest results, the statistical analyses showed a significant decrease in the Deductive group’ writing scores while the writing scores reduction in the Inductive group was not significant. So, the findings revealed a significant retention of improved writing skills in association with the Inductive group. Possible explanations for the writing improvement and implications of the findings for language teaching have been discussed.

The present study examines the picture of women in Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Woolfolk Cross’s Poe Joan and shows how the writers redefine what makes femininity and the notion of female subjectivity in their novels. To do so, Judith Butler’s theory of performativity is used to provide a clear portrait of the female characters in these works. In addition to an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the opposite sexes, the study explores how women from different perspectives are related to each other. The two authors cry against any notion of masculine and feminine relations that justify and fixate on female subjugation and play down female characteristics and focus mainly on what contributes to shaping the female identity. Through the lens of Butlerian performativity, it is revealed that Winterson and Woolfolk unanimously depict a different feminine identity that crosses the boundary of typical female figures and renders a new persona for them that fits with no usual portrait of women in male-centered societies.

General Persian is one of the main subjects in the educational program of Iran's universities and higher education institutions. The general Persian course plays a significant role in raising students' linguistic, literary, and cognitive abilities. For this reason, all students in different fields of study must pass this course and acquire the necessary skills within the framework of its teachings. Research shows that almost a thousand general Persian textbook books have already been written and taught in various universities. Considering the importance of the general Persian course and its effect on students' linguistic and literary skills, there is no indication for writing a comprehensive general Persian book yet, and most of the authors have written books out of their taste. In the present study, while identifying the need for writing a unique general Persian book based on the principles of lesson planning, ten books used in Tehran universities were examined and evaluated. The findings revealed that most of the previously prepared books do not have the essential prerequisites of curriculum planning.